Nothing to Write | Acts 25:13-27

Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, the community of listeners and saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back and darkness together.

Would you guys stand for the reading of God's word?

Rachel, thank you so much.

That was that was awesome.

I teared up listening to those stories.

Today we're gonna be in Acts twenty-five.

Acts twenty-five, thirteen through twenty-seven.

Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the King and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.

And they stayed there many days.

Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, There is a man left prisoner by Felix.

And when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused, met the accusers face to face, and had the opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on a tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

Rather, they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

Being at a loss of how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them.

But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, I would like to hear the man myself tomorrow, said he.

So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with military tribunes and the prominent men of the city.

Then at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in, and Festus said, King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem here, shouting that he was he ought not to live any longer.

But I found that he had done nothing deserving of death.

And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.

But I have nothing definite to write to my Lord about him.

Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after we have examined him, I may have something to write.

For it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner prisoner not to indicate the charges against him.

This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Amen, amen.

Thank you, Glenn.

Always a great scripture reader for us.

Um well, like I said, my name is Zach.

Thank you, Rachel, for sharing your testimony of what the Lord did in Indonesia.

I would encourage you guys to connect with her, hear more about the trip, because you know you can't pack.

How long was your trip in total, including the delay, including?

Um and it was planned to be a 10-day trip?

Yeah, yeah.

So it got stuck a whole extra week.

So there's plenty you can't cram 17 days worth of stories into five to ten minutes.

So I encourage you to connect with Rachel, uh, sit down with her, hear what the Lord did.

And then Rachel Kelly, the missionary that's on the ground there, she'll be coming back for a month in October into November.

So we're excited to have her back, pour into her, um, get to hear all that the Lord's been doing over the past year in Indonesia.

So that's that.

Um we're glad you're here.

If you're new with us, welcome.

Um I don't believe that the Lord brought you here on accident.

Like I believe that the Lord brought you here on purpose, and um, we would love for you to be a part of our Way family.

It's a sweet thing that the Lord is doing and building here, and I'm just blessed to be able to play a small part in it and to get to do some life with some really awesome people.

Um so if you're new, this is uh a series we've been walking through for over a year now.

Um walking verse by verse through the book of Acts.

This series is entitled Living by the Spirits and Following the Way.

Acts is a story of what Jesus kept doing by his spirit through ordinary people after he rose from the dead, imparted his Holy Spirit upon believers.

And what we are in the last stretch of the book.

We've been looking at Paul being imprisoned for like four weeks now, and it's been fun, and it's been a little uh repetitive, but the the story of Paul being in prison in Caesarea ends today, and then we see what happens next, next week.

Before we dig in, though, have any of you ever stared at a blank page?

You ever stared at a blank page, Jeremy?

Yeah, maybe.

Um maybe you do it for a living.

Umbe you um are an aspiring songwriter and you've uh not had anything that's come to mind or come to heart and you're just staring at a blank page with a pencil.

Um maybe uh you're one of our creatives that we have here.

Maybe it's graphic design or photography, and you're just like staring at a blank page before any edits come with an empty canvas and the client's call coming up the next day.

Or maybe you're a student, maybe you're in college, maybe you're in seminary, and you have a paper that's due at midnight, and you're just sitting there and you're like, man, I got nothing to write, and this paper's due in an hour, and you're just staring at a blank page.

I've been there for sure.

Um and maybe for some of you you've stared at a different kind of blank page.

Maybe it's like the job application with the little box that says, like, please explain any gaps in employment, and you're like, hey, I know it's because of my criminal record, it's because I did this, whatever it may be.

You know exactly what's supposed to go in that space, and you'd give anything to be able to leave it empty.

But you got some junk in your past.

So, a blank page, what I want you to see is that it can be the scariest thing in the world.

Or it can be the best news that you've ever heard.

And I'll explain that as we get into it today.

It all depends on what has been written there and who is holding the pin.

Well, this morning, what we're gonna see, we're gonna meet a man with a blank page problem.

His name is Festus, he's the Roman governor.

We heard about him last week, and he has to write a letter to the most powerful man on earth at the time.

He has to write a letter to the Emperor Nero explaining why he's shipping this prisoner, Paul, to him in Rome.

And what we see today is that Festus, he's got nothing.

He's got nothing to write down, he's got no charge to bring against Paul.

No crime, no charges.

A king is in the room, and the most important people in the city are in the room, and the governor has to stand in front of them and admit, I have nothing definite to write down.

And the man in chains, that is Paul, standing in front of him, is about to show what it looks like when the page against you is blank, when no charge can be levied against you.

So here's our big idea this morning.

Our big idea is this the powers of this world cannot find a charge against the way of Jesus, and they also can't find a category for it either.

The powers of this world can't find a charge against the way of Jesus, and they can't find a category for it either.

I'll pray and then let's dig in.

Lord, we love you, we praise you.

We thank you for bringing us here today to worship you, to dig into your scriptures.

Uh I praise you that they are living and active, that they are sharper than any two-edged sword.

Lord, so I pray that today you would uh write the truths of your scriptures on our hearts and on our minds, that you would transform us from the inside out as a result of what we read today, what we dig into today.

Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.

Would you do a work in this place?

We love you, we praise you.

It's in Jesus' mighty name.

And all God's people said.

Amen.

So, what's going on in today's text?

Well, the Apostle Paul, he was arrested in Jerusalem more than two years ago.

So we've covered two years in like two to three chapters, and he has been on trial ever since for one crime.

The crime, what's going on, he has said and claimed and continually claimed that Jesus is alive.

The resurrection is the claim by which these charges are being levied against him.

Two weeks ago, Governor Felix heard the gospel from Paul in private.

He got scared and he said, Hey, I will address this later.

Then last week we saw a new governor.

Two years later, Festus showed up, and within days he was ready to trade Paul away as a favor to the people, to the Jewish people who wanted him dead.

And remember where we landed last week, Paul said four words that changed everything.

He said, I appeal to Caesar.

I appeal to Caesar.

And Festus answered, To Caesar you appeal, to Caesar you shall go.

So you'd think that the next scene is a boat, is Paul on his way to Rome as was promised.

But the author Luke hits pause on the story, and for the rest of chapter 25, he tells us a story that we've already heard.

So we're gonna like see some stuff and read some stuff that we've covered in weeks past.

This is the third time that Luke has walked us through what happened between Festus and Paul, once as the narrator last week, then Festus telling it in private, then Festus telling it in public.

And what I want us to see is that the author of Luke is a careful historian.

All the way back in the beginning of the gospel that he wrote, the Gospel of Luke, we see that he says that he was writing an orderly account.

And so in the book of Acts, Luke still is writing an orderly account of what went down.

He doesn't waste any ink.

Luke, when Luke repeats something, he wants us to see it from a new angle.

And what I believe is that in today's text, the new angle is this.

What does the world see when it looks at the way of Jesus?

What does the world see when it looks at the way of Jesus?

He's not necessarily hostile to Christianity.

He's also not a believer either.

What he is is he's confused.

He's looking at this new religion that is formed around Jesus, and he says, He doesn't know what to do with it.

And in his confusion, three things come out that Luke wants us to see.

He's going to tell his own story in a way that makes him look good.

He's going to be surrounded by power that appears impressive but isn't, and he's going to end up with nothing to write to Emperor Nero.

And if I could just draw a connection for us, I would say that that is our city as well.

Kansas City is full of people who are managing their story just like Festus and chasing the right table, the right seat at the table, the right place of influence.

And plenty of us are staring at a page that we don't know how to fill.

We're trying to curate our stories instead of letting the Lord curate our stories.

So let's walk in with Paul, Acts 25, starting in verse 13, the text says, Now when some days had passed, Agrippa, the king, and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.

And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, There is a man left prisoner by Felix.

And when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any one before the accused, met the accusers face to face, and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

So when they came together here I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

Rather, they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them.

But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.

So point number one this morning is tell the truth about yourself.

Tell the truth about yourself.

What's going on here?

King Agrippa comes to town.

And we'll talk more about who he is in a minute.

But here's what we need to know off the rip.

He is Rome's man in the region.

And he's Jewish enough to understand the religious stuff that Festus doesn't understand.

A new governor has arrived, so the local king shows up to shake hands and kiss babies and kiss the ring, and Festus sees an opportunity.

Says, like, hey, I've got this problem prisoner.

His name's Paul.

He's a part of this religion stuff.

You know this stuff.

Let me run it by you.

And now listen to how Festus tells the story.

He says, there's a man left in prison or left a prisoner by Felix.

In other words, what he's saying, hey, this isn't my mess.

I inherited this.

Show me what I need to do.

He also says it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone without a fair hearing.

In other words, he's saying, I did everything by the book.

He says, I made no delay.

He says, hey, I am an efficient leader.

Then in verse 20, he says, being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem.

But we studied the text, like the narrative of what went down last week, and that's not exactly how everything shook out.

Look back at verse 9, if you will.

Verse 9, it says, But Festus wishing to do the Jews a favor.

It's the same event, it's a different audience.

And in the private version that he tells the king, he quietly cuts out the part that he was wishing to do the Jews a favor.

He was going to go against kind of what the policies of Rome were in order to do the Jews a favor, but he leaves that part out when he's talking to King Agrippa.

And the thing is, Festus, he's not exactly lying.

Everything he says is technically true.

It really isn't the Roman custom to hand people over.

It's just not what Festus was about to do.

He's not lying.

He is curating the story.

He is sharing the story in a way that makes him look good.

He's giving that highlight reel version of what happened.

He's giving that like Instagram reels version of the story.

And before we go too hard on Festus, let's be real.

Let's call a spade a spade.

We all do this.

The resume version of your life.

The perfectly curated version of your life.

The social media version that you portray to others.

The version that you tell at Thanksgiving when you're back home at family who lives a ways away, so your uncle stops asking you questions.

So why do we curate our stories?

Why do we share a perfectly crafted story of our lives?

Well, it's the same reason that Festus did.

We're protecting a position, we're protecting an identity, we're protecting a picture of who we are.

Festus, he's a brand new governor with a career to protect and a city that's under his watch.

So if Rome finds out that he almost handed an innocent Roman citizen to a lynch mob in order to make friends, that is a problem.

So he edits the file.

But here's what I love.

In the middle of this carefully crafted story, Festus he drops a throwaway line in verse 19.

He says they had points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

You can like almost feel how little Festus cares.

Their own religion.

It's a word that can mean a superstition.

And then he says, a certain Jesus.

It's like he can barely even remember the name.

He thinks this is the boring part of the story.

And without meaning to, this bored Roman governor preaches the whole gospel in one sentence.

He's dead, but Paul asserted him to be alive.

And if we're being real, like that's it.

That is Christianity.

If you're here this morning and you're checking out Jesus, maybe for the first time ever or the first time in a long time, even Festus figured out the real question.

Everything else is a side argument.

The question is: is the dead man alive or isn't he?

Is Jesus Christ alive or isn't he?

And I am willing to bet my whole life on the truth that Jesus is alive.

And I hope that you do too.

Festus goes on and says that he was at a loss.

Luke uses the same word in his gospel for the women standing at the empty tomb on Easter morning.

In the Gospel of Luke, it says, while they were perplexed about this.

So Festus is at a loss for what to do with Paul, who claims that Jesus is alive.

The women at the tomb see the empty tomb and they are perplexed about this.

Do you see that connection?

The Roman governor and the grieving women at the tomb are baffled by the very same thing: a tomb that wouldn't stay shut, and a Jesus that was and is alive.

So here is why that matters to us today.

We, no matter where we've been, no matter what our story is, no matter what our mess is, we can tell the truth about ourselves because a dead man is alive.

If Jesus is alive, and I believe that he is, then the judge already has the true file.

Every single edit, every single deleted scene, all the mess that you want to hide.

And this Jesus, he didn't die for the highlight reel, he died for the real you, he died for the mess, he died for the muck, he died for the mire, and he set your feet on solid ground.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So Festus has to protect his position.

In Christ, you don't.

You have a position and it isn't up for review.

Your position is a follower of the way of Jesus.

You've been signed, sealed, delivered because of what Christ has done.

So let me ask you this morning: who in your life gets the unedited version?

Not the carefully crafted and curated version of yourself.

Who knows those things?

The things that you don't tell everybody, the things that you come up in here on Sunday and act like they're not there.

Who knows that version?

If the answer is nobody, then the assignment this week is to pick one person.

Share with them openly, honestly, transparently, raw about your life, your story, what the Lord is doing in your life.

Tell them the truth.

In the way of Jesus, confession before the Lord is how you.

You get free.

And my hope is that here at this church we got some people who are living in freedom.

Amen.

As we look at verses 22 and 23, we'll go more quickly through the remainder of this text.

Verse 22.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, I would like to hear the man myself.

Tomorrow, said he, you will hear him.

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.

Then at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Point number two, don't be fooled by the robes.

Don't be fooled by the robes.

Agrippa says, I would like to hear the man myself.

If you're familiar with the gospel of Luke, that line should sound familiar.

When Jesus was on trial, Pilate sent him to a king named Herod Antipas.

And Luke tells us that when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him.

Herod wanted to show, and King Jesus gave him silence.

So Herod and his soldiers mocked him.

They dressed him up in splendid clothing and sent him back.

That Herod was King Agrippa's great uncle.

And I don't believe that that is a coincidence that Luke wants us to miss.

So, real quick, let's walk through Agrippa's family tree, because it is one of the wildest in the entire Bible.

Agrippa, his great-grandfather, was Herod the Great, the king who tried to kill baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

His great uncle was Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist and mocked Jesus in that fancy robe.

His father was Herod Agrippa I.

And if you're with us back in Acts chapter 12, you remember him.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

He killed the Apostle James, he threw Peter in prison, and then in this exact city, in Caesarea, he put on his royal robes and took his seat upon the throne.

He gave a speech and he let the crowd call him a god, and an angel of the Lord struck him down.

And now, today in the text, here's the son, Agrippa II, walking into an audience hall in the same city.

And if this family sounds familiar to you from even more recently, it should, because two weeks ago we met his sister, Drusilla.

She was sitting next to Governor Felix while Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.

And Felix got scared and said, Go away for now.

Now her brother wants his turn.

This is the second time in three weeks that a Herod has asked to hear Paul.

Four generations.

Four generations standing against the way of Jesus.

Every one of them had the room, every one of them had pomp and circumstance when they walked in, every one of them had the robes, and not one of them got the last word.

Agrippa II, the one we're looking at today, he turned out to be the last Herod to rule.

So when the Jewish revolt came a few years later, he sided with Rome, and when he died, the family line of kings just ended.

And Agrippa II, he's here with Bernice, and she is his sister, Roman writers of the day gossiped about the two of them for years.

So do with that what you might.

The point is simply this, though.

The prominent men of the city in that room are not the ones on the moral high ground.

The prominent men of the city are not the ones on the moral high grounds in Caesarea.

He comes in with great pomp.

The Greek word is fantasia.

It's where we get our word fantasy.

It means a show, a display, an impression.

And picture it.

You have an audience hall in a city that Herod the Great built and named after Caesar.

You got military commanders dressed up in their full dress.

You have the city's elite there.

You have the king and his sister in purple.

Everybody who matters in Caesarea is in the room.

And then the last line of verse 23.

Then at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

In chains, alone.

Paul would later write that he was an ambassador in chains.

And here's the thing: this is exactly what Jesus said would happen.

Go all the way back to Acts chapter 9, verse 15.

Acts 9:15

This is the day that Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus.

Jesus said to him, He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings.

And kings.

This is the and kings that's going down right here.

And so Paul's change, they're not taking him on a detour from the calling that the Lord has given him.

They are the delivery system.

They are the calling.

He's in front of a king because of the chains.

And that's the pattern of Jesus himself.

The only robe ever worn in a Herod's court by Jesus was one that they put on him to mock him.

What that is, family, is glory through the cross.

One commentator writes this the call of the way is one of suffering and darkness, not privilege and power.

The call of the way of Jesus is one of suffering and darkness, not privilege and power.

And Paul is living this out.

And if you're in Christ, that's the truth for us as well.

So let me talk to some of you directly, because I think this is applicable for us.

We got some people in this house who have an entrepreneurial spirit.

They're starting their own business, they're starting a Christian business, they're starting in a new career field, you're maybe a creative or a young adult.

Maybe a doctor or a nurse.

Maybe you work at a university.

Whatever it is, you're gonna spend time in rooms with people in robes.

Figuratively speaking, maybe literally, but for this talk figuratively.

Be it platforms, be it followers, be it funders.

And you're gonna have this desire to sit at the right table at the right event.

And it's gonna be tempting to measure your life by who's around you, by who you know.

But hear this pomp and circumstance, it's fantasia.

It's that Greek word fantasia.

It looks like power, but it has nothing definite to say.

The room may not necessarily be evil, but don't be fooled by it.

Your identity is not in that.

Your identity is who you are in the Lord.

And maybe on the other side of the coin, you feel like the one in chains in every room that you walk into.

You feel like the Apostle Paul, you are in chains no matter where you are.

Maybe it's because of your record, maybe it's because of your past, maybe it's because of your bank account.

But hear this.

In God's economy, the man in chains was the only one in that room worth saying anything.

Don't be fooled by the robes.

Don't be fooled by the robes, and don't be embarrassed or ashamed of your chains.

Point number three, and our final point is to stand in the blank space.

Stand in the blank space.

Verses 24 through 27.

We'll close out Acts 25 right here.

Verse 24.

And Festus said, King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not live any longer.

But I found that he had done nothing deserving death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.

But I have nothing definite to write to my Lord about him.

Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write.

For it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner not to indicate the charges against him.

Festus says, You see this man.

Festus, he's putting Paul on full display.

Every eye in the room is on Paul imprisoned in chains.

And then Festus, he spins the story one last time.

The whole Jewish people were shouting that he shouldn't live.

But if you look back, what the text tells us is that it was a few chief priests.

It wasn't everybody.

It was some people, it wasn't everybody, though.

And what he's doing, it's making his problems sound bigger and his handling of it sound braver.

He's making himself look good once again.

But then verse 25, I found that he had done nothing deserving death.

This is the second of three times in these chapters that a Roman official declares Paul innocent.

And the author Luke wants us to hear that echo.

After Herod sent Jesus back, Pilate stood before the crowd and said it about Jesus, word for word.

Nothing deserving death has been done by him.

So what Luke, the author, is wanting us to see is that Paul is walking the road that his Savior walked.

Now look at verse 26, because this is the heart of it.

It says, I have nothing definite to write to my Lord about him.

Picture the scene, if you will.

The most powerful empire in the world, a whole audience hall full of officials, commanders, and a king, an innocent man, an innocent Paul standing in the middle of the room.

And the governor's letter to Caesar is blank.

You can't send a prisoner to the emperor without charges.

That's how you get fired, right?

Nero would look at that letter and ask, Why did you send me a man who has done nothing?

So Festus, he's basically asking the room, can somebody please help me figure out what to do?

He's at a loss.

Patrick Scheiner, he puts it perfectly.

He says, The powerful Rome is not as invincible or as smart as it seems.

Confusion reigns before this innocent man.

Another scholar puts it this way, talking about Rome.

He says Rome had no categories for what the church was.

And so what I want us to see is that the way of Jesus had turned the world upside down.

Back in Acts 17, they literally said, These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.

The way of Jesus, it changed people's loyalties, and it's still changing people's loyalties today.

It wrecked the idol business in Ephesus, it's still wrecking the idol business today.

It rearranged families in this time, and it's still rearranging families today.

But the charges brought against Christianity were never true.

It never started awry and it never plotted a coup.

Rome couldn't charge it, but in the same breath, Rome couldn't ignore it.

And church, if I can just be honest with us, that's what I want us to be right here in Rosedale, right here in Kansas City.

I hope that we live in such a way that the world has nothing to write against us, but can't stop looking.

That we are such a city set on a hill in this community, that there is a bright light from the Lord Jesus shining across the city that can't be denied, but that charges can't be abroad against either, because we live with integrity and measure up from all sides.

Notice, Ashton, you can come and begin to close this.

Notice one more word.

That is the Greek word Kyrgios.

And if you've been reading the book of Acts with us, you will likely know where that word is taken.

All the way back towards the beginning of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and he said, God has made him, him being Jesus, both Lord and Christ.

This Jesus whom you crucified.

So Festus is bowing to the wrong Lord.

Nero would be dead within a decade.

But Jesus is still alive and still Lord.

So Paul, he is innocent.

He's still going to Rome.

And God is using even Festus's confusion to get his man where he promised.

But I want us to land somewhere deeper than that today.

Festus, he had nothing to write against Paul.

But God had and has everything to write against us.

The charges against you and me are real.

We are sinners.

We don't have to invent them.

We know them.

But here's the good news.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 and 14 read, And you who were dead in your trespasses, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

Colossians 2:13

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

The Lord Jesus has nailed our record of debt to the cross.

That's a handwritten IOU, the list of charges with your signature on it.

And Jesus took it and nailed it to the cross, right where the Romans nailed the charge sheet over his head.

The one man, the one man who truly had nothing deserving death, took every charge that we had.

So now, for everyone who trusts in Jesus, the page against you is blank.

There is no charge to be made because of the work, the finished work of Jesus Christ.

So here's our application today.

When the system around you, when the world around you has no category for you, when the probation officer can't figure you out, when the HR file doesn't make sense, when your family cannot understand why it is you've changed, when the friends who knew you before keep waiting for the old you to return, the confusion that's arising is not your defeat, it is your opening.

So my encouragement to you, church family, is to stand in that blank space and say what Festus couldn't.

Say, I was once one way and now I'm another way.

Because I met this Jesus who was dead and buried in a tomb for three days, but today he is alive.

That's all it is.

He was dead and now he's alive.

And because of that, your record is clean.

And that's how this chapter ends.

A blank page.

The most powerful man in Caesarea in front of a king and a room full of robes with nothing to write.

But there's another courtroom in this story that nobody in Caesarea could see.

It's the courtroom of heaven.

And in that room there are no robes that impress anybody, and no spin that works.

Everything is true there.

Every file is complete.

And for everyone who trusts in Jesus, when your case is called in that proverbial room, the page against you is blank.

Because the risen Lord Jesus already took the charges and nailed them to the cross.

And that's the kind of blank page that isn't scary at all.

It's the best news that you'll ever hear.

So let me ask you a question that this text is asking all of us.

Festus had the right man in front of him, and he treated King Jesus as a paperwork problem.

A certain Jesus who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

He heard, he said the most important sentence in human history, and he filed it under their religion.

Church family, don't you ever do that.

Don't do that.

If you have never trusted in Jesus, the question is sitting right in front of you today.

Is the dead man alive?

Because if he is, then it changes everything.

Your record, your story, your future, your eternity.

So come to him.

He's not asking for your highlight reel.

He's not asking you for it to be perfect and buttons up.

He's just asking for you.

Point blank, period.

And if you already follow the way of Jesus, then stop curating your story.

Stop being impressed by the robes.

Stop being ashamed of the chains.

Stand in the blank space the world can't explain and tell them the only thing worth writing.

Caesar isn't Lord, Jesus is.

Let's close in prayer and then song.

Lord, we love you, we praise you.

We thank you for bringing us here today to hear testimony of your goodness in Indonesia and to experience your goodness right here in Kansas City.

Would you continue to work in, through, and among us for the good of this city and for your glory.

Thank you, Jesus, for the work on the cross, the finished work on the cross.

Thank you that our our debts, our record is clean because of you.

Would you continue to transform us, Lord?

We pray these things in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening.

Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.

in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.

Or find us anytime at the Wakeac.church.