Tag Archives: Paul

Did God Mess Up?

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DID GOD MESS UP?

“But Agrippa did answer: ‘Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!’

“Paul, still in chains, said, ‘That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me — except, of course, for this prison jewellery!’

“The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, ‘There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.’

“Agrippa told Festus, ‘He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested a hearing before Caesar.'” Acts 26:28-32 (The Message).

What frustration! Why did Paul have to go and appeal for a hearing before Caesar? He could have walked out of there that day a free man. He was jumping from the frying pan into the fire! Caesar meant Nero! Nero meant God-hater, crazy, bully, murderer! What justice would he receive from him, especially when there was no legitimate charge against him?

Had God made a mistake this time? The timing of Agrippa’s visit could have been changed. Why did he not visit during Felix’s governorship and hear Paul’s case then? If only! If only! It sounds so familiar, doesn’t it? Do we not react like that when we land up in a frustrating situation that could have been so different if only…

It all depends on whose viewpoint we take. God said to Paul, ‘Rome!’ Because it was part of his package Paul said, ‘Yes, Lord!’ This was no surprise to him. The fact that he was declared innocent after his appeal did not frustrate him like it is frustrating us. No, He didn’t mess up. God’s plan was right on track — Rome at Rome’s expense because God wanted Paul to stand before Nero.

But why Nero? God knew very well that Nero would never respond positively to Paul’s message. In fact, He knew that Nero would condemn Paul to death! He should have sent Paul scurrying in the other direction, as far from Nero as he could possibly get. But that is not God’s way. He was not out to save Paul’s bacon. Nero had to be given the opportunity to make his choice, just as Felix, Festus and Agrippa and all the august assembly that heard Paul that day.

This is the mystery of God’s ways. Although he did not know it, in Paul’s package was a violent death at the hands of a cruel and unscrupulous king. But in the mercy of God, He had to give Nero an opportunity to hear the truth about Jesus and make a decision which would affect his eternal destiny and Paul was the one He chose to do it.

As far as Paul was concerned, he had accepted without reservation his package for life, no matter what it held for him. He died on the day he met Jesus. His life was no longer his to control. He belonged to Another and he was at His beck and call to carry out His command.

Think of the benefits to every succeeding generation of Paul’s incarceration in Caesar’s palace in Rome. How many letters did Paul write from his prison cell, chained day and night to a Roman guard? What treasures of truth he learned in those lonely and uncomfortable days and nights which he generously imparted to the many believers he had left behind on his travels in Europe and Asia! How much poorer would we be without Paul’s experience and wisdom to which we have access two thousand years later!

Did God mess up? Definitely not! He knew what He was doing when Paul could have been set free but was sent to Rome to face Nero!

Crazy Or Convinced?

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CRAZY OR CONVINCED?

“That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: ‘Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself; get back in the real world!’

“But Paul stood his ground. ‘With all respect, Festus, Your Honour, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The King knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realise that this wasn’tdone behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that — I know you believe.'” Acts 26:24-27 (The Message).

Why did Festus react so violently to Paul’s story? Did Paul sound like a crazy man? To a Roman who was steeped in the bizarre and ridiculous beliefs of his idolatrous religion, for a human being to be executed and then to rise from the dead, and then actually to appear and speak to the man who stood before them who was willing to lay down his life for what he was saying, was beyond reason. Did Paul really expect them to believe his story?

What if it were true? What were the implications for him? Brush Paul off as out of his mind and he could escape the obligations this testimony laid on him. Festus’ reaction is often the reaction of people who do not want God to intrude into their lives with His requirements. They have no interest in living in harmony with their Creator. Get rid of His witnesses and then I don’t have to worry about what He says. I can make Him go away if I silence the voice that speaks of Him.

Unfortunately for Festus, Paul was not a lone voice in bearing witness to the Messiah who came from God, laid down His life and then rose from the dead. For many centuries before it happened the Hebrew prophets spoke of the event as a fait accompli — and it was because, from God’s point of view, it was finished from before the foundation of the world.

Paul was not speaking of something brand new. He had stepped in time into the plan of God which was conceived and effected before time began. Festus could shout and scream and call him names but that did not alter the truth that Paul was declaring before that august assembly.

The Jesus whom the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman soldiers thought that they had safely disposed of was the Jesus who had stood before Paul in His risen glory to rescue him from his self-destruction and send him out as one of those he had so vehemently despised to carry His message to the ends of the earth. Paul had no option but to explain why he was on this apparently suicidal mission. It was not his idea. He had been chosen and commissioned to do it and he had accepted the package.

Paul appealed to King Agrippa. He was fully conversant with all the facts. He was an authority on Jewish affairs. Perhaps this was Agrippa’s moment to put it all together and to realise that Paul was speaking the truth.

In the environment of Governor Festus, blinded by his pagan outlook on life, Agrippa and Bernice, arrogant and pompous regents of an out-of-the-way and obscure province in the Roman Empire and all the glitterati in Caesarea, Paul preached the gospel of the risen Christ who outshines and outlives all. These so-called intellectuals refused to believe the truth but they gladly swallowed any old bumph dished up to them in the guise of religion as long as it left them alone to continue in their inflated opinions of themselves and in their perverted way of life.

That was their choice. What’s yours?

For more information click on http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2000/Pauls_Trial_Before_King_Agrippa.html#.UigbANI0WuI

You Can’t Kill A Dead Man

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YOU CAN’T KILL A DEAD MAN!

“‘What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change — this radical turn to God and everything it meant to everyday life — right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

“‘It’s because of this “whole world” dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as He promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen. One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, He would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and god-fearing.'” Acts 26:19-23 (The Message).

The same Jesus, who created the universe and sustains it by His powerful word, stood before Paul and awaited his decision! In that life-changing encounter, Paul was offered a package – to be opened one day at a time, containing good and bad. The choice was his. Would he accept it or walk away and never know what was inside or have the privilege of being a partner with the King of kings?

‘I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that.’ Paul decided to accept the package in toto.. It was his response to the “heavenly vision” that set him up for life he lived — danger and death staring him in the face every moment of every day. It’s no wonder he wrote, “I die daily.” Death was his daily companion on his road of obedience to his Master.

But it did not seem to trouble him unduly. His attitude was, “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Death to Paul meant nothing worse than relocation into the presence of his Lord. As far as he was concerned, he was already a dead man, and no-one can kill a dead man. When did he die? In that moment when he surrendered his life to the glorious risen Jesus he saw on the Damascus road.

It was his job to follow the vision wherever it led. Unfortunately for him, his obedience to the vision took him into “forbidden territory” — the Gentiles. These were people abhorrent to the Jews for a very strange reason. During their early history, instead of living as God had instructed them and worshipping Him only, so that their way of life would put their God on display, they persisted in following the disgusting idols of the surrounding nations.This eventually led to their exile in a foreign land.

This terrible experience turned them into isolationists who thought they were better than everyone else. They treated the Gentiles as though they were less than human, refusing to have anything to do with them. For Paul to take God’s message to the Gentiles was unthinkable. How could he! He must die for that!

Yet they had forgotten that their very own Scriptures had predicted that Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles and that all the nations would come to the Lord through Him. Paul’s package included the hardship he had to endure at the hands of his own people whose prejudice had blinded them to the true nature of their God.

It was for that very reason that he stood before Agrippa that day, not to make excuses for a profligate life or criminal activities, but to bear testimony to his obedience to a vision and a call he could not ignore. How unbearable it would have been had he not died to himself that day when he answered the call!

Caught In The Act

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CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

“One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorising my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh king, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

“‘I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

‘”The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet — I have a job for you. I’ve hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.'” Acts 26:12-15 (The Message).

Did a day ever go by that Paul did not remember his encounter with Jesus? He remembered every detail as though it had happened yesterday. As he recalled it in the presence of the king, his entourage, the governor and all the dignitaries in the Great Hall that day, he relived those moments, felt the electricity of the Divine Presence once again and melted in the atmosphere of perfect Love.

The words of Jesus were branded on his heart. The Voice, like the sound of a thundering cataract, echoed and re-echoed around the caverns of his mind, supporting and steadying him through every danger and trial he experienced on his journey of life with his Master, and leading him ever on to greater heights of obedient love.

He didn’t care what they accused him of doing, what they said about him or what they tried to do to him. Nothing could change or take away from his encounter with the risen Jesus, from the glory of the Presence that melted his hatred, his anger, his hostility and aggression towards those who believed in Him, and changed him in an instant from a vicious persecutor to a hopeless, helpless, passionate lover of Jesus.

“‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who began real living by believing in me.'” Acts 26:16-18 (The Message).

Instructions like that should have sent a fanatical Pharisee into a frenzy of protest, had they come from the lips of anyone else than those of his new-found Lord. Go to the Gentiles! Outrageous! Never! But Paul had new eyes and a new heart. Instantaneously he was transformed. He saw, with the eyes of Jesus, the Gentiles as people, not “dogs” or inferior scum to be brushed aside with contempt. Go to the Gentiles? Anything, Lord, if it comes from your lips.

What made the difference for Paul? What should make the difference for us? Not “knowledge” which does nothing to change our hearts. It is only the real, vital, living presence of Jesus that can transform our stony hearts. When we “see” Him, we are changed. When we gaze on Him, we begin to reflect His glory. No work, service, labour, or doing things for Jesus can accomplish what moments of contemplation in His presence can do. There is no substitute for His presence.

Paul saw Him and for the rest of his life he continued to gaze on his Beloved. This is his secret: “And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect (contemplate) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

The Word’s Most Heinous Crime!

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THE WORLD’S MOST HEINOUS CRIME!

“‘I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw the believers — I had no idea they were God’s people — into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.'” Acts 9-11 (The Message).

What a list of accomplishments to put on your CV, Paul! What a confession! Religious extremist! Fanatic! Murderer! Terrorist! Talk about a religious war! Paul could have been fighting the cause of any one of the world’s most prominent religions today. They all have the same intention — get rid of believers in Jesus; 165,000 Christians murdered every year. Why? What have they done? Put their faith in the Son of God who was raised from the dead? What kind of a crime is that? Why did he do it?

We have only two options — believe in the God who created us in His image or believe in a god we created in our image. How do we know the difference? By our fruit. We always become like the god we worship. If we worship a god we, or someone else, has created in our image, we reveal the nature of that god by our disposition and behaviour.

Paul thought that he was fighting for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but this God revealed Himself as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faitfulness, full of mercy and forgiving sin (Exodus34:6). Does that look like the God he was representing in his murderous hatred of believers?

What was Paul’s problem? He was deceived. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV). There was nothing wrong with his zeal but everything wrong with what he believed.

Why did God not take him out for his actions against His people? He deserved to die there and then, didn’t he? I suspect that God saw beyond his fanatical persecution of Christians to a passionate desire to serve and please the God he thought he knew. That he went about it the wrong way was not the issue. That could be corrected. That he had a heart for God was a characteristic that could be honed into a loyal and faithful son of God and worshipper of Jesus.

A story in the Old Testament clearly illustrates this principle. Isaac, Abraham’s son, had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau, it seems, was the more pleasant character. He was an outdoor man, a good hunter and a daddy’s boy. His brother, Jacob, like his name meaning “deceiver”, was a scheming, lying, twisted namby-pamby mommy’s boy.

But Esau had an inborn fault — he had no interest in spiritual things. He gave away his right as the firstborn just to fill his belly on the spur of the moment. On the other hand, Jacob coveted his brother’s position as the firstborn and the privileges and advantages that came with it. Through lies and deception he stole his brother’s birthright and the father’s blessing. For a good part of his life he lived by deceiving and being deceived.

But, from God’s perspective, Jacob’s thirst for spiritual realities was a characteristic He could work with, even though he went about it the wrong way. God moved him, slowly but surely, into the place where he was cornered, wanting to go home, but desperately afraid of Esau and the repercussions of his deception. In an all-night struggle with the Angel of the Lord, Jacob surrendered and he was changed, from “deceiver” to “prince with God.” The same zeal that drove him to lie and steal, now drove him to love and obey God.

God is looking for those who yearn for Him, though they may not know it. He will make Himself known to anyone who seeks Him with all his heart.