Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: Sadly, there's a lot of people today who don't want to become a Christian, cuz they know it's going to make them change what they do. And there's things that hold them back if you become a Christian.

Kurt: Pastor Brad Matter with a challenge to let go of the things that draw you in and away from God.

Guest (Male): Some people would rather take their sin and their worldview and stay with that and go to hell for all eternity than to rather let go of their position, their power here and now and have heaven eternal waiting for them. After hearing Paul preach the gospel, King Agrippa declined to accept Christianity because he was unwilling to leave his lifestyle, power, and one particularly alarming sin behind. And as Pastor "Brad" Matter opens today's word to learn why Agrippa was so hesitant, we'll examine the sins we also cling to and why it's so imperative that we don't hesitate to leave them behind.

Brett Meador: Acts chapter 26. As we've been studying this story, it's quite a drama. Paul, the Apostle, he's been through the mill. Man, you know, if you remember, he did his three missionary journeys, which that's pretty adventurous enough. But when he comes back to Jerusalem, uh he meets a few Jews that are really excited that Gentiles are being saved and the Lord's moving radically. But most of the Jews in Jerusalem hate Paul and made a pact to kill Paul. And they were going to kill him when the Romans said, man, we can't have this. So the Romans stepped in and took custody of Paul and and then they were going to scourge Paul for causing a ruckus.

Then they realized, wow, he's a Roman citizen. They couldn't scourge him, so they gave him back to the Jews. The first thing the Jews did is took him to the high priest Ananias, and Ananias had a guy punch Paul in the face. Just another day in ministry for Paul. And then, you know, after that, you know, Paul gets sent over to Caesarea and stands before Felix the Rat. Remember that? Well, today it's kind of the same thing. He's going to stand before not Felix. Felix is gone now and a new dude's in town, Festus. Uh and that's not the guy from Gunsmoke, if you're wondering.

Uh different Festus. But Paul finds himself here in Acts chapter 26 in front of an interesting crowd at Caesarea Maritima. And he's sitting before royalty. King Herod Agrippa II shows up to visit Festus and pay honor to Festus, the governor of that region. And along with Augustus II, he brings his girl Bernice. Now that's an interesting thing. Paul's got a really strange audience here. Festus, Bernice, Agrippa II, and then a bunch of people from Caesarea. And where are they? They're all in the main place where you'd go to something like this. But Paul's going to share his testimony and then he's going to sort of invite them to know Jesus, the Messiah.

Well, what I want to really focus in and zoom in on this is the response of this group, especially Festus, Agrippa II, and Bernice. What what was their response to Paul's invitation for them to come to know Christ, to be saved from their sins? Well, this is, I think, worth noting. And let's take a look. Acts 26 verse 27 is where we'll pick it up. And Paul is speaking to Agrippa himself. He's directly addressing him right here in verse 27. Paul said, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. And then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. When he had thus spoken, the king rose up and the governor and Bernice and they thus sat with them. This is the end of the deal. They all got up and left the theater. Uh what happened? Paul says, Agrippa, you believe the prophets. Now this is an interesting declaration that Paul makes. Have you ever been sharing with someone the gospel and the reality of God and the reality of Jesus dying on the cross and they're a, you know, atheist or someone who hasn't accepted Christ, but you get a sense you believe.

You know this to be true. But you also sense there's something in them that is not just right. They don't want to pull the trigger for some reason. Have you ever really done a deeper dive into why would someone not want to accept the Lord if they think, well, God's probably real and heaven and hell is probably true and heaven and sin and all this other man, but nah, I don't want to become a Christian. Have you ever met people like that? I have. I've met a lot of people like that. This is what Paul is facing.

He senses Agrippa is a believer of the prophets. Now you got to remember who Agrippa II is. He's actually an Edomite, a descendant of Esau. And the Edomites live in that land of Edom, which is modern-day Jordan, which is just east of Israel. He was an Edomite, which means he wasn't really like a Roman, but he wasn't really like a Jew, but he kind of wanted to be a Jew and sort of acted like a Jew and tried to win over the Jews. In fact, Herod I, uh his father was like that. He they tried to appease the Jews.

In fact, his grandfather Herod the Great was like that. So that's the lineage. Herod the Great, he was the one that was the king over the whole region. Very powerful Herod the Great was. Each Herod became less powerful. Herod the Great was powerful. Herod I was pretty powerful. Herod II, this guy Agrippa, he's a little more weak and uh we'll talk more about that in a second. But Herod the Great, he did all kinds of architectural things. He is involved with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, trying to win over the Jews with that beautiful uh temple that he built in Jerusalem.

They tried to impress Jesus with it. Look at the temple here and Jesus said, yeah, not one stone's going to be on top of another here in a few weeks. Uh you know, it was like a prophecy like, yeah, this is coming down. But Herod built Masada, if you've ever been there or heard about that. Herod built the Herodium, which is a moving a mountain. Amazing thing that he did and did a lot of amazing things. But Herod the Great was also a tyrant. And we know that just from one Bible story. When Jesus was born, Herod the Great was the one who killed all the babies to try to make sure there was no king but himself.

Really horrible guy uh that was Herod the Great. But then his son Herod I, you know him as the one who killed John the Baptist. Well, his son is Herod Agrippa II. And that's the guy now in this story and we're going to see what he does. But why would Paul say, you know the prophets? Now the prophets, that's just a nice way of saying the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, the Bible of that day. They didn't have the New Testament when Paul was saying this. It'd be like you telling your friend, you believe the Bible.

And they're like, well, maybe kind of, I don't know. That's what Paul is saying to Herod. And he kind of calls him out on that, which is kind of interesting. I know that thou believest. Uh Paul's kind of a good salesman, I think, maybe uh perhaps. But what's funny about the deal here is the response of Agrippa. And that's where we start to kind of see what's going on. How did he care or think about this? Well, Agrippa answered back and he said, um almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Now here's where the translators there's a big fight, a big debate on what he actually said here.

You might sense a little bit of the debate in your various translations and what have you. It's kind of interesting because the King James here makes it sound like, boy, I'm this close to accepting Christ and becoming a Christian. And I think that's that's a really good translation, but it might miss a little bit of a nuance. And you say, what do you mean, Brad? Well, let me show you the NIV. It goes like this. Then Agrippa said to Paul, do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?

Do you see the difference there? One, you're like, man, he's this close to becoming a Christian. The NIV is kind of like not not in a million years uh is kind of the idea there. Which one is it? The ESV translation. Maybe you have that one. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? So what is it? Is it Agrippa is this close to becoming a Christian like it says sort of in the King James or is it more like, are you kidding? You think I'm in a in a short little time you're just going to share a few words and I'm going to become a Christian?

Which one is it? Well, I'm going to say that most scholars lean more toward the King James, but not 100% and I'll tell you why. There's a little bit of a context of the situation that helps. There's a missed nuance in the Greek word Christian. Part of the thing we need to remember, the word Christian in the way Agrippa says it here, that's not a nice term. We all have this loving term, oh Christian, oh I'm a Christian. That's all I ever want to be is a Christian. But in those days, remember, the word Christian was a derogatory term.

It meant like uh little miniature Christ. You're just a little Jesus. You can almost hear him say it like, uh what, you want to persuade me to be a a Christian? Cuz Christian was not a compliment. In fact, uh let me read to you the linguistics scholars Jameson, Fausset, and Brown, they said this. Most modern interpreters think the ordinary translation inadmissible and take the meaning to be, thou thinkest to make me with little persuasion or small trouble a Christian. But I am not so easily turned. That's the idea. But the apostles reply, Paul's answer can scarcely suit any but the sense given in our authorized version, King James, which is that adopted by Chrysostom.

And some of the best scholars since, the objection on so uh must stress is laid on the word Christian. That was the time where it was a term of contempt and has no force except on the other side for taking in that view. The sense is, thou will soon have me to be part of the despised sect. That idea is, so there is this derogatory part. So even Paul's answer helps us, the context. What did Paul say? I would verse 29. Paul says, and I would to God that not only you, but also all that hear me this day would become Christians.

Now this cracks me up. Did you notice what Paul did there? Paul starts out, remember, in verse one, uh I just have to say I'm very happy right now. And he's standing there in chains. I'm the happiest one in here. And then he preaches the gospel and then he says, you almost make me a Christian. And then Paul answers verse 29 and says, I would to God that you all be like me, a Christian, except for these bonds. That's what he says. It's like he holds up his chains, except for this. Other than that, man, I wish you guys were in my situation.

Like that's hilarious to me. That's Bible comedy right there. Paul's standing there in chains. Man, I'm the happiest guy in this arena. Well, anyway, here's the sense if you can kind of do the deeper dive in the language. Agrippa is saying, yes, man, you you almost persuade me to be of all things crazy enough a Christian that rejected, despised sect. You almost persuade me to to radically jump into something that would get me in a lot of trouble. That's kind of the idea. But there is the sense in there that Agrippa knows the Old Testament and that he knows the truth.

But he's unwilling to make the jump, the leap. And I think there's two reasons. One might be a bigger reason than the other. One reason is that I think this derogatory term Christian, he doesn't want to take what comes with his decision to become a Christian. Sadly, there's a lot of people today who don't want to become a Christian cuz they know it's going to make them change what they do. It might even change their position. It might even hurt their occupation if you become a Christian. And some people would rather take their sin and their worldview and stay with that and go to hell for all eternity than to rather let go of their position, their power, their safety here and now and have heaven eternal waiting for them.

What is it that people hang on to that keeps them from becoming a believer in Christ and a follower of Jesus? Many people I think believe to a certain degree, but they're unwilling to repent and confess faith in Christ. And there's things that hold them back. And I think that might be one of them. You say, what's the other one? Well, this might be the biggest one. And it has to do with who's sitting right next to him. Who's that? Well, I already told you it's Bernice. You say, well, what's Bernice have to do with it?

Uh well, what's love got to do with it? You know what I'm saying? Um well, uh in this case, I think everything, everything. Uh remember that story? I love that story of uh pilot with three passengers takes off in a small plane. They're flying high up at altitude and and suddenly the pilot comes right out, our engine just failed. We're going down. I don't sorry, I only have three parachutes. I'm an important person. I'm the pilot. And he grabs a parachute and puts on and jumps out. The other three people who happens to be a teenager, the world's smartest man, and also a pastor.

They're three sitting there with the the two parachutes there that are left. And uh the smartest man in the world stands up and says, I'm the smartest man in the world. I'll probably cure cancer or something important. So he grabs a bag and puts it on and jumps out. Well, then the teenager and the pastor kind of stunned looking at each other and the pastor said, son, you take the last shoot. I'm at peace with God. I've lived a good life. I'm going to heaven. So, you know, just go. You got it. Well, the kid said, chill, Rev.

The smartest man in the world just took my backpack. You grabbed the wrong bag. That's what Herod Agrippa is doing. Herod Agrippa is going to grip the wrong bag. And the bag he grabs is Bernice. Brad, you shouldn't say that. No, it's true. I'll tell you why. You know, we've met Bernice already. We talked about Drusilla and Bernice. Remember her? Drusilla and Felix. There's a similarity in the story. In fact, Drusilla and Bernice have similar stories, but Bernice is even more radically interesting historically. She's an interesting woman. It's funny because when she's in the Bible story here, she's not that big of a deal.

But Bernice becomes a huge deal in the history of Rome. And it's kind of shocking that she's even in this little minor Bible story compared to some of the things she's going to end up doing. We met her in Acts 25:13 where it said after certain days, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to salute Festus. We saw that in 25:13. And then in 25:23 it says, and on the morrow when Agrippa was come with Bernice, uh they came with great pomp. Remember we looked up the word pomp? The Greek word is They came with splendor, the king and his main squeeze Bernice.

And they're walking in in all their glory. Now Brad, why don't you give her a little respect and call her her his wife? Well, the reason I don't do that is cuz she's not his wife. But they are lovers. And so you say, okay, I I get that. So that's kind of bad, but it's worse than you think because not only were they lovers and not only were they not married, but she's also his sister. Hello. Now you say, what? Are you kidding me? Well, you have to remember this is the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire has become crazy with crazy sinful stuff.

We talked about this. Remember we talked about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and and real history, not the rewritten history, but real history. The decline of the Roman Empire was not a nation that came out and attacked him externally, but they imploded internally. And most experts that were honest would say it was when their morality declined, their power declined. And they eventually imploded from the inside out. And what were the things? We talked about that, the destroying of the family, the acceptance of homosexuality and all other kinds of things, even bestiality and pedophilia.

Like the Romans got wacko, especially when it came to sinful depravity sexually. But all that to say, whenever you move your moral lines and make it up as you go, you start to see a nation go off course fairly quickly if you look at history. If there's one thing we've learned from history is we've not learned anything from history. And the Roman Empire, if you really study it, it's worth a study. But if you look at the way they imploded, it's hauntingly similar to what the United States is doing right this very minute. We might arguably be one of the greatest empires that have ever existed in the Earth's history.

Rome might right be there too. But it 's funny how the greatest empires often aren't destroyed from without. They're destroyed from within and it often is linked to immorality, especially sexual immorality. When you start accepting as normal deviant sexual behaviors according to God's word, the Bible tells us very clearly what is sin. And our culture says, no, that's not sin. Whether it's living with someone before you're married and having sex before marriage, homosexuality or pornography, like whatever is a sexual thing outside of marriage. Now this is an important thing because the word fornication is used in the Bible and I think the world laughs at that word fornication.

Oh fornication, let's fornicate. Like they look at that as a positive today. There's songs about that, how wonderful fornication is. But the Bible says fornication the Greek word is porneia, where we get our word pornography. But people make a mistake they think, oh fornication means looking at pornography. Nope. That pornography is fornication, but the word fornication is much bigger than just that. It's fornication is any sexual sin that's outside of what God designed sex to be from the beginning. It's really simple. People try to, where's the line where you're crossing into fornication? People complicate this, but it's super simple.

If you're married, you and your husband or wife, the marriage bed is undefiled, the Bible says. God created marriage and sexuality and it's beautiful and wonderful. And inside the marriage relationship, it's 100% golden. It's great. And it's there for pleasure, for procreation, for the furthering of humanity. Like God had a really great plan, but he said, these are the confines. When you're married, then sexuality is great. Anything that's sexual in nature outside of the marriage relationship, that's fornication. We live in a culture that says, oh I have sex before marriage. Everybody does it, so just live with each other, whatever.

Um that's sin. That's fornication. So before we're too hard on Agrippa II and Bernice for their wacko, crazy, incestuous relationship, we have to also remember uh our culture is doing equally bad things. We are a sinful nation, America, and we should flee fornication. So the Bible standard sex is for marriage between a man and a woman. We've moved the lines. We've changed the rules. And that's what Rome did. And the more they changed the rules, the more they declined as a world power to where they ultimately went off into oblivion. This is happening in our country and our culture so much that now we've become jaded and we have thrown the Bible out and just said, well, we know more than God when it comes to sexuality.

And I would just say, you can do whatever you want. God's not going to squish you or, you know, right now he's not going to judge you. But someday judgment is coming for all of us. And so we all need the solution to our sinful things. Whether you're a gay person or an angry person or covetous or greedy or gossip, whatever your sins are, you got to let them go. And you got to ask forgiveness for those sins. But if you just hang on to them, then you're going to be held accountable to them. See, that's the problem.

When I said Herod Agrippa grabbed the wrong bag, he's holding on to his sin. He's holding on to Bernice. Bernice had a grip on Agrippa somehow. And Herod needed to release Bernice. Remember that. Do you need to release Bernice in your life? Is there something you're hanging on to that is kind of keeping you from what God wants for you? You see here in our text, we see kind of this example. I believe part of the problem do you remember Herod's father, Herod the Great? John the Baptist called him out in the same way Paul is sort of convicting Herod Agrippa II.

It's like a re-happening of the same story. John the Baptist called Herod the Great out for his relationship and his sexual immorality. And uh John the Baptist was eventually beheaded by Herod. But now his son Paul is talking to his son saying, you need to accept Christ and become a believer in Christ, which the implication, you got to break off this perverted relationship with your sister. So what was stopping Agrippa from agreeing with Paul and accepting the truth about Jesus? I think that it would require him to repent of his sin and to break that part off and he wasn't willing to do that.

I'm reminded of some stories I read when I was a kid. There was a story about how these African monkey hunters would go around the African regions where the monkeys were. And they would get these coconuts and they would get a nice healthy coconut and then attach a leather strap to the coconut. And then they'd put the strap and tie it to a big bush. And then uh they'd empty out the coconut and put a little tiny hole at the other end. And inside they'd put a nice fresh slice of an orange and just stick that in there.

Well, the little monkey would come along and find the coconut and see, ooh there's a delicious orange slice in there. So he'd reach his little monkey paw in there and grab the orange. But once he grabbed the orange, he'd made a fist and he couldn't get his hand back out of the hole. And so the monkey hunter would then just casually walk up to the monkey who was freaking out cuz there's a human coming toward him. Uh but he was unwilling to let go of the slice of the orange, so he was stuck there trying to pull his arm out of the but he wouldn't let go of the orange.

And thus the monkey hunter would then take him into captivity at that moment. And you say, Brad, that's a mean story, poor little monkey. You and I are that monkey. We hang on to stuff and it's the thing that brings us doom. It's a worthless thing, the slice, orange slice. But we hang on to that stuff. We won't let go and and there we are trapped in our sin in bondage. Who was really in bondage in that arena that day? Was it Paul standing there in his chains or was it Agrippa with his main squeeze next to him, Bernice?

Who was really in bondage? I'm going to argue Paul was the freest guy in that arena because his sins were forgiven. He was headed for heaven even though he's going to die a martyr's death. Paul didn't count his life dear to himself. He knew that heaven was coming.

Kurt: Pastor Brad Matter drawing important insight for the burden lingering sin has on the believer leading to separation from God. And you'll want to be with us next time as Pastor Brad has more to share on the study of Acts chapter 26 from today's word. If you've missed any portion of our time today, you'll find all of Pastor Brad's messages online at todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. And Pastor Brad has joined me now. You know, most churches, including your church, Atheist Creek, they begin services with worship music before the pastor then gives a sermon. Brad, are there additional ways to worship Jesus other than music?

Brett Meador: Yes, Kurt, absolutely. Music is great and it's really biblical that we sing songs of praise to the Lord. But worship is much bigger than just singing. Worship is really the response of our entire life for what God has done for us. You know, Romans 12:1 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That means that I can worship God by obeying him with obedience, even when obedience is difficult. I I worship the Lord by serving another person or forgiving someone who's hurt me.

I can worship uh with generosity with someone who's in need. I think giving might just be one of the highest forms of worship really, faithfully doing the work that God has placed before me. That's a way to worship. So we were worship through prayer, through giving. We worship by studying his word. I I find that even when I get to teach the Bible, I find myself worshiping the Lord. And and that's really Colossians 3:17 when it says, whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. So singing praises, I do that in the name of the Lord Jesus, but also teaching the Bible, serving, walking with the Lord.

Um do you remember Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria when she said, should we worship on Mount Gerizim or Mount Zion? He said, the Father seeks those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. So worship isn't merely a time you go to church and sing songs. It's a way of life. It's waking up each morning and saying, Lord, this day belongs to you. Everything I say and everything I do may it bring honor to your name.

Kurt: I appreciate that clarification about the various ways we can worship God. Thank you, Pastor Brad. Well, for more information about today's word, Pastor Brad Matter or Atheist Creek Church, you can visit our website at todayswordradio.com. Well, next time Pastor Brad will continue in the book of Acts and we'll see the Apostle Paul standing before a king and boldly asking him an important question. Today's word with Pastor Brad Matter is an outreach of Atheist Creek Church in Westlin, Oregon.