King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Chapters: ACTS 26-28
Study: Do Not Frustrate Grace
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
This popped up this morning, [I am crucified with Christ:] which prompted me to go to the Scripture, and read one of my favorite passages in the Bible, [Galatians 2:20-21 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.]
I will tell you this, we who live our lives through our faith in Christ really are like sheep headed straight for the slaughter, pretty much every day from the day we get saved, but is not us that keeps us getting back up every single day, it is Jesus. As we were reminded in yesterday’s reading that we are a living testimony of Christ living inside of us because we are not ashamed to proclaim our faith in Christ, today we are reminded of why that faith pays off. As we complete the reading of Acts, Paul, now stands before king Agrippa as well as Festus.
[Acts 26:2–6,8 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: 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. 4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: 8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?]
[Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs] Our greatest defense is in our preparing ourselves for the battle is first getting to know our opposition. Once we know who they are and what they are all about, then we can properly plead our cause. Jesus, said this, [Luke 14:28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.]
[Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you,] If we learn anything from Paul, it is that Jesus will convert the vilest of sinners, even those whom have persecuted His people and will use them as living testimonies. This is why I have a hard time giving up on people who are not living quite right for God, if God can convert me, the one who forsook religion because it was just too demanding and I would end up in hell anyway, and turn me into a new creature for God’s use, then He can do it to anyone. With man it certainly is impossible, but with God, all things are possible, [Matthew 19:23-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.]
If we sincerely love God, and want Him in our lives, we will come to the knowledge of the Gospel when we are ready to receive Him, and that is when Jesus will reveal Himself to us and make a honorable testimony out of us. As Paul continues to speak, he recalls the day that Jesus met with him as he set out to capture Christians to be persecuted, and told him that He was going to use him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.
[Acts 26:13-18 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. 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. 15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 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; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 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.]
[To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,] I am not going to lie, it breaks my heart every time I have faith in a person or family turning their lives around for God through my faith, and it does not seem to work. There are a few people at work that I talk to who are hung up on religion, and I swear, every time I start to point them in the right direction, a call comes in or something happens that I get hindered. Religion, is actually what Satan uses to keep us from teaching the truth of the Gospel. Praise God, that He saw something in me that, like Paul, He turned me away from religion and to the truth. Remember, we are living testimonies of what Christ has done in our lives since we received Him as our Saviour. We can do nothing, but tell the world what He has done for and through us. Now, does that mean that everyone else will listen? That would be a big NO. And as Paul continues to give his testimony we understand why.
[Acts 26:22-25,28-29,32 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: 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. 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. 25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. 28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. 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. 32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.]
[much learning doth make thee mad.] Well, Festus, was right to some extent, too much leaning does make people do some crazy things. If I ever saw the day that I would see drag queens in the White House as the president just threw away the rights of those who believe in traditional marriage, that is the day that much learning makes this nation mad. Let me tell you, there is nothing more sobering than to realize that you are a sinner and bound for hell. Even if you do not understand the resurrection, knowing that Jesus died a painful death for you ought to send off the bells and whistles that without Him you will be in hell. God, is not the author of confusion, He makes everything simple and transparent, and always has been that way. Even those who lived by faith before Christ’s passion understood that it did not matter how many sacrifices they gave, salvation came by grace through their faith in the LORD alone, [Psalms 51:16-17 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.]
[Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.] Way too many people believe in what Jesus did, but think that they can either put it off until they are ready or have to do all these other things to get saved. Well, almost does not save a lost soul, bound for hell. The Gospel is simple, admit that you are a sinner, believe in the sinless death, burial, and resurrection of the only begotten Son of God, confess that you need Jesus to save you. It is that simple, and there is noting maddening about believing that Jesus died two thousand years ago to save all who believe in Him, what is maddening is believing that you need to do all these things in order to be saved, [Romans 10:12-13 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]
[This man might have been set at liberty,] Something happens when we become a witness, we find ourselves being directed by the Holy Spirit when and where to preach the Gospel. And let me tell you, He can teach us how to reach someone wherever we are. While Paul thought he was to die in Jerusalem, Jesus told him that he must go to Rome and preach the Gospel there, and while I am sure that God never intended for Paul to go there as a prisoner, king Agrippa, who was ready to release him, granted his wish to appeal to Caesar and was now on a prison ship with two hundred seventy-six men headed for Rome.
[Acts 27:1-3,6,9-10 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. 6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. 9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, 10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.]
[and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.] Notice how even though Paul was as a prisoner, he still had some freedom. I will tell you this, the world will listen to us to some extent, but when it comes to accepting the fact that their souls are in danger they will not. There is something that we may not realize when we are reading the Book of Acts, this is Luke writing it, so, he has been on this journey with Paul also. That means that when Paul was on the prison ship bound for Italy, he was there with him. However, the man did not listen to Paul and proceeded anyway, endangering all of their lives when a hurricane brewed.
[Acts 27:14-15,18-20 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; 19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 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.]
[all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.] There is only one word to describe these people, fools. I have to tell you, I have this bad habit in that if I see someone driving idiotic, I scream out, “Idiot!” Well, one of my nephews heard me and said, “What a bummer!” That got me thinking that perhaps instead of saying, “Idiot!”, I need to say, “Bummer!” Well, I have been doing that and laughing at myself too, but it does sound a lot better. To those who refuse to listen to us, there is no hope, and well, they are big bummers to think that they can save themselves. Nevertheless Paul, has some good news for them.
[Acts 27:21-25 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. 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. 23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.]
[for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.] I tell you what, we who live by our faith in Christ might have our ups and downs in how much faith we have, when it all comes down to the wire, our faith is solely in what God has told us. And this is exactly why we are saved by grace, we do not always need a lot of faith, remember, we can move mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed, we just need that faith to endure, [Matthew 24:12-13 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.]
Paul, was still on the ship, he just watched them in silence while they were in their panic. God, used this opportunity to show Christ to the men on the ship as they were in the midst of a hurricane for fourteen days. Paul ensures the men that God is with them and that they would survive as long as they stayed on the ship.
[Acts 27:27,30-31,33-36 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; 30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. 33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. 35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.]
[Then were they all of good cheer,] Just like when the flood came and only those who were on the Ark we saved, Jesus is the ship that we must be on in order to be saved. If we do not abide in the ship we cannot be saved, and sadly, many do jump off, but those who endure until they breathe their last breath will be saved. Well, the men listened and remained on the ship, they took up the anchors and let the storm guide the ship.
[Acts 27:37,40-44 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. 40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. 41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. 42 And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. 43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: 44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.]
[they committed themselves unto the sea,] This is what we need Jesus to do at all times, when we remove the anchors that we are holding on to and commit ourselves to Him, He will lead us safely to dry land, even if the ship breaks apart, [1 Corinthians 3:14-15 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.]
Even stormy winds fulfill God’s purpose, here we have him in an island to which, in all probability, he had never come if he had not been thrown upon it by a storm. Paul, and the rest of the crew, getting safely ashore, find that they are on island called Melita. This tiny little island is about twelve miles broad, twenty miles long, and sixty sixty miles from Sicily to the south. It yields an abundance of honey, with much cotton, and is very fruitful, although it has only three feet depth of earth above the solid rock. They are received with great hospitality by the inhabitants when all of a sudden a viper comes out of the bundle of sticks, and grabs on to Paul’s hand.
[Acts 28:2–6 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.]
[No doubt this man is a murderer,] The first thing people think of when something bad happens after we have endured a storm is that we clearly must have done something wrong. And we do not need people to put that question in our heads, we are very good of it ourselves. That is when God reminds us and them that we belong to Jesus, we are not perfect, and even if we did die from some fluke accident, we will still be safe in God’s hands, [2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.]
Paul, never lost his faith in God being right there with him, he witnessed the Gospel to anyone the Holy Spirit led him to no matter what he was going through. One of the main reasons why God allows tragedy in our lives is to lead others to Him, others that may have never known Him had we not gone through that storm. Paul finally arrived in Rome, and something strange happened.
[Acts 28:16-20 And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. 17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. 19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. 20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.]
[because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.] Paul, had a great burden to see the Jews get saved, and that was the chain that he kept with him until he was executed. Did you notice that the people did not even know that Paul was being sent there to appeal to Caesar? As much as we think that everyone is against us that is not true, and there are plenty of people who want to hear the Gospel. Not everyone is going to listen and get saved, in fact, most will not, but the important thing is that we keep preaching the Gospel wherever we are led. In fact, Paul remained a prisoner in Rome for two years.
[Acts 28:23,25-26,28,30-31 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.]
[Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias] While Paul had a good testimony to give on how he got saved, he also knew Scripture and that helped him be able to minister to more people. We do not need to know every line of Scripture to lead someone to Christ, we just need to tell our story, [2 Corinthians 1:5-7 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for saving my life, You did the hard part when You died on the cross for me, my part was easy, all I had to do was believe in You. Thank You for seeing something in me that I never saw in myself, You have a purpose for me, and for that I am forever thankful, grateful, and humble as I know I am who I am because of what You have done in my life. Lord, forgive me for my lack of faith through my own storms, I know that You love me, and have a purpose for what I am going through. Give me Your power and strength to stay in the ship, moving slow and steady by faith, even if it is only the size of a mustard seed at times. Lift up my spirits, restore unto me the joy of my salvation, so that I may be of good cheer, and become a further witness wherever you send me. Help me to remove all the obstacles that keep me from hearing You, and let me not fear what man can do to me, but trust what You have done for me. I pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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