Acts 26

As we continue our look at the Book of Acts, today we find the apostle Paul who has been imprisoned for two years in Caesarea, appearing before Festus the Roman governor of Judea - and Agrippa the Jewish king of Judea.

And today’s reading is quite interesting as we see that as Paul defends himself against the accusations of the Jews, he addresses himself mainly to King Agrippa. In fact he addresses Agrippa personally seven times.

Why is this interesting?

Well Agrippa is actually King Herod Agrippa 2^nd. His great grandfather was Herod the Great who tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby, by killing all the children aged two and under around Bethlehem.

His great uncle was Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist.

And his father was Herod Agrippa 1^st who imprisoned the apostle Peter, and executed the apostle James, son of Zebedee.

So, Paul is preaching the gospel to someone who by any standards didn’t come from a particularly pro Christian family line. In fact it would be hard to find a more anti Christian family.

Furthermore, according to bible commentators – on top of his dodgy family history - King Agrippa was also having an incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice, who is mentioned here and also comes to listen to Paul.

What I find interesting about this is passage is that Jesus, through his spirit who lives in Paul - is reaching out in love to someone whose family not only tried to kill him – but killed his cousin, imprisoned one of his best friends and killed one of his apostles.

He is reaching out in love to someone whose life and family background is far from perfect.

So the first thing we can draw from this passage, is that God really does mean it when He says in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, that He wants all men and women to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Jesus really does love and want to be reconciled to all people – regardless of their family background – and even if their lives are far from perfect.

Perhaps you’re not a Christian yet – and you are under the illusion that church is only for people who are really good or holy and you are conscious that your life is far from holy.

Well if that’s you – you couldn’t be more wrong. Church is for people who know that they are unholy, who know that they sin – but who believe in a God who not only loves sinners – but who died to save them.

Sometimes even when we’re Christians we can be tempted to hide away from God because we feel unworthy of his love or unclean. But those who feel unworthy and unclean are precisely those who God wants to help.

Rather than hiding from God we need to kneel before him and confess our shortcomings and then accept his love and forgiveness as we seek with His help to do better next time.

In verse 18 Paul tells Agrippa about the commission he received from Jesus to reach out to Gentiles.

Paul records that Jesus said to him; “I am 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 a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

And of course this is what Jesus wants to do for all those who do not yet know him – for all those who are still blinded by spiritual darkness.

Darkness blinds people. They cannot see where they are, or where they are going. They cannot see what is around them.

But when the light comes, immediately things start to become clearer. We can see where we are and where we are going and we become aware of all sorts of things that are around us.

And so it is with the spiritual realm. Jesus is the light of the world and when we invite him in to our lives – he helps us to see clearly.

He comes to break the power of spiritual darkness in our lives. Satan blinds people’s minds to God and only the power of Jesus – the power of the gospel can break through this darkness and restore people’s sight.

Those who live in darkness cannot understand the gospel or indeed the bible. Its meaning is clouded. They hear but they do not understand.

But as people acknowledge their blindness and their need for sight and light – as they cry out to God – as they open their hearts and their lives to Jesus and invite him in – he brings light and restores their sight.

This is why Jesus said at the start of his ministry; “The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

Imagine being in an old house where all the shutters are closed and its dark. And then see as the shutters are thrown open and sunlight comes flooding in.

Will you welcome Jesus – the light of the world - into your life and allow him to restore your spiritual sight or will you continue to live in darkness?

Agrippa is obviously affected by Paul’s preaching. He says in verse 28 – “are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?”

I prefer the King James translation though, which says - Then Agrippa said to Paul; “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

As Paul has been speaking, Jesus has been knocking on the door of Agrippa’s heart and saying believe in me, allow me into your life to be your Lord and your God and I will forgive all your sin and wrong doing.

And this of course it what happens when the gospel is preached. The Holy Spirit urges us to believe in Jesus and to open the door of our hearts to him and say yes to him.

However frequently, as seems to be the case here with Agrippa, people resist the Holy Spirit’s conviction and push God away.

Why is this? Well perhaps there are some clues in this story about Agrippa.

Initially Luke tells us in the previous chapter that as Agrippa arrives with his sister Bernice to listen to Paul - they come with great pomp and ceremony.

Agrippa obviously enjoys his status as king. He seems to enjoy the trappings of wealth and like being looked up to.

Perhaps he resists the Holy Spirit because he feels his status may be threatened if he becomes a Christian and he’s worried what people might think.

And this can perhaps be a problem for some people – a reason why they keep God at arm’s length.

I mean what will people think if I become a Christian? What will people at work think? What will my friends and family think?

Or perhaps, how will it affect my social standing and will I still be looked up to? Or will I still be cool?

Personally I’d ask why does it matter what people think? Let them think what they want. And your need to be reconciled to God is far more important than what others may or may not think of you.

Another reason Agrippa resists the Holy Spirit may be his incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice. Perhaps he resists God because he is unwilling to give it up.

Again this can be another reason why people resist inviting Jesus into their lives. They may be indulging in some relationship or behaviour which they don’t want to give up or perhaps feel powerless to give up.

But I think that in some ways to resist inviting God into our lives for this reason is to misunderstand how God works in people’s lives.

If you picture our lives like gardens, all of us have weeds and thistles growing – some with deep roots.

None of us have perfect lives and when someone becomes a Christian God wants to help that person - turn his or her garden into something beautiful and fruitful.

But God appreciates that changing our lives is a long term project. He doesn’t expect us to become perfect overnight. And He knows that we will need His help to change - often over a period of time.

People are hugely complex and sometimes sinful behaviour may be the result of being hurt or abused by someone.

God understands this and rather than pushing Him away we need to invite Him into our lives so that he can heal us with a revelation of his love and free us from things which plague and hurt us.

Many of you will have heard me mention Ffald y Brenin the Christian retreat in Pembrokeshire in Wales.

There is a cross on the hillside just outside the main buildings and sometimes walkers come across it and find themselves encountering God.

A lady came across it and she immediately hated it. She’d been married to a man who’d claimed to be a Christian who’d treated her cruelly and abused her.

She looked around and broke a branch from a tree and she started hitting the cross with this branch.

“I hate you God,” she cried. “I really hate you.” But then she heard a voice saying “put your arms around the cross.”

She was startled because she thought someone had been watching her but there was no one else around.

And then she heard the voice again – “put your arms around the cross.”

She didn’t really want to but then she heard the voice a third time and so she put down her branch and did as she’d been asked.

As she put her arms round the cross she felt God put his arms round her and she experienced His overwhelming love for her.

And God told her the treatment she’d received from her husband had grieved Him and He healed her completely from what she’d experienced with a revelation of His great love for her.

I appreciate this is a dramatic story but it illustrates that God loves us and understands why sometimes we can’t just let go or cure ourselves of wrong behaviour or attitudes.

As Christians we can sometimes be quick to judge and we can leave people with the impression that God is more concerned with judging people than He is with loving them.

But this is to mis-represent God. Of course some sin is purely wilful and the result of our own deliberate fault.

But some sin has its roots in how we’ve been treated and what others have done to us – and God understands perfectly when this is the case.

And in these cases God understands that what we need to change our behaviour is actually a revelation of His love rather than condemnation.

So don’t resist God because you feel unworthy or because you feel trapped by behaviour or desires that you feel unable to give up.

God understands and loves you perfectly so welcome Him into your life so that he can help you deal with these over time.

So to conclude. Has Jesus – as he did with Agrippa in this passage - been knocking on the door of your heart? Have you sensed Jesus urging you to just say yes to him – to invite him into your life to be your Lord and Saviour.

Perhaps like Agrippa your life and family background is far from perfect – but that is no bar to God.

Jesus – the light of the world – wants to rescue you from spiritual darkness.

He wants to help you re-build your life and to heal you over time with a revelation of His great love for you.

Will you allow him to do this I wonder or like Agrippa will you resist the pull of his love?

Let’s end with a time of prayer. I’ll say the prayer and then leave a time of quiet when you can express whatever is on your heart to God.

Lord Jesus thank you that you are among us now and that you know us intimately and you love us. You see where there is darkness in our lives and you long to bring light.

You see where there is pain and hurt and you long to bring healing. You see where there is fear and unbelief and you long to bring peace and faith.

Lord we invite you into our lives. Please come by your spirit. Bring light and healing and love. Bring to each of us that which we need most.

QUIET

Amen.