MAY 22, 2016
THE POINT
Jesus can transform even the most hostile opponent into a faithful believer.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
• Hatred can be an all-consuming passion.
• People can be so strong in their love for a person or belief that they develop a hatred for anything that goes against the object of their love.
• Taken in the wrong direction, the end justifies the means, and they justify any violence.
• Christ sets us free from all that.
• He calls and empowers His followers to a lifestyle of love instead.
THE PASSAGE
Acts 26:9-20
THE SETTING
• Paul had been taken into Roman custody for being at a the center of a riot in the Jerusalem temple complex.
• For his own safety, he was taken to Caesarea, where he remained in the custody of a the Roman governor Felix for two years.
• After two years, the new governor Festus examined Paul’s case and sought to send Paul to Jerusalem to be tried before the Jewish leaders.
• However, Paul appealed to Caesar.
• While Paul waited to be taken to Rome, Festus was visited by the Jewish King Agrippa II.
• Festus brought Paul’s case before Agrippa, who was interested to hear Paul speak.
“The spectacle must have been breathtaking. Agrippa would have been decked out in all the trappings of royalty, including a purple robe, golden crown, rings, and perhaps a scepter. Bernice, though not technically Agrippa’s queen, would have been similarly attired. The five tribunes would have been wearing their full-dress uniforms, the prominent men of the city wearing their finest clothes. An immaculately dressed honor guard of soldiers undoubtedly escorted the dignitaries into the auditorium.”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
“Agrippa took charge of the proceedings, and, since there were no accusers or accusations, informed Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Taking his cue, Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense. Because Agrippa was the key figure, Paul addressed his remarks to him,”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
Acts 26:9-11
9 "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.
11 "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. NASB
KEY WORDS: Chief priests (v. 10)
The chief priests were composed of the current high priest, former high priests, leaders of the 24 orders of priests serving in the Jerusalem temple, the captain of the temple police, the priest in charge of the finances of the temple treasury, and other high-ranking priests.
Hatred for Jesus and His followers consumes some people.
VERSE 9:
• Paul described his life as a persecutor of the church.
• Paul was an aggressive leader of a movement to persecute Christians.
• Here he admits to punishing Christians in order to make them deny Christ.
• In his heart he truly thought that he was serving God by putting down the Christians.
“Viewing Christians as dangerous and blasphemous heretics caused Paul to be furiously enraged at them”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
VERSE 10:
• Paul related to Agrippa that he made it his duty to seek out and imprison the Christians living in Jerusalem.
• Some of the Christians were put to death and Paul agreed with the punishment as being just.
“…by beating and scourging them there, as the manner was…”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Matthew 10:17
17 "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; NASB
VERSE 11:
• Before his conversion, Paul was a very angry man, greatly enraged at followers of Christ.
• Perhaps he thought that this sect of Christians would bring down the wrath of God on the nation.
• Paul’s passion to destroy the Christians was so great he pursued them to foreign cities.
“So intense was Paul's opposition that he pursued Christians to cities outside Palestine. An ‘exceedingly furious rage’ drove him to do it…” The IVP New Testament Commentary Series
TRANSITION:
• It can be very difficult to imagine some people ever coming to Christ.
• But we must view all people as made in God’s image, fallen or broken, and in need of His grace.
Acts 26:12-18
12 "While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
13 at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.
14 "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15 "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.' NASB
KEY WORDS: Goads (v. 14)
A goad was a rod, about eight feet in length and pointed on one end, used to direct and control oxen.
Sanctified (v. 18)
To be sanctified means to be made holy or set apart. At the moment of salvation, the believer is set apart (from sin, self, and the world) to God.
Jesus calls even those who oppose Him to become His disciples.
VERSE 12:
• We now come to the Damascus road conversion.
• At the time Paul was acting under the same authority that later caused him to be imprisoned.
VERSE 13-14:
• Paul went to Damascus confident that he was right; it took a brighter light than the midday sun to show him he was wrong.
• This light shone around him and his traveling companions; they were overwhelmed and all fell to the ground.
VERSE 15:
• Paul heard a voice that changed his life forever.
“The One Saul had hated and despised as a blasphemer and a false teacher threatening the sacredness of Judaism was indeed who He had claimed to be—Israel’s Messiah. A murmur of surprised disbelief must have gone through the people in the crowd as Paul related Jesus’ words. They believed Jesus to be dead and that His zealous disciples had stolen His body to fake His resurrection. How then could Paul claim to have spoken with Him?”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
VERSE 16:
• In persecuting Christians, Paul had been fighting against God’s purpose for his life.
• Paul was now qualified to be a servant and witness of the risen Christ, of what he had seen and what Jesus would reveal to him in the future.
• He had fallen to the ground as one of the greatest persecutors of the Christians, but when he stood up at the command of Jesus he did so as a believer appointed to serve Jesus and His church.
“But rise and stand upon thy feet,.... This, and what follows in this and the two next verses, are not in any of the former accounts; and these words are used not only because Saul was fallen to the earth, and are an encouragement to rise up, and stand corporeally, but to take heart, and be of good cheer; for though he had acted so vile and cruel a part by Christ, and his people, yet he had designs of grace, and good will to him; and this appearance was not for his destruction, but for his honour, comfort, and usefulness:” John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
VERSE 17:
• Jesus announced to Paul that He was sending him to both his own people (the Jews) and the Gentiles.
• The promise of protection that he received did not mean that Paul would not suffer, but rather that Paul would be divinely protected so the he could be able to complete the tasks God had given him.
“Knowing Paul would face fierce opposition as he preached the One he had persecuted, the Lord promised to be faithful in delivering him from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles. It was they to whom the Lord was sending (apostellÅ, from which the noun apostolos [“apostle”] derives) Paul.”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
VERSE 18:
• Unbelievers are blinded to spiritual truth by Satan.
• Unbelievers live their lives in the darkness of Spiritual blindness.
• Such people need to have their spiritual eyes opened.
• Those who have been saved by faith in Jesus have been sanctified, set apart for what God wants us to do just as we see here Jesus setting Paul apart for the tasks to be given him.
Ephesians 4:18-19
18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. NASB
“To open their eyes,.... The eyes of their understanding, which were shut, and darkened, and blind: one copy reads, ‘the eyes of the blind’; and the Ethiopic version renders it, ‘the eyes of their heart’; and to have them opened, is to have them enlightened, to see their lost state and condition by nature, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the plague of their own hearts, the impurity of nature, the impotence of man to that which is spiritually good, the imperfection of obedience, and the insufficiency of a man's righteousness to justify him before God; and to see where help is laid, and where salvation is; to behold Christ as the only able, willing, complete, and suitable Saviour; to see that there is life and righteousness, peace, pardon, grace, and glory in him; and to have an insight into the doctrines of the Gospel, and a glimpse of the invisible things of another world.”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
TRANSITION:
“Can you imagine and Islamic terrorist coming to Christ?” This situation may seem impossible to us—as impossible as an early Christian to believe that Saul of Tarsus would turn to Christ.
But radical transformations happen every day when people surrender to the truth of Jesus.
Acts 26:19-20
19 "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. NASB
Surrendering to the truth of Jesus leads to radical transformation.
VERSE 19-20:
“Paul’s dramatic testimony provides powerful evidence for Christ’s resurrection, especially because he had formerly been such a hostile and violent opponent of the Christian faith. Paul was not seeking to discover whether or not Jesus was the Messiah; he had already decided He was not. Nor had he been persuaded by talking with Christians. Paul did not talk to Christians—he arrested them and sought their imprisonment and execution. Only the direct, miraculous, supernatural intervention of the risen, living Jesus Himself turned Paul from persecutor of Christians to apostle of Jesus Christ.”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
• Paul described to King Agrippa the new period in his life which resulted from his vision of the risen Lord to which he added, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
• Paul embraced both his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ and his commission to preach the gospel of salvation.
• Paul also described the message he preached, and in doing so he preached to King Agrippa and the rest of his audience.
• Paul sets repentance and turning to God close, seeming to understand them as two aspects of the same action.
• It is easy for people to say they repent, but they must demonstrate their repentance is real by what they do.
• God will give them the power that they need to live lives of obedience toward Him.
“Paul’s testimony may be summarized as follows. He was a devout, zealous Jew—even to the extreme of persecuting Christians, whom he believed perverted Judaism. Jesus Christ, whose appearance to Paul proves His resurrection, sovereignly changed his life and called him both to salvation and to the ministry.”
Excerpt From: John F. MacArthur. “Acts 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Two Volume Set.” Moody Publishers, 1994. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
“turn to God…by an acknowledgment and confession of sin to God, by an application to him for pardoning grace and mercy, by a trust and dependence on him for righteousness, life, and salvation, and by obedience to his commands and ordinances.” John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
WRAP IT UP:
• When we’ve seen people resist the gospel for a long time, it’s easy to give up on them.
• It’s easy to start thinking that there’s no hope for him or her to ever come to Christ.
• But then Jesus surprises us.
• The life that for years turned away from Him miraculously turns to Him.
• Let’s not give up on people.
• God hasn’t.
REJECT CYNICISM: Ask God to reveal any negative or cynical attitude you may have against non-believers, and pray to see them as Jesus does.
PRAY SPECIFICALLY: Make a prayer list with specific names of non-believers you know personally whom you want to see come to faith is Christ.
SHINE YOUR LIGHT: Begin praying for opportunities to build relationships with non-Christians.
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