March 22, 2015
Scripture:
Hymn 290 - Praise the Saviour, ye who know Him
Prayer
We have talked about the times Jesus said, “I am.” But we are moving on. Now we’re going to look at what I will call Christian Blessings. These are the blessings that come from our salvation.
When we take the Lord as our Saviour, something wonderful happens. Our sins are forgiven. We need forgiveness because of sin, and that is the first blessing.
Romans 3:19
We are guilty because of sin. A mother told her little girl the story of Eve in the Garden of Eden, and how she disobeyed the one command God gave her and how she hid from God because of her guilt. The little girl thought Eve was stupid: she reasoned that Eve should have been able to keep one command. The girl could see that ten commandments were hard to follow, but one was easy. A little later the mother was going out. She gave the girl one command: “Don’t look under the bowl on the table.” The girl obeyed at first, but curiosity got the best of her. When she picked up the bowl, a mouse ran out. The little girl felt guilty because of her sin, and realized she was no better than Eve.
Romans 4:7 & 8
When we are feeling guilty because of our sin, we can get forgiveness. God forgives and He forgets, and the sin can never be charged against us again. When a country doctor passed away, his wife found that he had forgiven the debts of some of his poorer patients, writing, “Forgiven - too poor to pay” on their accounts. She thought this was unfair and took these people to court. When the judge saw what her husband had written, he said, “There is not a court in the world that will make them pay.” We are too poor to pay. But we can get full, free forgiveness by what Christ did on Calvary.
There was a shop keeper who would keep track of her customer’s accounts by writing their names and amounts owed on a chalkboard behind her counter. One of the customers was a lady who was worried that she wasn’t really saved. A man asked her, “When the shop keeper erases your owed amount, do you still worry about it?” “No,” she replied, “I’ve paid it and I won’t ever need to again.” The man showed her that it is the same way with her sin and God. He’s paid it, and erased it. It’s gone and there is nothing to worry about anymore. That is the wonderful Christian blessing of forgiveness.
Acts 13:38 & 39
This Man is the Lord Jesus. They preached forgiveness of sins, and that by Him all are justified. When we are forgiven our debt is payed, and we are justified. The ten commandments won’t save a soul. Only forgiveness through Christ will.
Acts 26:19-32
We’re still in Paul’s defence before Agrippa. Last week we saw the mission that Paul was given, in verse 18. He was to preach forgiveness, like we had with the children. It’s one of the most important gifts we have been given.
Paul told Agrippa that he wasn’t disobedient to the heavenly vision. He was faithful; to God, the truth, his mission, and the saints. May we obey like he did!
Paul carried the gospel through Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, and then on to the Gentiles; demonstrating his conversion. It was a shock to those he had been persecuting. When he went to the Gentiles, he told them that they should repent, and do works that proved it. You need to accept the Lord as your Saviour and also to repent. Repentance is sometimes defined as “being sorry enough to quit.” It’s a u-turn into the right way; a change in behaviour. The Thessalonians repented when they turned to God from idols.
So Paul obeyed the Lord, and the Jews caught him and tried to kill him. He was doing the Lord’s will, not theirs. However, he was only preaching what Moses and the prophets had said: that Jesus would die and rise again. In summary, the gospel. The resurrection was a testimony to God’s power and light, and that’s what Paul preached to the people and the Gentiles.
Paul confessed that he was mad against the Jewish Christians, but when Festus charged him with being mad, he claimed to now be in his right mind. He was as serious and sincere as possible. This was his business and mission.
As soon as the resurrection was mentioned, Festus—as we said—accused Paul of being mad. Paul emphatically stated that he spoke the truth. We often say, “God says…” meaning that it is written in His word. What we are also saying is, “This is true.” Truth is precious. Some people claim that truth is relative, but if that’s true, then the statement that “truth is relative” is relative! Truth isn’t relative; it’s bedrock. And we have it.
All that Paul preached came from the prophets. He proclaimed that what they said was true. The whole Old Testament points to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ’s passion didn’t happen in a corner, either. It’s not like Joseph Smith, who had an unverifiable vision. Jesus died on Calvary; not had a vision, dream, or fantasy. He walked the earth for three years, and even Gentiles knew who he was.
Paul knew that Agrippa believed the prophets. Now he almost persuaded him to be a Christian. Paul wished that everyone listening could be like him, except the bonds. That was the heart of Paul. He wanted them almost and altogether persuaded of the truth.
Festus and Agrippa wanted to set Paul free, because he had done nothing wrong. In reality, Paul was probably the only person there at liberty. Everybody else was in bondage to sin.
Hymn 57 — Almost persuaded, now to believe
Prayer