Acts 26:1-23

Acts 26:1-23

Sermon preached on November 26, 2006 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.newlifeop.org/.

Last summer while I was on vacation I met up with some of my high school friends that I hadn't seen in thirty-five years. It took place at the home of my best buddy from high school. He and his wife threw a little party and most people brought something to eat. As I was getting my food I was delighted to see cabbage rolls. I love cabbage rolls and yet it's the one thing that Marg won't make for me. She used to make them—she has a great recipe for them and they're so delicious. But she got tired of making them and she said she had enough, that they were too hard to make and she hasn't made them for me in years. So I was thrilled to see the cabbage rolls and when I did I stopped and shouted out,

"Who made the cabbage rolls?"

I was very impressed and was going to thank her. Then I continued,

"I wish Marg would make cabbage rolls for me. I've begged her and begged her to make them for me but she won't."

That's when one of my buddies replied,

"Larry, that's the wrong approach."

At that point it seemed like all the guys just stopped and glared at me like I was being a bad influence on the group.

The wrong approach. They thought my approach was all wrong. They never elaborated on what their approaches were and I don't want to go there except to say that there are worse ways to approach it than mine. Of course there are probably better ways as well, and maybe that's where they were going.

But with some things there's only one correct approach. All others are wrong. That's the way it is with salvation. How can sinful human beings get right with God? How can we be saved? How can one get to heaven? There are many answers to those questions.

One of the principles of worship at a local college states about their Contemporary Christian Worship Service,

"Whereas the service is rooted in Jesus as a way to God, we acknowledge and honor the many ways others find their way to God."

Some professing Christians state quite clearly that they believe that Jesus is just one way to God, not the only way to God. They teach that you can get to God through other religions. Perhaps you've heard the well-known parable of the elephant as described by John Bowen:

"Blind men are trying to discover the nature of an elephant. Yet each offers a different description, according to the part of the elephant he touches. The one who feels the head concludes that an elephant is like a pot; the one with the ear says, `An elephant is like a winnowing basket;' the one feeling the tusk argues that an elephant is like a plough share; and so on. The conclusion is obvious: religious views are different because each grasps only a portion of the truth. The differences are more apparent than real. The truth is only to be found in taking all the parts together…"

That's what many people tell us—there are many ways to God and Christianity shouldn't claim to be 'the' way.

But Jesus Himself declared that He was the only way. In John 14:6 He said,

"I am the way
and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me."

In his speech before King Agrippa the apostle Paul showed that he, too, believed that Jesus was the only way to God. What I want to do this morning is to look at Paul's sermon so that we don't take the wrong approach.

The main thing that I want you to see about Paul's sermon was that

more than anything else he stressed Christ's resurrection from the dead.

We see it first in verses 6-8. He talked about the great hope that the Old Testament saints had. What hope was that—it was the resurrection of the dead. Paul said,

"And now it is because of my hope
in what God has promised our fathers
that I am on trial today.
This is the promise our twelve tribes
are hoping to see fulfilled
as they earnestly serve God day and night.
O king, it is because of this hope
that the Jews are accusing me.
Why should any of you consider it incredible
that God raises the dead?"

The second reference to the resurrection of the dead comes when he mentions that Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus. Jesus, who had died, was alive and appeared to Paul and spoke to him. Jesus, the resurrected One, appointed him to his ministry.

The third reference to the resurrection is in verses 22f. There he points to the resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of what Moses and the prophets spoke about. He said,

"I am saying nothing beyond
what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Christ would suffer and,
as the first to rise from the dead,
would proclaim light to his own people
and to the Gentiles."

Paul's sermon before King Agrippa, Bernice and Festus centered on the resurrection. Three times in his sermon, Paul talked about the resurrection from the dead.

What we should note here is that this was not unusual for Paul. The resurrection of the dead was central in his preaching. We see it all through this section of Acts. Let's backtrack a little.

In the previous chapter we have a summary of Paul's first defense before Festus. After he heard Paul, Festus said to King Agrippa, (25:18-19)

"When his accusers got up to speak,
they did not charge him with any of the crimes
I had expected.
Instead, they had some points of dispute
with him about their own religion
and about a dead man named Jesus
who Paul claimed was alive."

Before Festus, Paul stressed the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Let's backtrack to the chapter previous to that. When Paul stood before Felix he twice referred to the resurrection of the dead. In 24:14-15 Paul said,

"I admit that I worship the God of our fathers
as a follower of the Way,
which they call a sect.
I believe everything that agrees
with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,
and I have the same hope in God as these men,
that there will be a resurrection
of both the righteous and the wicked."

Then in verses 20 and 21 Paul came back to it. He said to Felix,

"these who are here should state
what crime they found in me
when I stood before the Sanhedrin—
unless it was this one thing I shouted
as I stood in their presence:
'It is concerning the resurrection of the dead
that I am on trial before you today.'"

Paul was referring to what he said shortly after he was arrested in Jerusalem. Let's backtrack some more. In 23:6 we read,

"Then Paul, knowing that some of them
were Sadducees and the others Pharisees,
called out in the Sanhedrin,
'My brothers, I am a Pharisee,
the son of a Pharisee.
I stand on trial because of my hope
in the resurrection of the dead.'"

Now some people may think that Paul was being duplicitous and that he was merely mentioning the resurrection to divide the Pharisees and Sadducees. But if you look at Paul's words before Festus you'll conclude that, rather than being duplicitous, Paul was being absolutely correct when he stated that the resurrection was central to his case and to the truth. He always emphasized it—before the Jesus, before Felix, before Festus, before King Agrippa.

The great question is:

Why did the apostle Paul emphasize the resurrection of the dead so much?

The answer is that it is the key to everything. What is Christianity all about? How are we saved? How do people get right with God? For Paul the death and resurrection of Jesus was the central to the answer. That monumental event was crucial and of utmost importance. For Paul, the resurrection was absolutely necessary. Remember what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14f? He said,

"And if Christ has not been raised,
our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
More than that,
we are then found to be false witnesses about God,
for we have testified about God
that he raised Christ from the dead.
But he did not raise him if in fact
the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised,
then Christ has not been raised either.
And if Christ has not been raised,
your faith is futile;
you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep
in Christ are lost."

Clearly, for Paul, without resurrection, without the resurrection of Christ—there is no salvation. According to his teaching, salvation was centered on resurrection.

When Paul stood before King Agrippa he stressed the absolute necessity of the resurrection of the dead. We see it in all three of his references to it.

In his first reference to the resurrection in verses 6-8

Paul summarized the whole hope of the ancient Israelites as focused the resurrection of the dead.

Remember the curse of sin? It was death. The penalty for sin was nothing less than death.

Remember in the story of Abraham being ordered to sacrifice Isaac how Isaac was spared because God provided a ram instead. The ram died and Isaac was spared. God showed Abraham that death was necessary for the forgiveness of sins.

Also, the whole Old Testament sacrificial system was based on death and substitutionary atonement. Animals were sacrificed to show the Israelites not only that the penalty for sin was death—but that the coming redeemer would die on their behalf. They knew that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. They were looking for the Messiah. He was the One who was going to die for their sins.

But what we should note is that Paul says that their hope was based on the resurrection from the dead. It was not just necessary that the coming Messiah die—but that He defeat death for them—that He rise victorious for them. This doctrine was in implicit in the Old Testament teaching. In Psalm 16 we see that David predicted the resurrection of Jesus. He said, (verse 10)

"you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay."

The references to the sufferings and death of the Messiah, (Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Isaiah 53) combined with the references to the everlasting nature of the Messiah's reign presuppose His resurrection from the dead.

So Paul was quite correct in saying that the whole Old Testament expectation was centered in the resurrection of the dead.

Paul's second reference to the resurrection before King Agrippa showed everyone that

Christ's resurrection has put Him in the highest position of power and authority.

On the Damascus road Paul encountered the risen Lord, the exalted Christ. In telling King Agrippa about this Paul stressed the power and authority of the risen Lord. In verses 18f Jesus commanded Paul to go to both his own people and to the Gentiles—

"to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God,
so that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those
who are sanctified by faith in me."

This command of the risen Lord emphasizes His power, His authority, His bringing light, salvation to His people and delivering them from the power of Satan, giving them the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified.

Paul's words remind me of what Jesus said in the Matthew 28—the Great Commission. He said, (verses 18f)

"All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."

This is the command of the exalted, the resurrected Jesus. Like Paul's words before King Agrippa, it shows that Jesus, by virtue of His resurrection—has ushered in a new age—the Kingdom Age—where He has absolute authority. He can forgive sins. He can release people from Satan's power, He can give them a place in glory. Because of Jesus death and resurrection a new era has broken in, a new order of things—the Kingdom of God.

Paul's third reference to the resurrection before Agrippa also points to the decisiveness of the resurrection for there

Paul ties together Christ's resurrection and the resurrection of His people.

In verse 23 Paul ties the resurrection of Christ to that of His people. He said to Agrippa that Moses and the prophets had said,

"that the Christ would suffer and,
as the first to rise from the dead,
would proclaim light to his own people
and to the Gentiles."

Paul, Moses and the prophets said that Jesus would be the 'first' to rise. Jesus resurrection would be the first of many. It would have pivotal significance.

It's interesting that the phrase Paul used here, 'to rise from the dead' (in Greek) is only used one other place in the New Testament—in Romans 1:4. In Romans 1 Paul wrote,

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,
called to be an apostle and set apart
for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised
beforehand through his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son,
who as to his human nature
was a descendant of David,
and who through the Spirit of holiness
was declared with power to be the Son of God
by his resurrection from the dead:
Jesus Christ our Lord."

Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.

But what's really noteworthy in many of these contexts, (Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 15 and our text) is that in each there's a contrast between the old order of things and the new order—between flesh and spirit, suffering, resurrection, old order and new order. The point is that according to Paul's theology, the old order cannot bring salvation. It is characterized by weakness, frustration, suffering and death. The new order, however, brings life, power, deliverance—salvation in its fullness. This salvation is based on Christ's resurrection from the dead.

This has great implications.

First, it shows us very clearly that

Paul saw all human efforts to attain salvation by works as futile.

In the very first part of his sermon Paul showed King Agrippa that it's not enough to be very strict with yourself and live as righteously as you can. In verses 4-5 Paul spoke about his early life. He said,

"The Jews all know the way
I have lived ever since I was a child,
from the beginning of my life in my own country,
and also in Jerusalem.
They have known me for a long time
and can testify, if they are willing,
that according to the strictest sect of our religion,
I lived as a Pharisee."

Paul was one of the best of the Pharisees. Yet what did Jesus say about that? In verses 18f Jesus told Paul that He was sending him to both his own people and to the Gentiles. For what purpose? Jesus said,

"to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God,
so that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those
who are sanctified by faith in me."

Paul was telling King Agrippa that Jesus showed him that all his efforts to get to God through the law, through works, through being very rigorous with yourself—were futile. They didn't work. According to Jesus, no matter how hard the Pharisees worked, no matter how hard they tried to keep the law—their eyes are closed, they are in darkness, they are in the power of Satan, they did not have the forgiveness of sins and they did not have a place among those who are sanctified.

Paul learned this lesson well. His sermon before King Agrippa reminds me of Philippians 3:4f where Paul talks about the confidence he had in the flesh before he became a Christian. He wrote,

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons
to put confidence in the flesh,
I have more:
circumcised on the eighth day,
of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews;
in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
as for zeal, persecuting the church;
as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."

Before Paul became a Christian, he tried to earn his way into heaven by works, by being good, by doing good (as he understood it). But after he came to know Christ and His righteousness that he saw his own works as 'garbage'. That's how he put it in Philippians 3:8. He saw his own works as (the Greek word means), (BDAG)

"useless or undesirable material that is subject to disposal, refuse, garbage (in var. senses, 'excrement, manure, garbage)"

Once Paul saw the righteousness of Christ, he knew that his own works were worthless. He then knew the truth of what Jesus said about the Pharisees and their works. In Matthew 23:27 Jesus said,

"Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside
but on the inside are full of dead men's bones
and everything unclean."

If someone could keep the law perfectly, they would be fit for heaven. But the problem is that none of us are able to do it. The Pharisees could only clean the outside, but could do nothing with their corrupt natures. Human attempts to gain salvation are doomed because they belong to the old order of things. At best, the Pharisees could only clean a little bit of the outside. Their efforts were futile.

Efforts to earn or merit salvation are doomed to fail. You remember Jesus' encounter with the rich young man in Matthew 19? After he went away without believing, Jesus said to His disciples, (verses 23-24)

"I tell you the truth,
it is hard for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

The disciples were amazed and then asked,

"Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replied, (Matthew 19:26)

"With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible."

As John Hendryx wrote,

"In other words the way to heaven is blocked for all men. The angel with the flaming sword has barred the way to the tree of life. Our spiritual condition before God is utterly bankrupt. There is no hope for a man to do anything that will win him acceptance with God. We are in God's debt; He is not in ours. But that which is impossible with man - salvation, is possible with God. We can contribute nothing…"

No one can earn their way into heaven. All works, all human efforts fall short. As Paul wrote in Romans 3:20.

"Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in his sight
by observing the law;
rather, through the law
we become conscious of sin."

Human works, apart from the work of God, belong to the old order—the order of death.

Secondly, this shows us that no one can get right with God

by being sincere, by having great zeal and devotion to God.

Some people might think,

"Okay, if we cannot be good. We can strive to be good. That must be worth something in God's sight. If I'm not a hypocrite, God will be pleased with me."

No. Paul had all three (sincerity, zeal and devotion to God) before he became a Christian. He said to Agrippa, (verses 9f)

"I too was convinced that I ought to do
all that was possible
to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And that is just what I did in Jerusalem.
On the authority of the chief priests
I put many of the saints in prison,
and when they were put to death,
I cast my vote against them.
Many a time I went from one synagogue
to another to have them punished,
and I tried to force them to blaspheme.
In my obsession against them,
I even went to foreign cities to persecute them."

Paul was zealous, sincere and devoted to God before he became a Christian. Was God pleased with him? No. Remember what Jesus said to him?

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
It is hard for you to kick against the goads."

Paul was sincere, zealous and devoted—but God was displeased with him. He was only hurting himself more and more. Paul's suffering was related to his blind zeal in persecuting the church. It was sinful. It did not earn him favor with God, but disfavor.

Jesus spoke of the Pharisees and their zeal—but instead of saying they would be rewarded for it, He told them that they would be condemned because of it. He said, (Matthew 23:15)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law
and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You travel over land and sea
to win a single convert,
and when he becomes one,
you make him twice as much
a son of hell as you are."

Sincerity, zeal, devotion to God—although they are usually praiseworthy qualities—do not by themselves put people in good stead with God. As long as we are under the power of the old order—zeal and sincerity and devotion to God are nothing more than a charade. They lack the reality of what they profess.

Contrast this charade with the reality that is ours with Christ's resurrection. Before King Agrippa Paul repeated what Jesus said to him on the road to Damascus—that in Christ we have been translated from darkness to light, we have the forgiveness of sins, we have a place among those who are sanctified. Paul's zeal, sincerity and devotion after his conversion were not phantom illusions—but they were reality because the power of the New era, the power of the Spirit—had come to Paul's life and transformed him. On the Damascus road Paul was overpowered by Christ. He was blinded by the blazing light and transformed by it. What he formerly called sight he realized was blindness. The true light was the light of the glory of Christ.

Christians, rejoice in Christ, in His resurrection, in His gift of the Spirit, in the new life that we have in Him. As Jesus said in Matthew 21:42,

"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Our salvation comes from God. His power has done it. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21,

"God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God."

It's all because of His power, His power of resurrection, in bringing life out of death.

For those of you who are not Christians,

I urge you, go to Jesus. Only He can save you.

Are there other ways to God than through Jesus? No. Every other way will fail. Only God can bring life out of death. Go to Jesus. Ask Him to save you. Only He can give you what you need—resurrection life.

• Acts 26:1-23