SPEAKER_00 0:01

Standing before a Roman governor, a Jewish king, and numerous dignitaries, Paul boldly proclaims the gospel, turning his trial into a testimony. What does Paul's defense teach us about defending the faith and being a witness for Christ? Pastor Wei speaks to us today.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Brothers and sisters, have you ever been put on a spot where you had to defend your beliefs? Have you ever had to explain why you are Christian? Or why you go to church on Sunday? Isn't Sunday for sleeping in? Why do you bother waking up right early this morning just to come to church? And why Christianity and not any other religion? You know, when we are put on the spot having to kind of defend our beliefs and defend our faith, it can get very scary, right? And I I am someone who cannot, who is not very good at thinking uh on my feet. So uh in my mind there are like all these things that I need to connect before I can say something coherent, right? And so I will trip over my words, I'll ham and haul and stutter before I can say something barely coherent. And it is a daunting thing, right? At least for me. And so when we are not prepared, when we are not ready, we find it difficult to articulate the reasons for our faith. So we often pray that we will never get into this position, right? We'll we pray that, oh God, please don't let me get into this weird scenario where I have to somehow uh make a case for Christ in the next two minutes, right? And today we read about Paul, and Paul is kind of the opposite of me, right? I think he relishes, he prays for opportunities like this. And we are we are looking at him being put on the spot before powerful men who were deciding on his fate whether he would live or die. And he would make a defense before them. But he wasn't just defending his innocence, he was defending his faith in Jesus Christ. And funny enough, then he turns his trial into a testimony, right? And Paul's story here today, I think, has a lot to teach us this morning. But why was Paul made to give a defense, right? How did he land into this situation? Um, it helped it will help to kind of know a little bit of the context uh behind today's passage, and it all started all the way back in Acts chapter 21, uh, from verse 27 onwards. Right there, uh we read that Paul was in a temple. Uh a mob of Jews was just really unhappy with him. So they they went in the temple, dragged him out, beat him to an inch of his life, and then uh was gonna you know imprison him and all, right? Uh but then he was captured by the Roman uh guards instead. And so he eventually went into Roman custody instead of uh the Jewish custody, right? Um and and he was kept in prison for two years. Just two years went by like that because the governor did not want to do anything. Um and and so after two years, there was a change in uh in the governor. Uh, this man by the name of Festus, who is featured in today's passage, uh, became the new governor. And with this new governor, the the high priest and the Jews were once again rallying up and going to this this new governor and saying, No, we need to we need you to release Paul. He needs to stand trial in Jerusalem so that we can do justice. And Paul knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, he will never get a fair trial. He will stand before a kangaroo court. And instead, he will be assassinated. Right? They were all ready to kill Paul. And so Paul appealed to Caesar to stand trial in the Roman court instead. And so this is where he is. He's in front of a Roman governor. Uh, of course, there's a Jewish king now uh visiting, and then so he's made he makes his appeal before uh them all. Um Luke chapter 25, just before we come into today's passage, Luke chapter 25, verse 23, um, has this interesting detail that Luke gives us, right? On the next day, Agrippa and Bernice, Agrippa is the is the Jewish king, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes, tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Estus, the Roman governor, Paul was brought in. Um, this is uh quite a deliberate description from Paul, uh from Luke. Right? Uh we are told that Agrippa and Bernice came into the hall with great pomp, right? And they come in together with all these high-ranking officers, leading men of the city, probably the politicians, the ones making decisions for the city. Everything about them, right, their social status, their political power, the way they dress, probably, the way they carry themselves, everything screamed that they were V V IPs. Right? They were very, very important people. And it is all to show just how important they are. In sharp contrast with the man who is later brought in. So in comes Paul, this seemingly lowly man in chains, a prisoner caught to give his defense. And Luke sets that contrast for us. Um because, not because it was truly that, oh I mean, they are they those be this man were great, Paul is kind of a lowly character. Uh and that's true on some level. But Luke adds this in because in Luke's perspective, and indeed in God's perspective, the station of these people in the high places, together with their pomp and pageant uh pageantry, in reality pales in comparison with the dignity of the men of God in chains. They are nothing compared to the lowly Paul. What's more interesting uh from this verse is that it is a fulfillment of uh something said earlier about Paul in Acts chapter 9, verse 15. There uh it's the first time we we read about uh Paul's uh conversion on the road to Damascus, and and God speaks to uh Ananias, right? He tells him, Go for Paul is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. So this is what God has called Paul for. Paul was serving God's purpose and now has this unique opportunity to preach the gospel to such esteemed, high-ranking officials, right? In a sense, even though he is in chains and really at a low point of his life, Paul is right where God wants him to be. We read him being in prison, you know, having to defend himself now and all. And we have this sense that he is right where God wants him to be. And this morning, my first takeaway from my sermon is this are you where God wants you to be? You know, right now, in your life, are you where God wants you to be? And wherever you are, are you serving God's purpose? Some of us are you know studying, most of us here, I I I presume are working or uh um uh housemakers, and and some of you are nearing retirement or going to retire and all. Um wherever you are, where are you where God wants you to be? Right? Is that how God uh what is God leading you to? Or think about the relationships that we have with our family, with our friends, uh, with a partner of our choosing, right? Or the social causes you are contending for, the things you are passionate about, the things that you pour your energy and time into. Are you where God wants you to be? Is God behind your pursuits and your endeavors? And where are you trying to get to? Some of us have lots and lots of opportunities and the means to chase after what we want. And some of us have all sorts of limitations on us and we feel stuck. We can't even go anywhere, we can't even do anything. What can we amount to? In the eyes of God, it really doesn't matter how much or how little we have, regardless of our circumstances, God can work in and through us for his purposes if we allow him.

unknown 8:31

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SPEAKER_01 8:31

So if you look at Paul then for the sake of the gospel, he was beaten up, almost flocked, and he he was then imprisoned. That itself is a massive limitation, right? He had no freedom to do anything. It would be a really low point in life for anyone. And yet, at the same time, curiously, Paul will be writing to people, to fellow brothers and sisters, to churches. He'll be writing to them and saying, Don't be discouraged, but rejoice with me. For because of my imprisonment, the gospel of Christ is being preached and God is being glorified. He will tell people to rejoice. I am my lowest point, but God is glorified. Rejoice with me. And so Paul, you know, throughout his whole life, would glorify God and serve God's purpose, even though he at this point had neither riches nor freedom. And so many times it's not a question of what we have or what we do not have, but simply whether we are willing to let God lead. So once again, wherever we are right now, we have to ask, is this where God wants me to be? What is his purpose for me here in this season of my life? And if I'm not meant to be here, where then is God wanting to bring me? It is only when we allow God to really take the reins and lead us, to bring us to where we are called to be, that we really come alive, isn't it? That we can discover the meaning and the purpose behind the things we do. Where we feel like we are at the summit with God, even though we are at the uh lowest point of the valley. And that's the case for Paul today, right? Uh he is kind of really at the bottom, right? But if he's right there with God at the top, because God has led him thus far to where he is in today's passage, Acts chapter 26. And so coming to our passage for today, Paul stands before uh again a Roman governor, the Jewish king, all the dignitaries, and he's asked to speak for himself in verse 1, right? And and and it's a bit, if you think about it, picture try to picture it in your mind, it's actually a bit comical. Uh Paul stretches out his hand, right? We think, well, Paul stretches out his hand and then he starts to talk, starts to whatever, right? But he was in chains. So imagine stretching out his stretch, his automic maximum here, right? And Paul was gesturing even, right? So that he could begin to make his point to these people, all these people high up there. Um and actually this situation bodes well for Paul. Um he, while there are bad actors within the the the rulers of that time, uh, at least Festus and uh Agrippa were fair and just uh uh rulers, right? In a way, uh they were trying to give him a fair trial. And especially Agrippa II, right? Agrippa here, he was a Jew. And so he knew about the law and the prophets. And so Paul specifically makes his appeal to Agrippa in verses two and three. And so in verse uh from verse 4 onwards, um I'm gonna not gonna read out the the the text here, but from verses four to eight, we see that uh Paul, in appealing to the Jewish king, wisely begins and ends his defense with the hope of Israel. The hope of the Jews. He's talking to a Jewish king, and he appeals to him by talking about the hope of um the Jews. If you were appealing to Festus, I'm sure he would have said something different. Right? In Acts chapter 17, he was before all these Greek intellectuals, right? And what did he do? He appealed to them via Greek philosophy. They were he was quoting philosophers to them as he was uh making his uh defense. Um and so here he appeals specifically to Agrippa, and it's always good to know your audience, right? Always good to know what they think about the world, what they understand about uh their life, and then go from there. And so to Agrippa, Paul recounts how he came to live according to the strictest party of uh Judaism, becoming a Pharisee. Uh elsewhere he we will know that he comes under the tutelage of Gameleo, one of the most well-known uh rabbi of the time, right? Um, Paul was essentially like a Pharisee of Pharisees, so to speak. He was steeped in the law and he had intimate knowledge of the scriptures and the rabbinic teachings. In a sense, he was more Jewish than many of his accusers. And ironically, he is saying this, right? He is now standing trial for the hope that all of us Jews had. We are all hoping, together, you and I, we are all hoping for the return of the for the return of Israel, for the coming of the Messiah, culminating in the resurrection of the dead. Jews believe that God will resurrect, will raise people from the dead. So Paul retorts, why is it thought incredible, literally unbelievable? Why is it thought unbelievable unbelievable that any of you uh by any of you that God raises the dead?

unknown 13:35

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SPEAKER_01 13:35

Isn't this what we have been hoping God would do? And actually that's kind of odd coming out from Paul's mouth. Uh because funny enough, Paul uh immediately admits that he was once like them, precisely like them. Right? In fact, he was worse. Paul is just basically saying, No, I've been there, done that, I got the t-shirt, no, I have been in your shoes. I know exactly what you're doing, I know exactly where you're going with this. Right? And so he begins to tell his story. Right? Uh verses 9 to 11, again, I will kind of quickly go through. He himself went around persecuting the Christians. Uh he would approve of their execution. So when Stefan was uh was executed, essentially, right, he was there approving the Jews uh to uh of what they were doing. And he was so zealous, right? Paul is such a man, so uh fervent and on fire for God, right? That he is not happy just persecuting Christians in his hometown, right? He was trying to get permission from chief priests to go elsewhere, to go persecute Christians living outside his territory, right? And so we find him getting this permission to go to Damascus to persecute and to jail uh Christians. Right, in some sense, then he is like the queen's essential Pharisee, the Pharisee par excellence, right? The the the top the top dog in the in the Pharisee uh world. And he was predisposed to not believe in Jesus. If there were anybody who would never believe in Jesus, it would probably be Paul. Right? There wasn't an ounce, there wasn't a shadow of doubt in him that this new thing called Christianity. Back then it wasn't called Christianity, back then it was called the way. Right? This new thing called the way must be stamped out of history. And so on his way to Damascus, he waiting on his way to persecute, his life was turned around. In verses um 12 to 18. And I I think I think I will I would like to read out for us just so we can follow uh what happened on the road to Damascus. Verse 12 says, In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, brighter than the sun at midday, right? And that the sun shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. Um the the last phrase, to kick against the goats. It's a popular Greek saying, actually, people use it all the time back then, right? Um and it refers to the futility of opposing the deity, opposing gods, right? Um and a goat is essentially a pointy stick, uh, pointing stick that you will use to drive uh animals. The animals is lazy, you don't want to go here, or like just lying down, you want to cut your the animal, or use the goat to go and poke uh the animal, right? Um in our in our regular palace that we we use it to say uh oh this this this person goat uh uh the the the other person right to provoke or to to annoy the other person. And here Jesus is saying, it's telling Paul to stop fighting against the Lord.

unknown 16:45

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SPEAKER_01 16:45

It is useless to fight against the Lord, for the Lord is now golding Paul, uh poking him to follow Jesus instead. And perhaps you know some of you, some of us here, you feel it in your heart from time to time, right? Something tucks at your heart, or something is provoking you in your inner man, right? Your spirit is being golded. Sometimes it's what it is precisely what the spirit is doing, goading you to do certain things, or to stop doing something you're not supposed to, right? That could be the spirit goading you, tugging in your heart. And that was what was happening here with with the Lord and with Paul. Um, and in verse 15, um Paul continues to say, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose. And this is the the commissioning of Paul, right? This is the purpose of his life to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. In short, in appearing to Paul, the reason Christ was calling Paul to a very specific purpose, and he was appointing Paul as a servant and witness of Jesus to go where God wants him to be, and to preach to the Gentiles so that they may turn from darkness to light. So Paul, ever zealous for the Lord, now seeing the reason Christ for himself was obedient to him, and so in verses uh 19 to 23, essentially he closes his defense here, right, by again saying, No, I was obedient to the heavenly vision, um, and and did exactly what Jesus told him to do. And he appeals once again back to the hope of the Jews, for he says that he said nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by the the by being the first to rise from the dead, he will proclaim light both to my our people and to the Gentiles. So so that that's how he ends his defense. And although um Paul was asked to defend his innocence, the the ruler actually agrippa Festus, they kind of wasn't sure why Paul was uh imprisoned in the first place. Um they kind of reviewed his case, Festus spoke to him before this, and actually they found that there was nothing chargeable, there was no chargeable offense, right? Um they wanted to actually set Paul free. But since Paul has already appealed to Caesar, they have to bring him to Caesar so that he can uh make his make his case there. But time and again, both Agrippa and Festus um said that they found nothing wrong with this man. Right? And yet Paul had to stand before them to give his defense, and Paul um kind of uh like like defended his innocence in a very peripheral sense, right? That was his pen-ultimate goal. His ultimate goal was to give his testimony, he turned his trial into a testimony time, right? Partly because it is precisely in his conversion experience that he has a defense for what he believes in. And partly because he knows that his testimony will evangelize King Agrippa, right? And I hope we see kind of what Paul is doing here exactly. And so Peter tells us in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 15, right? Uh always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who gives, who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Alright, it sounds especially daunting for those who don't like making arguments, right? But Peter is saying always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have. But what can we learn then from Paul? Um is that our conversion story, our conversion story of when uh we come to have saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and our experiences with the Lord, they are powerful reasons for the hope that we have in Jesus. Some of us think we need to know everything about God, about theology, about this or about that, in order to make a defense. And because we don't know uh all these things, we need to keep quiet. We need to pray. We never get into a situation where we have to defend our faith or to give a reason for the hope that is in us, right? But Paul here is showing us that no, you do not uh require all this really academic or scholarly knowledge. What about your conversion story? What about your experiences with the Lord? These are reasons for the hope that is in you. Um over the years I have realized that in certain situations I have an advantage, right? Whenever I get to talk to a stranger and then we make small talk, and you know how small talk is, right? You kind of just circle or revolve around the same few topics, right? And inevitably we'll talk about work. Where are you working at? What are you doing now? And then I get to say, hey, I work in the church. And if the person asks me, what made me work in the church? This work and all, right? I find that it's always a good time for me to start sharing my own testimony, right? Of how I came to know the Lord, how I experienced His love, how I was changed by Him, and how I received God's call to serve full-time in church. And for me, growing up in my early 20s, like in my early 20s, apologetics, in particular, having the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, right? Those were vital for me. Without those things, I would have probably left the faith. So apologetics has always a special place in my heart. And whenever I can, right, in these situations, I will always inject some some of this into my conversations with strangers, right? To try to share some arguments at least for the case of Christ. Arguments that I find convincing. To show that our faith is at least reasonable and plausible, if not actually true. But that's me, right? And I'm sure you have your own stories, you have your own experiences with the Lord. They are different from Paul's and different from mine. And maybe you grew up in a Christian family. You saw the Christian faith being embodied, being fleshed out in the lives of your parents. And that's why you believe in the reality of God. Maybe you had a crisis. Somewhere down the line in the past, you met with a huge crisis in life, and God did the impossible for you and got you out of the crisis. Maybe God gave you a breakthrough in an area of your life, and you experience true freedom from a sin, from a destructive habit, or from lies you tell about yourself. All our different stories are testimonies of the same Lord. All our testimonies share about God's grace and mercy in our lives. And all our stories, our personal stories, glorify him and make his name known. So, church, tell your stories. You don't have to be like Apollo, you don't have to be like me, you don't have to be like like Reverend Israel, you don't have to have our experiences or our knowledge per se. You have your own story, you have your own reasons for the faith that is in you. Share those experiences and those stories. And surely God will be honored as you share your testimony, as Paul has done in today's passage. And even though uh we have gotten to the end of today's passage, right, verse 23, uh, Paul's defense sort of ends here. Uh but it is not the end of the trial, right? So I would like to read the rest of it and end off with my last point for today's uh message. Um in verse 24, uh, as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus, the Roman, the Roman governor, said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind. The Greek is uh beside you, you are beside you. Um and and normally you will say beside you as in all I mean, not feeling well, not feeling myself today. But uh that phrase literary means you're insane, you're crazy, right? Paul, you are out of your mind. You're learning, right? You are smart, you are very kung, but you you have learned so much that you are essentially he has essentially gone insane, right? But verse 25, Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent festers, but I am speaking true and rational words. He may not believe in the faith, but Paul contends that the faith is rational, is reasonable. And verse 26, uh, he he kind of uh again says that the king knows about these things, he's appealing to Agrippa, after all, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in the corner. The things that the Christians were doing has not been done in secret, they were not hidden, they were done out in the public. So the King Agrippa would have known these things. And as someone who knows the law and the prophets himself, Agrippa would have known what was going on. Verse 27, King Agrippa. So Paul now puts Agrippa on the spot, which is which is I find hilarious. Uh King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. In a way, saying, if you believe in the prophets, then surely you will agree with me on these things. So, you know, Agrippa being put on the spot in verse 828 says to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? So he had to play the you know, say things that are politic politically correct in public, cannot side with Paul, cannot side with uh people of the way. And so, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? And Paul replies this whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me in this day this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. And that very last line to me is such an amazing thing that Paul said. You know, the sheer audacity of Paul to say something like that again to a Roman governor, a Jewish king, the military officers, and the leading men, the politicians. For him to say, I wish to God that you you, all of you, would become like me. Compared to everyone else in the hall, Paul had no pomp, he had no prestige, he had no power. And in fact, he was a prisoner. No freedom, no riches, nothing to his name. And yet he dared say to these people in high places, I hope to God you will become like me. Imagine us doing that to the high-ranking people in Singapore today, right? That would be insane. We would never dare say any of these things to you know any of our ministers in in Singapore, right? So what is Paul, what is Paul doing here? Um he tells them this. Why is he saying these things? He tells them these things, not because he was full of himself. Right? Paul was not being arrogant here. No, he said these things not because he was full of himself, but because he was full of the spirit. He was filled by the spirit as he proclaims this. That I wish all of you up there, all of you, no one is an exception. I wish all of you will become like me. Why become like him? Paul has seen the glory of the risen Christ, and he was filled with the spirit, he has grasped the mystery of the gospel and attained the hope and promises in Jesus Christ. And Paul wants the same for everyone. What he has received, he wants to give, he wants to share with everyone else. He wants others to likewise lay hold of the treasures of God, the promises of God, to receive salvation in Christ and be uh be filled with the Spirit. And so, Paul, boldened by the Spirit to faithfully proclaim the gospel, to bring Jesus' name before the Gentiles, the kings, the Jewish people, he faithfully proclaimed the gospel, the hope that he has in the risen Lord. And that empowerment of the spirit is not exclusive to Paul, brothers and sisters. He the empowerment that comes from the spirit, it's not just for Paul alone, right? He is not uh so unique in that sense, right? But that spirit, that power, that courage has been given to the church at Pentecost. At this point, if I can invite the musicians to come up. Um as I end off with my last point. Um fittingly today is Pentecost Sunday, right? Where we remember and we celebrate what happened in Acts chapter 2. Um, and if you are familiar, Acts chapter 2 is when the Holy Spirit uh came down, filled the disciples, and ignited their hearts as they carried out what Jesus said in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And the church began on Pentecost day, and the lives of the disciples were never the same again. When the spirit came and filled them up, their lives were never the same again. And so when we look at Paul's story in this morning's passage, we can see what is going on, right? According to Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Paul was filled with the spirit to be Jesus' witness to the Gentiles. And again, one the same spirit who filled Peter on the day of Pentecost when he preached a sermon, the same spirit who filled Paul in this case, where he became emboldened to talk to the high-ranking people in this way. The same spirit that filled the other disciples with the same spirit today, still filling believers in our time.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

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