Acts 26:24-32 – At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” 25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” 30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.” 32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
“At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” What Festus said to Paul allows us to draw two conclusions. One is that what Luke has given to us is a summary of all that Paul had said in his speech. Also that what Paul had said was powerful and so convincing that even this non-believing Festus was overwhelmed. Oh to have been there and heard the whole speech!
How do we draw the conclusion that what Paul said was powerful, logical and convincing? Festus did not accuse Paul of making wild statements but remarked about his great learning. Family and friends, what Paul stated was powerful and convincing and what he said startled Governor Festus.
““I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.” Paul’s reply to Festus is respectful. His first response is that he was not insane. He then said that he had spoken the truth. Additionally he stated that he has been reasonable. If it had not been reasonable it would not have “shook up” Festus. Fetus’ response was to the strong argument that he could not contest, but that had led him to the Truth of the Gospel. Festus mocked as men in fear do as a defense mechanism, or simply when they have no reasonable response.
Festus likely did not fully grasp the message. But Paul knew who very likely did, that would be King Agrippa who was versed in the scriptures and may have claimed his Jewish heritage. Paul appealed to what the king had surely heard of before. The king was in contact with the Jewish leadership and had his “ear to the floor.” The king had heard of the followers of Jesus and it is very likely he knew what they believed by the complaining of the Jewish leaders. Since the king was familiar with scriptures, some say he studied them, that being so, he could conceivably have understood what Paul had elucidated. Paul said that the Gospel was publicly preached, publicly known, not being preached in a corner so only some would know. (Matthew 10:27)
“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” We who have ever presented the Gospel to anyone, or ever argued for a cause, know that we often know when the person, or persons, whom we are speaking to are understanding and receiving what we are speaking. Paul knew that he had touched “a nerve” with the king. So he said to king “Remember what you believe, what you have professed to believe.” Paul was of course referring to scripture and what the prophets had written about. The fulfillment of what the prophets had written was Jesus. (Matthew 5:17) So recalling what the king knew of scripture Paul had, in his speech laid it all out. It is offered that Paul likely tailored what he said to the king. So Paul is telling the king that he heard the argument for Jesus as Messiah that Paul had laid out. Surely he had seen how they were fulfilled in Jesus. In fact Paul went so far as to say that not only did he think that the king understood, but that he knew the king did. In the natural we can often tell when people being spoke to agree, but when the whispering of the Holy Spirit comes into play, well then, things can be known with certainty.
We will see in the succeeding verses that though the king had understood and likely was right on the verge of relinquishing his defenses and accepting the Truth into his life, he pulled back. This story always reminds me of an elder person whom I deeply loved. He was a self-confessed non-believer. However, he would allow me to spend time with him to tell him the Gospel message. I would ask him if he would like to ask Jesus to be his personal Savior and Lord. There were times that he truly started to say yes, but he then drew back. That elder is now deceased and most would think that he left this world without Jesus as his Savior. However, I don’t know that to be true. This elder, when passing on, had time to himself to consider his mortality and the future. No one knows what he may have decided in his last moments. I like to believe that he, in his solitary final moments, came to the Lord. I like to hope that I will, when I get there, see him in heaven. I truly hope so, I loved him very deeply.
So for all of us, only God knows what the Holy Spirit will give to us to say that will impact and make the difference to the people that we know and that we love. What will the Lord give us to say that some, or someone, will remember and their life will be impacted? Who could those impacted be? Our child, or grandchild, niece or nephew, or friend? Family, let us share the Word at every opportunity. Let us pray for those opportunities. Eternity lays in the balance. Let us praise God for the opportunity to do so. Yes, always let us praise God! Amen!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”