And now I stand here on trial because of my hope and the promise made by God to our fathers.
– Acts 26:6
I could keep reading on as Paul is speaking in front of all these officials, leaders around him. But I love this verse as Paul says, “I’m standing here on trial.” Why am I on trial? I’m on trial because of hope. What a phrase. I am standing on trial because of my hope and the promise made by God to our fathers. What a picture.
Acts 26:6 Shows Us the Apostle Paul Risking His Life for the Gospel
Paul is risking his life for hope and a promise made by God. And Acts 26:6 is a glaring reminder to all of us that hope is worth it. The promises of God are worth it. They’re worth being persecuted over. They’re worth risking your life for because they are that sure, they are that certain.
This is not a hope, like I hope my team will win the Super Bowl or the World Series. Or I hope this or that will happen and we’re really not sure if it’s going to happen. No, this is a confidence. This is a guarantee. Paul says, I know. He goes on to talk about the resurrection, which we’ve heard him talk about before. He points to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul explains the resurrection from the dead to come for all those who trust in Jesus.
Paul is confident and the hope he has, he’s confident in the promises of God. So I just want to encourage you to ask the question, are you willing to be persecuted for your hope? Are you willing to be persecuted for your hopes specifically in the promises of God for your trust and the promises of God, for your confidence and the promises of God?
Acts 26:6 Reminds Us of Our Brothers & Sisters Suffering Persecution
I think about our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world right now who are facing all kinds of risks to their life and their livelihood. They’re hoping in God. This is why in 1 Corinthians 15, as Paul’s talking about, “I am being persecuted all the time, dying daily,” but he said, “It’s because I know that Jesus has risen from the dead. I’m persecuted for hope,” and I think about people even in my culture.
In my country, whose jobs are being threatened as followers of Jesus, specifically if they live out their convictions as followers of Jesus, and I just want to encourage every one of us, wherever we are living, to hold fast, to hope in such a way that we would be willing to be persecuted for our hope, persecuted for our trust, and the promises of God. You will not regret being persecuted for hope.
God, we praise you for this phrase in your word that you inspired by Holy Spirit, that you gave by your Holy Spirit to Paul in that moment, just like you promised you would. God, we praise you for this hope in your promise that we have, not just Paul, that we all have, that we know beyond the shadow of a doubt, that because Jesus has risen from the dead, all who trust in him will rise with him and sin and sorrow and death will be no more.
This Verse Encourages Us to Place Our Hope in the Promises of God
Therefore, we don’t have to worry about death. Because of our hope in your promise, we know that to live is Christ and to die is gain. God, we praise you for hope in you and hope in your promises that you’ve made, not just to us, but to our fathers and mothers and the faith before us going back centuries all the way to Abraham, all the way to Genesis chapter three.
We praise you for all your promises that fill your word. God, help us to live today with hope in all of them. God, I pray for anyone, everyone who’s listening to this, who is struggling right now and faith God, that you would renew their hope in your promises. Who’s struggling in life in this way or that way or in their family, work and the church, just in any way in the world, God, that you would remind them right now by your spirit through your word right now, that your promises are for them and they have hope in them.
This Verse Reminds Us to Pray for Those Enduring Suffering and Despair
God, I pray especially for anyone who’s in despair right now, who’s depressed or just in a dark season where it doesn’t feel like there’s hope. God, I pray that your hope would overwhelm them even in this moment. They would know that they have hope in you.
God, we pray that you would help us to spread this hope in the world. Lord, there’s so many people who are in those circumstances who don’t have hope, who don’t have your promises, who don’t know Jesus. God, help us to share the gospel of hope today. Help us to share the gospel of hope no matter what it costs us. God, we do pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world that you give them boldness to share the gospel of hope.
Praying for the Jenaama Bozo People
We pray that this hope would spread to all the nations today for the Jenaama Bozo people of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana and Burkina Faso and Molly. God, we pray they would be reached with the hope of Jesus.
God, we pray for these 445,000 people. Please God, they don’t have the hope it’s found in Jesus. None of them do. God, please bring your hope to them through your people who were willing to lose their lives, to proclaim your hope to them. God, raise up more laborers for the harvest field among the Jenaama, Bozo people. We pray all of this based on the hope we have in your promises according to your word in Acts 26:6. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
