The Power of a Personal Testimony

Series: Sharing Your Faith Made Easy

TEXT: Acts 26:1-23

TOPIC: The Power of a Personal Testimony

Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC

Sunday night, February 10, 2013

In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 26 records the fifth of six defenses of the Christian faith. Jude 3, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Paul also spoke of this often. Two times in the first chapter of Philippians he says, first in verse 7, just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

In Phil 1 (NKJV) He also says in verses 16-17, 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. Phil 1:16-17 (NKJV)

You might not know, but this is the longest recorded sermon by the Apostle Paul anywhere in the Bible. Tonight, I want us to read the entirety of this sermon and what is in reality Paul’s personal salvation testimony.

Before we look at Paul’s presentation of the Gospel using his own testimony, listen to what Dr. J. Vernon McGee had to say about the previous chapter and verse 23, So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus’ command Paul was brought in.

This was an occasion filled with pagan pomp and pageantry. It was a state function filled with fanfare and the blowing of trumpets. There was the tapestry and tinsel. The function was attended by all the prominent personages of that section and the prestige of Rome. It must have been a scramble for people to be able to attend this occasion. The purple of Agrippa and the pearls of Bernice were in evidence. There were the gold braid and the brass hats of the Roman Empire. The elect and the elite, the intelligentsia and the sophisticates had all turned out in full regalia. There would be the pride and ostentation and the dignity and display which only Rome could put on parade in that day.[1]

Having been invited to speak, Paul is prepared and capable of sharing the Gospel using his own testimony. He begins first, by sharing details about his life before becoming a Christian.

Paul’s Life Before Becoming a Christian, Acts 26:1-11

1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: 2 “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, 3 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. 4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5 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. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 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. 8Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? 9“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 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. 11 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.

Acts 26:1 permitted to speak. Since no one was there to accuse Paul, Herod permitted him to speak in his own defense.

stretched out his hand. A common gesture at the beginning of a speech.

Acts 26:2-3 speak for myself – Paul’s main purpose was not to defend himself but to convert Agrippa and the others.

Acts 26:8 Paul cuts to the quick of the Gospel here in verse 8. The heart of the N.T. and Apostolic preaching was the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul found it inconceivable that he should be condemned for believing in the resurrection—the great hope of the Jewish people.

Acts 26:11 compelled them to blaspheme. To renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.

The point in all of this is that in the first eleven verses, Paul is describing what his life was like before he was saved. He was a very religious man. A believer in God, and zealous for his faith, even going as far as punishing those whom he felt distorted or threatened his Judaist faith.

So when developing your own testimony, learn from Paul and begin by describing,

I. Your Life Before Becoming a Christian

Tell where you grew up In church or not Something about your family Describe how you felt, what you believed, others will identify with your feelings, or beliefs more than your specific life

The second point Paul makes in using his testimony to share the Gospel was…..

How Paul Came to Accept Jesus into His Life, Acts 26:12-18

12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and 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. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn themfrom darkness to light, and fromthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Acts 26:12–14 This is now the third NT account of Paul’s conversion (see notes on 9:1–19; 22:6–21).

Paul told King Agrippa and he tells us how he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ appearing directly to him and speaking with him at length. Paul’s frequently stressed his witness of the risen, resurrected Christ and his special calling to the Gentiles as two of his strongest arguments for defending his title of “Apostle.”

So Paul goes into great detail in describing how he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. In the same way, in your testimony you move from describing your life before Christ to how you came to accept Christ.

II. How You Came to Accept Christ,

Tell when, where, who or what was involved in helping you come to Christ. Use your words, not churchy or Christianese, (not I was redeemed by the blood, or even saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost!) Share enough of the Gospel in your testimony that the listener will understand how to be saved.

1 Cor. 15:1-4, 1Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2by which also you are saved, 3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Finally, Paul describes his life since he accepted Christ.

Paul’s Life Since Becoming a Christian, Acts 26:19-23

19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 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. 21 For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22Therefore, 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— 23 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.”

26:20 works befitting repentance. Genuine repentance is inseparably linked to a changed lifestyle.

Verse 20 is one of the strongest verses Paul uses in his presentation of the Gospel that leads to salvation. Genuine repentance is absolutely necessary for true conversion!

Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

James 2:18 - But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

So once again, following Paul’s example, we share our lives since becoming a Christian.

III. Your Life SinceBecoming a Christian,

Share the difference in your life now that you have received Christ Stress the fact that you have changed

2 Cor. 5:17, What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

Galatians 6:15,(NLT) What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.

A great question to ask in closing might be, “Has anything like this ever happened to you?”

[1]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (4:625). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.