Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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We are studying in the book of
Acts and, Jim, we just finished
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up Acts chapter 25 and we
had King Agrippa and Festus the
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Roman governor as they're
looking at the life of Paul
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there on trial, Paul's on trial
here. Actually it's more of an
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informal. King Agrippa wanted to
hear his situation. And Festus
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explains to him some of his
conundrum. Paul had asked to be
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sent to Caesar, only Festus
knows Paul hasn't done anything
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wrong so he's not quite sure
what to write to Caesar about
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why he's taking up his time with
this prisoner. Now we're going
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to begin in chapter 26 there
where Agrippa now allows Paul
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to give his defense and explain
his case. It says, Then Agrippa
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said to Paul, You are permitted
to speak for yourself. So Paul
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stretched out his hand and
answered for himself. I think
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myself happy, King Agrippa,
because today I shall answer for
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myself before you concerning all
the things of which I am accused
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by the Jews, especially because
you are expert in all customs
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and questions which have to do
with the Jews. Therefore, I beg
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you to hear me patiently. So for
Paul, he's been talking with all
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these Romans and the Jews have
made accusations and the Roman
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governors haven't had
the knowledge and the Roman
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commander, Claudius Lysius,
didn't have the knowledge that
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apparently Agrippa has of the
Jewish customs. So Paul is eager
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to tell Agrippa because he knows
Agrippa will see that there is
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no foundation for the charges.
Now he begins with his early
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life. He says in verse 4,
My manner of life from my youth
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which was spent from the
beginning among my own nation
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at Jerusalem. All the Jews know.
They knew me from the first if
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they were willing to testify
that according to the strictest
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sect of our religion I lived a
Pharisee and now I stand and am
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judged for the hope of
the promise made by God to our
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fathers. To this promise the
12 tribes earnestly serving God
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night and day hoped to attain.
And he goes on here, and we've
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looked at this before, about the
resurrection of the dead. What's
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interesting, Jim, is that he
says that all the Jews know if
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what does he say, if they would
be willing to testify. In other
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words, if they were honest,
he said, they would testify that
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they've known the kind of
person I am. He was the great
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persecutor, Saul. They act like
here's this guy and he's this
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insurrectionist, etc., etc., and
what he's saying here if that if
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they would testify of my early
life, you would know full well
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that I'm not just some renegade
and that they have other reasons
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for being angry with me. Then
he says in verse 8 in connection
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with the hope of Israel as
he appeals to King Agrippa, Why
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should it be thought incredible
by you that God raises the dead?
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Indeed, I myself thought I must
do many things contrary to the
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name of Jesus of Nazareth and
he goes on to talk about how he
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had carted people off to prison
and he had even seen to it that
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they were put to death under his
persecuting power. And he's just
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saying basically I understand
what it's like to be opposed to
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Jesus Christ. But then he's
going to go on and tell us what
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changed. When we
get to verse 12 it's
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time for him to once again share
his conversion. And I find it
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interesting that this is not the
only time where the Apostle Paul
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is sharing his testimony here
in the book of Acts and he never
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shies away from it. And I think
that we need to remember that
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even though we may have told our
testimony before, it may seem
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like it's no big deal to us...
It seems redundant. Like I've
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done this before.
Right. And it gets old. But it
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doesn't get old to people
who have never heard it before.
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It's the same thing that I would
say about the preaching of the
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gospel. Sometimes we think, oh
you know, are we going to hold
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another seminar where we talk
about all the same stuff that
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we've always talked about. But
remember the seminar that we're
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holding as a general rule is not
for us who have heard it but for
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those who haven't and they need
to hear that. Even though Paul
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has reiterated this, he didn't
try to totally change it or give
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it a totally different
perspective. He pretty much
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gives the account because
it's powerful enough in and of
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itself and
Agrippa needed to hear it.
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That's right and let me
interject just briefly that the
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other benefit of the testimony
is... There are a lot of
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theories out there but the
testimony is what basically
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tells you that the theory is
real. And so when Paul is giving
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his testimony, he's helping
Agrippa see the religion of
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Christianity actually fleshed
out and what Jesus can really do
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and has done in a person's life.
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That's right. When we think back
to Acts chapter 9 when Jesus
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told Paul, well actually he told
Ananias about Paul, he said, Go
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for he is a chosen vessel
of mine to bear my name before
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Gentiles, kings and the children
of Israel. We mentioned that
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before the break. This was a
purpose that God had for him.
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Paul was not here sharing with
Agrippa, oh here I go again and
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let's try to figure out if I
can get free. No, this was an
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opportunity. God had placed him
for the very purpose of being
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able to appeal directly to these
leaders. And so he's looking
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not at this as a way to get out
of legal trouble but in order to
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save souls. He's appealing
to Festus and Agrippa here.
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That's right. So we hear his
conversion beginning in verse 12
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and he begins to tell the
same conversion story that we're
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familiar with about how he was
on his way to Damascus and the
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bright light shone from heaven,
Jesus appeared to him and said
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Saul why are you persecuting me?
It's hard to kick against the
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goads and he begins to describe
the things that Jesus said.
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In this description, I would
like to pick up where he enters
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in verse 17 to some things
that Jesus says that are not in
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any of the other accounts
of his conversion. So this is a
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very helpful account here in
chapter 26. Verse 17 he says,
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and this is Jesus speaking
to Paul, I will deliver you from
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the Jewish people as well as
from the Gentiles to whom I now
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send you. So he tells him,
I'm sending you to the Gentiles.
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And you need to be
delivered from them.
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That's right. That's exactly
right. To open their eyes, okay
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so their understanding in order
to turn them from darkness to
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light. I think as he continues
here he's speaking primarily
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about the Gentiles because the
Apostle Paul is the apostle to
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the Gentiles and they had not
received light. They had not had
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the same privileges and
opportunities that the Jewish
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nation had had. And so he's
saying, look I'm sending you so
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that you can give the light that
the nation of Israel failed to
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give even though that was
my purpose and plan for them.
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So any time that God calls on us
to do something, if we don't do
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it God will find another way and
he is now sending Paul to share
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with the Gentiles what we could
only have wished they had heard
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before. But he wants them
to turn from darkness to light,
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from the power of Satan to
God. You know, when you read the
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Apostle Paul talk about the
Gentile or pagan worship and
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sacrifices and that sort of
thing, he says when the Gentiles
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sacrifice they sacrifice
to demons and not to God.
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So Jesus is here saying, I want
you, Paul, to turn them from the
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power of Satan to the power of
God and then he says that they
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may receive forgiveness of sins
and an inheritance. See the Jews
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always treasured the fact
that they were heirs, they would
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receive of the inheritance. But
here Jesus is saying help the
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Gentiles to see that they are
joint heirs. They are going to
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receive the inheritance among
those who are sanctified and it
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says by faith in me. This is
an interesting portion of this
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passage because first of all
it highlights the fact that it's
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not through any ceremonial
rites not through circumcision,
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nothing like that that a person
advances and becomes more pious
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like the Jews may have thought.
And it's also a lesson for
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Christians who believe
that we're justified, we're made
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righteous, we find forgiveness
from God by faith in Christ, but
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when it comes to our growth,
well our sanctification, that's
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something that we've got to
do. But this says that we're
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sanctified the same way that
we're justified, by faith in
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Christ. When you think about
sanctification, it's growth,
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it's becoming like
Christ. It makes me think of
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II Corinthians 3:18 where the
Bible says that we are changed
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from glory to glory by
beholding the glory of the Lord.
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By beholding Jesus we're changed
So faith in Jesus is what
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changes us or sanctifies us,
any of us, Jew or Gentile can
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only be changed through Christ
and this is the message that the
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Apostle Paul is to
share with the Gentiles.
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That's right. So in verse
19 he continues there with his
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experience here. Therefore, King
Agrippa, I was not disobedient
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to the heavenly vision
but declared first to those in
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Damascus and in Jerusalem
and throughout all the region of
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Judea and then to the Gentiles
that they should repent, turn to
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God and do works befitting
repentance. So he says look
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after this happened I could only
be obedient and that's what I
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did. Then he went on to describe
the things that he did and in
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verse 22 I want to point out
what he says. Therefore, having
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obtained help from God to this
day I stand witnessing both to
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small and great saying no other
things than those which the
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prophets and Moses said would
come, that the Christ would
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suffer, that he would be the
first to rise from the dead and
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would proclaim light to
the Jewish people and to the
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Gentiles. In other words,
he's saying, the only things I'm
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saying are what the Jewish
nation should have accepted
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themselves. These are all
the things that are in their own
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scriptures. Right,
their own writings teach
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these things. So in verse 24
he makes his defense and it says
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that Festus, after he made this,
said in a loud voice, Paul you
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are beside yourself. Much
learning is driving you mad.
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In other words, Paul, you're
crazy and he doesn't say it
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quietly, he bursts out, that's
ludicrous. And Paul answers him
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and says I'm not mad most noble
Festus but speak the words of
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truth and reason. It's
interesting the ideal of turning
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from darkness to light
again. You know, Paul says in
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I Corinthians chapter 1
that the message of the cross is
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foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to those of us
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who are being saved it is the
power of God. And here it is.
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He's saying no Festus you have
it wrong. I'm speaking truth and
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reason here. Now it's
interesting, and then he turns
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to King Agrippa. He says for the
king, he talks of King Agrippa
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right here in his presence
before whom I also speak freely
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knows these things and I am
convinced that none of these
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things escapes his attention
since this thing was not done
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in a corner. He knows about
this history, what happened with
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Jesus. King Agrippa, he says,
do you believe in the prophets?
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I know that you believe. Then
King Agrippa said to Paul, you
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almost persuade me to become
a Christian. So you see that
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Agrippa is moved here by what
he is hearing from Paul and Paul
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is appealing to his sense
of reason, his understanding of
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Jewish custom and the fact
that he can't help but see the
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fulfillment of prophecy in
what he has shared about Christ.
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He says you almost persuade me.
And I like Paul's answer. Paul
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says in verse 29, I would to God
that not only you but all who
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hear me today might become both
almost and altogether such as I
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am except for these chains. Not
almost Christians but altogether
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Christians and when the time
here concludes it says in verse
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32, Then Agrippa said to Festus,
this man might have been set
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free if he had not
appealed to Caesar.
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But we know that that's not
actually true. The reality is
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that if he had not appealed
to Caesar then Festus would have
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let him go back to Jerusalem and
they would have killed him on
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the way. But there's another
reason why and that's because
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God had a plan for him and that
plan was to go to Rome. And you
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know what? God has a plan
for each one of us and God has a
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plan for you. Our hope is that
through the study of the book of
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Acts you'll come to understand
that and that you will be
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submissive like Paul was to
God's plan. We look forward to
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seeing you next time
on Books of the Book.
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