Latest / United Baptist Church / Paul Before Felix
Transcript
- So as we pick up our story this morning, we're in Acts chapter 24 of the Apostle Paul, you might recall, has been wrongfully accused and is imprisoned. And by God's providence, he has escaped an attempt on his life in Jerusalem. And so he was escorted away to Caesarea, where he's about to stand trial. The setting in our chapter opens with a basic court procedure. Charges are filed. A prosecutor makes his case. And the defendant in this instance, the Apostle Paul, responds. It has been five days since Paul's rescue from Jerusalem and the high priests and elders have come to Syria now to make their case against him. Their haste in making the journey indicates how eager they are to finally be rid of this pesky Paul, to put him away. The personal presence of the High Priest indicates this is a high priority. And furthermore, the Jewish elders did not come to Syria by themselves and they did not send the B-team. They brought their own orator, we might say, a high powered attorney of sorts, a hired advocate, a man gifted in speaking name, shirtless and shirtless, doesn't sound like a Jewish name. It's because it isn't. One is Latin. And to tell us himself may very well have been a Roman. He will lay the charges and he begins his prosecution of Paul by if we are generous and give him the benefit of the doubt here establishing goodwill with Felix, the judge, he flatters him. Obviously, if we were a little bit more cynical, we might say that Tertullian is kissing up or that he's laying it on pretty thick since through you, we enjoy much peace and sense by your force. Most excellent. Felix Reforms are being made for this nation in every way and everywhere. We accept this with all gratitude now been going through the whole chapter this morning. So if you do have your Bible with you, you might find it helpful to take it out and follow along. That was verse two verse three. These words are intended by to tell us to make a good first impression, obviously, on the judge, but their content is almost laughable. We have already noted that Jerusalem was a city of great unrest at this time, and that was true of the region. The Roman occupation was not popular in Israel. Uprisings were common. Felix was not loved. He was known for his brutal suppression of Jewish and Samaritan groups. The peace treaties refers to is elusive, if not nonexistent. And the reforms of Felix were not appreciated. In short, the lawyer is generous with his praise, but disingenuous with his opening comments, though he gets right to it. He brings charges against Paul. First, he alleges that Paul is a pest. Now we know a little thing about pests, don't we? We live in Maine. I try to sit out on the patio. Last night the mosquitoes had not seen a human for a while or black flies or things like that. Pesky and pesky. But that's actually not what this word means. A plague is how is translated into, in some versions, literally a disease. So to tell us is calling Paul a disease. He's more than annoying, he's more than irksome, he's dangerous, he's infectious. Ben Witherington wrote a commentary on action in that he says that this terminally action is analogous to a contagious disease or plague, transmitting the sickness of disruption, dissension, even revolution. Wherever he goes throughout the civilized world. And the insinuation, of course, is there must be a vigorous response to stop the spread of this disease. This disease called Paul. Secondly, Paul is accused of stirring up riots. Peace was a distinct Roman value in the territories over which they ruled. You might have studied this in history class a while ago. The Pax Romana Roman Peace, a 200 or so year period where there was relative peace among the territories that Rome had conquered. The Romans valued peace in all of the places where they ruled. And we remember that from the trial of Jesus. You remember that the concern there of possibility and others wasn't necessarily truth, was it? It was the maintaining of the peace, the allocation of the people. We don't care what you think is true. We just want you to behave. So if you're going to be happier with us giving you a murderer, we'll give you a murderer. If you want us to kill this Jesus guy, we'll kill this Jesus guy. As long as you guys won't act out, as long as we keep the peace. Peace was a distinct Roman value, so a charge of disturbing the peace against Paul would certainly be one that Felix would perk up too, because his reputation and his career actually could depend on how he handles it. Third, to tell us, says Paul, is the head of a religious faction. He calls him a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarene and and that quite possibly is a term meant to be derogatory. Nazareth was Jesus, hometown, Jesus of Nazareth. It had a reputation as being somewhat of a backwater place. You might recall, as Jesus is going about the countryside and he's recruiting his disciples that he calls Philip and he says to Philip, Come and follow me. And Philip is willing to do that. And Philip goes and finds a fellow named Nathaniel. And he says to Nathaniel, We have found the Christ. We have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. You remember what Nathaniel said? Can anything good come out of Nazareth? So here to tell us says that Paul is a ringleader of a sect of the Nazarene. Again, according to Temple, is Paul is not just part of the riff raff that comes out of Nazareth. He's a coordinator of subversive activities. And lastly, Paul is accused of providing the temple, not the Felix would really care too much about what happens in the temple. He wouldn't be necessarily concerned with religious things. He's a civil governor. He represents Rome. But he would be concerned about anything that might happen in that temple. Again, that could be disruptive or that would lead to unrest in the city. So the charges are laid against Paul and the charges are weak and they are exaggerated. And yet, when Tertullian finishes speaking, verse nine, the Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were. So that is a sort of frame up the Jesus experience, you might recall. One lies and the others swear to it. It wouldn't have surprised Paul that this would happen. It shouldn't surprise any Christian that this might happen. Jesus warned his disciples. John Chapter 15 Verses 18 to 20. If the world hates you know that it has hated me before. It hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But 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. Put yourself in the Apostle Paul shoes. Now you could in these moments. How would you respond, do you think, if you were so unfairly accused, how would you react if your life was imperiled by false allegations, manufactured charges, things you knew were completely false? How would you respond? Do you suppose you'd keep your cool? Paul is composed. I appreciate the honesty. I think most of us would be like, No, definitely not. I'd be a little frantic. And in our culture, we'd probably be standing up and demanding our rights. But Paul is just composed. He makes his defense, but he makes it calmly. He makes it clearly, and he makes it boldly. He's a man of integrity so he can't follow suit of his opponent and butter up the judge. He he cannot actually honestly appeal to Felix governing process. That would be a lie. But what he can appeal to is his tenure. And that's exactly what he does knowing that for many years you've been a judge over the nation, I cheerfully make my defense again. Paul is looking for something good that he can say, You've been doing this for a long time, Felix, and I know you know the ropes, so I'm happy to make my defense before someone like you at least. Felix you have a lay of the land. At least you know what this people is like. At least you know who's causing all these disruptions in Israel. And you know that the Nazarene, they're not the ones who are stirring it up. You know that anyone, in fact, can verify. Paul would say that it was just a tiny short while ago that I went to Jerusalem. I've hardly had any time to stir up any trouble, and I wasn't arguing with anyone when I went there, not in the temple, not in the synagogue, not in the city. The charges against me cannot be proven because they are not true. What's is true, Paul says, Is this an inverse 14 That according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God which these men themselves accept that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscious toward both God and man. What Paul is saying is I'm not guilty of these charges and the Christian faith is not a sect that it it has its roots in the Judaism of my accusers. And we all hold this to be true. This faith that life here is not all there is, that we will be raised from the dead, all of us, and we will all of us be judged. And that's why I work especially hard. Paul's is not to be a troublemaker, not to be someone who who sins against God or sins against my fellow man. And Paul is right on the way. He comes across here with this fact that we will all be raised. The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection. You do not die. Go in the ground. And that's all there is. There will be a resurrect action. And that resurrection is for all the just and the unjust alike. Paul I believe that. I believe that the Bible teaches that we will all one day stand before God and give an account to Him. And that's a good motivation to think about how to live, to choose wisely what we follow, who we follow. Paul continues, verse 17. Here's what really happened. Felix After several years, I came to bring arms from a nation and to present offerings. Paul brought a collection of money to read through this numerous times in the New Testament that he brought a collection of moneys from the Gentile churches to the church at Jerusalem. And in addition to this collection that he has brought and he presented offerings at the temple and we could assume, I think rightly, that these would be the payments. If you go back a couple of chapters that he was advised to make on behalf of the four others who were going through a ritual of purification at the same time that he was. So I came to bring this collection. And furthermore, I've gone to the temple and I'm just presenting my offerings there. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple. So to the charge of profane the temple, Paul is said to have been profane in the temple. He said the truth is, it's just the opposite. I was quietly in the temple To be purified, to purify myself, was doing anything to disrupt that. I was I was acting in accord with the rituals of the temple. And he says, and that without any crowd or tumult, there was nobody around causing any trouble at all. But they found me. They came to me. I'm quietly participating in this Jewish religious ritual. No audience, no fanfare, but some Jews from Asia. And then he takes a little aside. You are quite brilliant. Aside, actually, they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation. Should they have anything against me? In other words, Paul's pretty astute and he's looking around the courtroom, so to speak, and he goes, The people who are bringing the charges aren't even really here, but they ought to be here or else let those men who say what wrongdoing they found me when I stood before the counsel. These guys, what can they personally attest to? What can they say? Eyewitness account. Paul knows it. Nobody has a case. You see, in their haste to put Paul away, the key witnesses. These are the Jews from Asia, the ones who would have come down and testified to Paul inciting riots with where they were. And we read about those. We've made our way through it. It is true that uprisings occur just about everywhere Paul went, but he didn't cause them right. Other people cause them in response to the gospel that he was preaching. But these people, these Jews from Asia who follow him all over the place and cause trouble even into Jerusalem, they're nowhere to be found here in Syria. And these men from Jerusalem, these Jews, they could not put themselves at the place as an eyewitness to testify. So the real accusers aren't even at the trial. And that itself is reason to dismiss the charges. But Paul will confess to one thing. He is guilty of one thing, and then he admits to doing it, though it is not unlawful and it is the act for which he feels he is bound and is in court. Verse 21 that I cried out while standing among them. It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I'm on trial before you this day. Commentator Kenneth Gangel summarizes Paul's thoughts on these charges. My personal message is the issue Jesus is alive. You want to know why I'm here? Felix My personal message is the issue. Jesus is alive. I'm not here because of a violation of civil codes. I'm not here because of a violation of moral laws. I am not a political rebel. I am not a revolutionary or a threat to Rome. But my insistence on what I know to be true, what I faithfully preach, what I cannot renounce, is that Jesus is alive. You see, the resurrection is not just a phenomenal story of how one man cheated death. It is not the story of one person having a near-death experience and coming back. It is the account of the very son of God being killed. Verified dead Roman soldiers wouldn't take anybody off the cross who wasn't dead, and if they weren't, the Roman soldiers would killed, verified, dead and buried in a tomb and rising to life after three days. The proof, as Tony Murrieta put it, that shows the sufficiency of Christ's death, the supremacy of His Lordship and is inevitable return as a judge. And that's the rub for the Jewish leaders. That is what stuck in their craw. That is what is getting under their skin. Jesus is an absolute threat to what they want to believe and how they want to live. If Jesus is who he says he is, and if he has done what he says he has done and what others are saying he has done, then there going to have to change fundamentally. They're going to have to change. They will need to bow to Christ and they don't want to and they don't want anybody else to either. You see, the gospel is truly, truly disrupt. If to everyone who receives it understand that it turns everything upside, it changes everything. It is it is completely disruptive because it crucified an old way of life in order to institute a brand new way of life. It did poses the gospel. When we receive Jesus, it disposes is the king of self and it installs the King of Kings. And Paul has masterfully presented this issue to Felix. It is an issue of theology, not an issue of law. And theology is not something the governor is necessarily interested in. The charges are weak, the defense is strong, and Felix would have been within his rights to rule on the case right then and there. But as we shall see, he has something else in mind. And to be fair, he was equally within his rights to not rule, to suspend the judgment, and that's what he does. So Paul is placed under a fairly common type of Roman detention where he was not free, but he had some freedoms until further notice, until a verdict could be rendered. And then it's during that time we get some insight into Felix's character and into his motives. Verse 24 After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon, you know, we don't have the content of Paul's message to Felix. We don't know what he said, how he said it, but we can conclude this. It was clear and truthful enough to put the governor on edge like John the Baptist before him. We know that Paul did not compromise his message to suit his powerful audience. And what a temptation, if you think about it, what a temptation that might have been. Paul gets invited before the man who holds his life. What kind of a message will he craft? What will he say? Would he spend his time precious time, defending himself and trying to wriggle off a hook? Would he come up with something that was palatable for somebody like Felix? True, but not necessarily offensive. What do you simply speak the truth? Or maybe find something politically correct that seems fashionable? Would you say anything is going to get him into deeper trouble? Paul stood firm. If he had compromised in any way, he would not have been standing firm then. And believers are call to stand firm in the face of real threat. Stand firm. In the 16th century, there was a Protestant reformer in England by the name of Hugh Latimer. He was known as a great preacher in his day, and as a result, he had many opportunities to speak. Once he found that he was to preach before King Henry, the eighth of England. And as he thought about his great responsibility to bring a message before this noble, he realized that the message that God laid on his heart was not a message. The King would want to hear. As he began his sermon, he said, Latimer Latimer, do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry the eighth, who has power to command you to be sent to prison? Who can have your head, who can have your head cut off if it please him, will you not take care to say nothing that will offend his royal ears? He then paused and continued. Latimer to Latimer, do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords before him? At whose throne? Henry the Eighth will stand before him. To whom? One day you will have to give an account for yourself. Latimer. Latimer. Be faithful to your master and declare all of God's Word, which he did. He faced a choice, what he preached, what man wanted to hear, or what Christ wanted him to preach. And he He preached the latter. And he took his stand for truth. And he preached boldly and eventually in October 1555, it cost him his life. He was martyred. He was killed by King Henry's daughter, Queen Mary. Similarly, Paul stands before a man who legally holds his life in his hands. Will he preach what Christ would have been preach or what man wanted to hear? And we know this Paul is going to preach the old, old story about God's holiness, about man's sinfulness, and about impending judgment. Some day everyone will give an account to God for what they've done with the life that He has given them. Again, Paul sites are not on saving himself wonderfully. They are on saving feelings. Would you have such compassion for someone who had you unjust, unjustly imprisoned? Would you even care for that person's eternal soul? This is the depth of the love of Christ. That's what Paul is full of. He's not worried about saving himself. He's worried concerned about saving feelings. Paul preaches to this man, I think the same way that reformed Pastor Richard Baxter described his ministry when he said, I preached as never sure to preach again as a dying man to a dying man. Paul lays out the truth for the governor. What happens is Scripture says Felix was a learned and he said, go away, go away for the present. And when I get an opportunity, I will summon you. Reminds reminds us of Paul at the Acropolis. What others saw. Listen to him. He said, Well, maybe. Well, we'll hear you again. There's no evidence that they ever did. It's just kind of like this is an inconvenient message that you're sharing. This is something that makes me uncomfortable. Just And Felix has all the authority to take advantage of that. Just go away. I don't need to listen to this. And if I feel like listening to it again, I will summon you. He's willing to listen to Paul like a lot of people are willing to listen again to a point just like the Jews in Jerusalem. Remember when Paul was speaking there. But as soon as he got up and said that he had to bring this gospel to the Gentiles, he said, that's it, get out. Willing to listen to a point. Felix is willing to listen to a point Most people are willing to listen to a gospel presentation to a point. And often that point is when it becomes very personal, when it becomes obvious that if I'm going to embrace this, I'm going to have to forsake that. Then if I'm going to have to choose Jesus, I'm going to have to unfriend something over here. That's when people stop listening. Felix stopped listening and he sent Paul away because he was alarmed. You know what? That's a proper response for anyone still in there. Seem to have, when they hear the gospel, when they hear the truth, it is to be alarmed. That is a proper response. If you don't know God's forgiveness, if you are not completely 100% sure that God has forgiven you of your sin, you should be alarmed if you are rolling the dice and thinking, Well, I'm just going to get to heaven and make my case. I haven't been that bad. Well, I've been bad, but not that bad. That's a bad playing friend. You should be alarmed if you don't know God's forgiveness. If you are not convinced that Christ for giving you that His blood has paid for your sins. The writer of the Hebrews reminds us, for our God is a consuming fire. Think about that, would you? Because we we rightly talk about our God as a God of love. This same God is because of His righteousness and holiness is a consuming fire. And the writer of the Hebrews goes on. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified as outraged? The spirit of grace, for we know him who said Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. If you don't know God, forgiveness for your sins, you should be alarmed. You should be alarmed. But you needn't be without hope. Christ has paid for your sin with His life. He shed his blood so you can be forgiven and cleansed. All sin cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Put your trust in him. That's what the Bible says. Call on his name and you will be saved. But that's not what Felix did. He was furious that he wasn't convicted. He was intrigued, but he wasn't quite convinced. He was interested. But he was not changed. What do you suppose it was that kept him from knowing Jesus, from surrendering his life? Verse 26 at the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so he sent for him often and conversed with him. It looks from this text as though Felix was greedy. It looks like he love money and the love of money has kept many from the kingdom of God. Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And Felix had a position of power and he had a position of wealth. These are things that intoxicate a man and numb him to his true weakness and his true neediness. Things that convince a person I'm all set, I'm all set. I've got all that I need. Convince a person of that until his eyes one day are open in eternity. And he sees and he stands before a holy God, and he says, like the Prophet Isaiah, woe is me as he realizes that he is truly lost. And what he is truly lost cannot be found, never be attained. Jesus asked for what does it profit a man if he gains a whole world and loses his soul? And the answer, of course, is nothing. The prophets have nothing. You can have everything. But if you lose your soul and spend eternity in hell, what have you gained? Nothing. Anything, Friend that might keep you from surrendering your life to Jesus is going to, in the end prove to be not worthy of your allegiance. Anything that would keep you from Jesus is not worth it. Let it go. Let it go and trust Christ. Tony married again says Learn from Felix. Time is not on your side. Repent and trust in the risen Jesus while there's still time until others about him before they too run out of opportunities to embrace him. While Felix does nothing with Jesus and he does nothing with Paul. Verse 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porsche's Festus in desiring to do the Jews a favor. Felix left Paul in prison. So once again we come to the end of a narrative, so to speak, and we catch Luke just reporting the facts very casually. When two years had elapsed. I don't know if that jumped out at you and jumped out at me two years. Two years? Paul is wrongfully detained for two years, God had sprung him from jail in Philippi. He did the same thing for Peter before that. Why isn't he doing it again? Why does Paul remain a prisoner, even though is not anything again, I ask. How do you think he would deal with that sort of treatment if it were to happen to you? The scene puts us in mind, I think, of Joseph, whose story we read in the Book of Genesis, and he too is wrongly accused and unfairly held. Where was God in those days? What was God up to? Why are these apparent injustices even allowed? Maybe you find yourself today in a perplexing circumstance like this. I'm not in jail because you're here, but unfairly accused of something, or maybe just simply paying a price with your reputation in or in a relationship for something that you did not do. If you can relate to that, if if that is the case, remember what the Bible teaches. God is sovereign over your situation. God is completely sovereign over your situation. There isn't one iota of it that he doesn't have his hand on and isn't in control of his sovereign over your situation. So trust him. So he's wanted of you. Trust him. Never underestimate God's ability to redeem your circumstance. Never underestimate God's ability to bring something beneficial to you out of something wicked. What others intend for evil. God uses for good. A chapter ends with an unceremonious, at least according to Luke in writing. Changing of the guard. Felix is out, Festus is in and Paul remains detained. Lord willing, that's where we pick up next week. Our father. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you for your sovereignty. We know you are in charge. And as we read the accounts of the saints, we think, my heavens, how did they do that? How do they love that way? How are they faithful that way? We know it is through your power and by your grace. And we seek for ourselves these same things, Lord, that we might be composed, raised in stressful situations, that we might be faithful when we are wrongfully accused, that we might remain true when all around us leans toward falsehood. Lord, let us be those who live surrendered lives we see in this story all these characters, so many of them. And yet so many doing the one thing that comes so natural to us, living for themselves in this one brilliant bright light in the Apostle Paul who stands apart, who has forsaken himself, surrendered himself and lives for you. Help us to do that. Help us to be that sort of person. We pray and ask you the power of Christ. Amen.