This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day three of week six of our look together to the book
of Acts. That means Acts 26 today, and in Acts 26, we have Paul's defense before
King Agrippa. We have Paul's defense, which actually ends up being his testimony
of faith.

We get to hear the story again of what happened in Paul's life in that day on
the Damascus Road when he met Jesus Christ. There's something about this chapter
reading about Paul's defense that's very real to me. On a trip to Israel a
number of years ago with a group of pastors, we were able to go to this
amphitheater in Caesarea where Paul gave this testimony, this defense.

And so I've been able to stand on that marble floor where Paul stood and look up
at the seats where Agrippa would have been seated. They're all stoned now,
obviously everything has been worn away, but you can tell because they're
bigger. This is where the king would have been seated in that day.

And I can picture in my mind where Paul stood as he looked up at this king and
he gave his defense of his faith in Christ. And what he talks about is not
politics, what he talks about is not history, what he talks about is not
philosophy, what he talks about is how Jesus has changed his life. In fact, as
you read the story of Paul, it's the story of every one of our lives who've come
to know Jesus Christ.

As you read the story of Paul, read the story of how three things, how three
things can let anybody know how Jesus has changed you. This is how you should
share your testimony, this is how I should share my testimony. Paul talks about
these three areas, his life before he came to know Jesus, number one.

Number two, how he came to know Jesus and number three, what changed in his life
since he'd come to know Jesus. First he says, "Here's my life before I came to
know Jesus," and he says in verses four to 11, "The Jews all know the way that I
lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country
and also in Jerusalem. They've known me for a long time and can testify if they
are willing that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a
Pharisee.

" And then in verse nine, "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was
possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and that is just what I did in
Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests, I put many of the saints in
prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a
time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to
force them to blaspheme, and my obsession against them, I even went to foreign
cities to persecute them.

" That's Paul's story, his life before he came to know Jesus. But then Paul
shares the second part of a testimony, how he came to know Jesus. In verses 12
to 16, "On one of these journeys, I was going to Damascus with the authority and
the commission of the chief priests.

About noon, O King, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter
than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground,
and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
me? It is hard for you to kick against the codes.

' And then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord? ' I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,
the Lord replied. 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've seen of me and what I will show you. '" I want you to notice in these
verses that Paul gives specifics of what happened in his heart. He says, "This
is what Jesus did in my life, and this is how it happened.

I met him on the road. This is what he said to me. This is what happened in my
heart.

" We all need to know how to respond when God taps us on the shoulder. When
something begins to stir in our heart, and hearing the story of what somebody
else did, someone else hearing your story of what God did in your life, that can
often show them how to respond to God when he's speaking into their hearts,
their lives. Paul talks about his life before he came to know Christ, he talks
about how he came to know Christ, and then finally he talks about his life since
he's come to know Christ.

In verses 19 to 23, "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision
from heaven. First to those in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and all
Judea, and to the Gentiles also. I preached that they should repent and turn to
God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I
have had God's help to this very day. And so I stand here and I testify to small
and great alike.

I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen, that
the Christ would suffer and as the first to rise from the dead would proclaim
light to his own people and to the Gentiles. " Paul talks and he says, "Here is
my life since I've come to know Christ. Here's how Jesus Christ changed my life.

Here's the difference that he made, that only he could make in my life. " Paul's
example to us is that every one of us needs to be ready to share that testimony.
If you've never taken the time to sit down and write out just a three-minute
testimony, a five-minute testimony of your life before you came to know Christ,
how you came to know Christ, and your life since you've come to know Christ.

That's one of the great things that God will use, one of the great gifts that
God has given you to share with other people. When I look at my own life, my
life before I came to know Christ, I was a person who grew up going to church.
My parents actually took me to church and dropped me off.

I went in, I learned about Jesus, and I formed my own opinion of what it meant
to be a Christian. I decided that being a Christian meant you tried to live a
good life, you believed Jesus lived and died and was resurrected 2,000 years
ago, and you went to church. You showed up at church every once in a while.

That's a Christian. Well, the older I got, the more I struggled with that
definition. First, it's hard to live a good life, finding a home without God's
power, I struggled with that.

Second, I saw a lot of people who said they were Christians, who believed that
Jesus was resurrected 2,000 years ago, but didn't act like it at all. And third,
church became more and more boring for me, it seemed more and more separated
from my life, from connection with me. So I began to struggle with what this
really meant, but I still hung out at church because I had friends that went to
church and I liked being with my friends.

And I began to notice that there was a difference in the life of some of my
friends who said they were Christians, and in my life, and it brought some
questions. But the truth of the matter is, I was too stubborn, I was too
prideful to ask them why their life was different from mine. So then the second
part of a testimony, how I came to know Christ.

One night we all went to a church meeting together where a guy was talking about
what it meant to believe in Jesus. And he stood up and he said, "Believing in
Jesus does not mean you just believe you lived 2,000 years ago, or you try to be
a good person, or you go to church. That's a churchgoer, that's not somebody who
really is following Jesus.

" And he explained, and I probably heard this a thousand times before, but for
some reason that night I understood it, I didn't just hear it, I understood it.
He explained that believing in Jesus meant he had a relationship with him. He
trusted him to forgive the wrong things that you've done, and he trusted him to
lead and guide your life.

And after he talked about that, he said, "I want to lead you in a prayer, and in
that prayer I want to encourage you to trust God in that way. " And I did, I
prayed. When he said, "Trust God and pray in this way," I prayed that prayer.

I didn't understand at all what it meant in my life at that moment, I didn't
understand I was turning a corner from being just a churchgoing kid who was
getting more and more bored with church to becoming a believer in Christ who was
going to follow him the rest of my life. I just knew that was a prayer that I
needed to pray, a trust that I needed to make. So I trusted him.

So how about my life since I've come to know Christ? Well, immediately, even
though I didn't understand that big changes were supposed to happen, I saw some
big changes. Immediately, I began to have this sense of purpose that I'd never
had before.

I knew that my life meant something, that it counted for something, that there
was meaning in my life. Now later, some of my friends who were believers, they
explained to me, "That's because you have God's Spirit in your life, and he's
made some changes in your life that you didn't understand. " Immediately, I
began to get a new love for reading his word and understanding what it was, and
immediately, I had this sense of purpose that I needed to reach out and make a
difference.

And as I walk through the years now, the decades with Jesus Christ, I've seen
him again and again and again, "Be faithful to me. Be faithful even when I am
not trusting him in a situation, when I'm letting worry overwhelm me. Be
faithful to me even when I'm headed the wrong direction.

I'm seeing him be faithful to grow me and to change me and to love me every step
of the way. " What's your testimony? That's Paul's testimony, and that's my
testimony.

Mine certainly isn't as dramatic as Paul's. I didn't have any Damascus Road
experience. What's your testimony?

And maybe you're wondering right now, "Do I have one? " Could I point to a time,
maybe not the exact day, not everyone knows the exact date that they became a
believer, but could I point to an exact time in my life when I change from
someone who just thought about Jesus to someone who trusted in him for
forgiveness for life? If you're not sure that you come to that place in your
life, you can be sure right now.

Right now, just say to Jesus Christ, "Jesus, I want to trust you. I want to
trust you to forgive the wrong things that I've done. I want to trust you, and I
want to begin to live the kind of life that you've made me to live.

I trust you to be my Savior and Lord, the forgiver of my sins and the leader of
my life. And in Jesus' name, I trust you. " If you prayed that prayer just then,
you've just become a part of the story of the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is all about how the gospel goes out into the whole world. But
for you, the most important thing is that the good news of Jesus Christ comes
into your life. If you've listened all the way through this book of Acts and
come to this point and now you've realized, "I need to trust God in that kind of
way.

" Now you are part of the story of this book. You are part of the story of what
the Holy Spirit's done in the book of Acts and has been doing in the world for
2,000 years. And now part of your testimony is this testimony of Paul and how
God used it to bring new life to your life.

As we close, I want to pray for you. I want to pray for you in this new
commitment that you've made to Christ. All of us do who are listening to this.

Jesus, right now, we pray together for those who just heard this and have said,
"I want to trust Jesus with my life. I want to follow him. " We pray that you
give faith and strength and growth.

Put the right people into this man, this woman's life, this boy, this girl's
life. Put the right church. Let your word overwhelm their lives.

God, give encouragement right now that even though they may not feel that you've
come into their lives, God, you will keep your promise that when we open the
door, you do come in. You fellowship with us. You begin a relationship with us
that lasts into all eternity.

Give that assurance right now, we pray. We thank you, Jesus, for the new life
that you give because of the good news of your forgiveness of your life. In your
name we pray, amen.

Tomorrow we continue in our study of the book of Acts and we're going to see
what we can learn about confidence in a crisis through a shipwreck that Paul
faces.