Agrippa Acts 26
The apostle Paul had been taken prisoner in Jerusalem by the
Romans after a riot had taken place when some of the Jews had
accused Paul of bringing Greeks into the temple. It was untrue
but the Jews had been so incensed by this that they had taken
Paul and had dragged him into the temple and had shut the doors
and were going to kill Paul if the chief captain of the band had
not heard the commotion and had put Paul under arrest. Now this
arrest of Paul was to be the start of a process that was going
to lead to Paul being brought to Rome. He would stand in various
trials that are well known to those who know anything about the
Biblical history. First of all he was going to stand before Felix
wo trembled when Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance and
judgement to come and then he was going to stand before Festus
and King Agrippa. In this chapter we have the account of the trial
of Paul before Festus and king Agrippa. Now King Agrippa was one
of the family of the Herods. There were two Herod Agrippas and
this was the second one and he would have been the great grandson
of Herod the Great His Father had been the Herod who had put James
the apostle to death and had imprisoned Peter planning to put
him to death in order to please the Jews. His Father had also
been a strict observer of the laws of Moses and this Agrippa therefore
would have grown up to be taught the laws of Moses and the word
of God. But that did not prevent him being involved in sin. The
Bernice that is mentioned in this chapter was Agrippa's sister
but it was always suspected that she was more than a sister and
that an illicit relationship existed between them
But into the court that day strode the apostle Paul. He was on
trial before him. Paul stood that day accused of crime But when
Paul is given permission to speak in that court he does not use
the opportunity to defend himself so much as to preach the gospel.
He tries to convert King Agrippa. And as he preaches he gets personal.
He starts to apply the Word. Now many people do not like the preacher
to get personal but generalities will never convert the soul.
The Word of God needs to be applied to your heart individually.
I want the Holy Spirit of God to take the Words spoken by poor
lips of clay and I want it to be so applied to your heart that
you will cry out Lord save me And the apostle Paul faces
King Agrippa with the claims of Christ. He put the question to
him Believest thou the prophets He wanted an answer. I
hope that before this meeting comes to an end you to will be faced
with the need of making an answer to the need of your soul. But
I want you to notice the reply that King Agrippa made. He said
to Paul Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian I am
nearly swayed. I can see the truth in what you say Paul. Is there
someone in our meeting and as you have listened to the gospel
in days gone by have been almost persuaded to embrace Christ.
There are many Agrippas who sit in gospel meetings and they are
almost persuaded. They know they need to be saved but they are
not yet saved. they know They need Christ but they have not yet
come to Christ. Dear friend that is a very precarious position
indeed. i hope that you are going to be warned today as we look
at the case of King Agrippa.
I The Term he used
He said to Paul Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian
You say what is a christian? We need to ask that question because
there was all sorts of different opinions as to what a christian
is. Some people tell us we are all Christians because we are born
in a christian land or you were born in A christian family. To
some people to be a Christian is an accident of birth. If I had
been born in India I most likely would have been a Hindu but because
I am born here I am a christian. Other people define a christian
in terms of one who has gone through the rites and rituals of
a church. I am a christian because I was baptised and had a little
bit of water sprinkled on me when I was a baby. What did Agrippa
mean when he said to Paul that he was almost persuaded to be a
Christian. Well the best way of finding that out is to look at
What Paul persuaded him about. If Paul was persuading him to be
a christian then we ought to be able to tell from what Paul said
what he meant by being a Christian. Now notice what Paul did say.
First of all I want you to notice that Paul testified of a Person.
He spoke of Jesus Christ. As Paul speaks the very first thing
he did was give his testimony. He told how he had been a persecutor
of the Christians and how he did things contrary to Jesus of Nazareth.
He told how he added his testimony so that many Christians might
be put to death. But then he tells of the day when he saw a light
above the Light of the Sun and he heard a voice which said Saul
Saul why persecutest thou me. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks and when he asked who it was the voice said I
am Jesus whom thou persecutest And we read how he testified
that he obeyed the voice. The very one who he had been going to
Damascus to act against was now the one he obeyed. Paul was really
telling how he had become a christian and the thing we notice
about it is that it was through meeting a person. It was through
faith in a Person I am sure that Paul was later baptised. I know
that he would have later taken part in the Lord's supper but that
is not how he became a christian. He became a Christian through
meeting the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is how every
person must become a Christian. There has to be a personal encounter
with Christ. We don't read of people being saved by baptism or
by going to church. Yes we read about people who have been saved
doing both those things but they are saved by a personal encounter
with Christ. Now that is a simple thing to realise. Obviously
a Christian is a follower of Christ and yet that is where people
go wrong. They get being a Christian mixed up with the church
they belong to or the works they do. No ! it has got to do with
your personal relationship with Christ. When Paul testified and
sought to persuade Agrippa to be a Christian he told him about
his personal relationship with Christ.
But not only was Paul someone who had met a person but he had
experienced a power. He goes on here to tell Agrippa about the
gospel message that the Lord Jesus had told him to proclaim. And
it was a message about a powerful experience Now if we look at
the gospel message he was to proclaim we get some more idea about
what it was to be a Christian. God said that he had sent Paul
to the Gentiles and verse 18 tells us why To open their eyes,
and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me. So what can we say
now about what it means to be a christian. well we can say that
to be a christian is to have your eyes opened. They have got a
vision of Christ. Once they were spiritually blind but now they
see. And the Bible tells us that the devil has blinded the minds
of those that believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ should shine in unto them but a christian is one who
has seen their sinful condition in the eyes of a holy God and
who has seen their need and who has seen that their only hope
and their only refuge is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friend
have you ever seen that? Was there a day when you saw you were
blind and going to Hell but the Saviour opened your eyes and you
saw Him as the only hope for your soul. A Christian is a person
who has had their eyes opened
Secondly we can see in the message that not only were eyes to
be opened but they were to be turned. It says that he was to
turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God, A christian then is a person
who has been turned. They have been turned from darkness to light.
There has been a transforming experience in their lives. I think
of those who have been blighted by sin. Maybe overcome by the
booze. I can tell you of homes where there was poverty because
of the curse of drink but when the Lord Jesus came and the old
drunkard was saved and .not only was he transformed but the home
was transformed as well
I can tell you about homes where there was gambling but when the
old gambler came to Christ there was a transformation , But I
can tell you also about good respectable people and when they
came to Christ people would not have said much about them but
even they when they came to Christ were transformed by the power
of God. Have you been turned from darkness to light? Have you
been turned from the power of Satan unto God. You see repentance
involves a turning. It involves a turning away from sin and a
turning to Jesus Christ and a person who is a christian has turned.
He has turned away from the old darkness that enveloped him and
he is in the light
Then there is something else about a Christian. He has forgiveness
of sins. Paul was told to go and peach to the Gentiles that
they may receive forgiveness of sins. His sins which were
many are all washed away. The great work of the Lord jesus Christ
when he came to earth was to die on that cross of Calvary and
provide a way of salvation for those who are outside of christ.
Paul could write to the Christians at Ephesus and he spoke to
them of christ and he said In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of
his grace; Eph 1:7 It is in Christ that we have forgiveness
of sins and these Ephesian Christians because they believed in
christ had the experience of forgiveness of sins. Can you say
that? are your sins forgiven? Only Christ can forgive your sins.
If you have not taken them to the saviour you cannot have forgiveness
of sins. But Paul said that is what a christian is. A Christian
is a person who has his sins forgiven.
Something else. A Christian has an inheritance. The Bible paints
the wonderful picture of the child of God as one who has been
adopted into the family of God and who has been made An heir
of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ The Saviour spoke
about mansions. He said that in his Fathers house there were many
mansions and he would go and prepare a place for us. Man! you
mightn't have much down here but if you are saved you have an
inheritance- a heavenly inheritance and an eternal inheritance.
There is an inheritance
And then Paul said that a person who is saved is sanctified. That
means he is a separated person. He is not among the old herd that
is going down to the pit. He doesn't go with the world's crowd.
. He has been lifted out of the miry clay. He has had his feet
set on a rock and the Lord has established his goings and put
a new song in his mouth.
So what about it dear friend. Are you a Christian? I am not asking
you whether you are an Irish Presbyterian, I am not asking you
whether you are Church of Ireland or Methodist or Baptist. I am
not asking if you are a Free Presbyterian. I am asking if you
are a Christian. That is what matters. Have you had an eye opening
heart revolutionising, sin forgiving experience in the blood of
the Lamb. Agrippa said Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian
And he meant what Paul had just said about being a Christian.
We see the term he used.
II The Truth with which he was confronted
But secondly I want you to see the Truth with which he was confronted.
We see Paul now bringing the cross work of christ before King
Agrippa> Look at what he says in verses 22 and 23 Having
therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing
both to small and great, saying none other things than those which
the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should
suffer, and that he should be the first that
should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people,
and to the Gentiles. Of course the cross of christ is the
greatest argument that I could bring to your heart as to why you
should be saved. Why should you be saved? You should be saved
because of the cross. You should be saved because of all that
Christ has accomplished there on that centre tree. There he took
my place and died in my room and stead and bore my sins. But thank
God he did not stay dead because he rose from the grave signifying
the fact that God the FAther was well pleased with the sacrifice
that he made. Now he can offer salvation to all who will by faith
trust in what He did.
Now what I want you to notice is the way that Paul pressed this
need of faith on Agrippa. Paul got very personal here. Look at
what Paul said in verse 27 King Agrippa believest thou the
prophets King Agrippa do you not believe what the prophets
have testified about Christ. Do you not believe the testimony
of the old Testament scriptures to the validity of the resurrection.
King Agrippa Do you believe? Paul was saying Agrippa if you believe
the prophets you will believe in Jesus the Messiah. And Agrippa
was in a spot. He could see the logic of Paul's arguments. You
can see his face considering what he should say. How should he
respond? tell me how do you respond? How do you respond to the
claims of the gospel? you can see what a Christian is. If I put
you to the test. If I ask you if you believe what would you say?
we see the terms he used and the truth with which he was confronted
but thirdly notice
III The Tragic mistake he made
He said Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Now
to be almost a Christian is to be not a Christian. To be almost
saved is not to be saved. This man had listened to the gospel
massage preached by the apostle Paul and he said _ Almost. I have
heard what you say. I have been persuaded of the truth of a lot
of it but I will not come. Why would he not come?
He would not come because he loved his sin. The woman Bernice
who is mentioned here was an evil woman. History tells us that
she led King Agrippa down a dark path of sin and then forsook
him at the end of his days. As he looked at that woman who sat
beside him he loved his sin too much to come to Christ.
Tell me what sinful habit keeps you from Jesus Christ. What binding
dark sin is it that keeps you from the Saviour? Whatever it is
that is what you are selling your soul for and if you end up in
a Christless eternity you are going to lament that you sold heaven
so cheap. There are people who would sell heaven for a glass of
booze. There are people who would sell heaven for a cigarette.
There are people who would sell heaven for the dance. There are
people who would sell heaven for a companion or some uncleanness
or unholy habit. Do not be a fool. You say if I could get rid
of sin I would get rid of it. I know where you can get rid of
it. I know a power that can break the power of sin and set you
free. It is the blood of Calvary. There is power in the blood
of the Lamb Agrippa would not get saved because he loved his sin.
Then Agrippa would not get saved because of the laughs and the
sneers. Because Festus had laughed at Paul. When Agrippa's companion
Festus had heard the gospel message he had thought Paul was mad.
Look at verse 24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said
with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning
doth make thee mad. He thought the preacher had lost his head
and Agrippa knew that if he got saved Festus would think he had
gone mad too. And there are men and women who will not get saved
because they know that if they got saved their mates will laugh
at them. You know that if you were to go into work or into school
tomorrow morning and say you know I got saved at the gospel meeting
last night they would tell you that you had lost your head. They
would call you good living, they would try to catch you out and
they will make life tough. But you know if you were really saved
tonight you would not care tomorrow. You would not care if they
crucified you. You would be glad to take the reproach for Jesus
sake.
But then there was another reason why Agrippa would not get saved.
He loved his position. He loved his throne. He was proud to be
king and so he would not bow before another. He was too proud
to own Christ as His King. It may well be that what he ws saying
to Paul is "It will take more persuasion than that to make
me a Christian" Paul do you think that I the king would follow
your Christ. Of course Agrippa was only a petty kinglet who ruled
because Rome let him reign. He was under the orders and control
of the Roman Empire. His dignity was not as great as he might
have liked to think it was And how many there are who like to
stand upon their dignity. Oh it is all right when the preacher
is talking in generalities but when he comes down as Paul did
and says "What about you?" What are you going to do
with Christ? It is then that people get hurt and offended and
begin to think about the dignity of their position. Let me tell
you there will not be much dignity on the day of judgement when
your sin is exposed. There won't be much dignity when the Lord
says Depart from me If you come to Christ then you must
humble your self
But I want you to think of the tragedy of that word Almost
Agrippa had listened to the words of Paul and in some measure
he had agreed with what he said. Indeed in a little he had been
persuaded that he should become a Christian. In some measure he
was moved by the words of the gospel preacher. He was almost persuaded.
But the tragedy is this. The person who is almost persuaded will
at the end of the day end up in the same place as the person who
is not at all persuaded. To be almost persuaded is not good enough.
You ned to be altogether persuaded. To be almost alive is to be
dead. To be almost saved is to be lost. To be almost there is
to fall short.
There was one time when a boat went over the Niagara Falls and
two men went over with it but a third managed to get out and he
was clinging for dear life to a log which had lodged against a
weir which was just at the edge of the falls themselves. He was
there all night and when people woke in the morning they found
out what had happened and they saw the man. A great rescue mission
was mounted but if you know about Niagara falls you will know
there is a point quite a bit upstream which is called the point
of no return and no vessel which goes beyond that can survive
the pull of the falls, But they had to try and they tried sending
unmanned lifeboats out tied to ropes but they were just swept
over the edge. At length the passed a rope from one side to the
other away upstream and they tied a little skiff to it and the
brought it to the edge of the falls and it was taking an almighty
power to hold it. But they got this skiff out to the man and how
happy they were as the skiff got to the man and the man threw
up his foot to get in. But with the weight of the man the skiff
shot upwards and backwards into the boiling water and then it
was carried downward into the abyss of destruction. He was almost
saved. He was nearly there. It had almost been rescued. But to
be almost saved is to be lost. Maybe God has been speaking to
you in the meetings and there are times when you have almost thought
of doing something about it. Almost is not good enough. Paul said
to Agrippa 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. And with that we are told that the
king and the governor and Bernice rose up and went. Probably that
was their last opportunity of ever hearing the gospel and as the
rose and went that day they were saying good-bye to the last opportunity
they might ever have. Almost- but lost. Don't make the same tragic
mistake that Agrippa did but come and put your trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ.