Almost | Acts 26:19-32

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

Good morning, everybody.

This morning we will be reading Acts 26 19 through 32.

If you can partake in standing for the reading of the Word of God.

Acts 26, 19 through 32.

Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disappointed, disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and all to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass.

That the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind.

Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.

But Paul said, I am not out of my mind.

Most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly.

For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know that you believe.

And Agrippa said to Paul, In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?

And Paul said, Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.

Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernus, and those who were sitting with them, and when they had what drawn, they said to one another, This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

And Agrippa said to Feesus, This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

This is the word of God.

Amen, amen.

Well, you guys can grab a seat.

Welcome everyone to the Waychurch KC.

If we haven't gotten a chance to meet, my name is Zach.

I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here at the Waychurch.

Um Yeah, it's a fun day.

It's a fun Sunday.

It's a sweet day to be in the house of the Lord.

Um, one reason in particular, um, that is Rachel Kelly is in the house, and she is um the missionary we sent out to Indonesia.

And so let's give it up to Rachel.

So make sure she's sitting at the back with the busted up foot, but make sure to meet her.

She's back for the month um before she goes back um to Indonesia to spend some time uh spreading the good news of the gospel.

Um this is your first time here, we're glad you're here.

It's a sweet, sweet Sunday.

Um we're a two and a half-year-old church plant, and we exist to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.

That's the mission the Lord has had us on.

That's the mission we're gonna continue on, and it's a fun, fun time.

So, um, last week we looked at the third telling of Paul's testimony in Acts, and um Rachel asked what we're in, and I said, We're still in Acts.

So we were in Acts when she left to go on her missionary journey, and we are still in Acts today, but we're nearing the end.

We are in Acts chapter 26, verses 19 through 32.

Acts 26:19–32

And as I told our group of volunteers last week and this week, um, Paul, he is finna go to Rome.

He's about to go to Rome.

Um, he's still in prisons.

Um, but what we saw last week, we watched Jesus do something that only Jesus does.

I'm glad I got a smile out of you, Tim.

Um he he took Jesus, he took Saul of Tarshish, um, the guy that was persecuting and condoning the killing of Christians, and he didn't just stop him.

He he seated him and then sent him.

And that's a truth for us.

Remember, that's how we kind of landed it.

We live leave here sent every week.

Um in the verse we kind of looked at with that was uh verses 20 uh verses 16 through 18, um, where Jesus, the risen Christ, speaking to Paul, says, Rise and stand upon your feet, for I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light.

And if you have been around for any length of time, you know that like pushing back darkness is a part of our mission statement.

And so it's not like just some catchy tagline that we got to throw on t-shirts and throw on signs.

Like, no, it is scriptural, it is biblical, it's what the risen Christ told Paul to do, and he is still telling us to do today.

And so this morning, what we'll see, we find out what Paul did with this.

And we watch two of the most powerful men in the region decide what to do with this Jesus.

So here's the setting.

If this is your first Sunday with us, this is the setting that we're in, the context that we're in.

Paul, he's been in a prison for a prison in Caesarea for over two years.

He's appealed to Caesar, so he's going to Rome no matter what happens in this room with Agrippa.

This isn't like some sort of new trial.

It's a trial that we've been talking about for the past several weeks.

It's more like a hearing for the governor's paperwork.

Remember, the the governor couldn't figure out anything to write down, no charges to bring against Paul, but Paul had appealed to Caesar, so to Caesar he shall go.

In the room that we're in here, the room, Festus, the brand new Roman governor, um, doesn't know much about Judaism, and he doesn't care to.

Agrippa, though, the Jewish king who was raised in Rome, he knows the scriptures.

He knows them deeply, and he appoints the high priests.

His sister, Bernice, is with him.

There's military commanders, there's the VIPs of the city, if you will, and a man who's in chains and telling them all about the risen Christ.

These are the last words that Paul speaks in any of his trials in the book of Acts.

After this, he gets on a boat and he heads to Rome.

So Luke, the author Luke, wants us to listen closely.

Because the reality is what happens in this room is something that's happened in rooms for many years since.

Someone hears about Jesus clearly, they hear about Jesus honestly, they hear about Jesus personally, and they have to decide what to do with him.

And the same is true for this room today.

Week in and week out, we hear about the risen Christ, and it is our responsibility to decide what are we to do with him.

So as we dig in today, I want you to just contemplate that.

What is it that I will do with King Jesus?

Because the reality is almost doesn't count.

Have you guys ever heard the phrase almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades?

Anybody heard that before?

And it's true, right?

In horseshoes, if you get close to the stake, you still get a point.

And with a hand grenade, well, close is plenty, close enough.

And those might be two of the few places in life where it counts.

But this is how my brain works.

I don't know if anybody else is like this.

I think of um all the places that almost like doesn't count, and almost is like a bad thing.

It's like the opposite.

And like as I was this is like as I was preparing this week, I was thinking about this, and the list is kind of long, right?

Like, I was thinking about Rachel coming back from Indonesia to the States, and it's like, hey, if she almost made it to her gate, almost made it on her flight, like that doesn't count.

Rachel's not sitting here on Sunday with us from across the world if she almost made her flight.

Or like think um my wife Chelsea, she is in um Oklahoma with family this weekend, and one of my responsibilities is to kind of get the house picked up before she gets back.

If I almost clean the house, that ain't gonna be good enough.

Chelsea's gonna be unhappy with me.

Alright?

Or like I almost changed my daughter's daughter Louie's diaper.

Like, that's not good enough.

Um and like it keeps going, right?

For for those of you that are are married, especially those of you that are like newly married.

I almost remembered our anniversary.

Bad news.

Don't don't almost remember your anniversary.

Um I almost turned off the oven before I left the house, or or maybe like we got some kitchens in the church, I almost turned off the oven before I left the church.

That'd be bad.

Or like you get a couch or like a dresser for my KEA or Nebraska Furniture Mart.

It's like I almost read the directions, but now like the drawers are opening upside down.

That's bad.

Or like you think about this, like the ones you you never, never never ever want to hear.

You're you're you're you have an operation, you have a surgery, and your surgeon walks in.

It's like I almost completed med school.

That's bad.

And we laugh, like, cause because we know almost doesn't always count.

And almost every part of life almost doesn't count.

Almost isn't like a little bit of success.

And I think the the same can be said about our walk with Jesus.

Almost following the way of Jesus doesn't count.

River, he says this, I quote him on this like probably once a month.

The devil owns the fence, right?

Almost is sitting on the fence.

And the enemy owns the fence.

And what we'll see in today's text, this morning, we're gonna meet a man who got as close to Jesus as you can get without bowing to him.

He heard the gospel proclaimed from one of the best preachers in the world, from the best church planner in the world, face to face.

He understood it even, is what the text shows us.

He believed the prophets, and then he stood up and walked out of the room.

And the author Luke never tells us that this man, that Agrippa, ever came back.

So here's our big idea this morning.

It's pretty simple.

Almost following Jesus isn't following Jesus.

Almost following Jesus isn't following Jesus.

That's where we're going today.

That's what we're gonna see in today's text.

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

Heavenly Father, we love you.

We praise you, we thank you for another Sunday to gather together, to worship together, to lift up songs of praise to you, Lord.

God, I ask that today, as we read your word, as I preach your word, that you would make your words clear, Lord.

Your scripture is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.

So I pray that today your words would pierce our heart, that you would move me out of the way, and that you would let your words be made clear, Lord.

We bow to you today, King Jesus.

Holy Spirit, you are welcome here in this place.

We pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.

Amen.

Alright, so point number one this morning is obey the light you've been given.

Obey the light you have been given.

Verses 19 through 23 read this.

Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light, both to our people and to the Gentiles.

So right off the rip, verse 19, we see, therefore, and a common phrase that people say, that pastors say is, When you see a therefore, you need to understand what it's therefore.

So he says, Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

So remember last week, Paul he recounted his testimony, and he's saying, Therefore, I was not just disobedient to the heavenly visions, the vision that I received on the road to Damascus.

And this might be one of the biggest understatements in the Bible.

Like, yeah, Paul was not disobedient at all.

You know, he was, after he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he obeyed the Lord.

That one sentence, in a way, sums up more than 20 years of Paul's life.

He'd been beaten with rods, he'd been stoned and left for dead.

He'd been shipwrecked, he'd been run out of town after town after town.

He'd been jailed.

He was in jail when he said that.

And Paul sums it up all like this.

Well, I didn't say no.

Like, yeah, he didn't.

He was obedient.

And I love that because I think it gives us an idea of how Paul views the Christian life.

He's not saying, I had this amazing, incredible spiritual experience on the roads of Damascus.

Because the thing is, lots of people have like spiritual experiences.

No, he's saying that I had the spiritual experience.

I encountered the risen Christ, and nothing's been the same since.

And when you meet the risen Christ, that's what happens.

Your life changes from the inside out, and then our job is to do what he said, to be sent where he said you are sent.

So for Paul, what did obedience look like?

Well, verse 20, Paul preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles.

So if you've been with us since Acts chapter 1, since before Rachel left for Indonesia over a year ago, that's like kind of the roadmap of this book.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Remember, our thematic verse for this book is Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

Where Jesus says, You will be my witnesses in all Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Paul's life is that verse lived out.

Right?

And the message that Paul is sent with is that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds and keeping with their repentance.

So there's three movements right there in that verse.

Repent, turn, and then do.

Okay?

Repent, turn, and then do.

Repent.

That's changing your mind about God and about your sin.

Turn.

That is turning your whole life around to face Him.

And then do deeds in keeping with that turn.

That's what the text is saying.

And what I want to be very careful of and draw your attention to is that at order, it matters.

The order that Paul tells us in, it matters.

Right?

So, like, it's not the deeds first.

The deeds don't buy the turn, the deeds don't buy your relationship with Christ.

No, they show it, they reveal it.

So, no, I I do not believe that the scriptures show us anything that resembles a works-based religion.

No, I think that the deeds, the lived life is what happens when you've encountered the Lord Jesus in a real way and turned to follow him.

To put it another way, the deeds are the fruits of your relationship with Jesus.

They are not the roots of your relationship with Jesus.

Think about an apple tree.

Anybody got like an apple tree or some sort of fruit tree at their house in their backyard?

Just Tim and Rachel.

So when the apple tree is alive and it's bearing fruit, it's bearing apples, it just happens, right?

The apples are what flows out of the roots.

And the same is true for our Christian life.

The roots is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fruit is what comes from that.

And what's interesting here in these verses, Paul, he's quoting John the Baptist almost, not completely, but almost word for word.

John the Baptist said, bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

That's in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, verse 8.

Luke 3:8

And when the crowd asked him, what then shall we do?

John, he got really specific.

To everybody, he said, if you have two coats, give one away.

To the tax collectors, stop skimming, to the soldiers, stop shaking people down, and be content with your paycheck.

So real repentance, it always gets real specific.

It doesn't just say, like, hey, I'm sorry, God.

I messed up again.

I'm sorry.

It says, no, I'm gonna call my brother that I sinned against and make things right.

I'm gonna pay that person that I did dirty back.

I'm gonna delete that app that's continuing to cause me to stumble.

I'm gonna tell the truth on that form, or I'm gonna tell the truth to that person.

Like that's how it works.

Repentance, it has teeth and it's lived out.

Like, think about this.

When I'll give an example for me.

When Chelsea and I are in a disagreement, when I s if I say sorry and then continue doing the thing that was like started the disagreement, like that's not showing true repentance, right?

That though those are mere words.

Like I have to actually live out my repentance by not doing that thing.

And there's there's grace for stumbling, like, don't hear that.

I'm not saying like we're not making this workspace.

That's not what I'm saying.

But like the turn, turning to Christ, it changes things.

That's what I'm trying to say.

Then we get to verse 21, and Paul says, for this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

So obedience, it cost Paul.

It cost Paul.

The light of the Lord, it didn't make his life easier.

In fact, for the Apostle Paul, it made it harder.

So if anybody ever told you that following Jesus fixes all your problems, makes everything all like this life, all sunshines and ice cream, they lied to you.

Following Jesus, it will fix your biggest problem, that is your sin problem.

But the reality is, is life still be life and life still happens.

But look at verse 22.

He says, To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here.

So what's interesting, the word for help that is used here is only used one time in the whole New Testament.

It's a military term, and it means reinforcements.

It means allies showing up on the battlefield.

So what Paul's saying is that every time, every time they came for me, God sent reinforcements.

And we've seen that in Paul's journey as he's been imprisoned, right?

The reinforcements didn't always look like what we would expect, but they always sustained Paul and kept him going where the Lord Jesus had called him.

And I think that some of you this morning may need that, may need to hear that.

Maybe you're on your last leg, maybe you want to throw in the towel, maybe your marriage is in shambles, maybe you can't put down that drug or that drink, whatever it may be.

You don't know why you should keep going.

But hear this.

The same God who said stand up to Paul, the same God who said stand up to Paul sent Paul reinforcements to keep him standing.

And he sends you reinforcements to keep you standing as well.

You don't stand by your own strength.

I think the problem with a big problem in our world today is that we want to stand on our own strength.

But that's just not how the Christian life works.

We are reinforced by the Lord and we're reinforced by community.

And what's Paul saying while he stands?

Well, verse 22 shows us he's testifying both to small and to great.

So that's like the street corner and the throne room in front of the kings.

The gospel Paul preached to a jailer in Philippi is this exact same gospel that he's preaching to King Agrippa in Caesarea.

It's the same for us, it's the same Jesus.

It's the same Jesus for the surgeon over at KU Med.

And the guy waiting at the bus stop right down the road.

Nobody is too small for King Jesus.

And nobody is too big to need him.

So if you walked in here feeling too big, you need Jesus.

If you walked in here feeling too small, you need Jesus.

And the message that he's preaching, it's nothing new.

Verse 22 is saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

Here's something cool for us, a little Bible nerd stuff.

If you turn back to the very end of Luke's gospel, the risen Jesus sits down with his disciples and he says, Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.

Suffering.

Resurrection.

A message to the whole world.

The Apostle Paul is standing in front of a king teaching the exact Bible study that Jesus taught to his disciples at the end of Luke.

Do you see that?

Paul, he's not doing anything new or innovative.

He's just following the way of Jesus as he was taught by the disciples and as he was taught by the risen Christ.

And then verse 23.

Notice who does the preaching.

It's Christ.

It's he is the word used.

The Messiah, Jesus, who proclaims the light.

Paul is not the light.

Paul isn't even the main preacher.

The risen Jesus is still preaching through Paul and through us.

My hope is that when I get up here on Sundays, it is not me speaking, but the Lord Jesus that is speaking to through me.

So here's the application for us.

You don't need a light from heaven at noon like Paul received on the road to Damascus in order to obey Jesus.

You may not get one.

You may not get a bright light like Paul.

But what I would argue is that you need to stop being disobedient to the light you have already been given.

You already know the next step.

It's doing the next right thing.

You might not see the whole picture, but you know enough to take the next step.

You know the text you need to send, seeking reconciliation with that brother or sister.

You know that the habit you need to drop.

You know the person you need to forgive.

You know the next thing that the Lord Jesus is calling you to.

I don't know it for you, I'm not your Holy Spirit.

But the Lord Jesus will show you, and your job is to take that next step.

So obey the light that you've been given, and he'll give you more.

But not only that, point number two, we need to answer the question.

Answer the question.

Verses 24 through 28.

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind.

Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.

But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly.

For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know what you believe.

And Agrippa said to Paul, In a short time would you persp persuade me to be a Christian?

So right as Paul hits the resurrection, the climactic moment of the resurrection, he gets interrupted.

As he's saying these things, Festus says with a loud voice, Paul, you were out of your mind.

Your great learning is driving you out of your mind.

So the word used in great Greek for Paul being out of his mind is the English word that's derived mania.

Okay?

So Festus is basically shouting across the room, you've lost it, Paul.

You've gone crazy, you've lost your mind, you've read too many books, you've cracked, you've flown over the cuckoo's nest.

And so what this section of the text shows us is we see two different ways to dodge Jesus.

One way we can dodge Jesus is to dismiss him.

Saying that's crazy.

A man who died and rose from the grave, that is nuts.

Nuts.

Festus, he's a practical Roman.

He's got taxes to collect, he's got riots to stop.

This, what's going on here in this trial, it's way outside of his categories.

And some of you, I would argue, have heard Festus' line from people you love.

And you've changed since you started following Jesus.

You're not the same, you're not fun to hang out with anymore.

You've lost it.

What are you doing?

Maybe you even used to say it to Christians.

I know I did, but back before in my BC years, before I was following Jesus Christ.

And maybe you're sitting here and you're thinking that right now.

And that's okay.

You're welcome here.

But can I tell you something?

You are in good company because before anyone said this to Paul, they said it to Jesus.

Mark, he tells us that early in Jesus' ministry, his own family came to take him home.

For they were saying he is out of his mind.

That's Mark chapter 3, verse 21.

Mark 3:21

Later the crowd said, He has a demon and is insane.

So if you follow Jesus long enough, someone just might think that you've lost your mind.

And if that's the case, consider it okay, because then you're in the same category as our Lord.

But look how Paul answers in verse 25.

He says, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

First, notice the tone here.

Most excellent Festus.

Paul's not getting louder.

He's not meeting Festus on the same level of hysteria.

He doesn't mock him back.

No, he's respectful to a man who just called him crazy in front of everybody.

And so the truth for us there, that's how we are to answer the festuses in our lives.

Not with volume, but with kindness and clarity.

Second, look at that word rational.

In some other translations of this verse, it's translated as words of truth and soberness.

So what it means is a sound mind, a clear head, self-control.

And in the Greek world, in the context of the scripture that we're reading, it was the classic opposite of mania.

So Festus says, you are manic.

Paul says, No, I am sober.

Church, I want you to hear that.

Following Jesus is not losing your mind.

No, it's it's getting it back.

Many of us here may know what it is to live in the fog.

Maybe you know it from a bottle or from a pill, or maybe you know it from some anxiety that just won't shut off, or a rage that you cannot control, or this uh posture of like chasing approval until you can't think straight.

And then Jesus shows up, and for the first time in years, you can see clearly.

Verse 26 for the king knows about these things, for I'm persuaded that none of these things have escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

Not been done in a corner.

Greek philosophers they used to mock little groups that huddled in corners, whispering secrets.

Paul says, that's not us.

He says that Jesus was crucified in public, outside of the capital city, on a holiday, in front of crowds.

The tomb was empty, in a city full of people who wanted it full.

Hundreds of people saw him alive.

And so this isn't like some sort of secret handshake.

This is not some sort of secret.

No, it's public history.

It happens.

That's what Paul is saying.

So this morning, if you're here and you would call yourself a skeptic, I want to say this to you clearly.

You're allowed to check.

You're allowed to do your research, you're allowed to do some digging of your own.

What I believe is that the scriptures will hold up to your research, and the Lord Jesus will hold up to your research.

Christianity, it doesn't ask you to turn your brain off.

It wasn't done in a corner, so you can go look and find out for yourself.

Maybe the challenge for you this morning is hey, for the next month, I'm going to read the Gospel of Luke, or I'm going to read one of the Gospels.

I would encourage you to read it like a detective.

Bring your questions to the text.

Bring your questions to our staff.

We'd love that.

I'd love nothing more than to discuss the scriptures with you.

So that's the first way to dodge Jesus.

Second way to dodge Jesus.

We learn from Agrippa.

Paul turns from Festus to Agrippa and he says, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know that you believe.

So Agrippa, he's trapped.

He says, if he says, No, I don't believe the prophets, he's in trouble with every Jew that he rules.

He appoints the high priests.

But if he says, yes, I believe the prophets, then Paul's argument, it closes in right on him.

Because Paul just showed him that the prophets point to a suffering, risen Messiah.

So Agrippa does what people often do when Jesus gets too close to him.

He answers a question with a question.

Verse 28.

There's an old hymn about this says, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

It's an old hymn, but you know, in the ESV, the text is a little different.

Most scholars think a better translation is what the ESV has in a short time, or the Christian Standard Bible, so easily.

And so Agrippa, he might even be saying this like sarcastically.

Picture that smirk, if you will.

Seriously, Paul?

You want me to be a Christian?

One speech, and you think you're gonna make me a Christian?

The word interestingly, the word Christian only shows up three times in the Bible.

And it was usually what outsiders called believers.

Sometimes as an insult.

So Agrippa, he didn't technically say almost, but that's what he's doing.

He has this heart posture of almost.

And almost is exactly where he is standing.

He understands every word.

He knows the prophets.

He's interested enough to come to the hearing.

He doesn't say no, he just won't say yes.

So that's the second dodge that we can do to Jesus.

We can keep him at arm's length.

We can keep him at arm's length.

We can think that he is interesting.

We can think that he is impressive, but we can still say, hey, not for me.

Not today.

Not like that.

We can continue to sit on the fence.

And I would argue that this is a more dangerous place to be because it feels safe.

Festus is far from Jesus and he knows it.

But Agrippa is close and he thinks that's good enough.

He's in horseshoe range and still thinks it counts, but it doesn't.

Almost doesn't count for King Agrippa.

So a few weeks ago, we met Governor Felix, who heard Paul preach and he said, Go away for now.

Later.

Felix stalled because he was scared.

And now Agrippa stalls because he's comfortable.

He's got a crown and a palace and a reputation to keep.

And following a crucified Messiah would cost him all of it.

Paul later on he wrote to the Romans if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Agrippa had the word in his ears, but he never let it get out of his mouth.

He walked right up to the line and then just didn't take the step.

So which one are you?

Some of us may be Festus, maybe you used to be Festus saying, hey, that's crazy.

I don't want none of this Christian life.

But some of us are Agrippa.

That's interesting.

And some of us have been around church a long time.

Maybe you grew up in church.

Maybe you can sing the songs.

Maybe you can put on your Sunday vest.

And I would argue that is the scary part.

You can know the stories.

You can sing the songs, and you can still hold Jesus at arm's length for decades.

Like that's that's a piece of my story.

I went to a private Christian school.

I sat in chapel every Thursday.

Tie, button-down shirt and tie.

Every Thursday, I'm sitting there in chapel hearing the gospel preached, hearing worship songs, but I was keeping Jesus at arm's length.

I viewed Jesus as like fire insurance, as a get out of hell free card.

I'm like, hey, someday I'll deal with this Jesus guy, but not today.

I'm gonna keep living how I want to live for now.

And can I just tell you that that is the scariest place that you can be?

Think about it like uh familiarity with Jesus can work like a vaccine or like a flu shot, right?

You get just enough amount of the disease.

Just enough to keep from catching the real thing, right?

And that's the way we can like hey, I'm gonna show up to church, but I'm not actually gonna follow him.

That's the way we can be, and it's just so crazy to me.

And so Paul's question still hangs in the air.

Do you believe?

Do you believe?

Not your parents' belief.

Not your spouse's belief, not the person next to you, not their belief, but you.

Do you believe?

That is the question for you to answer.

Third point and our final point is wish them everything but the chains.

Wish them everything but the chains.

Verses 29 through 32, the word says, And Paul said, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.

Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, and when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

And Agrippa said to Festus, This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

So look at how Paul responds to Agrippa's smirk.

Whether short or long.

He doesn't wish him anything.

He wishes him anything to be as Paul but the chains.

He wishes him everything but the chains.

And first, I want you to notice like this is a prayer.

Paul's praying now over King Agrippa.

I would to God.

So, Paul, he takes Agrippa's sarcastic little jab and he turns it into a prayer right there in the room.

Short time, long time, I don't care how long it takes, I'm praying for you, King Agrippa.

That is what Paul is saying.

And second, notice who he prays for.

Not only you, Agrippa, but also all who hear me this day.

Festus, Bernice, the generals, the guards.

And since Luke wrote it down for us today, it's a prayer for us as well.

Third, look at what he prays.

That you might become such that I am.

Think about how wild that is.

Paul is standing there in chains, he'd been imprisoned for two years, he's the prisoner.

Agrippa's sitting there in royal robes, and Paul looks him in the eyes and says, I wish you were like me.

That's pretty wild.

Who says that?

Only someone who knows he has something better than a crown.

Paul, he's the freest man in the room.

He's free from guilt, he's free from the fear of death, he's free from needing these people's approval.

Agrippa has a throne, he has a palace, and he is trapped by all of it.

Paul, though, he has chains, but he's free.

And then the tenderest line in these chapters, except for these chains.

Paul, he's not bitter.

I'd be bitter if I was innocent and I'd been kept in chains for two years.

If anybody had a right to say, I hope they get what's coming for him, it's Paul in this story, right?

Instead, he says, I want you to have everything I have.

Jesus, forgiveness, hope, resurrection, and none of what I've suffered.

And that's Jesus' words in action.

That's Jesus' words being lived out.

Luke chapter 6, verse 28.

Luke 6:28

Bless those who curse you.

Pray for those who abuse you.

So this, we had an evangelism workshop yesterday, and it was a really sweet time.

This is like that.

This is the difference between evangelism that comes from need and evangelism that comes from love.

A salesman needs you to buy what they're offering, right?

Everybody knows the door-to-door salesman.

You need them to buy what you're offering.

You got a quota.

If you say no, after some arguing, they usually will move on.

Sometimes it takes a little more than usual.

But like think about this.

Like, think about your favorite restaurant.

Or your favorite little like fast cash place.

For me, it's this taco place called Elpha Gone.

I took a Dayton there on Friday, I think.

When you find that good taco place, you just go.

You don't gotta be sold.

You don't gotta be upsold on those tacos.

You're not on commission.

You just want your friends to taste it.

You want your friends to experience it.

And so, Paul, he's not recruiting King Agrippa, right?

Like, yeah, it'd be great to have King Agrippa in the fold.

He's in a place of influence.

But that's not why Paul is sharing the gospel with him.

He's not trying to win an argument, he's not trying to grow his numbers.

He's wishing.

He wants Agrippa to have what he has.

He wants Agrippa to experience how good Jesus is.

And he says, whether short or long.

You know, some people come to Jesus in a day.

They hear the gospel preached, boom, their life is radically transformed.

Some people take 20 years.

Well, Paul's posture, it's the same either way, though.

Ashton, you can come close us in song as we begin to land the plane.

I think about, man, uh Chelsea and I were like newly married.

This would have been a little while ago.

And we went on a little family vacation to like the Ozarks area.

And um we went to a church that wasn't our home church, and they were doing baptisms that day.

And there was this like, I mean, I swear he was probably like 98 years old.

Like he was old.

And this dude was getting baptized.

And I'm like, wow.

Like that shook me up.

I'm like, oh my goodness.

It probably took years.

I don't know the dude's story.

They didn't share it.

But I know it's like, oh, wow.

It took years for that guy in all likelihood.

Whether short or long, people are coming to Jesus.

Either way, whoever that loved one is for you, whoever you went home last week and wrote down, whoever in your uh way groups, whoever you wrote down as that person who you're praying for, whoever that is, whether short or long, keep praying, keep loving, keep the door open.

Some of them will come quickly, some may take a long time, and that's okay.

Don't quit on the ones who take a long time.

Now watch how the scene ends.

Verse 30.

Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

When the king stands up, the meeting's over.

Paul, he doesn't get to finish.

He's cut off.

And as they're walking out, they say to one another, This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

And Agrippa says to Festus, the man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

And notice where they say it.

They don't say this in public.

They don't say it to Paul, they say it in private, in the hallway on the way out.

And I think if we could be honest, that's how a lot of us respond to Jesus.

Responding out loud, hey, not so fast.

I'm not going to do that yet.

In the car on the way home, maybe you think, like, hey, man, there might be something to this Jesus thing.

But you still walk out of the room without like sharing it with somebody, without making a resolved decision in your heart.

And Paul, he goes to Rome anyway, innocent, still in chains.

And some of you hear that and think, that's not fair.

That's like on first read, that's what I would think.

And it's not fair.

But remember what Jesus told Paul back in chapter 23.

He says, You must also testify in Rome.

This is Paul's calling to go to Rome, to share the gospel there.

Paul appealing to Caesar, it wasn't a mistake.

It was part of God's plan.

It was the route God picked to get the gospel to the capital city of the world.

So freedom for Paul was not the main goal at all.

The nations were.

So here's the application.

Wish them everything but the chains.

Wish them everything but the chains.

Would you ever say to anyone, I wish you were like me?

I wish you were like me.

Not because you got it all together, because I would argue none of us do.

But because of what Jesus has done in you.

If he's forgiven you, if he has set you free, if he has given you a family and a future, then there's someone in your life who needs what you got.

Pray for them like Paul did, short or long.

And I want us to go to that last moment.

Picture that last moment here before Paul sails to Rome.

The king stands up, the royal robes rustle, the generals file out.

And Agrippa walks out of maybe the only room in his life where a real king was being offered to him.

He kept his crown, his worldly crown.

What happens in history a few years later, the Jewish revolts broke out and he watched Jerusalem fall and the temple burn.

And when he died, Rome simply absorbed his kingdom.

He was the last of the Herods to rule.

He kept the crown.

He kept the worldly crown.

And he lost the kingdom of God.

He was almost there.

But he didn't get it.

But here's the good news.

And it's the reason that Paul could stand in chains and wish a king were like him.

Jesus, he didn't stop it almost.

For Paul or for you.

Luke tells us that when the time came that Jesus set his face to Jerusalem in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood, he said, Not my will, but yours be done, Father.

He's the one who is truly never disobedient to the heavenly vision.

He's the only man who has lived perfect.

He's the only God man there has ever been.

Jesus, he wore the chains.

They arrested him.

And John tells us that they bound him.

He wore the chains and he went all the way to the cross.

He suffered.

Just like Moses and the prophets said, and on the third day, he became the first to rise from the dead.

And he's still proclaiming light to small and to great.

So do you see it?

Paul said, I wish you had everything except the chains.

Jesus did more than wish it.

So here's the invitation this morning, short or long.

Maybe this is your first Sunday in a church and everything's like, oh, this is moving pretty fast.

Maybe you've been circling Jesus for your whole life, close enough to know the songs, but never bowing to King Jesus.

Either way, wherever you are, my encouragement for you is to not leave this room on an almost.

Don't leave on almost.

Don't let it be said that he almost became a Christian.

You don't gotta clean up first.

You don't have to have every answer.

You just have to stop dodging the question.

Is Jesus crazy?

Is he just interesting?

Or is he king?

Because if he's king, then come all the way to the foot of the cross.

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearts that God raised him from the dead.

And if you already follow Jesus, like I know many of my brothers and sisters in this room do, take out those names again, the names we talked about in small groups this week.

And before you leave today, pray Paul's prayer over each of them.

God, whether short or long, make them like me except for these chains.

Let's close in prayer and then worship.

Lord, we love you, we praise you.

We thank you for bringing us here today to worship you.

God, I pray that we would, none of us here would stop it almost.

But that we would bow to your son Jesus, the risen King.

We love you, praise you.

It's in his mighty name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's stand.

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.