I please the Lords to bless us
as we continue our meditation on the Acts of the Apostles.
We'll turn to chapter 26 and we'll read verses 24, 25 and
26. That's the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 26, verses 24, 25 and
26. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice,
Paul, thou art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee
mad. But he said, I am not mad, most
noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things, for whom also I speak
freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden
from him For this thing was not done in a corner. The last verses that we thought
upon, 22 and 23, gave us that wonderful picture of the Apostle
speaking before this company, the King Agrippa and Festus and
those important people, and expressing to them the great glory that
there was in the truth of the Old Testament as Moses was recorded
which spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's many evidences
that exist in the Old Testament to direct us to the Messiah,
our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, as the Apostle said that
Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should
rise from the dead and should show light unto the people and
to the Gentiles. Having spoken like that so faithfully,
so gloriously, then we find that there is this response from Festus. Maybe, of course, because Festus
no doubt considered himself as a very important person, perhaps
not as important as King Agrippa, but we know that the Apostle
Paul had referred to King Agrippa in particular and it seems perhaps
that he bypassed Festus and that may have perhaps riled him and
made him annoyed. That may have been partly why
he addressed Paul like this when he said, with a loud voice, Paul,
thou art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee
mad. Well, I'm sure that this was
not the only time when Paul was addressed like this. And I'm
sure God's people understand a position like this because
here was Paul who was truly faithful in the things of God, those things
which naturally appeared impossible, one rising from the dead, and
therefore he no doubt expected people to speak in this way,
and we should expect the same to us today, as we may speak
faithfully of the things of God, and be able to testify quite
openly of these great things. And people may come and say,
well, you're mad, as we find at our market stall. People come
and say, well, they're just a load of fairy tales. There's nothing
true in them at all. Well, it's a privilege and a
great favor to be able to explain why these things are true. And that's precisely what the
Apostle Paul had done before the company. And that's why then
Festus was speaking. And he didn't just say in a small
voice, it was with a loud voice. What he really wanted was for
Paul to shut up. He didn't want Paul to speak
anymore. Perhaps he realised, perhaps
there was some truth in it. He didn't want to hear the words
like that. And therefore he came to this
conclusion that Paul was mad. But he acknowledged that there
was much learning. He acknowledged that he had learnt
a lot because he had. We well know. And he wouldn't
have been able to have spoken as he did without that very considerable
learning that he'd been favoured to have at the feet of Gamaliel. And also, of course, when he
was in Arabia for those three years, when no doubt he was taught
specifically by the Holy Spirit. But here we see this position
here then, where Paul was told, what thou art beside thyself,
much learning doth make thee mad. And we can think of other
occasions, times when such words were spoken. We can think in
the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus was speaking and in the
Gospel of John and in the 10th chapter we read these words and
they are words which are very similar really to those that
Festus spoke and the people said there was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings and many of them said
he hath a devil and is mad why hear ye him well that was the
words of the Savior and none speaketh like him And that was
the response of the people that listened. Many said, he hath
a devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? So surely today,
we should not be surprised if people think we're mad. And why
should people listen to us? Well, it's only, bless God, if
he applies his gracious spirit to the hearts of one another.
So they are moved to have a desire to hear the truth of the gospel. And may the blessed truth of
the gospel enter into their hearts and do them real and eternal
good. It is a wonderful blessing given
the opportunity to be faithful in the things of God. We read
that first chapter to the Corinthians that Paul wrote. And again, we
understand what he said. As he came down, he was speaking
about the Jews and the Greeks, and he was saying, the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, foolishness. Well, things haven't changed,
have they? They're the same today. But by God's grace, we are still
to be faithful in proclaiming these great and glorious truths.
And you see, as the Apostle was spoken to like this, aggressive
words, weren't they really, but to answer meekly. Again, we should
never be angry. We should never get cross. We
should also meekly speak. And here we have the words of
the Apostle who said, I am not mad, most noble Festus. but speak forth the words of
truth and soberness." Well, we can concur with that statement,
can't we? We know that the word of God
is true, and therefore to be able to speak it in that very
way, in soberness, the words of truth and soberness, the word
of God is a very sober word. It's a very blessed word but
it's a very sobering word because it instructs us in all that we
need to know for our natural life and more especially for
our eternal life. And surely anything that deals
with our eternal life must be considered in soberness. We cannot
joke about it. We cannot speak lightly of it.
I have no time for any jokes in the service of God. There's
no place for it. In actual fact, it must be the
work of the devil. People use jokes to try and attract
attention. Well, as I've told some of you
I know, years and years ago I went to hear Billy Graham. And the
only thing I remember from the sermon of Billy Graham was a
joke. Well, that wasn't very good, was it? That wasn't very
beneficial. And we don't want to preach and
all the people remember is the joke. We want to preach the gospel
so that the people then hear the words of soberness, and truth
and can indeed go away and meditate and think and rejoice, perhaps
be convicted and perhaps tremble. Bless God if that is so. Well
then, the Apostle goes on and he speaks. He says, for the King
knoweth of these things. You see, Agrippa would have been
familiar with those things that the Apostle had brought to his
attention, all those evidences of the Lord spoken to. in the
Old Testament. And so he says, the king knows
of these things, but for whom also I speak freely. Yeah, he didn't hold anything
back, didn't he? He didn't obviously say, well,
I better be careful what I say there, because that might offend
him. That might upset him. I speak freely, for I am persuaded. that none of these things are
hidden from him, for this thing was not done in a corner." Well,
may we never hide the gospel. May we, by God's grace, be able
to proclaim the great and glorious truths of the gospel, because
they are those which are able to make us wise unto salvation. And in this dark world in which
we live today, what a blessing it is that we still have the
Gospel and there is still that glorious light that the Apostle
refers to in that 23rd verse, that Christ should suffer and
that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and
should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. Well, bless
God tonight if we know something of that glorious light, because
if we do, it's a light that will never go out. It's an eternal
light. Blessed be God. Amen.