Jailed for the Resurrection

I tried to do this devotion with you on Monday before we headed out to T4G and, well, that didn't work. The audio didn't come through and I'm sorry about that. So we're back home and it's so good to be back with you this morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. That's where every day you and I, we get together, we get into God's word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll go from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon. And today, a wonderful passage. Why don't we go ahead and pray, and we'll get into our Bibles. Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you. that you are a sovereign God who loves us so much. And we pray that as we read your word this morning, that you would be with us, that you would be teaching us, that we would follow after you in Jesus's name. Amen. Jesus's name. Amen. Okay, here we go. We are at Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26, and let me see, what did I say we were going to be doing? Yeah, verses 1 through 23. So Acts chapter 26, verses 1 through 23. Here we go. 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. Why?
Because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. 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 of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise, our twelve tribes earnestly served God night and day, hoping to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be, though, why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises from 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, 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? Is it 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 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 now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they 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 I declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and through 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 raise 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. He said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but I speak the words of truth and reason. For the king whom I know, whom I also speak freely, knows these things. And I am convinced that none of these things escape his attention since this was done not in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to become 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, Amber, Nice, and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they talked amongst themselves, saying, This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains. Then King Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." Wow, what an incredible chapter. We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? What is this about?
Well, remember that King Agrippa is that king who was raised in the Roman court. He was actually at Claudius' court, and he is given to be the king in the area of Judea. Well, not so much Judea, but in the area of Galilee and up in the north. But he is also the one who handles the garments for the high priest on Yom Kippur. He knows what's going on in the Jewish world and so he's brought in as a counselor.
Paul is giving his testimony here, not to be condemned or not condemned, but to figure out why he's being sent to Rome at all. And so there's a big huge show of pomp and circumstance where Agrippa and Bernice, his sister, come in and all the important people come in and they sit down and they allow Paul to talk. And Paul says he's happy. He's blessed. He's glad that Agrippa is going to hear him.
Why? Because he knows the things of the Jews. He's keenly aware, tuned in to what the Jewish people believe and think. Not like Festus, who's brand new on the job. He doesn't know what's going on. Agrippa knows. And so he makes this appeal to him. He says, I beg you to hear me patiently. And so he gives his credentials.
He talks about how he was a good Jew and raised from his childhood and a faithful Pharisee. We think of passages like Philippians where he talks about being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day as to the law of Pharisee. He lived this faithful life, but why was he in chains? because he believed in the resurrection of the dead. And so he says, now I stand to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. He says that the twelve tribes earnestly served God night and day trying to attain these things.
For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. And then verse 8, why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? that God would make someone alive, and specifically Christ. See, at the heart, at the crux, at the middle, at the core of Paul's theology is Christ and Him crucified. It's Him raised from the dead. The resurrection is the crux of the matter for Paul. It wasn't just him using this in the Sanhedrin to pit the Sadducees and the Pharisees against each other, but it really was at the core of Christian doctrine.
And so here, saying this is why he's being chained and arrested, and then he says, you know, look, I was a persecutor of the Nazarenes. I was a persecutor of the way. What does he say in verse 12? Or no, sorry, verse 11. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. Paul hated Christians. He wanted them dead. And then he talks about when he's going to Damascus. And there the glory of Christ blinds him. He's there in the middle of the day. He's there when the sun is at its brightest and a brighter light than the sun blinds him.
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Is it easy to kick against the goads? This is the Lord Jesus Christ arresting Paul. And here we actually get more of the story than we had gotten in somewhere like Acts 9. When he says, 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 the things which I will yet reveal to you.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as the Gentiles, to whom I now send you to open. Why is Jesus going to send Paul? to the Jews and to the Gentiles? Why is He going to do this? The purpose of that is verse 18, "...to open their eyes, in order that you may turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." the good news of Jesus Christ, the message that Paul was going to preach to them was going to be Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that people could repent of their sins, turn and follow Jesus Christ, that they could be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, that they can be taken from the clutches of Satan and brought into the glorious kingdom of God, that they might receive the inheritance of the saints.
And how do they do that? By faith in me. How are you made holy? By faith in Christ. How are you taken out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into his kingdom of light? By faith in Christ. How are you taken out of the clutches of Satan and brought into the family of God? By faith in Christ. Do you confess your sins? Do you believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead? Do you cling on to Christ by faith? This is the heart of the issue. Does the resurrection of Jesus Christ show in your life? Is it real?
Well, then he says that therefore King Agrippa, he says he's done this. Verse 19, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Jesus Christ himself had commissioned Paul to be an apostle. He's given him a commission and so he's going to go do it. So he says, he declared unto Damascus, and then he went down to Jerusalem, and then throughout all Judea, and then to the Gentiles. This is exactly what we've read already in Paul's missionary journeys.
That they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. And so he says, right, this is the message that he's preached. repent and do good works in keeping with repentance. This is the beauty of the Christian gospel. Notice they weren't made Christians by their repenting per se. They weren't made Christians by making sure they pursued holiness first. No. No. Out of their faith in Christ comes good works. It's to be expected. They're necessary things to show that we are Christians, but our good works aren't the foundations for it.
For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. And so that's what he's trying to say, right? They didn't try to arrest me because I brought in a Gentile, because they knew at this point that wasn't true. That was the original reason why Paul was arrested. He's saying that's not why I'm here. They're trying to kill me because I believe in Jesus Christ, because I hold to the resurrection of the dead. But he says, this is what's been taught in all the Old Testament, that the Christ would suffer, and he would be the first to rise again from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.
Now, it's at this point that Festus is like, whoa, dude, you're outside your mind, right? You're so smart, you're crazy. Your great learning has made you mad. He says, I'm not mad. I'm speaking reasonable things. I'm telling the truth. And then he looks, he turns and he looks King Agrippa in the eyes and he's like, you know the prophets. You know the law, you know these things, don't you Agrippa? I know that you believe the prophets. And we don't have the tone necessarily. We have to somewhat guess at the tone, but I think that Agrippa is kind of walking a line here, right?
If he doesn't believe, he can't say, well, I don't believe the prophets, because the Jews are going to revolt against him. But if he says, yeah, I think that you're right, Well, then what's he going to do with a high priest? He's really, he's got a hard thing here, right? And so his response to him, you almost, or you in short persuade me to become a Christian.
Oh, come on, you got to do better than that, Paul. And then they get up and Agrippa and Festus and Bernice and others are talking and You know, there's nothing for him to be put to death for. He's an innocent man, but he's appealed to Caesar, and because he's appealed to Caesar, to Caesar he must go. Well, that's a huge passage. In my Bible, I'm just gonna say I have underlined verse 23. I have a lot underlined, but verse 23, verse 20, as well as, we'll say verse 10. What would you underline in your Bible?
Lastly, let's wrap this up with C, calling.
What are you called to do? What am I called to do? Once we read these words, how does it apply to our lives? Do you believe that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead? Do you know the power of his resurrection? Do you have the gift of holiness? Is God sanctifying you? Is God taking out sins of your life?
Are those things that you once found pleasure in, have they become a savor of death to you, that you don't want your gluttony, that you don't want your drunkenness, that you don't want your lust, that you don't want your hatred, that you don't want your bitterness, that you don't want your sexual immorality, your witchcraft, idolatry? Those things are, I don't want those things. Do you want Christ? Do you love Christ?
Are you turning from your sins and turning to God? Do you recognize that you have been saved by grace through faith and that it's not of yourself, it's a gift of God? And you're not boasting or bragging about that, but that you are keeping, you are doing now good works in keeping with repentance? Because you know that you love God. Is the Spirit of God in you? Do you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? Cling to Christ, brother. Cling to Christ, sister. Love Him. Serve Him. Enjoy Him forever. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you. We thank you for what a blessing it is to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified and Him raised from the dead. Lord, we pray Father, we pray that you would be watching over us and care for us. Lord, I pray for those who are struggling with their faith. Lord, I pray that you would give us assurance of salvation and that you might spur us on to deeper levels of holiness and love for you. Please, Lord, give us opportunities even this week to do like Paul and to profess our faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would watch over us the rest of this day in Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you later. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. we'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.