Sober Truth

Acts 26:24-32
24 While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. 26 “For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner. 27 “King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.” 28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.” 29 And Paul said, “I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains.” 30 The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, 31 and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Something that we continually forget is that God isn’t confined by the things we are on this earth.  Not only are elements like time, age, and gravity not a factor in confining God, but our thinking does not confine Him either.  We’ve discussed before the futility in trying to get God to fit into our little box of thinking.  We have seen throughout the book of Acts that God doesn’t fit into our finite thinking because He is infinite in all ways.  When God reveals Himself, whether through miracle, dream, vision, lesson through His followers, or anything else, it will always cause some to not understand fully.  This is not only because God isn’t fully understandable, but also that we have closed our minds off to His omniscience.

“The hardest thing to open is a closed mind.” Festus’ problem in this part of the story is that he did not fully know the scriptures.  Unlike King Agrippa, Festus only knew bits and pieces of Jewish history and religion so when Paul mentioned things like the fulfillment of prophecy and the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ, it made absolutely no sense to him.  I have witnessed this many times in recent years.  Many people are walking around with half-truths of what God says in the bible and therefore when they are confronted with what it really says, they have trouble believing it.  We have since turned these phrases and words into “christianese” which confuses others even more instead of revealing God’s truth.

Our society and upbringing has molded our thinking.  We mix this with our experiences and form conclusions that tie it all together to make sense to us.  This gives us a sense of security in ourselves. When this gets shaken up, we only have a few responses that help us cope with it.  Much like witnessing a miracle (which is something indescribable by common knowledge) we always seek a reason for why it happens.  Some concede that it was the work of God; others say it was a scientific anomaly, and yet some just ignore it because they cannot make sense of it.  King Agrippa, however, understood what Paul was talking about because he had studied the scriptures and knew what they said.

Paul describes what he is saying as “sobering truth.”  The sobering truth of God is that we need to stop playing games with our lives.  We were all born with this innate desire to seek out the answers and understand what is going on in the universe.  Some of us feel as though we have found all the answers.  Some of us continue to seek it out feeling as though we have found nothing yet.  Others have let the desire burn out, convinced it isn’t worth the effort, while others have found some answers but hunger for more.

In Matthew 6, we read Jesus exhorting His followers about worry and seeking out the physical things in life to satisfy us:

[quote]31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.[/quote]

This wise counsel urges us not to seek out the things of this world to satisfy our hunger and worry, but to seek out His face and the rest will be taken care of.  The desire inside us to seek these answers causes us to look in many places.  Unfortunately, we settle on the things we find that only satisfy for a short while.  We think that the temporal things will keep us happy and satiate our hunger, like a big spaghetti dinner after a hard day’s work.  Yet the next morning we wake up and are hungry again, needing to go out and work to provide the next meal.  Jesus says:

[quote] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)[/quote]

If we seek out the righteousness of God, we will have to look no farther.  If we search for God’s revelation and truth, we will no longer hunger.  Jesus describes this in John 6 very clearly:

[quote]27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.[/quote]

To the world that seeks instant gratification, bodily pleasure, and self-assurance, this makes the God seeker seem out of their minds, does it not?  Agrippa understood the relevance of these things.  His sarcastic remark about being converted was most likely half fear and half hope.  His core beliefs were being challenged yet he understood the significance of the prophecies being fulfilled through Jesus.  Festus, one who merely sought worldly gain, could not take a moment to step out of his own mind to try to understand what was being discussed.

Jesus even says that those who witness miracles won’t believe simply by being witness to them because they cannot open their minds.  It is those who are seeking God’s presence in their lives who have that burning desire to know Him and realize His truths that will find Him.  Contemplate what Jesus said in Luke 11:

[quote]9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”[/quote]

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