Acts 25. 23 - The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Good Day!

Well, we've seen Paul brought before immoral men for judgment, but these two are the creme de la creme of immoral yahoos. Let me explain. King Agrippa II was the Herod of the day--great grandson of the one who had feared the birth of Christ so much that he ordered the murder of baby boys in and around Bethlehem Through these Herods, John-the-Baptisti and James (the brother of our Lord, and the leader of the Jerusalem church), were executed. Agrippa and Bernice were brother and sister, living incestuously together (s-i-c-k!). But somehow Rome viewed Agrippa as an expert on the Jewish religion. That might be like Elton John being the voice and authority of Christians.

So Agrippa and Bernice come in with great pomp and pageantry, regaled in robes of red and purple. With many eyes watching, it is clear neither 'class' nor 'understated' would ever be attached to their names. In contrast, Paul was shackled, and humble in dress, as he was brought before all the gathered officials. Governor Festus was happy to have Agrippa and Bernice weigh in on Paul's fate, as he found no fault in Paul. ('Sounds like Pilate about Jesus) Paul was just looking for action after sitting in prison for two years with no actual charges, conviction, or sentencing. Crazy.

Agrippa asks Paul what he has to say for himself. . . and of course, Paul is ready. always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. 1 Peter 3.15

Paul launches into a speech that sounds much more like a realized opportunity to share his conversion story, than it does a defense.

Acts 26.2-29 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Acts%2026.2-29&version=31&interface=print

Paul outlines his Jewish faith, practiced as a Pharisee, and refers to 'his hope in what God had promised to our fathers'--and asks the rhetorical question, 'who can find it incredible that God raises the dead?' It is a masterful treatise of his faith journey, including his persecution of Christians; but then he shows how it all changed radically one day on the Damascus Road when Jesus stopped him in his tracks. [His is a story he never grew weary of telling--you can tell Paul's transformation meant everything to him.] He describes Jesus' visit as a vision from Heaven, and says to Agrippa, "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven." His calling was to go to the Jews, then the Gentiles. Well, they all seemed to be listening well, nodding their heads, until Paul referred to Jesus being the first to rise from the dead; oh my goodness, Festus came out of his chair, shouting at Paul that he was a crazy man! Undaunted, Paul assures him politely that the words about Jesus were true and also reasonable. Bottom line--they could not find guilty of anything that deserved death of imprisonment.

As citizens, we have civil authority, including the law of the land to which we submit. This trial of Paul's took place right after Paul had written his letter to the church at Rome, when he said, "Everyone must sbmit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established The authorities that exist have been established by God."? [The exception is when civil authority breaks the law of God--see Acts 4.19; 5.29] Beyond that, many of us have bosses to whom we answer.

But let me ask you a personal question: Who is your judge? Who have you set up to be or just allowed to be your judge. . . your jury? While we are called to live in submission to one another in love, we have only one judge. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."? Yet, we let others call our cadence. Right now, some of you are saying, 'I don't think I have a judge, or else maybe I don't know what she is getting at.' Let me illustrate-- if you walk with God, you have a purpose and a calling that is unique to you. . . what is yours? In the last 12 or 13 years, I have endeavored to 'walk out my calling' as best I knew how. . . and so, God has continually opened one door after another for me to walk through. That said, there are nay-sayers along my path. There are those who scoff at my ministry calling, (going so far as to say I have a Messiah complex. . . nice), thinking my time could be a lot more productive--that this writing is of little consequence. . . I could go on. But what I have asked myself is, 'whose voice will I heed?' Will I listen to the One who called me, and ordered my steps, or will I be dissuaded or pulled away because of voices that matter to me, but who doubt what I do, or its value? Oh, you see, I can hear those voices, maybe take them into consideration, but they must not deter me from the voice of the One who called me. He alone judges my heart and actions. I want to be able to say to the Lord one day what Paul said, "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. I did what You called me to do--things I could only do because You were in them. . ." I must decided that I will only play to an AUDIENCE OF ONE. Well, heck--here is one of the most beautiful, profound songs ever produced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt0QWvBJE2Y&feature=related "Audience of One" by Big Daddy Weave.

So yeah, Paul had a number of judges in earthly courtrooms, but he lived his life to answer to only one Judge--Jesus Christ. That's what I'm talking about. And you?

Christine