Making It Personal

Transcript: "(00:00) well I am glad that you are here and we are going to continue today in Acts chapter 26 and again today's going to be a little different if you were here last week I talked about the fact this kind of second part what we started last week in chapter 26 we're going to continue that today and so if you have your Bibles pull them out and go to chapter 26 those of you who are online today um I'm sorry that the the clock snuck up on you and uh but I we'll we'll figure maybe a few more people s how up online today than normal so that'd be that's (00:37) great I'm glad that you with us I want to open our time in prayer and let's ask God to give us insight into his word father it's another day you brought the Sun up and we are thankful for that we draw breath because of you we have the beauty of your Creation in which to enjoy life and in all of it you have been mindful of us and so we give you praise and in that your desire has always been that we would draw close to you that we would l ive from you for you through you so this morning even as we read a passage out of (01:21) Acts that was written long ago that follows the life of uh one of your Apostles proclaiming the truth of your son who is raised from the dead May It Strike a chord with us as those who say we still follow that same Jesus may we look at the example that's set before us on the these Pages through these words and be challenged in our own expression of Life Lord we want to become more like your son we want to b e those who have been so transformed that the thing that we talk about the thing we live for the expression of Our Lives is Our Risen (02:04) Savior thank you for this time this morning in Jesus name amen okay so let me give you the setting of where we are in chapter 26 and I'm going to start off with reminding you what we said all the way through this book of Acts same God same purpose Same Spirit same power so as we come to this and the reason we've got that that statement that is leading us t hrough this is so we realize though the words pinned long ago they are intended to transform how we live we are the continuing work of Jesus today 21st century Jesus is still at (02:39) work through his church you and I if we've chosen to follow Jesus are that uh the instrument of that continuing work so we need to keep that in mind so as we come to Paul in these last chapters as I've told you before Luke has transitioned what we are seeing now in chapters 21 to 28 and we are following closely t he life of Paul and we are following him uh as we do this is he's going through um his arrest that started in chapter 21 in Jerusalem all the way up through he will get to Rome in chapter 28 and there's a purpose behind (03:13) that he feels that God's spirit has called him to Rome Jesus met him personally in prison said you're going to Proclaim me in Rome just as you have proclaimed me in Jerusalem and so Paul is being faithful to the mission that God him and so we have the the unfolding of the se events for the purpose of us learning certain principles and we've been looking at and walking through those principles today uh we will continue on what happened and began at the beginning uh really at the end of chapter 25 and in now into 26 Paul has (03:46) as we said was ar arrested in Jerusalem he stood uh trial before the Sanhedrin they couldn't bring any conviction against him and in that process they determined to just kill him anyway so the Roman uh Captain there in Jerusalem got him out of there took him down to cesaria to stand trial before uh Felix the governor at the time he stood trial before Felix and nothing was found to be against him but Felix wanted to please the Jewish uh religious leaders so he kept Paul in prison for over two years new governor has come on the scene his (04:17) name is fesus and fesus brings Paul uh one of his first things he does because of pressure from the Jewish leaders he brings uh Paul to trial again and again Paul uh he can't find anythi ng against Paul Paul defends himself well the holy spirit gives him the words to say he's able to tell exactly why he is where he is and he's been arrested because of his faith in the Risen Savior and so uh fesus as well doesn't find anything against him and and wants to encourage Paul to go back to Jerusalem because he sees this as a religious matter for the (04:51) Jewish leaders but Paul knows that they're going to kill him and Paul instead uh appeals to Caesar and under Roman law if a if a R oman citizen heals to Caesar then it's to Caesar they will go and so uh now fesus his challenge is he's got to present a charge against Paul to send him to Caesar and he can't find any and so instead of um trying to figure that out on his own King AG grippa again we got a lot of people involved here um fesus replaced Felix so Felix is out of the picture now fesus is the Roman Governor he's the one who has (05:28) been uh uh assigned this position by Caesar himself and King agria we talked about this last week King AG grippa was actually raised in Rome he is a a great grandson of Herod the Great and uh he um Herod the Great ruled under the Roman Empire still under Caesar so we're going to realize that this is you got the Roman Empire and You' got the Jewish uh and J Jerusalem Judea Samaria the whole area around uh the Holy Land and under the Roman Empire they would put and they recognized uh the Herod family as the rulers in that area to (06:09) keep help keep the peace because the hot spot within the kingdom was always centered around Jerusalem and so uh when uh Herod was recognized by Caesar then we get down and like I said agrius his great-grandson he was raised in Rome was a friend of Caesar Caesar appointed him back uh to Jerusalem and gave him the title of King again in the line of his uh family so agria um the main reason uh really for agrippa's um existence uh he didn't really do a whole lot he just was there to try to keep the Jewish people under control and try to (0 6:53) uh mitigate and so and he lived the lavish sty lifestyle off the back of the people and as long as there were no problems Caesar was pleased Agrippa could do pretty much what he what he wanted to do and I pointed out last week Agrippa was not a good man by any means um he was more Roman than he was Jew uh in his whole mindset and everything and in fact we see this later on at the fall of uh Jerusalem and 870 uh he sides with the Romans when Jerusalem is destroyed so it gives you a little l ant you to notice something as we go into this today how many times Paul says King agria he is addressing his response directly to King (08:52) agria there's a large audience there to which Paul is standing before Roman uh other Roman leaders it's the whole uh Jewish uh religious leaders are there there's people of wealth there Paul was well known people want to see this Paul's uh it's a it's a spectacle for him to be on trial but Paul stays focused on Agrippa and so the responses that he is giv st draw your attention to it in verse two he starts out king Agrippa I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today so again he's going right to King Agrippa going to talk about what difference Jesus should make to King agria and so now we pick up at verse n (10:37) um well I want to I want to go back to verse verse eight S and 8 for just a second he says this in seven this is the promise our 12 tribes are hoping for to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night what was that romise because it was grounded in the Messiah coming to bring Salvation he did not see the Messiah and therefore he was uh Paul says we've always believed that God will raise the dead that they will see what he has done that's the foundation that Paul has laid remember a gria is considered the King of the Jews AG grippa would know this to be true we hold to the faith that we have in our forefathers because (12:15) of a promise made by God that they will see what he has promised to do and that ha is the (13:24) conflict of power for the religious leaders they do not want to give up their power power it is a system of wealth for them a system of control they determine the culture they determine what happens when it happens and how it happens and with with this uh sect of uh followers of the Nazarene named Jesus claiming that Jesus has raised from the dead it is more important they maintain their power than they see a fulfillment of what has been promised by God you see how strong a confl s everybody else in that room stands where Paul once stood they're opposed to Jesus that's why Paul's on trial and he says on the authority of um (15:11) 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 many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished and I tried to force them to blaspheme why did he try to force them to blaspheme if they blasphemed against God he could have them put alous to wipe out this sect following Jesus But Not only was I wanting to wipe them out I actually took uh steps to do it to see it happen and I led the way for this to take place and I did it all with the blessing of those who want to condemn me here (16:54) today okay that's the what he said so he's he's now laying the personal groundw for an understanding of why there is opposition to Jesus this one he says who has been raised from the dead Okay so he continues on now on one of these Journeys oats it was a common statement uh in at that time uh among the re the Jewish people to kick against the goats was a statement in a meaning of to fight against the purposes of God you are fighting against what God is doing it's it's uh you can't do it it's not going to accomplish anything for you so he's speaking and using a phrase that (18:36) was common in the day that they would have totally understood he's saying uh he has been he's hearing a voice from Heaven saying to him you're fighting ag he connection here who's speaking to me who are you I am Jesus who you are persecuting you are kicking against the will of God you were kicking against me Paul and and the reader right there that he would have their attention he's bordering from the from the Jewish perspective he's bordering on blasphemy that's what they got all upset with Jesus about in the first place and and when Jesus was crucified go back and look at his trial they tried to uh that (20:24) they pursued Jesus not on fact or our sins being forgiven and being Sanctified the (21:39) idea of a sanctification and the word that Paul uses there they would have understand him to say that to to be made uh forgiveness of sins is to be made right with God to be Sanctified is to be set apart to serve God so a faith in Jesus leads to my forgiveness but it also leads that my life will serve God this becomes important here in just a minute so then King AG grippa I was not disobedient to the vision from Heaven first to those in Da me why are you fighting against my will Saul and I asked who it was and it said this is Jesus the one you persecute and I am telling you as the audience hears what Paul's saying he's (23:24) taken it and says Jesus is raised from the dead now he's saying the evidence I have that Jesus Jus was raised from the dead as I met him on the road and he told me and spoke to me as the very voice of God he made it personal but the whole time he's making it personal he's turning to the one person he's focus Jesus Heaven Must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as promised long ago through his holy prophets for Moses said the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people you must listen to everything he tells you anyone who does not listen to (25:10) him will be completely cut off from their people so I jumped there to Acts chapter 3 hopefully it said that up there so I didn't lose you too much um on that but what I want you to get in ver helped me to this very day so I stand here and testify to small and great a light then he says well we shouldn't be surprised because this is what Moses promised I'm going to give you a little history lesson now in the midst of this because those listening would know what he was referencing all right in um it it's a reference to Deuteronomy 18 Moses makes a reference in Deuteronomy 18 that there will come a (26:59) Prophet after him who is greater than him Moses was considered by the uh Jewish p 8:08) command that he gave in regard to Jesus was listen to what he says he is greater than me listen to him now if I'm sitting there in a gria seat and I'm hearing what Paul is saying and I know this promise I don't it's not something what are you talking about Paul I know it because this is what I was taught growing up my Jewish connection would tell me I say I'm a a practicing Jew I would know these truths that God not only gave promises to Abraham and through the pro uh prophets of a messiah et who would fulfill all the promises of the Messiah it was a title given to the one they were anticipating (29:56) so it was not a we don't know that they did and King Agrippa who Paul's going after goes you've heard it said many times we're looking for the prophet the one greater than Moses and he came and his name is Jesus and I met him on the road after he'd been crucified he appeared to me and said why are you persecuting me now you see how he's he's weaving this context for for his audienc g in and and we I'm not going to go through all of that today go study that great study in your if you're going to journal write down what does the prophet mean when the title to Jesus and then do (31:44) some study on it reference it back to the Old Testament Mo uh Paul is saying Jesus has fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament and in Jesus is the will of God I must see it and Obey him we know as he already stated before that does that mean that he is the source of forgiveness of my si oman Governor he doesn't really even know the re uh the Jewish faith but fesus just said no wait Paul you're got you've got insane because if we were sitting in that audience understanding what others are saying even though fesus is not a a a Jewish leader he's a Roman leader he understands exactly what Paul has said (33:34) he's saying that Jesus has fulfilled all the things that the um that the Jewish people have been looking for and longing for all the promises of God that God raised him from e met me on the road he is God and so right there in the midst of that as he brings it back fesus is going wait a minute Paul obviously you're a very smart guy but you've gone insane let's continue on what does Paul say I'm not insane most excellent fesus Paul replied what I am saying is true and reasonable notice what he does right here the king with these things and I can speak freely to him so you're seem bothered by this fesus I'm not insane (35:31) I'm actually talking to Agrippa because he sus and he's (36:48) asking now this this man who claims the title of King of the Jews do you believe the prophets if King Agri says no that's going to uh really disconnect him from the Jewish people in fact it's going to be quite a um uproar if he says he doesn't believe the prophets because they are Longing For What the prophets has promised to come true now he also knows Paul is kind of giving him a no- win situation if he says yes then Paul will go then you must believe everything I've laid Paul do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian you see he understands what Paul's saying to say you believe in the (38:48) prophets the argument has now been laid out then why don't you believe in Jesus this is if there was a a an event that took place I think this would be a phenomenal one to sit in on and see if you could go back in time because there is so much happening in this and it's so deep and so rich I would love to see how much Agrippa was squirming o repent and show that repentance by their deeds remember who he's talking to he's not just throwing things out General he's speaking specifically to a man who is far from God but says he follows God statement is without being direct Paul's saying if you believes to the point where we're at (40:42) now where he's saying do you believe the prophets agrippa's got a big problem because if he says he believes in the prophets then his life needs to be one of repentance demonstrated through his deeds become what I am expecting uh uh what I am except for these chains in other words I hope you will become a follower of Jesus but not be imprisoned for it the king Rose and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them and after they left the room they began saying to one another this man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment Agrippa said to fesus this man could have been set free if he had (42:42) not appealed to Caesar so again Paul's defense and statement of s (43:55) sanctification he sets us apart to God Our Lives need to show that we put our faith in Jesus so I think today's uh application is really in many ways fairly simple Our Lives need to demonstrate our faith in Jesus we've talked about this in a number of ways and a number of different perspectives but our it's not what we say that matters in fact often times we need to say far less we need to recognize what's kept us from God that repentance will bring us close to God and he will begin to p with Jesus but in that I need to be able to uh explain who Jesus is in my life that's why I'm so impressed with Paul he (45:51) walks them all the way back to the foundation of the faith for the Jewish people and walks them all the way through the promis of God all the way up to the one who's fulfilled that promise and he goes you act like you're surprised that God did and then he talks about how faith in Jesus is fulfillment of that promise and the fulfilling of that promise is the Forgivenes tting my faith in Jesus but knowing that Jesus in whom I put my faith how is he the Fulfillment of God's promises how have those promises been fulfilled and and impacted my life what difference does following Jesus make I have I want to be careful how I say (47:47) this I have known too many who say they follow Jesus but they're working hard to get rid of the distinctives of following Jesus what would Paul say in those situations I think he'd say you're not even following Jesus and you don't kno about Jesus that's all I'm saying can you talk about Jesus who is he what has he done and sometimes like Paul did there he makes it personal these are the things that I did until I met Jesus and then he turned me around he forgave me and my life has been lived 100% to express who he is you see his may be more bigger and more dramatic but the same thing should be true this is (49:43) who I was till I met Jesus and now this is who I am because I met Jesus and be able to share that with people and able to share what we have we're going to try to reinforce that for all of us in the coming days let's pray father thank you for your word the example of Paul the amazing truth that he unfolds is that you made a promise clear back in the Garden of Eden when we rebelled and walked away from you and you kept that promise and you kept building on us and you kept revealing more and you kept the hope alive and you never abandoned us and you sent your son into our midst and (51:36) he died and rose again and in that is the representation of his body that was (52:50) broken for us that obedience was what led him to the cross and it's obedience that's called for us to live out in our knowledge of him so that's why we're given the command to go and do likewise to live out what has been given to us."