Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 17 - Acts 26

Transcript

December 17 - Acts 26 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Tuesday, it's the 17th of
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  December, and in the midst of this pre Christmas madness, you
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  have invited me into your day so that we can read a chapter of
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  God's words together. Well done and thank you for the
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  invitation. We are going to continue reading
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  this fascinating story of Paul caught up in the power
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  structures of Rome and Jerusalem, that interplay
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  between the Jewish leadership and the Roman leadership, going
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  up the chain all the way through the royalty to reach the
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  emperor, the Caesar, to appeal his case.
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  And we hear these words, but we hear these words through so many
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  different lenses. Here we have these speeches
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  spoken by Paul, this incredible communicator of the gospel
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  message, interpreted and captured, written down by Luke,
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  this amazing, intellectual, wonderful communicator with an
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  excellent command of language. And then taken by these scholars
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  who have found it in the original language and worked it
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  into English in a way that can capture the heart and the
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  essence of the message that was being communicated.
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  So this comes from Paul, through Luke, through the translators,
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  and through me reading it to you so that the Holy Spirit can work
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  in you and in me to share the news that He has for us.
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  What a crackerjack. So let us share this story.
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  Paul shares his testimony for you today, friend.
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  So let's read it together in Acts chapter 26.
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  Then Agrippa said to Paul, you may speak in your defence.
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  So Paul gesturing with his hand started his defence.
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  I'm fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my
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  defence today against all these accusations made by the Jewish
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  leaders, for I know that you are an expert on all Jewish customs
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  and controversies. Now please listen to me
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  patiently. As the Jewish leaders are well
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  aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest
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  childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem.
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  If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member
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  of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
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  Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfilment of God's
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  promise made to our ancestors. In fact, that is why the 12
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  tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and
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  they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse
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  me for having this hope. Why does it seem incredible to
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  any of you that God can raise the dead?
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  I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to
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  oppress the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.
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  Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem, authorised by the
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  leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to
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  prison, and I cast my vote against them when they were
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  condemned to death. Many times I had them punished
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  in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.
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  I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them
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  down in foreign cities. One day I was on such a mission
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  to Damascus, armed with the authority and Commission of the
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  leading priests. About noon, your Majesty, as I
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  was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun,
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  shone down on me and my companions.
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  We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic.
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  Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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  It is useless for you to fight against my will.
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  Who are you, Lord? I asked, and the Lord replied.
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  I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
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  Now get to your feet, for I have appeared to you to appoint you
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  as my servant and witness. Tell the people that you've seen
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  me and tell them what I will show you in the future, and I
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  will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles.
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  Yes, I'm sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes so
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  they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of
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  Satan to God. Then they will receive
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  forgiveness for their sins and be given to place among God's
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  people who are set apart by faith in Me.
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  And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.
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  I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and
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  throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must
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  repent of their sins and turn to God and prove that they have
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  changed by the good things they do.
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  Some Jews arrested me in the temple for preaching this, and
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  they tried to kill me. But God has protected me right
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  up to this present time, so I can testify to everyone from the
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  least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the
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  prophets and Moses said would happen, that the Messiah would
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  suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and in this way
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  announce God's light to Jews and Gentiles alike.
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  Suddenly fester, shouted Paul. Are you insane?
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  Too much study has made you crazy.
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  But Paul replied, I'm not insane.
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  Most excellent, Festus. What I'm saying is the sober
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  truth, and King Agrippa knows about these things.
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  I speak boldly, for I'm sure these events are all familiar to
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  him, for they were not done in a corner.
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  King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?
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  I know you do. Agrippa interrupted him.
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  Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so
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  quickly? Paul replied.
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  Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and
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  everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am,
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  except for these trains. Then the king, the governor,
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  Bernice, and all the others stood and left.
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  As they went out, they talked it over and agreed.
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  This man hasn't done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.
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  And Agrippa said to Festus he could have been set free if he
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  hadn't appealed to Caesar. Oh Jesus, what a wonderful story
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  of Paul sharing his faith in you so clearly and so boldly, and as
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  it so many times does. The story of faith and trust in
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  you sounds completely crazy to those who don't know you.
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  Our Lord, change the hearts of people in this world.
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  Soften their hearts. Make them more open to you so
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  that your message, your glorious message of love and forgiveness
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  and acceptance, doesn't need to sound crazy.
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  And as Festus shouted, are you insane?
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  But it can tap into and fulfil that great human need that
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  everyone of us walks around with in our heart of hearts.
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  Oh Jesus, let your love be known.
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  Use us to make your love known. And not just in the words that
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  we say, but in the lives that we live and the things that we do.
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  Thank you for your transformative love, and I pray
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  that it's transformative work would go through us into the
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  world around us. We love you and we pray all
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  these things in your holy and precious name, Jesus, Amen.