[:en]SCRIPTURE: ACTS 26
“Why should any one of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8)
“This man is not doing anything that deserves dead or imprisonment” (Acts 26:31)
Paul stood before Agrippa and gave the following discourse:
- I lived as a Pharisee (v. 5), the strictest sect of our religion – I put many saints in prison. I persecuted Christians and cast my vote to put them to death. But now my hope is in God who had risen from the dead.
- I saw a light from heaven (v. 13) – The Son had revealed personally to me and I saw the glory of God shining from the heaven.
- I heard a voice from above (v. 14) – God spoke to me and I answered Him “Lord”. I repented after I had encountered with the Lord.
- I was not disobedient to the voice from heaven (v. 19) – I testified that Christ would suffer and as the first to rise from the head. I would proclaim light to His people and to the Gentiles (v. 23)
After hearing Paul, Festus and Agrippa agreed that Paul was innocent. Agrippa said to Festus: “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar” (v. 32). However, it was God’s means of getting him there so that the gospel could be preached to Rome.[:]