Acts 26:19-23 – “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.” Paul proclaims in the negative what we can proclaim in the positive. Paul was obedient to what he received from Jesus. He did what he was called to do. For Paul, it is logical that he would obey what God Almighty, what the Risen Savior had said to him. Essentially Paul had said “King Agrippa, of course I was obedient to what Jesus who is in Heaven, who appeared and spoke to me.” Jesus spoke, Paul listened and Paul obeyed. Of course he did. It is what Jesus expected of him and it is what Jesus expects of us. Paul heard, he obeyed the calling and he did so for the rest of life. When a baby is born it takes its first breath and continues to do so the rest of its life, or else it dies. It can do nothing different and still live. Paul became born again and took his first breath of living in the Spirit and Paul continued to live in the Spirit the rest of his life. (Philippians 1:21, Galatians 5:25) To live one must breathe. Born of the Spirit Paul continued to receive his breath and his life from the God by whom he had had spiritual life breathed into him. (Job 33:4, John 20:22)
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” Paul, full of the Holy Spirit immediately began sharing the truth that he had received. He was first in Damascus, so in Damascus he shared. He went to Jerusalem and so in Jerusalem he shared. He preached to whoever would listen. He always started at the Temple and synagogues and then he preached to the Gentiles. Always to both, as God ordained him to do.
Paul did not hold back from preaching the unadulterated truth. Paul was not offended, but guided by the Holy Scriptures, by the teachings of Jesus, and by the unction of the Holy Spirit. Now-a-days there are plenty of people who will scratch the ears of people who don’t want the truth. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) There are plenty of worldly philosophers, and also worldly preachers who claim to proclaim the truth, but who leave out the important part of the Gospel message, that to come to Jesus one must repent of a life of sin, which we all were immersed in the mire of. The whole ministry of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. How did he do that, by telling people to repent and to be ready for the Messiah. (Luke 1:16-17, 3:8-9) Pastor Jon Courson, in his life application commentary, states it this way “Noah didn’t stand on the steps of his ark and say, “Something good is about to happen to you.” Amos was not confronted by priests who threatened to kill him because he was preaching “I’m okay, you’re okay.” Jeremiah was not cast into the dungeon because he talked about the “power of possibility thinking.” Daniel was not thrown to the lions for saying “Smile, God loves you.” And John the Baptist wasn’t beheaded for having a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker.” Family, in order for the whole Gospel to be taught then repentance from sin must be taught. A gospel without repentance is no gospel at all. (Galatians 1:6-9)
“That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.” Paul is telling the King, the Governor and all those present that he was not arrested because he was guilty of purposely inciting a riot, or because of sedition, or even truly because of heresy. He was guilty of speaking out the true message of God that is revealed in the Old Testament scriptures. For this, for being called to do what the priests should have been doing, is why they want to kill him.
“But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen.” Paul gives full credit to God for rescuing him and preserving him even to that day. The commander, Claudius Lysias, would have protested that it was he who had rescued Paul. However Paul knew the deep and ultimate truth that it was God who used the commander to rescue him. Paul maintained a clear vision that blessings, provision and protection may be brought by birds, or saints, or heathens, but they are all instruments that God uses to bring about His will. Over my life, and more specifically in the recent past, many people had assisted us in many different ways. I always was grateful and thanked them, as I should have. However, let me clearly state that I know that always the ultimate benefactor was God. Always it was God who used whoever He may to bless us. So I appreciate the instruments of God’s blessings, and God will reward them, but the highest praise is always reserved for God.
Jon Courson retells a story of a preacher named Frederic Nolan. Fifty men were chasing him through a hilly area of North Africa. Trapped in a canyon, he saw the mouth of a cave and scooted in. Lying at the back of the shallow cave, the exhausted Nolan thought that within ten minutes he would be discovered and killed. But as he lay there, a spider appeared and began to quickly weave a web over the cave’s mouth. Twenty minutes later when Nolan’s persecutors arrived, four or five guys stopped at the opening of the cave, saw the web, and said , “He’s not in there.”
And Frederic Nolan went on to record something wonderful in his journal. He wrote “Where God is, a spider web becomes a wall. But where God isn’t, a wall is like a spider web.”
Like Paul, Nolan knew it wasn’t chance, or a spider who had saved him, it was God. Praise God!
Paul states to his august audience that he has said nothing that is not in the scriptures of the very people who want to kill him. They want to kill him for revealing to them what was in their scriptures but which God had not revealed until then. In fact, the deeper meaning of the truth they had held was revealed when the Word of God Jesus was presented to the world. He was, and is, the fulfillment of God’s promises to them.
“23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” The scriptures told of the Messiah first coming as one who suffered for the sins of man, and therefore the Messiah offered peace with God as a gift, all these scriptures were and are available to read. For now the Jews are blinded, but they shall not always be. There is a coming a time, not too far away, when their eyes will be opened and one hundred forty thousand of them will mourn that their people killed the Messiah. They will become the most on fire group of believers in Christ that ever lived. (Revelation 7:1-8, 14:1-5)
Family, God is sovereign in all things and at all times. We, knowing Him, trust Him through and in all things. Let us set aside everything unworthy and rely on Him whom we know. And knowing Him we trust Him in all things and in all ways. Therein is our peace. Praise God who is always able. Praise God who is completely trustworthy. Praise God! Yes praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”