The Charges
Paul, under arrest, had been transferred to Caesarea, where he was tried before Felix. Paul had spoken to him and to his wife about faith in Jesus Christ and had discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. Felix responded with fear. He said, “That’s enough for now,” and he told Paul that when he found it convenient, he would send for him again. “He was hoping Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him” (Acts 24:26). After two years, the scriptures say, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and that Felix had left Paul in prison as a favor to the Jews.
Festus went to Jerusalem where he heard the charges presented against Paul. He invited some of the Jewish leaders to come with him to Caesarea to press charges against Paul, if he had done anything wrong. Back in Caesarea, Festus convened court and ordered Paul to be brought into his presence. Paul appeared, as requested. When he did, the Jews from Jerusalem presented their charges against him, which, Luke said, they could not prove. Then, Paul gave his defense. Festus asked Paul if he was willing to be tried in Jerusalem to which Paul responded that he ought to be tried right where he was presently standing. Then, after speaking a few more words, Paul appealed to Caesar. So, Festus declared, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go” (Acts 25:12).
King Agrippa and Bernice were visiting with Festus. Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. King Agrippa said he would like to hear Paul. The next day Agrippa and Bernice entered the place where Paul was to be heard. There were high ranking officers and leading men of the city present, as well. Festus was hoping that King Agrippa would assist him in giving him something he could write to Caesar to accompany Paul, to explain why Paul was being sent to him. So, Agrippa gave Paul permission to speak for himself. Paul began cordially with gracious remarks, then he gave his testimony of how he was a Pharisee and how he had persecuted and killed believers in Jesus Christ previously. He said that, in his obsession against believers in Jesus, he even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
The Journey
“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’My Understanding: This account of Paul’s conversion is my favorite of all the recorded times he shared his testimony of how he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and how Jesus Christ changed his life forever. Jesus let Paul know that, when he persecuted and killed Jesus’ followers, that he was, indeed, persecuting Jesus Christ. Paul knew to call him Lord, but asked Jesus who he was, so Jesus let him know that it was him speaking. And, I love what Jesus said to Paul, for truly this was not only Paul’s assignment, but this is what Jesus Christ has commanded of all his followers, as is recorded throughout the New Testament.
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 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.’
19 “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 to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But I have had God’s help to this very day, and 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 Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 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.”
Get Up and Stand
The first thing he told Paul was to get up and to stand on his feet. Now, I know that literally Paul had fallen to the ground due to the brightness of the light that was brighter than the sun, and was so bright, in fact, that it blinded Paul’s eyes so that he had to be led by the hand into Damascus. Yet, I see a parallel here over to our own lives.
When we come to the cross and we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we come humbly before God in reverent submission and with contrite heart and awestruck grief, and it is there that we repent of our sins and make a conscious decision of the will to leave our old lives behind us and to walk in the freedom and victory over sin the Lord has provided for us, as we walk in fellowship, communion and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us. Yet, when presented with our sinful condition, or else in retrospect, we might find it difficult to believe that Jesus Christ could give us new lives and could use us for his glory in the lives of others, so we may easily become defeated by our own memories of our past sins, and may even return to our old ways. So, Jesus is commanding us, as well, to get up from our old lives of sin, to take a stand for Jesus Christ, and to be his witnesses to a world in need of a Savior. If he can use Paul, who was a persecutor and a murderer of believers in Jesus, he can use us if we will come to him in repentance and be willing to allow him to give us new lives and to leave our old lives behind.
A Servant and a Witness
As believers in Jesus Christ we are to be the Lord’s servants. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we shall be his witnesses. As well, he commanded his followers to go and to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all the things the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to do. This is the responsibility of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus told Paul that he was sending him to his own people and to 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 have eternal life with God forever. As witnesses and as servants of the Most High God, this is our assignment, as well. This is what it means to truly be witnesses for Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all nations. And, this is the crux of the gospel message, too. This is why Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, so that our eyes and hearts would be open, so that we would see our sinful conditions, and so we would turn from sin in repentance to the light of Christ, and from the power of Satan and the control of sin over our lives to the freedom over sin that Jesus Christ provided for us through his death and resurrection. And, this is how we receive forgiveness of sins and “a place among those who are sanctified by faith” in Christ Jesus.
Obedience
Paul told King Agrippa that he was not disobedient to the vision from heaven; from God; from Jesus Christ. To Jews and Gentiles alike he preached “that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” And, this is why he was being persecuted, why false charges were being brought against him, why he was under arrest for such a long time, and why he had still not been released. They hated him for the same reasons they hated Jesus, because he told them the truth about their sinful conditions and because he told them that they had to turn from their sin and they had to turn to walk in faith and obedience to God’s commands. And, they will hate us, too, for the same reasons.
Paul’s words here agree, as well, with what James said about how faith without works is dead, but how we show that we have faith by what we do. Faith is not some intellectual assent or acknowledgment or emotional decision, nor is it some religious rituals and rites we practice or something we inherited from our parents. Faith is putting what we say we believe into practice in our daily lives. In other words, if we say we believe in Jesus’ salvation and freedom from sin and yet nothing changes in our lives and we continue just as we had before, except maybe for a few things, then that is not faith. True faith is revealed by actions which show that real faith is present. True faith involves change of heart and of lifestyle – leaving the old behind and straining in God’s grace, strength, mercy and power toward what lies ahead, i.e. our hope of eternal life. And, this involves obedience to Christ.
God’s Sovereignty
Paul said that, even though he was being falsely accused and arrested, though he had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment, still he recognized that God was ever present with him to help him, and to give him strength and encouragement so that he could stand before them and could testify to his saving faith in Jesus Christ, his Lord. He proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, how our Lord Jesus suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, how he was crucified on a cross as a common criminal, although he had done no wrong, and he did this for our sins, and how Jesus Christ, “as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
Jesus set the example for the rest of us to follow. We are to love people and be kind to them, yet our love must be the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated to us when he was on this earth. He loved people so much that he was willing to expose the darkness in their hearts and to bring them into the light of the gospel, i.e. to reveal to them their sinful conditions and to call them to repentance and to follow the light of the word of God in their daily lives in complete surrender and obedience to Jesus Christ. And, this, too, is how we show Jesus’ love to others when we willingly give our lives and our reputations to tell people the truth, so that they can have their eyes opened, so they can turn from the darkness of sin to the light of Christ and his gospel, so that they can be forgiven of their sins, set free of the control Satan and sin has had over their lives, so they can be free to walk in victory, in the light of the gospel, and so they can have eternal life with God in heaven.
God’s Great Commands / An Original Work / July 10, 2011
Loving God and loving others
Are the Lord God’s great commands.
On these rest all of the others;
Live by them and you’ll not fail.
Be a witness, share the gospel,
Be a light in this dark world.
Share the love of Jesus always
To a world who has not heard.
Serving others; be like Jesus;
Wash their feet and pray with them.
Be a healer; mend their hurts and
Show them how to turn from sin.
Be a living example of
How to live for Jesus Christ,
Walking with Him in His footsteps,
Leading others to new life.
Give to God and give to others
Of yourselves in ev’ry way.
Obey your Lord, do His bidding;
Bow your knees and humbly pray.
Pray for others to know Jesus.
Tell how they can be set free
Of their sins and live for Jesus;
Walk with Him eternally.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/god-s-great-commands
Song on video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DWGg3-NvEE
http://www.godcares.tv/video/1188/Gods-Great-Commands
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