TOPIC:"The Man Who Witnessed Before a King"
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Acts 26:15-23
"Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision...I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great" (26:19, 22).
No person ever witnessed more about Jesus Christ than the Apostle Paul. His personal encounter with the living Christ forever changed his life. Paul never lost his fierce intensity of witnessing as he preached the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Sharing the "good news" of the Gospel, Paul became a world-traveler for Christ.
In verse 16 before our text the risen Lord appeared before Saul of Tarsus and stated these words to him as he made his way to Damascus to get rid of the Christians. "Rise and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and those things in the which I will appear unto thee." The living Christ continues regarding Paul's witness to the Gentiles in verses 17 and 18: "I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins."
Now we find in those words the purpose behind our witnessing to non-believers - "to open their eyes, turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan, in order to receive the forgiveness of sins." That should be the purpose behind every sermon that is preached, every lesson that is taught, every song that is sung and every word that is shared.
So we have here in the life of the Apostle Paul without doubt the greatest career in witnessing in the history of the Christian church. Paul's incredibly active and adventurous career took him on three fruitful missionary journeys as he witnessed everywhere he went about this forgiving and redeeming Christ. Let us now consider the witness Paul gave before this unconverted King.
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First of all, Paul witnessed to King Agrippa about life's SOVEREIGN DELIVERER. He speaks about the delivering Christ in verse 23: "That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead." Now notice Paul's words as he continues: "and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." That's what people need to know about Christ. When light dawns, deliverance immediately follows. Let's take a few moments at this point to behold how Paul in his writings uses this word "deliver" or as the New International Version has it "rescue," ever realizing, you can't have deliverance without a Deliverer.
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