Acts 25-26

Paul’s NEXT


Paul gives the fourth of six defenses of his faith journey in these chapters. He’s been held in prison for two years after last sharing the incredible story of God at work in his life with Felix, Festus’ predecessor. When King Herod Agrippa II, comes to town, Festus hopes he can hand off this hot political case to somebody else.

This Agrippa is the great-grandson of Herod the Great, who was in power when Jesus was born (you’ll recall he had all the boys two years and under killed in hopes of eliminating the Messiah as a threat to his throne). His great-uncle, Herod Antipas, was in power during Jesus’ ministry, stole his brother’s wife, and has John the Baptist beheaded. Agrippa I (his Dad) kills James and imprisons Peter. He then accepts the praises of the crowd shouting that he has “the voice of a god”, and an angel promptly kills him and his body is eaten by worms and dogs. According to historians, Agrippa II had an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, Bernice. So this Agrippa has a long family track record of being gentle, righteous, understanding, men of great integrity who are sympathetic to Jesus and his followers – NOT. And you thought sharing the gospel with your grumpy co-worker was hard!

In the course of Paul recounting his story, he says that Jesus commissioned him to be “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; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 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.’ (Acts 26:16-18, NASB)

What an amazing privilege it is to be God’s partner in his redemptive work! Paul still recalls Jesus’ charge to him as many as 26 years later after first hearing those words on the road to Damascus with incredible clarity. Of course, if Jesus appeared to me on I-85, I’d probably remember it pretty well, too.

Paul had no doubt what God called him to do. Elsewhere (1 Cor 9:16-17) Paul said he was entrusted with a stewardship to preach the gospel, and woe be to him if he didn’t preach.

Paul declared to Agrippa he was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision”, and that is evident even as he tries to convert the king. How often do I ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit, skip over parts of His Word I’d rather not deal with, shut out the voice of God so I don’t have to do what is hard, inconvenient, even costly?

What vision has God given of who you are to become in Him, and what He has charged you to do? What call on your life is so clear to you that woe be to you if you don’t pursue it wholeheartedly and passionately?
What, though you may not like it, has God called you to NEXT?





Lee Thrasher

April 14