Acts 26 Round Two: We Determine Faithfulness. God Determines Fruitfullness.

What happens when you give everything you’ve got, say exactly what’s true, and nothing dramatic happens? We sit with Paul’s defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26 and find a liberating answer: faithfulness is the win, and fruit belongs to God. From the opening frame, we explore how Paul grounds his story in his Jewish background, names his past as a persecutor, and centers the Damascus encounter where Jesus commissions him to open eyes and turn people from darkness to light. He doesn’t manipulate. He doesn’t posture. He bears witness—calmly, clearly, and courageously.

We unpack Paul’s careful appeal to Moses and the prophets, his insistence on the resurrection as the anchor of hope, and the striking exchange with Festus and Agrippa. When Festus calls him insane, Paul stands firm. When Agrippa pushes back, Paul prays that everyone listening would become as he is, except for the chains. There’s no cinematic payoff here—no instant conversions, no victory lap—only a deep lesson about calling. You cannot control outcomes, especially spiritual ones. Your lane is obedience; God decides fruit and timing.

Together we translate that into real life: how to measure success by faithfulness in tough workplaces, complex family dynamics, and long seasons with little visible progress. You’ll hear practical encouragement to keep showing up with integrity, to share your story without pressure tactics, and to trust the Spirit’s power more than your own performance. If you’re weary from chasing results, this conversation offers relief, courage, and a clearer target for your soul. If it resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review—then tell us: where do you need to choose faithfulness today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, Acts chapter 26.

(00:22):
And if I were to give this atitle, it would be this We
determine faithfulness, Goddetermines fruitfulness, and
within his time frame.
We determine faithfulness, Goddetermines fruitfulness, and
within his time.
We now have the moment when Paulis speaking to the highest
ranking official in the areaoutside of the Emperor, the

(00:45):
Caesar himself.
And in this moment, he all thispain, all these things that he
has done and has been done tohim is leading him to this
moment.
And all he has to do is just befaithful with the same message
he's preached everywhere else.
We're going to get into that injust a moment.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
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us know how you're impacted byGod's word.

(01:07):
If you're listening to thepodcast, make sure you leave us
a five-star review.
It really does help us to kindof get all this out here.
And I would love for you to goto the Facebook group, Bible
Breakdown Discussion, and let usknow how you're engaging with
this.
Also, we have some folkscreating some devotions for us
every single day.
We would love for you to engagewith that.
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(01:29):
how we can uh we can do thisthing together.
And I want to know if you'rereally engaging with the music
at the end.
Are you taking a moment toreally just pray, just think and
allow God to seal his word inyour heart?
If so, I want to know about it.
I want you to let me know ifyou're listening to this on the
YouTube channel.
Make sure you leave us a commentthere or go to Facebook and let

(01:49):
us know, okay?
As we dive into God's word,that's what this is going to be
today.
It's just going to be Paulsharing the story about what God
is doing in his life all overagain.
And it's just awesome.
It's awesome to see how God isjust continuing to build this
platform on all this pain.
And now here's the moment.
Other than speaking to Caesar,this is the biggest audience

(02:10):
Paul is going to have.
And his job is just to befaithful, and God determines
fruitfulness, and the timing isalso his.
So if you have your NLT Biblesopen with me, you want to open
them up to Acts chapter 26.
We're going to jump into God'sword together and just hear what
Paul has to say.
Here we go, verse one.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, Youmay speak in your defense.

(02:33):
So Paul, gesturing with hishand, started his defense.
And I don't know what thatmeans.
I just, here we go.
Whatever it is, he gestured, andnot in a vulgar way, apparently,
because he's talking to a guywho could kill him at any
moment, but he says, Here we go.
So you may speak in yourdefense.
He says, I am fortunate, KingAgrippa, that you are the one

(02:55):
hearing my defense today againstall these accusations made by
the Jewish leaders.
For I know that you're an experton all Jewish customs and
controversies.
Now, please listen to mepatiently.
As the Jewish leaders are aware,I was given a thorough Jewish
training from my earliestchildhood among my own people

(03:16):
and in Jerusalem.
If they would admit it, theywould know that I have been a
member of the Pharisees, thestrictest sect of our religion.
Now I'm on trial because of myhope in the fulfillment of God's
promise made to our ancestors.
In fact, that is why the twelvetribes of Israel zealously
worship God night and day, andthey share the same hope I have.

(03:38):
Yet, your majesty, they accuseme of having this hope.
Why?
Why does it seem incredible toany of you that God can raise
the dead?
I used to believe that I oughtto do everything I could to
oppose the name of Jesus theNazarene.
Indeed, I did just that inJerusalem.
Authorized by the leadingpriest, I caused many believers

(04:01):
there to be sent to prison, andI cast my vote against them when
they were condemned to death.
Many times I had them punishedin the synagogues and uh and get
them to curse Jesus.
Now pause for a moment.
Did you realize that?
That he said, not only did I dothese bad things, but many times
I would punish them in thesynagogue and get them to curse

(04:22):
Jesus.
So he was the worst kind ofsinner.
And he was saying, as hecontinues, I was so violently
opposed to them that I evenchased them down in foreign
cities.
One day I was on such a missionto Damascus, armed with the
authority and commissioned theleading priests, and about noon,

(04:42):
your majesty, I was on the road,and a light from heaven,
brighter than the sun, shonedown on me and my companions.
We all fell down, and I heard avoice saying to me in Aramaic,
Saul, Saul, why are youpersecuting me?
It is useless for you to fightagainst my will.
Who are you, Lord?
I said.
The Lord replied to me, I amJesus, the one you are

(05:04):
persecuting.
Now, get to your feet, for Ihave appeared to you to appoint
you as my servant and witness.
Tell the people that you haveseen me, tell them that I will
show you what I will show you inthe future, and that I will
rescue you both from your ownpeople and the Gentiles.
Yes, I am sending you to theGentiles, to open their eyes,

(05:25):
that they may turn from darknessto light, and from the power of
Satan to God.
Then they will receiveforgiveness for their sins and
be given a place among God'speople who are set apart by
faith in me.
And so, King Agrippa, I obeyedthat vision from heaven.
I preached first to those inDamascus, then in Jerusalem and

(05:46):
throughout all Judea, and to allalso to the Gentiles, that all
men might repent of their sinsand turn to God, and prove that
they have changed by the goodthings they do.
Some Jews arrested me in thetemple for preaching this, and
they tried to kill me, but Godhas protected me right up to
this present time, so that I cantestify to everyone from the

(06:08):
least to the greatest.
I teach nothing except what theprophets and Moses said would
happen, that the Messiah wouldsuffer and be the first to rise
from the dead, and in this wayannounce God's light to the Jews
and Gentiles alike.
Suddenly Festus shouted, Paul,you're insane.
Too much study has made youcrazy.

(06:30):
Paul replied, No, I'm notinsane, most excellent Festus.
What I'm saying is the sobertruth.
Other words, he's saying, I amstone cold right in the center
of my brain.
I know what I'm saying.
Verse 26.
And King Agrippa knows thatthese knows about these things.
I speak boldly, for I am surethat these events are familiar

(06:54):
to him, for they have not beendone in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe theprophets?
I know you do.
Agrippa interrupted him.
Paul, do you think you canpersuade me to become a
Christian so quickly?
Paul replied, Whether quickly ornot, I pray to God that both you
and everyone here in thisaudience might become the same

(07:14):
as I am, except for thesechains.
So he's saying, I want you to beas in love with Jesus as me, but
maybe you don't have to go toprison for it like I do.
Verse 30.
Then the king, the governor,Bernice, and all the others
stood and left.
They went out and they talked itover and agreed.
This man hasn't done anything todeserve death or imprisonment.

(07:36):
And Agrippa said to Festus, hecould have been set free if he
hadn't appealed to Caesar.
So here we have Paul in thismoment.
And he's finally in front ofCaesar, or not Caesar, but but
King Agrippa, and he shares hisstory.
And then, you know, there'sthere's this moment, like you
know, you see in the movieswhere, you know, there's the the

(07:57):
the hero of the story, and he'sgot to overcome all of these
odds and all these obstacles,and he finally gets his moment
in the sun, and and he gets todo the thing, whatever it is,
and he just saves the day.
You know, he he um he fixes itso that the bomb doesn't go off,
or he stops the aliens, orwhatever it is.
And so like he wins the day, andthen everybody just sells off

(08:18):
into the sunset.
Well, that's a movie.
That's not real.
This is real life.
And so all these bad things havehappened to Paul.
He's had to overcome all thesehorrible situations, and it's
gotten bad, and it's gottenworse, and it's got worse until
finally he's standing beforeKing Agrippa, one step below
Caesar.
And they're like, We're gonnasing you to Caesar, but before
you go to Caesar, here's yourchance to share your story.

(08:41):
And in the movies, this wouldhave been the moment when he
would have shared his story.
King Agrippa gets saved, andthen they just ride off in the
sunset together.
This is real life.
So he shares his story, and he'slike, Paul, are you trying to
make me a Christian?
Almost mocking him.
And Paul's like, Yep, I wish youcould be a Christian just like

(09:03):
me, except you don't go to jail.
And that's it.
That's the end of the story.
From what I've researched, wehave no idea if King Agrippa
ever became a Christian or not.
I'd like to tell you he did, butwe simply don't know.
We don't know if Festus became aChristian or not.
We don't know if Bernice, hiswife, ever became uh Agrippa's
wife ever became a Christian.
We we don't know.

(09:23):
And there's something about thatnow.
I would love for them to havebecome Christians, love for them
to become Christians in themoment.
But you know what I love maybeeven more is that wasn't the
point.
That wasn't Paul's point wasn'tthe fruit.
It wasn't for these people toget saved, that would have been
great.
Paul accomplished his missionwhen he was faithful.

(09:45):
Because our job is faithfulness.
God determines fruitfulness, andthe timing is also his as well.
Now, make sure you understand,I'm not saying that we shouldn't
try to do the best we can.
What I'm saying is we can't gethung up on the results because
we can't control the results,especially when it comes to
sharing our story with others.

(10:06):
We can't make someone receiveChrist.
That would be manipulation, andthat's not at all what God's
about.
But rather, our job is just tobe faithful with the story and
then let God do the rest.
And so they didn't have toreceive Christ for Paul to have
achieved his mission at thisset, at this part of the
journey.
The part of the journey that hehad to do was be faithful.

(10:27):
And my encouragement to you isthis maybe you're in a situation
where you're doing your best tolive for the Lord, you're living
for God in difficultcircumstances, difficult home
environment, different,difficult work environment,
maybe this a difficult season oflife, and you just feel like,
you know, I just I feel like I'mnot seeing success.
I'm not seeing the return for myinvestment.

(10:47):
What if you were to redefinesuccess?
You know, maybe redefiningsuccess is not to achieve, but
it's to become everything thatGod has called you to be.
And it's to be faithful, to befaithful to what God has called
you to do, and let thatfaithfulness determine what you

(11:08):
do, and let God determine thefruitfulness, let God determine
the bottom line.
So today, instead of beingworried about accomplishing
everything, what if you focusedon being faithful with what God
has put in your hands and see ifthat'll bring a little joy into
your life?
Let's pray together and we'll bedone.
Father, thank you so much fortoday.
Thank you for your goodness,your mercy, your kindness.

(11:29):
God, we we all want to besuccessful at what we do.
We all want to achieve, we allwant to provide, we all want
these these good things.
But sometimes our definition ofsuccess gets in the way of our
faithfulness.
Because sometimes we feel likethat unless we achieve what we
have as our idea of success,then we haven't actually done
anything good.

(11:50):
Only to realize, God, that wecan't determine fruitfulness a
lot of times.
All we can determine is ourlevel of faithfulness.
I pray today you help us to befaithful in all that we do and
just trust you with the rest.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget, God's Word says inActs 1, verse 8, he said, I will
you will receive power when?
When the Holy Spirit comes uponyou, and you will be my

(12:13):
witnesses to the ends of theearth.
My prayer for you is that you'llexperience the power of the Holy
Spirit, and he will empower youto make a difference in your
world today.
I love ya.
I'll see you tomorrow for Actschapter 27.