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Acts 26:1-32 Almost Thou Persuadest Me to Become a Christian

[Study Aired October 8, 2023]

Act 26:1  Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
Act 26:2  I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:
Act 26:3  Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
Act 26:4  My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
Act 26:5  Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Act 26:6  And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
Act 26:7  Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
Act 26:8  Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
Act 26:9  I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act 26:10  Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
Act 26:11  And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
Act 26:12  Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
Act 26:13  At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
Act 26:14  And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Act 26:16  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Act 26:19  Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
Act 26:20  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Act 26:21  For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.
Act 26:22  Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
Act 26:23  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Act 26:24  And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
Act 26:25  But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
Act 26:26  For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
Act 26:27  King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
Act 26:28  Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
Act 26:29  And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
Act 26:30  And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
Act 26:31  And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
Act 26:32  Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

In our last study, King Agrippa and Bernice had come down to Caesarea to congratulate Festus on his replacing Felix as governor of Judea. Agrippa is the son of Herod who killed James the brother of John. After a few days of visiting, Festus told King Agrippa about his prisoner, Paul, and how Paul was so hated by the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem.

Here is where we left off in our last study:

Act 25:22  Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
Act 25:23  And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.
Act 25:24  And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
Act 25:25  But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.
Act 25:26  Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.
Act 25:27  For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

Paul has spent his entire life, since his conversion, preaching in the synagogues to both the Jews and the Gentiles. He was rejected by the Jews in every city. However, there was always a remnant who were given to  accept the gospel, and Paul was always ready to move on to the next city when he was forced to do so, just as the Lord had instructed:

Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

Paul is now a Roman prisoner. He can no longer “flee… into another… city”. Now the holy spirit has arranged for him to witness to the political leaders of this age. In a relatively short period of time, he has been given the privilege of witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jewish Sanhedrin twice. He has witnessed to Felix and then to Felix and his wife Drucilla. Then he was able witness to Festus when the high priest and the elders of Jerusalem falsely accused him again. In this 26^th chapter, he is given the blessing of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and the story of how he was dragged to Christ with King Agrippa and Bernice, as well as all the leaders of the city of Caesarea.

Here is how the Lord set King Agrippa and Bernice up to hear Paul’s witness for Christ:

Act 25:13  And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.
Act 25:14  And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:
Act 25:15  About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.
Act 25:16  To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.
Act 25:17  Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.
Act 25:18  Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:
Act 25:19  But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
Act 25:20  And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.
Act 25:21  But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.
Act 25:22  Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
Act 25:23  And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.
Act 25:24  And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
Act 25:25  But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.
Act 25:26  Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.
Act 25:27  For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

When Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, Festus brings Paul in and introduces him to King Agrippa and Bernice and all the principal men of Caesarea. Festus acknowledges that Paul has done nothing worthy of death, and he is hoping King Agrippa, being a Jew, can help him explain to Augustus Caesar why Paul is being sent to him. Paul is excited and happy to share the gospel with King Agrippa and Bernice in the presence of the governor of Judea, Festus, and all the principal men of Caesarea, the Roman capital of the province of Judea.

Act 26:1  Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
Act 26:2  I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:
Act 26:3  Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
Act 26:4  My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;

Paul was born in Tarsus, the capital of the province of Cilicia, but he tells us here that “from [his] youth, which was… at Jerusalem.” This is what he told the multitude which was trying to kill him when he was first rescued by Lysias the chief captain in Jerusalem:

Act 22:3  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

Gamaliel is the highly respected Rabbi who counseled the Sanhedrin against doing any harm to the apostles who had just healed all the sick who came to them just before they were cast into prison by the high priest and the Sadducees, but were delivered by an angel that very night and were found teaching in the temple. Gamaliel was given to acknowledge that what the apostles were doing was an apparent work of God, and if it were not, it would come to nothing of itself. Paul tells us he was brought up at this rabbi’s feet, but as ‘Saul of Tarsus’ he witnessed the growth of the Christian church and hated being accused of killing the Son of God.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

Stephen made the same accusations, and they stoned him under the supervision of Saul of Tarsus:

Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Act 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Saul of Tarsus went on from the stoning of Stephen to become the most vicious opponent of Christ with the blessing of the chief priest and elders at Jerusalem. Then suddenly, literally “out of the blue” their most ardent soldier and opponent of Christianity is now with equal ardor proclaiming that this Jesus whom the apostles claimed was risen from the dead had indeed appeared to him while on the road to Damascus, a city outside of Israel. Saul was traveling to Damascus for the purpose of bringing anyone who believed in Jesus back to Jerusalem to be punished for their heresy. Christ had appeared as brighter than the sun and had blinded him for three days, after which he was commissioned to witness for Christ to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

This chapter of Acts is the account of how the Lord has privileged His apostle to witness to the leaders of the world about how Saul of Tarsus has been dragged to Israel’s Messiah and given a commission which he must fulfill to take the message of Jesus to both the Jews and the Gentiles. Just as the Lord has revealed Himself to each of us, the Lord has worked everything in a way that, as Paul tells King Agrippa, if the leaders of the church would be honest with themselves, they would have to admit their own culpability in the rejection of the Lord and His doctrines:

Act 26:5  Which [vs 4: “all the leading Jews” at Jerusalem] knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Act 26:6  And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
Act 26:7  Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.

Because there is a wide spread doctrine which teaches that the ten northern tribes of Israel were “lost” and ended up in western Europe and the United states, Canada and Australia, we need to take note that Paul says to King Agrippa… “our twelve tribes…” The book of James is also addressed to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad”.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

There is no denying the Jews were “scattered abroad”, but they certainly were not “lost”, and they certainly are not ethnic Europeans as that widely believed false doctrine affirms!

Act 26:8  Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
Act 26:9  I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act 26:10  Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
Act 26:11  And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

Paul just told us that he had imprisoned and had “many of the saints” imprisoned and killed in Jerusalem before he went to Damascus.

The Greek word translated as ‘strange’ in verse 11 is the word ‘exo.’  It means ‘out of.’ It is the root of our English word ‘exit’ and our English word ‘exodus’, the title of the second book of the Bible relating the events surrounding Israel coming ‘out of’ Egypt. What Paul is telling King Agrippa is that he was so zealous for the law of Moses, including the commandment to ‘hate thine enemies’, that he was going ‘out of’ Israel in pursuit of the Christians whom he considered to be heretics and thereby his enemies. Then suddenly he was stopped in his tracks just before he arrived at Damascus:

Act 26:12  Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
Act 26:13  At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
Act 26:14  And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

For anyone who would say that what Paul tells us here contradicts what he told the people at the palace when he was taken captive, we need to remember that unless something is qualified, there is no contradiction.  Let’s look at the two times Paul gave his account of meeting Christ on the road to Damascus before speaking to the people here at the judgment hall in Caesarea.

Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

As always, we must never be guilty of limiting the Word of God unless the scriptures themselves qualify or limit what is being said. Neither in Acts 9:3 nor in Acts 22:6 is it stated that this light from heaven shined ‘round about him only.’ There is also no such qualification in Acts 22:6 saying it was ‘round about me only.’ Therefore, when Paul includes “and them which journeyed with me”, the addition of that detail in no way contradicts the fact that the light did indeed shine about Paul also.

When there are words which do qualify what is said, words like ‘before… afterward… and only’ then we had better pay close attention to what the Lord has said. We were “called in Christ before the world began” (2Ti 1:9; Tit 1:2). All in Adam will be made alive, but Christ is first, and “afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1Co 15:23); God gave “His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh 3:16).

Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Act 26:16  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

“Those things in the which I will appear unto you” is another way of saying:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Of course, “the things in which I will appear unto you” includes all the trials and persecutions which necessitated the Lord’s appearance to strengthen Paul to endure to the end. The Lord appeared to Paul when he was first taken captive and just after the chief captain had put Paul before the Sanhedrin, who again demanded his death:

Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

This visit from the Lord took place the night before Paul’s sister’s son had overheard “above forty men” who had conspired to kill Paul and had taken an oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

The Lord appeared to Paul again when he was in an equally bleak and hopeless situation:

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
Act 27:21  But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
Act 27:22  And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
Act 27:23  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
Act 27:24  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

This second appearing simply confirmed the words of the first, and both came in a very timely manner when it appeared that “all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.”

Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Act 26:19  Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
Act 26:20  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Paul just told us that he preached the gospel “throughout all the coast of Judea” before he went to the Gentiles. That is apparently what he was doing for many years from his home base of Tarsus, before Barnabas went to Tarsus to recruit Paul to help with the growth in the church at Antioch in Syria.

All we are specifically told here in the book of Acts is that Paul was sent to Tarsus from Jerusalem when the Lord revealed to him that the Jews of Jerusalem would reject his words and were plotting to kill him.

Act 9:26  And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
Act 9:27  But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
Act 9:28  And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.
Act 9:29  And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.
Act 9:30  Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

In the first chapter of Galatians Paul informs us the time he spent in Jerusalem was a mere “fifteen days” and that he met none of the apostles other than Peter and James the Lord’s brother.

Gal 1:18  Then after three years [at Damascus] I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gal 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

In Acts 22 Paul lets us know exactly what caused him to flee from Jerusalem when he first went there from Damascus:

Act 22:17  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Act 22:18  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

So  it is only here in this 20^th verse that Paul tells us he did indeed preach the gospel “throughout all the coasts of Judaea, [“to the Jew first” (Rom 1:16, Rom 2:10)] then to the Gentiles” (Act 26:20).

Act 26:21  For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.
Act 26:22  Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
Act 26:23  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people [Jews], and to the Gentiles.
Act 26:24  And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

Festus is a Roman, and as such was not impressed with Paul’s experience or his message which didn’t even mention Caesar or the Roman Empire. The doctrine of a resurrection from the dead and a man who had actually conquered death did not impress Festus. Now he is hearing the Truth for the first time, and it is overwhelming to him. Paul reassures him that he is sane and of a sound mind, and to prove it he puts the Jewish King Agrippa on the spot knowing that it was King Agrippa’s father who had also engaged in fighting against Christ just as Paul had when he was still known as Saul of Tarsus. Paul realizes that it was only the sovereign hand of God that kept him from being eaten of worms like King Agrippa’s father, King Herod. It was about 17 years after Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus that Paul and Barnabas had been sent to Jerusalem with a gift from the Gentiles in Antioch, when Agrippa’s father, King Herod had killed James, the brother of John, and had taken Peter also, intending to kill him after the Passover. Peter was miraculously delivered from a guard of “four quaternions of soldiers.” The holy spirit put the whole prison to sleep while an angel woke Peter out of “sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison.” This all took place while Paul and Barnabas were right there in Jerusalem, which Paul tells us was 14 years after he had returned to Jerusalem from his conversion at Damascus where he had spent the first three years of his ministry preaching the gospel in the synagogues of Damascus immediately following his conversion. After witnessing the death of James and the deliverance of Peter, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and were shortly sent out together to spread the gospel on Paul’s first missionary journey, during which his name was changed from Saul to Paul.

Paul knows that King Agrippa is very aware of the veracity of everything Paul is saying, and Paul’s answer to Festus is to appeal to King Agrippa’s integrity and the fact that the whole of Jerusalem was aware that Peter had miraculously been delivered out of his father’s Herod’s prison and then shortly afterwards had been “eat of worms” right here in Caesarea:

Act 12:18  Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.
Act 12:19  And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.
Act 12:20  And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country.
Act 12:21  And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
Act 12:22  And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
Act 12:23  And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

Act 26:25  But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
Act 26:26  For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.

Indeed King Agrippa “knew of these things” and indeed everyone at Jerusalem had heard how Peter was miraculously delivered out of Herod’s prison. There was a lot of weight to Paul’s statement… “For this thing was not done in a corner”, and there was no way King Agrippa could deny it.

Act 26:27  King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
Act 26:28  Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
Act 26:29  And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
Act 26:30  And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
Act 26:31  And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
Act 26:32  Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

Everything that happened to Agrippa’s father, King Herod the fourth, happened at the Passover, and it was known to all the Jews in Jerusalem that King Herod had killed James the brother of John. Everyone also knew that King Herod had imprisoned Peter, and Peter had been delivered from King Herod’s prison with no one even accusing anyone of an insurrection or a jailbreak. It was all very humiliating for King Herod, and then shortly thereafter he was eaten by worms and died. King Agrippa could not deny anything Paul had said. The truth is its own defense.

Next week, we will follow Paul on his long and very trying journey to Rome. There will be many lessons for us along the way.