Tuesday, July 24,
2012, 6:58 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “He Gives Purpose” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 25-26 (quoting vv. 15-32 NIV 1984):
“Then I asked, ‘Who
are you, Lord?’
“‘I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘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. I will rescue you from your own people and
from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 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.’
“So then, King
Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 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. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts
and tried to kill me. 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 — 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.”
At this point Festus
interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your
great learning is driving you insane.”
“I am not insane, most
excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 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. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
Then Agrippa said to
Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a
Christian?”
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.”
The king rose, and
with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. They left the
room, and while talking with one another, they said, “This man is not doing anything
that deserves death or imprisonment.”
Agrippa said to
Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Trial before Festus
Paul had stood trial before Felix two years prior. Felix
kept Paul under guard for two years, sending for him frequently, hoping Paul
would offer him a bribe. On at least one of these occasions, Paul “discoursed
on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come,” Luke said. Yet, when
these two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Luke said: “Because
Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.”
It was just three days after Festus had arrived in the
province that he went to Jerusalem. “The chief priests and Jewish leaders
appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.” They asked Festus
to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, because they were still planning to
ambush him on the way (even after two years). Wow! Can you imagine how much
hatred it takes to hold a grudge that long? Then, Festus invited some of the
Jewish leaders to come with him to Caesarea and to press their charges against
Paul there, “If he has done anything wrong,” said Festus.
As soon as I wrote the sentence about their hatred, the Lord
put this song in mind: https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/the-heart-of-man
When Paul appeared before Festus, the Jews from Jerusalem
brought “many serious charges against him, which they could not prove,” Luke said.
Paul declared his innocence against the charges. Festus asked him if he was
willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial before him there. After a brief
defense on his own behalf, Paul then appealed to Caesar. Festus declared, “You
have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Paul before Agrippa
King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea. Festus
discussed Paul’s case with the king. Agrippa asked to hear Paul. He said to
Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul shared his
testimony of his previous life as a Pharisee and a persecutor and murderer of
followers of Jesus Christ and of how he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He
shared how Jesus spoke to him, and how he said, “Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me?” Paul told then of how he replied, “Who are you, Lord?” and how
Jesus thus responded to him with his commission, which then brings us to today’s
passage (quoted above).
As soon as I wrote this last sentence, the Lord put the song
“Seek the Lord” in my mind: https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/seek-the-lord
The Commission
“‘I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘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. I will rescue you from your own people and
from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 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.’
You know, the words Jesus spoke here to Paul are not all
that different from what he has spoken to all of his disciples (followers of
Christ). Jesus said we would all be his witnesses when we receive the Holy
Spirit. For us, this now happens at conversion. He told us that we are to go
and to make disciples of all nations… teaching them to obey all Christ Jesus
commanded us. We are all encouraged to turn people from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins,
too. James 5:19-20 says this:
“My brothers, if one
of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember
this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death
and cover over a multitude of sins.”
The problem for us is not that we don’t know this. The
problem is in the doing. Jesus told Paul to “Get up.” And, Jesus is saying that
to many of us today, too. We just need to get off our fannies and we need to be
about doing what we know God has called all of us to do, instead of just sitting
around waiting for lightning to strike us.
He also told Paul to stand on his feet. To stand means to
take a stance, endure, persist, be consistent, or “to remain valid, effective, sound,
durable, or unaltered; to hold to a particular course or direction; to refuse
to compromise; to oppose or resist change (see the freedictionary.com). Jesus/God
is looking for his followers to get up and to stand up (to be upright) and to
be about the work to which he has called every one of us to do.
In the writing of this paragraph, the Lord brought to mind
the song “I’m Not Ashamed”:
The commission given to Paul is a synopsis of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. The preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit opens
spiritually blinded eyes to see their sinful condition, to convict them of sin,
of the need for them to repent (to turn from their sins), and of their need to
turn to faith and obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is a heart
transformation of the Holy Spirit of God that turns a life from sin’s dark ways
and from the power and control of Satan and sin over our daily lives, so that
we can be forgiven, and so we can be purified and made holy (righteous and set
apart) unto God and unto his service (cf. Ephesians 4:17-24).
Paul’s Stand and Ours
Paul did get up, and he did stand on his feet, and he took
that stand for Jesus Christ and for the gospel of Jesus Christ against great
opposition and enormous suffering and persecution. He stood strong before kings
and rulers and priests and religious leaders alike. He was not disobedient to
Jesus Christ and to the commission he was given, even though life, from a human
perspective, did not go all that great for him. He had been where his
persecutors were, and so I think he must have possessed some level of compassion
(but not compromise) toward them and hoped that, through his testimony, they
might also see the error of their ways and be changed in heart and mind as he
had been. I also believe that Paul, having been a persecutor of Christians, was
ever the more so determined in heart and mind to share the gospel in spite of
the strong persecution he faced.
Even when Paul was accused of being insane, he did not let
that discourage or dishearten him, but he answered back with a clear mind that
what he was saying was not insane, but was true and reasonable. None of what
Paul did was in a corner. Everything (his witnessing and preaching of the
gospel) was done out in the open for everyone to see. And, then he challenged
the king on the basis of the king’s own belief in the prophets. The king
replied:
“Do you think that in
such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
Paul’s hope was not only that the king would come to know
Jesus Christ personally, but that all who were listening to him speak would
also become followers of Jesus Christ.
And, that is my hope today; too, that anyone reading this,
who has not yet surrendered his life and will to Jesus Christ, will do so
today. My hope is also that all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as
Savior, but who have been sitting on the stands waiting for lightning to strike,
or who are too wrapped up in their own lives to hear from and obey God, will
get off their bottoms, will take a stand for Jesus Christ and for the gospel,
and will be about the work of sharing with people how they can be changed in
heart and mind in turning from sin, and in turning to walk in faithful
obedience to Jesus Christ, so they can have new lives for eternity with God.
He Gives Purpose
/ An Original Work / June 9, 2012
“Listen to Me when I’m
calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My
ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper
to you
My will for your life
and future.
Give all of your life
and heart to
Follow Me always.”
Repent of your sins
and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and
Master.
He died for your sins
so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your
life and
He gives purpose and
direction.
He gives meaning to
your life,
So follow Him today.
“I love you so much I
gave My life for
You to walk in My
ways,
Living for Me each day
as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your
love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you
of your
Sins now and always.”
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