The First Letter of Peter- 11

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 3

1 Peter 2:21-25. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, February 1, 2026.

In his instructions to household slaves leading up to this passage, Peter makes this point.  If you suffer for doing what is right and patiently endure it, there is favor with God.  He now points them (us) to Jesus as a great example of what he is talking about.  Jesus suffered for doing what was right, and he righteously endured it.

Jesus is not just an example to household slaves.  He is also an example to all of us in our situations that may have differences but are essentially the same dynamic spiritually.  We are going to see through the rest of the letter that Peter continually points us back to this example he lays out here.

No matter what relationship may bring us suffering, God’s purpose is to create millions of examples (exhibits) of those who suffered for doing what was right, and yet, patiently endured it.

Let’s look at our passage.

Christ is our example (v. 21-25)

Verse 21 adds the phrase “leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  Think of all the steps that Jesus made in which he could have turned back, but he kept going forward. 

Peter is doing this when he asks to step out of the boat.  Peter made a choice to ask, and then he chose to step out of the boat.  Notice that there is a point at which the results of our decision carry us along, for good or for bad.  It is not that there are no more choices to be made, but that there are tidal forces carrying us.  We tend to warn about the power of consequences, but we should also see that there is a good in it.  The choice to step out of the boat created a scenario in which there was no going back.  He would either walk or sink.  There is a certain good in this.  When we steel our courage and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we find ourselves in scary places, yes.  But we also find ourselves in places where God shows up to help us through it.  Just that first step to follow his example is often the opening of a whole river of God’s help.

Jesus chose to care the burden of the cross for us, and so we ought to carry our cross for him.  Praise God that He is working in us to help us do this very thing!

Theological liberals love to say that Jesus is only an example of love, i.e., he was not actually paying a price for our sins.  This is an error and contradictory to Scripture.  However, it is also an error to downplay the reality of the example that Jesus has given us.  Of course, this example of trusting the will of God would do us no good if Jesus had not truly atoned for our sin.  But he has made peace between us and God.  He has supplied the Holy Spirit within us to help us do this!

Peter then quotes from Isaiah 53:9, “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.”  This is a passage describing God’s work through His perfect servant, the Messiah.  Israel had failed to rightly serve God’s purposes.  However, God would bring forth a perfect servant, a suffering servant, who would save Israel and the Gentiles by his righteousness and suffering.

This Old Testament verse uses a word that is generally translated as “violence.”  The word involves doing wrong to someone in a harsh way.  This can be a physically violent act, or metaphorically violent in the sense of brazen and bold wrongs done to another.

When translated into Greek, the translators chose a word that means lawlessness.  Only a lawless person would sin against others in such a bold and harsh way.  The quote in 1 Peter says, “who committed no sin.”  Peter expands the “lawless” translation of the earlier Greek manuscripts to the more general “sin.”  Definitely Christ was revealed to them as not being a violent, lawless man.  However, Jesus was more than this.  He was without sin.  We see Jesus challenging his opponents in John 8:46, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?”  Of course, the only “sin” they could pin on him was that he a man made himself one with God, which is no sin if it was true.  Hebrews 4:15; 7:26, 1 John 3:5, among many other New Testament verses, agree with this statement of Peter.  The Messiah was a sinless man.  The apostles came to see that Jesus was the only perfect imager of God the Father who had ever lived on this planet.

The second part of this Old Testament quote from Isaiah 53 says that he was free of deceit, or treachery.  There is nothing like suffering to bring out the worst in us.  It is often in our desire to avoid difficulty that we choose a path of misleading people or hiding the truth.

Jesus positively did good things to people, but he also refrained from doing wrong to others.  This is the example that we are called to follow, not because it saves us, but because we have been saved.  I can’t follow Jesus perfect enough to save myself, but I can follow Jesus out of perfect thankfulness for his saving grace.

This leads us into the next descriptions of the character and actions of Jesus.  These emphasize what he didn’t do.

Jesus did not respond with reviling to those who reviled him.  To revile someone is about verbal abuse.  It can be translated to rail against someone.  Any time you see someone spitting mad yelling obscenities and accusations at another person, you are seeing this in action.  In fact, this is a perfect example of the metaphorical violence that Isaiah 53:9 references.  How easy it is to become so angry with such people to begin shouting back at them and responding to them in kind.

Jesus was accused of many things in very unkind manners.  During his trial, he is even pictured as being blindfolded, punched, and in a mocking manner, told to prophesy who hit him.  This was both verbally abusive and physically abusive.  Yet, Jesus did not yell back and say hateful things against them.  When we are squeezed by life, the stuff that is deep within us is generally brought to the surface.  You and I have a history of failing in this area when we are in the pressure cooker of suffering.  Yet Jesus went through it without sin.

If you remember the night of his betrayal and arrest, you will also remember that Jesus showed the disciples how they could follow him.  It would require more than a spirit that was willing.  A willing spirit must deal with its weak flesh through prayer, wrestling with God over His purpose in our life and yielding to Him.

1 Peter 2:23 also mentions that he uttered no threats.  Sometimes threats are empty because we have no way of backing them up.  We may be powerless, but Jesus is not.  Jesus has great power and thus shows great restraint.

Of course, don’t get Peter wrong.  There is a great threat looming over those who reject Jesus.  How you treat him will determine your eternity.  However, Jesus doesn’t threaten people.  He only points out the truth.  During his trial, he found it best to generally not respond to their accusations, taunts, and lies.  Yet this doesn’t change the fact that there is a day of judgment for each of us and for this world as a whole.  God will hold us accountable for choosing our sin over the top of the righteousness of Jesus.

The last thing that Peter points out about how Jesus endured suffering is that he entrusted “himself to Him who judges righteously.”  Persecution doesn’t only affect how we treat others.  It can also affect our relationship with God the Father.  Jesus entrusted himself to God the Father even in the face of death by wicked men.  He could do this because His relationship with the Father only knew Him as trustworthy.  Jesus stepped out of the boat of mortality and put himself into the hands of the Father.  “Do with me what you will, Father!”  God could powerfully stop his persecutors or not.  Regardless, Jesus both knew and trusted the decision of the Father.  May God help us to have such a relationship of trust in Him.

Remember that God is never “on the side of sinners.”  If it looks like they are getting ahead and that it pays to be wicked, don’t believe it.  They will eventually stand before God and despise themselves in His presence.  However, God is on the side of sinners in the sense that He is trying to break through their spiritual blindness.  Our righteous suffering may be the only thing that pricks the heart of the wicked and turns them back from sin.  Can I do that for Jesus?  He promises to reward our service for His purposes, but we have to trust Him with our life.  Yes, they may reject the witness we give, but at least God sees me.  He doesn’t like what is being done to me.  However, if I do this rightly, I can have His favor.  I can remain in the place of His favor.

This suffering of Jesus is more than an example of love and trust.  Verse 24 shows us that Jesus was a sacrifice that provides spiritual healing for us.  In Jesus, God is providing a way for sinners to find spiritual healing. 

We sometimes act like we don’t know what God is doing through us, but we do know in general.  He is showing Himself to the world through us.  We don’t have to perfectly understand all the ways that He is doing that in order to say, yes, to Him.  This is what faith (trust) is all about.

In trusting God, Jesus did something for God that needed to be done if any humans were to dwell with God in eternity.  Without Jesus even the best of humans would be stuck in the grave, unable to enter into His presence.  We may be clueless to what God is doing specifically, but we do know that it has to do with showing others who Jesus is.  Jesus provided for our spiritual healing, but then he uses you and me to bring that spiritual healing into the minds and lives of the lost.  We provide opportunities for them to know His spiritual healing.  Verse 24 explains how his sacrifice does this.

“He himself carried our sins in his body on the tree.”  If you approach this from an Old Testament mindset, you will recognize the importance of this word, “tree.”  This whole thing with sin started with some trees in Genesis three.  The Tree of Life was counterposed to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  They chose (we choose) to go after the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than the Tree of Life.  There is something about trees in the word of God that is important.  We see this in Psalm 1.  The perfect Israelite (there was ever only one) would be a Tree of Life that would bring forth fruit rather than chaff.  This ultimate fruitful Israelite would only be the Messiah who is presented in the next psalm.  Blessed are those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 2:12). 

Scripture doesn’t describe the Tree of Life, but the New Testament presents Jesus as the ultimate Psalm One Blessed Man.  Yet the tree on which he provided life for us did not look desirable.  It was a cross.  Everything in our flesh wants to continue to flee to the other tree, but God calls us to embrace this tree of suffering in Jesus.

Jesus took your sins, my sins, in his body (a representative of whomever would believe in him) to the cross.  God’s punishment upon our sin came upon Jesus who was sinless.  Is this fair?  Of course, it is not!  However, it is love.  In Jesus, our sin has been nailed to the cross and punished.

Notice the contrast between the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of this age.  Jesus embraces our death upon himself.  He sacrifices his mortal self in the name of God’s purpose in humanity.  The spirit of this age will sacrifice any number (the more the better) of humans for the sake of humanity.  Those who make the decision of just whom will be sacrificed will never be caught making sacrifices themselves.  Which of these hearts will you choose?

Peter than describes that this was “so we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”  Our sins and the guilt that comes with them have been dealt with by God.  He simply asks me to admit my fault, yield to the Lord Jesus Christ, and put my faith in him.  If we do this, our sin and guilt will be completely removed.  The flesh will still battle us, but it cannot change what Jesus has done, once and for all.  By faith, we can die to the sin that we so easily want to do and come alive to the righteousness that He wants to work in us and work through us.  If we claim that His love is working in us, then we will see it working through us to others.

Peter then quotes from Isaiah 53 again (verse 5).  It is the wounding of Christ that provides for our healing.  This is important because Peter is pointing us to this as an example.  Because of Jesus, our suffering and wounds can do some good, both in our lives and in the lives of others.  My wounds and suffering can point others to Jesus and his salvation.

Spiritual healing does involve the removal of the external guilt of our sin that hangs over us.  However, it is the internal guilt of sin that is harder to heal.  We have to let the forgiveness of Christ and the love of God teach us the better way, the way of Christ!

Peter then ends with emphasizing our spiritual condition in verse 25. He breaks this up into two different stages.  Before Jesus, we were continually straying like sheep.  Notice that this is an allusion to Isaiah 53:6. Led by our fears, ignorance, and desires, we stray away from the Good Shepherd and the grace of God.  “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him.”  This was true of Israel, and it was true of the Gentile nations.  It was true of me, and it was true of you.  This is our helpless state before Jesus came and before we came to know about him.

But now, after coming to Jesus, we are something different.  We are now sheep who are returning, coming back, to the Good Shepherd who is also the Overseer of our souls.  Both shepherd and overseer correspond with what later became role titles in the church: pastors and bishops respectively.  I don’t think Peter is giving any sense of religious title here.  Jesus is the good shepherd in every way that a shepherd is good for sheep.  He is the great overseer watching out against our enemies and for our good.

Doesn’t it seem odd that Peter (one of the sheep) is exhorting the rest of the sheep to be more like the Good Shepherd!  May God help us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus by the help of His Holy Spirit!

Witness 3 audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 94

Subtitle:  Paul Arrives in Rome

Acts 28:11-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 2, 2025.

The first part of this passage deals with Paul’s itinerary from the island of Malta to the city of Rome.  They had wintered on Malta for about 3 months, but now it was time to get these prisoners to Rome. 

They finish the trip from Malta to Rome (v. 11-16)

You can go to https://bibleatlas.org/ to see these locations.  From Malta, they sail north to the island of Sicily.  There they stay three days in the town of Syracuse.  They then sail along the southeastern coast of Sicily headed towards the Strait of Messian.  They spend a day docked at the town of Rhegium, which is on the tip of the “boot” of Italy.  They then take advantage of a south wind (blowing north) and head up the western coast of modern-day Italy.  They dock at a town called Puteoli and end up staying there seven days.  From here, they will travel to Rome by land.

In Puteoli, they found brethren (other believers in Jesus).  It is probably through them that word is sent ahead to the Christians in Rome.

As they travel to Rome, we are told that the brethren came out to meet them as far away as the Market of Appius, which was about 43 miles from Rome.  This would be similar to the Rome custom of greeting a hero, or emperor, coming home to Rome from war.  Of course, there is a lot of irony in the fact that Paul is in chains and on his way to Rome as a prisoner.  From the viewpoint of believers, this makes him a hero, but from the Roman pagan mentality, he is not a hero.

Verse 15 tells us that Paul thanked God and took courage when he saw them.  Though he is experiencing a situation that would discourage most people, we see him being encouraged by God through many means: angel visits, dreams, help from unbelievers, and help from other believers.  God can and does employ a multitude of ways to help His followers.

It is easy to lose sight of the humanity of a man like Paul.  If you tell someone to follow Paul’s example, or Moses, or Elijah, they typically scoff it off.  “He was a saint!  I’m not.”  Of course, all Christians are saints, i.e., people who have been set apart by God for His purposes.   But, it is easy to be derisive of such encouragement.  We feel like there is no way that we can relate with a man like Paul.

When Paul is coming to Rome, he is a saint of God who is being faithful to his calling in the face of persecution.  However, these people meeting him are just as much saints as he is.  Paul was encouraged because a part of him was struggling with the difficulty of everything.  He is just a man, needing God’s encouragement through whatever means it might come.  Do you think that the Holy Spirit may have stirred their hearts to travel 40 miles in order to walk back to Rome with Paul?

We need to pay attention to this area of being encouraged because the enemy wants us to be discouraged and quit the work of God, or at least become paralyzed.  Many of the encouraging things above cannot be controlled (angel visitations, what others do, etc.)  However, there are somethings that are intended to encourage us, and they are completely in our control (at least, generally).  We can read the Scriptures like this story and be encouraged that the same God who helped Paul is working in our life.  We can pray to God and be encouraged by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  We can also be intentional in connecting with other believers.  God intends for us to encourage one another.

They arrive at Rome.  Paul is not handed over to the captain of the guard.  Instead, he is allowed to rent a place where he can stay under the guard of a soldier.  This treatment is most likely because Centurion Julius doesn’t think Paul is a flight risk and has requested this kinder treatment.

Paul calls for the leaders of the Jews of Rome  (v. 17-22)

Paul would normally visit the synagogue on Saturday, but he is under house arrest.  Therefore, he sends word to the Jewish leaders, asking them to meet with him.

When they arrive, he begins by explaining that he has done nothing against “our people” and the “customs of our fathers.”  These counteract the main charges against Paul that have circulated throughout the Jewish communities.  They accused him of being a traitor and undermining the Mosaic laws, as well as trying to destroy the temple.

Yet, he has still been delivered into the hands of the Romans as a prisoner by the Jews of Jerusalem.  He also mentions that the Romans were of the mind to set him free due to the fact that there were no grounds to keep him.  Yet, the Jerusalem leaders objected so much to a release that Paul had to appeal to Caesar.  In all of this, Paul makes it clear that he does not intend to lay a charge against Jerusalem before Caesar.  He will only present his innocence.

He tells them that he is wearing these chains for the sake of the “Hope of Israel.”  His faith and belief in the Hope of Israel is at the foundation of why he is there.  There are many things that we can point to as a hope of Israel, but most of these are things that they are hoping for. 

The hope of Israel is another way of referencing the God of Israel.  This is seen in the book of Jeremiah.  Look at Jeremiah 14:7-9, particularly verse 8.  Jeremiah addresses God as such.  “O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?”  Again in Jeremiah 17:13-14, we see, “O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame.”  Ultimately God Himself was the Hope of Israel.  God had also promised an Anointed Son who would redeem Israel and set all things right in the world.  The Messiah then, by extension, becomes the particular means by which the Hope of Israel had promised to help and to save them.

Israel was still giving at least lip-service to the hope of Messiah’s arrival.  Of course, this hope was realized in Jesus, that is the point.  Jesus was the Messiah, the Hope of Israel.  Yet, the leaders were not having anything with that belief.  They rejected Jesus as anything but a heretic.

Let me just say that Jesus is the Hope of Israel, but he is also the Hope of Everett, WA.  He is the Hope of these Fractured States of America.  He is the Hope of every nation under the sun.  If we are to be mistreated and looked down upon, let it be for the sake of the Hope of America.

Yet, there is a personal thing here too.  The Hope of Israel has become the Hope of Paul.  How?  It has become so by faith.  He has put his faith in Jesus.  He has believed God’s witness of His Son.

If a person is connect to Hope with a capital “H”, then they have nothing to doubt or fear.  Yes, in our mortal flesh, we will feel doubts and fears, but the Hope of Jesus is there to keep us out of bondage.  By his Spirit, he helps us to fight through those doubts and fears.  Paul was a man just like you and me.  Yes, I can sense your eyes rolling. So, what is the secret?  Quit looking at the chains and start looking to Jesus.  Quit connecting to the doubts and fears and start connecting to the Hope of the World.

The Jewish leaders tell Paul that no letters or men have arrived in Rome.  They have heard nothing about his case.  This may be because they know they have no case and fear standing before Caesar “wasting his time.”  It may also be that they think the problem will go away now that Paul is removed from the equation.

Of course, the work of Christ is not dependent upon any one person, even the Apostle Paul.  Paul is important and you are important.  Jesus works in and through all of his followers.  However, no matter what happens to me, the work of Jesus will continue where he wants it to do so.  The enemy can do his best to get rid of this person or that person because of their effectiveness.  But, this will never stop the work of our Lord Jesus.

We need to adopt this attitude.  On one hand, I am irrelevant to God’s work because I cannot stop the work of God.  Yet, on the other hand, God wants me (you) to join Him in this work.  He plans to use your successes and failures in order to advance His kingdom.

When that attitude surfaces that says, “I’m not Paul, so I can’t do anything.”  Stop it immediately.  Instead, trust God and do what He says for us to do.  You know, the general call to be a witness of Jesus.  And then, seek His specific calling and will in your life everyday.  Do what He wants you to do.

Though these religious leaders have not heard about Paul, they have had reports about these followers of Jesus.  This group is “spoken against everywhere.”

It is not easy being in a group that is maligned, pilloried, and lied against.  This is what it means to stand with Jesus.  In fact, today, different groups under the banner of Christianity can be the very ones maligning you.  Such a place is not comfortable for our flesh, like being on a cross. 

May God help us to get our eyes on something greater than the attacks against us.  May we see the glory of the victory procession of King Jesus.  In that day, none of the malignant statements and lies will stand!

Arrives in Rome audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 91

Subtitle:  At the Mercy of the Winds

Acts 27:1-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 9, 2025.

We now turn to the final act of the book of Acts, which is Paul’s voyage to Rome and the subsequent two years under house arrest while he waits for his appeal to Caesar.

It could be called Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey, except this journey has him under Roman arrest.  Previously, Paul chose to travel by land and by sea to convert people to Jesus and establish churches.  However, who actually sends us on a mission journey, if not God?  Sometimes, God may use authorities and shackles to put you in a place to witness for Him.

Handcuffs never impeded Paul’s ability to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to others.  He had presented the Gospel to King Agrippa, several governors, Roman Commanders, Roman Centurions and other magistrates.

The title of this message refers to the stormy winds that will buffet this trip to Rome.  The winds can be a metaphor for things that are bigger than us, over which we have no control or choice, pushing us this way and that way.  But, no matter what gale force headwinds we face, the Lord is greater than any natural or metaphorical storm.  The believer in Jesus does not need to fear.  Instead, they can trust His plan in their life to lead to a good place, no matter how bad the present may seem.

God is able to bring peace to the storm, or, He can use it to get us exactly where He wants us to be.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Voyage from Caesarea to Crete (v. 1-8)

This chapter begins another “we” section.  This means that Luke has joined Paul on this trip to Rome.  He also mentions in verse 2 that Aristarchus of Thessalonica joined them.  This is the same Aristarchus that has helped Paul in his missionary journeys and was even seized by a mob in Ephesus when they couldn’t find Paul (chp 19-20). 

This may seem strange to us, but this is not a military vessel.  It is a commercial ship that any paying customer can board.  No doubt, Paul knows that he will spend a substantial amount of time under house arrest and has asked them both to join him.  They would be able to help him. 

Paul and some other prisoners are put under the charge of a Roman Centurion named Julius.  With a number of soldiers requisite to the number of prisoners, they board a ship that is from a western port of Asia Minor called Adramyttium.  This ship is not headed to Rome, but travels up the Mediterranean coast, most likely headed back to Adramyttium.  At first, there is no mention of bad winds.  They voyage to Sidon and put into port.  It is here that Paul’s treatment by Julius is described.  He “treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.”  It is likely that he was one of the centurions who were in the auditorium on the day that he addressed King Agrippa II.  Paul clearly made an impact upon him.  Nice treatment was not a hallmark of Roman centurions.

Verse 4 gives us the first mention of contrary winds.  These winds were making it harder to go where they wanted to go, towards the west.  “Under the shelter of Cyprus means that they sailed on the side of Cyprus toward which the wind was blowing.  Since it mentions Cilicia, Pamphylia and Myra of Lycia, these winds were blowing northeast causing them to sail on the northern side of the Island.

It is at Myra that they switch to an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy.  Here it is mentioned again in verse 7 that they were moving slowly for many days with difficulty.  By the time they reach Cnidus, they realize that the winds are such that they cannot continue East.  This means that a wind from the northeast is coming down from the Aegean Sea.  Thus, they turn south in order to use the Island of Crete as a shield against this wind.  This allows them to sail west along the southern coast of Crete until they reach a town called Fair Havens.

Paul’s wise counsel (v. 9-13)

They had lost a lot of time in this difficult sailing.  It was getting late in the year approaching winter, and they were only half way to Rome.  “The Fast” in verse 9 would be a reference for Jewish people regarding the Day of Atonement.  This occurs between mid-September and mid-October.

Paul strongly advises them not to continue the journey.  It is becoming too dangerous.  If they foolishly push on, he believes they will suffer damage and loss of life.  Essentially, they would have to winter in Fair Havens until the Spring. 

There does not seem to be a word from the Lord in this advise.   In other words, this is not a prophecy from the Lord Jesus.  This is Paul using his experience of traveling on ships.  He recognizes that they are fighting the reality that they have simply lost too much time.

It is important for Christians to understand that God does not always give us a prophetic word or a dream.  In those moments, we use our minds and experience in order to determine the best course.  Yet, it is also important for Christians to use the mind of the Lord and think biblically about the matters before us.  We should bathe such decisions in prayer, asking the Lord to help us make a good decision.

Yet, even when we think biblically and prayerfully, Christians can be wrong in their decisions at times.  Our opinions and conclusions should be held humbly, but also expressed.

The centurion puts the question to the captain (the man who owns the boat) and the navigator.  It appears that there is some poll of the crew as well.  The sailors do not like the idea of staying at Fair Harbor.  Apparently the name of the town was overstated, at least in winter.  There are several reasons sailors would not want to winter for three months in a particular harbor.  It may be that the prevailing winter winds blow directly into the harbor, reeking havoc upon any ships docked.  However, it may also have to do with the number of men on the ship (267 according to verse 37) and the ability of the town to put up and entertain that many men.  Their decision is to attempt a run along the coast to a harbor called Phoenix on the same island that is about 40 to 80 miles away (the exact location of Phoenix, Crete, is in dispute).

At some point, a south wind began to blow softly, and the sailors take advantage of the turn in winds to attempt a run to Phoenix.  Have you ever been suckered by a “favorable wind?”

Caught in a violent storm (v. 14-20)

They do not sail far when a northeast wind begins to pound the vessel.  It is so strong that they are unable to turn into the wind and hold their position.  Thus, they turn and let it push them along.  It is clear that they end up in an existential crisis.  They may die, and so, Luke describes a series of increasingly desperate measures.

Have you ever told yourself that you couldn’t live without something or someone?  If you end up in a situation where holding on to it may get you killed or severely injure you, then you may find that you do not want it that badly.  “I don’t want to let this go, but I want to live.”  How many things are people holding onto at the expense of eternal life?

These men begin throwing cargo into the sea in order to lighten the boat.  Later they begin to throw expensive tackle overboard.  They even run ropes around the boat in order to band it (strap it) so that it doesn’t split apart from the violence of the storm.  This is a lot of dangerous work in the middle of a violent storm.  Yet, sometimes human power and expertise is not enough.

We should praise God for guys who do stuff like this in the middle of storms, or for the reconstruction efforts they do after such storms.  However, the power of man is quite limited in the face of the powers of nature.  Praise God that He is greater than the storms!

These men abandon all hope (verse 20) of making it through the storm.  These experienced sailors have reached a point where they are at the end of their wits and strength.

From the Apostle Paul’s perspective, this is a bad situation.  However, Jesus had told him that he must go to Rome.  Still, he doesn’t know what that is going to look like.  Sometimes your experiences are roped together with the choices of others.  It can be frustrating and angering.  We can rage against men and against God.  Yet, God does not intend for any of us to live unto ourselves.  We are born for relationships and into relationships that affect us in many ways.  We can complain, or we can trust God and honor Him in our choices.  When someone else’s decision seems to ruin our life- keep in mind that we are quick to be overly dramatic in such times, it is better for us to cast ourselves upon God and look for His direction.  Raging against people and God will not fix anything.  Paul represents a man with his ear to the Lord, who gives good help and counsel to others.  Yet, he is still yoked to their decisions.

We can think of this as being at the mercy of the winds that other people create.  Some create good winds and others bad winds.  Of course, we might ask ourselves if we are perfect in our determinations of which is which.  Sometimes things that we call bad can end up doing the greatest good in our life.  This good thing can only be seen with retrospection.

As we move forward in this culture, we are going to be continually challenged.  Things in our Republic (things in our families, things in our jobs, etc.) will insert themselves, and we will be unable to control these violent prevailing winds of the time.  Yet, there is one thing we must hold fast.  Jesus is greater than all that we face, and he has promised not to leave us alone in it, but rather, to work it towards our good.

I am reminded of the time when Jesus was sleeping in the boat while a storm threatened him and his disciples.  These fishermen shook Jesus awake crying that they were about to die.  Jesus stood up and commanded the winds to cease, and they did.  “What manner of man is this?” they exclaimed!  God is greater than deep states, globalists, wannabe dictators and even natural disasters.  We can rest in that knowledge, even when he doesn’t cause it to cease immediately.

Greater than God’s ability to put an end to anything we face is His ability to make the storm serve His purpose.  Goliath served a purpose on the battlefield that day.  He glorified God in his death before an inexperienced, young man named David.  No one else had faith in God that day, but David did.  May God help us to face these storms, even when it becomes clear that He means to take us through it.  He loves you and has your best in mind!

Mercy of the Winds audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 90

Subtitle:  Almost Persuaded

Acts 26:19:32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on February 2, 2025.

It is not common for a person to put their trust in Jesus the first time they hear the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  We can be stubborn in our ways, and thus resistant to it.  However, we can also be resistant to change even when we know that it is the right thing to do.  We may say to ourselves:  “Not now,” “I’m not ready,” “I have too many fun things to do” and “I’ll get around to doing it later.”

When people come to that place of making a decision it is much like coming to an intersection.  You need to make a choice, and there are many reasons why you won’t come to a stop and deeply ponder the choice.  At the moment, you sense that there is something real to this message.  You believe that it really is God touching your heart and mind, drawing you to Himself.  However, regardless of our choice, that moment passes us by.  It becomes easier to keep doing what you were doing before.  

The flesh does not like being in this awkward pinch of admitting our life has been lived unrighteously and that we are in need of God’s saving grace.  It will do anything to resolve the tension of the moment and get back to normal, whatever that is.  The danger here is that God’s conviction comes and goes.  We can let it pass and miss the opportunity for the time being.

Yet, God in His grace gives us an undetermined amount of time in this life to come to our senses and put our trust in His Messiah, the Lord Jesus.

Today, we will look at a man who was almost persuaded, but almost is not enough.  Let’s look at our passage.

Paul addresses King Herod Agrippa II (19-23)

We are picking up at the point of which Paul has told the account of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Verse 19 is where he turns from the story the encounter to speak about his response to that event.

It would be easy for us to read that account and think to ourselves, “If Jesus did to me what he did to Paul, then I would believe.”  Of course, this is easier to say than to do.  Many people have experienced powerful moments where they saw miraculous things and believed God was speaking to them.  Yet, later, after the moment had passed, they began to doubt it.  They think that it was just a subjective, psychological event instead of a real encounter with God. 

Our response to the overtures of God is critical.  He puts intersections in our path, whether we know it or not.  As we cruise through these intersections, our decisions determine whether we embrace Jesus and step onto the path of blessing, or whether we remain upon a path of destruction for ourselves and for others around us.

Paul let’s Agrippa know that he believed and obeyed the heavenly vision he received that day.  He went into Damascus, where his plan was to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial.  Yet, his purpose was changed.  He waited for the Christian Ananias to pray for him, and then he began preaching to the people in Damascus to become Christians.  He preached to Jews, but he also preached to Gentiles.  Jesus was God’s Anointed man not just to save Jews, but Gentiles too.  This is a different Paul with a different purpose.  He was now about the purpose of Jesus.  When you live for your own purposes, you stay the same person in general.  There may be some hiccups and drastic moving around of the props on the stage of our life, but in the end, we keep going in a direction of wasting our lives on the lesser things of pleasing our flesh, satisfying our momentary desires.  However, to live for the purposes of Jesus is to become a very different person who is on a very different trajectory.

Paul preached a message (verse 20) of repentance, turning to God, and doing works that are appropriate to one who is repenting.

Repentance is essentially having a change of mind.  In this context, you are having a change of mind about how you have been living your life, i.e., for pleasing yourself.  However, it is not enough to just change what pleases you.  This is not a repentance that saves.  It only puts you on another dead end path.  Repentance must move to the second part of the message, turning to God.

All of our self-choices lead us away from the path of God, but they also lead us away from relationship with God.  We are not just talking about things that God wants you to do, and things he wants you to refrain from doing.  We really need to stop ignoring God, or even being hostile to Him.  We need to learn the wisdom of yielding to His great wisdom like a child recognizing that their father knows best.

It is from this relationship that we can express the third component of Paul’s preaching.  We do works that are appropriate to repentance, or fitting for it.  It is not enough to change how you talk about God.  Those who repent want their lives to become like Him and their lives to accomplish His purpose.

This last point is not to imply that we cannot make mistakes, or have weak moments of doubt or temptation.  It really is a calling of a person’s bluff.  You can say that you believe in Jesus, but if you continually refuse to listen to all of his words, then you are kidding yourself and trying to deceive others.  You do not believe in Jesus, but rather, you believe in the Jesus of your own making.  Let’s be clear.  No one makes it into heaven by perfect performance.  But on the other hand, you are not going to fake your way in.  You either live for the purposes of Jesus out of a relationship with him, or you don’t.  It is as simple as that.

Think about it.  The love of God sends Christians across the path of individuals in order to wake them up to this need to repent.  He continues to do this over the top of the many times that we stiff-arm the moment and continue on in stubbornness.  He continues this to our last mortal breath.

Paul then says that he was seized in the temple and nearly killed because of this obedience to Jesus.  Yet, God helped him so that he could keep testifying to the life changing truth about Jesus. 

The help of God doesn’t always look like an angel appearing and slaying all of our enemies.  Sometimes it comes in the form of a pagan, Roman commander who is only concerned about keeping his own job.  Could God use a bureaucrat when you are sucked into their little fiefdom of power?  You bet He can.

We have seen this help throughout the book of Acts.  It was not about removing all difficulty and bad things from Paul’s path (the path of Christians).  It was a powerful help, but not one that insulated us from all that feels like it is harming us.  Paul would eventually be helped into the presence of God through martyrdom in Rome, but his time was not yet.  In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul takes the time to enumerate some of the difficult things that happened along his way.  We already talked about how he was beaten in the temple in Jerusalem.  However, what about the time in Lystra where he was stoned by the crowd and left for dead?  God helped him that day.  He didn’t’ die.  Yet, he still felt the pain.  He was still rejected and moved on to another city.  Paul suffered many things for the cause of Jesus Christ.  Yet, he learned to trust the path that Jesus was leading him on.  In the 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul then moves to speak about a physical malady that he suffered.  He prayed for the Lord to heal it, but the Lord told him “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Think about that.  If we never had any difficulties, then God’s power would not be what He wants it to be.  It would be lacking somehow.  It is not lacking power because God is omnipotent.  But the power is enhanced in our lives when we have weakness.  The weakness here is not talking about moral weakness, but even that is a testimony to the power and greatness of God.  Paul then states a lesson he had learned, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.  “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  He is strong because the power of God uses it in ways that we don’t see, and in ways that we would rather not see.

If you think that God is not being fair and that it is cruel to not remove our sufferings, then just remember that he too walked this life and suffered.  The power of God was displayed in what looked like a weak man named Jesus.

Many today disregard Jesus as a weak message that must be rejected.  They think of the effect of his message on society as a weakening of that society.  But, they are wrong.  In truth, they are seeing the power of God and rejecting it, at least for now.  Still God’s grace works to convict their hearts of their error.

So Paul testified to Jews and to Gentiles that the prophets of the Old Testament had said these things would happen to the Messiah.  First, Messiah would suffer, and second, the prophets said that the Messiah would raise from the dead.

The Anointed Savior would suffer on behalf of our sins.  This is all through the prophets when you have eyes to see.  Even the promise in Genesis 3:15 of the Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head has a promise of suffering for him.  The serpent would do the same to his heel.  This may sound like a lesser blow, but a bite from a poisonous viper can be a mortal blow, even in the heel.  What about Psalm 16?  David prophesies that the Messiah would not be left to the grave and see decay.  Hmmm, sounds like some suffering would occur.  What about Psalm 22?  In the midst of existential suffering, something happens that is so great that the whole world will be amazed.  It even speaks of all those who died worshiping him.  Of course, the powerful passage of Isaiah 53 is shocking in its description of Messiah’s suffering.

The third things is that Messiah would proclaim light to the Jews and to the Gentiles.  He would be a healer of the breach and lost inheritance. 

Even though this is highlighted throughout the Bible, some people had too much to lose to believe in Jesus.  “The Romans will come and take our power away!”  Yet, in refusing to embrace Messiah by letting go of their power, they missed Messiah and still lost their power.  In the end, they lost everything, and many even lost eternal life.  “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”  (Mark 8:36).

Paul is interrupted (v. 24-32)

Festus cuts Paul off and declares that he is mad.  He has apparently had enough of this babbling about Jewish prophecies and Messiahs.  It is also possible that he is quite uncomfortable with this powerful moment.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is touching his heart, and his flesh is kicking against the goads.

The devil is always looking for useful tools to break up God’s convicting work in others.  The interruption of Festus breaks up the flow of Paul’s defense for following Messiah Jesus.  Yet, Paul brushes this aside deftly.  He tells Festus that he is not mad, but speaking sober truth.  We know what truth is.  Paul is not lying.  However, the word translated sober has the concept of a sound mind that is self-controlled and not under undue influence.  Paul is in his right mind and dealing with reality, not some hypothetical, prophetic fantasy.  He is in full command of his faculties as he speaks the truth.

Paul then quickly turns the discussion back to Agrippa.  Agrippa is his true target because he is well versed in these issues and knows that Paul is not talking gibberish and out of his mind.  Paul then puts a rhetorical question to Agrippa.  “Do you believe the prophets?  I know that you do.”  He doesn’t get into all the different rabbinic schemes for how Messiah would come and what all he would do.  But, Paul knows that Agrippa has at least a rudimentary acceptance that there is something to these prophecies.  There is truth in them.

Paul has given Agrippa evidence that demands a verdict, and so, Paul is not just asking Agrippa if he has a general belief in the prophets, but whether he believes Jesus is what those prophets was talking about.  This is the question that Paul is putting before Agrippa.  Are you ready to join us Christians in believing Jesus is Messiah?

The response of Agrippa can be summed up by saying that he is not ready to join the Christians in this believing Jesus stuff.  He literally says, “In a little, you persuade me to become a Christian.”  It is traditionally taken to mean that he is almost persuaded, but not quite.  Others see here an ironical statement or even a question.  Do you persuade me to be a Christian in such a little time?  Whether Agrippa is close to believing, or actually stiff-arming Paul, the net effect is still the same.  He is not persuaded.

The truth is this.  You cannot almost believe in Jesus.  You either do or you don’t.  The term Christian here needs to be understood in its context.  It was a term of derision about a heretical group that was being quashed by the religious leaders.  Agrippa may even be shocked that Paul could consider that he would join this outcast group.

There is an old hymn called Almost Persuaded.  Here are a few of the verses:

 V. 1: Almost persuaded now to believe; Almost persuaded Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, Go, Spirit, go Thy way; Some more convenient day On Thee I’ll call.  Comment: notice that the decision is put off to a more convenient time.

V. 3: Almost persuaded, harvest is past!  Almost persuaded doom comes at last!  Almost” cannot avail; Almost is but to fail! Sad, sad, that bitter wail, Almost, but lost!

What a powerful statement.  Almost is but to fail.  When the question is put to people, it goes through their mind what it would mean for them to become a Christian.  To follow Jesus and live for his purposes would upend the life of everyone who does it.  What would it mean if you became a follower of Jesus?  In how many ways would your life be “ruined?”  Paul lost a career among the most prestigious Pharisees.  He lost a life of wealth, comfort and the accolades of the powerful men of society.  Yet, he gained Jesus!  He gained the favor of God the Father.

None of us can save people.  Paul couldn’t save Agrippa, but the Spirit of God was there to help Agrippa if he wanted it.  The rest of the story for Agrippa is not important to us today.  Did he ever come to faith in Jesus?  There is no record of that.  However, the key for you or for people to whom you witness is this.  You can’t always know how much the Holy Spirit has prepared a person to hear.  We must be faithful to plant the seeds of truth, water those seeds with more truth, and yet, only God can bring in the harvest.

People need to face the question.  What will you do with Jesus?  Will you now believe and follow him?   Yet, we must also know that this is a work of the Holy Spirit.   Through prayer, we can learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes we may be silent so that the Spirit can incubate the message.  However, other times, we need to put the question before people, nudge them to make a decision, rather than letting the flesh just fall back into its routine once the moment has passed.

May God help us to be fully persuaded and be used of God to persuade others.

Almost Persuaded audio