Grace Baptist Church

Pastor Chris Bell: But if you would, please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26. And Lord willing, we will finally finish the chapter today. I don't think we're going to split it into more parts. So, I think this is going to be it for 26, Lord willing.

But as we prepare to approach God's word, let's pray and ask that the Lord would bless his word to us this morning. Father in heaven, we do come before you, and we do love that name, Jesus. That sweet, sweet name, the name above every other name. And Father, we want others to come to know the sweetness of that name.

So, Father, I pray that as we approach your word, your word would accomplish its purpose in our hearts. I pray, Father, that as we continue what we saw last week and pick that up to continue seeing these ways that we can grow in our boldness in Christian witness. I pray that your spirit really would do a work in our heart. That he would increase our fervor, that he would give us greater confidence in the things that we believe, that would equip us with a boldness to go out so that others could indeed know the sweetness of Jesus and his matchless name.

So, Father, we pray that you would work through the word, that you would mold and shape our hearts according to your will. We ask this in Christ's name and for your glory. Amen. Well, as we carry on in our study through the book of Acts, you'll recall that last week we began a two-part message with seven ways to grow in boldness in our Christian witness. And as Paul continues on giving his testimony and his defense before King Agrippa, we noted three of those strategies last week.

First, we practice what we preach. We can boldly call others to repent when we know that we ourselves have first truly repented. But second, we trust the providence and promises of God. It was through God's providence that God had kept his promise to deliver Paul from his adversaries. And that providence had even led Paul to the very witnessing opportunity of this chapter as he is standing in Festus's audience hall. And in a similar way, we will find boldness and courage for our witness when we remember that God's providence governs all things, no matter what situation we find ourselves in. And he has promised to be with us in this great task of making disciples.

But third, we grow in boldness by standing on the authority of scripture. Paul was only saying what the Old Testament prophesied would take place. And the fulfillment of prophecy, especially pertaining to Jesus as the Messiah, should give us confidence that what we really are proclaiming is God's truth when we communicate biblical teachings to people. We don't witness on our own authority, but on God's, mediated through the scriptures, and that should give us a boldness that we take with us when we witness.

But this morning, we are, Lord willing, going to continue on to see the final four strategies of how we grow in the boldness of our witness, even as Paul himself says that he speaks boldly to King Agrippa. And ultimately, we're going to continue seeing the overarching truth which we began last week, and that is that the Lord not only calls his people to shine his light into a dark world, but also graciously supplies all that we need in order to obey his call to shine that light with boldness.

So, follow along with me as we read Acts chapter 26, verses 24 through 32, and this is the word of God to us this morning. "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 am 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 has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.'

And Agrippa said to Paul, 'In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?' 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.' Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, 'This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.' And Agrippa said to Festus, 'This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.'"

So, as we jump into our text this morning, the first of these strategies to grow in boldness that we're going to see comes in verses 24 through 25, and that is to understand the rational defensibility of our faith. We need to understand the rational defensibility of our faith. Verse 24 begins: "And as he was saying these things in his defense." So, what things is Paul talking about? Well, this of course refers to what Paul has just said in the immediately preceding verses. So, let's go back and see the last thing that Paul said in verses 22 through 23.

He said, "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 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." So, Paul has just said that Christ, in fulfillment of scripture, died and rose again. But this point of Christ's resurrection is going to be too much for Festus to handle. And it's on that note that Festus interrupts Paul.

He said in verse 24b: "Festus said with a loud voice, 'Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.'" So, Festus only says this after hearing Paul's claim of Jesus's resurrection. So, for Festus, he's essentially saying, "Don't you know, Paul? Dead men don't rise! They stay dead. You've been reading too many books that have driven you to the point of embracing outlandish and fanciful ideas like resurrection." And isn't this what we can be afraid of as well? Being accused of being out of our minds or foolish or even ridiculous for believing in Jesus.

But we would do well to pay attention to how Paul responds. This accusation of being mad doesn't phase him even in the slightest. But with utter confidence, he replies in verse 25: "But Paul said, 'I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus.'" What's really interesting is that the words for "being out of your mind" or "out of my mind" in verses 24 and 25 are closely related to the word translated as "fury" earlier in verse 11 of the chapter, when Paul says that in "raging fury against them"—that is, the Christians—"I persecuted them even to foreign cities."

So, given that verbal connection, it's as if Paul is basically saying, "No, I'm not out of my mind. I was out of my mind back when I was a persecutor of the church, but not anymore. Now, as a believer, I am in my right mind." And then he says that he is speaking true and rational words. He says, "But I am speaking true and rational words." The word "true" in the Greek text basically shares the exact same definition with our English word "true." It means, according to the lexicon Louw and Nida, "pertaining to being a real or actual event or state."

So, Paul is saying that the words he is speaking are not far-out ramblings. Instead, they correspond with and represent the actual state of things in reality. The propositions Paul is making are in agreement with actual, objective fact in the external and tangible world. But he also says that he's speaking rational words. The word translated "rational" according to the same lexicon means, "to have understanding about practical matters and thus be able to act sensibly; to have sound judgment; to be sensible; to use good sense; sound judgment."

So, everything Paul is saying is actually reasonable. His thinking is sound. And that's important because it helps us to understand that indeed our faith is reasonable. Far too often, people have separated faith from reason. Our culture would have us believe that faith and reason are not compatible. That believing is something you do with your heart, your emotions, and that thinking logically and rationally about the world is something you do with your mind. Many have this false notion that faith, by definition, is blind.

That faith is utterly subjective, so that claims relating to faith cannot be verified or falsified in the external world, but are purely untestable, so that any ideal of faith that someone wants to hold to is as good as any other claim. But I believe that the biblical position is quite different and that faith and reason go hand in hand, being perfectly compatible with one another. So first, let's start by asking the question: What is faith?

Well, there is one clear passage of scripture that talks about the nature of faith. And though a definition is provided here, I don't think it's an exhaustive definition. It's not telling us all that there is to faith, but it is nonetheless describing some of the key characteristics of faith. And you probably know the verse quite well. It comes in Hebrews 11, verse 1: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

So we see here that faith involves an unshakable confidence in the things that we hope for and the things we cannot see. That means that when we say "things hoped for," it's not using "hope" in the sense of, "Well, I sure hope it doesn't rain on the day of the church picnic." When we say that, we mean that we're really not sure if it's going to rain or not, but we're holding out for the best. No, in this sense, we hope in God's promises, meaning that we by faith have an absolute certainty that what God has promised to us will indeed come to be.

And through faith, we are certain that the spiritual realities we cannot see are just as real as the things we can perceive with our natural senses. And the chapter goes on to give example after example of faithful saints of old who operated under this certain conviction. Their faith in God's promises moved them to tangibly act in obedience on these promises, even when they could not yet see the fulfillment with their physical eyes. And so, faith, by definition, always involves a confidence in unseen realities. If we could see it, then it wouldn't be faith at that point; it would just be sight.

But just because faith involves confidence in unseen realities, that does not mean it is blind. Why is faith not blind? Because even for the things that we cannot see but are instructed to believe in, God has provided us with many solid reasons or evidences that our faith is well-founded. For example, when God gives promises of what he will do in the future, even though we cannot yet see the fulfillment of those promises, we have strong confidence that God will make good on his word because he has a perfect track record of faithfulness in the past.

We see that God has performed what he has promised in the past, so we have every reason to believe based on that trustworthy character that he will perform what he has promised for the future. And faith operates this way even in the realm of ordinary human life. Think about it. Say you've been married for 40 years. On the day of your wedding, your spouse vowed faithfulness to you, meaning that they will not cheat on you with someone else. That promise still stands today. Your spouse will not cheat on you.

Is the reality that your spouse will never cheat on you something that you can see? No, because there is still a future that has not yet come to pass. You cannot actually literally see the future. So, why do you have faith in your spouse? Why do you trust that they will still remain faithful to you and not cheat? Well, because they have had a track record of 40 years of faithfulness. So although you cannot see the reality of their future faithfulness, you have a strong reason to trust them based on their past track record of faithfulness. You are placing faith in your spouse, but it is not a blind faith.

It is a well-founded faith and trust. Even when it comes to the issue of God's existence, God has already provided every single human being with all the revelation of himself that is necessary for them to have every reason to believe in him and honor him. Look at the way that Romans 1 speaks about this. Romans 1:18-20: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them."

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." So notice the logic here. Why are people accountable to God for their sin and for dishonoring him as creator? Because despite their attempts to run away from the truth, God has made the truth of his existence so obvious that it renders every person totally without excuse and morally culpable.

In other words, believing in God does require faith since we can't actually see him. But it's not a blind faith because God has left his blatant signature on the universe that he created, which provides all the reason we need to know that he's there. We are responsible to believe because God, though unseen, has given us sufficient revelation of himself in the evidence of the things that we can see. But also consider the fact that the Christian faith is very logical.

The soundness of mind that Christian faith involves is seen even in the way that scripture itself utilizes systems of logic and argumentation to communicate its points. And intuitively, you know this if you've ever read your Bible and tried to interpret it. If you've ever attempted to exegete a passage, to draw meaning out of what the text is saying, then you know that there are all sorts of connecting words: "therefore," "for," "so that," "because," "in order that." And all of these words establish grammatical and logical relationships between sentences and parts of sentences so that you can track with the author's train of thought in an intelligible and a coherent way.

You know that faith and reason are not incompatible because you literally can't even read your Bible without using reason to understand it, to track with the argument of what is being said in the text. And we've seen in Acts that Paul himself relied heavily on reason. So, let's rapid-fire a few of these examples just to jog our memories this morning. Acts chapter 17, verses 2 and 3: "And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead."

Or chapter 18, verse 4: "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks." Or chapter 19, verses 8 and 9: "And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus."

So we see pretty clearly that even Paul did not argue for a blind faith. He sought to use reason and argumentation to persuade his audience that what he was saying is true. But also consider that even the reality of logic itself necessitates the reality of God's existence. Atheists and skeptics claim that it's not logical or rational to believe in God. And they try to use logical arguments to argue against God. But logic is not a material reality at all, is it? You cannot weigh logic or put it in a test tube.

Logic is an immaterial reality which orders the way we think in the immaterial sphere of our minds. But if atheism were true, if the material world is all that exists and the universe was the meaningless result of random chance and chaotic occurrences, then there should be no logical laws to govern the way that we perceive and grasp truth. We all intuitively think logically and assume the reality of the laws of logic because the universe reflects the orderly and logical mind of its creator.

When atheists use logic to argue against God, they actually have to borrow the existence of logic from the biblical worldview in order to argue against it. So all of their arguments are self-defeating. You see, as soon as an atheist appeals to logic to make his argument, he's already automatically lost because logic itself wouldn't even exist unless God was there to make it so. So, really, any attempt to argue against God's existence is already self-refuting.

So, faith and the Christian worldview are reasonable and rationally defensible. And you need to know that because knowing that will help you feel more bold to witness for Christ. If you know that what you believe really is very reasonable, then you won't be so vulnerable when people try to belittle you or make you feel stupid for being a Christian. So, that's our first point. If you want to be bold in your witness, understand the rational defensibility of our faith.

But second of all, we move on to verse 26, and that leads to our second point this morning of how we can grow bold in our witness, and that is to know the historical reliability of our faith. Know the historical reliability of our faith. Beginning in verse 26, Paul says, "For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly." You see, despite Festus's insistence that Paul is out of his mind, Paul appeals to Agrippa's knowledge of the claims Paul is making to support that he is not crazy.

Agrippa, being an expert in Jewish matters, he knows of the Jewish hope of resurrection rooted in scripture. He knows of Jesus's death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. He knows of the claim that the Christian movement is built on, namely that Jesus rose from the dead. And so, Paul is not alone in these beliefs, as if he's out on an island all by himself as one raving lunatic, stark mad, completely out of touch with reality. No, he is holding to beliefs that are rooted in scripture that the Jews have held for centuries and which many, many people in the Christian movement now affirm.

And so, Paul shifts his focus to Agrippa once again. He says, "To him, to the king Agrippa, I speak boldly." You see, maybe Festus isn't open to hearing it now, so Paul sets his evangelistic sights more keenly on Agrippa. And he points to the very public nature of the Christian claims. Look at the second half of verse 26. He says, "For this has not been done in a corner. For this has not been done in a corner." In other words, these things had been done out in the open, not secretly.

The belief in Christ's resurrection was not something held by only a couple of selected individuals who keep to themselves in some little secret cult meetings away from the public eye. No, Christ's resurrection was seen by many, and it was widely proclaimed in the public square. The public nature of the Christian claims would have made it impossible for the content of Paul's message to have escaped Agrippa's notice. And you see, this is one of the key elements that distinguishes Christianity from other religions.

Christianity does not rest merely upon one's willingness to hold to certain spiritual beliefs. Christianity is founded upon an objective historical claim. It's grounded upon the claim of Christ's resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that if Christ didn't actually rise, then our entire faith is a sham. And the claim of Jesus's resurrection is a claim to a tangible event that can be investigated and verified. A purely spiritual claim can't be objectively verified or falsified, but Christianity stakes its claim on actual, external, historical events.

And as Paul makes clear, these events were very public in nature. They were not private. And you know, the fact that Christ's resurrection could be publicly proclaimed during the days of the start of the church and not immediately be shot down with the result that the church died and just fizzled out at the very beginning is one of the greatest pieces of evidence for the truth of Christ's resurrection. You see, if Jesus didn't actually rise, why didn't the authorities just display the body as soon as the claim of resurrection started going public?

Well, that would have put an end to it just right then and there. Well, they didn't do this because they didn't have the body. Why didn't they have the body? It's not because the disciples stole it. There were Roman guards to watch the tomb to ensure that that could not happen. Well, maybe the disciples just lied and made up the story of Jesus's resurrection to gain power or riches in a new religious movement. Really? With the exception of John, all of the disciples died horrible deaths because they wouldn't recant their Christian faith.

You see, people die for false religions, but they don't die for a lie if they know they made the lie up themselves. And maybe the resurrection appearances were just hallucinations. Impossible, because multiple people saw the risen Christ on multiple occasions in different settings and with different combinations of who was in the group. You see, individuals have hallucinations, but there is no such thing as a mass group hallucination where everyone all sees the exact same thing.

1 Corinthians 15:6 says, "Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep." Jesus was seen by a crowd of 500 people all at one time, and most of them were still alive at the time that Paul wrote, so that others could go and check his story against the witness's own testimony. Imagine the case that you would have in court if you had 500 first-hand witnesses to a crime.

And this huge number also shows that the disciples couldn't have been conspiring to come up with the claim of the resurrection, because the conspiracy gets harder to keep secret the more people are in on it. And 500 people is a massive number. Well, what if the disciples were wrong and Jesus never actually died but simply swooned on the cross? So when they saw him again, they thought he was resurrected when he never actually died in the first place. Impossible.

Romans were masters of death and were around it so much that they could not have possibly mistaken Jesus for dead if he was in fact alive. Plus, John records that blood and water flowed out of Jesus when they pierced his side. That indicates that he suffered pleural effusion as a result of his heart stopping. Jesus died. He was dead. A lot of Christian apologists have laid these things out over the years. One of them is a man by the name of J. Warner Wallace. He's a career cold-case murder detective who used his skills as a detective to investigate the claims of Jesus's resurrection.

And he actually started that investigation before he was a believer. And he makes the point that every single one of the unbelieving skeptical explanations to try to explain away the resurrection fails to account for some of the evidence. And I want you to listen to the way the beginning of Acts talks about Jesus's resurrection appearances. Acts chapter 1, verse 3: "He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God."

One of the things that we learn from this verse is that over a period of 40 days, between Christ's resurrection and his ascension, he appeared to the disciples at various times and in various settings in such a way which constituted many proofs of his resurrection. And I believe that in the wisdom of God, he purposefully orchestrated the resurrection appearances in the way he did in order that just the evidence and testimony that we need would be recorded in scripture in order for us to have a full-proof case to make for the resurrection.

So once again, we do need to exercise faith in the resurrection since we cannot actually see it with our own eyes. But it's not blind faith. It is based upon rock-solid evidence which holds up under historical scrutiny. Upon examination of the evidence, the only reason that someone would dismiss the claim of resurrection is if they have already decided ahead of time that miraculous resurrection cannot occur. But you see, this is deciding the conclusion before even asking the question.

And as we've said before, if we believe in the existence of an all-powerful God who can create the universe out of nothing, then it is no difficulty for that same God to raise the dead to life when it is his purpose to do so. It is a totally reasonable claim. So, if all the evidence points to God's existence, the truth of creation, and even the historical reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and if the Christian faith is logical, rational, and reasonable, why doesn't everybody believe it?

Well, it goes back to what we saw earlier in Acts 26: the blindness of the unregenerate heart of lost and fallen man. Jesus said that he was sending Paul to "open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light." You see, you have to understand when it comes to Christian apologetics or the defense of the faith and evidence, that people's thinking and ability to examine evidence is not neutral. Our sinful fallenness and depravity affects every aspect of man, even his mind.

And this is referred to in theology as the noetic effects of sin. The noetic effects of sin. That sin affects even the way man thinks and his ability to reason. So, people aren't born neutral, just going wherever the evidence leads. They are born sinful with a natural predisposition not to believe. Remember what we saw earlier in Romans 1: Everyone knows God is there because it's so abundantly obvious in creation. But mankind suppresses the truth in unrighteousness.

They actively try to hold down the truth they know by resorting to other worldviews and religions to rescue them from their own accountability to God. They don't want the truth to be true. So they resort to other less reasonable explanations as a rescuing device to save them from the moral implications of the truth. So, at the heart of it all, unbelief is not rooted in a lack of evidence for Christianity. It is rooted in a refusal to accept the testimony of the evidence that God has already abundantly provided to us because we don't want it to be true.

And so, we deceive ourselves into believing other explanations that are more appealing to our sinful nature. But the evidence is there. Listen to how Jesus describes this in John 7, verse 17: "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." You see, Jesus is saying that if anyone is morally willing to submit to God, then they will be convinced that what Jesus is saying is true.

But the people who don't believe Jesus's words are the people who don't actually want to submit to obey God in the first place. And that shows us that unbelief is not so much an intellectual problem, as if there's not enough data to know the truth, as much as it is a moral problem: an unwillingness to submit our lives to the truth. And no amount of evidence will ever bring an unbeliever to faith until the moment when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of their hearts and grants them the gifts of repentance and faith.

So evidence is valuable in bolstering our faith, helping us through our doubts, and removing barriers from unbelievers coming to faith. But evidence by itself will never actually produce faith apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Christianity is very reasonable, but our reason only functions properly when we submit our intellect to God. And when you know that our faith is grounded not in myth or legend but in the historically verifiable fact of Jesus's resurrection as communicated to us through scripture, you will feel more bold to share your faith and less fearful of skeptics.

And we haven't even talked about many other historical details of scripture that line up with what we know from archaeology and whatnot, but we don't have time to get into all of that today. But to summarize this point, if you want to grow more bold in your witness for Christ, understand the historical reliability of our faith. Now, we do have two more points to cover this morning, and we're going to have to speed up a little bit on these and not spend quite as much time on them.

But the third point coming in verses 27 through 29 to grow in the boldness of our witness is to view yourself and the world around you with God's perspective. View yourself and the world around you with God's perspective. Let's look at verse 27. Paul says, "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." So, having pointed to the public nature of the Christian claims, Paul now really presses Agrippa. "Do you believe the prophets?" He basically says, "Look, Agrippa, you're a Jewish king. I know you surely believe the Old Testament scriptures.

And if you believe the prophets, you should believe what I'm saying now about Jesus's resurrection, because the prophets said the Messiah would die and rise, just as we considered last week." And this really puts Agrippa between a rock and a hard place. If he says he believes the prophets, then he's basically conceding to Paul's argument. If he says no, he loses tremendous favor with the Jews by claiming not to believe their scriptures. So, Agrippa is kind of caught in a trap here. What's he going to do? What's he going to say?

Well, instead of answering the question, he goes on to deflect it in verse 28. And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" As the commentaries reveal, the translation of Agrippa's statement or question here is notoriously difficult to translate. But whatever the best exact rendering, the basic sense of it is pretty clear. Agrippa is basically saying, "You really think that you can convince me to be a Christian in such a short time?"

And perhaps there's someone listening to this message having similar thoughts. You've heard a little bit about the reasonableness of Christianity, the truth of a creator, and the evidence for Christ's resurrection, but you're thinking that there's no way you could shift your allegiance to Christ only having just heard of some of these arguments in such a brief time. And if that's you, I think that Paul's response is very appropriate. He goes on in verse 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."

Paul's response is essentially that he doesn't care how long it takes to convince Agrippa of the truth of Christ. The only thing he cares about is that Agrippa actually does get all the way there to being convinced and being saved, no matter how long it takes, short or long. And the truth is that for some people, the truth hits them like a lightning bolt and they're saved very quickly, while for others, it is a long and a slow process of the Lord drawing them all the way across the line to saving faith.

So, Paul says that his main concern is not the timing of Agrippa's conversion, but the fact that he does indeed get there. But I would also add a caveat here: Don't count on having a long time to come to Christ, because we're never guaranteed tomorrow. But then Paul goes on to make it clear that his appeal extends beyond just Agrippa and includes also everyone in this great audience chamber hearing his testimony. Look at what he says. It's really amazing.

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. Except for these chains." Consider how truly remarkable this statement is. Paul is the lowly prisoner in chains. Around him are all of the officials and the people of high standing decked out in their fanciest garb. You'll recall that in chapter 25, verse 23, we read of Agrippa and Bernice coming in with "great pomp," the text said. With great pomp.

And yet here, Paul is saying that it is actually he himself that is in the enviable position. Paul says, "I wish everyone could be like me." He is actually better off than everyone else around him. The only caveat that Paul adds is that he of course wishes that they could become like him without having to go through the pain of imprisonment and being chained. But this reminds us of the truth that God's priorities and man's priorities are so totally opposite from one another.

Through worldly eyes, we would view Paul as pitiable and miserable. Yet through God's eyes, we understand that of all the individuals in this great hall, Paul is the one supremely blessed in Christ, while it is the high officials and nobles who stand wretched and in desperate need of salvation. What a great reversal Paul has drawn attention to here. At the start of all of this, Paul has walked in as the prisoner on trial. And by the end of it, he has placed Agrippa on trial, pressing him to acknowledge the truth of Christ and making it clear to all that it is actually Paul himself who is in the desirable position of being a Christian.

And the truth is that we all need to learn to view ourselves and the world around us with God's perspective. Because the fact is that no matter how desperate your pain or your trials, if you are in Christ, you are blessed beyond all measure. And the fact is that no matter how well-off the world around you appears to be doing, apart from Christ, they have nothing and are poor, wretched, naked, and blind. Listen to how Paul talks about the difference between the world's perspective and the truth of God's perspective in 2 Corinthians.

In talking about his apostolic ministry, he lays out a series of paradoxes which contrast the way that fleshly people view his ministry with the true spiritual reality as God sees it. In 2 Corinthians 6:8b-10, he says, "We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."

To the world's eyes, you look at the apostle Paul and you think, "This is a derelict man with nothing to his name." And Paul says the reality is, "In Christ, I possess everything that there is to possess in this universe." And also listen to how Paul describes the change that salvation produces in our evaluation even of other people, the way that we view them. 2 Corinthians 5:16, Paul says, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer."

So Paul says that since coming to Christ, he doesn't regard people according to the flesh, meaning that he doesn't evaluate people on the basis of worldly standards of evaluation. He seeks to view things with God's standards of evaluation now. And if we adopt that same perspective, we too will grow bolder in our witness. Why? Because when we understand how blessed we are in Christ, regardless of what other people think of us, we will want them to share in that same blessing.

And when we understand the desperation of people's condition apart from Christ, no matter how well-off they appear to be, we will earnestly desire their rescue and their salvation as well. So, if you want to grow bold in your witness for Christ, view yourself and the world around you with God's perspective. But finally, in verses 30 through 32, a final strategy to grow in our boldness: Aim to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes. Aim to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes.

Let's first look at verses 30 and 31. "Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, 'This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.'" So after hearing Paul's testimony, Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice, along with all the official advisors, they get together privately to discuss their conclusions on Paul's case. Remember why they're doing this. They're trying to discern what to write when they send Paul on to Caesar, per Paul's appeal.

They're trying to figure out, "What do I actually write about this guy?" But together, they conclude that Paul is innocent. It's a clear statement here. Regardless of whether they believe his gospel presentation and agree with his religious claims, they have to at least admit that Paul has certainly not done anything criminal deserving death or imprisonment. So why don't they simply just acquit Paul and release him? Verse 32: "And Agrippa said to Festus, 'This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.'"

What does this mean? Well, A.N. Sherwin-White, who's an expert in Roman law, basically notes that it was not technically illegal for Festus to dismiss Paul's case after the appeal had been made. So the impossibility of releasing Paul, it's not on legal grounds. Instead, it is on social grounds, on the principle of prestige. From a social standpoint, Festus could not release Paul after the appeal had been made to Caesar because this would have been seen as a slight against Caesar by taking it out of Caesar's, his superior's, hands despite the appeal having already been made. And that would probably not bode well for Festus in his relationship with the emperor.

So once again, we see very clearly that the decision had been made. Paul is going to Rome, just as the Lord purposed and promised for him. And this concludes really the lengthy series of trials in the book of Acts. This is the end of the trial section. But for our purposes this morning in this message, I want us to note the way that Paul's innocence was acknowledged even by unbelievers. He had a good testimony in the world's eyes. And surely this added credibility to his witness.

Paul's gospel appeal would have meant next to nothing if he had in fact been a violent criminal or rebel deserving of imprisonment and death. But his testimony gains weight when he is seen as suffering for doing good. And this point that we're saying here—aim to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes—is really closely related to the point that we saw last week: practice what you preach. But the emphasis is a little bit different. Last week, the emphasis was on the boldness that we will have when we know in our heart that we are not a fraud.

But this week, the emphasis is on the boldness we will have when the world knows that we are not a fraud. Listen to the way Peter talks about this truth in 1 Peter 2, verse 12. He says, "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." Peter is urging the believers to live with excellent conduct among unbelievers so that despite the slander that Christians receive, the examination of their actual lifestyle will influence unbelievers to be saved at the time when the Lord visits them, meaning brings them salvation.

And just a few verses later, he says in verse 15, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." You see, despite the accusations of the Jews, Paul's conduct made it abundantly clear to those hearing his case that he was innocent. It put them to silence. He was not suffering as a wrongdoer, but for doing good, and 1 Peter 2:20 says that this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. And this innocence, it gave Paul's witness validity.

And in the same way, we want to strive to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes as well. So here's a question that I have for you, a challenge to ask yourself. Ask yourself this: Would you be too embarrassed to witness to your coworkers and friends or even your family or to invite them to church because if you did, you know that the way that you've acted among them would destroy any credibility of your Christian witness in their eyes? They'd be like, "Pfft, you? Inviting me to church? Really?"

If your answer to that question is yes, then repent and make the needed change today. So if you want to grow bold in your witness for Christ, aim to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes. But let's review, for the note-takers out there, all seven ways to grow in boldness that we have seen over the last two weeks together. Review them briefly. Seven strategies to grow bold in your gospel witness. Number one: Practice what you preach. Number two: Trust in the providence and promises of God. Number three: Stand on the authority of scripture.

Number four: Understand the rational defensibility of our faith. Number five: Understand the historical reliability of our faith. Number six: View yourself and the world around you with God's perspective. And number seven: Aim to maintain a good testimony in the world's eyes. As you do these things, you will find yourself growing more bold in your witness. And as we said last week, strive to emulate these seven strategies all the while relying on God in prayer to help you, knowing that the strength to be bold in these ways comes from him, not from ourselves.

Because ultimately, as we've seen together over these last couple of weeks, the Lord not only calls his people to shine his light into a dark world, but also graciously supplies all that we need in order to obey his call to shine the light with boldness. I'm going to pray, and as I do, the worship team will come to lead us in worship through song, and then after that, the deacons can come to help me administer the Lord's supper this morning. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we do thank you for your word. We do thank you for the perfect wisdom of what you've given us in your word. We do thank you for the account that we have of Jesus's resurrection and the resurrection appearances. We thank you that in your perfect wisdom, you orchestrated those appearances in such a way that cumulatively together they make a watertight case for the historical reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. We thank you for this.

And I pray, Father, that this would be an encouragement to my brothers and sisters. I pray that if they had any doubts, it would bolster their faith. And I pray that it would also help them feel more confident to know that we're taking a message out to the world that we can stand on. We don't have to be intimidated by the skeptics. We can go out there and know that this is the truth of history and that the worldview we hold to, it is very reasonable. We thank you for this.

And I pray that over these last couple of weeks, all of these seven strategies would make an impact, that we would grow to be more effective, that we would see the lost come to Christ for the sake of your glory, as your grace is put on full display. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. What a privilege to come around the table of the King right now. So please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 as we prepare to celebrate the supper. Please follow along with me as we read verses 17 through 34, 1 Corinthians 11.

"But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come." This morning, we talked about the historical reliability of our faith, especially the historical reliability of the resurrection of Jesus.

And it's very important to know these things, but just knowing that Jesus really did die and rise won't do us any good if we don't also understand the theological significance of that historical event and place our own personal trust in it. And of course, the significance is that Christ died to pay for our sins as our substitute, and he rose again in victory to justify us and to give us new resurrection life ourselves one day. But it's Christ's great sacrifice that we come together to remember when we take communion.

And we talked about the great blessing that is ours in Christ, the high and great blessings of the gospel, so that Paul could say that he, though a prisoner, was actually the one better off than all of the high and mighty officials standing in Festus's audience chamber. And as we take communion, it's an opportunity not just to remember Christ's sacrifice, but also to thank him for it. To thank him because it is that great sacrifice that gives us such supreme blessings.

But as we mention every month, communion does not save us. You have to understand that. It is an ordinance given by Jesus for Christians, for those who are trusting in him. And so, non-Christians should abstain. We ask if you are a non-believer, please do not take the elements today. Instead, the first step for you is to repent and believe the gospel. Only then could you actually be properly honoring Christ's sacrifice by remembering it because you do trust in it personally.

And Paul warns the Christians in 1 Corinthians 11 that they should not partake in an unworthy manner. And of course, in the context, what's he talking about? He's talking about the way they've made it such a debauched feast. They're coming together in such a way that instead of bringing unity, it's just bringing further division. Some show off their wealth by bringing this opulent feast, having it all themselves while they leave the poor to have nothing. "One goes hungry and another gets drunk," he's saying.

You're actually highlighting the disunity in the body at the time when you're supposed to be coming together as one to celebrate the one sacrifice that you all partake in. For those who do partake in an unworthy manner, there is the danger that this may invite the Lord's discipline. Today, we also considered the rebellion of the human heart. Though the sinful heart is confronted with the truth, it naturally rejects that truth and turns to other explanations in order to justify continuing in sin.

And as believers, our eyes have been opened, and by the grace of God we have embraced the truth, but that does not mean that every single sinful inclination is gone. No, we still struggle against rebellious inclinations within us even as we fight against those tendencies in the Spirit's power. But even as believers, we are still in need of Jesus's sacrifice to cleanse us of sin. And we can rejoice that when we take communion, it's not actually doing the cleansing, but it is a powerful symbol and reminder that we are cleansed and we are forgiven.

At the same time, we do need to guard our hearts to ensure that we don't take the supper in an unworthy manner as Paul has warned against. Because the fact is that even as believers, our sin can lead us to act in all sorts of ways which sow discord in the church. And Paul says that when we do that while taking communion, a picture of the church's unity in Christ, we dishonor the supper and invite God's discipline. So let's examine ourselves, both our walk with the Lord and our walk with other believers.

And if there's any sin that we are walking in, let's confess that to the Lord even now and repent with a settled purpose of new obedience as we prepare to take the supper now. So we're going to take a couple minutes just to sit and quietly reflect on these things and talk with the Lord in our own minds. And then after that, I will pray for the bread.

Father in heaven, as we partake of the bread before us, we do thank you for what it pictures. We thank you that it reminds us that Jesus's body was torn for us, that he gave his flesh for the life of the world. Father, it is only in him that we live, and it is in him that we are supremely blessed. And so we thank you even as we honor his sacrifice now. In Jesus' name. Amen.

1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 and 24: "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" Let's partake together.

We'll pray for the cup. Father in heaven, as we continue celebrating this supper, we thank you also that Jesus's blood was shed for us. We understand that though salvation is a free gift, it cost Jesus everything. It was very costly to him. We were redeemed not with perishable things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. And it is that high, high price that has afforded us all of the innumerable blessings that are ours in Christ through the gospel, so that even as Paul indicated, he was actually the one better off than anyone else there.

So Father, we do thank you for that blood that was spilled for us to wash us and to cleanse us of our every sin. In Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11, verses 25 and 26: "In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" Let's partake together.

I'll pray, and the worship team will lead us in our closing song this morning. Father, we do thank you. What a high and holy privilege to be invited to your own table. Once your enemies, now seated at your table, we do say, Jesus, thank you. We praise you for your sacrifice as we have commemorated it today, and we thank you for the unity as a body that we now enjoy as being united around that same table, brothers and sisters.

And so I pray, Father, that you would help us now to go forth in boldness as we've been called to this morning. But also Father, I pray even in a few minutes after the service, as we fellowship over a meal together celebrating this unity that we have, that that would be a beautiful and a sweet time to build up and edify your body. In Jesus' name. Amen.