WWUTT 1142 Paul Testifies to King Agrippa?

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If we're going to tell people that they need to pursue righteousness, well, we also need to be living in righteousness.

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If we're going to tell people to grow in holiness, we must be growing in holiness in the Lord Jesus Christ when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. Find videos and more at our website, www .wutt

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.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. So we're up to Acts 26 today, where the

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Apostle Paul makes his defense before King Agrippa. This is chapter 26, beginning in verse 1.

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So Agrippa said to Paul, you have permission to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense.

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I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the

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Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the

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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

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Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify that according to the strictest party of our religion,

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I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly worship night and day.

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And for this hope, I am accused by Jews, O King.

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Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

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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.

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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,

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I cast my vote against them, and I punished them often in all the synagogues, and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them,

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I persecuted them even to foreign cities. In this connection,

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I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday,

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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.

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And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,

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Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

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And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

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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

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I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom

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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.

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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

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Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

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For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day,

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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 and Moses said would come to pass, that the

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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

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Gentiles. And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice,

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Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.

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But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

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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.

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For this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

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I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time would you persuade me to be a

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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.

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Then the king rose and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, this man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

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And Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

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What a beautiful defense. I just I love Paul's speech here in Acts chapter 26.

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You know, I mentioned yesterday at the start of the devotional that Paul lived a life of such consistency that neither the

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Jews nor the Romans could find anything against him. He was completely innocent.

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We see that here at the end of chapter 26. Festus is saying there's nothing for which this man can be either put in prison or be put to death.

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And Agrippa even said we'd let him go if it wasn't for the fact that he'd appealed to Caesar.

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So now, since he's done that, his right as a Roman citizen is to be sent to Rome to appear before Caesar.

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And that's, of course, where Paul is going to go next. And this is also he could get to the capital city of the world,

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Rome, at that time and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Exactly what he wants.

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He's going to get there in chains to do it, but all by the providence of God so that the gospel would go out to the whole world.

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But once again, Paul living his life in such a way he he preached righteousness and he lived righteousness so that no one could find any fault with him.

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I think of Titus chapter two, when Paul was giving instructions to Titus, who was a minister to the island of Crete, he was going to be appointing pastors in all of the churches.

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Paul was giving him instructions on here's here's what the church should look like. Here's how Christians should live their lives, even amidst a crooked and twisted generation.

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One of those instructions that he gave Titus was this Titus two, verse seven. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

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Integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned. So first of all, integrity simply means that you say to do something and you do what you say.

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So there is a consistency in your speech. You're not a hypocrite. You you tell people to live their lives a certain way in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the saving power of Christ that has come to us in the good news of his death, his resurrection from the dead and the promise of eternal life.

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So you tell people to live in righteousness and you yourself show yourself as a model of that righteousness, a model of good works.

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And then he also says, have dignity in your speech. So be somebody who is worthy of honor, who is worthy of respect, who can set himself forward as a person who models the things that he is telling people to do.

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The apostle Paul even said to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 11, one be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

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So integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned.

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So your words are always consistent. You're not saying one thing and then you're saying something else that contradicts the previous thing that you said, but your words are consistent and all of it pointing in the same place.

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And if you're focused on that same spot, then you'll have a consistent message every time. And that's that spot that you're focused on is

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Jesus Christ. We are setting our eyes on Jesus, as is written in Hebrews 12 to the author and the perfecter of our faith.

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So this is what the apostle Paul modeled in his own ministry. So much so that no one could find any fault with him, not the

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Jews and not the Romans. So let's come back here to the start of chapter 26. Agrippa, who once again is

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Agrippa II, he is the great grandson of Herod the Great. Herod the

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Great was the king in Israel when Jesus was born. So Agrippa said to Paul, you have permission to speak for yourself.

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And Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense. And we have, once again, an account of Paul's testimony, though we find some things in here that are a little bit more detailed than we've received in other accounts of his testimony.

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Verse two, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make defense today.

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I'm going to make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and the controversies of the

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Jews. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. And Paul's speech was probably a little bit longer than what we're reading here, which is why he said, please listen to me patiently.

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Of course, as Luke is writing this down, he's giving us the Cliff Notes version of this testimony that Paul had laid out before Festus and Agrippa.

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Now, Agrippa would have known the customs of the Jews a little bit more intimately than Festus did. So with Agrippa being the audience here to Paul sharing his testimony yet again,

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Festus has heard it, but now he's giving a defense of himself before Agrippa, then

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Agrippa would be able to verify, yeah, Paul's not done anything wrong. He's not violated the Jewish law in any way.

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So then Paul goes on, verse four, my manner of life from my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem is known by all the

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Jews. They have known for a long time if they're willing to testify that according to the strictest party of our religion,

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I have lived as a Pharisee and now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly worship night and day.

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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?

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Thing to note here about what Paul is saying is that he's been hated by both

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Jews and Gentiles exactly for saying this. The Romans or the

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Greeks, rather, at at the Areopagus in Acts chapter 17, they hated

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Paul's message as he was talking about the resurrection of the dead. When he got to that part in his speech, that's when they started mocking and scoffing at him, although some of them said, we want to hear a little bit more about this, this resurrection of the dead that you're talking about.

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The Jews likewise are lambasting Paul because he's preaching such a thing. We know that the

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Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, but they've even stirred up Pharisees and other

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Jews to be against Paul because he proclaims this very thing. The promise that God had given to those who would inherit his kingdom, eternal life.

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So the apostle Paul is saying, if this is the promise, if this is our inheritance, why am

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I being hated for it? So he goes on in verse nine. 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.

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I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priest, but when they were put to death,

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I cast my vote against them. I punished them often in all the synagogues. I tried to make them blaspheme and in a raging fury against them,

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I persecuted them even to foreign cities. You know, what we have mentioned here in verses four through 11, as Paul is kind of laying out a resume here, he was a rock star among Pharisees.

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He really was like the best of the best, especially when he's saying here, according to the strictest party of our religion,

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I lived as a Pharisee and he was really good at it. Jesus himself said back in Matthew chapter five, that if you're going to be saved, your righteousness has to exceed that of the scribes and the

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Pharisees. And Paul would say that his righteousness does exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the

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Pharisees because he has a righteousness now that is not of himself, which is what he had when he was a

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Pharisee. He now has the righteousness of Christ. So he is thereby saved because he is believed by faith in the

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Lord Jesus, not because of his rock star status as a Pharisee. As a Pharisee, he was condemned.

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He thought he was doing the work of God, but he was of the synagogue of Satan. He goes on here, verse 12.

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I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. And 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.

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And when we'd all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

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It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Now, that's the first time we have that phrase.

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Anywhere else we have seen Paul's testimony given, we did not have this phrase. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

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What does this mean? Well, the goads were like spikes that were in a part of the apparatus that was around an oxen as it pulled a plow.

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And when the oxen tried to go a different direction other than straight, it would run into those goads or there would be like a staff that the person guiding the plow would have and it would have these spikes in them and they would kind of hit the side of the animal to get the animal back on course.

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That one that also those were goads. And so sometimes you would have a stubborn animal that would try to go against the goads.

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But that was always to that was always with much pain. It wasn't easy for an animal to go against the goads.

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And here that's what the apostle Paul is doing. He is constantly going against God. He's not getting anywhere with it.

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He's not becoming more righteous because he's putting Christians to death. On the contrary, he's bringing himself under more and more condemnation.

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And so God says to him, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. And Paul says, who are you,

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Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Even though Paul couldn't see anything, a bright light that knocks you to the ground and a voice that comes from heaven is

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God. OK, Paul at least knew that much. So when he he speaks up to this voice that is addressing him, he says, who are you,

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Lord? 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 to be a servant.

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You're going to go to the Gentiles. You're going to go to the Jews. You're going to proclaim the gospel to them that they would turn 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.

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So this salvation was coming not just for Jews, but it was coming even for Gentiles.

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And Paul would become a missionary to the whole world for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as Jesus was appointing him here on the road to Damascus to do that very thing.

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So in verse 19, therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but I declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and also to the

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Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

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So in other words, becoming a Christian is more than just a conversion experience, but that you continue to do righteous works that demonstrate a righteousness that you have that comes not from yourself, but it is from God doing good works in keeping with their repentance.

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For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Why? Because Paul was proclaiming

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Jesus Christ risen from the dead and that salvation comes not by works of the law, but by faith in him.

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That's why they wanted to put him to death. It was the very same thing that Paul was trying to put Christians to death for.

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Now the Jews wanted to kill him because he had become one of them. So to this day, I have had the help that comes from God.

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And so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass.

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So Paul is saying, I'm not throwing away the Old Testament. I haven't unhitched from the Old Testament.

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I am proclaiming exactly what they said in the Old Testament that the

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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

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Gentiles. Jesus is the first fruits from the dead. And then we who are in Christ likewise will be risen from the dead.

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Verse 24. And as Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind.

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Your great learning is driving you out of your mind. But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent

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Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. And let me point this out to you as well.

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Paul was speaking these words in a rational way. He wasn't acting like a madman.

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The reason Festus said that of him, that you are out of your mind, is because he was talking about receiving a vision from God and talking about the resurrection of the dead and talking about Jesus Christ who himself rose from the dead.

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That's why Festus said that because of what Paul was proclaiming, not the way that he was proclaiming it.

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So I mentioned that, that you stay away from all this wild charismaticism and even independent fundamentalists who just yell and shout and scream and act like crazy people from the pulpit.

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That does not convince anybody. What convinces people is the

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Holy Spirit of God working through the sound and rational testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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That testimony itself is sufficient. We don't need to dress it up. We don't need to decorate it.

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We don't need to act like crazy loonies or even do some sort of grand acting spiel.

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We just need to speak the gospel and the Holy Spirit will do his work.

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Paul goes on, verse 26, for the king knows about these things and to him

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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.

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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

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Christian? Notice here in Paul's question to Agrippa, he's putting it on Agrippa to have to respond.

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Paul's not just standing there in a court and just saying a bunch of words and letting them weigh the authenticity of his words.

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He's even putting upon Agrippa, this is a message that I'm proclaiming that you must respond to.

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Again, these aren't things that were done in a corner. This isn't a message that exists in a vacuum. It demands a response.

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So King Agrippa, what are you going to do? Do you believe what I am saying to you? That is in fulfillment of what the prophets had written.

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And Agrippa said, would you persuade me to be a Christian? Would you do this in such a short time?

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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.

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So Paul is saying he's been set free. But these chains that he's in being in prison for the sake of Christ, he says,

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I don't wish this upon anybody. I don't wish that they would be in prison, but only that they would be that they would be set free by faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, saying to King Agrippa, I would convince you in a short time or I would take a long time with with Felix, who, remember, was the governor before Festus.

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Paul had been speaking with him for a couple of years, but he was unpersuaded. So Paul might take a few days or he might take a few years, but he would wish you to become a

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Christian. And may we all have that attitude when it comes to helping another believe the gospel of Christ.

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Maybe we can do that in a few minutes. Maybe it takes a few years, but let our desire be that anyone would come to saving faith by repenting and believing in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 30, then the king rose and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

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And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, this man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

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And Agrippa said to Festus, this man would have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

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And so where we go next tomorrow, Acts chapter 27, Paul sets sail for Rome.

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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word that has come to us, the gospel of Jesus Christ that was given to us by others who had likewise believed the gospel because someone came to them.

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So let us be bold with this message and want to take it to other people and let there be a consistency in this

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Christian life that we say that we live. We tell people to live righteously. So likewise, we live righteously.

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We tell people you must pursue holiness. So likewise, we live in holiness.

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We say that you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we demonstrate with our whole life that we believe and follow

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Christ, our savior, who was given for our sins, risen from the dead, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God where he intercedes for us even now.

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Sanctify us in your truth. Your word is truth. Grow us in holiness this day.