Please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 26. So out of 25, you'll remember that there was a calling together of King Agrippa and Bernice, and there is also the governor, Festus. And so Festus asked Agrippa to come and help him to figure out what charges he needs to send along to Caesar since Paul has appealed to Caesar since he has been locked up unjustly for a prolonged period. And so there is this concern about, well, I don't really have justification for him continuing to be here, and I don't want to admit that I was wrong and just quit him or tell him that he is free to go because there are no substantial charges. So I'm going to continue to send him along to Caesar, but I'm looking for help. So We have Festus's last line that helps to sum it all up in verse 27 of chapter 25. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him. So that's the cause of this next hearing is to figure out the charges. And so here we have Paul still being called to give an account and he's now got this grand um, procession watching him. And so let's read chapter 26 verses one through the end of the chapter. 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, 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 expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. 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. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope And now 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. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. While thus occupied as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 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 goads. 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 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 as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I send you. Now is not there in the majority text. So to whom I 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 may 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, 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 the small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come, that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." Now, As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the 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 escapes his attention. since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to be a Christian. And 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." When he 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 talked among themselves, saying, this man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. So back to the beginning of the chapter. Agrippa gives Paul permission to speak. And Paul does not respond in a despising way You might think Agrippa, he is an heir through a despised line. He is descended from an Edomite. He ethnically is an Edomite, enemy of the Jews. He is married to his sister, therefore not really married. It's an incestuous relationship and therefore not a legal marriage. And so there is this condition that there is much scandal around. And so you think you can imagine Paul being quite negative, quite gruff, right? And instead, what he does is he takes the opportunity to honor Agrippa for things that are not flattery, for things that are not false. Now, we have also in this text the recounting of Paul's conversion, which is explained to us in its chronological place back in chapter 9, and there's a recounting of the conversion back in chapter 22. So this is now the third place in the book of Acts which emphasizes the conversion of Paul. So in this chapter there are a few places where there are words and there's some controversy around, so I'll be pointing out some of those along the way to help to make sure that we understand the sense of the text. But let's look now at the beginning of Paul's speech. So, look, Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself. So this is a, he's showing appreciation and then he speaks. 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. Translation, happy. We have this word 51 times in the New Testament. I think the Geneva Bible translated it as fortunate, which is a poor translation. Happy relates, fortune relates to luck, so does happy. I could be remembering wrongly about the Geneva. I don't want to slander the book wrongly. It's a great translation in general. But here, this use of happy, This word is the same word that is used over and over again in the Beatitudes. Blessed is, blessed is, blessed is, blessed is. 48 out of the 51 times it's translated in the New King James, the word is blessed. This is one of the three times that it's happy or happier. So this idea that I think myself happy, he is happy because he thinks he has something that's good. So he counts himself blessed. I think myself blessed, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews. Being accused, is he happy about that? Well, he recounted all joy and we are persecuted for righteousness sake, right? But also he is emphasizing specifically King Agrippa. It's the before you. I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews. There's this explanation. Verse 3. Especially or specifically or namely because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. I'm glad to be pleading in front of you because you're knowledgeable about the case. Which means when I explain it to you, it will be obvious to you why I'm right. So this idea that if you have a less knowledgeable judge, then it's easier to bamboozle the judge. It's easier to make things confusing and to hide. And so he's saying because you're more knowledgeable, I'm excited because what I say will be apparent to you. It will be clear. So that is a statement of confidence about his own position. Now this could obviously be flattery, but the point is it's not. because he's saying that Gripa knows what's going on. He's been around. He's aware of some of these things. He's aware of the customs. He's aware of the doctrinal questions that stand, and he knows what's been going on in recent history. Therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently. So he is acting as the supplicant. He's acting as the supplicant. He's trying to persuade Gripa to give him a full hearing and showing him respect. So then he begins and he starts to lay out reasons why he's credible. Remember, this would be the category of ethos when persuading. So these are facts that are true that help to show that he's a credible witness. My manner of life from my youth. So this is my manner of life. Look, this is how I live. You can see I'm sincere. And I've been sincere about it for a long time, from my youth. This is not some passing fad. I don't change my mind with every wind of doctrine. This has been my manner of life from my youth. My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. Look, there's lots of people who can testify to this. The people who are accusing me, they are well aware of this. From my youth, my manner of life amongst the Jews, and all the Jews know it, was to be a Jew. Verse five, they knew me from the first. If they were willing to testify that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. Now, this word sect, okay? It has the, the word is the word heresy, okay? But the word heresy can mean faction, it can mean doctrinal division, sect. The idea here is according to this doctrinal view, According to this doctrinal view, I have lived. And this doctrinal view, which is set apart from others, so you Agrippa are aware of the customs of the Jews, you're aware of the questions, and the answer to the question that I held to was the Pharisees' answer. And what answer would that be? the strict view of holding to the prophets and to Moses, the strict view of applying things, and it would be believing in the resurrection. Okay, so this label Pharisee is going to be associated with the strictness, and it's going to be associated with a belief in the whole set of the Old Testament canon, and it's going to be associated with the belief in the resurrection of the dead. It's going to have a belief of angels. And so there's this idea that this is the more serious Jewish view. Now, what do Paul and Jesus protest against amongst the Pharisees? They protest against the adding of the tradition of the elders. So the Pharisees, as defenders of all the things I just listed, Paul is saying he is a Pharisee, he's been counted a Pharisee, and that's how he grew up. And he's saying, I'm on the same side in the dispute about the resurrection as the Pharisees. And so this label of Pharisee, the thing that is negative associated with it is the attempt to apply the traditions of the elders and a way in which there is not an ordering of the system, where instead of making it so that the laws are interpreted so that the laws are to glorify God, and in order to be a blessing to man, right, they're instead making it so that the laws have their own kind of independent existence. And so rules about Sabbath-keeping get made up, right, where you say things like, you can't do a work of mercy, you can't heal in the Sabbath, and that makes the Sabbath something that's greater than man. So those kinds of errors, that's the problem with that title Pharisee. But he is associating himself historically with that title, and he is referring to the other set of things, the strictness, the adherence to the Old Testament canon, and the belief in the resurrection and in spirits. verse five, for they knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. Now, what he's saying, he's saying, I'm being judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. Which hope is there? When you think about hope, you can think about it in the Christian religion, the idea of, well, I have faith in the doctrine of justification, and so I hope and have a confident belief that I will be continuously viewed as righteous before God. on the last day I will be pronounced innocent and righteous. And I believe that with confidence. I have hope that I will persevere in the faith because I will be preserved. I have hope that I will progressively grow in holiness and sanctification. I have hope that I will have possession of the inheritance and the sharing of it as a communion of the saints so that there is a knowledge and an increasing blessedness in this life An increasing sanctification that includes an increasing conflict with the world, with falsehood, and a separation from evil. And at the same time, an increasing unity with righteousness and an increasing sharing together in peace with those who are good. You can look at this hope and say, well, I hope that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God through the work of dominion in the sense of displaying things as we make pieces of culture that are increasingly Christian, or the increase of the knowledge of God in terms of the filling of the earth where people know God, not just the externals, but the internal, that will increase. You can say, well, I have hope that I will go to paradise right after death, because that's what the thief on the cross next to Jesus had. You can say, I have hope that I will have resurrection of the righteous. And you can say that I have hope of everlasting rewards that I will obtain on the Day of Judgment, because I'm not only innocent and righteous in Christ, but also I've been empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good works and I've been promised rewards for those being righteous in Christ. Which hope is Paul talking about? Well, this has to do with the context of the Pharisee argument. This has to do with the context and he's going to explain repeatedly. This is about the doctrine of the resurrection. He's emphasizing the doctrine of the resurrection. And he's emphasizing that this is the point of conflict. And he's doing that because he's trying to say that this is based upon Christ being the first one resurrected. We'll see the conclusion of his speech where he says that in his back and forth with Agrippa. So that's the hope he's talking about. Verse 7. Actually, let's read back verse 6. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise, our 12 tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the debt? Now, verse seven, is insulting to the Sadducees. To this promise, our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. He is cutting them out. They don't hope in the resurrection because they don't believe in the resurrection. He's saying they're not earnestly serving God. So those who are earnestly serving God, they hope in this. This is a part of the content of their faith, of what they believe will occur in the future. And so, those who reject the resurrection, those who deny the resurrection, are not earnestly serving God. And so, who are the dominant people in the priesthood? Sadducees. And so this is him, again, picking at them. He's doing an anti-ethos argument. He's showing these people don't have a hope that they're working for, there's something else that they are working for. It's not to please God. They're not earnestly serving God. They're earnestly serving their own bellies. And in addition to that, he is also trying to show that this is what the fathers believed in. And so this view, he is putting it forward as something that if you reject it, then you are bound into this sort of present-mindedness without hope. And so it is going to make you into somebody who is focused on the here and now, focused on not God, but on man. And then Paul appeals to King Agrippa himself, saying, For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities." This is him showing, you can see that I am a stable-minded person. I have, from my youth, pursued this. been dedicated to this view. I have been zealous in it. I have been strict in it. And in fact, I even pursued Christians so zealously that it was even to foreign lands. And I was approved by the leaders who saw there was reason to believe I was fit for this task. And so there is much to argue for the fact that I was sincere in this. And yet Agrippa knows that he's changed his mind. And so he's waiting for what is The change, what causes the change here? This is sort of an admission against interest that, look, I was so persuaded against myself in the past. But you know how that gets used in debates. People say, look, I used to, I know. I used to be whatever it is that you are now. And I understand now why that's wrong. It's supposed to say, I understand your arguments. I understand your view. You can't give me anything new. So this is to say, I understand where they are coming from. I was soaked in it. I understood their position very, very well. And so the denial of the position implies that you have a deeper knowledge of something else that shows it to be wrong. So verse 12, while thus occupied as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, notice that gets said again, He said it earlier from the chief priests is where he got an authority and he says it again that he's going to Damascus and this is one of those foreign cities with authority and commission from the chief priests. At midday, O king, so typically people are most awake midday, right? There's, you're tired from the morning, you're not groggy from the night, you're most awake. 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, so it's not just he who saw it. There's other people seeing something there and they fall to the ground as well. So there's a similar response. I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. 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 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 as well as from the Gentiles to whom I 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 may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. We'll come back and look at that a little bit more. This is the turning point, right? He's saying, I received a vision. And it's not just a vision, it's actually an appearance, right? He saw, this is present. And in verse 19, he says, therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. You read a vision and you think, oh, this is not actually present. The word there has to do with the thing that came from heaven that I saw. It's just, the word is just a word that means seeing. Okay, so the vision is this thing that he saw. Therefore King Agrippa 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, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Now, notice that the repentance there, they should repent, that's metanoia, the turning is a different word, and then do works fitting repentance. Okay, so the repenting, this is the turning away from unbelief, turning to God, so they're believing in God, and then they should do works that are befitting repentance. So repentance does not include works when we're talking about this inward repentance. And so oftentimes, you know, This problem of the idea that repentance includes doing works is obviously not scriptural. It's laid out here very clearly that there are works that are befitting repentance, and that's distinct from repentance. It's distinct from turning to God. So this is faith. This is inward faith. So he's telling them to repent and believe and to then do good works. Verse 21, 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 to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come. So he's saying, He's not adding anything. He's not adding to or subtracting from the Word of God. He is speaking the Word of God, and these people who are opposing him are subtracting from the Word of God. And so he is saying, the prophets taught this. Moses taught this. One thing specifically, verse 23, that the Christ should suffer. He would suffer. He's going to suffer. And the suffering, the passion of the Christ, the suffering of the Christ is the way in which our sins are expiated, our guilt is paid for. That he would be the first to rise from the dead. So this is relating to the resurrection. You see he's saying, look, I'm arguing for the resurrection. I'm advocating for the view of the resurrection, the hope of the resurrection. And the denial that Christ is the Messiah is the denial of the hope of the resurrection. To say he wasn't raised, and to say he's not the Messiah, there is no other. So that he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So everybody knew that Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The Sadducees, of course, deny the resurrection. And so, Paul is trying to say, look, this is clear in the prophets and in Moses. And in order to avoid this view, you've got to try to get rid of all the prophets and just hold on to Moses, which is what the Sadducees did. But Jesus, you'll remember, proved that the view that there is no life after death, is false from the writings of Moses. He said God is the God of the living and not of the dead, and that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. So he demonstrated that out of the writings of Moses that the Sadducee position was wrong. So he's saying this is what Moses taught, this is what the prophets taught, It is clear that the Christ would suffer. If you read Isaiah 53, it's obvious in the prophets. If you read Genesis 3, the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent and his heel will be crushed. So you have this going back. You also have, for example, with Abraham sacrificing Isaac, the idea of sacrifice being provided in his place. You have the clothing that covers Adam and Eve and the idea of a an atoning sacrifice, the death of another, the blood that points forward, you have with Abel the killing of a sheep, whereas you have Cain killing him because his grain offering apart from blood was not accepted. And so we have all over the place, even from the beginning, this clear teaching that there must the Christ, the Messiah, the seed of the woman, must come and suffer in our place as a substitute. And then the idea of rising, right? We're told in Hebrews that when Abraham was going to offer Isaac, he was willing to do so because he believed that God could not lie and that God had promised him that he would have descendants through Isaac. And so that if he was commanded to kill Isaac, that meant that Isaac would be resurrected from the dead. That was, even if he did, that would happen. Explained that way in Hebrews. Now, obviously, God stops him from even killing Isaac, but that's what we're told was the implication that Abraham drew out. And so, that being the case, we see that the doctrine of the resurrection is the doctrine that has been held to from the beginning by the prophets. that Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people. So, the Jewish people receiving increasing light, that's clearly a part of the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31 talks about the greater nature of the New Covenant, and so there would be a greater light being proclaimed to the people, and to the Gentiles, to a greater extent. It's not just to the Jews. So these are things that are very clear. We're told that through Abraham all the nations of the world will be blessed. Gentiles are the other nations. Right? So these are things that were very clearly in the prophets. Verse 24. Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. And so what is this about, right? Why would he have this response? Is it because what he's saying is so crazy? Is it, Paul, I don't know these things, or I don't know whatever. The idea is, Paul, you're not trying to defend yourself. You're trying to defend this faith. And you're trying to convert me. You're on the defense here. You've been respectful, you've been honoring to me, and you're explaining how you're not guilty, but you've gone from just giving a defense and explaining how you shouldn't be punished to trying to convert me. And so that's what appears mad to Agrippa. It seems insane that he would go from being under judgment to seeking to persuade. It's like somebody, you're a salesman, you're trying to get into a building, you're beating on the door, they tell you to go away, you won't go away, and eventually they're arresting you, and the police call out the person that called the police on you, so that you can find out, okay, so what's happened, and you're both there, you're in handcuffs, and you say, no, but seriously, would you please buy a subscription to this magazine? You're trying to sell something to the person while you're in chains. And you're a part of this process of the guy being put in jail. And so we're trying to sell the subscription to the policeman who's there saying, Well, while we're waiting, officer, have you ever considered a 12 month subscription, it's 50% less than getting one at the store each month. So that kind of activity, this is what he's saying, suggests that he's mad because he's so learned that he thinks that this should be clear and that this should be something that he is now persuading the people that are trying him. Okay, so that's the madness. It's a madness of boldness. Courage is sometimes viewed as insane. And so that kind of insanity of boldness, it is insane in some cases when you're bold, to be bold in a foolish way. Right. And you can you can think of things you've heard about people being bold foolishly. The idea that. I'm forgetting the word exactly, but basically discretion is the better part of valor. Maybe that's not the phrase. It's close enough. You know what I'm saying. So the idea that you need to consider whether this is worth being bold about. And so Paul has considered that. He's been there a while. He's had plenty of time to think about what he's going to do when he has the opportunity. And every time he comes before Festus, every time he went before Felix, every time he goes before Agrippa, he's telling them you need to be a Christian. And so Agrippa, he understands what's being said. And he says that, Paul, you're crazy in terms of the boldness that you're presenting here. And nothing he has said seems insane by itself. He's just appealing to these doctrines. And he's appealing to the documents. And Agrippa would be well aware of these ideas. He's familiar with the questions and the customs. And so that's not what seems insane to him. verse 24 now as he thus made his defense Festus said with a loud voice Paul you are beside yourself much learning is driving you mad but he said I am NOT mad most noble Felix or Festus I'm not mad most noble Festus but speak the words of truth and reason and Like this isn't, I'm not, I'm not insane with boldness here. I'm not, I'm not insane period. This is, this is the reasonable thing to do. This is, this is truth. These are words of truth and reason. And so you think about Romans where Paul teaches to not be ashamed of the gospel. And this is the opposite of being ashamed of the gospel. This is being proud of the gospel. This is glorying in the knowledge of God. And we're told, he who glories let him glory in this, that he knows and understands me. This is the thing to glory in. So his boldness about the truth about what is reasonable is the opposite of being ashamed. So being ashamed is not taking the opportunity to speak the truth. Being bold is taking the opportunity. Being proud of it, glory in it, is taking the opportunity. And so this drive to take the opportunity We are so often concerned to make it perfect when we evangelize. And so, if Paul were looking for things to be perfect, Paul wouldn't have caused a riot or a revival everywhere he went. If Paul were looking for it to be perfect, he wouldn't have thought, I should give a testimony when I'm giving my defense of myself before a court. because I'm unlikely to be perceived positively as the defendant, since someone's accusing me of crimes. But it's not the most ideal circumstance to present a defense of the gospel. But he does. He is bold to do this. Verse 25. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Hephaestus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things." You know these things, Agrippa. So Festus says that Paul is mad, and Paul responds to Festus saying, Agrippa knows these things. He's the expert. He said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the 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 escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner." So he's saying, look, Festus, you're new here. You're a bureaucrat who's been rolled in. This is your tour starting. But Agrippa's been around here for a while. He knows what's happened. He's aware of these things. He knows the customs. He knows the questions. And he knows what's happened recently. and not even that recently. At this point we're talking more than 20 years, 25 years after Jesus died. For the king before whom, verse 26, for the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things for I am convinced that none of these things escaped his attention since this thing was not done in a corner. This was done publicly. Pontius Pilate tried him, publicly executed, The Jews, their ruling council, participated. This was not done in a corner. This has been the talk of the town. People know what's going on. Verse 27, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? Agrippa's immediate response is to think whatever it is he actually believes, right? And to maybe be a little bit outraged at the idea of being called out and questioned by the person who's the defendant. And then Paul says, I know you do believe. Because he's professing publicly. Now, he's got an incestuous relationship with his sister that's public. And there's scandal there, certainly not like the modern church, no scandals in the modern church. Right, so this, people often say, you know, here's this guy, you know, why is there any reason to believe that he's knowledgeable about this or cares about the Jewish religion or anything like that. You know, he's sinning. He's sinning publicly. He's been sinning for a long time. Certainly not a believer, not a Jewish believer. He's publicly a Jew. He's associated with the Jews. He participates in these Jewish rituals. And he is in a scandalous relationship. Yet he makes profession. I know you do believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. He affirms basically all the things that Paul has said to Festus. When Festus is like, all right, calm down here. Stop it. Stop trying to convert Agrippa. This is absurd. This is bold. This is brash. Paul, you're You're a bull in a china shop. This is a little bit too much. And so Paul pushes him again. Says, this isn't insane. I'm telling you the truth, and it's the only reasonable thing to tell you. And after all that, he challenges King Agrippa and asks him if he believes. And says, I do know you believe. And then Agrippa says, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. Saying, well, everything you're saying here is It's a pretty good argument. This is good. This is persuasive. This is a good speech. And there's this kind of detachment, this coldness, this idea of, I don't want to commit to anything. You almost persuade me to become a Christian. This is not a commitment to be a Christian. This is not a commitment to not be a Christian. You almost persuade me to be a Christian. And 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. And so this idea of pulling on what is said there and continuing to be bold. Paul has just been called insane. when you call somebody insane in order to get them to back down, most of the time people cower up, right? People insult you, right? Because when you're being bold, the danger of being bold is that being bold is powerful. Being bold is persuasive. Being bold is good. So what do the enemies of God want to do to bold allies of God, bold friends of God? They want to shut you down. They want you to be quiet. They want you to become ashamed suddenly and worry about the proper forms, the propriety of things, to back off. And Paul here is going for the kill. Paul just keeps pushing in, trying to increase the pressure on it. So he finalizes with this statement, yeah, almost persuaded to become a Christian. I want you to not just almost become a Christian, but altogether. verse 30 when he 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 talked among themselves saying this man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains so they obviously find what he's saying credible and But they leave. They're standing up. They're not waiting for him to say he's done. They stand up and they leave. Well, very good. Ending being pressed. And so they put an end to the business at hand. And they say, well, this man has done nothing deserving of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. So Agrippa did not do a very good job of helping Festus to come up with something to say. Couldn't find any charges. And then uses the excuse of the man's appeal, of Paul's appeal, to not set him free. A lower court determines that a person is innocent. There is no basis for appeal. So this answer also is absurd. This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. There is the ability of the lower court to say, okay, we find you innocent and you no longer need to deal with this. Now the appeal could be pressed for other reasons. You could try to say that there's some other harm that needs to be addressed or whatever. If you simply give a public not guilty verdict and then allow for him to be set free, he would have to find a way of trying to make that claim on his own of saying there's something to be done here. So both of them respond in this way. And there's this kind of ending of the process. So we look at what Paul does. Paul is very bold. Paul pushes in trying to convert those who judge him. He takes the opportunity standing before kings to be able to preach the gospel and to argue that this is what was presented in the Old Testament as well. And so he is using sola scriptura, the doctrine that whatever is taught needs to be demonstrated from scripture. And he is claiming that there is, these things are prophesied in the Old Testament and that these things are, you can test them by the writings. So even without the New Testament being completed and being gathered together, he is able to say the prophets and Moses said these things. And so he appeals to the suffering of Christ. He appeals to the resurrection of Christ. and the light going out to the Jews and to the Gentiles. And so we have the key elements that are also laid out in, for example, 1 Corinthians 15 with the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement, and we have the doctrine of the resurrection as a sign of the acceptance of the sacrifice, and then the apostolic witness, the witness going out to the world. And those are the key things that get repeatedly laid out. Now, Looking at this speech as a whole, he presses in hard, but in the beginning, remember, he starts out, he is polite, he is civil, he is pleasant. He does not begin seeking to be rude, but he's bold. There's a difference between being rude and being bold. We are called to be bold and we use rudeness, we use harshness only when we are dealing with false teachers that are opposing us publicly only when there's a need to rebuke in a current action or when there's repeated public rebuke across time. There is a general condition that even when someone is in the wrong in a lot of ways, even publicly, when you're beginning to address them, your goal is to be civil or polite. Now remember those two words, what are they rooted in? Civil is rooted in the Latin word for having to do with being able to engage in the civil sphere, being able to have a life with kind of civic duty. So civil debate, the idea of being able to debate publicly and not be rancorous constantly. To be polite is rooted in the word polis, right? So the Greek idea, they're both rooted in this idea of the public life. How do you encourage discussion in the public way? Well, the way is to be pleasant, and to have an objective in mind and to think about your target. When you're debating a false teacher, your concern is for the people who are listening. You have to warn about this false teacher if they have shown themselves to be obstreperous and opposed to the truth. You are seeking to show them to be foolish. You're seeking to show them to be evil. When you are trying to persuade that person, take a different approach. And so who the audience is, who you're engaging with, what your concern is, is going to somewhat control that. There is an enthusiasm and zeal which is joyous. It's not an angry zeal. And so this happy warrior idea, we see Paul repeatedly doing this. Now, if we go back to the middle, of what Paul was saying when he's quoting Jesus. Okay, we have chapter 26, verse 15. So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet. He's asking to be ready to do something. For I have appeared to you for this purpose. to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you." So he is a minister, which means he's a servant to the church, and a witness, someone who has witnessed and is able to give testimony. Both of the fact that he's seen Jesus now and the things that are going to be revealed, the apostolic deposit. Verse 17, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles. The fear of man is rooted in the fear of what people can do to you. The promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver him from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles gives boldness to be able to speak. So Paul is being well equipped here to speak. with boldness. He's being given knowledge. He's got a history of training in the Scriptures, but he's also being given new information by Jesus. And he's been given a promise to be delivered from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you. He is sent to both. But the Gentiles he's sent specifically to. He's an apostle to the Gentiles. And so he goes and speaks to both. To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light. At the opening of the eyes, this is a spiritual opening of the eyes, and it's turning them so they see that darkness is bad and light is good. From among those who are sanctified, sorry, and from the power of Satan to God, and from the power of Satan to God. So, he's turning them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. So this is the explanation, right? Darkness represents falsehood, light is truth. It's from the power of Satan being stuck in darkness, being stuck in evil. They are totally depraved, incapable of any good, enslaved to sin, enslaved to Satan, and they're being taken out of that from the power of Satan and being handed over to God to be made slaves of righteousness. They're freed from one master and given over to a better. that they may receive forgiveness of sins, here's justification, right, the forgiveness of sins, remission, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. That's the communion of the saints, the shared inheritance, the adoption which results in the enjoyment of the inheritance, and that's the communion of the saints, the shared truth, the shared goods, the shared blessings. And so these are all things that he's sent to do And so now, as he stands before both Gentile and Jewish magistrates, he is fulfilling that. He's speaking to both. And he's been told he will be delivered. So he's telling them he's going to be delivered. Now at some point he is obviously killed by the Emperor Nero. So this is not a forever being delivered. but he is able over and over and over again to have confrontations that are life or death confrontations to win, to survive, and to go on. And so that is what he was told, and he does this, and he's been beaten, he's been stoned, he's had all sorts of things happen to him, and he continues to do it. He continues to press on. And now before these men who have great power over him, he is continuing to be bold, And so the example here of this happy warrior, this man who is blessed, he counts himself blessed to be able to present this argument before King Agrippa. So I would ask you to remember this incident, that when you have opportunity to speak to others, to count yourself blessed, to have opportunity to speak the truth, even when you fear that they may have some power to do harm to you. remembering that the Lord Jesus Christ is with us even to the end of the age. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would convert the nations, that you would help us, the disciple of the nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We ask that you would help us, that we would be able to teach them all the things that Christ has commanded And we ask that you would continue to build us up, give us strength, remembering that Christ is with us, that we will be successful, and that he will be with us to the end of the age, because the age will not end until we have succeeded. So we thank you for this great example of the boldness of Paul, and ask that you would help us to be imitators of him as he imitates Christ. So we pray this in Christ's name, amen.