May we please God to bless us
together as we conclude our meditation in the 25th chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles. And we'll read from verse 23
in the 25th chapter to the end. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter
25, and from verse 23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa
was come with 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,
ye see this man, about whom 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 hath appealed
to Augustus, I have determined to send him, of whom I have no
certain thing to write unto my Lord, Wherefore, I have brought
him forth before you, and specially before thee, O King Agrippa,
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. Well, these words are, of course,
those which just precede the wonderful account that the Apostle
is able to give as he's invited to before King Agrippa. But nonetheless, all these things
in the Acts of the Apostles are clearly recorded so that we may
be instructed and understand something of the pathway of the
children of God. Because I believe all the lives
of those who are recorded, those true believers who are recorded
in the Word of God, are for our instruction. And so here we have
the position here where Paul is imprisoned and we find that
Agrippa has come and he spent some time there with Festus.
There appeared to be no real urgency about Paul being brought
before them until suddenly it appears that Festus decided in
talking to Agrippa to remind or to tell Agrippa about this
man Paul. And the response was, as we concluded
last week, Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the
man myself. Tomorrow, said he, thou shalt
hear him. And so we have now the morrow,
and here we see King Agrippa and his sister, who was his wife,
was in a legal position he was in. They were immoral in their
actions and immoral in their life, although we don't read
very much about them actually in the word of God, but from
history we know that to be so. And they came with great pomp. You can just imagine coming with
all their robes and crowns, et cetera, and no doubt an entourage
of other people coming in great pomp. entered into the place
of hearing, not only by themselves, but also with the chief captains
and principal men of the city. And so there was this company
brought together in all their finery. And then we see the opposite,
don't we? We see Paul. At Fester's commandment,
Paul was brought forth. We can imagine, can we not, that
great company there of eminent people who were really unbelievers. And then as the Apostle Paul
brought forward, he whose faith was in the Saviour, he who was
dependent on what Christ had done, and he who was not afraid
to declare the great truths of God, to declare his conversion,
and to declare the Lord Jesus Christ. We should always be so
thankful we have such a precious example of the Apostle. But we should imagine here that
Paul comes forward in this position and Festus and King Agrippa and
all the 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." Well, that had been the cry as we read through these
last few chapters in the Acts, how many times there were those
plans to take the life of the Apostle Paul. But we see the
wonderful preservation that the Lord granted to him. preservation
so that we can observe today how wonderful our God is. And
also to recognize that the way that the Apostle had to walk,
although very severe really, is in essence the example of
those who are true believers and who walk on the earth and
have to suffer and have to face difficult situations. We read
together that fourth chapter in the Corinthians because the
apostle there gives us some little insight into the difficulties
that he had to face. We have some view in the Acts
here, but not so many details. But in the fourth chapter, and
commencing in the ninth verse, we read, For I think that God
has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to
death. for we are made a spectacle unto
the world and to angels and to men. Now let's just note, here
was the testimony of God's servant Paul. and no doubt it was a difficult
position to be found in, difficult for him to endure. And we should
therefore not be surprised today if there are those occasions
when we find that Paul is indeed a true friend and we understand
something of what he had to endure as in some measure We also find
ourselves walking in a similar way. We should not expect to
avoid opposition, to avoid being made a spectacle unto the world
and to angels and to men. Indeed, I believe we shall feel
to be like that sometimes and we shall then be thankful that
we have a great and glorious example in the Word of God to
encourage us as we might think, well, why is this happening to
me? Well, it was happening to Paul because he was called upon
to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a wonderful
blessing and a favour if it occurs to us so that we are called upon
to bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He goes on and says, we are fools for Christ's sake. Well, how
many people perhaps do call us fools because we believe the
great and glorious truths of the gospel. We are fools, remember,
for Christ's sake. That's the real reason But ye
are wise in Christ. We may be fools, we may be called
fools. What a blessing if you and I
are wise in Christ. Now that's what is the experience
and testimony of this man Paul who is now caught out of prison
to stand before this august company. And so we are told, he says,
even unto this present hour Sorry, we are weak, but ye are strong,
ye are honourable, but we are despised. You see, it's not a
comfortable place, is it, to be despised? But when the law
draws near and shows us that we are being despised for his
sake, then it puts everything into a different scene. And we
recognise then that we are favoured in some small measure to be a
partaker of the sufferings of Christ. And let us not forget,
if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. And so the
Apostle goes on. Even unto this present hour,
we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and
have no certain dwelling place and labour, working with our
own hands, being reviled We bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the
world and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. The Apostle now tells us why
he's given us this little account. I write not these things to shame
you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. It is therefore a warning
to us today to realise that if we are true believers we should
expect in measure to walk in a similar path, and that means
that the path we walk on this earth will not be an easy one.
We're not promised an easy one, and it will not be an easy one
if we are a true follower of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, Festus was here speaking
to the people, more especially to Agrippa, and he said, and
Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present
with us, you see this man about whom all the multitudes of the
Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem and also here crying,
that he ought not to live any longer. What there was, was hatred
to Christ. And because Paul was a blessed
servant of Christ, there was hatred to him. Let us not forget
that all of us who are Christians are the servants of God. And
so then Festus tells us the situation. He said, but when I found that
he committed nothing worthy of death, You see, all those accusations
he could not confirm. And that he himself hath appealed
to Augustus, that's of course Caesar Augustus, who was at Rome,
and we know that in actual fact he was Nero, I have determined
to send him. So he was now willing to send
the apostle to Rome, there to be tried, for crimes that he
hadn't done, for crimes that he hadn't done. But you see,
he was eventually to come to Rome. And so he says, of whom
I have no certain thing to write unto my Lord, whereof I have
brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O
King Agrippa, that after examination had, I might have somewhat to
write. Well, the truth is, as we hope
to begin next week, the testimony of Paul before Agrippa, there
were many things that he would be able to write, but not things
that would condemn him, because he explained why he believed
the great truths which he proclaimed. And the Festus has to conclude
with this statement, for it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a
prisoner and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him. Well I believe today you see
the devil tries to convict us perhaps of crimes that we have
not done in order that we might suffer opposition and persecution
and perhaps give up our faith. Well let us bless God if the
Lord has called us by his grace If he's given us living faith
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we can be sure the
Lord will not leave us, he will not forsake us, he will stand
by us, he will support us, he will give us strength to hold
on our way, notwithstanding all the opposition which may be thrown
in our face. The Word of God tells us, they
that endure unto the end shall be saved. By God's grace the
Apostle Paul endured and he was saved. Amen.