Acts 25-26 (March 24, 2024)

Paul’s Trial Before Agrippa as a Recapitulation of Jesus’ Holy Week

Your Bibles to Acts chapter 25. We're actually going to be in chapters 25 and 26 today as we continue and are kind of closing in on our series through the book of Acts that we've been going through since August.

We're picking up the pace just a little bit, taking a couple of chapters at a time here at the end. And so one thing that you're going to notice as we go through Acts 25 and 26 is there's going to be some similarities between what Paul experiences here and what Jesus experienced during Holy Week.

Today's Palm Sunday, we'll remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And by the end of that week, Jesus had been arrested and he had stood trial. And where we pick up the story here in Acts 25 and 26, Paul has been arrested and Paul is standing trial.

And there are some similarities such as this is somewhat of a recapitulation of what had happened to Jesus. There are a number of similarities we could point to. I want to point to just a few of them as pointed out by commentators Craig Keener and R .F. O'Toole.

And so let's notice that a few of these similarities in theme, recapitulations that happened. So in both accounts, there are four main characters. You have the Roman governor, you have the Herodian prince, you have the Jewish accusers, and then you have the defendant.

And in both of these events, they're structured as hearings before the king. Both Jesus and Paul stood accused of the, accused by the high priestly elite of Jerusalem. And they demand death, a sentence of death for acts against both Israel and against Caesar.

Both Jesus and Paul appear before a Herodian ruler who just happens to be in town and wants to see and hear from the prisoner. In both instances, the Roman authorities find that God's agent, Jesus and Paul, that they were innocent.

Each governor, in fact, pronounces their innocence at least three times in each of these accounts. And in both instances, although both Jesus and Paul are innocent, because of political realities, neither of them can be set free.

You see the similarities. This recapitulation again shows that the apostles have taken up the ministry of Jesus after him, after Jesus had ascended into heaven. And then after the apostles, that ministry is passed down to the church.

And we continue that mission today. And that mission is all about the gospel of Christ. That mission is all about proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the world. And that's the theme of Paul's speech that we're going to get to in Acts 26.

That's really where I want to focus our time this morning is in Acts 26. But to get there, let me summarize Acts 25 for us. And so in Acts 25, Festus comes to town and the high priest and the chief men of the Jews try to get him to do them a favor by sending Paul back to Jerusalem so that they can set an ambush on the roadside and attack Paul and kill him.

But Festus says that he's going to be in Caesarea and he will hear Paul there. But after hearing the accusations against Paul and hearing Paul's defense, in verse 9 Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul if he'd be willing to go up to Jerusalem.

Now just a few verses earlier when the Jews wanted him to do them a favor so that they could ambush and kill Paul, and now Festus seems to be entertaining that, asking Paul if he'd be willing to go up to Jerusalem.

Seems to be testing the waters, see, about allowing that to happen. But Paul, who had received a promise from the Lord that he'd preach in Rome, instead Paul appealed to Caesar. So shortly after, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice, both of whom are children of Herod, they came to town.

Festus informed them about Paul's case, saying that the charges were religious in nature, theological in nature, and that they found no, that he found no fault in Paul. But Agrippa wanted to hear Paul himself, which was good for Festus because Festus needed help writing the cover letter that he's got to send with Paul when he sends him to Caesar.

He's got to know what are the charges, why is he being sent up to Rome to stand trial? And so Agrippa's going to help with that, and he's going to hear Paul in this hearing so that he might know what to write.

So that sets up Paul's speech in chapter 26, when King Agrippa says to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. And Paul stretches out his hands, and he begins to answer. Let me read verses 2 through 7, chapter 26, the beginning of Paul's speech or his defense.

He says, I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews.

Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know, they knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, to this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

I mean this is God's word to us this morning. In these verses, Paul situates himself firmly within Israel. He is demonstrating his Jewish bona fides. There in verses 4 and 5 more so, he's showing that he is not the one who has departed from Israel.

He's not the one who has departed from the faith. He is the one who is believing the promises that God made to the patriarchs. Paul is the one who is believing the promises that God had made to the twelve tribes.

And he's on trial for these theological reasons and his defense is that he is being faithful to God. He is being faithful to the promises of God. He is being faithful to what Israel has believed going back many, many, many years.

He is being faithful to the God of his fathers. And this is important for us to remember. You see, God has always had one people. Those who trust him and believe his promises. The people of God are those who trust God and believe his promises.

That is people who have faith. The promises to the patriarchs and the tribes are all about Jesus. They all point to Christ. 2 Corinthians 1 20 says it like this, all the promises of God find their yes in Christ.

All the promises of God find their yes in Christ. And so those who reject Jesus, even if they are high priests or chief men of the Jews, all who reject Jesus reject God. They are not a part of the people of God because they do not have faith.

But if you do trust Jesus and you are trusting in the promises of God, you believe the promises of God, then you are of the household of faith. You belong to the people of God. You may not have a drop of Jewish blood, but if the blood of Jesus covers you, then Abraham is your father by faith.

You have been brought into the people of God by faith. And this is part of Paul's argument here. He goes on in verse 8 saying, why should it be thought incredible to you that God raises the dead? If you remember back earlier in this, right after he was arrested, he's standing before the Sanhedrin, the council, and he says, it's because of the hope of the resurrection that I'm on trial.

And he puts the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection against the Sadducees who did not. And he makes that the central point of his defense. And then he says here, why should it be thought incredible that God raises the dead?

Of course it's possible that God who made the world and everything in it, that the God who is all powerful, of course he can raise the dead. As we approach Easter, we should notice that Paul is making the resurrection of the dead central to his message and central to his defense.

Last week we saw, again, how he pitted the Pharisees and Sadducees against one another in the council. He's making the resurrection the thing. Because the resurrection is central, not just to Paul's defense, but the resurrection is central to Christianity.

The resurrection is central to the history of the whole world. For the resurrection of Jesus is the vindication of Jesus. It shows that Jesus is who he said that he is. And he's declared the Son of God by his resurrection.

He is king of the world by his resurrection. We see that in Romans chapter 1 verse 4. So you see, Paul is emphasizing the resurrection, not just as a clever wedge issue between the Pharisees and Sadducees, but he is emphasizing the resurrection as the central event in human history and as the central point of the gospel message.

Because to believe in the resurrection of Jesus is to believe the promises of God and be saved. To reject the resurrection of Jesus is to disbelieve and to be damned. So why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead, Paul asks.

Pick up in verse 9. Indeed I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests.

And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

While thus occupied as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, along the road I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining all around me and those who journeyed with me.

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So I said, who are you, Lord?

And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise, stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

The Mercy of Christ and the Power of Conversion

Here in these verses, Paul is giving testimony to his conversion. Here we see the power of the gospel. Paul had imprisoned followers of Jesus. He had voted for some to be put to death. He had compelled others to blaspheme.

He was doing this in Jerusalem, and then he received authorization, and he was doing it in other foreign cities. Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and we see that Paul's persecution of Christians was actually persecution of Jesus himself, for to persecute the body of Christ is to persecute Christ himself.

To attack his body is to attack his person. And yet, in spite of all of this, what did Jesus do? In spite of all of this that Paul had done, Jesus had mercy. Jesus saved Paul. I want us to see a few things here.

First, no one is beyond God's grace. As the old hymn says it, grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. A few weeks ago, or a few months ago, during the Super Bowl, there was a controversial He Gets Us commercial.

We talked about it on a Wednesday night, and in response, there's a guy from the UK that made an alternative video that he says that they should have shown instead, called He Saves Us. I encourage you to look that up.

I think his name is Jamie Bambrick. You can find it on YouTube, He Saves Us. And in that video, he shows photos of a former witch, a former right-hand man of the famed atheist Richard Dawkins, a former jihadist, a former KKK member, a former drug addict, a former gang leader, a former drag queen and prostitute, a former abortionist, a former transgender, a former porn star, a former New Age guru, and a former lesbian activist.

All of these real people whom God has poured out His mercy upon and saved. Real people, real lives of sin and rebellion that did real damage to real people, and yet God poured out His mercy and His grace upon them.

I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11, and such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God, and such were some of us.

So when you look out on a hostile and degraded world, do not forget the power of the gospel. Do not forget the power of the mercy of Christ and the good news of Christ. There's not one rainbow flag waving, abortion supporting, BLM looting leftist that is beyond the mercy of God, nor is the mercy of God too far out of reach for the church-going porn-addicted husband or the bitter nagging wife or the rebellious teenager or any other person who's caught up in any secret or unseen sin.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Do not forget the power of the gospel to change sinners. Second thing I have you notice here is that when Paul is describing his sin, all the action is his.

I cast my vote against them. I punished them. I persecuted them. I journeyed to Damascus, he said, but when it came to his conversion, the action and all the words are about Jesus. But rise, stand on your feet, verse 16 says, for I, this is Jesus speaking, I have appeared to you for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness of both of the things which you have seen and the things I will yet reveal to you.

Jesus commands, Jesus speaks, Jesus saves. We don't have an account of Paul deliberating, weighing the evidence and considering and ultimately landing on a decision to in favor of Jesus. No, we have Jesus appearing to Paul, Saul, and commanding and Paul falling in line because God changed him and gave him a new heart.

All our sin is all of our responsibility, but salvation is of the Lord. Christ saves. That is good news for sinners. That is good news for us. Verses 17 and 18. Jesus continues saying to Paul, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

We actually see the beginning of Paul's commissioning back in verse 16. He's to be a minister and a witness of what he has seen and heard. This is a theme in the Bible. Witnesses see and they hear and then they give testimony.

They see and they hear and they give testimony. Christians, that's what we're to do. We're to bear witness. It's pretty simple. We tell others what we have seen and heard. God did, fill in the blank, and then we tell them.

Or we said the Bible says, fill in the blank, and then we tell them what the Bible says. But specifically, Jesus was sending Paul to the Gentiles, and I want you to remember how controversial this is, or was to the Jews at the time, that the Gentiles were fellow heirs with them in Christ, that they also belong to the household of faith with equal standing before the Father.

This is controversial, and this is the reason Paul was arrested, right? It was at the mention of Paul's commissioning to the Gentiles back in chapter 22 that the mob started to try to tear him limb from limb.

And so here Paul again recounts that Jesus sent him to the Gentiles, and he gives him three specific things that he was to do. He's to open their eyes, turn them from darkness to light, and turn them from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.

We ought to be reminded here of Isaiah 42, verses 6 and 7, where the servant of the Lord is said to be a light to Gentiles, to do what? To open their eyes. Similar language, the eyes of the Gentiles were to be open to, one, their own sin and their own standing before God, and then have their eyes open to the glory of Jesus, to the glory of Christ.

That's still the call today. We want the eyes of our family members, our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. We want to help them see their own sin and their own standing before God. Because until they see that, they're not going to fully comprehend the beauty and the glory of the mercy of Christ, the beauty and glory of Christ himself.

We want to help them see the glory of Jesus. And so what do we do? We give them the light of the gospel. We give them the light of the scriptures. We don't hold back anything that is helpful. We show them the path of walking in the light.

Like Psalm 119, because God's word is the lamp to our feet, it's a light to our path. And so by the word of the gospel, by the word of the scriptures, we turn them from the power of Satan to God. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

And so we announced to them the good news of the victory of King Jesus, God's son and his anointed deliverer. That he has won his kingdom by his perfect life, by his sacrificial death, by his resurrection, by his ascension.

That he invites us into his kingdom having paid for all of our sins with his blood on the cross. He invites us into his kingdom to seat us with him to rule alongside him. This is the good news. And so we invite our family members and our friends and our neighbors and our co-workers to confess Jesus as Lord, to turn from their sins and to trust Jesus to forgive them.

Welcoming them into everlasting fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's the gospel invitation to all people. And I don't know everybody's situation here, and so I would say that's the gospel invitation to you as well this morning.

To turn from your sin and trust in Jesus. To be welcomed into everlasting fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Verse 19, Therefore King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Paul was not a revolutionary, he was a religious man. Steeped in the beliefs of his forefathers and obedient to the voice of God who appeared to him. The Lord spoke to him, the Lord sent him and he obeyed, simple as.

He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Then verse 20, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent, turn to God and do works befitting repentance.

This reminds you of any other verse from the early chapters of Acts. It'll be Acts 1 -8. He's fulfilling that, Paul is being a witness to Christ in Jerusalem, Judea and to the ends of the earth and he's calling people to repentance.

I want to ask you this morning, what is repentance? What does it mean to repent? I think we get a three-fold answer here in verse 20. First, we see that to repent is to turn from sin. To repent means to turn from sin.

We stop the sin, that's first step. But it's not just stopping it, it's turning from sin but turning to God. Repentance is not just stopping one sin to start another but it's reorienting one's whole self toward God.

It's orienting one's life around God's word. This is to turn from sin and turn to God. It's reorientation in a Godward direction. And then last, it's doing works befitting repentance. It's not just, it's not enough just to stop a sin.

You must put on virtue, you must practice righteousness in its place. If you just try to stop the sin, then what happens is seven times more sin then comes in and fills your heart and causes even more havoc.

Therefore, we must put on and practice righteousness in the place of the sins that we repent of. This brings repentance to its fullness. And so Colossians 3 talks about this, says to put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lying.

And then it says to put on tenderness, tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness, love. Ephesians 4 talks about it using the example of a thief. Paul said, writes, let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need.

So instead of stealing, he's supposed to work and then be generous. It's befitting of repentance. The law of Moses required restitution for sins that caused someone else to suffer loss. And so in all of these things, what we see is the idea that the gospel brings forth a change in us, such that we stop and turn from our sins, turn to God, reorienting our lives to him according to his word, and start living righteously in the specific areas of our lives where we were previously living sinfully.

So let me ask you, what specifically do you need to repent of today? What specific sin? It's one thing to say I'm a sinner generally. It's one thing to turn from and tell God I'm sorry for sins generally.

What God calls us to is specific repentance. What specific sin do you need to repent of today? In what area of your life specifically are you holding on to sin rather than turning from it and turning to God?

Meaning to that you don't want to give up rather than turning from it and reorienting your life to God according to his word. I'd also ask you, are you trying to beat sin by just stopping it? You can't beat something with nothing.

You can't beat something with nothing. You must do the works that befit repentance. That is how we change. What we put off we then replace by putting on what God has commended to us in his word. Everything I just described is a gift of God in your life.

You see, God grants repentance and he works it out in our lives by the Holy Spirit even as we put forth holy effort into that. It is God who is working that in us. It's all the gifts of God's grace to us.

But don't spurn the gifts of God to you, the grace of God to you, leading you towards works that befit repentance. Verse 21, for these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. This is because he is preaching the gospel to and welcoming the Gentiles into the household of God as joint heirs.

Verses 22 and 23, therefore having obtained help from God to this day, I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come. That the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.

There's two things to take from this verse. First, Paul witnessed to the small and the great. Think of Whoville. Every who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, they all got the gospel from Paul. The small and the great.

He made no distinction. Paul favored neither the powerful nor the oppressed, the rich nor the poor, the elite nor the peasant, the young nor the old. The gospel is for all peoples, all people and all kinds of people.

Every one of us needs the gospel. Second, I would say Paul wasn't saying anything other than what Moses and the prophets had said before him. In other words, Paul was taking the Bible that he had and he was proclaiming that.

And he said he didn't preach anything else. The gospel of Jesus Christ, that he would suffer, rise from the dead and proclaim light to the Jews and the Gentiles. This isn't some new idea that's disconnected from the Old Testament at all.

It's what Moses and the prophets had been saying. It's the same story. Jesus is who everything in the Old Testament is pointing to. And so one thing that's helpful for us to remember today for evangelism is to speak no other things than what the Bible says and to remember that the Bible tells this whole story and that the whole story is about Jesus.

Every bit of it. We don't need to add to the gospel. We don't need to add to God's Word. We don't need to take away from God's Word. We don't need to round off the corners or skip over the parts that seem unpleasant to us.

We need to give the gospel. We need to give God's Word to people straight up, unfiltered. Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword dividing bone from marrow.

Jesus Christ won his kingdom by his life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. He is king of the world now. And the call is for people to come along quietly. To bow the knee and submit and swear loyalty to King Jesus.

And to live true to him. Verses 24 and 25, Paul is accused of being out of his mind. Now, as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad.

But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus. But speak the words of truth and reason. You see, the world might think you're crazy. But trusting in Jesus is the most reasonable thing that you could do.

Giving yourself to the one who made the world. Who entered into that world that he made in order to suffer wrath and die as a sacrifice in your place. Because of your sin, the one who is patient and kind with your weaknesses.

The one who is tender towards repentant sinners. The one who executes justice and wrath on evildoers. The one who will never leave you nor forsake you. But will send his spirit to see you to your heavenly home.

Trusting in him is the most reasonable thing you could do. You are not out of your mind. You are not mad. Neither was Paul. No matter what the scoffers say. Now, it would be out of your mind to think that you came from nothing.

That you're accountable to no one outside of yourself. That you're your own god. Now, that would be crazy. Or you'd be out of your mind to explain love and loyalty as mere chemical reactions in the brain.

Not something that's buried into your bones and given to you by your father who made you. That would be crazy. You'd be out of your mind to think you can just live however you want. Doing what is right in your own eyes.

Making up morality as you go. Now, that would be mad. But submitting to Jesus, that makes all the sense in the world. Paul was not mad. He was speaking the words of truth and reason. Let's continue reading verses 26 and following.

For the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things. For I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am except for these chains.

Here, Paul preaches directly to the king. To the conscience of the king. Jesus had foretold before that his followers would stand before kings and that the spirit would give them utterance. The spirit would tell them what to say.

And here's what the spirit tells Paul to say. Preach to the conscience of Agrippa. Call him to faith. And so Paul doesn't shrink back from calling those in high positions to believe. He entreats King Agrippa to believe.

And we see his love for all people in his exclamation in verse 29 that he wishes all people would be as he is. He wishes all people would be saved by Jesus. He wishes that all people be in fellowship with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The only thing he doesn't wish for is that they were in chains like he is. But Paul wants others to know God. And he is entreating the king to believe. In verse 30, when he had said these things the king stood up as well as the governor and Bernice and all who sat with them.

And when they had gone aside they talked among themselves saying, this man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

Now you might think this is kind of a sad turn of events for Paul. It reads like that. I've thought about that when I've read this chapter at other times. Man, Paul just would have waited. He could have been set free.

But we need to remember two things that came before. One, had he not appealed to Caesar, Festus was thinking of sending him up to Jerusalem. And what was happening if he was sending him up to Jerusalem?

The Jews were planning on setting an ambush to attack him and kill him. So there's that. And two, back in chapter 23, Jesus had told Paul to be of good cheer. Be of good cheer for you have testified for me in Jerusalem.

So also you must bear witness to me in Rome. He had a promise from Jesus to go to Rome. And so by the providence of God, Paul was going to take the same gospel. Witnessed to by Moses and the prophets, declared by Jesus and the apostles that Christ had suffered, was the first to rise from the dead.

He was going to proclaim it to the Gentiles in Rome and beyond. And so it is not a sad ending that Paul could have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar. He is going to Rome on a mission from God.

And I'd also say to us by the providence of God, you have the same opportunities before you to take this same gospel, witnessed to by Moses and the prophets, declared by Jesus and the apostles, that Christ suffered and he was the first to rise from the dead.

And you can proclaim it to the Gentiles in travel's rest and beyond. Each Saturday morning, the Busuah and Kinsella families have been going around to neighborhoods right around the church here to meet people, share the gospel, invite them to church.

They would love for you to join them sometime. You can talk to Stephen, he'll tell you what time and when, where to meet. If that makes you nervous, it's understandable, you don't even have to talk. You can just go walk around with Stephen, he'll do the talking for you.

You can walk around with Andy, he'll do the talking for you. You can just watch, be there, pray, meet, see. Maybe you're kind of at a stage in life where you can't really walk and get around all that well, but you still would like to take part in some way.

Would you consider taking time between 10 o 'clock and 11 o 'clock Saturday mornings and praying for those who are going around in the neighborhoods around the church to meet people, share the gospel, invite them to church?

Or maybe you can't join on a Saturday morning, but maybe you have somebody you can talk to at work on lunch break on a Monday or Tuesday. Do it, and do it all for the glory of Christ. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, I pray that we would have a love for you and a blazing desire for your glory to be made known here on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray that we would have love for our neighbors. You cultivate that love for others and our neighbors so that we might desire that they would be as we are. As Paul said, he desired that all would be as he is except for those chains.

That we would desire that they would be as we are. That is forgiven by Christ and in fellowship with you. May we love you and love our neighbors in that way. Will you give us a confidence in the gospel, a love for the glory of God and the souls of men?

And with that love properly cultivated, Lord, I pray that you give us opportunities to give witness, telling what we have seen and what we have heard. And that we bear witness. And that witness that by the work of your Spirit it would bear fruit for the good of others and for your glory.

And we ask all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.