Glory to his name, glory to his name.
From the land to the heart, he was the Lord of all.
Glory to his name.
I am so rich with sin and sin.
Jesus so sweetly abides with you.
From there at the cross, praise the King.
Glory to his name.
From the land to the heart, he was the Lord of all.
Glory to his name.
Oh, precious child, let my speech come soon.
I am so glad I ever knew
where Jesus truly will be found.
Glory to his name.
Where to come to the Lord of all.
Glory to his name.
Up to the top, to the top, to his name is Jesus.
Yes, let his soul and his name be seen.
I came today and believe of thee.
Glory to his name.
Dear Lord, thank you for the city service, Lord.
Thank you for everyone that's here, Lord, and for this church, Lord, and this city, Lord.
I pray you express your service in Jesus' name, Amen.
Let's turn our handles to song number 4, number 41.
The song number 4, number 8, this time in the big box.
It's another one.
Where is thy kingdom?
O God my God,
Where is the shelter
deep within me?
Lows in his heart
will crash in the river.
Where's that land
in the river?
Where is thy faithless?
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Where is thy faithfulness
Lord unto me?
Summer and winter
and springtime and harvest
the moon and stars
till their forces are gone.
Join me in thy nature
in my faithfulness
so thy faithfulness
will see and grow.
Where is thy faithfulness?
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Where is thy faithfulness
Lord unto me?
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Where is thy faithfulness?
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Where is thy faithfulness?
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Where is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
All I have needed
I have found who I am.
Morning by morning
new mercies I see.
Morning by morning
Thanksgiving potluck service coming up
on Thanksgiving of all days.
So we're going to have that here on November 23rd and it's going to be from 3 to 6.
If you're able to bring a dish to share, please do so.
If you can't, that's fine too. If you just want to show up, eat some pumpkin
pie, dip in, dip out, that's fine. But if you want to
join us and bring something to pass, of course you're more welcome as well.
And we're going to be going again from 3 to 6. And just remember there will be
between 5, 30, and 6. I'll probably just get up and just do a very
short Thanksgiving sermon.
But we'll have it laid out. It'll be a nice, good dinner. So hopefully
if you can make it, you've got nothing else going on, please come on down and join us.
And then don't forget the portraits for the yearbook are going to be taken
let's see, it's going to be
Is that this Sunday? That's not this Sunday, is it?
It's got to be next Sunday. Yeah, it's next Sunday because they're doing the group
shot up there. Yeah, so next Sunday. Not this coming Sunday
but next Sunday are the portraits for the yearbook so
come on out. Don't forget the color is blue so
you need to coordinate all that. There you go.
I don't think there's anything else to mention as far as announcements go.
So let's just go ahead and count up the soul winning
going back to Monday if there's anything from Monday
or Tuesday or Wednesday
or today.
Alright, we'll keep up the great work soul winning. Let's go ahead and sing one more song before
we get into the preaching tonight. Lots of hands up.
Let's go, what do you got?
One hundred. One hundred?
Let's play it by day.
One hundred.
single complete
to exe chapter twenty six
to exe chapter twenty six as always
exe chapter.
Exe chapter twenty six
the beginning of verse one.
I make myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer
for myself this day before thee, touching all the things
whereof I am accused of the Jews,
especially because I know thee to be an expert in all customs
and questions which are among the Jews,
wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
My manner of life for my youth, which was at first among my own
nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews.
It is new me from the beginning, if they would testify
that after the most greatest sin of my religion I live,
a Pharisee.
And now I stand and judge for the hope of the promise made
of God unto our fathers, unto which promise our 12 tribes,
instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.
For which hope, saith King Agrippa, I am accused
of the Jews.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you
that God should raise the dead?
I barely thought with myself that I ought to do many things,
contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did
in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut
up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests,
and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
And I punished them often in every synagogue and propelled them
to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them.
I persecuted them even unto strange cities, whereupon as I went
to Damascus with authority and permission from the chief priests,
at midday I saw in the way the light from heaven
above the brightness of the sun shining about me,
and God was journeying with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth,
I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in a Hebrew tongue,
Saul, Saul, why persecute is thou me?
Is it hard for thee to kick against the priests?
And I said, who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecute is,
for rise and stand up upon thy feet, for I appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness
to be both of these things which thou hast seen,
and of those things in which I will appear unto thee,
delivering thee from the people and now, sorry,
and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee,
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith,
that is, in me.
Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient
to the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them
of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coast
of Judea and then to the Gentiles,
and they should repent and turn to God and do works,
meet for repentance, for these causes the Jews caught me
in the temple and went about to kill me.
Having therefore obtained help of God,
I continue unto this day witnessing both to small
and great, saying, none are the things in those
which the prophets of Moses did say should come,
that Christ should suffer and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead and should show light
unto the people, unto the Gentiles.
And as thus spake for himself,
Ephesus said with a loud voice,
Paul, thou art beside thyself,
much learning doth make thee mad.
But he said, I am not mad, most noble species,
but speak forth to the words of truth and soberness,
for the king knoweth of these things before whom also I speak
freely, for I am persuaded that none
of these things are hidden from him,
for this thing was not done in corner.
King Agrippa believedest thou the prophets?
I know that thou believeth.
Then Agrippa said unto Paul,
almost thou persuadeest me to be a Christian.
And Paul said, I will to God, not only thou, but also all
that here to this day were both almost and altogether
such as I am, except these bonds.
And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up
and the governor and Bernice, and they that sat with him.
And when they were gone aside, they talked between
themselves saying, this man doeth nothing worthy
of death or of bonds.
Then said Agrippa to Ephesus, this man might have been
set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar
for that after his greatness.
All the great fathers, thank you for our church, Lord God.
Thank you for your goodness and mercy
and all you do for us, Lord, in your technology.
We ask you to bless the preaching, bless the service,
Lord God, and fill deacon with your spirit, Lord,
and just give us ears to hear your word, Lord.
And Jesus, hold the name and pray, amen.
Amen.
Amen, so we're there.
Acts 26, of course, has been a couple,
well, we weren't here last week, so it was two weeks ago
we were in Acts 25, so very quickly,
just to bring everybody up to speed in case you've forgotten.
In Acts 25 is where we saw Paul being left bound by Felix,
that's actually the end of Acts 24.
Paul has been left bound by Felix in Caesarea
for two years and then Festus comes into Jerusalem
and the Jews desire that Paul will be brought
from Caesarea to Jerusalem and they're trying to convince
Festus to do that because they're still plotting
to kill him, they wanna get him out in the open
so that they can attack him and then Paul eventually
is brought before Festus and the Jews in Caesarea.
If you remember chapter 25, Festus doesn't go for it.
He says, you guys can come to where Paul is,
keeps Paul safe and then, of course,
they had that little meeting there with the Jews,
with Festus and with Paul and then Paul at the end
of that whole discourse appeals unto Caesar, right?
This is why at the end here you have Agrippa saying,
you know, if he had not appealed unto Caesar,
he might be set at liberty.
It's because in Acts 25, he said, you know,
I appeal to Caesar and Festus said, you know,
unto Caesar, you're gonna go.
And then in Acts 25, you had Agrippa and Burnissi
show up to Caesarea and Festus declares Paul's case
and then he tells them about Paul
and then Agrippa requests an audience of Paul.
He says, you know, I wanna speak to him too
and then Paul is brought before Festus,
he's brought before Agrippa, he's brought before
the chief captains and the principal men of the city
as well, so he has this big meeting
and then he's so on and so forth,
I'm not gonna take the time to go through all that
but that's where we are in Acts 26 basically.
It says there in verse one, then Agrippa said unto Paul,
thou art permitted to speak for thyself,
then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself
saying this, what verse two?
I think myself happily King Agrippa
because I shall answer for myself this day
before thee touching all things
whereof I'm accused of the Jews,
especially because I know thee to be an expert
in all customs and questions which are among the Jews
wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
So Agrippa apparently is somebody who's familiar
with the Jews, familiar with what they believe,
their customs, probably because of the fact
that he's the king over that region.
So he's just, he's very familiar with these people,
he's been there for some time, so Paul knows who he is
and Paul also knows some things about Agrippa
one being that he's very familiar with the Jews
wherefore I beseech thee, he says at the end of verse three,
to hear me patiently, my manner of life from my youth
which was at the first among my own nation at Jerusalem
know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning
if they would testify that after the most straightest sect
of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
So Paul's basically saying I'm not a stranger
to these people, they know who I am, they know my upbringing,
they know that I was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel
and all of that.
He says in verse six, and now I stand and am judged
for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers.
He's saying I'm simply being persecuted
for the promise that was made unto our fathers.
Okay, unto the promise which the 12 tribes
instantly serving God day and night hope to come
for which hopes sake King Agrippa I am accused of the Jews.
So he's basically just saying, hey, I'm just following
our religion, I'm just doing, you know,
I'm just calling a question for the hope that we all have,
basically is what he's saying here.
And he says there in verse six, again, I stand and I'm judged
for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers.
So what is this hope, right?
We got to kind of ask ourselves, what is the hope
that was made of God unto the fathers?
Well, I think what he's referring to here is the promise
that was made to Abraham.
Okay, and if you would, go over to Romans chapter four,
Romans chapter number four.
I'm gonna have you turn in a little bit tonight,
so stick with me.
Okay, so you're gonna go to Romans four,
we're gonna end up in Galatians
and then in Genesis a little bit later.
But for now look there in Romans four, it says verse 13,
for the promise that he should be heir of the world
was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law,
but through the righteousness of faith.
Okay, and of course in the context,
Paul's making a case against,
that salvation comes by faith.
Okay, and that we understand that in the book of Romans.
But here we see that the promise that was made
was that Abraham should be heir of the world, right?
And Paul here in Romans four is just making the case
that that promise comes to him through faith,
through the righteousness that is a faith
and not in the law.
What I want you to see here is what is the promise, right?
Because Paul is saying in Acts chapter number 26,
that he is judged for the hope of the promise
made of God unto our fathers, okay?
So we have to ask ourselves, what is the promise, right?
Well, the promise is that Abraham would be heir of the world
okay, through his seed.
Go to Galatians chapter number three.
Galatians chapter number three,
the promise it said in Romans 14
is that he should be heir of the world.
Galatians chapter number three,
if you look at verse 16, it says now to Abraham
and to his seed where the promise is made, okay?
And we'll talk about why it's in plural,
why promises is plural there in a moment, okay?
But notice it says, now to Abraham
and to his seed where promise is made,
he sayeth not to seeds as of many, but as of one
and to thy seed, which is Christ.
And this I say that the covenant,
which is another word for promise, okay?
Covenant and promise are being used interchangeably,
that was confirmed before God in Christ,
the law which was 430 years after cannot disnewel.
So it's a little bit wordy here.
So you gotta kinda slow down and pick this apart,
kinda get the context.
But what I want us to see is what the promises are, okay?
He's saying that to Abraham and to his seed
where the promise is made, which is Christ, right?
And he says, and this I say that the covenant
or the promise that was made
was confirmed before God in Christ.
So that's how the promise came, right?
As he said in Romans chapter four,
that that promise would come
through the righteousness of faith,
through the faith that is in Christ,
and that that promise was confirmed before God in Christ,
the law, which was 430 years after that promise was made,
cannot disnewel that it should be made
make the promise of none effect.
So again, he's making a case against the law again,
saying that the promise comes by faith, okay?
The law cannot disnewel the promise.
It came 400 years after the promise
or the covenant was made with Abraham in Christ, okay?
For if the inheritance, it says in verse 18,
if the inheritance be of the law, it has no more promise,
but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
So let's just slow down here in a minute,
Galatians chapter three.
First of all, why is it promises, right?
It says there in verse 16,
now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, okay?
Well, one is because of the fact
that God made the same promise to Abraham multiple times,
okay?
He didn't just make this promise
of this covenant with him one time.
If you remember the story of Abraham,
he had to actually reassure him of the promise, okay?
On more than one occasion.
In fact, if you would go to Genesis chapter number 15,
Genesis chapter number 15, okay?
And we'll see where God is making this promise to Abraham.
You'll notice it's the same promise,
but in several different passages,
he's reiterating it for Abraham's sake.
It says in Genesis 13 verse 14,
the Lord sent him to Abram
after that lot was separated from him, okay?
So that's early on in the story.
Lift up now thine eyes and look to the place
where thou art northward and southward
and eastward and westward,
for all the land which thou seest,
to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever.
So that's the promise that he would be heir of the world,
right?
That he's gonna have all of this land.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,
so that if a man can number the dust of the earth,
then shall thy seed also be numbered, okay?
Genesis 15 verse one, after these things,
the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me,
seeing I go childless, the steward of my house
is this Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said, Behold to me thou hast given no seed,
and lo, no one born of my house is mine heir, right?
So he's saying, you promised me earlier
that my seed would be as the dust of the earth,
here I am years later, and I don't even have one child, okay?
Verse four, and behold, the word of the Lord came unto him,
saying, This shall not be thine heir, Eliezer,
right, of Damascus, but he that shall come forth
out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
So it's the same promise, right,
that we saw back in Genesis chapter 13, right?
He's saying, I'm gonna give this land to thy seed,
that you're gonna have children,
and that they're going to be as the dust of the earth,
right, your seed that proceeds after you, okay?
So he's just reiterating the same promise here.
He's saying, verse five, and he brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars,
just like you did back in verse chapter 13,
if thou be able to number them,
he said unto him, So shall thy seed be, right?
He said, as the dust of the earth, he's like,
I promise you, it's gonna be as the dust of the earth,
chapter 13, it's gonna be as the stars in heaven, verse 15.
So that's why in Galatians, one of the reasons why
it says promise is plural, I believe,
is because he's reiterating that same promise to Abram,
right, to Abram, Abraham, and to his seed
where the promise is made, okay?
Now, that's reiterated again in Genesis chapter number 22.
We won't take the time to turn there,
but go to Genesis chapter number 26,
and we'll see another reason potentially why
he uses the word promises instead of just promise, okay?
He again reiterates that same promise to Abram
in Genesis chapter number 22.
He said that in blessing I will bless thee,
this is after he offers Isaac,
and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
as the stars of heaven and as the sandwiches
upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess
the gate of his enemies.
So it's kind of interesting in Genesis 13,
he's saying it says the dust of the earth,
and then in Genesis chapter 15, it says
it's the stars of the sea, and in Genesis 22,
it says the sand on the sea, and it says
the stars of the sky.
I know I just said stars of the sea previously,
but you know what I meant, okay?
So finally in Genesis 22, he just takes
the two previous promises and reminds them
of them both again using that same illustration, right?
Those previous illustrations, he's reiterating it.
So he's constantly reassuring Abram of the promise, right?
That his seed is going to be innumerable.
And in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Now another reason perhaps why he uses the word promises
is because his seed is also Isaac.
Now in the context of Galatians chapter number three,
of course, we understand that he's saying
in Galatians chapter number three,
he saith not to seeds as of many,
but as of one to thy seed, which is Christ, okay?
So ultimately the seed is Christ,
but that promise was also made to Abraham's,
those that would come after him, okay?
His literal physical descendants, okay?
It's another reason perhaps why he's saying
in Genesis or Galatians chapter three,
to Abraham and to his seed where the promise is made, okay?
The promises meaning it's just,
it's been reiterated in Abraham's life
and it's being reiterated in Isaac's life
where you are in Genesis 26, are you there?
Did I have you go there?
Verse one, and there was famine in the land
beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham
and Isaac went unto Abimelech the king of the Philistines
unto Gerar and the Lord appeared unto him
and said, go down into Egypt, dwell in the land
which I and I will be with thee and will bless thee
for unto thee and to thy seed I will give these countries
to perform an oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father.
So again, he's reiterating that same promise
that he made to Abraham once more.
He did it several times for Abraham
and now in the case of Isaac.
So you can see why in Galatians,
it says now unto Abraham and to his seed
where the promise is made.
Same promise and of course there were other promises
that were made to Abraham and others,
but I believe why it's saying promises in Galatians
is because he's reiterating it.
I promise, I promise, I promise.
Yes, it was the same promise, but it was made many times.
And obviously, seed can refer to,
we know in Galatians chapter three, it refers to Christ.
Paul's making a real specific application
in Galatians chapter number three,
but don't forget that seed can refer
to the physical descendants of Abraham.
For example, he prophesied of Israel
going into bondage in Egypt, Genesis 15,
where he said, no, but surety that thy seed
shall be a stranger in the land that is not theirs.
So the seed also refers to his literal physical descendants.
So that's why the promises were made, plural,
because it was made to Abraham multiple times
and it was also made to his seed, meaning Isaac and others.
Now obviously, if you wanna go back
to Galatians chapter number three,
Galatians chapter number three,
the seed that we're most concerned with
in Galatians three is Christ.
That's the applications being made there, okay?
And it says again in Galatians chapter number three,
that unto Abraham and a seed where the promise is made,
he saith not to seeds as of many,
but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ,
and this I say that the covenant
which was confirmed before of God in Christ,
the law cannot disannul.
So obviously, the promise that is being made to Abraham
ultimately is that Christ would come, okay?
And again, this all goes back to what we're reading in Acts.
That's what Paul is saying.
He's saying, hey, I'm just being persecuted,
I'm being attacked, I'm being judged
for the hope of the promise of God
that was made unto our fathers.
The promise that in Abraham
would all the nations of the earth be blessed.
That's the hope that our fathers have.
That's why these guys are persecuting me.
It's kind of ironic, right?
He's basically saying, I'm right
and you guys don't get it, is what he's telling the Jews.
It's going over your head.
And that promise is that Christ would come, okay?
We are inheritors of that promise,
because again, what is the promise that was made to Abraham
that in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed?
All nations.
Is it one particular nation that's blessed?
No, all of them, right?
Every single nation's gonna be blessed in Abraham.
How?
Because Christ is going to spring forth of Abraham.
He is that seed that would come.
And he's going to offer salvation to the world, okay?
All nations can be blessed in Christ.
Are you in Galatians chapter three again?
Look at verse 28.
There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female,
for you're all one in Christ Jesus.
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise, right?
The promise is that you could,
that Abraham's seed would be heirs of the world, right?
And we have that in Christ.
We are going to inherit the promise.
What is the promise?
That we would be heirs of the world,
that we would inherit the world,
that we would rule and reign with Christ.
That's what we have in Christ.
Sometimes I think we sell short what it is we have in Jesus.
I mean, it's great that we're saved
and not on our way to hell.
Praise God for that.
But we have so much more beyond that.
Jesus said, blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
You know, that's us.
Let's talk about us.
And that's what Paul is saying here.
Don't let people take that from you.
Don't let, you know, there's a lot of even
Baptist preachers that want to get up today
and beguile you of your reward or deceive you and say,
oh, no, no, no, the promises that are made
are made to a bunch of Christ-rejecting Jews,
a bunch of posers over there.
You know, and to call them Jews is questionable.
I mean, their own history,
they can't even trace it back that far.
And yet they, oh, no, we're the Jews.
We're Abraham's seed.
And yet, you know, there's a lot of people,
even some of their own professors over there in Tel Aviv,
that would say, well, you know,
it might not actually be the case
that we are the descendants of Abraham.
In fact, it might be the people
that we're bombing right now
that are more closely related to Abraham than we are
because they actually look Middle Eastern.
They have brown skin.
I don't know if you noticed,
but most of the Jews over there are all white.
It's because they're Polish.
You know, they're Europeans
that adopted the religion of Judaism
and now say, oh, hey, we're, or oy vey, right?
We are the children of Abraham.
Oh, that's their promise now.
Why?
Because of some supposed lineage
that's sketchy, they can't even prove,
that they can't even trace back?
That we're supposed to believe that that's the case?
No, friend, the Bible is crystal clear
that there is neither Jew nor Greek,
that God doesn't see things that way in Christ,
that that partition has been broken down
and he has made of twain one new man.
Who is a Jew, but he that is a Jew, which is one inwardly,
whose circumcision is that of the heart
and not of the flesh, whose praise is not of men,
but of God, okay?
We're the true Jews.
Why?
Because we have the circumcision of the heart,
because we are in Christ,
because we are spiritually Abraham's seed.
If you would, go to Galatians chapter number four.
That's what he says in Galatians 3, 29.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed.
I mean, could the Bible be any clearer on this doctrine?
And I'm not worried about trying to convince
the so-called Jews today.
It's God's people, so-called, the people that claim Christ
that seem to struggle with this the most, ironically.
It's people, it's preachers, it's Baptists,
it's people that should be reading their Bible
and see it as plain as the nose on their face,
that if you're born again, that if you're saved,
you're Abraham's seed.
Well, no, I don't know if that's the case.
Then you tell me what that means.
You interpret it, then.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise.
Well, that doesn't apply to us.
Okay, you know, it's just like,
let me just go beat my head against the wall.
Look at Galatians chapter four, verse 28.
You know, and this is an important topic,
given current events in the world.
I mean, everything that's going on,
there's all of this just pro-Israel,
anti-Hamas sentiment going on,
and people are trying, you know,
people are just being, all these Christians
are getting rallied over onto one side.
I'll let you guess which one, right?
It's not that hard to figure out.
You say, well, have you taken a side?
No, I haven't.
I was talking to somebody the other night,
and I just think about when Joshua
was on the banks of Jordan getting ready to go in Jericho,
and he saw a man with his sword drawn
on the banks walking, and it was the Lord.
He didn't know it at the time,
and he said to him, you know,
art thou for us, or for our enemy?
And he responded and said, nay.
That's not, well, it's an A or B question.
It's not yes or no.
It's option one or two, you're for us or for them.
He's just like, nay.
But as a captain of the Lord's hosts, it might come.
And he told them, you know, you're standing on holy ground.
It was the Lord, Jesus, showing up.
And you would think that if Jesus has said,
well, I'm with you, obviously,
like that would have been like,
well, yeah, that makes sense,
because he's the one that's leading them in
to the promised land and fighting their battles.
And yet, even in that instance,
when you had the literal children of Israel
whose descendancy was unquestionable,
that are only a few generations removed from Abraham,
you know, it was a few centuries.
Christ, even at that time, is saying,
nay, I'm not on your side either,
to the literal children of Israel.
But now we're supposed to just believe
that God instantly sides with those people,
because they have some so-called lineage,
because they fly the Star of David.
And yet, they can't tell you where that came from, right?
They don't even know.
It's in there somewhere, but no, it's not,
unless you're referring to the Star of Remfan, right?
You know, obviously, a lot of people believe
it comes from Rothschild, right,
the red shield that was the emblem he used.
But the point is this, we don't wanna let people
take this promise away from us, okay?
And we oughta rejoice that this promise is ours.
Paul is standing there today, in Acts chapter 26,
and just saying, hey, I'm being judged
for the promise that was made to our fathers.
And yet, you know, if you get up and preach this today,
if you get up and say, that's not God's chosen people
over there, we, who are in Christ,
we're God's chosen people, we're Abraham's seed,
we're heirs of the promise, it's us,
you know, we're standing judged for it.
And then you're labeled something.
You know, just got an email today,
oh, I heard you're an anti-Semite.
Why, cause I just don't blindly swear allegiance to Israel?
Anything short of that, and you're anti-Semite.
You know, and I'm, you know, maybe I should just
throw this one out from the hip,
but you know, I'm sitting there thinking to myself,
is that even a Semitic people that's over there?
How can I be anti-Semitic if that's not,
there aren't even Semites?
I mean, who's to say that they're even, you know,
of that, you know, ethnicity.
So, you know, that's the thing, you know,
you just get up and preach this stuff.
You just preach what the Bible says, anti-Semite.
And then, you know, and you could see why Jews
hate the Bible, or they hate the New Testament,
they hate the word of God, and they hate those
that preach it, because it outs them as God's,
as being frauds.
And says, you know, and just like Jesus said,
you know, the kingdom shall be taken from you
and given unto a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Look at Galatians four, verse 28.
Now we, brethren, now who's he writing to?
Galatians, not Jews, Gentiles.
We, brethren, here's Paul, a Jew, a Hebrew of the Hebrews,
calling Gentiles, brethren.
You know, and it's not that I'm anti-Semitic,
you know, the Jews can become my brother any time they want
when they want to stop rejecting Christ and believe on him.
And if they don't want to do that, fine,
but don't sit there and expect me to just swear allegiance
to them, because some Zionist or some dispensationalist,
you know, did a number on a bunch of people.
I didn't fall for it, you know, why?
Because we're actually reading what the Bible says,
we're gonna see through these lies.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac, are the children of promise.
But when as then, you know, talking about Isaac and Ishmael,
the two sons of Abraham, as then, just like, you know,
we're Isaac, right, he's being allegorical here,
we're Isaac, but as then, he that was born after the flesh
is persecuted, excuse me, he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now.
He's saying just like Ishmael persecuted the child,
the son of the promise, Isaac, so it is now.
The elder persecuted the younger.
He that came after, right, was persecuted
of him that came first.
I mean, the Jews were here before, you know,
they came first, right, to them were committed
the oracles of God.
They had these things, but when they rejected Christ,
God took that promise from them and it was given unto us.
Now, obviously, Gentiles could have gotten in
on that promise anytime they wanted throughout history.
We'll delve into all that, but it's very clear
that in the New Testament, God has is done with the Jews.
Okay, he's done with them.
And he is, and now the Gentiles are by faith being
are now God's chosen people by faith in Christ, right.
But just as in Isaac's day, in Ishmael's day,
those that are born after the spirit, us,
are persecuted by those that are after the flesh.
You know, those that just wanna claim some fleshly lineage,
some genealogy, the Bible says avoid genealogies.
Yeah, we're persecuted now, right.
That's why even yours truly, if you just Google my name,
it's called a hate preacher.
That's why I have, you know, I'm a footnote
on a long article on ADL's website.
You know, at least I made it on there, I guess.
I don't know.
It's like every preacher in the new IFB
got their own paragraph, and then at the very bottom,
they're like, by the way, there's this other guy.
You gotta look out for it too.
Deacon Corbin Russell.
I'm just a footnote.
Well, I'm trying a little harder tonight
to get a little up higher on there, right.
I mean, ask me if I care.
Well, they wrote an article about you.
Well, fax it to me, and maybe I'll get a paper cut.
And that's about the worst that's gonna happen.
But, you know, this is the promise
that Paul is being persecuted for, right.
He's saying, hey, you guys are persecuting me
for the promise that your fathers looked for,
that Abraham's seed would be heirs of the world,
that Abraham's seed would be a blessing to all nations,
that Abraham's seed would be as the stars of heaven
and the sands of the sea.
And truly, when you think about it spiritually,
that's the way it is.
I mean, think about all of just the millions of people
that have gotten saved throughout history.
I mean, it's innumerable, right.
It'd be like looking at the stars, there's so many,
and how many more there are yet to come.
We're part of that promise, folks, you and I.
We are heirs according to the promise,
because we are in Christ.
Let's move along through the story.
We've got a lot more to get into here
that you wanna try and finish tonight.
We left off in verse six, and he said,
I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise
made of God unto our fathers,
unto which promise our 12 tribes,
instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.
For which hope's sake, King Agrippa,
I am accused of the Jews.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you
that God should raise the dead?
I verily thought within myself, with myself,
that I ought to do many things
contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
which things I did also in Jerusalem,
and many of the saints that I shut up in prison,
having received authority from the chief priests,
and when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them.
So it wasn't just Stephen's death that Paul consented to.
If you remember, when Stephen was martyred,
they laid their feet,
those that stoned them laid them at the feet of Saul,
and he was consenting unto his death.
But Paul's admitting here that it wasn't just Stephen.
When other Christians, other believers were put to death,
he gave his voice as a witness saying,
yes, these are who they are.
These people are worthy of death.
Verse 11, I punished them oft in every synagogue
and compelled them to blaspheme,
and being exceeding mad against them,
I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
And it's not talking about, you know,
like Las Vegas or something, a strange city.
It's talking about foreign cities, right?
He was saved on the road to Damascus, a strange city,
one that he was not native to, okay?
Whereupon as I went to Damascus with the authority
and commission from the chief priest,
at midday, O king, I saw on the way
a light shine from heaven, excuse me,
a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun
shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when they were fallen to the earth,
I heard a voice speak unto me and saying
in Hebrew tongues, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.
Verse 15, and I said, who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest,
but rise and stand upon thy feet.
I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness
of both these things which thou has seen
and those things which I will appear unto thee.
So obviously this is the first time
we're hearing Paul recount this, okay?
He's, you know, he's recalling the encounter
that we had in Damascus road in Acts nine.
And we saw another retelling of this story in Acts 22.
But what's interesting here is that
you get a little bit more background here, right?
Into what took place there.
Because in those other instances,
all Christ is recorded as saying is,
you know, go and it'll be totally what thou shall do, right?
But that's really all you get.
Whereas here, you get a little bit more
of the dialogue that took place, okay?
He said, rise and stand upon thy feet,
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness
both of those things which thou has seen
and of those things in which I will appear unto thee.
Right, the things you've already seen
and the revelation that I'm going to give you.
Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles
unto whom now I send thee.
Now verse 17 is interesting.
It's tempting to park it right there
and just spend the rest of the sermon on it
because he says, Jesus is saying that he's going to what?
Deliver him from the people
and from the Gentiles, right?
So two different groups of people, right?
So it's Jews and Gentiles, right?
Throughout, that's what we see.
That's the distinction we see made in Paul's day.
Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Gentiles, right?
So he's saying he's going to deliver thee from the people,
meaning Paul's people, the Jews, right?
And from the Gentiles because Paul was also persecuted
by the Gentiles as well.
We saw that going through the book of Acts.
But notice at the end he says, unto whom now I send thee.
Okay?
Now you have to ask yourself,
is he saying he sends them unto the people
or the Gentiles or both?
Well, we know from elsewhere in scripture
that Christ sent the apostles unto the Gentiles.
Okay, the Jews had their chance, they rejected Christ
and he's saying, I'm going to send you unto the Gentiles.
To do what?
To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light
for the power of Satan unto God
that they may receive the forgiveness of sins
and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faith that is in me.
So this is some really powerful passage here.
These are the words of Christ.
This is what Paul heard come out of the mouth of Christ.
Okay?
So it's really interesting that we get this
little bit more detail about what exactly took place
on the road to Damascus when Paul went on to be converted.
Okay?
Notice what Paul says to him,
that he's going to send them to these people
and what's the purpose?
To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light.
Now how is Paul going to do that?
How is Paul going to turn people from darkness to light?
By preaching the gospel, right?
He's not, this isn't some kind of metaphysical
or he's not some kind of a sorcerer.
He's talking about preaching the gospel to these people.
He's going to turn them from the darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance.
And there again, there's another proof text
that when you're in Christ,
you are a partaker of that inheritance that's in Christ.
Okay?
But notice again what the preaching of the gospel really is.
And this is something we have to understand
that when we preach the gospel,
we're not out there just trying to get people
to pray a prayer.
We're not out there just trying to bring people into church.
What we're trying to do when we preach the gospel
is we're turning people from darkness to light.
We're taking people that are blind and groping
and stumbling through life and opening up the word of God
and showing them from God's word
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.
That's what we're doing.
This is, you know, he's saying, this is Paul,
Christ is saying to Paul, this is what you're going to go do.
That's the same commission that we have today.
We're doing the exact same thing when we preach the gospel.
We're turning people from light to darkness,
or excuse me, from darkness to light, and from what?
From the power of Satan unto God.
You know, if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost.
You know, it is hid from people
who are under the clutch of Satan, who are in his grasp.
We're delivering people not just from sin,
not just from hell, but from the very power of Satan.
You know, lost people, they don't have the ability
or the power to overcome sin in their life often.
They're taken captive by him at his will.
They're like a mouse that is being toyed with by a cat.
That's the illustration that I was told once
I always think of.
That's how lost people live their lives sometimes.
You ever see a cat play with a mouse?
They catch a mouse, they catch a bird,
they'll let it get away a little bit and then catch it,
put it in their mouth and shake it up, and it's cruel.
It's not like they're, it's not tickling the mouse, folks.
I mean, it's clawing it, it's biting it,
and it's taunting it, right?
Or you think about like, you know, these orcas,
these killer sharks, they go out there
and they just bat the seals around for a while.
That is kind of funny, right?
That's kind of cool.
But it's just a, it's just this giant powerful predator
just toying with its victim that has absolutely no ability
and no power in itself to deliver itself.
It's doomed.
You know, and rather than being like, you know,
a big cat that just gets it over with and starts eating,
you know, these smaller felines, these great big orcas,
they just toy with it.
You know, that's what Satan does with lost people out there.
He'll let them, he'll come along every so often
and just, you know, wind them up in sin
and just get them all tripped up in sin again
and, you know, throw some stumbling block in their way
and then just about the time they start to recover
and pick themselves off and dress themselves off
and start to move forward again
and try to figure life out and do things.
He'll just come along again
and just bat them around a little bit.
Just swat them around some more.
And then we come along with the gospel and we deliver them.
It's like we just swoop in and just take that mouse
right away from that cat and slap the cat, you know,
and set that mouse free.
And say, he's not gonna bother you anymore.
I mean, that's what we're doing when we preach the gospel.
I know my illustration is nowhere near as powerful
as the words of Christ here,
but it's to help you understand
that when we're sent to go preach the gospel as Paul was,
we're sent to go and deliver people
from the power of Satan and from darkness.
And it's interesting too, again,
Paul brings up the inheritance there, right?
That they may receive forgiveness of sins
and the inheritance.
Because remember, who's in the audience?
The Jews, right?
And they're probably the guys
that heard this exact same testimony in Acts 22.
Now we've heard this again.
It's been two years.
Paul still hasn't come to a sentence.
It's been two years.
Paul hasn't come to a census, rather.
You know, it's been two years
and he's telling the same thing again.
He hasn't changed his mind.
You can imagine it's getting them upset.
And he continues his argument for the Gentiles
as inheritors of the promise by faith in Christ.
And if you would, go over to Ephesians.
Actually, you know what?
Go to Romans 8.
Let's take the time to turn there.
Let's look at these passages.
These are powerful passages.
You know, we need to let it sink in
what it is that we have in Christ.
It's not just that we've been delivered
from the power of Satan.
It's not just that we've been delivered from darkness.
It's not just that we've been delivered from hell.
It's great that all those negative things
have been taken away.
But praise God, he's so good.
Not only does he take away all those bad things,
then he just pours upon us this innumerable blessing,
this unsearchable riches in Christ
that we are heirs with him.
Romans chapter eight, verse 14,
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
You know, that's what we get to call God, Father.
Why?
Because we are his sons.
We are his children.
This spirit, and you say, well, I don't know.
Can you prove it?
The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit.
You know, we read the word of God,
we read these words that if you're Christ
and you're Abraham's seed,
that if we're away from you,
give it to somebody that hates
beautiful, blasphemous things
in their so-called holy books about Christ.
You're not gonna take that away from me.
That's the spirit of adoption that I have received.
The spirit bears witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God,
and if children, then heirs.
Heirs of what?
Of the promise.
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may also be glorified together.
Go to Ephesians chapter number three.
Ephesians chapter number three,
I'll read to you in Titus chapter three, verse five,
not of works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy,
he saved us by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
What you shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ,
our savior, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.
We haven't just been delivered from Satan
in the power of darkness,
was we've been brought into that glorious light
of his kingdom.
We are heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
And people need to get ahold of that.
People need to really let that sink in
and what it is that we have.
And we need to dwell on that.
You know, when we think more about what it is
that we have in Christ,
when we think about the world to come,
when we think about the inheritance that we have,
you know, it just makes the rest of the world
just seem kind of bleh.
You know, the problems that we have,
we say, well, you know,
I'm gonna suffer with him,
I'm gonna inherit with him.
You know, the things of this world just seem to
loosen their grip a little bit, don't they?
We find ourselves being able to let go
of some of the things in this world.
You know, we find ourselves more easily
to be able to not entangle ourselves
with the affairs of this life,
not get tied down with these things.
Why?
Because we know that we have an inheritance in Christ.
Where'd I have you go?
Ephesians chapter three, verse one.
For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given to me in your word,
how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery
as I wrote afore in a few words.
Verse five, which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs
and of the same body and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the gospel.
And could the Bible, I mean, it's just verse after verse
passage after passage after passage,
chapter after chapter, book after book
that we are the children of God,
that we are the partakers of his promise
in Christ by the gospel.
That's what you have in the gospel.
Going back to, if you wanna keep something in Ephesians,
go back to Acts.
We left off there in verse 18 to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God
that they may receive the forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
This is Christ speaking to Paul on that Damascus road.
Verse 19, Paul says, whereupon, O King Agrippa,
I was not a disobedient unto the heavenly vision.
I mean, how could you disobey a vision like that?
It's a little bit easier to disobey the fact
that we're sent when we're just reading about it in a book.
Well, instead of Christ appearing
and speaking these words to you,
it's just some ugly old Baptist preacher getting up
and saying, hey, go preach the gospel.
So it'll be easier to be disobedient to that, isn't it?
Even though I'm still preaching the words of Christ,
even though I'm still doing my job as an ambassador
to encourage you to go out and do the same,
it's a lot easier to be disobedient to that.
But when you got Christ speaking these things,
these powerful words, who wouldn't be obedient to that?
He's saying, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision.
Can we say the same thing?
Well, I would obey if Christ said it to me.
Well, Christ has said it to us.
Well, I'd be a little bit more obedient to do these things
to go and deliver people from Satan
from the power of darkness
if I had an experience like Paul.
Well, don't hold your breath, first of all.
And secondly, he has committed unto us
the ministry of reconciliation.
We are ambassadors for Christ.
He has said, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
We have a heavenly vision.
It's just in God's word.
You know, I'll go soul winning
when some bright light shows up and knocks me on my butt.
Well, you know, you're never gonna go soul winning
because that's never gonna happen.
So don't be disobedient.
Verse 20, but showed first unto them of Damascus
and of Jerusalem and throughout all the coasts of Judea
and to them and then to the Gentiles
that they should repent and turn to God
and do works meet for repentance.
Now, I just preached a whole sermon
called Repent and Believe, okay?
Talking about how repenting and believing
are the same thing.
That the repentance that needs to take place
is going from unbelief to belief.
I'm not gonna re-preach all that.
Are you still in Ephesians?
Go to chapter number two.
Because he does say, what did Paul preach?
That they should repent, turn to God,
and do works meet for repentance, okay?
That they should repent of their sins.
Oh wait, that's the phrase that's not in the Bible.
And yet I hear so many Baptist preachers,
I just heard another one yesterday,
get up in a pulpit in front of God's people and say,
hey, you need to repent of your sins and believe.
Oh, I'm like, are you reading the Book of Mormon?
Because that's where that's found.
Are you reading one of these new translations?
Because it's not in a King James Bible.
What does it mean repent?
Well, I don't want to repeat all that,
but it's repent and turn to God,
meaning go from not believing in God, rejecting God,
and saying, you know what, I do believe the gospel.
Repent and turn.
It's redundant to repent and turn.
That's what repent means, to turn.
He's emphasizing it, repent, turn to God.
Yeah, but what about that last part?
And do works meet for repentance, hmm?
Sounds like you should be doing some things
if you're repenting.
Yeah, but notice the sequence there.
This is a series of orders that Paul gave the people
in Judea and Damascus and Jerusalem and the Gentiles.
He went and preached to them, hey, repent and turn to God,
and do works meet for repentance.
Well, I mean, I preach that.
Any Baptist preacher worth his salt preaches that.
We're constantly telling people that, hey, do works.
Do works meet for repentance.
Do works that are fitting for somebody
who has repented and turned to God.
Look at Ephesians chapter two.
Verse eight, do we even need to read it?
For by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves.
That is the gift of God, not of works,
the sinning man should boast.
I mean, just another clear verse
that salvation is not of works.
So if you have to repent of your sin, that's work, right?
We all get that.
But notice verse 10.
For we are his workmanship,
creating Christ Jesus unto good works.
You know, Christ didn't just save you
so you could be a bump on a log somewhere.
So you could maybe warm a pew from time to time.
You know, he saved you so that you would do good works.
We're created in Christ Jesus.
How?
By grace through faith.
We are born again.
We're co-heirs with Christ.
We're created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
So you can see how that ties in with Acts where we're reading
that they should repent and turn to God
and do works meet for repentance.
I mean, does anyone here in this room think
that the last five years, all I've ever preached is,
you're saved now, don't worry about doing anything for God.
That's like the farthest thing from what I've been preaching.
I've been preaching, stop doing this, start doing this.
I mean, that's what we're all been preaching
is that's what the Bible says.
It's just that people will say, they wanna go,
okay, do good works and then believe and get saved.
Well, that ain't gonna work.
You gotta be created in Christ Jesus.
You are his workmanship.
For God hath ordained that we should walk in them.
Walk in what?
Walk in those good works.
God's ordained that we should do it.
Well, if you're really saved, you will do good works.
If you're really saved, you'll bear fruit.
No, the Bible says that God has ordained
that we should do it, not that we will do it.
And not that we must do it.
Well, if you don't do good works, then you weren't saved.
But I thought salvation was not of works.
Yeah, but if you're really saved,
you're gonna do good works.
Right, that's why it's just a constant battle
to get people to do good works, right?
Look, if people just automatically did good works
after they got saved, I'd be out of a job.
I'd be like, hey, you guys need to go soul-winning.
You need to read your Bibles.
You need to be in church.
You need to respect your roles in marriage.
You need to raise your kids.
And all the things that I preach,
you'd be like, yeah, well, we're doing them.
Because we're saved.
And we just automatically do these things.
Duh.
Like, why do we even come down here?
Because it's entertaining?
I don't know.
What's he gonna do next?
What crazy story is he gonna tell?
What wacky illustration is he gonna use?
Right, we're just coming down here
because the AC's good or, you know,
sometimes I put chips out or something.
No, it's because God's people have to be reminded,
do good works, do good works,
because doing good works is not automatic.
God's ordained that we should walk in them.
We should do works, meet for repentance.
We should do works that is proper for a Christian to do.
But again, if it was automatic,
you know, we could cut this down to one service a week.
And maybe not at all, right?
Because the church is for the saints.
And I'm tempted to just keep reading
in Ephesians chapter two,
because then he just keeps going on emphasizing
that, you know, that we are inheritors,
that we're in Christ, but we need to move along.
Going back to Acts chapter number 26.
He's saying, I was not a disobedient
under the heavenly vision.
I showed, I went and I preached to those in Damascus,
Jerusalem, all throughout the coast of Judea, the Gentiles,
that she repent and turn to God
and do works, meet for repentance.
For these causes, what causes?
For the fact that I saw and heard these things
and went and preached these things,
for these causes have the Jews caught me in the temple
and went about to kill me.
Having therefore obtained help of God,
I continue unto this day,
witnessing both the small and great,
saying none of the things
which the prophets and Moses did say should come.
Okay?
He's saying, I'm, again, I, you know,
they're trying to kill me for what?
For the things that I've just told you about
and for the fact that to this day,
I continue to preach to anyone who listened,
great and small,
of the things which the prophets and Moses did say
should come.
Now, I just preached last night
about the resurrection in the Old Testament,
the resurrection of Christ.
And, you know, after I preached that,
I had several people come up to me and say,
oh, did you think about this verse?
Think about this verse?
Think about this, and it was just like,
I didn't think of those.
Because I can't think of them all
because there's so many, right,
that prove that the resurrection was something
that was known in the Old Testament
and the resurrection of Christ specifically.
Okay?
And yet, here I am reading today,
just getting ready for the sermon again,
and boom, here's another one.
Just like, well, I could have used that last night
because the sermon was kind of short anyway.
Yeah, I probably should have packed in a few more verses.
Everybody's probably disagreeing with that.
Like, no, it was long enough.
Could you shorten this one up?
But notice, he's saying, I'm saying none of the things
which the prophets and Moses did say should come.
What's he preaching?
He's preaching Christ.
He's preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
He's preaching, that's what he's preaching,
that Christ should suffer, right?
He tells us exactly what it is
that prophets and Moses did say would come.
What did they say would come?
That Christ should suffer and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead
and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles.
Who said that?
The prophets and Moses said that, okay?
So further proof that the Old Testament saints
knew about Christ and the resurrection.
But I just preached about that.
Verse 24, and as he thus spake for himself,
Festus said with a loud voice, Paul,
thou art beside thyself, right?
Which is another way of saying, you're crazy, right?
Much learning doth make thee mad, right?
Now, today we use that, at least on this side of the ocean,
you know, mad is like when you're angry.
It's like when you're angry, I'm mad, right?
Someone cuts you off in traffic, you get mad.
Whereas like, I believe over in Great Britain,
that part of the world, if you, you know, are you mad?
That's like you said that, what they mean is,
are you crazy, right?
You're mad, are you mad, right?
Are you crazy?
That's how they use the word mad,
because that's the old meaning of the word, right?
To be mad has meant, you know, he's gone mad.
Not dad's really angry, dad's crazy, okay?
And Festus is saying, Paul, you're beside yourself, right?
That's what they said of Jesus in the book of Mark.
They said he's beside himself, he's out of his mind, right?
He's out of his mind, right?
If you're beside yourself, you're out of your mind, okay?
I don't know if you need these explained or not,
but I'm gonna do it anyway.
Much learning doth make thee mad.
You've got your nose in the book too long, Paul.
Your feet need to touch the ground.
But he said, verse 25, I am not mad, most noble Festus,
but speak the words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things,
because again, it's Festus that's piping up.
He's speaking to Agrippa, right?
So Festus is kind of like that person
where you're preaching the gospel.
You know, you're preaching to Agrippa,
because remember Agrippa goes on and says,
almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, right?
He's preaching to Agrippa.
That's who he's addressing at the beginning of the speech.
He's addressing Agrippa,
he's telling me everything that took place,
and he's telling about the resurrection,
yada, yada, yada, all that, right?
And then you have Festus piping up towards the end.
Oh, you're crazy, right?
It's like when we're out soul winning
and we get interrupted, right?
That friend comes along, the parent, whoever it is,
some stranger that says, you know,
they don't wanna hear this.
Or the wife comes in and speaks up for the husband.
That's my favorite.
He doesn't need to hear this, and just pulls him away.
Like, oh, is that your mother?
Right?
I hate that one.
That's so embarrassing when that happens.
Like, I feel so embarrassed for that guy,
even if he doesn't.
Anyway, that's kind of what's going, you know,
nothing new under the sun, folks.
And even it happened to Paul.
And I like how he brings it back.
Verse 26, for the king knoweth of these things
before whom I speak freely,
for I am persuaded that none of these things
are hidden from him,
for this thing was not done in a corner.
What thing?
Everything, not just the things that happened to him,
but Christ, right?
Apparently, Agrippa's been around long enough,
long enough to know,
probably have maybe even witnessed the miracles of Christ,
heard the preaching of Christ, heard about Christ.
Maybe not, I don't know.
Maybe it's just the things that are pertaining only to Paul.
But whatever it is, he's saying,
Agrippa, you know what I'm talking about.
You have knowledge of these things.
This thing was not done in a corner,
meaning it wasn't done secretly.
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?
And again, what about the prophets?
Christ, his resurrection.
I know that thou believest.
So he's here at the end trying to bring it home, right?
I gotta abandon my notes on this point
and just wrap this up.
But we're there in Acts 26, verse 27.
He's just trying to get Agrippa to believe, right?
Then Agrippa, verse 28, said unto Paul,
Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
Man, those words are gonna ring in his ears for eternity.
I mean, maybe he got saved later,
but this might have been the guy's only chance.
This might have been it.
I mean, when you've got the apostle Paul in front of you,
preaching you the gospel,
and apparently you've already had all this backstory,
you already have, believest thou the prophets?
I know that thou believest.
It's not like this is a new thing to him.
This isn't the first time for him.
And he says, almost.
I mean, I hope for his sake, he got it later.
I really do.
But if Paul can't win you to the Lord,
I don't know who can.
And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou,
but also all that hear me this day were almost all together,
such as I am, except these bonds.
He's saying, I wish everybody was like me,
except for these bonds, these chains.
I wish everybody was a Christian like me.
And remember, who's all present here?
Agrippa, Festus, and who else?
The Jews, right?
I mean, what an anti-semitism.
What an anti-semitic thing to say, Paul.
You want Jews to get saved, right?
Look, the most anti-semitic thing is to say,
oh, the Jews are fine, they don't need Jesus.
That's hating somebody when you say they don't need Jesus,
because everyone needs Jesus.
So Paul, even here, is saying, I still,
these guys that would tear me limb from limb
if they were given the opportunity,
I want them to be like me, I want them to be saved.
And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up
and the governor and Bernisi, and they sat with them,
and they that sat with them.
And when they were gone aside,
they talked between themselves,
so they had a little huddle, right?
You know, they get together.
Saying, this man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
He like, this guy's innocent.
He doesn't even deserve to be chained up.
And this is two years after the fact.
Then said Agrippa unto Festus,
this man might have been set at liberty
if he had not appealed unto Caesar, right?
You know, I remember when I would first read that,
I'd be like, oh, man.
If he just, if Paul, you know, you're reading Acts 25,
and you're like, Paul, don't say that, right?
Don't appeal unto Caesar,
because you know what's coming in the story.
But really, now when I read it, I think,
you know, it's probably better that that happened.
One, because Paul's gonna go on and do great works.
In Rome and in his journeys there,
more people are gonna get saved
by him going to go see Caesar, right?
He's gonna be in Rome.
Epistles are gonna be written.
Great things are gonna be done.
But also the fact that when you kind of consider
everything that's gone on in the previous few chapters
is that if he had been set at liberty at this point,
meaning if he was just set free,
what do you think would have happened?
The Jews would have tried to kill him, right?
They're all there.
They're like, well, we're gonna set him free.
They would have been like, yes.
It's exactly what they want, right?
So it sounds kind of like a downer at the end,
but you have to think about it in the context.
It's probably for the best
that Paul is going to go on to be escorted with Romans,
you know, to Rome.
Okay, he's gonna be protected
from these people that want to kill him
that have been plotting for literally years now
trying to get to Paul and destroy him.
And what do they want to destroy him for?
For the hope of the promise of the fathers,
because he simply believed what they professed, right?
That Abraham's seed would be the heirs of the world,
that Christ would come of that seed.
It's ironic, right?
But you know, we have that promise.
We are those inheritors.
We are Abraham's seed,
but let's not just sit on our hands with it.
We, Paul at the end said, I wish everybody were like me.
How do we know that's the case?
Because he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
We know Paul meant that when he said,
I want everyone to be like me
because he went out and preached it.
And he tried to make everybody like him.
Even people that would have killed him.
He tried to reach them.
We ought to have that same mentality as God's people
and not get so caught up in the things of this world.
Right, because we have that inheritance.
We are the children of God.
What we should be focusing on
is laying up treasure for ourselves in heaven.
What we should be focusing on
is trying to persuade as many people as we can
to be a Christian.
At least put the ball in our court
and say, hey, you decide.
Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for this great book.
Thank you for the testimony of the apostle Paul.
And Lord, I pray you'd help us to be like him.
Lord, you'd help us to follow in his footsteps.
Lord, to be willing to preach the gospel near and far.
And Lord, to even our enemies.
And Lord, to the great and the small.
Lord, that we would preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Thank you for the great inheritance that we have in you.
I pray you'd help us to know it, to understand it.
And Lord, to rejoice in it.
We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song
before we go.
Amen.
We'll open up our handles to song number 53.
Song 53, Kool-Aid.
Kool-Aid, 53.
As the light is bright, the sand lies all the way across the sea.
Wherever there's a door, be there for me,
and hear the shining, for the shoreline
is my voice for evermore.
For evermore, the sand lies all the way across the sea.