INTRO.- ILL.- A judge, bored and frustrated by a lawyer’s tedious arguments, had made numerous rulings to speed the trial along. The attorney had bristled at the judge’s orders, and their tempers grew hot. Finally, frustrated with another repetition of arguments he had heard many times before, the judge pointed to his ear and said, "Counselor, you should be aware that at this point, what you are saying is just going in one ear and out the other."
"Your honor," replied the lawyer, "That goes without saying. What is there to prevent it?"
I would not have wanted to be lawyer!
ILL.- A lawyer’s dog, running around town unleashed, heads for a butcher shop and steals a roast. The butcher goes to the lawyer’s office and asks, "if a dog running unleashed steals a piece of meat from my store, do I have a right to demand payment for the meat from the dog’s owner?" The lawyer answers, "Absolutely."
"Then you owe me $8.50. Your dog was loose and stole a roast from me today."
The lawyer, without a word, writes the butcher a check for $8.50. The butcher, having a feeling of satisfaction, leaves. Three days later, the butcher finds a bill from the lawyer: $100 due for a consultation.
That sounds about right, doesn’t it?
ILL.- A man was arrested for speeding, reckless driving, driving without lights and violation of traffic signals. He demanded a trial by jury.
"But you can’t win that case in court," a friend advised him. "I know," said the man. "I did it on purpose. My nephew just graduated from law school and this is his first case. I want him to lose so maybe he’ll get discouraged and get an honest job...."
Have you ever been in a court of law before, only not as a juror? I mean, YOU had to appear before the judge.
ILL.- Remember Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, who went to prison for 23 months for that dogfighting ring and gambling? Well, not only did he lose his job, go to prison, lose millions of dollars, but he is also having to file bankruptcy because he owes creditors nearly 13 million dollars. He went from rags to riches and back to rags.
I don’t think any of us would want to trade places with him, no matter how talented he is!
Brothers and sisters, whether we know it or not, we are on trial every day of our lives. We are in the biggest courtroom of all: the world around us. We stand before the God of heaven and mankind on planet earth. We will have to give account to God of our lives on earth. And mankind is a witness as to how we conduct ourselves in this world, etc.
PROP.- We get an idea from the life of Paul as he stood before King Agrippa how to conduct ourselves when our faith is on trial in this world. 1- We must obey God’s vision
2- We must not fear accusations
3- We must present the truth of God
I. WE MUST OBEY GOD’S VISION
19"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Paul obeyed God’s vision for his life. Did you receive a vision for your life?
ILL.- From 1969 to 1974 I preached for the Church of Christ in Bayard, IA. It was a small farming town ministry and I did the best I could. While living there I got involved in Olympic weightlifting because it was something I did while in high school. I was always fascinated by men of great strength.
I made a gym out of my old garage and lifted there three times a week. I eventually decided to enter my first competition in Norfolk, NE.
It was called a Region 8 contest, as best I recall. I lifted in the 181 lb. division but only weighed about 166 lbs. My first contest and would you believe? I got third place. I was elated. From then on I began to dream. I began to have a vision of some day competing nationally and maybe even more!
What happened? Several things but basically, I realized that was not God’s vision for my life! Preaching was God’s vision for my life. Ministry was His vision! However, I never considered preaching to be just a job. I considered it to be God’s will.
Have you discovered God’s vision for your life? And if so, have you been obedient to that vision?
ILL.- In the 1700’s a little man in England, a shoe cobbler by trade, who kept a map of the world on a wall of his workshop so that he could pray for the nations of the world, became burdened for a definite missionary outreach. When he shared his burden at a meeting of ministers, he was told by one of the senior men of God: “Young man, sit down. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine.”
But William Carey did not let the fire of his enthusiasm be dampened by such a response, and eventually he left the shores of England for those of India.
One man had the vision of God and the other did not! WHAT ABOUT US?
ILL.- The story is told of William C. Burns, the man who mightily blessed Hudson Taylor and Murray McCheyne, of how when he was only a boy of seventeen he visited the city of Glasgow with his mother for the first time in his life. His mother suddenly lost her boy in the crowd and after many anxious moments discovered him in an alley with his head buried in his hands, sobbing with a broken heart.
“What ails you, son?” asked the Scottish mother. “Oh, Mother, Mother,” said the country boy, “the thud of these Christless feet on the way to hell breaks my heart.”
HAVE YOU CAUGHT THAT VISION? God put us here to lead people to Christ. Have you caught that vision?
II. WE MUST NOT FEAR ACCUSATIONS
24At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane." 25"I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. Paul wasn’t worried that he was accused of being insane. He spoke truth.
ILL.- How To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity in life.
- At lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
- Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
- When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won! I Won! 3rd time this week!"
- When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot yelling, "Run for your lives, they’re loose!"
- Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
Someone would probably think you are insane if you did those things!
Here’s the kind of insanity that we should be accused of.
ILL.- William Carey (August 17, 1761 – June 9, 1834) was an English Protestant missionary and Baptist minister, known as the "father of modern missions." Carey was one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society. As a missionary in the Danish colony Serampore, India, he translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages and dialects.
On May 30, 1792, after his idea of missions aroused some attention, he was invited to preach a ministerial gathering. Preaching out of Isaiah 54:2, 3, Carey put forth two thoughts that summed up his ministry and have since become an incredible missionary motto, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
Through his many accomplishments William Carey remained humble and gave all glory and honor where it was due, the Lord. Saying to a friend shortly before his death, “Mr. Duff, you have been speaking about Dr. Carey. When I am gone say nothing about Dr. Carey—speak about Dr. Carey’s Savior.”
ILL.- George Müller (September 27, 1805 – March 10, 1898), a Christian evangelist and coordinator of orphanages in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. He was well-known for providing an education to the children under his care, to the point where he was accused of raising the poor above their natural station in life.
ILL.- Jonathan Goforth started learning about God when he was only five years old, and served Him until his death on October 8, 1936. During the forty-six years he was on the mission field he set up thirty-one mission stations, trained sixty-one native Chinese pastors, and converted more than 13,000 Chinese people. It can truly be said about Jonathan Goforth that he loved God, and served him his entire life.
Brothers and sisters, when was the last time that someone thought you were insane because of your faith in Christ? Because you lived such a committed life to Christ and His church that they thought something was wrong with you?
ILL.- I heard an old story one time about a man who walked down the street wearing a sign (or placard) on his front and back side. On the front side it read, "I’m a fool for Christ." On the back it read, "Whose fool are you?"
I Cor. 4:10-13 "We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world."
III. WE MUST PRESENT THE TRUTH OF GOD
26The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." 28Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" 29Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."
Paul stood before King Agrippa and presented the truth of God about Christ.
ILL.- Preacher Charles Spurgeon once preached what, in his judgment, was one of his poorest sermons. He stammered and floundered, and when he got through he felt that it had been a complete failure. He was greatly humiliated, and when he got home he fell on his knees and said, “Lord, God, Thou canst do something with nothing. Bless that poor sermon.”
And all through the week he uttered that prayer. He woke up in the night and prayed about it. He determined that the next Sunday he would redeem himself by preaching a great sermon. Sure enough, the next Sunday the sermon went off beautifully. At the close the people crowded about him and covered him with praise. Spurgeon went home pleased with himself, and that night he slept like a baby. But he said to himself, “I’ll watch the results of those two sermons.” What were they?
From the one that has seemed a failure he was able to trace forty-one conversions. And from that magnificent sermon he was unable to discover that a single soul was saved.
Several applications could be made to this story, but here’s one to consider. God can use us even when we feel utterly useless, helpless, unable, and sometimes, downright dumb.
28Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
Regardless of how we do it, we need to convince people to become Christians! That’s what Paul tried to do and that’s what we must do. HAVE YOU EVER PERSUADED ANYONE TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN? Have you ever tried?
ILL.- I must hand it to Ray Rickert. A hand of congratulations and a commendation. For what? For riding his motorcycle all over the country and especially, to California. Can you imagine that? He rode his motorcycle to California just a few years ago. Now that would take some guts or grit!
But the important thing was his motivation for doing it. Why did he do that? Because he liked riding his motorcycle. Well, yes. Did he do it because he wanted to see the scenery? Well, yes. Did he do it because he thought it would be an interesting adventure? Well, yes. BUT MOSTLY, HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GO SEE AN OLD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE AND WITNESS TO HIM ABOUT CHRIST! He spent many days witnessing to his friend about Christ.
THIS IS WHY GOD PUT US HERE! To present the truth of God about Christ to people! God wants all men to be saved in Jesus and He wants to do the work of pointing people to Christ!
ILL.- Pearl Harbor! The morning of December 7, 1941, found 353 Japanese airplanes swarming all around the Harbor site. Within a couple of hours, America lost 8 big battleships, 6 major airfields, almost all planes, and 2,400 men. That happened at 7:50 AM in what was supposedly a surprised attack. But these are the startling facts:
That morning at 7 AM, while the Japanese warplanes were 137 miles (50 minutes) away, two US soldiers on a small radar station in the Pacific scanned the screen and saw dots and dots appearing, until the whole screen was filled. These soldiers notified their youthful supervisor, a lieutenant. No other officer was around, that being a Sunday. The lieutenant thought these must be planes from California, and without another thought, said these crucial words: “Don’t worry about it.”
Think of how many people will die in their sin just because we think we shouldn’t worry about them? What if people had never worried over us?
CONCLUSION---------------------------------
Someone said what if you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Think about it. Examine your own life. Make some changes if necessary.
