“To open
their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of satan unto god, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and
inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).
I. RECOGNIZE THE SITUATION – Acts 26:18a
A.
The Payment for Sin – Rom. 6:23a
B.
The Provision for the Sinner – Rom. 6:23
II. RENOUNCE SIN AND SATAN – Acts 26:18b
A.
Renounce the Practice of Sin – Acts 26:18a
B.
Renounce the Promoter of Sin – Acts 26:18b
III. RECEIVE THE SAVIOR - Acts 26:18c
A.
Receive the Pardon from Sin – Acts 26:18ca
B. Receive a Place with the Saints – Acts
26:18cb
C.
Receive the Promise from the Savior – Acts 26:18cc
Introduction: Acts 26:18 is one of the main verses I have
used in evangelistic meetings as well as in discipleship classes. This verse was given to Paul when he was
commissioned to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
It involved three distinct concepts that a person must know to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ: I. Recognize the situation; II. Renounce Sin and Satan; and III.
Receive the Savior. Today I will talk about III. B. Receive a Place with the Saints.
III. RECEIVE THE SAVIOR
B. Receive a
Place with the Saints – Acts 26:18c
“And inheritance among them which are sanctified” (26:18cb).
I understand that an “inheritance among them which
are sanctified” (Acts 26:18b) means the
riches that the redeemed will have one day when all the saints meet together in
heaven, but as a new Christian, I learned that I received a place with the saints.
At the age of 18 I attended church for the first time. I went every night during
a week of evangelistic meetings that they called a revival, and I was saved on the
last night. It was a thrill to be accepted
among the consecrated Christians in the church. I hadn’t given one thought
about an inheritance in heaven at the time.
I was not thinking about finances but about fellowship.
The next week after the evangelistic meetings, on Saturday
night I made arrangements with the rancher I worked for to borrow his car to go
to church on Sunday morning. He graciously let me use it. I really appreciated
being able to drive to the church and see all the people again. I had promised
the rancher to take the car back as soon as church was over, so as much as I
wanted to stay and enjoy the fellowship, I had to leave right after the last
“amen” was said.
A week later on Saturday night I asked if I could
borrow the car again. The rancher frowned slightly and said no, that I couldn’t.
I put my horse in the corral and gave him feed and hay so I could go to church
the next morning. I got up early and saddled my horse in time to have a
leisurely ride to town. It seemed that everyone was glad to see me. Everyone
wanted to shake my hand. One rancher
called me “Brother.” How exciting!
The third Saturday night I didn’t ask the rancher
for the car; I simply made sure my horse was in the corral and had feed, hay,
and water. I woke up early the next morning, excited to know I would soon be
back in church seeing my brethren again. When I went out to the corral, the
first thing I saw was that the gate was open. “Oh, no,” I thought, “they let my
horse out on purpose.” I knew they thought they were doing me a favor—they had
already told me they were worried that I was becoming a fanatic. So I put on my
Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes which included my new boots, and took off jogging
for town on the unpaved country road. After two hours I arrived at the church—just
as everyone was leaving. Even so, I was thrilled to see and greet the people. My
new boots no longer looked new, but it didn’t matter—I never gave them another
thought. I just wore my scuffed boots to church every Sunday after that. (New
boots cost a week’s wages, and that was if I had a good job.)
My feelings about church might be akin to what we
read in Acts chapter 2: “And they
continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers” (2:42) . . . . “And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their
meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (2:46).
To
this day, I look forward to meeting with the assembly of the brethren. Here are two of my favorite verses: “One
thing have I desired of the LORD,
that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the LORD, and
to enquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). And “I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the LORD”
(Psalm 122:1) I know these verses are talking about the temple in the Old
Testament, but they express how I feel about church.
When I was in Germany
with the Air Force in 1954, I was taught and memorized Acts 20:32: “And now,
brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are
sanctified.” It was further impressed upon my mind when a speaker we had at the
Service Men’s Center stressed that when people depart from loved ones, they
often commend them to God. (Think of the hymn “God Be with You ‘till We Meet
again.”) The Apostle Paul, however, knowing he would not see his beloved brethren of the
church of Ephesus again, commended them to the Savior, to the Scriptures, and
to the Saints.
Some time back we
were privileged to preach in a church in the mountains of Southern Mexico several times over a period of a few years. The sweet fellowship we had with
the people there will always be among our most cherished memories. Different
circumstances made it impossible for us to continue going there. When we visited,
they would have meetings all day for as long as a week, and most who came would take
off work to attend. Many walked a considerable distance from their homes to be
there. Some of the older members only understood an Indian dialect so sometimes
I spoke in Spanish with a Nahuatl translator. The people would memorize the
verse I spoke on and my outline (usually three points) after each service. The
last night I was there, I spoke on Acts 20:32. I will give my Spanish outline
here for my bilingual readers:
I. Que les vaya bien con Dios – Hechos 20:32a
II. Que les vaya bien con la
Doctrina – Hechos 20:32b
III. Que les vaya bien con los Discípulos – Hechos 20:32c
Since we had to
leave after the service the night I preached this message, there wasn’t time
for them to repeat the verse and outline back to us as they usually did. However,
as we left we had to go around three sides of the square to get to the highway,
and one man came running to cut us off long enough to show us he had already
memorized the verse and outline. As I have met brethren from that town in other
places or talked with them on the telephone, this message seems to be the one
they remember best.
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Here
I have discussed division III B. Receive a Place with the Saints (Acts
26:18cb) in my outline of Acts
26:18. Next week I plan to talk
about III C. Receive the Promise from
the Savior (Acts 26:18cc)
I
welcome constructive comments.
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