The
Word of Truth Ministries
Almost
and altogether
Acts 26:29
The great Apostle Paul, a man of God who paid a great
price for the name of Christ, was before King Agrippa and Governor Festus
pleading the case of Christ. So mighty was his preaching that Dr. Luke
wrote in Acts of the Apostles, that Governor Festus had earlier
trembled at Paul’s preaching. But here in the presence of King Agrippa,
that great and aged Apostle preached even more fervently, as he prevailed
upon King Agrippa to become a Christian. Without the benefit of hi-fives,
turning around and asking someone to repeat what he has said, or without
the adornment of organ music or any of today’s many accoutrements* used
to adorn what preachers are saying, Paul just preached the unadorned, but
rightly divided, word of God. That shook King Agrippa and Governor Festus;
the King exclaimed to Paul, “Almost thou persuades me to become a
Christian.” And Paul’s response was this, “I wish that thou were
almost and altogether, even as I am, except these bounds.”
Paul wished that he had persuaded the King, but he
had done his part: He had preached the truth of God’s word with
all his might. And that is really all God is demanding of us. Notice I did
not say, “He had preached as best as he could.” There are many
preaching as best as they can, but they are still not preaching God’s
word correctly. That is because many ministers are not vessels of honor;
instead, many preachers are vessels unto dishonor—they were never called
of God; some were called and have gone away into dishonor; some have not
studied to show themselves approved of God.
And there are many of those to whom we preach who are
also vessels of dishonor, only fitted for destruction--they have been
appointed by God to his wrath. So are we wasting our time preaching to
them? I think not. To do what God tells us to do is never a waste of time.
Remember the case of Moses? God told him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to
let his people go. But before Moses went, God told him that Pharaoh would
not do it because HE, God, had prevented him from doing it. [Rom. 9]
Likewise, Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, but Jonah later protested that
he knew that God would be turned by the repentance of the people. [Jonah
3] Both were told to go on crusades that were seemingly unprofitable to
repentance and/or compliance with God’s word, in a sense. But as theirs
was so is ours is to obey the word of God.
God has said to his ministers to lay hands on the
sick and they shall recover. [Mark 16] Ours is the laying on of hands;
his is the recovery part; He will bring his word to past; that is
not our obligation. Our duty is to always obey his word and allow
God to give the increase and accomplishment of his word. He looks over his
word to perform it, and be assured that it shall accomplish where it is
sent. [Jer. 1:12; 1 Cor. 3:7]
Many times I have laid hands on the sick and not seen
any immediate results, and many times I have seen immediate results, but
the point is this, whether I saw results or not, mine was to do as God
instructed me to do and let him attend to that portion he has set in his
domain. I have discharged
my obligation when I do as God instructs me to do. Yes, there are times
when I see God seemingly is slow to answer that I will prevail upon his
as a son wanting a more immediate response.
This is the privilege of my son-ship—I can go boldly to the throne
of grace to obtain mercy and an answer because I know that sometimes,
God requires us to prevail in prayer. [Heb. 4:16]
I built a work is a small city of some 60,000 people.
My wife and I went to that city alone to develop that work for God. We
did. And in so doing, I learned a great deal in that endeavor. As I
preached and saw no results, I called God into question about whether
there was some defect in my preaching or living. For after months of
preaching to sinners, I saw no results of that preaching, that
handing out tracts in the community, that going into homes, praying
and teaching therein. I told God that He had said that his word was like a
fire and a hammer that broke the rocks into pieces.
[Jer. 23:29]
God gave me a better understanding of that Jeremiah
scripture and all his word. He came back to me, asking me rhetorically,
“You didn’t see the time element in that scripture, did you?” Indeed,
I hadn’t because that was only seen in the doing of his word. And as I
obediently preached his word, when the fullness of time had come, souls—those
whom he had called and selected before the foundation of the world—started
repenting and started getting saved by and in accord with his word. But
mine was to obey his word consistently and continually. That is a lesson
many of us fail to see, as we live the fast life of this modern world.
Did not Paul tell Timothy, “Consider [obey] what I say and the Lord give
thee an understanding in all things.” [2 Tim. 2:7]
Paul said to Agrippa that I wish you were even as I
am, almost and altogether, but without the bonds that were upon
him. But his wish was not to be. And there are many who are only almost
Christians. Yet almost is not enough; one must be altogether
saved. The tragedy is not only that they are only almost, but this:
many of the almost do not know that they are almost; many
of them think that they are altogether saved.
Many years ago, as a young boy, I talked to my mother
about her religion, and her words were a fire that kindled a desire for
God in me. I prayed and asked God to give me religion just like my mother
had. And, indeed, God touched me by his Spirit so that I knew that I had
been touched by God. He answered my prayer and gave me religion like my
mother had. But that was only a touch—that was the almost, not
the altogether salvation that I later came to.
There are millions like that today—almost but not altogether saved.
A person can never be altogether saved unless he/she has been saved correctly, as in accord with the precise dictates of God’s word. I am aware that many are casting themselves as Christians today but have never experienced the new birth per the instructions of the scripture, yet have have allowed deceived men seduced by Satan to tell them they are saved. And because they have not experienced God’s rebirth process, they, in their own self-centric thoughts think and assume that because they have not received the new birth the way the apostles and those whom they instructed received it, it must not exist that way any longer. [Acts 2:4] Yet the same promise that Peter said he had received, along with all those in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, is still for everyone. [Acts 2:38-41]
Today, however, many people who call themselves Christians never rigorously examine themselves by the word to see whether there is something wrong with them. Instead, they assume they are correct, so the word or the method of receiving the new birth must have changed. What presumption; what madness; what arrogance of person!
Then come the change-agents to show them that
they are saved as they are, without fulfilling the word of
God. These rationalize and justify the almost saved and
certify that they are the altogether saved. But let no man, Satan,
or even yourself deceive you. Eternal salvation is too important for you
to play with. A usual trick of Satan and carnal men enables you to tell
yourself that God is love, and that he will forgive your mistakes. But
love is not all that God is. He is also a God of judgment and exactitude:
See now that we do all things according to the pattern shown to us.
Jesus and the disciples were our examples, certainly not this crop of
almost saved ministers presiding over God’s church today. [Heb.
8:5; 1 Pet. 2:21] We have allowed the almost saved to administer
spiritual things, which they are unqualified to administer.
In the book of Mark 8, Jesus healed a blind
man by spitting in his eyes. He asked the blind man, “How do you see?”
And the blind man responded that he saw men as trees, walking. That is
not how men appear to the normally sighted person, and that is not how
men are in fact. Was this a mistake made by Jesus? I do not think so,
since Jesus is God, and God makes no mistakes. The better question concerning
this passage is this, “What is Jesus attempting to show us by this action?”
We know that God speaks to us in many ways, not just through literal statements.
What he is saying by this example can be seen by examining what Jesus
did, once the man told him how he saw men. Jesus took the man and healed
him thoroughly. And the man saw men as men; he saw clearly.
The man was in the category of almost, and Jesus
moved him out of that category--it was a category of deficiency, flawed
reasoning, a category unable to measure up to the requirements of God--into
the category of altogether. He took the man and healed him so that
he saw things perfectly, as they are. Notice that Jesus could have said,
“Well, at least you now see something.” Or “A little sight is
better than no sight at all.” Instead, Jesus saw that the man was
not healed at all, even though he had been touched and saw something.
Indeed, many people have been touched by God and are only partially
sighted, even as Apollos was in the book of Acts. But partial sight is
not enough for the fullness of God.
When I asked God to give me religion like my mother
had, He showed me what my mother had and gave me that—that was what I
had asked for. But about 10-years later, God took me out of the category
of almost and by his grace and mighty power, He placed me into
the category of altogether saved. One Sunday night I kneeled before
God in a small church in San Francisco, told him that I would receive
nothing less than he had given the early church, and God poured upon me
the fullness of his spirit, as I was born again of water and spirit, even
as the early apostles received from God; the promise of the father was
given to me, as Peter said it would be. [Acts 2:39]
This is the message of Jesus in dealing with the blind
man: many are blind, although they have had a genuine touch from God--they
need more. God has shown this in multiple examples in his word, yet we
see so many people who travel down the road to perdition, thinking they
are saved but need the fullness of God to be saved. They will only be
almost saved unless they hunger and thirst for God and accept
nothing less than what God has said He would give. [Mat. 5:6] Anything
less than what God said He would give is only almost.
In Acts 19, Paul met certain of John the Baptist’s disciples that were without the fullness of God, and Paul asked them about their status in God and what they believed and were taught. When he saw that they were deficient and had only been taught the baptism of John—they were in the category of the almost—he taught them the word of God on the spot and baptized them immediately in Jesus name.
God is an exact God; his word MUST be obeyed exactly, and no amount of man’s rationalizations will make God accept anything less than his word as the standard of man’s behavior. And if one is so self-centric as to think that God has to accept him/her in whatever wretched state he presents himself/herself to God, I suggest you look at the words of God to Elijah when he assumed he was all God had left. [Rom. 11:4] Furthermore, Jesus said that if man refused to do what he wants in praise or anything else, the rocks would cry out.
All humankind needs to come to grips with this fact: We need God; He does not need us. [Lk 19:40] Our purpose in life is to praise him, to serve him; He has no obligation to us, other than what He has said or what He chooses to do. We will do God’s word exactly as He said to do it, or He will get another and allow us to be lost. No amount of self-deception will move us from being almost to altogether.
In Acts 18, Apollos of Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures, was in the synagogue mightily convincing the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when Aquila and Pricilla heard him, they recognized that he was only in the almost category and needed to be altogether saved. They, therefore, took him aside and taught him the word of God more perfectly. And because he was a type of the man who had been touched, and only seeing men as trees, but desiring to see things clearly, Apollos received the word of God and became a mighty minister of God.
Aquila and Pricilla saw things clearly and shared their
insight with him.
Too many people calling themselves Christians are as
King Agrippa was: kings in their own sight and are only willing to accept
God’s word in certain amounts. But God requires line upon line,
precept upon precept to be adhered to if one is to go beyond the almost
category. [Isa. 28] Apollos was a true man of God and not like King
Agrippa, loving the things of this world and willing only to be almost
persuaded to live the life of Christ. And the fake is always aided
by blind leaders. [Isa. 9:16; Mat. 15:14]
Eternity is too long to option for the temporal pleasures of this uncertain life; seeking the beggarly things of this world rather than the eternal things of Glory is a fool’s option. Why die like a fool? Be altogether saved; obey the total, rightly interpreted word of God.
_______________
* There
are many ministers that have preaching styles that are straight out of the
world. The hi-five is a worldly method of adulation that is frequently
used by ministers. The playing of the organ while the minister is
preaching is another method and style that make little or no sense for the
gravity of what should be said by a minister. However, when a minister of
God is truly speaking God’s word, those crude methods are not needed.
The apostles used no such foolishness. I once asked a minister a
rhetorical question, “Do you think the apostles preached the way many
ministers preach today?” That sad minister did not perceive the question
to be rhetorical, and answered it: “Yeah!”
The Word of Truth
Ministry
2005
