Acts 48. Acts 25:13 - 26:30

By -

 “Festus fully intends to honor his commitment to send Paul to Nero. But he has a problem. Paul’s appeal places the governor in the unenviable position of having to justify sending Paul to Nero without specific charges. Nero and his officials would not take kindly to a governor who showed incompetence in judging trivial matters. Festus was unable to formulate a charge against Paul because the accusations by the Jews pertained to religious matters having nothing to do with Roman law.” (R C Sproul)

  • Herod Agrippa II: He was a client king whose territory was primarily in the northern regions of Judea, around the Sea of Galilee, including areas like Trachonitis, Batanaea, and Chalcis. He did not directly govern the core province of Judea (which included Jerusalem).
  • Porcius Festus: He was the procurator (governor) of the Roman province of Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea. His jurisdiction included the administrative capital, Caesarea Maritima, and the religious center, Jerusalem.
    •  
    7. What did Paul think was the issue for which he was being held prisoner (see 26:6-8)? 
    His "hope in the promise made by God to our fathers' -  the coming of the Messsiah, authenticated by the Resurrection.
     
    8. Summarize the gist of what Paul said to Agrippa (see 26:2-23). 
     'I know you are familiar with Jewish customs and religious controversies'
    ' I have been a very religious Jew from my youth'
    'I am on trial for my belief in the Resurrection of Christ'
    'I had opposed Jesus and persecuted his followers'
    'Jesus met me on the Damascus road'
    'He appointed me as a servant and witness to me'
    'He will rescue me from the Jews and from Gentiles, to whom I am sent' 
     'My message is to turn them from darkness to light and from Satan to God, so that they might recive forgiveness of sin and sanctification'
    'I obeyed the vision and testified to it'
    'For this the Jews seized and tried to kill me'
    'But God has helped me so I can testify to everyone'
    'I am only saying what the Hebrew scriptures sare saying: that the Messiah must suffer, die and rise from the dead' 
     
     = I once opposed Christianity, but Jesus appeared to me and gave me a mission to testify to Him. He is the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for.
     
     
    9. Agrippa could do nothing to free Paul since he had appealed to Caesar. Why did Paul gave this speech and the words in 26:25-27 (see 26:29)? 
    He wanted to establish the truth and logic of what he was saying.
    He knew that Agrippa was aware o f the Hebrew Scriptures and believed in them.
    He made a personal invitation to Agrippa to affirm his own faith.
     
     
    For Thought and Discussion: Why do you suppose God put the gospel at the mercy of people like Felix, Agrippa I, and Agrippa II? What does this tell you about God? Does He still do this today? 
     God runs the world better than we know how.
     He works through unbelievers in authority, even in their sinful behaviour. (cf Gen 50:20)
    God does not change His ways 
     
    For Thought and Discussion: Why do you think Paul so often told about his conversion in his defenses (see 22:2-21; 26:2-23)? Why was this a good evangelistic technique? 
    People like stories
    Personal testimonies are not subject to philosophical objections.
    Creates rapport  “I was once like you”
    Before and after Jesus stories tell others about His reality. 

    We can each prepare our personal testimonies for evangelism. 

    10. How does Paul set an example for you as a Christian in 23:12–26:32 (consider especially 24:10-26; 25:8-11; 26:1-29)?
     Calm defence of faith
    Wisdom in framing the issue in a way that related to and divided his opponents
    Not engaging in worldly methods for relief 
    Willingness to tell of conversion
    Not irked by skeptism and misunderstanding. 
     
     
    11. What overall impression of the Roman system do you get from 23:12–26:32? Summarize both the good and the bad points. 
    Good points:
    Fair to unconvicted citizens (perhaps not to non-citizens) 
    Extensive efforts to protect safety of prisoners 
    Due process
    DIstinguished religious from civil disputes
    Ability to appeal to highest authority 
     
    Bad points: 
    Open to corruption
    Dependent on individual rulers 
    Inflexibility once appeal process conducted 
     
    12. What one aspect of Paul’s example or another insight from 23:12–26:32 would you like to apply?


    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    QC and accountability (29/4/16)

    By -
    Joyce and I shared about our attending the wake of a son of a Christian couple I had known from my JC days. This young man had been having problems at work and had just broken up with his long-standing girlfriend. We saw the broken hearts of the parents and remembered also our own bereavement when Doreen died. Suicide is always the hardest way to die in how it affects the family of the deceased. I know we have spoken on this issue before, but we again affirmed that suicide is not an unforgivable sin - but one in which the sinner has no chance to repent. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is truly unforgivable, is when the sinner has no desire to repent.So the believing Christian who is truly saved should be saved even if he/she sins and takes his/her own life. Not every one of us will have the opportunity to confess our sins if we die suddenly, after all. We also did a brief recap of "why bad things happen to good people". Our response then is: 1. There are no good...
    Read more

    Study 12 ("Reaching people where they are")

    By -
    We continue our studies of the Biblical perspectives on evangelism. Paul writes in 2 Cor 5:11-21 that evangelism is “the ministry of reconciliation”. This carries the presupposition that we are at enmity with God and that evangelism aims at restoration of a broken relationship. His motivations for evangelism (v. 11-15) are ·          the fear of the Lord (v. 11, c.f. 7:1) who will judge and reward us (v.10) for our deeds, including the deeds of sharing the gospel. This judgement is not to determine salvation or condemnation, but to establish how faithful as stewards we have been and how our rewards will be like (c.f. 1 Cor 3:12-15) ·          to establish the credibility of the true gospel in contrast to false teaching (v.12) ·          the controlling love of Christ (v.14) who died and was raised for our sakes. We now are free to no longer live for o...
    Read more

    Paradigm 2: Mentoring the Orientation of Life (14/12/18)

    By -
    We started with Question 3 then moved to Question 2 before ending with personal sharing on Question 1. I asked the question: What is it (except for the last red/blue part characteristic) about the blue bar column that is distinctively Christian? Put another way, can a non-Christian be a 'blue-bar' person, or can only Christians be 'blue-bar' people? Our answer was that non-Christians can indeed have blue-bar characteristics, but never for the reasons and basis on spiritual truth that Christians have. For a disciple of Christ, every aspect of his or her life - both blue and red bars - is radically God-centered. All we do in both in our outer appearance to others and our inner lives is done before the face of God. We need both external accomplishments as well as inner substance. We did say that it was not helpful to be very spiritual but quite useless in a job! We also asked if this whole idea of red and blue bars was a Biblical idea at all? Certainly the Bible celebr...
    Read more