Lord be pleased to bless us together
as we continue our thoughts on the Acts of the Apostles and
chapter 25 and we'll read from verse 13 to verse 22 Acts of
the Apostles chapter 25 and from verse 13 to verse 22 we just
read them through and after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice
came unto Caesarea to salute Festus And when they had been
there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause 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 manner 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. Therefore, when they would come
hither, without any delay on the morrow, I sat on the judgment
seat and commanded a man to be brought forth, against whom,
when the accusers stood up, They brought none accusation of such
things as I supposed, but had certain questions against him
of their own superstition and of one Jesus which was dead whom
Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I doubted of such
manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem
and there be judged of their matters. But when Paul had appealed
to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him
to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said
unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said
he, thou shalt hear him. Well, here we have the arrival
of King Agrippa. and Bernice. Now this Agrippa
was apparently the son of the Herod who had in actual fact
beheaded James and that's recorded in the twelfth chapter and in
the first verse and they were called Agrippa in those days.
Herod was also called Herod Agrippa. Well this man was called Agrippa
and then Bernice in And I understand that Benici was his sister, not
his wife, although I believe he was married to her, but in
fact she was his sister. So they came to Caesarea to salute
Festus. And then we're told, and when
they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause
unto the king, saying, there is a certain man left in bonds
by Felix. Now, we get some indication here
of how unimportant, really, Festus considered this to be. Clearly,
they'd been there for a number of days together, no doubt talking
much about many, many things. no doubt feasting and drinking,
and yet those things that Paul had spoken to Festus, and the
condition of Paul had obviously not come sufficiently, at least
in to Festus' mind, to declare Paul's case unto Agrippa. And we realise, don't we, that
such things therefore were really of little importance to this
man. And yet, as we, of course, read this account, we realize,
in fact, how important they were and how true it is today, how
many people ignore those things which are important and concentrate
on those things which are trivial and fading and passing away. And so Felix says, about whom,
when I was at Jerusalem, The chief priests and the elders
of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him."
Well, they come expecting to be able to persuade Festus to
have Paul condemned in accordance with their wishes. But we see
the good hand of God over all these things. There's no evidence
that Festus was a good man at all. And yet he was apparently
in this matter a just man, because he says, to whom I answered,
it is not the manner 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. Therefore, when they become hither,
Without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat and
commanded the man to be brought forth." How many times that we
read in this account of the Acts of the Apostles, of the life
of the Apostle Paul, we clearly see the Lord's overriding providence
in his life, doing those things which perhaps he wouldn't have
expected, and yet here was Felix clearly influenced by the Holy
Spirit of God and not giving in to the chief priests and the
elders. It wasn't just perhaps a low-down
person or people, it was the chief priests and the elders
who we would think he would probably agree to please and confirm that
which they desired. But no, we see God on the throne
and therefore We wait until Festus comes down and he comes and he
sits on the judgment seat. Therefore, when they came hither
without any delay on the morrow, I sat on the judgment seat and
commanded the man to be brought forth. Well, here was Paul then
once again brought before people, in this case brought before Festus,
in one sense to be tried. for the things that he said and
the things which he had done. But, again, when the Lord is
with us, when the Lord is supporting us, we see the enemies fade away. We see they're not able to pursue
the avenue that they desired or to bring the conclusion that
they desired. And therefore, we read against
whom, when the accuser stood up, they brought none accusation
of such things as I supposed." We don't know exactly what he
supposed, but probably he expected some serious criminal accusation
to be placed before him, that he would then be able to condemn
this man. But he tells us, there was nothing
like that, but had certain questions against him of their own superstition
and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."
Now, the tragic position, the tragic fact is that Festus had
clearly been told by the Apostle Paul of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it would seem perhaps that
prior to this, Festus had not really been informed of Jesus,
because he uses this expression, and of one Jesus, which was dead,
whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Well, it really is a very sad
situation, and I read that twelfth chapter really because of the
words which the Apostle uses when he speaks of those who were
blinded, who had not indeed believed the great truth had not had the
light shine into their hearts. And we read together that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, but he spoke,
Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord been revealed? That's of course the first beginning
of the 53rd chapter in Isaiah. Well, here, no doubt, Misman
Festus had had the truth set before him, and yet how sad to
read an account like this, that, who hath believed our report?
Clearly, Festus did not believe the report. And we're told, therefore
they could not believe, because, as I said again, he hath blinded
their eyes, and hardened their heart, They should not see with
their eyes, or understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I should heal them." Well, that was the sad condition, was
it not, of this man Festus. He had not received the Word
of God. The Word of God had been spoken
to him by the Apostle Paul, and his eyes were blinded, His ears
were not unstopped. It hadn't affected his heart.
His heart was hardened. Well, tonight, let's look at
ourselves. You know, we're either like Festus,
or we're amongst those who have been blessed to hear the great
truth of the Gospel, and it's had a good effect upon us. We have heard the good report,
and it has touched our heart. We have believed the report of
the Lord Jesus, not Lifestas who did not believe. Well, tonight,
what a favour then if we can recollect, for the mercy of God,
the Lord has looked upon us. We haven't been left to just
speak in such casual terms, Lifestas and of one Jesus. but that by the grace of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ does mean something to us. And we don't
just respond in such a casual way and say, well, I've won Jesus. You know, if we've heard the
gospel preached, not to answer in that way, well, yes, we heard
of one Jesus, but to be able to say, yes, we heard of Jesus,
that dear friend on whom my hopes of heaven depend. It's a vast
difference. It's a difference which separates
from heaven and hell those who receive the Word, those whom
God speaks to, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and those
who do not are eternally lost. And we see therefore the great
solemnity of this simple statement made by Festus, how sad it is,
but had certain questions against him of their own superstitions
and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. You see, it was clear that Festus
had it set before him that Christ had died, and was raised from
the dead. What a great truth, what a favour,
to hear words direct from the lips of the Apostle Paul. And
we might perhaps think, well of course, if I had the Apostle
Paul here tonight preaching, I would believe. Not unless the
grace of God touches our heart. We'd be just like Festus. So we read, and Because I doubted
of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would
go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters. But
Paul, as we know from the previous account, well he refused to accept
that offer and he appealed unto Augustus. Now apparently this
was Caesar Augustus And Caesar was a name that was used after
Julius Caesar. And in actual fact, this person,
this Augustus, was in fact Nero, who we know, of course, was a
very evil and wicked man. And so we're told, but when Paul
had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded
him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. You see, there
was no urgency in Festus' mind. He was quite content to leave
God's servant there in the prison, but we're thankful to know that
God was with him and Paul's life was ordained by God to set forth
those great truths of the gospel and the wonderful accounts and
the testimonies that he was able to give for the honour and glory
of God. And then we hear what Agrippa
said. Then Agrippa said unto Festus,
I would also hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, thou shalt
hear him. Well, we can look forward to
hearing then, can we not, what happened when Agrippa and Festus
came down to listen to what Paul would say and the glorious testimony
that the apostle Paul was able to give. May we take these things
to heart and realise how you and I need to be ready always
to give a good account and a good testimony of those things which
God has done for our soul. That's precisely what the Apostle
Paul did. He gave his testimony, his personal
testimony, which was indeed God honouring and God glorifying. Amen.