Place: Lurgan Baptist 30:1:2005 Reading: Acts 26:13-32 THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN D. L. Moody the famous American evangelist, by his own admission, made a mistake on the 8 th October 1871. It was a mistake he determined to repeat. He had been preaching in the city of Chicago. That particular night drew his largest audience yet. His message was, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? By the end of the service Moody was tired. He concluded his message, and once again he presented the gospel faithfully. Then he said this, Now I give you a week to think that over. And when we come together again, you will have an opportunity to respond. A soloist began to sing. But before the final note the music was drowned out by clanging bells and wailing sirens screaming through the streets. The great Chicago fire was blazing. In the ashen aftermath, hundreds were dead and over a hundred thousand were homeless. Without a doubt, some who heard Moody s message had died in the fire. He reflected remorsefully that he would have given his right arm before he would ever gave an audience another week to think over the message of the Gospel. You know when I considered that story, I thought about the Scripture that is in front of us this.! I wonder are you are at the very door of salvation? Are you right at the point of making a decision for the Lord Jesus? But perhaps you have it in your mind that you will have other opportunities to get saved. Maybe you will say Preacher, what you have said in this service is absolutely true. I agree with you 100% and preacher you almost persuaded me to be a Christian. Is that not what King Agrippa said to Paul? Almost. a Christian. What was the situation here? Well, Paul had been kept in prison for over two years by the Roman Governor Felix. However, Felix was replaced by another Governor named Festus. A special induction ceremony was held for the new Governor to celebrate his coming into office at Caesarea. King Herod Agrippa the Second comes to visit with his sister Bernice, and it is while they are there to pay their respects to the new Governor, that they are confronted with this man Paul. My. this is one of the most dramatic scenes in all of the Word of God and in all of human history. Everybody who was anybody in Caesarea was there. Can you see the great apostle standing before King Agrippa, Bernice, and the Roman Governor Festus. You know, these different characters represent people in this
service this evening! 1. Festus, represents those who are Alienated from Christ: For he thought that Paul was a madman. 2. Paul represents those who are Altogether for Christ: He was totally committed to the Lord. Paul lived by one motto, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 3. Agrippa represents those who are Almost to Christ: He was almost a Christian, and yet he was not altogether one. I believe one of the greatest tragedies in all of life is for a person to be almost saved, but lost. What a tragedy it would be for you to hear the Word of God faithfully preached, to tremble under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and yet turn and walk away from this place and never be saved. I wonder in recent days have you been thinking about your relationship with God? Have you been thinking about your destiny? About eternity? Have you been very, very close. You have been almost a Christian. I want to talk to you this. on The Almost Christian. Almost. To be a Christian, as we think of Agrippa s words this. I want you to notice, (1) THE MAN THAT CONFRONTED HIM For Paul was doing his best to persuade Agrippa to become a Christian. Do you see what he says in ( 26:29 ) How can you persuade someone to become a Christian? Well, look at Paul and noticed that he used, (a) The Persuasion of the POWERFUL SCRIPTURES: He says, For the king knoweth of these things, ( 26:26 ) What things was Paul talking about? Well, in ( 26:22 ) you ll notice that he talks about the prophets and Moses. He is talking about the Scriptures, about what the Bible has to say. Paul was using this powerful tool called the Holy Scriptures to bring Agrippa to the point of salvation. My. is this not the purpose of the Word of God? To bring a person to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! ( 2 Tim 3:15 ) The intention of the Bible is to bring a person face to face with his sin, with his need of salvation and with the loveliness of Jesus Christ. My. has the Word of God been having an impact on your life? Has it cut you like a sword? Has it crushed you like a hammer? Has it consumed you like a fire? One day Charles Spurgeon the famous preacher was trying out the acoustics
in Crystal Palace London. Spurgeon with his magnificent voice cried out, Behold the Lamb of God. sin. Spurgeon didn t know but there was a workman working up in the balcony and the man heard those words and he could not get away from them. He went home that night but they still kept haunting him Behold the Lamb of God. sin. He went to bed but he still could not get away from them. Those words spoke to him, smote him, and eventually brought him to faith in Christ. My. has God s Word been speaking to you in recent days? Has it challenged you concerning your sin, your soul, state before God? (a) (b) The Persuasion of the PERSONAL SOULWINNER: For in ( 26:26 ) Paul says, I am persuaded. You see, Paul was the Lord s messenger to bear His name before the Gentiles and Kings. ( 9:15 ) My. can you see Paul making his great defence of the gospel here? And although all the leading men of the city are around him, Paul has one purpose, and his eyes are focused on one man in the congregation. His eye is on King Agrippa. He mentions Agrippa s name all the time during his defence. He did it in ( 26:2, 7, 13, 19, 27, ) You say, what s this man Paul doing? He s after the soul of this man. ( 2 Cor 5:11 ) My. have you encountered some Christian who loves the Lord, and they are living for Christ, and they have talked with you about your relationship to Christ? Perhaps its been a close friend that s been talking to you about your need of salvation, your eternal destiny, and how you stand before the Lord. I wonder is God using that witness to bring you to the Saviour? (a) (b) (c) The Persuasion of the PRECIOUS SAVIOUR: For Paul says to Agrippa for this thing was not done in a corner, ( 26:26 ) He s talking about the cross of Christ. He s talking about when the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Its as if Paul took the hand of King Agrippa and led him up Calvary s hill. My. can you just go with me back 2,000 years ago where Christ died on the cross? Do you see the soldiers as they are gambling for the garments of the Lord? Do you hear the rabble crowd milling around Calvary crying, He saved others let Him save Himself. ( Lk 23:35 ) Do you hear the words of the Lord Jesus as he prayed, Father forgive them, and as He cries It is finished. My. when Jesus Christ died on that cross, He was dying for your sins. Is there not something persuasive about that? Is there not something deeply moving about
what the Saviour did on the cross for you? I tell you Paul confronted this man with the real truth. Yet Agrippa said, Almost thou. a Christian. (1) (2) THE MESSAGE THAT CONVICTED HIM Why was the King almost persuaded but not altogether? Well, can you imagine how Agrippa was feeling about now? You see, this was not the first time that Agrippa had come into contact with the gospel. This man King Agrippa 2 nd belonged to a disastrous family. It was this man s great grandfather Herod the Great who had killed all the babies in Bethlehem at the birth of Christ. ( Matt 2:16 ) It was this man s great uncle, Herod Antipas who had beheaded John the Baptist. And it was this man s father Herod Agrippa 1 st who had James beheaded and Peter imprisoned. ( Acts 12:2 ) This man s whole family had opposed the gospel, and some of them had terrible deaths. ( 12:22-23 ) But now God is at work in this man s life. He s moved. Something was going on inside him for he cries, Almost. a Christian. He was standing at the gate of almost but he never went into the land of altogether. Why? I think if you look around that room that day it will help you to understand why Agrippa was an almost Christian. For one thing there was, (a) THE LOVE OF SIN: Bernice! You see, Herod was her brother, but they had one of the most infamous relationships in all history because they lived in incest. Here they were brother and sister living together as man and wife in an incestuous relationship. I wonder did the King glance over at Bernice and realise that if he became a Christian he would have to give her up. His sin would have to go. My. he stopped short of coming to know the Lord Jesus, because he realised that if he came to Christ he would have to turn from his sin. Agrippa has a sin problem. Do you recognise that you have to turn from your sin in order to come to Christ? The Lord Jesus said, Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. ( Lk 13:5 ) Many people come to the very verge of giving their life to the Lord and they re almost there but they turn away because of the love of sin. Is there some sin in your life? When you begin to think about getting saved, is there something in your life you do not want to give up? It may be that the love of sin kept the King from becoming a Christian. But look around the room again.
(b) THE FEAR OF MAN: Festus! You see, Agrippa had heard what Festus had said to Paul. He said Paul. mad. ( 26:24 ) Festus said, Paul you re crazy. Maybe the King thought, what would Festus think about me? What would he say about me if I became a Christian? Is the fear of man keeping you back from Christ? There may some of you here this. that have been thinking about giving your life to Christ but you think, what will my friends say? What will my family say? What will my wife or husband say? What will the folk in work say about it? Harry Ironside who grew up to be a famous preacher was just a young boy. He was not a Christian. His mother used to talk to him about becoming a Christian. He would always tell his mother, mother I would really like to but I m afraid that my friends will laugh at me if I do. His mother would always say, Remember Harry, your friends may laugh you into hell, but they can never laugh you out of hell. Is the fear of others keeping you back? But look around that room again. (a) (b) (c) THE COST OF COMMITMENT: Paul! Paul may have been one of the reasons why Agrippa would not become a Christian. For there the great apostle stands in front of the King. He s got chains on his hands, he s got scars on his body. Agrippa looks at him and sees that there is a cost attached to being a Christian. I wonder when Agrippa saw what it cost Paul, was he not willing to pay the price? You see, it costs you nothing to become a Christian, but it may cost you everything to be a Christian. My. have you counted the cost of what it means to give your life to Christ? It certainly means that from this point on that He runs your life. He is in charge. He s the boss! He is the One who maps out the course of you life! My. The King looked at Paul and said, Oh, what will it cost me? Do you know something? I think the real reason he didn t come to Christ was not the other people in the room that day. Oh, there was Bernice, the love of sin, there was Festus, the fear of man, there was Paul the cost of commitment, but then there was Agrippa himself, (d) THE ACT OF FAITH: For did you notice what Paul said to him, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. ( 26:27 ) Paul said Do you believe it? I know that you believe it? But then there are different kinds of belief. There s belief in your head and there s belief in your heart. Do you know what the Bible says?
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. ( Rom 10:9 ) I wonder where you are in coming to Christ? How far along are you in the decision process? Do you know intellectually that you are a sinner? You say, I know that preacher. Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins? You say, I believe He died on the cross for my sins. Do you have a desire to come to Christ? You say, Preacher sooner or later I want to give my life to Christ for I don t want to go to hell when I die. But my. if you stop there you are not there. For there has to be an act of faith. You have to say, I will give my life to Christ now. Are you ready for that last step this.? (1) (2) (3) THE MOMENT THAT CONDEMNED HIM Here is the King standing at the threshold of the door of salvation yet he turns back. Almost persuaded but lost. Space Shuttle Columbia almost completed their mission. They were only sixteen minutes from landing. They were just ending a sixteen day science mission. Their families had been brought in, so that they could see their family members after they had landed. But then something went tragically wrong. Space Shuttle Columbia broke up and pieces of it began to rain down in Texas. They had almost completed their mission, they were almost home, but almost is not good enough and today U.S.A. mourns the loss of seven brave astronauts. My. are you at the door of salvation this.? Are you almost there? What will you do in this critical moment? Agrippa, turned away from Christ. Think of (a) THE JOY HE MISSED: He missed the joy of being a Christian. He missed the joy of sins forgiven. He missed the joy of having peace with God. He missed the joy of the assurance that when this life is over you have a home in heaven forever. For to almost be a Christian is not to be a Christian. (a) (b) THE JUDGMENT HE MET: My. Heaven s most gifted, persuasive, and Spirit filled messenger had presented the King with the demands of the gospel. He shrugged them off and so far as we know the Holy Spirit never gave him another chance. Do you know something? One of the most dangerous things you can do is to come to a service like this because having come you have no excuse. You know the message now. You have
the heard the story of the cross. But stop! What if God had almost loved us, what if Christ had almost died for us? What if the Holy Spirit had almost convicted us? Then there would have been no message to preach, no forgiveness to enjoy, no prospect to anticipate. But my. ours is not an almost gospel. Its an altogether gospel. For all the way to Calvary He went for me, He died to set me free. I tell you I would rather go into eternity from the darkest jungles in Africa than from privileged Ulster. My. you know the message. You know the gospel. The opportunity is here. What will you do? Will you turn away from Christ this. again and go into the darkness to endure an eternity of regret. Come with me for a moment on a journey. I want you to see some of the personalities in hell. There is a man and he s sitting on a throne of fire and he s saying, I have betrayed the innocent blood. Who is this person? This is Judas who betrayed the sinless Son of God. We move a little further through the hot halls of hell and we see a man who is washing his hands in hot bowls of flames and he s saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. Who is that? That s Pontius Pilate who had the chance to know the Saviour and yet he did not. Then we go a little further and we see another person. He s shouting, When I have a convenient season, when I have convenient season. Who s that? That s Felix who said to Paul, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee. But do you know the tragedy of all tragedies in hell? Walk a little further because there in hot corridors of hell is a man who is screaming. Almost. Almost. Almost. Almost. Almost. Who is it? Its Agrippa who was almost persuaded to become a Christian and he turned away. I heard the story of a man named William Hyatt. He was a 62 old miner who was found with his face and hands buried in the hot searing sand of the Mojave Desert. His car had broken down and he had walked 22 miles through the Mojave desert until he died. He crawled on his hands and feet the last 2 miles and he died in the sand. Just over the next san dune half a mile away was the Saratoga Springs that could have saved him. He was almost there but lost. So near the door and the door stood wide Close to the gate but not inside Near to the fold yet not within Almost resolved to gave up sin Almost persuaded but count the cost Almost a Christian but lost. Will that be said of you? Almost there but lost!