Acts 25-26: You Have a Story Worth Telling

Paul stands before Festus and Agrippa with no proven charges, then uses his defense to tell the truth about Jesus and the resurrection. We talk through Paul’s appeal to Caesar, his Damascus road testimony, and why sharing the gospel can make you sound “insane” to people who don’t want to hear it. 
• Festus taking over after Felix and inheriting Paul’s case 
• The failed attempt to move Paul to Jerusalem and the threat of ambush 
• Paul’s clear defense and his legal appeal to Caesar 
• Festus explaining the case to Agrippa and admitting the charges do not add up 
• Paul’s testimony: Pharisee background, persecution, and the Damascus road encounter 
• Jesus’ commission to open eyes and call people from darkness to light 
• The core message: repentance, forgiveness, and the resurrection promised in Scripture 
• Festus shouting “you’ve lost your mind” and Paul’s calm reply 
• Agrippa’s “are you persuading me” moment and Paul’s wish for everyone to believe 
• Our takeaway: you cannot control perception, only faithfulness to speak 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, this is Mike and the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We're on the home stretch here in the Book of Acts, and last time we read how Paul was given an opportunity to present his case in front

Setting Up Paul’s Legal Fight

SPEAKER_00 0:22

of the Roman governor, Felix, because he has been accused of causing this big disturbance, kind of like how Jesus was also falsely accused of saying things and doing things against the law and against the temple that he never really said or did. Same thing here, they don't really have anything truly to pin Paul on, so that kind of bounces him from one leader to another leader to another judge to another ruler or governor, trying to figure out is this a guy we actually need to deal with, or is this just some local disturbance? So Paul presented his case to the governor Felix, and he was kept under house arrest. He had a good amount of freedom, but he was just basically being kept safe from the Jews who wanted him dead, and he had multiple opportunities to talk to Felix about the gospel. Well, after two years, Felix, I guess, retired, and Festus came to be the governor after him, and that's where we pick up the story here. So let's read Acts 25 through 26 in the New English Translation. Now, three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem

Festus Hears Charges In Caesarea

SPEAKER_00 1:29

from Caesarea. So the chief priests and the most prominent men of the Jews brought formal charges against Paul to him. Requesting him to do them a favor against Paul, they urged Festus to summon him to Jerusalem, planning an ambush to kill him along the way. And then Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and he himself intended to go there shortly. So, he said, let your leaders go down there with me, and if this man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him. After Festus had stayed not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he sat on the judgment seat, and ordered Paul to be brought. When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they were not able to prove. Paul said in his defense, I've committed no offense against the Jewish law, or against the temple, or against Caesar. But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried before me there on these charges? Paul replied,

Paul Appeals To Caesar

SPEAKER_00 2:40

I am standing before Caesar's judgment seat, where I should be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also know very well. If then I'm in the wrong and have done nothing that deserves death, I'm not trying to escape dying. But if not one of their charges against me is true, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar. And then, after conferring with his counsel, Festus replied You've appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you'll go. After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus, and while they were staying there many days, Festus explained

Agrippa Requests A Hearing

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Paul's case to the king to get his opinion, saying, There's a man left here as a prisoner by Felix, and when I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him, and I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met his accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. So after they came back here with me, I didn't postpone the case, but the next day I sat on the judgment seat, I ordered the man to be brought, and when his accusers stood up, they didn't charge him with any of the evil deeds I had suspected. Rather, they had uh several points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a man named Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul claimed to be alive, but because I was at a loss how I could investigate these matters, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Majesty the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept under guard until I could send him to Caesar. Agrippa said to Festus, Well, I would also like to hear this man myself. Tomorrow, he replied, you'll hear him. So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience hall, along with the senior military officers and the prominent men of the city, and when Festus gave the order, Paul was brought in. Then Festus said, King Agrippa and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace petitioned me both in Jerusalem and here, shouting loudly that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he's done nothing but deserved death, and when he appealed to his Majesty the Emperor, I decided to send him, but I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this preliminary hearing I may have something to write, for it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him. So Agrippa said to Paul, You have permission to speak for yourself. Then Paul held out his hand and began his defence. Regarding all the things I've been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself

Paul’s Story From Pharisee To Witness

SPEAKER_00 6:10

fortunate that I am about to make my defence before you today, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversial issues of the Jews. Therefore I ask you to listen to me patiently. Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. They know because they have known me from time past, if they're willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. Concerning this hope, the Jews are accusing me, your majesty. Why do you people think that it's unbelievable that God raises the dead? Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene, and that's what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme, and because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities. And while doing this very thing, as I was going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the chief priests, about noon along the road,

Damascus Road Vision And Commission

SPEAKER_00 7:58

your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around me, and those travelling with me. When we had all fallen onto the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the goads. So I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord replied, I am Jesus, whom you're persecuting. But get up Stand on your feet, for I've appeared to you for this reason to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you've seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles to whom I'm sending you, to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and share among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance. And for this reason, the Jews, after they seized me while I was in the temple courts, were trying to kill me. I have experienced help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen, that the Christ was to suffer, and be the first to rise from the dead to proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. As Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed loudly, You've lost your mind, Paul. Your great learning's driving you insane.

“You’re Out Of Your Mind”

SPEAKER_00 10:13

But Paul replied, I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, but I'm speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and I'm speaking freely to him because I cannot believe that any of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe. Agrippa said to Paul, in such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian? Paul replied, I pray to God that whether in a short

Paul’s Bold Invitation To Believe

SPEAKER_00 10:47

or long time, not only you, but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains. So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them, and as they were leaving, they said to one another, this man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment. Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar. Wow, what a great response by Paul. Oh, you think you can convert me in one conversation? To just say, Oh look, I I don't care if it takes a short time or

Reflection: Speak Anyway

SPEAKER_00 11:31

a long time. I just hope that you could become like me. I minus the whole prisoner in chains thing. I hope you can become like me, saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus. The story of what Jesus has done for you is gonna make you sound insane. It's not a normal thing. It makes us look very weak, it makes us look very crazy, it makes us look very head in the clouds sometimes. Look, people's perception is not in our control. What is in our control is our willingness to open our mouths and tell them anyway. And if they don't listen now, then to tell them again the next time. And if still nothing, then tell them again the next time. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here on the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We'll see you next time.