THE GOSPEL   |   QUESTIONS   |   ARTICLES   |   SERMONS   |   SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   ABOUT

biblestudy: Acts (Part Twenty-Five)

Acts 25-26 Paul's Appeal to Festus and His Testimony to King Agrippa
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 14-Mar-89; Sermon #BS-AC25; 85 minutes

Description: (show)

---

We're going to go into something here that again comes up in What we are going to be covering tonight in the Book of Acts and this particular subject has to do with the the resurrection of the dead. I think most of us are at least reasonably familiar with the teeming populations in today's large citieswe have I believe it's over 6 million people here in the Los Angeles basin, let's say the greater, greater Los Angeles area. That's an awful lot of people. I think New York City has somewhere around 7. 8 million people there, and who knows how many people are in Shanghai or some of those areas in the Far East. Uh, those teeming masses of people in China are almost beyond description. I, I believe that there are somewhere close to around a billion people in in China. I, I do not know that anybody knows for sure. I do not know whether the Chinese have accurately counted it for, for a good while. But at any rate we will just estimate that there are about 1 billion people in China, just to give you some sort of an idea of how many people are alive on Earth, and how many may be alive in the future when we get to the second resurrection. But if we stood all these Chinese in a in a straight line and allowed 2 ft for each person. That 1 billion people would make a line that is 378,787 miles long. Now fortunately, all the Chinese do not just stand in a line like that. But uh, That's that's enough people to reach all the way to the moon and halfway back again. And maybe to describe it or illustrate it in another way. Uh, if you stood all these people with their 2 ft of space at the 8 equator, it would go around 11 times. Maybe we can come to grips with something a little bit smaller dimensions. If we took the 6.5 million people in Los Angeles and you know how crowded it is here. Every time you get out on the freeways, you run the risk of getting into some kind of a a jam up out there. I do not know whether you heard the lady that takes uh. Charles Osgood's place every once in a while. She was describing a gridlock situation that she got into in New York City just a few weeks ago. And she, her brother called her. and told her that he was coming in. To LaGuardia, I guess it was, not LaGuardia or Kennedy Airport. And would she please meet him? Uh, because he wanted to be able to talk to her while they were in the car. So she said sure, she would do that, and he was coming in at such a time that she would be able to leave work at a normal time, go out to to Kennedy Airport, and uh. Meet him there. Well, it was not a very long drive from downtown New York City to to Kennedy Airport. But She got in this gridlock situation and she did not move for 2 hours. Well, she was describing how this fellow behind her, the truck driver, just lost. He just, he just passed over the line of sanity, you might say, got out of his, got out of his truck and came up to her car and was beating on her windshield as, you know swearing at her to move the car. Where was she going to go, you know. Well, she finally did. There was enough of a break that she was able to make a U-turn. I do not know how she did it. Uh, you can't make U-turns out here on the freeways, but in this one in New York City, she could make a U-turn. And she got The freeway was going, going all right in the other direction. And she went to a train station, got on the train. She she go out and meet her brother on the train. She was able to call him at the airport and tell him that she was on her way, and she was going to come on the train. The train hit a car. Took her 5 hours to get to the airport. Uh, from downtown New York City. The Kennedy Airport. And it was just a mass of people in a situation, a bottleneck occurred and, and you could not move. We're gonna, we are going to have situations like that. I, I, you know, just another 10 years or so in here in Los Angeles, it's going to get that bad and it's just being caused by tremendous masses of people all being concentrated in one place. Well, we took these 6.5 million people in Los Angeles and, and gave them the same amount of space and stretched them out, like we did the Chinese, the people here in Los Angeles which would reach 2200 miles. That's just one city. And the 3rd largest city, nonetheless, but one city. I think that you're pretty well aware that the earth has gotten to the place where it cannot support a very much larger population than we already have. And yet apparently, the population is growing worldwide. And if you look at the way the world is today, with droughts and famines and Polar ice caps. Deserts On large parts of the Earth's surface North Africa, and Western Soviet Union and over into China, a great deal of the Western United States is, is a desert. And though we grow enough food for ourselves here, and we even export some we are coming very close to capacity. Given the amount of land that we have that is tillable and the weather patterns that we have, there is no way, the way things are now, the world is going to be able to support the populations that are envisioned that are going to be coming up in the second resurrection. Let's go back to Revelation 20. And verse 5. Or after mentioning the first resurrection, he says, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection. And then down in verse 11, and then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven heaven fled away, and there was no there was found no place for them, and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were open and another book was opened which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. Now, what we see in verses 11 and 12. Are the rest of the dead. I referred to there in verse 5. Now from all indications that we see earlier in the book of, of Revelation. Uh, those who are going to be in the first resurrection are very, very small in number in comparison to the number of people who have lived and died from the time of Adam. If we begin with a figure of 144,000. You could stick 144,000 people. In Glendale. I think the population of Glendale, on the signs anyway is around 155,000 people. Now, if that is any kind of a measurement, you compare that to the 4 to 5 billion people that they are supposed to be on Earth now, and that is a very tiny number, and that's just the number of people who are living now. And you add to that the populations that have preceded us, but even say from the time of Christ and that 144,000 is a very small number. Now we know for sure that it's going to be larger than 144,000 because Revelation 7 makes it very clear that there was a very large multitude in addition to the 144,000, but even that large multitude is going to be tiny in comparison to the present population of the earth and even tinier still in comparison to the potential number of people that can come up in that second resurrection. So subtracting then those people who will come up in the first resurrection from the potential that there is to come up in the second resurrection, and we are dealing with one huge Colossal number of people coming up in that 2nd resurrection. Now, how in the world is the earth ever going to be able to support That many people. Now, how many people are we talking about? Well, I have seen estimates. That have been calculated by Mathematicians in the church. And they feel that Pretty conservative figure would be maybe about 40 billion people. That's about 10 times the number of of people that are on Earth right now. Now that's that's a subject that is for a number that is just a guess. And there there are an awful lot of assumptions that have to be made in order to arrive at that $40 billion or $40 billion figure, 40 billion people figure. And that is the conditions have always been somewhat similar to what we have today. But If that is a possibility. Why we are dealing with an awful lot of people. Obviously, then the earth cannot be left in the condition it is now after the tribulation, or we are going to have trouble. OK, let's go back to the Old Testament. To Isaiah the 40th chapter. OK, in verse 4. We go back to verse one, so we can get the the context and the time frame. comfort, yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended. We're talking here about a time after the tribulation. Her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. And then down in verse 4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And now what we are seeing here is the massive landscaping job that that God is going to do, just a little bit of an insight into one anyway, what is going to have to be done. Uh, during the tribulation and the day of the Lord. That the whole earth is going to have to undergo massive changes. Uh, in order for it to support the populations that are eventually going to be here. I go back to Isaiah the 2nd chapter. Again, we will pick this up in its context. If you look in verse 15, For the day of the Lord of hosts. Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, everything upon everything lifted up and it shall be brought low. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the oaks of Beishan upon all the high mountains and upon all the hills that are lifted up upon every high tower and upon every fortified wall upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all the beautiful sloops, the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols he shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His Majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily. Now we might Speculate as to how such a thing would occur. You might recall if you've done any reading in regard to the Uh, flood. That it said that the waters not only came down from above for 40 days and 40 nights, but it also says that the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The only way that that could occur would be massive earthquakes that smashed all the rocks together and just propelled the water that is being held under the earth right up, you know, on the top of the soil. And so the earth was, was literally squeezed, as it were, and the water that is being held down there in the rocks came up in order to supply the water that was necessary to cover the whole earth. Now let's go back to the book of Revelation. Now that's one way that that Something like that could occur. On Revelation, In the 16th chapter and in verse 17. We have the 7 7th vial or bowl of God's wrath. And my Bible has a subheading. It says the earth utterly shaken. Now possibly what we are looking at here is what Isaiah was prophesying of. Uh, a little bit earlier there. then the 7th angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying it is done. There were noises and thunderings and lightnings. And there was a great earthquake. Such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city Jerusalem was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and Great Babylon was remembered before God. Now the great city there, on second thought may have been Babylon, maybe Babylon, was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. There is one other earthquake that is mentioned. It's not quite as significant as that one, but uh. In chapter 6 of Revelation in verses 14 and 15, and when the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. Now there is another prophecy that That says that the earth is going to To go to and fro. It seems as though it's going to be rocking in its orbit. And perhaps we might speculate that the A tilt of the Earth's axis might even be altered. Uh, instead of being, what is it? 23 degrees now, and maybe God will straighten it up so that it's straight up and down. I do not know. But such a thing would, would create havoc on Earth, you know, suddenly being put up like that and you can imagine all the waters in the oceans and lakes rolling and, and the, the skin of the earth would just be stretched. Uh, It's all out of its present conformity. So there would be no more Himalayas. There would be no more cascades or Sierras or Andes mountains. Those things would just come tumbling down and uh. So that the continents, I am sure would no longer look like they do now, the configuration of them would change. So you have under the earth, the earth being squeezed there and the valleys being pushed up, and then you have the whole thing shaking and the mountains tumbling down, and you just wonder how anybody could survive in such a situation, but hopefully, God is going to provide for those people who are left alive at that time. Now back to the book of Isaiah once again, this time in chapter 35. Isaiah 35 verses 1 and 2. And 7. The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, and it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice. Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. In verse 7, the parched ground shall become a pool. The thirsty land springs of water in the habitation of jackals where each lay there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. Now in addition to the change in the topography of the earth, God is also then forecasting that he is going to change the weather patterns on Earth too. So that what was formerly desert is going to spring forth with life and of course once it begins the cycle, it will, as long as it's empty, it's going to be empty for a good while because he prophesized already that the land is going to have its Sabbath, the Sabbaths that have been denied it, those 7th year Sabbaths, the land is going to have them and it's going to rest. And when it rests. You're going to see the earth begin to blossom forth with green all over the place because the rain patterns are going to be there. I wonder if any of you saw the the article that was in. Uh, National Geographic regarding the Uh, Mount Saint Helens, but once it blew. And of course, the whole landscape around there was covered with ash, but in a very short time, little things began to grow, grasses began to come up, and now the area is is turning green again. And the cycle starts again. As long as there is sufficient rain, the seeds are there and they will begin to spring forth with life, and it will not be long before there is bushes and then big trees will be there. It will not take very many generations, and uh, and those things will contribute to the stability of the weather patterns on Earth. Now let's go back a little bit further in the book of Ezekiel in chapter 47. See, God is going to supply something else. In verse one, Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east, and the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple south of the altar. And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces east, and there was water running out on the right side. And when the man went out to the east with a line in his hand, he measured 1000 cubits, and he brought me through the waters, and the water was up to my ankles. Now, do you know how far 1000 cubits is? Well, even using the small cubit, which is 18 inches. That's 3 and 4/10 miles. Now, just to give you a little bit of a, of a grasp on the dimensions of this river that is flowing out from under the throne. The water for the 1st 3.5 miles. It is only up to the ankles. OK, verse 4, and again he measured 1000. Another 3 and 4/10 miles and brought me through the waters and the water came up to my knees. And again he measured 1000 and brought me through, and the water came up to my waist. Now we are up to a river that is 10.2 miles wide. And the water is only up to his waist. And again he measured 1000. It was a river that I could not cross, for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. And he said to me, son of man, have you seen this? And then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned there along the bank of the river were very many trees on one side and the other. He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea, and when it reaches the sea, its waters are healed, and it shall be that every living thing that moves wherever the rivers go will live, and there will be a very great multitude of fish because these waters go there, for they will be healed and everything that will live wherever the river goes and so forth and so on. Then he goes on to say that the swamps and marshes will not be healed because they play a vital part in the ecology of uh. Of the earth that those things apparently are necessary swamps and marshes because they help support life. So you can see that God is providing for The tremendous populations that are that are going to come. So that the earth will be able to support the populations. Now, right now, There are approximately 50 million square miles of land. On the continents. Now, unfortunately, most of it can't be used. There is not much will grow there. At least not much that is useful, useful for food. Now, even if Things would stay exactly the same way, that is in terms of the size of the land mass. Of the continents. We would still have 50 million square miles at the end of the millennium. And let's say that there was a population of 40 billion people. A little bit of Mathematics We'll show you that that would give About 5 acres. For every family of 4 to 6 people. For 40 billion people. Now, maybe for your city folks. You may think that that's not enough, but that's enough. In fact, it's more than enough. I once read a book. In which a man calculated, I never, never had the opportunity to, to, to try it. But even with today's weather conditions and so forth, He said that you can grow enough food, including meat. On 2 acres. To feed a family of 4. Now you add to that the fertility that God indicates is going to come in the beautiful weather patterns. Uh, by meat he meant something small like a sheep or a goat. Uh, a cow needs more, more room than that, but there is enough in 2 acres that is well managed. And kept fertile to supply enough food for a family of 4. So that's That's a pretty good indication that God has things pretty well plotted out. Incidentally this calculation of 50 million square miles plus or you know, the, the 4 or the 5 acres for every family of 4 to 6, still leaves. Massive amounts of land left over for industrial use parks, and things of that nature, use preserves. So the earth is going to be able to take care of them. God will provide. And it certainly makes possible what Mica said here in Micah 4 and in verse 4 of what is coming. Even beginning in the millennium. He says, but everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. Neither animal nor man, or the fear of not having enough to eat, for the mouth of the eternal host has spoken. OK, let's go back to the book of Acts. And we are going to begin in, in Acts 24 again, just to get a little bit of a running start. You kind of, I, I'm sure you remember some of the actors in the drama here that was, was unfolding. Felix, the freed slave the man who was a friend of Emperor Claudius and had been elevated to that position as governor of Samaria and Judea. In the 52 or 53 AD I believe it was. And he happened to be sitting in this. A seat of authority when this case was brought before him involving the apostle Paul. So we have the freed Roman slave Felix we have his wife Drusilla, who was a Jew, and you remember her, she was the one who was married as a teenager to a minor king. King of a Mesa, I guess it was, it was somewhere in a city in its suburbs somewhere there in what is present day Syria. Uh, she did not like being up there in Emesa married to this Azizus. Uh, she had bigger ideas for herself, and she ingratiated herself to Felix. Uh, Felix was her kind of guy, ruthless, and difficult to get along with, but she had the visions of grandeur. He liked her looks, and so it was a perfect match. I do not think we can solve it and say that it was a match made in heaven, but as far as they were concerned, it was perfect. It seems to be entirely built upon lust and greed in this desire for, for grandeur. But at any rate, They For governor and wife of the area whenever Paul and his case was, was brought before them. And so Paul used that as an opportunity to make a witness of the gospel of the kingdom of God before Felix and whenever the case was over, why Felix. Put his finger on, on the heartbeat of the case and that is that that Paul was really innocent of of any charge that was brought against him, but Felix felt that he was between a rock and a hard place. That he was having a very difficult time with the Jews. They did not like him and yet he wanted to make a good impression on the Roman government and not allow this place to degenerate into anarchy. And so Paul then was the one who had to suffer because Felix's judgment then was that in order to appease the Jews Paul had to be held over and so Felix apparently held him over for 2 years under house arrest. Uh, apparently in the palace Paul had apparently a great deal of liberty, but he was not really free to go. I mean, he had liberty in the sense that people were able to visit him and he was not under the constraint apparently of just being confined to to one room, but he was not allowed to leave the grounds. And so we find him as chapter 25 opens up now awaiting another trial because a change had taken place in the governorship of that area and a man by the name of Festus. is now the governor of Judea. Now, it's interesting. To me that here was this one man. Paul, 2 years have gone by, and yet the Jews hadn't forgotten it. And they wanted justice to be done to this man who they felt was an enemy of their religion. But Festus came into this position and Festus was really a welcome relief from Felixhe was a man of, of a great deal more wisdom apparently a great deal more experience. He had more justice in dealing with people and it took a man like Festus to at least calm things down and he kept the lid on things while he was alive in those two years that he was in office there between I believe 60 and 62. So, let's uh. Pick this up in verse one. So now when Festus had come to the province after 3 days, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, so he jumped right into His responsibilities there did not take much time to get into the groove, and then the high priest and the chief man and the Jews informed him against Paul and they petitioned him. Asking a favor against him that he would summon him, that is Paul, to Jerusalem while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. So they put together a plot, another fairbrained idea that that Festus did not fall for and that they wanted again to have an opportunity to. Take advantage of the new governor and kind of slide this right by him before he knew what was going on. Verse 4 Be Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself was going there shortly. And therefore he said, let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man to see if there is any fault in him. So he did what was the legally responsible thing to do, and that is called them, the Jews, to come back to Caesarea and that he would hear the case there. So verse 6, when he had remained among them more than 10 days, he went down to Caesarea, and the very next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. And when he had come, the Jews who had who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul which they could not prove. And while he answered for himself, neither against the law of the Jews nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all. But Though Festus again, like Felix before him. Uh, could see right through this. But there must have been a great deal of political pressure being brought to bear. On Festus's mind because wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things? Now, In all truth, the trial should have ended right here. But the political pressures. Got to the man. Even though he was A better governor than Felix. The pressure of having a, having to govern a province that seemed to be constantly In a state of turmoil, must have been pretty great. the Jews, of course, were in the majority. And that carried a lot of weight. Especially if there were innuendos that if things did not go their way. There was going to be a great deal more trouble on the streets. Now Festus, like any Normal person. He wanted to get ahead in the world. He wanted to impress his superiors. He wanted Claudius. To promote him to a higher office. And he certainly was not going to get promoted to a higher office, if he was a man who was noted for being in the midst of of anarchy and turmoil all the time. And so the pressures of that situation, which were exactly the same as the pressures that came on Pilate and the same as the pressures that came on Felix, made those men back away from what would have been a right and responsible decision, a judgment that would have set Jesus free or the apostle Paul free. And so they weighed the legalities against The practical realities. And so it was one man, Paul, who was part of a small group. Against the Jews who were by far and away the majority. And so he made a political decision. And so, His decision was, you see, to try to send Paul to Rome. Now, I do not know exactly what his thinking was here. If they went to Rome, What would they be hearing? It would be hearing exactly the same testimony that Paul had given before Leah in in Jerusalem. If they went back to Rome, I said, go back to Jerusalem, if they went back to Jerusalem. They would go over the same testimony that was given to Isiah. They would go over the same testimony that was given to Felix. They would go over the same testimony that was given to Festus. And that would be the 4th time. that that they would have gone through this. Now why he felt more progress could be made there, I do not know. But whatever it was, Paul saw right through it that it was not a wise thing to allow himself into. So in verse 10, Paul said, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged. He told Festus, look, you represent Caesar. The charge against me. That you are capable of judging is whether I have been seditious to Rome. Am I stirring up riots? You decide that, Festus, and I go free. So, as we would say today, Paul stuck it right to him. So I stand at Caesar's judgment seat. Where I ought to be judged. To the Jews, I have done no wrong. Why do you want me to be sent back to Jerusalem to be judged by a people that I have done nothing against? Verse 11, for if I am an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying. But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar. So Paul was stating here that look, if, if I have been seditious, if I have broken Roman law, I am willing to face the punishment. Now if the charges are baseless. Why should he, Paul, be a pawn for Festus to appease the Jews? So that left Paul with only one option. And that was to use his Roman citizenship to appeal to Caesar. And then Festus, when he had conferred with the consul, answered. You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar, you shall go. Now the reason that Festus. Uh, Conferred with the council is that very likely there was some doubt in his mind as to whether He had jurisdiction. Uh, to do such a thing. And Whether an appeal by Paul applied in this case. So apparently the council of this of this council was that yes it did apply. And so then, Festus had his out. And the out was that he could just get rid of the case. By allowing it to go through to To to Rome. Now, Festus still could have given Paul a verdict of acquittal, even after he appealed. But again, the politics of the situation came into play. Now just because Paul appealed did not mean that Festus could not acquit him. All Festus had to decide was whether to allow the appeal to to go through or to acquit him. So if he acquitted him, it was over. If he allowed the appeal to go through, then Paul had to go through with it, see, so he made the decision, I am sure, based on the political situation, grant Paul his appeal that way the Jews would be appeased that the man was still on trial and they would make Festus look at least reasonably good that he did not just give him an acquittal. So he was very happy. I am sure to get rid of the problem. He was probably quite relieved that Paul did that. Because he was between a rock and a hard place. Well, we are going to find in the next remainder of this chapter and uh. In chapter 26, That Festus got rid of one problem, but now he gained another one. The problem was That if he sent Paul to Rome, He had to send with Paul. A charge, you see, what was he guilty of? And He could not just send them there on a whim. Because if he sent them there, and, and he comes before Claudius. And Claudia says, what are you here for? Paul shrugs his shoulders and says, I do not know. I did not do anything. And so there had to be a charge from Festus. stating why Paul was there. Now the charge had to be a reasonable one. Because Claudius could come back and say, this is stupid, Festus. Are you so dumb that you could not decide this case and see this man was innocent? So it would make Festus look bad if there was not a substantial enough charge to send Paul there on. OK, now this is where Agrippa comes into the picture. Because King Agrippa. Just happened to visit with Festus at just the right time. Or maybe there were letters going back and forth, I do not know, but Uh, ostensibly, the visit was, was made because Festus was new in the area, area. Agrippa was king of the adjoining area and it was a courtesy call and but it was most propitious as far as Festus was concerned. OK, verse 13. And after some days, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. You know, we need to introduce these two characters here because there is something else too. OK, this is a grip of the 2nd. And he comes from a long line of Of Herod's Who did not seem to have a very good reputation as kings. This Agrippa was the son of Agrippa the First. And you've read of him before in Acts the 12th chapter, he was the one that the worms ate up. They might say a nice family, nice family background. OK, now when that occurred, see that was around 44 AD. When that occurred, a grip of the second was only 70, 17 years old. And so the Romans Decided that Agrippa the 2nd was too young to be given a kingship, the same kingship that his father held, and so they waited a while until Agrippa did a little bit of maturing. So 6 years later in 50 AD, He was made king. In a small area. To the northeast of Judea. In a place called Chalice, C H A L C I S. 53 AD, apparently he had done reasonably well. Uh, Claudius added. a much larger part of that area to him in 48 AD. In 56 AD, by this time, Nero was now emperor and Nero added to a group of the seconds area, the province, a large part of the province of of Galilee. So now he was ruler of the area that adjoined. Felix and Festus. Felix first and then Festus after. Now, Festus was just new in the area, only been there about a month or so, and so it was. Natural for Agrippa to pay a visit to Festus since Festus was. Really somebody of greater authority being a Roman. And over an area though he was not entitled king, he still had an area that was of greater importance than the area that a group of the second half. Now Agrippa was very strongly pro-Roman. However, he was a Jew. And he was pretty well schooled. In Judaism, Whenever the Jews began to revolt more seriously, especially around 66 AD, a grip of the second came down solidly on the side of Rome. He tried in vain to try to get the the Jews to stop their rioting because he could foresee that that it was going to be useless. There was no way that they were going to win their their battle against the might of Rome, but he was unsuccessful and so the war went on. Now after the war though was over. Uh, Vespasian, who was now emperor. Uh, confirmed Him as king of those areas, and he added more area onto a grip of the second's lands. Now, it's interesting that the Talmud says that that Agrippa the I had two wives. But Josephus, who wrote much of the history during that area, makes no mention of him having a wife or of having any children. Now whenever Agrippa died, that was the end of the Herodian dynasty. Now enter Bernice. Now Bernice is called here. In some cases, I do not know whether they do it in the New King James. But the implication is that she was his wife. See they are mention together. As Agrippa and Bernice. Actually she was his sister, full-blooded sister, one year younger. Danagrippa. And when she was a little bit younger than she is when she appears here. She was married to or pardon me, engaged. To a man by the name of Marcus. Now if you've ever done any Uh, biblical research at all. Uh, you will run across Marcus's father being quoted quite frequently, he was the very famous Jewish philosopher named Philo. But she never got married to Marcus. Instead, she married her uncle. Also named Agrippa. Which is quite interesting. And he died. Around 48, 49 AD. After he died, she went to live with her brother, a grip of the second. Now the rumors that there was an incestuous affair going on here flourished in both Rome and Jerusalem. Now, in an effort to silence them, She married A king by the name of Palermo. He was king of Cilicia. where the apostle Paul was from. However, she could not stand it with him. 66 AD, she returned and lived with her brother again. Unfortunately, that's just when the war broke out between the Jews and the Romans. And In that period of time, She met And fell in love with Titus. You know who Titus was? He was the son of Vespasi. And Vespasian began the war, but he was recalled to Rome, where he became emperor, and his son Titus became the general then over the Roman armies in the area of Palestine, and it was Titus who directed the siege and the destruction of Jerusalem. Well she became Uh, Titus's mistress. Well, Titus hung around the, the far, the Middle East there for quite a while. But in 75 AD she went to Rome with him. As his mistress But the affair they they never married. The affair became a a public scandal which seems rather strange. I mean Rome was really loose by this time, but it became a public scandal and so Titus sent her away. Now, in 79 AD, Vespasian died and Titus became emperor. So she returned to Rome. But he was obliged to to send her away and she returned to the Palestine and she just disappears then from the scene. Well, you know, you can tell by these backgrounds that I give you that life then is not too much different from the way life is today. I mean, everybody is playing it to the hilt. To get as much as they can in as little time as they can. And Who gets hurt in the meantime doesn't seem to matter a great deal. At any rate, we have Agrippa in Bernice. And they are visiting Festus, and it just so happens that the apostle Paul is there. So verse 14, when they had been there many days. Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying there is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix. Now, though Festus was ruler over Judea, very interesting arrangement here. That though Festus was ruler over Judea. And thus also ruler over Jerusalem. I do not know why, but for some reason, The Romans made Agrippa II. Well, we would call them today a curator. Made him curator of the museum, not the museum. That's probably the way they looked at it. The, the curator of the temple. And the temple was a grip of the second's responsibility. It was like, it was a little enclave right inside of Jerusalem. And that he had jurisdiction over that area. It was a jurisdiction that was really greater than Festuss It's a strange arrangement. A grip of the 2nd had Authority To install or remove high priests. He was responsible for the property itself. And the maintenance of it and the maintenance of, of all the priestly vestments as well. And so I guess Festus must have thought, well, this is really a stroke of fortune for me. That here is Agrippa here and we've got a case that involves something that took place at the temple and Agrippa was looked upon by the Romans as being an expert in Judean affairs, the Jewish religion and so this was just propitious. So verse 15, About whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. Uh, it's interesting that now we are going to get another recounting of this story. Only this time we are going to get it from a Roman point of view. Uh, and Festus is telling how he got involved in this case. 16 to them I answered it is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accuser face to face and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him. Now, Festus refused their demand for death. Uh, in order to Provide a fair trial. Now, whatever, what Festus is explaining here is that whatever had happened under Felix. Festus felt that he had to reopen the case in order to satisfy himself that justice was being done because Paul was a Roman citizen. Therefore, verse 17, when they had come together without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. Now, it's interesting to Uh, compare here the way Luke. approaches this. He wrote about about both Felix and Festus. But he is contrasting Felix's lackadaisical approach to things with Festus's businesslike approach. I mean, Felix just let the man, let Paul languish there in jail for two years without doing anything about it. Festus comes there and within about 2 weeks he has jumped on the case, you know, brand new. Verse 18. When the accuser stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I suppose. But had some questions against him about their own religion and about one Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Now, whenever Festus was given this case by the Jews down there in Jerusalem, he must have suspected that Paul was guilty of some very grave crimes. But on hearing the case, he was He was surprised to find that the charges were, were theological and therefore, as far as he was concerned, were trivial. He was no theologian. Uh, to him, religion was very largely nothing more than a superstition. In fact we find that that that is the word that that Luke used to describe estes' approach to this. It was, it was about the Jews superstition. So Fel Festus could not comprehend. The anxiety about these Jews these Jews about. This argument over superstitious thing. Now, another thing that's interesting here is that from Festus's point of view, the charge of desecrating the temple is now nowhere in sight. He doesn't even bring it up. Because it's of no concern to him. The only thing that he is concerned about is whether there has been sedition. And if there is been sedition, then he has to protect himself against a bad reputation that might be brought up for allowing anarchy to exist. And it's also interesting. That brought into the subject by Festus is the resurrection of Jesus. That he is alive. Now the Jews We can see from the case that they had against Jesus. That they had turned a theological argument into a political case and succeeded. And Jesus was put to death. They were attempting to do the same thing here with Paul, and they were not succeeding. They, they did not prove the one with Jesus. And they were having less success even with Paul. Verse 2. And because I was uncertain of such questions. I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and dare be judged concerning these matters. So Festus was humble enough to admit his inadequacy. But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, Uh, I can interject something here. Augustus was long since dead. But the word in the Greek. Is Sebaste. Now that is the equivalent. Of Augustus In Latin Now the reason the name Augustus appears here. It's because That is the word that the Latin used for the word emperor. And August 1. See, that translates into our English word emperor. Which means one who is Elevated above. The one who is lifted above his fellows. So that's why the name Augustus appears here. If they were going to use the real name of the emperor, it would have had to be Claudius. Because he was emperor then. OK, I commanded him to be kept until I could send him to, to Caesar. So when Paul refused, he appealed and appealed to Caesar. What Paul in in effect was saying is that I want to be kept in Roman custody. So what he was actually doing was, was appealing for Roman protection from the Jews until a high court could set him free. So it was a, it was a move by Paul that of course worked in his favor two ways. It enabled him to have the protection of Rome, and it also enabled him to get to Rome. Verse 22, And then Agrippa said to Ephesus, I also would like to hear the man myself tomorrow. Festus said, you shall hear him. So Agrippa's curiosity was aroused. And instead of giving advice, I want to hear this man too. You can see God is just manipulating things here, and Paul was being brought before kings. Now, what we are going to see here is Another repetition. Of Paul's defense. Now this is the 5th 1 that actually appears. And it's the 3rd time for this particular one. But Luke apparently feels that it is. The most important one. We do not even have his defense before Caesar. But we do have this one and uh. Luke apparently felt it was the most important one. It is the longest, it is the best constructed, and uh. It's possible that maybe Luke was even in the chamber, the audience chamber, whenever this thing occurred, and so he was able to get a great deal more of it. Now there are 3 things in here that Luke is going to show. Number one, this is important in the overall sense of the, the purpose for the book. Evidently part of the purpose of the book is to prove to readers that Christianity was a religion that was accepted in the Roman Empire. So, Luke then shows that Paul's relations with the Roman government did not end in dissonance but with an acknowledgment of his innocence. So we are going to see that they decide that he is innocent. And with Paul being innocent, Then Christianity is innocent. The in Paul, the whole group was being tried. OK, the second thing was. That Herod, the Jewish king, that his judgment was also innocent. And number 3, That Paul's innocence was also demonstrated before other high ranking officers and leading men. It's very likely that almost all of these were Gentiles, Romans. OK, verse 23. Now one more thing before we go into this, and that is You will recall that that Christ appeared to Paul. Uh, at the beginning of this, in order to encouragement, encourage him, and he reminded Paul that what Paul was going to do is be a witness for him. OK. Now, that's Uh, that's what he is doing here. It is not just a defense. It is also a preaching of the gospel. Paul was enabled by God to do both of them at the same time. OK, verse 23. So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city at Festus command, Paul was brought in. Now what Festus did is he Because he made a state occasion out of this. And So all of the The muckety mucks were there. In all of their royal finery. They had their robes on. And they were probably there by command of both the Roman government and also the king Agrippa. So they were really making a big deal out of that. Now it is very likely. If you ever see any movies and Rome, you know, ancient Rome is a part of it. There is always a big parade, you know, when the, the Legionnaires or whatever they call them, they come marching in and the drums are beating and the crowds are roaring and so forth. Apparently the Romans. Uh, We're a great deal like the British. They really know how to put on a a party. Do it with all kinds of pomp and circumstance and carriages and drums and, and bands and, you know, the whole smear and apparently, that's what they did here. Now, undoubtedly, There was a reason behind this, and that was to assert Roman authority. The official dump. In contrast to the inferiority of the man who was about to be tried. Because here is going to come this singular individual, and he is chained, manacled. And he's going to be standing before these people in all of their royal regalia. But is not it interesting? That the way history has evaluated things, the tables were turned. And the only person of royal royalty there was the man who was in chains and defending himself. Because he's the one Might say who really made a name. That has lasted all of these centuries. OK, verse 24. And faster said, King Agrippa? He's going to begin the the proceedings this way with an address. And all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here crying out that he is not fit to live any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, there is that word again. I decided to send him. I have nothing certain to write. See, here is his problem. Remember I told you that when he made that decision to allow Paul to go to Rome, he got rid of rid of one problem, but he picked up another problem. I have nothing certain to write to my Lord concerning him. Therefore, I have brought him out before you. Now he's telling them the purpose of this is to hear what Paul has to say, and then he wants advice from these people as to what he is going to write the emperor, as to the reason why Paul is being sent to him. You know, Festus did not want to be called an incompetent. But he was stuck between a rock and a hard place here. Everywhere he turned, the Jews were on one side, and there was Paul with his appeal to Rome and the other. Therefore I have brought him out before you and especially before you, King of Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place, I may have something to write. Where it seems to me unreasonable. Isn't that an interesting word? He had to send a report. It was not reasonable, he had to do it. Uh, otherwise it would be a dereliction of duty if Paul showed up in Rome without any report from Festus. Festus was in hot water. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him. OK, chapter 26. Now from here to the end of this chapter, Paul is going to concentrate. On what Paul says to Agrippa. Now we have reduced this whole crowd of people down to 2. It's, it's Paul and Agrippa. Paul has already spoken to the others. And Agrippa is the main character here, to whom Paul was addressing himself. So Paul or Luke concentrates on him. And the reason for that, the reason that Paul concentrates on Agrippa too, is because Agrippa represents the Jews. And as far as Paul is concerned, he has already cleared himself before the Romans. Now he wants to clear himself before the Jews too, and he's going to do that through Agrippa. So then Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself. So it looks as though Agrippa is kind of acting as, as chairman of the group. And though Paul was manacled as we are going to see when we get to the end of the chapter, apparently the chains were loose enough that he was able to swing his arm and make, make gestures. Now Paul's approach here is to make his defense autobiographical. And his main point in weaving his life through this. is to show that the hope of Israel is the reason why he is being held in prison here. Verse 2. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews. Especially because you are expert in all custom and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently. Now undoubtedly waiting for 2 years. Paul was longing for the opportunity to do this. Because the man was a preacher. I do not think he did much preaching for 2 years. And he was like a bottle that was all corked up and ready to explode. And it's no wonder that he said he was happy to get this opportunity to, to do something like this. Now he felt that he had before him, and I do not think that it was flattery. He felt that he had a knowledgeable judge. And in addition to that, he did not have an inherently antagonistic audience. Because most of these people were undoubtedly Gentiles, and they were unfamiliar and did not have any bone to pick with somebody who had strange theological ideas. The audience had been Jews, they have been entirely different. He would have had an antagonistic audience. So Paul felt that he was in probably the best kind of situation that he could possibly be in considering the circumstance. I probably asked for patience because his defense was going to be rather long. Now, this was a man who could talk all night. And not have the power pause too much to catch his breath. Now what we have again here is probably just the essence of what he said. And I am sure that he filled in with a great deal more detail, but nonetheless, we have the essence of it and it's very good. Verse 4. My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first. If they were willing to testify that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. Now he goes all the way back to his early life in order to establish. That his custom of obedience to the God of the Jews. was something that was established from the very beginning. And these people knew what kind of life that he lived. So, what he is doing, he is building a foundation. He is saying in effect. That he was there before these people, not in spite. Of his Jewish heritage, but because of it. that he believed and proclaimed what he did. In other words, what he is saying that his Jewishness laid the foundation for what he believed. Verse 6. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise, our 12 tribes, earnestly serving God night and day hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. So what he is doing is he is drawing together his parasaic background. Together with his Christian commitment. And he argues, he is arguing here. That the Jewish hope and the Christian message are inseparable. What he is proclaiming is what the Jews hope for. And so he is actually saying that it's ironic. That there he was there before those people for his adherence, his sticking to his commitment to the hope of the fulfillment of God's promise. To establish his kingdom on earth, he threw the Messiah. Now the specific hope is of course the resurrection, which enables us to have salvation. You might recall in Romans. Uh, 5 verses 9 and 10. Where it says that we are justified by the blood of Christ, that we are saved by His life. If he had not been resurrected, there would be no high priest to administer the spirit of God and to be responsible for the church. And so the specific hope is the resurrection. Now you see in the background of all this, we are going to get to it a little bit more plainly is the resurrection specifically of one person, the resurrection of Christ. Verse 8. Why? Should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Now that was something that was directed to any Jews that were there. Now the Romans. then the resurrection of the dead would probably be weird. Even think about such a thing that was not a part of their, of their paganism. But now we know that the Pharisees believed in a resurrection. And so if there were any Pharisees there, they would quickly relate to the idea of a resurrection. But why would any said you see? Why would they, even if they did not believe in the resurrection as a theological point. Why would they think it incredible that God could not raise the dead? So he's appealing there, even if, if there are any Jews who do not believe in the resurrection, and God created everything that is, and God gave everything life, why could not that God possibly raise people from the dead? Well certainly that ought to be something that that people could at least admit to. Even if they did not believe, as a theological point, that God was going to do it. I am sure that that was something that was also directed right at Agrippa. Being a Jew and being familiar with. Jewish theological points. And very likely that if he had any. Religious leanings at all, they were very likely to be sad, you see it rather than parasa. Verse 9. Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He's harkening back on his Phariseaism. And he's saying here that Pharisee, though he was. He wants shared these opposing points of view. I mean, the, the point of view that that he is now proclaiming, he was once against. That is Christianity, verse 10. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. So what he is saying here is that I was so zealous against this way. That I was not passively against him. I attacked. It says that he gave his vote. Now that can mean two things. In its most general form, it can mean that he gave approval to what was going on. But It also has use as being An admission that he was For a confirmation that he was part of the Sanhedra. He voted. As a part of a parliament. Now, also, he says, I cast and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. The only ones we see put to death are Stephen and James. But the indication here is that there were others. beside them. In verse 11, and I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. Be exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. Used very strong measures to get them to recant. And it's probably the kind of punishment that he dealt out was the kind of punishment that he himself later received. Remember when he was in those gentile cities and went to the synagogues and they beat him with with stripes 5 times. And I was Mentioning this to my wife today. That today the Church of God. This fellowships people. But then, It appears as though the synagogue had authority not only to this fellowship, but to actually beat people, and we know that the Sanhedrin. Had the authority from Rome to actually put people to death for blasphemy or crimes against religion. Now the church doesn't have anywhere near that authority today. It's interesting have any of you read in the, I think it's in the book of Ezra. I'm not really sure toward the end, but he was contending with those people who had married the, the foreign wives, and it says that he went out and he beat them and he pulled their hair and everything. Uh, kind of interesting. Verse 12. And while thus occupied as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests. At midday, he now comes the decisive moment in Paul's life, to see his conversion. At midday, O king, along the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me. Now this is the 3rd time that this story is being told, but there are things in this. Accounting of it that are not in the other two. Even as the last time we went through it, there were some things in there that were not in the other one. Now, part of the reason for that is not that Paul keeps shifting his story, but rather, he keeps adjusting it because of the audience, because of the emphasis of what he wants to put on. Uh, now, here we find. Several things that are at least 4 things that are not included in the other two accounts. Number one is that the light was brighter than the sun. Number 2 is that it blazed around both Paul and his companions. Number 3 is in verse 14, and we had all fallen to the ground. That was not mentioned in the other. In verse and also number 4, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, probably Aramaic. Now none of those four things are in the other two. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. Now, in this account, the stress is on the heavenly voice. So from this point on the rest of this account is given over to what Christ said. And so what he is saying in effect here, when he says, why are you kiss kicking against the goats? It seems to indicate that there was a struggle going on in Paul's mind. That he was not sure that what he was doing was the right thing. Uh, And so we can say, Maybe one of two things. Either he was struggling against his conscience. Or he was beginning to realize that he was on the wrong side. And this was just the final thing. So verse 15, so I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness, both of these things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. The stand up indicates, go to work. Now you'll recall that after he stood up before he was blind and he went into the city and the episode with Ananias unfolded. Well, none of that is in this account. Because he is stressing his conversion. He is stressing what he was told to do. Because it is the basis for why he was before these people on trial, because he was following a command. So his calling here is very similar to what we see in the Old Testament with some of the prophets. You can look back in in Ezekiel. Ezekiel was called in much the same way. Jeremiah, very similar. And Verse 17. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. So he was promised a measure of safety until his work was overYou might wonder about that safety considering the number of times that he was beaten up. But each time though, he was delivered. He got up and went on and continued his work. Verse 18. To open their eyes. And To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. So, What we see here is something that is very similar to The prophecies that begin in Isaiah 42 and are generally called the servant prophecies, and that Paul would be delivered and that those who would respond would receive forgiveness.

JWR/aws/drm

 

 

Sermon Topics

False Gospels

Jesus Christ's Return

Life after Death

Repentance

Resurrection

The Gospel

The Kingdom of God