I dismiss the classes off to Sunday school with Jess, and the rest of us will enjoy our time here. I invite you to take your Bibles this morning to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 25. Acts 25, I'm going to ask you to stand as we read together Acts chapter 25 and 26. So please stand as we read together. I'm reading from an NASB, and it says that Festus then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus, requesting a concession against Paul that he might have him brought to Jerusalem, at the same time setting an ambush to kill him on the way. Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly. Therefore, he said, have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him. After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, On the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought. After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many in serious charges against him, which they could not prove. While Paul said in his own defense, I have not done anything wrong, either against the laws of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges? But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution. But if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then when Festus had conferred with his counsel, he answered, You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go. Now in several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea paying their respects to Festus. And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul's case to the king, saying, There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix. And when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal in order that the man be brought. When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters. But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the emperor's decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said to Festus, I also would like to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, he said, you shall hear him. So on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. And Festus said, King Agrippa and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death, and since he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner not to indicate the charges against him as well. Now Agrippa said to Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense. Regarding all things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. So then, all Jews know my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion. And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews. Why is it considered incredible among you people if God raises the dead? So I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons after receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being put to death. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them, even to foreign cities. While I was so engaged, I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O King, I saw on my way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me, and those who were journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord answered, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for this is my purpose. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom 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 inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but continually proclaim to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they are to repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance. For those reasons, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me. So having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place, as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether as first from the resurrection of the dead, he would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. While Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you're out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you insane. Try it again. Your great learning is driving you insane. But Paul said, I am not insane, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I am speaking out with truthful and rational words. For the king knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice. For this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. A gripper replied to Paul, in short time you are going to persuade me to make a Christian of myself? And Paul said, I would wish to God that even in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these chains. And the king stood up, and the governor, and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them. And when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, this man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Loving Father, we thank you and we praise you, O God, for your word. And we pray, O God, as we would open it and we would consider it and we would learn and draw messages from what you are saying in the text. Father, we pray that you would teach us your word. Challenge us, correct us, rebuke us, spur us on, O God, we pray. And we ask you for your help in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Please have a seat. It's been quite some time since we were in the Book of Acts. In fact, it's been just over four months. I believe it was last September, just before Heather and I left to go to the UK. And I have spent a lot of time between then and now. I haven't ignored it. I've been going back to it, often week by week, reading and rereading, and struggling to understand what it is that God would have us learn from this text. I even broke a rule, which I normally choose very much not to listen to anybody else's sermons on a passage, lest I inadvertently start to plagiarize what they've said and borrowed it. And I had an idea that in this text, there's no doctrine being taught. It's basically narrative. And so I flipped on John MacArthur early yesterday morning, and he, in his five minutes to all listen to his five-minute introduction, he said, there's no doctrine in this text. It's all just narrative. And I thought, oh. Good. At least if we're wrong, we're in good company. So it's all good. So we'll leave it there. But to help us understand the message, we need to look at the wider context of the book of Acts. Jesus said to the disciples and the apostles in Acts chapter one and verses seven, eight, it is not for you to know times or epochs, which the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power. when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth." The book of Acts describes the beginning of the global spread of the gospel, a work which we are still involved in to this very day. And Luke writes with two basic purposes. First, he writes to give an account of where the gospel is spreading. The extent of the spread is to the ends of the earth from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and then Rome. It began in the center of Judaistic life in Jerusalem and with the temple and so on. And it spread to the central points of Gentile life in his day, which was Greece and then Rome. The gospel and Christianity was initially seen as a sect of Judaism, and so it began in Jerusalem, around the temple. But later, it is recognized as the only true expression of belief and worship of the one living and true God, and that is through Jesus Christ. In the 21st century, the gospel still continues to spread to the ends of the earth because, as Jesus said himself in Matthew 24 and verse 14, the gospel of the kingdom, this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and the end of the end will come. And I know Simon's going to mention this next week, but I'll give you a preview anyway. He's going to talk about the fact that there are still loads, many, many people groups that are yet to be reached with the gospel. There are many groups that still do not have a gospel text, a biblical text in their own language. The work is not finished. Facing a task unfinished, right? We're still involved. In a certain sense, the book of Acts is not yet concluded. I love the way Luke writes. He just kind of finishes up. No, he doesn't. He writes into Rome and Paul is preaching and he just stops writing. He really doesn't conclude his book because the answer is the book isn't finished yet. We're still involved. There's work left to be done. Secondly, Luke wrote to describe how the gospel spread. It is spreading in the power of the Holy Spirit. We saw that in Acts 1.8. It's spreading by proclaiming Christ's life and death and resurrection as promised by God through the prophets in the Old Testament scriptures. The gospel was spreading with a call for faith and repentance and to follow Christ. That hasn't changed. and spreading through the faithful witness of apostles and churches in the first century, and now through churches and disciples and missionaries in our day and age, because there are no more apostles. If you think you're an apostle, you have to have been able to see Jesus in the flesh face to face, and nobody alive today has that wonderful privilege. We will soon. That's going to be great to see Jesus face to face, but not today, not for us. And the work still continues. It still continues in the power of the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel throughout this world. And by the time of Acts 25, Jesus' words have been partially fulfilled. The gospel has been preached in Jerusalem in Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and beyond. The gospel was preached in Samaria in Acts chapter 8 through the evangelist Philip. The gospel was sent to Ethiopia and Africa with the eunuch, the Ethiopian eunuch, in Acts chapter 8. And the gospel was preached in Judea's West Coast lands by Philip, and then also to the Gentiles, the first time by Peter, and then, of course, we see Paul later on. And then the gospel spread to Damascus and Syrian Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. He went to Cyprus, Galatia, Asia Minor, and Macedonia and beyond. If you take the whole book of Acts and you can split it almost in the exact center, in chapters 1 through 12, we see Peter's life and ministry to Jews and Samaritans and Gentiles. And then in chapters 13 to 28, the latter half of the book, We see Paul's life and ministry to the Jews and the Gentiles as well, primarily to the Gentiles. And yet Paul wants to go further. One of the things I see about Paul, and I have a picture in my mind's eye of this little, short, bow-legged kind of guy. He's been beaten so many times, his back and legs and his muscles would have all contracted, so he would have walked with kind of a bent over gait. And wherever he's going, he's got a big book under one arm, it's just my mind's idea, and he's going. He's moving. He's always on the move. He's preaching the gospel. He's writing letters. He's a busy apostle, a worker for God. And he has more. There's more he wants to do. In Acts 19 and verse 21, he says this, After these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. He's just planning ahead. He's got things to do. There's the gospel to preach. There's people who yet don't know even his world. And I'm sure he knew and understood Jesus' commission in Acts 1-8. He also saw that his position, very unique in the church, as a Jew born with Roman citizenship, opened opportunities to him to preach the gospel in Rome. In chapter 20, he travels to Jerusalem, and all the way there, he's warned of sufferings that are to come. And in chapter 21, we have Paul's arrival in Jerusalem. Paul's account of what's happened in his ministry. to the Jewish church leaders. We have Paul's advice from the Jewish church leaders regarding the Nazarite vow, and then we see, sadly, his arrest in the temple under the assumption that he has defiled it by bringing Gentiles in with him. And chapter 22 records Paul's defense before the Jewish mob in which he describes his life and persecution of the church, his conversion and commission to go to the Gentiles. And his defense concludes with no conviction of guilt and great chaos and upheaval. And the Romans basically got to grab him and hustle him out of there because the mob is looking to kill him. In 23, chapter 23, we have Paul's trial before the Jewish council, which concludes, Paul's not stupid. He says, I'm a Pharisee and I'm on trial for the resurrection of the dead, knowing in the Sanhedrin, there's a great divide between Pharisee and Sadducee. The Pharisees believe in the resurrection and the Sadducees don't. So the Pharisees rise up in defense of Paul and big fight ensues and he gets out of there. In chapter 24, we have Paul's trial before Felix, after which he's left in jail for two years without conviction. And that part just kind of goes, wow, it almost goes roaring by us. We don't even notice it almost until you stop and think. For two years, everything stops. There's no writing, there's no letters, there's no visitors recorded, there's nothing happening from the text of scripture in Paul's life. He's sitting in a jail in Caesarea and two long years go by before something happens. Chapter 25, we have Paul's trial before Festus. And although there is no doubt by any of his innocence, Festus wants to do the Jews a favor. And so he gives them another opportunity to try Paul, but Paul knows his Roman rights. He appeals to Caesar's court and he is sent. And then in chapter 26, which you've just read, we have Paul's defense before Agrippa and Benice, including Interestingly, it's the most detailed account of Paul's early life and persecution of the church given by him, his conversion and commission by Christ to go to the Gentiles. So that section from 22 all the way to 26, it forms one complete section of Paul's life. Five chapters, three trials, two defenses, and one conclusion. Not guilty. And what's striking is it happens over and over again. And you think, Luke, you've got so much papyrus space to write, you're spending all that. But you could have just said, you know, three times he was tried, three times found guilty, next verse, and moved on. But no, he repeats it. And what I struggled with was, what is God saying to us through this? I'm absolutely convinced that the text of scripture gives us doctrine. It gives us rebuke, reproof, correction, instruction, training in righteousness. It gives us all that we need to be fully equipped for every good work. You want to know more about that? Come back tonight. We'll talk about what we believe about the Bible. But that means this text and all this space that Luke has taken to tell Paul's life has a point, has something to say to us. In Acts 23.11, after his second trial before the Jews, this amazing scene, the Bible says, And the Lord Jesus confirmed Paul's desire to go to Rome, so Paul knew Whatever happened, his work was not yet finished. Even though in chains and detainment, Paul continues working, speaking the truth of the gospel, writing some of our most beloved New Testament epistles later from Rome, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and later 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus. And I kind of wondered, As he sat there for those two years in Caesarea, I'm thinking he had a text of the Old Testament somewhere handy. I'm thinking he must have been chewing over and thinking about all the churches they planted and wondering about them. He must have been thinking and working out some of those details that he would later write in those epistles. I don't think it was wasted time. Just a little time out, beloved, when sometimes God puts you aside for a time and God does that. there is a purpose in it. I remember when we first arrived in Australia and I had been preaching all over the place every Sunday and sometimes a couple times on a Sunday. And we got here and it was like this roaring down the rapids raft ride that you see on TV. And we got here and it was like we all of a sudden hit the pool at the bottom and boom. And we just kind of floated out in the middle and we just sat there and did nothing. And it was like, okay, we're here. Now what? And I remember saying to Pastor John Baker at the time, I said, what's going on? Why aren't things happening? He looked at me and said, oh, for goodness sakes, give God a chance. He said, he's working out things. There's a reason why you're hitting this stop point. And for some of you, you're going through moments where God has just kind of hit the pause button for a while. And you're wondering, what is God working on? Why am I just sort of almost seem like I'm coasting and drifting? And the reality is God is working in your heart. God is doing a work to change you. He's giving you time to learn, to think, to pray, to prepare you for the next part of what's going to happen. Don't despise those times of seemingly stillness. God has a purpose in it. Again, as I read and reread and studied and prayed and meditated on the text, I kept asking, what is God's message for us from the text? No biblical narrative of history is there just to record what happened. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3, which I mentioned earlier, all scripture is inspired by God. It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. But as John MacArthur and I agree, there's no doctrine stated or developed. No doctrinal errors are refuted. There's no Christian life teaching. There's no conversions, no churches planted. The text is mostly repetitive narrative of Paul's trials. But there is indeed a message for us in the text. These five chapters continue to display how we can be faithful witnesses to Christ and the gospel, even when circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. Even when circumstances seem completely against us, Paul is in a jail. What's he gonna do? Ah, but God has a plan. God is always working according to his one great plan, which is to gather all things, all people, all nations under one head, which is Jesus Christ. He's working it out. The two things I want us to notice from the text that we need to understand and remember as we strive to be faithful witnesses, we want to follow in Paul's footsteps who followed in Christ's footsteps. Our goal, listen, the Christian life isn't you've arrived, you become a Christian, you're in a church, just relax and float your way through. No, no, no, no, no. We don't have on our loafers. I used to wear, I still do actually, to work work boots. You say, Nelson, you're a pastor, you're not supposed to wear work boots anymore. Well, you know why I wear work boots to work? Aside from the fact that they happen to be better shoes than most of the ones you buy. I wear work boots to remind me that I'm going to work. There is a work to be done, Christian. Beloved, we are not called to sit in the church and float and do nothing. That's not God's plan for any believer, any church. A role of a pastor is to preach and teach the Bible, to train and equip the saints for the work of ministry. We're all in this together to work together to make the gospel known. Two things we need to know. Number one, God's providential protection. And secondly, our faithful witness. So first of all, God's providential protection. I said there's no doctrine stated, but there's certainly one illustrated in Acts and Paul's imprisonment. God's providential protection and guidance of his witnesses. That providence is the exercise of God's sovereignty to preserve and support and direct all creation, usually by secondary causes, to bring about His purposes for our good and His glory. So starting with the wide context of the book, we can see it in chapter 4, way back in the beginning, in verses 5 to 22, God providentially guided the apostles' actions, Peter and John. They happened to be going to the temple at just the right time, right? It was all just happenstance. It just was fluke. No, nothing is fluke. Nothing is random. Everything is being worked out by God according to His plan. They see the lame man begging outside the beautiful gate. God moves them to speak the words that He then uses to heal the man's lameness. Try it again. God providentially drew a crowd to see what had happened. So Peter preached to the crowd. God providentially drew the guards to come and arrest them. And during their trial, the very following day, the Lord gave them the words to speak in their own defense, such that rulers immediately recognized their association with Jesus Christ. God's sovereign ordaining of a meeting led to a layman's healing, the apostles preaching, and approximately 2,000 people coming to know Jesus. Every place you go, Christian, every door you darken, every meeting you encounter is sovereignly ordained by God, even when your car battery won't start and you're two hours late. Even when things go seemingly haywired and crazy, God is in it. I think the problem is we've got a plan. We've got our own plan. And unfortunately, our plan doesn't often line up with God's plan. And so our plan says, I need to be here by now, and I'm not. And so, right? That's how we handle it. No, we need to let go a little bit and realize that God's got a plan. Secondly, God providentially led Paul and company in missionary journeys. You see it in Acts 16, verses 6 and 7. They had a desire to go and speak the gospel in Asia, but they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit. They desired to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit it. However it worked itself out, God providentially guided them in their endeavors. They wanted to go, but Jesus said, no, not now, maybe later. And in fact, Paul did go later to some of those places. In chapter 21, verses 27 to 36, God providentially protected Paul from death. You remember the story? He's in the temple, they see him, they're shouting and throwing up hands in the air, tossing dust up in the air, saying, hey, this is the guy that's going around preaching the gospel. And they grab him, they drag him out of the temple, they start beating him, and their intention is absolutely clear, they want to kill him. But God's providential intervention came in a report to a Roman commander of what was happening, and so Claudius Lysias takes soldiers and centurions. They rescue Paul from the Jews' murderous intent. You say, it just happened by chance. No, it did not. God providentially protected Paul that time. In 23 verses 12 to 22, God providentially protected Paul. The Jews are frustrated that the Romans still held Paul, desiring to be rid of him. They plot an ambush under the guise of bringing him to another fair trial. I mean, that's a good idea, right? Let's have a fair trial, and halfway, let's kill the guy that's accused. Forget the trial. And you say, oh, and it's so cool that that little kid found out his nephew. No, God providentially was working And Paul's nephew heard the plot. He told Paul and Claudius Lysias. Claudius sent Paul with 270 guards, nothing like overkill, to Caesarea. And God providentially protected Paul from the Jews' plot again. In 25 verses 1 to 3, we just read it. God providentially protected Paul again. Again, the Jews' plot to ambush under the guise of bringing him back to Jerusalem. It's almost comical, isn't it? Let's take him one way and we'll try and kill him. It didn't work. Let's bring him back and we'll try again. And it still didn't work. God used Festus to foil the plot again. Perhaps he'd seen the letter from Claudius Lysias. Perhaps he'd read some notes that Felix had left him. However, it happened. God sovereignly, providentially protected Paul. God's providence, beloved, has not ceased in our day. God's providence leads and guides and protects us every single day. God's providence brings us into meetings and encounters and situations which he has ordained for our good and his glory. God providentially works through primary and secondary means to accomplish his purposes. There is a family here. They're not here today, so I can talk about them. It's a good thing, don't worry. They're from the Middle East, we'll leave it there. And they came to Australia looking to study at university with a desperate hunger and a longing to know the gospel in their country that's forbidden. One of them made a random phone call, quote unquote, to a house for rent two minutes walk from here. Another one of them said, hey, let's just do a search on the internet, see what kind of church is around. We know that Baptist, he told me this, we know that Baptist churches are good. I said, yes, they are, amen to that. He did a random search, and guess what found? Two minutes drive away is a Baptist church. They walked in here, they started listening to the gospel. I had the thrill of spending a couple hours with them, and in a couple of weeks, they're gonna be baptized. Oh, it's just chance. Rubbish. God sovereignly works. Oh, beloved, listen, isn't that the greatest piece of news in the world? Every single thing that we encounter is happening because of God's sovereign hand at work in our lives. It's like a master carver. I've been watching these cool videos on how they make the cathedrals. We went to some cathedrals in England when we were there, and I just fell in love with these massive, beautiful buildings. And seeing how the carvers get up there, and they chip away, and they work on the sandstone, and they carve all these incredible details. Some of the figures look so lifelike, you almost want to reach out and touch them to see if they're alive or not. That sculptor might have, oops, too much. Oh, no problem. And you know what? God's sovereign, providential working in our lives is a perfect shaping, using all sorts of tools and chisels and files to work in our lives to make us like Christ. And God's providential working in Paul's life, rescuing him from one plot after another, after another, after another, it gets comical. It's almost like he goes, OK, so what? I mean, they're going to try, but God will foil it. And we know in a day to come. They'll march Paul out of Rome to a place outside the city, and there they'll put a sword to the back of his neck, and they'll take his life. Or I should repeat that a different way. God will take his life and take him home to glory in a split second. And God providentially is working. Oh, brother and sister, whatever you're going through, whatever medical struggle, whatever financial struggle, whatever relationship struggle, We're surrounded by people we don't get along with, even in the church. God put them there for a good reason. He's using them to work on you to make you like Christ. God's sovereign, providential work is carrying on. God has not ceased to work in amazing, awe-inspiring ways. God is still providentially putting every Gospel tract we hand out or every Gospel of John we letterbox into the right hands of those He intends to read them. We may never see who it is, but God's still working. I'm absolutely convinced of this. R.C. Sproul said it, and it's worth repeating. I've said it before, I'll say it again. There's no such thing as a maverick molecule in our universe. Everything is exactly according to God's work, and it's working here in Paul's life. God is providentially at work. Brother and sister in Christ, trust the Lord in every one of those situations. We all face them, don't we? Things don't go the way we planned. God's got a plan. God's got a purpose. We didn't expect to lose that loved one or lose that friendship or lose that business deal or lose those people that we love so much, but God's got a plan in it. Look and see how God is working to shape you into the image of Christ in all those things. He uses the preaching of Scripture. He also uses his providence in our lives. So first, there's God's providential protection of leadership of Paul, and it's key for how we witness faithfully for the gospel, how we understand as we go out and share the gospel, and the response we do or don't get. Secondly, there's a faithful witness. Paul, as he often does, provides an example, an example of a faithful witness. Remember again, Jesus' words in Acts 1 verse 8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses. In 26 and verse 18, Paul is recounting Jesus' commission of him and he was appointed by Jesus to be Jesus' minister and witness. So what do faithful witnesses do? Well, first, faithful witnesses continue what Christ had done, had begun. Just as Christ had confirmed His ministry with miracles, so in the apostles' ministry was confirmed by miracles at times, not all the time. Just as Christ was fully surrendered to His Father's will, so faithful witnesses must be surrendered to God. And Paul was certainly the example of a man whose life was fully surrendered to God. That's how he could say, I count all those things that made me something as human refuse in comparison to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. My Lord, that's Philippians 3, verses 7 to 11. Just as Christ had been willing to die for his people, so faithful witnesses in the New Testament histories in our lives must be willing to suffer and die for the truth. And Paul sets the example in his willingness to suffer and die for Christ. At times, he used his Roman citizenship to avoid a flogging. At times, he simply put it aside and endured the flogging. You see that in Philippi and in Jerusalem. Just as Christ reached out to social outcasts to minister grace and truth to them without ever approving of their sin, so faithful witnesses must extend God's grace and truth, never one without the other, without approving of their sin to those living in defiant sin. Yes, we reach out to homosexuals and prostitutes and drug addicts and all the rest of it. We reach out with the gospel. We don't prove what they do. We don't give approval to it, but we definitely extend God's grace and truth to them. Faithful witnesses continue what Christ began. Secondly, a faithful witness testifies to Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Paul had witnessed from the moment of his conversion. It's so cool, right? He meets Jesus on the Damascus Road. He's praying for a few days in Damascus. He comes, he gets his sight back. After a day or so, he gets up and he goes into the synagogue and he begins to preach and teach that Jesus is the Christ. He didn't go to Bible school. Well, you know, wait, he'd already been there. He went a bit off that, in fact. But he didn't go to, you know, specialized training. He just went and told everybody what he knew about Jesus. He began proving that Jesus is the Christ. Paul repeatedly preached the gospel in his missionary journeys. In 23 verse 6 and 24 verse 21, Paul said he was on trial for the resurrection of the dead. Paul described his obedience to the witness for Christ in 26 and verse 19. He testified to Christ's virgin birth, his true deity, and his humanity. Faithful witnesses testify to Christ's holy, sinless, obedient life. They testify to Christ's suffering and death in our place. And when we go out, brothers and sisters, when we preach the gospel, we make known Jesus' triumphant, victorious resurrection. But that's not all that we testify. That's not all we do in preaching the gospel. We don't simply put it out there to do what you will with it. I love gospel preaching, but sometimes I hear people sort of preach the whole gospel and say, well, there it is. God isn't forcing you to do anything. You just do what you will with it. And I go, no, God commands you to repent and believe. And disobedience to a command earns God's judgment. So faithful witnesses call for repentance and faith. Do you notice in 24 verse 25, when Paul began to speak to Felix about righteousness and the judgment of God, Felix sent Paul away. I don't want to hear that. He liked to hear Paul talk about some things, but don't give me this righteousness of life and the judgment that's to come. That's clearly showing Felix that his life will be judged. So when we preach the gospel, beloved, we call for repentance and we call for faith. You notice in 26 verses 20 to 23, after Paul mentions repentance of sin and the message being proclaimed to Jew and Gentile, Festus reacts with frightened anger, accusing Paul of madness, although there's clearly nothing mad in what Paul was saying. In 26 and verse 27, Paul speaks directly to King Agrippa, if my memory serves correctly, which is a bit debatable these days, you know, I think that was strictly forbidden. He could make a defense, he could state his case, but to actually turn and address the judge and point to him and say, do you believe? All of a sudden the roles are reversed, right? The judge is supposed to ask the questions and do all the judging. Now Paul is standing there saying, do you believe? I know you believe the prophets. He was pushing home the message that Jesus was a fulfillment of the prophets to Agrippa. And Agrippa's comment, what does he say? In a short time, you're going to persuade me to make a Christian of myself. I think the old King James says, almost thou persuade us me. In other words, you got so close, Paul. And then he gets up and walks out. Why? Because the world doesn't want to hear that. People ask me, what do you do for a living? I'm a pastor. What's that mean? I tell them, oh, okay. Well, did you see the sports game the other night? And topic changes immediately. They don't want to hear the message about repentance and faith. My dear friend, listen. When Paul speaks directly to King Agrippa, he challenges Agrippa's belief in the prophets, and the implication is, if you believe, why do you live so? He's standing or sitting beside Bernice. And again, if my memory serves me correctly, Bernice and he are half-brother and half-sister, and they are living in an incestuous relationship. The implication is, if you believe the prophets, why do you live like that? And so the question just follows right through to us today. My dear friend, do you claim to be a Christian? And the question that follows on, does your life match your belief? Has repentance accompanied your profession of faith? The people of this world have no trouble with the story of Christ's life and death and resurrection, but as soon as we begin to call them to change, to repent and believe and follow Christ, stop everything. So again, my dear friend, you're sitting here this morning, you claim to believe in Jesus Christ. Is that belief accompanied by repentance and a life that's pursuing godliness? Because the reality is the life displays what we truly believe. Our words, we can say all kinds of words, but the life that we live really defines what we believe. Which leads to my next point, and this was the one that hit me the hardest. A faithful witness requires a life of integrity. and you see it all through the story. In all my studies in this chapter, this is the one point that struck out so clearly to me, a life of integrity. Go back to Psalm 15 when you got some time maybe this afternoon. Read through Psalm 15. The one who abides in the tent and dwells on God's holy hill, he is the one who walks with integrity, he speaks the truth in his heart. What does that mean? It means that our lives are consistent. Our lives are lives of integrity. Notice what Paul says in Acts 25 and verse 8. He said in his own defense, I have committed no offense either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. Let's look at those a little bit more closely. Paul and his integrity did nothing against the temple. And back in 21 and verse 27, the Asian Jews make a wild unsubstantiated charge against Paul, assuming he brought the Greeks into temple courts, which was strictly against the law. He could die and so could they if he did, but he hadn't. In 24 verse 18, Paul stated he was in the temple purified. He had done what was required to be inside the temple. He had done nothing against the temple laws. Paul in his integrity did nothing against Jewish law. In 24 verses 12 and 13, Paul did not riot in the city or the synagogue. He was not breaking Jewish law by troublemaking within the people of Israel. In 24 and verse 14, Paul serves the God of their fathers, meaning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not breaking Jewish laws by idolatrously serving other pagan gods. In other words, he was still loving and serving the God of Israel. In 24 verse 15, Paul has the same hope in God as the Jews do, the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. In 24 verse 15, Paul believes, listen to this, everything written in the law and the prophets. Paul's Christian faith is not opposed to Old Testament scriptures. Paul's saving faith is entirely consistent with the Old Testament. He had done nothing against the law or the temple. He lived his life with integrity. Paul and his integrity did nothing against Caesar or the Roman law. All the Roman authorities found him innocent. In 23 verse 29, Claudius says he's not deserving death or prison. In 25 and verse 25, Festa says he's not deserving death. In 26 verse 31, Festa and Agrippus. Festa and Agrippus. I'm looking at the clock. I'm looking at the pile of notes in front of me. That's why I'm picking up speed, but I got to stop doing that. Festus and Agrippa agree that he's not deserving death or prison. In 26 and 31, again, they agree that if he had not appealed to Caesar, he would be free. Paul has done nothing against Caesar or Rome. Listen to what he says himself. 23 verse 1, Paul lives with an entirely clear conscience. Well, I'll tell you something. If ever the Bible took a hammer off its pages and punched me in the head with it, There's one. How many of us could look in the mirror, either a physical one and a biblical one, and say, I live with an entirely clear conscience? I don't think so. And yet that was Paul's life. It was a life of integrity. In 24 verse 16, Paul pursues a blameless conscience. In 25 verse 8 and verse 10 and verse 11, he testifies, I've done nothing wrong. I have not done anything wrong. If there's nothing to these charges, you can't hand me over to the Jews. In 26 verses 19 and 20, Paul testifies, I did not prove disobedient to Christ. To say it positively, he obeyed God. He preached repentance and obedience in Damascus, Jerusalem, and to the Gentiles. In chapter 24, Felix is waiting for a bribe. I got this picture in my mind's eye as Felix is walking down there and, you know, they're talking away. He says, you know, if the right money changed hands, Paul, we could get you out of here. No problem. You know, Paul, if you just put a little money in my back pocket, no one will notice, no one will see, I'll get you out of here. And Paul, no, no, I'm not doing it. Because in his integrity before God, he would not break the law. In 26, Paul told the whole story of his conversion, including, by the way, his condemnable acts of violence against Christian, raising his hand and voting for their death. As I understood it, that death had to be approved by the local Roman governor, no idea whether it was or not. And Paul is staying there in his integrity, he tells the whole story. Paul's faithful witness to Christ's life, death, burial, and resurrection, with the call to repent and believe in God, is supported by his own life of integrity. If that doesn't punch you in the eyes, there's something wrong. Beloved, what this world is looking to see is Christians living with integrity. How much damage do we do to the gospel, to our believing brothers and sisters, and to our own reputation when our witness is not matched by our lives? We strive for integrity. We are too. So how do we live with integrity? What is integrity? So you might wonder what that means. I'll give you an illustration. Many years ago, I was working in a house in North Vancouver, and I worked for a builder who was, well, a little dodgy, shall we say. And in those days, we have these big steel beams. People use steel all over the place in Australian construction. In Canada, we have so much wood, we don't bother. We just get big pieces of wood and make big beams out of them. And so the plans called for four 2x12, number one structural and better laminated beam to be put up in place. And my boss, because number one 2x12, which is like 38 by 300 millimeter, number one structural better, Douglas fir timber is expensive, even in Canada. And so my boss thought, I know what we'll do. He said to me, don't worry about the four pieces, just get two pieces, one on each outside edge, and the two pieces in the middle, we just use junk wood that's left over and we'll just make it work. As long as the bottom is one clean piece, the inspector will never know. And so he had two pieces of number one and two pieces of junk in the middle, and my engineer friend is just shaking his head, oh no, no. You know what? No integrity. That's exactly what some of us, And I mean us. Some of us look like in our spiritual lives. The outside veneer that everybody can see and hear and touch looks good. But inside, in the middle, there's no integrity. It's rotten. It's junk. And there's a problem. So how do we live with integrity? To be a Christian and a disciple of Christ with integrity is to have a consistent character, to have a morally upright character, to have authenticity. So what the outside layer of that beam of your life shows is exactly mirror image of what's inside. There's just as much structural integrity on the outside as there is on the inside. There's just as much spiritual integrity on the outside as there is on the inside. And one of the great problems, beloved, is we live a life of hypocrisy, thinking that what people can see is all that matters. So how do we live? with integrity, two points. Number one, we must deal with our sin for what it really is, it is sin. You will never live a life of integrity before God if you don't deal with sin. And I'm sorry is not dealing with it. Confessing it before God specifically and clearly. Confessing to one another specifically and clearly. Seeking forgiveness from God and seeking forgiveness from one another is what's required. You say, that'll be humbling. Yes, it will. But you have no idea. Well, some of you will. have some idea of how much grace comes flooding back to you from that other person when you confess sin and seek forgiveness. We deal with our sin for what it really is, sin. Forgiveness brings a cleansed conscience from God, and Paul said he did his best to maintain a blameless conscience before God. That means, it doesn't mean he never sinned and never made mistakes. Paul was human, and just like you and me, he was a sinner saved by grace. He made mistakes, he spoke too quickly, he did things he shouldn't have done, but what he did was he dealt with it properly. He sought forgiveness from God, and when necessary, he sought forgiveness from those around him, those he had wronged. So my dear Christian friend, to just put a poke on what's already going on in your heart, what sin is your, let me rephrase that, what sin is our conscience convicting us of? We will not be faithful witnesses while we live lives that do not have integrity. And that integrity requires a conscience that's kept cleansed and clear. Listen, don't be deceived into thinking nobody sees. I assure you on the authority of Scripture, God sees. Don't be deceived into thinking you'll get away with it. Look at the history of the church in the Western countries in the last 50 years, say. How many ministers have thought, just that same idea, I'll get away with it? They rejected the voice of their conscience. They rejected God's pleas through scripture to stop and repent, only finally to lose their ministry, their reputation, and sometimes their wives and their families along with it. Tragically, I have a friend who did just that. You have no idea how to make a guy cry than to hear news across the internet that your friend collared outside the line, shall we say, and lost his ministry, his wife, and his family. And everything he said falls into massive question. Don't be deceived into thinking you'll get away with it. Don't be deceived into thinking that there's no forgiveness for you. God promised, God who cannot lie. That's the greatest hope we have in the world. He can't say something that is untrue, for he is truth. He said in 1 John 1, verse 9, through John's pen, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous, or just, to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There is forgiveness. To stop right now for a second, if you're living that life where there's no integrity, what's happening inside is not what's really going on, what you show on the outside. I tell you on the authority of Scripture, there is cleansing and forgiveness for you. If we would come and we would confess that sin to God and seek forgiveness. Secondly, we must live in submission to his word and the Holy Spirit's power. We began this message considering quickly Jesus' promise that they would receive power when the Spirit came upon them. We make a tragic mistake, beloved, if we think that the Spirit's power is just to be his witnesses. It is, but it's so much more than that. Remember what Jesus promised regarding the Holy Spirit? He said in John 14, 7, He is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him. He abides with us. In John 14, 26, He is the helper, the Holy Spirit, who will teach us all things and bring to our members what Jesus said to us. In John 15, verse 26, when the Helper comes, whom he will send to us from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds in the Father, he will testify about Christ to us. In John 16, verse 8, when he comes, he'll convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. In John 16, 13 to 14, but when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak. To summarize all of that, the spirit of God that we have within us is the spirit of truth. When we live a lie, it offends and grieves him. The spirit living within us testifies to us about Christ. He guides us into truth. He glorifies Christ. He convicts the world regarding sin and righteousness and judgment. He empowers all Christ's disciples to live life and ministry with integrity. And brothers and sisters in Christ, it's the only way you'll live with integrity. You can't do it on your own. How does it all work? We're exposed the truth of God through the word of God preached and explained and applied by a man of God or a woman of God. And the Spirit of God applies that truth to our hearts. It convicts and convinces us of our sin. It convicts and convinces us of righteousness, and it convinces us of judgment to come. The Spirit convinces us of righteousness is his persuading and compelling us to live righteous lives before him, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our brother and our sister in Christ. to love our neighbors and our enemies. He persuades us to live righteous lives, to conform our lives to his word, to put off sin and to put on the new man. Oh, beloved, there is a call on us all as you read the text and you see in those stories a repeated example of Paul's life of integrity, his life of pursuing righteousness, his life of living before God with a cleansed conscience. If we would see this world one for Christ, there needs to be a change in all of us. Change to a life lived with integrity. What is God's Holy Spirit convicting you of? You don't have to tell me. But in your own heart, you know. And you know as that voice quietly whispers, you need to deal with this. You need to deal with that. You know that there is forgiveness, there is cleansing, so that we can live a life of integrity and our witness can be faithful before the Lord. Nothing, nothing destroys a witness for Christ like a life that's lived as a lie. because everything we say falls into question. And the reality, beloved, is that it's not just the person who said the things. Immediately, the Christ whom they claimed to love and serve, his name is dragged right through the muck behind ours. Oh, beloved, please. We would see this community reach for Christ. There's got to be a life of integrity. Amen. Would you stand with me? We're going to pray and then John's going to come and lead us in our last song this morning. Our gracious God and heavenly father and those words, Lord gracious. You are indeed gracious and kind and compassionate. You are the God who has seen us and recognized our utter and total inability to deal with sin ourselves, and you have provided a Savior. Father, we thank you and we praise you, O God, for the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died on a cross, that our sin might be forgiven, that our conscience might be cleansed, that we would have peace with you, Father, I cry out to you and I plea with you, oh God, that you would do a work in each of our lives. Father, you know every single person in this room. Lord, I don't know every name of every person, but you know everyone to the tiniest, most infinitesimal detail. Father, I just plea with you that you, knowing us, would work with us Father, it is not a mistake, it is not a random happening that every single person in this room is here today. You brought them here. Your providence guided and led them and brought them in and put them in this room to hear a message they just heard. Father, I recognize that so many things could have been said better. There's so much more I wanted to say, Lord, but I plead with you that you would take the scriptures, you would take the message as it was. Father, that you would speak into every heart. Father, for those who are here this morning and they've hidden the real selves away, thinking nobody sees, Father, I plead with you that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you would awaken them and confront them with the reality that God sees and God knows, but that God is also willing to forgive and cleanse. Father, for the one standing here this morning who does not know Jesus as Savior, Father God, I cry out to you and I plead with you, oh God, that you would work by the power of your Holy Spirit to awaken them. Father, something that was said, a song that was sung, a prayer that was prayed throughout the course of this morning may be used by the Holy Spirit to bring them to faith and repentance. Father, that they might know the joy of peace with God. Loving Father, I plead with you for your help. We give thanks again, O God, for this day, for this time of worship, and we give thanks in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.