Sold Out For Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

SOLD OUT FOR JESUS

Acts 26:1-8

26:1 Then 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, 3 and 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 Jews 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. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

NIV

We are at the point where Paul made his defense before King Agrippa. He began by asking the king to be patient, as what he had to say would be thorough and lengthy, giving the full testimony of his previous life, his encounter with Jesus, and how that encounter changed both him inwardly and the course of his life. He started out explaining who he was, a full-fledged Pharisee, completely sold out to the law.  Paul spoke about the hope of the twelve tribes, meaning all of Israel, which was the long-awaited Messiah. Before Paul gets into his encounter with Jesus, he asks this incredible question: “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" There must have been King Agrippa, the Jewish high officials who were part of the king's court, as well as any of the honored Jewish guests, and Festus and his court that we’re hearing Paul. We know the answer to that question, as we believe God raises the dead. First, Jesus showed he had both the authority and the power to raise the dead, as recorded. Then, because of the great love God lavished on us, Jesus went to the cross for our sins, took all of them upon himself, paying the price for us so that we could live. God raised him from the dead. The Jews held onto the promise of the coming Messiah, but when he came, he did not come as they expected, so they refused to believe in him and missed their opportunity for life. However, we did not miss it because we, too, have had an encounter with Jesus. Although all of us believers come from such a wide variety of backgrounds, some born into a believing home, others born to a non-believing home, each of us had to, at some point in time in our lives, have a personal encounter with Jesus. Jesus made it very clear that unless we are born again, we will not see the kingdom of God. This means that it does not matter where we were born or what setting we grew up in, as it comes down to a personal encounter with Jesus, a rebirth into the kingdom of God. That is what happened to Paul, being reborn, born again, or born from above, changed from the inside out, into a new person in Jesus. Paul was sold out for Jesus, and that should be our story too. Because we have encountered Jesus and believe that we will be raised from the dead, that is, we believe in our resurrection, if Jesus does not come back before we die, we are sold out for Jesus. 

Great Pomp

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

GREAT POMP

Acts 25:22-27

22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would like to hear this man myself." He replied, "Tomorrow you will hear him." 23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27 For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."

NIV

It sounds like Governor Festus is a reasonable man, wanting to do the right thing in having something actually charged against Paul that he could write when he sends Paul to Rome to appeal before Caesar. King Agrippa wants to hear what Paul has to say, but we wonder whether he is really interested in Paul's message or whether he wants to find some point in the law to prove Paul's guilt.  However, what we find of interest is the next day when King Agrippa and Benice entered the audience room of Festus. They arrived with great pomp, accompanied by high-ranking officers and leading men of the city. Of course, Agrippa is the king over parts of Judea, and a king should have some pomp and ceremony surrounding his entrance into any room. But wouldn't that also mean he was puffed up with a sense of how important he was? The major leaders of nations today receive some, and in certain cases, a lot, of pomp and ceremony when they enter for a special event. Maybe they are due all that pomp, because they do occupy positions of presidents and kings. It is how we think of ourselves that is important in light of our position in the body of Christ. We have watched some who think more highly of themselves than they should, creating great edifices to represent their importance. That is also true in Christianity, with great and mighty churches built that should honor God, but that may instead exalt a man. We think of one who has built a great campus, claiming it is for the purpose of where he will rule and reign when Jesus comes for the thousand-year reign. What we should remember is to learn from Jesus, for he is gentle and humble in heart, and that he came to serve, not to be served. That would mean we would live gently and humbly among others, serving in whatever way God directs us. He is in authority or manages our lives, with the Spirit dispensing his gifts as he determines. All the gifts and his fruit are for the benefit of all, which means not just for the giftee or the tree bearing fruit. If anyone desires all the pomp and ceremony, it would be Jesus. Let us not forget to live humbly before our God and men. Let us forgo all pomp and ceremony, so we are not puffed up. 

It Is A Fact

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

IT IS A FACT 

Acts 25:13-21

13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14 Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul's case with the king. He said: "There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. 16 "I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges. 17 When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. 20 I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. 21 When Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar."

NIV

King Agrippa has now entered the conversation about Paul, as he came to pay his respects to the new Roman governor. Festus. It makes sense that Festus would bring up the case of Paul as King Agrippa, a ruler of the Herodian Dynasty who governed parts of Judea and the surrounding Areas. Benice was his sister who traveled with him, and history records that she was beautiful and was known to have many relationships. However, the most important part of this conversation is what Festus told Agrippa about Paul's beliefs about Jesus. Of course, Festus made it sound that Jesus was a dead man, and Paul claimed that he was alive. As far as Festus was concerned, Jesus was a dead man. As the new governor, he must have been informed of the entire situation in Jerusalem under the rule of Pontius Pilate, which culminated in the crucifixion of Jesus, which meant that Jesus was a dead man. Yet, Paul claimed that, because of his divine encounter with Jesus, Jesus was alive. It was no claim; it was fact, and Paul testified about what was true. That is where we take our lesson for today. The truth is that Jesus is alive, that God raised him from the dead, which we know as a resurrection. We know that Jesus had the power to raise people from the dead and did so three times that have been recorded. Because Jesus was resurrected and he has the power to resurrect the dead, then it would not be our hope to be resurrected, but our resurrection is a fact. Jesus made it as clear as possible when he said that although we die, we will live. This is not simply our belief or based on what we believe; this fact is grounded in the word of the Lord, for every word that God has spoken is an absolute fact that does not depend on whether we believe it or not. However, whosoever does believe will be saved rather than perish, because both the believers and non-believers will be resurrected to stand before the judgment seat of God. It will happen! That is a fact! We do not need to hope that we will be resurrected; we only need to testify that it is true. 

The Plot

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE PLOT

Acts 25:1-7

25:1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, "Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong." 6 After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.

NIV

We are introduced to the new Roman governor, Festus. We do not know much about him yet; it would appear he wants to find out as much as he can about this conflict the Jews had with Paul, a man being held in Caesarea for over two years. Again, we see religious men, who are supposed to be Godly men, who serve as chief priests and Jewish leaders, who would have been elders and teachers of the law, which would have included the Sanhedrin comprised of both Pharisees and Sadducees, seeking an opportunity to kill a man. How can men who confess their faith in God plot to kill a man because of their hatred of his message about Jesus?  Then, to compound their sin of murder, they added lies to their plot. We know the truth Jesus taught when he expanded the command, "You shall not murder." He made it clear that murder will be judged, but that if we are angry with someone, we will be judged. The truth Jesus taught was that anger, or becoming exasperated with someone, as the Greek word Orgizo carries that meaning, is the same as murder. Of course, the major difference would be that the Jews were plotting to commit murder, we simply are responding with anger, or become exasperated with someone because we think more highly of ourselves than we should. In some sense, we are similar to the Jews, in that they were supposed to be holy men, and we profess our faith in Jesus, being religious people, except we are holy because God has declared us holy and blameless in his sight because of Jesus. Yet, as holy people, spiritual people, rather than religious people, like the Jews, we would not ever consider plotting against or becoming angry with anyone. We do wonder if, by default, gossip is a form of plotting against someone, in essence, attempting to destroy or murder their character, and that it would involve a sense of anger, envy, jealousy, or judgmentalism against the person we are gossiping about. If that happened, we would be guilty of plotting.  Then, we must consider: if we listen to the plot and the gossip, have we become as guilty? Even if we can restrain ourselves from gossip and keep our exasperation just an attitude within, it is still the same as murder. 

Listen and Learn

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LISTEN AND LEARN

Acts 24:22-27

22 Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. "When Lysias the commander comes," he said, "I will decide your case." 23 He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs. 24 Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. 27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

NIV

Now we see the politician part of Felix as he kept Paul incarcerated as a favor to the Jews. However, something was stirring within him, and he kept asking Paul to come and tell him more about the faith in Christ. Felix was not interested in righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. How many believers are interested in those three subjects? When we think of righteousness, we know that Jesus is our righteousness, but in the sense of the Greek word translated as righteousness, it refers to the virtue or quality of one's character. It carries the meaning of integrity, virtue, purity of life, uprightness, correctness in thinking, feeling, and acting. In that sense, we can or should live righteously. Paul made Felix uncomfortable with that idea, as Felix was not demonstrating the qualities of righteousness. That makes us think about whether we are not just demonstrating those qualities of righteousness but actually living them. Then we are faced, as Felix was, with the idea of self-control, or being strong in a thing, mastery, temperance. How strong are we in controlling our appetite, which could mean for food, but more correctly means for our feelings or emotions in our interactions with others. Do we become impatient, angry, hurt, jealous, envious, or lack unforgiveness or any feelings that are not within the context of righteousness? Have we mastered ourselves, fully submitting our lives to the governance of God, especially in light of the coming judgment? Felix did not want to consider being judged for his life, perhaps because he sat in a seat of judgment over others, which would mean he may have thought too much of himself. That would also mean he had not mastered his "self", submitting it to the administration of God. We wonder as to how much we have submitted our "self" to the complete control, governance, or administration of God. We know because of faith in Jesus Christ, being born again, filled with the Spirit, that our names have not been blotted out of the book of life. Therefore, we do not fear the coming judgment, because we are in Christ and he is in us; when we are judged, we will be able to enter into his rest, or reside with Jesus. The problem for Felix was that he would not have been comfortable standing before God's judgment seat, so he did not want to hear it. He did not want to listen and learn.  We wonder how much of God's word we do not want to hear because it makes us uncomfortable, especially when it rebukes or corrects us, or trains us in righteousness. Let us not just look to Jesus, but follow him, listening, and learning.  

Cleansed for the Resurrection

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

CLEANSED FOR THE RESURRECTION

Acts 24:17-21

17 "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. 18 I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. 19 But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. 20 Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin— 21 unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: 'It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.'"

NIV

Paul finished his defense knowing that he was innocent of all the false charges brought by the high priest and the elders. Two thoughts occur to us in Paul's defense. First, he said that he was ceremonially clean. The Greek word used means to be made clean, or sanctified, which we use to say that we have been set apart, made holy. We think there is a major difference between how Paul became ceremonially clean and how we have been made clean. Paul would have needed to follow the laws prescribed in Leviticus; it depended on his actions, his work, and his adherence to the established rules. We cannot make ourselves clean by doing anything. We have been set apart and declared holy by God because we accepted his grace. That is all we can do, accept what Jesus did for us. In the vernacular of Christianity, we have been washed in his blood, although that is in the spiritual sense. However, the fact remains that we are not just ceremonially clean; we are clean as pure white snow. Do we live a clean life? No, we still deal with sin, but the grace of God covers over our sin, and we have been made clean. Secondly, it is all about the resurrection that caused the uproar in the Sanhedrin. Does the resurrection cause any disturbance in our lives? Do we live with the confidence of the resurrection? We wonder just how much we actually believe in life after death, or the words of Jesus when he said that although we die, we will live? Have we come to terms with our mortality in the sense that we make every possible effort to stay alive, to stay here in this fallen world? We do live in a perishable body; it will wear out at some point. Our days are numbered by God.  According to the Psalmist, God's eye saw our unformed body. That all the days ordained for us were written in his book before one of them came to be. Yet, we think we have something to say about how long we live based on what we eat, or exercise, or follow some regimen, or some prescribed course of action given to us by men?  Do we think that we can change the plan that God prescribed for us? What we know for certain, what we have complete confidence in, is that we will see the resurrection. Whatever our days are, we will try to live according to God's plan and look forward to the day we will see Jesus face to face. We can be assured that we have been cleansed for the resurrection. 

A Clear Conscience

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

Acts 24:10-16

10 When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: "I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. 11 You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. 13 And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. 14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

NIV

After being accused by Ananias and some of the elders, who brought the lawyer Tertullus to speak on their behalf, Governor Felix moved that Paul be allowed to speak. We begin with the first part of his defense. We notice that although Paul acknowledges that Felix had been a judge over Israel for a number of years, he does not attempt to butter him up as the accusers had done. As Paul explained that he had done nothing for which he had been accused, he made sure Felix knew he agreed with the Law and the Prophets and that he was a Jew just like his accusers, and that he worships the same God, except that he does so as a follower of the Way. Was there a difference between the resurrection Paul believed in and the one the chief priest Ananias and the elders believed in? We are not sure, but we do not think the Jews believed in the resurrection of the wicked, but only those whom they felt were righteous because they followed the Law. We know the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked is the truth. All people will stand before God almighty, every knee will bow, and Jesus will stand and read from the book of life. The problem lies in whether our name has not been blotted out of the book of life. Because some names will be blotted out and thus not found in the book, they will not have life eternal but will experience the second death. Even if the Jews who insisted that their righteousness was in the Law, may have their names blotted out. The idea that all Israel will be saved could mean the true Israel, meaning all who have circumcised hearts, the inside evidence, rather than just the outside evidence of being Israel. Nevertheless, we know the only way not to have our name blotted out is to look to Jesus and His righteousness, for we have no righteousness within ourselves, and following any law or rules we think we should keep our name in the book. Accepting the grace of God, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, following Jesus is the only way, for it has never been nor will it ever be, Jesus plus something we do. The Jews worshipped God, yet it was all about what they did, how they followed the Law, which they improvised based on their ability to feel righteous. How can we think that following a set of rules of conduct can keep our conscience clear before God? No matter how much effort the Jews tried, or we try to keep any law or rules, they and we are bound to fail. Our only hope is Jesus and Jesus alone. We will live by faith, depending on the work Jesus did on the cross for our salvation, and then we will have a clear conscience before God.