CONVINCE ME
Are you a skeptic? Or have you ever tried to convince a skeptic into believinng anything? Sometimes it takes more than words or print matter. Sometimes it takes just simply living the Christian life in front of them.
I want you to listen to this sermon that Paul preached and see if it is convincing enough to cause you to believe in Christ.
Acts 26:1-29
1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
2 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:
3 Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and 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.
11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 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.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for 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 the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
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.
19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.
22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
26 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.
27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
29 And 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, except these bonds.
What is your take on this sermon?
There is many schools of thought concerning Christianity today and here are two of the most common thoughts.
One thought is, that we as Christians are crazy and most people could care less.
KJV
v24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
The Message
v24 He interrupted with a shout: "Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!"
The other thought is that Christianity is real.
After Paul’s witness,
v28 Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
I’m not going to commit, but you have convinced me.
The same message that was so convincing to one, was absurd to the other.
Could the one who thought that the message was absurd ever be convinced otherwise? Certainly, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
But, because one is convinced does not mean that he will surrender to Christ and become a Christian.
I have given many alter calls where individuals refused to come and surrender to Jesus knowing that it was the right thing to do.
There will be many people who will go to Hell, fully knowing the plan of salvation, yet refusing to surrender because of personal reasons.
Being able to convince someone of the validity of their experience in Christ is sometimes a challenge. (A challenge well worth taking of course)
And I think that there are people here today that are not fully convinced of at least one of three things.
One. The reality of Christ.
Two. What Christ can offer.
Three. Whether or not what Christ can offer is for them.
After Paul’s message Festus was convinced of neither.
After Paul’s message Agrippa was convinced of all three.
What was the difference? Same preacher, Same message, same setting, Same day, Same world, What was it?
It was two very different sets of ears, two very different sets of eyes and two very different hearts.
Festus couldn’t hear what Paul was saying because of what was going on in his present life, his position and his pride.
He couldn’t see or feel the convincing passion in Paul’s message, and his heart too hard to penetrate, even with the Word. Tragic.
But in Acts 25:22 Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
And this message had a completely different effect on Agrippa.
I think that Agrippa heard something that he had never heard before. He was, as Paul had said, familiar with what was going on in the religious world but this day he heard in his spirit something that he had never heard before.
He obviously had seen Christians before but never had he seen such passion before and his heart began to agree with the truth that he was hearing about Jesus Christ.
I want to take the challenge this morning to convince you of all three.
First. The reality of Christ.
I can’t offer archeological artifacts as proof and I’m not going to get into some deep theological discussion because that may gender strife.
Convincing you of the reality of Christ is probably the most difficult because to be honest the Bible itself is not enough proof to prove that Christ exists. I am convinced that He does exist and I do believe the Bible is the word of God and I am more convinced by the work that He has done in my personal life.
But many in the world today are being handed books and being told this is the way. Out side of the working of the Holy Spirit to prove that there is only one way, any of these books could be convincing and obviously many are.
So how do I convince you that Christ is the way? Unless you receive a personal revelation from God to convince you, I and other Christians are the only proof of His existence.
I say that to mean that if you receive the witness of Christ it will be through my life and through God’s family resemblance.
Character;
(Because of His sacrifice, we sacrifice. We lay down our lives for His sake. We have made Him lord of our lives. We have given Him control of our lives. We do right in the sight of the world. We are honest, we tell the truth. We pay our debts. We convince nonbelievers by how we talk and how we act out our frustrations.)
I hope that my character is convincing. Is yours?
Personality;
Emotion, e.g. genuine concern over the needs of others.
Love, e.g. giving without expecting anything in return.
Second. Are you convinced of what Christ can offer?
A changed life;
I’m talking about what can be seen and convincing.
Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
I know, GOD, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives,
That men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of
life.
From bondage to freedom.(money, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and sexual addictions)
From being abusive and hateful to loving and kindness.
From self serving to serving others.
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
What can Christ offer?
We have experience and witnessed healing of body and mind.
We have experience and witnessed healing of our finances.
We have experience and witnessed healing of relationships.
Third. Are you convinced that what Christ can offer is for you?
If seeing and hearing is still not enough to convince you, you’ve got to take a chance and that is done by faith. You got to risk all to gain more than you could ever imagine.
What can Christ offer you?
1. Forgiveness of all your sins. (A chance to start your life all over again. Power to leave the old life behind.)
2. Access to God for all your needs. (Spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, and social)
3. Eternal life in Heaven with the one who gave up everything to give you everything, more than you can imagine.
1 Cor 2:9 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Are you convinced and if not totally, would you like to take a leap of faith and accept all that He can offer you today?
Pray with me.
