Testimony In Chains

Daniel Norman

Ekklesia • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Acts 24

Acts 26

Acts 25

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Do I consider every circumstance as an opportunity to honor God?

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Good Morning Church, It’s good to see you here today on this the second to last week in our series called Ekklessia. You might be getting sick of hearing that word…my I hope is that the meaning behind it is now deeply seated in your heart and mind. The Ekklessia, the Church is a gathering of God’s people. The Church is not a building. It is not a show. It is not an audience coming to listen to the “experts”.

This was the thrust of last weeks message as we were challenged toward taking some new steps of commitment to the Church family here. Hopefully, you took some time this past week to consider your next step in becoming what God has called you to be in His Church. We were never meant to just maintain the status quo, we are always to seek to grow.

Maybe you thought of some different ways, but I gave us 4 challenges that anyone here can choose to commit to. They increased in commitment level from the least to the most intimidating...

1. First I challenged you to come in here each week already having read the passage that we are going to be looking at that week. This was the easiest of the 4 challenges. I print the text for the following week on the bottom of the notes page so you can take that home or mark it down somewhere and come in here having already engaged with the Word of God on your own.

One of the ways that we show God how much we love Him is to spend time with Him, praying and reading His love letter to us. If you are not a reader, then again there are so many apps that you can download to listen to the text being read at least once during the week - but you won’t regret doing it more than once.

2. Secondly, I challenge you to come prepared to stay and participate in our Table talk groups after the Service each week. I know there are a lot of fun things that we could be doing each Sunday, especially when the weather is nice. But our Church is a family, so when you are not here we all miss out. We need your insights, thoughts and questions about the text... so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. We need you to come learn with us, and grow us. No “expertise” needed.

3. Third...having read and interacted with the weekly text, I challenged you to consider volunteering as a “monthly mentor” for our youngest Sunday School class. We already have teachers for the class, but you will be there to help mentor the kids, not as “experts” but as examples of what it is like to be growing in your faith. We want to help our kids to grow to know and love Jesus too. At most this would be one Sunday a month commitment, because we still want you to be able to serve, contribute and grow in the adult table talk groups.

4. Lastly, the most daring challenge, for most of us anyway, was to sign up to read the weekly text in front of the Church one Sunday this next year. We are going to tackle our series for this next year in small readable blocks and each Sunday one of us will simply come up to the podium, read the text for the week and then sit down again. No expertise needed, but I believe there is a blessing for us all in hearing the Word of God read aloud by the various voices of our Church family.

And remember that these opportunities are available to any of you. Young or Old, Male or Female, partner or regular attender, New Christian or a veteran saint. None of us have arrived and we all started somewhere so lets grow together because the landscape of our world is changing quickly and drastically and it is not going to be enough just to know someone who knows about our faith, we have to be actively living it ourselves.

As Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus:

“...speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Eph 4:15-16

That body is the body of Christ, the Ekklessia, and the parts that make it up is you and me. If this Church thing is going to be what Jesus is building it to be then we each have our part to play in it.

Tension

As we head toward the finish line on this series, I thought it might be a good idea to remind us all of the part that the Apostle Paul has played in all this. Remember how Paul started out as one of the most feared enemies of the early Christian Church. For all intensive purposes he was a religious terrorists, arresting and punishing the followers of a what he thought to be a new sect of Judaism.

But then he met Jesus.

That experience left him without physical sight but it began a process where he for the first time began to see more clearly who God is and what He asks of those who are faithful to him. God sent Ananias, one of the disciples from Damascus that Paul probably would have arrested, to relieve his blindness to Paul. Ananias was understandably hesitant, knowing Paul’s violent history,

Acts 9:15–16 (ESV)

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

And as we have walked through these many chapters of the book of Acts we have read of this suffering over and over again. It began right there in Damascus, as Paul was dead in the cross-hairs of the Jewish leaders or running from them. He traveled on three different missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire arguing with Jews, reaching out to Gentiles and encouraging the Christians.

Finally God told him it was time to return to Jerusalem to face the angry Jewish leaders there. You remember how before he arrived in Jerusalem he stopped to meet with the Elders from Ephesus who were saddened to hear of God’s plan for him and begged him not to go. But Paul seemed to accept it. He said:

Acts 20:22–24 (ESV)

22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

How many of us have taken an account of our life like this? Can we say these things along with Paul. That our lives are not “precious” to ourselves, but their only value is given in how we finish the ministry that Jesus has given us. For those of us who have met Jesus and surrendered our life to him then we should be working toward this attitude.

This is where we will be for these final two weeks, seeing Paul finish his course and the ministry that he was given by Jesus. The ministry that was not just expected some suffering, but a ministry of carrying the message of Jesus Christ before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Paul took every opportunity to testify about the life-giving message of Jesus Christ, and today we will see Paul doing this before each one of these three groups.

But our take away is about more than just how Paul fulfilled his specific calling. We should be able to see in Paul’s story that no matter what challenge we are facing in our life right now, if we are looking for it, we can find our opportunities to to boldly share our testimony about Jesus’ work in our life too.

So open up your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 24, it is on page 933 in the Bibles in the Chairs. I’ll pray and we will get after the second to last week in our series called “Ekklesia, the unstoppable movement of God”.

PRAYER

Truth

Acts chapter 20 has Paul saying goodbye to the Elders from Ephesus and in chapter 21 he arrives in Jerusalem. As he is fellowshipping with the Christian Church there in Jerusalem. Despite doing everything they can to try and convince the Jewish community that Paul is not the enemy that the religious leaders made him out to be, Paul was attacked and almost beaten to death at the Temple.

He was there to offer a sacrifice, but the Jews from Asia stirred up the people against him so that they attached him and began to beat him up so badly that he would have died if the Roman guard had not stepped in.

And there was all this confusion, as there always is with irrational mob violence. Luke tells us that the Roman guard thought Paul was some Egyptian rebel and then the crowd that was… you know... trying to beat him to death just now…they were surprise to hear Paul address them in their own Hebrew tongue. (Seems like before you beat someone to death, you might want to get to know them a little bit to make sure you have the right guy.)

Well just like many times before, Paul used this opportunity to address the crowd to tell the story of how he met Jesus and came to be this bold follower of His. Luke records this story three times in the book of Acts. Once early on in the book, and then twice more as he recounts it to different audiences. Here in Chapter 22 he is sharing it with the Jews, the children of Israel.

Each time he shares how he was a Jew and a Pharisee who once persecuted followers of Jesus, but having met Him personally, he submitted his life to Him and was sent by Him to testify of the salvation that is found in Christ alone.

That is a pretty good thematic outline for when we have opportunity to share our testimony. We start with where we were before we met Jesus, no matter where that was, then we talk about when we met Jesus personally and then how He has changed our life and sent us to testify of the salvation that is found in Christ alone.

And he had the Jewish crowd’s attention for most of this testimony...right up to the point when he said that God had sent him to share this message of salvation…even to the Gentiles.

It’s not that they agreed with everything that Paul said up to this point, but they could listen because Paul was talking in the language of their people, speaking of their shared heritage and pointing towards the values that their people had held for generations. But when he used the “G” word - “gentiles” they were done.

This brings us to our first theme, because no matter what else you might have in common with someone...

1. Following Jesus is countercultural (Acts 24:24-27)

This mention of “Gentiles” or “Non-Jews” receiving salvation from the Jewish Messiah sent the Jewish mob into another uproar so loud and violent that the Tribune drew him back into the barracks.

Of course the Romans, who didn’t know the Jewish culture, had no idea what was so incendiary about what he said. They decided to get to the truth through the means of their culture and the got ready to flog the truth out of Paul…until Paul played his “Roman Citizen” card. Flogging a Roman citizen without cause was a punishable offense. So now the scared tribune worked to protect Paul, at least long enough to hand him over to the Roman Governor Felix.

The Roman Governor served as something of a judge and Felix heard both the accusations of the Chief Priests and Paul’s defense and then he decided…well he decided to not decide. Instead he put Paul in something like a minimum security prison so that he could have visitors but he couldn’t come and go as he pleased.

But starting in verse 24 we read:

Acts 24:24–27 (ESV)

24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul is given another opportunity to testify to Jesus. But listen to how Luke describes how Paul talks with this “power couple” about Jesus. It wasn’t just about how much God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives, he continued. It says...

25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”

This is where the “countercultural” aspect of the Gospel comes into view. You wanna talk about “Faith in Jesus Christ” that is fine, but when we start in on things like “righteousness, self-control and the coming judgment, then we are in countercultural territory.

“You mean there is right and wrong and God is the one who gets to decide which is which?”

We may not be able to relate to the Jewish culture, but this is sitting in our own backyard.

26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

“Common, play the game. Pay the piper. Don’t you know how this works”…but Paul had a different idea about “how this works” because the longer he stayed there the more opportunities he had to influence this man and anyone else who happened to be there in the governors presence when Paul was brought it. He saw his calling in Christ Jesus as much more critical than his circumstances being less than ideal.

Even people in the Church today have bought into Felix’s perspective when it comes to what they call “Christianity”. They like to sit and talk about the aspects of Christianity which fit within their lifestyle, but when things start getting uncomfortable they are out.

Felix kept sending for Paul but he kept getting the same Gospel message that included things like “righteousness, self -control and the coming judgment”, so he missed it, because he never went further than just hearing the word. Finally,

27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

“Doing the Jews a favor”? How can people say that the Bible doesn’t handle politics. Passing the buck to the next leader and doing a particular group a favor on the way out seems pretty political to me and then chapter 25 opens up with:

Acts 25:1–3 (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.

This was exactly the fate that the tribune was trying to avoid earlier in this saga. But Festus was wise to their plan and he gave Paul his day in his court. This leads us to our second theme for the week:

2. Following Jesus demands a verdict (Acts 25:7–12).

This is how it happened for Paul.

Acts 25:7–8 (ESV)

7 When he (that is the new governor Festus) 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.”

There was no substance for a trial here. No substantiated evidence. No criminal complaint. And everyone knew it. These religious leaders were simply committed to Paul’s demise and they wanted Rome to get it done for them. Can you imagine such a thing?

Acts 25:9–12 (ESV)

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?”

This was a fateful question. Both Paul and Festus knew what the Jews had in mind for Paul if he was sent to Jerusalem. So in the wisdom that God gave him, Paul used what he knew of the political system to force his way before the highest court in Rome for His verdict.

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.”

Paul’s faith was put on trial here. His behavior violated no Roman or even Jewish law, but he was on trial simply for being a follower of Jesus Christ. Since Following Jesus is countercultural, at some point Following Jesus will demand a verdict.

And how can I use language like this and not bring back to out attention that old reflection question: If you were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?

I can’t tell you how many times I have used this in teaching and in my own life to reflect on how I am living and the congruence that my life has to what Jesus has asked of me. But I have to say that I believe that answering this question against our current landscape takes on a different tone then it used to.

Because it used to bring me to reflect on the times that I wasn’t kind, compassionate, generous or forgiving like I know that I need to be because Jesus is. But I am beginning to see that those things really are not the “hard evidence” that I thought they were. The only evidence that really matters when it comes to being a Christian is how much comfort am I willing to give up just to keep following Jesus.

Because the “Cultural Christianity” phenomenon is quickly fading away, and it is going to start costings us to boldly speak the truth that Jesus did. We are going to have to make decisions at school, at work and in our neighborhoods and those decisions will single us our as “one of those Christians”.

Are we ready for this Church? Are we ready to speak of our faith in Jesus Christ…even if it brings us into reasoning about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment? This leads us to our third and final theme.

3. Following Jesus requires boldness (Acts 26:22–32).

Meanwhile, back in prison, Paul is waiting to “go to Caesar”. The new Roman governor Festus is elaborately hosting King Agrippa and his wife Berenice. They decide to bring out Paul, because they were fascinated by him and his unusual case.

And once again... Paul has the opportunity to tell his entire story, which Luke gives us in very specific detail. You can read it all on your own from Chapter 26, but he concludes it with these words:

Acts 26:21–23 (ESV)

22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

This time Festus interrupts him:

Acts 26:24–32 (ESV)28

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

Not having Kings ourselves it is hard to understand how bold this was for Paul for speak like this to a reigning King. But this was his calling from Jesus and he was boldly operating in it:

29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Since the day God gave him back his sight, this has always been Paul’s motivation: To share the message of Jesus. Every time he shares his testimony it is with this in mind. Whether he is sharing in prison or places, Jerusalem or Rome.

30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”

32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Gospel Application

If you are keeping score, then sharing his testimony before King Agrippa gives Paul his hat trick, trifecta or three in a row. Remember the calling that Paul had:

“…he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel...”

He shared it before the angry Jews (Children of Israel) who tried to kill him, then in front of the Roman Governors Felix and Festus (Gentiles) and lastly he shares his whole testimony before the King (King Agrippa). No matter the circumstances or audience, Paul faithfully carried out his calling to tell all people the message of Jesus. Paul is an example of someone who used everything God gave him to help others trust Jesus.

So what about your calling? How are you ministering to the world around you? Are you gonna stick with Jesus? What are your next steps in this bold adventure. Because

Following Jesus is countercultural

Following Jesus demands a verdict and

Following Jesus requires boldness.

But thankfully, God has not left us on our own to figure this all out. He has given us His Holy Spirit and He has gathered us together as His Holy Church to be His body that works together to carry the message of Jesus to our world.

Landing

You know after Paul was so badly beaten that the Roman guard came in to pull him out God spoke to him again, affirming that even though things were getting rough, He was on the track. Back in Chapter 23 verse 11 it says...

Acts 23:11 (ESV)

11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

Paul is finally going to get to testify of Jesus in Rome, The center of the Roman world. But it won’t be as he had hoped because he will be testifying in chains.

That will be our final message in this series next week, but I believe that we too can walk in the hope of this “courage”, because the “Ekklesia” is still the Unstoppable movement of God.