Text: Acts 25:13-26:32, Title: Strange…A God That Can Raise the Dead, Date/Place: NRBC, 8/23/09, AM
A. “…well my plan is to convince people that all they have to do to get to heaven is to be a religious person.”
B. Background to passage: Recap briefly how we here. One of the responsibilities of a new ruler who is sending someone for trial in Rome, was to include an explanation of the charges and proceedings leading up to the trial in Rome. But being new to Judea, and really not understanding the charges or the culture around them, Festus just didn’t know what to write (v. 27). So when Agrippa II and his sister Bernice came to town to greet the new ruler, Festus seized the day for some local input. Agrippa II was the only surviving son of Agrippa I who was struck down in Acts 12 for stealing God’s glory. He was part Jewish and ruled the territory to the north of Judea once give to Philip after the death of Herod the Great. His reputation was one of piety in religion, incestuous sexual immorality, and expertise in Jewish/Roman relations. And he had probably heard of the stir in the region over the Christians, and maybe over Paul, so he wanted to hear him speak. (One of the dangers of being a powerful speaker is that people may hear, and be entertained without believing (this happened between Ben Franklin and George Whitefield.) And since this wasn’t a real trial with attorneys and all the legalities, Paul seized the opportunity to share the gospel
C. Main thought: We are going to take this sermon in two parts, and this morning’s part will be Paul’s convers.
A. Paul’s Pre-Christian Life (v. 4-11)
1. Paul begins not so much with general flattery, I am sure that he is really glad to have someone who has a Jewish background that could make an informed decision. And so Paul begins to share his testimony about this Jesus, who was dead, and now Paul claims to be alive. He tells them about his background as a Pharisee. Explain the depth of their religious commitment. He tells them about his passion for persecution. All of this to say that there was a time when he was not following Christ.
2. Rom 10:3-4, 7:9, Philip 3:4-6, Gal 1:14, Luke 18:14,
3. Illustration: tell about listening to Voddie this week, and him describing about when he deals with prospective suitors for his 19 year old daughter, and how he avoids asking them if they are “Christians” and why, some people would be upset with me when I first came as pastor, and I would ask about their testimony, and they would tell me about joining the church, and I would persist..., Wesley’s experience, One woman who went to church all the time would always say, “I was ALWAYS a Christian.
4. Three major applications about this point. 1) All of us have a time when we were not followers of Christ. I hear the testimony often that people can’t remember a time when they weren’t Christians; that they have just always been a Christian. And I realize that some of you were raised in very Christian homes with very Christian moms and dads, and intellectually you believed in Jesus before you believed in Santa Claus. But the bible speaks about conversion like a birth, and you weren’t always just born. There was a time and place for it. It speaks about conversion as being adopted, and you weren’t always adopted. I realize that you may not know exactly when it happened (time and date), but we should all know in general when it happened. My fear is that many church members have never really been born again. We are all radically separated from God for the first 5-10-15 years of our lives at least. The faith that we have always “believed” must become ours upon genuine conversion.
5. 2) No one can be religious enough to be saved. If anyone could, Paul could have. He was blameless according to the law. That means that he did all 614 commands that the rabbis had catalogued in the Pentateuch, and everything else found in the writings and prophets. You can’t go to church enough, read your bible enough, be baptized enough, give enough, to earn a spot in heaven. It must be only because you have been born from above, because you have repented and put your faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Christianity is not a “do better” religion, it is a done religion. Tell about the guy in Key West who weekly goes to the sunset park, and give the presentation about the two world religions. So good works cannot get you into heaven, but you will not get into heaven without good works. Not because they earn you a spot, but because they authenticate your conversion. Tell about the host pointing out no spiritual heart monitor.
6. The third application is the depth of grace, mercy, forgiveness. Good works can’t get you in, but they along with bad works can’t keep you out; b/c it’s not about works. This is a man who was persecuting Jesus Christ Himself, and after Jesus is finished with him, he is forgiven, and on a mission. Can you imagine forgiving the man that is killing your bride? Know the depth of the cross! No condemnation! Justified! You may have done some bad things, but there is no sin that God can’t forgive, except one: rejecting His Son. There is no one who is too far gone, too bad, or too lost, unless you want to stay lost…
B. Experience with Jesus (v. 12-18)
1. Then Paul explains how he met Jesus while he was persecuting Him. This is the third account of this incident in the book of Acts. Retell the story of Paul riding along, headed to Damascus, and Jesus showing up. From the other texts we know that Paul was knocked off his horse and struck blind. We also know that he was led by the hand to Damascus, ate nothing until meeting Ananias and receiving his sight and the Holy Spirit. We also know that Paul acknowledged Jesus as Lord, and submitted his life to Christ, vowing to do whatever, whenever, however for Jesus from that day forward. He speaks here of the calling that Jesus issued upon his life to be a witness; and the job description to open the blinded eyes, turn people from their sin, free them from Satan’s control, and proclaim forgiveness of sin in Jesus name. He also speaks here of the promise given that Jesus would deliver Paul from Jews and Gentiles until the work is finished. What a life changing day that was for Paul!
2. Acts 8:36, 16:33, Rom 10:9-10, Luke 13:3, 14:26-27, 33, Matt 16:24,
3. Illustration: tell about Craig Foster’s testimony of hitchhiking and finding Jesus, give Paul Washer’s example of being hit by a semi on the way to church, “Salvation is not mainly forgiveness of sins it is mainly a fellowship with Jesus.” A.W. Tozer said something quite insightful in terms of overall service: Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will not be judged by how much I have done but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice. G.K. Chesterton once wrote “Make your religion less of a theory and more of a love affair.”
4. Many of our stories involve us moving through life, minding our own business, blindly fighting against God (actively or passively), and God showing up. And when God shows up things are different. Saul of Tarsus because Paul the Apostle that day! Christianity is an experiential religion. You can’t just believe the right things, and you’re in. We must all have an experience with Jesus. We must all come to the point in our lives where we say “what would you have me to do, LORD.” If not, you are blinded, caught in your sin, under the control of Satan, and unforgiven, unreconciled, unadopted, unsaved! There is no middle ground. You may be on a journey, but there is a clear time when you enter the kingdom. And you may not have been blind for three days, or have scales fall from your eyes after a saint touched you. You may not even remember all the details, and you certainly didn’t understand the full significance of what happened, but meeting Jesus Christ changes people. It is not a speed bump, but a u-turn! Notice the text in the calling portion, who can Paul announce forgiveness in Christ to? Those who are sanctified by Jesus. Those who are set apart, those who are holy, those whose lives reflect me, those are the forgiven ones—not because they have earned it, but because it evidences their transformed hearts!
C. There is a fable that says that Satan met with three Demons who were preparing to come to earth and attempt to deceive men, women, boys and girls. The first Demon told the Devil that he planned to tell everyone that there is no God. The Devil responded by saying, well that’s good and you will deceive some but most people realize that there is a God. The second Demon said, well I plan on convincing people that there is no such place as Hell. The devil responded by saying that his plan was good, and he would deceive some but that the majority of people already knew that Hell was a very real place. The third Demon said, well my plan is to convince people that all they have to do to get to heaven is to be a religious person. Satan laughed and said, that is absolutely brilliant go and you will deceived them by the millions.
