It will come from Acts chapter 25. Acts chapter 25 verse 13 through 26 verse 32. Now, when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, There is a man left a prisoner by Felix. And when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. And I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had an opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. And so when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. And when the accuser stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I had supposed. Rather, they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about certain Jesus who was dead but whom Paul asserted to be alive. And being at a loss as how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said to Festus, I would like to hear the man myself. And tomorrow, he said, you will hear him. And so on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with a great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. And then at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had done nothing deserving of death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. But I have nothing definite to write to my Lord about him. Therefore I've brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after we have examined him, I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner not to indicate the charges against him." And so Agrippa said to Paul, you have permission to speak for yourself. And then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense. I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews, and therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee. And I now stand here on trial because of my hope and the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our 12 tribes hope to obtain as they earnestly worship day and night. And for this hope, I am accused by the Jews, O King. Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and I did so in Jerusalem. I had not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues, and I tried to make them blasphemy. And in raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. And in this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me as those who journeyed with me. And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said to me, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But arise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me, and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your 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 a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. And therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. And to this day, I have had the help that comes from God. And so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to both our people and to the Gentiles. And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you're out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you out of your mind. And Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I'm speaking true and rational words for the king knows about these things. And to him, I speak boldly for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? And Paul said, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. And then the king arose and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, this man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. It's the reading of God's word. You may be seated. This is rather a long passage this morning. Paul's third defense of Christianity, of the gospel, before Roman officials and Jewish accusers. We have several characters introduced to us here, also some we will mention. more than others. Bernice here is actually the sister, this is King Agrippa II. And we'll get more into about who he is, but Bernice is his sister. And as we consider this passage, what we see here at the beginning, at the outset, is that the Apostle Paul is in chains, still, here in Caesarea waiting to be transferred to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, who at this time is Nero, who nobody really knows his true character at this time because he is just now beginning to take the reins of the kingdom and start to rule for himself. But it's Nero and that Paul is being sent to, or he is waiting to be sent to, and he's being sent there for charges which no Roman official has been able to determine since he had been taken into their custody over two plus years ago. Three trials now, two and a half roughly years ago. Neither the Jerusalem Tribune, Claudius Lysaeus, could find anything, nor the late governor Felix of Judea could find anything. And now, neither can the new governor, Festus, the new governor of Judea. Can he find anything to charge Paul with? Not against the law of the Jews, not against the temple, not against Caesar. Remarkable, right? I couldn't stand that kind of scrutiny. I'm sure they'd find something about me. But they can't find anything. And that's how our passage begins. And by the end of our passage, wherein the Roman governor Festus seeks out this help of King Agrippa II, the son of Agrippa I, who sentenced the apostle James to death and imprisoned Peter, if we remember back to Acts chapter 12, just before the angel of the Lord struck him down and he was eaten by worms. That's his dad, Agrippa II here. He's the son of Agrippa I, who did that in Acts 12. The grandson of Herod the Great, who murdered the children, the little boys, two and under at Bethlehem in seeking out Christ. This is his grandson, Agrippa II, the last remaining heir of the Herodian dynasty. It will end at the death of Agrippa II here. He's the last one. And he's an expert, says Paul. He's ruled, his family has ruled over the Judean area and Jews for a long time. He's an expert. He knows the customs and the controversies of the Jews. And being new to his governorship over Judea and the novice about Jewish religion, understandably, he's a Roman. Rome had many religions. Kept, keep track of all of them. Bephestus was hoping in this predicament that he found him in that Agrippa would be able to help him in coming up with something. Perhaps by an examination of this Jewish religion and in the details, he could come up with something that he could write to Caesar about concerning why he was sending Paul there. for sending him to stand trial before Caesar without indicating what he was being charged for was, to Festus, unthinkable." Forty-six verses later, the consensus among all of those who had heard Paul's defense was that this man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment. Nothing. In the words of King Agrippa himself, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. And yet 46 verses later, The Apostle Paul remains in chains in Caesarea, still waiting to be transferred to Rome to stand trial before Nero. Still for charges which no Roman and no client king of Rome can determine. Paul had broken no Jewish laws. He had broken no Roman laws. He was guilty of nothing. What Paul had done was to become a Christian. A believer in who Jesus is. And what Jesus had called him to do. That's all. Paul had come to truly believe, you see, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed of God, the fulfiller of all the promises given to the people of Israel and to the Gentiles. The one of whom the prophets, all of them, and Moses wrote, he says. This is nothing new. They all wrote of him. Every one of them. That he must suffer and be raised from the dead to proclaim light to both Jews and Gentiles. Is it so remarkable to you that God raises the dead? And as such, Paul accepted Jesus as Lord. His Lord and His God. Becoming a servant and a witness of all that he had seen and heard from Jesus and would continue to be shown by Jesus, a witness and a servant of Christ to the Jews and to the Gentiles. By direct revelation from Jesus. You'll notice how Paul starts many of his epistles. An apostle of Jesus Christ, not by man, but by God. Jesus. 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 the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified, meaning here set apart by faith in Jesus. Period. Paul had become a Christian. He believed who Jesus was and he obeyed what Jesus commanded. He was God and he was Lord to Paul. Before the Jews and the Gentiles alike, he declared that they should too repent. Performing deeds in keeping with repentance. And for this reason, Paul says, the Jews seized me. in the temple and tried to kill me. You see, Paul was not in chains for breaking any laws. He was not in chains for breaking Jewish laws or Roman laws. He was in chains for being a Christian. For being a faithful Christian and witnessing the gospel. for believing in Jesus and witnessing to Jesus of His life, of His death, most significantly of His resurrection. The vindication of Christ from God Himself that Jesus truly is who He claimed to be. Lord and God. He was Christ. The Christ. The Son, the only Son of God. As theologians would later try to clarify, the only begotten Son of God. Not created or made. Eternally existent. Co-equal with the Father, as we read in our confession this morning. He is Emmanuel, the scripture says. God Himself with us. The promised seed of the woman. the promised seed of Abraham, the promised seed of David, the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets, the one in whom all of them spoke. Jesus was his name because he would save his people from their sins. Whosoever believes and repents and turns to God, performing deeds in keeping with this repentance. You see, the two can't be separated. One of the most devastating heretical movements to have ever crept up within the church to impact our generation has been the resurgence of this denial of the person of Jesus Christ, specifically His deity, His divinity, that He is God. And as a consequence, the abandonment of His Lordship. If He's not God, why should we look at Him as Lord? And along with this, the authority of the Scriptures. And as a further consequence, the abandonment of the Gospel. The good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. Abandoned. In the 1800s, a movement to dismiss all things supernatural was the development of the modern era, the rise of evolutionary theory. We don't need the supernatural anymore. We're going to figure it out ourselves by our reason and by our examination of nature. A wave of this swept up in the 1800s, and is well underway in the culture, and even impacted the church, eventually leading to the dismissal of all things supernatural in Scripture as well. A demythylization... That's a tough word. They tried to demythylize the Scriptures. Take out all the supernatural stuff. Because they could only trust what was natural. and made sense to their reasoning. Arriving at a purely historical version of Jesus, a man with an admirable philosophy and an inspiring ethic for society, but in no way God, and certainly not Lord, to whom anyone should feel bound or believe that they must obey. Man has to be free, you see, to use his reason. And the scriptures, all of which pointed and spoke to Jesus as God and as Lord, were not the word of God, but mere words and stories of well-meaning and superstitious men. Good stories, good moral examples of just another human religion. It's antiquated. It's old. We're evolving. We're past that. All that supernatural stuff. Anyone who merely applied some of Jesus' ethics, therefore, or the customs of Christian religion in some way might be considered a Christian. and not have anything to do with belief or faith in Jesus Christ as God and Lord. All you had to do was be a good person by applying some of Jesus' ethical standards. And by the 1900s and still today, many churches that consider themselves Christian still hold as their foundational principle things very similar to this heresy. If not their foundational principle, at least their functional principle, how they function, how they live and operate. where instead of teaching the Scriptures as the literal word of God and what they testify about Jesus Christ, the name of a Christian is merely a cover by which to teach social needs, social relationships, and the preservation of society, social justice, in utopian society. And to be fair, many of the churches that have made the Scriptures their founding principle, who do teach the Scriptures and what they testify about Jesus Christ, far too often stop right there. such that the light and the salt which they are given rarely shines upon the social problems of our day. And it rarely works to preserve society. As you can understand, both of these are very lamentable situations. Both parties guilty of similar errors of neglecting the deity and the lordship of Jesus Christ. One at the front, you see, and the other at the back. One believing that they are saved by their works, and the later believing that they are saved irregardless of their works. Both denials of the deity and the lordship of Jesus Christ, if not intentionally, functionally, And while the air of salvation by works may seem obvious enough to us in the Reformed tradition, that is not our problem typically, we would do well to remember the biblical principles set forth by the Lord's brother James, that faith apart from works is dead. As others have rightly commented, a little book Elder Ardrey shared with me this week, quote from there, the justification that is the righteous, our righteousness before God is by faith alone. It is never by a faith that is alone. You understand. That is, it is never without witness to Jesus Christ. Ever. We cannot call Jesus Lord and God and fail to witness to Him. To fail to witness, to open the eyes of others. that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins in a place among those who are sanctified that is set apart by faith in Jesus. We cannot neglect that. And as we have seen throughout Acts, this record that Luke gives to us, it is the declaration of the lordship and the deity, the divinity of Jesus Christ by way of His death and His resurrection, which many could not see. Do you remember the Gentiles in Athens? It was when Paul mentioned the resurrection from the dead that they, okay, we're done. No, we don't need to listen any further. It was the revelation of God with us, proven vindicated by his resurrection, an absolute authority, Lord and God with us, whom we are bound all to obey. They couldn't see it. A stumbling block to the Jews, Paul writes, the very reason they had seized Paul in the temple and were trying to kill him, irregardless of the cost. Irregardless of what it cost them, their lives, the lives of Romans, the lives of Bison, In a foolishness to the Romans, as we see with the governor Festus, exclaiming near the end of Paul's testimony, Paul, you have lost your mind. Your great learning is driving you mad. They couldn't see it. They could not see the deity and the lordship of Jesus Christ. And you have to wonder how similar these responses of many we hear even now every day, how similar the responses are in our own generation. Voices demanding their rights to do as they please irregardless of the cost. and voices opposing them for behaving as though they've lost their minds. What is a Christian to do in the midst of such chaos? Neither one of those make any sense whatsoever. Nobody has a right to do whatever they want. And religion isn't crazy. It can be spoken in truth. With sound words and reason. And historical evidence and artifacts and archaeology. We can study it. What is a Christian to do in the midst of such chaos? Walking as we do in darkness. In the dominion of Satan where the graces of faith, hope and love seem to only be continually drowned out by continuous bickering and condemnation. I don't know about you, but it can certainly give one the feeling of being in prison, in chains even now. You feel locked up, can you share your faith openly? It's the air we breathe. How does one be a Christian in the midst of such situations when the Lordship and the deity of Jesus Christ are either fundamentally or functionally denied? Are we merely confined to one of two paths, either to zealously demand our religious rights, to do whatever we please, whatever the cost? Or are we confined to joining the voices of those who believe that such religious convictions are irrational and unessential? Is there only option to simply pick the lesser of two evils? Which, by the way, nobody ever has the right to do. Nobody ever has the right to pick any evil. Because neither of these options are Christian. Neither of these options acknowledge the deity and the lordship of Jesus Christ. And yet this is the pickle we often find ourselves in, in a culture that doesn't see these things, these realities. And when we find ourselves losing sight of the Lordship and the Deity of Jesus Christ, we lose sight of who Jesus is and what He has called us to do. And we allow the currents of the world and the philosophies of the world to define our paths for us rather than our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ. Rather than him who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, who on the third day rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, where he will come again and judge the living and the dead. Instead, we find ourselves demanding our rights, irregardless of the cost of others, or simply reducing faith to that which can be naturally explained. Unwittingly declaring our own faith unessential. What a trick. Satan is crafty. We get tricked into doing these things instead of acknowledging Jesus Christ, Lord and God, being His servants and witnessing to Him to open eyes so that others may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they also may receive the forgiveness of their sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. That they might turn from the power of Satan for salvation to the power of God for salvation. Do you recognize the difference? From themselves to the gospel. That they might proclaim the gospel instead of themselves. The good news that Jesus is both Lord and God of all. It's 46 verses later at the end of Paul's lengthy and very sincere defense of the faith. He didn't have to make this defense. He had appealed to Caesar. This wasn't a trial. This was a favor. to make his defense before Agrippa and Festus and anybody else who was willing to hear. This defense of Christianity and the gospel, the lordship and the deity of Jesus Christ. Neither the governor Festus nor King Agrippa They showed any signs of believing what Paul had declared about Jesus Christ. Only that they were all the more convinced that Paul wasn't guilty of anything deserving death or imprisonment. Maybe out of his mind, but certainly not guilty of any breaking any laws. And he could have been set free. He had merely confessed to being a Christian, a believer in who Jesus is and what Jesus had called him to do. And this, in this, he did not disobey. Not in the midst of voices vying for their rights at all costs, not in the midst of human rationalism that view the gospel as madness. Even in chains, Paul served and testified to the truth about Jesus Christ, even when he wasn't under trial for it. They just wanted to hear his defense. Gladly, Paul said. whether great or small, in short or long times, that God might grant to those who heard him to become such as he was, a Christian, a believer in who Jesus is and what Jesus had called him to do, except for the chains. Would to God that this would become our prayer. and the prayer of Christ's church all over the world. If you do not know Jesus as Lord and God, or if you have allowed the circumstances of this life to suppress these things, which you do indeed know, then heed the Apostle's exhortation and repent and turn to God. performing deeds in keeping with that repentance of who Jesus is, that acknowledgment of Him as God and Lord, that He may restore the joy of your salvation. your witness to Jesus Christ, what you are called and commanded to do, to open the eyes, to turn people from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they too may receive the forgiveness of sins in a place among those who are being sanctified by faith in Jesus. What a difference does it make? Can it really make that big a difference? This madness that we have, this foolishness of preaching, sharing the gospel, does it make any difference? Our Lord said to his disciples, he asked them a question, what do you, who do you say that I am? You recall this, this story. And Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, that very revelation of me that you received from my father, I will build my church. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What difference does it make? Where are those who have old, who demanded their religious rights at all costs? Where are they now? Where is their temple? Where are those who mocked the gospel as madness? Where are they now? What happened to their religions? Where is their empire? Where are those who heard the gospel and believed who Jesus is and what he had called them to do? They're here. And they're all over the world. Serving and witnessing that Jesus is God and Lord. Still today. All over the world. That's what difference it makes. You see? Take courage. Christians, believe who Jesus is and what he's called you to do. Don't be duped by the world. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much again for your word, for this testimony of Paul, for everything that Luke has recorded for us, Lord, that opens our eyes that does indeed turn us away from ourselves, from sin, to you, from the power of Satan to you, oh God. Father, that teaches us of the forgiveness of our sins through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That teaches us of our place in heaven with you through faith alone in him. And we thank you for this marvelous, amazing grace that you have given us in our lives. Father, don't stop teaching us. Don't stop growing us. Don't stop disciplining us. Lead us further into the lordship of our Savior, that we might not only just know him and believe who he is, that we might also have the joy of knowing what He's called us to be, Christians. We ask this in our Lord's name, our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.