Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, has been relatively thorough in describing the life of the Apostle Paul.
There are probably several reasons for this:
Or he may have realized that the man about whom he was writing was one of the great men of his generation, and he deserved to have his biography passed on to the rest of us.
He may have been like Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes.
Or Luke may have thought about Paul’s importance in the evangelization of the Western World.
But more importantly than these, this holy man of God was moved by the Holy Spirit to write these things.
And that means that when you think that there is repetition, that repetition was ordained by the Lord.
It’s not our privilege to complain about it or ignore it.
It’s our responsibility to look at that subject a second, third or fourth time, because obviously the Lord has something more for us.
Luke has given us rough accounts of several of the trials to which Paul was subjected.
Since the charges were much the same in each one, we aren’t surprised that his defense was much the same as well.
When he stood before Felix in Acts 24 he said,
And have HOPE TOWARD GOD, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”
But here it is once again, in a slightly different form.
And for this reason I want us to look at it briefly once again.
On this occasion, Paul emphasized that he was actually on trial because of his hope in God.
Do you suppose that WE will ever be tried for our hope? Should we be tried for our hope?
Are you sure that you understand exactly what your hope ought to be?
These things warrant a second look.
He simply says, “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.”
You’ll notice that the word “promise” is in italics, telling us that it isn’t in the original language.
So the verse could read: “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: Unto which HOPE our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.”
Or it could simply read, “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.”
Our translators used the word “promise” because it makes an accurate comment about that hope.
The hope to which the Jews hoped and that for which Paul was being judged, was a promise of God.
And as Paul tells us later in one of his letters, this “hope of eternal life” was something which “God, THAT CANNOT LIE, promised before the world began.”
Tying these things together we need to realize that this hope is not an uncertain wish, but something guaranteed by God, but which has not yet been received.
There is an interesting play on words here in these verses.
Luke compares the ACT of hoping and the OBJECT for which was hoped.
“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.”
The twelve tribes were hoping for the promise to come; for which promise Paul was being judged.
And that was basically his defense.
Paul was saying that he was on trial for something which Israel had been expecting since the days of Abraham and Jacob.
By the way, isn’t it interesting that Paul called Israel – “the twelve tribes”?
That hope – which is OUR hope, even though we are not of physical children of Israel – can be understood from three different points of view.
One is our PHYSICAL RESURRECTION from the dead.
In the same breath that Paul said, “For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews,” he said, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?”
Agrippa, it appears, leaned toward the liberal, Sadducean interpretation of the Scriptures.
As we have seen, those people denied nearly everything spiritual and eternal.
And so they denied that there is such a thing as a resurrection from the dead.
They followed the outward rites and ceremonies of Israel in order obtain God’s best earthly gifts.
But if by ignoring or bending God’s law, they were made happy, they bent them into pretzels.
And as far as they were concerned, when they died, they were dead – finished – done.
The Sadducean way of life is essentially the way that most of the people of the world live today.
The second aspect, or the second way to think about this hope is as SALVATION FROM SIN.
Just like Christians today, the saints of the Old Testament had a hope of righteousness, and a hope not only forgiveness of sin, but of deliverance from sin.
And that is the reason that they were looking for the Messiah.
Two of those Old Testament saints are described in New Testament.
Luke 2:25 says, “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
But this hope is not confined to Christ’s incarnation – His first coming.
In Jesus’ incarnation, when He first came in human form, it was to provide us with salvation.
But that salvation will never really be complete until it is joined with glorification.
And for this Christ Jesus must come a second time with power and great glory.
The hope of the Saint, whether in the Old Testament, New Testament or subsequent to the days of the Bible…
The hope of the Saint comes in three major segments:
The return of the Lord Jesus in glory.
And either the translation of the saints or the resurrection of the saints to be glorified with Him.
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope, AND the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
This is the hope for which we are in anxious anticipation.
As it is with many theologians yet today, sometimes it is hard for people to realize that it was not necessary for the Lord to accomplish every aspect of His purpose all at once.
When Christ came in such a humble fashion, born in a Bethlehem stable and craddled in an animal’s food trough,
They turned their eyes away very much disappointed.
And when he died without the fulfilment of all their hopes, they threw his name into their mental garbage cans.
And Paul had been one of those people.
But the Lord revealed Himself to that man, as he was continuing his persecution against the early believers.
By the grace of God, Paul was instantly made aware of his total ignorance of the mysteries of God.
In an instant, he came to understand that the One Whom he had been persecuting really was the Messiah and that through him is the forgiveness of sin and the fulfilment of all of Israel’s hopes.
Others had seen that earlier, and just outside of Damascus Paul came to learn that as well.
And as he took up the microphone and began proclaiming Jesus’ Deity, Messiahship and resurrection, Paul became the object of the prejudice, persecution and paranoia of the Jewish unbelievers.
Throughout the Old Testament they had been waiting for the Messiah, just as he had been doing.
But then when he realized that the Messiah had come, unlike most of Israel, he embraced him.
After Christ was crucified and many of his early followers felt that they had been mislead, Paul realized that they were wrong.
“Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?”
Not only had many others been raised from the dead, but Jesus of Nazareth was raised as well.
But His resurrection was different from all the others.
He was “DECLARED to be THE SON OF GOD with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
If it had been available to him, or if he had remembered if he heard it from Peter’s lips, he might have quoted that other apostle:
“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Paul’s defense was that he was no different from Abraham or David, except that he had seen with his eyes the resurrected Christ and they died only seeing Him by faith.
“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
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.”
When Paul was describing the condition of the believers in Ephesus prior to their salvation, he said,
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
They were hopelessly doomed to an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
But now in Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the Hope of Israel and sinners in every nation, those people were made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and through him those believers were brought nigh unto God.
This is what our hope is all about.
This is what salvation is all about.
Our salvation is all about the hope.
My question to you this morning is this: do you possess the hope, or are you merely hoping?
Is the resurrected Christ, your Lord and your Saviour, or are you hoping against hope to make it to Heaven?
As the Apostle John wrote: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Do YOU have that assurance?