I want you to open your Bibles
today to the Book of Acts, the 26th chapter. Now, I would like
very much for you to turn to that portion of God's Word, Acts
26. I'm going to read verse 16 and
use that as my text, but I would like you to read the verses which
precede verse 16 and those which follow verse 16. But the subject
today is a testimony. a testimony to free and sovereign
grace. Now, in this 16th verse of Acts
26, the Apostle Paul is telling one of the people what the Lord
said to him when he made him on the road to Damascus. He said,
Rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose. I have appeared unto thee for
this purpose. to make thee a minister and a
witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of
those things in the which I will appear unto thee." Now, did you
follow that? Most of us know the story of
Saul of Tarsus. I don't think there are very
many people listening to this program who are not familiar
with Saul of Tarsus. You know, first of all, that
he was born in a very religious home. My mother was a Hebrew,
and my father was a Hebrew. I was born of the tribe of Benjamin. And then not only was he born
in a religious home, but he was raised in a religious atmosphere. He was raised in the religion
of his fathers. He was raised in deep religious
tradition. And not only that, but he was
educated in a seminary, in a preacher's training school, not a gospel
preacher, but a Pharisee's training school. He was raised and educated
to be a religious leader, a religious teacher. And this man was a legalist. He said, concerning the law,
I was blameless. And concerning zeal, he said,
I was very zealous. And education, intellect, he
exceeded many his equals in his nation. He was a legalist. He
was an orthodox person. He was a traditionalist. He was
a teacher of works. He was a very religious person.
And he hated the gospel of God's free grace. He hated the gospel
of substitution. He hated the message of redemption
through Christ. He hated it so much that he put
in prison everybody who believed it. He even stood and held the
coats of the people who stoned Stephen to death. That's how
much he despised the gospel of God's grace. But he was very
religious. He was very orthodox, and he was very moral. And he
was a traditionalist to the extent of the word. But on his journey
to Damascus to persecute men and women of the faith of Christ
Jesus, the Lord met him, and the Lord arrested him, and the
Lord opened his eyes, and the Lord opened his ears. And the
Lord turned him to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
other words, on that road to Damascus, the miracle of regeneration,
the miracle of justification, the miracle of sanctification,
the miracle of awakening took place in the life of this man,
Paul. And God revealed Christ to his heart. And the Lord smote
him down. He fell off his horse down to
the ground and was blinded. And you remember he looked up
and saw the great light, and he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecuted. And he
said, Well, Lord, what would you have me do? And he said,
Rise and stand up on your feet, for I have appeared unto you
for this purpose, to make you a minister, to make you a minister
and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen.
and of those things in the which I will appear unto you or I will
reveal to you at a later time. Now, in many ways, my story is
much like that of the Apostle Paul. I'm not an Apostle Paul,
can't touch the hem of his garment or lace his shoes or carry his
Bible. I know that, and I know you know
that. But I think as I tell this story today, I'll tell your story,
many of you. As I tell my story and compare
it to that of the Apostle Paul, I was raised in a religious home,
as most of you are. Most of your parents were very
religious people, steeped in religion, very orthodox and fundamental. I was taught in the traditions
of my father. I was trained in fundamentalism.
I grew up in orthodoxy. I grew up understanding the Bible
to be the word of God, and Saul of Tarsus believed that too.
I grew up believing in certain things in regard to religion.
I attended a preacher school, and I pastored a church, and
I served as an assistant pastor of another church. I was in the
business of religion. I was in the business of evangelism. I was in the business of soul
winning, as most of you have been and maybe some of you aren't.
I was in the business of religion, but one day, one day about 30
years ago, the Lord God was pleased to meet me like he met Saul of
Tarsus, not in that same way, not with the great light and
the voice from heaven, but God met me through his word, and
he was pleased to reveal to me the gospel. And though I was
religious, I did not know the gospel. And though I was religious
and orthodox and fundamental and moral, I did not know the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. And I saw, Paul, you remember
God said to Paul, rise, I've made you a minister, I've appeared
to you for this purpose, that I might make you a minister and
that you might declare the things you've seen and the things you're
going to see. And I saw things that day and
I heard things that day that I'd never seen or never heard
before. Saul was 40 years of age, over
40 years of age. He had been steeped in religion.
He'd been reared in religion. He'd been educated in religion.
He'd been in the main forces of religion. He'd been out in
the front as a leader of religion all these years. But he'd never
seen the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Now, my friend, you can
be religious and law. You can hold an office in the
church like Judas and not know God. You can be zealous and moral
and blameless and an intellectual and orthodox and a traditionalist
and a legalist like Saul of Tarsus and not know Christ. This gospel
comes, as it did to Paul, by revelation. Listen to Job. In
Job chapter 42, Job said, Lord, I've heard of you by the hearing
of the ear. And I've heard of God all my
life, and some of you have heard of God all your life. You've
heard preachers, you've heard singing, you've heard choirs,
you've heard testimonies, you've heard all these things. You've heard the Bible read,
you've heard Sunday school lessons taught, jokes that I've heard
of you. I've heard of you, Lord. I've heard of you by the hearing
of the ear. But now, man, I see it. My eyes see it. That's a different, that's a,
that's a, as the old evangelist used to say, that's a white horse
of another color. Now I see you. And things appear
in a different perspective. I see things that I've never
seen before. And I'm going to give you five
or six things. Thirty years ago, when God saved
me out of religious fundamentalism, and that's where some of you
are, and I know I'm talking to you, and I want you to listen
to me. and orthodoxy and morality and legalism and tradition. Everybody's
religious. God saves as many of his people
out of religion as he does out of the gutter. That's where most
of them are found, wrapped in the sins of religion and self-righteousness,
and that's the greatest sin of all. But I saw some things I'd
never seen before. Job said that. Job, he was a
righteous man. God said he was upright and righteous,
but he said, I saw some things I'd never seen before. And here
Job was an old man. He'd already raised ten children,
one of the wealthiest men in the county. And all these things
were destroyed, and they were destroyed just teaching some
things. As David said, it's good for me that I've been afflicted.
I've seen the Lord. I've seen these. Job said, I've
heard of you, but now I see you. All right, watch this. The first
thing I saw. I saw, and I do see, God's attribute. That's a big word. But it just
means character, characteristics. It means qualities that belong
only to God. Qualities that belong only to
God. The Scripture says, Our God is in the heavens. He hath
done whatsoever He hath pleased. The Scripture says, Our God is
holy, almighty, righteous, and just. I saw the attributes of
God. And I have to tell you this,
that was the first thing that God revealed to me, who He was.
Before he ever revealed to me who I was, and even who Christ
was, he revealed to me who he was. Now, you may take issue
with this, but I'm going to tell you this. Some people may claim
to see their sins and their need, and then go looking for God.
They say they see their sins and their need, and then they
go looking for God in the Scripture. But the pattern is not so in
the Word of God. In the Word of God, these men
saw God, and then they saw themselves. This is right. Isaiah, let me
give you some examples Isaiah in chapter 6 verse 1. He said
in the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord High and
lifted up his train filled the temple the cherubims and seraphims
cried. Holy. Holy. Holy Lord God Almighty
and then he said I cried woe is me Woe is me. I'm a man of
unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips What did Isaiah see first, his sins or God's holiness? He
saw God's holiness. And in seeing God's holiness,
he saw his sins. What was the procedure in Job's
case? Job said, I see you, wherefore
I hate myself. Which did Job see first? He saw
the Lord. He saw the Lord in his power.
God appeared to Job out of the whirlwind. Read chapter 40, 41,
42 of Job. God appeared to him out of the
whirlwind. He saw the power of God and the might of God and
the holiness of God. And when he did, he said, I've
opened my mouth once, yet twice I'll never open it again. I've
seen things too wonderful. I've seen the Lord. I hate myself.
Daniel. Scripture says, Daniel saw the
Lord, and what was his first remark? My beauty melted into
corruption. Apostle Peter one day was on
the shore with the other disciples fishing. They hadn't caught anything
and the Lord appeared to them He said cast the net over the
side of the ship and they did and they brought in a whole net
full and Peter Seeing the power of Christ turned to him and said
Lord depart from me. I'm a sinful man. He'd never
seen that before He saw Christ power first and then he saw his
sinfulness I can go on David what David say when I consider
the heavens and When I consider the stars, the sun and the moon,
which thou hast made, what is man, that thou art mindful of
him?" When God would show Jeremiah what he was and what Israel was,
he said, go to the potter's house and see the potter working on
the clay. Now that's God and the clay is you. Can I not do
with my own what I will? That pattern goes throughout
the scripture, Nebuchadnezzar. He said, look at the great city
of Babylon, which my hands have built. God said, we'll see about
that, Nebuchadnezzar. And he sent him out into the
field to eat hay like an oxen and to stay out there till seven
times passed over him. And he said, you're going to
stay out there till you learn that the most high God ruleth
in the kingdoms of heaven and among the armies of heaven and
the kingdoms of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And
Nebuchadnezzar said, when my senses return to me, I had learned
that God rules in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. So I say this is the first thing
to be settled. Who is God? Who is God? If God's not sovereign, there's
nobody for me to be responsible to. If God's not holy, how do
I determine my sin? If God's not almighty, how do
I see my weaknesses? By what do I compare it? You
see what I'm saying? In what likeness do I compare
myself? By whose rule do I compare myself? That's the first thing we see.
That's the issue to be settled. And to let issues settle, we
make no progress in any attempt at a saving relationship with
God Almighty. Holy and reverent is His name. Now, when that's determined in
your heart, when that issue is settled, who is God? Then you
can start out on the trail looking for some kind of solution to
sin and some kind of solution to this break between you and
God and some kind of solution or some kind of settlement about
this war between you and God. You've got to know who you're
dealing with. Now, I'm telling you the truth. And that's the
first thing. That's the thing I hadn't seen.
Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thyself, God said,
but you find out I'm not. And then you find out you're
in trouble. And the depths of my trouble is determined by the
holiness of my God. You with me? The depths of my
trouble and the awfulness of my sin and the inability of my
hands to do anything about it is determined by who I'm dealing
with. by who I'm dealing with. And
that's the reason most preachers have a little old silly, simple,
easy believerism. They're not dealing with a sovereign,
holy, omnipotent God. That's the reason you can walk
down some aisles and shake a hand and get salvation, because you're
dealing with a fellow just like the preacher. But when you're
dealing with an omnipotent, awful, holy, almighty, eternal, just
and righteous, unchangeable, infinite God, There's a whole
lot more to this matter of salvation than just pressing down a church
aisle or getting dumped beneath a puddle of water or eating a
few crackers and drinking some grape juice. There's a whole
lot more to it, my friend, when you find out who God is. I found
out one day who God is, and I'm awed by it. I'm awed by it. Come, my children, I'll teach
you how to fear God. The beginning of wisdom is a
fear of God. The reason you're not hearing
any sermons on the fear of God is because the God being preached
today is not to be feared. Who fears Him? He can't do anything
anyway, except I let Him. So why should I fear Him? But,
oh, the God of the Bible is to be feared. And I'll tell you
this, when the Bible describes a man who worships God in the
Old Testament, you know what it says about him? He's one that
feared the Lord. Jacob feared the Lord. Abraham
feared the Lord. David feared the Lord. And when
it describes this generation in Romans 3, it says there's
no fear of God before their eyes. Find out who God is. That's where
you start. Secondly, I not only found out
who God was, I saw my ruin in the fall. I looked back and saw
what happened in the Garden of Eden. I didn't know what happened.
I thought man was slightly wounded. I found out he was slain. I thought
man was blinded in one eye. I found out he's totally blind
as a result of his sin. I thought man was somewhat ill. I found out he was somewhat dead.
And Ephesians says he's without hope, without help, and without
God. And Ephesians 2 says he's dead
in trespasses and sin. And the scripture tells us when
God put Adam out of the garden, he put him plum out of the garden,
away from God. separated from God. Your sins
have separated you from God. And Adam lost the way to God.
He lost the truth of God, and he lost the life of God. That's
what's restored in Christ. That's what Christ is saying
when he says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Everything
Adam lost is restored in Christ Jesus. But I found out my attention
was not just focused on Adam's fall, but the results of Adam's
fall to me, and in me, and upon me. I found out that sin was
not just an action. I'd heard all my life you weren't
supposed to go to the show, you weren't supposed to drink, you
weren't supposed to smoke, you weren't supposed to play cards,
you weren't supposed to dance, and if you could quit all them,
you'd be religious, you'd be holy, you'd be without sin, you'd
be sanctified. Just quit all these things that
the folks have made. I found out that's a lie. I found out
there's not a word of truth in that. I found out that sin is
not just an action, sin is an attitude. I found out sin wasn't
just a work of the hand, it was a condition of the heart. That's
what I found out. I found out man didn't have hand
trouble, he's got heart trouble. I found out that sin is a nature,
sin is a principle, sin is a state, sin is a condition of the will.
That was my trouble. That was my trouble. I found
out that sin is a condition of the will. And I found out that's
the starting point in this thing of theology, to answer these
questions. How can God be just and justify
folks like me and you? How can he be clean, this born
of a woman? Clean, I mean, not just clean
hands, but a pure heart. I'm not talking about cleaning
the outside of the cup. I'm talking about cleaning the
inside. Christ looked at those religious people of his day,
and they didn't do those things either. They didn't go to the
honky-tonk on Saturday night and dance all night. But Burr,
I'll tell you the truth. They had hell in their hearts
and Christ looked at them and he said, you're like a whited
sepulchre. On the outside, you appear beautiful
unto men, but on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones.
You're a generation of snakes, he said. You're hypocrites. You
make clean the outside and the inside is full of lust and hate
and bigotry and prejudice and jealousy and envy and you despise
the God of the Bible. I tell you, it takes a miracle
of God's grace to justify a sinner. I found that out. I found out
how lost we were. I found out how helpless we were.
I found out how sinful we were. I found out that men were sinners
by nature, not just by deed, by nature, attitude, spirit. And I found out some of the most
religious people I knew were some of the most wicked people
in the world in their hearts. Because they were trying to establish
a righteousness of their own. They were trying to work their
way to heaven. They were trying to work their way to God. They
were trying by an outward show. And I found out people making
the most noise at the church were people who were the most
compromising folks in the world in their spirit and attitude.
I found out about singing. It took a miracle to put the
stars in space. It took a miracle to hang the
world in place. But when God saved my soul, it
cleansed and made me whole. It took a miracle of His love
and His grace. And that's what it takes to save
folks like me and you. And I'm talking about you and
me. I'm pointing the finger of God's Word at every one of us.
And I'm saying we've got troubles. We've got deep troubles. They're
not skin troubles. They're heart troubles. They're
not outward troubles, they're inward troubles. They're not
head troubles, they're heart troubles. And only the grace
of God and the blood of Christ can reach deep enough to cleanse
the blackest sinner. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. And if God never shows you you're
lost, you'll never be found. If God never shows you you're
a sinner, you'll never be saved. If God never shows you you're
guilty, you'll never plead for mercy. God saves sinners. When
our Lord was here on the earth, that bunch of religious folks
looked at him and said, he's the friend of publicans. He's
the friend of sinners. He goeth to be the guest of a
man that's a sinner. Why does he associate with folks
like that? And our Lord looked at him and said, the well don't
need a doctor. Sick folks need doctors. And
you go learn what that means. I've come not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Christ came to save sinners.
He died for the ungodly. But you say everybody's a sinner
and most folks don't believe it. You ask them. A sinner is
a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. A sinner is as scarce as hen's teeth. They're the hardest
things in the world to find. There's a bona fide, self-confessed,
unadulterated, unadorned sinner who needs God's mercy. But that's
who he came to save. And then I found out something
else. I saw that God had determined from all eternity to save a people
out of Adam's race. God's going to have a people.
I'm as sure of that as this Bible is the Word of God. He's going
to have a people because Christ was the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Christ was no afterthought. God
didn't run around looking for a Savior after man fell. He already
had a Savior. Christ was the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. There was a covenant of grace
before there was ever a covenant of work. There was a Savior before
there was ever a sinner. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. He said, Whom he foreknew, he
predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom
he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. In other words, I'm saying that
the design of creation was to have a new creation. The design
of God's providence is to have a people like Christ, and the
design of redemption is to make a population, make heaven a city
populated with holy people. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heaven is in Christ Jesus according as he
chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love having
predestinated us under the adoption of children according to the
good pleasure of his own will. Let me ask you some questions.
Number one, did you choose God or did he choose you? Now, what's
the answer? You have to say, he chose me,
because Christ said that to his disciples. He said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you. All right, let me ask you the
second question. When did God choose you? When
did God choose you? Well, the scripture says we were
chosen in Christ before the world began. All right, why did God
choose you? Why? Well, the scripture says
according to the good pleasure of his own will. I'm just glad
God determined to save a people. If he had left us to ourselves,
nobody would be saved. I'm glad God chose us. I'm glad
God sought us. I'm glad God loved us. I'm glad
God, by Christ, bought us. If he hadn't, none of us would
have been saved. We'd all perish. Christ said,
you will not come to me, that you might have life. Election's
not the sinner's enemy, it's the sinner's best friend. Listen
to the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2.13. He said, I thank God for
you, brethren. I thank God for you. Election
is a doctrine of praise. I thank God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Elections a doctrine of praise. It's a doctrine of love
beloved of the Lord. It's a doctrine of eternal grace
God has from the beginning It's a doctrine of salvation chosen
you to salvation. It's a doctrine of holiness through
sanctification of the spirit It's a doctrine of mean through
belief of the truth. Oh, I saw God has a people He
said all that my father give his meal come to me him that
cometh to me out of no wise cast out Now what Christ said he has
a people Just like he took not on himself the nature of angels,
but took on himself the nature of the seed of Abraham. Just
like our Lord Jesus Christ passed by the Amalekites, and the Hittites,
and the Philistines, and the Amorites, and all the rest of
them, and chose Israel. The same way our Lord in this
day has a remnant according to the election of grace. I saw
something else. I saw that the gospel's a person.
It's not a plan, it's a person. It's not a recipe, it's a person.
Paul said, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. I'm separated to
the gospel of God concerning his son. The wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. There are two words, my friend,
that sum up the gospel. One is substitution. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was laid on him. By his stripes
we're healed. The second word is satisfaction.
By one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Substitution, he took my place.
Satisfaction, he paid my bill. He paid my debt. You see, Christ
didn't come to make men savable. He didn't come to help men save
themselves. He didn't come to make it possible
for men to be saved. He came to save. That's what
the angel said to Joseph, said, Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
he shall save. his people from their sin. He
shall save. He cannot fail. He'll see the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Not might have, could have, should
have. He hath everlasting life. I saw something else. I saw the
means that God is pleased to use to call out a people for
his name is the preaching of the gospel. In 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, Paul said, Knowing, brethren, the love of the Lord,
Knowing your election, our gospel came to you not only in word,
but in power in the Holy Ghost and must assure it. They hear
the word, but they hear it in the Holy Spirit. They hear it
in power. They hear the word, but they hear it in the power
and revelation of the Holy Spirit.