Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

Acts 25:1. Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Porcius Festus had been appointed governor in the place of Felix who had left Paul a prisoner so as to please the Jews, though he would have been willing enough to release him if Paul or his friends would have given him a sufficiently heavy bribe. He had trembled as Paul had "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," but his conscience had not been so quickened as to make him act justly towards the Apostle. Yet his unrighteous conduct was made to serve the Lord's purpose, which was that Paul should testify before one earthly ruler after another until he should ultimately appear before the cruel Nero, himself, at Rome. Paul was at Caesarea, but he was not at once brought before Festus. When the governor went up to Jerusalem, the Apostle's enemies renewed their plotting against him

2, 3. Then the high priest and the chiefofthe Jews informedhim against Paul, and besought him, and desired favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. They had been foiled in their previous attempt to assassinate the Apostle but their malice led them to try again to put him to death in that dastardly fashion.

4, 5. But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself would depart shortly there. Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there is any wickedness in him. Whether Festus suspected their real reason for being so anxious for him to send for Paul, we cannot tell, but at any rate, their scheme was once more a failure.

6, 7. And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea, and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought AAnd when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.It was easy for them to lay many and grievous complaints against Paul, yet it was not only difficult but impossible for them to prove their charge against the Apostle!

8, 9. While he answered for himself, "Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the Temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all." But Festus, willing to do the Jew's pleasure. In that respect he was just like his predecessor, Felix. No doubt he took into account the number and position of Paul's accusers and thought it would be the wiser policy to side with them rather than with the prisoner and, therefore, "Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure."

9-11. Answered Paul, and said, Will you go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as you very well know. For if I am an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there are none of these things of which these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.As a freeborn Roman citizen, he had the right of appeal to the emperor—and that right he exercised. It may be that he also realized that this was the way in which the Lord's prophecy would be fulfilled—"Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness also at Rome."

12. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Have you appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shall you go. The die was cast—there was no need to argue the matter any further.

13-16. And after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. Festus must have felt profound contempt for the chief priests and elders of the Jews who clamored for Paul's death even before he had been tried—and he made it very plain to them that this was not the Roman way even if it were the Jewish method of dealing with accused persons.

17-19. Therefore, when they were come here, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought no accusations of such things as I supposed: but had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. [See Sermon #2016, Volume 34—JESUS AFFIRMED TO BE ALIVE.] Festus may have supposed that they would have accused Paul of plotting against Rome, or of some other political crime. He would have thought such matters of far greater importance than the "certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." Paul could make that affirmation with the utmost confidence, for Christ had appeared to him on the road to Damascus, proving without doubt that, though once dead, He was again alive.

20-22. And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked'him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, you shall hear him. So Paul's witness-bearing was made to spread still further! It is scarcely possible to conceive of any other circumstances in which the Gospel could have been made known to such an audience as the Apostle was, on the morrow, to have the opportunity of addressing!

23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth. It was such a congregation as Paul was only too glad to address—and the Gospel could not have had a nobler or worthier advocate—yet we do not read of any who were present yielding up himself or herself to the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longe. Festus took care that the Jews would not be able to forget that they had demanded the death of a man who had not even been put on trial.

25-27. But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself has appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. I have nothing certain to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him forth before you, and especially before you, O King Agrippa, so that after the examination has takenplace, Imight have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not to signify the crimes laid against him.The governor talked like a man of sense and he even went so far as to say that the prisoner before him "had committed nothing worthy of death."

Acts 26:1. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself Then Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself.l do not suppose Agrippa imagined that Paul would take all the liberty that he did, but inasmuch as the king had said to him, "You are permitted to speak for yourself," Paul, who even when he was permitted to speak for himself, did not forget that he was the servant of God and used that liberty as the servant of God! And so he took the opportunity to seek to impress the Truth of God upon the conscience and heart of the king. Thus Paul answered for himself.

2, 3. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before you, touching all the things of which I am accused of the Jews: especially because I know you to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: therefore I beseech you to hear me patientl. It is always well to try to be on good terms with the person whom you wish to impress with the Truth of the Gospel. Paul, therefore, did not begin bluntly, as some foolish people would have done, but he addressed the king most courteously and respectfully. I think I see the little man, as he doubtless was, Paul—the man with feeble eyes and with no great bodily presence to command attention—yet bravely stretching out his hand and, like a preacher, thus addressing Herod Agrippa!

4-7. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among my own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews, which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. The Jews still had hope concerning the promise of the Messiah and all the promises in God's Covenant with them. And Paul says that for the sake of this hope he had been led to do that which had now brought him as a prisoner before the king.

Notice that the fiction concerning "the ten lost tribes" has no foundation in Scripture. There are no lost tribes, several of them are mentioned by name in the New Testament. The Apostle James writes "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," and here Paul speaks of them as "our twelve tribes." The Jews whom we have among us at this day belong to all of the twelve tribes, as they will tell you if you ask them. There are no lost tribes yet to be discovered, neither are we, as a nation, those ten tribes that are supposed to have been lost! We are Gentiles and not Jews. The Apostle speaks here concerning the hope of the whole nation of the Jews. We who have believed in Jesus are the inheritors of that grand hope, as we have understood it correctly and have realized that it is fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only-begotten Son of God!

8, Why shouldit be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?[See Sermon #1067, Volume 16—the

RESURRECTION CREDIBLE.] That great fact of the Resurrection of

Christ is the cornerstone of the temple of Truth, the keystone of the arch of the Gospel. The Apostles made this Truth of God very prominent in their preaching and here Paul began his address with it. It was the great difficulty of the Christian religion at that period, so Paul went straight to it at once.

9, 10. I verily thought with myself, that Iought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus ofNazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem. For Paul was the kind of man who, if he thought he ought to do anything, he always did it. Even in his unregenerate state, his conscience, unenlightened as it was, swayed him. But now, with an enlightened conscience, he looked back upon that part of his life with deep regret—and he did not fail to acknowledge and mourn the wrong that he had ignorantly done to the Lord Jesus Christ and His faithful followers.

10, 11. And many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.Paul was a wholehearted man. Whatever he did, he did intensely, so that when he did wrong, he did it with a kind of madness. Such a furious hatred of Jesus of Nazareth was upon him that all Judaea was not large enough for the indulgence of his persecuting malice against the saints! And so he "persecuted them even unto strange cities."

12-14. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining roundabout me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue,

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? [See Sermon #202, Volume 4—THE CONVERSION OF SAUL OF TARSUS.] It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. He was like a stubborn ox kicking against the goads—the harder he kicked, the more the sharp points of the goads pricked him!

15-18. And I said. Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. But rise, and stand upon your feet: for I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which you have seen, and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send you, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness ofsins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me. [See

Sermon #1774, Volume 30—GOD'S WORK UPON MINISTER AND CONVERT.] Part of this address was spoken to Paul by Ananias when he came to open his eyes, hence some have thought that Paul here mixed up what was said to him by Christ and what was said by Ananias, yet all the while recognizing it as being virtually all one message from Christ—but I do not think so. I believe that Paul would have us understand that the Lord Jesus Christ actually said to him, on the road to Damascus, all that we have recorded here—and that when Ananias came to him, he, without having heard what the Lord had said to Paul, said the same thing to him—and this would be a kind of sign and token to the Apostle that what was said to him was really a message from God. How often this happens under every true Gospel ministry! The very thing that you were talking about while on your way to the service will be spoken to you by God's servant in the House of Prayer. That which you were reading before you came here may be the very subject selected for our present consideration, for God has a wondrous way of making one of His calls tally with another, so that the two meeting without any collusion on our part shall confirm and establish one another—and the more deeply impress the heart of the hearer!

19-23. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the Temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other thing than those which the Prophet and Moses did say should come: that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. Paul stuck to the Scriptures and to the Gospel revealed in them—and was not speaking his own thoughts, ideas and notions—he was a herald proclaiming what his King bade him say and telling what the Grace of his Master made him only too glad to say!

24, 25. And as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself Much learning is makingyou mad! But he said, Iam not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. He had been "mad" once, as he had just confessed, but he had recovered from that madness. Now how calmly he replies to the taunt of Festus—there is nothing of anger or resentment about his dignified answer, "I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness."

26, 27. For the king knows of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner King Agrippa—Now the Apostle comes to close grips with the king.

27, 28. Believe you the Prophet? I know that you believe. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian.''" [See Sermon #871, Volume 15—TO THOSE WHO ARE "ALMOST PERSUADED."] A great deal of effort has been put forth to prove that Agrippa did not say anything of the kind, but that he was only laughing at Paul when he ironically said, "Are you going to make me a Christian so easily as this?" If so, the reply of Paul was singularly inappropriate, but taking Agrippa's words to be as they appear here, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian," Paul's answer can be well understood.

29. And Paul said, I would to God that not only you, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. And in so speaking he skillfully hinted how unfairly he was chained before his judges—and yet how he wished ill to none, but only wished good to all!

30, 31. And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: and when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man has done nothing worthy of death or of bonds. He had impressed Agrippa most favorably and it is quite clear that the king was not jesting with him—he was at least convinced that Paul had done "nothing worthy of death or of bonds."

32. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar. But it was not God's purpose that Paul should be set at liberty—he must go to Rome and must there, before the emperor, himself, bear witness which he could not bear as a free man, but which the emperor must hear when Paul was brought before him as a prisoner who had appealed to him—and must therefore be heard in person!

1 John 4:1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. This is an injunction of which there is great need in the present day when so many accept anything that they hear from a "priest" or from a pastor without searching the Scriptures to see whether what they hear is in accordance with the Inspired Word of God!

2. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Some say that Jesus Christ was not God. Others say that He was not Man, while some talk as if everything about Him was a mystery! But they who are truly sent by God declare plainly that Jesus Christ did literally come in the flesh—and such teachers are "of God."

3. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, of which you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. That was the form that antichrist took in John's day. It is constantly taking different forms, but it is always antichrist—against Christ.

4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them. If you have a childlike spirit. If God has made you teachable as little children and His Spirit dwells within you, you will not be overcome by these false Prophets, but you will overcome them!

4. Because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. They may dupe the world, but they shall not dupe you. If it were possible, they would deceive the very elect, but that is not possible.

5. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them. They are the world's prophets—they preach the world's doctrines, they flatter the world and the world likes that—so "the world hears them."

6. We are of God: he that knows God hears us, he that is not of God hears us not. Hereby know we the spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error. They who accept the Apostolic teaching prove that they are "of God." There are some, nowadays, who say, "We accept the teaching of the Gospels, but we will have nothing to do with the Apostles and their Epistles"—thus they clearly show that they are not of God, for John says, writing under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit—"He that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears us not."

7. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He who has the spirit of love within him "is born of God," "for love is of God." He who constantly seeks the good of others. He whose heart beats with love to those who are not within the narrow confines of His own ribs. He whose love goes forth to God and His people—and to the sons of men in general—this is the man who "is born of God, and knows God."

8. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love. He may be very orthodox, but if he does not love, he does not know God. And if he does not know God, what does he know? There is such a thing as holding the Truth of God in bitterness, but those who know God and are truly his children, hold the Truth of God in love.

9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through Hi. That was the highest possible proof of love that even God could give us!

10. 11. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. [See Sermons #1707, Volume 29—"HEREIN IS LOVE"; #2447, Volume 42—(same title) and #2394, Volume 41—LOVE'S CLIMAX.] As God "so loved us" when there was nothing lovable about us, and so loved us as to give His only-begotten Son to save us, "we ought also to love one another."

12-14. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. [See Sermon #2383, Volume 40—SEEING AND TESTIFYING.] John could testify as an eyewitness to the sufferings and death of Christ, for he stood at the foot of the Cross and saw the Savior die—and he had before laid his head upon his Master's breast. He knew that Christ was real flesh and blood and he knew that Christ really died, so he could truly say, "We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

15, 16. Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that Godhas to us. Godis love, andhe that dwells in love dwells in God, and Godin him. This is a deep Book. The words are very simple and plain—mainly monosyllables, yet who among us can ever fathom the depth of this Epistle? May we fathom it so far as to plunge into its wondrous depths!

17, 18. Wherein is our love madeperfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. Questioning, mistrust, unbelief, doubt—all these die when we come truly and heartily to love our Lord! And in proportion as our love to Him burns like a flame of fire, it burns up all this wood, hay and stubble of trembling, slavish fear.

19. We love Him because He first loved uS. [See Sermons #229, Volume 5—LOVE; #1008, Volume 17—LOVE'S LOGIC and #2730, Volume 47— THE SECRET OF LOVE TO GOD.] We Would never have loved Him unless He had "first loved us." His love to us begat our love to Him!

20. If man says, Ilove God, and hates his brother, he is a liar John is very emphatic in his condemnation of such a man as that! Some of the most tender-hearted men in the world are the most blunt in their mode of speaking. And some of the most fawning flatterers are the most cruel in their hearts. We love John all the better because he writes so plainly, "If a man says I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar."

20. For he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?Why, Sir, if you could see God, it is clear that you would not love Him. If you talk about your love to Him whom you have not seen, it is utterly false if you do not love men like yourself whom you have seen!

21. And this commandment have we from Hi. That is, from the Lord Jesus, who again and again gave this commandment to His disciples.

21. That he who loves God love his brother alsc. O lovers of God, prove the reality of your affection for Him by the genuineness of your love to your fellow men!