Acts 25+26

Introduction

I began last week’s sermon by saying that Paul has had a difficult time since arriving in Jerusalem. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem confronted him over a rumour that was going around about him and they wanted him to do certain things to demonstrate to everyone that the rumour was not true. Then, when he was in the temple, some people stirred up a crowd against him and they dragged him out of the temple in order to kill him. And he would have been killed, if the Roman commander hadn’t arrested him. The commander then gave orders for him to be flogged and interrogated. He wanted to find out why so many people were against him. And Paul would have been flogged if he hadn’t first revealed that he was a Roman citizen and it was unlawful for him to be treated that way.

But the commander still wanted to find out why so many people were against him. So, he brought Paul before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by them. During the questioning, the high priest ordered someone to strike him on the mouth. And when he spoke about the resurrection, the Sanhedrin was divided among itself and the dispute became so violent that the Roman commander feared for Paul’s life. He therefore gave orders for Paul to be taken from the Sanhedrin by force.

The very next day, forty men conspired together to kill Paul. When the commander found out about it, he had Paul sent to Felix, the Roman governor in Caesarea. And there in Caesarea, his accusers appeared before Felix and they accused Paul of being a trouble-maker. And they were hoping, of course, that the governor would be convinced that Paul was a threat to the peace of Rome and that he could pass the death sentence on him.

At the end of the trial, Felix, the governor, decided to do nothing for the time being, but to keep Paul in prison. And two years later, Felix was re-assigned and Paul was still in prison. He hadn’t yet been found guilty of anything, but he was still a prisoner.

And that’s where we got to last week. Paul had a difficult time since arriving in Jerusalem. And his circumstances don’t get any better in today’s passage. In today’s passage, he was brought before Festus, who had replaced Felix as the governor of that part of the Roman Empire. And then he was also brought before King Agrippa and his sister, Bernice.

Chapter 25

Let’s turn to chapter 25. Luke tells us that three days after he arrived in the province, the new governor went up to Jerusalem. Presumably he had to meet the local leaders as part of his job and to get to know them and their concerns. And the chief priests and the Jewish leaders met him. And it seems that the item on the top of their agenda and the first thing that they wanted to raise with him was Paul. Paul had been in prison in Caesarea for two years, but they hadn’t forgotten about him. They still hated him and wanted him eliminated. And they were still plotting and scheming. And so, they asked Festus to have Paul moved to Jerusalem to stand trial there. But they had no intention of letting Paul stand trial, because their plan was to assassinate him on the way. Festus, however, refused their request to move Paul and he told them to come to Caesarea if they wanted to press charges against him.

Not long afterwards, Festus returned to Caesarea. And Paul’s enemies came too to bring their charges against him. Luke says in verse 7 that they stood around him and brought many serious charges against him. However, Luke also added that they couldn’t prove the charges. And when Paul made his defence, he made clear that he had done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. We know from previous chapters that they accused him of turning the Jews away from the law and of desecrating the temple and of being a trouble-maker and a threat to Rome. Paul says that none of those charges is true.

If none of the charges was true, Festus should have released him. However, according to verse 9, he wanted to do the Jews a favour. Perhaps, because he was a new governor, he wanted to do something to get them on his side. So, he asked if Paul was agreeable to go to Jerusalem to stand trial there. He knows that this would please the Jews, because this is what they asked for back in verse 3. But it would also be helpful for Festus, because the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem might be able to help him to understand these things.

But Paul will not agree. His conscience is clear and he knows he has done nothing wrong. He says that if he were guilty, he would be prepared to suffer the consequences. But since he’s innocent, he will not let the governor hand him over to the Jews to decide his fate. And so, he appealed to Caesar.

Apparently Roman citizens had this right of appeal and they could ask for their case to be heard by the Emperor himself. And Festus had no option: he had to do what Paul asked and send him to Rome.

A few days later, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to the new governor. This is Agrippa II. His great-grandfather was Herod the Great who tried to kill the infant Lord Jesus. And his father was Herod Agrippa or Agrippa I. We read about him in Acts 12 and how he persecuted the church, but God struck him down. And the Agrippa we’re now reading about is Agrippa II. All three of them ruled over the land of Judea as a kind of vice-regent on behalf of the Roman Emperor. And since a new Roman governor had recently been appointed, Agrippa and his sister, Bernice, went to Caesarea to greet him.

And while they were there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with Agrippa. And in verse 18 Festus said to Agrippa that the Jews did not charge Paul with the crimes he was expecting, but instead their changes were religious in nature and were related to — in the words of Festus — ‘a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed to be alive’. And Festus admits in verse 20 that he was at a loss how to investigate these matters. Why would he know? He’s the new governor after all. This is perhaps the first time that he’s heard of these things. It’s all new and strange to him. He doesn’t know what to do. And he explained to Agrippa that he suggested moving the trial to Jerusalem, but Paul appealed to Caesar.

And when Agrippa hears all this, he responded by saying that he would like to hear Paul himself. And Festus agrees to it. And so, the very next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with all the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. This must have been a very intimidating audience for anyone to face. And at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. And Festus pointed Paul out to the whole room, full of all these important people and he explained that the whole Jewish community — which is a bit of an exaggeration — the whole Jewish community has petitioned him about Paul, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. But, Festus said, ‘I found he had done nothing deserving of death.’ However, since Paul appealed to the Emperor, then he must send him to Rome. But he doesn’t know what to put in the accompanying letter. And so, he wants the help of his audience to know what to say in his letter to Caesar.

Chapter 26

And right at the beginning of chapter 26, Agrippa said to Paul: ‘You have permission to speak for yourself.’

And we can imagine all heads turning from Agrippa to Paul to pay attention to what he’s about to say. And Paul raised his hand and began his defence. Once again Paul is being asked to defend himself against false changes that he’s against the law of God and that he desecrated the temple of God and that he’s a trouble-maker and a threat to Rome. And this is what he said.

In verses 2 and 3 he says that he considers himself fortunate to be able to stand before Agrippa, because Agrippa is well acquainted with the Jewish religion. And he asks Agrippa to listen patiently to what he has to say.

In verses 4 and 5 he explains that everyone knows about how he was brought up as a Jew and how lived as a Pharisee.

In verses 6 to 8 he explains that he is on trial because of his hope in what God promised their fathers. So, he’s referring to God’s promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and to all the Jews. And this is the promise that the twelve tribes of Israel — the whole Jewish nation — are hoping to see fulfilled. And he’s referring, of course, to the hope of the resurrection. And he says in verse 8: ‘Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’ And he means: you shouldn’t find it incredible because this is what the Jews have always believed.

In verses 9 to 11 he summarises what he used to do to persecute the church of Jesus Christ and the lengths to which he went. And he refers to his obsession. It was like a madness.

And then in verses 12 to 18 he describes for them what happened when he was on the road to Damascus and how he saw a bright light from heaven and he heard a voice speaking to him. And it was the voice of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord explained that he had appeared to Paul to appoint him as his servant and as a witness of what he has seen and of what the Lord will show him in the future. The Lord assured him that he will rescue Paul from Jews and Gentiles and that he is sending Paul to them to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness and a place among those who are made holy through faith in the Lord Jesus.

In verses 19 and 20 he tells them that he was not disobedient to the vision he received from heaven. And so, he went from Damascus to Jerusalem to Judea and then to the Gentiles in other parts of the Roman Empire to preach to them that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

In verse 21 he says that this is why the Jews seized him in the temple courts and tried to kill him. So, it wasn’t because he was against the law. It wasn’t because he had desecrated the temple. It wasn’t because he was a trouble-maker. None of these charges was true. That seized him and tried to kill him because he was a preacher. They wanted to kill him because he was a preacher and they didn’t like what he was preaching.

And then in verses 22 and 23 Paul explains to his audience that he’s saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses — the whole of the Old Testament — said would happen. What did the Scriptures say would happen? That the Christ — God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King — would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead. And as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to his own people, the Jews, and light to the Gentiles.

We don’t know what else Paul intended to say, because Festus interrupted him, saying that he was out of his mind. You’re crazy, Paul! But Paul replied, saying that he’s not insane and everything he has said is true and reasonable. So, he’s not speaking nonsense. Everything he said makes sense. And everything he said is true. And he added that King Agrippa is familiar with these things. Agrippa knows what the Jews believe and he’s heard about the Lord Jesus and about Christianity. He knows about these things, because Paul is not advocating a mystery religion. He’s not a member of a secret society. Christianity is a public religion and we don’t hide anything from anyone.

And Paul turned to Agrippa and asked him directly if he believes the prophets? He means: Do you believe the Old Testament prophets, because they spoke about these things. They spoke about the coming Saviour who would suffer and die and rise again.

But Agrippa is not willing to commit himself to Christianity. He will not be convinced by what Paul has said.

And the final words of Paul are his wish that not only Agrippa, but everyone in that room, will become like Paul, except for his chains. He wants them all to become Christians and to trust in Christ alone for salvation. And the final words of Agrippa is that Paul could have been set free. He could have been set free, because he has done nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.

Application 1

The words of Paul in verse 22 of chapter 26 confirm something that I’ve said many times before, which is that the Old Testament Scriptures are all about the Saviour.

We sometimes treat the Old Testament as a book about us. It’s about men and women who are like us and when they do well, we should copy their example; and when they do badly, we should learn from their mistakes. It’s a book about us. And it’s also about us because it contains all these commandments which we’re to obey So, it’s a book about us.

And while it’s true that the Old Testament contains commandments for us to obey and laws for us to keep, and while it contains good examples for us to follow and bad examples for us to avoid, nevertheless Paul’s defence makes clear that the Old Testament is ultimately about the Lord Jesus Christ.

That phrase in verse 22 of chapter 26 — ‘the prophets and Moses’ — covers the whole of the Old Testament. And Paul is saying that it’s all about the Lord Jesus. He’s saying that God announced to his Old Testament people through Moses and through the prophets that he was going to send the Christ into the world. The Christ is God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King sent by God to save us from our sin and misery in this world by dying for us on the cross to pay for our sins and by rising again to live for ever. And this is the message of the Old Testament from beginning to end, because in the beginning God announced to Adam and Eve that the Saviour would come into the world as the seed of the woman to crush the devil. And right at the end of the Old Testament, God announced that he will send Elijah to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. And in that promise, he was announcing how John the Baptist will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would give up his life to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God. From beginning to end, the Old Testament tells us about the Saviour.

And so, when you read the Old Testament, you should be looking for these connections. How does it point forward to the coming of the Saviour? And when you read the New Testament, you should be looking for how it recalls what was first announced in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is like a flower bud. A flower bud contains the whole flower, but the petals are hidden from view. And the Old Testament contains the Saviour, but he’s hidden from view. And in the New Testament he becomes visible. But it’s all about him. And it’s all about him, because he’s the Saviour of the world and we’re to trust in him and in him alone for salvation.

Application 2

Notice now what Paul says about the Saviour in verse 23 of chapter 26. He says that the Old Testament is about how the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead. And all of that was fulfilled when the Son of God came into the world as one of us and suffered and died on the cross. And he was buried. And on the third day, he was raised from the dead to live for ever.

All of that is familiar to us and it’s glorious and it’s a testament to God’s love for us. God the Father loved us so much that he was willing to give up his Son for us and for our salvation. God the Son loved us so much that he was willing to give up his life for us and for our salvation. And he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Because of his overflowing love for us, God gave up his Son for us. And since he loved us that much, then we can be assured that there is no good thing that God will withhold from us. We can always look to him for help because he loves us so very much.

That’s all wonderful and we rejoice in this good news. But notice what else Paul says. The Scriptures foretell how the Christ will suffer and rise; and as the first to rise from the dead, he will proclaim light to Jews and Gentiles. How does the Risen Lord Jesus proclaim light to Jews and Gentiles? After his resurrection, the Lord appeared to a number of people. But after 40 days, he ascended to heaven. That’s where he is now. He’s not on the earth, going from place to place, preaching the good news. He’s in heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. So, how is he able to proclaim light to Jews and Gentiles around the world?

He does it by raising up preachers like Paul to go into all the world to declare the good news of his death and resurrection for sinners and to summon men and women and boys and girls to repent and to believe in him for salvation.

In every generation the Lord Jesus Christ raises up preachers to preach the good news and to convince and convert sinners to faith and to build up believers. And, as I’ve said before, the PCI needs more preachers. We need more ministers to proclaim light to the people on this island and beyond. And so, you should pray to the Lord to raise up more and more preachers in our day to fill our vacant pulpits and to plant new churches and to go overseas with the gospel. From his throne in heaven, the Lord Jesus proclaims light to people who are in the darkness. And he does it through the preachers he raises up and appoints to preach in his name. And so, we should pray for more of them and we should pray for the Lord to bless their preaching and to make it fruitful.

Application 3

And the final thing to notice from this passage is the opposition there is to the good news which Paul was preaching. Look again at verse 21 of chapter 26 where Paul says that this is why the Jews seized him in the temple courts and tried to kill him. They seized him because of the message he preached.

There’s something inside people which finds the message of the cross offensive. People hate it. They can’t bear it. They won’t put up. They either ignore it or else they attack it. And that’s what the Jews in Jerusalem did. They attacked the message by attacking the messenger.

And verses 1 and 2 of chapter 25 bear witness to how much they hated the message, because even though Paul had been in prison for two years, the Jews went to the new governor as soon as he was appointed in order to bring charges against Paul. In other words, their hatred lasted two years. And their hatred for Paul and his message was so strong that they wanted to murder him.

There’s something inside people which finds the message of the cross offensive. There’s something inside them which causes them to hate the good news. And so, we shouldn’t be surprised when people reject the gospel and if they reject us for believing it and for proclaiming it. We shouldn’t be surprised.

But this also means that we should pray and pray and pray again for God to do his work in the hearts of men and women and boys and girls to open their hearts to pay attention to the message and to enable them to believe in the Saviour.

We’ve been going through John’s gospel on Sunday evenings and we’ve been hearing about the new birth, when God the Holy Spirit implants new life in sinners. And we all need the new birth — we all need new life implanted in us — because by nature we’re spiritually dead and we’re unable to believe the good news. But through the new birth, the Holy Spirit enables sinners to believe in the Saviour.

And so, we should pray and pray and pray for God the Father to send his Spirit through the Son into the hearts of men and women and boys and girls around this church and throughout Belfast and throughout this island and around the world to give them this new life through the new birth so that they can believe the good news about the Saviour. Instead of being offended by it, they’ll rejoice in it. Instead of hating it, they’ll love it. They’ll love the message and they’ll embrace it and they’ll trust in the Saviour. That should be our prayer.

And if you’re a believer today, then you should rejoice and give thanks to God for his love for you, because he overcame your natural sinfulness and unbelief and he enabled you to believe the message and to trust the Saviour. The only reason you’re here today and trusting in the Saviour is because of his abounding love for you and his infinite grace and mercy and goodness. And so, you should rejoice in his kindness to you and you should give thanks to him for enabling you to pay attention to his word and to trust in the Saviour for salvation.