Four Pillars of God's Work You Can Lean On to Fulfill The Great Commission Part 2

Pillars of God’s Creative Sovereignty & Hope-Filled Resurrection Strength

Victorious Salvation (Acts 26:12-18)

In Acts 26:12-18, Paul is speaking about his conversion to Christ. The question is, “Why would Paul tell Festus his testimony? Why is it important to His trial? Why is it important to Paul’s mission field?

Paul describes his conversion to Christianity as a radical revolution of sorts. His testimony will show Festus that God’s victorious salvation transfers people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light, taking enemies of God and making them his joyful servants. Paul is living proof of this radical reality.

Henri Nouwen, in his book, “Wounded Healer,” wrote,

“I am increasingly convinced that conversion is the individual equivalent of revolution. For it brings about radical change...” Henri Nouwen

What was the radical change in Paul’s life that testifies to God’s salvation work?

Paul’s conversion reveals he was God’s enemy.

In verse 12,

Acts 26:12 ESV

“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

Paul reveals that he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians on the authority and commission of the chief priests. Paul was operating as a Jewish Pharisee representing the authority of the temple. Moreover, he was convinced that Christianity was an evil sect that threatened the Judaism. He confesses to the Philippian church that he was a zealous for the law and Jewish way of life. He hated Christians. His life, at the time of Damascus, was fixed on protecting the temple and eliminating those who follow the Way.

in verse 13, Jesus confronts Paul and says,

Acts 26:14 (ESV)

‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

To “kick against the goads” was a Greek proverb. Herders would uses pointed sticks, goads, to move the animals in the direction they wanted them to go. A stubborn animal would kick against the pointed stick only harming itself.

Jesus was telling Paul that though you think you are in the light, doing the righteousness of God, however, you are in fact in the darkness, under the power of Satan, unforgiven, and readying yourself for the wrath of God.

In so many words, Jesus says to Paul, “Your deeds are evil. You are persecuting my church, and when you persecute my church, you bring violence against Me in the way Satan attacks my kingdom. You are in fact my enemy.”

Paul might have been blind sided at this point. He really thought he was going in the right direction. He had the backing of the temple. He had zeal for the law. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. There was nothing in his life that he felt would condemn him. Jesus, however, revealed Paul’s true heart. He revealed the rebellion deep inside. He showed Him that he was blind to the truth. Paul was in the dark.

Paul gives his testimony in part to reveal his darkness. What Jesus revealed in Paul is what He reveals in everyone of us. The gospel is about first identifying your sinful condition.

The gospel reveals every sinner is an enemy to God.

Every sinner naturally kicks against the goads of the Good Shepherd because every sinner loves darkness.

Jesus told Nicodemus,

John 3:19–20 ESV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Everyone is born with Adam’s curse. We are all born in darkness, dead in our sins. We love darkness when we, follow the course of this world, following Satan, having a spirit of disobedience to God. We love darkness when we live according to the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of our bodies., whether religious or worldly. And when we love our darkness , we live as children of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). Paul tells the Ephesian church darkness is the state of all humanity. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

The gospel reveals every enemy of God who remains in the darkness will be condemned.

Jesus told Nicodemus that everyone who does not believe in the Son stands condemned (John 3:19). Condemnation involves suffering the wrath of God for being his enemy.

There is going to come a day when God will judge the earth. The Old Testament describes this as the “Day of the Lord.” The prophet Isaiah describes the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 13:9–13 ESV

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.

The Day of the Lord is God’s final judgment on sin. It will be terrifying for every enemy of God who chooses to remain in the darkness. Paul was in the dark doing deeds of darkness. He was child of wrath. His persecution of Christians revealed he was a child of wrath. Festus needs to first identify with Paul’s darkness before he can understand the radical nature of the gospel power to do a revolution in the heart of sinners. Before any sinner comes to saving faith, they must understand they are a child of wrath living in the darkness as God’s enemy. We are all Saul’s fo Tarshish by nature.

When you give your testimony, it’s not just about your broken humanity. I was a drug addict and God set me free, or I was an alcoholic and Jesus came into my life and helped me kick the habit. Those are true things, however, Jesus is not your therapist. He is our Savior first and foremost. For the gospel to take root, you must come to the realization that if you die as God’s enemy, all of your evil deeds that you loved to do in the dark, will be exposed, and you will be condemned to eternity in Hell.

In my own testimony, I make no bones about telling people what God revealed to me in the night club. He did not come to me and say, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” No, he opened my eyes to see that the flames of hell were singing my feet. I was as Jonathan Edwards described in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” the unconverted man. He says,

“Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen.” Jonathan Edwards

Like Paul, I needed a change of heart, and that would take a divine revolution in the form of a victorious salvation.

Paul’s conversion testifies of God’s victorious salvation.

Christ invaded Paul’s life to save him, not condemn him. Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus was God’s sovereign grace on Paul to turn him away from his wrath, and into his salvation. Jesus reveals this much when he tells Paul’s why he is saved.

Acts 26:15–18 ESV

And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Jesus delviered Paul from the kingdom of darkness, from the power of Satan, from God’s wrath by forgiving his sins, so that he could live a sanctified life of faith in Christ. And Jesus appointed Paul to tell others, like the Romans and the religious Jews, that they too can have salvation in Jesus’s name. God’s enemies can become His children.

Paul’s conversion to Christianity reveals that Jesus is the only way to remove God’s wrath from your soul. If you are dead in your sins, you must be made alive. Paul says God makes you alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5). He also says that Jesus is the only one who can transfer you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). Jesus is God’s victorious salvation, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension accomplishes everything you need to be saved from God’s wrath and to be transferred out of the realm of the Satan and into the kingdom of God.

The revolution in your heart begins with repentance & faith

Paul makes it clear in his testimony that conversion to Jesus comes when you repent and believe.

Acts 26:18 ESV

to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

To receive God’s gift of forgiveness in Christ, Paul says you must repent. Repentance is what Paul is describing when he says, “turn from darkness to light.” You must turn from your sins.

When I was young in the ministry another pastor and I visited a man who was living with a woman who was not his wife. He claimed to be a committed Christian. We asked how can he live with a woman who was not his wife, be sexually intimate with her, and believe God is ok with your sin? He said God forgives his sin, even though he willingly remains in it.

That, my friends, is nonsense, and that is not repentance. You cannot choose to remain in your sin and still love Jesus. God hates sin, so much he sent his one and only Son to deal with your isn. Sin, like sexual immorality, is darkness. It operates under the power of Satan. Jesus told Paul that God’s victorious salvation comes to those who “turn from darkness.” To turn from from darkness is to stop loving your sin.

“The work of repentance screams with conviction, ‘I refuse to love my sin anymore!’”

Repentance is not passive. You must first make the decision to turn away from your sin. Then, friend, you fight. You mortify your flesh, that is, you slay every evil desire in your heart with the truth and promise of God’s word. You take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, all the while walking by faith.

Jesus says in verse 18, “those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” Jesus is referring to those who are made holy by their faith in Him. Faith in what what, or shall I say, whom? Faith in Jesus, God’s Messiah. On the cross, Jesus takes your sin and in return gives you His righteousness. His righteousness makes you holy, sanctified before God. Your sins are no more. You have been washed by the blood of Jesus, forever cleansed, spotless. Your sins were as scarlet, but in Christ, they are as white as snow. You receive His righteousness by faith. You believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, satisfying his wrath on the cross, accepting his sacrifice, and applying it to your account. You must believe He is your Savior.

The Puritan Thomas Brooks wisely explains

“Believing is nothing else but the accepting of Christ for your Lord and Savior, as he is offered to you in the gospel. And this accepting is principally, if not only, the act of your will, so that if you are sincerely and cordially willing to have Christ upon his own terms, upon gospel terms—that is, to save you and rule you, to redeem you and to reign over you—then you are a believer. Your sincere willingness to believe is your faith, and this gift brings you within the compass of the promise of eternal happiness and blessedness.” Thomas Brooks

Repentance and faith is what starts the revolution in your heart. Accepting Christ, on His terms, is what removes God’s wrath, and makes you his child. Repentance and Faith in Christ is what changes the direction of your life, your eternal destiny, for all eternity. Have you repented of your sin? Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior by faith? Do you sincerely believe in Him? Do you simply believe He is God’s Messiah? By faith, do you believe Jesus redeems you from the kingdom fo darkness, and reigns over your life as your King? Does you life reflect His rule and reign over your life?

What makes God’s salvation victorious is that Jesus’s salvation cancels the penalty of your sin. God’s wrath is removed and God’s love is lavished on you forever. But God does not wait to give you victory. He empowers you, now, to fight the power of your sin. Acts has been clear to us that God has empowered his church with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The Spirit testifies in you and through you that Jesus changes your heart and your life and your eternity forever. It is through the Holy Spirit Paul’s life is a testimony. Since chapter Acts, Paul has been joyfully advancing the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home. His testimony has been so impactful it is changing society. That is how powerful the gospel revolutionizes your heart. The rest of Henri Nouman’s quote captures this idea. He finsihes by saying,

“Jesus has made it abundantly clear “that changing the human heart and changing human society are not separate tasks, but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross” (p. 20).” Henri Nouman

How does Paul lean on God’s victorious salvation?

Paul leans on God’s victorious salvation when he actually testifies of God’s victorious salvation. He fulfills what Jesus sent him into the world to do; to open the eyes of the Gentiles and Jews to the gospel. His repentance and faith move to obedience. Obedience to sharing the gospel is how you lean of God’s victorious salvation. God has commissioned you to share the good news that Jesus saves his enemies. You must tell the world you were once God’s enemies and by repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, you are now his child. God uses your testimony to fulfill the Great Commission.

Promise-Keeping Security (Acts 26:22-23)

To fulfill the Great Commission, you must trust God’s goodness and His plan. You have to believe that God is for you and not against you, and that he has the ability to do everything he said he would do. What do you stand on to give you the confidence that all things do work for the good of those who love Christ and are called according to His purpose? Paul says you stand on God promise-keeping security.

Acts 26:22–23 ESV

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Paul says he is standing on the foundation of what God told the prophets and Moses. God is a faithful promise keeping God. God kept his promise to Adam and Eve, that one day her Seed would crush the serpents head. So he fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, and ascension. God told Moses that a prophet better than he would come and deliver and lead Israel. So God fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. God told Abraham that his seed would be a blessing to all the nations and that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens. So God fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. God promised David that he would have a son who would never leave his throne. So God fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. God told Isaiah that a Christ would come, a righteous Suffering Servant who would bear the iniquities of his people, dying as a criminal, and being raised to new life (Isaiah 53). God promised Ezekiel that His Messiah would come and circumcise his people’s hearts, cleanses them from their sin, and reconcile sinners to God. So God fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. God promised he would forever dwell with his people, empowering us to live righteously. So God fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Paul testifies that he is standing on the confidence of God’s faithful promise-keeping security.

Russell Kelso Carter (1849-1928), wrote the Hymn, “Standing on The Promises of God” in 1886. He wrote while he was teaching at a Military Academy in Pennsylvania. The Methodist Holiness camp had a profound affect him. You combine his military background and his desire to live a holy life for Jesus, and out comes, “Standing on the Promises of God.”

1 Standing on the promises of Christ my king, through eternal ages let his praises ring; glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.

2 Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

3 Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword, standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

4 Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit’s call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Refrain: Standing, standing,  standing on the promises of God my Savior; standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.

Themes of perseverance radiate through this hymn. The Great Commission is a war on the kingdom of darkness. God’s light will triumph, but the battle will rage until Christ comes back. We must hold fast and fight. How do I persevere until death takes me or Jesus returns? I stand on the promsie that my eternity is secure in Christ. How do I hold fast during times of doubt? I stand on the promise that my God will never leave of forsake me. How do I overcome the daily temptations of sin? I stand ont eh promise that God has given me his spirit and his word, that is living and active, and able to change my desires. How do I fulfill the Great Commission to the darkest places on earth? I stand on the promise that I am secure in Christ. He is my all in all.

God promises one day he will gather his people, rid the world of sin, restore creation, unite heaven and earth, and dwell with is people forever. That promises is yes and amen in Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

Paul leans on God’s creative sovereignty, resurrection strength, victorious salvation, and God’s promise-keeping security. And Paul is resting in the fact that God kept his word, and so should you.

What should I do?

Take creative risks for God.

Cheerfully share the hope of Jesus’s resurrection.

Mortify your sin. Practice repentance and faith

Trust God’s good plans for you, even in the midst of hardship.