- Covered In His Dust
- Posts
- Acts Chapter 26 (part 2)
"When disciples followed a rabbi, they followed him closely so they would never be out of his sight, never be someplace where they couldn’t hear him speak. They followed him so closely that his sandals often kicked up dust."
May you be covered in His dust.
If this is your first time receiving Covered in His Dust, WELCOME. I’d love to hear where you’re reading from. Just reply and let me know.
Before you dive into my notes, I encourage you to read Chapter 26 HERE first.
Yes, I include all the scripture below, but there’s something about sitting with the whole chapter first — giving yourself room to be curious.
What catches you off guard?
What doesn’t make sense?
What’s going on?
Who’s speaking?
Where is that?
Why?
Those questions will make the notes hit deeper.
Good morning Saints! ☀️
First things first—Covered in His Dust is growing. Over 150 new subscribers joined just last week. We now have readers in more than 20 countries and 22 U.S. states.
I’m humbled to my core.
And as I write this, it’s my 59th birthday. I’m not telling you that to get attention. I’m telling you that to encourage you.
Here’s a short list of things I’ve done in my 50s:
— My wife and I adopted 5 little ones stuck in a Guatemalan orphanage.
— I wrote a bestselling book chronicling our first 10 years on the mission field.
— I completed the Goggins Challenge: 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. Almost 2 marathons in 2 days.
— I started Covered in His Dust with zero subscribers. Today, there are 2,736 of you. That is CRAZY.
— Next year, I’ll climb a ski mountain in Vermont 17 times, until I’ve gained 29,029 feet of elevation, the same as Everest. And I’ll only have 36 hours to do it.
So what’s my point?
It’s never too late.
You’re not too young. You’re not too old.
Most of the disciples were probably in their 20s.
Moses was 80 when God called him.
God isn’t done with you.
And if you’re still breathing—He’s still writing.
Ok. Let’s get on with it.
If you missed part 1 of Chapter 26, you can read it HERE first.
Last week, we watched Paul lift his chained hand in a room full of power and pride and he didn’t flinch.
He didn’t beg for his life.
He didn’t dodge the hard questions.
He told the truth.
He shared his story. And more than that, he preached resurrection. To a king.
Let’s pick up right where we left off.
Paul’s voice is still echoing through that royal hall… and the chains are still clinking on his wrists.
For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
Notice he doesn’t say they misunderstood him. He doesn’t say it got out of hand. He says they tried to kill him.
Why?
Because he preached repentance. Because he preached Jesus. Because he said the message wasn’t just for Jews, but for everyone.
That was the tipping point.
Not the miracles.
Not the Scriptures.
But that the Gentiles were included in the promise of God.
It drove them crazy.
And instead of repenting… they tried to silence the messenger.
Same thing still happens today. I see it ALL THE TIME on social media.
When I write about grace instead of performance, people get uncomfortable. If you say Jesus is the only way, people get offended. Talk about repentance or obedience, and people will say you’re judgmental.
If you take a stand, people try to shut you up.
Maybe not with stones.
But with silence.
With rejection.
And that’s what Paul knew.
He’d rather be in chains with Jesus than applauded without Him.
To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
This is one of those verses you have to read twice.
There’s a lot going on there that I’ve missed for most of my life.
Paul is in chains. On trial. Surrounded by power, wealth, and politics.
And what does he say?
“I’ve had the help that comes from God.”
He’s
in
chains!
But he doesn’t see the chains. He sees opportunity. The opportunity to share the gospel with kings and governors.
Man. That’s kingdom view.
Paul didn’t just hear about Jesus, he spent years, possibly a decade or more, learning directly from Him after his conversion (see Galatians 1:12, 1:17–18, 2:1).
That’s why he saw things differently.
Paul didn’t have the New Testament.
There was no New Testament yet!
So when he talks about “the Scriptures,” he’s talking about the Old Testament.
Which means, during those hidden years in Arabia and beyond, Jesus must have walked him through the Old Testament, showing him where He had been the whole time.
Just like He did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus:
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” —Luke 24:27
Paul had that same experience. Only longer, deeper and more personal.
Can you imagine?
Isaiah 53.
Psalm 22.
Genesis 3.
The sacrificial system in Leviticus.
The promise to Abraham in Genesis 12.
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21.
The Passover lamb in Exodus 12.
The New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.
(Reply and I’ll send you a summary of each reference pointing to Jesus.)
Piece by piece, Jesus was revealing Himself in the Scriptures Paul already knew by heart.
But now, Paul saw Him, hidden in plain sight within the Old Testament.
(I love this so much ♥️♥️♥️!)
That’s what made Paul so dangerous. He didn’t just preach the gospel. He saw it, rooted in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
He was a Pharisee whose eyes had been opened. And now he couldn’t stop preaching the truth.
And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”
But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
“For the king knows about these things,”
Agrippa wasn’t just a Roman puppet. He had deep ties to the Jewish world. He was familiar with the Law and the Prophets. He understood the customs. He knew the stories. He’d heard about Jesus, the miracles, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.
So when Paul says, “This has not been done in a corner,” he means it.
Agrippa had access to all of it.
And that’s why Paul turns and says, “Do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
It’s not just a statement. It’s a moment of decision.
Paul is drawing a line.
But Agrippa won’t touch it.
No debate.
No denial.
Just quiet resistance.
Because to agree with Paul would mean taking the next step. And that step would cost him everything. Power. Position. The praise of men.
And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
Here’s what Paul is really saying. It’s bold, emotional and clear.
“I wish you had what I have.”
Not his title.
Not his background.
Not his status as a Roman citizen or a former Pharisee.
He’s talking about his relationship with Jesus.
He’s saying, “I wish you knew Him. I wish you were saved. I wish you were free like I am on the inside, even though I’m in chains on the outside.”
And then this part, “except for these chains”. It’s Paul’s way of saying: “I would never wish the suffering on you. But I would gladly give you my Savior.”
That’s
compassion.
He's looking at men who are powerful, wealthy, and unchained, and saying: “You might look free. But you’re not. I’m the one who's truly free.”
Paul is in prison, but his soul isn’t. And his greatest desire at that moment is not justice or release. It’s that everyone listening would belong to Jesus.
You can almost hear him pleading with them.
How can you not love Scripture?
Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.
And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”
And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
As an author, I can tell you that in any good story, there’s tension. There’s contrast. Between what should happen and what does. Between what’s just and what’s allowed.
Paul didn’t belong in chains.
Everyone saw it.
Agrippa even admitted it. “This man could have been set free…”
The thing is, Paul wasn’t trying to get out of a sentence.
He was obeying God.
And sometimes, the path of obedience doesn’t lead to safety.
It leads to Caesar.
It leads to the lions.
It leads to a cross.
It’s a lesson we could all stand to remember.
God’s will isn’t always comfortable.
But it’s always right.
I’ve been looking ahead to Paul’s letter to the Romans for the last four or five chapters, and now that we’re almost there…
I don’t want Acts to end.
We’ve got two chapters left. Just two. And they’re packed.
Before we soak in them over the next few weeks, a quick note:
I’ve been working on something I’m really excited about—a digital book titled Uncovering Scripture: The Gospel of Luke.
When I wrote it, my goal was pretty simple. Pull one story from each chapter of Luke that people often miss, and walk through it in a way that helps people fall in love with reading Scripture.
But the thing is, it’s turned into more than I expected.
We all know the stories in Luke. Or at least we think we do.
But there’s depth there. Real depth. And most of the time, we miss it.
Uncovering Scripture is about slowing down and seeing what we’ve rushed past. It’s about reading one chapter, and suddenly, you don’t want to stop.
What if your teen read just one chapter… and couldn’t put it down? What if you’ve always struggled to read the Bible, but for the first time, it actually clicked?
That was me for most of my life. And that’s why I wrote it.
Not a study. Not a checklist. Just a way to open the Bible and realize it’s more alive than you ever thought.
I can’t wait to get it in your hands.
More soon. But first, let’s finish Acts. Because Paul’s not done.
And neither is God.
He’s still writing.
I love you,
George
Uncovering Scripture
PS: If a friend shared this Bible study with you and you’d like to receive it straight to your inbox, just click HERE to subscribe—it’s free and always will be!
George Sisneros is a full-time missionary in Guatemala and the founder of Ordinary Missionaries and the El Rosario Christian Academy for Boys.
He’s been married to his wife, Vonda, for 26 years. He’s a father to nine children, five adopted.
In 2024, George and his wife expanded to Cuba, joining forces with nine pastors committed to transforming lives through the gospel.