In Prison for the Gospel

Transcript

GR1634
3-18-12
In Prison for the Gospel
Acts 25:1-27
Gil Rugh

We are in the books of Acts together, Acts chapter 25. Some of you enjoy history and reading history and I would encourage you, if you haven’t to take some time to read about the history of this period of time particularly the Herods would be a good place to start since the Herods, Herod the great as we refer to him and then the family of Herod the great that really cover this 100 plus year period, the last of Herod’s line we are going to meet here in chapter 25 and he will live to around 100 A.D. and so with Herod beginning his reign the B. C. side why it would cover over 100 years and just fascinating what goes on and the intertwining with the Roman rulers and amazing the sovereignty of God in all that is unfolding.

We talk about the providence of God as we move through the book of Acts because we see the hand of God working in the events of men. Sometimes He works directly with a miraculous intervention. We saw that with the conversion of the Apostle Paul. The resurrected Lord just meets him on the Damascus road, overwhelms him with the glory of His presence and Paul is smitten blind for a time. His conversion takes place.

Earlier in chapter 5 some of the apostles were in prisoned and an angel came and unlocked the prison and led them out, supernatural intervention. We have these things occurring in the book of Acts. But primarily God is working through what we would call the normal events and I just think it is so important that we see the hand of God in all of these “normal events” when He doesn’t manifest His presence in a clear, direct, supernatural way but He is working just as much, just as actively in all the events that are taking place. I say that because we have entered into Paul’s time of imprisonment. He has been arrested and this imprisonment will go through the rest of the book of Acts covering a period of five years and then he will be released, have a subsequent ministry and then be rearrested and executed.

Paul has had his appearance before the Jewish leaders, before Roman leaders and we are going to see more of that in chapter 25. Behind all this are the spiritual forces at work. Understand that there is a spiritual going on and that is always in play. The devil is at work. The devil is the slanderer. The devil comes from the Greek word diabolos, the slanderer. That is his characteristic, slandering, slandering the people of God is the focal point of what he does. Motivating and stimulating lies about God and about the people of God. We have referred to the fact in John chapter 8, verse 44: “Jesus said concerning the devil, ‘He is a liar and the father of lies.’” In that same section Jesus told the religious people of His day, “You are of your father the devil.” You want to do the desire of your father. There is no truth in him. He is a liar and the father of lies.

So we have this spiritual reality going on. Paul is, if you will, the victim of the devil’s lies that is why he has been arrested by the repeated testimony of the Roman authorities. They can’t see that he has done anything wrong but the devil keeps relentlessly attacking with his lies and the result is Paul will spend years in prison. That is not outside the plan and will of God for him. God uses even the sinful acts of the followers of the devil for the accomplishment of His purposes. That is clearly set forth in how Paul handles the adversity. He is not consumed with how unfairly he is being treated. He will address that but you don’t find that he is in depression over this, that his life is being consumed with the fact that he is not being treated fairly. He lives accepting that this is God’s will and plan for him even though unregenerate men are being tools of the devil.

Come back to Matthew 5 before we jump into this section. Matthew chapter 5 is a familiar portion of the Sermon on the Mount but Jesus said in verse 10: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

I think if we are honest, we as believers have a hard time really accepting the truth of this in our own lives. We have that idea that if we function with a proper attitude and good desires and as honestly as we can people will respect us and at least treat us decently and we fail to appreciate that this is a spiritual war. This is a battle between God and His people and the devil and his followers. This includes the angelic realm as well as the human realm. Nothing has changed right down to our day. It is the same spiritual battle that goes on. The followers of the devil and the devil himself is no more open to the truth than he was 2000 years ago and so we keep that in mind. We become so introspective at wondering what are we doing wrong, why do people think of us this way, why do they have a negative view of us? Because they are of their father the devil, there is no truth in him. So we want to be careful that we have a proper Biblical attitude, that it is the cause of rejoicing that we could suffer because we are identified with Christ and are representing Him, sharing His truth.

Come back to Acts 25. Peter wrote this in I Peter, chapter 4, verse 14: “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed.” That is what Jesus said, “Blessed are you.” Peter reiterates that. “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you re blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Think of that. To be so identified with Christ that you are opposed by the devil and his followers is a mark of God’s blessing and being associated with God.
The imprisonment of Paul on this occasion began in Acts chapter 21 when the Jews attack him with their lies. Their intention was to kill him and the devil, Jesus said in chapter 8 is not only a liar, he is a murderer and they want to kill Paul who represents the truth. So he is arrested. The Romans have rescued him. The Romans are in authority at this time in this part of the world as well as the rest of the civilized world if you will and Paul has appeared before the Sanhedrin and presented his case. He’s appeared before the Roman governor, Felix and presented his case but he gets no justice. The Romans don’t have anything at stake here. The Jews, their animosity toward the Gospel drives them. Their rejection of Christ and any truth concerning Him consumes them. The Romans, they just want peace. As we read the history of the time and the turmoil that goes on and so on, the Roman governors here are to administer justice but they also have to deal with a stubborn and obstinate people, the Jews. There is constant trouble and the Roman rulers here, governors like Felix in chapter 24 are aware. Governors get replaced because things get of hand. You could come in and put down a rebellion but if you do it too strongly then you may be recalled because the Jews they are constantly going back and forth to Rome, trying to appeal to Caesar, present their case and it is just an ongoing situation.
Well Paul has presented the Gospel in chapter 24, verse 22: “Felix had a more excellent knowledge about the Way.” He is not willing to pass a verdict yet. There are a couple of things here. He knows some of the truth. He has heard before about Christ, the message concerning Him. It has been referred to as we have seen in the book of Acts several times as the Way. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, the way to God.

In verse 24 with Felix with his wife Drusilla, and we are going to see Drusilla’s brother later in Acts chapter 25, she is a sister of Agrippa who will be hearing Paul’s testimony with another sister, Bernice in a little bit and you see the intertwining that goes on. Paul presents the Gospel to them. Felix is overwhelmed, verse 25 of Acts 24: “For as Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control, judgment to come Felix became frightened and said ‘go away for the present. When I find time I will summon you.’” The immorality of Felix and his wife and how she came to be his wife which we talked a little bit about and now confronted and there is a convicting power but he does not submit to it and the tragedy is he also is hoping to get some financial gain to be bought off here. So you see the mixed situation going on.

We are told at the end of verse 26 that Felix used to send for Paul regularly and converse with him. How many times did Felix hear the Gospel but he doesn’t respond? Some of you have responded, “Is there any way we know that Felix perhaps responded to the Gospel at a later time?” Well, we have no record of that and the closing of chapter 24 is not good because Felix two years Paul has been a prisoner with some liberty because he is still an uncondemned Roman citizen but nonetheless he is a prisoner for two years. Felix is succeeded by Festus, another Roman governor for the area and he wants to please the Jews so he leaves Paul is prison. An indication that even though he’s talked with Paul repeatedly, heard the Gospel repeatedly, you think, wow to hear Paul preach once would be convicting but to hear him again and again and again and not respond but you see something of the hardness of the human heart.

So now we have another Roman governor. We usually call him Porcius Festus, Porcius – these are hard in Greek so his name would have had a ‘k’ sound but in English we call him Porcius. Festus succeeds him. So he arrives in the province as we open chapter 25. We don’t know very much about Festus. He has a short term here because he is going to die in the third year of his term evidently from an illness. So he begins ruling in about 58, 59 and he dies in 62 so it is a short time so history doesn’t tell us much about him. Josephus refers to him a couple of times but other than that we don’t know much about him. He seems to have been a better administrator of the area but from the brief references we have that his predecessor Felix and that is true of the one who is going to follow him as well, but he has a short term. Interesting – here is a man who is going to come here, he has less than three years to live but he doesn’t know it but he too fails to take advantage of the opportunity that God gives him to hear the Gospel and believe it before he goes out into eternity.

“So Festus then, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.” So he arrives in Caesarea which was the capital if you will, the center for the Roman governor of the region and after he comes into Caesarea and is three days there he goes to Jerusalem because it is crucial that he establish and build the right kind of relationship with the Jews because this is where the turmoil keeps coming from. Keep in mind we are less than a dozen years away from the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple under the Romans, thus the turmoil that keeps fomenting here. So we were told in verse 27 of chapter 24 that two years had passed since Paul had been arrested in chapter 21. So now we come into chapter 25, two years have gone by, we have a new governor on the scene. He goes to Jerusalem and in verse 2: “The chief priest and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul.” Paul hasn’t been in Jerusalem for two years, he has been a prisoner 60 miles away in Caesarea but the animosity and the hatred of the Jewish leadership toward Paul has not cooled at all. You have a new Roman governor, the first thing they want to do, let’s deal with Paul. You see the depth of animosity here. “The chief priest and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul; and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem, setting an ambush to kill him on the way.”

Back in chapter 21, verse 27 and following, verse 31: “While they were seeking to kill him [the commander of the Roman soldiers responsible for the temple area comes down and rescues Paul].”

In chapter 23, verse 12 and following we saw more than 40 Jews who had bound themselves under an oath to kill Paul. The Sanhedrin was going to ask Paul, “Well we would like to hear more from Paul. Would you bring him over?” And assuming that the Romans wouldn’t expect anything but the Jews are looking for additional information Paul would be brought over with minimal guard, only a couple of soldiers and these 40 men could overwhelm the soldiers, kill Paul. So you see that animosity. Two years have gone by. We come to chapter 25 and their plot is the same. So you have a new Roman governor but he visits Jerusalem. Paul is still a prisoner in Caesarea they say to their new Roman governor, “We would really like to have Paul brought here so that you know, we could pursue this matter with him.” They are not looking for a trial, they want to ambush him and kill him on the way because you know, Festus comes but he may not be ready or aware of the depth of the issues here. He is new on the scene. The Jewish leaders ask a concession from him, a prisoner that was left a prisoner by the former governor you know, he caused trouble here. We would appreciate it if you would have brought him to Jerusalem so that we could resolve this and bring our charges here where he committed his offenses and it seems like a reasonable plan but their plot is to kill him. The animosity has not gone away.

“Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. Therefore, he said, ‘Let the influential men among you go there with me. If there is anything wrong about the man let them prosecute him.’”

So Festus, he’s in charge and he sees no reason to go to the trouble to bring this prisoner to Jerusalem. He knows the trouble there can be at Jerusalem with the Jews. So he said he is being held in Caesarea and I am going back to Caesarea and I have to be there for the trial so you come to Caesarea and if your charges are found true then he can be dealt with.

“So after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them he went down to Caesarea and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.” So things happen quickly here. Festus has told them, “When I go back to Caesarea you come back.” Well, he spends eight to ten days there, they have time to get themselves ready so he evidently makes clear to them the trial will be held when I get back so he know when he leaves that the trial is going to be held quickly so the next day they have to be there. They have had time to get ready and so on so “he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. After Paul arrived the Jews would come down from Jerusalem, stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove.” This is really going to be a rehash of the previous trial before Felix. The Jews trying to just overwhelm the court with serious charges but no evidence but you get enough of the Jews and the high level Jews and they are all agreed in bringing the Jews you hope that pretty soon something will stick and the Roman governor will think, “Well even though there is a lack of real credible proof, where there is smoke, there is fire,” and maybe he will decide to you know, rule in favor of the Jews and he is going to feel this kind of pressure and yield not in giving a wrong verdict but yield to their desire to send Paul to Jerusalem. So they bring all these charges. Verse 8: “While Paul said in his own defense, ‘I’ve committed no offense either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.’” These are the three issues that we saw with Felix. He didn’t do anything against the Mosaic Law and he hasn’t been trying to create unrest about the Jews by teaching them and going against the law. He hasn’t done anything to violate the temple which could be a capital offense and it would give the Jews the right to exercise capital punishment. He didn’t desecrate the temple. He didn’t bring a Gentile into the courts of the temple where Gentiles were not allowed and he hasn’t done anything against Caesar so he is not stirring up rebellion against Caesar. There is nothing to be said about that there.

You might be interested when we were in another country a number of years ago how careful the believers there were about any political conversations. They use this same wise action as Paul does here. If anybody asked anything about the political situation they just cut it off. You know, it’s not to be talked about. These are people ready, willing and had gone to prison for their faith but they weren’t going to allow for any accusations. That is what Paul does here. He has nothing against Caesar. There’s no way he can come and say he’s been trying to lead a rebellion against the Roman rule or unsettle the Roman peace or anything like that so these charges.

But Festus, now here’s where you see the Jews impact, “wishing to do the Jews a favor.” Remember up in verse 27 of chapter 24? After two years had passed Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus and wishing to do the Jews a favor. These Roman governors were always in a place of looking what could they do to placate the Jews because the Jews are always in a state of unrest because the Romans have control over their country and their area and that’s why we are going to meet one of the Herod family members, Agrippa the second, later in this chapter and even though there is a Roman governor over Judea and the temple, this man whose realm of rule doesn’t include Jerusalem has authority to appoint the High Priest in Jerusalem and to keep the priestly garments so that they would be under the control of one that the Jews would accept. So you have this constant tension. So here you had Felix and now you have Festus, Roman governors who are to be administering justice. They are always looking for a way to do what they could to please the Jews and so he wants to do the Jews a favor in chapter 25, verse 9. “He said to Paul, ‘are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?’” Now there is an issue here and Festus knows that his only reason to go is to give a concession to the Jews. I mean he’s heard the charges. Those bringing the charges are here. We are in a Roman court, pass judgment. That is what Paul is going to say. Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal. I mean Festus represents the Caesar. This is his court, where I ought to be tried.” He is a Roman citizen. He has been accused.

“I have done no wrong to the Jews as you also very well know. If then I am a wrong doer and have committed anything worthy of death I do not refuse to die.” Paul pushing Festus to make a ruling, but you won’t, even though you know I have done nothing wrong. And, later in the chapter, Festus is going to admit it. Admit it in open court, I can’t find anything wrong. Well then, why didn’t you pass the judgment that should have been passed? I’ve heard you Jews present your case. I’ve heard Paul’s defense. I can’t find anything wrong. I declare him innocent of the charges, court adjourned. But, he wants to do the Jews a favor. So what are we going to do? Go to Jerusalem and hear the same thing all over again? Something is not right here so Paul says, continuing in verse 11: “But if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” This is a well-known statement, “I appeal to Caesar.” Paul’s right as a Roman citizen to make his appeal. He takes it out of the hands of Festus here. He goes over the head of Festus. He has the right to do this, to appeal to a higher court, the court of Caesar. Amazingly, you know who the Caesar is at this time. We are about 60 A.D. In 54 A. D. Claudius died and was succeeded by Nero and Paul appeals to Caesar who would be Nero at this time. Nero hadn’t sunk to the depths that the last part of his rule was characterized by but he is the man who will ultimately be the one who brings about Paul’s death even though it won’t be at the end of the particular imprisonment. “I appeal to Caesar, because why are you sending me to Jerusalem? If this just going to go on until something comes up that I die?” Paul knows if he goes back to Jerusalem he knows the environment there. There is no point in going. I mean Festus has heard the charges. You know you just think well what is he thinking? He could see that Paul could be exasperated here. What he says is, you know, respectful that he has done no wrong and he tells Festus, “You know this very well. If I have done wrong I am willing to pay the ultimate price of dying. But if I have not done wrong you can’t turn me over to the Jews” and that’s true. Festus had abrogated his responsibility as the Roman ruler in this region and the Roman judge. He is not carrying out his responsibility to a Roman citizen. He should administer justice to non-Roman citizens but a Roman citizen above all was to be given a fair trial. So, “I appeal to Caesar.”

Now, Festus is not allowed to try him any longer. The Jews cannot try him any longer and Festus realizes he councils. In verse 12: “When Festus had conferred with his council he answered, ‘you have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.’” So you know you have the court. Festus has to talk to his legal advisors if you will and make sure everything is handled right here and he has appealed to Caesar, the Roman citizen. He has the right to do that. Festus puts himself in an awkward spot here because later we see he has to write a letter to tell Caesar why this man is being sent to him and he says I don’t know what to put in the letter because there is no real charges that have any substance and I don’t want to send a man to Caesar and say I am sending him to you for judgment for no reason because that makes him look bad to Caesar, can’t you do your job? But it goes on.

So now what? He appeals to Caesar. Let’s see, do you want to know a little bit about Roman law, the Julian law on public disorder safeguarded Roman citizens not only against degrading forms of coercion or punishment but also against being sentenced after an appeal had been voiced or being prevented from going to Rome to have an appeal heard there within a reasonable period of time.

So now what? Now we have introduced a new couple, not a married couple but a brother and a sister. “When several days had elapsed…” So several days had gone by since this we call it, a trial, and Paul’s appeal to Caesar. “King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea.” Sometimes we call her Bernice, her name would have been Bernikay, that is the way it would have been pronounced. “Arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus.”

I tried to get a chart, in fact, I have one before me here to simplify but I have put here so we could trace the line of Herod. You ought to go to a Bible encyclopedia or a commentary on Herod that sometimes lays out a chart for you just so you can see it because I couldn’t find any that I thought would make sense when I put it up there because this family is something else.

In the first place, Herod had ten wives. Five of them are significant because they or their children play a role in Scripture and then you get them marrying. One of the children marries this person and then this person leaves that person and goes and marries someone else so you get them all over the chart. You talk about soap operas, I mean, this is King Agrippa and then they use the same names you know. This is Agrippa the second. Now we have already met Agrippa the first.

Come back to Acts chapter 12. This is his father in chapter 12, verse 1: “Now about that time, Herod the King…” Now here is Herod the King, who is this? It can’t be the Herod who was living when you know Jesus was on earth, no. So and then you have a marginal note. In other words, Herod, Agrippa the first, he’s the one who put James to death and then verse 3 of chapter 12: “When he saw that it pleased the Jews he arrested Peter also and imprisoned him.” So you get an idea here of the family we are dealing with and these are rulers of Jewish areas. You know after Herod died his kingdom was divided among his four sons and then things get divided out you know, with grandchildren and great grandchildren. That is where we are here with the grandchild then the great grandchild and parts of it get sectioned out and here the Lord doesn’t intervene to save James. Not either directly, supernaturally, or what we would say indirectly through providence, secondary means. But he will intervene directly and have an angel come and rescue Peter. Why rescue Peter and not James? We couldn’t resolve that when we were there. It was the sovereign plan of God that James would die at the hands of sinful men and that Peter would not. And then at the end of chapter 12 when Herod Agrippa the first, the father of Agrippa the second, we are talking about in chapter 25 remember when he gives a speech and the people say it’s not the voice of a man, it’s the voice of a god, he’s eaten by worms and dies. Extra-Biblical history records the fact that he died of this agonizing death. They sometimes refer to it as cancer of the bowels. Obviously in the days, autopsies and so on were not like we have and then the contrast: “But the Word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied.”

Now when Herod Agrippa the first died in 44 A.D. Herod Agrippa the second, his son, was only 17 years old. He was living in Rome where numbers of the Herod family would be sent when they were young to be trained and that also helped them to establish relationships with the imperial household. So Claudius who was the Roman Caesar at the time thought that at 17 he is too young to be given the rulership of his father’s territory so he appoints a Roman governor for that and then over time Agrippa the second is given a realm and it expands and expands until he ends up having quite a large territory to rule over.

Come back to Acts 25 here with this Herod Agrippa the second. So this is the child of the Herod in chapter 12. He is the brother of Drusilla that we met in Acts chapter 24, verse 24: “Some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife.” Well that Drusilla is a sister of Agrippa the second. Things just intertwine here and you know you are marrying for power, for influence and so on. So verse 13 of chapter 25: “So several days elapsed. King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea.” Now Bernice is the sister of Agrippa the second, not his wife. So when it says here he arrives with Bernice you might think well this is his wife but this is his sister. This tells you a little bit about Agrippa the second. He has a long life. He’s going to be the last of the Herod line. He dies around 100 A.D. and that is the end of the Herodian line. They had a long time but he is the last. “The son of Agrippa the first, the grandson of Aristobulus, the great grandson of Herod the Great. He was brought up at Rome in the court of Claudius and like his father was a favorite of the Emperor.” Because this is a client king and so you have family members come and so it’s to the Romans benefits that they have these individuals tied to their family and you know they can trust them as there are ties there. So as Agrippa the second is being raised in the Caesar household, Claudius is going to be Emperor he establishes a relationship and so on.

Four years after his father died in 48 A. D. he had an uncle who died and so that is where then Caesar is comfortable giving him that realm. It is a lot smaller realm than his father would have had but then over time they will continue to add to it so Nero will give him additional territory and so on.

Now Bernice, his sister, we saw Drusilla in chapter 24. Bernice is a year younger and she has quite a track record here. She is a year younger than her brother, Felix. Now when they come here she had been married to her uncle that’s why I say, “This Herod family.” He’s known as Herold, King of Chalcis. So you have another Herod here so this sister of Herod Agrippa the second was married to Herod, king of this little region Chalcis and when he died in 48 A. D. and this is where Agrippa the second is going to get his territory, she came to live with her brother. Now there are records of this in the Roman records that both in Rome and in Palestine there was strong rumors about the morality of the relationship of these two family members. It was something of a scandalous relationship so to put an end to those rulers she married someone else in 63 but then in 66 she returned to live with her brother again and now we are going to have in the late 60’s, climaxing in 70 A.D., the destruction of the temple. During that whole turmoil Agrippa the second will be a key figure. He has a close relationship with Titus and out of that, his sister Bernice becomes the mistress of Titus and goes to live with him in Rome when he goes to Rome and that is another whole… This family of Herod – we get upset with rulers we have, we haven’t seen anything. I mean, Paul is mum about all this. You’d think he’s be speaking to these people and telling them, “You lousy slut, immoral…” He treats them with respect.

So here they come, Festus and Bernice. Pay their respects to Festus and because here now you have the Roman governor, Agrippa the second’s territory now is close to the territory of this Roman governor ruling in an adjacent area and the Caesar has given him the right, like I said, over the temple to appoint the high priest because that is more acceptable to Jews because you have someone here in the line of Herod and his line would go back to a Jewish mother and so the Jews could accept this but they would not want the Roman governor appointing their priest and being in charge of the priestly garments and so on. So, they come to pay their respects. You have a new Roman governor and the adjoining area. It is fitting and we will go and welcome him and establish some rapport and so Festus laid Paul’s case before the king. He understands here he’s just got a rule of an area but the Caesar gives him the right. When he is given this area he is given a title and then as he proves confident or gets more favor with the Caesar he gives him a greater title so that eventually he can be called king. “Festus laid Paul’s case before the king saying ‘there is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix and when I was at Jerusalem the chief priest and the elders and the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has opportunity to make his defense against the charges. So after they had assembled here I did not delay but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal, ordered the man to be brought before me. When the accusers stood up they began bringing charges against him, not of such crimes as I was expecting.’” I thought here was a man who was a serious criminal. “They simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.” So you see some of what had come up. Luke had given us the overview of the point here but Paul had made clear the issue was about the resurrection of the dead. I believe that Jesus is the Christ who was raised from the dead so you know this whole thing is about their religion. You have in the margin that the word religion can mean superstition but religion is a better translation here because keep in mind, Felix is talking to Agrippa the second who has strong connection to the Jews and that is why he is going to want his input so he is not speaking negatively here about the Jewish religion. Just you know what’s this got to be with the Roman court? So Paul disagrees with them on points of their religion and he believes that a man named Jesus was raised from the dead. Now none of that because the Romans had all kinds of gods and all kinds of religious beliefs and as long as you were willing to submit to the Emperor and do certain of those things, worship whoever you want, however you want. So what do I do here?

“Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem.” You see Festus thinks that maybe there is more to this than has been presented in my court. Maybe it’s my ignorance. I’ve come into this now. I am not well versed on the Jewish issues. Agrippa the second is. He was respected as a knowledgeable man in Jewish affairs and Paul will make reference to that. “I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters.”

Now, he should have exercised the judgment as a Roman judge on what had been brought before him but we saw it was to do a favor to the Jews. He puts it in a better light as a judge. “Being at a loss how to investigate I ask this when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar. And Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I also would like to hear the man myself.’ Festus said ‘tomorrow, you shall hear him.’”

So here is a great thing. Agrippa the second said, “Yes, I would like to hear him.” Festus said, “That’s great, tomorrow” because he’s thinking maybe you will sort this out for me and we can get this resolved.

So “on the next day when Agrippa had come together with Bernice, amid great pomp...” I always think this is great, we saw this back in chapter 12 when Paul was going to, you know, not Paul but Peter and the others there was always this pomp and ceremony and the most important person on earth and not these people who think they are so important it’s this little Jewish man who is a prisoner. I mean they do come with great pomp and “they enter the auditorium accompanied by the commanders, the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Now here you have Paul brought in and Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death.” What a statement. You are the judge. You found that he had committed nothing worthy of death. That ought to have been your verdict, right?

At any rate, “since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord,” that would be the Emperor, Caesar. “Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”

I mean how is this going to look to Nero? Here’s the prisoner I am sending to you. Well, where are the charges? Well, I don’t have any. You can just see Nero talking to his advisors. Who is that imbecile that was put in charge out there? He sends me a prisoner that has no charges against him. Does he think I have nothing better to do with my time? I mean, you are coming to the ultimate court of appeal. This stuff ought to have been sifted out so that the Caesar can deal with things of concrete importance. I don’t have anything to write.

I think it is interesting how the sovereignty of God is at work. Here when does Festus say this? When he has brought all of the important men, the commanders, the prominent men of the city are all there and Paul is brought in and Agrippa is sitting there then he tells everybody the reason for the meeting. Do you see the hand of God in all of this? And now you know what? Another Roman governor is going to hear the Gospel and not only that but another minor king, Agrippa the second. He is going to be a major player. He is going to be a supporter of the Romans. He did what he could to try to keep the Jews from pursuing their rebellion later in the 60’s. But when he was unsuccessful he did join the Romans and sided with the Romans and he receives further rewards from the Romans for his loyalty and will live out a full life.

So he is a man who is going to have influence. The woman sitting here with him, his sister, is going to have an immoral relationship with the man who will rule the Roman world and if it were not for other pressures, she might have ended up married to Titus but the father of Titus, Vespasian, was uncomfortable with the relationship and so Bernice will have to leave Rome. And then after Titus does become Emperor upon the death of his father and she returns, Titus is sensitive to the attitude of the Roman people and beside Bernice is about 13 years older than Titus and so he may not have been as interested in the relationship as he was at one time.

All of this, people of importance, people of influence, no indication that the reason God has Paul in this situation is because He intends to bring about the salvation of a Felix or a Festus or an Agrippa or a Drusilla, or of a Bernice. What are you doing Lord? Well, He is putting Paul in context where the Gospel will be but he was presenting the Gospel before his imprisonment. Why have him imprisoned? You know, some of these we don’t have an answer for. If Felix would have gotten saved we can say, “Well, we can see the hand of the Lord in doing that.” If Festus had gotten saved or Drusilla or Bernice or Agrippa but no indication that any of them got saved. Why put Paul in a more restricted area?

Paul will write to the Philippians later when he is in Rome and tell them that good things have come out of this. The household of Caesar, the people from the household of Caesar got to hear the Gospel because of my imprisonment. This has turned out for good. It doesn’t mean that Caesar or those very close to him necessarily were saved but they heard the Gospel. You see Paul’s focus.

I say this because sometimes we think, “Well, this has happened but it is probably so that this will happen.” I don’t know. I can’t say that is what is going to come out of it. Maybe I got cancer so that I can share the Gospel with my doctor, my nurse. That may be. That does not necessarily mean they are going to get saved. So I want to be careful otherwise I am discouraged and think I can see no point in it. Well I don’t have to see the ultimate outcome of God’s plan. All I have to do is carry out His will and my part in the plan. Paul’s part here is clear. I presented the Gospel for two years as I had opportunity to Festus. He left an unbeliever. He left me in prison. Now here’s another governor. I will present the Gospel to him. Another ruler, I will present the Gospel to him but none of them respond, Lord I don’t… You know it would be easy to get discouraged and say well Lord I don’t know why I have to be a prisoner day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. I don’t see any purpose in it but Paul doesn’t have to. He’s a slave of his Lord and Master. The Master determines it. If I keep that in mind it simplifies my life, puts it in proper perspective.

Lord, I don’t know why You are doing what You are doing, I don’t see the purpose in it but then I have to be careful and say but then I don’t have to see the purpose in it. It is enough for me to know that You do have a purpose and You are working that purpose and I am privileged to be a vessel used for Your honor. That is where we are. It’s like so often happens in Scripture. We live out our lives in the day by day events which seem like the maneuverings of men and their failure to do what’s right keeps Paul in prison. Paul can understand. He’s in prison for the Gospel and God could have sent an angel and delivered him. He could have changed the mind of a Roman governor. You know there were times when these Roman governors would kill numerous Jews on one occasion. I mean these weren’t nice men. So it’s not like they are timid, shrinking violets. I mean these are people that could be brutal in the way they handled people and so Festus could have decided – you know, at the beginning it’s important that Jews know that Rome rules and you don’t charge a Roman citizen and not have proof and I am going to set that straight. God could have impressed that on his heart to do that. He didn’t. Why not? Because, it wasn’t God’s plan. God is going to send Paul to Rome, not as Paul. Paul wanted to go to Rome it wasn’t that he was resistant so God had to do it this way. Paul wanted to go to Rome. He anticipated going to Rome but he will go God’s way, in God’s time, for God’s purposes.
Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for the assurance that You are sovereign over all. Thank You for Your hand being upon Paul, for his faithfulness in trying and difficult circumstances, the loss of his freedom, the loss of what seemed to be opportunities, the discomfort, the unfairness he had to deal with but all part of Your sovereign plan to accomplish Your purposes and Lord we thank You for the way You have worked through the history of time to our day and You continue to work in our lives, our times, all that comes into our everyday life is sovereignly controlled by You. There are no accidents. There are no mistakes as we walk in obedience to You we walk with complete confidence, assurance and the knowledge that Your purposes are being carried out. Bless us in our service for You in the days of the week before us. Lord, may our light be strong and bright as we cease every opportunity to tell others the message of our Lord and Savior we pray in His name, Amen.