LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 83

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No matter. What does it profit a man to gain the world
and lose his soul?

the sanctified. What happened to him is now the
Church’s message to a blind world.

Everything changes for Paul that day. From the moment
of his conversion, he has one purpose: to preach Christ
crucified and risen. “I will speak of Your testimonies
also before kings, and will not be ashamed” [Psalm
119:46 NKJV].

It starts by recommitting ourselves to an entire life of
repentance. God’s Word today calls us to this: “That they
should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in
keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20).

His conviction costs him. Paul gets a chance to speak in
his own defense. But he doesn’t take it, not for himself.
His defense is Jesus. In his speech before Festus and
Agrippa, he accuses himself of sin. “I persecuted the
saints, but Jesus delivered me from that.” Paul’s defense
is Jesus.
Festus and Agrippa cannot understand a man who would
make such a choice. “He could have gone free,” Agrippa
says, “if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Why does Paul appeal to Caesar? Not to save himself, but
in hopes of saving Caesar, and saving Rome, and saving
the world. Paul wants to bring the Name of Jesus into the
heart of the empire, into the heart of world power, that
they may know that Jesus is Lord, and at His Name every
knee shall bow, those in heaven, those on earth, and those
under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord.
Paul doesn’t care about his own outcome. He already
knows it. He serves the One who is risen from the dead.
He has one concern, the message Jesus gave him: “So that
[the Gentiles] may turn from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are
sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).

What is the relationship between faith and good works?
The great seventeenth century dogmatician, Johann
Gerhard, put it this way:
Good works are the fruit of repentance. “Bear fruit
worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8). “I have
testified to Jews and to Gentiles to repent and turn
to God and do works worthy of repentance” (Acts
26:20). “Repent and do the former works” (Rev.
2:5). Therefore good works are not essential parts
of repentance. … The new obedience … is not a
part of repentance but is the necessary
consequence of it … as fruit follows the tree.
(Johann Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces: On
the Gospel, On Repentance [St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 2016], 209)
So you see everything is grounded on Christ’s work, not
our own. The light comes from outside of us, into our
darkened world and darkened hearts. This is “what the
prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the
Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise
from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our
people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22b–23).
Now what’s the only reasonable response to this? “And …
Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are out of your
mind …’” (Acts 26:24).

We dare not ignore this terrible power facing us. Satan is
the ruling power in the unconverted men of the world.
We cannot defeat him with a better social media presence
or catchier music. Satan is overcome only by the Stronger
One, Jesus the Christ. His Word, His Cross, His Name
defeats the evil one.
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins” [Col. 1:13–14 NKJV].
Judged as a murderer and blasphemer, God gave Paul
freely, without any merit or worthiness in him,
absolution. That is the one election that truly matters.
Forgiveness and illumination belong together. In verse 18
of this morning’s reading, Paul is speaking
autobiographically. Paul’s ministry is bringing to others
what he himself received: His eyes were opened, turned
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to
God; receiving the forgiveness of sins and a place among
Convention Sermons

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 83