Acts 26:1-11 

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: ²“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, ³and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. ⁶And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸ Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

Sons of thunder

What old lifestyle that the Lord has changed in your life? The Gospels narrated the disciples’ old lifestyle before they were eternally changed by the Lord. The Lord Jesus called the sons of Zebedee, James and John as the “sons of thunder.” In their former lifestyle, James and John did not easily accept rejection.

In Luke 9:52:54, ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

After the Spirit of Christ reign in him, John preaches about love. The former John would call for thunder from heaven which is oppose to his words in 1 John 4:7-12, ⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us…

It’s not impossible that believers cannot love their enemies. When believers are able to love their enemies, it’s the Holy Spirit at work in their heart.

1.  Not Secret

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: ²“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, ³and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

Paul opened his defense before Agrippa by acknowledging as a privilege to be heard by the king. He also pointed out Agrippa’s familiarity of the Jewish customs. Similar Jewish controversy might have been a recurring problem that Paul begged Agrippa for patience. Paul insinuated that the accusation against him is no extraordinary one but a typical case that King Agrippa used to hear among the Jews.

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

When Paul revealed that his former lifestyle was no secret to everyone in Jerusalem, he deflected or preempted any possible denial from his accusers that they were not informed or not familiar about his former lifestyle. His accusers should not deny that he lived according to the Jewish laws as a Pharisee. Paul knew what was acceptable and what was not. Therefore, their accusations have no basis, no ground at all.

Anyways, as he testified before King Agrippa, Paul detailed his former lifestyle to present a distinctive comparison between his former lifestyle and his new found faith in Christ. Paul was not very proud of his former lifestyle, and he implied that everyone who practices Jewish custom should believe just the way he believe in the Lord.

Consider Loss

In Philippians 3:7-9, ⁷But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

What is it that you have attained in this world that you are proud of? Paul had been highly educated being a Pharisee. He was legally righteous according to the Jewish law. Paul told King Agrippa that he believed what the Jewish leaders believed even before he became Christian, and they persecuted him because of the hope of resurrection.

2.   Not Christian

⁶And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸ Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

Agrippa and Festus were highly educated in Rome. The chief priests and Jewish leaders were no ordinary citizen. High ranking official and prominent men in the city of Caesarea were assumed to have exceptional wisdom. Their exceptional intelligence or prominence did not help them believe that God can raise someone from the dead.

⁹“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  ¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

Furthermore, Paul testified that religious zealousness did not help him in his relationship with the Lord. He did the opposite instead, persecuting the believers. His superiors have approved what he did. The accusation against him was very similar to what he did. He threw believers into prison, casting his vote to those were punished or put to death. Being religious cannot change any person’s life style.

 Missionary

In the movie “A Time For Killing,” a missionary lady visited and saw her lover, a Major in the army gunned down a prisoner who tried to escape. The missionary lady condemned what the Major did.

The following morning, some of the prisoners escaped and took along with them the missionary lady. The leader of the prisoners who escaped abused her, and when they saw the Major and his soldiers were coming, they left her in a saloon.

The Major, his soldiers and the missionary lady followed after those prisoners who escaped. the Major said that he has no jurisdiction beyond the border to Mexico. The missionary lady persuaded the Major to kill those who abused her even if it would mean that they would cross the border to Mexico.

The movie depicts a vindictive person. Serving as missionary did not help the lady to seek revenge for her terrible experiences in the hands of those prisoners who escaped. Being religious or serving in the ministry cannot change the heart of a vindictive person.

Christ did not promise that if we are religious or serve in the ministry, we can easily forgive our enemies. Paul in his zeal to serve the Lord persecuted the believers. But by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit, he proclaimed and testified of the changes that the Lord did in his life.

This God’s grace that Paul preaches is real and functional. Many among us have personally experienced it. In spite of the persecution that Paul had encountered, he kept on preaching Christ’s resurrection. Christ’s disciples will surely encounter similar persecution that Paul had. Christ declared that His disciples will be persecuted and it will not exempt any disciple.

God’s allows us to be persecuted to avail more of His grace. God’s grace at work in us testifies to the changed life of a disciple. What former lifestyle has been changed in you ever since you trusted in the Lord Jesus?

It is hard to forgive those who made our life difficult, right? Keep seeking the grace of God. Keeping praying and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Forgiving those who maltreated us testifies to God’s grace at work in our life.

><((‘> .. ><((‘> … ><(((“> tmec\2021 <‘)))>< … <‘))>< — <‘))><