“Now get to your feet! I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.” – Acts 26:16 (NIV)
Y’all, I recently returned from Israel, and let me tell you—when you walk where Jesus walked, when you stand at the empty tomb, Scripture comes alive in a whole new way. And this passage from Acts 26 has been wrecking me ever since.
This is Paul standing before King Agrippa, on trial for his life, making his defense. But here’s what gets me: Paul isn’t really defending himself. He’s preaching the gospel to a king.
Planted in the House of the Lord
Before we dive into Paul’s story, can I just say something about being plugged into the body of Christ? Psalm 92:13 says, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD will flourish in the courts of our God” (NIV).
Notice the word “flourish.” When something flourishes, it has nothing to do with the season, nothing to do with the rain or lack thereof. If you’re flourishing, it’s outside of circumstances.
God says if you plug into the body, if you plant yourself in the house of the Lord, you will flourish in the courts of our God. There’s a divine protection that comes in being plugged into the body of Christ—the church.
And listen, it doesn’t matter which church, as long as they’re preaching the Bible. We all have a part to play in the body. You might be an ear, you might be a pinky toe, you might be the voice, you might be the elbow—but if any part of the body isn’t functioning in its role, the whole body suffers.
When you watch the news and read the Word and see where we are in culture and history, you realize—we need to be functioning members of the body. There’s coming a day when it will be too late. But today it’s not too late.
Paul Before King Agrippa
So we find Paul in Acts 26, standing before King Agrippa. He’s in chains. He’s a prisoner. He’s in front of the king and all the highly influential people, all the important decision makers.
And sometimes we can feel like, “Oh, I’m so insignificant. What am I doing in front of this audience?” But what’s interesting about Paul’s life is that he had been told years before that he would preach to kings and leaders. Maybe he didn’t think, “Oh, when I’m on trial for my very life, that’s how it’s gonna happen.”
Sometimes God has given you a promise and you’re holding onto it, and you have no idea how that thing is gonna come to pass or how it’s going to manifest. That was exactly Paul’s situation—speaking before kings, but also on trial for his life.
Endearing Yourself to Share the Gospel
Acts 26:2-3 shows us Paul’s approach: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently” (NIV).
Paul is endearing himself to the king. He’s saying, “Thank you for allowing me to speak on my own behalf, sir. And by the way, I’m so glad that you’re the one listening to me because you are so smart and you’re so wise and you know all the customs.”
Paul is so passionate about the gospel, so confident in who he is in Christ, that everything else becomes secondary. And we need to move in that position in life—that everything else is secondary to our faith, to our belief in a God who put us here.
Paul knows that unless you know Jesus Christ, you live in lack. You live in turmoil, confusion, isolation, and loneliness. When you know Jesus, when you have a personal relationship with Him, there is no lack.
Are you willing to endear yourself even to your enemy and puff them up for the sake of sharing the gospel?
I Used to Be Just Like You
In verses 4-11, Paul shares his story: “The Jewish leaders are well aware that I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion” (Acts 26:4-5, NIV).
Paul is saying, “King Agrippa, I used to be just like you. I used to think like you and walk like you and talk like you, and we really were running the same race. But I’ve seen the light, and now that I’ve been set free, I can’t not share the freedom that I found.”
When you have tasted and you have seen that the Lord is good, you are compelled to tell. You want to tell—even if you could lose your life for telling. That’s secondary to your identity in Christ.
The Road to Damascus
Then Paul shares his testimony—the moment everything changed. Acts 26:13-15 records: “About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and 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” (NIV).
This is Paul’s testimony. And you know what? We think we’re so tripped up in sharing our faith. “I don’t know the whole Bible. I haven’t been a student of the Bible for nearly as long as this person or that person.”
Paul’s just saying, “You know what? It’s a very simple gospel. God appeared to me. Jesus appeared to me on the road to Damascus while I was murdering Christians, while I was trying to kill them and had orders from the government that it was okay to do so. I was persecuting the worst of the worst. But God was in pursuit of me.”
And God is in pursuit of you.
Rise and Go
Here’s what Jesus told Paul in Acts 26:16-18: “Now get to your feet! I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 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” (NIV).
Rise and go.
It’s not rocket science. You don’t have to be a scholar of the Word. What I know is that every single time Jesus encounters someone, He says, “Rise and go.”
Paul’s sharing his personal testimony because if there’s something people relate to, it’s stories. Paul’s like, “Hey, King Agrippa, let me tell you this story. Let me tell you about the time when I encountered Jesus because my life has never looked the same.”
Have You Obeyed?
Acts 26:19 says: “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven” (NIV).
Have you obeyed? Have you taken the call? It is a decision. Following Christ is a decision.
Sometimes I feel like it’s especially hardest in America where we’re pretty comfortable, where we’re a free people. It can be very easy to think, “I’m a Christian because my grandmama went to church.”
No. Have you obeyed the call? Because that’s what will mark you as a Christian—when you obey the call. There’s an intentionality behind it. You don’t accidentally follow Christ.
To follow Christ, there will be suffering. There will be persecution. But you’re making the conscious decision anyway. You’re considering the cost, and you’re saying, “I’m gonna do what He tells me to do.”
The Simple Gospel
Paul says in Acts 26:22-23: “But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles” (NIV).
He’s preaching the cross of Christ. He’s preaching the simple, black-and-white gospel: Jesus died for you. God sent His Son to the cross for you and for me to cover us, to take our sins. When we repent and turn to Him in an intentional pursuit of Jesus—when we believe that we’re sinners in need of a Savior and choose to put our faith in this Man—we are saved.
You know, it’s crazy what we believe. To the outside world, it is insane what we believe. We actually believe that a man raised from the dead.
But having gone to Israel and seeing the empty tomb, I can tell you that it is such good news. There is no headstone. That’s good news. Because every other god, every other worshipped person, every other idol—they are all dead.
Our God is alive. That is why there is hope. That’s why there is life. That’s why we can pray in confidence and boldly approach the throne of grace—because we know that He’s alive.
Not Done in a Corner
When Festus shouted that Paul was insane, Paul responded in Acts 26:25-26: “I am not insane, most excellent Festus… What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner” (NIV).
It was not done in a corner.
Talk to the woman next to you. If she’s walked with Christ for any length of time, she can testify to His goodness, to His faithfulness, to the fact that He is real. He is an ever-present help in trouble. He has set her free.
There is no need to wonder if Christ is real. Talk to your neighbor. They will tell you. They will corroborate the story, the account that they have been set free and that they are compelled to tell you about His goodness—regardless of the storm.
Whether Quickly or Not
King Agrippa interrupted Paul and said in Acts 26:28: “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (NIV)
Paul replied in verse 29: “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains” (NIV).
To the very end, Paul was saying, “King Agrippa and all of these really important leaders in this room, whether quickly or not, I hope that you will know who Christ is. I hope you will know that He is for you and not against you.”
My Niece’s Story
Can I share a story with you? A few years ago, my niece came to live in Springfield. Her mom is dead, and her dad—my brother—continues to go through some really hard stuff in life. So she was in foster care, and we brought her up here.
She had no basis, no upbringing, no understanding in Christ. This was like a foreign language to her. She was doing well up here, got sent back home, and I was really upset about it because I felt like she was really flourishing. She was starting to go to church with us and really enjoying it.
She went on to college—my alma mater, a secular university. And I was highly concerned because I realized I had lost most of the influence in her life. I really no longer had a voice. I can remember just praying, and really, it’s where the Lord taught me that prayer is enough for those people when we feel like we’ve lost our voice. God will send others along their path, but our task is to be diligent in prayer.
At the end of the semester, she called to tell me she was going to drop out. Everything was falling apart—a downward spiral. I convinced her to just finish out the semester.
Well, in those last two weeks of school, there was a woman in one of her classes. This woman didn’t hang out in the same circles, didn’t have the same hobbies or interests. But like Paul, she was convinced that everyone needs to hear about Jesus. Everyone deserves to hear about the freedom that is found in Christ.
This girl asked my niece if she wanted to go to lunch. They went to get a burrito. The girl bought her lunch and told her testimony, shared Christ with her. And then she said, “What would happen if you gave your heart to Jesus?”
My niece started crying. She said, “You know, my aunt in Springfield has told me everything about Him, and I want to do that.”
This college student—eighteen years old, someone I’ve never met—was willing to go out of her way to a person who looked nothing like her, who talked nothing like her, who did not run in the same circles. But she was willing to share her faith. She wasn’t worried about the persecution that might come. She wasn’t worried about the rejection. She wasn’t worried about looking like a goody-two-shoes.
She was saying, “I believe that she deserves to hear the gospel.”
And she shared Christ at a Chipotle with my niece, who had been running from God for years. And He radically transformed her life and her eternity.
Her eternity is different because one girl was willing to share.
Who Are You Sharing With?
Has Christ so transformed your life that you’re willing to share?
We’re missing it if we’re not willing. We’re missing it if we’re looking at someone and thinking, “Oh, they’re not interested,” or “We don’t have anything in common,” or “They don’t seem like they have any care or concern in the world.”
The heart of the gospel is to rise and to go.
If you truly believe the time is short—and you should, honestly you should—then I hope that you leave with an urgency. An urgency to share the gospel.
Start with your testimony. Paul knows a lot, but he doesn’t let what he doesn’t know concern him. He shares his testimony: “When I was far from Christ, when I was persecuting Christians, Christ came to me and He forever radically transformed my life.”
It’s that simple.
Maybe you’ve been following Christ for a long time. Surely you can remember a time of His faithfulness, a time of His provision. It doesn’t have to be your salvation story. It just has to be whatever Christ has done for you lately—because He’s done something for you lately if you’re serving Him in any capacity.
You have a story.
The Time Is Short
We have been compelled by the Holy Spirit. We trust that He has gone before us, that He’s done the heavy lifting, that in prayer we’ve been seeking for opportunities.
God has written this date on the calendar of your life. He has placed specific people in your path—family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors. Someone that the Lord has quickened to your mind.
Will you share with them?
Will you rise and go?
Because there’s coming a day where you will stand face-to-face with the Creator and you will give an account. There’s coming a day when it will be too late.
But today it’s not too late.
God is saying, “I want my slate wiped clean for you. I will remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west.”
Rise and go. Be willing to buy them lunch, take them to coffee, meet with them face-to-face, send an email, send a text message—whatever it is. Don’t let it wear off until you do it.
Because the heart of the gospel is this: God loves them. Christ died for them. And He’s appointed you to tell them.
Sara Forhetz is a radio host, podcaster, and speaker who encourages thousands daily through her authentic storytelling and bold faith. Follow her daily encouragement on Instagram @saraforhetz or tune in weekdays 6-10 AM on 88.3 The Wind.
