May it please God to bless us
together this evening in our meditation as we continue our
thoughts in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 26, and we'll read the
first seven verses. Acts of the Apostles, chapter
26, and reading the first seven verses. Then Agrippa said unto
Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched
forth a hand and answered for himself, I think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before
thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews,
especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and
questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore, I beseech thee
to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth
which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem,
know all the Jews, which knew me from the beginning, if they
would testify that after the most straightest sect of our
religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged
for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers, unto
which promise our 12 tribes instantly serving God, day and night, hope
to come, for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of
the Jews. Well, we've come to the 26th
chapter, which of course gives us this very wonderful account
that Paul was able to give a testimony of his conversion and his belief
in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be able to speak so clearly
in that court before King Agrippa and Festus. It was, of course,
normal in those days that nobody was allowed to speak. The prisoner
was not allowed to speak unless he was invited to, and generally
that was by the governor. Well, we know, of course, the
governor here was Festus, but King Agrippa, who was senior
to Festus really, therefore was given the privilege, we might
say, of telling Paul that he was permitted to speak for himself. And of course, that gave Paul
freedom. And we read, then Paul stretched
forth the hand and answered for himself, an indication that he
felt free and able to speak before the king and without any embarrassment
or without any difficulty and any fear. And so there was the
evidence that he showed by stretching forth the hand and thankful that
he could answer for himself. And of course it is a great blessing
in anything to be able to answer for ourself because we know precisely
the truth in our heart and sometimes others can assess a situation
quite wrongly. So here was the apostle glad
to be able to answer for himself. And he said, I think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before
thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews. So he was able, therefore, to
speak of the things where he was accused of the Jews, and
therefore to be able to give a full account of those things
that he was spoken against of. And so he says, especially because
I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are
among the Jews. Wherefore, I beseech thee to hear me patiently. Now, what he realized was that
King Agrippa was a very learned man. And it was a blessing to
know that he was a learned man, so that he was able, therefore,
to come to him, recognising that he was expert in all the customs
and the questions which had arisen among the Jews. Because basically,
there were three sects. There were the Pharisees, there
were the Sadducees, and there were the Essenes. Of course,
the Pharisees did believe the Word of God if it was mostly
only in the letter. But King Agrippa would have been
very understanding of the truth of those things. All the ceremonies
and exactly how things were to be carried out. And he would
have known the Scriptures, the Old Testament, and therefore
we see that the Apostle was glad to be able to come and to speak
before King Agrippa, believing him to be a just man in these
things. And so he begins to tell the
king what his life was like. And he says, my manner of life
from my youth. We know, of course, that he was
born in Tarsus. And then when he was a young
lad, he obviously went to Jerusalem. And when he was at Jerusalem,
he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. And Gamaliel was, again, a very
learning man. So he was privileged to be in
that position and to learn all the truth of the Old Testament
and all the ceremonial law and to be led into it by this able
person. And so he just tells King Agrippa,
he says, my manner of life from my youth was at the first among
my own my own nation at Jerusalem know all the Jews. Gamaliel was
a well-known person and no doubt those students which had come
to him would have been known of and that's why Paul is able
to speak in these terms. And so he says, which knew me
from the beginning if they would testify that after the most straightest
sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." And so he followed
the Pharisaical religion as much as he was able. It was, of course,
a religion of works, and although he would have perhaps appeared
to have carried out everything in accordance with the law of
God, there would have been those failures, there would have been
those situations which he wasn't able to actually completely fulfil
the law. But those who followed the pharisaical
position would have realized that here was a just person who
desires to do that which was right and to follow this law
very, very carefully. And now he makes this statement,
he says, and now I stand and am judged for the hope of the
promise made of God unto our fathers. Well, it's good, you
see, he was so well versed in the scriptures as well, that
he could now refer to those situations which the Word of God directed
the people in, that they were to follow that correct and right
way. And in the book of Genesis, we
read in the 22nd chapter and the 18th verse, very clear direction
as to how the Israelites were to govern their lives. And we read in this 22nd chapter
in the 18th verse, And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. And of course, it was that which
the Pharisees were desiring to indeed follow. that all the seed
of the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed
my voice. He was speaking, of course, there
to Abraham, and that was the promise which was to be fulfilled
in the tribe of Israel. And so we have the evidence there
that the Apostle is referring to that situation, the most straightest
sect of our religion. I lived a Pharisee, and now I
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto
our fathers. So that was the promise made,
that the seed should indeed be blessed. And then he tells us, unto which
promise are 12 tribes instantly serving God day and night, hope
to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa,
I am accused of the Jews. Now the apostle here is really
directing us to none less than the great and glorious Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, when he says, unto which promise are
twelve triumphs instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope, sake and gripper,
I am accused of the Jews. And perhaps we might indeed refer
to the of Book of Job in this instance because it's good to
realise how these things were spelt out in the Old Testament
with regards to the resurrection. It wasn't something which had
just been thought up, it was that which was clearly set before
the people and in the 19th chapter of Job, we read these words. 19th chapter and 26th verse we
read, and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God. So very clearly, Job believed
in the resurrection. And the people of God, down through
the ages therefore, had believed in the resurrection. We know
that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. But here
we have, in this book of Job, these very clear words. And though after my skin, worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. And also
in the previous verse, of course, is that well-known verse where
Job says, for I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand the latter day upon the earth. Again, he points out
the time when the Lord Jesus would come and would return again
in the end of time. And so here we have the Apostle
directing King Agrippa to these great truths, which he is being
accused of. For which hopes sake, King Agrippa,
I am accused of the Jews? Well, the Apostle was faithfully
declaring, was he not, in arriving at this position, to be able
to testify that, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, as He was
raised from the dead, would have, therefore, have died, and would
have been crucified. And He was, therefore, the one
who had died to redeem His people from all their sins. And this
is really what the Apostle was telling King Agrippa, this is
the things that I am being accused of. these great truths which
were spoken of in the Old Testament and have now come to pass those
things which the Pharisees did believe and yet they have not
understood the fulfillment of them and also that which would
come to pass at the end of the world. So Paul here is speaking
very clearly in these few words here before us just give us that
scope to believe that he would have filled these words out and
have given the king the truth of those things which had come
to pass and those things which would come to pass. And therefore
he tells the king, I am accused of the Jews of these things. Well, it's good, isn't it, to
be able to realize as the apostle commences his defense before
King Agrippa, He begins really by directing the king to the
truth of scripture. And as we will follow this little
account through, we will see how he then returned to the beginning
of his spiritual life. and to testify that it was the
Lord himself that had come to him on that Damascus road. But it's good to recognize that
the Apostle really laid the foundation by pointing out the truth of
Scripture concerning the Savior, concerning the things which were
to come, which had come, and those things which would come.
And so this word is very true that Paul speaks to King Agrippa,
unto which promise are 12 tribes instantly serving God day and
night, hope to come, for which hope, say King Agrippa, I am
accused of the Jews. Well, we should be encouraged
today to be able to recognize the wonderful plan of salvation
and how it was set before the churches in the Old Testament
and the tribes and also in our day the wonder of redeeming love,
and the glory of salvation, and the wonder of the Savior coming
into this sinful world to save such unworthy sinners as you
and I. And therefore, Paul, you see,
he lays this foundation so that we might be instructed by it. Well, may the Lord bless his
word. Amen.