Introduction
Casey Diaz was born in 1965 in South Central Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents.
His early life was marked by poverty, domestic violence, crime, and despair.
By age 11, he had joined the infamous 38th Street gang.
His life became a blur of robberies, assaults, and hardened loyalties that often turned deadly.
By age 19, Diaz was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In prison, his life spiraled further downward as he got involved in prison gangs.
“I was a monster,” he later reflected, haunted by the faces of those he had harmed.
However, in 1987, when Diaz was 22 years old, everything changed.
While in solitary confinement after yet another fight, he began reading a Bible.
Passages like John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”—confronted him with a love he had never known.
One night, alone in the dim light, Diaz cried out to God, confessing his sins and surrendering his life to Jesus Christ.
He describes it as a supernatural encounter: a profound sense of forgiveness washed over him, dissolving years of bitterness.
“I felt chains break off me,” he said.
The gospel's message—that Christ’s sacrifice could cover even his bloodstained hands—radically reframed his identity from worthless criminal to valued child of God.
Diaz was released on parole after 13 years.
He married his childhood sweetheart, Mercedes, and they built a stable family life, raising three children.
Rejecting his past, he founded The Other Side Academy in LA. This faith-based rehabilitation program has helped hundreds escape addiction and crime through the gospel’s principles of grace and community.
Diaz became ordained as a minister of the gospel, and today he travels the world telling people how Jesus transforms sinners into faithful witnesses.
We are studying the Book of Acts in a sermon series I am calling, “Turning the World Upside Down.”
Last time, we learned about Paul’s trial before Porcius Festus, the new governor of Judaea.
Two years earlier, Paul had had a trial before Festus’ predecessor, Felix.
Felix could not make up his mind about Paul’s guilt or innocence, and so he kept him in custody.
As it turned out, Festus could not find Paul guilty of anything either.
After some time, King Agrippa and his consort Bernice arrived in Caesarea.
Festus told Agrippa about Paul.
Agrippa wanted to hear from Paul himself.
So, today, we are going to learn about the testimony of Paul again.
Scripture
Let’s read Acts 25:13-26:32:
13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. 14 And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix, 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. 17 So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. 18 When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. 19 Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. 21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”
23 So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”
1 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” 30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Lesson
Acts 25:13-26:32 shows us how God’s grace transforms sinners into faithful witnesses.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Transformation Begins with God’s Providence (25:13-27)
2. Transformation Reveals Our Depravity (26:1-11)
3. Transformation Involves Irresistible Grace (26:12-18)
4. Transformation Results in Perseverance (26:19-23)
5. Transformation Exposes Hardened Hearts (26:24-32)
I. Transformation Begins with God’s Providence (25:13-27)
First, transformation begins with God’s providence.
In Acts 25:13, Luke writes, “Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.”
This Agrippa is Herod Agrippa II.
He was the son of the Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:2-3).
He was the last of the Herods.
Bernice was not Agrippa’s wife, but his sister and consort.
Since Agrippa and Bernice stayed in Caesarea for many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before Agrippa.
Festus told Agrippa that the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem wanted Paul sentenced to death.
However, Festus would not allow a Roman citizen to be condemned without proper charges and a trial.
When the Jewish leaders came to Caesarea, they did not bring charges against Paul as he had expected.
“Rather,” said Festus, “they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive” (v. 19).
As far as Festus was concerned, the Jews and Paul were in a dispute about a man named Jesus. The Jews said that Jesus was dead. Paul said that Jesus was alive.
Festus then acknowledged that he was at a loss as to how to investigate these questions.
During the trial, however, Paul appealed to Caesar, so Festus ordered him to be kept in custody to send to Caesar.
That is when Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself” (v. 22a).
“Tomorrow,” said Festus, “you will hear him” (v. 22b).
Luke then tells us in verse 23, “So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.”
Picture the scene. It is like a blockbuster courtroom drama.
The grand hall in Caesarea is brilliantly lit.
There is the clanking sound of the Roman soldiers’ armor.
The sunlight highlights the brilliant scarlet capes and glitters on the polished helmets.
Agrippa and Bernice eventually sweep in like celebrities on the deep red carpet.
They are draped in luxurious purple robes embroidered with gold threads.
Their crowns are sparkling in the bright lights.
They all take their seats.
Amid this opulent display, Festus commands Paul to be brought into the hall.
Paul comes into the hall.
Paul is a small man with a weathered face, calloused hands from making tents, and shuffling slowly and painfully from the many stonings and lashes he has received over many years.
He is dressed in a simple, well-worn robe.
He is bound with rusty, clanking chains to two Roman soldiers.
There stands Paul, steady on his feet as he faces down the elite.
Festus then tells Agrippa that the Jews wanted Paul sentenced to death, but he found that Paul had done nothing deserving of death.
Festus also said that after Paul had been examined, Agrippa might help frame charges against Paul that could be sent to Rome.
Do you see God’s providence here?
Paul was about to tell this elite crowd about Jesus.
God had allowed Paul to be brought before Festus and Agrippa to proclaim the good news of the gospel.
You and I live in a world that intimidates Christians through cultural pressure and ridicule.
My dear Christian, trust God to open opportunities—sometimes, unexpected opportunities—to tell others about Jesus.
II. Transformation Reveals Our Depravity (26:1-11)
Second, transformation reveals our depravity.
Agrippa permitted Paul to speak for himself.
Paul then shared his testimony.
He began with his life before his conversion to Jesus.
He said that he had lived as a Pharisee, which was known to all the Jews.
Like his fellow Jews, he hoped in the promise God made to their forefathers.
He asked, “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” (v. 8).
However, like his fellow Jews, there was a time when he opposed Jesus.
He also believed that Jesus was dead and that the followers of Jesus were crazy for thinking that Jesus was alive.
In fact, he was so vehemently opposed to Jesus and the followers of Jesus that he said in verses 10b-11:
“I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”
Paul was saying that his life before his conversion was one of depravity: he was outwardly religious by zealously following the teachings and beliefs of the religious community.
However, inwardly, he was rebellious against God, self-righteous, and a slave to sin.
Within a year of Jesus’ death, thousands of people were professing to be Christians in Jerusalem.
Picture Saul (as he was known before he became Paul) as a relentless hunter on the streets of Jerusalem.
Paul’s eyes were blazing with fanatical zeal.
His cloak was billowing as he stormed house churches in the evening with the Jewish Temple Police under his command.
You can see fathers trying to shield their families and mothers trying to comfort crying children, but to no avail.
Paul ordered the Temple Police to drag the terrified Christians off to prison dungeons where the air smelled foul with rotten food and excrement, mold and fungus.
There, Paul would interrogate the frightened Christians, urging them to renounce their faith by blaspheming Jesus.
When they refused to do so, Paul cast his vote for them to be put to death.
Paul was saying that before he became a Christian, he was thoroughly depraved.
His heart was at enmity against God.
He thought that what he was doing was for God, but instead, he later learned that he was against God.
I became a Christian at the age of nineteen.
I was not throwing people into prison, like Paul.
Nor was I in gangs, like Casey Diaz.
In fact, I went to church every Sunday.
However, I was not a Christian.
I was living for myself.
Although I would not have said it this way, I was god of my life.
I was depraved.
Thankfully, as God revealed Paul and Casey Diaz’s depravity to them, he also showed me my own depravity.
Have you come to the place where God has revealed your depravity to you?
III. Transformation Involves Irresistible Grace (26:12-18)
Third, transformation involves irresistible grace.
Paul continued his testimony before Agrippa.
He now spoke about his transformation. He said in verses 12-15:
“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’ ”
Paul had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus.
He was completely blown away.
How could Jesus, whom he believed to be dead, now be talking to him just outside Damascus?
The only explanation was that Jesus was not in fact dead, but very much alive!
Jesus continued speaking to Paul and told him why he had appeared to Paul.
Jesus said in verse 16a, “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose….”
Then Jesus told Paul the purpose of his life.
Jesus said he appeared to Paul “to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (vv. 16b-18).
Jesus appointed Paul as his servant and witness, commissioning him to open eyes, turn people from darkness to light, and from Satan’s power to God, so that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and an inheritance among the saints.
This is irresistible grace.
Jesus sovereignly intervened in Paul’s life.
Paul was not seeking Jesus.
Paul was, in fact, vehemently opposed to Jesus.
But because of God’s transforming grace, Jesus intervened in Paul’s life, opened his eyes, gave him saving faith, and commissioned him to take the message that Jesus is alive and changes lives to unbelievers.
Christians, don’t stop praying for your unsaved friends and family members.
God is the one who changes hearts and lives.
His grace is irresistible.
Though he sometimes works directly, as in the case of Paul seeing the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, God ordinarily works through means.
So, continue praying for family, friends, and even strangers, and share the gospel with them as often as you can.
IV. Transformation Results in Perseverance (26:19-23)
Fourth, transformation results in perseverance.
Paul continued to testify about what he did after his transformation.
He said in verses 19-20:
“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”
Paul obeyed Jesus.
He began sharing the good news about Jesus.
He urged people to repent, turn to God, and demonstrate their faith through good works.
Because of his obedience to Jesus’ commission and call upon his life, Paul faced tremendous opposition and persecution.
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said that because of his service to Jesus, he experienced “imprisonments, with countless beatings, and [was] often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned” (2 Corinthians 11:23b-25a).
Yet, Paul persevered.
He continued sharing the good news of the gospel.
Paul’s prison chains did not stop him from sharing the gospel.
I think that what keeps you and me from sharing the gospel is not prison chains but suburban comforts.
Let me encourage you to talk with someone this week about Jesus.
God’s transformation results in our perseverance.
V. Transformation Exposes Hardened Hearts (26:24-32)
And fifth, transformation exposes hardened hearts.
Luke writes in verse 24, “And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.’ ”
Festus had heard this before.
But Paul would not be deterred.
He turned his attention to King Agrippa. He said in verses 26-27:
“For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
King Agrippa was a Jew.
Of course, he believed the prophets.
But Agrippa was also a politician.
If he agreed with Paul, he would upset the Jews and look foolish before the Romans.
So, rather than answer Paul’s question, he responded with a question of his own, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (v. 28).
To which Paul responded by saying, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” (v. 29).
Paul’s great desire since being transformed by the grace of God was to see people—all people—come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
At that point, Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, and all the rest left the hall.
They all agreed that Paul was “doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment” (v. 31b).
They agreed that Paul was innocent of all charges.
Don’t be discouraged when you encounter hardened hearts.
Your job is to share the gospel.
Some people may receive the gospel and be transformed by it.
Others may reject the gospel.
Spurgeon tells in one of his sermons about the “almost persuaded” who are in hell.
As the flames of hell lick like serpents’ tongues, their screams will echo throughout eternity as they lament rejecting the gospel to enjoy life’s fleeting pleasures.
Friend, if you are sitting here today and you are not yet a Christian, I pray that you will never find yourself in hell.
Cry out to God to save you today.
Conclusion
Paul is a remarkable illustration of how God’s grace transforms sinners and turns them into faithful witnesses.
Transformation begins with God’s providence, reveals our depravity, involves irresistible grace, results in perseverance, and exposes hardened hearts.
If the grace of God has transformed you, you will see these truths in your life.
If the grace of God has not yet transformed you, ask him to do so today. Amen.
