“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
III.
RECEIVE THE SAVIOR - Acts 26:18c
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. Repent of
Sin, Self, and Satan; and III. Receive the Savior.
The teaching this week concerns the first part of the Apostle’s
commission. The sinner
needs to recognize his situation. That’s what it means when God told the
Apostle that he was to “open their eyes.”
God was not talking about their physical round eyeballs. He was talking
about the eyes of understanding. In
other words, the sinner must first understand something. I believe it was Dr.
Chafer, the president of Dallas Theological Seminary many years ago, who said,
“Give the sinner something to believe before you ask him to believe.”
I once violated this principle when talking to about
forty university students in the city of Guadalajara. I asked how many believed
in Jesus. They all said they believed.
“Oh,” I thought, “How am I going to get out of this?” So I asked
another question: “What Jesus do you believe in?”
They answered, “The right Jesus.”
I came back with, “Who is the
right Jesus?” Many people in Mexico are named Jesus and there was at the time a
big sign over the street saying to vote from Jesus (somebody). I wanted them to
say, “The Jesus of the Bible.
“But they quickly told me, “The Jesus of the Catholic Church.” Then they clarified, “Jesus, the Son of Mary,
the Mother of God.” We had a friendly
discussion about this for about two hours.
We ended the discussion still being friends, but they left without
changing their opinion.
So we will start by looking at the first thing Christ commissioned the
Apostle Paul to teach sinners.
I. RECOGNIZE
THE SITUATION - Acts 26:18a
“To
open their eyes” (26:18a).
“To
open their eyes” is the first thing the Apostle Paul, as the apostle to the
Gentiles, was commanded to do. The
Gentiles were to have the eyes of their understanding opened to recognize their
spiritual situation—that they had all
sinned and that the consequence of that sin, if it was not dealt with, was
eternal death in the lake of fire. In
home Bible studies, I ofen ask the participants to read aloud Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The verse contains clearly the payment for sin and
the penalty of sin. If we have
three or four people in the class, I ask each one to read the verse. Many times
after they have read it several times, they already know it by memory. I tell
them this verse gives a quick way to recognize one’s spiritual situation before
God. Most of the people in our studies are working for wages, so I may ask,
“Would you want to be paid for your works?”
So
let us see how we can apply this verse in such a way that a sinner can
recognize the situation he is in.
A. The Payment for Sin – Rom. 6:23a
“For
the wages of sin is death” (6:23a).
Here
are some verses which give the consequences of our sin, that is “the wages of
sin is death.”
(Gal
5:19-21) “19Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such
like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.”
(1
Cor 6:9-10) “9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. “
In one home Bible study we had about six people who
never missed the class. One night a
husband and wife came who were new to us, but neighbors of the people in whose
house we held the Bible study. I was teaching on the Prodigal Son, and the man
showed exceptional interest. On Sunday when we saw the lady of the house where
we held the Bible study, she told me the man had taken a week off from work
just to read the New Testament. He had
realized from attending that class that he didn’t know anything about the
Bible. He continued to come to the Bible study. After about four weeks, he
asked if he could have a one-on-one conversation with me.
When we met, he looked straight at me and said, “I am
not a Christian.” I asked him why he
said he wasn’t a Christian. He answered
that there were many reasons. When I asked him to give me one, he became very
serious, and I could see he was wondering what he might say to me. I had him turn to I Corinthians 6:9-10, which
he read out loud. I asked him what
bothered him about this portion of Scripture.
He immediately said, “The people in that list are not
going to inherit the kingdom of God.”
I asked him if
he was in one of these groups. He
replied without stopping to think, “I am in a lot of those groups.”
“Oh,” I said, “Then you are a sinner.”
“It is worse,” he answered. “I’m not
going to inherit the Kingdom of God.”
A week later, this man told me that he and his wife
had received the Lord and they wanted to know what to do next. So I began
having special Bible classes with them, and later they joined the church. He
was a very gifted brother in many ways, including preaching, singing, and
playing musical instruments.”
Paul,
even in writing to the great church of Ephesus, warned the Christians about
conduct not becoming to a Christian.
Let’s just look at the first five verses together:
(Eph
5:1-5) “1Be ye therefore
followers of God, as dear children; 2And
walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God.”
(Rev
21:8) “But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.”
Now
I would like for us to return to I Corinthians 6:9-10: “9 Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God?”
[Answer the question! Who qualifies as the unrighteous? Well, let us continue the verse.] “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God.”
We
can plead ignorance, but Jesus taught us over and over again that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
Let
us look at Matthew 5:20. Jesus said, “Except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven.”
Last
week in a home Bible class, we were studying 2 Corinthians 6:11-18. As we took
turns reading a verse each and seeing if we could draw some conclusions as to
what the passage means, we got to verse 14, which says: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion
hath light with darkness?” We talked a
little bit about being yoked together with unbelievers. They didn’t have any misgivings about
that. Then I asked, about “what
communion hath light with darkness?” The teen-aged daughter gave a good
scientific answer. But then I said, “We
missed one.” “What
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” We came to a
standstill. Finally, I explained what I thought this really means. They seemed
to agree wholeheartedly. Since I thought I had gotten the point across, we went
ahead and finished the rest of the passage. As I teach these verses, I pray
that the Holy Spirit will use them to convince, to convict, and to convert.
The
Apostle Peter wrote to professing Christians who were scattered throughout
various countries of the Middle East these plain and penetrating words: “14If ye be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit
of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but
on your part he is glorified. 15But let none of you suffer as a
murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's
matters. 16Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be
ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17For the time is
come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18And
if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear?” (1 Pet 4:14-18)
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