26:1-18
“For such a time as this part a”
I.) Intro.
II.) Vs. 1-8 B.C. days
III.) Vs. 9-18 From darkness to light
Intro.
This is the most complete of Paul’s five defenses & we shall get a good look at how to share your faith. Last week we left Paul in Caesarea before a packed auditorium as he was brought in before the most famous & influential people of the day. As I said, most of the time we look at movie stars & the wealthy & say, “Oh if I could just be like them, all of my problems would go away!” Remember that Herod was the last in a long line of a family that seems to be forever linked with Jesus but not in a good way. His great Grandfather had the infants filled in Bethlehem. His Grandfather had killed the forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist. His Father had the servant of Jesus, James, killed. Now Paul finds himself before the last of the Herod’s. In the world’s eyes these people were to be admired they were royalty & they entered the auditorium as such. In 25:23 we were told that they came in with “great pomp”, that is the word “fantasia”! In what must have been a dramatic moment, in walks this small lowly man to stand trial but quite literally he is on stage before the world. What possible defense could such a man as Paul offer to those who seemingly had everything? “Come to Jesus & you will be healthy, wealthy & wise!” “Come to Jesus, he has a wonderful plan for your life!” No Paul says none of those familiar gospel hooks. Instead Paul, using his own life, reveals to them the one thing they knew nothing about.
Think of this for a moment, “You are going out for a night of entertainment, you arrive at the theater & the usher instead of bringing you into the front entrance brings you through the back door through the sage entrance.” “You think, that’s a bit odd but as you are trying to find your seat a man grabs you & brings you into the center of a large open area & has you face a large curtain.” “You hear a man speaking & it sounds as though the play you were coming to see is about to start” “When all of the sudden the curtain opens & the actors you thought you were going to watch perform are now sitting in the audience all dressed up in their costumes staring at you.” Do you get it? Paul is on the worlds stage & guess what? He plays himself! The worlds stage is full of actors guess what they were called in Greek? Hypocrites! All pretending to be something or someone they really aren’t, you Christian’s are what they have come to watch, you’re their source of entertainment. They have placed you in chains, drab clothes & say, “Go ahead give it your best shot, convince me!” What could you say that would best communicate truth? Well Paul is going to show us.
Vs. 1-8 B.C. days
Vs. 1-3 As Paul was standing there before this large influential audience. The King, all dressed up in his royal costume sitting next to his lover who happens to be his sister, stands up & acts as the master of ceremonies. Paul is allowed to speak for himself as no charges have been given against him, in fact Festus had already declared him innocent concerning Roman law.
Wow, what an odd scene as Paul lifts up his shackled hands still no doubt attached to a large Roman guard, to signal that he was about to speak. Paul you will recall was only around five feet tall; balding with a large hooked nose & runny eyes. He is the one, two years earlier, that Tertullus said was the “creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world”. This guy, Paul? This stage play must have looked more like a comedy then a serious drama. I wonder if you could hear a faint laughter in the building as Festus & then Herod introduced him? “A creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, what a joke!”
Vs. 2-3 Paul’s primary goal was not to give testimony so that they would find him innocent but rather to offer testimony so that they would find him guilty of being a Christian & in so doing to see as many as possible converted to Christ. So he asks the King & the audience to be patient as he shares with them. Paul must of looked strange as he was shackled to the Roman guard with a big grin on his face because of the opportunity he had to speak to them concerning the person & work of Jesus.
He speaks to Agrippa honoring his position since he could not honor the man. The king was an odd man in that he was an Edomite (descendent of Esau) & not Jewish, raised in Rome but identified himself as religiously a Jew. Paul calls him an “expert” which is a word that means “connoisseur”. Agrippa had studied the customs of the Jews in that he appointed the High Priest further more we are told by Paul in verse 27 that Agrippa had also studied the prophets, Judaism was his hobby that he spent a good deal of time learning about. But even though Agrippa had made the scriptures & the customs of the Jews his hobby it was not something that he took to heart & practiced. Not only was he sleeping with his sister in AD 70 he is going to side with the Roman general Titus to help destroy the temple.
Vs. 4-5 Paul opens up by sharing about his days prior to becoming a Christian. Now look at verse four carefully, Paul says that the fact of early life from youth up was a well know fact among the Jews. Paul had been a well know figure in Jerusalem studying under the famed teacher Gamaliel, his reputation for scholarship & religious zeal they themselves could talk of. Paul was a Pharisee which according to the historian Josephus was, “a sect of the Jews that were more religious than others and wanted to interpret the laws more accurately.” In other words Paul is saying, “It was not in spite of his Jewish heritage that he had become a follower of Jesus it was rather because of it.” In all of this we see that Paul is sharing that his conversion was a well know fact in Israel.
Vs. 6-8 Here Paul says that through his entire upbringing he had not changed what he believed instead he sees it as fulfilled in Jesus. All the Jews, Paul says, are looking for God’s promised Messiah. Then Paul directs his comments by asking the question, “Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?” In other words how big is your God? You see people have a problem with the resurrection because they can see God outside of their own limited ability. Do you get Paul’s argument? He says, “Hey, I followed the Bible strictly, believing everything written in it so when God did what He said He would do why is that hard for us to believe?”
Notice verse 7 for a moment as Paul speaks of Gods promise to the 12 tribes. Now you might recall that the 10 northern tribes had been conquered by Assyria in 722 BC & assimilated into the two southern tribes but they are not lost Paul still recognizes their existence.
From verses 4-8 Paul just shows himself as a normal Jewish man with the same hopes & beliefs as they did. Yet they knew he was different so the next thing he does is show why they consider him to be different.
Vs. 9-18 From darkness to light
Vs. 9-11 Paul says, “I too once thought the resurrection of Jesus the messiah impossible.” Paul showed this by his persecution of the Church, doing many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He lists how he showed his contempt for Christianity by:
- Shut up in prison, many of the saints. Do you see that Paul calls the believers in Jesus “saints”? He made these believers lives miserable by putting them in prison. You wonder if he had anything to do with Peter & John’s incarceration in chapter 4?
- Having authority from the chief priests he “threw his pebble” against them voting for their death. This was a practice of the Sanhedrin (the 69 member group of religious leaders) that would vote by tossing a black pebble for guilty & a white one for innocent. Now we know that Paul had a part of this dealing with Stephen back in Acts 8 but we don’t know how many others he vote against.
- He was not content with just seeing them put into prison he tried to get them to deny faith in Jesus. The words “punished them often in every synagogue” speaks of the practice of whipping them publicly in order to get them to recant their trust in Jesus. Man I bet Paul stayed up many nights lamenting over what he had done.
- Lastly, once he had chased them out of Jerusalem & Israel he started his campaign into foreign cities.
“You think you hated Christians you should of seen of seen the way I treated them!”
Vs.12-15 Paul now goes on to explain what happened to change him. “It was while I was acting that way,” Paul says, “That the Lord intervened in my life.” Several things stand out in Paul’s conversion:
- “I heard a voice speaking to me … in the Hebrew language”: God knew just how to communicate to Paul. That is why the way in which the Lord spoke you about your need for Him may be quite different then the way he spoke to me.
- “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” … “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”: Paul learned two important things that every person must know before they are saved.
- Jesus is alive! The One who Paul had thought was dead was not He was alive & therefor He was God. Paul found himself in opposition to God.
- Christians are God’s People! Jesus so identified with Christians that when Paul persecuted them he was persecuting Jesus.
- Finally Paul hears from Jesus that in doing what he was doing it was only really hurting himself. You see a “goad” was a sharp stick that was attached to the cart that an ox would pull. It was located right behind the flank of the ox so that when it the ox kicked to try to get out from pulling the cart the “goad” would stick him in the butt. The reason for this was so that the ox would soon learn that to kick & buck was only hurting it’s self. When we resist Jesus love for us we are only hurting ourselves!
Vs. 16-18 From Paul’s conversion he turns to Jesus commissioning him. Jesus uses three verbs all in the first person to describe His plans for him.
- Vs. 16 “I have appeared to you”: This is a general call to be a servant. The word “minister” is a word that means “under-rower” & refers to the lower level of a slave ship. They would all be chained in place & those below decks had to put up with all of the junk from above. Jesus further defines this for Paul as a witness of what he has seen & what Jesus will yet reveal. In other words Paul was no longer a leader but a servant & the way in which he served was to be humbling as he would share of his failure as well as what Jesus was yet to show him.
- Vs. 17a “I will deliver you”: This is more of a specific call tied to a promise not of immunity of suffering but rather that even though he suffered God’s testimony through him would not be silenced neither by the Jews or the Gentiles.
- Vs. 17b “I now send you”: Paul finds that this call is not to a location but rather to a life style. The word “send” is apostle so what Jesus is saying is that your mine 24 – 7! But this activity had three specific parts to it as well
- Vs. 18a “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God”: Jesus describes the world as in a spiritual condition of self imposed blindness (open their eyes) in absolute darkness trapped in a Satanic world. Paul’s responsibility was to see them change kingdoms just as he had. From Blindness to sight, from darkness to light, from the power of satan to the Kingdom of Right.
- Vs. 18b “that they may receive forgiveness of sins”: Not only were they to change kingdoms they were to experience the result of the change of kingdoms to know that all that they had ever done or would ever do was forgiven in Jesus. Paul was told that he must declare to all that receive Jesus that they were no longer in an old state they were brand new!
- Vs. 18c “and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me”: Finally they were to know & be a part of a new & growing family, His family! Set apart in Jesus.
You see what could Paul do? He grew up like most Jewish boys believing what the Bible said concerning the messiah. He had acted, as embarrassing as it must have been to share this with the audience, like those who saw to his imprisonment. But Jesus revealed Who he was to Paul, opened his blind eyes, brought him into the light & from under the power of satan into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Folks, this commissioning of Paul is what God has now called each of us too. There is not a person here today that is a believer that Jesus has not, “appeared to, & will not deliver & is not now sending you.” The only question is, “Are you willing to appear on the stage of the world as who God has made you to be & offer them the freedom that you have received?
26:19-32
“For such a time as this part b”
I.) Intro.
II.) Vs. 19-23 Proclaiming the light
III.) Vs. 24-32 Madman for Christ
Intro.
This past Sunday, as most of you know Laura Betancourt went home to be with Jesus. Now many of you perhaps didn’t know Laura all that well but I bet if I described where she sat you would all know who I was speaking of. She always sat on the last pew in the last seat on the left-hand side. She started attending Calvary Chapel nine years ago & for the most part I suppose just blended in. But she had a much greater story then most of you were aware of. You see Laura was Portuguese & as such was raised a devote Catholic to which she whole heartily practiced up until 20 years ago. It was then that she began to have questions concerning the Bible & sought numerous Priests for the answers finally she sought out others outside the Catholic Church. Through these encounters she came into a personal relationship with Jesus. So where am I going with this? Well you would not think of Laura as an evangelist nor if you knew her very well would you think she was very bold or active in sharing her faith but she was. Oh not in the way many associate with evangelism but just in every day ways. You see Laura had to great loves her family, specifically her husband of 55 years Bill, & Jesus Christ. As far as Bill was concerned anything he wanted from her she would comply. Bill loved the Raiders & had season tickets & Laura who didn’t much care for football went with him. There was only one area that Laura would not compromise & do what Bill wanted; she would not stop worshipping Jesus. Try as Bill did to get her to stop she would not, oh how it angered him & she just kept loving him & praying for him. Even at the tragic death of her only son Mark she did not waver in her trust & love for Jesus.
So to with Paul he would not waver in his trust & commitment to Jesus. My prayer is that as we finish up this chapter of Paul before the elite of the world that we would all be challenged to be a little more like Laura who with quite dignity lived committed to Jesus no matter what!
Last weeks review
Vs.12-15 Now lets go back & review a little. Paul explains what happened to change him.
- Vs. 12 First Paul says, “It was while I was acting that way,” Paul says, “That the Lord intervened in my life.” In other words Paul says that his conversion was radical not gradual. Paul did not change as a result of gradually becoming dissatisfied with the Pharisaical brand of Judaism; no it was just the opposite.
- Vs. 13-14 Second Paul wants those in the auditorium to know that the events of his conversion while personal were very visible to all that were present, (as were the results, verses 20). They happened at “midday” & the light effected all as they all fell to the ground. His conversion was visible & not hidden from those around.
- Vs.14“I heard a voice speaking to me … in the Hebrew language”: God knew just how to communicate to him. How important is that? Well consider what would have happened if God tried to communicate with Paul in Greek, he would not of seen Jesus as the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures. What that says to me is that the way in which the Lord speaks to you about your need for Him may be quite different then the way he speaks to me.
- Vs.14-15 “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” … “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”: In Jesus words Paul learned three important things that every person must know before they are saved.
- Jesus is alive! JESUS IS GOD: The One who Paul had thought was dead was not He was alive & therefor He was God. Paul found himself in opposition to God. Paul discovered right then that sincerity does not matter when comes down to truth. Paul was sincere but he was sincerely wrong about Jesus!
- Christians are God’s People! I’M A SINNER: Jesus so identified with Christians that when Paul persecuted them he was persecuting Jesus. You better be careful to make sure you’re on the right side. Paul had been attacking Christians because he was convinced they were wrong about God but it was he who was wrong!
- Vs.14 I’M HURTING MYSELF: Finally Paul hears from Jesus that in persecuting Christians what he was doing it was only really hurting himself. You see a “goad” was a sharp stick that was attached to the cart that an ox would pull. It was located right behind the flank of the ox so that when the ox kicked to try to get out from pulling the cart the “goad” would stick him in the butt. The reason for this was so that the ox would soon learn that to kick & buck was only hurting it’s self. When we resist Jesus love for us we are only hurting ourselves!
Vs. 16-18 After sharing his conversion Paul then turns to Jesus’ personally (you) commissioning him. Looking at these three verses you will notice that Jesus uses three verbs (appeared, deliver & send) all in the first person (I) but with three differing tenses (past, future & present) to describe Jesus’ plans for Paul. So? Well think of this a moment & you will see that Jesus is not only interested in saving you.
Generally looking at these verses I see three things:
- You: Jesus would have us to know that everything in our Christian life is designed around us, (It is the I, you that stand out). Say what you will about your Christian life, with all of it’s heartaches & struggles & what you will come to realize is that Jesus has always been very interested in you! Not just in your salvation or in using you, no He is just simple into to you!
- Appeared, deliver & send: Second, in the verbs I can’t help but notice that all three are actions that Jesus has done & will continue to do on our behalf. I also like the order in which Jesus said them.
- Jesus says first that he had appeared to Paul. So? Is that not what you & I need the most on a moment by moment basis, to see Jesus?
- Second, we need to know that when we get into problems that He is going to be there for us, or if you will we need to have the confidence that even when we blow it Jesus will be there to catch us.
- Finally, what a great comfort to realize that it is only after his appearing to us & delivering us that He sends us. In other words, he sends us with the confidence that he will continually appear to us especially when we need to be delivered.
- Past, future & present: Finally, the verb tenses are interesting in that Jesus’ presence covers every part of our existence. Again the order is interesting to me. When you & I are going through hard times we can draw strength from seeing Jesus involved in our lives in the past. We also gain strength by having the hope of seeing him in the future. Putting those two together gives us courage to face the present!
Now taking these three statements Jesus gives Paul the specifics of his call.
- Vs. 16 “I have appeared to you”: This is a general call to be a servant but look at the purpose to which Jesus says He had appeared to Paul. To make him a minister. The word “minister” is a word that means “under-rower” & refers to the lower level of a slave ship. They would all be chained in place & those below decks had to put up with all of the junk from above. Jesus further defines this for Paul as a witness of what he has seen & what Jesus will yet reveal. In other words Paul was no longer a leader but a servant & the way in which he served was to be humbling as he would share of his failure as well as what Jesus was yet to show him.
- Vs. 17a “I will deliver you”: This is more of a specific call tied to a promise not of immunity of suffering but rather that even though he suffered God’s testimony through him would not be silenced neither by the Jews or the Gentiles.
- Vs. 17b “I now send you”: Paul finds that this call is not to a location but rather to a life style. The word “send” is apostle so what Jesus is saying is that your mine 24 – 7! But this activity had three specific parts to it as well.
- Vs. 18a “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God”: Jesus describes the world as in a spiritual condition of self imposed blindness (open their eyes) in absolute darkness trapped in a Satanic world. Paul’s responsibility was to see them change kingdoms just as he had. From Blindness to sight, from darkness to light, from the power of satan to the Kingdom of Right.
- Vs. 18b “that they may receive forgiveness of sins”: Not only were they to change kingdoms they were to experience the result of the change of kingdoms to know that all that they had ever done or would ever do was forgiven in Jesus. Paul was told that he must declare to all that receive Jesus that they were no longer in an old state they were brand new!
- Vs. 18c “and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me”: Finally they were to know & be a part of a new & growing family, His family! Set apart in Jesus.
Vs. 19-23 Proclaiming the light
Vs. 19-21 Paul now switches from his testimony to specifically asking Herod what could he do? “Jesus, appeared to me & commissioned me what could I do?” Then Paul shares with Herod that he began immediately following Jesus witnessing “of what he had seen & later the things that Jesus had revealed to him”. Paul’s service started out where God had him with what Jesus had just given him as we read in Acts 9:20 that Paul “proclaimed Christ in the synagogues as the Son of God”. That progressed to proving that Jesus is the Christ. Which in turn led to the three-fold declaration in response to his proving that Jesus is the Christ.
- Repent: The word here means a change of mind that results in a change of behavior. Simply put Paul sought a response to the gospel for it’s hears that would cause them to change their thinking which changed their behavior towards their sin & God. Repentance is changing ones mind!
- Turn to God: The word turn here is recorded 48 times in the N.T. & often is used of a person who having had a change of mind now sees God. Regeneration is changing ones heart!
- Do works befitting repentance: A person who has done the first two will show as much by the way they now live. Redemption is a change in ones state!
So Paul after proclaiming Jesus work encouraged people to trust Jesus so that their minds, heart & state would be forever altered. Then Paul says, “It’s because it pressed their need for Jesus & that they ought to be obedient that they arrested me!”
Vs. 22-23 Finally Paul still looking at Herod says, “Through God’s help I here sharing with you the truth of fulfillment of Isa. 53:1, Ps. 16:10 that the Christ would suffer, be the first to rise from the dead & be a light to Jews & gentiles (Isa. 42:6, 49:6).”
Vs. 24-32 Madman for Christ
Vs. 24-26 Paul had a habit of not getting to finish his messages & this one is interrupted by Festus. Festus could not handle Paul’s enthusiasm concerning Jesus especially when it came to Jesus being dead & then coming back to life. He declared that Paul was becoming insane in front of them & the reason for it was his many letters concerning this Jesus was causing him to lose reality!
Paul say’s, “I’m not losing my mind I’m gaining it & in fact I call my first witness Herod himself can attest to the truth of the scriptures concerning death & resurrection as God clearly spoke of these events before they happened.”
Vs. 27-30 Paul now calls on his hostile witness as to the sanity of the Word of God. Can you just see this 5-foot little guy putting Herod on trial concerning the truth of the Word?
Not words of Herod in 28 have long been disputed as it can mean several things & thus different versions render it differently.
- The KJ & NKJ render it, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
- The NIV, ASV & others have it; “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
The word “almost” is literally “little” but what exactly was the little referring to words or time we can not be sure. It appears that Herod is being sarcastic & if that is the case then the saying, “To little to late” would truly fit him.
With great compassion even in the face of sarcasm Paul responds, “That he wished they all could trade places with him with the exception of the chains!” Clearly Paul saw himself as the freeman & they as the enslaved & wanted all to become a Christian & nobody a prisoner of the world system.
Vs. 30-32 Though they may of thought Paul ought of his mind, he was certainly not a criminal & Herod offered no help either to Paul or Festus. What kept Herod from not being convinced?
- A sinful life style that he refused to give up
- He worried about what he would lose instead of what he would gain
- Worried about what others would say instead of what God said
Those are often the reasons behind why people don’t believe today. And where are they today? Well we can’t be sure but we are sure what happened to Paul he went to Rome & preached the truth their & he is right now enjoying eternity with someone who two weeks ago was in your midst.