We need a king who rules over
all kings. One who has all power to order
all things in heaven and earth to bring his will to pass. We need that. Christ Jesus is
that king. He is the one that calls his
children and makes them subjects, submissive to the king. And we're
kings unto God in the sense that over all kings of this earth,
over all ungodly kings of this earth, we're truly, as believers,
doing the will of our King, carrying out His will, ruling in the nations. We need a prophet to teach us
God's Word, to teach us in the heart effectually what God says
about Himself and about us and calls us to fall upon our face
and cry out in mercy to God and lay hold of Christ. And Christ
is that prophet. And when He calls His people,
He makes His messengers under shepherds, under Him. They go
forth and they preach what He sends them to preach. in truth
and in spirit, and He, through them, through the Spirit, through
His Word, makes that Word effectual in the hearts of His people.
He teaches His people in the heart. As a high priest, he has purged
his people, made atonement in the presence of God. He has come
forth, he has purged the tabernacle, these consciences of ours, this
tabernacle in which we dwell, separated us from dead works
to serve him. And he's made our worship of
him cleansed upon the altar, Christ our altar, and we serve
him, and in him we're holy and acceptable unto God. Christ is
the high priest. He's the king and he's the prophet. Now, in our text tonight, we're
going to see men fulfilling various earthly offices. Some religious,
some civic. But each are operating as if
they are the prophet, the priest, or the king. We'll see Paul in
their midst doing one thing. One thing. He's preaching Christ
Jesus, the prophet, the priest, and the king. And he's waiting
on God to work effectually in the hearts of those to whom he
preaches. And because he's experienced the power and wisdom of God by
being met by Christ, he's confident that he can merely
set forth the Word as God sent him to do, and he can wait, and
he can trust God to work this work effectually in the hearts
of his people. Those in whom Christ dwells are
no longer walking after the flesh. They're no longer looking to
the wisdom of their own fleshly mind. They're no longer looking
to the arm of the flesh, depending on their own wisdom, but they're
in submission to Christ. They're not trying to seek favor
of men. They're not trying to seek many men to get on their
side and use politics to make things happen the way they think
they ought to happen. We don't vote here. Thomas Jefferson
said, vote democracy is 51% of the people taking away the rights
of 49% of the people. That may work in a society of
unbelievers, but it doesn't work in the house of God. We're under
His leadership, His authority, His headship, His power, and
He gives in the hearts of His people to do what He would have
them to do, and everybody that doesn't submit to Him, He kills
them. He moves them out of the way, plain and simple. And God's
people just wait for Him to do His will. That's all we have
to do. It's just that simple. That's
why we don't have to fight and strive. That's why God's message
must not strive. Because it's not by power of
might, it's by God's Spirit. That's how salvation comes about.
Alright, now let's see Acts 25 verse 1. Now when Festus was
coming to the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea
to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the
chief of the Jews informed him against Paul and besought him
and desired favor against Paul that he would sin, Ephesus would
sin for Paul to Jerusalem and all the while they were laying
in wait in the way to kill him. Now these religious men are operating
no different than the politician. No different. Paul wasn't present. They claim to be seeking justice. Paul wasn't present. In a court
of law, you have the defendant present to make his case. Paul
wasn't present. But before Paul was present,
they were informing Festus against Paul. They were making their
case against him. They were beseeching Festus to favor them against
Paul. They want Festus to bring him
to Jerusalem so they can have men laying in wait along the
way and to kill him when he comes. Why would they do this? Why?
This is how politics operates. This is how churches operate.
This is how individuals operate within churches who have a form
of godliness but deny the power of God. Why would they operate
this way? Why would these men operate this
way? Because if what Paul says is so, and it is, if what Paul
says is so, these men, this high priest and these chief priests,
they have no authority. They don't even have an office
anymore. Christ is the high priest. And it's of God to make His children
priests unto Him. And they can't make this obedience
come to pass if Christ is truly the ruler. and reigning and truly
reigning as effectually as Paul says he does. And so they're
offended. And so the only way they can
protect their position and protect their fleshly authority and their
fleshly position in this fleshly city and this fleshly temple
and this fleshly system of worship is to work by way of fleshly
wisdom, fleshly power using politics. And that's what they're doing.
This is how men operate who don't know God. Exactly how they operate. Where Christ is not reigning
in the heart, or He doesn't have dominion in the heart, there's
no submission. And what that means is simply
this, is men don't realize they can just
wait on God. There's got to be some power.
There's got to be some conniving. You remember Korah? He got 250
princes, men of renown in Israel to be on his side. So he could
come and stand against Moses and against God. This is how
men operate who have never been brought to see Christ really
is reigning. He really does work repentance. He really does grant faith. He
really does do as He's pleased and work that which is well-pleasing
in the midst of His people. He really does that. There is
this striving with ungodly men, men who have a form of godliness.
There's a striving as if everything depends upon us. That's what most preaching in
our day is about. It's preaching as if, if you
don't do it, it won't get done. If this church doesn't head you
about it, it won't get done. Let me tell you something. Hear
me carefully and concentrate on what I'm saying. And hear
it in the context of this message I'm about to preach to you. The
mark that is missing is not discipline. The mark that is missing is the
preaching of Christ and Him crucified. That's the mark that's missing.
And the fellas who say otherwise, we're going to have to wait on
God to discipline them. That's right, and bring them
into submission to Christ. Because that's the mark that's
missing. The preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Other men
are operating just like these men were operating. Alright? They weren't seeking God's will. They were seeking favor. They
were seeking to accuse. They were seeking vengeance to
have their own way to protect their position and their power.
Now watch this. Verse 4. We're going to read
a lot of Scripture here because I'm going to get to my passage
here in just a moment. But Festus answered that Paul
should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself would depart
shortly thither. Let them therefore, said he,
which among you are able, go down with me and accuse this
man, if there be any wickedness in him. And when he had tarried
among them. Now you mark this word, go down
with me. If you're going to accuse somebody
for whom Christ died, falsely accuse them, you're going to
have to go down. You're going to have to always
go down. That's just the case. Geographically, they're going
to have to go down to Caesarea. But if you accuse somebody, it's
God that justifies. It's Christ that paid the sins
of His people, that purged their sins so that they'll remember
no more. If you're going to accuse God's people falsely, you're
going to have to go down. You're going to have to be made
company with the accuser of the brethren, Satan himself. But
he says, and when he had tarried among them more than ten days,
he went down unto Caesarea, and the next day, sitting on the
judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought. And when he was
come, the Jews, which came down from Jerusalem, stood round about,
and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could
not prove. While he answered for himself,
This is what Paul said. This is what their complaints
were. We know this by what Paul answered. Neither against the
law of the Jews, this was a complaint they were laying against me,
preaching against the law of the Jews. He said, neither against the
law of the Jews am I preaching. Neither against the temple, nor yet against
Caesar have I offended anything at all. But Festus, willing to
do the Jews a pleasure, he's a politician too, And He's wanting
to please everybody here. He's wanting to have everybody
on His side, just like the religious folks without God were wanting
to have everybody on their side. No difference in the two. There's
absolutely no difference here between them. Festus, willing
to show the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul and said, Will
thou go up to Jerusalem and there be judged of these things before
me? Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where
I ought to be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong,
as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have
committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But
if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man
may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar." Then Festus,
when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou
appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go. And
after certain days, King Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea
to salute Festus. This is King Agrippa. He was
a Jew. He was ruling in Rome as well.
This is his sister, Bernice. They came to Caesarea to salute
Festus. And when they had been there
many days, Festus declared Paul's calls unto the king, saying,
There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix. About whom, when
I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the
Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. To
whom I answered, It is not the matter of the Romans to deliver
any man to die before that he which is accused have the accusers
face to face and have license to answer for himself concerning
the crime laid against him. This heathen Pagan king had more
he had he made more understanding of truth than these Jews did
or at least Stood for it at least more than they did He said it's
not worthy to have this man accused unless he's there face to face
and answer for himself He says therefore when they were come
hither Without any delay on the Mara. I said on the judgment
seat and commanded the man to be brought forth against whom
when the accuser stood up they brought none accusation of such
things as I suppose But they had certain questions against
him of their own superstition. He's saying of their own religion. He didn't regard what they said
as truth. He called it superstition. But
this is all they were complaining about was their own religion,
their own way. And they had a complaint against
him of this one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed
to be alive. The Jews accused Paul, Paul affirmed. The Jews defended a position,
they defended a religion, Paul was declaring a person. Two totally
different things. And because I doubted of such
manner of questions, or I didn't know how to handle these questions,
Nephestus says, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem and
there be judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to
be reserved until the hearing of Augustus, Caesar, I commanded
him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said
unto Nephestus, I would also hear the man myself. Tomorrow,
said he, shalt thou hear him. And Festus was happy for this
because Festus is a politician and he wants somebody else to
try to see if they can find fault with Paul. So when he sends him
up to Caesar, if Caesar has a problem with Festus, Festus can say,
well Agrippa would send him too. And this is how civic politics
works and this is the same way as religion without God works. Same way, same way. All right,
now let's see what happens. And on the morrow, when Agrippa
was come and Bernice with great pomp and was entered into the
place of hearing with the chief captains and principal men of
the city, at Festus' commandment, Paul was brought forth. And Festus
said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us,
you see this man about whom all the multitude of the Jews have
dealt with me, both at Jerusalem and also here, crying that he
ought not to live any longer. But when I found that he had
committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself had appealed
to Augustus, I have determined to send him, of whom I have no
certain thing to write unto my lord, unto Caesar. Wherefore,
I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee,
O king of Ripa, that after examination had, I might have somewhat to
write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable
to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against
him. Chapter 26. Then Agrippa said
unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul
stretched forth a hand, and answered for himself. I think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before
thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews,
especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and
questions which are among the Jews. King Agrippa was a Jew. Wherefore I beseech thee to hear
me patiently. Now listen. That's what he's
asking King Agrippa to do. And this is where it begins.
He 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 a Pharisee. Paul was brought up in a moral
household amongst the Jews. And Paul says, I was trained
to be a Pharisee, and after this manner of life, this straightest
sect of the Pharisees, that's how I lived. But Christ called
Paul out of that straightest sect of Pharisees. He called
him out from among them. He made him to be separate from
them by his power and by his grace. Because the Lord said,
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
Scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Paul said, at the first, you
know this was my manner of life. You realize in every way, in
every way, not only with the law, not only with the old covenant
and the new covenant, but in every way, Christ Jesus taketh
away the first. that he may establish the second.
Paul said, this is how I was at the first. And Christ took
it all away. And he established that righteousness
without which no man shall see God. That righteousness which
exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees. In verse 6 he says, and now I
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto
our fathers. Now this gospel has never changed. It has never changed. The gospel
that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, the promise
that was made to them was that eternal life and salvation for
and elect people from among all the nations of the earth, men
and women that would be called out from among all the nations
of the earth would be by and in and through Christ Jesus the
Lord. Christ the coming Messiah. That's
what they knew. Christ the coming Messiah. God
promised a resurrection from the dead in Christ. He promised
Christ would be the light who would teach his children, all
his children. That's what God promised from
the beginning. Let me read you some scripture. Genesis 22, 18
says, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
That's what God told Abraham in the very beginning. There's
going to be a people among all the nations. And in a seed, Christ
the seed, Paul says in Galatians, Christ is that seed. In Christ
shall this people from among all the nations be blessed in
what He's going to accomplish and what He's going to do for
them and in them. Isaiah said, this is a prophet. He said, I'm telling you what,
all I'm declaring, I stand judged, Paul said, I stand judged because
of the hope of our fathers. And he said, this is what Isaiah
said. He said, the Lord said through
Isaiah, thy dead men shall live. Together with my dead body shall
they arise. This is what the Lord declared
from the beginning. He said, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah. nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come. And to him shall the gathering
of the people be. To a person, not to a city, not
to Jerusalem, not to a temple, not to an earthly building, not
to a sect of the Pharisee, to Christ the Lord. because He's
coming. He's going to pay their sin debt. He's going to be buried. He's
going to raise again. He's going to be the governor
who's going to govern the people. He's going to shed forth. He's
going to be the prophet, priest, and king of His people. And this
is going to be a reality. And Paul says, verse 7, he says,
"...unto which promise our twelve tribes instantly serving God
day and night, hope to come. For which hope, said King Agrippa,
I'm accused of the Jews. Paul's Jewish countryman after
the flesh, he calls here the twelve tribes. And he says, they
are instantly, constantly, right now, serving God day and night,
hoping to come to this hope. And Paul says, I'm accused of
them, because I've come forth saying, the hope has come. The
hope is here. He's come. He's walked on this
earth. You took Him to the cross and
nailed Him to the cross. He went into the grave. After
three days He rose. He's seated at the right hand
of God. And He's now reigning and ruling just as God has promised
to all our fathers. He's doing that now. He's come.
And he said, they're zealous, they're serving day and night,
and they're waiting, hoping to come, but they don't realize
He's come. And this is why they're accusing
me, King Agrippa. This is what he said, Romans
10. Look over there with me, Romans
10. Paul is declaring that righteousness
and life are not by the will and work and service of man.
It's not by the ruling of the high priest, his power and his
exertion upon men. It's not by these chief priests.
It's not by this hierarchy of men that's trying to force men
into obedience. Paul said, he said, Christ is
come. God proved throughout the old
covenant that we can't do this by our power and our might. That's
what the law proved to us. That's why Christ came. Christ
is our righteousness. And He's risen and He's doing
just what God said He would do. And he said, they're zealous,
they're serving, they're doing all these things, hoping to come
to it, and they're ignorant. Romans 10.1, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record, they have a zeal of God, but
it's not according to knowledge. For they are being ignorant of
God's righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness.
Instantly, constantly, right now, day and night, serving God,
he said. have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe." I'm going to read
this to you. You go back to our text, Acts
27, but I quote this to you always, so I'll read this to you. The
Lord said, I come to do thy will, O God. Hebrews 10. He said, I
come to do Thy will, O God. And Paul said, and it's by that
will that we are sanctified, we're made holy, we're separated,
we're brought out from this people, we're brought out from our vain
religion, we're brought out from trusting our will, our works,
our service, and we're brought to submit to God. We're sanctified. by what he did by his one offering. And he said, right now, there's
a pre-standing offering, oftentimes the very same sacrifices which
cannot take away sin. But this man, proving that he
is the prophet, the priest, and the king, when he had by himself
made this one offering, and finished the work of God for his people,
and made atonement for them, completely reconciled them unto
God. He went to the right hand of
the Father and he sat down. He did something no priest ever
did. He sat down. That high priest that went into
that tabernacle never did that. His work was never done. This
one sat down because it's finished. The work was finished. Now right
now in our day, how does this apply to us? Right now in our
day, There's folks who think there's yet something to be done
to make them acceptable to God, yet something to be done to make
them holy before God, to make them perfect before God, to make
God receive them. They say, I've accepted Jesus.
That is not how you're going to be accepted of God. God's
got to accept you. And He's only going to accept
you in Christ only when a work of grace is done in your heart
to make you receive freely what He's done for you. That's how
this salvation comes about. That's not popular. It wasn't
popular with Paul. That's why Paul's where he's
at. Because this is what Paul preached. Exactly what Paul preached. It's never been popular. It won't
ever be popular as long as sin is in this world. It won't be
popular. And that message is not popular. But Paul says this,
verse 8. I think this is a good example. He says, why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you that God should raise to death? Now,
some think that the whole point of this is Paul's declaring to
them, Christ is raised. He's come, he's accomplished
a work, and he's risen. And the Jews are saying, this
man came, we nailed him to a tree, we crucified him. If this would
have been the Christ, how would we have been able to do that?
How often do we say things like that? Well, if this was God's
will, he'd have stopped it. He just wouldn't allow us to
carry this out. Well, it was God's will exactly that He be
nailed to the cross and wicked hands did exactly what God determined
before to be done, and it was done. We're not fatalists. We
don't blame the servitude of God and say, well, if God was
going to stop me, He'd stop me. Otherwise, I guess I'm supposed
to be doing this. They did what they did because
they hated Christ, they hated God, and they did what they wanted
to do, but they perfectly fulfilled the will of God in doing what
they did. And God put Him there, and He died, and they're saying,
how could this be the Christ? We nailed Him to a cross and
killed Him. Well, you only served God's purpose. That's how God
said all along He was going to save His people, was through
a cross, by laying down His life. And everything He did was in
accordance with the Scriptures, Paul said. But Paul says, why
should you think a thing incredible, a thing too crazy to be believed,
that Christ is raised from the dead? Why would you think that? Or that God should raise the
dead. That's what he said, that God
should raise the dead. Now some think that he said this because
in the midst while he's talking about this, there's Sadducees
who didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead, there's heathen
Romans there who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead,
who mocked at this. But I don't think that's what Paul is saying.
I think what Paul is saying is, you shouldn't think it an incredible
thing that God raises from the dead because look at me that's
standing right before you. Now compare what he says here
with what he says next. That's what I think he's talking
about is, I'm living proof Christ is risen because I was dead in
religion and here I stand before you now declaring Him to be alive.
Only God who's raised from the dead could work this affectionately
in my own heart. Watch, read it together. Why
should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God
should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus.
He's about to declare how he was dead in religious sin, lasciviousness,
religious fornication, religious adultery, religious murder. Watch
this. First notice where he did these
things. Verse 10. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem. He wasn't out in heathen nations.
He wasn't a dead dog Gentile as the Jews regarded him, as
somebody sitting up in the Baptist church would say if some harlot
out in a bar somewhere. He said, I'm sitting right there
in the midst of them, right in the middle of Jerusalem, and
I was dead as a hammer and didn't know God. Second, what did he
do? Verse 10, he said, Many of the
saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from
the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my
voice against them. You know what he's saying? He's
saying dead religion is nothing more than politics flying under
the pretense of godliness. It's a religion of force and
ingenuity of the fleshly mind. How can I wrangle and make my
way happen? That's what religion's all about.
Now watch what Paul said, I once followed the same hierarchy of
religious politics just as my accusers are doing right now.
That's what he's saying. I did the very same thing. The
Jews who were accusing Paul got their authority to do what they
were doing to Paul from the chief priests. Paul said, I did the
same thing, exact same thing. He said, they've come to you,
Festus, and they've tried to get authority from you, they've
tried to speak against me against you, to get you swayed on their
side, to commit me to prison, to their hands, so they can put
me to death. Paul said, I was doing the exact same thing. That's
exactly how I operated. And when it came down to those
officers that were to execute those saints and put them to
death, Paul said, I gave my voice and said, I've got authority
from the chief rulers and from the Roman government, kill them.
And he said, I was doing just what these men are doing. Exact
same thing. Exact same thing. From the chief
to the least, dead religion is politics. It's climbing the ladder,
trying to get up to a seat of authority. It's just like men
will do in a secular job. Trying to climb that ladder and
get to the next spot, and get to the next spot, and get to
the next spot, so they can have the authority, and they can have
the reign, and they can have the management of folks. And
one day hoping I'll be the greatest in heaven. That's what it is.
Paul said, I was doing that exact same thing. And it all results
in punishment and blasphemy and persecution. That's all the fruit
of it. Paul said, verse 11, And I punished them often in every
synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme these saints. Being
exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strained
cities. Why didn't he continue in this
madness? Why won't you or why won't I? Why won't men today? What will stop men from continuing
in this madness? Verse 12. Whereupon as I went
to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priest,
right in the midst of all his religion, all his fleshly power
and politics, he had all authority from men, but he didn't have
authority from God. And God stopped him. God met
him. He was rudely interrupted. He was graciously interrupted.
At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven above
the brightness of the sun shining round about me and them which
journeyed with me. Turn over to Isaiah 30, our text
from a week or so ago. I want you to see something here.
You see there he says, I saw in the way a light from heaven
above the brightness of the sun? Turn back over there to Isaiah
30. We looked at this and we saw how that in this gospel age
when Christ comes, we saw how that His power is going to affect
this work. Watch this, Isaiah 30 verse 26.
Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the
sun. And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light
of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach
of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound." Now you
just consider Paul here personally. Paul's the moon. He got no light
in him. He's doing everything he does
with absolutely no light from God whatsoever. But when Christ
shined and he saw this light, Paul's light became the light
of the sun. That's what it says. The light
of the moon shall be as the light of the sun. And not only that,
but he said this light that I saw was greater than the noonday
sun. It outshined any light, any natural light, anything.
It outshined everything. It says the light of the sun
shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days. And in that day,
When this light shined into Paul, the Lord bound up the breach
of Paul and healed the stroke of his wound experimentally in
Paul's heart. And he saw Christ. And from then
on, Christ became his light and wasn't anybody else could turn
him away from that light. He followed that light from then
on. That's what happens. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, Paul said, had shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. That's what stopped him. That's
what stopped this madness. New authority. New power. New
light. That he never had before. Never
had before. Verse 14. Acts 26, 14. Oh, I like this. Watch this.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking
unto me. It didn't speak to any others
there. He spoke to Paul. It's a sovereign
electing grace. This is irresistible grace that
speaks particularly to those whom Christ has redeemed. I heard
a voice speaking to me, saying in the Hebrew tongue, to me,
Paul said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It's hard for thee to
kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. You hear this word now. This
is amazing grace. I'm Jesus whom thou persecutest.
I'm Jesus whom you've sinned against. I'm Jesus whom you've
trodden underfoot. I'm Jesus whom you've blasphemed
and compelled others to blaspheme. I'm Jesus whom you've crucified
afresh in your dead religion. I'm Jesus whom you've crucified,
Paul. but rise and stand upon thy feet. That's grace. That's grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. How was Paul found? Christ sought
him, and he found him. Paul was blind. How did he now
see? Christ shined a light. And he said to him, Zacchaeus,
come down. He said to him, Lazarus, come
forth. He said to him, I am Jesus whom
you are sinning against, who all you've ever done is screamed
out blasphemy and sin and rebellion against me. And when he was in
the dust, as low as he could go, Christ said, now rise and
stand on your feet. That's grace. That's what grace
does. That's how grace saves a sinner.
That's power that these little fickle foolish high priests and
his chief men and all his politicians was trying to accomplish and
trying to affect and could never accomplish by all their conniving
and finagling. They couldn't do this. And that's
what Paul said to them. I was just like you. I was just
like you. I was mad just like you. And he said this, verse 16, I
have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister
and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those
things in which I will appear unto thee. Now let's not lose
sight of what Paul is saying to these folks here. He said,
at the first, I lived as a Pharisee. I was the straightest sect of
the Jews' religion. He said, at the first, I verily
thought myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the
name of Jesus, and I did it right here also, just like you're doing
it in Jerusalem. And he said, I was under their
rule. I got my authority from men, just like you're getting
your authority from men. He said, then Christ the Light
outshined everybody and called me by His grace. And I came under
new rule and new authority and new service and new dominion.
That's how this came about. And he said, verse 16, again,
I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a
minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast
seen and of those things into which I will appear unto thee.
What things are those? Delivering thee from the people
and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. The Lord told
Paul from the beginning, He said, these people I'm going to send
you to, Jew and Gentile, they're going to hate you and they're
going to try to kill you. But I'm going to deliver you from
them. and you're going to declare to the people, I'm doing what
I'm doing right now because Christ, just like He saved me in the
beginning, He's upheld me, His grace has been sufficient, He's
kept me, He's given me the word to speak, and I'm standing right
now, right here, right now, speaking to you, delivered by Him, protected
by Him, because He does this. He's done this. I don't do this
myself. He does it. Why are they going to want to
kill him? Why are they going to want to
crucify him? Why are they going to want to injure Paul? Because
by faith he's been sanctified. He's been separated from them
by simply trusting Christ. They don't trust him. He does.
That's sanctification. Paul doesn't submit to their
fleshly dominion. He submits to Christ. Paul's
no longer walking after their fleshly way. He's led of the
Spirit of God. Paul's no longer looking at carnal ordinances.
He now serves Christ in spirit and in truth. Paul's no longer
using the law to determine if a man's righteous or unrighteous.
He's looking to Christ and trusting Christ to make sinners obedient
to trust Him for all righteousness and all sanctification. And these
men don't. And the Lord said, they're going
to try to kill you for that, but I'm going to deliver you.
So you can declare to them, I'm the one delivering you. And I'm
the one doing the work. But look, here's why He sent
Him. This is why He sent Him to a people like that. Why on
earth would God... Why would Christ save a messenger
like this? And do this work for Him, and
tell Him what this people is going to want to do to Him, and
then send Him right into the midst of this people, declaring
this gospel that's so offensive to this people. Why would Christ
do that? Verse 18. to open their eyes and to turn
them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Do you see
the importance of this Gospel? Do you see the importance of
God saving a man, of God giving him the truth in his heart, of
God hedging that man about, strengthening that man, sending him into the
midst of a people like this to declare this Gospel Do you see
the need and the necessity of it? This is how they're going
to be saved. God chose by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. This is how they're
going to be saved. If they're going to go forth and preach
it, men are going to treat them just like they treated Christ.
How are they going to go forth and preach it to men that oppose
themselves and oppose God? Christ is going to have to be
author of the stream. Christ is going to have to be their message.
He is going to have to be their prophet, their priest, their
king. He is going to have to be the one that is going to deliver
them. Paul has got no power to do any of these things. But the
Lord is saying to Paul, through this gospel I am sending you
to preach, I am going to open their eyes just like I have opened
your eyes. I am going to regenerate them. I am going to give them
life. I am going to give them ears to hear, eyes to see, just like
I have done you, Paul. He said, I am going to turn them
from darkness to Christ the Light. Just like I did you, Paul. I
turned you from the darkness of your will, from the darkness
of your works, from the darkness of your service, from the darkness
of making everything and anything an idol, Jerusalem, the Ark of
the Covenant, the Temple, all the religious means I've given
you. You made an idol of all of it. It's all darkness. I've
got to turn my people from that to see Christ is the Light. He said, I'm going to do it through
this Gospel. I'm going to turn them from the power of Satan.
That's why they did all this. That's why these men all gathered
together and tried to get these Jewish fellows in religion and
tried to get favor from Festus and why Festus was wanting to
show them favor and why all this political maneuvering was going
on is they were All, every one of them, but Paul under the power
of Satan. And they couldn't deliver themselves
from it. They were in such darkness, they didn't even know they were
under his power. And what's it going to take to
deliver a man from that? Christ, the wisdom and power
of God. He said, that's why I'm sending
you forth, Paul. And He did all this for those He redeemed by
His own blood. And Christ promised Paul that
I'm going to send you forth here and I'm going to do all this
for them. And here's what they're going to do when I do all this
for them. They're going to do exactly what you did, Paul. They're
going to receive forgiveness of sin. When you're brought to see you
got nothing, and have nothing, and can purchase nothing, and
can merit nothing, and can favor nothing, then all you got to
do is receive something that's freely given to you. And he said,
I'm going to bring them to this place where they're going to
receive forgiveness of sins. Every one of them I've everlastingly
loved, every one of them I laid down my life for, every one of
them I'm sending you to now, Paul, are going to hear this
message. And through me, they're going to be brought be turned
from all this darkness and this power of Satan and be brought
out from under it by my power, Christ said, and they're going
to receive this free gift I've wrought for them. And they're going to receive
an inheritance among all my sanctified people that are sanctified by
faith that is in me. That's how we're sanctified.
And Paul says, whereupon, O king Agrippa, verse 19, Whereupon,
O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." And
you won't be either, God, when you get this revelation from
God. This heavenly vision, no man will be disobedient to it.
But He says, "...but showed first unto them of Damascus," that
very place He was going to to bind men. Can you imagine what
they thought when Paul came there? They got word, Paul's coming.
Ananias, when the Lord came to him, he said, I've heard about
Him. They knew Paul was coming to Damascus. And when Paul marched
into Damascus, he comes in there not binding people, but preaching
the free and sovereign grace of God and Christ Jesus. They
had to say, oh, my God got a hold of Paul. He thought he was ruling. The chief priests thought they
had him. They had him bound. Satan had him bound. God's got
him. God freed him. And he came there
preaching the truth. And he did it at Jerusalem, and
he said it throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to
the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do
works meet for repentance. Let me say a word to you about
these works meet for repentance. Works that meet for repentance,
works that manifest repentance, been wrought in the life of a
believer, is the very works for which Paul is on trial. You understand
that? The reason why when the Pharisees
came to John, he said, bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. Bring forth some works that show
you've truly repented. The reason the Pharisees were
not brought on trial by their former Pharisee comrades is because
they never had repented. They were still one with them.
But Paul came out from among his former religious comrades.
He left them. He was willing to bear the cross
of persecution from them. That's a good work. That's God
where his workmanship created unto good works which God's people
are zealous for. This is one of those works. Willing
to bear the cross of Christ. Willing to be persecuted for
Christ's sake. Now when he talked about Jerusalem, it was to say
that that city absolutely did him no good whatsoever. It wasn't
to speak of Jerusalem as if it was the center of the world. He said that was just the stage
where God taught us that Jerusalem is heaven. It's where He is.
It's the heavenly Jerusalem. He spoke of His former manner
of life, being a strict Pharisee, as dumb. As dumb. He spoke of His former service
wherein He demanded, He was demanding under the vain authorities and
He went and He bound people. He said all that is vanity. He
never accomplished obedience in anybody. He said everything
we were doing in the name of obedience was absolute disobedience. That's what he said. I repented
from that. I'm gone from it. I'm gone from
it. He stopped using the law to judge
men. He started trusting God. He declared, he used the law
lawfully now and said all flesh is grass. In no uncertain terms. And what did he get for all that?
Verse 21. for these causes, the Jews caught me in the temple
and went about to kill me. Now, let me give you a word.
Oh, I hope man will say, I just want to live in a way that means
he Christ in me. Well, without a shadow of a doubt,
We see Christ in Paul, right here. We see Christ in Paul.
We get a savor of salt right here in Paul. We see light that
can't be hidden right here in Paul. We see Paul standing here
doing these good works, these works meet for repentance, glorifying
God before these men. And for these causes, the Jews
caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. Now there, you see Christ in
Paul. And they saw Christ in Paul.
That's why they went about to kill him. You got that? You got that? That's what the
Lord said. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you, including Christ the prophet. How does he continue to stand
in the midst of this? What's his like that he's going
to let so shine and glorify God that man's going to sit and say,
that man stands by grace alone. What's he going to do? How's
he going to do it? Verse 22. Having therefore obtained
help of God. That's how. I continue unto this
day, witnessing both the small and great, doesn't matter who
they are, what their station in life is, how many of them
or how few of them it is, saying none other things than those
which the prophets and Moses did say should come, that Christ
should suffer. That he should come and Isaiah
said, my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear
their iniquities. He put them away. And with his
stripes, everyone for whom he died are healed. We're healed,
Isaiah said. Well, he said we're all healed.
With his stripes, we're healed. He said, who hath believed our
report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? To those
it's been revealed, God says, I've healed my people. He accomplished
this all and did everything that was written in Scripture. Just
like Moses in the prophet said, Paul said, all I declare is what
these Scriptures say. I declare nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Verse 23, "...and that he should
be the first that shall rise from the dead." He's first. Christ
is first. He was the first that was slain
for sin. Do you know that? Before Adam ever sinned, he was
the first that was slain for sin. He's the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. When he struck hands with God
in the covenant of grace, he was slain right then for sin.
He's the first that was slain for sin. Before sin ever entered
in, in time, he was slain for sin. He's the first. And he's
the firstborn from the dead. When he entered into that covenant,
he was the firstborn from the dead because God the Father agreed
to raise him from the dead. And he had the power to raise
himself from the dead. He's the first born from the dead. He's
the first fruits. He was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. He justified us
and put away our sin when He was delivered for our offenses.
When He was raised again, it was to declare, justification's
accomplished, atonement is accomplished, sin's put away for my people.
For everyone I've died, it's done, it's finished, it's accomplished.
And He was also raised that He might be the prophet, priest,
and king who comes forth and applies that blood and makes
His people understand it's done. He's going to receive the glory
in all of us. That's what he says next, and should show light
unto the people and to the Gentiles. You need a king. He's the king
who orders all things in providence to bring everything about to
save a man like Paul, to give him his gospel, and to bring
him forth to preach this gospel to whomsoever he will, that he
may, as the prophet, teach him in the heart. And as the high
priest who not only applied the blood in the holiest of holies,
but come forth through His Spirit and purge your conscience from
dead work to serve the living God. He's the light. He's the
one who accomplished our salvation. He's the one who risen and He's
the one who's sending forth and doing the work. Now, let's read
it out. What was the result of all this?
And as He thus spake for Himself, Festa said with a loud voice,
verse 24, Paul, thou beside thyself, must learning doth make thee
mad. You just ignorant. You crazy, Paul. But Paul said,
I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but I speak forth the words of
truth and soberness. The one mad there was Festus.
He was insane. You are too, if you don't flee
to this God right here and trust him. Insane. I'm speaking the
words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these
things, before 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. Everybody on this earth knows
about Christ being crucified. Everybody does. It wasn't done
in a corner. They might deny it, but they know. They know.
And he says, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? Let me ask
you, do you believe the prophets? Do you believe this word of this
Bible? There's only one answer. It's either yes or no. That's it. It's either yes or
no. You believe this Word of God,
that it's the Word of God and this is how God saves, you believe
what you hear here. It's either yes or no. King Agrippa, believest thou
the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said
unto Paul, Almost, almost, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Paul said, I would to God, that
not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost
and altogether such as I am. Paul said, I am persuaded. He
said, I know him whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded he's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him. And he says,
I wish that you not only were almost, but altogether as I am
persuaded. Persuaded. Accept these bonds. You see what religion without
God and politics without God will get you? Just bonds. It's just slavery. It's all men
know by nature, slavery. Men hate it and love it all at
the same time. Hate to be bound and love to
bind. That's all we are by nature. Why are men so mean? Why are
sinners so evil and so mean, we'll ask. And then we'll turn
around and just breathe out hatred and slander and meanness and
evil toward them. We love, we hate to be bound,
but we love to bind. And when he had thus spoken,
the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they sat with
them. And when they were gone aside,
they talked between themselves, saying, this man does nothing
worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa and Hephaestus,
this man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed
unto Caesar. Paul had to go to Caesar. Christ told him he would
go to Caesar. Paul's going there. And Paul's
not going to bow to these fellas. He said, if we're going to go
to the authority, let's go to the top. And let me preach this
gospel to him. And I'll preach to all of you
along the way. That's boldness God gives. Paul said, this is
how I saved from that junk, that dung, that cow hockey you fellas
in. And this is how I came to stand right here and tell you
this truth in soberness. That's how it happened. Because
of him who is the king, high priest, and the prophet. You
find out him, you meet him and you won't be almost persuaded,
you'll be fully persuaded, fully persuaded. And I know that. And you brethren know that. And
we know that dealing with each other. And we know that dealing
with men in this world. We know that dealing with men
in our jobs. So you know we can do trust him, trust him, wait
on him. And as he gives us opportunity
as he did Paul here, Boldly, with plainness and meekness,
set forth the truth of Him. And just wait on Him. Just wait
on Him. Isn't that right? All right.