Have you ever been in situations where you were almost persuaded to do something, yet you backed away and didn’t follow through? As a young person, I was a risk-taker. This is a character trait of most young people. They don’t see the possible dangers involved in a certain activity or they think it will never happen to them. However, the older I get the more I weigh the possibilities of consequences that may be negative to my well-being. Now, for me to be almost persuaded the risks must be much lower than the positive outcome I am looking for.
In Acts chapter 26 Paul is speaking with King Agrippa. He is seeking to convince him to accept Jesus as his Savior. Agrippa gives Paul the opportunity to speak for himself, and he listens. Paul is happy to defend himself against the false charges the Jews had placed against him. Paul had been charged with profaning the temple at Jerusalem. Agrippa gave him a hearing and Paul makes good use of it. He compliments Agrippa as one with expert knowledge of the customs and actions of the Jews.
Paul proceeds to lay out his life before Agrippa. His groundwork for his defense starts with how he too was a Jew and how he also had been zealous for the Jewish religion against those who were followers of Christ. In the past, he saw Christ as an enemy of the Jewish religion and his goal was to destroy all who were propagating this religion. In Acts 26:10, Paul reveals to Agrippa that he had been guilty of putting Christians in prison and even having them put to death.
Act 26:10 “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.”
After laying the groundwork that gave him common ground with Agrippa he turns the corner to his personal testimony of salvation. In Acts 26:12 he starts with his trip to Damascus which was authorized by the chief priests. At midday, something happened that he had not expected there was a bright light that caused everyone to fall to the earth. He then heard a voice, and it was Jesus.
Act 26:14-16 “And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecute thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said I am Jesus whom thou persecute. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee”
Paul proceeds to tell King Agrippa that he obeyed the voice of Jesus and begin to spread the news of salvation to everyone, especially the Jews, but it only angered them, and they now sought to kill him.
Act 26:19-21 “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes, the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.”
After much speaking Paul comes to the important question. Do you believe? He had presented the facts from his own conversion and reminded Agrippa of the prophet’s words about a coming Messiah. In verse 28, I find the saddest words in scripture. Agrippa answers Paul with “almost thou persuades me to be a Christian.”
Act 26:27-28 “King Agrippa, believes thou the prophets? I know that thou believes. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”
Why are these so depressing and sad to me? Because getting close to becoming a believer and follower of Christ, is not enough to obtain eternal life. Almost living is still dying. Almost healed but is still sick. Almost believing in Jesus is still a death sentence to Hell. It is an awful thing to spend life here living for self and dying without Christ, but it is worse to come close to believing and fail.
Are you almost persuaded to become a believer? What about almost being persuaded to witness to others? Others will die and go to an eternal Hell without Christ. What about almost being persuaded to deny yourself of things of this world that cloudy your testimony in order to give a clear picture of the beauty of salvation? Will there be people in Hell because you stopped short of doing all you could to convince them of what Christ has done for them? What are you almost persuaded to do or not to do?
