Joel Brooks: If you would, open in your Bibles to Acts chapter 26. We've been working through Acts since last Easter. And we were at chapter 20 last week. I'm going to kind of summarize the rest of Acts tonight. That doesn't mean we're done.
I'm probably going to preach for max next week, but when it kind of summarize the last few chapters here, and I thought 26 would be a good summary of this. We'll begin reading in verse 13, and this is Paul before king Agrippa. At midday, oh king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, has shown around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things which you have seen me, and to those see me, and to those in which I appear to you. Delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you. To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
That they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Therefore, oh King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds and keeping with their repentance. For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 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. That Christ must suffer. And that by being the 1st to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. 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.
But Paul said, I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things. And to him, I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things have escaped his notice. For this has not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? Paul said, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. Pray with me.
Our father, we give you thanks and praise for this moment. We bless you that we get to call you father. That our identity rest in you, is found in you. We thank you for the gift of your son, his sacrifice, his resurrection. We thank you for the gift of your spirit that enables us to cry out, Abba Father.
Spirit, I ask now that you would teach us through your word. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away, not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. And I pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
I'm not going to preach long tonight because we're gonna give some other people the opportunity to come and talk before you. But I'll share the first thing that I thought of when I got up this morning. The very first thing that popped in my head on Easter morning, was actually a name. It was Ernest Becker. I don't know if any of you have heard of Ernest Becker.
Ernest Becker, he won the Pulitzer Prize for a book called The Denial of Death. And it's a it's a fascinating read. He was an atheist, and the theme or the thrust of this book is this, that all of life has death in view, and death is so horrifying, death is so terrifying that we can't look at it. And so, we have to constantly distract ourselves. We have to deny what awaits us.
What we can never escape. And he said that all of life can be seen through that lens. He said, the the reason we have wars is because we're denying death. He says, the the reason that, that we're patriots is because we're denying death. We're patriots because we believe our country will last forever, and so we want to give ourselves to something that will be immortal.
So, but it's all foolishness because in the end death awaits everyone. He said, and even every nation will go. He says, the earth will go. The sun is going to burn out. Everything dies.
It is the most, you know, grim, just grim book when you read it. He says, But that's reality. The only way we can really function is if we find ways to deny this death that awaits us all. And, I was thinking of that first thought this morning. I thought, I wish he had met Paul.
And you know what? I don't fear death. And I can say that with absolute confidence that as Christians, we don't fear death. I'm not in a denial of death. I might be a little fear of dying, but not death itself.
Because death for a Christian is just the beginning. When we die, what is sown as perishable becomes raised as imperishable. What is sown in dishonor becomes raised in honor. What's sown in weakness will be raised in power. What is sown a natural body will be raised a spiritual body.
And I know this, and we know this because we have met a living Jesus. 1 who has conquered the grave. It's kinda hard to have an argument with somebody, you know, Ernest Becker and Jesus. Hey. We all live life in denial and death.
You say, no. I have been dead, and I have conquered the grave. Paul, who I wish Ernest Becker could have met. Paul is a great evangelist. He was a great apologist, a great defender of the faith.
He could argue from scriptures. He could argue argue from reason, the gospel. But when you go through the book of Acts, you know what he goes through over and over? He goes to his testimony. How he actually has met the risen Jesus.
He goes to that over and over because he realizes, you know what, to become a Christian, it's not just analyzing some data and be like, okay, well, you know, concerning options, this one looks good. Therefore, I'm a Christian. It's like, that's not a Christian. It's not just, believing facts, or or taking in some information. Now, Christianity, those things have to happen, but that doesn't make you a Christian.
Being a Christian is meeting a person, a real living person. And so, Paul wasn't just trying to communicate data, he was trying to introduce people to Jesus. The Jesus whom he had met. So, he was always telling his testimony. We don't become Christians by accepting a doctrine.
We become a Christian by meeting the living Jesus. And so, Paul would over and over again, he would share with people about Jesus. Let me sum up the rest of Acts for you. It's actually pretty easy. Acts last week, Acts chapter 20.
You know, Paul, he's telling the elders of Ephesus. He's on his way to Jerusalem. Alright. So, he goes to Jerusalem. He's gonna get arrested.
He's gonna be put on trial. He's gonna be put on another trial. He's gonna be put on another trial, and then another trial, and then you have the end of of acts. Alright. That's it.
He is he's going through a lot of trials. When you come to chapter 22, Paul gives his defense on this first trial to his Jewish brothers, and he says, you know what? I was just like you. I was a Judaizer. A matter of fact, I hate Christians, I kill Christians, but you know what?
I met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He's alive, And he called me and he changed my life. He shared his testimony at his defense. In chapter 23, when Paul standing before the Jewish council, he says, hey. You know what?
The only reason I am here is because of the resurrection of the dead. That's it. That's why I'm on trial today is because of the resurrection. Chapter 24, Paul's before Felix, the governor, and he said, defend yourself. And he says, once again, the only reason I'm here is because I'm defending the resurrection of the dead.
Then we come to chapter 26. Paul now has been in prison for 2 years without ever having a without ever having a the real trial. The trial just keeps getting moved and moved and moved. And now, he's standing before Governor Festus and King Agrippa. King Agrippa is the great great grandson of Herod the Great.
He was the king over Judea, Samaria, and much of Galilee. He had a great reputation of being a very pious man, one who understood the Jewish faith well. And so, Paul is before him. And what does Paul do? We just read it.
So here's my defense. I'm not gonna try to argue with you. I'm not gonna try to give you new data. Here's my defense. I was on the road to Damascus, and I met the living Jesus.
It happened. And I wasn't disobedient to his calling in my life. Over and over again, Paul goes to his testimony. Let me tell you what, this is something that every Christian, every one of us can do, and every one of us should do so much more. I find so much in, I have to resist the temptation when I'm talking with non Christians to just try and win an argument.
It's like, hey, I could win this argument. You know, I'm I'm, gosh, I'm loaded for bear right now, and I'm just gonna, I'm gonna take you out with my my persuasive skills. I'm like, but I'm not introducing to them to a person. I need to tell my story more. I met Jesus, and he's changed my life.
All of us need to do this. I love how this story ends here. When he's just finished telling his testimony, you go back and you look at, verse 23. It says that Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, you proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles. And of course, once you mentioned resurrection, like it always happens, people just, they interrupt Paul.
They usually put it into his sermon or his defense. And it says, 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. Which when you talk about people rising from the dead, being given new bodies, People are gonna think that. I love Paul's answer, but Paul said, I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus.
I am speaking true and rational words. Then he looks at king Agrippa. The king says, the king knows about these things, And I can say this in utter confidence. I could speak boldly to him. Says, for I'm persuaded that none of these things have escaped his notice.
For this has not been done in a corner. So he talks about the resurrection, and Festus says, you're out of your mind. He goes, I'm not out of my mind, King, Jesus was raised in your backyard. It didn't escape your notice. Everybody was talking about the resurrection.
There were 500 witnesses at least to the resurrection. Credible witnesses telling others, all of Jerusalem was an uproar over the resurrection. All of Judea, Samaria, Gallip, there it's buzzing with this. King Agrippa, you know this. He appeals to the king.
Christianity says, it didn't start in some hidden corner. Which is how some people today like to think of Christianity starting like it was a bunch of apostles hidden in a room saying, you know what? How can we keep this religion thing going now that Jesus is gone? Let's, you know, okay. Let's let's try to come up with something.
It's like it wasn't done behind closed doors. This was a very public resurrection. Everybody saw it. Right, King? Kings like, are you trying to make me a Christian?
Paul says, yes, whether in a short time or long. That's my aim. Always the evangelist. Guys, you have any idea what the resurrection means? It does not in in our culture, this generation is really actually the last couple generations has really stuck to this.
We think the purpose of the resurrection is so that we can someday go off into heaven when we die. That is such a small view. Small view. I have to, I'm a preacher. Y'all go to Colossians.
I already warned. I warned some people that I was going to, I might just have to preach. Give me, give me just 3 minutes. Alright? Y'all go to Colossians chapter 1.
We read it at the start. This this is what the resurrection means right here. Verse 15, it's in your worship guide. It says, he, that's Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in Him, all things hold together. And, He is the head of the body of the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
That in everything he might be preeminent. Alright. That language of firstborn, or he is before all things, what it's saying is that when we see the risen Christ, we see what awaits us. He's the first born. He's the first fruits.
We come after. And so, when we see that resurrected body, we think, that is what awaits us. Not just some disembodied spirit up in heaven. A future with a real body. This right here is when Jesus prayed the Lord's prayer.
You're seeing it fulfilled right here. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth and in heaven. Notice, he's saying that Jesus here, he he is ruling heaven and earth.
Visible, invisible. And what you're saying here is that Christ holds all those things together, that before the resurrection, you had this heavenly spiritual world, and you had this physical, kind of material world, and then also in Christ burst from the grave in a spiritual body. Heaven, Earth, united. Joined together. Saying, that's what awaits us.
God's kingdom comes. On earth like it is in heaven, joined together. Everything changes. Ernest Becker was wrong when it says, we have to fear death. He was wrong when he said, the earth is going to pass away.
No, the earth is not going to pass away. It's all all coming to a new creation. Alright, I'm pulling back now. That's what the resurrection means. This needs to be on our lips the other 364 days.
And our testimony about how Jesus has changed us needs to be on our lips. The other 3364 days. How we have met the risen Christ, and he has changed us. And so we're gonna do that right now.