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Acts 26 "True Evangelism"
After Festus, Paul is brought before one more judge. This time it is King Agrippa. I think that by this time Paul was no longer worried about his “case”. He had given up on justice, and was starting to realize that what the Lord had said to Ananias about him in Damascus was coming to pass. “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (Ac 9:15) All of these various trials of Paul, were not so much to find out his innocence or guilt, but so that Paul could testify to Jews, and Gentiles and kings about the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Listen as Paul witnesses for Christ
Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.” "My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribves earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged and against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. (Acts 26:1-11)
Paul starts witnessing by telling his audience about what
he was like before he met Jesus. In Paul’s case, he was just like
those Jews who were accusing him. In fact he was the first to accuse
Christians, and had called the loudest for their punishment and death.
Perhaps you have heard other testimonies like this. There is a group
of Christians who used to be Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) who are now witnessing
to the grace and power of Jesus Christ. These men can show you their
huge body tatoos and missing fingers, marks of the underworld. But they
can also show you how much they have been changed by Jesus. Mike Macintosh
is the pastor of Horizon Chapel in San Diego. Mike was a drug addict
and spent a year of his life in a mental institution believing that
half of his head had been shot off. How this person could become the
pastor of a church, that is helping thousands is unbelievable.
Of course not every Christian has this kind of radical testimony. Many
of us never did anything terrible, never had to be rescued by God. Did
you know that Paul had this kind of testimony as well. He was a Pharisee
of the Pharisees, lived his life by the strictest set of rules. He was
always trying to live God’s way, do God’s will. This is
why he started to persecute the Christians, because he thought that
he was protecting God.
"While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had falllen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me." (Acts 26:12-21)
Whether a person is lost in sin, suffering under the weight
of all the guilt and complex problems that sin brings with it, or has
been trying to be good all of their lives, but never quite making it,
there comes a point when God reaches in and reveals Himself. For Paul
this was the bright light on the Damascus road. The point at which he
saw clearly for the very first time that his actions were not pleasing
to God, were not protecting God, but were persecuting God. The moment
of truth for Paul was at the same time utterly devastating, wiping away
everything that had gone before, and ultimately hopeful. You see God
was not simply punishing Paul, but laying before Paul His purpose for
Paul’s life.
Relationship with God always has a negative and a positive strain.
Salvation always carries with it two prepositions. God wants to save
us “from” our past, our sins, our old selves. But He also
wants to save us “to” eternal life, glory, righteousness,
His purpose for us. So when we come to God we must look both ways before
crossing the street. When I was a child my mother always told me to
look both ways before crossing the street because a car might be coming.
In coming into a relationship with God, or leading someone into a relationship
with God, you need to look both ways as well. First we need to look
back at our past. We need to see just how empty our attempts at being
good were, or how destructive our sinful life really was. We need to
realize just how thirsty we are for God in our lives, how hungry we
are for His truth, how lonely we are for His love. We must repent of
our own independant rebellious ways and ask for the mercy of God.
Then it is important to look the other way as well. On the other side
are all the blessings of God, victory over sin, peace and hope and love.
On the other side, is my future, totally changed by the grace of God.
Many people only look one way. They realize how much they need God but
not the future and the hope that God has for them.
We are dealing with an age when there is more misinformation than information
about the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ has not changed in 2000
years. The gospel message is so simple that it can be summed up in one
verse of the Bible. "For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) God's love, Jesus' sacrifice
= Our salvation. All we must do is believe in our hearts that Jesus
is God, and confess with our mouths that God raised Him from the dead.
If we believe in Jesus this way we are saved. But these days, if you
ask someone about Jesus, or how to be saved you will most likely get
a different answer.
There are two reasons why we need to share our personal testimony with
people. The first is because it makes the gospel clear. You are a person
that God loved so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die for you, even
though you did not love God or do anything to deserve that love. In
fact you did many things that deserved anything but love. The second
reason is because it gives them a model to follow. If the gospel is
true, then what is our response to it. It is not like hearing that it
is going to be sunny tomorrow on the news. The gospel demands a response.
Paul put his response very simply to King Agrippa. He said, once that
he knew God’s purpose for him, “I was not disobedient.”
Paul set the example for the king.
"Therefore having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come-- that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!" But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe." Then Agrippa said to Paul, "you almost persuade me to become a Christian." And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains." When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, "This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains." Then Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." (Acts 26 22-32)
Paul gives us a very good example of giving testimony
for Christ. Now most of us will never give testimony before kings about
Jesus, but if we are living for Christ, we will find that people ask
us about Him. Just as King Agrippa asked Paul. I found many times while
teaching an English class that people would ask me about Jesus Christ,
or why I became a missionary in Japan, or what the secret of my happiness
was. Here are the basic ingredients of a good witness.
• Share your past, what you were like before you met Christ, the
before and after picture. I am sure that you have all seen these ads
on the trains, with the girl in the bathing suit, who looks like Akebono's
(sumo champion) twin sister, and then in the "after" picture
could be Amuro Namie (pop star). Don’t be ashamed to let people
see your faults. You see most people think that everybody else is doing
alright and they are the only ones that are messed up. Let people see
God’s grace in your life.
• Share the simple gospel. John 3:16. That God loves you so much
that He sent Jesus to die for you so that if you believe you can have
eternal life. Don’t confuse this gospel, don’t mix it with
anything, just let them hear it plain.
• Bring them to the point of decision. Paul said to Agrippa, “Do
you believe the prophets?” Knowing that if Agrippa believed the
prophets he would know the gospel was true. And Agrippa also felt in
his heart the pull of the good news, saying to Paul, "you almost
persuade me to become a Christian." But Agrippa did not become
a Christian. I do not think that we are called to “win”
people to Christ. Paul did not “win” Agrippa. But he did
“witness” powerfully. It is important to let people know
that they have to make a choice. That today is the day of salvation.
But please do not think that you are responsible for another person’s
soul. You are responsible to witness to the grace you have received.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! (Psalm 107:2) But each person is
free to make their own choice. We are not called to coerce people into
the kingdom, we are called to testify to the truth of the gospel, making
it clear, exactly what God has done for us, and what our response should
be. This is true evangelism.
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