You can turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 26. Acts 26. Perhaps at first glance or maybe upon further reflection, you'll note the connection to much of what's going on in Pastor Butler's preaching in Matthew 11 specifically with regards to the ministry of John the Baptist, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the response of the unbelieving Jews, perhaps represented most prominently by the Jewish religious leaders of the day. We'll make that note as we introduce some of the things we'll be looking at from Acts 26, but let's begin reading here in Acts 26 at verse 1.
Van Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently.
My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that, according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise, our 12 tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain.
For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose. to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come, that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself.
Much learning is driving you mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things. For I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.
When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, this man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you. We can now consider your word by way of preaching. We do thank you for this central aspect of worship, and we do pray that in it you would be glorified. We do pray, Lord God, that preacher would do honor unto your word by your divine aid, and Lord God, that hearer would hear the message as you would have them hear.
Again, saint would be instructed and encouraged and sinner would be saved by spirit and word unto the praise of your grace. And we do pray these things truly in Christ's precious name. Amen.
Introduction
So the portion of Acts 26 that we're going to be looking at is Acts 26 19 to 23. And just getting back to what I noted prior to reading this portion of scripture, note the connection to Pastor Butler's preaching in Matthew Chapter 11. What is the message of John the Baptist and what is the message of Jesus Christ? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand John the Baptist in another place said repent therefore and do works befitting repentance here We have the Apostle Paul preaching that same message then to the Gentiles that they should repent turn to God and do works of befitting repentance you see the proclamation of the sent apostles is the same proclamation of The glorious king that sent them out by divine commission And it's the same message that the forerunner the Baptist the one who came to make straight the ways of the Lord to his hearers as well.
What is the verdict of those who oppose the message? Well, the verdict of those who oppose the message, we noted this morning, or Pastor Butler did in his preaching, that they respond to John the Baptist by saying that he has a demon. An unbelieving response in our context here is quite similar. Paul, you are beside yourself.
Much learning is driving you mad. The charge against the true proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the one who is rightly sowing those seeds by declaration is crazy, that he has a demon or he is beside himself, that he is mad. What is the response of the Pharisees? Pastor Butler noted in chapter 12, verse 14 of Matthew's gospel, they seek to kill the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we have verse 21. For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to kill me. And what is the continued activity of Christ in the face of threats unto death? It is the bold and authoritative proclamation of the truth.
And we see that in the verses following. So we're going to look at this portion under four headings or four observations. The Apostle's obedience, the unbelieving reaction, the divine provision, and the glorious message. But just before we get there, it's important to note and understand the background of what's going on here.
When we come to our scriptures, a good overarching principle to bring to the scriptures is that God has a plan and that he brings out that plan by way of providence. You see, when we come to what's going on in the book of Acts, we're not reading We're not reading the haphazard chronological rolling out of things, but rather we're reading the fleshing out of a divine promise that goes back before creation, excuse me, a divine plan, that goes back before creation, that the Lord God, that the triune God would save a people perfectly by the work of Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace. And he enters into time and history bringing about this purpose. So those two P's that govern biblical history, which is the same as redemptive history, which is the same as history generally speaking, the two P's that govern everything under God's creation in time and history are plan and providence.
And here in Acts 26, in just this event concerning Paul, concerning Agrippa, Festus, and the proclamation of the gospel, we have God's providential plan being borne out. And what would that be specifically? Well, in the providential bearing out of God's plan before the foundation of the world, we have other Ps as well. And just bear with me for a second, because as we read this, hopefully this comes and it brings fresh things to your understanding of what's going in in the Gospel of Acts.
So we have God's divine plan. We have God's providence bringing to bear that plan in time and in history. And under that providence, we have promise prophecy performance proclamation and perfection in other words that Provident that it within that frame of providence that is bearing out God's divine plan God gives the promise of a coming Redeemer he prophesies by the mouths of his by the mouths of his prophets the coming of that promised one in time and in history Christ performs he comes and he does that work and then that work is proclaimed by his servants and And it is perfected by the Holy Spirit with much power and assurance. So with regards to the promise and the prophecy, we have the words of Christ in Matthew 23 promising.
Well, back in the Old Covenant, we have the words of the prophets promising that there would be covenantal blessings brought not only to Jews, but also to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42, Isaiah 9, Christ is sent as a light unto the Gentiles. But more closely in Matthew 23, New Covenant documents in the Gospels. Jesus says, I send you to the unbelieving Jews.
I send you prophets, wise men, scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city that on you might come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from Abel to Zechariah. So there is a prophetic purpose going on here, a providential purpose going on in Paul's declaration of the gospel of Christ to the Jews and to Gentiles and so
The Apostle's Obedience
moving now then to this text specifically the Apostles obedience Notice what we have right at the beginning in verse 19 therefore King Agrippa I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision very simply Paul did what he was told but you see whenever Whenever we engage in a study of the obedience of a man of God, whenever we engage in a study of an apostle of God, it is a study not in the virtue, not in the strength, and not in the power of the human spirit, but it is a study in the condescending and conquering grace of the triune God. And so when we read, therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, There is a place for a wholesome recognition of the Apostle Paul, but only in so far as that quickly then extends to the grace of God and his conquering mercy in the heart of this Apostle Paul. He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Hopefully you know what that's referring to.
It's referring to what he just spoke about in verses 12 to 18. He's recounting his conversion. Jesus Christ comes. with much power and with much glory on that road to Damascus. And Paul is knocked down and he's just enraptured, if you will, by the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Lord Jesus gives him this commission. First off, the Lord God saves him by that condescending grace. And then by that same grace and for his purposes, he commissions him to engage in gospel missions. And that's what Paul is referring to here.
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But it's important to continue on this point. You see, again, when we come to these things, we are studying not the man, but the God of the man. The God of the man who conquers hearts and by his power and for his glory sends people out to bring glory to his name.
You only have to look at the beginning of every apostle's letter, to be sure, but because Paul is in view here, the beginning of the Pauline letters, for example, Ephesians 1.1 and Colossians 1.1, I believe, begin the same way. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. You see, it wasn't the apostle Paul that put himself into his apostleship. but the God of the apostle Paul that conquered his heart and sent him. Galatians 1.1 reads this way, Paul an apostle, not from men nor through men, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.
You see, it is the power of the resurrection, the power of God in the resurrection and raising Jesus Christ from the dead that is behind the saving of Paul and the sending of him into gospel missions. Just turn to Galatians 1, 11 to 24 just for a moment, because this is going to come up again when we get to the end, when we get to verses 22 and 23, where we see that it is God who strengthens and it is God who affords the divine aid for gospel missions and for his apostles. In Galatians 1, we have something similar to what Paul testifies before Festus and Agrippa. The main target of his defense is King Agrippa in Acts 26, but there are others that are there.
But notice in Galatians 1, beginning at verse 11, the study in apostolic obedience is a study in divine grace. But I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.
So we see what's behind the saving and the commissioning of the apostle Paul. What's behind his obedience is when it pleased God through his grace to reveal his son in him. So moving that back then to Acts 16 verses 19 to 23, The Apostle's obedience is clearly stated in that negative statement, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But notice the activity of the obedient apostle.
We're still under the apostle's obedience, so it's clearly stated, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But what is the activity of the obedient apostle? First off,
Obedience as Declaration
it is declarative. That is, it is proclamation. It is a forceful, if you will, it is an emphatic and authoritative proclamation of the truth. I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem." Paul's obedience to the heavenly vision was seen in a declarative thrust.
He brought the truth to bear in front of his audience and to his audience. You see, Christianity isn't just a willy-nilly or a limp-wristed tossing of truths. and options, religious options, before an audience for them to consider. The Christian preacher and the Christian apostle doesn't just throw his hat into the arena of philosophies and religions, but rather with the authoritative confirmation of the God who sends them, they bring the message of sure and exclusive truth to those who are in need of it. And so Paul does that.
His obedience to the heavenly vision is declarative and
Obedience as Expansive Proclamation
it is expansive. Notice what the text says, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the regions of Judea and then to the Gentiles. You see, Paul wasn't a partial man. Paul didn't only save his message for an audience that he deemed was worthy and noble of its reception, but rather it is an extensive obedience.
He is charged by the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus comes to him in that Acts 9 account. Rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. And he says, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. Paul didn't just choose a demographic.
He didn't just choose an ethnicity. Whatever word you want to throw in there to pigeonhole one particular audience, that's not what the apostle Paul did. He was charged to go not only, yes, first to Jews, but primarily as an apostle to the Gentiles so that he might bring the riches and the excellencies of Christ to those who are in need of hearing it. And so his obedience is declarative, it is expansive, and
Obedience as Specific Message
it is specific. Again, the Christian message has specific content or a specific force and thrust. Here, we read it this way. But declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, And then to the Gentiles that they should repent, turn to God and do works befitting repentance.
Again, the Apostle Paul's message isn't different from John the Baptist and it isn't different from the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those who are enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ and those who are enemies of Christianity that come to the New Testament text and they say, Paul has a different message than Peter. Paul has a different message than Jesus and John the Baptist, which is absolute madness because just a perusal of this text and comparing it with what we just read this morning in Matthew 11, we see quite clearly that the message is the same. When we read Paul, when we read Peter, when we read Jude, when we read the writers of the New Testament epistles and we look at the Gospels, the first four Gospels, and we look at the book of Acts, we find a consistency to the message.
There is harmony, there is unity, there is agreement, there is a consent of all the parts. We have the same message proclaimed here by Paul that's proclaimed by others before him, most notably his master and his king, the Lord Jesus Christ. The specific content here, again, is repentance, a turning to God, which we might which we might call conversion, not regeneration, of course, but behind conversion is God's divine grace, causing a sinner to turn from his sins and to embrace the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is God who saves to the uttermost, first and last, midst and throughout.
But we have here the command, the declaration, that the Jews and the Gentiles should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. It's worded this way, if you back up in the text, the same language is stated by Jesus Christ in his commissioning of the Apostle Paul. Verse 17, or verse 18, The charge of Paul to Jewish people as well as Gentiles is to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. You see, this repentance and this turning to God, remember, and don't roll your eyes, it is intellectual first and foremost.
And again, it isn't man that, you know, in the efficacy of his mind naturally and in his own sinful state that somehow intellectually comes to a knowledge of these things, but rather God puts a new heart in him, takes out that heart of stone, comes by amazing grace and puts that heart of flesh Beats for the Savior that beats for truth puts his spirit within them so that they might abide and walk in his statutes But it is an intellectual thing repentance is first and foremost a change of mind You see these were no longer the Gentiles were no longer Having heard the message and repenting they were no longer to walk in the futility of the mind of their minds walking in like the Gentiles in the futility of their minds, the Jews that he would preach to. What is seen in their turning to God? You see, they would argue, well, we're already with God. We're children of Abraham.
God is our father. We, his children. But the unbelieving Jews needed to recognize that this Jesus Christ whom they crucified and murdered, this Jesus Christ that they are rejecting, this is the one that the law and the prophets and the Psalms all pointed to. They were to turn from their continuation in the articles of Old Covenant religion unto the fact that all that is to remain is a bleeding and crucified Messiah.
They were to turn unto the proper and true fulfillment of Old Covenant religion, which is New Covenant religion, that of the Lord Jesus Christ and those things that come with the inauguration and completion of his ministry.
The Unbelieving Reaction
The unbelieving reaction then, the unbelieving reaction. Notice what we have in our text here in Acts 26 after the apostolic obedience. We have Paul stating the unbelieving reaction in verse 21. For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
The unbelieving reaction. You see what Christianity brings to those who are in unbelief and those who oppose. Ultimately, the reaction first off here is severe. Notice as we sort of go a little bit later in the text, seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
The severity of the unbelieving reaction is seen in the absolute venom and the absolute madness and violence that these Jews bring to those who are proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ. I mean, prior to this, what Paul is referring to in verse 21 here is Acts chapter 21, where he's seized in the temple and the Jews desire to put the apostle Paul to death. The Apostle Paul is saved as we fast forward. He appeals to Caesar.
He appeals to Caesar and he's brought by Festus, sent by Festus to King Agrippa. But he's noting here the reaction to the preaching of Jesus Christ is that it elicits the Jews' seizure in the temple of Paul and attempts to end his life. In fact, if we go backwards in the narrative of the book of Acts, we see previously We see previously Paul being stoned. Well, back in Acts 14, going further back in Acts 14, the Jews stone him and thinking him dead.
In Lystra, they drag him out of the city thinking him to be dead. They travel, those Jews travel from Antioch, I believe it is, and Iconium to Lystra in order to just put Paul to death because they cannot bear to hear this message of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We have in the account in Acts 23, we have the Jews fasting and fasting or bringing oaths, swearing oaths that they will not eat food until Jesus Christ is dead. Think of that reaction.
You see, think of some other ideas and philosophies and notions out there besides this true message of Christianity. Never elicits that sort of response, does it? If someone was to come in to an audience and bring a Joel Osteen-like message, you know, live your best life now or whatever the newest title is to that same thing that's propagated, your best life now, you know, the best me now, unleash your inner potential and all that sort of thing. That doesn't elicit a response where someone tries to seize you and kill you.
Joel Osteen is under no danger of threat of violence, maybe for other things, but his message is not one that elicits this vehement and violent response and wanting to kill him. People like that. That's why 40,000 people, whatever it is, come to the massive converted gymnasium to hear this message. Whether you're a Jew or a Catholic or a Christian or a Taoist or you're involved in archery or golf, you go to his church, you'll hear a message. and you'll leave feeling somewhat fulfilled.
The response isn't trying to seize and trying to kill. And that brings us then,
Severity of the Reaction
the severity is clear. They tried to seize me. They did seize me in the temple and tried to kill me. But
Perverse Justification for Persecution
notice the perverse justification of their activity. For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. What reasons? Well, ultimately what he just wrote, preaching repentance, turning to God, and doing works befitting repentance.
In other words, preaching the Lord Jesus Christ to these Jews. They could not endure this message of a crucified and resurrected Messiah. They could not endure this message. The reality that Jesus Christ, this one who was crucified upon Calvary's tree, is the only way unto God the Father is the only way to be saved, that believing in this one, a bloody and a gory mess upon a Roman implement of execution, that that is the way to salvation, did not jive well with the Jewish mindset and with Jewish notions of their Messiah.
I love how Charles Haddon Spurgeon puts it. The death of the Son of God upon the cross is the crux of Christianity. Here is the difficulty the stumbling block, and rock of offense. The Jew could not endure a crucified Messiah.
He looked for pomp and power. Multitudinous ceremonies and diverse washings and sacrifices were these all to be put away, and nothing left but a bleeding Savior." You see what Spurgeon is acknowledging there. I apologize that you had to look at that. You see what Spurgeon is doing here and observing.
He's remarking concerning what we read in the Holy Scriptures, that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. To the Jews, it is a scandal. It is a stumbling block. To the Greeks, it is foolishness.
You see, it would be enough of an insult upon the intellect of a Roman and a Jew to have to heed this idea of a crucified Jew being the only way of salvation and true wisdom and true righteousness. But to a Jew, this message was an absolute offense, an absolute scandal. that the one ultimately that they disbelieved and crucified and were absolutely guilty and complicit in putting him upon that Roman implement of execution, that this one is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that this one is the promised one from Genesis 3.15 throughout the rest of their Old Covenant documents, that this is the one that we're to look to. It was an offense, and so their unbelieving, wicked response is to seize the Apostle Paul and try to kill him. The cause of their severe persecution is ultimately the truth, that yes, this bloody and gory Messiah upon the cross is the Savior of men.
The Divine Provision
Notice thirdly, then, the divine provision. You see, on the heels of the recognition of persecution, opposition and the enemies of the gospel, we have a blessed reality, the divine provision. Notice what we read here. First off,
Provision Stated and Recognised
the provision stated, therefore having obtained help from God. You see, this brings us back to the point that yes, the apostle was obedient to the heavenly vision, but it was because first he had that divine help from God in conquering and victorious grace in the strength to be sent on the commission and then the abiding divine aid in order to carry about his apostleship. We have the divine provision clearly stated, therefore having obtained help from God. And Calvin brings up a very important point and a very good observation here.
You see, what's primarily going on in the Book of Acts is, well, it is the advance of the kingdom in sure fulfillment of the Savior's words, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But we also have a presentation of the veracity of Christianity. that Christianity is true, that this Jesus Christ is the Christ. He is the promised one of the Old Testament scriptures. And so very often what we have in the book of Acts is the belief, not very often, but we have the belief of the unbelieving Jews that God is on their side, that they are rightly executing the requirements and the demands of God and putting to death this Christianity.
But you see, the Apostle Paul comes along and he says that he was the one who was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. They are the ones who are disobedient to the Lord God Almighty, to their covenant Yahweh, to the living and true God. But rather I, or in opposition, I am obedient to the heavenly vision. Here now the language is having obtained help from God You see these unbelieving Jews and anyone who would oppose Christianity and the proclamation of Jesus Jesus Christ's authorized message proclaimers anyone who would oppose is not on the side of God but rather is opposed to God and do not enjoy the benefits of divine aid but rather are under the wrath and condemnation of God So Paul enjoys the divine provision.
And we see here clearly, as Paul said in Galatians 1, we see here clearly that it's not man's mission, it's not man's message, and therefore it is not man who is the source of strength for enduring the mission of gospel proclamation, but rather it is God. God, I obtained help from God, and to this day I stand. So we have the divine provision clearly stated, and then, of course, the apostle's recognition of it. You see, Paul says here, therefore having obtained help from God, and he adds to that, to this day I stand.
To this day, through all that he's endured, he owes nothing to his proficiency of speech, He owes nothing or he doesn't argue for the fact that it is because of his strength and his virtue and his precision as a proclaimer of gospel truth, but rather he acknowledges that he stands this day, that he battles this day, that he runs this race to this day because of the help that comes from on high. You know, just considering this, just considering, whenever you come to these parts in Holy Scripture where the authors or an author that was a companion of the one that's being spoken of writes and brings forth bad things negative biographical content Concerning people we ought to think and we ought to glory in the fact that this can't be a contrivance or a creation of man These aren't this is the Bible isn't this man? a mankind creation, this haphazard slapping together of 66 books to propagate and argue for some sort of religion. Because man would never set forth or man would never include information that would just heap reproach upon himself. We think of the Apostle Paul, just in this autobiographical defense before Agrippa, stating his pre-conversion life and then talking about his post-conversion life.
A man not empowered by the Spirit of God, a document that doesn't have behind it the fact that it is inspired, inerrant, and infallible, would never bring forth and seek to propagate a religion that put man in his place, his place of shame and ignominy and sin, before a thrice holy God who is only pure, who is only perfect. Man would never do that. And so we come to places like this. that are repeated throughout, where the Apostle Paul acknowledges his former self, where he then acknowledges his present self, and where he gives all glory to God for the fact that not only did God save him, not only did God, by his grace, commission him, but in that commission and in the carrying out of it, it is God who is behind that. It is God who sends help.
The Apostle obtains his aid from on high. I love that Matthew-Henry quote. I know Pastor Butler has said it before, and I've used it as often as I can smuggle wholesomely in this Matthew-Henry quote, I'll do it, because it speaks to this reality. Paul was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
Paul obtained help from God, and to this day he stands on that help. There's that account back in Acts chapter 8. The statement is in Acts chapter 8 verse 1, but it follows on the heels of Stephen's martyrdom remember what's going on there, and we'll just try and spend a minute and a half on this the Stephen is bringing is brought before this this brutal and non-legal trial before the religious leaders and various persons and he's being charged with preaching blasphemy and speaking ill things against the holy place in the law of Moses and And he enters his defense very calmly by saying, men and brethren, listen. And he engages in an apologetic defense, saying that Jesus Christ, summarizing, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
And at the end of that, he is crucified, or not crucified, excuse me, he's stoned to death. And that one young man watching is named Saul, the Apostle Paul, in his unconverted state, as he's already spoken to. He gladly receives the garments of those who keep large stones upon the head of Stephen to crush his skull and kill him He is pleased and he is happy to take those clothes and to give approval to the stoning death of Stephen verse 1 of chapter 8 says and Saul Persecuted the church now finally getting to it Matthew Henry on that verse makes this observation he says something to the effect of talking about the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul fed his eyes on that bloody spectacle, the stoning of Stephen, in the hopes that it might put an end to Christianity, that it might bring an end to this Christian religion. And then Matthew Henry says, but we have reason to believe that Paul ordered Luke to insert that phrase, and Paul persecuted the church for shame to himself and glory to free grace.
You see, when Paul is speaking before King Agrippa, and he's saying, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, he's not saying, man, am I great. Man, did I muster up strength. Man, am I not at least almost perfectly virtuous. But he's saying what he says later, I obtained help from God, and to this day I stand.
He's saying, and he's attributing all things to the God of condescending, amazing, and victorious The Apostle recognizes that to that day he stood by divine provision, by the aid of the triune God.
The Glorious Message
And lastly, we have then the glorious message, the glorious message.
Universality of the Message
Notice first off its universality, and this is beginning in verse, or this is continuing in verse 22. Notice its universality. Therefore having obtained help from God to this day. I stand witnessing both too small and great Now there's probably a little more of a specific thing behind this but with that with that with that statement by the Apostle Paul witnessing both too small and great and before that noting the extensive nature of his declaration those in Damascus in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea and then to the Gentiles, we need to rejoice in the fact that Christianity, the true and only religion, the true and only way unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Christianity is not a religion of exclusivity.
In other words, it's not just for the young. It's not just for the old. It's not just for the white. It's not just for the black.
It's not just for the Jew. It's not just for the Gentile. It's not just for men. It's not just for women.
You get the point. But it is for everyone, young and old, of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. God has his elect, not just in Jerusalem, but he has them in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. The proclamation of the...
I think it was... I can't remember if it was during a time of prayer or praying for the persecuted church. or when it was, my memory is bad for just this particular. Well, it's bad. But for this point as well, it's bad.
But somebody had noted that some militant Muslims, I believe, in Africa were remarking and using as one of the main points of their message the fact that Christianity is a white man's religion. that Christianity is only for whites, and the idea is that it's only for affluent whites of the West. Well, some of the greatest, not some of the greatest, but some of the most wonderful examples that we can read of Christian faith, and always, it seems, under trial, comes from those who are in nations where white may not be the predominant skin color. We see in the scriptures the fact that the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ in Revelation 5 is for what or for who? It is for every tribe, and every tongue, and every people, and every nation.
The religion of Christianity, Christianity is not a white man's religion. It is a believer's religion. It is a religion for those from every tribe, and every tongue, and every people, and every nation, regardless of color, sex, or age or whatever, Christianity comes and it is a message to be believed and it is a message to be proclaimed and rejoiced in. Its universality is clear here, but with more specifically what it probably has to do with here, small and great, are those who perhaps are less noble than others might say, than the human eyes casting themselves upon an audience.
There are some who they would see as not so noble, and others, like King Agrippa, who are, by contrast in those human eyes, more noble or in places of higher honor and stature. You see, Paul's target is King Agrippa because he begins it by saying, therefore, King Agrippa. Later on in the discourse with Agrippa and Festus, he says, for the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things and then he says, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.
He's preaching to King Agrippa. He's preaching to all in earshot, but with a specific target, King Agrippa, because he comes to that striking and cutting to the heart question, I know that you do believe. This is what Calvin says with regards to this, and we are working to an end, I promise. Calvin, on the small and the great, the universality of the glorious message, And he saith that he is a witness, both to great and small, that King Agrippa may perceive that this doth appertain even to him.
And that when the gospel is offered even to every simple man, that doth no wit hinder, but that it may ascend even unto the throne of princes. For Christ doth gather all men into his bosom with one and the same embracing. That those who lay before in the dunghill are now extolled unto so great honor, may rejoice in his free goodness. that those who are placed in high degree of honor may willingly humble themselves and not grudge to have some of the base and contemptible multitude for their brethren, that they may be made the children of God." It's a wonderful statement on the universality of the message that it is not just for the poor, it is not just for those of perhaps less of a societal stature, but as Paul brings out in his letter to Timothy, there are kings and those who are in authority that we are to pray for. Yes, that even in unbelief, they may help us to be kept in peace so that we may proclaim and live peaceably, but also, even unto the end, that God might save some, because he says in that same passage that God desires all men to be saved.
Not all men, without exception, but all types of men. Not just the poor, but also kings and those who are in authority. The universality of the glorious message. Not a white man's affluent religion, but a religion for every tribe and tongue and people and nation, for poor and rich.
Continuity with Moses and the Prophets
It's continuity. This is very important. We talked a little bit about this this morning in our study in the confession, but notice its continuity This is absolutely vital to understand and rejoice in as Christians. This isn't the stuff of ivory tower Theology and connecting Old Testament New Testament.
It's simply simple truth truths that are to a truth that is to glory and the consistency of the glorious message witnessing both too small and great Saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come Isn't that isn't that an amazing statement just bear with me for the last few minutes here It's an amazing statement to say to a Jewish audience, isn't it? You see Christians are proclaiming no new message The Christians, Paul here, he's proclaiming no new message, but rather he is proclaiming the fulfillment of an old message. This religion, this sect of the Nazarene, this the way, this Christianity is no new thing, but rather it proclaims the fact that it is an old message fulfilled. Paul says, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come the consistency of the message Old Testament and New Testament.
How was anyone saved in the Old Covenant from from Adam to John the Baptist? How was anyone saved by faith in the coming Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ? How is anybody saved post crucifixion resurrection the same way? but now by faith in the already having come Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the same from Adam to the last breathing human before saints are brought into the eschaton, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we see the continuity here clearly spoken of. Do you know what the best, and I don't think this is a hyperbolic statement, but do you know what one of the most important passages in all of Holy Scripture is. See, somebody can talk to me afterwards and say you're completely wrong, and we can wrestle over that one for a bit. The most important chapter in all of the Bible, Luke chapter 24.
Luke chapter 24, because not only does Christ, as the resurrected Savior who had just died for all of His people, not only does He preach and proclaim regarding the veracity of His death and resurrection, the gospel content, but He says something very important for our interpretation and our understanding of Scripture. Just turn there for a moment, very briefly, and we will close Shortly and you can go tend to your cows and to your dinner and to whatever you need to tend to the preacher will not keep you too long Luke 24 a bold statement Perhaps but I believe it is one of the most important chapters in all of Holy Scripture Jesus does here say in verse 25 and allude to his crucifixion and that he it was to suffer and those gospel events, the crucifixion and then victoriously the resurrection, verse 25 of Luke 24. Then he said to them, these are the disciples in despair on the road to Emmaus, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken, ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Just stop there for a moment.
What's he saying is they were to believe what the prophets of the old covenant spoke, ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and enter into his glory. The Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets of old the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. But Luke adds more to this in his narrative, verse 27, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And again, at verse 44, Then he said to them, after having eaten some broiled fish and honeycombs, showing them that he was not a phantom, he says, and he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.
And he opened their understanding that he might comprehend the scriptures. You see, Jesus Christ is the sum and substance, the content, of the Old Covenant, of the Old Testament. Those 39 books are not mashed together as a body of documents for moral reform, for simply a recognition of the historical events of the people of Israel. There's morality in there, we have the Ten Commandments.
There is history concerning the people of Israel, but according to the risen King, according to the Savior, according to the second of the blessed triune God, The old covenant scriptures are concerning him. They are concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's why Paul can say, it's one of the reasons why Paul can say that he was, in his preaching, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come.
Specific Redemptive Content
And finally, it's specific redemptive content. We've already touched on it. What did the prophets and what did Moses say would come? Verse 23, that the Christ would suffer that he would be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.
The prophets and Moses, the Old Testament as a whole, and with its respective individual parts, were about a suffering Messiah who would rise again and who would bring light to the Gentiles. We should see in this that Christ would suffer. Where do we see that in the Old Testament? Well, we could go back to Genesis 3, surely there.
Perhaps what's in view is Isaiah 53, because with greater clarity, we have there Isaiah speaking. You know, Isaiah, 700 years, rounding down, 700 years prior to the Lord Jesus Christ, knew more about his death than 90% of preachers this day, if I can throw out a number. A prophet of old, 700 years prior to the Lord Jesus Christ, not knowing the name that Mary and Joseph would give him, not knowing certain things perhaps unrevealed, we can't enter into the mind of Isaiah, but from the text and from his time relative to Christ, he didn't know as much as we now know this side of a crucified Messiah. But he knew, and he wrote, and he wrote concerning the suffering Christ.
But what we may also have in view is Exodus 12. Exodus 12, not only Exodus 12, but all of Leviticus. We noted this morning, you see, that when we think of the Old Covenant people, and when we think of the Old Covenant religion, that the people of Israel, the prophets, and all those involved in the religion of the Old Covenant, they weren't devoid of knowledge of the Messiah. We should never think that way.
Why? Because from the outset of human history, at the fall and the announcement of the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent, we have messianic knowledge communicated to the Old Covenant people. So that's why Paul can say the prophets and the Moses spoke about the death, resurrection, The light brought to Gentiles of Jesus Christ because the old covenant people were preached that it was revealed to them through types and shadows Through visions and all of these things that the Christ would suffer that he would be the first to rise from the dead and proclaim light to the Jewish people So what is the point of this section the point of this section is the veracity of the gospel of Jesus Christ? It's what Paul is bringing to bear here to Agrippa and to his audience.
He says to Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe. Not that King Agrippa is a believer in that saving sense, but he has knowledge of the prophets, and he puts stock, and he heeds the old covenant scriptures to a certain degree. He esteems them, if you will.
He knows the prophets, and he should then, by God's grace, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and recognize the reality that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Scriptures. What is the main thing to be in our church and in our Christianity? You ever think about that? Maybe you do, maybe you don't.
What is the main thing to be in our church and in Christianity in general? It is to be the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ sums up the doctrine of our precious Savior. That is to be the the foremost, chief in the hearts of the church and in the hearts of every Christian.
Spurgeon puts it this way, the cross of Christ is the chief constellation in Paul's sky. And that is to be the chief constellation in our sky as well, the cross of Jesus Christ. When we come to simple matters of Christian life, you see, what is the chief thing to be in the life of a Christian in the church? Well, perhaps this ethical issue, perhaps this problem, perhaps this, perhaps that.
The answer to all of those is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The answer to societal ills, the answer to sexual immorality is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your bodies. What's the answer to sexual immorality?
Don't do sexual immorality. No, it's to plant the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ before the sexually immoral so that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ therefore render works befitting repentance what are we to have as In our minds and in our hearts for this lower world with regards to unbelief the proclamation of light to all people That should be in you see if the cross of Jesus Christ is to be chief the chief constellation in our sky Then what should be on our minds and on our hearts is the proclamation of that cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in our particular context and finally What are we to have a heart and mind for in this lower world with regards to our own believing? Dare I say it? Theology.
What is to be on the hearts and on our minds? It is to be this glorious reality that the Apostle Paul was preaching no other things than the prophets or Moses, but that Christ would come, would suffer, would rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people. In 47 seconds, we come to the reality of this trans-covenantal truth that Jesus Christ saved sinners from their sin to the praise of God the Father. From Adam to the last breathing saint before the Eschaton, Jesus Christ saves the prophets the Moses Moses proclaimed that we come to our scriptures.
We should learn it We should rejoice in it. We don't come to this theology with that with any sort of cold dogmatism That's always the charge very interesting this idea of the trans covenantal nature of Jesus Christ Yes, as if it's if it's just this cold consideration of Jesus and the connectivity of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation The fact that 66 books put together over the span of 1500 years are not just some haphazard mishmash of morality and letters and various histories, but a divinely designed joining together of two covenant documents that proclaim the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ. It is like coming, we should come to this passage in theology. It should be chief in our minds and our hearts, and it should be like coming to a treasure chest.
You come to a treasure chest and you open it up and you have jewel after jewel after jewel in this treasure chest. You have the reality that the prophets and Moses wrote and spoke concerning the suffering of Christ and the glories that would follow. The Apostle Paul comes and he preaches no other new thing but then what they preach, that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment. We have all these gems of Christianity and they point to one gem fashioner the Lord God Almighty who before time and creation purposed to save through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glory and brings providence about to fulfill his purposes.
It's absolutely glorious. It's not the stuff of beard stroking and interesting and tea sipping. It's the stuff of diving through a treasure chest and seeing the beauty of our God, the special revelation of our God that is Christocentric in its nature. and has jewel after jewel in the treasury, speaking to the glorious nature of salvation by our Savior. Very quickly, and it's not just because the preacher tacks it on, it's because it's so important.
You're here tonight, and you come, and you know, it's just what you do, it's your tradition, you come to church, it's a good thing, it is a good thing to do. But if you're here and you come, and you're outside of Jesus Christ, and you're unbelieving, yes, it is the truth. that all whom God has appointed to eternal life will believe. But you see, on the heels of that, the preacher comes and he says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. In that passage, that preacher, that Pastor Butler read this morning in Matthew 11.
That Jesus Christ, it's the prerogative, the divine prerogative of God to hide these things, gospel truths from the wise and the prudent and to reveal them unto babes. That it is with God that is the right to exclude some from salvation and to include others. What comes right after that? But come to me all that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
So come to the Lord Jesus Christ, ye who are outside of Christ. Find all that you need for salvation and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in him. Repent, turn from God and do those works consistent with your calling by grace.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the scriptures. We thank you for the work of the Apostle Paul that we read of in the book of Acts. We know that it was not his work, but that it was yours.
We know. Lord God, that it was you at work in sending these apostles and in giving them divine aid to proclaim the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We thank you that 2,000 years removed from that reality, we are the blessed beneficiaries of such proclamation that Jesus Christ's promise to build his church at the gates of Hades would not prevail against it, that that has continued unto our day, and this place, quite far away from where the Apostle Paul was, that in this place we can have gathered Christians from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, from different stations in life, that we have those that by your grace have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. and seek to avail of your word, seek to walk in a manner worthy of their calling. And we do pray for aid in this, that same aid that you gave the Apostle Paul, the strength to stand.
We pray that in our circumstances, you would give us such divine aid that we might be able to endure whatever comes upon us, that we might grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that we might honor you in all that we do. We thank you for the gospel, and we pray that Jesus Christ, the cross of our Savior, would be that chief constellation in our night sky and that we would glory in him on a daily basis. Go with us now. Help us to live this week, acknowledging you, glorying in the saving work of Jesus Christ and seeking to bring honor to your most precious name.
And we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.