Through The Bible - Acts 26 - Part 1

Brett Meador: If you can kind of picture the crowd seated in this theater in Caesarea, it's Augustus the second, it's all the Roman soldiers, and also the chief men of the city of Caesarea. So it's a big theater full of people and Paul, he's got the floor now.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Mether and finding joy in answering the call of God.
Brett Meador: Paul's circumstances are never dictating his attitude or his emotion. It seems like most of the time his joy is dictated by what God has called him to do and following Jesus.
Kurt: Acts chapter 26 tells of Paul standing before King Agrippa in chains as he boldly shared both his testimony and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite the circumstance, he gladly explained how Jesus changed his life and called him to preach of the need of repentance and God's forgiveness. Pastor Brett Mether reflects in today's word of Paul's faithfulness and God's call for him.
Brett Meador: Acts chapter 26. Kind of a quick review after Paul's three missionary journeys, he came back to Jerusalem. You know, everybody told Paul, don't go to Jerusalem. There's another trouble waiting for you there. Remember Agabus and binding himself up with Paul's belt and saying, whoever goes to Jerusalem with this belt is going to be bound up. And Paul said, I I'm willing to die not only to be bound. So sure enough, he goes there and man, he finishes this vow in the temple just kind of showing I am still Jewish. But they freaked out and the city started to riot. They dragged Paul out and beat him accusing of taking Gentiles into the temple, which he didn't do, but that's what they accused him of. And then Claudius Lysias, the Roman leader in Jerusalem at that time, placed Paul in protective custody because of the riot and it was just kind of a big deal. And uh the Romans were trying to sort of keep peace. They didn't want riots and stuff like that. But there was great unrest surrounding Paul. You know, when the Romans let him go again, he used the word Gentiles and he said, I believe in the resurrection. And that flipped out the whole Sadducees because they didn't believe in the resurrection. So again, another riot, riot number two. And the Romans are like, what do we do with this guy? Now remember at this time he was imprisoned, there was a plot to kill Paul and there was guys that made a vow, we won't eat food or drink anything until we kill Paul. Well, Paul's nephew came in and warned Paul and Paul said, hey, go tell Claudius about this. And so a little guy ran up there and said, hey, they're going to kill Paul. And so that's when Claudius Lysias, you know, got 470 soldiers, Roman soldiers and escorted Paul from Jerusalem westward towards Caesarea Maritima where Paul has been in the last several weeks of our study. First before Felix, stayed there for about two years under Felix's reign as the governor of the region. Then Felix was gone and now it's Festus. And uh we saw last week where Festus had some visitors to come and say hi. And the Bible says they went to salute Festus. Who was that? Well, it was King Agrippa with his main squeeze. I call her that because I don't know else to call her. Uh you might call her lover, uh you might call it her sister. But anyway, we finished chapter 25 where Festus is like, oh man, Paul appealed to Caesar in Rome and now we got to send him to Rome. But the problem is you don't want to send a guy to Rome that's got a sort of a a case or a complaint, but nothing to charge him with. So Festus is in a big pickle. Like what do I do? In fact, remember our last verse, verse 27, for it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not with all to signify the crimes laid against him. He's like, what am I going to do? That's really where we're at right now. King Agrippa and Bernice and Festus are all sitting in the big theater in Caesarea going to hear Paul. And Paul's going to tell the story and sort of give a sermon here. And we're going to look at that now. So it says in verse one, then Agrippa, that's the king of that region, said unto Paul, thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Uh now this is interesting. Remember we saw them come in with great pomp, he and uh Bernice. And Paul sort of begins with something that's kind of interesting. But before we get into what Paul says here, I just want to remind you cuz Paul's next line is I think myself happy. Now of all the things Paul should have felt, that was probably the least likely one he should have felt. I think myself threatened. I think myself to be in grave danger. He's standing in front in chains. He's standing in chains in front of the king and the governor and all that. But Paul stood before the man whose great-grandfather tried to kill Jesus the baby, but killed all the babies in that region. His grandfather had John the Baptist beheaded and his father martyred the first apostle James. Agrippa's family history made him unlikely really to be all buddy-buddy with with Paul and receive Paul's ministry. So for Paul to say, I think myself happy, I wonder if they think he's crazy right now. But that's just reading into the Bible. Oh, wait. There's a few lines in here that makes you wonder do they think Paul's a little like they I think they're going to see that he's very smart and very intellectual. But I also think they're going to think he's a little nuts. And by the way, the reason I share that is not just because I know something or it's interesting, but one of the things that people will do if you're a Christian and you happen to be articulate and you can defend what you believe and you haven't checked your brain in, but you're still a Christian, people will come back and go, wow, you're really smart. But man, you're nuts. Like they'll just kind of conclude that you're crazy. We live in a culture very much that loves that sort of mentality. Don't be shocked if people think even if you're articulate and reasoned and have logic, they'll still try to chalk you off as crazy. And that's going to sort of happen. But Paul says, I think myself happy. But we're going to realize Paul, as we've said before, Paul's circumstances are never dictating his attitude or his emotion. It seems like most of the time Paul, his joy is dictated by what God has called him to do and and following Jesus and his love for Jesus. May that be good for you and me as well that our joy shouldn't be dictated by our circumstances. That's the entry-level beginner Christian. If you're like, oh man, I'm so bummed, traffic today, what a bummer. But the more mature Christian says, traffic, more time to pray and think about the Lord and seek God and just get us closer to the rapture of the church. And like we should be joyful when things are happening. That's Paul. So he has got this opportunity also. One other thing I think Paul's joyful about is he knows what his calling is. And that is to spread the gospel. And and if you can kind of picture the the crowd seated in this theater in in Caesarea, it's you know, Augustus the second, it's Bernice and it's also Festus. But it's also all the Roman soldiers and also the chief men of the city of Caesarea. So it's a it's a big theater full of people and Paul, he has got the floor now. And I love it. What does he say? He says, then Agrippa said to Paul, thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself. Talk to the hand. No, he didn't say that. Sorry, no. Why did he hold his hand up? You know, like I got this. I think he's saying I got this, glad to be here. I think myself happy and I've got something to say is kind of what he's doing there. So he says in verse two, I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I'm accused of the Jews. Now this is kind of fun as well. One thing that I wonder if Paul's remembering in the back of his head is that there was a prophecy that he would stand before kings. You remember in Acts chapter nine verse 15 where it says, but this is remember when Paul was blinded, he was with Ananias there in Damascus. But the Lord said unto him, go thy way for he, Paul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. This is a bold thing for you know, the Lord to speak this prophecy that Paul would stand before kings cuz not just anybody gets to stand before kings. But this wonder if Paul's like can check. Like this is the prophecy that I would receive when I was blinded sitting there in Ananias's house in Damascus. And now here I am standing before King Agrippa. Maybe that's why Paul was happy. Just a confirmation that he's doing what God wants him to do because he's standing before King Agrippa. So now by the way, this I'm going to call this a partial fulfillment of that prophecy because Paul is going to not only stand before a little King Agrippa of that region, but he's going to stand before the emperor of Rome, which was the basically the ruler of the whole known world at that time. So Paul's future is kind of incredible. It's amazing what you can endure and how you can even be happy if you know where you're headed and that you're doing what God wants you to do. By the way, one of the hardest paths in life are doing what God doesn't want you to do. And you think you're going to be happy if you just go this way or that way or the other way. But you can be in the worst situation, but if God's got you where you want to be, you'll find yourself happy there. Don't be surprised. And then Satan will try to lure you into something that will make you happier from that which you're already happy in, you know. Paul said, I have learned to be content with whatever state I'm in of you know, content. I think Paul kind of got that. And maybe some of you, have you ever been lured away from happiness just because the enemy doesn't like where you are? So promise is big. Hey, if you get off this path and you go over here, you'll be really happy. More money to be made. Friends to have be had. More of a reputation, incredibility if you go this way. Meanwhile, you're really happy because you're doing what God's called you to do. Don't be lured by Satan. I love that Paul is locked in here doing what God's called him to do. But when he says in verse two, I shall answer for myself, basically he's representing himself as a an attorney. That's kind of the idea there. And verse three, he says, especially because I know thee, speaking to Agrippa, to be an expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. Now one might mistakenly think Paul is using the same old trick as we saw last time in the last chapter where where he was using flattery. Remember that? Was Paul trying to flatter Agrippa here? I don't believe so. The reason why I think Paul's stating the truth here, Agrippa was knowledgeable and learned about Jews and their custom. Remember he was an Edomite, I do me in. Remember we talked about this. But he also was kind of half Jew and he was you know, fence riding, half Jew, half Roman. But he and his father and his grandfather, they all wanted to you know, sort of woo the Jews to like them. And the Jews never did like them because they were neither here nor there. But Agrippa really was an expert on Judaism. He was always trying to win them over. He was half Jewish, but he was also an agent of Rome. And as long as you're an agent of Rome, they're trying to make Jews your friends, not going to happen. That's what happened historically with those guys. But Paul is speaking the truth. Agrippa was well aware of Jewish customs and traditions. So he's not just flattering. He's just saying, you know, Agrippa, he's calling him out, you know what the Jews believe. And that's going to come into play with what he's saying here. Now this is where Paul's sermon kind of goes into five key statements that Paul makes. And it's going to be part of his defense. So let's look at these five defenses. Number one, he's going to start in verses uh four through 11 where he's going to declare, I lived as a Pharisee. Now again, Agrippa knows about Pharisees. He knows what their thing is. He understands that. So this actually is important. So verse four, this is where he makes that claim, verse four, it says, my manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning. If they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. What does he say? The most straightest sect of Jewish religion. They were the most pious, most holy, most righteous. And Paul said, I was basically born into that. I was a Pharisee. Verse six, and now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God to our fathers. Unto the promise our 12 tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I'm accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? Now what's he saying here? Of course, the raising of the dead is the one of the things that got him in trouble when he said, I believe in the resurrection. Now the reason Paul goes to this is the Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection, but the Pharisees do. And all of Judaism believes in that. Paul's appealing to his own scriptures. I'm just doing what the Old Testament, I say that as an American, uh you might say the Hebrew Bible. Paul would say, I am just doing what what our Jewish Bible says is going to happen and what I believe. He says, I was a Jew from my youth. I was a Pharisee of all the Pharisees. But other Jews are angry because I share the hope of Jesus Christ. This is what he's saying. By the way, this is such an important argument for Gentiles to make when you're talking to Jewish people. And uh we've talked about you know, the idea of how how anti-semitism comes from a doctrine within some of the church today, which is shocking that Christians who actually claim to read their Bible don't realize God has a plan for the Jews. By the way, I answered a big question about um replacement theology and I played a clip of a guy who very uh arrogantly said God is done with the Jews and uh he he just makes this kind of argument. The reason I showed that is because it's most of Christianity believes that today. And it's a horrible horrible doctrine. But I love what Paul's saying here. I was born a Jew, I was a Pharisee, and now I'm just preaching Judaism. You say, well Brett, he's not really preaching Judaism. Oh, he sure is. See, here's the mistake people make, you know, the three great religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Uh can I just say that's totally theologically wrong? Just to make that statement, the the great three religions, Judaism, Christianity. No. And sadly, a lot of Christians say, yeah, that that's right. But the reason it's wrong is do you understand Judaism is is sort of the pre-Christian. It's not that Christianity ended Judaism. Christianity is the continuation of Judaism. It's the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would have said it. Uh the rest of the story. Remember that guy? The rest of the story is the Messiah of the Jews predicted in the Old Testament. And the whole story was all foretold as we know if going through the Old Testament, you go, man, the Old Testament is packed full of Jesus, the Messiah. So this is Paul's appeal, which should be your and my appeal to the world, to the Jews saying, Christianity doesn't replace Judaism. Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism. That's such an important nuance that some of you might be saying, what's the big difference? Well, a lot of Jews are so they don't like Christians because they've been responsible for a lot of anti-semitism around the world that you know, God has done with the Jews. They killed Jesus the Messiah and we are now the Christians, God's true chosen people. No, no, no, no. We got to remember what you know, the Bible says about that, you know, that we need to be not arrogant or ignorant concerning the promised Messiah. The reason Judaism is important because without it we wouldn't have Christianity. That's such an important part to know. Now what he says in verse six here is he says, now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. He's saying, I'm being judged for me just saying, hey guys, the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, it's been fulfilled. He's saying, I'm just affirming our faith, not going against it. So the fathers of course of the Jews, the prophets, the law, all that, the hope promised that he's talking about is the hope in Jesus Christ the Messiah. And by the way, so the reason there's such a great rift is the Jews in large today really have been blinded to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. So I'm not saying Jews are Christians, but they will be during the tribulation. All of Israel will be saved. Romans 11 25 and 26 and that's where the Bible says, don't be ignorant Gentiles, don't be arrogant Gentiles. God has blinded the Jews. They're in unbelief right now, but there's coming a day. That's after the rapture of the church. There's coming a day where Israel's going to see the world leader antichrist for what he is, that he's a loser, horrible guy and wants to kill them all. That's when they'll see Jesus is the Messiah. So what is Paul guilty of? The only thing I'm guilty of, Paul says, is giving the Jews hope in their true Messiah. This is what Paul's argument is. You know, I lived as a Pharisee. I know Judaism more than y'all, he would say. I lived as a Pharisee. What am I guilty of? I'm guilty of giving hope to the Jews. It's sort of like a job interview. Have you ever been to a job interview? One of the things they'll ask you, you know, is what's your greatest weakness? And you better be ready with a good answer cuz you can't say, well, I'm lazy, you know. No. What you want to say is is something like, oh man, my problem, I just care too much. I I just care too much or you know, I I I tend to work too hard. I I just have a work ethic that sometimes I just am just put too many hours in and it's really driven that way. It's just horrible. But that's kind of what Paul's doing here. Like if I'm guilty of something here here it is, I'm I'm guilty of giving hope to the Jews, which is pretty cool. But the Jews didn't believe and that's why they hated Paul. They didn't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. It's interesting, you know, sometimes I think you know, the Jews should have been the ones to really believe Jesus more than anybody. And the reason why is they had the scriptures foretelling of the Messiah and and hundreds and hundreds of prophecies about Jesus. And they should have known, but they didn't, largely because their eyes were blinded. But I see sort of a parallel in the Christian church today where we claim to believe certain things, but actually I don't think we believe them like we think we do. Sort of like the Jews in their blindness. Do we have our own little blind spots as Christians? I think we do in areas like prayer. Do you really believe prayer is powerful and prayer is important? Because if you did, if we did, we'd be praying all day, every day, all the time. That's just the the matter of fact. So unless you were praying all day today, you probably have a blind spot there and so do I. Like it's just one of those things if we really knew the power of prayer, which I think we all mathematically go, yeah, okay, we we get it. Yes, prayer is powerful and real. But uh I love the story is told of a little Kansas town, which was a dry town, if you know what that was, no alcohol. But the law was passed eventually where uh they said that alcohol could come into the town. Well, an atheist came into the town and was so excited cuz money was to be made. And he built a tavern uh or his building. It was it was under construction. Well, there was two churches in town that said, we can't let this happen. So they prayed and they prayed. The churches even had group prayer meetings and prayed against the tavern, you know. Well, low and behold, one night a stormy night uh lightning struck the building that he had built for this tavern just before it was finished and it burned to the ground. Well, the atheist was furious. He knew these Christians were praying against his tavern. So he filed a lawsuit to the judge there, the local justice of the peace or whatever. And then the Christians got their defense attorney and there was a big, you know, court battle. But basically long story short, when the Christians, you know, they they were saying, you know, we didn't do anything. You know, we have no part in this and don't blame us. And the atheist says, you guys were praying. And the judge hit his gavel on the thing during the trial. And he the presiding judge said this. He said, this is the most perplexing case I've ever been a part of. On one side I have an atheist who believes in the power of prayer. And on the other side I have two churches that deny it. You know, I wonder if we're a little bit like that where we sort of deny the the power of something like prayer or what are the other blind spots that you and I have? You know, we can harp on the Jews. Well, I kind of believe they didn't believe in Jesus the Messiah. But what are our blind That's just human nature by the way to miss and not believe. But the Jewish people believed what they wanted. But the most radical fulfillment of their Old Testament was fulfilled and they denied it. And that is what this whole thing is about. So Paul's saying, man, I'm just I'm just preaching Judaism uh and its fulfillment, which is really important. Do you guys get how that mindset is really really important, not to think that Christianity is in place of Judaism? Judaism doesn't save you, but the plan of Judaism through God, through the Jews and Judaism brings us to the coming of the Jewish Messiah Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of the world. And that's why when Abraham got the promise in Genesis chapter 12 that all nations of the world will be blessed by you, Abraham, what was that about? Well, you can make the argument the Jews have blessed the world with invention, medicine, uh technology like more than any other group of people in the world. They just are shockingly amazing. But that's not even what I think it's talking about. I think it's saying through the Messiah who's going to be a Jew, the Jewish Messiah, all the world's going to be blessed. And that in fact has happened. And that's why you and I as mostly Gentiles in this room, uh we sit here blessed because of Jesus the Messiah. And that's really what Paul's really uh saying.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Mether pausing just partway in our study of Acts chapter 26. As Paul faithful to God's call boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to Agrippa, the king of Judea. In our verse by verse series we'll continue next time on today's word. Also Pastor Brett is standing by to join me with a special request before we conclude today. So I hope you'll stick around for that. But first let me tell you a little bit more about Brett Mether. He's the senior pastor of Athe Creek Church just outside of Portland, Oregon. Brett's been the pastor of Athe Creek for 30 years where he goes verse by verse in his study of the Bible. If you missed any portion of our study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at today's wordradio.com. That's today's wordradio.com. All right, Pastor Brett is with me now. One of the things we really enjoy hearing is stories of changed lives because of these daily studies in God's word. And Brett, if someone would like to share their story of how God has impacted their life, how can they do that? Yeah, I'm really glad you asked that, Kurt, because those stories are a giant encouragement to our whole team. You know, we put these messages out day after day, but much of the time we don't get to see you know, what God's doing on the other side of the radio. So when we hear from people, it really is a blessing. You know, when someone gives us a note about a particular teaching that brought them back to church or gave new hope in a current time of despair or or strengthening their marriage. It's amazing to hear those stories and they really do encourage us. And they remind us also that you know, the word of God never returns empty. It's like when Isaiah the prophet said that the word never returns unto me void. I think that that's one of the things that keeps us going is when we hear how the word is changing lives. So we'd love to hear from you. You can email us at [email protected]. And you can also connect with us on our website for more information. So you know, your story doesn't have to be dramatic. Sometimes the simple story where a teaching just gave you a little encouragement, that's all we need is just to hear how you're doing. And so remember the man that was delivered there in Mark chapter five, Jesus did a work and then told the man. He said, go home to your friends, tell them the great things the Lord has done for thee. I think there is a power in telling others what the Lord is doing in your life. So please send us a message and we'd love to hear your story, rejoice with you, thank the Lord for the work he is doing in your life. Yes, we would indeed love to hear from you. And if you'd like to share your story of how these daily messages have had an impact on your life, just email us. That email address again is [email protected]. Again, tell us your story at [email protected] or you can go to our website, which is todayswordradio.com. Well, that's all the time we have. Next time Pastor Brett describes the apostle Paul sharing his dramatic testimony of coming to Christ and declaring the amazing things the Lord wants to do for the lost. Today's word with Pastor Brett Mether is an outreach of Athe Creek Church in Westland, Oregon.