We have reached the end of “The End of the Beginning” sermon series. Our message this morning is the culmination of forty-one weeks that we have spent studying the Book of Acts over the past several years. In this last portion of this book, we see the Apostle Paul once again fulfilling God’s purpose and plan for his life. Once again, he is witnessing before rulers and Gentiles, but only after sharing the gospel with the Jews first. In a nutshell— this was God’s purpose and plan for Saul of Tarsus, even before he was born.

In our study last week, we last saw the Apostle Paul in the midst of an extremely dangerous situation—the ship he was on had been driven by a tropical cyclone across the Mediterranean. For fourteen days, the passengers and crew had no idea what their heading had been or where they were. The experienced seamen on board realized that they were nearing a land mass of some form. Trusting in what Paul had said concerning the deliverance that his God had promised to all who stayed with Paul on the ship, they all took a moment to eat something in order to be strengthened and encouraged for the events that were about to happen.

As we have studied the life of the Apostle Paul—as it is recorded in the Book of Acts—we have seen Paul endure many difficult circumstances. In every circumstance, Paul continued to trust in God and be content in every one of them (2 Corinthians 12:10; Philippians 4:11). Contentment is an outward demonstration of complete dependence upon God. When we rely on God, we are trusting that He has everything under His control—even when it feels like everything is out of control!

A clergyman by the name of Bishop Milton Wright said in the nineteenth century, “Flight is reserved for the angels.” On December 17, 1903, his oldest son, Wilbur, flew the first power-driven plane 120 feet in Kitty Hawk, NC. There were some who though the Wright brothers were a little touched before that fateful day, but today they are everyone’s heroes. As we will discover in a few moments, there were some that thought the Apostle Paul was a “little touched” as well because of the things he was teaching and the passion with which he was teaching it. But Paul’s sanity was firmly intact—he was simply fulfilling God’s call upon his life.

Just like Job and Joseph, the Apostle Paul has been accused of things that he did not do, but he is in prison none-the-less. As we examine the first portion of Acts 25, I want us to consider this erroneous indictment of Paul and how he responded to it. Hopefully this will help us to see how we ought to deal with false accusations when they come… and they will come.

The intense desire to be right is instinctive for human beings. As we continue to explore Paul’s experiences in the city of Jerusalem, we will be able to pull back the curtain and see some of the struggles and patterns of sin that Paul continued to deal with even later in his life. Our goal today is to see ourselves clearly so that we will allow the grace of God to intervene in us to help us focus more on being righteous instead of being right.

If someone were to ask you for evidence that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, what would you say? What aspect of your life would you point to? The Bible is clear that the purpose behind the new birth in Jesus Christ is to be conformed to the image of Christ. If you were to look into a spiritual mirror, would you see more of Him or of you? Is God’s impact on your life evident?

As we venture into this next section of our passage, Paul is continuing to model obedience for us. Just as everyone predicted, Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem triggered a series of events that brought about his imprisonment and eventual death. Paul was one of the first missionaries that served the Lord in the face of danger, but he certainly was not the last. So as we look back to Acts 21 and see how Paul was faithful to obey God in the face of danger, I want us to evaluate our own lives to determine if we are willing to obey God when it doesn’t make sense, or even, in the face of danger.