Acts 25:13-26:32: A New Person with a New Purpose

Acts 25:13-26:32: A New Person with a New Purpose

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage we come to is Acts 25:13-26:32, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. 14 And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king.…22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.” 23 So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in….1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense….9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision….22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying….23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” 24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words….28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we come to you with all kinds of needs this morning. But we believe that, by your Spirit and through your Word, you can minister to every need we have. So please do that and, above all, draw us into a deeper relationship with you. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

If you went around and did a survey about what people believe their greatest need to be, I’m sure you’d get a wide variety of answers. Many people believe their greatest need is related to some sort of internal struggle that they’re having—maybe a struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, or grief. Or maybe they’re having some financial difficulties and would identify that as their greatest need. Or perhaps they have an addiction or a significant health issue or a marriage that’s falling apart or children who are rebelling. Or, especially nowadays, maybe they’d say their greatest need is to discover their personal identity and figure out who they are. These are all very common struggles that I’m sure many people would identify as their greatest needs and that certainly seem to be very significant things. 

But, as important as many of these things may be, I’d like to make the case this morning that none of them represents the greatest need that people have. Instead, as we’re going to see in our main passage of Scripture in Acts 25 and 26, our greatest need is a spiritual need. And it’s a need that isn’t just greater than any other but that makes every other need seem trivial in comparison. This is something of eternal consequence, and if you don’t have this, then you don’t have anything. 

But first, to remind you of the background of this Scripture passage, Paul has been unjustly arrested and imprisoned for over two years now. And he’s stood trial first before the Roman governor Felix and then before Felix’s successor Festus. But because it was clear to Paul and to any objective observer that Paul wasn’t receiving anything close to a fair trial, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen and appealed his case to Caesar. We then saw in Acts 25:12 Festus responding to him in the following way. It says, Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

And that’s where we pick up with the story in the present passage. The rest of chapter 25 records Festus trying to figure out what exactly to write to Caesar regarding the charges against Paul. The case against Paul was so ridiculous that it’s no wonder Festus was having trouble. But that’s where King Agrippa comes in. Agrippa wasn’t quite as powerful as his royal title implies, but he still had some power and, more importantly, was regarded by Rome as an expert on the Jewish religion. 

It’s also worth noting that Agrippa was the last king in the dynasty of the Herods. Agrippa’s great-grandfather was the King Herod who murdered all the male children around Bethlehem in an effort to kill the newborn Jesus, his great uncle was the Herod who had murdered John the Baptist, and his father was the Herod who had ordered the execution of James and the imprisonment of Peter and who was then struck down by God for his pride. So Agrippa’s lineage…could have been better. Also, the woman who’s named with him in verse 13, Bernice, was actually his sister—and it was sort of an open secret that Agrippa and Bernice were engaging in an incestuous relationship. So, there you go. This is the guy Festus enlists as an expert on Jewish affairs to help him figure out what to write to Caesar. 

We then read in verse 23, “So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.” In the next chapter, Paul then proceeds to present his defense before King Agrippa. And, as we’re going to see, his defense is essentially that everything he’s been doing in telling people about Jesus—which is basically what he was arrested for—is because of a personal encounter that he had with Jesus on the road to Damascus. And that brings us to what I believe is the main idea of this entire passage, which is that Paul experienced a radical conversion on the road to Damascus and lived the rest of his life as a new person with a new purpose. Again, Paul experienced a radical conversion on the road to Damascus and lived the rest of his life as a new person with a new purpose.

Now, when you hear the word “conversion,” I want you to think about a change. For example, when we eat food, our body converts that food into energy. Or if there’s a large building that’s no longer useful for its original purpose, it might be converted into apartments. And similarly, when someone undergoes a spiritual conversion, they’re changed in a fundamental way. And we’re going to see more about what that looks like as we continue on in this passage. 

Look at what Paul says to Agrippa in verses 4-5: 4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. He then continues to describe his mentality in verses 9-11: 9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 

So this was Paul before becoming a Christian—outwardly religious and yet inwardly far from God. As a Pharisee, he was legalistic and proud and self-righteous. And he was also filled with a murderous rage toward followers of Jesus. His actions even resulted in an untold number of Christians being put death. Their blood was on his hands. So this was a man who had impressive religious credentials but who, in reality, was in all-out rebellion against God. 

Yet, look at what happens to him in verses 12-18: 12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

So Jesus appears to Paul and turns his entire world upside down. As we see described so vividly here, Paul experienced a radical conversion on the road to Damascus and lived the rest of his life as a new person with a new purpose. And that’s what we need as well—more than anything else. As I mentioned at the beginning, people have a lot of different ideas about what their greatest need is. Yet, the Bible’s very clear that all of those other needs pale in comparison to the need for personal conversion. If we don’t have that, then we don’t have anything. 

And for the rest of our time this morning, I’d like to explore five aspects of that conversion. These are the changes that Paul experienced and that Jesus commissions him in these verses to lead others to experience. And, by the way, these would make a great prayer guide for those of us who are Christians to pray for the people in our lives who possibly aren’t Christians yet—perhaps a spouse or a child or a friend or simply a neighbor or coworker who’s not yet a Christian. So, you might want to write these down and put them to good use in your prayers. Five aspects of personal conversion. 

A Conversion from Blindness to Sight

First, it’s a conversion from blindness to sight. A conversion from blindness to sight. In verse 18, Jesus tells Paul that he’s sending him out to people in order “to open their eyes.” Of course, this doesn’t imply that Paul himself was able to open people’s eyes but rather that he should function as a faithful witness about Jesus and thereby be the instrument through which the Holy Spirit would open people’s eyes.  

You, see the Bible teaches that our natural condition is one of spiritual blindness. And not only are we blinded by our own sinful nature and disposition, we’re also blinded demonic powers. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul states that, “In their case the god of this world…”—notice the “little g” god there, referring to Satan—“…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” So, if you’ve ever shared the gospel with someone and they just have this blank look in their eyes or they respond in a way that indicates that whatever you said just didn’t click with them mentally, this is why. There’s actually a spiritual blindness that’s being inflicted on them by very real demonic entities. 

And the only solution to that is the Holy Spirit supernaturally opening their eyes to both the truth and the glory of the gospel. In fact, I believe that the former comes through the latter—that the way the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of the gospel is by revealing to us the glory of the gospel. Essentially, he enables us to see that the gospel message of who Jesus is and what he’s done to rescue us shines with a glory unlike any other. 

For example, if you saw a mural that depicted the sun in a very realistic manner, you might find it impressive, but I don’t think you’d mistake it for the actual sun, right? Because the sun shines with a splendor that simply can’t be replicated in a painting or any kind of picture. I know iPhone cameras are good, but they’re not that good. And even if they were, an LCD screen wouldn’t be able to display the full splendor of the sun anyway. The sun is utterly unique and shines with a glory unlike any other. Likewise, there are many religions in existence and many religious leaders, but the gospel message of Jesus and what he’s done to rescue us shines with a glory that simply isn’t seen anywhere else. 

And there are a few ways in which I believe that’s the case, but just to explore one of them: think about the sacrificial love Jesus has displayed. There are plenty of examples in the world of undeserved benevolence and kindness, but the self-sacrificing love Jesus displayed is utterly unique. Listen to what Jesus has done, as described in Romans 5:6-8: 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Think about that. Even while we were still sinners—even when we were in a state of active and hateful rebellion against God—Christ died for us. What human mind could ever invent a love like that? We don’t even have the capacity to comprehend such love, much less invent it.

And that’s one indication among several that the gospel isn’t a message that people could have invented but rather something that had to have been revealed by God. We might say it has God’s divine fingerprints. Fingerprints, of course, are useful because they’re unique. No two people’s fingerprints are exactly the same. So if someone’s fingerprints are on something, that’s a pretty reliable indication that they touched that object. A fingerprint is an identifier that points to the person who bears that print. And that’s the way it is with the gospel. The gospel bears God’s fingerprints. The glory of the gospel is such that anyone whose eyes have been opened can see quite plainly that this is a glory that can only come from God. Its divine origin is self-evident. But again, your eyes have to be opened. We can’t see the glory of the gospel until the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and reveals it to us. But when he does and when we see the gospel’s glory, we recognize that it has to be true. It’s just too glorious to come from any origin other than God himself. So that’s what it means for us to go from blindness to sight. 

A Conversion from Darkness to Light

Then the second aspect of personal conversion is that it’s a conversion from darkness to light. Back in Acts 26:18, Jesus also tells Paul that he’s sending Paul out not only to open people’s eyes but also “so that they may turn from darkness to light.” In the Bible, darkness is associated with a constellation of different things, one of which is the spiritual blindness we just talked about. An example of that would be Ephesians 4:18, where Paul describes people who are apart from Christ as “darkened in their understanding.”

Yet darkness is associated not just with blindness but also with evil. For example, 1 John 1:5-7 states, 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. These verses make it clear that walking in darkness means walking on a path of rebellion against God. So, back in Acts 26, when we read about turning from darkness to light, that involves turning away from our sinful rebellion and seeking instead to live according to God’s will and God’s commands. If you haven’t done that, then you haven’t been converted. 

A Conversion from the Power of Satan to God

Then a third aspect of conversion that we see in this passage is that it’s a conversion from the power of Satan to God. Still in verse 18 of our main passage, Jesus tells Paul about people not only turning from darkness to light but also “from the power of Satan to God.” The greatest war that’s raging in the world right now isn’t the military war between Russia and Ukraine or the political war between liberals and conservatives in the United States. Rather, it’s a spiritual war between Satan and God. And that war is raging all around us and even within us. Satan’s actively seeking to undermine God’s will and God’s work whenever and wherever he can. 

I think when most people imagine Satan at work, they picture something off of a horror movie like The Exorcist or something. They picture people levitating and their heads spinning all the way around and crazy stuff like that. Yet those kinds of phenomena aren’t the main ways in which Satan’s working in this world—not by a long shot. On the contrary, his work is overwhelmingly spiritual in nature and involves blinding people’s eyes to the gospel—like we talked about earlier—and also leading them progressively further away from God. Satan’s kind of like a drug dealer who begins by enticing us to try some of his product for free—telling us that it won’t cost us anything. It’s totally free. But then, once he’s got us hooked, it’s a different story, and he pulls us deeper and deeper into the bondage of sin. That’s what it means to be, as the text says, under the “power” of Satan. And the only thing that can rescue us from that power is a superior power—a power not found in ourselves but only in God. Hence, we read about turning “from the power of Satan to God.” That’s another aspect of conversion. 

A Conversion from Guilt to Forgiveness

Then, fourth, it’s a conversion from guilt to forgiveness. Continuing on in verse 18, Jesus tells Paul that the result of people turning “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” is so “that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” You see, there’s a massive wall between us and God—a wall of sin. Our sins have offended a holy God and deserve God’s judgment. In fact, they not only deserve God’s judgment—they demand his judgment. God wouldn’t be righteous if he didn’t judge sin…or good if he didn’t judge evil. 

However, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus died on the cross in order to take that judgment—the very judgment we deserved—on himself and suffer it in our place. As a result, we can be forgiven—kind of like being forgiven of a legal debt. Colossians 2:14 talks about how God has forgiven us “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Just picture that in your mind—"the record of debt that stood against us” containing line after line of innumerable debts that we could never pay off in a million years…now nailed to the cross. That’s the forgiveness we can receive through Jesus. And receiving that forgiveness is another essential aspect of conversion. 

A Conversion from Exclusion to Inclusion 

So, as we’ve seen in the text so far, personal conversion is a conversion from blindness to sight, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and from guilt to forgiveness. Then, the last aspect of conversion we see in the text is from exclusion to inclusion. At the very end of verse 18, Jesus talks about not only receiving “forgiveness of sins” but also “a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” To be “sanctified” is simply a fancy way of saying to be made holy. And when someone becomes a Christian, they receive “a place among those who are sanctified.” They’re now included in the people of God. They’ve gone from exclusion to inclusion. 

You see, when God saves you, he saves you into a spiritual family. You’re not just saved into a relationship with Jesus but into a relationship also with other Christians. By the way, that’s one reason why we should consider meaningful involvement in a local church to be one of the most fundamental aspects of New Testament Christianity. New Testament Christianity revolves around the local church. Your relationship with Jesus might be personal, but it’s certainly not meant to be private. As a Christian, you’ve gone from exclusion to inclusion among the people of God. 

And notice that, according to the text, all of this hinges on faith. Jesus says we receive “a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Not just faith in a vaguely defined higher power, but faith in Jesus specifically to save us because of who he is and what he’s done on the cross. Also, if you back up a few words in the verse, you’ll notice the word “receive.” Jesus says that we “receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” The rescue Jesus offers isn’t something we achieve through own goodness but rather something we receive by trusting in Jesus as our great Rescuer. 

Conclusion

So as we think about these five aspects of personal conversion, let me encourage you again to consider using these things as a prayer guide for people in your life who aren’t yet Christians. At the very least, I encourage you to try to incorporate these concepts and this language into your prayers. 

And, of course, make sure that you yourself have experienced these things. How tragic would it be to hear such a detailed explanation of what conversion looks like and yet walk away from this place today in an unconverted state. Cry out to God even this morning, beg him to change your heart, and put your complete trust and confidence in Jesus to do for you what you can never do for yourself and rescue you from your sin. 

Yet, we’re actually not quite done with the story that’s recorded in Acts 26. Paul continues his defense before King Agrippa in verses 19-23, explaining that his obedience to Jesus and his proclamation of these truths is the reason why the Jews want to kill him. The governor Festus then interrupts him in verse 24: And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” So Festus believes that Paul has lost his mind. I imagine he considered it insane, first of all, for Paul to throw away all of his potential for becoming a highly respected Jewish rabbi and instead choose a path of suffering and humiliation as a follower of Jesus. Like…who does that? Paul had an incredible future within his reach, and yet he threw it all away! In addition, the assertion Paul makes in verse 23 that Jesus has risen from the dead is probably another thing that makes Festus think he’s insane. 

And, when you think about it, things haven’t really changed that much. Many, if not most, people in the world still continue to view devoted followers of Jesus as a little bit crazy. Now, in all fairness, there are some people who identify themselves as Christians who may legitimately have a few screws loose. I’m not talking about them. I’m simply talking about people who agree with Paul that, as he writes in Philippians 3:7-8: 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. That way of thinking is so contrary to this world’s mentality that most people just don’t have a category for it other than a little bit crazy. 

For example, I think of the story of William Borden, who lived from 1887 to 1913. Borden was fantastically wealthy—a millionaire at the time and no doubt a millionaire many times over in today’s dollars. Yet, he became a Christian and felt called to serve as a cross-cultural missionary among Muslims. So, after graduating from Yale and then Princeton, Borden gave away a vast portion of his fortune to missions, moved out of his massive mansion in Chicago, and went to Egypt in order to study Arabic. Needless to say, many people thought he was crazy. Then, while Borden was in Egypt, he contracted cerebral meningitis and died a few weeks later at a hospital in Cairo at the young age of 25. As you might imagine, at the news of his death, there were even more people who suggested that he had become mentally unbalanced. So, not a whole lot has changed since the events of Acts 26 [verse 24]. People with a worldly mentality simply can’t understand the thinking of those who are sold out to Jesus. They consider it to be insanity. 

Yet, in reality, I’d like to argue that it’s actually not those who are devoted to Jesus who are insane but rather the world that’s insane. To ignore eternity and live instead for the fleeting pleasures and treasures of this world is absolute insanity! In order to choose eternal judgment instead of eternal life just so you can enjoy the cheap thrills of sin, you’d have to be absolutely crazy! So, in the final analysis of Acts 26, it wasn’t Paul who was crazy but rather Festus and Agrippa and everyone else in the courtroom that day who shared their mentality who were functionally insane. 

Paul then continues to function in the sound mind that he possessed and boldly seeks to persuade King Agrippa of the gospel right then and there. We read in verses 28-29, 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” At that point, I’m sure Festus was even more convinced of Paul’s insanity. 

So, what about you? Do you show any symptoms of what this world would call insanity in your own life? Perhaps one takeaway from this passage is that, if you’re living in a way that makes perfect sense to the world and that people in general seem to understand, you’re probably not a very faithful follower of Jesus. If you’re truly devoted to Jesus and functioning with a biblical mentality, some people are probably going to think you’re a little crazy. And that’s okay—because we understand that living for Jesus with eternity in mind is, in reality, the only sane way to live. And it’s also very good evidence that we’ve experienced the conversion that, as we’ve seen, is of such paramount importance.