The Testimony Of A Preacher Again Series

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.”