ALMOST PERSUADED THEM

PROCLAMATION

“ ‘King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?  I know that thou believest.’  Then Agrippa said unto Paul, ‘Almost thou persuaded me to be a Christian.’ ”  Acts 26:27-28 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter Luke recorded Paul’s self-defense to King Agrippa against the charges the Jews had brought against him. (Acts 26:1-32)  At the end of Paul’s presentation, King Agrippa said to him: “Almost thou persuaded me to be a Christian.” (Acts 26:28)  Afterwards, King Agrippa told Governor Festus: “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”  Then Agrippa also said: “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (Acts 26:30-32)

 

APPLICATION

When we tell our story and witness to others about Jesus, The Christ, and what He has done for us, it is possible that some of them may be persuaded, or almost persuaded, to also become believers.  In this text, King Agrippa was almost persuaded by Paul’s story.  Today, we are to tell our story, to witness for Christ.  However, it is not our job to convince or convert them.   That is the responsibility of The Holy Spirit of God.  Our job is to tell them about Christ.  What they do with the information we give them is out of our control.  All we are to do is to plant the seed.  The germination of the seed, the watering of it, and its growth and development is in God’s hands. 

 

 

ON TRIAL

PROCLAMATION

“… Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea … And when he had tarried … ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and the next day, sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.  And when he was come, the Jews … laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.  While he answered for himself, ‘Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all.’ ”  Acts 25:4-8 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke recorded that when Paul was arrested, Felix was governor.  After two years, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. (Acts 24:27)  Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went from Caesarea to Jerusalem where he met with the chief priests and the Jewish leaders. (Acts 25:1-2)  They wanted Festus to transfer Paul to Jerusalem because they were preparing to ambush and kill him along the way. (Acts 25:3-5)  After he had spent about ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea.  Soon after he go there, he convened court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. (Acts 25:6-7)  The Jews who had come down from Jerusalem brought charges against Paul but could not prove them.  In his own defense before Festus, Paul said that he had done nothing wrong against the Jews or Caesar. (Acts 25:7-8)  Paul appealed to Caesar and, after conferring with his council, Festus declared that Paul be taken to Caesar. (Acts 25:9-12)  King Agrippa came to Caesarea to pay his respects to Festus.  When Festus told the king about Paul, he wanted to hear from Paul for his self. (Acts 25:13-22)   Paul was brought before Festus  and King Agrippa with great pomp and fanfare.  Festus told Agrippa that Paul had appealed to Caesar but Festus said that he did not know to say in his letter to Caesar to explain why he was sending Paul to him.  He hoped that Agrippa might tell him what to say since he could not find any crimes to charge him with. (Acts 25:23-27)

 

APPLICATION

The apostle Paul was on trial by Governor Felix, Governor Festus, and King Agrippa for false accusations against him by the Jews.  Today, Christians are on trial by the non-believing people of the world.  They don’t share our beliefs and they don’t believe us.  They say that our actions and our words are not consistent.  We need to do a better job with our Christian walk.

 

PEOPLE WILL TRY TO DISCREDIT BELIEVERS BY LYING ON US

PROCLAMATION

“And they neither found me in any temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city; Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.  But this I confess unto thee, that after The Way which they call heresy, so worship I The God of my fathers …’ ”  Acts 24:12-14 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The apostle Paul was arrested and escorted to the governor for a hearing.  The elders and their lawyer, Tertullus, had presented their case against him to Felix, the governor, before Paul was allowed to speak. (Acts 24:1-9)  Paul basically said that the charges against him were false.  He said that he was in the temple when they seized him but that he had done nothing wrong.  He was not arguing with anyone nor was he trying to incite a riot.  He said that he was on trial because he publicly declared that he believed in the resurrection of the dead. (Acts 24:10-21)  When Felix had heard Paul, he sent him back to prison.  Felix called for Paul frequently and talked with him, and yet still kept him in prison for two years as a favor to the Jews. (Acts 24:22-27)

 

APPLICATION

As believers we are encouraged to share The Word of God with others and tell them about Jesus, The Christ.  However, when we tell some non-believers about The Lord Jesus, we will offend or upset some of them.  In an effort to keep us quiet and to keep others from believing us, some people will lie on us or about us in order to discredit us.  The Bible says when men persecute us and say all manner of evil against us falsely that we should rejoice because great will be our reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:11-12)  So, let us keep on spreading the gospel in spite of what the people say.

 

 

SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT LIKE YOU IF YOU BELIEVE

PROCLAMATION

“But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; of the hope of the resurrection of the dead I am called in question.’  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the multitude was divided.”  Acts 23:6-7 (KJV) 

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Here Luke recorded that after Paul was arrested he was brought before the Sanhedrin council.  Paul noted that some of them were Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, angels, or spirits, and some of them were Pharisees, who believed in all these things. (Acts 23:6-8)  This created a great disturbance among the Sanhedrin which spilled over into the city.  Some of the Jews took an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. (Acts 23:9-15)  But the commander of the Roman army found out about the plot and had Paul taken out of town at night under heavy guard. (Acts 23:16-24)  The commander wrote a letter to Governor Felix and explained what had happened and why Paul was being sent to him. (Acts 23:25-32)  After he read the letter, and learned that Paul was from Cilicia, Felix ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s judgment hall. (Acts 23:33-35)

 

APPLICATION

The Christian faith is based upon belief in the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ.  There are many people in this world who do not believe in these things, and there are some that hate those who do believe in them.  Some people even want to kill all Christian because of their religious beliefs.  Jesus said that the world would hate believers because the world hated Him. (John 15:18)  Not everybody believes that Jesus is The Christ and the promised Messiah.  However unpopular it may be, as believers we need to stand by our beliefs and hold on to them.  Jesus said if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before His Heavenly Father. (Matthew 10:33)

 

 

MAN'S JUDGMENT IS BIASED GOD IS ALWAYS JUST

PROCLAMATION

“The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging … And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?’ ”  Acts 22:24-25 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter Luke recorded that after Paul was arrested, he spoke to the crowd in their native language. (Acts 21:39-40)  He told them his story including that he was born a Jew, educated by Greek scholars, and that he was a zealous persecutor of the followers of Christ until his conversion on the road to Damascus. (Acts 22:1-15)  He continued with his story and things were going well until he said that The Lord had sent him to preach to the Gentiles.  When he said that the crowd turned on him. (Acts 22:16-23)  That was when the captain ordered that he be scourged.  They bound him and as the soldiers were about to flog him, Paul told them that he was a Roman citizen.  They were alarmed and concerned because they knew that Roman citizens were to be treated differently as prisoners than other people. (Acts 22:24-30)

 

APPLICATION

With The Lord God there is no respect of persons. (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, and Ephesians 6:9)  He does not play favorites.  A person’s position, title, rank, or riches does not matter to God, for He sees the heart of man. (Jeremiah 11:20 and 20:12)  We tend to judge people by what they have or by what they have done.  Today, the law appears to be applied differently to the rich and famous than it is to the average person and the poor people.  As believers we are to love all of our brothers and sisters, (John 13:34, 15:12, and 15:17) and our enemies, (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, and Luke 6:35) and we are not to judge anyone. (Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37)  We are not to use a double standard for how we treat people.  We should speak to, treat, and respect the CEO and the janitor, the rich and the poor, in the same manner.  We should treat all people the way that we want to be treated. (Luke 6:31)

SPEAK TO PEOPLE ABOUT THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“But Paul said, ‘I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. … Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people.  And when there was a great silence, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, …”  Acts 21:39-40 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter Luke records that the apostle Paul, after making several stops along the way while travelling to Jerusalem, finally arrived there.  When he arrived, the people there warmly received him. (Acts 21:1-17)  The next day, he met with the elders and gave them a detailed report regarding what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. (Acts 21:18-20)  They told Paul that they had heard that he was teaching the Gentiles to turn away from the teachings of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children.  They were concerned, knowing that the Jews would soon learn that he was in Jerusalem, so the advised Paul to go with four men who had just taken their vows and were on their way to undergo purification. (Acts 21:21-26)  After seven days, some of the Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple.  They stirred up a crowd and the people seized Paul. (Acts 21:27-29)  They dragged him out of the temple and began beating him in order to kill him but they were stopped by the Roman soldiers. (Acts 21:30-32)  Paul was arrested, for his own protection, and taken to the soldiers’ barracks, but he still wanted to speak to the people.  After being given permission to speak, Paul addressed the crowd in their language. (Acts 21:33-40)

 

APPLICATION

Even though the people had dragged him out of the temple and beaten him, the apostle Paul still wanted to tell his story about Christ to the people who had just tried to kill him.  During good times, and in difficult times, in bad situations, and to non-receptive crowds, believers should not shy away from speaking up for The Lord God.  Believers are called to witness for The Lord, (Isaiah 43:12) to tell others about His goodness towards us.  No one can tell our individual and personal story, regarding what The Lord has done for us, better than we can.  We need not be ashamed or afraid to speak, even to people that we do not know.  Jesus said that if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before His Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:33)

LET US COMPLETE OUR GOD GIVEN TASKS

PROCLAMATION

“And now, behold, I go bound in The Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there;  Save that The Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of The Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”  Acts 20:22-24 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter Luke records that the apostle Paul, after travelling through Macedonia and Greece, (Acts 20:1-6) raising the dead boy in Troas, (Acts 20:7-12) and after arriving in Miletus, sent for the elders of the church. (Acts 20:17)  He told them that he had been compelled by The Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem.  He also said that The Holy Spirit had warned him that prison and hardships lay ahead of him, (Acts 20:23) and that they would not see him again. (Acts 20:25)  He advised them to keep watch over themselves and the people of God.  He said that wolves would rise up among them to devour the sheep. (Acts 20:28-31)  Then he commended them to God.  He said that he never wanted any man’s silver, or gold, or clothing.  He said that he worked to provide for himself and for others, especially the weak.  Paul tell them, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (John 20:35)  Then they all knelt down and prayed.  They wept and kissed him because knew that after he left they would never see him again. (John 20:36-38)

 

APPLICATION

None of us are going to live forever.  Our physical death is a part of living, the end of it.  Some people know or can feel when the end of life is near.  Paul knew that the end of his life was near.  He told them that his life was worth nothing to him. (Acts 20:24)  What was important was finishing the task which The Lord Jesus had given to him.  Some of the apostles and the early disciples considered it an honor to suffer in the name of The Lord or for doing His work.  The Bible says blessed are you when men shall persecute you for His sake. (Exodus 20:11)  We need to get to that point where doing the work of The Lord is more important than anything else, even more important than life itself.  The Lord said that He would never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)  Our primary goal is, or should be, to finish the race and complete the task which The Lord God has given to us.  If it be His will that we die while doing His work, then so be it.  In the end, we want to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant …” (Matthew 25:21)