I’M NOT CRAZY, I’M SAVED
Acts 26:24-25
Intro:
The great Apostle Paul is on trial before King Agrippa and the Roman Governor Festus.
Paul is given the opportunity to give a defense for his actions. Paul uses this setting as an opportunity to share his salvation testimony.
When these pagan rulers hear Paul testify about all that happened to him, and what the Savior has done for him, Festus speaks up and calls Paul a “mad man”.
He tells Paul that all of his education and learning has driven him over the edge! He says, in effect, “Paul, you’ve lost your mind! You’re a lunatic! You’re crazy!”
·Paul, You’ve gone crazy! Your not the man I use to know
The word “mad” comes from the word that gives us our word “mania”. It means “to rave, to be mad, to be out of one’s mind.”
Mania is defined as:
·Obsession; an excessive and intense interest in for something.
·A psychiatric disorder characterized by excessive physical activity, rapidly changing ideas and impulsive behavior.
These pagans who are listening to Paul give his testimony and they knew of Paul’s life before He came to Christ.
They concluded that he has gone absolutely, stark raving mad! They think he is crazy! When Paul hears this charge he responds by saying, “I’m not crazy, I’m saved!”
When the world looks in on this thing we call Christianity, when they look at this life we live for Jesus, they conclude that we are crazy! I would say to them, I’m not crazy, I’m saved!
I want to point out three areas of Paul’s testimony that Festus and the others thought was crazy.
Let me show you the reasons why Festus, and the others who heard Paul preach that day, thought Paul was crazy.
I. HIS TEACHINGS SOUNDED CRAZY: Acts 22:13-22
About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen
What were the claims that Paul made?
1. He Said He Saw A Light - v. 13. Paul said that at noon, a light shined around him and his companions that eclipsed the power of the sun.
2. He Said He Met The Lord Jesus Christ - v. 14-18 The One Paul said he met on the road to Damascus, was the same man everyone knew had died on a cross outside Jerusalem by order of Pontius Now, here is the crazy preacher preaching that this dead Jesus was alive again.
They knew that Jesus had been crucified, now here was Paul and bunch of other people, preaching that Jesus was alive.
·They were upsetting the applecart.
·They were disturbing the peace.
They were preaching the doctrine of the resurrection and people thought Paul had lost his mind
Paul’s statements may have sounded bizarre to the pagan Romans, but to anyone who knows the Lord Jesus Christ, they make perfect sense!
Here’s why:every Saved Person Has Seen The Light and had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light,” 1 Pet. 2:9.
1. Everyone who is saved can remember what it was like to be “dead in trespasses and sins,” Eph. 2:1.
2.They can remember what it was like to be one of the “children of wrath,” Eph. 2:3.
3.They can remember the way the Holy Spirit “drew” them to Jesus, John 6:44.
4.They remember conviction over sin, and when they light came on and they saw for the first time that Jesus, and Jesus alone, was their only hope.
5.They remember the day life came and the light came on when they ran to Him for salvation. If you remember those things, you are not crazy, you are saved!
When the world hears the testimony of the redeemed saints of God, they think we have gone crazy! After all, we talk about things that cannot be seen. You except by faith! Heb. 11:1.
We talk about a baby born of a virgin, a Savior Who was crucified, buried and rose again.
We talk about His blood, and how it washed our sins away.
·We believe in a God Who we say created the universe and all that is in it.
·We say that we have a home in a place called Heaven.
·We believe that Jesus is coming in the clouds to raise the dead and cal
·We believe that, when He comes, He will call the living saints into the air, change us into His image, and take us all home to Heaven.
We believe some things that sound crazy to a lost world.
When we speak of such things, we do so because We’re not crazy, we’re saved! We simply believe the Bible and take God at His Word.
I. His Teachings Sounded Crazy
II.HIS TESTIMONY SOUNDED CRAZY
Think about all the things Paul was before he was saved:
1. He Was A Religious Man – Acts 26:5; The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee
2. He Was A Zealous Man –Acts 26:9-11; I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
3. He Was A Man Of Considerable Power And Influence –Acts 26:12 I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests
·Yet, when Paul met the risen Lord, he simply walked away from the old life and began to serve the Lord. He has abandoned everything that defined his old life.
It seemed crazy to those who saw and heard the changes in Paul’s life.
Every Saved Person Has Abandoned The Old Life - When the lost sinner comes to Jesu Christ by faith everything in that persons life changes.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Cor. 5:17.
When a lost sinner is saved, that redeemed sinner is indwelled by the Spirit of God. They literally become the Temple of the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. 6:19-20.
When you have come to Christ –you have been changed
· You can’t go where you used to go,
· do what you used to do,
· be who you used to be,
· talk like you used to talk,
· walk like you used to walk,
· live like you used to live, you are not crazy, you are saved!
When you encounter that old crowd and they think you have lost your mind, remember, you’re not crazy, you’re just saved!
When you find yourself being ridiculed because you won’t do the things the lost around you do, you’re not crazy, you’re saved!
When no one seems to understand you, and the stand you take for God, and when they tell you that you are missing out, you are not crazy, my friend, you are saved!
I. His Teachings Sounded Crazy
II.His Testimony Sounded Crazy
III. HIS TASK SOUNDED CRAZY Acts 22:16-22
·Jesus has called him to leave behind a life of affluence, influence, power, position, prestige, prominence and prosperity to go all over the world and tell everybody he meets that they too should follow this once dead, now living Lord. That must have sounded absolutely ridiculous to everyone in that room.
·I Cor. 9:16 “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
·
Did you know that the same call that rested on Paul’s shoulders has been placed on ours as well? The Bible is clear, we are to tell the world what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them.
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Matt. 28:18–19.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” Mark 16:15.
·
When you feel compelled to tell someone about a crucified, risen, returning, reigning Lord named Jesus Christ; it does not mean you’re crazy. It simply proves that you’re saved! If you know Him, you can’t help but tell others about Him. Sharing the Gospel is as natural to the child of God as breathing.
When you turn your back on the world and live for Jesus and tell the world about Jesus, it does not mean that you are crazy! It just shows us all that you are saved!
Conclusion:
In that kangaroo courtroom that day all the roles were reversed! The only sane man in the room was in chains while the nuts were running the show!
The craziest people in the world today are not in places like mental institutions and the like.
·The craziest people in the world are those who are lost in sin and will not come to the Lord Jesus Christ!
The real lunatics are those who hear the Gospel and turn a deaf ear to it.
May we who are saved never be ashamed of who we are or what the Lord has done for us! We are not crazy!
If you have believed the Gospel and trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have been baptized into Christ, you are headed to Heaven, you are saved by grace, your sins have been all washed away. You are not crazy, you are just saved!
That crowd that does not know Jesus, They’re the ones running here and there looking for love, help and satisfaction in all the wrong places. We’re not crazy, we’re saved!
