ACTS CHAPTER 26:16-32, “Paul’s
Defense Before King Agrippa, Part 2”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the apostle Paul appearing before King Agrippa
1.1.1.
Paul gave the third account
of his testimony of how he came to know Christ upon the road to Damascus
1.1.2.
Paul told 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
1.1.3.
Paul told King Agrippa of
his zeal in persecuting Christians to the death wherever he went
1.1.4.
Paul told King Agrippa the
details of that tremendous day when Christ Himself appeared to him
1.1.5.
Paul told King Agrippa of
the hope that he has been given through Christ, which is really the hope of
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at the second part of Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa
1.2.1.
Paul tells King Agrippa
about how that the Lord had appointed him a minister and a witness and sent him
out
1.2.2.
Paul then tells King Agrippa
about his calling to go to the Gentiles with the gospel message
1.2.3.
Paul tells King Agrippa that
the gospel message turns people from darkness to light and from the dominion of
Satan to God
1.2.4.
Paul tells King Agrippa that
he was to preach repentence towards God
1.2.5.
Paul tells King Agrippa that
he has been called to preached to all, both the small and the great
1.2.6.
Paul then makes it personal
and asks King Agrippa if he believes the Old Testament prophets
2.
VS 26:16 - “16
‘But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to
appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have
seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;” - Paul tells King Agrippa about how the Lord had
commissioned him for His service on that day when He appeared to him
2.1.
In this
verse, Paul recalls that Jesus told him on the road to
2.2.
Paul was not
only to be a witness to the things that he saw that day on the road, but also
to all of the things which the Lord told him he would teach him, or ‘appear’,
to him.
2.3.
Many people
come to Christ for salvation with the attitude that they are just getting some
fire insurance so that now they can go on their own way and continue doing as
they please. However, each of us who
comes to Christ for salvation is also going as His servant to be called by the
Lord into a ministry of some sort.
3.
VS 26:17 - “17
delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am
sending you,” - Jesus told Paul that
He was delivering him from Jews and Gentiles and yet sending him to the
Gentiles
3.1.
It is
interesting that Jesus told Paul that He would deliver him from the Jewish and
the Gentile people. Paul had experienced
many deliverances from the Lord up to this period of his life. He could and should have been murdered by
both the Jews and the Gentiles many times over, if it were not because of the
Lord.
3.2.
Jesus tells
Paul in this verse that He is sending him to the Gentiles. This was his calling, to be the, “apostle to
the Gentiles”.
4.
VS 26:18 - “18
to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the
dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’”
- Paul tells Agrippa that Jesus told him
that He had called him to open the eyes of the Gentiles so that they would turn
from darkness to light and from Satan’s dominion to God’s
4.1.
This is an interesting
and enlightening threefold description of what salvation brings to a person:
4.1.1.
When a person
is saved their eyes are opened spiritually, and thus though they were
previously spiritually blind to spiritual truth concerning God and salvation
through Christ, they now see the glorious light of salvation that God opens up
to them.
4.1.2.
When a person
is saved he is taken from ‘darkness to light’.
4.1.2.1.This world that is in rebellion against God is such a
dark place.
4.1.2.2.The ‘darkness’ which people are under before turning
to Christ is a product of their simply not understanding the light of the truth
concerning the knowledge of God, as well as the walking in the sinful ways of
this world and the demonic forces which control it.
4.1.2.2.1.Isaiah wrote, Is. 42:16-17, about the Messiah
one day opening the eyes of those who do not understand the truth concerning
the knowledge of God, “16 “And I will lead the blind by a way they do not
know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them
and rugged places into plains. These are
the things I will do, And I will not
leave them undone.” 17 They shall be
turned back and be utterly put to shame, who trust in idols, who say to molten
images, “You are our gods.””
4.1.2.3.As I have mentioned many times, each of the healings
which Jesus performed drew a picture for us of how the Lord heals us from sin
in our lives. In John chapter 9 there is
the story told of Jesus healing a man born blind, and when we think about this
man’s life it is quite a story. He had
never seen light or colors or any of the things in this life for he had always
been blind, and yet suddenly he was made to see perfectly. We can only imagine the incredible thoughts
and emotions that he may have experienced on that day. This is a picture for us of what happens in a
persons life when God turns on the light switch and they suddenly go from
darkness to light, when they suddenly see things as they actually are.
4.1.2.4.I remember the day that I suddenly came to that place
to where I realized why I was here, why God made mankind, and that I now had a
relationship with Christ who had come into my life. What a happy day that was to now have the
light switch turned on in my life and know that I knew the God of the universe
personally, and that my sins were forgiven and I was headed for heaven after
this life.
4.1.2.5.Many Christians are unfortunately content simply to
have made it into heaven by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They are content to have become a child of
light, and they do not seek to try to walk as a “child of light”, avoiding the
“deeds of darkness”, and instead carrying out the deeds wrought in the
‘light’. Many Christians lives are more
a reflection of this dark world and the deeds done in it than they are of
Christ, His love, and His holiness.
4.1.2.5.1.In Eph. 5:8-16 Paul wrote about how we ought to
be people who are walking as children of the light, “8 for you were
formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and
truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not
participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in
secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light,
for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” 15
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, 16 making
the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
4.1.2.5.2.When a person is saved, they become ‘sanctified’ by
their faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior.
That is, they are “set apart”, for this is what ‘sanctified’ means, and
God calls them unto Himself for His purposes and plans for them.
4.1.3.
Non-Christians,
whether or not they realize it or not, are living in cohesion with the demonic
forces of darkness in this world until they received Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior, but it is actually more than cohesion because the scriptures speak
of the non-Christian as being a slave of sin and unrighteousness and actually
of being enslaved to Satan.
4.1.3.1.Paul was greatly affected by the words of Jesus to him
at his conversion and he later wrote in
4.1.3.2.Paul later wrote in Eph. 2:1-3 about the fact
that all men were prior to coming to Christ walking in darkness and controlled
by the devil and his cohorts, “2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in
the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest”.
4.1.3.3.Spurgeon
once preached about how each non-Christian person is in a certain sense really
possessed by the devil, “The case of the deaf and dumb demoniac, which we
read in your hearing, and to which I call your particular attention this
morning, is a very remarkable one. All sin is the evidence that the soul is
under the dominion of Satan. All unconverted persons are really possessed of
the devil in a certain sense: he has established his throne within their
hearts, and there he reigns, and rules from thence the members of their body.
“The spirit, which now worketh in the children of disobedience” is the name
which Paul gives to the prince of darkness. But these possessions are not alike
in every case, and the casting out of Satan, though always effected by the same
Lord, is not always wrought after the same fashion.”
4.1.3.4.I believe that it is important for us to understand
the ways in which the devil is working in the lives of the non-Christians in
our world who are enslaved to him.
4.1.3.4.1.It is not that the devil is trying to get a hold of a
non-Christian and trying to control his life, he already has the non-Christian
and already has him enslaved.
4.1.3.4.1.1.The devil’s work in his life is at this point relegated to making sure
that he does not become a Christian, that he continues to be enslaved to Satan.
4.1.3.4.2.Satan does his utmost to
keep people from seriously thinking about things in this life. For instance:
4.1.3.4.2.1.He tries to keep them from thinking
seriously about the miserable state that they are in under the dominion of
Satan.
4.1.3.4.2.2.He tries to keep them from
thinking seriously about eternal realities.
4.1.3.4.2.3.He tries to keep them from
thinking seriously about the real sciences, rather he tries to get them to
think that the hazy concepts that they have in their minds and that they have
heard parroted in the world constitute real scientific inquiry.
4.1.3.4.2.4.He tries to have their minds
consumed with the material and physical things on this planet as much as he can,
and he tries to get them to be consumed with their own lusts in every way that
he can.
4.1.3.4.3.Satan tries to keep people
ignorant of truth for the ignorant person has no other option than to be
enslaved to Satan.
4.1.3.4.4.We see from Jesus’ parable
of the Sower that Satan comes and steals the word that is sown upon the beaten
path. When non-believers hear the gospel
message, if the Holy Spirit is not opening their minds to understand the
message, they will not really understand it and then they will never think on
that message again when Satan steals it away from them.
4.1.3.4.5.Satan causes people to put
off making a decision.
4.1.3.4.5.1.Most people who will spend
eternity in hell thought about repenting at times in their life, they just
never got around to it.
4.1.3.4.6.Satan does everything that he
can and is allowed to do to oppose God’s messengers who are trying to bring
people out of Satan’s dominion. We see
this all throughout the scriptures. For
instance:
4.1.3.4.6.1.Jannes and Jambres, the
Egyptian magicians, resisted Moses when he came to deliver the Israelites from
4.1.3.4.6.2.In Acts chapter 13 we saw
that Elymas the sorcerer was hindering Paul from being able to preach to the
proconsul on the
4.1.3.4.6.3.Etc.
4.1.3.5.Matthew
Henry has
written about how that the Lord turns us from darkness to light and from the
power of Satan to God, “A world
that lies in wickedness, in the wicked one, must be sanctified and reformed; it
is not enough for them to have their eyes opened, they must have their hearts
renewed; not enough to be turned from darkness to light, but they must be
turned from the power of Satan unto God, which will follow of course; for Satan
rules by the power of darkness, and God by the convincing evidence of light.
Sinners are under the power of Satan; idolaters were so in a special manner,
they paid their homage to devils. All sinners are under the influence of his
temptations, yield themselves captives to him, are at his beck; converting
grace turns them from under the dominion of Satan, and brings them into
subjection to God, to conform to the rules of his word and comply with the
dictates and directions of his Spirit, translates them out of the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
4.2.
As we see
from Jesus’ teaching in the gospels, each person is either a son of God (who is
called the Father of Lights here), or they are a son of the devil who is the
father of darkness. Our lives are
characterized by the one who is our father, God or the devil. Jesus called many people the sons of the
devil because they were doing the very things that the devil himself did.
4.2.1.
When a person
is saved, they go from being under the governmental control and authority of
Satan and his demon cohorts, to being under the control and dominion of God and
His holy angels.
4.2.2.
If you are in
the place of being under the dominion of Satan, the “prince of the power of the
air”, you should be fearful to continue to stay in that place. One should not think that Satan has any good
intentions towards them and their life.
Satan is not playing a game with him, he is playing for “keeps”. He will do everything he can to make sure
that he ends up with him in that place of torments known as hell.
4.2.3.
If you are a non-Christian, you will be wise
if you run as fast as you can to the Savior and beg that He will place you
under His ‘dominion’. Jesus taught in the
gospels that if you will continue to seek Him, you will find Him. If you continue to “knock” on the door to
heaven, He will open up that door to you.
4.3.
If you are a
Christian and you have therefore been freed from the ‘dominion’ of Satan,
however you find yourself allowing yourself to come under the dominion of Satan by the choices you make, you are
being very foolish. Don’t flirt with
Satan and his temptations to live in the same way as the people of this
world. Satan is going to try to set up
you up in such a way that you will end up compromising for the rest of your
life and all of your Christian testimony will be worthless. For example:
4.3.1.
People have
compromised in their morality, business, finances, investments, possessions,
etc., only to find themselves being enslaved for years to those things that
once were only temptations.
4.3.2.
Many a
Christian boy or girl has began to date a non-Christian only to end up falling
in love with them, and then ended up marrying the non-Christian, and
compromising their testimony for the rest of their life, for marriage is for
life.
5.
VS 26:19-20 - “19
“Consequently, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly
vision, 20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at
Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate
to repentance.” - Paul tells Agrippa
that he was obedient to the vision that he had received from Jesus
5.1.
Paul tells
King Agrippa what His response was to the calling that he received from Jesus
upon the road of
5.1.1.
He did not
‘prove disobedient to the heavenly vision’, but dedicated every fiber of his
being to fulfilling God’s will in his life.
5.1.2.
He became a
zealous and faithful witness to His Lord and ‘kept declaring both to those of
Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of
Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God,
performing deeds appropriate to repentance’.
5.2.
Repentance is
necessary in order for one to become a Christian and to therefore inherit
eternal life. The word ‘repentance’ is a
word which is a combination of the words “meta”, which means “to change”, and
“noia”, which means “mind”. It means “to
have a change of mind” therefore. A
person repents when he turns from living his life apart from God and His will
for their life, and begins to start seeking the Lord and His will as the first
and most important part of their life.
5.2.1.
In the Old
Testament after Solomon had finished building the temple for the Lord, he was
seeking the Lord’s will so that he might know how God wanted him to live his
life and to rule God’s people, and the Lord spoke the following words to him
found in 2 Chron. 7:14, “14 if my people, who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will
heal their land”.
5.2.2.
People must
be willing to admit that they have been living as if God did not exist, not
seeking with all of their heart, mind, and strength, to love Him and fulfill
His perfect will in their lives, and they must turn over their lives to Him to
be the person He wants them to be and to fulfill the very purposes and plans
that He wants for them, and then they can come to receive salvation into their
lives. This is what ‘repentance’ means.
5.2.3.
Spurgeon spoke a sermon once in which he said that
true or genuine repentance, the kind which saves, required six things:
5.2.3.1.The turning meant
is actual, not fictitious
5.2.3.1.1.It is not that which deals with promises and vows, but
that which deals with the acts of life.
5.2.3.2.It must be
entire
5.2.3.2.1.We cannot repent of some sins and not of others.
5.2.3.3.It must be
immediate
5.2.3.3.1.We cannot say that one day we are going to repent of
our sin and give our lives to God.
5.2.3.4.It must be
hearty
5.2.3.4.1.The heart must be rent and broken, it must not be
insincere and fictitious repentance.
5.2.3.5.It must be
perpetual
5.2.3.5.1.We must not give our lives to God and repent of our
sins for a time, but rather it must be to the very last day of our life.
6.
VS 26:21 - “21
“For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to
death.” - Paul tells Agrippa that
the Jews were persecuting him because of his telling them this same story of
his conversion
6.1.
Paul tells
King Agrippa in this verse that it is because of His telling people of the
reality of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, which was foretold concerning
the Messiah in the Old Testament, plus because of his telling others of his own
conversion, that the Jews were trying to murder him.
7.
VS 26:22-23 - “22
“And so, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to
small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going
to take place; 23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His
resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the
Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”” -
Paul tells Agrippa that now he tells all, both the small and the great,
the same story of what the Old Testament taught concerning the Messiah and His
coming, death, and resurrection from the dead
7.1.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that the Lord has given him help and as a result he has being
doing all that he can every day to tell every single person, both important and
insignificant in their station, about the fulfillment of the hope in Jesus
Christ, that this is exactly what the ‘Prophets and Moses said was going to take
place’.
7.1.1.
We Christians
need to have the same conviction to do evangelism as the apostle Paul did,
seeking to tell everyone we can about what great things the Lord has done in
our life.
7.2.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that the Prophets and Moses foretold prophetically in the books of
the Old Testament that the Messiah ‘was to suffer, and that by reason of His
resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the
Jewish people and to the Gentiles’.
7.3.
Christianity
does not contradict one thing in the Old Testament, rather, it is the
fulfillment of all that is prophesied there.
8.
VS 26:24-26 - “24
And while Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice,
“Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.” 25
But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter
words of sober truth. 26 “For the king knows about these matters, and I speak
to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things
escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.” - Festus accuses Paul of being out of his mind,
of his great learning having driven him mad
8.1.
Festus
accused Paul that his great learning has driven him out of his mind. But, Paul told them all that the things that
he was sharing with them were utterly true.
Furthermore, Paul tells King Agrippa that he knows that the King has
heard about what he is telling him now about Jesus, and that these things are
really nothing new to him.
8.2.
In saying,
‘this has not been done in a corner’, Paul is saying that all people had some
awareness in that day and time of Jesus and what He had accomplished in His
earthly ministry, and, they had heard something of what His followers had done
since His earthly death.
9.
VS 26:27-29 - “27
“King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.” 28 And Agrippa
replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.”
29 And Paul said, “I would to God, that whether in a short or long time, not
only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except
for these chains.”” - Paul asks a question to King Agrippa, and
then he answers it himself, for he knew that King Agrippa was raised in the
Jewish religion
9.1.
There are
many opinions as to what King Agrippa replied to Paul’s question. The best two opinions I have heard are
these:
9.1.1.
Some believe
that King Agrippa was telling Paul that it would be futile of Paul to think
that in such a short discussion that he could convince the king to become a
Christian.
9.1.2.
Some believe
that King Agrippa was telling Paul that if he kept on preaching the gospel to
him that he might become a Christian.
9.2.
Paul tells
King Agrippa that he wished that all men would become like himself (Paul) with
the exception of his chains, in other words, that they would become Christians
zealous in proclaiming the gospel to everyone who would hear.
10.
VS 26:30-32 - “30
And the king arose and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting
with them, 31 and when they had drawn aside, they began talking to one another,
saying, “This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment.” 32
And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not
appealed to Caesar.”” - King
Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice confer together concerning Paul’s case
10.1.
Again in
verse 30 we see Bernice mentioned in the presence of King Agrippa, and yet
nothing is said of her.
10.2.
King Agrippa,
Festus, Bernice, and all of those who were hearing Paul’s defense arose and
began to confer with one another concerning Paul’s case.
10.2.1.They all agreed that Paul had done nothing ‘worthy of
death or imprisonment’.
10.2.2.Finally, Agrippa told Festus that Paul could possibly
have been set free with all of his charges dropped if he hadn’t made an appeal
to Caesar to hear his case.
10.2.3.
Because of
the appeal, they had no choice but to send Paul to