"Almost Persuaded."

IT is a very strange thing that the life of a man who wanted to bring the light of the nature and heart of God to men should stand in jeopardy. You may depend upon it, if the devil wants to get rid of a testimony like that, it is worth hearing and heeding. Paul’s message was, to Jews and 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.” He nearly lost his life because he pressed upon men what was of paramount interest—repentance towards God.
If you have never been brought to repentance yet your case is a serious one. You may be young or old, rich or poor, religious or careless—if you have never passed through what is spoken of here, let me urge you to seize the golden opportunity given you today, and settle the question of your soul’s salvation. Paul felt the importance of his testimony, and therefore he says, “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day” (vs. 22). Nothing stopped him. You may say you do not see why we make such a fuss about salvation. No, but there is such a thing as the truth of God being hidden from your eyes.
The Lord wept over Jerusalem because He saw the unbelief that was there, and knew the judgment that was coming. And He knows the unbelief of your heart and the judgment hanging over you, and He said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes” (Luke 19:4242Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. (Luke 19:42)). What day was that? The day of grace, of mercy, of opportunity, of salvation, and of “the things which belong unto thy peace.” What you are busy about are the things that belong to your body, your house, your family, your business—things of time. Eternity is not in your thoughts; and what is hidden from your eyes in time you will never see in eternity. Miss it now, and you miss it forever. “Now they are hid from thine eyes” is an awful word. Some words we often sing, “Be in time,” I should like burned into your soul. If you are going to be saved, do not put off.
How earnest and busy was Paul, “witnessing both to small and great.” Who are they? Well, I see that “small and great” stand before the great white throne (see Rev. 20). What did he tell them? “None other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come” (vs. 22). What Paul preached Old Testament Scripture had predicted. “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the, midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken,” said Moses (Deut. 18:1515The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; (Deuteronomy 18:15)). The Old Testament is full of types, shadows, and figures of Christ. Isaiah says, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (53:7). And again, “He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (vs. 12).
Paul says, I have not preached something new. There was something new in the fact that the Church would be the body of Christ, that there was a risen Man in glory, and that saints on earth were united to Him. But that Christ should die and rise again was not new—there was abundant testimony in the Old Testament Scripture to that, also, “That Christ should suffer for sins.”
Sin always brings suffering. You say, I have had plenty of it in my life here. The question is, Will you suffer in eternity for it? You say, I hope not; it would not be righteous. You have your own thoughts about your sin. I would like to ask you this, Had Christ any sin? Scripture says He “knew no sin”; He “did no sin”; and “in him was no sin”; and yet He was “made sin.” Did He suffer? Beyond any other, to effect atonement. That consisted, not in the sufferings man gave Him, nor His physical sufferings, deep and many though they were, but in God’s forsaking Him. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)). Who are the unjust? I am; that word takes me in. And who was the just? Who but Himself was the just One? He was the only righteous One.
When He rose from the dead He told His disciples in the upper room, when He got them all round Himself, “Thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day” (24:46). There was no way out of the difficulty for either God or man, because God’s side was that He must judge sin, and you and I have sins to be judged. God is holy: you and I are guilty. You may say, God is merciful. Yes, but when? In a day of judgment? Never. A judge must act in righteousness. God is the judge of all, and you are guilty. If a man plead “guilty” in man’s court he is condemned immediately; if he plead “guilty” in God’s court he is forgiven immediately, because “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)). And is He risen from the dead? Yes, thank God. Look back at His cross—there see the spotless Son of God dying and crowned with thorns, the emblem of the curse, dying for sins and sinners.
“My soul looks back to see
The burden Thou didst bear,
When hanging on th’ accursed tree,
For all my guilt was there.”
I want you to get hold of the immense fact that Christ is risen. We live in a day when we are told that there is no resurrection—that men die, and there is the end of them. That is a nice doctrine for careless sinners, because they can go on with their sins, and, when dead are extinct, because there is no resurrection. That will suit you sinners, and you can go on in your sins, saying softly, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:3232If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. (1 Corinthians 15:32)).
The devil has many a servant who will preach that, and each one preaches to a thousand fools that will believe it. They will find out by-and-by that they have believed a lie.
But you say, We have all to die. I reply, as regards believers, We have not all to die. Why not? Because Christ has died for us. True, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”; but read on, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:27, 2827And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27‑28)). That means that Christ in His atoning death once stood between God and man, bore sins and their judgment, and now He is alive from the dead. When He comes again He will take out of the grave those that belong to Him, and those that are alive He will take up to Himself without death. I rejoice to know that I need not (though I do not say I shall not) die, because the Man that glorified God about sin has died in my room and stead, and delivered me from the consequences of sin, viz., death and judgment, as a necessity. Hear His words, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). Well sang another: ―
“God will not payment twice demand,
Once at my bleeding Surety’s hand
And then again at mine.”
The gospel is very simple, and very sweet. Get rid of resurrection, however, and you get rid of Christ. The Word of God is perfectly plain— “Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:2020But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:20)). He could not be holden of death. Lazarus was taken out of death, but went back to it. Every other man saw corruption. Death is the end of man’s pathway of sin and disobedience, but Jesus reached it as the end of a pathway of blessed, perfect obedience and holy love. He went into death for God’s glory, that He might restore that which He took not away, and deliver sinners; and when He reached the grave God stooped down and raised Him from the dead, and His resurrection is the proof of the perfect satisfaction of God with the work He has done. I know that my sins are gone from God’s sight, because the One who bore them is now in the glory at God’s right hand. He was forsaken that I might be accepted. As the Victim He died, but risen He is the Victor, hence Satan’s power is broken, and death annulled, for sin is put away. Every attribute of God’s nature has been glorified in the cross of Calvary. There I see the divine combination of absolute holiness and perfect love—the holiness that judges sin, and the love that gave an only-begotten Son to bear the judgment, that the man who had sinned might be righteously delivered and brought to God. I have not been brought to heaven yet, but I have been brought to God, and my heart perfectly at rest in His love. That is the gospel— have you received and been saved by it?
If there be no resurrection Christ is not risen, but “since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:2121For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:21)). Hence He is going to raise every man that has died. If he has died without his sins, because Christ has blotted them out, he will rise without them; if he died in his sins, he will rise in them. But he is going to rise. How we are raised is another question. I know how I and every true believer will rise. Of the believer’s body we read that “it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:4343It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: (1 Corinthians 15:43)). The Lord is going to fashion the bodies of His people like His own. A Christian is one who knows a risen, triumphant, victorious Saviour.
All God’s claims on man have been met by His blessed Son, and the disposition of God towards man now is mercy, grace, and goodness to the vilest, and to the whole earth. But you must avail yourself of it. The Jew could not bear that the Gentiles should be blessed. Thank God the gospel has come to the Gentiles. Simeon said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou halt prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-3229Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (Luke 2:29‑32)). That is what Jesus is. “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:66And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)). Now it is a great thing to have light, and to see; and if you do not see, and do not know, it is not that there is no light. You have not yet got your eyes opened. They are going to be opened by-and-by, when too late.
Very striking and solemn are the apostle’s words, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3, 43But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:3‑4)). You say, I hope I shall not be lost. You are lost already, and if God snapped the link of life you would drop into an eternal hell just as you are. Worldling, no one takes you for a believer. The devil does not think you are a believer. Do your friends think so? You say, I profess to be a Christian. All the worse, for it is not true. Truth always comes out. When there is repentance there are “works meet for repentance” always in evidence.
Why does the god of this world, Satan, blind people, and what with? He has very large shutter manufactories, and he makes various kinds of shutters. He has got “novel” shutters. You are so engrossed with novels that you sit up reading them till two or three in the morning. He has also “whiskey” shutters. You love a drop of strong drink. He invents and disposes of “scientific” shutters, “pleasure” shutters, “reason” shutters, “race-course” shutters, as well as “religious” shutters. He does not care what they are so long.as they shut Christ out. His fear is— “Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)). You may be decent, respectable, and religious, and yet be unsaved. The devil has a large department of varied religious shutters, and fine shutters are these to shut out Christ. Christ has died, but Satan’s servants inform you that there is a great deal for you to do besides, and he will help you to put up these religious “working” shutters. The gospel discovers and declares man to be absolutely ruined and helpless, and Christ comes in and saves him out and out, as he is, and where he is. No reformation, no amendment, no improvement is admitted or possible, but a self-judged, self-confessed sinner, without one single thing in him to commend him to God, that is the man Jesus saves, like the poor dying thief on the cross.
The gospel is for everybody. Paul says, “This thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:2626For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. (Acts 26:26)). Was the death of Christ in a corner? No, and the wonderful news follows, that God’s Son died for a world of sinners. It was not done in a corner, thank God. He meant it to be known, and although the devil has done his best to stifle the gospel, there never was a moment like the present, for the gospel is going out world-wide—there never were so many preachers of Christ as now. Why? We are just at the close—the Lord is coming. What a pity if the blessing has missed you. Take my advice, believe on the Lord, and get saved today.
In the scene before us Paul puts a searching query: “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest” (vs. 27). The meaning of that is, Do you believe Scripture? Agrippa was not an infidel. He was a worldly man who wanted to go on with things here. He was a man of the world, and did not want to break with the world. He did not think what was involved.
Have you noticed in the Acts of the Apostles how often the importance of the Scriptures comes out? “Believing all things that are written in the law and in the prophets” (24:14). Where is your faith, Paul? In Scripture, every line of it, from Moses to Malachi. You say, I cannot swallow all that is in the Old Testament. Very likely not. When you are damned your doubts will all disappear. You had better get alongside of Paul: he could say, “I am persuaded.” Abraham was “fully persuaded.” Where was Abraham’s faith? In the Word of God. Paul could say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:1212For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)). Paul was all out-and-out persuaded man. If you have never been fully persuaded, be so today. Persuaded of what? The truth of Scripture.
“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (vs. 28). Agrippa has a large family. Many people are like him—almost persuaded. Here you are, almost persuaded, but not quite. Do you know why? You have some doubts about Scripture, and so you are only “almost persuaded.” You are like Agrippa, hopeful, perhaps interested, but not decided. Evidently he was not, for we read: “And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them,” and we never see or hear of him again.
That man had the loveliest gospel preached to him that ever was heard, and at the end of it he says, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” and if I voiced the feeling of your heart just now, would it be, “Almost persuaded”— not quite? How Paul’s heart went out as he said, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (vs. 29). What was he? A fully persuaded man. I do not want you to be a prisoner for Christ’s sake, he says, but I want you to be a believer in the gospel, a fully persuaded man. The person that is only “almost persuaded” and not “fully persuaded” will very soon be in the class of the “never persuaded.” The day of being “almost persuaded” will very soon run out, and then appear the “never persuaded” of Luke 16. When Dives finds that there is no possibility of his emerging from hell’s flame, he does not want company. He says, “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him (Lazarus) to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (vers. 27, 28). Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” What is that? The Scriptures. And then he says, “If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” Resurrection testimony will put them right, he thinks. No; refuse the Scriptures, fritter away the Scriptures, fling them to the winds, and what then? One risen from the dead will not touch you a bit.
If you do not bow to God’s written Word, you will not bow to a risen Saviour. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” That is very solemn— “never persuaded.” You say, How comes that about? The heart gets hardened, procrastination gets such a grip of the soul that no matter what is preached it is not received. From being “almost persuaded” they are very soon drawn into being “never persuaded.”
What class are you in today? You say, God forbid that I should be among the “never persuaded.” And are you only “almost persuaded”? That is no good—there is no safety in that. What shall it be? Let “fully persuaded” be the language of your soul henceforth.
W. T. P. W.