First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20).

Here we get a summary of Paul's simple message, namely, repent and show your repentance with your deeds. It is similar to the message of James, namely, believe and show your faith by your works. As the old song goes,

Trust and obey
There is no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey.

Friends, the Christian life is not so complex. Trust in Jesus and obey His Word. Solomon wrote nearly a thousand year before Christ: "Here is the whole duty of man: Fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Now, the question is, as simple as this message is, will we make it our daily preoccupation? 

So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance (Acts 26:19-23).

Paul testified before King Agrippa and Governor Festus about what He had been proclaiming to the Jews and Gentiles. I find it noteworthy that in his brief defense he highlights his call for people to repent. Paul spoke of a repentance involving both a change of mind and a change life, for he spoke of a turning toward God followed by actions commensurate with that turning. 

These days, when the Gospel is preached, I rarely hear anything about repentance. In some cases, repentance is even shunned because it is suggested that only faith is required. But can there be true faith without repentance? Yet, Jesus first preached, "Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). Can there be a true turning to something (i.e. faith) without there also being a turning away from something (i.e. repentance)? The Church was inaugurated with a call to repentance by Peter:

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38).

When Paul gave his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, he reminded them,

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus (Acts 20:21).

Friends, let us understand that trusting in Christ for our salvation is not like receiving an insurance policy for our souls. First of all, an insurance policy is only a contingency for what might happen. Salvation is deliverance from certain judgment.

Second, an insurance policy is a passive security; you don't have to do anything. On the other hand, trusting Christ involves a turning away from self-righteous pursuits (cf. Hebrews 6:1 "repentance from acts that lead to death") and accepting God's righteousness in Christ. What is more, there is a change of attitude, such that there is a sorrow over sin and an ernest desire to obey God (cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10-11; Matthew 21:28-32).

Let us, then, proclaim the whole counsel of God, not simply easy believism but repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In our preaching of the Gospel, let us call people to turn away from their wrongful, self-justifying way of thinking and to embrace God's gift of righteousness through Christ. Let us remind people that repentance is necessary, a turning away from their old way of thinking and living and a turning to a new way of thinking and living in Christ. In this sense, repentance is not separate from faith, for where faith supplies the effective hope of repentance, repentance validates the genuinene sincerity of faith. 

Acts 24
27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

Talk about patience! I feel like I am wasting God's time if I don't see myself give a 'holy' contribution in a few months. Sometimes I think it’s important to know that even your opportunities are given by God. Therefore those rewards, the crowns, we will receive to praise him by putting at his feet; they are even given to us by God for God. After all, what could we offer of our own hands that would be... Worthy to be an offering.

Which, by the way, along this train of thought one of my favorite Christmas song is the little drummer boy. Having nothing, all he could do was play a little beat on his drums. Sometimes I feel I have nothing put a couple of twigs to bang together to show how awesome and wonderful I think he is.

Paul had been arrested and stands before King Agrippa defending himself against the Jewish leadership.  King Agrippa is also a Jew.  Paul recounts his conversion from a Pharisee to a Christian - as Christ called Paul himself.

What an amazing clarity of God's will Paul had in his life!  Man, I have been through these chapters twice before and I must have been sleep reading because I don't believe that I could have missed such an amazing example of evangelism from one of the best.  Paul was already a hero of mine and his faith and trust in the Lord is only amazing me more as this history unfolds.  I knew of Paul as a founder of the early church and through his later letters communicating with other Jews and Christians.  I had not realized even as he is being tried and imprisoned he is using this, in accordance with God's will, to spread the word of Jesus Christ.  Also, on a side note, I find it very interesting the obvious benefits that came along with being a "citizen of Rome" especially a "natural born citizen of Rome" at that time.

In chapter 25:10-12, Paul states that he wants to present his case to Caesar.  I think this is significant.  Caesar's court was the highest court of appeal in existence at that time.  Paul leveraged his rights as a Roman citizen because he knew that there was more at stake than just being acquitted of bogus charges.  Paul understood that winning such a case in Caesar's court could establish Christianity as being distinct from Judaism.   

Here are more chapters in the fascinating drama of Paul's ministry. A captive in Caesarea, he has the audience of three rulers: Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa. Each of these has found no fault in Paul worthy of death or imprisonment, but they seem bent on not offending the Jews, so they keep him in jail. If this was the only information we had, we would be shifting uneasily with frustration at each missed opportunity for Paul to go free. Perhaps some of us might have thought, Paul should have offered Felix a bribe (cf. Acts 24:26). But we remember that in just the previous chapter Paul was given a vision, where the Lord tells him, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome" (Acts 23:11).

While these leaders and the Jews were plotting and conniving, the real force behind Paul's fate was God. God directed Paul to Jerusalem. And God would bring Paul to Rome. And to the best of his knowledge and ability, Paul aligned himself to what God was doing. This was the same scenario with Jesus. when Pilate threatened, "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you," Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above" (cf. John 19:10-11). After Jesus ascended, in Acts 4 the disciples acknowledge that everything that the Gentile and Jewish rulers planned and did to Jesus was preordained to happen by God:

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen (Acts 4:27-28).

We are studying the Book of Isaiah in our church bible study class, and this is a major theme of the book; that is, that God is sovereign over world affairs. He is sovereign over the events in time as well as over all earthly powers whether present or future. Knowing this, what peace believers should have! As the Scriptures rhetorically ask, "If God is for us, who can be against us?!" (Romans 8:31). And we have this assurance: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28), and "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Praise the Lord! "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us!" (Romans 8:37)