An expository lecture class verse by verse led by Pastor Robert Read.

Last week we ended at Chapter 26 and verse 23 where Paul was preaching to Festus and Agrippa. This week in verse 24 we see Festus assert that Paul has so much learning that he has gone mad or lost his mind.

Acts Lesson 38 Study Questions

1.    I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason: Yet, Paul knew that not only his gospel was _____, it was also ___________. God may sometimes act above reason, but never contrary to reason.

2.    Paul didn’t first ask Agrippa if he believed on Jesus; he asked, “Do you believe the prophets?” Paul did this because he knew that if Agrippa did believe the prophets, _______ and ________ would lead him to believe upon Jesus. He wanted to connect what Agrippa already believed to what he should believe.

3.    On the other side of Agrippa sat Festus – a man’s man, a no-nonsense man, a man who thought Paul was crazy. Perhaps Agrippa thought, “I can’t become a Christian. Festus will think I’m also crazy.” Because he wanted the praise of ______, he rejected _______. 

4.    The appeal to Caesar, and his subsequent journey to Rome at the Empire’s expense, were also the ___________ of the Holy Spirit’s purpose that Paul should go to ________ (Acts 19:21, 23:11). This also answered a long-standing desire in the heart of Paul to visit the already present Christian community there (Romans 1:9-13).

5.    Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care: The ship first sailed to Sidon, where Paul met with Christians and could receive ______ from them. The Roman commander gave Paul a lot of _________ because he wasn’t a condemned man (yet), but waiting for trial before Caesar. 

6.    Sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over: The Fast date in question here was probably October 5, which was the date of the Day of Atonement in A.D. 59. The idea is that as ________ approached, the _________ became more dangerous for sailing.

7.    The majority advised to set sail from there also: Yet they failed to properly regard the ______ word from the Apostle Paul, which turned out to be ___________: This voyage will end with disaster and much loss. They should have listened to Paul, and later told them so (Acts 27:21).

8.    When the south wind blew softly: The winds looked __________, so they set out from Fair Havens. Just beyond Crete, the wind turned ___________.

9.    They struck sail and so were driven: The fear of crashing on the Syrtis Sands (an infamous wrecking area of ships off the coast of North Africa) made them go with the _______ and give up ______ of navigating the ship in the storm.

10.    All hope that we would be saved was finally given up: Acts 27:37 tells us there were 276 people on board, both passengers and crew. It seems that they had all ________ given up, and had no _______ of survival.