“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
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Contents

1) To Open Their Eyes (Daniel H. King, Sr.)
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To Open Their Eyes

Daniel H. King, Sr.

When the Apostle Paul stood before Agrippa to make his case regarding his innocence from the charges leveled against him by his Jewish enemies at Jerusalem, he told once more the story of those signal events surrounding his conversion to Christ. It is a remarkable account, told briefly in his own words, with many fresh details of the occurrences of that life-changing day. Luke records it in Acts 9 as well, but there he sets it forth as a simple narration of history. Here it is in the form of eyewitness testimony from the mouth of one of the most important and remarkable men who ever lived.

Among those items that are treated in this narrative are the Lord’s arresting words to Paul in his personal commission to preach the Christian gospel to the Gentiles. His work is to be concentrated in the far-flung provinces of the Roman Empire, among the many different peoples and nations who had not yet heard anything about the gospel. It is not accidental that in the providence of the Almighty, immediately after Paul’s conversion in Acts 9, the first actual instance of preaching to and baptizing of a Gentile family is facilitated by Peter and is recorded in Acts 10. Paul was God’s chosen man for this task. And so, the Lord chose, prepared, and commissioned him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles before the first Gentile was even brought into the church! Clearly God had a long-term plan, and it involved Paul’s mission to the nations!

Here is the important part of the account, for our limited purposes in the present study:

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”. (Acts 26:15-18)

Contained in this brief but significant charge to Paul is a more general appointment which falls to each one of us as we consider the matter of sharing the message of the Savior with a lost and dying world. For, even though Paul was given a special apostleship and with it a unique obligation, the task of sharing the Lord’s life-giving good news is incumbent upon all of us in every age. We would like to notice particularly the promises found therein that are attached to the truth that Paul would teach to potential converts:

1. To Open Their Eyes. It is difficult for one to see with his eyes closed. The light cannot shine through closed lids. There may appear a faint glimmer through the thin flesh of the eyelids, but that is all. One is still in darkness. The eyes must be opened for there to be sight. But getting one to “open his eyes” in the sense in which it is intended here is not easy. Some eyes are closed on purpose, and there is great resistance to the very idea of opening them.

It is much like the person who stays up until late into the night; when he finally gets to sleep he crawls under the covers and hides himself from the light in a virtual cocoon of darkness. Awakening him is a difficult duty because he has had very little sleep and he does not want to get up and face the morning sun. He does not want to see the light! Any parent who has been too lenient with teenagers on a Friday night will understand precisely how this works when Saturday morning comes.

Still others are delighted by the feel of the warm sunshine on their faces. We sometimes refer to them as “morning people.” With great delight they open up their eyes to face a new day with a smile on their lips and a twinkle in their eyes. The light is a delightful thing to them, and they welcome it with all the joy of their being. Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Would that everyone was possessed of this attitude, spiritually speaking, when it comes to obedience to the gospel of Christ. Unfortunately there are many more who are resistant to it than welcome it with joy!

2. That They May Turn from Darkness to Light. When the eyes are closed, there is only darkness. But when the eyelids open up, there is light that may be seen if the eyes are functioning properly. Oh that more people would open up their spiritual eyes to the light of the gospel of Christ! If they would only do so, their whole world would be filled with the vibrant and effervescent light of God!

John said of Jesus, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Then he went on to say, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). God’s light is ever victorious over the darkness of sin and death. Isaiah told his generation: “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (2:5). He said also, “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (60:19). Just as men can walk about freely in the middle of the night when a full moon is hanging brightly in the sky, the Lord lights the way for the person who has his eyes open to God’s Word.

3. That They May Turn from the Power of Satan to God. The Evil One has ever been about the business of blinding the eyes of men to the light of God. Wrote Paul, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). Sad to say, but even now, just as then, there are many of the world’s billions who are locked in a death-grip with evil. It has control of them, and they find it difficult to break away from its clutches.

But Satan may be resisted; and he may be defeated as well. Powerful as he is, his main power is manifest through deception. He cannot get what he wants by telling people the truth. He must lie to them and leave them with misperceptions and misapprehensions or else he will fail in his efforts. He lives and dies by the strength of the falsehood. The light of God breaks the power of the Devil: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

When the light of truth pierces the darkness of falsehood, the labor of the Lord is being accomplished and the work of the Devil is being defeated. Hence we must ever “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

4. That They May Receive Forgiveness of Sins. Being that sin is the great obstacle to a right relationship with God, it must be banished from the heart and life in order that the Lord may extend His fellowship to us. It is for this reason that in every case where conversion occurs there is some mention of the necessity of putting sin away and having it removed from the record: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38); “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” (Acts 3:19).

The recognition of sin today is difficult because most evils are not identified as such by people in our time. Sin is not being accurately described as such; it is called something else altogether in order to give it a more benign appearance. The result is that most do not feel guilty at all about the wicked things that they do. They lie and cheat and steal, but feel no pang of conscience for it. So they have no sense of sin in their hearts. If there is no sense of sin in the hearts of men and women, then there is no cognizance of the need to repudiate it, quit it, repent of it, and find the way to do away with it. This is the greatest sin of man in our time, i.e. a failure to identify sin for what it is. Forgiveness of sin can never be enjoyed if evil is not identified and recognized as such.

5. That They May Receive a Place Among Those Who Are Sanctified. What a glorious sentiment! For us to have a place among those who are set apart for divine service here and now, and a place of repose with the righteous of all the ages when this life is over. That is the great promise that comes at the conclusion of this set of divine assurances. The Lord guarantees His people a place with Him now in the sense of fellowship and association, and later when this life is at an end He pledges to make a place for them in His heavenly kingdom.

If you have ever played the game “musical chairs” then you know the feeling of not having a place. Each time the music stops another chair is removed, and you are certain that when it stops once more, someone will be left without a place. If not this time, then next time, it may be you! But of course, this is merely a children’s game. But it teaches us a lesson worth learning. In the plan of God there is a place for you, and it will always be there for you if you put it into your plans as well. As John wrote in the Apocalypse:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Rev. 21:1-3)

Make room in your life for God now, and he will make room for you in his heaven someday. If you will make a place for Him, then He will make a place for you. That is the message for all who would come to Christ.  

— Via Truth Magazine, Volume 59, No. 8, August 2015 

https://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume59/2015_08_Aug_Truth_Magazine.pdf

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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation

1) Hear the gospel — for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31).
 
2) Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).

3) Repent of sins.  For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).  For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).

4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).

5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).  This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27).  For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…

6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA  31501

Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service.   Congregational Song Service: 5 p.m. for every first Sunday of the month.

Wednesday: 7 p.m. Bible Classes

evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com

https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)