THE FERVENCY OF PAUL'S TESTIMONY

While Paul was in prison he had an opportunity to share his testimony to king Agrippa and his wife.  Acts chapter 26 deals with that testimony.

Paul’s testimony was simple:

Who he was...His past life.

Acts 26:9-11

• 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. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

His encounter with Christ.

Acts 26:13-18 

• I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.
• 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 goads.' Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'  'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied.

His present calling in life.

Acts 26:19-23 

• 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.'
• I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

As the story continues, the response of king Agrippa reveals to us the heart of Paul while he was sharing his testimony:

First, Paul sounded insane!

Acts 26:24  At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane."

Paul was speaking as if he was insane!  This doesn’t mean that he was incoherent, or that he was speaking nonsense.  This probably meant that Paul was so on fire, so caught up in his testimony, so convinced of who Jesus Christ was, that it sounded like he was insane.

This is not something you train for.  This is not something you memorize or practice before speaking.  This simply comes from the reality of our testimony.

When we share the gospel, we don't just share "a gospel", but we share the gospel that changed our life - how we encountered Christ and how He changed our heart.

Not just a change of religion, not just a new set of beliefs, but an encounter with the Savior Himself in our hearts.

The fervency of our testimony of the gospel comes from it’s reality in our hearts.

We can share a memorized gospel, we can give a testimony out of duty, but it will not seem as if we are insane for Christ, how He saved us from our sin, and what He has done in our life.

And then king Agrippa reveals another aspect of Paul’s heart:

Acts 26:28-29  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 God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

Another thing that king Agrippa felt was that Paul was trying to persuade him to be a Christian.  Paul wasn’t just giving a testimony.  He was trying to persuade all who were listening to him to become as he was – a Christian.  That was the prayer, the burden, of his heart.

The fervency of our testimony is not just in how we are sharing it, but in why we are sharing it.  We are persuading them to be like us, discples of Christ.

When we share our testimony, do people sense that persuasion in how we are speaking?

Of course we know that the conversion of hearts, of sinners, is all God’s work.  We have no power at all to save someone, to bring regeneration, a born again experience to a person’s heart.  That is all God’s work.

But it doesn’t mean that as we share the gospel they cannot sense our persuading them to believe, just as we have also believed.  Persuasion is what expresses our burden, our desire that the one we are speaking to will become like us!  We want them so much to know Christ as we know Him, to encounter Him and know Him as Savior and Lord, just as we have.

Persuasion is not forcing someone to believe.  Persuasion is showing them how much we desire for them to know Christ as Savior, just as we have.

Paul replied, "Short time or long--I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

Short time or long – Paul was in prison for two years.  But his burden for the lost, his desire to share the gospel, never died down.  His circumstance was not a hindrance to sharing the gospel.  Why?  Because Paul was sharing his testimony with the intense burden that all who were listening would become as he was – a disciple of Christ.

Short time or long.

Do we take advantage of every “short time” God gives us to share the gospel, our testimony, to others?

Are we patient enough to keep sharing, no matter how long it takes, even years, praying that God may open the hearts of those we share to may become as we are?

The fervency of Paul’s testimony made it sound like he was insane.

The fervency of Paul’s testimony revealed his desire, his prayer, that others to be like he was.

May this be the same fervency of our testimony, as God gives us the opportunity to stand before others and share, short time or long.