Paul's Defense before Agrippa
Agrippa spoke directly to Paul:
"Go ahead - tell us about yourself."
"I can't think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I'd rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels. "From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem.
Practically every Jew in town who
watched me grow up - and if they were willing
to stick their necks out they'd tell you in person -
knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee,
the most demanding branch of our religion.
It's because I believed it and took it seriously,
committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors -
the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes
have lived for night and day all these centuries -
it's because I have held on to this
tested and tried hope
that I'm being called on the carpet by the Jews.
They should be the ones standing trial here, not me!
For the life of me, I can't see why it's a criminal offense
to believe that God raises the dead. '
I admit that I didn't always hold to this position.
For a time I thought it was my duty
to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might.
Backed with the full authority of the high priests,
I threw these believers - I had no idea they were God's people! -
into the Jerusalem jail right and left,
and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution.
I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus,
a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people.
And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
"One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always
with papers from the high priests authorizing my action,
right in the middle of the day a blaze of light,
light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me
and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright!
We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew:
'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?
Why do you insist on going against
the grain?
"I said, 'Who are you, Master? But now, up on your feet
- I have a job for you.
I've handpicked you to be a servant and witness
to what's happened today, and to what I am going to show you.
''I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can
see the difference between dark and light,
and choose light,
see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God.
I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven,
and a place in the family,
inviting them into the company of those who
begin real living by believing in me.'
Paul's Witness to Jews and Gentiles
"What could I do, King Agrippa?
I couldn't just walk away from a
vision like that!
I became an obedient believer on the spot.
I started preaching this life-change - this radical turn to God
and everything it meant in everyday life, right there in Damascus,
went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside,
and from there to the whole world.
"It's because of this 'whole world' dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves.
But God has stood by me, just as he promised,
and I'm standing here saying what I've been saying to anyone,
whether king or child, who will listen.
And everything I'm saying is
completely in line
with what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead,
he would be the first rays of God's daylight shining
on people far and near,
people both godless and God-fearing."
Paul Appeals to Agrippa to Believe
That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout:
"Paul, you're crazy!
You've read too many books,
spent too much time staring
off into space!
Get a grip on yourself,
get back in the real world!"
But Paul stood his ground.
"With all respect, Festus, Your Honor,
I'm not crazy.
I'm both accurate and sane in
what I'm saying.
The King knows what I'm talking about.
I'm sure that nothing of what I've said sounds crazy to him.
He's known all about it for a long time.
You must realize that this wasn't done behind the scenes.
You believe the prophets, don't you, King Agrippa?
Don't answer that - I know you believe."
But Agrippa did answer:
"Keep this up much longer and you'll make a Christian out of me!"
Paul, still in chains, said,
"That's what I'm praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me -
except, of course, for this prison jewelry!"
The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors,
got up and went into the next room to talk
over what they had heard.
They quickly agreed on Paul's innocence, saying,
"There's nothing in this man deserving prison,
let alone death."
Agrippa told Festus,
"He could be set free right now if he hadn't
requested the hearing before Caesar."
Paul was made a Christian by Divine power;
by a revelation of Christ both to him and in him;
when in the full career of his sin.
He was made a minister by Divine authority:
the same Jesus who appeared to him in that glorious light,
ordered him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
A world that sits in darkness must be enlightened;
those must be brought to know the things that belong to their everlasting peace, who are yet ignorant of them. A world that lies in wickedness
must be sanctified and reformed;
it is not enough for them to have their eyes opened,
they must have their hearts renewed;
not enough to be turned from darkness to light, but they must
be turned from the power of Satan unto God.
All who are turned from sin to God,
are not only pardoned, but have a grant of a rich inheritance.
The forgiveness of sins makes way for this.
None can be happy who are not holy; and to be saints in heaven
we must be first saints on earth.
We are made holy, and saved by faith in Christ;
by which we rely upon Christ as the Lord our Righteousness,
and give up ourselves to him as the Lord our Ruler;
by this we receive the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and eternal life. The cross of Christ was a stumbling-block to the Jews,
and they were in a rage at Paul's preaching
the fulfilling of the Old Testament predictions.
Christ should be the first that should rise from the dead;
The
Head or principal One.
Also, it was foretold by the prophets, that the Gentiles
should be brought to the knowledge of God by the Messiah;
and what in this could the Jews justly be displeased at?
Thus the true convert can give a reason of his hope,
and a good account of the change manifest in him.
Yet for going about and calling on men thus to
repent and to be converted, vast numbers have been
blamed and persecuted.