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I’m going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter 25 is where we’re going to be together today. Acts chapter 25. And I’m probably going to spend the beginning of this talking about of, of paying attention. But I just want you to know, just being upfront and candid out of all the chapters in the book of Acts, chapter 25 is the one I like the least. And I know I’m probably not supposed to say that as a minister, but even before we start in the book of Acts, I remember thinking to myself, man, what are we going to do when we get to Acts chapter 25? Because to be honest, this chapter is is the bridge chapter between the contents of Acts chapter 24 and Acts chapter 26. This is just kind of tying those two chapters together and helping you to see the significance of what took place in those two particular chapters, which we’ll dive a little deeper into Acts chapter 26 next week. But I do want you to know Acts chapter 25 has an important part, and we’re going to look at that together. I think all of the Bible is important for us, but sometimes the way the Bible is written, there’s you get a powerful punch, You know, sometimes in just a verse of Scripture and then other times of the Bible, it’s trying to paint a bigger story over a broader span of passages, right? Like we just, if you’re doing our Bible reading plan in the year, it wasn’t just a few days ago, we were in the beginning of the book of Chronicles.
If you know anything about Chronicles, you’re several chapters of genealogy, right? It’s like, here I am, seven chapters deep in Chronicles, and I’m just still reading a list of names, and you might read that and think, what do I what is this doing for me other than I just get to check off? I just read names real quick to get through these chapters. It has a place and it’s important, but sometimes you read passages of the Bible and there’s just a powerful punch and a verse, and other times it’s a span of several chapters trying to communicate to you. And that’s where Acts chapter 25 falls for us. I like to compare it to it’s a lot like driving through Nebraska, right? If, if like, and I’m sorry if you’re from Nebraska, but if anyone ever says, I went through Nebraska, you know, the point of that journey wasn’t to stop in Nebraska. They were on their way somewhere else, right? It’s like if you’ve ever been to Nebraska, you know, Nebraska is good for a couple of things. Corn and wind that’s about. And I know like for the five people there, they probably really care about it, right? Like, and it probably feeds half of America. So it’s a, it’s not to say it’s not important. You can be boring and important.
And that’s Nebraska. In fact, I’ve even like just to just check myself. Like, is Nebraska really this boring? I just looked up what are the top attractions to go to if one were to go through Nebraska? It’s really got one. It’s called chimney Rock. And it’s, it’s like as underwhelming as just any particular rock you might pick in Utah. I think it’s just because it’s flat Nebraska and they have a rock there. Like, look, when people come, let’s tell them there’s a chimney rock here and they call it a chimney rock because it’s a mound with a point in the middle. And like other than that, like, just to give you an idea, if you ever go to Nebraska, this is one of their top five tourist attractions. It’s called the Archway Museum. If you’ve ever driven through the state, you know the interstate runs right under it. And like and I have teased about this place for years, I didn’t know until this week that it’s actually a top five tourist attraction in Nebraska. But when you drive under it, you’re like, why is there a random bridge to nowhere going over the interstate? It doesn’t doesn’t lead to anywhere. It doesn’t start from anywhere. It’s just a random bridge. I have joked about this for years. Sometimes people be like, you know, there’s a museum there, right? Like, like I need to stop. I never in my life, I’m driving down the road where I’m like, I really need a good museum right now.
I can’t imagine why this was a necessary in Nebraska, but there is a random museum. If you’re ever driving through and you need to plan a plan a stop Acts. Acts chapter 25 is like driving through this, this, this portion of Nebraska. But when you look at this particular chapter or when you’re driving through Nebraska, I know there’s one thing that you need in both Circumstances. And that’s patience. And that’s, that’s what we’re going to talk about today. In fact, I think in looking at this particular chapter, it’s important for us to learn that this this was actually critical for the apostle Paul. As you look at Acts chapter 25, especially in terms of learning what it means to live in light of God’s will for your life rather than your own. If you remember, at the end of Acts chapter 24, Paul has been arrested in Jerusalem. There was a mob that wanted to kill him at the temple. Some Roman soldiers saw him there and in a desperate situation, they come down and they rescue the apostle Paul. They can’t quite figure out what’s going on and why the Jewish people are so mad about Paul. They see it as an argument among their religious beliefs, but they can’t imagine that it’s to the point that you would have to physically harm or even kill someone. That was their desire for Paul.
But they knew Paul wasn’t safe there. And so they took him to Caesarea to to be overseen by a ruler named Festus and Festus. It tells us in Acts chapter 24, verse 27, kept the Apostle Paul in prison for two years. For two years. You can imagine the way that the Apostle Paul has has lived his life up to this point. He is a world traveler. He’s not one to sit on his hands. And now all of a sudden, he’s met this place in his life where he’s the just pause button has been put on him. And you can imagine in your own life, like the kind of questions that might arise within you when you go through a season where you don’t feel like you’re quite moving forward the way that you would want, but it’s this, this, this time period of just being still in the presence of the Lord. Like, how do we do that? I don’t think as people, we’re really designed to always do that well because we want what we want, when we want it the way we want it. And we’re we’re a generation of instant gratification and we’re always looking about how do how do I accomplish things? Well, but but improve it to do it even faster. And so for, for Paul being in prison, all these, these couple of years, he you can’t help but think in his mind like, God, is this really what’s best.
I could be out in the world somewhere and, and traveling and continue to proclaim the gospel and why? Why is it you have me in this season in a prison when you know where I am, what I’m going through? And so for Paul, this became a season of patience. And in fact, when you think about patience in terms of Scripture, you’ll you’ll see in your notes this morning, you’ve got a definition I’ll give you in just a moment. But just below that definition of patience, you have all these references I’ve given you. We’re not going to be able to look at all those, but these different references you can go look at later if you would like. On the importance of of patience and what that means for us as God’s people. I mean, we know that in Galatians chapter five, the Bible clearly tells us that it’s a fruit of the spirit. Meaning that when you’re surrendered to the Lord, one of the fruits that should be made known about your life is a fruit of patience. Now, if I’m being honest and reading the fruit of the spirit, if you just had to rank your favorites to your least favorite, I would probably venture to say nearly everyone, if not all of us, would say, I’m going to put patients at the bottom, if not the last, right? Because we look at what the fruit of the spirit is. I mean, they’re all wonderful words love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, longsuffering, kindness.
Like those are all fruits of the spirit. Those all sound like wonderful things except for patience. Now, I happen to think that when it comes to patience, if someone prays for you to have patience, that’s the only time where God’s like, I don’t care if you punch them, you can punch them right now. Right. Like patience. Because we know that if if someone’s praying for patience for you, by the way, I’m not going to do that to you today. But if someone prays for patience for you, what they’re really asking is, is for hardship. Because the only way we really learn anything is people, is to go through adversity. And when someone’s praying for you to learn patience, what they’re saying is give them some challenges, God, so they can examine just whether or not they’re walking in the spirit of patience, you know, your fruit. And so patience is, is not something as people, we, we readily look for and long for because we want what we want, when we want it. But when we talk about the idea of spiritual patience or biblical patience, godly patience, we. We recognize that what makes patience so important is that it’s this place of our. In our lives where we acknowledge that God. It’s not about my will, but your will being done. It’s this place in our lives where we finally surrendered ourselves and what we want to, what it is that he desires and we’re willing to, to walk in light of that, really, to, to get to a place like that, you have to see that one God is good.
And while you see he’s good, you’ve also got to be willing to submit yourself to it. And it’s only until we begin to recognize the goodness of God that invites our heart into embrace him. Because up until that point, we’re we’re going to be challenged with God. Can I really trust you and God? Do you have my best interest in mind? Because you could be a Lord of all things, but if you’re not good, I don’t know that I want to give my heart over to you. I might want to hold on to that, but. But I really see the goodness of who you are. And then I’m willing to submit to that, that I’m able to, to walk in the fruit of, of patience and, and being made known in our life. So we talk about patience. Let me give you a definition. What is it that we mean? And by the way, as we look at this definition, I want you to know this is the way we’re going to do this today. I’m going to share a few verses with you. And we’re going to just share all the points up front of, of what this, this sermon is about. How do we find patience before we actually look at Acts chapter 25? Because I want you to see how, how this works itself out in the Apostle Paul’s life.
But when we talk about patience, what does that mean for us? Well, patience is this. Patience is the spirit produced ability to endure difficult people, difficult circumstances and delayed outcomes without losing faith, love and self-control. Patience. Let me say it again is the spirit produced ability to endure difficult people? How many of you specifically thought of somebody difficult circumstances and delayed outcome without losing faith, love or self control? I mean, what we’re saying is living a life surrendered to Jesus, seeing the fruit of that because. Because this is the primary reason for which we’ve been created in the Lord is just to walk with him. And we think about God’s will for our lives oftentimes as as individuals, one of the reasons that we might even grow impatient, we think about, you know, following after Jesus. Sometimes we think in our lives, well, here I am. I exist here because God wants me to accomplish certain things. And all of a sudden as a believer, when you’re not accomplishing those things, even when you might try to pretend like it’s godly, you start to grow impatient and and the spirit of the Lord is not in that. When you when you strive to accomplish things in your power rather than his. Because sometimes we could live under the facade that the reason for which I am created is to accomplish certain things because God needs me and I want us to know that is a a farce in your Christian understanding, right? Certainly when you follow Jesus, you’ll do things.
But the primary reason for which God has created you is not about accomplishing things. And one of the things we like to remind ourselves as a church, like our heart’s desire for you. This morning is really built on one foundation that you would know Christ. Not just intellectually, but that you would have a relationship with the Lord. Because the primary reason for which God has created you is not about accomplishing tasks. The primary reason for which God has created you is to have a relationship with him. Because through that relationship, you’re going to glorify God with your life. God has created you for his glory, right? And so it’s through that relationship with the Lord then that you live an intentional and purposeful, purposeful life. Like you will accomplish things, but, but don’t live under the the facade of the idea that God needs you to do anything because God is completely capable of doing everything on his own. And so therefore, the reason for which he has created you is to find yourself in him. And the idea of patience is really helping us examine, is my life really given over to him? By the way, the definition of patience, when you really look at it in the Greek, it means this you are long tempered.
So if anyone’s ever called you short tempered or quick tempered, that’s their nicer way of saying you’re really impatient. And for us, it becomes this marker of examining man. Is my life really given over to the Lord? What does that look like? How? How do I find patience? Well, when you think about patience playing out in your life, let me just tell you a few things that patience isn’t. Because sometimes we can put the label of patience on something that might look godly, when in fact it’s not so. So when we think about patience, some of the things that the patience is not patience is not passive indifference. It’s this not this place where you’re like, well, I can’t really do anything anyway, so who cares, right? Just checking out. It’s not it’s not passive indifference. It’s not pretending that things don’t bother you. Patience is not never confronting things that are wrong. I mean, Jesus called you to be a light in darkness. And so there’s a way that we we live in this world to honor him, but patiently letting the Spirit of God work things out rather than us trying to be the Holy Spirit in this world. So. So what does it look like for me to, to honor the, the, the Lord not to, to be this passive indifference or, or not to pretend like things don’t bother me or never confront things wrong.
But rather, patience is more like this. It’s enduring difficulties without giving up. Or it can be said that patience is bearing with difficult people without exploding. Or maybe patience is waiting on God’s timing without resentment, or it’s restraining anger when provoked. Can I tell you when you know you’re going to preach a sermon on patience. It doesn’t make for an easier week, right? God, what does it look like to honor you even first service this morning? Very, very second row up here at the front. It was my my mom, my dad, my kids. And I don’t know if my bride was in here or not, but you think to yourself, I don’t want to be a hypocrite, right? Like, what does it look like to live this out? It’s a good examination. How how do I find patience? Let me let me give you point number one in your notes. Number one is this. Start with remembering God’s patience towards you, remembering God’s patience towards you. It’s easier to give when you’ve received. And sometimes as people, we forget just how gracious God’s been to us. And so when we’re reminded of how kind and gracious the Lord has been to us, it makes it easier for us to be the same towards others. And in fact, one might call you hypocritical if you’re not. When you think about the Apostle Paul’s life and as you look at Acts chapter 25, maybe we could ask the question, how.
How would you be after two years of sitting in prison? You know what? What would stir within your heart? Would people look at you in that moment and be like, he’s a person or she’s a person of patience? What is it about the apostle Paul that in this moment he was able to rest in the Lord? It wasn’t what he wanted, but it was what the Lord wanted. And so how was Paul able to do this? When you think about the conversion of his life in Acts chapter nine. It just demonstrates us the grace of God. It says, falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. You know, one of the things I told us that I really find endearing about this passage is, is it really warms our heart and the goodness of who Christ is towards us. And that when Paul is going to persecute the church, Jesus sees this directly as persecution against him, that to hurt his bride is to hurt him. It’s an affront to the Lord. That’s. That’s how much Jesus cares about his people. But here you are watching the Apostle Paul’s life. And if you remember anything about Paul before he came to know the Lord, he was a persecutor of Christians. He was a murderer of Christians, and God and his justice and his holiness was completely within his right to execute judgment against Paul immediately.
But that’s not what Paul experiences, and that’s not what the Lord does. God extends his grace and forgiveness to Paul that radically transforms his life. And it’s the same for you and for me. There’s what God owes you, which you do not want. But then there’s what God gives you by the grace of the cross, which we all need. And when you begin to understand exactly what the Lord has done for your life, it makes you incredibly patient to those around you, because the patience in which God has extended towards you. In fact, to give you another verse in the book of Peter, Peter is writing to a persecuted church, and the persecuted church is somewhat frustrated and looking at the promises of God while they’re going through the challenges in this world. And the question in their mind is like, Lord, we know that you’re going to return. You promised to come and establish your kingdom fully. And here we are, stuck in the in-between where you came and proclaim your kingdom. And you introduced that to us. But Lord, we want you back on your throne, ruling and reigning and in its fullness. So, Lord Jesus, return quickly. Don’t you see what we’re going through? God, don’t you know the adversity that we’re in? God, why aren’t you here? Didn’t you promise this to us? Have you forgotten your promises? Or you’re not going to be faithful to us? They’re going through all that challenges, all those challenges in that season.
And then Peter writes this in second Peter three. He says, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness. So don’t look at this as a delay in God fulfilling, but rather what he’s doing is being patient toward you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And what he’s teaching us is something about the the first coming of the Lord and the second coming of the Lord and, and the first coming of Christ. He came as a humble servant king, giving his life for you and for me. He stood in our place what we deserved. He paid the price so that we could find freedom in him. At his Second coming, he’s going to return as a warrior king, executing justice against sin and darkness in this world. And those that oppose will be under his judgment. And so what he’s saying in the delay of his coming is that he’s giving us opportunity to see the sweetness of who he is and the forgiveness that he offers, so that not only we find forgiveness, but hope in the Lord. And so the the understanding, remembering God’s patience towards you becomes critical for us in learning then what it means to live in light of that, that we ourselves would be a patient people.
Number two then remember God’s plan for your life. Remember God’s plan for your life. Acts chapter nine verse 15. God says this of of Paul. But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine. We talked about how how special this is for us as God’s people to know that we are chosen in the Lord. That here here’s the Apostle Paul, that God particularly calls him out, says he is chosen. I think how special that is for for Paul that he would be chosen. It reminds us again of of really what God’s will is for us. That certainly will do things. But God’s primary will for us is that we would belong to him. We’re created for relationship that in that relationship we would then glorify God with our lives. That’s the reason for which God has created us, that we would have the intimacy of walking with God both now and forever. And here’s here’s Paul with that special calling he’s chosen. And we’ve talked about that word together, that it’s not exclusive to Paul, but that word chosen just belongs to God’s people, that we are all a chosen people. It tells us in, in, in Second Peter chapter two and verse 5 to 9, you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood belonging to the Lord. So this idea of, of being chosen is recognizing the, the value of that intimate relationship that you have in Christ because of what Christ has done for you.
And he goes on to say with Paul that he’s a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. So this calling on Paul’s life is is one of representing the Lord wherever he goes. And it’s the same for you that you are this this connection between heaven and earth, light in the midst of darkness, the greatness of a, of a greater King and a greater ruler, and the brokenness of this earthly kingdom to to represent who God is. Now with Paul, it tells them that tells them that he’s going to go specifically to represent not only to the Gentiles, but among the leaders among the Gentiles. So Paul has a very particular calling on his life. But you can imagine, as Paul’s going through the challenges of this world, he might think to himself, But God, are you really going to fulfill that? God, I’m in prison for two years now. I thought you wanted me to go before the Kings. You can imagine the, the, the challenge in Paul’s soul and thinking about his relationship with the Lord and God. Are you in this and do you belong? And and, God does something interesting. In Acts 23, just before Paul was taken into prison, because he knows as as any of us would. And, and the challenges we go through in life, we sometimes get disoriented in that.
And we come back to square one and asking the questions. God, in light of all of this, who am I before you and where are you? And so knowing Paul is going to go through this, this season, where he’s going to spend two years in prison in Caesarea and another two years in prison in Rome, like God tells him in Acts 23, the first night after his imprisonment there, it says the following night the Lord stood by him and said, take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. And Paul is at a place where he can’t control that outcome, but the only thing he can do is wait on the Lord. Remember God’s plan for your life. Acts chapter one verse six says this he who began a good work in your life will bring it to completion. You know, when I said Acts chapter one, excuse me, Philippians chapter one, verse six, Paul says that, you know, when Paul writes the book of Philippians, if you remember, Paul writes it during this imprisonment period, he writes an epistle on joy from prison during this time period. And it’s as he’s waiting patiently in the Lord that he reminds us. And don’t lose sight of what God’s promised you, because what he’s promised, he will bring it to completion. And why would Paul write such a word? Because he knows.
And the challenges of our lives that we build with anxiety, and we grow concerned not only in our relationship with the Lord, but trying to force how the Spirit of God desires to work, and the forcing of that we lose sight of the resting in a good God who is over us. So we think about what is it? How do I find patience? Remembering God’s patience towards you, remembering God’s plan for your life. And then number three, trusting in God’s timing. God, I know you’re going to work it out because you said you will, and I know you care about me. And the way that I know that very easily is the cross. I mean, you’ve given everything that I could belong to you. So. So in the midst of my circumstance, I need to learn what it means to just trust in you, not because it’s about my will being accomplished, but your will being done. And when frustration builds and things don’t work out the way that I want, when I just want to insert myself and slam that pedal forward rather than do that, God, I just want to walk in rhythm to the way your spirit desires to move. And you see this with the Apostle Paul learning that timing. I mean, Acts 24, verse 27, we just read it a minute ago. He spent two years in prison. God, what does it look like for me in the seasons of waiting? Sometimes we can get so anxious that we just fail to recognize, maybe more than anything, what God wants to do is just take that time to strengthen me and him.
To spend time in His Word, to grow a little deeper so that for the next season of my life, I can walk stronger. And the greatness of who the Lord is so he can bring me to this, this last point, number four in your notes, and we’ll look at 25 quickly so that you can honor God and bless others in every season. To honor God and bless others in every season. You know, patience is not merely just waiting longer. It is about trusting God and loving people while you wait. And sometimes the only thing that we can do is just simply obey. Today. In fact, maybe I should just say all the time. The one thing that you can do is just simply obey. Today. We don’t have the power over tomorrow, but the one thing that we can do today is just find out in the midst of where God has me engaging in life, or how do I honor you? What does it look like with the day at hand to faithfully honor you in my life? Paul’s circumstances had been dragging on for two years, and rather than just simply waiting for other people to change, Paul just continues to honor the Lord and bless those around him as as he can.
Sometimes it can grow incredibly frustrating, which we’re going to see in a moment where Paul, in prison for two years was under the rule of Felix. And you think at the end of Felix’s leadership that once he’s out of that political position, Felix might think to himself, you know, I know Paul was in us, and I just kept him in jail because I didn’t want the Jews to get angry. And I didn’t want to get back to Rome, that I couldn’t control the region I was in charge of. So I just left him there. So Paul must have been thinking his mind, well, now that Felix is going out and he doesn’t have to appease anybody anymore, of course he’s going to release me. He knows I’m innocent. And all of a sudden, Felix steps out of office and. And that new leader steps in, and Paul’s still in prison. How incredibly frustrating, sometimes irritating to think about representing the Lord to other people. And when people don’t always want to hear the greatness of of who the Lord is, we just want to get frustrated by that and just kind of toss people aside and be like, oh, you think you’re done with me? Well, I’m done with you. But when you read passages like Matthew chapter nine, you remember how Jesus was rejected by his own people. And in Matthew nine and verse 36, Jesus said it like this. But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep, having no shepherd.
Jesus incredibly patient, even those who maligned him. And the same with Paul. And and you see it in Acts 25. Let me just go through this quickly. I just, I want to I want you to see how, how in Paul’s life, discovering the richness of who the Lord is. It just helps him in every season and even in this season, to continue to honor God despite finding himself in circumstances that he can’t, he can’t completely control. And so here he is, patiently moving through this time period. But Acts 25, verse one now, three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. So new leader Festus. He knows that this area is dominated by the Jewish people, so he wants to have a good influence and good relationship with them. So the first thing he does is he goes straight to Jerusalem. And so from Caesarea, there he goes in verse two, it says, and the chief priests and the principal men of Judea laid out their case against Paul. And they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul, that he summoned him to Jerusalem because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. And Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. So I appreciate this about Festus.
It’s known of Festus that he was a he was a more honoring leader than than Felix. We talked about last week, but Festus knows that Paul is being imprisoned in Caesarea and there was a reason he was moved from Jerusalem. And so Festus could have easily said, oh, it would make you happy. And me and my new position, I could please you by sending you. Paul. Let me just send them to you. But but he knows better than that. And he. He wants to go back to Caesarea to to hear Paul’s case that still not come to to a conclusion. But here’s one of the things that’s interesting is it’s been a couple of years since Paul was first arrested. And remember, two years ago, they were so angry with Paul, they wanted to kill him. And now two years have passed and their hearts are still hardened to Paul. They still want to kill the apostle Paul. I mean, how difficult that must be for, for Paul to, to to just know that this trial is dragging on and nothing’s changed. The ill intent that the people have before him, how difficult that must be in and of himself to just want to try to be a loving, God honoring person in response. And it becomes an impossibility in our own self, according to our own will, unless our heart is surrendered to the Lord. And so, Paul, moving forward in this moment, in verse six, it goes on and says, after he stayed among them, talking about Festus, not more than 8 or 10 days, he went down to Caesarea.
The next day he took a seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many in serious charges against him that they could not prove. Paul argued his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar. Have I committed any offense. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked. Said to Paul, do you wish to go to Jerusalem, and there be. Be tried on these charges before me? Paul had been an idiot to say, yes, but. But he asked the question, and you understand the reason why Festus would do such a thing? Because he’s a new leader and this is a political position. He’s trying to play the politics. He doesn’t want Rome to find out. He can’t control the Jewish people and making him angry. But Festus knows that Paul’s innocent. But just to release Paul was going to create problems among the Jewish people and for him would create problems with Rome. And even still, the people have had two years to bring a better plan to bring charges against Paul. But yet even after two years, they still couldn’t bring charges that would find Paul guilty. Could you imagine how frustrated Paul would be over and over again? Brought on trial again and again, having to defend himself in the same way.
All that while thinking everyone knows I’m innocent. But yet here I am. I mean, how patient could any of us be in that situation? But but Paul and surrendering to the Lord, he’s just he can’t control the outcome, but he can be faithful to to where he is today, obeying the Lord and, and honoring him. And it goes on in verse ten. But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, when where I ought to be tried to the Jews. I have done no wrong, as you yourselves know very well. If. If, then I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to. To their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered to Caesar, you have appealed to Caesar. You shall go. Now when some days had passed a grip of the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. For Festus. This was very much a welcoming moment to have Agrippa, because Agrippa was one that ruled over the Jewish people as well, and he had ruled long enough and he understood Jewish customs. And so Festus knew. I can’t release Paul because it would upset the Jewish people.
It would create an uprising. Rome would find out, I would lose my position. And so that’s not a good thing to go. I don’t want to leave Paul in prison because he’s innocent. But Paul’s appealed to Caesar, and if I send him to Caesar, I’m a new leader. And that would be so irritating to Caesar to just send someone right off the bat showing I have no control and I don’t know how to rule. And so if I’m going to send somebody, I need to have a reason for it. And if one person can help me, it’s got to be Agrippa because he understands these people. And he’s been a leader long enough that if I can sign his name to this, it’s going to help me with Caesar. So Festus, he’s playing the political game, and now Paul finds himself in the midst of this, and you see how far the political game goes. When you read further in verse 20, I’ll read two more slides and be done. But he says, be being at a loss how to investigate these questions. I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem. This is Festus talking and be tried there regarding them. But when Paul had appealed to 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.
He said, he, you will hear him. So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp. I don’t think I’ve ever entered a room like that. I want to try it one day. Come in with some great pomp, and they. They entered the. It’s a new TikTok thing we’re going to do here. And they entered the audience hall with with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. I should probably look up that word before I do that. And then all at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said, King Agrippa and all who were 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 to 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 to write to my Lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa. So after we have examined him, I may have something to write for. It seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner to. To indicate the charges against him. We’ll look at next week everything that Paul presents in terms of Christianity before Agrippa. But I want you to see that the real interest here isn’t about the truth. The real interest here is about themselves in regards to Agrippa and Festus.
That when Bernice and Agrippa come into this moment, not only are they getting all the accolades of their appearance here and playing this political game, but they also know that Paul has a tremendous following in an uprising, and that there’s going to be a large gathering for this proceeding to even be heard. And so it gives them more opportunity to be in the limelight that they themselves know they’re not going to ultimately reach a conclusion, but it’s just going to add to the theatrics and that’s what they’re attracted to. And so for Paul, he becomes a game in their life. But ultimately, more than anything, he gets to glorify God. And so when you think about the importance of this passage, what is Acts 25, even teaching us as God’s people, it’s the significance of walking patiently in the Lord in every season of life. Because regardless of what the Jewish people decide, and regardless of what Agrippa or Festus may decide on what Paul presents, no matter what, Paul gets to do one thing and that is honor Jesus and everything. He gets to walk faithfully with the Lord in every season of life. And guys, can I tell you, regardless of the earthly results you might achieve in this world. No matter if millions of people come to know Jesus through you, or no one comes to know Jesus through you. God’s desire for your life is just to honor him in everything that you do.
And in so doing, it’s a. It’s a life well lived, but that life can’t be lived in an honoring way to the Lord, lest patience be a part of it. Rather than trusting in my will, God, I’ve seen that you’re good. And Lord, I know that you love me. And so more than anything, I just want to trust in you. Lord, help me to rest in you. I may not be able to control all of the weight that the world might try to throw on my shoulders, and to be honest, I don’t want to. And I don’t have to. Because, Lord, I know you see me and Lord, you’ve numbered my days. So rather than carry that worry, the one thing that I do want to do is walk faithfully with you right now. So rather than wait for someone else to change God, I just want my heart to continue to change in your presence. Lord help me. Maybe one of the ways that we could compare this to our lives is, is through the image of a butterfly. So I’ll close with this. There’s a story of a man who was walking along the trail, and he had one of those incredible moments of life where he sees a cocoon, and he recognizes that it was at that particular moment that the butterfly inside was beginning to move in order to break free.
And so the man started to watch this moment in nature. And he he was mesmerized by it. But after a few moments had passed, he realized that this butterfly was struggling to break free from the cocoon. And he started to wonder if it was even going to be successful. And in that struggle, he decided, you know what? I’m going to help this butterfly. So he goes over to the cocoon and he pulls out his pocket knife, and he cuts a slit along the cocoon. And sure enough, the butterfly pops out and climbs up on the branch. And the man decided, I’m going to be here and just watch as it as it takes its first flight into the world. And so the man stands there for a while, but he started to realize that this butterfly isn’t going to fly. And the man disappointed left. But come to find out, as scientists have studied butterflies, they’ve recognized that one of the most critical moments of the life of the butterfly happens in the very beginning, when it struggles to break free from the cocoon, because it’s in that fight and struggle that the Lord created that moment in such a way that that was that was the moment that pushed fluid appropriately through the butterfly’s wings so that the butterfly could fly. In a moment where this man thought he was helping this butterfly escape, the challenges that it was experiencing ultimately led to its demise.
Because I would argue the same thing with the challenges that we go through in life, sometimes our prayer is, God, take this challenge away. But what we learn is that sometimes those adversities that we go through are the very things the Lord uses to give strength to our wings so that we can learn to fly. Now, in saying that, I want you to know, I’m not telling you that every difficult thing that you go through in life is God saying to you, you have to go through this in order to be able to be a beautiful butterfly, right? I’m not God, and I’m not trying to predict your life. But what I am saying is every season that we go through in life is an opportunity for us to learn. What am I trusting in? I can’t control the outcome of everything. And in fact, to do so would be to play the role of God. But the one thing I can do is trust in the goodness of God who loves me, who promise he’ll bring everything to completion in him. And if I’m surrendered to that Lord, rather than live my life according to my will, I want to live my life according to his will. God help me. Help me trust in you. Help me see the richness of who you are. I know you love me. And the way we all see that is through the cross of Christ. In a place where God gave everything that we could be free in him.