Life Sketches

Life Sketches – Heaven-born Peace

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Often people wonder why bad things happen to good people and why God has allowed millions of His faithful followers to be martyred by governments or various religious groups over the years.

Just before Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said to His disciples, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master’ (John 13:16). If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (John 15:18–21).

People who do not understand God, have a problem believing the one who comes to them with a message from God. When that message is diametrically opposed to the way they are used to living, they object to having their sins reproved. Just a few days before the crucifixion, Jesus again warned His disciples that they would be persecuted and delivered up to the synagogues and prisons. Although they would be brought before kings and rulers for His name’s sake, it would be an occasion for a testimony. They need not worry beforehand how to answer the charges, because they would be given an answer at that time which their adversaries would not be able to contradict or resist. They would even be betrayed by their family members and some of them would even be put to death. (See Luke 21:12–16.)

This prophecy by Jesus was fulfilled in a marked manner. In fact, there were multiple attempts to kill all the apostles, and all but John met with violent deaths. Because God had more work for John to do, he was miraculously delivered from a violent attempt on his life.

After the resurrection, Jesus predicted that Peter would glorify God by dying a martyr’s death. Notice what He said in John 21:18, 19: “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.’ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ ”

That prediction was fulfilled right to the letter. When Peter was old, he and the apostle Paul both yielded up their lives as martyrs for Christ in the city of Rome, as seed for a vast harvest of millions of saints and martyrs since that time. About the time of Paul’s second arrest in Rome, Peter was also apprehended and thrust into prison. Peter had made himself especially obnoxious to Nero because he had had great success in exposing the deceptions and defeating the plots of Simon Magus, the sorcerer who had followed him to Rome to oppose and hinder the work of the gospel.

Nero was a believer in magic, and therefore he was greatly incensed against the apostle and was prompted to order his arrest. The emperor’s malice against Paul was also heightened by the fact that there were members of the imperial household, Caesar’s household, as well as other persons of distinction who had become Christians in the city of Rome as a result of Paul’s being a prisoner there for two years prior to his arrest.

Because of his malice, Nero decided to cut Paul’s life short as soon as he could find a plausible pretext for so doing. Nero’s mind had been so impressed by the force of the apostle’s words at his last trial that he deferred making a decision in the case. Paul was neither acquitted nor condemned. However, the sentence was only deferred, and it was not long before a decision was reached and pronounced that consigned the apostle to a martyr’s grave. Being a Roman citizen, he could not be subjected to torture. Therefore, he was sentenced to be beheaded.

Peter, being a Jew and a foreigner and not a Roman citizen, was condemned to be scourged and crucified. In prospect of this fearful death, the apostle remembered his great sin when he had denied Jesus during the time of His trial. His only thought was how unworthy he was to be put to death in the same manner as was his Master. Peter had sincerely repented of his sin and had been given a high commission by the Lord, but he could never forgive himself.

The two apostles, Paul and Peter, had been separated for many years in their labors because of their different commissions. Peter’s commission was to preach the gospel especially to the Jews. Paul had been commissioned to preach the gospel especially to the Gentiles. But the time and place of their martyrdom was similar, both in the region of Rome. Peter entreated his executioners as a last favor that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward. His request was granted and, in this manner, died the great apostle Peter.

Paul was led in a private manner to the place of his execution. His persecutors were alarmed at the extent of his influence and were afraid that converts might be won to Christianity even by the scenes of his death. Few spectators were allowed to be present. But even the hardened soldiers, who attended him and listened to his words saw with amazement that he was cheerful, and even joyous, at the prospect of such a death. His spirit of forgiveness toward his murderers and his unwavering confidence in Christ right up to the end, proved a fragrance of life unto life to some who witnessed his martyrdom.

More than one person erelong accepted Christ due to Paul’s witness. To the latest hour of his life, Paul demonstrated the truth of what he had written to the Corinthian church. It says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels [that is, the gospel] that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18).

In his life, Paul demonstrated the truth of which he spoke and wrote, which gave such convincing power to his preaching and to his deportment. The prophet Isaiah said, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

Paul experienced heaven-born, heaven-generated peace. It was written on his countenance, and responsible for winning so many souls to the gospel. Paul had what so many desired and did not have.

As Paul walked toward the place of his execution, he did not see the glimmering sword that was so soon to make him a martyr, nor did he see his executioner. Rather, his mind was in a conversation with the Eternal, saying, “O, Lord, You are my comfort, and You are my portion. When will I embrace you? When will I see You for myself with no dimming veil between?” Since his conversion, Paul had carried with him the very atmosphere of heaven. Everyone who had associated with him had seen this. They had felt the influence of his connection with Christ and the companionship of angels. “The unstudied, unconscious influence of a holy life is the most convincing sermon that can be given in favor of Christianity.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 331. Allowing yourself to get into an argument may simply provoke opposition, but a godly example has a power that is impossible to completely resist.

Paul lost sight of his own sufferings, but he was concerned about his associates that were with him. He knew that in a few minutes he would be leaving them to cope with prejudice, and hatred, and persecution; so he endeavored to strengthen and encourage the few Christians who had accompanied him to the place of his execution. He repeated to them the exceeding precious promises given to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. He assured them that nothing would fail of all that the Lord had spoken concerning His tried and faithful ones. He assured them as he wrote to Timothy, “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Christians might be oppressed for a little season with heaviness because of manifold trials and temptations. They may be destitute of earthly comfort, but they can encourage their hearts by those words. That day will come, the glad morning of peace. The perfect day will come. Paul declared to his brethren that it had not appeared to those who lived in the times of the Old Testament, the great and good things that were going to be given to those who believed in Jesus. Those who lived in Old Testament times desired, he said, to see the things that we see, and to hear the things which we hear. But they died without the sight or the knowledge. The greater light which we have received since Christ has come has made us more accountable because we know more.

Jesus said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches” (Luke 16:10, 11)? Again in Luke 12:47, 48, Jesus said, “That servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

Christians can behold the ladder that Jacob saw, the ladder that stretches from earth to heaven. That ladder represents Jesus Christ, who connected this earth with the infinite resources of heaven. Paul, looking toward the future, saw that there would be men and women in future ages who would not consider or hold their lives dear to themselves, but they would hold aloft the banner of the cross amid the dark mazes of infidelity. He heard in his mind these witnesses to Jesus as the Son of the Most High God, the Saviour of the world. He heard the martyrs’ shout of triumph, their fearless testimony for the faith that they know is true. It fell upon his ear from the rack, the torture chamber, the stake, the dungeon, from the dens and caves of the earth where, as he wrote, “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:37, 38).

With a continually increasing assurance, he heard the Christian of future ages saying, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” He knew that for him there awaited a crown of life. He knew the promise that Jesus gave in John 6:40 where He said to the Jews, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The Jews wanted deliverance from the Romans. They wanted a Messiah that would set up a temporal kingdom in this world. When Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king, the Jews interjected, “This man is against Caesar because He calls Himself a king.” And Pilate said to Him, “Are you a king” (John 18:37, first part)? And Jesus said, “You say rightly that I am a king.” But “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (verses 37, last part, 36).

The kingdom that the Lord came to set up is a kingdom of righteousness. It is a kingdom that is established in the heart. Until the heart is cured from the leprosy of sin, no person can be given the gift of eternal life. For this reason, Jesus said to the Jews, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21).

The kingdom of God is within you; it has to do with a change in heart, a change in spirit that is worked out by the Holy Spirit. The kingdom that Jesus came to establish was not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom, one of righteousness.

Revelation 11:15 says, “The seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ ” The time is coming when the nations of this world will all come to an end and Christ will establish a kingdom that will last forever (Daniel 2; Revelation 11). That was the kingdom that the apostle Paul was looking forward to. He was looking forward to that time when the Lord would come and he would be given a crown of life. He would be resurrected. Therefore he wasn’t afraid to die; he knew that death was just a moment of silence and darkness until his Lord would return and take him and all the other saints out of this world.  He says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6–8).

It has been almost 20 centuries since Paul, the aged, poured out his blood as a witness for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. No faithful hand recorded for the generations to come the last scenes in the life of this holy man, but inspiration has preserved his dying testimony. Like a trumpet peal his voice has rung out through the ages, nerving with his own courage thousands of faithful witnesses for Christ, and awakening in thousands of sorrow-stricken hearts the echo of his own triumphant joy.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – The True Gospel

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So many people seem to be satisfied with what this world has to offer until something catastrophic happens to them or their loved ones. They cannot endure to know the truth about the controversy between good and evil that is raging behind the scenes, so they usually turn away with disdain and often anger from anyone who dares to speak about it. There has never been a time in history when the situation was different.

From the judgment hall of the Roman Caesar, Paul was returned again to the Mamertine Prison, knowing that he had gained for himself only a brief respite. He knew that his enemies would not rest until they had secured his death, but he knew also that the truth had triumphed for the time. He was content in the very fact that he had proclaimed a crucified and risen Saviour before that vast throng who had listened to his words. That, in itself, was a victory for the gospel.

A work had begun that day which would increase and prosper and which the emperor of Rome, with all of his pomp and power, would seek in vain to destroy or hinder. The apostle’s speech had gained for him many friends and he was visited by some persons of rank. There were some people who accepted the gospel that day as a result of his speech. But there was one friend that the apostle Paul wanted to see more than anybody else during these final days of his life, and that friend was Timothy. To Timothy had been committed the care of the church at Ephesus, and because of this he had not been with Paul when Paul had made his final voyage to Rome.

There was great affection between this youthful laborer and the apostle Paul. Timothy’s conversion had occurred earlier through the labors of the apostle Paul, and the apostle decided that he was going to write a letter to Timothy and ask him to come as soon as possible to Rome.

Paul said to be diligent in coming quickly and not delay. However, in case Timothy did not arrive in time, the apostle decided that he must not delay writing his dying testimony which is recorded in 2 Timothy 4:6–8.

He says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all those who have loved His appearing.”

In addition to his dying testimony, Paul desired one last time to counsel this young minister and give him the charge that is still repeated today when ministers are ordained in Christian churches. That charge is found in 2 Timothy 4:1–5. It says, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Paul predicted that the time would come when Christians will not endure the truth, sound doctrine, and they would get for themselves teachers who would turn away their ears from the truth and be turned aside to fables. It is the duty of a Christian minister to hate and reprove sin and at the same time to manifest pity and tenderness for the sinner. That is a difficult attainment.

While we must be careful that we do not have undue severity toward a wrong doer, at the same time, we need to understand the exceeding sinfulness of sin. We need to have Christlike patience and love toward the erring, but at the same time there is danger of manifesting so great tolerance for error that eventually the person who is living in sin will consider himself undeserving of reproof and will reject it as an uncalled-for hardness.

We need to be careful that toleration of the sinner does not degenerate into toleration of sin. Godliness leads to brotherly kindness, and those who do not cherish the one will surely lack the other. If a person blunts his moral perceptions so that he becomes sinfully lenient towards those whom God condemns, the time will come when he will commit a greater sin by using severity and harshness toward those whom God commends. Paul says that the time is going to come when Christians will not endure sound doctrine. Here he is not talking about people who are atheists, or agnostics, or openly irreligious; he’s talking about professed Christians who have indulged inclination until they are enslaved by their own ungoverned passions and led away with various kinds of cravings or lusts (see 2 Timothy 3).

In His ten holy precepts, God has given a rule for man’s life, a law in which, Jesus said, not even part of a letter would be changed as long as heaven and earth should last. Jesus said in Luke 16:17, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle [a part of a letter] of the law to fail.” That law is still the Christian believer’s rule of life. That law is still, today, the sinner’s condemnation. That law is that which Isaiah says the Messiah would come to make honorable and magnify, and Jesus did magnify the law. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus showed that the law of God is based on the broad foundation of love to God and love to man. Jesus showed that obedience to the precepts of that law comprises the whole duty of man. In His own life, Jesus gave a perfect example of obedience to the law of God.

Jesus showed that the requirements of the law extend beyond outward acts. The law takes countenance of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:27–30).

God’s law involves not only the actions of the body, but also the thoughts and intents of the heart. Today, we are living in a world where the enemy of all righteousness has taken almost the entire world captive. And he has led those who call themselves Christians to make void the law of God and excuse sin. The popular belief of millions of Christians today is that because we are carnal, we can’t help but sin, so we will sin and confess, sin and confess until Jesus comes.

Paul foresaw that people would turn away from the plain, searching truths of God’s word and that they would have itching ears and heap to themselves teachers that would present to them the fables that they desire, an easier gospel. These teachers would trample under their feet the fourth commandment and end up trampling the whole moral law.

The Creator of the world is insulted by those who claim to be His children while they transgress His law and Satan laughs at the success of his plot against the human race. We are living in a time when there is a growing contempt for God’s holy law. There is an increasing distaste for religion. There is an increase of pride and love of pleasure. Children are disobedient to parents, contrary to the fifth commandment. People are self-indulgent. The thinking people who are watching what is going on in the world are alarmed, asking what can be done to arrest the evils in society.

Paul told Timothy to preach the word whether people will hear or whether they will not, because a transcript of the will of God is contained in the Bible. It reveals the only safe principles of action to reform or to save society. It is an expression of divine wisdom and opens to the reader’s understanding how to solve the great problem of life. Those who listen to it will be directed in the right way.

It is absolute madness and insanity for men to attempt to change or even question that which has come out of the mouth of God. After infinite wisdom has spoken, how could we have any doubtful questions to settle? How can we have any wavering probabilities to adjust if we’re interested in eternal life?  The only thing to do is ask, “What has God said, and how can I obey?” Obedience is the highest dictate of reason as well as of conscience. But there are millions of people today listening to other voices and willing to follow other guides whose messages have been turned unto fables, and they trust them.

Sadly, on that final day, those who have trusted in fables will meet with infinite loss. How is it with you? Is your life being organized and lived according to the word of God, or are you trusting in popular fables? We are living in a time when fatal errors like deadly poison have so tainted the morals of a large part of the human race that they have no certain hope of eternal life. Can you hear the voice of duty?

In his last letter to Timothy in Ephesus, Paul predicted what would happen in the last days of this earth’s history, the time in which we are now living. He said, “Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1–5)!

Paul said there would still be religion and people would have a form of godliness, profess to be Christians and go to church in the end times. Looking at them from the outside, people of the world will believe that they are Christians, but Paul said that while they do seem to have a form of godliness, they deny its power.

What is the power of godliness? Paul explains this clearly in his letter to the Romans. He said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’ ” (Romans 1:16, 17).

If a person is living by faith after receiving the gospel, his life will change. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4). You will know if you are walking according to the flesh or according to the Spirit by the life that you are living. To walk according to the Spirit is to have your life in harmony with the law of God.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal [unconverted] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (verses 5–7). It is impossible for the unconverted person to obey the law of God.

Never argue with somebody who says they cannot obey the law of God, for they are right. But what happens if a person is converted? Paul says, “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (verses 8, 9).

Those who are converted and walk in the Spirit will have the power to obey the law of God. That’s what the new birth is all about and it can happen in your life. (See Romans 8 or Romans 6.)

Paul was concerned that there were people in his day who perverted the gospel. He wrote to the Galatians: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7). And then to the Corinthian church, he wrote, “If he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it” (2 Corinthians 11:4)!

The different gospel is the gospel that allows people to live according to the flesh, and still think that they are going to be saved. He said, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness [licentiousness], idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:17–21).

Those who practice such things, Paul said, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who are living like that are not yet converted and have not been born again and do not display the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, but rather the fruit of the flesh.

O, friend, how is it with you? There are millions of Christians today who have a false hope of salvation. They think that they can live in sin, and as long as they just confess their sins in the moment of their death, somehow everything will turn out all right. This was not the teaching of Jesus or His apostles.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

O, friend, have you been washed? Have you been forgiven for your sins and been justified by the Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you being sanctified and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life so you can be ready to meet the Lord when He comes back to this earth? Don’t accept any other gospel that teaches you that you can live in sin, and yet go to the kingdom of heaven. You must choose to renounce sin in all its forms, repent of it, confess it and forsake it if you want to be in God’s kingdom. Nothing that defiles will be inside the city (Revelation 21:27).

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Convicting Testimony

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What would you expect to happen if those who were guilty were to pass judgment and determine the sentence of the innocent? This is not a foreign occurrence and has happened many times in this world. The Bible records several famous instances of this happening in the life of Jesus and also in the life of Paul.

When Paul was set free after his first imprisonment in Rome, the Jews were still determined to rid themselves of what they considered a nuisance. Everything that they had tried had failed. More than once they had plotted to assassinate him, but their efforts had always come to naught. They had tried to get him convicted in Jerusalem, in Caesarea, and in Rome, and every attempt had failed. However, they never ceased trying to find a way that they could end his life because of their hatred against the gospel of Jesus Christ that he proclaimed wherever he went resulting in many people, both Jews and Gentiles becoming Christians.

The story that he would tell of his encounter with Jesus Christ in person on the Damascus road was convincing. It was an eyewitness testimony backed up by a change in his life that nobody could contradict. Those who did not accept this testimony became furious with rage because of the effect that it was having all over the world and resulted in the Jews’ determination to find some pretext by which they could cause him to be killed.

Rome, at that time, was involved in a terrible fire, for which Nero was blamed. Deciding to clear himself, he caused the Christians to be blamed for instigating the burning of the city. This gave opportunity for the Jews to lay a plot by which the apostle Paul was blamed for instigating the burning of the city of Rome. Again, he was to appear before Nero on trial for his life.

At this time, Paul had the prospect of almost certain death. First because of the aggravated nature of the crime charged against him. Second, because of the prevailing animosity toward the Christians which had resulted from their being blamed for burning the city. Then last, because of the very character of Nero himself, who was attempting to relieve himself of the real blame for the fire for which he certainly was responsible.

It was customary among both the Greeks and the Romans to allow a person in this situation who was accused to have an advocate, an attorney, present his case in a court of justice to plead in his behalf. By force of argument or impassioned eloquence, and appeal, entreaties, or even tears, such an advocate could often secure a reversal of the sentence, or if he failed in that, at least have the sentence mitigated to avoid a severe judgment.

But in this case there was no man who ventured to act as Paul’s counsel or advocate. He had no legal counsel. He had no friend at hand, even to preserve a record of the charges that were leveled against him. There is no written human record of the arguments that he urged in his own defense. Among the Christians who lived in the city of Rome, there was not one who came forward to stand by him at this time.

Down through the centuries, thousands, probably more accurately, millions of Christians have been in similar situations with no legal counsel and all manner of accusations being made against them. There have been many courts in which a person needed to prove their innocence, but how do you prove that the accusations are false? How do you prove your innocence? Now it’s one thing if you are considered innocent until you are proved guilty. It is entirely something else if you are considered guilty unless you can prove your innocence. Even if you are innocent, it may be very difficult to prove it.

However, if you are a Christian and find yourself in a situation like this, you do have Someone who has promised to never leave you or forsake you and to help you. For the apostle Paul, though all humans had forsaken him, he was aware that Somebody had stood by him. Writing to Timothy he said, “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion” (2 Timothy 4:17).

Here we see the faithful apostle standing before Nero with no counsel, no human help, standing all alone accused of an aggravated crime in a pagan court having to defend himself. But, unseen by his accusers, there was One who stood with him and strengthened him that the preaching might be fully known.

Here was Paul standing before Nero. How striking would be the contest and the contrast. Nero was a person who had the very height of earthly power, wealth, and authority and had also participated in the lowest depths of crime and iniquity. This man, Nero, before whom Paul was answering for his faith, stood unrivaled and unapproached in the world. There was no one in this world to question his authority or resist his will. The kings of the earth laid their crowns at his feet. The most powerful armies marched at his command. The ensigns of his navies betokened victory. His statue was set up in courts of justice and the decrees of senators and the decisions of judges were but the echo of his will. Over a hundred million subjects bowed in obedience to his mandates. The name of Nero made the world tremble. To incur his displeasure was to lose property, liberty, and life. His frown was to be dreaded more than the pestilence, and yet while he was surrounded by all this earthly pomp, wealth, and authority, and reverenced as a god in human form, he had the heart of a demon.

Before this man seated on his throne, stood the apostle Paul, a calm, aged prisoner, whose face told of the peace of God that reigned within. He was without money, without friends, without legal counsel, brought from a loathsome dungeon to be tried for his life. The apostle Paul had lived a life of poverty, of self-denial, and of suffering. He had a sensitive nature which thirsted for love and sympathy, but all he had was grave misrepresentation, reproach, hatred, and abuse, like his Master. He had been a homeless wanderer in this world. He had lived and suffered for the truth’s sake. He had sought to relieve the burdens of others around him. He had sought to exemplify the life of Christ in his life. Who can imagine the contrast between these two people, Paul and Nero, face to face, the youthful monarch bearing upon his countenance the shameful record of the passions that surged within?

We see in this picture the result of opposite systems: opposite systems of education, opposite systems of philosophy, opposite systems of training. On one hand you have the life of unbounded self-indulgence, and on the other you have a life of utter self-sacrifice. Here were the representatives of the two religions, Christianity and paganism – the representatives of two theories of life – the simplicity of self-denying endurance, ready to give up life itself if necessary for the good of others, and on the other hand, the luxury of all-absorbing selfishness that counts nothing too valuable to sacrifice for momentary gratification.

Here also were the representatives of two spiritual powers – the ambassador of Christ and the slave of Satan. Their relative positions showed to what extent the course of this world was under the rule of the prince of darkness. The wretch who sat upon the throne, his soul stained with the crime of incest and matricide robed in purple. Before him stood the purest and noblest of human beings, to be judged for his life, a man who is despised, hated, and fettered. Around them was a vast throng gathered to witness the judgment scene. Again, the Jews urge against the prisoner their old charges of sedition against the government and heresy, and both Jews and Romans accuse him of instigating the burning of the city.

While they vehemently urged their accusations, Paul stood there with no shade of fear or anger. The judges beheld this man with surprise. They had been present at many trials and had looked upon many criminals, but never had they seen a man who had such a look of holy calmness as did this prisoner before them. The keen eyes of the judges, accustomed to searching for character in the human face, search the face of Paul for some evidence of crime, but in vain.

Finally, the apostle Paul, after he had received all of the accusations, was allowed to speak for himself.

As he looked, not just at Nero and his accusers, but also at the large crowd of people that had gathered to watch his trial, he decided to lift once more before the wondering multitude, the banner of the cross of Christ. And with more than human eloquence and power, he began to explain to them the truths of the gospel. His words were true, clear, and convincing, overthrowing error and falsehood, and the people in that company had never before heard anything like this.

They had come to hear the utterance of a feeble and aged prisoner, but they heard words that were destined to shake nations.  Paul’s speech on this occasion, was endowed with power that would through all time influence the hearts and lives of men. He later wrote to Timothy, “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear” (2 Timothy 4:17). Paul was stirred with a longing to see these people receive the truth of salvation, and he had an intense desire that they would not perish. He lost sight of the occasion and of the perils that were surrounding him, and of the terrible fate which seemed so near, and he looked to Jesus, his Advocate, his Intercessor in the courts above.

He pled with them and showed them that there was an Advocate that they had at the throne of God and pointed his hearers to the fact that an infinite sacrifice had been made on behalf of the fallen race. He presented before them man in his true dignity and value, because an infinite price had been paid for his redemption. Provision had been made that every human being might finally be exalted to share the throne of God and to become an heir of immortal riches. Not only this, but by angel messengers, earth and heaven were connected, and all the deeds of men, both good and evil, were open before the eye of infinite justice. As he was explaining this to them, there was no trace of fear. There was no sadness or discouragement on his countenance. He was strong in his conscious innocence. He was clothed with the panoply of truth, and rejoiced that he was a son of God. His words were like a shout of victory above the noise of the battle.

He told them that the cause of truth to which he had dedicated his life is the only cause that can never fail. He may perish for the truth’s sake, as would millions of human beings, but the gospel will not perish, because God lives and reigns, and eventually the truth will triumph. As he speaks to them, his countenance is lighted up. They see that he is not afraid of anything, perhaps realizing now that he is on God’s side of the question. Through this trial, the gospel message found its way into minds that had never before heard the truth. Never had Nero listened to any speech like this. Never before had the enormous guilt of his life been revealed to him as it was revealed that day, because the light of heaven pierced the sin polluted chambers of his mind and soul. He was terrified. He quaked with terror at the thought that there was a tribunal before which he, the ruler of the world, should be arraigned, and where his deeds would meet a just reward. He was afraid of the apostle’s God, and he dared not pass a sentence on Paul, against whom no crime, no accusation, had been sustained.

Nero had a sense of awe and as he was thinking about it, heaven opened before his mind, the truth of what the apostle Paul had been saying, and for a moment it seemed that the peace and purity of heaven would be something desirable. That was his moment of mercy. That was the moment, when, if he had made the decision, he could have turned his life around and chosen to repent and confess his sins and follow Jesus.

For a moment, the hope of eternal life was offered to probably the most wicked man in the world at that time, but the offer was only for a moment. Catching his composure, he gave orders for Paul to be returned to his dungeon. When the dungeon door was closed, that was the end of the opportunity for the emperor of Rome to have eternal life. Never again would there be a ray of light or mercy from God that would shine into his darkened soul.

It was not long after this that Nero sailed on his expedition to Greece, and there he disgraced himself and his kingdom by the most contemptible and debasing crimes and frivolity. He returned to Rome with great pomp and engaged in scenes of revolting debauchery, but in the midst of the revelry, a voice was heard out in the streets and a messenger was dispelled to enquire of the matter. The messenger returned with the appalling news that Galba, at the head of an army, was marching rapidly upon Rome. Insurrection had already broken out in the city and the streets were filled with an enraged mob, threatening death to the emperor.

The wretched tyrant, who was just as cowardly as he was cruel, was completely unmanned. He sprang up from the table at which he had been feasting and drinking and overturning it in his blind terror, he sent the costly wares to the floor, dashed to fragments. Like one beside himself, he ran here and there, saying, “I am lost. I am lost.” He did not have, like the faithful Paul, a compassionate God to rely upon in his hour of peril.

He knew that if he was taken prisoner, he would be subjected to torture. So considering how he might end his miserable life with as little pain as possible, he asked for poison. When the poison was brought, he was afraid to take it and called for a sword, but he was also afraid to use it on himself. Then, disguised in women’s clothing, he rushed from the palace and dashed through the dark, narrow streets to the Tiber River. But as he looked into its depths, his courage failed again.

One of Nero’s friends that was with him, suggested that he escape to a country seat a few miles away where he might find safety. So, concealing his face, he leaped on a horse and succeeded in making his escape, but the senate had passed a decree declaring Nero to be the enemy of his country and condemning him to death. The sentence that was passed against him was that he was to be stripped naked, fastened by his head to the pillory, and scourged to death. When he found this out, the monster, who had delighted to inflict death upon Christians by most inhuman torture, shrank with horror at the mere thought of enduring like torture himself. In a groan of despair he said, “What shall I do?” In a few moments he knew he would be under the power of his enemies. Terrified alike by the thought of suicide or torture, he at last let a slave help his trembling hand force a dagger into his throat and perished at the age of 32.

God in his infinite mercy bears long with the transgressors of His law, but He keeps a record of the impiety of nations and individuals. Long is mercy tendered toward us, but when our guilt reaches a certain limit, which God has fixed, then mercy ceases her pleading and the ministration of wrath begins.

Friend, every one of us has a case at the bar of God. What will the sentence be when your number comes up?

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Come Before Winter

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The grace of courtesy and sympathy are character traits that every Christian should cherish because these were the prominent character traits of Jesus Christ. Although we should manifest these graces toward everyone, there is a class of people who has an even stronger claim to our sympathy.

The followers of Christ cannot be expected to be thought of by the world any differently than their Master. Jesus said, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household” (Matthew 10:25)!

Jesus warned that “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember  the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18–20).

So, Jesus predicted that His followers would be having the same kinds of problems and no more favor in the world than had their Master. The Christian faith involves not only hope, but it involves bearing our cross, following Jesus. Paul’s labors had been blessed with the conversion of many, many souls, but on his arrival at Rome, he was placed in the charge of the captain of the Imperial Guards. After a time, this man was replaced by another man who was infamous because of his vice and tyranny, and the apostle Paul had no hope for clemency or favor from this slave of lust and cruelty.

At this same time during his first imprisonment, the Jews were more active than ever in their efforts against Paul. They had found an able helper in the profligate woman whom Nero had made his second wife, and who, being a Jewish proselyte, would lend all her influence to second their murderous designs against the Christian champion. Paul had little hope for justice from Caesar to whom he appealed. Nero was more debased in morals and more frivolous in character, and capable of more cruelty than any Caesar that had preceded him. The reins of government could not have been given to a more unfit person.

The first year of his reign had been marked by the poisoning of his young step brother who was the rightful heir to the throne. Following that, Nero had steadily descended from one depth of vice to another, until he murdered his own mother, and then even his own wife. There was no atrocity that he would not perpetrate, no vile act to which he would not stoop. There were many people who held him in abhorrence and contempt, and the details of iniquity that were practiced in his court are too degrading and horrible to describe. His abandoned wickedness created disgust and loathing even among many who were forced to share in his crimes.

People were in constant fear about what he could suggest next, and yet, even such crimes did not shake the allegiance of his subjects. He was acknowledged as the absolute ruler of the whole civilized world. More than this, he was made the recipient of divine honors and worshiped as a god. From the standpoint of human judgment, Paul’s condemnation before a judge like this was certain. But the apostle, fearing not, trusted in the Lord as to whatever should happen. His trust and faith were in God, and he knew that God could overrule even what Nero could decide, just as He can overrule any human decision.

God shielded Paul at His faithful servant’s examination before Nero and the charges against him were not sustained. With a regard for justice wholly at variance with his normal character, Nero declared that the prisoner was guiltless and contrary to the general expectation, Paul’s fetters were struck off. He was again a free man.

However, during this period of time, the converts to Christianity had become so numerous that Paul’s imprisonment had attracted the attention and aroused the enmity of the authorities. The ire of the Emperor developed especially against the conversion of members of his own household. Nero was a person who still thirsted for blood; he was one of the most wicked men that has ever lived. And he soon figured out a pretext by which he could kill off most of the Christian population in the city of Rome.

A terrible fire occurred in Rome that consumed nearly one half of the city. Nero himself had caused the flames to be kindled, but to avert suspicion, he made a pretense of great generosity to assist the homeless and destitute. However, Nero was accused of the crime and the people were excited and enraged, so to clear himself and also, at the same time, rid the city of a class of people that he feared and hated, he decided to charge the act of burning the city of Rome upon the Christians. This Satanic device succeeded. Thousands of the followers of Christ—men, women, and children—were put to death in a most cruel manner.

This monster in human form amused the public by painting the victims in pitch before burning them to death while exhibiting them in their dying agonies at the circus. He took the keenest delight in the misery of others. To take delight in the misery of another human being demonstrates that you have developed a Satanic character which will exclude you from the halls of bliss that the Lord is preparing for those who come to Him.

God does not want any human being to suffer one hour of pain that can be averted or avoided. If sin had not come into the world, no human being would ever have suffered pain. Pain is a result of sin. In Revelation 21:4, the Bible says that when God recreates this world again at the close of the millennium, not only will there be no more sin or death, but there will be no more pain. The desire to cause pain to another human being is satanic.

Paul, having been set free was no longer in Rome, but working among the churches, knowing full well that this would be his final work. The Jews were still his enemies and still trying to figure out a way to get Paul killed, because so many tens of thousands of Jews all over the world, as well as Gentiles, had become Christians as a result of the work of this man.

Finally, another satanic idea was conceived. They would fasten upon Paul the crime of instigating and burning Rome. Although they knew that that wasn’t true, they figured if they could show any cause of probability or plausibility to this charge, it would seal his doom. An opportunity was soon provided to execute their plans. Paul was seized while he was in the city of Troas in the house of a disciple and again taken by ship to Rome for his second and final imprisonment.

Not all who heard Paul’s message of the Gospel received that truth, and he made some bitter enemies. Such a one was Alexander the coppersmith, a man who was not able to defeat the apostle in debate, so he worked to see that Paul was imprisoned and finally killed. In 2 Timothy 4:14, Paul says about him that he “did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.” Again, Alexander is mentioned to Timothy as one of those who had rejected the good warfare. He said, “… of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20).

Reformatory action is always attended with loss, sacrifice, and peril. Why? Because it always rebukes the love of ease, and selfish interests, and lustful ambition. Therefore whoever initiates or prosecutes such reformatory action must encounter opposition. This is why Jesus was opposed and why He was so hated. The majority were not willing to submit to the conditions of reform. Jesus showed that a change must happen in a person’s early life if they are going to have eternal life, but most are not willing to submit to this change. They want to live the way they please and still have eternal life. The Lord said, “That’s not possible.” The apostle Paul said, “That’s not possible.” All the prophets and apostles said the same thing.

It is no easy matter to overcome sinful habits and practices. In fact, these changes can only be made with divine help. But there are many people, even Christians today, who, instead of bringing themselves up to meet the standard of God, seek to lower the standard to their own level of “righteousness.” God’s standard does not change. When people are severely dealt with or rebuked for their sins, which endanger the purity of the Christian’s walk, instead of accepting the reproof and changing their life, they continue in sin. When those of Paul’s day were excommunicated or disfellowshipped from the church because of their unwillingness to reform, they became Paul’s enemies. Instead of changing their lives to come into harmony with the gospel, they wanted the gospel changed to come into harmony with what they wanted to do. Such is still the case, even in the Christian world today.

There are many people not willing to accept the standard given by the gospel in the New Testament. The Bible is very clear that you cannot have eternal life if you do not love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39). Many people claim to love God, but notice what it says in 1 John 4:20: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

John also says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). The person who says he loves God and does not keep His commandments is also a liar, adding sin to sin.

When Paul came to Rome the second time, thousands of Christians had been killed for their faith and many had left the city. Those who were left in the city were greatly intimidated because of persecution. On this arrival there were no warm-hearted disciples to meet Paul and his companions as there had been on his first imprisonment. There was no one like a courteous and kindly Julius to say a word in his favor, no statement of favor from Festus or Agrippa to attest to his innocence. This time, the apostle Paul is not put in a rented house, but he is put in a gloomy Roman prison where he will live until he is taken to be martyred.

To visit the apostle Paul during his second imprisonment in a Roman dungeon was not at all the same as to visit him during his first imprisonment when he was in his own rented house. At his first imprisonment there had been no charge that had been sustained against him. Not only that, he had won favorable opinions from princes and rulers such as King Agrippa, Felix, and Festus. But this time, if you were to visit him, it was to visit a person who was the object of universal hatred because he was accused of instigating one of the basest and most terrible crimes against the city and nation. So, anyone who even ventured to visit him to show him kindness or attention, thereby made himself subject to suspicion and endangered his own life. This was because at that time, Rome was filled with spies who stood ready to bring an accusation against any person on the slightest occasion which could advance their own interests.

Nobody but a Christian would visit a Christian, for no other would incur the risk, the odium of a faith which even intelligent men regarded as not only contemptible, but treasonable. And so, one by one the apostle Paul saw his friends leave. To Timothy he wrote, “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words” (2 Timothy 4:9–15).

Then he says, “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever” (verses 16–18).

So, the apostle was still able to communicate with the world outside through Luke and his secretary, and he was able to send and receive messages from the different churches. But at this time, when he was in such a dire situation, he received an unexpected encouragement by a visit from an Ephesian Christian by the name of Onesiphorus. Now this person had come to Rome not long after the apostle Paul had arrived in his second imprisonment. He knew that Paul was a prisoner somewhere in the city of Rome and he decided that he was going to find him. This was not easy to do because the city was crowded with prisoners and suspicion was everywhere and had only to fasten itself upon an unfortunate victim to consign him to prison and perhaps to death.

In spite of all these difficulties, Onesiphorus kept searching for Paul until he found him. Not satisfied with just visiting him one time, he went again and again at the risk of his life to Paul’s dungeon and he did all in his power to lighten the burden of his imprisonment. The fear of scorn, or reproach, or persecution was powerless to terrify this true hearted Ephesian Christian because he knew that his beloved teacher was in bonds for the truth’s sake, while he in every respect far less worthy, was free.

The apostle Paul writes about this visitor in 2 Timothy 1:16–18. He says, “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.”

At the close of his letter to Timothy he says, “Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus” (2 Timothy 4:19). Paul appreciated the attention from this Christian who came at the risk of his life to help him during his final imprisonment. The desire for love and sympathy has been implanted in the human heart by God Himself. Christ in His hour of agony in Gethsemane, while bearing the guilt of sinful men, longed for the sympathy of His disciples. And Paul, although he seemed almost indifferent to hardship and suffering, yearned for sympathy and companionship as well. God wants His people, all Christians, to cherish love and sympathy for one another.

Humanity, which is elevated and ennobled and becomes God-like through the Christian religion, is worthy of respect and esteem. The sons and daughters of God should be tender hearted, pitiful, and courteous to all men, but “especially,” Paul says, “to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

Paul was bound to his fellow disciples by a stronger tie than Christian brotherhood, because the Lord had revealed Himself to him in a special manner and had made him the instrument to bring salvation to thousands and thousands of people all over the world.

Many churches could truthfully regard him as their father in the gospel. And such a man, which had sacrificed every earthly consideration in the service of God, had a special obligation upon other Christians for their sympathy and love and support. The apostle Paul in his final letter  to Timothy, just before his martyrdom, says, “Do your utmost to come before winter” (2 Timothy 4:21).

Friend, how is it in your life? Is there someone to whom you owe a special debt of sympathy and regard, courtesy, kindness, and support, that won’t be there sometime in the future? What if Timothy did not get there by wintertime and missed him?

Paul knew that his days were numbered and shared the urgency, “Come, before winter.” Who is a person in your life that you need visit before winter comes, or because at some time in the future, it will be too late?

O friend don’t wait until it’s wintertime and you regret what you have failed to do. If there is somebody in your life that you need to give special sympathy, and support, and help to, remember, come before winter!

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Though a Prisoner, Still Free

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There are many people among the higher classes today to whom vice, presenting its glittering allurements, ends up holding them willing captives. However, the gospel has always achieved its greatest success among the humble class of men and women of this world who are willing to make a break from sin.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For the Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:18–28).

A good example of how this works is found in the experience of Paul when he was taken to Rome the second time. The first time he arrived in Rome with letters proclaiming his innocence from people like Festus and Felix and Lysias, and at his trial, he was acquitted and set free. But, when Paul was seized in the house of a disciple in Troas and arrested the second time, he was taken to Rome as a poor and friendless prisoner.

That time he would not be able to attract the attention of the wealthy nor the titled class of Roman citizens whose whole lives, physical, mental, and moral, were on a completely different plane than that of the apostle. To them, just as today among the higher classes, vice presented all its glittering allurements and held them willing captives. Within the city of Rome, there were a multitude of servants and slaves who were toil-worn, want-stricken victims of Roman oppression. There were poor slaves who were ignorant and degraded, but in spite of their condition, they were willing to listen to the words of Paul. They found in the faith of Christ a hope and a peace that sustained them and cheered them under the hardships of their lot in life.

So, the apostle’s work in Rome as a prisoner began with the humble and the lowly, the servants, the slaves with whom he came in contact and who visited him at his home. However, this invitation of salvation soon reached the very palace of the emperor.

Rome was at this time the metropolis of the world and the haughty Caesars were making laws for nearly every nation upon the earth. The king and the court were either completely ignorant of who Jesus of Nazareth was, or they regarded Him with hatred and derision. Yet, in less than two years during the time of Paul’s first imprisonment, the gospel found its way from the prisoner’s lowly home into the imperial halls.

Paul was in bonds as an evil doer. His enemies thought that his life work as an apostle was ended, that he could not go out and do public evangelism as he had done in Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus, and other cities in the Roman Empire. But, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “the word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9 KJV). And we find that Paul, in his chains in Rome, in a situation that seemed that it would be impossible for him to do anything for the cause of Christ, became one of the most effective evangelists that there has ever been in the history of the world.

In Philippians 4:22, Paul says, “All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.” Nero was the Roman Caesar at that time. History shows that in no other place existed an atmosphere that was more hostile to Christianity than the Roman court when it was administered by such a monster of wickedness as was Nero.

Nero seemed to have obliterated from his soul every trace of the divine and even the human, and totally bear the impress of that which was Satanic. His attendants and his courtiers in general were of the same character as himself – fierce, debased, and corrupt. To all appearance it would be impossible for Christianity to gain a foothold in such a wicked place. And yet, in this case, as in so many others, Paul’s assertion that he made to the Corinthians in his second letter to them was proved true.

He said, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Trophies for the cross of Christ were won even in Nero’s household. From the vile attendants of an even more vile king were gained converts who became the sons of God.

These servants in Nero’s household were not Christians secretly. They were Christians openly and were not ashamed of their faith, even though they knew that at any time it could cost them their lives. These converts felt the warmest affection for those who were older in Christian faith and experience, and they were not afraid or ashamed to call them brethren sending special greetings to the other churches that had been raised by Paul.

Paul could no longer publicly proclaim the faith of Christ with winning power and with signs and miracles as he had done in previous years. Because he was under house arrest, he could only proclaim the truth to those who came in contact with him at his own house. He was apparently cut off from public labor, yet it was during that time when the greatest victory was won for the truth of the gospel in the headquarters of the Roman Empire.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, “I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:12–14).

It was not by his sermons that the apostle gained this great victory, but by his chains. It was by his bonds that the attention of the court of the Caesar had been attracted to Christianity. It was as a captive that he had captured rulers. It was with his chains that he had broken the bonds of so many souls who had been held in the slavery of sin.

The patience and meekness with which Paul submitted to a long and unjust imprisonment resulted in drawing the attention of the public and forced the conviction on many people that where there was such willingness to suffer, there must be an unwavering faith in the doctrines that were being presented.

Paul’s cheerfulness under affliction and imprisonment was completely unlike anything they’d ever seen from other prisoners. People were impressed that there must be a power abiding with this man that is higher than any human influence.

His courage and his faith were a continual sermon. And so it happened that when to all appearance he could do the least, when his power and usefulness seemed to be wholly cut off, it was then that he was gathering souls for Christ from fields from which he was apparently totally excluded.

We need to learn a lesson from his example. When a servant of God is withdrawn from active duty and his voice is no longer heard in encouragement, or reproof, or counsel, as human beings we are short sighted, thinking that his or her usefulness as a servant of God is at an end. However, that is not how God regards it. These mysterious providences that we see, over which we so often lament, are designed by God to do something that otherwise would never get done.

When a Christian manifests patience and cheerfulness under bereavement or suffering and when a Christian meets death with the peace and calmness of an unwavering faith in God, then it is that he or she may accomplish more to subdue the opposition of enemies than could ever be done by active missionary labor.

When through the malice of Satan and his agents God’s children are persecuted and their active labor is hindered, and they are cast into prison as was Paul, or they are dragged to the scaffold or the stake, it is then that the truth gains a greater triumph. Those who before doubted are now convinced of their sincerity, and when a Christian seals his faith with his blood, from the martyr’s ashes spring forth an abundant harvest for the garner of God. As Tertullian said 1800 years ago, “The blood of Christians is seed.”

So, if you are a Christian and find yourself in a situation where you can no longer actively labor for God and His truth, God has not laid you aside. He will use you effectively whether you are well or sick, whether you are in trouble or affliction, trial or persecution. Whatever your situation, if you are trusting in God, He will use you to win other people to the gospel.

When the grave receives a child of God, the Bible says, “He being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4). Patience as well as courage has its victories. Converts may be made to Christianity by meekness as well as by boldness in enterprise. The Christians had been hoping that when Paul came to Rome, he would be able to hold evangelistic campaigns and win people to Christ and that from Rome, Christians would go out to the whole inhabited world to finish the gospel story. The whole world would then be told the story of the cross and the resurrection and hope of the Christian.

However, their hopes were crushed when the apostle arrived at Rome in chains as a prisoner. Yet, we find it was as a prisoner that he had the greatest success. As a prisoner he gained access to people in the court and in the household of Caesar, that he would never have been able to have access to in any other way. O, friend, we need to learn the lesson from the apostle Paul’s imprisonment, that whatever situation we may be in, if we are put in prison unjustly, if we are treated dishonestly, by the law, by the court, by the government, by whomever, as a Christian, we have a hope in Christ that should never be able to be daunted, whatever other men or groups of men do to us.

It is the witness we provide when we are being treated unjustly which proves that our religion is not just talk, but that it is real, and that the power of God is actually operating in our life. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:21, 22). Whatever difficult or unpromising situation you may find yourself in, you can still be a Christian.

Nero was of a most despicable character. During the first year of his reign he poisoned his own stepbrother who was actually the rightful heir to the throne. After this, he descended from one vice and crime to another even worse than the former, until eventually he murdered his own mother. He then murdered his wife. In fact, there was no atrocity which he was not willing to perpetrate, no vile act to which he would not stoop. Anybody who had a noble mind felt abhorrence and contempt for this person. The details of the iniquity that was practiced in his court are too degrading and horrible for description. His abandoned wickedness created disgust and loathing even among those who were forced to share his crimes.

Even those who were the closest to him were in constant fear as to what atrocities he would suggest next. In a place like that, how could anyone repent of their sins and choose to follow Christ? How could anybody render obedience? But the gospel was presented and there were souls in Caesar’s household who decided that they would obey and follow God at any cost. So, notwithstanding the obstacles and the dangers, they decided that they would walk in the light, trusting in God for an opportunity to let their light shine to others. Who could be placed in circumstances more unfavorable to a religious life or more dangerous for living a Christian life? Who could bring upon himself more fierce opposition than would those who chose to exchange heathenism for Christianity in the court of the Caesar?

The fact of the matter is, friend, that no human being is so situated that he cannot obey God. Today Christians have too little faith. They are willing to work for Christ and His cause only when they themselves see prospects for favorable results. But divine grace is able to aid the efforts of every believer, no matter what the circumstance is, because the Lord said to the apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you.” The Spirit of the Lord will exert its renewing and perfecting power upon every person who chooses to follow Christ and to be obedient and faithful to his divine Lord and Master.

God is the great I Am. He is the source of being, the center of authority and power. Whatever the condition or situation of His creatures, they can have no sufficient excuse for refusing to answer the claims of God. The Lord holds us responsible for the light shining upon our pathway. We may be surrounded by difficulties that appear formidable to us. Because the way they make a living involves disobeying the Lord, people say, “How will I make a living and obey the Lord?” People make all kinds of excuses, but Jesus said to the people that were listening to the Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Paul said, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

God is above all human authority and power. You may be surrounded by all kinds of difficulties, but the Lord is able to give you the grace, the power, the strength to obey Him, and to do His will in any situation. We don’t need to spend our time worrying about the future. All we need to do is remember the words of Jesus when He said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34 KJV). Do not worry about what will happen next month, or ten months from now. Decide to follow the Lord today, and you will find day by day that you will receive all the grace you need to follow the Lord for that day. You do not need the grace of tomorrow today; all you need is grace to follow the Lord today and He is willing to give you all that you need if you are willing to follow and obey as were the servants in Nero’s household.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Brothers in Christ

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According to Roman law, the trial of the apostle Paul could not take place until his accusers were able to present in person their charges against him. Because his accusers were in Jerusalem they were allowed time to make the journey to the city of Rome. In those days, little regard was shown for the rights of prisoners. An accused person could be kept in prison for a prolonged time due to the delay of the prosecutors to proffer their charges, or the trial could be deferred by the caprice of those in power.

A corrupt judge could hold a prisoner in custody for years without a trial as Felix did in the case of Paul. These judges, however, were at least amenable to a higher tribunal and that would serve, in a sense, to put some restraint upon them. But the emperor was not subject to any such restraint. His authority was, from a worldly point of view, virtually unlimited. The emperor of Rome often permitted caprice or malice or even indolence to hinder or prevent the administration of justice. The Jews in Jerusalem were not in any hurry to come to the city of Rome. They knew the odds against them for Lysias, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, had all pronounced their accused innocent.

Paul’s enemies could hope for success only in seeking by intrigue to influence the emperor in their favor. Delay would actually further their objective and would afford them time to perfect and execute their plans. This would seem to be a terrible setback to the apostle who had been in Rome for about two years before his trial. Acts chapter 28, verses 30, 31 say, “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”

Paul did not live a life of inactivity even though he was under what we would call house arrest. In the providence of God, this very delay resulted in the furtherance of the gospel in Rome and from there to all parts of the world. He was allowed to freely receive friends and guests. He was daily presenting the truth to those who flocked to hear his words. In addition to this, he still had the care of the churches resting upon him. He supplied by written communications his personal instruction which they had formerly received. And so, from Rome, Paul sent out authorized delegates to labor among the churches that he had raised up.

These messengers rendered to him faithful service, and being in communication with them, he was informed about the condition and the dangers of the churches and was enabled to exercise a constant supervision over them. So, while he was apparently cut off from labor, he actually had a more powerful and more extensive influence during this period than any previous time of his life. He had a firmer hold upon the affections of his brethren in the faith. His words commanded even more interest, attention, and respect than when he was free and had been traveling among them.

When the Christians first learned that their beloved teacher had been made a prisoner, they mourned, they were despondent and would not be comforted, and they realized how heavy were the burdens that he had borne on their behalf. But now, they prized his counsel, his warnings and his instructions more than ever before. As they learned that their teacher still had courage, faith meekness, and gentleness in his long imprisonment, they also were stimulated to greater fidelity and zeal in the cause of Christ.

Among the assistance Paul had during this period of time was his fellow companion, Luke, the beloved physician, who had attended him on his journey from Jerusalem. Luke had been with him in Jerusalem. He had been with him on the ship when they had been shipwrecked. He had also been with him in Caesarea and remained a loyal companion and friend while in Rome. Timothy, one of his associate ministers that he himself had trained, also ministered to his comfort, and then there was Tychicus, his mail bearer who sent his messages to all the different churches that they had visited on their journey.

At the first, Demas and Mark were with him. Mark had once been refused by Paul as an unworthy Christian missionary, but since that time, Mark had reevaluated his position. He had come to see that the claims of God are above every other and that there is no release from the Christian warfare. Mark had obtained a more accurate and closer view of Paul’s Pattern, the man Jesus Christ.

Mark had seen in his mind’s eye the hands that were scarred from the conflict to save the lost and perishing and decided that he was going to follow his Master in a life of self-sacrifice and service. He understood, better than ever before, that it is infinite gain to win Christ at whatever cost. It is infinite loss to win the whole world and lose your soul for whose redemption Christ has paid the purchase price on the cross of Calvary. Through Mark’s experience he had become a faithful helper of the apostle.

In 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul said, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (verse 11). There was another person that did not remain faithful. His name was Demas. Paul said, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica” (verse 10).  Demas had been a faithful helper of the apostle, but for worldly gain he bartered away every high and noble consideration. Millions of people are making this same short-sighted exchange today. If you possess only worldly wealth or honor, you are poor indeed, however much you may proudly call your own, while those who choose to suffer for Christ’s sake will have eternal riches. They will be heirs of God, joint heirs with His Son. Like their loving Saviour, they may not have on this earth even a place to lay their head, but in heaven, He is preparing for them mansions.

Many in their pride and ignorance forget that even if you gain the whole world, if you lose your own soul, you have not really gained anything, because what you have gained you will soon have to give up. Everything on this planet is temporary. In order to be happy, we all must learn the lesson of self-denial at the foot of the cross. We don’t want to have anything in this earth that is so firmly rooted to us that we cannot transplant it to paradise.

Paul’s experience during this time has been shared ever since by others who are faithful in God’s service. There are people who see that if you follow Christ all the way, there are going to be some trials to meet in this world. They seek to find for themselves some easier path where there are fewer risks and fewer dangers to meet by selfishly shunning the responsibilities that somebody needs to bear and thus increasing the burdens for the faithful Christian workers. At the same time they separate themselves from God and forfeit the reward that they might have won.

We need to always remember that Christ has hired us by the price of His own blood and of every one of His followers He requires effort that shall in some degree correspond with the price that has been paid and the infinite reward offered. It was during this period of time of his confinement that Paul wrote some of his most powerful epistles in the New Testament such as Philippians and Colossians.

It was also during this time that we get an inside view about how the apostle Paul dealt with the subject of slavery. Throughout the Roman Empire less than 50% of the people were free while the majority were slaves. The laws concerning slaves were very rigid and unfortunately for them also unjust and cruel.

During this two year period while the apostle was living in a rented house under house arrest by the Roman government, one of the persons that found the gospel through his teaching and preaching was a fugitive, a man by the name of Onesimus, who had been a slave. His master, Philemon, was a Christian who lived in the city of Colossae. Onesimus had stolen from his master and had fled to the city of Rome where he was a fugitive. While in Rome he heard the gospel. The truths of the gospel had touched his heart and when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and was converted to the faith of Christ, he then confessed his sin against his master and gratefully accepted the counsel of the apostle.

There is no such thing as being converted to Christ and choosing to follow Him if we do not repent of and confess our past sins. The apostle sought to relieve Onesimus’ poverty and the distress of the wretched fugitive and he endeavored to shed the light of truth into his mind. Paul endeared himself to this fugitive by his piety, meekness, and sincerity.

Onesimus was faced with a problem. He was a slave who had stolen from his master and was now a fugitive. If he should go back, his master could do anything with him that he pleased. But Paul told Onesimus to go back to his master and that he, Paul, would be responsible for the amount that had been robbed from Philemon. Onesimus did not have the money to pay for it. So Paul sent Tychicus with letters to various churches in Asia minor, and he sent Onesimus in his company, and under his care.

This was a severe test for this servant to thus deliver himself back to his master that he had wronged. But he had been truly converted and as painful as it was, he did not shrink from doing his duty. He knew that if he was going to be part of the kingdom of Christ, he must make things right.

Paul made Onesimus the bearer of a letter to Philemon, in which the apostle Paul with great delicacy and yet kindness, pleaded the cause of the repentant slave, and intimated his own wishes concerning him. He wrote, “To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

“For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ” (Philemon 1:1–9).

Paul could have commanded this Christian what he should do, but instead he decided to entreat Philemon. He said, “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.

“For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer a slave but more than a slave—as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord” (verses 10–16).

Paul requests Philemon to receive this repentant slave as his own child, and then he says, in verses 17 and 18, “If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account.”

This, by the way, is a wonderful illustration of the love of Christ toward a repenting sinner. As the servant who had defrauded his master, and had nothing with which to make restitution, so the sinner who has robbed God of years of service, has no means of cancelling the debt. But Jesus interposes, and appoints His mercy to the sinner’s account, and says, “I will pay the debt. Let the sinner be spared the punishment of his guilt. I will suffer in his stead.”

After assuming the debt of Onesimus, Paul gently reminded Philemon how greatly he himself was indebted to the apostle. He owed to him his own self in a special sense since God had made Paul the instrument of his conversion. So then in a most tender appeal, he says, “I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord: refresh my heart in the Lord.

“Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted [or released] to you” (verses 19–22).  This epistle of Philemon has great value as a practical illustration of the influence of the gospel in the relation between a master and a servant. Slave-holding was an established institution throughout the Roman empire. And there were both masters and slaves found in most of the Christian churches for whom Paul labored. In the cities, the slaves often outnumbered the free population and laws of the most terrible severity were considered necessary to keep them in subjection. A wealthy Roman often owned hundreds of slaves of every rank, of every nation, and of every accomplishment. The master had full control upon the souls and bodies of these helpless beings. He could inflict upon them any suffering he chose, but if one of them in retaliation or self-defense ventured to raise a hand against his owner the slave’s whole family could be inhumanly sacrificed as a result, even if they were totally innocent.

Even the slightest mistake, accident, or carelessness could be punished without mercy. There were some masters who were more humane than others. They were more indulgent to their servants, but the vast majority of slave-owners in the Roman empire, the wealthy and the noble, gave themselves up without restraint to the indulgence of lust, passion, and appetite, and they made their slaves the wretched victims of caprice and tyranny.

The tendency of the whole system was hopelessly degrading. It was not the apostle Paul’s work to violently overturn at that time the established order of society. If he had attempted that, he would have prevented the success of the gospel. But he taught principles that struck at the very foundation of slavery, and that if carried into effect, would undermine the whole system. For example, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The religion of Christ has a transforming power upon the receiver. And the converted slave becomes a member of the body of Christ and as such is to be loved and treated as a brother, a fellow heir with his Master, of the blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel.

At the same time, the converted slave was to perform his duties with fidelity, doing the will of God from the heart.  Paul says in Ephesians 6, “Bondservants, be obedient [subject] to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him” (verses 5–9).

And then to the church at Colossae, the very same area where Philemon lived, Paul said, “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 3:22–25; 4:1).

You see, Christianity makes a strong bond of union between master and slave, king and subject. The gospel minister and the most degraded sinner, who has found Christ, is relieved of the burden of crime. They have been washed, all in the same blood. They are quickened by the same Spirit and they are made one in Christ Jesus. Remember what Paul said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Almost Persuaded

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There are many people who have lost their lives because of religious prejudice and persecution. One of the reasons that the Puritans and Pilgrims came to America was to escape the religious persecution in Europe and other parts of the world.

After Paul had appealed to Caesar, Festus told him that he would go to Rome, but some time remained before arrangements could be made.  During this intervening time, King Agrippa, the last of the Herod kings visited Festus to learn about Paul’s case.

The Bible says, “After some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying: ‘There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix, about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. To them I answered, “It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.”

“ ‘Therefore when they had come together, without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I supposed, but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I was uncertain of such questions, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters. But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.’

“Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I also would like to hear the man myself.’ ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘you shall hear him.’ So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus’ command Paul was brought in. And Festus said: ‘King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was not fit to live any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving [worthy] of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him’ ” (Acts 25:13–27).

King Agrippa needed a compelling charge in order to send Paul to Rome to stand before Caesar, but he was at a loss because no crime had been committed. So, why is it that people have such hatred that they want innocent people convicted when no crime has been committed?

The Jews, denying Jesus’ claim that He was “the light of the world” (John 8:12) and it was He alone who bore witness of Himself, “… said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also’ ” (verse 19).

It is interesting that these were the religious leaders of God’s chosen people, yet Jesus said they did not know either Him or His Father. The Jews greatly protested against this, saying, “ ‘Abraham is our Father.’  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father’ ” (verses 39–41, first part).

Though the Jews may have been physical descendants of Abraham, spiritually they were not his children. Vehemently, “Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it’ ” (verses 41, last part–44).

Jesus said they were being influenced by their spiritual father, doing the deeds of the devil, who is the one who stirs up religious persecution and prejudice. Later in private, Jesus gave the warning to His disciples. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me” (John 16:1–3).

Religious persecution comes from people who claim to be following God, but in fact are following an imposter—a different God. The Bible describes that imposter as the god of this world. Claiming to be followers of the Prince of Peace, they follow him who is an accuser of the brethren from the beginning.

No official could find any wrong in the conduct of the apostle Paul. In fact, as you read the account from beginning to end, you find that Lysias found nothing, Felix found nothing, Festus found nothing, and neither could Agrippa find anything in Paul’s conduct worthy of imprisonment. When Paul is sent to Caesar, Caesar himself could find no reason to charge him; so finally he was set free.

Intrigued by Paul, King Agrippa wanted to hear the apostle’s story. Agrippa was a transgressor of God’s law, corrupt in his heart and his life, but he wanted to hear Paul’s story and gave him an opportunity to speak.

You may wonder if during that time Agrippa ever thought about the history of his own family and of their fruitless efforts against the One of whom Paul preached. Did he think about his great-grandfather, Herod, and the massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem? Did anything pass through his mind about his great uncle, Antipas, and the murder of John the Baptist? Did he think about his own father, Agrippa I, who was responsible for the martyrdom of the apostle James? Did he think of the disasters which speedily befell these kings, in evidence of God’s displeasure because of their crimes against His servants? Did he think about the time when his own father, a monarch who was more powerful than he, stood in that very same city, in glittering robes, giving a speech that was such powerful oratory that the people shouted, “This is a god, not a man” (Acts 12:22)?

Had he forgotten how, before the admiring shouts had even died away, that vengeance, swift and terrible, had befallen the vain-glorious king who died a miserable death under the justice and judgment of God? Did he think of any of these things? This was Agrippa’s one best chance to be saved.

The Bible says that Jesus is the true light that enlightens everyone that comes into the world. But many people ignore the opportunity that they have. “Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You are permitted to speak for yourself.’ So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ‘I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee’ ” (Acts 26:1–5). Agrippa knew exactly what the apostle Paul was talking about because he also had been instructed in all the laws and customs of the Jews.

Paul said, “ ‘And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign [strange] cities’ ” (verses 6–11).

Paul had never seen Christ while He dwelt on earth as a man. He had heard about Him and did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. He could not believe that the Creator of all the worlds, the One who upheld the universe, the giver of all blessings, could appear on earth as a mere man. He had looked for the Messiah to come in robes of majesty just as the rest of the Jews had hoped. He expected the Deliverer to be attended with pomp and proclaimed to be the Messiah by a host of angels.

But later he discovered that he had misread the Scriptures and that the Old Testament prophecies predicted the Messiah would come as a humble man, preaching the word of life with gentleness and humility. Jesus came to awaken the noblest impulses in the soul of man, to satisfy man’s earnest spiritual longings, and to crown the work and warfare of life with infinite reward. Paul had looked for a Messiah to deliver the Jewish nation from the bondage of foreign kings, but he found that Christ came as a Saviour from the bondage of sin. As a Jewish Pharisee, his life had been to him a blind and baffling conflict, an unequal battle with a fever of unsatisfied desires. So it is with many people today. When he met Christ on the Damascus road his longings were satisfied, his fears were banished, and his burdens were lightened. He had found Him of whom Moses and the prophets had written. And he said to King Agrippa, “Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead” (verse 8)?

Not only has God proved that He could raise the dead, but there is the promise in Scripture that if you follow Jesus, even if you should die, at the last day you will be raised up. Paul then gave the most lengthy and detailed description of his conversion. This is one of the most exciting stories in the Bible. He said, “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 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.’ Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (verses 12–23).

As he spoke, Festus, who was not versed in the prophecies of the Old Testament or the Jewish religion, had no concept of what Paul said and consequently thought Paul was insane. “Now as he … made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!’ But Paul said, ‘I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner’ ” (verses 24–26).

Paul then turned directly to Agrippa and asked if he believed the prophets (verse 27). For a moment the king lost his self-composure and almost involuntarily spoke the longing of his heart. He had listened to the truth and was convinced that it was so. “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian’ ” (verse 28). Many wealthy, powerful people have been in this same position and made a similar reply.

It is a scary thing to be almost persuaded. The evidence Paul presented was so powerful and overwhelming that King Agrippa could not contradict the truth. But he also knew that to become a Christian would require him to confess and repent of all of his sins and make things right with his fellow men. Like so many today, he thought that would be too humiliating. How many millions of people will be lost in the final Day of Judgment who have known the truth but turned away from it.

Felix said he would wait for a more convenient time. Agrippa was almost persuaded to become a Christian. But consider this: if you are almost persuaded, in the end you will be totally lost.

So many on the Day of Judgment will be almost saved. They almost decided to become a Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ but not quite, because it requires confession and repentance of sins that they find too humiliating to admit.

In heaven there will be people who are guilty of murder and all manner of terrible sins, but will be saved because they were willing to repent and confess their sins and to the greatest extent possible, make things right. The Bible says, “… when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live” (Ezekiel 33:14–16).

How it is with you? The question is not what you have done wrong in the past but are you willing to repent? Repentance means heart felt sorrow for sins you have committed. Confession means you are sorry enough that you confess those sins and make right every transgression that you can. That may mean restore what you have stolen, whether you risk going to jail or whatever the consequence may be, so that you can have eternal life. Agrippa was convicted and was almost, but sadly, not quite willing to take the next step.

Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29).  Paul was not almost, but altogether a Christian. He had made his decision to follow the Lord all the way. The decision you make determines your destiny.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Almost Persuaded

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On Thee I’ll call.”

“Almost persuaded,” come, come today;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away;
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are ling’ring near,
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wand’rer, come!

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
“Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
“Almost”— but lost!

Philip P. Bliss, 1871.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life’s Sketches – Today’s Choice

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Bible prophecy predicts that America, as well as the rest of the world, is headed for a gigantic religious crisis, which will result in losing the religious liberty that we have long enjoyed. History has proven that Bible prophecy has an uncanny way of always turning out to be correct.

The Bible says in Romans 14:12 that all are going to give an account of themselves to God. When the apostle Paul was brought before Felix, the governor in Rome, and had the opportunity to reason with him about righteousness, and judgment, and self-control, Felix trembled. Paul told him of the judgment that was coming in the future when every secret of men would be revealed (Romans 2). Jesus said, “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26). At that time, sins that have been covered and unconfessed will be revealed and an account will be required.

Felix realized that if he was to face the judgment with a clear conscience, he would have to confess his sins. To do that would result in severe consequences. After preaching on the subject of confession once, I was told by one man that it made him angry because if he confessed his sins he would have to go to jail. Another woman told me that if she confessed her sins it would break up homes all over town. But friend, whatever the consequences are, those sins will either be confessed now to those we have wronged or be confessed later in the judgment when we must give an account to God.

Though Felix trembled at the thought, he did not yield to his conscience, but put it off saying, he would do it at a more convenient time. That convenient time never came for Felix. How many others will there be like him on the Day of Judgment who planned to become Christians, but waited for that illusive convenient time?

How is it with you? Have you chosen to follow Christ today and be prepared for the coming judgment? Paul said, “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV). It does not matter what our background is, what we believe, or don’t believe. All will stand before the judgment seat and give an account of their life.

It is critical to confess and repent of your sins and have them covered by the blood of Christ. The Bible says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Felix neglected to take advantage of the offer of salvation. His tragic story is recorded so that others will not make the same mistake. Felix will not be seen inside the Holy City, but will be on the outside with those who never followed up with what they knew was right.

Concerning the New Jerusalem, it says in Revelation 21:27, “There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of life.” Is your name in that book?

Ironically, two years after Felix had left Paul in prison simply as a favor to the Jews, convinced that he had done nothing worthy of death or of even being in prison, he was removed from his position as governor by the Roman government. Festus, a man who was more competent and morally qualified than Felix was given the job and it was he who was left with deciding what to do with the apostle Paul.

“When Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly. ‘Therefore,’ he said, ‘let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there is any fault in him.’ And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought” (Acts 25:1–6).

Both Claudius Lysias and Felix had already declared that Paul had done nothing deserving of punishment. However, the Jews continued to bring their unsubstantiated charges against him. A third time Paul was brought to answer the Jews’ vehement accusations.

“When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, while he answered for himself,  ‘Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.’ But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?’ ” (verses 7–9).

The Jews, just as before, brought against Paul the same charges of heresy, of treason against the government, and of sacrilege, but they were unable to sustain the charges. They tried to intimidate Festus, but he would not accede to their demands to do something against Paul without a trial. As Festus looked upon this scene he was disgusted with the Jewish dignitaries, the priests and rulers who, although they had scowling faces and gleaming eyes, had forgotten the dignity of their office in reiterating their accusations until the tribunal rang with their cries of rage. This disgusting scene displayed before the governor while in contrast to the demeanor of Paul’s humility and self-possession was not lost on Festus.

Festus realized that he had a difficult situation at hand. If he did not accede to the Jew’s demands, there could be an insurrection. So, he thought to compromise—go down to Jerusalem with Paul for a trial there. Paul knew of the dangerous plot, but Festus did not know that the Jews had planned to kill Paul on the way to Jerusalem.

Paul was weary of strife. He was weary of the fierce reiteration of the same charges, having them refuted and then renewed again. He had suffered repeated delays for over two years. Paul case was the first for which Festus was to render judgment; so he requested of Paul if he wanted to go down to Jerusalem and be tried there before him. “So Paul said, ‘I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar’ ” (verses 10, 11). Today, that would be equivalent to a person saying, “I am appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Then the Bible says, “Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, ‘You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go’ (verse 12)! Festus, oblivious to the conspiracy of the Jews to murder Paul, was surprised at this appeal to Caesar. It was a little bit humbling that the very first case that he should try would get referred to a higher court. Once again, we see that the hatred that is borne of Jewish bigotry and self-righteousness ended up driving a servant of God to turn for protection to a heathen ruler. It was this same hatred that forced the prophet Elijah to flee for help to the widow of Sarepta. It was this same hatred that had forced the heralds of the gospel to flee from Judea and proclaim the gospel message to the Gentiles (Acts 8). And, it is the same spirit that, according to Bible prophecy, the people of God in this age have yet to meet.

The spirit of unrelenting hatred against the heralds of the gospel that was manifested by the Jewish nation in the first century is the same spirit that God’s people in this day and age have yet to meet, according to Revelation 13, and the same spirit that the people of God in the last days will go through. They will then become better acquainted with the experience of the apostle Paul.

Today, among the professed followers of Christ, there is the same pride, the same formalism, the same vain glory, the same selfishness and oppression, that existed then in the Jewish nation. Before the warfare is ended and the victory is won, God’s people will experience trials similar to those of the apostle Paul. They will encounter the same hardness of heart, the same cruel determination, the same unyielding hatred.

Read Revelation 13, especially the last several verses. Men professing to be representatives of Christ will take a course similar to that taken by priests and rulers in their treatment of Paul. All who would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of their own conscience will have to have moral courage, firmness, not only a knowledge of God and His word, but they will have to determine to stand, because persecution will be kindled against those who are true to God. Their motives will be impugned, and their best efforts will be misinterpreted. Their names will be cast out as evil.

And then what Jesus said will come to pass: “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16:1, 2). Anyone who attempts to destroy the faithful will think that he is doing God’s service. Then it is that Satan will work with all of his fascinating power to influence the heart, to becloud the understanding and to make evil appear good and to make good appear evil. Jesus predicted that “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).

The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 to 12, concerning the very last days: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

It’s coming, friend. Jesus predicted it many times. We read it in Matthew 24 and in John 16. Paul predicted it in 2 Thessalonians 2. John the revelator predicts it clearly in Revelation 13. God wants you to be prepared for the crisis that is coming upon this world. But whether you are prepared or unprepared, you are going to meet it. Only those whose characters are thoroughly disciplined to meet the divine standard will be able to stand firm in that testing time.

Remember, when there are enemies on every side watching them for evil, the God of heaven will be watching His precious jewels for good. When the time comes, when secular rulers unite with the ministers of religion to come between God and the conscience of His people, then those who cherish the fear of God will be revealed. When the darkness is the deepest, then the light of a noble God-like character will shine the brightest. When every other trust fails in this world, then it will be seen which people have an abiding trust in God. The stronger and the purer the faith of God’s people, the firmer their determination will be to obey Him, and the more will Satan stir up the rage of those who claim to be righteous while trampling on the law of God.

In this coming emergency rulers and magistrates will not interpose in behalf of God’s people. The apostle Paul could at least appeal to Caesar, appeal to a heathen ruler to get justice. But in the coming crisis, rulers and magistrates will not interpose in behalf of God’s people. There will be a corrupt harmony with all who have not been obedient to the law of God. In that day all timeservers, all who do not have the genuine work of grace in the heart, will be found wanting. It will require the firmest trust and the most heroic purpose to hold fast the faith that was once delivered to the saints, but the Bible predicts that there will be a group of people who will stand that test. It says in Revelation 13 verses 16 and 17, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on the right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name’ ” (Revelation 14:9–11).

Those who receive the mark described in Revelation 13:16 and 17, in spite of the warning that is given in the third angel’s message, will receive, first of all, the seven last plagues, because it says in Revelation 16:2, “So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”

At that time, the Bible predicts that there will be some faithful people who will refuse the mark. They will not be able to buy or sell; they will not be able to even buy food unless the Lord works a miracle to preserve them. Even so, they will stay true to the worship of God regardless of the cost.

“I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God” (Revelation 15:2, 3). These people refuse to worship images (Exodus 20:4). They refuse to worship the beast, or the image to the beast, or receive the mark. Revelation 14:12 describes them this way: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

In the very last days of earth’s history the whole world will be brought to a decision. Everyone will choose, some to receive the mark of the beast and others to receive the seal of God—marked for destruction or marked for salvation. Which mark will you receive?

In Revelation 22:14 it says, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”

Friend, life is serious. This life is very short compared with eternity, but it is in this life where the decisions you make determine your eternal destiny. The choice is yours. What will it be, eternal life or eternal death?

The scripture says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (verse 17).

God offers eternal life if you are willing to listen, if you are willing to follow, and if you are willing to obey. You must make this decision for yourself; your eternal destiny is up to you.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – A Convenient Time

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Is it true that somewhere a record is kept of your life? No one is forgotten. Every thought, feeling, and action are noted and understood by a loving God, and one day all will stand before Him and acknowledge Him as righteous, just and true. Some will delight in His presence; however, we are told that the majority will call for the rocks to fall on them to hide them from His presence.

Our great work on this earth as Christians is not to criticize the character and motives of others, but rather to closely examine our own hearts and lives to see if they are in harmony with the word of God. When tempted by the devil, Jesus said to him, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).

The result of resisting the truth that is in the word of God is a heart that becomes hard. The Bible calls it the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). That hard heart, confirmed by impenitence, is fatal, and those people who have this condition, while at the same time claiming to be Christian, are deceiving not only themselves but also others. These “Christians” outwardly pay homage to Christ and most of them go to some church. They unite in the services of the Christian religion, but their heart, whose loyalty alone Jesus prizes, is estranged from Him. When men refuse to accept the truth that God sends to them from His word, they are oblivious of the path they take, or its destination.

The Jewish nation in the days of Christ had this same problem. Though God had sent much evidence, they refused to accept the truth and receive Jesus as the longed-for Messiah. The critical question is never how much truth you know, but whether you obey the truth that you do know. The person who knows a thimble full of truth and follows it by putting it into practice is more righteous in God’s sight than a person who knows all about theology yet refuses to live in harmony with that knowledge.

The apostle Paul was brought to Caesarea to stand before Felix the governor, and within just a matter of days the Jewish people had hired an orator by the name of Tertullus to represent them in accusing him.

It says in Acts 24, verse 1, “After five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.” To gain favor with the governor, Tertullus decided the best way to proceed was to use flattery. He said, “ ‘Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us. For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him’ ” (verses 2–8). To these accusations the Jews assented that this was true (verse 9). However, the facts are that in this speech, Tertullus descended to barefaced falsehood.

Historians have revealed that Felix practiced all kinds of lusts and cruelty with the power of a king and the temper of a slave. Now it is true that he had rendered some services to the nation by driving out the robbers and ridding the country of certain dangerous persons. However, the treacherous cruelty of his character is demonstrated by his brutal murder of the high priest Jonathan, who was largely responsible for him getting the position that he had.

Jonathan, though little better than Felix himself, had ventured to reprove him for some of his acts of violence. For doing this, the procurator, Felix, had caused Jonathan to be assassinated while employed in his official duties in the temple. Felix was also known for his unbridled licentiousness. An example of this is seen in his alliance with Drusilla, a young Jewish princess. Through the deceptive arts of Simon Magus, a Cyprian sorcerer hired by Felix, the princess was induced to leave her husband and to become his wife. Drusilla was young and beautiful. She was devotedly attached to her husband, who had made a great sacrifice to obtain her hand. There was little indeed to induce her to forego her strongest prejudices and bring herself into an association with an elderly, cruel profligate, and bring upon herself the abhorrence of her own nation by forming this adulterous connection.

Yet, the Satanic devices of the conjurer and the betrayer succeeded, and Felix accomplished his purpose. Now the Jews who were present at Paul’s examination shared in the general feelings of animosity toward Felix, but their desire was so great to gain his favor in order to secure the condemnation of Paul that they assented to the flattering words of Tertullus. These were men in holy office, robed in priestly garments, who were very exact in the observance of the ceremonies and customs of their religion. They were very scrupulous to avoid any outward pollution. At the same time, their soul temples were defiled with all manner of iniquity. Jesus said they appeared to be righteous on the outside, but inside they were full of all manner of lawlessness (Luke 11:39). The outward contact with anything that was thought to be unclean was considered by them to be a great offense, but in their eyes, the murder of the apostle Paul was a justifiable act. What an illustration of the blindness that can come upon the human mind.

Here are people who claimed to be God’s covenant people, but like the barren fig tree in Jesus’ parable, they were clothed with pretentious leaves, destitute of the fruits of holiness. How is it in your life, friend? If you profess to be a religious person of any kind, is there something in your life more than a profession? Do you actually have the fruit of holiness described in Galatians 5?

Paul said that in the last days one of the problems would be that many people would have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5). That is a true description of what we see today. The Jews were filled with malice toward Paul, a pure and good man, and sought by every means, fair or foul, to take his life by praising a vindictive, profligate man as his judge. There are many today who estimate human character in the same way, prompted by the adversary of all righteousness; they call evil good and truth evil. The prophet Isaiah said, “Truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14).

It is because of this condition in the world that God calls upon His children to come out and be separate. God says through the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, the 6th chapter, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’ ” (verses 14–18). This is not referring to physical uncleanness, but the spiritual uncleanness of the sin of envy and jealousy and evil thoughts.

Those who mingle with the world will eventually come to view matters from a worldling’s standpoint instead of the way that God sees them. “It takes time to transform the human to the divine, or to degrade those formed in the image of God to the brutal or the Satanic. By beholding we become changed.” The Adventist Home, 330.

The pure and the good will always be honored and loved by those who are good. In Tertullus’ speech against Paul, it was charged that he was a pestilent fellow, that he created sedition among the Jews throughout the world, and that he was consequently guilty of treason against the emperor, and that he was a leader of a sect of the Nazarenes and chargeable with heresy against the law of Moses. Another accusation was that he had profaned the temple, which was a lie. It was then falsely stated that Lysias, the commander of the garrison, had violently taken Paul from the Jews as they were about to judge him by their ecclesiastical law, and thus had improperly forced them to bring the matter before Felix.

These lying statements were skillfully designed to obtain the governor’s favor. But Felix, in spite of the fact that he was a profligate and cruel, was not stupid and perceived the motive for the flattery. When he saw that the Jews had failed to substantiate their charges, Felix turned to Paul and asked what he had to say concerning himself. “Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: ‘Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult. They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day’ ” (Acts 24:10–21).

Step by step Paul refuted all of the charges brought against him and declared that he had caused no disturbance in any part of Jerusalem. He had not profaned the sanctuary; he had not been in the temple disputing or raising a ruckus and said that none of the charges could be proved and that he believed in the law and the prophets just the same as the Jews claimed to believe.

Jesus had stated clearly that there would be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust (John 5:28, 29). In a candid, straight-forward manner, the apostle Paul stated the reason for his visit to Jerusalem and the circumstances of His arrest and trial. He spoke with earnestness, sincerity, and conviction of truthfulness. Felix had a better knowledge of the Christian religion than the Jews had supposed, because in Caesarea there were many Christians and he was not deceived by the misrepresentations of these Jews. Felix understood the situation and knew this man before him was not guilty. The Jews had not proven anything.

However, Felix was motivated by no higher motive than being interested in himself. Instead of pronouncing sentence and setting the apostle Paul free as he ought to have done right then, he procrastinated, and Paul was left in prison so that he would not stir up any more the animosity of the Jews.

Later, Felix had Paul brought in to speak to himself and Drusilla, his young wife. Felix’ and Drusilla’s relationship was not a Biblical marriage but an adulterous one. This time, the apostle had a small audience in this licentious couple, a cruel profligate Roman governor and a profligate Jewish princess. The Roman governor had heard about the future resurrection of both the just and the unjust and when Paul spoke about it, he desired to know more. Paul was able to improve on this opportunity. He knew the man and woman before whom he was standing had the power either to put him to death or to preserve his life, but he did not address them with praise or flattery. He knew that how they responded to what he would say to them would determine their eternal destiny.  So, forgetting all selfish considerations, he sought to arouse within them the peril of their souls.

The gospel message does not allow any neutrality. The gospel counts all men to be decidedly for the truth or against it. Jesus said, “He that is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). If we do not obey and receive the teachings of the gospel, then we become its enemies. But at the same time, the gospel does not know any respect of person, class, or condition. The gospel is addressed to all mankind, and every human being who hears it must make a decision for or against it. If you are not for it, you are against it.

The Lord said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). So, the apostle presented the gospel to Felix. This was not like a whole series of prophecy seminars or evangelistic meetings like preachers conduct today. Paul had one chance to present the truth to this heathen man and his profligate wife.

Notice the three subjects Paul thought best to address with Felix and Drusilla. He “… reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come” (Acts 24:25, first part).

The Bible says that “Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you’ ” (verse 25, last part). Paul presented to Felix the righteousness of God, the justice of God, and the nature and obligation of the divine law. He clearly showed that every human being has an obligation to live a life of sobriety and temperance, keeping the passions under the control of reason in conformity with God’s law, and preserving the physical and mental powers in a healthful condition.

Paul presented that a day of judgment would surely come when every human being will be rewarded according to the deeds done in their bodies. Notice what he wrote to the Corinthians: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

So, a day of reckoning will come. Wealth, or position, or honor will be powerless in the Day of Judgment to elevate a man before God or to ransom him from the penalty of sin. This life is the only period of probation. This is your only chance to develop a character that will be fit to be given the gift of immortality. If we neglect our present privileges and opportunities it will prove to be an eternal loss, because no new probation is going to be given at the end of the world.

If, in the Day of Judgment, you are found to be unholy in heart or defective in any respect when judged by the Law of God, you will suffer the punishment of your guilt. Paul dwelt upon the far-reaching claims of God’s law and showed that the law of God extends not just to outward actions, but to the deep secrets of man’s moral nature. The law extends to the thoughts, to the motives, to the purposes of the heart. In both the Old and New Testaments, we are told that God knows our thoughts. He knows our feelings. The dark passions that are hidden from the sight of men, such as jealousy, revenge, hatred, lust, wild ambition, and evil deeds that are meditated upon in the dark recesses of the mind, yet may never be executed for want of opportunity, God knows.

Men may imagine that they can safely cherish these secret sins, but in the Day of Judgment, Paul says, all the secret sins of man will be laid open. Jesus said the same thing. All secrets of men will be revealed in the judgment. The only hope for fallen man is to manifest faith in the blood of Christ, receive the Holy Spirit and be born again, so that not only his sins might be forgiven, but that a new nature, a new heart, a new Spirit, be instilled within him. This was the message Paul fearlessly preached to Felix.

Felix saw that God justly claims the love and obedience of all His creatures. But man has forgotten his Maker. God did not bestow His grace upon the human race so that the binding claims of His law would be lessened, but rather to be established. Paul said, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

Paul, the prisoner, urged upon the Jew and the Gentile the claims of the divine law and presented Jesus, the despised Nazarene, as the Son of God, the world’s Redeemer and the only One able to forgive sin. The Jewish princess well understood the sacred nature of that law which she had so shamelessly transgressed, but her prejudice against the man of Calvary steeled her heart against the words of life. However, Felix, who had never listened to truth before like this, was deeply agitated. The Spirit sent home the truth to his conscience and he was greatly troubled. Conscience had made her voice heard, and Felix felt that Paul’s words were true.

Memory went back over Felix’s guilty past. With terrible distinctness came to his mind the secrets of his early life; the lust, the bloodshed, the black record of his later years, licentious, cruel, rapacious, unjust, steeped in the blood of many innocent people, the public massacres for which he was responsible and he was filled with terror. The thought that all the secrets of his career of crime were open before the eye of God and that one day he would be judged according to his deeds caused him to tremble with guilty dread. But he decided to put it off.

Refusing the invitation to accept eternal life, Felix told Paul to go away and when it was more convenient, he would call on Paul again. Tragically, that convenient time never came for Felix. There are many people today doing the very same thing. They see the gospel and fear that time when their true character will be laid open for all to see, but they say, “I’ll be saved later.”

How is it with you friend? It is dangerous to wait for the convenient season. It never comes.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Differences and Persecution

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One may wonder why religious discussion and persecution provoke conflict on both a personal and often on an international level as well.  The worst wars of all time have been those that have been fought over religion. The imprisonment of the apostle Paul provides abundant testimony concerning the real issues that result in the white-hot heat of human conflict.

It is very common for people in the world to be proud of their race or nation of their birth. That is not a problem unless because of our pride we begin to look down on other people of other races or other nations and believe they are inferior to us. Eventually, as a result of those feelings, animosity and hatred develop between the people of different nations and different races. This happened in ancient times and is still happening today.

Ethnic prejudice and hatred is what caused the animosity against Paul when he was sent by the Lord as the apostle to the Gentiles. If you are non-Jewish and a Christian today, you owe a great debt of gratitude to the apostle Paul, who originally took the gospel to the Gentiles all over the world. His opening the gospel to the Gentiles caused the Jews to hate him. Eventually, he was captured in the temple by the outraged Jews who intended to kill him.

The Roman soldiers were oblivious to this intent. Being instructed by the Jewish leaders, the Roman commander figured that this fellow, Paul, must be a terrible criminal because of the way the Jews acted. So, as was customary in the Roman government, they decided to find out who this fellow really was. They would torture him until he told them the truth about what he had done. They stretched out Paul’s body to be scourged, but he had something at his disposal that the Roman commander did not know: the apostle was a citizen of Rome. The Bible says, “As they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?’ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, ‘Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman’ ” (Acts 22:25, 26).

Hearing that, the Roman commander was then very afraid. He knew that if Paul should report him to the authorities, he would be in trouble for even having bound an uncondemned Roman citizen. The commander asked Paul, “ ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ The commander answered, ‘With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.’ And Paul said, ‘But I was born a citizen’ ” (verses 27, 28).

Paul was now safe in the Roman barracks, but the next day the Roman commander wanted to know why he was accused by the Jews. The Roman commander commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear. Paul was released from his bonds and brought down before the council so the matter could be settled. “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day’ ” (Acts 23:1). When he said that, the high priest was livid and commanded those that stood by him to slap him on the mouth (verse 2). Now this was contrary, not only to Roman law, but also to Jewish law. Paul could not legally be punished as a Roman citizen and scourged when he had not been convicted of a crime.

The same is true in the law of Moses, recorded in Deuteronomy 25. A man could not be punished until he had been convicted of a crime. The high priest was acting contrary to the law of Moses in commanding that Paul be slapped when he had not been convicted of any crime. So Paul said, “ ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law’ ” (Acts 23:3)?

When Paul said this, “Those who stood by said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?’ Then Paul said, ‘I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people” ’ ” (verses 4, 5).

Paul’s prophetic denunciation that God would strike the high priest was not made because of human passion. It was made under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The judgment pronounced by the apostle was terribly fulfilled when this hypocritical and iniquitous high priest was murdered by assassins in the Jewish war just a few years later. So now, as the apostle looked over the people who had come to question him, he was able to penetrate their minds and perceive the group he was dealing with and understood that there was nothing he could do to explain anything concerning his mission, and whatever he said would make them white-hot with anger.

Paul decided his best move was to let them fight among themselves instead of fighting with him.  “When Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged’ ” (verse 6)!

Immediately at hearing these words a fight broke out among the people in front of him between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, as the former did not believe in the resurrection, while the Pharisees did. Why is it that religious discussion always stirs up such controversy and often passion? It is not only because of ethnic pride, but also because of the human tendency to say, “I’m right, and if you don’t think the way I do, you’re wrong.”

The Pharisees and the Sadducees belonged to the same Jewish faith, yet their beliefs were at the opposite ends of that spectrum of that faith. Today, the Pharisees would be called the conservative faction and the Sadducees would be called the liberal faction. The Sadducees did not believe in the inspiration of all the Old Testament, but only the Pentateuch or the law of Moses. The Sadducees claimed that there was no resurrection and also claimed that there were no angels or spirits. The Pharisees believed in angels and spirits and in the resurrection. When Paul said he was a son of a Pharisee and was there because of the resurrection which can only come through the grace and power of Jesus Christ, whom they were rejecting, it caused an argument between the two Jewish factions.

All Christians want to be in the first resurrection. The Bible says, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). Dying is not a problem if you are a Christian. Death is just a moment of silence and darkness, a sleep until awakened at the resurrection to be taken to heaven with the Lord and with all the others who have died in Christ.

All of God’s children are going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds. Jesus made it very clear that everyone who dies is going to be raised at some time. John 5:28 and 29 say, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and will come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

Now, there was a fight between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The religious discussion over Paul had progressed into a physical fight because some believed in the resurrection and some did not. The result was that the Roman soldiers looking on saw that in the midst of the fight Paul could get killed. So they intervened and pulled him out and brought him back again to the barracks ending the scenes of that eventful day.

Paul then was in essence in a Roman prison, a barracks with Roman soldiers. He had been rescued temporarily from the Jews and their contention, but he knew they were desperate to kill him and would do anything to put him to death. The question that arose in his mind was whether his work for the churches was now closed. Was it now the time that he had already predicted that ravening wolves were going to enter in and not spare the church? The cause of Christ was near to the heart of the apostle Paul. With deep anxiety he contemplated the perils of the scattered churches exposed to the persecutions of just such men as he had encountered in the Sanhedrin council.

The Lord was not unmindful of His servant. The Bible says that “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome’ ” (Acts 23:11). Now the Lord revealed that it was His will for Paul to bear witness to the gospel at Rome. At this time Paul had no idea that the way he would do that was by going to Rome as a prisoner. But the Jews had other things in mind for him. They decided that the very next day they were going to kill him. They had to find a way to get him out of the Roman barracks, for the Roman soldiers would not allow that to happen in the barracks. More than 40 men banded together and they said, “ ‘Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near’ ” (verse 15).

One question that needs to be asked is, “What was the church doing during this upheaval?” Remember, the reason Paul was in this predicament was because of the unwise course of some of the apostles and elders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. Were they praying for his release? When Peter was put in prison, the church prayed night and day for his release and the Lord answered their prayer. But there is no record of the church praying night and day for the apostle Paul, because many of the people, even in the Christian church, believed in keeping the ceremonial law and thought Paul was an apostate from Moses and a teacher of dangerous doctrines.

Paul did not owe his escape from violent death on this occasion to anybody in the Christian church except his sister’s son, his nephew, who heard about this plot, and came and told Paul about it. “Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, ‘Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him’ ” (verse 17). The young man told the commander the plot that the Jews had in mind and the commander understood that they had an extremely dangerous situation. He instructed the young man, “ ‘Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me’ ” (verse 22). The commander then immediately made his plans. It says that, “He called for two centurions, saying, ‘Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night (9 o’clock); and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor’ ” (verses 23, 24). And then he wrote a letter to the governor:

“ ‘Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell’ ” (verses 26–30).

The apostle Paul was taken that very same evening to Caesarea. It says, “The soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him” (verses 31–33). Paul then was at Felix’s headquarters in Caesarea, dozens of miles away from Jerusalem to appear before Felix, the governor, and be accused by the Jews before him. We see in this story many of the reasons for religious persecution.

When Jesus was on earth, He presented before His hometown, Nazareth, a fearful truth when He declared that with backsliding Israel there was no safety for the faithful messenger of God. They would not know his worth or appreciate his labors while they professed to have great zeal for the honor of God and the good of Israel. They were actually the worst enemies of both. These cutting reproofs that Jesus gave (see Luke 4), the Jews of Nazareth refused to hear. They had, but a moment before, acknowledged the gracious words which proceeded out of His lips. The Spirit of God was speaking to their heart, but the instant the possibility was cast upon them that persons of other nations, other religions, other races, could be more worthy of the favor of God than they, those proud, unbelieving Jews were enraged.

They would have taken the life of the Son of God right then had not angels interposed for His deliverance. The men of Nazareth manifested the same spirit toward Christ which their forefathers had manifested against Elijah. That same bigoted spirit was now being manifested against the apostle Paul. The same spirit is still in the world today. A neglect to appreciate and improve the provisions of divine grace has deprived God’s people of many a blessing.

O, friend, how is it with you? Are you looking to your own heart and asking yourself the question, “Am I really converted? Do I really love God with all my heart and my neighbor as myself?” Remember, your neighbor is the human being that needs your help. Or, are you a victim of religious prejudice, racial prejudice, national pride, looking down on others as not as good as yourself, so that eventually you have hatred in your heart toward certain groups, certain religions, certain races, certain nations?

It is easy to profess religion with the lips while the heart is contrary to the most basic principles of the Christian religion. We must not fool ourselves. We must ask, is my heart pure? Have I been converted? Am I filled with the Holy Spirit?

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.