Day #307
Scripture Reading: Acts 25 - 26 …
What must it be like to be on trial for preaching
the Gospel? Paul had faced what we might say was more than his share of
suffering for preaching the Gospel. He had been beaten, put in jail and treated
horribly ever since he believed in Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, and began
preaching the Gospel. It had been more than two years now since Felix,
the governor of Caesarea, had placed Paul in jail, not because he found him
guilty of anything, but to pacify the Jews who wanted to stop Paul from
preaching the Gospel and making disciples of Jesus. Now Festus had
replaced Felix and the Jews saw an opportunity to kill Paul, so they asked
Festus to transfer him to Jerusalem, hoping to ambush him along the way.
Paul, however, appealed to Caesar, so Festus ordered that he be sent to
Rome.
Before he was transferred there, however, King
Agrippa and his wife arrived in Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.
As God ordained it, Festus shared the details of Paul's case with
Agrippa. His explanation is classic!
After listening to the Jews' accusations and Paul's testimony, this is
what Festus had come away with: "When his accusers got up to
speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.
Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own
religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive" (25:18-19).
How is that for a summary of the conflict between the Jewish leaders who
had rejected Jesus and Paul, who had come to believe in Him? Truer words
have never been spoken!! It's about "a dead man named Jesus who
Paul claimed was alive!"
If Jesus is alive, then the Gospel is true; if He
is dead then Christianity itself is a cruel hoax. Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as
Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said,
'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (II
Corinthians 4:4-6). Festus was right
when he said that the issue was that the Jews said Jesus was dead and Paul
testified that He was ALIVE!!
Paul had been testifying to the truth of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ throughout the region and now GOD (not Festus) was sending him
to Rome. But before he went, he needed to testify to King Agrippa. Like Festus, and Felix before him, these
political leaders cared more about pleasing the Jews and others under them than
about truth … especially "religious" truth. But Paul did not miss an opportunity to share
the Gospel and to call anyone, even kings and rulers, to repentance and faith
in Jesus.
As he stood before Agrippa, Paul declared his
innocence of any wrongdoing, but said, "it is because of my hope in
what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today" (26:6).
As a Pharisee, Paul knew the Old Testament scriptures well, but he had
missed the truth that the Messiah would be the "suffering servant" of
Isaiah 53. His eyes had been opened and now he used the Old Testament to
support his claim that Jesus was, in fact, the promised Messiah, who came to
suffer for the sins of His people and to redeem them from the coming judgment
of God. Paul knew that he was a sinner, saved by grace, and he wanted to
tell everyone the good news!
He explained his conversion on the road to Damascus
and recounted what Jesus had told him: "I am sending you to them
(the Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (26:17-18).
The message of the Gospel is clear. Faith in Jesus Christ is
necessary for salvation, for forgiveness, for life. There is no other way
to be saved. It is impossible to read through the book of Acts and come
to any other conclusion. The Gospel is the same for Jews as it is for
Gentiles: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be
saved" (Acts 16:31).
Paul again appealed to the Scriptures of the Old
Testament as he made his defense before King Agrippa and Festus: "I
am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen -
that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would
proclaim light to His own people (the Jews) and to the Gentiles" (26:22-23).
Christianity is not a “new” religion; it is the fulfillment of true
biblical Judaism. No other religion, be
it Judaism, Islam or any other declares the truth concerning the one way of
salvation through faith in Jesus, the Christ.
When Paul referred to the Scriptures, Festus
responded the way blind people do today: "You are out of your
mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane" (26:24). King Agrippa's response was also sadly typical
of many today: "Do you think that in such a short time you can
persuade me to be a Christian?" (26:28). Paul replied, "Short
time or long - I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me
today may become what I am, except for these chains" (26:29).
Such must be our heart's desire today, moving us to share the Gospel of
Jesus Christ at every opportunity, for without the Gospel, without the Spirit,
there can be and will be no repentance, no faith and no life in Jesus.
May this message be on our lips as we live in this
world, testifying to the truth that Jesus is the Christ, that He is alive, and
that through faith in Him there is forgiveness and life. This message,
and this message alone, is the Gospel … a light to the Jews and the Gentiles …
bringing salvation to all who believe!
"O Lord our God, to YOU alone I come, trusting
in Jesus for forgiveness and life. I believe that Jesus IS the Christ,
the fulfillment of Your promises to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and to all whom You have chosen to be Yours. I believe that in Christ I
find all I need and I live now to testify to the truth of who He is and what He
has done, pointing people to what is yet to come when He returns. Use me,
Father, to be a light to all I meet, pointing them to Jesus, calling them to
repent and believe and be saved. Thank You, Father, for calling ME to be
yours! In Jesus' name, Amen"
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