The sermon titled 'Making Good Use of the Circus' by Peter Allison explores the narrative found in Acts chapter 25, where Paul undergoes a trial in front of Festus and later King Agrippa. Festus, a new ruler, is eager to gain favor with the Jews and showcase his discernment as a judge, yet finds himself in a predicament when no legitimate charges are brought against Paul. To complicate matters, Paul appeals to Caesar, which leaves Festus in a difficult position with no valid charges to present to Caesar. The sermon delves into the character of Agrippa and Bernice, highlighting their scandalous relationship and moral corruption, even by Roman standards. It also discusses the principles of justice, such as the right to a fair trial, cross-examination, and speedy justice, which are rooted in both Roman and biblical law. The sermon emphasizes Paul's unwavering faith and strategic use of the situation to proclaim the gospel to a significant audience, including Roman commanders and rulers. Through patience and boldness, Paul exemplifies the peace and trust in God's sovereignty, as he utilizes the elaborate setting orchestrated by Festus for the advancement of the gospel.

Acts chapter 25. Paul has had a trial in front of Festus, the third one, one, has just appealed to Caesar. We pick up the narrative in verse 13. And after some days, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. And when they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, There is a certain man left the prison by Felix about whom The chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me when I was in Jerusalem asking for a judgment against him.

To them I answered, It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before he meets the accusers face to face and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him. Therefore when they had come together without delay the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I suppose, but had some questions against him about their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I was uncertain of such questions I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters. But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, I also would like to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, he said, you shall hear him. So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp and Had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city at Festus command Paul was brought in And Festus said King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was not fit to live any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. I have nothing certain to write to my Lord concerning him.

Therefore, I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place, I may have something to write, for it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him. May rivers of water run down from our eyes when men do not keep His law. Gracious Father in Heaven, You have caused all of the Scriptures to be written for our learning, for our instruction, that we might know You in the power of Your resurrection, that we might hear them also preached. We ask for Your blessing upon this Preaching of your word. I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips That they may proclaim your word and that you would preserve me from error in Jesus name Amen The title of the message this morning is Making Good Use of the Circus, Because that's a little bit about what's going on in this passage.

Festus has got himself into a bit of a pickle. As a brand new ruler seeking to get started on a good footing with the Jews, he agreed to put Paul on trial for the third time. Not the third time under his rule, but it's the third time for Paul to be tried. And it seemed to Festus at the time to be a perfect opportunity to not only please the Jews, do them a favor, that's what they were asking of him, and politicians always like to comply with things that will help them gain popularity. But he also saw it as an occasion to advance his administration by demonstrating his discernment as a judge and also clearing the case backlog that had been left over from Felix.

And so he readily agrees to this trial, but he just wants it in Caesarea. So they had this trial, he has it immediately, He's very eager to have this trial and showcase his talents as a judge. But to his surprise, the trial revealed that the Jews had no legitimate complaint against Paul, and they presented absolutely no evidence to prove any of the charges that they were asserting. And so this put Felix in a rather difficult position with no good options for doing either of the things that he wanted to do with this trial, which would be to build his favor, build favor with the Jews and demonstrate his capabilities as a jurist. There were no good options for him that would satisfy the Jews and maintain any semblance or pretense of justice.

See, justice would dictate that he should find Paul not guilty. That was obvious. And he should release him. But that would risk a lot of disfavor with the Jews. On the other hand, simply finding Paul guilty or of turning him over to the Jews would be too big of an injustice For him and open him up to charges of Not being just or not being competent There's the opposite of what he wants at this point.

Remember, Felix has just been recalled because he was corrupt. So he wants to avoid any pretense or anything that would give any evidence or legs to the idea that he's not any better. And so, in what he might have thought was a brilliant attempt to rescue the situation and do the Jews some favor and preserve some semblance of justice. He comes up with the idea of getting Paul's voluntary agreement to stand a trial in Jerusalem and to go down there. I don't think Festus ever anticipated that Paul would not limit himself to his options of yes or no.

And instead he appealed to Caesar. See when Paul made that choice that we looked at last week he already had three trials with no clear ruling from any of them. He had served two years in prison with no clear resolution to his case and now no apparent progress. And so he realizing that nothing is moving forward. Several years have gone by he's still a prisoner there's three trials and no sentence no ruling and of any sort.

He exercised his right as a Roman citizen and removed the whole case from Festus' court by appealing to Caesar. But then this leaves Festus in an even more difficult spot. There are no charges against Paul that Caesar would recognize. This is not a complex case of many different things, moving parts, difficult law that would be worthy of Caesar's court. In his view, the differences here are just some differences that the Jews had with Paul that to him seemed very trivial.

It wouldn't look good as a brand new ruler to send such a trivial case to Caesar. It would be like appealing a speeding ticket to the Supreme Court and trying to make something out of it. It's a waste of time. And so Festus does nothing. He doesn't know what to do, so he does nothing.

He just sat on the matter until he could figure out how to handle this situation, how to fix it. And a number of days now have passed with no activity on on Paul's case. And then we pick up in verse 13, you know Agrippa and this is Agrippa 2, his father was Agrippa 1, so Agrippa came to, and Bernice came to Caesarea on an official visit to pay their respects to Festus, the new ruler. Agrippa and Bernice were brother and sister and they had spent their childhood and most of their adult life in Rome because their father Agrippa I like all client Roman client kings would send their children to Rome to be educated. In this case, Agrippa was brought up with Claudius and was well known to the Caesars.

And so that's where they were educated. It was here where they lived together and probably began their incestuous relationship. See, Bernice was married at 13 years of age to a man who died shortly thereafter and apparently never consummated the marriage. Then she was married to her uncle, Herod of Calcis, with whom she had two sons. And After the death of her second husband, she returned to her brother Agrippa's house and spent her time there serving as his queen and engaging, apparently, according to all the rumors of the day, engaging in this incestuous relationship.

And she served as his queen, like we see right here in Acts 25. They come together as a royal couple. But their relationship was scandalous even to the Romans. And the Romans were no strangers to immorality so the fact that it was scandalous to even the Romans is significant And so to allay all the rumors and the talk, she contracted a third marriage with Palamon, king of Cilicia, which is where Paul's from, of Cilicia. So, but she soon left him and returned to Agrippa's court.

Going over this, just to give you some idea of the promiscuity of this lady and of the day. During the first Jewish-Roman war, she began fornicating with military commander, their Titus. And when the war was over, she returned to Rome with him, expecting to be his wife. But the Romans, I guess, disapproved of this relationship. And there were many jokes and rumors.

It was the stuff of the late-night comedy equivalent in their day, for which the emperor would beheading people and flogging people, but it didn't stop the rumors. And so Titus eventually dismissed Bernice when he became emperor in 79. Something that Suetonius, a Roman historian, says was, quote, against her will and against his own. But he did it for the sake of the kingdom and expediency. So Agrippa then, Bernice's brother, younger brother, was the last of these Herodian kings.

So remember his great grandfather would have been Herod the Great when Jesus was born that killed all the babies at Bethlehem his great uncle Herod the Great's Son was the Herod that Jesus faced and that beheaded John the Baptist and then his father would have been the Herod that beheaded James earlier in Acts. And then Herod Agrippa II is the son who was given a region there west outside of Judea to reign over. And he was a Jew, and because he was a Jew, he was given charge of the temple, which came with that came the ability to appoint the high priest, which was something that he apparently frequently did and Frequently exercised as the right and gained some note when he was Gained some disfavor with the Jews for over his appointments and and his arbitrariness in them He did try to mediate between the Jews and the Romans to prevent the war that Revelation talks about in 70 AD. But he failed to persuade the Jews. And so failing to do that, he fully supported Rome.

And he remained in power until after 90 AD. He never married and apparently had never had any other mistresses except this incestuous relationship with his sister, which apparently, I said, began very early. So he was equally morally perverted. And the fact that he is a Jew and in charge of the temple indicates just how corrupt and perverted the Jews had become. And so Agrippa and Bernice came to pay their official respects and they stayed a while.

Luke says that they were there many days. And I'm guessing that Festus is probably wondering how to entertain them. You have some guests that come. These people obviously have nothing better to do. They're the idle rich.

And they just want to be occupied by as the saying goes, bread and circuses. And so He's probably wondering how to keep them occupied. I remember Somebody talking about when I was in the corporate world the CEO's Jet was delayed as private jet I just broke down and he's waiting for a replacement to come and this person was talking about so this CEO here is now hanging around me this office this headquarters and you know the CEO under him you know was now kept busy trying to figure out what to do with this guy. You know, he normally comes in for, you know, a two hour, four hour meeting, whatever. You have dog and pony show arranged.

You run through it and they leave. But now he's got this guy just wandering around with nothing to do. Is there a headache? And I imagine Festus is in something of a similar situation here with these people just hanging around his court and he's wondering how to keep them occupied. And so in that context, he suddenly comes up with the idea of getting some input from Agrippa on this Paul dilemma.

You know, this pickle that he has that he's not able to figure out what to do. After all, Agrippa is this recognized expert on Jewish laws and customs. And that's exactly what Paul's case has to do with Jewish laws and Jewish customs. And so it says after many days, Festus brings up Paul's case to Agrippa. And his presentation, which we read, his presentation to Agrippa, his overview, summary of the case, shows that he understands Roman law, but he also is willing to bend the facts to make himself look a little better.

So he says he's somebody that's left by Felix. This ensures that Gripen knows that this prisoner is not his mess. It's Felix who's baggage. And it's of course very common to blame the current problems on the previous administration. We see that all the time, right?

Whether they are the actual cause of them or not. And that's especially true if the previous administration has to leave in disgrace, as Felix did. He was recalled to stand trial. But it is at least accurate in an accurate statement of the case. Festus tells Agrippa that The Jews asked for a judgment.

Well, that's not quite right. They didn't ask for a judgment. They asked for Paul to be brought to Jerusalem to stand trial intending to ambush Paul on the transit and kill him. So it's not quite right, but it makes him look better in his story by providing sort of a setting to which he can respond with, but Roman custom doesn't deliver a man to destruction without a fair trial. And so this is an obvious principle of justice that was a part of Roman law.

And so Festus here spells out in this statement the essentials of a fair trial, first facing your own accusers, face to face, in person. And secondly, the right to answer charges or to bring your own witnesses. So he understands a good understanding that this is necessary to have a fair trial. So he's sort of demonstrating his expertise or his competence in the law. And many people look at these principles in Roman law and think that we in America got our principles of justice and of law and of government from the Greeks and the Romans.

But that's simply not true. These are biblical principles, and they were biblical principles long before Rome or Greece were established. Deuteronomy 19.15 says, One witness shall not arise against a man concerning any iniquity or sins that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. And it goes on to say, if a false witness arises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests, and the judges who serve in those days." And that's what a trial is.

Two people who have conflicting views about a particular matter. When that happens, you know at least one of them, if not both, but at least one of them has a false view. And so if a false witness arises, every trial, one side, at least one side, is not true. Bringing a case that's not true, or is asserting something that's not true. Now maybe they are truly deceived, but oftentimes that's not the case.

And so this if a false witness arises is saying when you have this conflict, we have two people with conflicting views, then you're to have a trial. That's right there in the scriptures. And then the scriptures goes on to say, in the Judges, verse 18, shall make a careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother Then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother show you shall put away The evil from among you and those who remain shall hear and fear and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. Life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." See, if this principle were applied today, it would eliminate the vast majority of frivolous lawsuits.

Because in every situation like that where you have two people, somebody that are in comp, have opposing views about any particular matter, at least one of them, has a false view. And the principle of cross-examination of witnesses, that's also in the scripture in Proverbs 18. 17, The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him. And this is the second component of a just trial, the right to cross-examine witnesses. So the right to a trial, the right to present your evidence and cross-examine the witnesses.

And so Festus then holds this trial without delay. Festus says he held the trial immediately, which is true. And that's another principle of justice, a speedy trial. And this also comes from the Scriptures. Ecclesiastes 8-11, because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

See, the lack of delayed justice is an encouragement to criminals. Because justice delayed is justice denied. In Ezra 7, 26, he said, Whoever will not observe the law of God and the law of the King, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be death or banishment or confiscation of goods or imprisonment. Judgment is to be executed speedily. So holding somebody in custody is only for the purpose of having time to hold the trial.

It's not the punishment. For example, the person who was working on the Sabbath was put under guard until they could determine what to do with him in Numbers 15. In Numbers 15. But when they held this trial, it was a speedy trial, and Festus provided everything that he needed to provide in setting the trial up. He gave Paul an opportunity to speak.

He gave them a chance to present their charges. But the Jews didn't present anything like what Festus was expecting. He was expecting some real charges of something significant. And he naively thought they were going to bring actual criminal matters on which he could render a verdict. But he didn't really understand the Jews and their deep hatred of Christ and of the apostles.

He didn't understand the extent of their fanaticism. He was somewhat naive in that sense. Instead, Festus tells Agrippa that they had questions about their own religion. But even here, he shows he doesn't understand anything about the Jews. The word translated religion there in verse 19.

The word literally is fear of demons. In other words, he's calling them superstitious. He's saying they have a fear of the gods that expresses itself in extraordinary ways and in unusual practices. That's his assessment of Judaism based on the word that he uses to describe it. It's similar to Lenin's view of religion, an opiate of the masses for people who fear what they can't see, but can conjure up in their minds.

In other words, superstitious people that are irrationally fearful of things that any reasonable person, any science-based person wouldn't be afraid of. So Festus also picks up one other point in their disagreement. He says Paul believes in some man called Jesus. Never heard of him, sorry as Festus is concerned. Paul believes this man called Jesus, whoever that is, is still alive while the Jews claim that he died a number of years ago.

And so Festus is wholly ignorant of who Jesus is and who Paul really is. He doesn't know that this is the creator of heaven and earth, the God-man, the savior of mankind. And he doesn't know, you know, Paul is the greatest missionary, apostle right in front of him in his own house. So he's an ignorant man in many ways, and especially ignorant of the Jews and the Christian faith. And so Festus actually acknowledges his ignorance to judge the details of Paul's case.

He says, I was, verse 20, I was uncertain of such questions. So he's honest in that at least. He didn't know. But it's a, it's an justifiable ignorance, right? He's a Roman ruler.

He's supposed to know Roman law. He's supposed to know the essence of what a just trial is composed of, which he's just shown he does understand in what he's saying. And so this is kind of what he sees as inexcusable ignorance. He really shouldn't be expected to understand the intricacies of these superstitious people. And so he feels justified here in appealing to Agrippa for some help.

After all Agrippa should be an expert in these matters. He's a Jew, he's the one that's responsible to oversee the temple and appoint the high priest and so forth so you know Festus is looking to Agrippa's expertise in that and he also used his this justified ignorance of Jewish laws the reason that he asked Paul if he'd be willing to stand trial in Jerusalem, because, you know, hey, I don't know about these things. Why don't you go down there and deal with it? And so, but Paul's appeal to Caesar has now left him, though, in a pickle, because he doesn't know what to say to Caesar, that doesn't look stupid. And so Agrippa extends a lifeline to Festus saying, ah, well, I would like to hear Paul.

And I think this is just what Festus was hoping for all along. He wanted some support on what to do with Paul. He wanted to have someone else to share the blame with if this went south. And so he immediately agrees to hold a hearing for Agrippa in the very next day. And I think this solves some problems for Festus.

First, it provides an occasion for pomp and circumstance for Agrippa and Bernice, something to build them up, something to flatter them, put on a show for them, something to allow them to be displayed in the city in their royal glory. And so they came with, Luke says, great pomp, words, fantasia, its glory, majesty. And Festus also invited all the commanders in the prominent cities in Caesarea this is the capital city and this wouldn't be necessary if the hearing was just to get Agrippa's opinion If he was just interested in his opinion, then he could have had a private meeting with Agrippa. But I think inviting all these prominent people and inviting all the Kiliarks to this increases the pomp of the moment. You can't have a lot of pomp without a great audience.

And so all these people provide a great audience and sort of a justification for a lot of pomp and circumstance. It also provides entertainment. Agrippa and Bernice have been at the palace a while, and as I said earlier, he's wondering how to entertain them, and he wants to be a good host and make a good impression on them, and so on, give them a good time. So this is something to pass their time with. But I think it also Festa sees it as an opportunity to improve his standing in the community and his relationship.

You know many of the prominent citizens are invited to this. It's kind of like a public relations enhancing photo opportunity for Festus. It's not like the President touring some disaster area. The President's not going to help anybody there. He's just there for a photo opportunity to show everybody that he's concerned about their troubles.

But he's not actually going to do any work there to actually help anybody. So once everybody is seated amidst all the pomp, Then before everyone's eyes, Festus gives this command, okay, bring Paul in. So Paul comes in to this situation of great pomp and circumstance. He's putting on a show and using Paul to do it. And then he makes a royal introduction and he repeats all the main points that we have just gone over in his statement to Agrippa.

He adds a few things that weren't in his statement to Agrippa, most notably how The Jews cried out that he wasn't fit to live any longer. It wasn't just simple calm accusations that they were bringing. The word he used paints the Jews as fanatical. The Jews are probably not here, so it's easy to cast them under the bus at this point. He says they cried out loudly.

That's how an aroused mob, screaming and shouting, yelling, would be described. But notice how Paul makes use of this circumstance. He seizes this opportunity to advance the gospel of the kingdom. Paul has had great patience these past couple of years. He's written his prison epistles, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and so forth here.

And we can learn a lot in them about what Paul is thinking at this time. He trusted in God's sovereignty. See, He saw all this perp, pomp, and circumstance making up this circus was ordained by God to give this incredible opportunity for the Gospel. Roman historians of the day have claimed that there were five cohorts in Caesarea. That's five commanders, plus all these prominent men of the capital city, plus two Roman rulers are present.

You could not have dreamed of a more significant crowd of Gentiles gathered together for the sole purpose of hearing Paul speak. Remember, there are no accusers here. This is not a trial. This is a chance for Paul to speak with no accusers. You couldn't have wished, you couldn't have dreamed of having a more significant audience and a greater platform than what God provided in this moment.

Paul is bold. He's not awed by court pomp or the circumstance or this crowd into silence. But he takes this opportunity to make in the next chapter one of his most heartfelt and fullest presentations of the Gospel that's recorded in acts. Paul also has great peace. Civil trials are one of the hardest occasions for peace.

When your freedom is hanging in the balance, when your life is potentially on the line, when there is uncertainty about a verdict, that's one of the most difficult and unsettling situations to be in. Psalm 119, 165 says, Great peace have all those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. And one of the letters that Paul wrote in this time to the Philippians, he says, Be anxious for nothing. Paul was living that out every day as he was writing these letters. Sitting there for two years, not knowing what was going to happen.

There had been no verdict in his trial yet. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And we'll see next week that Paul opens his talk with thanksgiving. He says, I'm happy to be here. He was in a good mood.

He was cheerful. He was at peace. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the God of peace, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Paul was exemplifying in this moment everything that he was writing to us about. Peace, boldness, trusting faith, walking by faith, trusting God's sovereignty, and waiting patiently on the Lord. And we'll look next week, Lord willing, at this incredible gospel message through this very prominent audience.

Father in heaven, we thank you for every jot and tittle in your word. It is all life-giving. Help us to understand it and to not only know it but to believe it and to live these principles. To live out the teaching of your commandments. We thank you for this example of a man of like passions as we are.

A man who was himself also a sinner, saved by your grace, sanctified by Your Spirit, with access to the same throne of grace that we have access to. Access and indwelt by the same Spirit with which we are indwelt. Lord, may you teach us and work in us the fruits of your Spirit, teaching us faith and patience and hope and giving to us a boldness for the gospel, a boldness for the truth, regardless of the prominence of the people before whom we stand, regardless of what they think about you or the truth. Lord, this we ask through Jesus Christ, amen.