This is our 326th message from the Book of Acts.
In other words, we are averaging over 12 messages per chapter.
But if every verse was as pregnant and important as this one, we’d be averaging 2 or 3 times that many.
This is one of those mountain peak verses.
This is one verse which needs to be studied and restudied, memorized and meditated over.
Acts 26:18 outlines six aspects of the greatest need that every child of Adam possesses.
And it describes what should be the focus of the gospel ministry.
It’s not our Christian responsibility to see that the people of the world have food on their tables.
We have no commission from Christ to make sure that everyone has good health care.
And even though it would be good if the people of the most remote tribe in the world were able to read the Word of God in their own language, teaching them to read must be second, third, fourth or fifth on our Christian to do list.
After the Saviour arrested Paul and pummeled his soul a little bit, He said:
“But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for 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;
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.”
But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.”
So without further ado, we’ll begin where we left off.
You should also know that we don’t sing them all.
Some we don’t like, and some we just don’t look at.
That means that we call about 750 hymn numbers every year – year after year.
In other words we sing the same songs over and over again.
And for the most part that’s okay.
Don’t two or three of those hymns say something about “Tell me the Story of Jesus, AGAIN”?
Not only do we sing the same songs, but those songs talk about singing the same songs.
And again, that’s okay.
Even though I keep track of all my messages and the texts from which I preach, I cannot tell you how many messages I have preached on the subject of the forgiveness of sin.
But like those hymns, let’s just say that I have touched on this subject often and regularly.
What can I say about the subject which I haven’t said many times before? Nothing!
But let’s remind ourselves of the highlights anyway:
First, there was no need for Paul to forgive people; that was not what the Saviour was talking about.
He needed the forgiveness of the families which he helped to destroy.
And, of course, he needed to be forgiven by the Lord.
But there were few who needed his forgiveness.
As David said to the Lord after his adultery and after murder, “Against, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.”
The forgiveness of which this verse is speaking is the forgiveness of God.
Perhaps the most significant thing about this aspect of the commission was that Paul was not made some kind of priest of the Lord.
He was not given authority to forgive sins even on behalf of God.
The idea was totally ludicrous to the mind of an Israelite, because the idea was totally foreign to Jehovah and the Old Testament scriptures.
When the Saviour – when Jehovah Himself – said to a man, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee,” the orthodox Jews were immediately looking for rocks to hurl at him.
“Who can forgive sins but God only?”
Paul’s involvement in the business of forgiveness was to preach Christ, to command repentance and to encourage sinners to turn to God.
Forgiveness is the business of the Lord alone, and it is dispensed through His grace.
The Lord is not obligated to forgive any of us, no matter how repentant or how trusting we might be.
All that the gospel evangelist can lawfully do is point to the Saviour and urge sinners to bow before Him that they may receive forgiveness of their sin and their sins.
When Peter and some of the other Apostles were brought before the council,
“They answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
And when Paul was invited to preach in the synagogue in Antioch, Pisidia, he said,
“Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
To the Ephesians he wrote:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
And to the Colossians he wrote:
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
Paul’s mission was to turn “the people” and the gentiles to the Lord for the forgiveness of their sins.
The method for doing this would be to preach the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
And to that method Paul had been faithful.
I think that it would be really interesting to know what was in his mind when he heard the word “inheritance.”
To secular-minded Israelites the inheritance was the Promised Land and little more.
There were some of Israel who were more spiritually-minded,
And exactly where Paul stood is even more unknown.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know,”
For some reason Peter was awestruck, dumbfounded or asleep, so Thomas expressed the common confusion: “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”
What did those converts to Christ recently saved out of Judaism think about Heavenly mansions?
But he was also going to be a witness about those things which the Lord was yet going to reveal to him.
And generally speaking it is through Paul that we have learned what this inheritance means to the New Testament saints.
For example, we know that this inheritance isn’t really ours.
Usually in our society, connected to the word “inheritance” are the words “last will and testament.”
And usually when we think of an inheritance we are picturing something that is going to be given to us.
But in the things of the Lord there are really only two testaments, or two covenants.
And those covenants were made within the God-head, between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Yes, there is an inheritance, but it isn’t ours as mere creatures of God; it belongs to the Lord Jesus.
And so Paul tells us, if we are God’s children, born-again and adopted into His family, then we are heirs – “heirs of God, and joint–heirs WITH CHRIST.”
There are undoubtedly mansions, or some kind of Heavenly dwelling places for us,
They are being prepared for us, and the saints of God will soon take possession,
but none will be so bold that we have bought them, or earned them.
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
And that predestination was guaranteed by the purpose of Him who “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
Part of that guarantee is the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the earnest of that inheritance until the completion of our salvation – until the redemption of God’s purchased possession.
We need to remind ourselves that we were born and raised wicked, rebellious haters of the one true and living God.
But God’s grace has incorporated us into the covenant between the Father and the Son.
And for that reason, as Paul told the Colossians, we need to be busy
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
Has there ever been a large earthly inheritance given to some senseless individual which has been squandered, wasted and eventually forgotten or even despised?
In the case of really large earthly inheritances, wise is the benefactor who establishes a trust fund with those funds.
But unlike those situations, both Paul and Peter remind us that this inheritance is eternal.
Hebrews 9:11 – “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
What is this inheritance?
It can be summarized by saying, “It’s all of the effects of God’s gracious salvation.”
Paul tells us in Romans 8 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
From day number one in Paul’s Christian life, the Lord Jesus told him that he would be a spokesman for the inheritance.
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
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.”
One of the primary lessons of the Bible and particularly of the Old Testament is that Jehovah is absolutely holy.
The other day I went to one of the office supply stores to look for some paper.
Forgetting about all the different colors of paper, and concentrating only on the so-called “white” papers, there is an enormous variety.
I use very cheap paper for one-sided copies, but my sermon notes go on a little thicker paper – a little whiter paper – so that I can print on both sides.
There are white papers which have a rough texture, and there are papers with smooth surfaces.
And it’s possible to put three or four packages of white paper together to see that some are whiter than others.
In fact some paper manufacturers even market their papers according to their brightness factor.
Then there are papers made by using acids and there acid free, which makes a difference in some situations.
There is actually an endless number of different kinds of white paper.
and in fact which would be beyond man’s ability to manufacture.
The whitest, purest, most spotless woman on earth is not fit to stand before God in His holiness.
For sinners to think that they can clean up their lives sufficiently to make themselves presentable to the Lord is ludicrous.
The only way that any of us could enjoy the presence of God, requires a number of miracles – not the least of which is sanctification.
We need to be changed, made holy, and set apart in the Lord’s own spiritually-sterile environment.
We must be saved and glorified to be fit for Glory and the King of Glory.
By nature we are sinners, and “such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
In Acts 26:18 we have the gist of Paul’s commission – we have an expression of the rest of his life.
And in this verse we also have a description of our greatest need.
You need to be turned from darkness to light; you need forgiveness and sanctification.
Now, let me close with this: Is it my imagination or do I see a progression in the six parts of this verse?
Opened eyes are necessary before there can be a proper turning to the light.
And the power of Satan cannot abide in the light of the Lord.
Forgiveness of sin is a prerequisite to obtaining the Lord’s inheritance.
And perhaps the highest aspect of that inheritance is to be sanctified unto God.
Can you honestly say that these six things are all found in you?