Zoom Bible Study Classes – 20 March 2024, at 07:00 PM EST
Meeting ID: 848-9423-0612
Pass Code: 669872
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894230612?pwd=Zk1ESitzbGZwTlJyV21UZXY5aTVPZz09
Bible Study with Rev Charles Franklin instructing
Book of
Acts Chapter 26 notes
(Paul’s
a great testimony and defense before Agrippa and company)
The opening before Agrippa.
Verses
1-3; After permission from King Agrippa
to speak, Paul opened his discourse with gratitude to Agrippa for the
opportunity to defend himself. He
acknowledged King Agrippa’s knowledge of the Law, Prophets, and the prophecies
of the Messiah to come and urged his attentiveness to his defense.
Paul states his history as a Pharisee.
Verses
4-11; Paul begins with the fact that
the Jews that charged him have known him all his life. He is no stranger to anyone. They know fully
his history as a zealous Pharisee. He
was zealous above all and persistent in the conquest of Christians under orders
of the Sanhedrin. Paul stated this to say that he was once just like those that
charge him now. Paul recounted his
travels near and far under the orders of the High Priest to persecute, harass,
arrest, and intimidate those believed to be clandestine and a threat to the
Jewish way of religion and life.
Testimony of his personal encounter.
Verses
12-18; Nothing in life can compare to a
true, real, and tangible encounter with Jesus.
No one can ever be the same. Paul
tells of when it happened to him on the road to Damascus. His descriptions are
miraculous. A light brighter than the sun that all could see. A voice that only Paul understood. And the orders he was given. Those orders were: “Christ has now appeared to him to appoint
him as God’s servant and to take the Gospel forward into vast parts of the
earth.”
Paul understands the purpose of his “Call.”
Verses
19-23; Paul’s actions after this
encounter shows that he believed with all his heart that the encounter was real
and it was Jesus Himself that had met and commissioned him. To the Jews, Paul is viewed as a defector,
traitor, and enemy of the worse kind.
But Paul sees himself as a servant, messenger, and a deliver of the
people he loves. As one delivered out of
the flames to rescue those still trapped in the fire.
Paul determines his own fate and destiny.
Verses
24-32: Festus interrupts Paul to state
that he suffers a mental condition. Paul
denies his accusation and appeals to Agrippa to judge based on the prophies of
the Prophets of old as to the signs of the coming Messiah. Agrippa questions as to whether Paul is
defending himself or attempting to covert him.
Paul states clearly, “YES.” And
if possible, to convert all just as he had been converted, but without the
chains. Agrippa admits that Paul had
done nothing worthy of death, he could have been set free if he had not
appealed to Ceasar. Therefore, the
previous ruling stands. Paul will go to Rome and stand before Ceasar to answer
for his charges.