The Importance Of Explaining The Scripture. Series

Reading: Acts chapter 26 verses 26-32.

SERMON OUTLINE:

Meet the Cast:

(1). Festus, the Roman Governor.

(2). King Agrippa.

(3). The Apostle Paul.

Meet the Need:

(1). “It is the Bible that gives our message its content” (vs 26&27).

(2). “It is the Bible that gives our message its authority” (vs 25-26).

(3). “It is the Bible that gives the message its power,”

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Your trivia question this morning is…

• What is Dutchman Hans Lippershey credited for inventing it in 1608?

• The answer is… the telescope.

• Some people point at this optical instrument and say, “It’s a telescope!”

• Some might see it as a valuable antique worth hundreds of pounds,

• But both of them have missed the point,

• It is not what it looks like that matters,

• A telescope has one main purpose, it is designed for people to look through it!

• And if you correctly look through a good telescope,

• You can see worlds beyond!

• TRANSITION: The Bible is like a telescope.

• Some folks see a Bible and say, “It’s a book!”

• But they have missed the point,

• The Bible is something we look through to see beyond our world.

• To discover the God of the universe,

• The God who made us and wants to be involved in our lives.

• This morning our subject is, ‘The importance of explaining the Scripture’.

• If we believe that God speaks to us clearest of all through this book,

• Then we need to make sure that we explain it clearly to people!

Ill:

• Albert Einstein is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time,

• Yet he would explain his theory of relativity this way.

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour.

Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”

• TRANSITION: Chances are you will remember that illustration!

• Because good communication sticks!

Ill:

• Think of letters and parcels in a post Office Depot.

• They are not put randomly into the bag or van of a postman/woman.

• They are organized so they can quickly and efficiently reach their destination.

• Words are like parcels – packages of information.

• If they are going to reach the correct destinations quickly and efficiently.

• They need arranging, they need some kind of order, they need to be orchestrated.

• TRANSITION: That is the job of the communicator.

• To be clear, to be understand, to transfer truth from one person to another.

Background:

• Let’s meet the main characters involved in this passage:

• There are three of them that we need to know.

(1). Festus, the Roman Governor.

• Festus is a typical high-class Roman of his day.

• According to chapter 25 and verse 2 he is the ‘new kid on the block’.

• The Apostle Paul had been kept prisoner for over two years by his predecessor,

• A Roman Governor called Felix.

• But in chapter 25 he is moved on and replaced by a new Governor called Festus.

• But straight away, before he has time to settle into the job,

• We are told in chapter 25 and verse 2 that the Jews are in to see him,

• They are demanding Paul be delivered over to them.

• The Jews of that city hate Paul,

• Because Paul had been one of them!

• But now he was preaching the good news of Jesus!

Ill:

• Over lockdown I have regularly gone up to speakers’ corner on a Sunday afternoon,

• It is a hive of activity between the good, bad, weird and ugly.

• The bulk of people there are representing Islam or Christianity.

• But there are a couple of people who the crowd really hate,

• And I mean hate, aggressive, abusive language and at times violence.

• The ones who are hated are the Moslem converts to Christianity.

• TRANSITION: The Jews hate the apostle Paul because he used to be one of them,

• Yet he now preaches another gospel, another message and they cannot handle it.

The Emperor Nero has made Festus the new Governor of Syria and Palestine.

• He has been brought in as a fixer.

• To try and clean up the mess his predecessor had left behind.

• His predecessor was a man called Felix – who made a number of bad decisions.

• The apostle Paul shared his testimony and the gospel with Festus.

• But Festus was a proud Roman and his stumbling block was the resurrection,

• As a Roman he knew that when you are dead you are dead.