Acts 26:7

Acts 26:7 says, Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.  Paul stated that the twelve tribes of Israel served God day and night in the hope of the promise to come, the Messiah.  We as Christians should serve God day and night in the hope of the promise that has come, Jesus Christ, the Messiah that the Jews looked for.  Paul still based his beliefs on this promise.  We look back and wonder how they could have missed the fulfillment of the promise of God, and yet over two thousand years later, they are still missing the truth.  Of course, we could also ask how so many people in the world today, Gentiles and the Jews, can fail to see the truth.  Paul told King Agrippa that because of his hope in the Messiah he was being persecuted.  Agrippa was familiar with the beliefs of the Jews, and he would be able to see the truth of what Paul was saying.  Sometimes, we have to just patiently wait for God to work out all the details before we can successfully accomplish His will for us.  I am sure Paul's plan for going to Rome did not include being arrested and tried multiple times before he got there.  Yet, we do not read of his questioning God.  We can never be impatient with God.  Verse eight adds, Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?  Paul asked Agrippa why it should be thought incredible to him that God could raise the dead.  That was the hope of every Jew except the Sadducees.  The knowledge that all of God's people would live with Him eternally was a cornerstone of their faith.  Yet, they were attempting to kill Paul for proclaiming that Christ was raised from the dead, the Messiah they looked for.  Too often people look for the god they want instead of to the God Who is. People are searching for hope today, and they will look everywhere but to God. To find hope in God requires faith in God, and it requires letting go of faith in oneself.  Paul put his life in God's care, and so must we. 

Acts 26:1

 Acts 26:1 says, Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:  King Agrippa met with Paul and told him that he can speak for himself, and he did.  We should always be ready to defend our belief in Jesus Christ.  Verse two adds, I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: Verse three continues, Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.  Paul said that he was happy to answer for himself, especially before King Agrippa, because the king was expert in all the matters the Jews were accusing him of.  In any court, even the court of public opinion, we can only hope that the people or person we are speaking to has at least some knowledge of the real teachings of Christianity.  Too often, if we take a stand against sin, we are accused of hating the sinner, for example.  Paul asked King Agrippa to be patient.  Verse four states, My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;  Then, Paul began to share his testimony. Again, people may question a lot of things we say about Christianity, but they can never even claim to disprove our personal experience with Christ.  Paul said from his youth, which was among his own nation, the Jews, at Jerusalem had known about him.. Verse five adds, Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.  Paul said he lived after the strictest sect of their religion as a Pharisee.  The Jews knew this about him.  What we say should be consistent with what we do as followers of Christ.  Verse six continues, And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God, unto our fathers:  Now, he was judged of the hope and promise made of God to their fathers.  Our testimony should always be based on the promises made to people from the beginning.  We may not be able to say we strictly followed God's law before we met Christ and accepted Him as our Savior, but we must acknowledge all that He taught the world through His revelation of Himself.  Salvation will always be consistent with what God's word has always taught.  If we say that we became a Christian in any way other than by what Christ did for us on the cross, or that the Bible, God's written word for His people, has no relevance for us today, then something is wrong.  God is not going to suddenly change the way to salvation. 

Having recently posted a couple of tributes to my momma, I would like to post one today to the Alabama carpenter, Jerrell Tatum, my father-in-law for the last few years of his life.  Time ceased and eternity began for him three years ago today.  He was a wonderful Christian man, who was married to Bobbie Glass Tatum for over fifty-seven years.  That in its self speaks volumes about his faith.  He loved and cherished her for all those years, as she did him.  We as Christians need these examples to follow.  He was daddy to Pam, Darryll, and Jeff,and granddaddy to many, and they loved and respected him, and still do.  That speaks of a man's character.  We as Christians can only pray for the same from our children and grandchildren.  He amazed me with his ability to build things, but I am sure he would say the best thing he ever built was his relationship with Christ and the love of his family.  No matter our calling in life or how good we may be at it, as Christians our first priority is to build our relationship with God and then with family.  Those who knew him knew that he was one of the biggest Alabama football fans, but he was a bigger God fan. The last few weeks, he was determined to get well enough to sing a song in church. Though he never got to sing there, he has been in that heavenly choir for three years for us, and for time without end for Him.  We need to take time occasionally to celebrate those Christians like Jerrell Tatum.  We have work to do here to spread the gospel, but we always need good examples to encourage us.  If we have that relationship with Christ that he has, not had, we will one day join him in that heavenly choir.  They may have even said Roll Tide to welcome him home.

Acts 25:22

Acts 25:22 says, And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth.  Agrippa and Beatrice came into the place of the hearing with great pomp, and Paul was brought in in chains.  Still, Paul was the one who was truly free.  Verse twenty-four adds, And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.  Festus told Agrippa and all those with him that he could see Paul, the man whom the multitude of Jews wanted to put to death.  Verse twenty-five continues, But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.  Festus said he found nothing worthy of putting Paul to death, but since Paul had appealed to Caesar, he was sending him to Ceasar.  Paul was getting what he wanted, though maybe not the way he would have chosen.  As long as we are being enabled to do what God has called us to do, we should leave the way it is accomplished up to God.  Verse twenty-six says, Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.  Festus said he had nothing to write to Ceasar to charge Paul with and hoped Agrippa could find something to write to him about.  This would be a wonderful testimony for anyone.  Verse twenty-seven adds, For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.  Festus said it didn’t seem right to send a prisoner to Ceasar with nothing to charge him with. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After more time passed with Paul still under arrest, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to salute Festus.  Agrippa was the son of Herod who had James killed and the grandson of Herod the Great who ruled when Jesus was born.  Bernice was his sister, with whom he was allegedly having an affair.  Matthew Henry says that such was the nature of those in power and to not think that the former days were better.  Again, corruption and corrupt people in government is nothing new. We cannot live in the "good old days", which were probably not as good as we remember them.  When we remember how ideal the world was in the 1950's, we seem to overlook things like segregation and the spread of Communism.  We forget that many in the church not only overlooked segregation, but endorced it.  We will never live in a perfect world, but can only be ambassadors of Christ in the world in which we live.  "The only good Communist is a dead Communist" was never what God taught His people.  Today, neither is "Nuke them 'til they glow and let God sort them out."  The let God sort them out seems to give His endorsement, but He said "Love your enemies."  We see no evidence that Paul ever prayed for the destruction of his enemies.  Stephen, as he was being stoned, did not say "Get them God."  Stephen asked for God to forgive them and Paul continued to witness to, and I am sure, pray for those who persecuted him.  When we see a statement like love your enemies, we want to interpret what that means instead of accepting it by faith.  Many people who claim to take the Bible literally, word for word, immediately begin to interpret the meaning of passages that do not agree with what they believe.  We cannot pick and choose what part of God's teachings we want to believe.  Christ  is the example, and if we are to be His followers, we must live by His example.

Acts 25:13

Acts 25:13 says, After certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.  While still in Caesarea, King Agrippa and his wife Bernice came there.  Verse fourteen adds, And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: Festus wanted to meet with Agrippa for one reason in particular.  He was to send Paul to the judgment of Caesar, and he didn't know what to charge him with.  He told Agrippa that Paul had been left bound by Felix, Verse fifteen continues, About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. Verse sixteen states, To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.  While he was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews wanted to have a judgment against Paul.  Festus told them that it wasn’t the manner of Romans to sentence a man to die without facing his accusers.  In some countries today, Christians do not have that opportunity.  Verse seventeen adds, Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.  Festus said he commanded that Paul be brought before him the next day at the judgment seat.  The only judgment seat that people should really be concerned about is the judgment seat of Christ, and as Christians, we don’t have to be concerned about that.  Verse eighteen continues, Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:  When they presented their case, Festus said that it wasn't anything he supposed.  He was expecting some accusation of Paul breaking some law or speaking out against the Roman government.  If we are accused of anything today, may it be that we are proclaiming Jesus Christ to be crucified, buried, resurrected, and Lord.  Verse nineteen concludes, But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.  Festus said they had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.  We often hear people today speak of Christianity as a superstition, a fable, or a myth.  This is done today to discredit Christians, and even though Festus was using this belief that Christianity was nothing more than a superstition to show that even if Paul had done nothing to justify death, Festus still viewed the gospel as a superstition.  He did not say that it concerned Jesus Who was dead and now lived again, but only stated that was Paul's claim.  Until a person accepts the truth of the gospel in faith, then the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus will remain a superstition to them. We should never be astonished when we hear people of the world calling Christianity a made-up story and Christians naive.  We cannot become Christians through intellectual means, but only by simple childlike faith. Verse twenty says, And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.  Festus said he asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem to answer charges against him.  I don’t believe he had the authority to demand Paul do so.  We as followers of Christ should always be ready to answer questions about our faith.  Verse twenty-one adds, But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.  Festus said Paul appealed to Caesar. Now,   Festus was wondering what to charge Paul with.  It is not our calling to make things easy for those who falsely accuse us.  Verse twenty-two continues, Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.  Agrippa said that he would hear Paul, and Festus said he would hear him tomorrow.  We can never afford to wait until tomorrow to hear about Jesus Christ if we haven’t already.

After ten days in Jerusalem, Festus returned to Caesarea, and some of the Jewish leaders went with him.  He sat in the judgment seat against Paul, with the Jews as Paul's accusers.  Had they been as determined to do God's will as they were to kill Paul and truly be His people then Christianity would have spread much faster.  They were too concerned with maintaining their status as a people who were above the Gentiles because of their relationship to God by birth than they were in establishing a real relationship with God.  We need to insure that what we do as Christians is based on a real relationship with God and not just on the fact that we call ourselves by His name.  Paul's accusers laid many and grievous complaints against him, which they could not prove.  Though all they could do was bring false charges against Paul, they didn't give up trying.  If we as Christians make claims against people, whether relating to Christianity or to everyday events, we have a responsibility to insure that the claims are correct.  In our age of social media, it is so easy for false claims to be made, and too often Christians repeat them as fact.  God expects us, as His people, to be truthful in all things.  When the actions of God's people, whether the Jews in Paul's day or the Christian in the world today, begin to propose or support lies in His name, then His plan for His people is cast aside for selfish purposes.  The Jewish leaders continued to bring charges against Paul in any court they could get a hearing and continued to plot to get him out where they could ambush and murder him.  I'm not sure what their plans were for those guarding him, but they would have most likely have had to kill them also.  All this was done in the name of God.  If we as God's people begin to work for our own purposes instead of following His will, we can be sure that more and more people will be effected.