The Book of Acts
Paul Before Agrippa, Part 3
Acts 26:19–32
Tonight we will continue our study from Acts 26 where Paul is sharing his testimony with King Agrippa. Now Agrippa and the Roman governor, Festus, and all the other dignitaries in town think they've gathered to give Paul a legal hearing. In particular, they are trying to determine an appropriate accusation to send with him when he appeals his case to the Roman Caesar.
But in reality, they are keeping a divine appointment that God scheduled for them to meet with His representative and hear about Jesus. And Paul is doing exactly what God sent him there to do. He is boldly sharing about his encounter with Christ when they met on the road to Damascus years earlier.
He begins with his life as a Jew before they met and tells about his attacks on Christians and Jesus in particular. Then He tells about the encounter itself, and even though it was about 24 years ago, it is still fresh and vivid in his memory! He remembers every detail about that encounter! And he especially remembers this Jesus, who was supposed to be dead, calling him by name and conversing with him.
And at the end of that encounter, Paul was sent out to preach the gospel. And the particular message he was sent to share is found in
verse 18
And now, here he a quarter of a century later, doing exactly what God told him to do!
Now as I told you last week, this passage is the basis for the three minute story. Paul tells about his life before Christ, how he met Christ, and how his life changed after he met Christ.
But there is also a good method of evangelism found in verse 18. In fact, it's one of the best verses in all the New Testament for leading someone to the Lord. After all, if God told Paul to use it, I'd say it's worth using!
Notice, God says, "I'm sending you to
1. Open their eyes
If someone will be saved, they've got to see what they really are and that is a sinner. We call that conviction. After conviction comes illumination. Paul's message would
2. Turn them from darkness to light
After someone recognizes the truth about themselves, then they need to see the truth about Jesus. There is no other way of salvation, and when we get saved, the light comes on! That means, number three, there is conversion. They are
3. Turned from the power of Satan to the power of God
A sinner is taken out of the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of darkness and given to God.
And with that comes sanctification that
4. They may receive forgiveness of sins.
that means we are made holy. The penalty is paid, the power of sin is broken, our position before God is forever changed. And then comes the promise. There is an
5. An inheritance among those who are sanctified.
There is a great future in store for those who are saved!
So the approach of evangelism is simply conviction, illumination, conversion, sanctification, and glorification.
And the key to all of is the last four words of the verse which are "by faith that in Me", speaking of Jesus.
That's the gospel in one verse, and basically, at the moment of his salvation, God told Paul He was sending him out to be a presenter of the gospel, which is what He says to all of us as well.
So that's what Paul is doing. He's telling Agrippa and everyone else in the room about the gospel of faith of Jesus Christ alone as God's plan of salvation. And then he tells Agrippa that's what he's doing
verse 19
I immediately responded to God in obedience.
Obedience is the response that God demands.
And we take that rather lightly. But think about what Paul is saying. In the space of a few minutes, he says, "I was out killing Christians as a Jew. Then I met Jesus and immediately after we met, I started telling people to follow Jesus."
His obedience was immediate and it changed everything about him, including his will. I draw from that some principles regarding obedience that are important to see.
First, that tells me that obedience is
- a mark of conversion
If you’re saved, obedience should mark your life. I Peter 1:14 says, “You ought to walk as obedient children.” Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you know that to whom you yield yourselves his servants you are whom you obey?"
So if you’ve yielded yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ who should you obey? The Lord Jesus Christ. After all, He's the One Who said, "Why do you call me 'Lord", then don't do what I tell you to do?"
Secondly, obedience is
- a recognition of authority
When you obey you are saying, "You're in control and I'm not."
Now that is much more important that we think because if I'm not obeying God, then I'm playing God. I'm calling the shots and making the decisions instead of Him.
If God says, “Do this", and I don't do that, then I have replaced God as the controlling force in my life, and that is a stupid thing to do! And yet that happens all the time!
God says, "forgive" or "teach" or "work in the nursery" or "share your faith" or "hold your tongue" or "control your temper" or any one of a thousand other instructions, and we just go on ahead as if He never said anything. We either out and out rebel and say no or just ignore that anything was even said.
When we do that, we replace God as the sovereign ruler of our life. How foolish! Obedience is not only a mark of conversion, it is the recognition of authority.
Thirdly, obedience is
- a characteristic of faith
In Hebrews chapter 11 in verse 8, it says, “And Abraham obeyed God.” And the next verse says, “By faith.” When you really believe God you’ll obey Him because you know He’s got your best interest at heart.
By the way, when we disobey, what we're actually saying is, "I'm not sure I can trust You. I'm not convinced you know what's best for me."
When you disobey God, you’re not trusting Him. Abraham was willing to go to the promised land not knowing anything because he trusted God and every time you disobey God you’re saying God you’re not worthy of my trust, which is blasphemy.
Fourth, obedience is
- proof of love
Don’t tell God you love Him unless you obey Him. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep My commandments. Whosoever keeps My commandments he it is that loves Me.”
So obedience is a mark of conversion, a recognition of authority, a characteristic of faith, and a proof of love, and when you add all that together, you find a life filled with power and effectiveness which describes Paul.
verse 20
So when Paul says to Agrippa, "God told me what to do and I did it", he was just saying, "I was just demonstrating what happens when someone meets Christ! After all, it was the living, resurrected Messiah that was speaking to me. So since I was in Damascus, I started right there, and everywhere I've traveled, I've done it over and over again!
I heard His voice, and I could do nothing other than obey! He commissioned me into His ministry and I started where I was and I've been obedient ever since."
In fact, that's what caused all the trouble!
verse 21
So why did they want to kill him? What was the real problem? The problem was Jesus. He was offering equal salvation to the Gentiles and the Jews couldn't tolerate that!
Remember, if people will be saved, their eyes must be opened, which involves a conviction of sin and turning from it. So Paul starts there! Then,
verses 22-23
I’m still here, tried to kill me two years ago, but here I am, and I'm still preaching Jesus! He's like the Energizer Bunny!
So what kind of response did he receive?
Well first came
- criticism
verse 24
That's an interesting comment because in our culture, we elevate education and learning. We value the opinion of those who are educated more than we value the Word of God.
But Festus had a very different view! He told Paul he had too much education! You've learned too much and it's caused you to lose your mind!
What made him say that? It was the last thing Paul said, that Jesus had risen from the dead! Festus couldn’t handle the idea of a resurrection. And onloy those who are crazy would believe that!
By the way, that is the height of the human ego. If I don't understand it, it can't be true. That's why so many educated scientists are idiots. They can't admit that they don't know everything. But actually, they know very little!
And out there in this vast pool of things they don't know, there is a God Who is real and He had a Son who resurrected from the dead!
Festus couldn't imagine that, therefore someone who did was crazy! And he interrupts Paul to say so! Now, we don't know what Paul was about to say because Festus interrupts him.
But I don't thing Festus got him off track. Paul is zeroed in on Agrippa, and after the interruption, he picks up at the same point and offers an invitation.
verse 25
Paul is in complete control of his thoughts and words, and watch how he proves it:
verse 26
Notice, he says, “Festus, I am not out of my mind. In fact, I speak clearly and reasonable and if you don't believe me, just ask the king, because he knows it!"
That kind of puts the king on the spot, don't you think? “The king knows I speak the truth because none of these things were done in secret."
So what things is he referencing? In particular, he is referencing the death and resurrection of Christ. That was common knowledge. Everybody knew that Jesus came back to life after he was crucified and His followers claims that He resurrected.
He also most likely knew the Jews had paid the Roman soldiers to everybody that the disciples stole the body. But it was common knowledge that after the resurrection, the Christians had gone everywhere preaching Jesus was alive.
Now here we are 25 years later and Agrippa is well aware of Christian faith and doctrine. And Paul pins him down at that point. You know that what I’m saying is not the rambling of a madman. I'm not an isolated nut case! There are lots of Christians who believe what I believe.
Paul is a true evangelist! He has presented the gospel and now he forces Agrippa to acknowledge the truth publicly and openly. In fact, Agrippa becomes a silent witness for the defense! He hasn't said a word and yet, by his silence, he verifies what Paul said is true. The case is clear. The king knows it.
Anybody who believes the prophets, anybody who believes Moses, and anybody who believes historical fact must conclude that Jesus of Nazareth, resurrected, and is therefore, God's Messiah. And you know it Agrippa.
Then he goes even further.
verse 27
Now he's really putting him on the spot! Are you really a Jew, or are you just pretending?
You do believe the prophets, don't you? I know you do! And what he's saying is, "If you believe the prophets, then you're stuck believing that Jesus is Messiah."
See, once you've heard the truth of the gospel, you're responsible for what you know! You might reject it, but to do that is to sin against knowledge
and God holds you responsible for the truth you know.
And Paul's intention is to force Agrippa into confessing the logical conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah. So Agrippa is in an awkward place. If he says, “Yes, I do believe the prophets,” then he has admitted that he believes Jesus is the Messiah and he’s in real trouble with his whole nation.
If he says, “No, I don’t believe the prophets,” then he’s still in trouble with his nation. So he can’t say yes or no.
So Paul's question hangs there in the air like an anvil over his head: “You do believe, don’t you Agrippa?” Notice how he answers:
verse 28
According to Greek experts, the best translation of what he said is: “In such a short time are you trying to convert me?”
See, he's avoiding the question. Do you really think you can convert me so quickly? He doesn't answer the question about belief. And Paul says, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do!"
verse 29
Let's untangle that a little bit. If the scholars are right and Agrippa is asking Paul if he's trying to quickly convert him, then we can translate verse 29 like this:
“Whether in a short time or a long time, I am hopeful that you and everyone else would be like me, except for my captivity."
In other words, Agrippa asks, "Are you trying in such a short time to convert me?” Paul says, “Hey, short time or long time I am trying to convert you and not only you but everybody else! I wish you were all like me, except for these chains.”
That was his heart! And he's just being honest! He wasn't bitter and he knew God was using the situation, but he didn't want to be in prison or chained to guards all day!
But what he wanted even more than freedom was salvation for those that are lost! He didn't want to be in physical bondage, but he didn't want anyone in spiritual bondage
There’s Agrippa in his purple robe and fancy crown and Bernice decked out in all of her jewels. Festus is there in his Roman finery and all the dignitaries are gathered up. And Paul looks at this fancy group and says, “I wish you were all like I am,” and as they are processing that, he adds, “except for these chains. I’m talking about our spiritual life.”
They had everything in the world but they had nothing! What did Jesus say about gaining the whole world and losing your own soul? Paul would have died to save Agrippa, but he wouldn’t wish his chains on him. That’s the heart of the Christian. That’s evangelism in its purest form!
But what was their response?
verses 30-32
I'm glad the Holy Spirit saw fit to include this little detail about Paul's innocence. They agree he was innocent, at least not worthy of the death penalty.
In fact, Agrippa points out to Festus he probably could have been released if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
They could have let him go. There wasn’t any reason to appeal to Caesar because there wasn't any case.
At this point, there hadn’t even been a letter written. Caesar didn't even know what was going on. But instead of admitting the truth and believing the gospel, they hide behind the appeal of Paul and let their pride prevent them from being saved.
But that didn’t discourage Paul. He's on his way to Rome, and when he gets there, he will be preaching Jesus again. The lesson in that for us is keep preaching! Keep sharing the faith! God didn't call us to save people anyhow! He called us to preach Christ. He’ll do the saving. All He asks out of you is that you be faithful.
Let's pray.
