Now, in these days together, we are actually looking at what some theologians have called common grace. All of the good that is commonly experienced and enjoyed by mankind in a fallen, sin-cursed world. But as you may have noted from the previous study, I'm actually deliberately avoiding that phraseology. And I do so for a couple of reasons. First, there are some who object to that phraseology. And then also, it does have at least the potential to miscommunicate. Now, as to those who object to the wording common grace, they would insist that no, grace is always saving grace. There's nothing common about it. And so therefore, they would object to that phraseology. Then there are others who have used that phraseology, common grace, to communicate really more than that, which is our focus, which is God's goodness to fall in humanity, especially the relative morality and so forth. So in order to just Avoid miscommunicating or avoid those who would perhaps have objection to that. The safest thing is just we'll avoid that phraseology as much as possible. If and when I slip into it, you'll understand. Okay. Maybe we should use the wording common mercy. So when I say common mercy and do this, you know what we're talking about, right? Okay. All right. But call it what you will. Our focus is on God's goodness. to fallen humanity. Now, of course, that takes in all the comforts, the food, the good that we experience just day by day, common comforts that we don't even stop to think about. Also, things like family ties and natural affection and also civilization and the benefits that we enjoy from society and how you can have Raw pagans comfortably working together and even, for the most part, getting along. Or accumulated knowledge and technological advancements and government with reasonable laws and order maintained in society. Relative peace and security, and especially the relative good that is done by fallen, sinful men. Morals, kindness, and the like. Aren't such things good? Aren't these good? I mean, it makes life in this world not only bearable, but actually enjoyable, right? You agree? Well, how is it that we enjoy such, that they are commonly enjoyed in this world? By accident? We just evolved that way? Because man is basically good? Well, none of the above. We know the truth about man. As he's described by Job, back in Job 21. Depart from us, we don't desire a knowledge of your ways. What profit to me if I should serve God? I don't want Him around. Suppressing the truth about God. All we like sheep have gone astray. None good, no not one. Hostile against God. No fear of God before the eyes, and verse after verse. And this rebellion that man has in his bosom natively against God, often manifests itself towards his fellow man, right? In Romans chapter 3, a text I've referred to already, 10 and following where it talks about none righteous, no not one, none does good, all gone out of the way. It then goes on in the latter part of that section down through verse 17 of saying this finds expression in the way people speak to one another and their actions toward one another. It's against God, but it's especially expressed toward fellow mortals. But again, it's no fear of God before their eyes. That's what gives this. Well, that's the truth about man. We see what man is capable of when we look at a Hitler and a Hussein or a murderer or a molester and so forth. Well, that being so, how is it then that not all are given over to such violent behavior and violence and the like? Well, why is that? Rather, We see in fallen man that which we've seen already in Acts chapter 28. These pagans there in the island of Malta. People who showed unusual kindness, Luke says. We won't take time to read that whole passage again, but for those who weren't here, I just remind you that in the first 10 verses in Acts chapter 28, you have Paul having shipwrecked there and the kindness that was shown to these strangers in distress. You've got 276 people wash up on their shore, and lo and behold, they're building a fire and they're trying to make them warm. They're doing it in such a way as to warmly welcome them as well. So as the fire was warm, so was their welcome or greeting that they were giving to these people. And so much so that even this leader, here's a wealthy man, And the largest staple, he's showing great kindness and courtesy to these fellows for a period of three days, not an easy thing. And then also we find the people were very forthright in expressing their gratitude and expressing appreciation, even what we must regard as a real affection for Paul and Luke at the very least. OK, real affection. being displayed there, honoring them in so many ways and the like. We noted that there was some form of government there. There was order. There was evidently a measure of peace in that little island. And we also know we can see indication of natural affection, a real concern for family ties. And then we also notice, and that's where we are going to begin now, is notice that there was a sense of right and wrong and a desire for justice. Notice again Acts 28 verses 3 and 4. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow him to live. They recognized, as I said before, that murder is wrong. They had a high respect for life. A high respect for life. I want to see these pagans here. And thus, it was, they said this with a sense of satisfaction. Good. Justice. God is man. That's what we want to see. And it would also bespeak some understanding they had of a universal moral government. You know, there's more to government or more to justice than meets the eye. That is to say, there's this unseen moral governor and things are going to be settled, something beyond the courts of men. So a murderer may get away with something that men didn't quite catch him, but it'll catch up with him sooner or later. Justice will be done to evildoers by an unseen judge. And again, they were not unhappy that it was so. They were not saying this by way of a complaint. They desired their concern for justice and yet clearly these people were pagans. They were non-Christians. They were sinners against God. They were lost in their native fallen state. They had no special revelation. As I said before, this is probably the first time the gospel had come to that island. There's no indication whatsoever that a single Jew was there. No indication they had the law and the prophets. No written revelation. All they had was natural revelation. And what they had of that, we must assume, just like the other pagans described in Romans 1, they suppressed it. The truth about the true God, they put that down. They suppressed that. They didn't want that. But even so, we see all this unusual kindness taking a place there in that island, doing what all must regard as good and kind and beneficial, relative morality at the very least. Okay, but how can this be anywhere there in Malta, or for that matter, anywhere? If man is as the Bible says, how can there be, if man is totally depraved, how can there be this relative kindness and the like? My friend, it's only because of what the Bible says that we can understand that apparent contradiction. You follow me? The apparent contradiction. Man doing good at the same time doing evil. How can we account for that? It's because of what the Bible says about man, about this world, that we understand how mankind is capable of such kindness, even though he is depraved and capable of so much gross evil. Because all of this goodness that is commonly enjoyed in our world is from the hand of a very good God. Not because man is so good, but because God. is so good, even keeping evil in check and producing relative good in the world, as he works all things after the counsel of his own will. Or Psalm 145, that his tender mercies are over all his works. I said it earlier, James chapter 1, every good thing is from above, comes down from the Father of lights. Well, think of what this world would be without such mercy from God. like before the flood, given over to violence, or Romans chapter 1, men given over to a reprobate mind and approving all manner of evil. Well, again, not because man is basically good, he isn't. It's because God is so very good. And that's how we account for the virtues, what we might call the virtues, of fallen humanity. What many have called common grace. But, having seen that, everyone must recognize that What is called common grace is not saving grace, right? Or, come mercy, is not saving grace. And there is a huge difference. That saving grace, whereby God shows great riches through Jesus Christ, saves sinful, God-hating rebels, forgives them, changes them, adopts them, loves them forever. Well, I say there's this vast difference between common mercy and saving grace, and that's what we now come to consider from this passage before us, Acts chapter 28, because here in Acts chapter 28, these very nice pagans that show us such unusual kindness, they also demonstrate for us great spiritual darkness. And so that's what we want to focus on. So if you think of the former as kind of the virtues that we see in fallen humanity, but now we come more to the the darker side of it. Well, we find this, especially I've already read verses three and four, so let's pick up a reading now at verse five. Now, who does not find their wrong and fickle conclusion about Paul's snakebite somewhat amusing here? Notice how he put the fire on the wood on the fire. Snake bit him. Oh yeah, this guy, he's a murderer. Justice hasn't allowed him to live. But he shook off the creature, verse five, into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after that, after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God. Now, this would be humorous were it not so tragic. But it's very revealing about these people. For one thing, it shows how unable they were to really and rightly understand events and circumstances in this world. These guys, nice though they were, in their pagan darkness, they had no way to really and rightly understand events and circumstances that took place right before their very eyes. Now, they were very quick to draw their conclusion about these events. They were very dogmatic. I mean, most certainly they're saying, no doubt this man is a murderer. That explains it. Our world view lets us know exactly what's going on here. We can understand this. These tragedies like this, we can explain these things. This man we know undoubtedly is a murderer. They did know for sure that Paul was a prisoner, that he was being transported to Rome, that would have been obvious to them. They were accurate in that at least, okay? But based on Paul's snake bite, then they were absolutely certain that they were convinced that this man, he must be some gross, wicked man that has committed a very heinous crime, must be murdered, so that's it. They so believed this, they were so convinced, they sat there for a long time watching and waiting to see what's going to happen. You know? You're going to swell up in just a minute. You're going to fall down dead. I just know it. Watch it. Watch it. And here they sit for who knows how long and nothing happens. They thought they knew exactly what would happen and why. They were utterly convinced and they were utterly wrong. Right? Was Paul a murderer? No. Is that why the snake bit him? Was he under the wrath of heaven? No. Not at all. They were totally wrong. These pagans could observe facts. They could get some things right. Oh, he's a prisoner going to Rome. He was in the water and he escaped drowning there in the sea. They got that right. They could make those observations. But they operated On very limited knowledge, they operated from not only a wrong particular, but a wrong premise. For instance, these guys were operating on the premise that bad experience is indeed an expression of punishment for some kind of crime. Now, that's not an unusual premise that people have reached. I mean, you've got Job's friends, and they were convinced, you know, whatever you've done, it was very bad. You know, clearly you're a wicked man. You need to repent of that, right? Or you have even the Jews in John chapter 9, and here you've got this man who was born blind. Well, who sinned, this man or his parents? I mean, somebody did something to bring that on, okay? Well, you find that same kind of mindset today, and perhaps it's in a book like, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People, or some such thing as that, right? Where it works on the premise that bad comes, it must be some kind of punishment. Of course, the bigger puzzle is why do good things happen to bad people? That's what we see scripture wrestling with, Psalm 37, Psalm 73, even in the book of Job, wrestling how is it that good things can happen to bad people, but we'll leave that aside for now. It is true, it is true that temporal judgments do at times come upon sin. Romans 118 says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Not the wrath of God will be revealed come judgment day, though that is true. But it says right now the wrath of God in this world is what's being addressed in Romans 118. Right now, the wrath of God is revealed and it's revealed in a number of ways. Now, sometimes there's a clear, a direct connection between crime and punishment. For instance, you have a guy who commits the sin of adultery and the punishment is he loses his family and he goes in hot paying child support. there's a crime and punishment a providential judgment upon his where you have the thief and he gets caught and goes to jail where again crime and punishment or sometimes it's just simple irresponsibility so the way the transgressor is hard to prove this is a very hard life look I'm getting more and more on Hawk and everything's going wrong and so forth. Well, there's a clear connection between that simply irresponsible lifestyle and the problems you're experiencing, buddy. So, OK, temporal judgments that come. Sometimes there's no clear connection, but it is a temporal judgment that God has sent upon sin. But sometimes it's no temporal judgment at all. sometimes we find God passing over sins. Acts 17, Acts 14, Romans chapter 3, it speaks of God winking at or passing over sin. It doesn't mean people get off the hook and they'll never be judged for it. What it means is, in his forbearance, he doesn't judge. Immediately sin is committed and he comes in thunder. No, no, he forbears and he waits for the day of wrath and the righteous revelation of his wrath against sin. So, the point is, God is sovereign and he judges according to his will and his wisdom, and he does so in a way and when it is best to him. Okay? He knows how to do best in these matters. He knows. And therefore, that's what we understand about the justice of God as far as it's expressed in temporal judgment. But that's not how these pagans thought. Those people there in Malta. They operated on a wrong premise. And therefore, there was a wrong interpretation of facts. Well, a snake bit him, a shipwreck, he didn't drown there, but now he's going to die from this snake bite. Obviously, it's God's justice, a temporal judgment. He must have done something very bad. They're wrong in that particular, but really it was a wrong presupposition upon which they were acting. It's that way with modern pagans as well, isn't it? When you have science and they, okay, they can look at certain facts and get observations about this, that, and the other thing, but when they try to put it all together, they're operating on a wrong presupposition, and therefore this thing has to be several billion years old, you know? Or we find people in their whole approach to the Bible. They're going to, we're going to start with the Bible, but they start off with the assumption it's not really the Word of God after all, and we're going to look at Jesus, but we know that there's a historical Jesus other than this Jesus, and therefore, well, they're starting off with the wrong presupposition. How are you going to get on the right path if you start off going the wrong direction, right? It's just not going to happen. That seems to be the case with these pagans there in Malta as well, that they start with the wrong presupposition. Bad has come, ah, it's judgment for a crime. Now, to their credit, at least they were willing to admit it when they were wrong. Many aren't. They forsook their former conclusion for another. No, no, he's not a murderer, he's a god. Now, they were still wrong. Bless their hearts, as we'd say in the South. They were even more wrong in their second conclusion. Anyone who could live through that bite from that kind of viper, he's no mortal. He's a god. So they went from one opinion to another, even to the opposite extreme, and were wrong on both counts. And it demonstrates for us that those without saving grace are unable to really and rightly understand this world and events in it. They can make observations about facts, and they can get some things right, but they're starting off with wrong presuppositions, therefore ultimately they're not going to put those things together in a way to accurately understand them in the whole scheme of things, and they're very easily led to wrong conclusions, as we see demonstrated here with these fellows in Malta. Now, am I saying by that that Christians, on the other hand, those with saving grace, we always get it right? That we never make mistakes in our judgment and so forth? Well, no, I'm not saying that. But we at least have a basis to understand everything. Proverbs 9 and verse 10, also Proverbs chapter 1 verse 7, Proverbs 1.7 talks about the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That's the right starting point. Or Proverbs 9.10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Here's the right starting point. I think it's been best illustrated this way. When it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of, what it means is like the ABCs is the beginning of reading. If you're ever going to learn how to read, you've got to start by learning your ABCs, right? And then as you learn the ABCs, you can go from there and things start falling in place And you're reading, well, so it is. A right regard for God, the knowledge of the true God, is going to then be the basis, the presupposition for understanding all events and circumstances in this world. And so Christians have this, the ABCs, we have this understanding, this basis for understanding the world and all events in it in light of God and what is true about God. And in addition to that, This God has revealed truth to men. He's given us his own holy word, telling us how to think, how to understand, how to know. That's the advantage we have by special revelation and by saving grace. And to illustrate this, why didn't Paul die? I could take any one of you aside now. We're going to take a poll. I'm going to get everyone of you. It's going to take a while, but I'm going to go to everyone. Why didn't Paul die? Was it because the serpent wasn't really a poisonous serpent after all? No, no, that wasn't it. Or was it because, you know, we go down the list. Well, we would all know it's because of God's mercy and God's will. It was already told Paul before this time, way back in Acts 23, that it was God's purpose for Paul to go to Rome. Christ said, you will go and you'll bear witness for me in Rome. OK, that was Christ's will to bear witness to the gospel there. And the apostle Paul was invincible. until that time. Okay? Because here is God's will that he will do this and therefore even though a poisonous serpent may well bite him, that doesn't matter. Even though he's bobbing around in the sea, that doesn't matter. It's God's will. And so we understand why the snake bite didn't kill Paul. Right? Because we know that here we have, he was given clear revelation that he would go to Rome. He had the word from God that he would go there. Not because he was a God, but because the true God has a will, has a purpose, and it actually made that purpose known to Paul, and nothing would thwart that purpose. Rather, everything would fulfill that purpose as God works all things out for the counsel of his own will. That's how we understand Paul, right? Because of what God himself has revealed. Okay, but now it could be raised, the question could be raised, why the snake bite to begin with? Why the shipwreck to begin with? Why that? Well, okay, we reach our limitations. Maybe it was for the gospel's sake to land him on that island to preach the gospel. Whatever it was, again, because we have God's word and truth about God, we rest assured, we can understand it, it was God's will. One way or another, it was of Him Through him and to him, it would be down to God's glory. And God in this way would do good to his people, even good to mankind, perhaps more generally. Now, how is it that we understand that? How is it that we can make heads or tails out of this circumstance here or for that matter, any circumstance in life? It's because we have God's word that tells us about God. And we believe it. And here's our presupposition. Here's our starting point. These pagans in Malta. They didn't have that. All they had was natural revelation. All they had was their own spiritual darkness. Simply what comes out of the minds of men groping in darkness without even trying to read, without even learning the ABCs. Trying to reach the right destination while not even starting on the path. Not even starting with the right presupposition. Like all thy nature then. They're just left to their own minds, their own spiritual darkness. 1 John chapter 4 talks about the world speaks of the world, and that's why the world hears it, right? They're very happy to receive, oh, you speak in my language, I like what you say. So that's what we see here. Unable to understand events and circumstances really, to rightly understand them in the whole scheme of things. Yeah, they can make observations, but how it all fits together, they don't have that ability. That's what we see in Malta, right? But then that accounts for another mistake. in the thinking of these people here in Malta, and not just there, but elsewhere, and that is, though we've seen that they had a sense of right and wrong, they desired justice, they recognized this great moral government, they recognized that there's something beyond human courts, so that a murderer could not ultimately escape, that he would be judged, and they were happy that it was so, even though, okay, so far so good, they got all that right. But they were quite mistaken as to how all of this would come about. They were quite in the dark about justice truly being done by the true and living God. They had some understanding that, OK, God's wrath is revealed. They had some understanding that whatsoever man sows, that will he also reap of a universal moral government, an unseen force. Yes, they had some. But they did not recognize this as the activity of the true God, the true and living God, who is actively engaged in his world. How many, even today, worldlings are willing to accept and acknowledge you reap what you sow? Or I think it's not just in the South, but you probably say it here too, what goes around comes around, right? Or you've got the Hindus and the Buddhists and their belief in karma, some kind of unseen force. It'll get you in the end. Come back as a worm or something, but still, it'll get you in the end. But it's not thinking in terms of the true God who actively judges, who's actively engaged in His world. No thought of Him, rather, may be ascribing such to a false deity, a man-made God, and that seems to be the case here, at least possibly so, in Malta. I don't want to speak too dogmatically, but it's suggested by many that when it says justice has not allowed him to live, they're not using justice in the sense of an abstract noun, but a proper name. In fact, Albert Barnes says that this Justice, or D.K., is a goddess, the daughter of Jupiter, whose opposite was to take vengeance for crime. So it could be Justice D.K., you know, that lady up there, she nailed him. No sense of true justice. At best, their thoughts about some great moral government in the universe involved a great deal of superstition. Right? At best, stopping short of reality. That it's the true and living God who reveals His wrath from heaven, who is the judge, because He is the lawgiver. And so they have no sense, you see, of men being accountable to Him, the truth. I'm not sure that DK lady should get you, but who's this Jehovah? Right? I don't mean to sound irreverent, but I mean that would be from their mindset. No thought that it's the true and living God. with whom men have to do. Not just any being or man-made being of their choice. Not seeing why we're accountable to Him. That He's the great Creator and Sustainer of all. And that's why He has the right to make laws and men are accountable to Him. They don't understand that. not having his law written, only having the works of the law written on their hearts, which they suppressed, which they didn't give heed to. That's what you find amongst pagans, even perhaps well-meaning pagans in the past, ready to sacrifice their children and thinking they were doing the right thing. But that which was written, the works of the law written on their heart, they suppressed, and their own perverted imaginations have set the tempo as to what's right and wrong. And what they didn't know about God's law, even that works of the law written on their heart, they had no ability to perform. They were slaves to sin. And maybe. Certainly, it seemed to be suggested by the wording, they only thought in terms of justice as far as having to do with this world. Here's a murder. Justice nailed him. He's going to die physically. That's it. OK, but no thought of a hereafter, no thought of a coming day of judgment in which all must give an account to that righteous one. Our Lord Jesus Christ simply out here. Now you're dead. And justice was done that way. Perhaps that was in their thinking. But the point is, non-Christians, they may be nice. They may be relatively moral. They may show unusual kindness, but they're left in their ignorance. They're left in their superstition. They're left in their spiritual darkness. OK, they may have some truth, the law on their hearts and the like, but they're fuzzy about such things. and they're unable to live by that which they do know. And so that's what we see here. Basically, living for this world of time, going around in their own spiritual darkness, very earthbound in their thoughts and in their lives. Right? And that's what we see in Malta, and that's what we see about nice, moral pagans in our own day. Isn't it so? Isn't it so? And of course, the real problem is that all are natively ignorant of the true and living God and the nature of the true and living God, the one who's actually doing them good, and they don't even stop to think about it and recognize him, and they're quite mistaken, quite ignorant about him. And that's what we see here in these folk in Malta, how They're ready to serve perhaps more than one man-made deity. If indeed, Justice Decay is the daughter of Jupiter, well, we've got one. That would mean also we've got Jupiter out there as well, and we've got to worship him. And by the way, this guy that was only recently bobbing around in the water, he's a god too, so we've got to pay attention to him. And as I say, they were closer to being right in saying he was a murderer than saying he was a god. What low views of god they had! Right? What low views of god! Any thoughts of deity? At best, it was insulting. But in actual fact, it was idolatry. So even here they are blind to the testimony of natural revelation. You know, you've got the heavens declaring the glory of God, the firm in his handiwork, you know, assuming that they had at least some unclouded nights, they can see the stars and certainly they can see the sun going across. They see the testimony to God and God's glory, a great God who not only has power to create and sustain, but also wisely has done so and expresses his goodness to fall in it. and all the testimony of the heavens before them. The very things that God has created, Paul tells us in Romans 1. They declare His eternal power and Godhead. And then they have this constant witness of God I referred to in the previous study, Acts 14, 17. God's not left Himself without witness. He's not only given you rain and crops and put food in your belly, but He's also put gladness in your heart. It's all for the true and living God as a witness to Himself. They didn't understand this, that the tender mercies of God are over all His works. No, they didn't. And remember how they got that way. It all goes back to Genesis chapter three. Adam fell, we fell in him. But then over the course of time, it's man not wanting to retain the knowledge of God. We want to worship something else. We don't like these rules and et cetera, et cetera. So basically they suppress the truth in unrighteousness and instead they replace it with their own notions. And why is that? Well, because the carnal mind is hostile against God. I don't want him. I'll take all these other gods, they're fine. Not him. And that's the basic disposition, even though they wouldn't articulate it or even think of it in those terms. And so that's what we see of those people there in Malta, or nice pagans generally. Even the truth that is set before them in natural revelation, they suppress. Because common mercy, common mercy, right? It cannot open spiritually blind eyes. Saving grace alone does that. And that leads to another tragic expression of spiritual darkness seen here in Acts 28 in that island of Malta. And it's this, that common mercy does not change man's disposition. It does not change the heart toward God. It does not change the disposition of man towards the light. It does not change the disposition of man towards sin, toward darkness. And that's why a text I referred to before, I speak it again, when Jesus said on the very heels of saying, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes on him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Why wouldn't anyone believe on him? He goes on to say, it's because men, they love darkness and they hate the light, and that's why they won't come to the light. They love their sin, they love their evil deeds, and they don't want to admit their evil, and they certainly don't want to depart from them. And therefore, see, that common mercy, it didn't change their disposition towards their sin or toward the true and living God. And so they reject even that great salvation, or at the very least, they neglect so great salvation that is held out in Jesus Christ. And we see that displayed here in Malta. We've seen that Paul was there for three months. And yet we have absolutely no indication of a single conversion in that whole time. I would suggest it is very uncharacteristic of Luke not to at least mention one or two, if there had only been one or two. Remember in Acts chapter 17 when Paul preached there in Athens? By and large, you've got some mocking and some saying, yeah, we'll hear you again. But at least there are a couple, Luke says, you know, we've got this guy and that lady and so forth. He mentions at least there was some response. We've come here. It's been three months. They leave. Not mention a single conversion. And certainly at the very least, I can say this, not enough to warrant leaving behind. He had Aristarchus, at least Aristarchus and Luke were with Paul. OK, at least those two. Neither one of those guys were left behind. We don't read of any church plant. We don't read of anything going on. And so it leads us to at least the impression that there was not a single conversion after three months there. Nice people. But no conversions. Now, surely the apostle Paul, I mean, the man who said, woe is me if I don't preach the gospel, surely he was not sitting around silent for three months. I'm sorry. I just cannot accept that as a possibility. OK. Here's one who was always striving, laboring to present every man perfect in Christ by preaching this glorious gospel. And though these people had seen him survive that venomous snake bite, they were ready to acknowledge him as a God, but they would not honor the true God that he preached. Doesn't that say something about that? And though we find, as Luke tells us, that they honored Paul in many ways, they weren't ready to honor Paul's God. Though they had affection displayed toward Paul, they displayed no affection toward the true and living God. That's what we see here. Even after seeing these miraculous healings going on. Come on, they're seeing this. There's people sick, being brought in, being healed. Made no impression. It didn't cause them to turn to a God who's so good, who's actually demonstrating in this way, his care for his creatures by way of these healings being wrought. didn't register that we need to repent and turn to this God. There were still no conversions, at least very few, not enough to mention. Shouldn't there have been? Come on, shouldn't there have been? Just in a natural way of thinking, shouldn't there have been conversions going on there? Common mercy may produce much relative good But it cannot and does not produce genuine conversions. There's a vast difference between common mercy and saving grace. And that leads us then to just two observations in closing, two lessons. The first lesson, brethren, is this. Don't confuse, don't mistake what has been called common grace or common mercy, call it what you will, the relative niceness and morality and so forth, don't mistake that for saving grace. There is a vast difference. Now, sadly, this often happens, that the things are mistaken. And you've got non-Christians themselves, don't tell me I'm a sinner, I'm a pretty nice guy. I love my mom, and my mom loves me. I've got to be a nice guy, right? So, you know, they can easily mistake, because they have a little bit of morality. I'm a nice person. I'm a Christian. I'm a... whatever. But sadly, we as Christians can also fall into error in this regard, because we see a person who's nice, maybe a neighbor, a workmate, or maybe it's her mama, and you know, and moral, and believes at least that there is a God. Well, it must be a Christian then. That could have been said about the people in Malta. Well, they're nice, they're moral, they do kind things, and they believe in at least some kind of a deity, right? They weren't Christians. They were still in spiritual darkness, right? We see that demonstrated very clearly. And so don't conclude a person is a Christian because of appearances, because of morality, because of niceness, because of generosity, because even they have some affection towards the preacher, as these guys evidently did towards the Apostle Paul. It may only be Not converting grace. Converting grace, saving grace, is far more than just morality. But it does beg the question, how can we discern the difference? How can we tell the difference? That warrants a whole series, I'm sure Pastor Dom, Pastor Abrahamson, they're just jumping a bit, ready to bring a whole series on that for your benefit. I don't have time in this study or for that matter in this short time together to do that. However, I would at least want to look at Acts 28 and draw out a few things from Acts 28 that will help us in some measure, I hope, to be able to discern the difference between those with common mercy and those with saving grace, or how to detect that morality of common mercy and seeing it for what it is. And firstly this, we ask the question, What place does God's Word, special revelation, what place does God's Word have in the thinking and in the life? And that's vital. We look at Acts 28, we can say quite honestly that God's Word had nothing to do with their thinking and their lives. All they had was natural revelation. And so they were left in their own darkness, their superstition, their wrong conclusions. about life in this world, because God's Word had no place in their thinking whatsoever. Whereas those with saving grace, they have and believe God's Word. Some measure of it at least, they have and they do believe God's Word. Notice if you would, please, 1 John chapter 4. 1 John, the fourth chapter. Text I referred to at least part of it earlier. in the fourth chapter. Here's a distinguishing mark between the world and the Lord's true people. Those who are of God. Beginning of verse 5. He's talking actually about religious teachers who were teaching error, but they were religious nonetheless. And they are of the world. Therefore, they speak of the world, and the world hears them. And in verse 6, we, that is the apostles, those inspired penmen, those inspired spokesmen, handpicked by Christ, we, the apostles, are of God. He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. What's he saying here? Those who are of God, they hear the apostles. Now, obviously, we don't have Paul and Peter and John. going about amongst us, but we do have their labors amongst us in that they are the inspired penman through whom we have been given the Word of God. God communicated special revelation through them. And so he says quite clearly, those who hear us, they are of God. Those who are not, they are of the world, they hear the world. Brethren, what place does the Word of God have in the thinking and in the life? That's the question we must ask here. Is the mind submitted? to God's word. He's such a nice guy and he believes there is a God and he's even ready to say, yeah, religion is a good thing, too. But is the mind really submitted to God's word? We hear the apostles, not what the world has to say. Is that the case? Notwithstanding, here's a guy with limited understanding. Here's a Christian who, well, he's still got remaining corruption there and when he would do good, evil is present with him, just like a law. But nonetheless, there is a mind that submitted to the word of God, right? Not so the guy with only common mercy or common grace, or call it whatever you will. Might be a nice moral pagan, but his mind is not. No, he's listening to the world. The world speaks his language, and that's what he wants to hear. And in conjunction with that, we must ask this. Is their morality actually obedience to God? That is to say, because he has commanded it, or is it for some other reason? Because when John says earlier, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 3, here's how we know that we know him. We keep his commandments. Not simply we keep up a certain standard of morality, but we keep that which has been given us by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now we understand, brethren, yes, Christians may fail miserably, do fail miserably, but nonetheless, there is that purposeful and consistent obedience that marks the life of a Christian because of the working of the Holy Spirit, and the whole nature of regeneration. But is it His word? Is it His commandments? What place does that have in the life and thinking? This guy, whether he goes to church or he doesn't go to church, this nice moral pagan, he has little place, no place, really, in his life and thinking to the Word of God. Even if he may recognize the Bible is the Word of God, but as far as A submission to it is not going to happen. Those who are of God, John says, they hear us, the apostles. Isn't that one way we can tell the difference? And also another question is, is it the one true and living God who is recognized and embraced? In this word, His word. Because there are all kinds of idolatry, popular opinions, What man likes to think of God, they're basically making idols, even if they're not doing it out of wood and stone, they knit them out of the fabric of their own imagination, right? I like to think of God as this way, you know, some cosmic Santa Claus or a grandfatherly figure, and he'll let me get away with anything I want. Well, you've done nothing more than create an idol, right? How many people say, yeah, I believe in God, but wait a minute, what they believe in is something other than the true and living God, right? It's no different than Baal or Ashtoreth or any of these pagan gods we read of in the Old Covenant. Is it the true God? Is it the one who has revealed himself in his word? Who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh? Of course, you recall 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Here's the mark of a Christian. Paul says that, you know, those who don't believe the gospel, it's because the God of this world, Satan, has blinded their minds so they cannot see the glory of God. But then that very God who commanded light to shine into darkness, well, He's shown in our darkness and He's commanded us, He's commanded light to shine into our darkness so that we do indeed see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We see God revealed as He really is in His only begotten Son. And therefore, it's the true God that we know. But that's not the case with these people there in Malta or pagans generally. This God, knowing him not just as an idea, but as a person personally, even as a blessed reality. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11, 27, that no one knows the Father except the Son and the ones to whom the Son wills reveal Him. Has Christ revealed the Father to this person or is it simply nice general relative morality and so forth, even with some lip service to some kind of deity. But it's not that God revealed in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we tell the difference. And of all that God has revealed, especially, is the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ that is believed, that is recognized and believed, that indeed God sent his Son into this world to save sinners. And he suffered for sin. and was buried, and then he rose the third day. This is the gospel. Well, is that really believed? Where does Christ fit in here? And is this truth really believed? Not simply facts acknowledged, yeah, yeah, here's some truths. No, no, really trusting Christ and Christ alone in order to be accepted by God and forgiven. In order to have any real relationship with God. Looking at Christ as the only hope. Is that really recognized and believed? And so having a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A real love for Christ because of that. Really knowing this God as He's revealed in Christ. Really trusting this Savior as the only Savior of sinners. And that works out by way of faith works by love. Paul can pronounce an anathema on those who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 16, they may be religious, they may talk a nice talk, even about some kind of Jesus figure, but they have no real love for the Lord Jesus, just anathema. They're not true Christians. And why that life? Why that morality? What's the mainspring to it? Why does that person show such unusual kindness there in Malta? Is it because of Christ? Is it because saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and having a heart to know and to love God? A new heart? And then out of love for God, seeking to obey His commandments as the expression of love and gratitude to live by His Word and enabled by His grace? Well, that wasn't the case there in Acts 28, was it? The niceness they had, that was not the mainspring at all. They did not know Christ. They did not love Christ. That's not why they did what they did. What place does the Lord Jesus Christ have in the thoughts and in the affections? Peter can write of Christians, and he says, though you've not seen him, and by the way, Peter didn't know all those Christians he addressed in 1 Peter. He had not seen all of them personally. He didn't know them, but he could still write and say, though I know this of you, if you're a Christian, though you've not seen him, yet believe him, you love him. And because of your faith in him, you now have this joy inexpressible. And he can later write to you who believe he is precious. Christ is precious. Was that the case with these people in Acts 28? Christ wasn't precious. Ignore that Christ. And even when Christ was set before them, at least there was no widespread revival, no great number of conversions. We can be assured of that. Christ wasn't precious. Nice? Yes. Moral? Yes. Showing unusual kindness? Yes. Did they get some things right about Paul? Yeah, that he was a prisoner going to Rome and he'd been bit by a serpent. They got that right. But pagans. And Christ had no place in their minds, in their thoughts, certainly not in their affections. No love for the Savior. And therefore, though morality might make for happiness and measures of happiness in this world, Though common grace, common mercy is good by way of the relative good men and joy, it is not saving grace. And it left them under the wrath of God. And so it is with pagans still, all who are outside of Christ. And let me just say, if this is not your rationale, if this is not your religion, if this is not your morality, it's all about Christ. This is not your knowledge of God, as He has revealed Himself in His Word and in Christ, and your mind is not submitted to the Word of God. Though you may be very, very nice and even have an interest in religion, please understand, what you have is not saving grace. It's common mercy, and for that, well, we can thank God. At least you're not here with a machine gun wiping us all out. We thank you, we thank God for that, okay? But, my friend, that will not get you to heaven. Saving grace alone makes sinners right with God. And so you dare not trust your own morality. In fact, if you see your mind not submitted to the word of God and no real love for Christ, what must you do? Oh, you must flee to Christ. The only hope for sinners, but he is hope for all who will come to him. And the Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, I referred to it earlier, no one knows the father except the son and he to whom the son wills to reveal him. What are the next words? You know the next words? That's Matthew 11, 27. You know the next words. Matthew 11, 28. Immediately. No one knows the Father except the Son and whom the Son wills to reveal him. And he says, come to me. Come to me. In your native state, you don't know God. But Jesus says, come to me. He can make you to know God. We have Christ. We believe on Christ. But now my brother, my sister, let me apply this to us. Now, can you understand why there are those who call God's goodness to Paul and humanity, common grace, because surely it is ill-deserved, right? Not just undeserved, but ill-deserved. We deserve the opposite of any goodness, right? A very undeserved kindness from God, doing good to God-haters in a sin-cursed earth who are there hurling up sin against him, and he's showering them with expressions of kindness, making life in this world, not only bearable, but actually enjoyable, even while they're engaged in their rebellion. Now, dear Christian, did you deserve even a measure of that common goodness of God from birth? We sang the hymn 51 earlier about before our infant hearts can see from whom those mercies flow, even from birth. Did you deserve any of these expressions of God's common mercy, God's goodness? Did you? No, no, we didn't. And is that not reason to praise God, as I gave the application earlier, even to praise him fervently for all the good that we enjoy in this world, all the common grace, common mercy, call it what you will. But how much more? How much more should we give him even more fervent praise for saving grace? Common mercy, common grace, call it what you will. It's good. It's good. This expression of mercy from God. But it doesn't begin to compare with saving grace. And who made you to differ? Oh, it's this great God, who set his heart upon us even before time began. And in time sent his only begotten Son, who gave himself for us, that he might make us his own special people. Zealous for good works. Well, brethren, let's remember what God has done for us. Were we not in spiritual darkness? Would we not still be in utter spiritual darkness were it not for his saving grace? Huh? Wasn't it because we were nicer or smarter or anything else? Well, see then and give much and regular thought, dear brother, dear sister, to how much God has done for you. Not just common mercy, but saving grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. sending his son to redeem us, even that we should receive the adoption of sons, indeed that we should now have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, as you would know from Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3. As we've already seen, dealing with us in a way to give us spiritual understanding by commanding his light to shine into our darkness and giving us his word and then that spirit's work so we can understand his word and understand events in this world. Giving us new hearts, enabling us to know God and to love God. and also to know and to love his word in all areas of life, so that we want to do whatsoever he has commanded, and giving us his Holy Spirit, and working in each of us, enabling us in no small measure to live by his word, all because of saving grace. And I've just barely touched on a few of the mercies that God has bestowed upon us in Christ. And so, what reason we have to praise him. Application first message? Oh, when you see God's goodness and common grace, brother, we ought to be But how much more so when we see God's goodness to us in saving grace? Might God grant that we be a people marked by praise and thanksgiving and also that will show then our love by how we live. And since God has been so kind in giving us, instead of giving us over to our spiritual darkness, he's given us his word. And brethren, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, especially taking in the word to make sure we think, why in the world will we listen to the world rather here? Here we have the apostles. Here we have God's word. Well, then let's give our attention to it. Think it and live it. And let God give us grace. So to do. Let's pray. Blessed be your name, our Father in heaven. We love you. We thank you, and we praise you, and we thank you that you've given us eternity to praise you, for as that hymn sung earlier, eternity itself is too short to utter all your praise. Father, grant that day by day we should reflect on these things, that when we experience good even from strangers, when we experience the common mercy that you daily bestow, that we especially should be a people overflowing with gratitude for these things. And how much more, Father, that we should reflect upon your grace to us and our Lord Jesus and every spiritual blessing. Please grant these realities would play large in our thinking and burn in our hearts that we should be a people overflowing with praise and overflowing with love for you. And Father, please grant that out of gratitude for having received your word, we would not be conformed to this world, but rather that our minds would be renewed, that our lives would be transformed as we take in your word and think accordingly. Please, by your Holy Spirit, help us in Jesus' name. Amen.