Please take out your copy of God's Word, which I pray you have with you, that it's well read and treasured in your hearts this morning.
And turn with me to the book of Acts, chapter 25.
If you were with us last spring and then not for the summer and you're back now, yes, we are still in the book of Acts.
We are hastening our way to its end, however, moving rather quickly, not because we are tired of the book of Acts,
but because the story hastens us to the end.
Back in chapter 21, Paul's back in Jerusalem and he's arrested there for no good reason.
But the Jews bring up charges against him, blaspheming the temple, causing false worship of God.
And the Romans, evil men that they were, are used by God to rush in and to rescue Paul from certain death at the hands of the Jews.
And we've been walking now through the subsequent chapters, looking at various trials that Paul is standing.
Different places have been.
Last week, chapter 24, he stood trial before the Roman governor, Felix.
And they concluded there was nothing really he could be charged for, but he held him anyway for two years.
And at the end of chapter 24, Felix is, he wasn't a very good governor, so he's removed from his post.
And he's replaced by a man named Festus.
So we saw that at the very end of chapter 24, verse 27 says,
When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus.
And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
And so today we're going to look at chapters 25 and 26.
Yes, both chapters all together, although we'll come and focus in on just a few verses.
But I am going to read it for our benefit.
It only takes about eight minutes, so hang with me in the text.
I'll pause from time to time and just make some comments, some clarifying comments,
hopefully to keep you on the same page.
You're understanding what's happening in this episode of Paul's life.
But before I do that, let me just introduce to you, in real brief, three characters that you're going to hear in this story.
Obviously, we have Paul as a primary character.
Festus, who I already mentioned, Roman governor of Judea, successor to Felix.
We have King Agrippa, who was the Jewish client ruler of Judea.
And that is to say, he ruled the region that was ruled by a higher power, which in our story is Rome.
He was granted power by Rome to rule the religious life of the Jews in Judea.
He would have appointed the high priest, and he would have judged matters of Jewish law.
So he's underneath the authority of Rome, but still holds quite a bit of power for Jewish worship.
And then we're also going to see Bernice, who is Agrippa's younger sister.
Just as an interesting historical aside to you, it's most likely that they were also lovers.
So you, King Agrippa, but this is what's happening.
This is why she's probably with him at this trial.
So, beloved, this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
We see in Acts 25, verse 1, Luke writes,
Now, three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
I'll stop for a moment here to remind you that Caesarea was the Roman capital of Judea,
but Jerusalem is still the center of Jewish life.
It's in a higher elevation, so everything goes up to Jerusalem or down from Jerusalem.
And he travels there to earn favor with the Jewish population.
Festus, as a governor, a Roman governor, was charged with keeping the peace in the province.
And so he goes to pay his dues, as it were.
We also will see that he's apt to grant favors to the Jews to gain their approval of him being there in that region.
Verse 2,
And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul.
And they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem,
because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.
Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly.
So, said he, let the men of authority among you go down with me,
and if there's anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.
After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea.
And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.
But when he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him,
bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.
Paul argued in his defense,
Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar,
have I committed any offense.
And this is a duplication of Paul's previous trial before Felix,
which was two years prior.
Standing in the same place, he's now again having to defend against these same false accusations.
Verse 9.
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul,
Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?
But Paul said,
To Caesar you have appealed.
To Caesar you shall go.
Now, Paul's appeal to Caesar was his right as a Roman citizen.
Although Festus did not have to grant the request to Paul,
the complication of the matter and his charge to keep the peace in Judea
made Paul's appeal a convenient out for Festus.
It was his chance to say,
Oh, well then okay.
Festus was a fairly unseasoned governor.
He was very young.
And you'll note in verse 12 that he confers with his council.
Is this a thing we should do?
Is he within his right as a Roman citizen?
They say,
Yes, he is.
And he uses it as an opportunity to escape what could happen
if he doesn't put Paul on trial.
Now remember that after Paul's trial before the Sanhedrin in chapter 23,
when he's experiencing a great discouragement,
Jesus shows up and encourages him with the following from Acts chapter 23 verse 11.
Luke records this,
The following night the Lord stood by him and said,
Take courage,
for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem,
so you must also testify in Rome.
So Paul has been given clear instruction by Jesus himself, right?
Jesus encourages him by saying,
I'm going to preserve your life unto Rome.
I still have a purpose for you to go to that place.
And Paul seizes the opportunity to bring this to pass.
He exercises his Roman right and he says,
I appeal to Caesar.
Verse 13.
Now when some days had passed,
Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.
And as they stayed there many days,
Festus laid Paul's case before the king saying,
There is a man left prisoner by Felix.
And when I was at Jerusalem,
the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him,
asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans
to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face
and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.
So when they came together here,
I made no delay,
but on the next day took my seat in the tribunal
and ordered the man to be brought.
When the accusers stood up,
They brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.
He's saying they brought silly charges.
That wasn't what I thought they were going to be.
Verse 19.
Rather,
they had certain points of dispute with him
about their own religion
and about a certain Jesus
who was dead,
but whom Paul asserted to be alive.
Being at a loss,
how to investigate these questions,
I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem
and be tried there regarding them.
And I love what he basically says is,
I don't have a way of affirming whether or not Jesus is alive.
So I asked him if he wanted to go to another trial.
Verse 21.
But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody
for the decision of the emperor,
I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.
Then Agrippa said to Festus,
I would like to hear the man myself.
Tomorrow, said he,
you will hear him.
So on the next day,
Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp
and they entered the audience hall
with the military tribunes
and the prominent men of the city.
Then at the command of Festus,
Paul was brought in.
And Festus said,
King Agrippa and all who are present with us,
you see this man about whom
the whole Jewish people petitioned me,
both in Jerusalem and here,
shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
But I found that he had done nothing deserving death.
And as he himself appealed to the emperor,
I decided to go ahead and send him.
But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him.
Therefore, I have brought him before you all
and especially before you, King Agrippa,
so that after we have examined him,
I may have something to write.
For it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner
not to indicate the charges against him.
So it's interesting to note at this point
that Festus isn't even sure
under what charges he would send Paul to Rome.
It's very vague,
the charges that are placed against him.
He's hoping to gain some clarity
in matters of Jewish religious law.
All of the injustice that Paul is experiencing
is due to his proclamation of Jesus as the Christ.
And this is not inconsistent with Jewish belief.
They believed in a Messiah,
particularly the part of Judaism that he was,
a Pharisee.
They believed in the resurrection of the dead.
He's just saying,
this has happened.
The thing that you guys believe,
I believe,
but I believe it rightly
because Jesus is the Christ.
And this is infuriating to them.
Just as Jesus was unjustly tried and crucified,
Paul is being held for crimes
that he did not commit.
The student is certainly not greater than his master.
Chapter 26, verse 1.
So Agrippa said to Paul,
you have permission to speak for yourself.
Then Paul stretched out his hand
and made his defense.
I consider myself fortunate
that it is before you, King Agrippa,
I'm going to make my defense today
against all the accusations of the Jews,
especially because you are familiar
with all the customs and controversies of the Jews.
Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
My manner of life from my youth,
spent from the beginning among my own nation
and in Jerusalem,
is known by all the Jews.
They have known for a long time,
if they are willing to testify,
that according to the strictest party of our religion,
I have lived as a Pharisee.
And now I stand here on trial
because of my hope and the promise
made by God to our fathers,
to which our twelve tribes hope to attain
as they earnestly worship night and day.
And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O King.
Why is it thought incredible by any of you
that God raises the dead?
I myself was convinced
that I ought to do many things
in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And I did so in Jerusalem.
I not only locked up many of the saints in prison
after receiving authority from the chief priests,
but when they were put to death,
I cast my vote against them.
So he's saying,
I was a Pharisee,
the strictest order of Jews,
looking to the promise of the Old Testament
that the prophets had made.
And I was zealous against what's called the way,
against Jesus of Nazareth.
We know that Paul was present
at the stoning of Stephen,
the first Christian martyr.
It would appear that he voted for the death of others
as well that may not be recorded in the book of Acts.
He possibly, quite possibly,
was part of the Sanhedrin,
part of that ruling group of Jews.
Well known.
He's saying,
these men know the kind of Pharisee that I was.
So it's likely that he's amongst his peers
in Judaism being accused.
Verse 11.
And I punished them often in all the synagogues
and tried to make them blaspheme.
And in raging fury against them,
I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
In this connection,
I journeyed to Damascus
with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
At midday, O King,
I saw on the way a light from heaven,
brighter than the sun,
that shone around me
and those who journeyed with me.
And when we had all fallen to the ground,
I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,
Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting me?
It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And so that you're not distracted by that.
Goads were sharpened rods used to prod cattle.
So all that Jesus is saying to him,
and he would have understood,
is that it's futile for you to resist
God's will in the world.
What a silly thing for a cow to do
to kick against a stick made
to make them move forward.
Verse 15.
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.
Therefore, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
but declared first to those in Damascus,
then in Jerusalem,
and throughout all the region of Judea,
and also to the Gentiles,
that they should repent and turn to God,
performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
For this reason,
the Jews seized me in the temple
and tried to kill me.
To this day,
I have had the help that comes from God,
and so I stand here testifying,
both to small and great,
saying nothing but what the prophets of Moses said
would come to pass,
that the Christ must suffer,
and that by being the first to rise from the dead,
He will proclaim light both to our people
and to the Gentiles.
And as he was saying these things in his defense,
Festus said with a loud voice,
Paul, you are out of your mind.
Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.
But Paul said,
I am not out of my mind,
most excellent Festus,
but I am speaking true and rational words.
For the King knows about these things,
and to Him I speak boldly.
For I am persuaded that none of these things
has escaped his notice,
for this has not been done in a corner.
That is to say,
the spread of the gospel,
the teaching of the gospel,
wasn't hidden from him.
He was fully aware of the teaching of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Verse 27, and we're almost there.
King Agrippa,
do you believe the prophets?
I know that you believe.
And Agrippa said to Paul,
in a short time would you persuade me
to be a Christian?
And Paul said,
whether short or long,
I would to God that not only you,
but also all who hear me this day
might become such as I am,
except for these chains.
Then the King rose,
and the governor and Bernice,
and those who were sitting with them.
When they had withdrawn,
they said to one another,
this man is doing nothing
to deserve death or imprisonment.
And Agrippa said to Festus,
this man could have been set free
if he had not appealed to Caesar.
So, I have posited to you before
that I believe it is correct
to think of Luke's account,
most often referred to
as the Acts of the Apostles,
as the second of a two-volume work.
The first, we call the Gospel according to Luke,
is an account of Jesus' earthly ministry.
The second is an account
of Jesus' ascended ministry
in the life of His apostles
by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
This is why I prefer to call this work
the Acts of the Holy Spirit
or the Acts of the Ascended Jesus.
I'm sure I never will,
but if I ever work as a Bible translator,
that's the way my suggestion would go.
In Matthew 28, verses 18-20,
before Jesus ascended,
He said,
I hope you're familiar with this,
He said to His apostles and to us,
all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Me.
Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you,
and behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age.
He says, in essence,
I possess all power over all things,
and I want you to go and make disciples.
Don't be troubled in your making of disciples,
for My power, My provision,
and My presence will be with you.
We often misread this, right?
The Great Commission,
the command for us to go on,
to go and work for Jesus,
and miss that He so carefully sandwiches
in the middle of us going and making disciples
that the authority belongs to Him
and that He is with us.
He's made these beautiful promises for us
in the process of our disciple-making,
of Paul's disciple-making.
And how is it that Jesus' promise is accomplished?
How is it that He is with us?
His authority and His power is with us.
Acts 1.8.
Again, before Jesus is ascended,
He says,
You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria
and to the end of the earth.
The early disciples received the Spirit
in a unique way on the day of Pentecost.
And now, all who place saving faith
in Jesus Christ have been given the Spirit.
And that Spirit produces in us
obedience to Jesus' commands.
Observe Paul's immediate obedience
from our text today.
Chapter 26, verse 19 and following.
He says,
Therefore, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
But declared first to those in Damascus.
This is where He was, right?
He was in Damascus,
and He began immediately
to be a witness to who Jesus is.
Then, in Jerusalem,
so catch Acts 1.8,
in Jerusalem,
and throughout all the region of Judea,
and also to the Gentiles,
which would be to say,
to Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
That's an immediate obedience
to what Jesus said would happen
in Acts 1.8.
So, Jesus' earthly ministry
is continued in His ascended ministry
in the lives of His followers
by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
Beloved, that's where we find ourselves today,
in the continuation of that ministry.
Luke ceased recording
at the end of Acts 28.
But the church lives on
and carries the ministry of Christ
as He is with us
and as He has all authority.
So today, let's observe
six things that Jesus works to do
through Paul and us.
So this is your outline for today.
Six things that Jesus works to do,
aims to do,
through Paul,
and through us.
Number one,
to go and tell.
To go and tell.
Chapter 26, verse 16.
In the middle of verse 17,
Jesus says,
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.
In verse 17,
the middle portion,
to whom,
the Gentiles,
to whom I am sending you.
Jesus sent Paul
and He sends us
to be a servant
and witness
to what He had done
and to what He would do.
Jesus emptied Himself
of the glories of Heaven
to become a man
in order to be
a servant
and a witness
to the Father.
And He said in John 20,
verse 21,
As the Father has sent Me,
even so,
I am sending you.
So,
go and tell.
This is God's will
for you
in Christ Jesus.
And in our going and telling,
Jesus intends to save
all who call upon His name,
all who believe in Him
for their salvation,
all who He died
to save.
Jesus' ascended ministry
is the justification
and sanctification
of His church.
So we can have
a great confidence
in our going and telling
as we are merely tools
in the hands
of Him
who all authority
in Heaven and on Earth
has been given.
We can join with Paul
in saying,
Romans 1,
verse 16,
For I am not ashamed
of the Gospel,
for it is the power
of God
for salvation
to everyone
who believes.
In Paul's telling
of Jesus' words
to him
on the Damascus road,
he presses further
that confidence.
Look at the following things
that Jesus works to do
through Paul
and through us.
That was number one,
to go and to tell.
Number two,
to open the eyes
of unbelievers.
Jesus works to do this
through Paul
and through us.
The first part of verse 18,
to open their eyes.
Paul was made blind
on the Damascus road
to later be given sight.
In the same way,
Jesus makes those blinded
to the truth
able to see
and live.
Paul wrote to the
Corinthian believers
in 2 Corinthians 4,
verse 4,
In their case,
those who don't believe,
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.
So,
unbelievers
have darkened
vision,
darkened hearts.
They cannot see
the glorious truth
of the gospel.
But,
our text this morning
tells us
that Jesus
aims through
our evangelism
to bring about
spiritual sight,
to take the spiritually
blind
and give them
sight.
But how?
How is it that
He works this?
Paul goes on
in 2 Corinthians 4,
verse 6,
and saying,
For God who said,
Let light shine
out of darkness,
has shown in our hearts
to give the light
of the knowledge
of the glory of God
in the face
of Jesus Christ.
Paul states
that the all-powerful God
who spoke light
into existence,
said it
and it appeared,
births believing faith
into the hearts
of men.
So,
when Jesus says
to Paul,
I am sending you
to open their eyes,
we should rightly
understand
that we are
instruments
in His saving
purpose.
God saves people
through the proclamation
of the Gospel.
So,
we go and
proclaim
as God
works
to make the blind
see.
Jesus also
works
in the life
of Paul
and in our lives
to turn
unbelievers
from darkness
to light.
the second part
of verse 18.
18b,
if you will.
To open their eyes
so that
they may turn
from darkness
to light.
The heart
of an unbeliever
is dark.
John writes
in 1 John 1
verses 5-7,
this is the message
we have heard
from Him
and proclaim
to you
that God
is light
and in Him
is no darkness
at all.
If we say
we have fellowship
with Him
while we walk
in darkness,
we lie
and do not
practice
the truth.
So,
these metaphors
are being used
for the way
of righteousness
and the way
of wickedness.
The light
is righteousness
and the darkness
is wickedness.
John goes on
to say,
but if we walk
in the light
as He is in the light,
we have fellowship
with one another
and the blood
of Jesus His Son
cleanses us
from all sin.
So,
Jesus works
to make the unbelievers
see with spiritual eyes
so that they will not
walk in the darkness
in the evil ways
of the world
but in the light
of the truth.
And it is good
to be in the light.
Jesus also works
works
to open the eyes
of unbelievers.
Number four,
to deliver unbelievers
from the power
of Satan.
We'll call it
18c,
verse 18c,
so that they may
turn from the power
of Satan
to God.
The unbeliever
is turned from the power
of Satan to God
through the giving
of spiritual sight
because Satan's
only power
is the power
of deception.
In John 8,
verse 44,
Jesus calls Satan
the father of lies.
In Ephesians 6,
verse 11,
Paul instructs believers
to,
in order to avoid
the powers of the world,
put on the whole
armor of God
that you may be able
to stand against
the schemes
of the devil.
And he lists
as the first
and last
metaphorical items
to put on
as the armor of God.
In verse 14,
the belt of
truth.
In verse 17,
the sword
of the Spirit,
which is the
Word of God,
which is the
Scripture.
Gospel proclamation
has such great power
because by it,
Jesus makes people
believe the truth.
He unbinds them
from the many
varied deceptions
of Satan
and turns their hearts
toward the truth.
If you are in Christ
today,
if you have believed
in Him,
it is because belief
has been worked
in you.
You have believed
the truth
because you are
a child of God
and no longer
a child of the devil.
Well,
Jesus works this
through the life
of Paul
and in our lives
as well.
He also works
to bring about,
and we are going
to take five
and six together,
to grant
unbelievers
forgiveness
of sins.
Five.
Number five.
And number six,
to give unbelievers
a place
in the kingdom.
The last part
of verse 18.
18D.
That they may receive
forgiveness of sins
and a place
among those
who are sanctified
by faith
in me.
That is to say
that by believing
in Jesus Christ,
they would be
justified.
To be justified
is to be declared
righteous.
But it has two
components to it.
It's a legal
declaration.
We stand before God
and we're declared
justified.
And the two sides
of that are
the forgiveness
of sin,
this infinite debt
that we could not
pay because of
our infinite
disobedience
against an infinite
God.
The darkness
not able to dwell
with the light.
We needed
forgiveness of sin.
There's nothing
we could do
in order to gain
that forgiveness.
forgiveness.
But we have it
in Jesus'
sacrifice
on our behalf.
He was put forth
as a propitiation,
as a replacement
sacrifice
for us.
He stood
in our place.
In our stead,
He died.
He was the only
one that could
accomplish this.
That could bear
the infinite
wrath of God
against our
sins.
That's one side
of justification,
right?
The infinite debt
of your sin
has been dismissed
if you've been
declared justified.
Now, that's not enough.
You're just brought
up to zero now.
But we must also
keep the law
to be found
right before God.
We must be
righteous before God.
And so,
the granting
of righteousness
is also part
of justification.
That Jesus came
and lived
a perfect life
was necessary
for us.
He fulfilled
the law
that we might
have His
righteousness.
And so,
when we believe
in Christ,
both things
are imputed
to us.
It's called
double imputation.
Our sin
cast off
onto Christ,
His righteousness
given to us.
Wonderful verse
that sums this up
so well.
2 Corinthians 5,
verse 21.
For our sake,
God made Christ
to be sin
who knew no sin
so that in Him
we might become
the righteousness
of God.
So,
believers are granted,
unbelievers are granted
forgiveness.
They become believers
and they're given
a place by righteousness
in the kingdom.
5 and 6.
So,
Paul,
right,
Paul believed.
Paul believed
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And we see him
as one character
in this story
responding to the truth
proclaimed.
He tells us of it
proclaimed to him
by Christ Himself.
Right?
And he responds
in belief.
Right?
His belief
which is evidenced
by his obedience.
What does he do?
He immediately
goes and does
the thing
that Christ
commanded him
to do.
And in the same way,
beloved,
in our day,
we can't simply say,
right,
when I was a child,
I prayed a prayer.
I can't with confidence
when my young children
say to me,
I believe in Jesus,
go,
yay!
I go,
I really hope so.
Let's see.
Is there an evidencing
of your faith
in Jesus Christ?
Work out your salvation
with fear and trembling.
Make your calling
and election sure.
And I don't want to make this
extra complicated for you.
I'm not trying to make it
mystical for you.
How do we ever know
if we're a Christian?
You obey.
You find in yourself
the desire
to pursue holiness.
If you find that your life
is entirely bent
against the commands of God,
then you're not a Christian.
If you come to church
and you find yourself
offended because you
don't want to change,
you may not
be a Christian.
If you find rather yourself
gladly submitting yourself
to the Word of God,
going,
God has given me
good commands.
I want to please Him.
And I don't do so perfectly,
but oh,
I want to.
Right?
My sin grieves me
and it grieves me
the more I mature
in Christ.
What a wicked,
horrible thing
that I've been set
free from sin
and yet I still,
like a dog,
return to my vomit.
You'll find that impulse
within yourself.
Make your calling
and election sure.
Measure it out
by your obedience.
Not that you're
perfectly obedient,
you hear me say,
but that you are
striving for obedience.
This is an evidence
that the Spirit of God
lives within you
and He's working
to bring about
obedience in you.
We're caught up
in our American
Christian culture
of decisionism.
Right?
It's wicked.
It's deceptive.
And if it's deceptive,
you know who it belongs to?
Amen.
We see another character
in our text today.
Festus.
Who thought that the gospel
was absolute foolishness.
Right?
He doesn't even entertain
the idea.
He says to Paul
in verse 24,
Paul, you're out
of your mind.
Your great learning
is driving you
out of your mind.
He saw Him
as absolutely crazy.
And beloved,
we're going to deal
with people like that
in the world.
That's not changed.
There's no new thing
under the sun.
People are going to think
that the way of Jesus
is insanity.
Right?
These people
have turned the world
upside down
following Christ
is the world
right side up.
Take a confidence
in that.
What a great benefit
it is that we can gather
as a church
and we can all look
around at each other
and say we're not crazy.
Right?
We're not alone
in this world.
Right?
These fantastic stories
that we believe
to be true,
we believe together
that they're true.
I'm so thankful
that Christ saved me
as an individual,
but He saved me
to a church,
a people for His possession.
I am increasingly encouraged
that other people
are crazy like me.
Festus thinks
it's absolute foolishness.
And then Agrippa.
I think Agrippa
is the most sad to me
because he had knowledge
but not belief.
And I think that many people
in our day fall into
this category of person,
the way they respond
to the gospel.
They have knowledge.
They're aware of it,
but they don't believe in it.
Or they say they believe in it,
but they don't believe.
It doesn't actually change
who they are.
Verse 26, Paul says,
For the King knows
about these things,
and to Him I speak boldly.
For I am persuaded
that none of these things
has escaped as noticed,
for it has not been done
in a corner.
He's aware,
he's informed about
this way,
this way of following
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the fulfillment
of the Old Testament prophecies,
which is why he asks him,
Do you believe the prophets?
I know you believe.
I know you're standing.
You have to believe
the prophets.
And Agrippa's response to him
is in such a short time,
would you persuade me
to be a Christian?
It's particularly sad
when people have
access to
knowledge of the truth,
but don't place
believing faith
in it.
On your bulletin today,
there's a Spurgeon quote
as I like to use.
He said,
Wisdom
is the right use
of knowledge.
To know
is not to be wise.
Many men know
a great deal
and are all
the greater fools
for it.
There is no fool
so great a fool
as a knowing fool,
but to know
how to use knowledge
is to have wisdom.
So,
in conclusion this morning,
believe
the exhortation
this morning
to you.
If you have not placed
saving faith
in Jesus Christ,
find in this moment
the day of your salvation.
You don't need
for me to lead you
in a prayer.
Cry out to God
that He would save
your soul.
Believe that He is
the only Son of God,
made man in order
to live a sinless life.
Sacrifice on a cross
for the forgiveness
of your sin.
Risen and ascended,
exalted
at the right hand
of the Father.
Open your eyes
so that you may turn
from darkness to light
and from the power
of Satan to God
that you may receive
forgiveness of sins
and a place among those
who are sanctified
by faith
in Jesus Christ.
If you have believed
in Christ
for the salvation
of your soul,
evidence that
belief
by obedience
heartily agree
with Paul's response
to Agrippa,
I would to God
that not only you
but also all
who hear me this day
might become
such as I am.
Let's pray together.