How To Be Out Of Your Mind
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Pastoral Prayer
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half way through summer
[SLIDE 1] Introduction
If you have your Bible, then please turn to Acts 26:1-32
Today, we’re going to talk about “How To Be Out Of Your Mind.”
It’s not too often that I bring up a “How To” topic into my sermon.
This idea of being “out of your mind” is taken from Acts 26:25. We’ll get to that portion of Scripture, but essentially, Porcius Festus asserts that the Apostle Paul is out of his mind. In other words, he’s calling Paul insane.
Why would Festus say such a thing about the Apostle Paul? We’ll answer that question as we uncover the chapter.
[SLIDE 2] Illustration
Biblical Theology
Our Lord Jesus Christ was called many things by his enemies for His teachings and ministry.
His enemies said that He was out of his mind (Mark 3:21).
They said that he was performing signs and miracles by the power of Beelzebul, namely, the prince of the devil. (Matthew 10:25)
They asserted that Jesus had a demon and is insane.
As followers of Jesus, it is not uncommon for the world to view us as insane or crazy for our beliefs. In the eyes of the world, we are considered foolish and dumb. They assume we are irrational and illogical.
The biblical or Christian worldview is different from this world’s.
Context
If you have been keeping track and following a series of messages from the book of Acts, you should already notice that Paul has been standing before different groups of people, testifying what God has done in his life, and making a defense for his innocency before different groups of people.
He stood before the Jewish mob in Acts 21-22
He stood before the the Jewish council and Claudius (the tribune) in Acts 23.
He stood before Felix the governor in Acts 24.
He stood before Festus the new governor in Acts 25.
And now, Paul will stand before King Agrippa and thousands of influential and powerful people in this audience hall.
Now, at this point, Paul’s defense before Agrippa does seem rather repetitive from his previous defenses before the Jewish council and Felix.
Paul will give his testimony again.
Paul will talk about how he persecuted the church.
Paul will talk about how Jesus came into his life.
Paul will talk about his obedience to the heavenly calling.
Do you know what I’m trying?
And I hope you’ll be a bit sympathetic because I have to study and figure out how to preach Acts 21 until now because it’s not easy for a preacher to go through this section in Acts.
But, perhaps the repetitiveness may offer us a lesson to reflect on.
Perhaps most of us will never stand on trial and make a defense for ourselves multiple times.
Sadly, when given an opportunity to defend the Christian faith, some may just surrender in their 1st trial. And perhaps they surrender their 2nd trial, and maybe their 3rd and 4th and so forth…and perhaps don’t have the bravery to talk about Jesus.
But Paul continues to stand firm and bold and courageous for his faith and integrity trial after trial.
The reason is precisely because what he says in Romans 1:16
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
And nothing can stop him from proclaiming True and Rational words.
As Christians, we should use every opportunity to bear witness for Christ faithfully
Anytime
Anywhere
In every circumstance
to the best of our ability
to the glory of God
regardless of the consequences
Exposition
Faithfulness in your testimony - Your Testimony Matters (vv.1-15)
1 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
In verse 1, after Festus gave a brief presentation regarding the nature of the hearing of Paul, Agrippa grants the Apostle Paul the permission to make his defense.
Certainly, Paul is always ready as he stretches out his hand and makes his defense with confidence.
This lifting up of his hand is a rather dramatic scene.
Often, it is a gesture of public speaking. (oratorical gesture.)
We must remember that Paul is a prisoner or in custody.
As he is lifting up his hand, he’s also lifting up the chains that are strapped on his hands, linking him to the Roman guards.
And as he’s lifting up the chains, you can probably hear the clanging.
In verse 2-3, in this part of the text, the Apostle Paul is given a special privilege and honour to present his defense against the Jews’ accusation before King Agrippa (vv. 2-3).
2 “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 Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
The mood that Paul has when he gives his defense is that he himself considers this moment FORTUNATE.
Majority of the time, this word is translated as Blessed. I can also be translated as happy or privileged.
It’s used as “blessed” in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5.
Paul here is characterized by joy and blessed by God to be able to stand before the king and thousands of people to give his defense.
Why is Paul fortunate to stand before King Agrippa?
First, Agrippa is familiar with the Jewish practice, so he’s rather knowledgable and qualified to hear this case.
He would not be prejudice against Paul like the Sanhedrin.
He would not be careless or nonchalant like the Roman Governors.
Plus, he wasn’t too fond of the Sanhedrins.
Second, Agrippa has been known for being pious about the Jewish practice. Since Drusilla was Jewish, it is likely that he’s also Jewish (or has some deep connection with the Jews).
Paul compliments the king that he knows and is familiar with the custom and controversies of the Jews. (i.e. the Jewish practice).
Therefore, Paul begs Agrippa to be patient with him as he makes his lengthy and detailed defense.
Paul’s defense is distinct and unique from all of his other defenses. He is speaking directly to King Agrippa (and the rest are listening to the defense).
What is Paul’s endgoal? Why does he tell Agrippa to be patient with him?
His goal is to point King Agrippa to King Jesus because he’s the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
Jesus is the Messianic hope that Herod may be anticipating.
The way Paul is going to get to his endgoal is to connect his hardship and story to Jesus.
Furthermore, Paul begins with the resurrection and (sort of) concludes with the resurrection (v.8 and v.23), so his focus is convincing the people about the resurrection of Jesus.
Joni Eareckson Tada. She’s an evangelical and Christian author. She had a diving accident in 1967. This accident left Joni a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. She was 17 years old at that time.
Most young people would most likely think that their future is over. They have no more purpose in life.
In her autobiography, Joni has experienced anger, depression and suicidal thoughts.
She also had doubts about God, questioning why He allowed her to suffer like this, questioning His goodness.
But she sooned learned about God’s goodness over her life. She learned that God used her suffering uniquely to bring glory to Himself.
She started a disability center and became a disability advocate.
She grew to love her Lord Jesus Christ.
She turned her suffering and story into an opportunity to testify about the grace of God.
In a similar way, Paul is going to turn his trial (or hearing) as an opportunity to tell King Agrippa about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In verses 4-5, Paul launches the story of his upbringing and how all the Jews know about him (if they’re willing to testify about Paul) (Acts 22:5).
4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.
Two brief comments:
(1) All his life, he has been a Jew (Galatians 1:13-14). He grew up in Jerusalem as a Jew.
(2) He was a pious Pharisee. He was a part of a group known for its strictness (the strictest party) of Judaism.
Paul’s faith as Jew was not a violation of his Jewish heritage. He was faithful as he can be.
In verses 6-8, Paul explains that he is on trial particularly of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead
6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
God made a promise to the Jewish forefathers many years ago (Acts 13:32-33). It is Paul’s hope in the promise made by God.
The twelve tribes of Israel also hoped to attain this promise.
And it is specifically this hope that Paul is being accused by the Jews.
And then Paul speaks to everyone in the room and asks a rhetorical question, “Why is it thought incredible by any of your that God raises the dead?”
This Greek word, “incredible,” is a bit hard to translate. Some translations would render it as, “unbelievable.” Why is it thought unbelievable by any of you that God raises the dead?
It is not that the Jews did not believe in the resurrection because they did (except a group called Sadduccees) since it is taught in the Old Testament.
Paul is in prison because of his hope in the resurrection.
The underlying reason why the Jews hate him is not ultimately because Paul brought a Gentile into the Jerusalm Temple, but because Paul proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the hope of our resurrection.
The Jews were in unbelief that the God (whom they worship and believe) would raise up Jesus (whom they hated and rejected) from the dead.
So, they created a conspiracy whereby the Apostles came and stole Jesus’ body.
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Remember, back in Acts 4:2, the Apostle Peter and John were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ at Solomon’s Portico.
And Luke tells us that they were greatly annoyed (why?) because they teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead (Acts 25:19).
And that the Jews were angry at Paul for teaching this kind of message of Jesus to the Gentiles around the Mediterranean Sea.
Paul then teleports us back to the beginning of Acts before his conversion.
And we see that as Paul tells us about his testimony in verse 9-18.
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Just as the Jews opposed the preaching of Jesus and the resurrection by the Apostles, Paul was convinced (by his Jewish beliefs) to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 22:8).
Paul demonstrated his opposition with action.
When he was in Jerusalem, he arrested and locked up and put to death many of the believers (saints) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests.
When Stephen was stoned to death in Acts 7, Paul casted his vote and supported the martydom of Stephen.
Paul describes how his persecution and how he ravaged the early church.
He punished them.
He made them blaspheme.
How did Paul make them blaspheme?
Could it be to deny Christ?
He persecuted them in raging fury, even to foreign cities, like Damascus.
Paul was a pious Pharisee, but he was also an enraged religious man.
The root word for enraged denotes someone who’s out of his or her mind.
Perhaps in Paul’s mind, what he did to the early followers of Jesus was a righteous indignation.
Now, verses 12-18 is a recount of Acts 9. But it provides us with a bit more detail to Paul’s conversion than the previous account.
12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 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.
If you recall, this is Paul’s famous trip known as the Road To Damascus. And it was at the Road to Damascus where Jesus sovereignly meets Paul in a dramatic way.
14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
It is hard for you to kick against the goads (or sting).
Paul added a statement that Jesus said to him. What does this mean?
Goads can also be translated as “sting.”
It carries a cultural context.
This is a common agricultural image, in which a sharp pointed stick was used to prod an ox in the right direction, and here implies that Paul was being impelled by the Lord into a new direction, different than the one in which he was heading.
In other words, Paul cannot and should not fight against Jesus’ will.
Similarly, when God saves sinners, He will give them a new direction in life.
When Jesus saved Paul, Paul confesses him as “Lord.” Who are you, “Lord?”
Verses 15-18 is the summary of Paul’s ministry to both Jews and Gentiles.
15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 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.’
Jesus appoints Paul as a servant and witness to the things in which he has seen Jesus and to those in which Jesus will appear to him.
What’s the relationship between a servant and witness?
Servant (Gk: hypereten).
Lexicon: one who functions as a helper, frequently in a subordinate capacity.
Witness (Gk: martyra).
Witness explains what service Paul is to give.
Jesus will deliver Paul from his people (the Jews) and from the Gentiles.
And it is the Gentiles to whom Jesus is sending Paul.
To open their eyes (purpose?)
so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (purpose?),
Parallelism
Darkness = Power of Satan
Light = God
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.
(only if sinners have entered into light)
Regardless of the details, what we need to understand is that Paul met the Risen Lord Jesus.
Furthermore,
We may not all have a dramatic conversion like Paul.
But the principle of Paul’s conversion is related to all of us.
None of us sought for God.
We don’t seek God on our own terms.
In fact, God may struck us and meet with us on His own terms.
And when God changes us and we have truly encountered the Lord Jesus, He changes the course of our direction.
He regenerates us and causes us to be born-again into newness of life.
He removes the heart of stone and gives us a new heart with a new desire to love and obey Christ.
Summary: Paul explains what he did before his conversion and what happened when He met Jesus.
Therefore, because Jesus gave Paul a commission, Paul tells King Agrippa that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26:13).
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 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.
The double negative, “was not disobedient,” emphatically indicates that Paul certainly obeyed Jesus.
In fact, he was obedient unto death.
He didn’t rebel against what he believed to be true.
He didn’t disobey Jesus.
This heavenly vision that Paul received was uniquely his.
Paul was then sold out to following Jesus and fulfilling his call to ministry.
Paul proclaimed the gospel to those in Damascus, in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles...
That they should repent.
Repent means change of one’s mind.
They were living a life that was wrong.
They needed to change and to live a new life with a completely new set of values and principles.
It is repenting of sin. It is changing the way you think about sin and think about God.
That they should turn to God.
Isaiah 45:22
Before God saved us and caused us to be born-again, our backs were turned to God (because we were walking in the path of rebellion and sin).
But now, as Paul would put in one of the letters, we have come to know God and be known by God.
William Barcley: “We face God in such a way that the God we forgot or whom we banished from life becomes the one person who fills all our horitzon and who dominates all our life. The God who was nothing to us becomes the God who is everything to us.”
What a beautiful description of the Christian life.
Scripture talks about this concept:
Psalm 16:11
Psalm 34:8
2 Corinthians 5:17
Sadly, many have cheapened the Christian life to merely intellectual faith, or a weekly religious duty.
That they should perform deeds in keeping with their repentance.
And it is particularly because of Paul’s gospel ministry that the Jews seized Paul in the temple and tried to kill him.
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 both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 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.”
The Jews were trying to stop Paul from obeying the heavenly vision.
They’re trying to stop Paul from doing what God (whom they worship) has called him to do.
The Jews were deeply offended that Paul preached to the Gentiles, as if they were of equal level as the Jews who also needed repentance and to trust in Jesus.
Yet, despite the trials and hardships that Paul went through in his gospel ministry, he had a divine assistance: God. (To this day I have had the help that comes from God).
So, Paul - with courage - testifies to all people (small and great; in the wide social spectrum of people; to all kinds of people) because the gospel has no social and economical boundaries.
He preached gospel to Jews, Gentiles, pagans, Roman jailor, Greeks, barbarians, Greek philosophers, kings, governors, tribunes.
The gospel of salvation is for all people (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11).
The message that came out of Paul’s mouth is nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass (Acts 3:22; John 5:45-47).
They prophesied about Christ in the Old Testament.
It would be fascinating to do a sermon series on Christ’s Fulfillment In The Old Testament.
What you need to realize about the Old Testament is that it points to Jesus Christ.
What’s the message that the prophets and Moses said would come to pass?
That the Christ (the Messiah) must suffer.
That Christ, by being the firstfruit of the resurrection, would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles (Matthew 4:16; Luke 2:32)
Faithfulness in your commission - The Ministry Matters (vv.16-21)
Faithfulness in your evangelism - The Gospel Matters (vv.22-23)
Faithfulness in your humiliation - Your Conviction Matters (vv.24-32)
How many of you love to be interrupted in the middle of your speech?
Festus then accused Paul of being insane. Why did he do that at this particular section of Paul’s defense? (Acts 25:19)
The idea of the resurrection has been mentioned in Paul’s defense (Acts 26:8).
Festus did not seem to mind knowing and believing in a form of resurrection.
In Greek thinking, he may have an understanding of a spiritual resurrection in the future (i.e. an immortality of the soul), but not a literal, bodily, and physical resurrection.
Therefore, Festus interrupts Paul’s speech and calls him “crazy.” (cf. Acts 17:18, 32)
Festus knows that Paul is innocent and not a criminal.
Festus knows that Paul was a Pharisee and was a wellread man.
Quite possibly, as Paul was in custody in Herod’s headquarter, he may have seen a stack of scrolls and parchments that Paul had.
However, Festus believes that Paul’s studies have driven him mad (like a mad scientist).
We must remember that the Christian message is crazy and insane to the world.
1 Corinthians 1:18,23 says that the cross is folly to those who are perishing.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 teaches us that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of unbelievers from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.
But Paul responded to Festus (with respect to his title and position: Most Excellent Fest) by denying that he’s crazy. Rather, he’s affirming that he’s speaking true and rational words.
Rational comes from the Greek word, “sophrosynes.” It’s a combination of words, “wisdom” (Sophia) and “understanding” (phren).
Such combination of two words, true and rational, is common in Greek.
Greek seeks for wisdom (sophia).
He is a sober and thorough man.
Paul then appeals to the King Agrippa, who knew the Jewish custom. Not only that, Paul speaks boldly to King Agrippa that these things (or events) were public enough and did not escape his notice.
“Has escaped his notice.”
Lexicon: to succeed in avoiding attention or awareness.
Other translations: escape notice or be hidden.
King Agrippa know about the literal resurrection. He knows about the prophets and teachings of the Old Testament.
He is capable of understanding and appreciating the claims of Paul.
Furthermore, Paul may have also appealed to Agrippa that he knew about the life of Jesus.
Hence, Paul says in verse 27, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
King Agrippa is not like Festus. He’s not Roman.
As noted in Acts 26:2-3, Agrippa is familiar with the Jewish custom.
He has some acquaintance with Moses and the prophets (i.e. the Old Testament).
The question that Paul asked puts Agrippa in a dilemma.
Agrippa is given a decision to decide whether to believe. If he truly believed in the prophet, he should believe in Paul’s message based on his testimony of conversion and commission. He should also believe that Jesus is the Messiah because the prophets pointed to Christ.
If he denied the prophets, then he would be unloyal to the Jewish heritage. It would be unthinkable of him to deny the basic Jewish beliefs about the prophets.
What’s rather ironic in this atmosphere is that Agrippa is the one who’s on trial before Paul with the gospel message.
Knowing that the resurrection of Jesus is true, what is Agrippa’s belief?
It’s quite possible that he believed in the prophets. Unwilling to humble himself, however, he chose not to acknowledge it out loud.
Instead, Agrippa dodged the question by responding, “In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian?”
Certainly, Paul is a persuader. He tries to persuade and convince sinners to come to faith in Christ.
With such a long speech, in such a short time, Agrippa senses the pressure from Paul to become a Christian, but he would not.
This word, “Christian,” is used the 2nd time in the book of Acts.
It was used the first time back in Acts 11:26 when the church in Antioch was first called Christian.
The only other time it is used outside of Acts is 1 Peter 4:16.
In the ancient world, a Christian was a derogatory or derisive term. It meant “little Christ.” It means to follow the Messiah who was crucified and raised.
Agrippa, as the king, was unwilling to be persuaded to follow the Messiah. This was his pride. His pride in position as the king.
And Paul then responds to Agrippa and also the rest of the audience that his testimony wasn’t only for the king, but also for the those who are hearing Paul’s testimony.
What a privilege and opportunity to proclaim the gospel before thousands of people (v.29)
So, Luke concludes with the king and governor leaving the room.
They recognize that Paul is innocent and doesn’t deserve death or imprisonment.
Nonetheless, what is Luke trying to do in this story?
After many trials, there’s no final verdict on Paul’s innocency. The injustice of his situation continues, but God’s providence still remains.
Paul has appealed to go to Caesar in Rome, which he will do.
How would you define “ministry success?”
Many churches and church leaders would sadly view Paul’s ministry as a failure. Why?
It’s because nobody believed in Christ.
He didn’t win anybody to Christ. Not even once.
Likewise, these churches and leaders may view pastors who do not see the church grow as a ministry failure.
They might say, “what’s the point of hiring this pastor if he doesn’t help it grow?”
However, ministry success is not defined by results, but faithfulness.
In the eyes of God, Paul was successful because he was a faithful witness at his trial.
He was faithful because everything that Paul went through in his trial and hardship, Jesus remains the center of his life and his testimony.