Month: August 2016

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
Acts 26:19-20

We considered last week the glorious work of the Lord which He said He would accomplish as He sent Paul to preach to the Jews and Gentiles. God in His sovereign grace and mercy would use the apostle “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (Act 26:18) It is this heavenly vision that Paul refers to in v. 19 of today’s text to which he says he was not disobedient. A blind man cannot give himself sight, and so v. 18 describes what only the Lord could do as He opened their eyes, freed them from the power of Satan, and gave them light. But as we find over and over again in Scripture, when God works in His sovereignty, man still has responsibility. Notice in our main text today that, though God would be responsible for opening their eyes, Paul was specifically instructing men to do something. They weren’t only acted upon, but they also had to act! The three activities listed in v. 20 sum up how man is to respond to the gospel call, and they reveal three key points that we must not overlook in faithfully declaring God’s word to a lost world:

1) Repent

I have said repeatedly that this topic is the missing note from many pulpits today. It is, however, absolutely essential to the preaching of the gospel! We MUST return to preaching repentance. Repentance is a meaningless concept unless man is taught of his guilt as a sinner, but it seems that too few want to talk about sin. Instead, preachers only tell people that Jesus will help their hurting, dry their tears, and solve their problems. Yes, Christ is my hope in every difficulty, but I only see my need for Him as my Savior if I realize that the root of all my problems, indeed of all the world’s problems, is sin! Do you remember the message John the Baptist began to preach, that Jesus began to preach, and that He sent His disciples to preach? Repent! (Mat 3:2, 4:17, Mar 6:12) Read Peter’s message on Pentecost, and the first word out of his mouth after bringing the sins of his audience to bear upon them was, “Repent!” (Act 2:23, 38) It is against the backdrop of sin that forgiveness through Jesus Christ is seen to be such good news!

2) Turn to God

True repentance always involves turning from your sin to seek after God, and it cannot be a 90 degree turn. It must be a full 180! Some have tried to walk the tightrope of serving God while seeking what this world has to offer, but Christ makes it clear in Mat 6:24 that the two don’t go together: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, the thing that assured him of their salvation was that they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”. (1Th 1:9) In true regeneration there is always a “turning from” and also a “turning to”.

3) Do works befitting repentance

Eph 2:8-9 tells us clearly that salvation is a work of God: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” And yet, the next verse is just as plain in declaring that we have works to do in response to that salvation: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10) If there are no works which evidence salvation, then simply put, a person has not been born again! James acknowledged that some will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” But James’ response to such a statement was, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (Jam 2:18-20) A person who only has a belief in God but no works to evidence that belief is in no better shape than a demon!

I don’t think the apostle could have made his message to the lost any clearer. So, are we just as clear? When we present the gospel to a soul, does he understand that he needs to repent and turn to God? Does he know that his repentance must produce a change in his actions as he seeks the Lord? I pray we’ll be just as plain as Paul so that the path of salvation is well lit!

Jamie

I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Acts 26:17-18

As Paul describes that which God had called him to do, we are given a glorious description of what the Lord does when He saves a sinner. This experience involves the opening of eyes. As John Newton put it in Amazing Grace, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.” What a blessing to be found, to be given eyes to see, to have the darkness removed and be bathed in light!

This turning from darkness to light is a similar thought that the apostle uses in other passages. He writes to the Ephesians, “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…” (Eph 4:17-18) Our state prior to salvation was one of darkness. We were trapped in the darkness of our understanding and the blindness of our hearts until God give us light. Col 1:12-14 says we should give “thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

In our main text, the apostle highlights that being turned “from darkness to light” is as being delivered “from the power of Satan to God”. Satan’s kingdom is one of darkness. How thankful we ought to be that we can be set free and can enjoy light! The state of Satan and the demons is described by Jude as follows: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…” (Jud 1:6) Notice the adjective describing their chains in their darkness?  Those chains are “everlasting”!

2Pe 2:4 reads, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…” The word “hell” which Peter uses is an interesting one. It is the only time in all the Bible that this Greek word is listed. Similar to the way Paul used the “unknown God” of the Athenians to preach Christ (Act 17:23), Peter chose the Greek word “Tartarus”, a place in Greek mythology which was the deepest abyss of Hades, the place where Zeus banished the Titans. It was reserved for the worst offenders, the vilest criminals. There was no more horrible state of existence, and such is the case for Satan and the devils. They fell from their glorious standing with God when they sinned, and there is never any chance of parole from their eternal chains of darkness. They are forever blinded and can never be saved!

Oh, redeemed sinner, how we ought to give thanks to God that we have been set free, that our chains were not everlasting! God in His mercy sent those like the apostle Paul to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and free us from our deplorable state. Satan fell and can never enjoy the redemption of the saints. He is devoid of light, filled with hatred, and is the thief that only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But in strong contrast, Jesus came to set the fallen in humanity free from their chains. He came that “they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (Joh 10:10) We were born blind, born enslaved, born in darkness, but “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8) Satan is eternally bound, but we have been eternally liberated; let us then eternally praise our worthy Savior Who set us free!

Jamie

Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Acts 26:9-11

As Paul described his conversion to Agrippa and Festus, he didn’t sugarcoat what he once was. He hadn’t merely been indifferent to Christianity. He had hated those who claimed the name of Jesus! He had gone far beyond putting them down and ridiculing them. He had actually played a part in their martyrdom. Paul watched the garments for those who murdered Stephen so they could more accurately aim as they stoned that dear saint who was crying out to God for His tormentors’ forgiveness! (Act 7:58-8:1) Paul knew how bad he was before Christ saved Him.

If Christ has saved us, our sins are forgiven. It is a glorious truth that there is right NOW “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”! (Rom 8:1) But though we move forward in freedom from that past corruption, it doesn’t mean that we should forget what we were once guilty of. Paul’s letters to the churches show clearly that he never lost sight of who he was. In Gal 1:13 he wrote, “For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” Though he was an apostle, he viewed himself as “the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” His past sin didn’t cripple him, but it kept him humble. He could admit that he “labored more abundantly than they all” while taking no credit for it and confessing “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1Co 15:9-10)

Rather than loading him down with guilt and hindering his ministry, Paul’s awareness of his past wickedness fueled his passion for the salvation of souls! Since he was so bad, he could serve absolutely anyone!! He never looked at other people and thought them to be beneath him or unworthy of saving. He never forgot that he was “formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man”. (1Ti 1:13) If God could save him, surely He could save anyone! And so he wrote, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” He viewed himself as living proof to God’s amazing Grace and mercy!

My brothers and sisters, we must never forget who we were when Christ found us. I know wickedness is abounding in our day, and the temptation is for our love to grow cold. (Mat 24:12) But, we should weep for the ungodly not hope for their destruction. When the disciples wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans who rejected Jesus, we read that, “He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’ ” (Luk 9:55-56) Only in realizing we were just as bad as everyone else will we be able to minister to every single soul we encounter. We all have sins that we find more detestable than others, but may our hatred of the sin not lead us to hate the sinner. May we be able to confess along with the apostle Paul: “I also please ALL men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” (1Co 10:33)

Jamie

Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
Acts 26:8

The question above was raised by Paul to King Agrippa as the apostle made his defense concerning the faith. It is a good question for us to ask ourselves. How often do we give in to worry? How often do we struggle with despair because a particular problem never seems to improve? Have we forgotten that our faith is founded upon the truth that God raises the dead?!! Heb 6:1-2 says this fact is one of the “elementary principles of Christ”, i.e. the doctrine of the resurrection is part of our Christian ABCs. The youngest Christian confesses it. Be do we believe and embrace it daily? How empowering it should be to KNOW that God raises the dead!!

If our God is that capable, is there any problem we face in which He cannot help? Jer 32:17 says emphatically, “No!” “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” A brother shared this verse with my wife years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As the depth of this verse hit home, cancer didn’t seem so big anymore. Ten years later, it’s clear that cancer is small potatoes for our mighty God!  What did our Lord say in Mar 10:27 when the disciples realized mankind’s inability? “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Where we are limited, God is limitless–nothing is too hard for Him!

I pray this truth will encourage you today, dear soul. Whatever you’re facing as God’s child, He is FOR you, and, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31) Do you remember your desperate state before salvation? The weight of sin was crushed us. Every attempt to please God by doing the right thing and obeying His law eventually ended in failure. At every turn, our weakness was felt as we came up short of a righteous God’s requirement. But, “what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…” (Rom 8:3) Our God saved us when we had no hope! (Eph 2:12-13) He spoke the universe into existence! He raises the dead! I think He can handle our little problems. 🙂 So, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God…” (Psa 42:5)

Jamie