Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The American Dream says, “If you work hard, make good decisions, and avoid bad habits, then you will succeed.

You will make money, have a good reputation, and earn a high social status.”

The prosperity gospel says a lot of the same stuff, except with Christianity added in.

“If you love God, work hard, and make good decisions, then God will bless you.

You will be happy, healthy, and wealthy.”

But I want to ask you a few questions.

Does Jesus ever intend His people to suffer?

When Christians face opposition or persecution, should their main goal be relief?

And if Christ truly is King of all creation, why does it seem like worldly authorities and sinful interests carry so much sway in the world?

Today, we’re picking up with our study through the book of Acts, and we’re reading through a portion of the last section of Luke’s account of Paul’s life and ministry.

It seems that a major feature of Luke’s writing since around chapter 21 has been to chart something of the geographical and political and legal course which Paul traveled on his way from the mission field back to Jerusalem and then all the way out to Rome.

The whole time, Paul’s testimony of the resurrected Jesus has remained the same, and Paul’s opposition from Jewish leaders has only intensified.

In our passage this morning, the cast of characters has changed a little, but the storyline basically stays the same from the chapters before.

I think there is a reason for the repetition, however, and so I am going to unapologetically highlight two recurring themes we’ve seen throughout the book of Acts – the sovereignty of Christ and the Christian calling to suffer for Christ’s name.

While the characters and geography and politics may seem quite foreign to us today, I trust that these two themes will prove to be very relevant to us.

Human nature has not changed since the days of Roman officials and the invention of a courtroom, opposition to the gospel has not changed since Christ announced His universal authority over all heaven and earth, and the Christian calling to suffer injustice for the sake of Christ has not changed since the New Testament authors put ink to parchment.

May God help us to consider well the passage before us, and may God help us to believe and to live in light of what He has for us today.

Let’s stand, and I’ll read our main passage, Acts 25:1-22.

Scripture Reading

Acts 25:1–22 (ESV)

1 Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

5 “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea.

And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

7 When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

8 Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

9 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”

10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried.

To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

11 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death.

But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them.

I appeal to Caesar.”

12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

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.”

Main Idea:

Christ is the risen King of all creation, and He has called His people to suffer in this world as they bear witness of Him until they enter the world to come.

Sermon

1.

The Characters

I count 6 significant characters in our passage this morning.

Two are mentioned briefly, and these are wielding power and authority just under the surface – Caesar and Jesus.

Caesar was the sovereign, the king, the ruler of the Roman empire.

He was the highest court of earthly appeal, and the Apostle Paul did make an appeal for his case to be judged by Caesar, since the governor of Judea (Festus) seemed more interested in political favors than Roman justice.

Jesus was and is the true sovereign, the King of kings, the ruler of all creation.

Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, who lived, who died, and who rose to life again.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was yet again a central feature of Paul’s “case” (v19), though Festus seemed to completely sidestep the question of whether or not Paul’s claim – Jesus is “alive” – was actually true (v20).

As I’ve mentioned before in our study through Acts, Jesus is the constant main character of the whole book.

The book is called the Acts of the Apostles, but a better title would be the Acts of Jesus by the power of His Spirit through His Apostles.

Jesus commissioned His disciples to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8), and Jesus empowered them with His Spirit to carry out that mission (Acts 2:1-4).

Jesus, by the power of His Spirit and through the witness of His Apostles, converted sinners, established churches, and caused the gospel and the kingdom of Christ to spread across the known world.

In our passage this morning, Jesus was bringing the initial phase of His commission to a close.

The Great Commission (of course) extends far beyond the Apostles; all Christians everywhere and for all time are commissioned as witnesses for Christ in the world.

But the apostolic age was ending with Paul’s arrest and his travels from Jerusalem all the way to Rome.

The gospel of Christ had gone out to Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria… and now it was going (through Paul) to the end of the earth… the capital city of the Roman empire… And Jesus – the resurrected Christ or Messiah, the Son of God and God the Son – was at work behind it all.

Friends, this sort of behind-the-scenes exercise of authority continues today.

There are worldly authorities, which have a real power to exert over our lives.

It’s not for nothing that we want honorable police officers, trustworthy judges, and responsible legislators.

And when we don’t have them, we are right to feel a bit worried… these authorities bear real weight upon our lives.

But many of us are likely to forget that these worldly authorities and powerbrokers are all under the sovereign rule of Christ.

Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; and these are not empty titles.

Christ truly rules and reigns over all creation, and there is no power in this world that can act apart from His sovereignty over it.

Whether we’re reading the book of Acts or the Longview News Journal, we must keep in mind that there is a sovereign God who rules over the affairs of men, and He never stops moving and arranging all things according to His good design and plans (Rom.

8:28).

The other four characters in our passage this morning are (I think) more obvious.

There are the Jewish leaders, Festus (the governor of Judea), Herod Agrippa (the king of Judea), and (of course) the Apostle Paul.

Luke does not name the Jewish leaders in our passage, nor does he detail their “case against Paul” (v2), as he had done in Acts 24.

Luke simply refers to these leaders as “the chief priests” and “the principal men of the Jews” (v2).

These were “the men of authority” in Jerusalem (v5), and they seem to have officially embraced the strategy of the “more than forty” men who had conspired to ambush and murder Paul as soon as they could lure him out of the safety of a Roman prison (Acts 23:12-15).

Luke says that the Jewish leaders themselves “were planning an ambush to kill [Paul] on the way” to Jerusalem (v3).

These men are presented in the worst possible light.

They were willing and planning to commit murder (v3), they were pulling political strings in hopes of getting a political “favor” (v3), and they were leveling “many and serious charges” against Paul which “they could not prove” (v7).

There is nothing noble or honorable about these guys at all, and these Jewish leaders are set like granite against Paul and against Paul’s message about Jesus Christ.

Porcius Festus is another character here, and he was the governor of Judea from about AD 56-62.

He came after Felix, who was the last governor we read about at the end of Acts 24.

Felix was the one who seemed to delay and delay until 2 whole years had passed with Paul in prison at Caesarea (a major port-city of Judea).

Then Felix was out, and Festus was in (Acts 24:27).

Festus began his governorship of Judea with an eager and seemingly noble start.

After only “three days” in the “province” of Judea, Luke says that Festus “went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea” (v1).

The first five verses of our passage read like Festus was trying to get the lay of his political land, and (at least at first) Festus completely rejected the Jewish leaders’ attempt to pull a political favor.

When they asked him for it, Festus simply invited them to come along with him to Caesarea and “bring charges against [Paul]” there (v5).

It wasn’t long, however, until Festus apparently learned where his bread was buttered.

About two weeks into his governorship, he was sitting “on the tribunal,” and (after hearing the empty case against Paul) Festus was ready to “do the Jews a favor” (v9).

Roman leadership in Judea in the first century was an awkward dance between a dominant military power and a very influential religious minority.

Rome was not interested in the theological fine points of Jewish religion, but Rome also wanted submissive and tax-paying citizens in Judea.

The best governors or procurators or prefects in Judea were those that could flex Roman muscle while at the same time granting various favors and freedoms to the Jewish leaders.

Pontius Pilate had exemplified this tactic in the mid-30s AD, Felix had done it about 20 years later, and now Festus was trying to figure out how to do it in his day.

The next character is one we will get to know more about next Sunday, so I won’t say much about him here.

King Agrippa was the king of Judea who came to “greet” or “salute” (KJV) or “pay [his] respects” (NIV) to Festus when he became governor (v13).

This King Agrippa was the last of the Herodian kings in Judea, and he was actually Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa I who persecuted the church in Jerusalem and died under God’s miraculous judgment (in Acts 12).

And Herod the Great was our King Agrippa’s great-granddad.

You might remember that Herod the Great was the one who tried to kill the newborn Jesus by murdering all the baby boys around Bethlehem when he heard about one who was born “king of the Jews” (Matt.