Walking Through Acts

Today, we continue our walk through Acts. Last week we left off in the middle of

Paul’s discourse in front of King Agrippa and Governor Festus and all those who

were in attendance. Every eye and ear was fixated on Paul and what he had to say.

He shared his testimony. He used to persecute Christians and now he is one. He

talked about how Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and today we

will continue Paul’s account.

Acts 26:19

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision

Now, you may say well, Mark, that’s it? We’re going to stop after just reading this

one verse? Well yes, because the fact is, I could create a whole sermon just on this

one verse. There are actually whole systems of beliefs within Christianity that do

not believe what Paul is saying here is even possible. Remember it was Jesus

himself that appeared to Paul. Jesus gave Paul instructions.

“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, 17 delivering you from your people and

from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 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.’

And remember, Paul wasn’t even a Christian yet. Yet, as it turns out, he did follow

Jesus’ instructions and became an avid follower.

What is the implication here when Paul says he was not disobedient to the

heavenly vision? It’s simply that Paul could have been disobedient. And this flies

right in the face of a doctrinal system that purports the idea of irresistible grace.That if you are a member of the elect, you have no choice in the matter of

whether or not you will be saved for eternity or condemned for all eternity.

Adherents to this theological system believe that people do not have free will.

That God determines every step we take and every event that has ever occurred is

because God ordained it. And they would all appeal to God’s Sovereignty. Now, I

will affirm that God is indeed Sovereign. However, I believe free will is more than

compatible with God’s Sovereignty. In fact, I believe it proves His Sovereignty. That

no matter our own rebellious ways and disobedience and failures, God’s plan will

always prevail.

What Paul is telling Agrippa is that he had a decision to make; either obey what

Jesus told him, or ignore Him. “I could have disobeyed, but I didn’t.”

At this sentence, the Sadducees would’ve leaned in a bit more with a look of

bewilderment or confusion, because they didn’t believe in the spiritual realm. And

so a claim that Paul received a vision, this vision of Jesus right there in front of

him, they would’ve all scoffed at because they didn’t believe that was even

possible. But remember, Paul is not talking to Sadducees, he’s talking to King

Agrippa who believed in resurrection and the afterlife and angels and demons.

Acts 26:20

20 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.

Paul is outlining his obedience to the command that Jesus gave to go and make

disciples of all nations. This process included repentance which simply means

turning a different way. You’re headed in one direction, but you decide to turn

around. You were once walking away from Jesus, but now you’re walking towards

him. It is a change of mind, to think differently. And as we’ve covered in past

sermons, “turning to God,” would include a confession of your faith and baptism.

And then the last thing Paul lists is “performing deeds that keep with their

repentance.” That comports with their repentance, that which makes the

repentance evident to one observing.Now, this is, in no way, implying a works-based salvation. We don’t perform deeds

in order to be saved. We perform deeds because we are saved. This is known as

sanctification. It is becoming more like Christ every day until we die.

If we think that we can just drop everything once we’re baptized because “we’re

all good”, merely thinking we’ve acquired fire insurance for our souls, we’ve

missed the whole point. Eternity does not begin the day we die. Eternity in Christ

begins the moment we gave our lives to Him. So we ought to live like it. Paul even

says in his letter to the Philippians, “let your manner of life be worthy of the

gospel of Christ.”

It is the human tendency to want to fit in. We’ve had that since we were very

young…this desire to conform and be a part of a greater whole in which we could

find safety and security. And this desire is not inherently bad. There is a lot of

good that can come from being part of a group that will provide support when

you need it. Where it can go bad is when we go looking to conform to those things

that are not of God. We fall into error when we choose things that are not God-

honoring. And in this sense, we must be comfortable with standing out. Choosing

Jesus when it’s not easy. We must embrace being the odd one out, the weirdo.

And many times, this is a very difficult thing to do. Why? For some reason or

another, we find more security in the things of this world than we do in Jesus.

Some practical examples: Don’t go with the crowd and participate in a

conversation that is crude or full of unwholesome talk. Don’t join in on gossip.

Don’t lie in order to save face. Stand up for the truth and speak out against things

that are wrong and full of falsehood even if it will cost you something. The list

goes on and on. Doing all of these things distinguishes ourselves from the crowd.

This is what it means to be set apart. Living in the world but not of it.

Paul is a living example of this, and we have observed what things he has had to

face. The things that he has suffered because of his obedience in Christ.

Acts 26:21-22

21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this

day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying bothto small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would

come to pass:

Paul’s obedience to testify about Christ and the gospel has led to many hardships

for Paul.

“There had been the persecution at Pisidian Antioch, the stoning at Lystra, the

persecutions at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth, and of course the conflicts in

Jerusalem.”

From an objective point of view, there was no denying that God had his hand on

Paul, guiding him and protecting him. That’s why Paul says, “because of the help

that comes from God, I stand before you today.” And he is standing before men

from different walks of life. Small and great. Those that have influence and power,

as well as those who lived the course of their lives undocumented by history.

Here's something that I don’t want you all to miss.

Although there were stark differences between the group of people he just

mentioned, his message was the same. He is testifying to the truth of the gospel

that all the prophets would affirm. And what is that gospel? That Jesus, the Son of

God came to this earth to live, suffer and die for our sins and through His

resurrection would bring salvation to those who trust in Him. Here’s what the

gospel is not.

In today’s world, the gospel is not saving the planet. Now, we must not be careless

with how we treat our environment, and it is good to be environmentally

conscious. But we should never equate this with the gospel. The world as we

know it will one day, Scripture tells us, be destroyed by fire.

In college, I had a class where the professor created a scenario where there was a

person driving down a road and in front of him, he sees two things: a person and a

tree. The driver has to avoid one and hit the other. The question to the students

was, which one should the driver save? You would not believe some of the

answers that were said. “Well the tree are going to live longer than that person

anyway, so may as well save the tree.” “Trees provide oxygen for the planet, and

humans hurt the earth, so maybe we should save the tree.” This may all soundridiculous, but I am certain that there are many other people “Christians” who

would save the tree instead of the person.

Yes, the Fall and the result of sin entering the world affected all of creation, but

Jesus did not come to die on a cross and rise from the dead to save the planet. He

did those things to save our souls.

The gospel is not racial reconciliation. And racial reconciliation is not a bad thing.

In fact, it is one of the things that the gospel should result in. But, it is not the

gospel. We must realize that underneath the surface, the real root of the issue is

not a skin problem, but a sin problem.

When Paul is standing before those men, the average joes and the men of great

influence and wealth, he preaches the gospel message which is impartial and

places everyone on level ground as is shown in the next verse.

Acts 26:23

23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he

would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

It is here that Paul points out the very reason Jesus came to this earth. The light

here referring to the forgiveness of sins and hope of a future resurrection and this

hope is made available to both the Jew and the Gentile.

Acts 26:24

24 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.”

Here, as Paul is speaking, Festus interrupts. And it is out of frustration that he

does this. Festus simply couldn’t follow or understand what Paul was saying. So,

because he couldn’t understand it, he figured it must be Paul that is crazy. Here’s a

lesson for us in this. We must be careful that our ignorance does not lead us to

arrogance. If we don’t understand something, instead of chalking it up to crazy

talk or foolishness, we would do well to seek understanding. You want to knowwhat probably upset Festus so much, what got under his skin that he felt the need

to interrupt? It was probably what Paul said, that “the light would come to the

Jews and the Gentiles.” Romans would be in this Gentile category. Festus and a lot

of other Romans thought that they were superior to the Jews. The Romans of all

people wouldn’t need the light. A lot of them thought they were the light. Why

would Festus need a Savior? And so, Festus makes the claim that all your learning

has made you crazy Paul. I’m not the crazy one… you’re the crazy one. Isn’t that

how much of the world looks at Christianity today? Do you think Paul all of a

sudden, thought, you know what, you’re right? Take me to the looney bin. I must

be the one who’s crazy. Let’s see how he responds.

Acts 26:25-26

25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am

speaking true and rational words. 26 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.

When I was growing up, I would be at the dinner table with my family. Every meal

we would say a prayer before we began eating. There was a phrase that my

parents would use from time to time when it was time to eat. They would say, “dig

in.”

In our scripture for today, it’s not that Festus couldn’t understand what Paul was

saying. He simply refused to try to understand. He didn’t want to. And so many

people today attend a Church service and expect to be spoon fed a happy go lucky

sermon that gives a handful of practical life tips and a little bit of scripture that is

easily digestible. And if they leave confused about something or don’t understand,

they’ll say, “well that didn’t feed me.” Was it that you weren’t fed, or did you just

simply not dig in?

It takes work to understand complex concepts. I know there are doctors who have

devoted much of their lives to rigorous schooling and training which took a lot of

effort. I know there are accountants who have developed their ability to work with

numbers and manage spreadsheets that would make my head spin. I know there

are professors who know all they know because of a life dedicated to study and

research. There are those who know how to take apart cars and put them backtogether. Why does it seem like Christianity is held to a different standard than the

one we place on other things in our lives that are challenging? One reason could

be that we, like Festus simply don’t desire to understand. We don’t dig in. Spiritual

apathy has done way more for the devil than outright opposition. It’s not that

Festus didn’t understand. He didn’t care to.

In verse 26, Paul is saying that these things were not done in a corner. The

ministry of Jesus and the impact the gospel has had on the world was public and

out in the open. The number of Churches springing up in various parts of the

ancient world are a testament to that. The spread of Christianity was rapid and

exponential in its growth. At this point, Paul is satisfied with his response to Festus

and so turns his attention back to King Agrippa.

Acts 26:27-28

27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And

Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

Paul knew that if Agrippa did in fact believe the prophets, which Paul insisted that

he did, then he would see clearly that they pointed to the truth of what he was

preaching. And King Agrippa asks, this very fascinating question. “In a short time

would you persuade me to be a Christian?” The text does not tell us whether King

Agrippa actually wanted to become a Christian. We just know that at this time,

with everything that Paul has said, he was not yet persuaded into converting.

As a preacher, this gives me great comfort knowing that Paul himself had trouble

persuading people to become Christians. If anybody could do it, it would be Paul.

But people still rejected the gospel. As I’ve mentioned before, holding out on

making a decision is still rejection. If King Agrippa was in fact just holding out until

he could attain further proof of the gospel and it’s reliability, he was still rejecting

Jesus.

There are many people today, who think I’ll just wait to give my life to Jesus later.

Later may never come. Almost saved is not the same as saved. Almost putting out

the fire is not the same as putting it out. Almost catching that 20lb catfish is not

the same as catching a 20lb catfish. I think you all get the idea. We don’t know

when our last day on earth will be. But wouldn’t it be great if you knew for certainwhere you were going after? The certainty that one day you will be running

towards Jesus right into his embrace, no more fear, no more pain and no more

suffering of any kind. And we will know nothing but joy and peace. I want you to

have that assurance today. If you’re wanting to make that decision today, make it.

Don’t put it off. At the end of the day, the only thing that will matter before the

judgment seat, will be whether you’re covered by the blood of Jesus. I don’t want

you to be almost there. I want you make that decision today before it’s too late.

Acts 26:29

29 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.”

Again, we see Paul’s heart here. His main aim is for the lost to become Christians

just as he is. Only that they don’t find themselves bound in chains. If we but only

looked at people as if we were looking in a mirror at a past version of ourselves,

one without the hope of Christ, how quickly we would run towards them and tell

them about the hope that we’ve attained in surrendering our lives to Jesus. That’s

Paul’s perspective as he peers out at his audience. King Agrippa, Governor Festus,

and all the rest, his prayer is that all of them might respond to the grace and hope

that is offered to them. Perhaps some in the audience that day, made a decision

to follow Christ. Scripture doesn’t tell us. Perhaps this very day, in heaven, Paul is

sitting beside one of the men who were in the audience that day because of his

obedience to preach faithfully.

Acts 26:30-32

30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting

with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man

is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to

Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Piano to play here.

In a rather surprising turn of events, King Agrippa found nothing to charge Paul

with. This would have been a surprise to many of the Jews in attendance andwould have been disheartening to Festus, for the very reason he held this trial was

to be able to provide a better explanation to the emperor for why Paul was being

sent to Rome. At this moment, he found himself empty handed.

We know that there was a bigger plan at hand. Paul was meant to go to Rome just

as Jesus said he would. It didn’t really matter whether or not Paul could have been

set free. Paul was meant to go to Rome.