Acts chapter 26. Let me set it up for you. Festus, the Roman governor, has a problem. Here's his problem. He has a prisoner that he has inherited from his predecessor, Felix, who hasn't been convicted of a crime. The prisoner is the apostle Paul, and for the past two years he has been in a caesarea jailhouse for no reason whatsoever. Festus asks Paul if he wants to go back to Jerusalem and to stand trial, which is where he was originally arrested, and Paul wisely declines because had he chosen to go back and be tried in Jerusalem, he never would have made it to trial. They would have assassinated him along the way. Rather, Paul uses his Roman citizenship, which is his right to do, and appeals to Caesar, and that is Nero, and Festus agrees to send him. But Festus has another problem, and here's his problem. I'm going to send him to Nero, but what's the charge? I just can't send this guy to Rome without any kind of explanation. Nero certainly won't like that. Enter Agrippa, the last in the line of the Herods, the king of the Jews. He and his lover slash sister, Bernice, come to visit the newly appointed Festus, governor of that particular region. And Festus appeals to Agrippa, who would have familiarity both with the Roman Empire and with the Jews. And he says to him, maybe you can help me out. I want you to listen to Paul and see if you can give me something to write as a viable charge against him when I send him to Nero. And Agrippa agrees to do that, and that's where we are today, Acts chapter 26. Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer, and then we're going to, by His grace, attempt to tackle the chapter in its entirety. Father in heaven, what a blessing it is to be here today and to be with your people and to sing your praises and to observe the table of the Lord, remembering that Jesus died for our sins. Oh, what a blessed thought that is. But we want to thank you also, as we shall see in our text today, of the glorious truth of the resurrection of Christ, that we indeed have hope because Jesus indeed is alive. And Lord, even though Festus could not see this and Agrippa would not embrace this, Lord, we who are saved, thank you that you, by your Spirit, have enabled us to believe this and to experience this. And Lord, we have hope for the future because of this. Father, I want to pray right now for those that do not have this hope. Lord, I pray that today the preaching of the Gospel would regenerate them. Lord, that they would be brought to life by your spirit and they would call out, Lord, have mercy upon me. Father, for those of us that have experienced this, I pray that today we will be able to understand the text. Lord, your word is a delight. I pray that we would be able to enjoy the text. Father, your Word is truth. I pray, dear Lord, that our minds would be challenged and that we would be set free, for you have said, we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Lord, we pray that we will grow by this, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so that we pray now as the Word is proclaimed that our faith will be increased. Lord, we pray that our love for one another and our love for you will be increased. And so, Lord, I stand here today to proclaim the truth. Lord, I need your divine assistance, the assistance of your spirit to enable me to give me the words to say. And Father, on behalf of the people, I pray, just confessing that they need your assistance today for the illumination of the truth of your word, Lord, and for the grace to apply it. And so, Lord, we bring the word forth today. It is your word, and so, Lord, may you accomplish what you want in your kingdom and in your church. All the glory belongs to you, not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory through the preaching of the word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Chapter 26. Listen as I read and make a few comments along the way. Then Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, nothing like a happy prisoner. 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. Especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. He's not flattering him here. He's telling the truth. 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. So, I'm not making this stuff up. I've been in Jerusalem all along. Verse 5. They knew me from the first, since the time I was a little boy. If they were willing to testify, according to the strictest sects of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. I did not just profess with my mouth to be a Pharisee and espouse pharisaical doctrine. I actually lived it out. I followed that way of life, which was very conservative. It was very strict. It was very much in line with Old Testament teaching and things that they added to it, but to say that you lived as a Pharisee meant that you were very serious about your faith. Verse 6, And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. Speaking of the resurrection. To this promise, our twelve tribes, there are some who would say that when the ten tribes of the northern kingdom were taken out by the Assyrians, that they ceased to be part of the nation of Israel, part of the people of God. Paul is saying here, no, it's all twelve tribes, the ten to the north, the two to the south. And 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." Again referring to the resurrection, verse 8. Now, why should it be thought incredible by you, the King of the Jews, that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought that I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. I was very sincere in what I did. This I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints I had shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I worked for the Sanhedrin, and I was in the business of seeing to it that Christians were put to death. And, verse 11, I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme, meaning that I would go to them and I would say, I will give you your life if you will just recant and renounce Jesus Christ. And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. It wasn't enough just to rid Jerusalem of Christianity. I would chase these people down. I would hunt them down. I would travel over land and sea to run them down and to either put them to death or get them to recant. While I was thus occupied, I wasn't seeking after Christ, I was seeking to destroy Christ and his reputation. While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priest, not on my own, but I had papers giving me the right to do it, 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. 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 goats. And so I said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose. To make you a minister, and the key here is not that Paul volunteered for the ministry and he took it upon himself. No, if one is in the ministry, they are in the ministry because God is the one that has called them. God is the one that has ordained them. God is the one that has appointed them. Jesus Christ here has made Paul a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, which Christ did many times, as well as from the Gentiles, which is what is about to happen, 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 might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Therefore, King Agrippa, 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 and turn to God and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, To this day, I stand witnessing both too small and great. This doesn't mean short and tall. It doesn't even mean young and old. It means those who are the common people and those who are royalty. And he was standing in front of royalty at that time. saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come. I'm not making this up. I have substantial backing from the Old Testament. Verse 23, and what is that message? That the Christ, not Jesus, now we know that Paul believes that Jesus is the Christ, but he's speaking to Agrippa and he's making the argument here that the Old Testament teaches that the Christ, whomever that may be, that the Christ would suffer, and that he would be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. This is Paul's testimony before Agrippa. He is not yet finished, but he is interrupted in verse 24. Now, as he thus made his defense, Festus, you remember who Festus is, he's the Roman governor It's no longer his trial. He's given the trial over to Agrippa, but he's sitting there listening. He feels compelled to interrupt Paul. Now, as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. You're crazy, Paul. You're out of your mind. But he said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak words of truth and reason. For the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things, for I am convinced that none of these things escape his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner." King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do. Don't try to tell me that you don't. I know who you are. I know what you believe. I know your background. I know that you do believe the Old Testament prophets. Notice that King Agrippa doesn't answer Paul's question, but he moves the subject along dismisses the trial in verse 28, then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. Another rendering of that would be, do you assume that you are going to make me a Christian in such a short period of time? Verse 29. 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. I wish that they were saved. I wish that they were Christians, although I don't wish that they were like me standing here in these chains. When he, Paul, had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they were convening and talking about how they thought the trial had gone. They talked among themselves, saying, this man is doing nothing deserving of death or even chains for that matter. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Now, there are several viable ways and ways that would be correct hermeneutically to approach this chapter. Before I tell you which way we are going to go, let me briefly tell you five ways that I decided to bypass. In other words, I'm going to spend a good bit of time this morning telling you what I'm not going to preach on. Number one. We could, this morning, look at this text and concentrate on Paul's testimony of salvation. Reason being, this is the third time that Luke repeats the same story, and we have to scratch our heads and ask the question, Detective Columbo, why is it that Luke would, for the third time, tell us the testimony of Paul. You'll remember that he did it in chapter 9 in the form of a narrative as it is happening, and then in chapter 22 Paul gives the same testimony to hostile Jews in Jerusalem, and now here in chapter 26 as a testimony in a court of law to King Agrippa. We could talk about the importance of giving your personal testimony and the importance of repeatedly giving your personal testimony. As we look at these three testimonies, we could compare them and contrast them. Notice how the emphasis varies slightly in each, and depending on the audience, we should emphasize certain things. And that the details here do not contradict, but there's a slight variation in each and there's a slight emphasis shift in each. We could talk about the testimony this morning, but we are going to bypass that and move on. A second way that we could also approach this text and be well within the bounds of what the text is teaching is that we could zero in on this man Agrippa. If you were here three weeks ago when I preached through Acts chapter 24, you'll remember that Paul was standing trial in front of Felix. And you'll remember from that sermon that I pointed out four facts about Felix. First of all, that he was interested, that he was curious in the case, and he was curious in what Paul believed. He was also informed. He was informed by his wife, he was informed by the letter that had been written to him by the Roman commander in Jerusalem, and he was informed by speaking to Paul himself. He didn't need any more facts. He was informed. Remember also that Felix was immoral, that he had stolen another man's wife, and that he wanted to go to Paul and have Paul give him a bribe in order to get him out of prison. Then you remember, most importantly, that he was indecisive and he said to Paul, I will hear you again at a more convenient time. Well, interestingly enough, if we were to look at Agrippa, he also falls into all four of these categories as well. He was very interested in the case back in chapter 25, verse 22, when Festus brings this to the attention of Agrippa. Agrippa said, I will hear him myself. He was interested. He listened attentively. He was also like Felix in that he was very, very well informed. Repeatedly throughout the passage, Paul will say to Agrippa, you know that these things are true. Do you believe the prophets? I know that you do. I'm happy to be speaking to you today because you are familiar with the customs of the Jews. These things were not done in a corner, as you well know, and In listening to Paul preach the gospel, it's clear that at the end of the day Agrippa was very, very familiar with what was going on. He was very, very well informed. He too was like Felix in that he was immoral. He was sleeping with his sister, Bernice. She was his sister, but she was also his incestuous lover. And finally, like Felix, he was indecisive. The text where it says, you almost persuade me to become a Christian, is the impetus behind a hymn, which we have in our hymn book, Almost Persuaded. You've almost persuaded me, almost, but not quite yet. Now, there's a bit of a textual variant, or maybe I should say interpretation, and both of them, depending on how you read it, could be correct. There is the New King James way of interpreting it, and that is, you've almost persuaded me to become a Christian, but not quite. Or there's the NIV rendering of it, which says, do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian? I need to think about this a little bit longer. Now, I think that the NIV rendering is a little bit better because of the context. But regardless, in both, at the end of the day, he is indecisive. He has not professed faith in Christ. Let me make application from this point, which I'm not going to preach about this morning. Here's the application. I said three weeks ago that a maybe to Christ is practically the equivalent of a no. Saying maybe to Christ is the practical equivalent of saying no. How about you? Were you here three weeks ago? You heard the message. You were urged to delay no longer. You had all of the information that you needed. You were told by the truth of the Word of God to run to Christ with urgency and immediacy and call upon the name of the Lord. Lord, have mercy upon me. Have you done anything with that challenge? Here we are three weeks later. Have you gone to the Savior? Or are you still saying, maybe to Christ? Are you still saying, I will hear you at a more convenient time? Are you still saying, I'm almost persuaded? What if we were together again three weeks from now, or three months from now, or three years from now? Would you still be telling Jesus, maybe? Three weeks ago, it was the day of salvation. Again, I stand in front of you today. Do not delay. Today is the day of salvation. Another way that we are not going to look at the text, this is the third one, and it's very, very interesting as we go through this, to note that as this chapter draws to a close, the Jews and the Romans have a very consistent inability to pin anything substantial in any way by way of an accusation against Paul. The Roman governor doesn't know what to write to Nero. The Roman governor before him didn't even render a verdict. The Roman commander before him wrote to the governor and said, I don't know that this man has done anything wrong. And Agrippa concludes that Paul would have gone free had he not appealed to Caesar. The point that I'm trying to make here, or should I say the point that I'm not making today, because we don't have time to develop this, is this. Paul's integrity. You just can't pin anything on him. But we looked at that last week, so we won't camp out there. Here's a fourth way that we're not going to look at the text today. And that is the reoccurring issue of the resurrection and of the contention between the Christians and the unsaved world over the subject of the resurrection. Look at it over the course of four chapters. In chapter 23, verse six, Paul says concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged. Let's not joke around today and say that I'm here because you're accusing me of bringing Greeks into the temple. That's not what the issue is here. Right now, here today, I'm being judged because of my hope in the resurrection. Move on to the next chapter, chapter 24, verse 21. Unless it is for this one statement, which I cried out, standing among them, concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged by you this day." That is the real issue. The next chapter, chapter 25, Festus speaking to Agrippa about why Paul would be there. He speaks of a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And then in this chapter today, look in chapter 26, verse 8 again, Paul says, why should it be thought incredible to you that God raises the dead? And then in chapter 26, verse 23, that 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. In all four chapters, the real issue here is the issue of the resurrection. Now, One of the reasons why I am not going to preach from this particular angle today is because I haven't fully yet sorted out all the details. But I want to say this, the problem that everyone is having with Paul and his view of the resurrection, in part, and maybe in large part, but not exclusively, was that Jesus was risen from the dead. In other words, that wasn't the only issue. But it's also Paul's warning that there was a resurrection day that was coming and that that resurrection day would be a judgment day. See, this wasn't just a Sadducee Pharisee debate on the theoretical nature of whether or not there will be a resurrection. And it wasn't just that there was a man named Jesus who lived and who died and is now alive again. But there was this concept of resurrection and with resurrection comes judgment. And that's what they did not want to hear. Nobody wanted to hear Paul say that there's a pending judgment day, and I don't think that the popularity of the concept of resurrection has improved any in our day either. But I'm not going to address the text from that angle because I really haven't fully developed that. But this resurrection issue is very, very touchy in the minds of those that were trying Paul. And there's a fifth angle, which I also believe is very, very viable, but we won't concentrate on. And that is Paul's incredible humility in spelling out what his past sins were. I don't know about you, but when it comes to me, I really don't like to even think about my past sins, much less talk about them, much less to volunteer them. Yet, Paul, when he's on trial before Agrippa, doesn't just say that I used to be Jewish and that I used to be a Pharisee and that I used to be religious, but Paul says I was a murderer. Not just a murderer, but I was a committed murderer. I would track people down. And one particular aspect of Paul's humility He just jumps off the page at me, and that is in verse 11. And that is that he punished them often in every synagogue, and look at this phrase, and compelled them to blaspheme. Here he's speaking to the king of the Jews, Herod, and he says, one of the things that I used to do is I used to compel them to blaspheme. Do you realize that this crime is actually worse than murdering someone? It's actually better to murder someone and to allow them to maintain their integrity and maintain their faith and to go on to be with the Lord than to go to them and say, I will give you your life back, but all you have to do right now is say that Jesus is not Lord and say that Jesus is not risen and say that you do not believe in Him. You see, He caused dear, precious Christians to have their consciences deeply wounded and injured, and he caused them to commit deep and grievous sin by getting them to blaspheme and to renounce Christ. That's worse than killing them. But Paul, in his humility, magnifies the grace of God by pointing out to Agrippa that he too stood in desperate need of mercy. Now, those five topics could all be more fully developed and supported by Acts 26. And I touched on them, not just to kill time, in fact, not in any way to kill time. If you hear me preach on a weekly basis, I don't need anything to kill time. I can do that with the text itself. But just to point out that there are a lot of different aspects to this chapter and that the word of God is living and powerful and it is bottomless and that it is multifaceted. We can't choose every topic, but there's one that I would like to concentrate on today, and that is the topic of mental health. Mental health. Verse 24. Now, as he had thus made his defense, Festa said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. Please notice that Festus technically is on the sidelines right now. He is out of the game. This is not his trial. He comes off the bench to make this comment. And notice that as he makes this comment to Paul, He interrupts Paul. He doesn't let Paul's finish. So, we know that something had to be brewing in Festus which made him emotionally involved in what Paul is saying. He blurts this out before Paul is even finished. And notice that he does it with a lot of emotion. Because he does it, Luke says, with a loud voice. Something Paul said touched a nerve in Festus. And he essentially says, Paul, you're crazy. Now, notice he does not accuse Paul of being stupid. Paul was a brilliant man. He spoke eloquently and he spoke logically in whatever language you wanted him to speak in, whether it was Hebrew or Greek. So Festus could not dismiss Paul as an ignorant man or uneducated or a buffoon or slow mentally. In fact, even in his eruption, he has to confess that Paul is well-schooled. It is your much learning that is driving you mad. It's not an attack on Paul's intellect at all. Rather, it's an attack on his sanity. You are beside yourself. You are crazy. You are mad. You are insane. You are deranged. Now, in case you didn't know this, I'm here today by way of application to inform you, who are in Christ, that the world, even your own family members, might I even say, especially your own family members, who are not in Christ, for the most part, believe that you have a mental illness. And in some cases, they're right, but not because of your faith. What the world is saying, perhaps to you, but often about you and maybe just in their own minds, is that you have some sort of weakness upstairs which explains your faith and your love and your loyalty to Christ. Former governor of the state of Minnesota, Jesse of the Body of Ventura, said that Christians are just weak-minded people. that need to gather with one another because they find strength in numbers, but the reason why they have faith in Christ is just because they are weak mentally. They, for the most part, would not say that you need to be institutionalized. But when they look at you and when they listen to you, And when they see the life that you live and they notice the commitment that you have and they notice that the priorities that you have, the thoughts that many of them possess are similar to that of Festus. Let me read you a quote from a man by the name of Bill Maher. He's a host of HBO's real time with Bill Maher, and here's what he says. He says that all Christians are crazy and are unenlightened because of their faith. We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies craziness. I think religion is a neurological disorder. He goes on to say, because of their neurological disorder, Christians do not believe in science and rationality. According to Marr, the Bible is just a book of fairy tales calling the account of Jonah a fairy tale in the same way as Jack and the Beanstalk is a fairy tale. So, here we are. Assembled and sequestered in a room on a Sunday morning. All saying Amen. And those people out there are looking at us as we make our way to the house of worship and they are saying, generally speaking, they are okay people. I don't think they're dangerous. Most of them are in favor of good bodily hygiene and they're kind to their mothers, but at the end of the day, there's something missing. We are psychotic in their minds to begin with. Otherwise, we wouldn't have allowed ourselves to become brainwashed into believing in creation, that there was a being roughly six to ten thousand years ago, who said, let there be and there was. That's insane. And then to believe that this being made his way from heaven to earth through the womb of a virgin. That is impossible. They do not understand the need for substitution. They do not believe the reality of the resurrection They do not believe that faith is necessary for salvation or even that maybe there even is anything such as salvation or life after death. Christian commitment is a colossal waste of time. The hope of heaven is just a pie-in-the-sky dream that will never come to reality. And please, please don't speak to me about eternal damnation for all who do not believe. If you actually embrace these things and then back these things up by the way that you live your life, you are proving that you are nuts. Furthermore, and that's just getting in the door, our much learning, in other words, our Bible reading and our worship and our discipleship and our study, etc., is causing us to fall deeper and deeper and deeper into insanity. We're crazy to begin with, but we are becoming crazier and crazier and crazier the more we're in it. You have to be a little bit off to begin with to buy into this nonsense, but the longer you stay in, the further removed from reality you become. And, according to the world, no offense, but the nuttier you become. Your much learning is contributing to your madness and your lunacy. Paul, you expect a sane person to believe that you were raised as a Jew, and that you followed the ways of Judaism, and that you were passionate about this Judaism, and then all of a sudden, one day, you want us to believe you're walking down the road, you get hit in the face with a light, and then all of a sudden, that which you hated, all of a sudden, you instantly loved, and then you spent the rest of your life proving that you loved this Jesus by taking His message around the world and being beaten for that cause. That's not normal, Paul. You're not all there. You're seeing a whole team of mental health experts. Paul, come back to us. Paul, it's time for your medication. Now, I am not saying that the world thinks that we are dangerous. In some cases, the world does think that we are dangerous, but for the most part, we are Just a little misguided. We're not dangerous. Fast is clearly said in his estimation that Paul posed no threat to society. But clearly, Paul needed help. Some of you know what I'm talking about, and the reason why you know what I'm talking about is because before you were saved, you looked at born again Christians. Not just as being in a cult, not just as being a little bit weak and needing a crutch, not just as misinformed. But you know what I'm talking about, because before you were saved, you looked at born again Christians and you thought that we were, as we used to say, one taco short of a combination platter, that the elevator did not go all the way to the top. And perhaps you still think this way. Well, what in the world are we supposed to do with the fact that the world thinks that we are collectively a little bit off? I want to give you three points this morning that will hopefully be helpful in dealing with your insanity. Here's number one. You need to consider that you are in good company. You need to consider that when the world considers you to be crazy, you are in good company. Let's do a study on the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me, please, back to the book of Mark, chapter three and verse twenty one. The son of God who spoke the world into existence had this said about him. But when his enemies heard about this, the text doesn't say that, does it? The text says, his own people. We are talking about the family of Christ. When his own people heard about this, they went out and tried to lay hold of him. They tried to put him in a straitjacket. For they said, he is out of his mind. The eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, by his own family, was accused of being crazy. Over to the book of John, chapter 8, verse 48. Now, there's going to be a mixture here of an accusation of demonic possession and mental illness, and where the two mesh together is a fine line, but in John 8, 48, We see this accusation. Then the Jews answered and said to him, Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? They're getting their facts all wrong. Verse 52. Then the Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead and the prophets and you say, If anyone keeps My word, he shall never taste death." Verse 53, are you greater than our father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets who are dead? Who do you make yourself out to be? This man thinks that he is the Messiah. He thinks that he is greater than Abraham. He thinks that he is God. He is out of his mind. Chapter 10, verses 18 through 20 of John. Speaking of the gospel, Jesus said, no one takes it, that is my life, from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command I received from my Father. Therefore, there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, he has a demon and, there's the combination, is mad. Why do you listen to him? So, if they thought that Jesus was crazy and we are following Jesus, then why would we think it strange that they think that we are crazy as well? Jesus said in John chapter 15 that a servant is not greater than his master. If they hated me, they will hate you also. And so, how are we to respond to the fact that people think and say and respond to us as though we are crazy? Hebrews chapter 13, speaking of the reproach of Christ in connection with the gospel. This is the Hebrews equivalent of rejoice and be exceedingly glad when you are persecuted. Hebrews 13, verses 12 and 13. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, that is the gospel, which is of first importance, suffered outside the gate. They put Him outside of Jerusalem. They didn't even crucify Him inside Jerusalem. They took Him outside. What are we to do in light of the fact that Jesus died for us and that He was shamed and that He was put out, that He was cast out? Therefore, let us go forth to Him outside the camp bearing His reproach. Christians, part of being Christians, is to accept the reproach of Christ and that when they call you crazy, you are knowing that you are on the right track because that's what they did to Jesus. Here's application point number two. Please realize that the unsaved do not have the capacity to see spiritual things. Turn to the book of 1 Corinthians. Please realize that the unsaved do not have the capacity to see spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says, For the message of the cross is foolishness, it is madness, it is insanity. For the message of the cross, that is the gospel, is foolishness to those who are perishing, to those that do not have Christ, to those that are outside of Christ, to those that are on their way toward eternal damnation. For the message of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, well, we see it differently. To us, who are being saved, it is the power of God. Turn over one chapter, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. Again, the point here is that we realize that the unsaved do not have the capacity to see spiritual things. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness, they are madness to him, nor can he know them. because they are spiritually discerned. They do not have the eyes to see what we see. Now, I'm not saying that as a result of this that they are excused, and I am not saying that they are correct by calling us maniacal. What I am saying is this. from their perspective, with their insights and with their limited capacity to see and to understand and to believe spiritual truths, it appears from their perspective as though we are batty. In other words, they are not lying, they are not being insincere, they are not being malicious, they are not being vicious, they're just standing at the outside, they're looking at us, and because they cannot comprehend, what we have experienced and because they cannot see what we have seen, they are sincerely saying, I just don't get it. There's something wrong with those people. And let me add to that, that if God had not opened your eyes, you would believe the same thing. When I was six years old, I was very sincere in thinking that girls were, for lack of a better word, yucky. I did not understand my brother, who was eight years older than me, and all of a sudden this interest that he had in the opposite sex. I just don't get it. Then I grew up and I fully understood his point of view. Do you see the analogy there? Until you see it, you don't see it. And when you don't see it, you don't understand it. And when you don't understand it, you think that there's something wrong with someone that does embrace it. And I say that to say this. Please don't take personal offense when a Festus or a Festus type person either says or implies or treats you like you're off your rocker. Because from their blind, dead, dead perspective, you appear to be. Let me add this to that. Please try to do everything that you can to be as normal as you possibly can so that we do not add fodder to their cannon by... Look, the most normal, quote-unquote, normal Christian in the world is still going to appear to be insane because their affections are going to be in another world. But let's not enter the twilight zone in the way that we speak to them and add to the fact that they think that we're crazy. Let's just let the message itself, let's let the offense be in the cross, not in our unusual behavior. But point number two is this, the unsaved world does not have the capacity to see what we see, therefore the logical conclusion that they would come to is that we are insane. Which brings me to the final observation this morning and that is this, The way to dispel the notion that we are whacked out is to speak words of truth and reason. The way to dispel this is for us to speak words of truth and reason. Turn back to Acts chapter 26 one more time. Notice what Paul says as he responds to Festus. Verse 25. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus. He doesn't take it personally. In fact, he speaks back to Festus in a way that is respectful. Most noble Festus, I'm not crazy. I'm perfectly sane. I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. As I close today, I want to talk to you about how you can speak words of truth and reason. Concerning truth. One, and I'm speaking of an unsaved person here, cannot be converted simply by hearing and being presented with historical facts about the accuracy of the scriptures. But one can be silenced if we present our case with verifiable facts. And that's exactly what Paul does in verse 26. He presents truth to Festus and he brings Agrippa in kind of through the back door. Truth and reason. Here we go with truth. For the king, speaking of Agrippa, 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. In other words, Festus, my proof that what I'm speaking is not madness, but rather is truth, is that the king that I'm standing before right now, whose father actually was Herod and his father before him was a Herod. He knows these things. He knows the scriptures to be true. He knows everything that I'm talking about is historically verifiable because this Christianity, the way new spangled religion that's going around is not something that was done secretly. But we have been very, very open and throughout the entire known world, this message has spread. And it's verifiably true that there was a man by the name of Jesus who lived and died. And the sheer number of eyewitnesses, some of whom are alive to this day who laid eyes on him, know that this is true. This was not something which we contrived on our own and which was hidden. This was out in the open. And Herod knows that to be true. Now, how do we know that Agrippa, Herod Agrippa agrees with Paul's point simply by his silence. This proves to Festus that Paul is right. See, the testimony of Christians and their tenacity to take the message around the world, saying that we have seen the risen Christ and their failure to back down, their tenacity to stand up to preach the word and, if necessary, to die for that message rather than to recant, demonstrates that the Christian faith is based upon historical facts. And Agrippa knew this, and he knew that he wasn't dealing with a crazy man. Now, I've known a lot of unstable people. And one thing that many of them have in common is that they have vivid imaginations and they make things up. And as you speak with these people, you'll find out that the facts will evaporate under cross-examination. But what Paul is saying to Festus is, no, I'm not crazy. I'm telling the truth. And you have a man sitting beside you right now that can verify that what I am saying is true. Furthermore, what Paul spoke was not crazy, but these were words of reason. They perfectly match the prophecies of the Old Testament. which were made hundreds of years earlier, that Christ would suffer and rise again, that He would offer hope, and light, and life, and salvation. And Paul wasn't making this up. And he demonstrates his logic in the reasonableness of the Gospel in the next verse. Verse 27. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? Oh, King Agrippa, don't try to say that you don't. I know that you do. You see, he uses Agrippa. Agrippa doesn't answer. In fact, he diverts the conversation. And his diversion is a strong argument for the reasonableness of Paul's case. If Paul had said, do you believe the prophets? And Agrippa had said, yes, of course I believe the prophets. I've read the prophets from beginning to end. There's nothing in there about the Christ suffering. There's nothing in there about the Christ rising from the dead. You're imagining all of that. You make no sense. Beth is right. You're out of your mind. But Agrippa couldn't say that because Agrippa did know the scriptures. He did believe the prophets and he knew that what Paul was saying was logical and reasonable. So when Agrippa gives no answer, he vindicates Paul. You see, in closing this morning, part of the reason why the world thinks that we're touched is because they are blind to the truth. But it's also because they are ignorant as to what we actually believe. And so it is our job, while acting as normal as possible, to speak words of truth and reason. We can't stop them from considering us to be crazy, but we can weaken their argument by arming ourselves with words of truth and reason and using those words. And what is the most truthful and reasonable message that there is? It is the message of the gospel. And so, present that message of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to these people. There is nothing more logical, there is nothing more truthful. Jesus said, I am the truth. The message that brings light into darkness is the message that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came from heaven to earth and that He died on the cross in place of sinners, and that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. And if you're sitting here today and you look at Christians and you think that we are touched, it's simply because you have not understood and believed the message that you are a sinner and that you can be saved through the power of Jesus Christ and his precious blood. This is the message that brings light into the darkness and it brings understanding to the dull and it brings the dead to life. So I say to you, Speak words of truth and words of reason. In other words, proclaim the gospel to those who call you crazy, because if you preach that gospel to them today, tomorrow they will become your brothers and sisters. You are not. Christian, listen, you are not crazy. The world will want to make you think that you are, but you are not. In fact, the exact opposite is true. 2 Timothy 1.7 says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. But on the other hand, and I'm no psychologist, to me, it doesn't seem mentally healthy to reject and to disobey and to run from the God who created you and sustains you. The God who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you and He presents one way of salvation and to reject that, that to me seems insane. And the God who one day promises to judge you and for you to say to Him, no, or to say to Him, maybe, that to me seems a little bit off. So if you willfully reject Christ, perhaps it can be said that your much sinning has made you mad. Let me land the plane by reading you something that was written by A. W. Tozer. Tozer said this. A real Christian is an odd number anyway. And this is an article which Tozer wrote saying, why it is that we appear to be crazy. He, the Christian, feels supreme love for one he has never seen. He talks in a familiar way every day with someone that he cannot see. He expects to go to heaven based upon the virtue of another. He empties himself in order to be full. He admits that he is wrong so that he can be declared right. He goes down in order to get up. He is strongest when he is weakest. He is richest when he is poorest. He is happiest when he is at his worst. He dies so that he can live. He forsakes in order to have, and gives away so that he can keep. Sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge. Christians are different. But it's encouraging to know that we are in good company. Amen.