The apostle Paul had the opportunity to stand before powerful men and proclaim the precious message of Jesus Christ. In Acts 26, after being imprisoned in Caesarea for more than two years and preaching to two governors, Paul was brought before King Agrippa II (cf. Acts 9:15). Paul presented his early life (26:4-8), his zeal as a persecutor (26:9-11), his encounter with Jesus and call to preach (26:12-18).
Imagine being Saul of Tarsus, a faithful and zealous Jew, and you are sent out to preach by Jesus Himself. Jesus said, “I now send you” to “the Jewish people” and “the Gentiles” (26:17). When you go to these lost individuals (esp. the Gentiles, Acts 9:15; Rom. 13:11), you are going, Jesus said, “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (26:18). If you hated the Gentiles (and they hated you), can you imagine being called to preach to them and convert them, so that they could be saved?
Notice carefully Paul’s response. He told Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first” to the Jews, “and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (26:19-20). The very people to whom Jesus sent Paul are the very people to whom he preached. The very message that Jesus told Paul to preach is the exact message he preached.
Can you imagine how challenging that must have been for Paul? He wasn’t a robot. He had emotions, too. But the text says that he “kept” on and on and on (the emphasis of the Greek imperfect tense) “declaring” (NASB) that the people must stop doing wrong and turn to God. The message was not only challenging to Paul himself, it was highly unpopular among the people. The Jews “seized” Paul and “tried to kill” him (26:21).
But Paul did not compromise his message. He did not water it down to be more pleasing and acceptable. He did not change it one iota. He took a firm “stand,” testifying “both to small and great, saying no other things than those which” Scripture foretold and affirmed (26:22). He preached “Christ” (26:23)!
How do we compare? We have been sent to people we don’t know and may not like. Have we gone…without exception? We have been sent with a message that is challenging and unpopular. Have we spoken it…without compromise? The secret to Paul’s determination and success is tucked into verse 22—“To this day I have had the help that comes from God” (ESV). So do we! Do we trust God? Do we realize how much we need Him…and how much He will do to help us?