SPEAKER_00: If you have your Bible, go with me to the book of Acts, chapter 25.
SPEAKER_00: We uh I have not preached for two weeks, and so I'm covering 25 and 26 today, so I hope you brought a snack with you.
SPEAKER_00: Let me begin with a question, and I need your honesty here.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you would consider yourself a bit of a control freak?
SPEAKER_00: Come on, Jesus knows.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Well, last week, Pastor Dale Cunningham admonished us to live the Christ life, which in part means that when we are Christians, we relinquish all control.
SPEAKER_00: We hand the reins of our life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that what Paul said in Galatians 2 20?
SPEAKER_00: He said, I've been crucified with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
SPEAKER_00: Another way to say that is that Jesus should be in the driver's seat of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And just to warn you, I'm going to use a lot of uh transportation metaphors, let's say, today.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you remember that uh bumper sticker that says Jesus is my co-pilot?
SPEAKER_00: That's a stupid bumper sticker.
SPEAKER_00: But isn't that the way we're tempted to live?
SPEAKER_00: We want to be behind the wheel.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be in control, but we want Jesus in the passenger seat just in case we get into trouble.
SPEAKER_00: Well, today I want to admonish you that in every season of life that you would live the Christ's life, that Jesus would be behind the wheel of your life, that you would submit wholly and fully to him and trust him.
SPEAKER_00: To do such, by the way, to live the Christ's life, it's not just a one-time decision.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 31, what'd he say?
SPEAKER_00: I die what daily.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: When you become a Christian, here's what you're saying: you're saying, God, I give my life to you, Jesus Christ, I dying the self, and I invite you to guide me to live through me.
SPEAKER_00: I accept your Holy Spirit, fill me with your spirit, so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: But then every single day, you've got to fight that flesh to say, Lord, today I give my life to you.
SPEAKER_00: I die, you live through me.
SPEAKER_00: Live the Christ life.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's a subject worth considering because if Jesus is your co-pilot and not your pilot, beloved, you're gonna crash eventually.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus, however, is in the driver's seat, I'll be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: It won't always be a smooth ride.
SPEAKER_00: He'll take you down some bumpy roads.
SPEAKER_00: But with Jesus at the wheel, here's what'll happen: you will glorify God, which ought to be your highest aim as a believer.
SPEAKER_00: You will have peace on the journey.
SPEAKER_00: Like you don't have to be anxious if Jesus is behind the wheel.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that great news?
SPEAKER_00: In an anxiety-ridden society, and you know eventually, if Jesus is at the wheel, you will arrive at a place that is beyond your wildest dreams.
SPEAKER_00: In our text today, we find, again, we're following the story of the Apostle Paul who lived maybe more than any other believer ever, the Christ-centered life, the Christ life, the crucified life.
SPEAKER_00: And so in chapters 25 and 26, we find two aspects of what it means to live the Christ's life.
SPEAKER_00: The first is this living the Christ's life means that we go where Christ wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: And number two, it means that we say what Christ wants us to say.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, living the Christ's life means we go where Christ wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: Go back with me to Acts chapter 20, a few chapters back, and let's look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul here is in Asia Minor, finishing up his third missionary journey.
SPEAKER_00: And he's saying, Listen, I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: That means this is where God is leading me to go, not knowing what will happen to me there, except the Holy Spirit testifies to me that in every city, imprisonment and afflictions await me.
SPEAKER_00: So you remember this.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's in Asia Minor, God's leading him to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: His friends are trying to talk him out of it because all Paul knows is it's not going to be a pleasant journey.
SPEAKER_00: The only thing the Holy Spirit has revealed is this you're going to suffer and be imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: What would you want to do in that situation?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that the moment you would want to grab the wheel and say, Lord, you've been driving long enough, you need a break.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul doesn't do that because he lives the crucified life.
SPEAKER_00: He goes where Jesus wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: He says this in Acts 21, 13, when his friends are trying to talk him out from going, they don't want him to suffer.
SPEAKER_00: He says, What are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm ready not only to be imprisoned, watch this, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's what it is to live the Christ's life.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I'll go where you want me to go.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say what you want me to say, even if it costs me my life.
SPEAKER_00: And since arriving in Jerusalem, you know this, if you've been here the last several weeks, Jesus has kept true to his promise.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Paul arrived in Jerusalem, and it's been nothing but suffering and problems and imprisonment.
SPEAKER_00: Mobs have formed.
SPEAKER_00: He's been arrested many times.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that 40 Jews even vowed that they would not eat again until they had Paul's head, essentially?
SPEAKER_00: Like that's a bad, you think you have bad days, all right?
SPEAKER_00: This is a bumpy ride.
SPEAKER_00: And in chapter 24, uh, Pastor Jerry preached a couple of weeks ago that Paul stood before the governor uh Felix, the Roman governor over Judea.
SPEAKER_00: And do you know that Felix could find no provable charges against Paul?
SPEAKER_00: But you know what he did?
SPEAKER_00: He locked him up in prison to appease the Jews there in Caesarea.
SPEAKER_00: And so after those two years are up, this is where we pick up the story today.
SPEAKER_00: There's a new governor who replaces Felix by the name of Festus.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so look at me now, chapter 25, verses 1 through 3.
SPEAKER_00: Now, three days after Festus had arrived in the province, so he's brand new, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea, and the chief priest and the principal men of the Jews laid out their cases before Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Here they are again with all these accusations.
SPEAKER_00: And they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul, that he summoned Paul to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why, because they were planning an ambush to kill him on his way.
SPEAKER_00: So you remember Felix, he postpones.
SPEAKER_00: For two years, he's postponed Paul's verdict just to appease the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: Festus gets in office, and the historian Josephus says that Festus was a much better governor than his predecessor and the and the governor who succeeded him.
SPEAKER_00: So Festus, just after three days of taking office, he sees this Paul is locked up.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody knows why.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I'm going to get to the bottom of that.
SPEAKER_00: So he goes to Jerusalem, where he talks to the leading Jewish council, and they bring again all these charges before the apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: And so as they're speaking, the Jews say, Hey, Festus, you know what would be great?
SPEAKER_00: You know, why don't you just have Paul come here?
SPEAKER_00: In that way, you know, we've got all these eyewitnesses here.
SPEAKER_00: So their request seems really innocent, but it's a ruse.
SPEAKER_00: They're ruthless.
SPEAKER_00: Their plan is we're gonna kind of hide in the bushes, and when Paul's on his way, we're going to ambush him.
SPEAKER_00: And you know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they know they know how they have no valid claim against Paul, just like they had no valid claim against Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So if they they know, listen, this isn't gonna stand up in court.
SPEAKER_00: We want him dead, so we're gonna take this into our own hands.
SPEAKER_00: So Festus, he doesn't know their ploy, but but what he says is this he he wants to give them a fair trial.
SPEAKER_00: Normally you would be tried as a Roman citizen, which Paul is in Caesarea.
SPEAKER_00: And so he says, No, he says he's not coming here, but he says, You're welcome.
SPEAKER_00: He says in verses four and five, Jews, you're welcome to come there and make your case.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what they do.
SPEAKER_00: And we pick up in verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him.
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the enemy, the devil himself is called the accuser.
SPEAKER_00: He's the accuser of the brethren.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get worked up when people make up stuff about you, bring accusations against you, you're in good company.
SPEAKER_00: Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.
SPEAKER_00: But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, Do you wish to go to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?
SPEAKER_00: So here it is, Jews pleading their case again.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews get frustrated because there's no evidence.
SPEAKER_00: And so wanting to appease the views, uh, the Jews on some level, Festus says, You know what, Paul?
SPEAKER_00: What would you think about going back to Jerusalem with me?
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't demand it, but he asks him, and Paul says, Not on your life.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I've a I'm a Roman citizen, I appeal to Caesar.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 12, uh Festus replies, You've appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you will go.
SPEAKER_00: Now that begs the question, why would Paul not go to Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_00: Like Caesar at this time, you know who it is?
SPEAKER_00: Caesar Nero, a tyrant.
SPEAKER_00: He's not gone quite crazy yet.
SPEAKER_00: That'll be in a couple more years at this point.
SPEAKER_00: But but listen, Paul said, I want to go stand before the emperor.
SPEAKER_00: So why?
SPEAKER_00: Why not go to Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_00: When you may say, well, they want to kill him, these Jews.
SPEAKER_00: Like, duh.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's the reason, but I think there's more to the story than that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Paul has outwitted the Jews many times.
SPEAKER_00: They've wanted to kill him for decades now, or well over a decade.
SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, he he was willing to go to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he said, I'm willing to suffer or even die for the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So he's not scared of death, he's willing to lay down his life for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So why not go back?
SPEAKER_00: I thought you were that was my tip jar, he were.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this, look at Acts 23, 11.
SPEAKER_00: Go back with me.
SPEAKER_00: So this is why Paul is imprisoned in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: It says, the following night the Lord stood by him and said, This, take courage, as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Now, so now you must go to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul was in Asia Minor, okay, remember back in chapter 20, God said, Go to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna suffer, you're gonna be imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, living the crucified life, said, I'll go.
SPEAKER_00: But now, when Paul is offered a ticket back to Jerusalem, he refuses.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because in ver in chapter 23, Jesus says, You're done here, go to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And to appeal to Caesar, this is his ticket to Rome, and the government's gonna pay for it.
SPEAKER_00: All right, that works out.
SPEAKER_00: So, so but here's what I want you to see in all this.
SPEAKER_00: Living the Christ life means we go where Christ wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: It's the Christ in us, that's what matters.
SPEAKER_00: And at any point in this journey, I mean, Paul has suffered for years and years and years.
SPEAKER_00: Every place he goes, Jesus is behind the wheel and it's caused him nothing but suffering.
SPEAKER_00: At any point that you know, you he understandably might want to just take control of that wheel.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have ever trained a teenager to drive?
SPEAKER_00: I know because you have gray hair or no hair.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I taught both of my boys to drive.
SPEAKER_00: I started teaching them to drive like my father did me in the cemetery.
SPEAKER_00: Because what's the worst that can happen?
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, that's morbid.
SPEAKER_00: Those were relatively stress-free drives, but then came them the main roads.
SPEAKER_00: That's a different story.
SPEAKER_00: Oncoming traffic, living people on those roads.
SPEAKER_00: Before taking off on those drives, I'd look at my boys and I'd encourage them, encourage them, going, You can do it.
SPEAKER_00: And I kind of believed that.
SPEAKER_00: Right up until they started moving.
SPEAKER_00: My whole body, you know, my whole body would tense up.
SPEAKER_00: You know those little handles on the ceiling?
SPEAKER_00: I'd grip those with both hands.
SPEAKER_00: They're called grab handles.
SPEAKER_00: That's the technical term for them.
SPEAKER_00: But when you're driving with the teenager, you're riding with the teenager behind the wheel, they become Lord help me handles.
SPEAKER_00: And in those moments, in those moments, everything in me wanted to say, son, pull over, I'll take over.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'll give you that illustration to ask you that that's understandable with a teenager, but aren't we tempted to do that with Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: You know, there are times when we actually think we can buy drive better than the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: When following Christ is all uh where's Kathy at?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna change up my uh uh yeah, my words here.
SPEAKER_00: It's not rainbows and cupcakes today, it's mountaintops and hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00: How's that one?
SPEAKER_00: We're cool with having him in the driver's seat, but the minute he takes us across dangerous terrain, or he's taking us to a destination we'd rather not go.
SPEAKER_00: Everything in us wants to say, Jesus, you know, you've done pretty well, but you're tired.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just take over.
SPEAKER_00: Just give you a couple examples.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I don't know what you're being led to do today for the Lord, where he's calling you to go, what decisions he's calling you to make.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's calling you to be a missionary.
SPEAKER_00: That's not easy.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your plan was to have your own business and and and this will change everything for you.
SPEAKER_00: And isn't it easy to say, well, Jesus, I love you, but you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I want to drive somewhere else, and you take control of the wheel.
SPEAKER_00: Young ladies, look at me, young men, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a time in your life if it's not all happened already.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking to single folks.
SPEAKER_00: Some guy, some gal is gonna get your attention and you're gonna be awestruck.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and sometimes that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: It might be who hat the Lord has for you.
SPEAKER_00: Mike's saying, Yeah, this is Becky, this happened to us, remember?
SPEAKER_00: But listen, there are times I was a youth pastor for a long time, and and I've saw this happen over and over and over, that particularly, ladies, that guy is not the right guy for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a believer, he doesn't share the same faith, and you know what the Bible says that we're not to be unequally yoked.
SPEAKER_00: But you go, oh, buddy's so cute.
SPEAKER_00: Becky, is that what you said about Mike?
SPEAKER_00: And listen, you try to take the wheel of your life, and I've seen this over and over and over, because you think you know better than Jesus who's right for you.
SPEAKER_00: And you get married, and it's miserable.
SPEAKER_00: And often in those decisions, we go, man, I wish I just would have let Jesus stay behind the wheel of my life.
SPEAKER_00: There is no better place to be.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care where it's at, there's no better place to be than smack dab in the middle of God's will.
SPEAKER_00: It may not be the destination that you would plan to go, and it might not be the job that you plan to take or the ministry that you plan to start, but if it's God's will, it is the best place to be.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd encourage you, no matter the cost, live the Christ life by going where Jesus wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: And secondly, this is even more difficult.
SPEAKER_00: Living the Christ life means saying what Jesus wants me to say.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: Back in chapter 25.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus, the governor.
SPEAKER_00: And they stayed there many days, and Festus laid out Paul's case before the king, saying, There's a man left prisoner by Felix.
SPEAKER_00: And when I was at Jerusalem, a chief priest and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: Felix has heard out the Jews, all the accusations.
SPEAKER_00: He's new to this job.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he's brand new, and he's not up on Jewish law.
SPEAKER_00: He's kind of lost in all this, doesn't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: So King Agrippa comes to pay homage to the new governor.
SPEAKER_00: And so King Agrippa is actually a scholar in Judaism, and he knows all about Jewish law.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, King Agrippa had the, he was over the he oversaw the treasury in the temple and even had the power to uh appoint the high priest uh amongst the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: So Felix says, Hey, I want to tell you what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: I want your advice.
SPEAKER_00: Now, who is King Agrippa?
SPEAKER_00: This is Herod Agrippa II, right?
SPEAKER_00: He rules the northern part of Palestine.
SPEAKER_00: His father was Agrippa I.
SPEAKER_00: See how that works?
SPEAKER_00: Agrippa I was the one who had James executed earlier on in Acts and Peter arrested.
SPEAKER_00: His great uncle was Antipas, who executed John the Baptist and was after Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: His great-grandfather was Herod the Great.
SPEAKER_00: You remember Herod the Great in the gospel accounts?
SPEAKER_00: Herod the Great was the one who had all the children, two years and unders, murdered in Bethlehem in an attempt to annihilate Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's when Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fled to Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Now, who is Bernice?
SPEAKER_00: Bernice is not only King Agrippa's sister, she's also his lover.
SPEAKER_00: She was married to his uncle, but not anymore.
SPEAKER_00: She's with the brother now, keep it in the family.
SPEAKER_00: She would go out and she would be with other men and she'd always come back to her brother.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you think your half family has problems?
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: But Agrippa is well versed again in Judaism.
SPEAKER_00: So Festus brings the case before him.
SPEAKER_00: And let's pick up in verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city.
SPEAKER_00: Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
SPEAKER_00: So Kim Agrippa and Bernice, brother and sister and other things, they come in and there's uh they bring with them this extravagant display, let's say, of royalty.
SPEAKER_00: You can picture it, can't you?
SPEAKER_00: The royal attire.
SPEAKER_00: They were surrounded by Roman military officers and local dignities, dignitaries.
SPEAKER_00: Trumpets were likely born blown when they entered the building.
SPEAKER_00: And so just picture that.
SPEAKER_00: And then think about the apostle Paul being brought in in dirty clothes and chains.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 10 10 says this.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is quoting the people of Corinth when he writes, he says, His letters are weighty and strong.
SPEAKER_00: This is how the Corinthians describe Paul, but his body Presence is weak and his speech of no account.
SPEAKER_00: Boy, those are some nice church folks, aren't they?
SPEAKER_00: I know what you guys say about me when I'm not around.
SPEAKER_00: This verse seems to suggest that Paul had, let's just say, to be nice, a modest look about him.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing special.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible does not tell us exactly what Paul looked like, but there's another ancient Christian text, not scripture, that explains what Paul looks like, describes his appearance.
SPEAKER_00: You ready for this?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how you've pictured the Apostle Paul, kind of like Superman throughout this, but here it is: short in statured, bald, an Anthony Davis unibrow.
SPEAKER_00: It actually says that.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But he does have a unibrow, a prominent nose.
SPEAKER_00: I've read it was kind of like curved up and bow-legged.
SPEAKER_00: This poor guy.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 10 also seems to suggest that though Paul is a prolific writer, that he's not much of a public speaker.
SPEAKER_00: And here, the reason I say this, okay, you've got this royal family with all the pomp, and then you've got little apostle Paul, frail, not good looking, and not a great speaker.
SPEAKER_00: And he stands before them.
SPEAKER_00: But yet, as we get into chapter 26, as Paul gives his defense, listen, this is so great.
SPEAKER_00: We find that he is not the least bit intimidated.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we think God can only use the good looking, the strong, the eloquent.
SPEAKER_00: But how many know God just uses willing vessels?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes attributes that we might call successful attributes, they can be a deterrent to how much God can use us because they make us arrogant and prideful.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul has Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So he can stand in this room because he's living the crucified life.
SPEAKER_00: It's not Paul standing before these people, it's Jesus standing before these people.
SPEAKER_00: And if that doesn't give you confidence, I don't know what will.
SPEAKER_00: So look at well, let me go back.
SPEAKER_00: What does Paul say to this crowd?
SPEAKER_00: Well, he makes the case again for his innocence, but this is really important.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's main goal in speaking to the tribunal is not to clear his name, though he does that.
SPEAKER_00: His main goal is something else altogether.
SPEAKER_00: So you remember back in Acts chapter 9, remember Paul's salvation story?
SPEAKER_00: He's going to kill Christians and he has this experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
SPEAKER_00: He comes, um, he encounters the risen Christ, and his life is transformed and he is saved.
SPEAKER_00: Well, not only is Paul saved, but immediately he finds out Jesus has a profound call on his life.
SPEAKER_00: So let me just read you Acts chapter 9, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: The prophet or Jesus says to the prophet, he is a chosen instrument of mine, talking about Paul, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' call on Paul's life was this You're gonna go to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, and you're gonna you're gonna reach them.
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna go to Israel, and then you're even gonna stand behind kings.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul has spent three missionary journeys going to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: He just left Jerusalem where he shared the gospel with with with the with the Israelites.
SPEAKER_00: And now where's he at?
SPEAKER_00: He's standing before a king.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, all of these people, myriad of people, um were trying to stop God's plan from coming to pass in Paul's life.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul's living the crucified life, and you can't stop God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Here he stands before a king today.
SPEAKER_00: And what's he say?
SPEAKER_00: Well, what did Jesus tell him he was supposed to say back in 15?
SPEAKER_00: He said, You're a chosen instrument of mine to make my name known, to carry my name before the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: That's Paul's aim here.
SPEAKER_00: That's been Paul's aim his entire ministry.
SPEAKER_00: He just wants to talk about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that it would be so with us.
SPEAKER_00: And at great cost, this is what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: So he begins here proclaiming the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 4 through 11, he simply starts to tell his backstory of how he was a Pharisee and this devout Jew and didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah and wanted to kill Christians, but then he talks about how Jesus changed his life.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's pick up in verse 22 of chapter 26.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, standing before the king, to this day I've had the help that comes from God.
SPEAKER_00: And so here I stand testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that Christ must suffer in that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: Paul preaches the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I've said it many times, but the gospel is not God loves you and has a plan for your life.
SPEAKER_00: That might be true, but that is not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If that's all you say to somebody, you have not given them the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is a kingly announcement.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word there is evangelion.
SPEAKER_00: It's a kingly announcement.
SPEAKER_00: There's an appointed king.
SPEAKER_00: Israel, listened, for centuries, had been waiting on this promised messianic king.
SPEAKER_00: One who would come and would establish once and for all the Davidic throne.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul realized when he met the risen Jesus that the wait was over.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus Christ, through his death and burial, and resurrection was enthroned as the king of that kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And God's uh kingdom has been established.
SPEAKER_00: And if you will come to Christ, if you will believe upon him, repent, that you can be brought into that kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is the good news that though we are sinners destined for the wrath of God, that Jesus came to pay it all.
SPEAKER_00: And all to him I owe.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He came to be uh, you know, his atoning work on the cross covered our sin.
SPEAKER_00: He became our substitute.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul's aim is to preach that gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the messianic king, and you can be brought into that kingdom if you'll repent and trust him.
SPEAKER_00: We pick up in 24 and 25, and he was saying these things in his as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus, the governor, he said with a loud voice, Paul, you're out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone been told that this week?
SPEAKER_00: And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you're out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: He repeats it.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul said, I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I'm speaking true and rational words.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't the words say that the gospel, the cross, is foolishness to the world?
SPEAKER_00: It makes no sense.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, Oh, I'm not the fool here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not the insane one here.
SPEAKER_00: Standing before this, you know, royal company, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not the one who's insane.
SPEAKER_00: This is truth and it's rational.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't get embarrassed.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, I in in in Romans, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God unto salvation.
SPEAKER_00: First to the Jew and then to the Greek.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul gives the information of the gospel, but he doesn't stop there.
SPEAKER_00: He also gives an invitation.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 26 through 29.
SPEAKER_00: This is amazing.
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
SPEAKER_00: For the king knows about these things.
SPEAKER_00: He's addressing King Agrippa.
SPEAKER_00: And to him I speak boldly.
SPEAKER_00: Little Paul speaking boldly to the king.
SPEAKER_00: For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
SPEAKER_00: King Agrippa, this is so great.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe the prophets?
SPEAKER_00: I know that you believe.
SPEAKER_00: And Agrippa said to Paul, listen to this, in a short time, Paul, would you persuade me to be a Christian?
SPEAKER_00: And Paul said, Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but all who hear me this day might become such as I accept for these chains.
SPEAKER_00: He has just invited the king to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You have trouble.
SPEAKER_00: I have trouble sometimes inviting the family member to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He's standing before the king.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what Paul is saying here?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, go back to that courtroom scene.
SPEAKER_00: You've got the king and his entourage, and then you've got little Paul bound in chains.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is the only one in that room who's in chains, but he's the only one in that room who's free.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Listen, I'm standing here in chains, but oh king, and all of you who hear, I would that all of you would become as I.
SPEAKER_00: That you would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and all the church that that would be our heart for the lost.
SPEAKER_00: What do you think Paul might have wanted in that courtroom to people who have wanted him dead?
SPEAKER_00: Not the king necessarily, not even the governor, but you've got this, all of his accusers there.
SPEAKER_00: And he's just been called insane by Festus.
SPEAKER_00: What would you want to say in that?
SPEAKER_00: You're emboldened by the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: You give them part of that, your mind, a piece of your mind, wouldn't you?
SPEAKER_00: That's what you would want to do.
SPEAKER_00: The hardest thing to do when it comes, especially to our enemies, is to share the great news with them.
SPEAKER_00: Say, hey, come into my family, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I'd really love.
SPEAKER_00: Come be a part of my family.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you this to go back to the driving metaphor.
SPEAKER_00: What's your response when people cut you off in traffic?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody get cut off this morning on the way to church?
SPEAKER_00: We were listening to a preacher at a conference, and um he was in honesty, somebody cut him off on the on the freeway and uh he started laying on his horn.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the guy uh pulls up and starts honking back at him and doing this, you know.
SPEAKER_00: A few days later, he found out it was one of his church members saying hi.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when when something like that happens, you're cut off in traffic or whatever, it it's really easy, right?
SPEAKER_00: To say what you want to say and tell them they're number one with their wrong fingers.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's that's the natural tendency, right?
SPEAKER_00: But guys, following Jesus doesn't just mean we go where he wants to go, it means we say what he wants to say.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not just in the car, and that's not even with your verbal words, that is on social media too.
SPEAKER_00: Before you post, you might want to ask, Jesus, what do you want to say?
SPEAKER_00: Before you rant and rave or post something on somebody's call, how much trouble would this save us if in all conversations and on you know, in person and online, if we just said, Jesus, what do you want to say?
SPEAKER_00: Because I've been crucified with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's no longer I who live, but Christ in me.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, you know what Christ wants us to say?
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to speak kindly, speak the truth in love.
SPEAKER_00: Our words should be gracious, but you know what?
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to say we can take this to the bank.
SPEAKER_00: He wants every one of us to do what Paul's doing here and to share the gospel, to give them the information of the gospel and to give the invitation for people to come to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Carrie Underwood sang a song.
SPEAKER_00: The great poet Carrie Underwood sang a song uh years ago called Jesus Take the Wheel.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that song?
SPEAKER_00: On the surface, the song's about a woman woman driving in a snowstorm and the car starts spinning out of control.
SPEAKER_00: Her little infant baby is in the back, and she says, Jesus, take the wheel.
SPEAKER_00: But there's a deeper meaning, it's actually really good to the song.
SPEAKER_00: After the accident, the woman realizes that she's been in the driver's seat for some time now.
SPEAKER_00: She's been trying to control everything in her life.
SPEAKER_00: Life is spinning out of control now.
SPEAKER_00: And so she finally cries out in a metaphorical sense, Jesus, take the wheel.
SPEAKER_00: So let me just leave you with this.
SPEAKER_00: Who is in the driver's seat of your life?
SPEAKER_00: Is it you or is it Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Are you living the Christ's life day by day?
SPEAKER_00: Are you dying daily, going where Christ wants you to go, saying what Christ wants you to say?
SPEAKER_00: If you struggle with anxiety today, I'll say that anxiety today, I'll say this again.
SPEAKER_00: If you're behind the wheel, you'll never get rid of that anxiety because you don't know what potholes are ahead.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know how many, you know, what roads have been washed out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does.
SPEAKER_00: He knows the end from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: And you might not always like the ride, but here's what I can promise you if Jesus is at the wheel, you don't have to be anxious.
SPEAKER_00: You can have peace and you can have, you can even have joy, even when the ride's not that smooth.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul did.
SPEAKER_00: Paul in prison in Philippians wrote, Rejoice in the Lord all times.
SPEAKER_00: And again I say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: It's Paul who wrote in Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God.
SPEAKER_00: The peace of God surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you today, think just for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: You you might say, Well, yeah, Jesus runs the show in my life, but is that true in every facet of your life?
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we give Jesus like the spiritual parts, but we try to we try to run the marriage and the finances, whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, if he's Lord of your life, that means he's Lord of every part of your life.
SPEAKER_00: So I just ask you as we close to consider is there an area in my life that I need to just repent of today and say, Jesus, take the wheel.