ACTS CHAPTER 26:1-15, “Paul’s
Defense Before King Agrippa, Part 1”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the apostle Paul appearing before Festus, the newly appointed Roman governor
of Judea, and then before King Agrippa
1.1.1.
We saw that Festus was a man
who was much more a man of action than had been Felix, the previous Roman
governor. As far as Roman governors were
concerned he was one of the better ones and for the most part took his
responsibilities seriously to uphold Roman justice
1.1.2.
We saw though that Festus
was much more concerned with keeping peace with the Jews than he was with
seeing that Paul be handled fairly and according to law and justice, and so he
tried to get Paul to go to Jerusalem to stand trial before the Jews for the
charges that they would make against him.
However, he also sensed that Paul was really innocent of any serious
crimes and that allowing the Jews in Jerusalem jurisdiction to prosecute Paul
would result in a death sentence for Paul
1.1.3.
We saw then that Paul had
appealed to Caesar rather than have to go to Jerusalem to stand trial, however
this action of Paul placed Festus in a very peculiar position for he had to
send Paul bound to Caesar Nero and yet he had no charges that he could write
down for which he was sending Paul
1.1.4.
When King Agrippa happened
to come to town, Festus decided it would be wise to ask the king his counsel as
to what charges to write to Nero for which Paul was being sent. King Agrippa then asked that he be given the
chance to hear and interrogate Paul
1.1.5.
We then looked in our study
at the spiritual blindness that occured in these two
men, Festus and King Agrippa, as we analyzed,some of
the things that inwardly motivate men and women
1.1.5.1.Festus
1.1.5.1.1.He was typical of all unregenerate non-believers for he was blind to
all spiritual truth, and yet all of the things for which Paul was being accused
by the Jews were spiritual in nature and applied to areas of faith and practice
in religion
1.1.5.1.2.Festus did not understand a word anyone was saying concerning the
things that Paul was being accused of
1.1.5.2.King Agrippa
1.1.5.2.1.King Agrippa was actually King Agrippa II who was the last descendant
of the line of the family of Herod the Great who ruled Judea
1.1.5.2.2.We saw that King Agrippa II, as with all of the other descendants of
Herod the Great, had the same character flaw in that they more than anything
wanted to be somebody, to be great (as did ‘Herod the Great’)
1.1.5.2.2.1.We observed how tragic it can be when people have this motivation in
their life
1.1.5.2.3.Though King Agrippa II hears Paul’s defense of himself (found in Acts
26, our study today) and is convicted of his sin and fearful of eternal
judgment, yet he was so proud and had his eyes so much upon all the things of
this world, that he would not be willing to consider the truth of the gospel as
presented by Paul
1.1.5.2.4.King Agrippa II’s blindness was the blindness
of those who are obstinate, those who refuse to come to the light, refuse to
hear the truth, refuse to consider eternal matters pertaining to realities
beyond this life and the things that they can obtain and conquer in this life
1.2.
Today we are going to look
at the first part of Paul’s defense before King Agrippa
1.2.1.
Paul gives here the third
account of his testimony of how he came to know Christ upon the road to
Damascus
1.2.2.
Paul tells King Agrippa of his
life growing up in Jerusalem as a Pharisee and being tutored in the school of Gamaliel, and then of ascending up the ranks of the Jews to
a high position upon the highest ruling body in the land of Israel, the
Sanhedrin
1.2.3.
Paul tells King Agrippa of
his zeal in persecuting Christians to the death wherever he went
1.2.4.
Paul tells King Agrippa the
details of that tremendous day when Christ Himself appeared to him
1.2.5.
Paul tells King Agrippa of the
hope that he has been given through Christ, which is really the hope of
2.
VS 26:1 - “26:1 And Agrippa said to Paul,
“You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and
proceeded to make his defense:” -
King Agrippa invites Paul to make his own defense of himself
2.1.
Once again we
see Paul’s ‘boldness’ in the Holy Spirit in preaching the gospel and defending
himself while being persecuted. Here we
see it in this simple act of stretching forth his hand and proceeding to make
his defense. If there is anyone about
whom people would have been intimidated, it would have been King Agrippa, and
yet Paul has boldness in the Holy Spirit when he gives his defense.
2.1.1.
Again, I
emphasize that we Christians need to realize that the Holy Spirit can give us
the same ‘boldness’ and eloquence when we look to Him to empower us and give us
the words to share the gospel with others, or if we ourselves are in a
situation where we must defend ourselves when being persecuted for our faith.
2.2.
Paul alone
had been able to confound the whole council of the Jews, as well as Tertullus their lawyer, now he must defend himself alone
before the king.
3.
VS 26:2-3 - “2
“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; 3 especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions
among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.” - Paul addresses King Agrippa in a proper and respectful
way in beginning his defense
3.1.
Paul begins
his defense of himself before King Agrippa not with the lying flattery that Tertullus had made to Felix earlier in Acts,
however he respectfully asserts that King Agrippa, who was raised in the Jewish
religion, was an ‘expert’ in ‘all customs and questions among the Jews’.
3.1.1.
This was a
true statement concerning King Agrippa
3.2.
Paul prepares
King Agrippa for a lengthy defense of himself by asking him to listen
‘patiently’ to him.
4.
VS 26:4-5 - “4 “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; 5 since they have known about me for a long time
previously, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee
according to the strictest sect of our religion.” - Paul begins relating to King Agrippa his life
story growing up as a Jewish boy in
4.1.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that ‘all Jews’ knew of his former ‘manner of life’ from his youth
(if they would be willing to testify), which he spent in
4.1.1.
Paul was well
known in and around
4.2.
Though Paul
was born in
4.3.
In chapter 9
of Acts when the story of Paul meeting Christ upon the road to Damascus was
told, we took a long time looking at the life of this man (who was then called
Saul) before he had come to Christ, and I want us to think for just a moment at
the upbringing of the apostle Paul.
4.3.1.
In Acts 22:3,
when previously giving his defense before the Jewish mob who had been beating
him in the temple courts, Paul had mentioned how that he had been raised up as
a youth according to the strictest observance of the Jewish religion and how
that he had studied under a man who was named Gamaliel. This man Gamaliel
was one of the most venerated of the Jewish teachers in
4.3.1.1.There were three levels of rabbis in
4.3.1.1.1.Mirab
4.3.1.1.1.1.Considered a leader.
4.3.1.1.2.Rabbi
4.3.1.1.2.1.Considered a teacher of the people, or ‘my teacher’.
4.3.1.1.3.Rabban
4.3.1.1.3.1.Considered a teacher of the nation.
4.3.1.2.According to the Talmud, Gamaliel
was one of the 7 greatest rabbis in the history of
4.3.1.3.Gamaliel
was a man of great achievement, scholarship and education himself, even having
received a Greek education. His
grandfather was the great Jewish teacher Hillel, and Gamaliel
himself had been raised in the
4.3.2.
Paul followed
the law in the strictest sense, for he followed the law as a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a party in Israel whose
existence began during the Babylonian captivity, and who evolved to eventually
be called ‘Pharisees’, which means ‘called out ones’. They were called ‘called out ones’, or Pharisees,
because they sought to separate themselves from all of the defilement of this
world that is in rebellion against God.
4.3.2.1.The Pharisees had begun originally because they were a
group who believed that their were really two laws of
Moses, and both of these are part of what they call, ‘The Torah’.
4.3.2.1.1.One was the written law which Moses had penned, which
we call the ‘Pentetuek’, and it consists of the first
five books of the Bible.
4.3.2.1.2.However, they believed that there was a second law
that Moses had taught, and this was an Oral Law. They believed then that this Oral Law had
been received by Moses on
4.3.2.1.2.1.After the Babylonian captivity the Pharisaic Scribes
wrote the Talmud which consists of the Mishnah (The
Oral Law) and the Gamarah (Commentaries written by
various rabbis on the Oral Law).
4.3.2.1.2.1.1.1.The Talmud taught of such things as ‘Kosher Laws’
which were very detailed and strict regulations concerning the handling and
preparation of all foods in
4.3.2.1.2.1.1.1.1.For instance, since a Mosaic law taught that a kid was
not to be cooked in it’s own milk, and since there could be the possibility of
accidentally having a milk product in a meat dish that might have milk in it
from the animal, the Jewish Kosher law taught that meat and milk cannot be
eaten together.
4.3.2.1.2.1.1.2.There were hundreds of laws pertaining to the proper
observance of the Sabbath so as to ensure that a person did not do any ‘work’
on the Sabbath.
4.3.2.1.2.1.1.2.1.For instance, since a Mosaic
Law taught that a person could not work on the Sabbath, and since there was the
possibility that some things that a person might do on the Sabbath could be
considered as work, the Jew in Jesus’ day was forbidden to carry anything
heavier than a dried fig on the Sabbath.
4.3.2.1.2.1.1.3.So, there were literally several hundred laws added to
the laws of Moses which the Talmud placed upon the shoulders of the Israelites
to carry if there were to be considered righteous before Jehovah.
4.4.
The Old
Testament had already given us about 613 laws that related to all areas of
morality, conduct, worship, civil matters, etc., yet as if that was not enough
the Pharisees compiled several hundreds of their own laws on top of these laws.
4.4.1.
Legalists,
such as the Pharisees were, are people who compile self-imposed laws and
requirements and then expect themselves and others to adhere to them, and they
do this so that they can have a way of monitoring their own righteousness. You see, it is sometimes hard to tell how
well you are doing spiritually speaking, so legalism helps a person to monitor
himself.
4.4.2.
Speaking of
the Pharisees and their observance of the Oral Law and the Talmud, in Matthew
15:7-9 Jesus taught the following, “7 “You hypocrites, rightly did
Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 ‘This
people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as
doctrines the precepts of men.’””
4.4.2.1.They had adhered to their
self-imposed standards and kept their man-made rituals and requirements,
however their hearts were far away from God.
They did not do the things that they did because they loved God, but
rather they did them so that they could impress men and be seen to be righteous
in the sight of men.
4.4.2.2.Jesus didn’t recognize the
Oral law nor the Talmud nor the Pharisees as the
spiritual leaders in
4.4.3.
In Mark 7
there is an incident related by Mark where the Pharisees were criticizing
Jesus’ disciples for not going through the washing rituals according to the
‘traditions of their elders’, and Jesus then proceeded to denouncing the
Pharisees for giving lip service to God through their rituals yet not having
their hearts right before God, for following the traditions of men while
neglecting the commandments of God.
Then, Jesus told them that there was nothing that going into them would
make them unclean, for uncleanness came forth from the heart, for the Pharisees
were cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside was full of every kind of
uncleaness.
4.4.3.1.Jesus taught that the place to concentrate our efforts
is on what fills our hearts, not upon perfecting our external
righteousness. For as we concentrate
upon keeping our hearts pure our outward righteousness will follow along in
stride.
4.4.4.
Normally we
think of people falling away from God and committing outright and blatant sins,
however with the Pharisees, and with legalists in general, they fall away from
God by their keeping of self-imposed rules and laws and because of judging
those who do not match up to their legalistic standards.
5.
VS 26:6-7 - “6
“And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our
fathers; 7 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.” - Paul tells King
Agrippa that he is on trial for the hope of his fathers
5.1.
Paul tells
Agrippa that the real contention that the Jews have with him has to do with the
coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
5.1.1.
The
resurrection of Christ from the dead was the key apostolic doctrine, and the
doctrine upon which every other doctrine depended.
5.1.2.
The ‘hope of
the promise made by God to our fathers’ is the inheritance brought to man by
the Messiah, the hope of eternal life.
5.1.3.
Paul tells
Agrippa that because of his proclamation of the gospel, or good news,
concerning ‘this hope’, that he is ‘being accused by the Jews’.
5.2.
People should
take special note of the great hope that God has given to man through Jesus
Christ. The “good news” or “gospel
message” is intended to bring tremendous blessing to people as it gives them a
‘hope’ that can be depended upon.
5.2.1.
After Jesus
was baptized by John the Baptist and then began His ministry which lasted only
three years before His death, He went immediately to His home town of Nazareth,
and on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue and walked up to the front and
opened the book of Isaiah, chapter 61, and read the first three or so verses
which dealt with the blessing of the “good news” which the Messiah was to bring
mankind. Then He told the people that
the scripture was fulfilled in their hearing.
People ought to take a long look at this hope which Isaiah prophesied
would come in Is. 61:1-3, “1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted; He
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And
freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the
favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those
who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness
instead of mourning, The mantle of
praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may
be glorified”.
5.2.1.1.In this passage which Jesus quoted to the synagogue in
5.2.1.1.1.The word “afflicted”,
{ aw-hawv } used here can be
translated as meek, humble, poor, lowly,
meek.
5.2.1.1.2.The word “bind up”
can also be translated “to bandage”,
and this seems to bring the best sense of its use here. Jesus bandages up those whose hearts are
broken.
5.2.1.1.3.The word “favorable”
is a word that is primarily used in relation to winning the admirable favor of
the king when one appears before him.
5.2.1.1.4.The word “garland”
{ peh-ayr
} can be translated bonnets, beauty, goodly, tire of thine head, ornaments,
tires. It means 1) “head-dress, ornament, or turban. When a Jew was overcome with depression,
grief, or shame they would often throw “ashes” on their heads, however the
“hope” that the Messiah brings causes one to instead have a beautiful bonnet
put upon their heads.
5.2.1.1.5.The word “mantle”
can be translated as “garment”. It
means 1) wrap, mantle
5.2.1.1.6.The word “fainting”
{ kay-heh
} can be translated somewhat dark, darkish, was dim, smoking, or heaviness. It means 1) dim, dull, colourless,
be dark, or faint. One who received the
“hope” that the Messiah would bring would have a garment of praise wrapped
around them instead of being wrapped up in heaviness, depression, and dimness.
5.2.1.2.In Eph. 2:12, Paul wrote that prior to coming
to Christ we were all without ‘hope’, “12 remember that you were at that
time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world”.
5.2.1.3.Paul wrote in 1 Thess
4:13-14 that for non-believers there was no hope beyond the grave (they
have only hell to look forward to), but for believers our hope assures us that
when Christ returns He will bring with Him all of the Christians who have
departed this world, “13 But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest
who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in
Jesus”.
5.2.1.4.In 1 Peter 1:3-4, Peter wrote about how that we
Christians have a ‘living hope’ which is ‘undefiled’ and ‘will not fade away’
and is ‘reserved in heaven’ for us, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will
not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”
5.2.1.4.1.When I first was preparing to teach the book of 1
Peter for the first time, I was going to teach it in my home fellowship in
5.2.1.4.1.1.What an incredible hope we Christians have in
Christ. Our hope as Christians isn’t
wishful or positive thinking, rather it is ‘confident expectation’ that God
will do what He has promised to do in His Word.
5.2.1.5.Paul wrote in Heb. 6:19 about the hope that we
as Christians have through Christ as being an anchor of the soul that causes us
to be unmoved by all of the turbulent storms upon the seas of life78: “19 This hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil”.
5.2.1.5.1.A big part of our growth as Christians comes from our
growing in the knowledge of what it is that our ‘hope’ in Christ consists of,
and thus learning what it is that we are to cling to. A ship must be anchored solidly on the
bottom, otherwise it will simply drift out to sea and be lost, and likewise we
Christians must depend upon the right scriptural promises in order to be
healthy growing Christians. Thus, we
must study God’s Word diligently every day in order to glean out those
promises. We should also attend a church
where God’s Word is blatantly taught and observed.
5.2.1.6.Let me ask you some questions though. Is your ‘hope’ in your career? Any worldly possession? A future marriage? The philosophies of this world?
5.2.1.6.1.Our ‘hope’ as Christians must be ‘hope’ in having and
knowing Jesus in our life, not ‘hope’ for what He might give us, nor for the
things of this world.
5.2.1.7.I believe that many pastors and teachers in the church
today are not properly grounding their people in the Word of God, and thus
their people are floundering spiritually.
Pastors must teach what God’s promises consist
of, and that Jesus Christ and God’s Word are what we are to cling to. This world, its goods and its philosophies
are not to be clung to, but rather we are to cling to God and His Word as our
hope.
6.
VS 26:8 - “8 “Why is it considered
incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?” - Paul asks King Agrippa why it is so hard for
him to consider that God might raise the dead
6.1.
Since the Old
Testament scriptures had foretold in so many places the resurrection of the
dead, Paul was astounded by the fact that the Jews could not conceive that
Jesus had raised from the dead, and therefore all of God’s people might have
this same hope.
6.2.
To non-Jews
it also should not have been inconceivable that the dead might be raised. If God created this world from nothing, could
He not have the power also to raise people who had formerly lived, from the
dead?
6.3.
In the Old
Testament, there are several scriptures that foretell the resurrection of the
Messiah, as well as the future resurrection of God’s people. For instance:
6.3.1.
David wrote
in Ps 16:10 concerning the resurrection of the Messiah, “10 For
Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou
allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay”.
6.3.2.
Daniel wrote
concerning the future resurrection of God’s people in Dan. 12:2, “2 “And
many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to
everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt””.
7.
VS 26:9-11 - “9 “So then, I thought to myself
that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of
7.1.
In these
verses, Paul tells King Agrippa about how he had previously been deceived and
in his deception did many things which he knows now were very wrong. He thought that He was supposed to persecute
Christians for Jehovah’s sake, however he was doing a
very evil deed in doing this.
7.2.
Paul
discusses in depth in verses 10 and 11 the extent to which he went in
persecuting Christians. He not only
imprisoned many, but he also voted, as a member of the Sanhedrin, for them to
be put to death for their faith. He
would also give them the option of blaspheming the Name of Jesus in order to
keep from being persecuted.
7.3.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that he was ‘furiously enraged at them’ and that he was not
satisfied in merely persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem, but he also ‘kept
pursuing them even to foreign cities’ where they might flee.
7.4.
Paul was blinded to the truth in the scriptures concerning the Messiah
the salvation that He would bring. The
scriptures teach us in 2 Cor. 4:3-4 that those who do not believe in Christ are being
deceived and blinded from understanding the truth by the evil one, “3 And
even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in
whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that
they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God.”
7.4.1.
You may have
believed or have done many things in your life which were wrong, however you
were deceived and had a certain innocence about them, however now that you have
heard from God’s Word about the hope that is in the gospel concerning eternal
life, you can no longer claim innocence and must make a real decision concerning
Christ.
7.4.2.
Men and women
are blinded and they desperately need their eyes opened up to the truth, and
this is exactly what the gospel does.
The Psalmist wrote in Ps. 119:129-130, “129 Thy testimonies are
wonderful; Therefore
my soul observes them. The unfolding of
Thy words gives light;
130 It gives understanding to the simple”.
8.
VS 26:12-15 - “12
“While thus engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and
commission of the chief priests, 13 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. 14 “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.’ 15 “And I
said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am
Jesus whom you are persecuting.” -
Paul tells King Agrippa about how the Lord Jesus had appeared to him
upon the road to
8.1.
In the rest
of Paul’s defense of himself to King Agrippa we see the power of personal
testimony being used in ministry. This
is the second time that Paul has told his conversion testimony in the book of
Acts, and the significance of his testimony is born by the fact that this story
is told five times in the Bible.
8.2.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that he was ‘journeying to
8.3.
In Paul’s day
people would travel in the early morning or later in the afternoon and early
evening, and the only time that a person traveled during the ‘mid day’ was when
they were in a real hurry. Paul relates
this to show how obsessed he was with persecuting Christians wherever he went.
8.4.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that as he was approaching
8.5.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that he and ‘all’ those who were with him were knocked ‘to the
ground’, and that he then heard in Hebrew a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick
against the goads’. When Paul asked whom
it was who was speaking to him, the voice answered him that it was Jesus, whom
he was persecuting.
8.5.1.
To persecute
one of Jesus’ servants is to persecute Him, therefore
Jesus asked Paul why he was persecuting Him.
It is a very evil act which He takes very personally for He feels all of
the pains which His children experience.
8.6.
In Paul’s day
oxen were often used to pull plows and carts, and the man driving the oxen
would use a ‘goad’,
which was a long sharp rod of iron, to poke the animal. Oxen would sometimes try to resist pulling a
plow or cart and try to kick the plow or cart instead. Sharp sticks were placed behind the animals feet so that when they kicked they would kick the
sharp stick. The animals would then
learn quickly not to kick against the ‘goads’.
The ‘goads’ which Jesus tells Paul that he is kicking against are the
‘goads’ of his conscience.
8.6.1.
Deep inside
his heart, Paul knew that he was dead wrong in the things he was doing in
persecuting Christians and in rejecting the gospel message of Christ.
A
man’s conscience is being spoken to when a person goes against what the Lord
wants for him to do, and thus the voice of conscience can be the voice of the
Lord.