The Battle In The Trenches

The Battle Objective: Evangelism (Part 2)

Acts 26:12-20

We began this service this morning differently than we usually do. Instead of songs of praise and worship, we spent out opening minutes testifying about the Lord. It’s a wonderful and perfectly acceptable substitute for songs of praise and worship – to stand and give testimony of God’s leading, His grace and mercy, His provision and faithfulness.

I want you to travel back with me in time to a worship service of another church, an early church, meeting in Jerusalem at around the year 58AD. A special guest has arrived to share with the church leaders – it is Paul. He’s been traveling around the Roman Empire preaching and teaching, starting churches, testifying before some of the great academic minds of Greece, Israel and the empire. The people can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

So the Senior Pastor, James, brings Paul up front for an interview.

JAMES: “So Paul, tell us about the wonderful things the Lord has been doing for you.”

PAUL: “Well, let's see. First I was struck blind. I got over that but then somebody tried to kill me and I had to escape in a basket. Then they stoned me, threw me in jail, beat me with rods ..."

JAMES: "Uh, Paul, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I think you misunderstood. Tell us, what terrific, fantastic things has the Lord been doing for you – that’s what our people what to hear about!”

PAUL: "That's what I was doing! Where was I – oh, yes, then the Romans arrested me, I was shipwrecked—I spent a night and a day floating on the open sea, then I was bit by a snake, and…”

Think about it – I don’t think you’d see that kind of interview on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson today. We’d expect to hear it like this:

"I was miserable. Then I found Jesus. Now my life is fulfilled and I'm happy! Things have been going great for me since I became a Christian. All my problems have gone away. The Lord has blessed me materially. Since I started sending my tithe to pastor James here at First Baptist Church of Jerusalem, my tent-making business has prospered as never before. Things are great and I expect them to get even better!"

Well, that’s not the interview Paul would give! In fact, this morning we are going to take a look at just such an interview.  The person doing the questioning is King Agrippa – king of the region of the Roman empire known as Palestine. I believe that as we examine Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa, we have a chance to learn two very important lessons about our own lives. We will see those lessons, as we look first at the conditions that brought him to this interview/testimony, and secondly, at the content of what he had to say.

First, the Context of the Testimony

I believe that the context and circumstances that brought Paul to that particular place at that specific time provide a huge life lesson for us, as we engage in the Battle in the Trenches. Jesus warned His followers, “in this life you will trouble.” We are citizens of a foreign kingdom living in enemy occupied territory, battling for the souls of men, women and children. The primary objective of our battle is to share the truth of Jesus with those who do not know Him.

The Bible is filled with descriptions of Jesus-followers engaged in battle – and so we are! But many believers live in denial of the truth that we live every day in a battle zone. We go around expecting things to get better and better – that we will always be victorious happy people with no struggles or disappointments. We have convinced ourselves that, since we have trusted Jesus as Savior, then our bank accounts should always have a positive balance, our relationships should be like something from a 1950’s sitcom, and our children will be perfect cherubs who will one day be rich enough to support us in our old age.

But that is not the life Jesus promised. He said, in Lu 21:12,

…They will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

That is what Jesus told us to expect from this life, and that is exactly what has happened to Paul. In Acts chapter 26, we read of Paul’s testimony before Agrippa. Two years earlier he had been arrested on false charges in Jerusalem. At that time he got to give his testimony to the whole Jewish Sanhedrin. Then there was a plot against his life and so he was moved to Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. There he gave his testimony to Felix the Roman governor. Now two years later, (Acts 24:26) the new Roman governor Festus hears Paul’s case, and he has invited king Agrippa to join him at the trial because Paul has appealed his case to Caesar, and Festus needs some legal advice.

So the whole Jewish legal council, and three of the highest political officials in the area (Felix, Festus, Agrippa) all heard the gospel because Paul was arrested and imprisoned on false charges. How would you and I react if we spent two years imprisoned on false charges? What kind of testimony would WE give in the middle of THAT? Man, I get frustrated when we can’t get a passport in a timely fashion! 

Some of us may feel like were in the middle of a two-year set back today. Anybody on a two-year detour that you had not planned? Now, in Paul’s case, we need to remember that he is not here because of some sin in his life, or act of disobedience to God or a Biblical principal. He is in this place because God put him there – not because he put himself there! But in every situation of our lives, we can trust in God to either redeem our circumstances – if we’ve put ourselves there because we messed up – or to see our struggle as part of His sovereign plan.

Have you ever thought about this – the troubles you are going through have placed you in a place you would not have been otherwise? You are working next to people you would not have encountered, living in neighborhoods you might never have moved to, and meeting people that would not have been part of your life. Paul’s prison years led to witnessing to kings, and eventually even making converts in the family of Caesar himself! On his trip to Rome to go on trial before Caesar, he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta and spent three months there leading people to Christ!

There’s a lot of hope in this message! What a way to live! You get up in the morning and you pray and make your plan for the day. But then you pray again and say, "Lord, I know that I do not control this day -- what will happen to my car, who will call me at work, whom I will see at lunch, and a hundred other unexpected details. Would you govern my day so that all its unplanned detours and sudden struggles are spiritually valuable? Help me to see divine appointments where Satan may only want me to see interruptions and irritations."

The Content of the Testimony

And so as we look at our text today, there are two things to notice. First, the context and conditions are a testimony to God's sovereignty - what seemed out of control was actually under His control. Now secondly, for the rest of our time this morning, we want to look at content of Paul’s testimony.

First, notice that the layout of Paul’s testimony is one that we can use. He tells about his life before Jesus, he then talks about his encounter with Christ, then what his life has been like since. That is a very effective way of sharing your faith that any of us can use. If you’ve known Jesus for one day or 40 years, you can give that testimony – and no one can argue your personal experience! They can try to argue theology, or interpretation, but they can’t argue with results!

The thing about Paul’s testimony that is radically different from most that we hear today is that his life was (worldly speaking) easier before He met Jesus than it was after! He talks about being a Pharisee, of his great schooling, his great zeal, the authority and power he had from the Jewish leaders. Then Paul talks of his encounter with Jesus. That’s when, (again worldly speaking) things got tough – blindness, rejection, physical attacks, false accusations, prison and all the rest. I think that’s important for us to note – tell people the truth – let them know that following Jesus isn’t supposed to be easy – but it is the best life we can ever live!

When he gets to that part of his story about meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, he tells Agrippa what Jesus said to him. That's where we see the second part of the content of Paul’s testimony that we want to look at. In verses 16-18, Jesus said to Paul,

Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them 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.'

In this paragraph, Jesus lays out Paul’s mission objective – and in it, He gives us some insight into our objectives as followers of Jesus.

1. Jesus says in verse 17: "…I am sending you to them…" How does this differ from the way we look at our mission today?

We tend to wait for people to come to us. The church is not intended to be “come and see” organization – we are supposed to be a “go and tell” organization! We are never commanded to “Make disciples of those who make it through the doors of the church.” We are to “Go into the world and make disciples…”

2. Why is Jesus sending Paul (and us) into the world?

“To open their eyes…" Verse 18

 “Turn them from darkness to light…”

 “So that they might have forgiveness from sins…”

 “And a place among those who are sanctified by faith…”

“To open their eyes…”

Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:4, "The god of this age (Satan) 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 likeness of God." But Christ tells us in this text that he wants this blindness to be healed. He desires to give sight. We said last week that He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” That's the goal of evangelism. That’s the objective of our battle.

But we ask, how can I do that? How can I open the eyes of the blind? The answer of course is that we can't. Right after Paul says that Satan has blinded the eyes of unbelievers, he writes in 2 Cor. 4:6, "It is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." It is God who created light in the beginning, and it is God who now can open the eyes of the spiritually blind.

But Acts 26:18 says that Christ sends Paul to do it: "I send you to open their eyes." I take this to mean that we are to be partners with the Holy Spirit in the opening the eyes of the blind. We do two key things. We pray for God to open the eyes of the blind. And we speak words of truth about Christ so that when the people's eyes are opened there is something to believe. That's our part. We put the truth of Christ into a person's mind with our testimony, and we pray for the miracle of sight for the spiritually blind. And God in His time and in His way says, "Let there be light!" It is then that the objective is met.

“Turn them from darkness to light…”

A blind person doesn’t know if he’s in darkness or light. A person spiritually who has been blind, may not even recognize darkness around him – but as believers, part of our goal is to help those who have had their eyes open to recognize the difference between light and dark, and to turn away from the dark. This is called maturity, spiritual growth, or the theological term “sanctification.” It means that as we learn more about Jesus, we turn more toward Jesus, and away from the world. Part of our objective is to help new believers, and all believers, do just that.

What are the results of all this?

“So that they receive forgiveness of sins…”

This happens at that moment of belief. In that instant that God says, “Let there be light in this blind soul!” and the person responds with belief in the message of the gospel, their sins are forgiven – the price for their failures and rebellion and all their sin is immediately paid by the blood of Jesus. 

And, “so that they may receive a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].” When the light goes on in our souls, and we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we “receive a place among the sanctified.” We are granted a spot in the family of God. It’s like another place is set at the family dinner table – we are part of the clan! 

That’s what happens when we fully engage in the battle in the trenches! That’s what happens when we remember our responsibility as followers of Jesus! We get the amazing privilege of going and proclaiming the truth to the blind – God sends US to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from Satan to God. He allows us to be the messengers of forgiveness from sin, and we get to be the ones who bring an invitation to the world to come and be part of the family of God.

What an amazing truth! What an awesome privilege! What an incredible battle! 

Rise up, O church of God,

Be done with lesser things,

Give heart and soul and mind and strength

To serve the King of Kings!