Paul Before Festus and Agrippa
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Text: Acts 26:4-25, but covering Acts 25-26
Intro
Intro
Hook
Cult Conversion
Or, “Why Should I Believe You?” story
Or, “Give me Proof! Prove it!” story
Context:
Paul on Trial - What was his message?
Paul is on trial, accused of rioting and blasphemy. But he stands innocent of these accusations, calling people to believe a certain message.
Festus, Agrippa. Acts 25:1-26:3, Acts 26:24-31
Thesis: The message of Paul is true because the messenger is reliable, the author is God, and the message is historical. Since the message is true, we should believe it. If we were one of the Roman officials, why should we believe Paul? The Jews accused Paul of blasphemy and the Romans called his message madness. Why should we believe Paul’s Message?
Body
Body
MP#1 - The Messenger is Reliable
Assertion
Through his lifelong zeal and innocence. His ethos, not his aura, is strong. Paul is reliable, and that makes his message credible.
Evidence
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. 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? 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.
Commentary
The Pharisaical Sect was the strictest (most religious) party of Judaism. His zeal shows his desire for the truth. His background also gives him credibility as he has spent much of his life under the best religious teachers.
From Persecutor to Proclaimer. The enemy turned into an advocate. And this is a strong argument. Why would someone who once opposed an idea turn around and then approve of it? Why would he stake death on the line for something that were false, which he once opposed?
MP#2 - The Author is God
Assertion
This deepens the ethos of the argument. It did not just come from a credible man. It came from God, who cannot lie. Through the heavenly vision.
Evidence
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. 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. 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.’ 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. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
Commentary
God gave Paul a vision on the road to Damascus, appointing him for service. Who stopped Paul on the road? And what does he say to Paul?
“to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” Paul is saying, through Christ, that the Jewish leaders are under the power of Satan. And that it is his job to free them from their slavery.
We can trust the message because God is the author! God never lies and so what he speaks is always true.
MP#3 - The Message is Historical
Assertion
Through the fact it is rooted in historical truth (Moses). It is the fulfillment of prophecy. His faith is in accordance with the scriptures. His faith is not necessarily new, but a continuation.
The Message goes back all the way to Moses, whom the audience trusts as reliable. Moses prophesied that the Christ (Jesus) would suffer, rise, and proclaim light.
Evidence
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.” (Ac 26:22–23)
Genesis 3:15 “15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””
Isaiah 9:1–2 “1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”
Commentary
Scripture, Exposition, Story (Comedy)
What does it mean that the Christ will proclaim the “light?” Acts 26:16–18 “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.’”
What’s the job of the apostle Paul? To reveal God’s plan of salvation, the hope of his forefathers, to the whole world (Jews and Gentiles). He is appointed to open their eyes. Tell a story where someone was shown a truth that completely changed their perspective on things.
Christ is the key to their religion, and they must see this. If not, they will perish.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Restate
What’s the message? Tell it.
Review
Reflect / Apply
Observations:
Paul was on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead, aka, the promise made to their fathers. 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. (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Ac 26:6–7.) He later asks the question, “Why is it though incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” His trial was about Jesus’ resurrection. The main point here: “Why did Jesus rise from the dead?”
Paul used to fiercely persecute the Jewish sect called Christianity. His goal? “I tried to make them blaspheme.” What was the high priest’s goal in Jesus’ day? To make him blaspheme:
English Standard Version Chapter 26
And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy
The Jews were religious fanatics, yet they were dead wrong. The medicine came to them and they flushed it down the toilet. Jesus came to his own people, the Jews, the chosen people of God, and they rejected him. Paul was set apart by God to evangelize the world, to give them a message of hope, the continuation of the message of the promise made to the fathers, yet the stubborn Israelites failed to make the connection. They could not see past their religion. They could not see past their religion.
Paul was on trial for: “[I] 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. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ( Ac 26:20–21.)
Paul was on trial for: “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.” ( Ac 26:22–23.)
Paul had the heart of an evangelist, right down to the bone. “I would that all who hear me this day would become as I am, except for these chains.”
Festus, Bernice, and Agrippa all declare him innoncent, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” But, he appealed to Caesar, which by law required him to go stand before Caesar, therefore the next verse, Agrippa says, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
