“Acts 26:1-18”

Sunday, February 21, 2016

“Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You are permitted to speak for yourself.’ Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense: ‘In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today; especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion. And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers; the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews. Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the [saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. ‘While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” And I said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”’”

---End of Scripture verses---

To stand before King Agrippa and make his case was kind of a blessing for Paul. Agrippa was a Jew and he had passed much of his time in the kingdom over which he presided. Unlike Governor Festus, he was someone who understood the things about which Paul had been accused of. Festus also wanted Agrippa to hear this case from Paul’s own mouth because of his ignorance about the animosity that existed between Paul and his accusers. This left him frustrated, not knowing what to write to Caesar in regards to the prisoner he was about to send him (Acts 25:25-26).

Paul told Agrippa that he was standing trial for “the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers” (verse 6). This is the great irony of this whole twisted situation. Everything that Paul had been preaching about and had dedicated his life to, and that the Jews were resisting with such violent ferocity, was the fulfillment of the promises that God had made to His people through the Law and the Prophets. Paul was only telling them about how God had sent His Son Jesus, the promised Messiah, into the world to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). God’s rebellious children were intensely determined to “kick against the goads” (verse 14). They were like stubborn oxen kicking in defiance against their Master’s commands, and only bringing injury upon themselves.

“Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?” (verse 8) The fact that God had raised from the dead the Christ that they had crucified would have come as no great shock to them had they truly understood the power of the God they thought they were serving and the Scriptures they thought they were defending. King David had prophesied about the resurrection of the Anointed in Psalm 16 when he wrote, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:10-11). There are ample other Old Testament verses that tell of the promise of the hope of resurrected life after death for God’s people as well (Psalm 23:6; 49:15; 2 Samuel 12:23; Daniel 12:13).

As we have been reading over the past several weeks, the Lord had rescued Paul time and time again from the hands of wicked people as he went about preaching salvation through Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles (verse 17). Jesus had sent Paul out even to people who wanted to kill him, with the desire “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (verse 18). Please notice the dichotomy here friends. Either you are walking in the light or in the darkness. You are either dwelling in the dominion of God or of Satan. There is no riding the fence. There is no “in-between point.” You are either saved or lost, with God or against Him, heaven-bound or on the highway to hell.

Please make the mental determination today to “go all in” with the Lord.

Give your life to Jesus. Humbly submit to his will and obey His every command.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Please read Acts 26:19-32 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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