Tag: We are Empowered to Proclaim Christ - Acts 25-26

Acts 26:19-23

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Tag:  We are Empowered to Proclaim Christ

In the above passage we are dropped right at the end of Paul’s defense before the Roman leader, Fetus and, the more knowledgeable in Jewish teachings, King Agrippa.   Paul was given a chance to, once again, defend himself against the Jewish leaders who had come from Jerusalem; accusing him of violating the Law and being blasphemous to God.   Paul makes a valiant defense and is bold in his proclamation of the Gospel.  Paul is, a great logical debater.   He can lay is argument down better than most.  (Perhaps on a side note, Paul’s many, many “opportunities” to defend himself might be why he was SO good at laying out an argument.   God was using these “opportunities” to hone his craft - a craft Paul would use to write great books like Galatians and Romans.)  How was Paul able to be so bold.  We read earlier this argument was not done in a backroom some place:

Acts 25:23

So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

What we read in our story is that Paul was empowered by God do proclaim the gospel:

Acts 26:22

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:

We can ask God for many things.  But, one of the things we ought never worry to ask for, knowing we will receive, is the power from God to proclaim the Gospel.  For this reason we have been saved and sent.  God empowers us to be bold at the darkest hours.  We have but to trust in that empowerment.