Acts 26: Paul Before Agrippa

CHAPTER 26 BEGINS WITH PAUL IN THE HEARING ROOM OF HEROD’S PALACE IN CAESAREA, STANDING BEFORE GOVERNOR FESTUS AND KING AGRIPPA AND HIS SISTER BERNICE.

THE GOVERNOR HAD REQUESTED AGRIPPA’S HELP IN COMPOSING A LETTER TO TRAVEL ALONG WITH PAUL TO ROME, WHERE PAUL HAD REQUESTED TO GO TO APPEAL HIS CHARGES DIRECTLY TO CAESAR.

KING AGRIPPA HAD SAID HE WISHED TO HEAR FROM PAUL PERSONALLY AND EVEN THOUGH PAUL WAS NOT REQUIRED TO DEFEND HIMSELF BEFORE AGRIPPA SINCE HE HAD APPEALED TO A HIGHER POWER IN ROME, HE DECIDED TO SPEAK BEFORE THE KING.

HERE WAS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR PAUL TO WITNESS CHRIST BEFORE THOSE WITH MUCH POWER, IN THIS CASE A JEWISH KING APPOINTED BY ROME.

PAUL INTENDED TO WITNESS ABOUT HIS WALK WITH JESUS CHRIST AFTER HIS VIOLENT CONVERSION NEAR DAMASCUS.

IN VERSES 1-3 PAUL BEGINS HIS DEFENSE FIRST BY COMPLIMENTING AGRIPPA CONCERNING HIS KNOWLEDGE OF JEWISH BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS.

HE BESEECHED AGRIPPA TO HEAR HIM PATIENTLY .

ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS, AGRIPPA’S FATHER HELD THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE HOLY TEMPLE AND ITS TREASURES AND HAD THE POWER TO AFFECT APPOINTMENTS OF HIGH PRIESTS.

AS PAUL BEGINS HE IS NOT SO MUCH PREPARING A PERSONAL DEFENSE BUT RATHER TO DO ALL POSSIBLE TO CONVERT THE KING TO THE LORD. THE KING WILL LATER ACKNOWLEDGE THIS FACT IN VERSE 28.

IN VERSES 4-8 PAUL BEGINS HIS TESTIMONY BY USING HIS PERSONAL HISTORY IN HIS EARLY LIFE AS A PRACTICING JEW.

HE BEGINS WITH REVEALING THAT HE HAD BECOME A PHARISEE WHICH ALONG WITH HIS EARLY TRAINING BY GAMILIEL GAVE PAUL STRONG CREDENTIALS.

THE PHARISEES WERE A GROUP SMALLER IN NUMBER THAN THE SADDUCEES AND WERE SET APART (MADE HOLY) DURING THE PREVIOUS REVOLT OF THE MACCABEANS.

HE SAYS IN VERSE 5 THAT HE HAD LIVED IN THE MOST STRAIGHTEST SECT OF OUR RELIGION, KNOWING THIS EXPLANATION WOULD IMPRESS AGRIPPA.

WE REMEMBER THAT PAUL SPOKE OF HIS CONSERVATIVE PAST TO THE PHILLIPIANS IN 3:5 SAYING HE HAD BEEN CIRCUMCISED ON HIS 8TH DAY AND WAS FROM THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, AND WAS A HEBREW OF THE HEBREWS.

NOW PAUL BEGINS HIS EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THE JEWS HAD COME TO HATE HIM.

HE BEGINS WITH MENTIONING HOW THE LORD HAD MADE A PROMISE TO THE 12 TRIBES AND PAUL HAD SERVED THE LORD HOPING FOR THAT PROMISE, WHICH WAS OF A REDEEMER TO COME.

BY THAT PROMISE THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAD ALWAYS LOOKED TOWARD A FUTURE TIME WHEN GOD WOULD RESURRECT THE DEAD.

BECAUSE OF THAT PROMISE, WHY SHOULD IT SEEM INCREDIBLE THAT GOD HAD BEGUN THE PROCESS OF ALREADY RAISING THE DEAD AS JESUS CHRIST HAD BECOME A RISEN SAVIOR TO THE CHOSEN PEOPLE.

PAUL FELT IT WAS OUTRAGEOUS THAT HE WAS BEING CONDEMNED  FOR BELIEVING THAT LONG HELD TRUTH WHICH WAS THE GREAT HOPE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE.

NOW IN VERSES 9-11 HE CONTINUES TO DEFEND HIMSELF BY EXPRESSING HIS OWN ZEAL FOR WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED AND HAD BEGUN TO DELIVER.

HE IS HONEST TO REVEAL THAT HE ORIGINALLY HAD DONE MANY THINGS THAT WERE CONTRARY TO THE NAME OF JESUS BY DOING WHAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT WAS THE WILL OF GOD.

PAUL DID NOT JUST DISAGREE WITH THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS BUT RATHER WAS HOSTILE TO THOSE TEACHING THEM AND THOSE WHO PREACHED THAT MESSAGE.

HE SAID HE PUT MANY CHRISTIANS IN PRISON FOR THEIR BEING FOLLOWERS AND WHEN THEY WERE GIVEN A DEATH SENTENCE HE HIMSELF VOTED FOR THEIR DEATH.

HE SAID HE HAD PERSECUTED INSIDE THE SYNAGOGUES AND FORCED BELIEVERS TO BLASPHEME, AND EVEN PERSECUTED THEM INTO OTHER CITIES.

HE HAD BEEN OBSESSED WITH THIS TYPE OF PERSECUTION AND HAD GONE TO DAMASCUS TO CONTINUE HIS MOST HARMFUL BEHAVIOR WHICH HE READILY ADMITTED MEANT AT TIMES TAKING THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS.

WE RECALL HE STOOD BY CONSENTING TO THE STONING OF STEPHEN.

NEXT IN VERSES 12-18 PAUL REVEALS HIS MESSAGE OF HIS OWN CONVERSION ALONG THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS TO AGRIPPA.

PAUL ONCE MORE TELLS THE STORY OF THE BRIGHT LIGHT THAT SHONE OVER HIM ALONE, REVEALING THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN JESUS.

THE MATTER OF THE LIGHT WAS THE STRONGEST POSTION OF THIS STORY AND THIS MOMENT WAS THE THIRD TIME HE HAD SPOKEN OF IT. (ACTS 9:3 & 22:6 & NOW IN ACTS 26)

NOW PAUL ENTERS INTO THE MOST POWERFUL PART OF HIS CONVERSION STORY AS HE SAYS ALL THE THINGS HE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN DOING, THINKING THEY WERE GOOD, WERE ALL GOOD FOR NOTHING.

HE SAYS THEY WERE ALL LOSSES FOR CHRIST AND PAUL NOW CONSIDERS THEM AS DUNG WHICH HE REVEALED SO WELL IN PHILLIPIANS 3:7-8.

HE REVEALS ALL THE MEN WITH HIM ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD AND HIMSELF WERE DRIVEN TO GROUND BY THE LIGHT AND THE SPEECH THAT JESUS MADE TO HIM ALONE IN THE HEBREW LANGUAGE.

PAUL CLEARLY ASKED WHO WAS SPEAKING TO HIM AND JESUS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHOM PAUL PERSECUTED.

FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS CAME NEXT AND PAUL WAS TOLD TO RISE AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE WAS TO BE SENT TO THE GENTILES.

PAUL WANTED AGRIPPA TO UNDERSTAND THAT HIS WORK AMONG GENTILES WAS NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT BUT WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE INSTRUCTION GIVEN BY THE RISEN LORD.

JESUS DID NOT SPEAK IN GENERALITIES TO PAUL. HE SPOKE IN STRONGLY SPECIFIC SENTENCES COMMANDING HIM TO DO CLEAR AND SPECIFIC THINGS AS HE BEGAN THE REST OF HIS LIFE AS A CHOSEN VESSEL FOR THE LORD.

JESUS GAVE PAUL FIVE SPECIFIC COMMANDS SO THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MISUNDERSTANDING BY PAUL AS TO HIS MISSION TO THE GENTILE LOST PEOPLES:

• FIRST: HE WAS TO OPEN THEIR EYES WITH THE MESSAGE.

• SECOND: HE WAS TO TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.

• THIRD: HE WAS TO TURN THEM FROM THE POWER OF SATAN TO GOD.

• FOURTH: BY DOING SO THEY WOULD RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS.

• FIFTH: AFTER DOING SO, THEY WOULD THEN RECEIVE AN INHERITANCE.

WITH THIS POWERFUL COMMISSION PAUL FELT A DEBT TO COMMUNICATE THE SAVING GOSPEL OF CHRIST, BOTH TO GENTILES AND HIS OWN PEOPLE, THE JEWS.

PAUL LATER WROTE SOME OF HIS STRONGEST WORDS ON THIS MATTER OF ACCEPTING HIS COMMISSION AS A DEBT IN ROMANS 1:14:

“I and debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”

PAUL WAS A DEBTOR BECAUSE HE, JUST LIKE US, OWED THE SAVING GOSPEL MESSAGE TO THE LOST AROUND HIM.

FURTHER IN THAT CHAPTER IN ROMANS PAUL EXPANDED HIS THOUGHT IN 1:16:

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

DO WE NOTICE THE ONLY THING PAUL SAYS IS THE DOORWAY TO SALVATION? HE SAYS THAT DOOR OPENS AND WELCOMES EVERY ONE WHO BELIEVES.

THE ONLY FACTOR THAT BRINGS THE HUMAN HEART FROM BROKEN TO NOT BROKEN IS FAITH IN CHRIST BECAUSE THE MOMENT WE EXPRESS THAT FAITH, WE HAVE REPENTED UNTO HIM.

NOW IN VERSES 19-23 PAUL TELLS KING AGRIPPA THAT HE WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION. HE DID NOT REVEAL HIS TIME IN ARABIA WITH THE LORD BUT DID REVEAL HIS TRAVELS OTHERWISE TO BRING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TO THOSE IN MANY AREAS.

HE THEN STATES THAT IT WAS FOR THESE WORKS OF OBEDIENCE THAT THE JEWS SIEZED HIM IN THE TEMPLE AND WERE ABOUT TO KILL HIM.

HE STATES THAT THE ANCIENT PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 53 HAD SHOWN THE TRUTH CONCERNING CHRIST WHO WOULD SUFFER FOR OUR SINS.

IN VERSES 24-29 WE SEE THE REACTION TO PAUL’S TESTIMONY.

AGRIPPA’S RESPONSE TO ALL THESE MATTERS SPOKEN BY PAUL WAS SURELY SURPRISING.

FESTUS SAYS NOW THAT PAUL’S STRONG EDUCATION HAS MADE HIM MAD, MEANING INSANE.

PAUL SAID HE WAS NOT MAD BUT INSTEAD SPOKE FORTH THE WORDS OF TRUTH AND SOBERNESS.

PAUL SAID THAT AGRIPPA ALREADY KNEW THESE THINGS OF SCRIPTURE BEING A JEW HIMSELF AND THAT HE SURELY WAS WELL AWARE OF THE MINISTRY AND WORKS OF JESUS AS THEY HAD NOT BEEN DONE HIDDEN AWAY IN A CORNER.

IN VERSE 27 PAUL DIRECTLY CONFRONTS AGRIPPA AND ASKED WHETHER HE BELIEVED THE PROPHETS.

SUCH A QUESTION WAS COURAGEOUS AS HE WAS A PRISONER ADDRESSING A KING.

IF AGRIPPA RESPONDED THAT HE BELIEVED THE PROPHETS, THEN THE PROMISED ONE HAD COME TO FULFILL THESE PROPHECIES.

IF AGRIPPA RESPONDED THAT HE DID NOT BELIEVE THE PROPHETS, ALL OF HIS JEWISH PEOPLE HE RULED WOULD BE OUTRAGED.

AGRIPPA WAS INDEED FULLY AWARE OF A POLITICALLY LOADED QUESTION SO HE DEFERS THE ANSWER AND THEN MAKES A STATEMENT THAT STARTLES PAUL IN VERSE 28:

“Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

WE MUST ADMIT THAT ALMOST WAS A POWERFUL STATEMENT BUT WAS ALSO A STATEMENT OF HIS BEING LOST FOREVER.

PAUL WAS WELL AWARE OF THAT FACT AND THEN GAVE HIS OWN REPLY TO THE KING IN VERSE 29:

“I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.”

THE COMPASSION OF PAUL’S HEART IS HEARD IN HIS RESPONSE.

AFTER PAUL LEFT THE ROOM, FESTUS AND AGRIPPA AND BERNICE SPOKE PRIVATELY ABOUT PAUL’S CRIMINAL CASE.

THEY AGREED HE WAS INNOCENT OF ANY CRIME AND COULD BE SET FREE IF HE HAD NOT APPEALED TO CAESAR IN ROME.

THE ONLY THING THAT NOW REMAINED WAS THAT PAUL MUST GO TO ROME.

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT PAUL DID THE RIGHT THING BY GOING TO JERUSALEM, SO HE COULD REACH ROME UNHARMED BY THE JEWS AND REMAIN PROTECTED BY THE ROMAN ARMY ALL THE WAY TO ROME.

THE WILL AND PLAN OF THE LORD HAD UNFOLDED TO ASSURE THAT HIS CHOSEN VESSEL WOULD COMPLETE THE MISSION HE HAD BEEN GIVEN OF BEARING WITNESS IN ROME.

WE END CHAPTER 26 BY RECOGNIZING THAT THE TRANSFORMATION OF PAUL CONTINUES.

IT WAS A MIGHTY TRANSFORMATION THAT HAD COME UPON THIS MAN CHOSEN BY GOD TO BE HIS OWN CHOSEN VESSEL TO BRING GOD’S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD, BOTH IN HIS DAY AND IN OUR OWN DAY.

WHAT IS THAT TRANSFORMATION MESSAGE WE KNOW AS THE GOSPEL?

IT IS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS NOT DEAD BUT IS ALIVE.

BECAUSE OF THAT FACT THAT PETER SAID WAS FROM THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND DETERMINATE COUNSEL OF GOD, PAUL BROUGHT FORTH A MESSAGE TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

THAT MESSAGE IS BASED UPON THAT RESURRECTION.

BECAUSE OF THAT FACT, ONE OF TWO THINGS WILL HAPPEN IN EVERY LIFE.

EITHER YOU HAVE BOWED YOUR HEART TO JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, OR YOU WILL ACCOUNT TO HIM WHY NOT.

SO THE RESURRECTION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE UNSAVED AS WELL AS THE SAVED.

IN HIS LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHURCH, PAUL EXPRESSED HIS LONGING TO GO TO ROME IN CHAPTER ONE VERSES 10-11:

“… if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end that ye may be established.”

IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER, HIS JOURNEY TO ROME BEGINS.