WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.919 open up our Bibles to Acts chapter 24. Acts chapter 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.339 24, we're going to be looking at this entire 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:10.560 chapter as we're just making our way here through 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:13.439 the book together. And this morning we're going 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.140 to be talking about a few different topics regarding 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:20.359 the truth and at the end of chapter 24 you'll 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:25.000 see Felix entirely turn away from the truth and 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.780 procrastinate. from giving his life to Christ 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.460 and we'll anyways we'll just be looking through 00:00:31.460 --> 00:00:33.320 all of that just walking through this chapter 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.079 together and hopefully it will be a blessing 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:43.079 to you. Let me just read for us verse 24 down 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:47.859 to verse 26 or 27 together and then I'll pray 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:51.600 for us and then we'll jump in to what it has. 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:55.700 So it says after some days Felix came with his 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:59.899 wife, Jerusalem, who was Jewish, and he sent 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:02.700 for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:06.379 Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:10.379 and self -control and coming judgment, Felix 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:15.439 was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:18.799 When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.840 At the same time, he hoped that money would be 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.579 given to him by Paul. So he sent for him often 00:01:24.579 --> 00:01:28.599 and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.500 Felix was succeeded by Portius and Festus, and 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:37.260 desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:41.519 in prison. Lord, thanks for our time that we 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.719 have right now to be in the Word of God. It truly 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.180 is the highlight of our time together, because 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:54.260 in these pages of scripture we find Christ. We 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:59.480 find our Savior. We get to learn about the Messiah. 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.000 And Lord I pray that as we study the Word that 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.099 your Holy Spirit would would move in our hearts 00:02:07.099 --> 00:02:11.039 that you would convict us of sin or even convict 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.360 us of wrong thinking and you would change that 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.020 thinking. Lord that you would bring comfort to 00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:20.080 those who are hurting. and Lord that you would 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:23.620 conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. We 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:26.199 depend on the Holy Spirit to do these things 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.659 for any amount of change that's going to happen 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:33.379 in our lives. In Jesus name, amen. Well, we've 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:35.539 been studying now the book of Acts for quite 00:02:35.539 --> 00:02:38.240 some time and towards the end of this, after 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.199 the third missionary journey, you can kind of 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.860 feel the story pick up a little bit, but also 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:47.030 feels like it's slowing down as well. That is 00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:49.569 because we're starting to hit these these different 00:02:49.569 --> 00:02:51.810 trials that the Apostle Paul is going through 00:02:51.810 --> 00:02:54.710 and what's happening is the Jews are trying to 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:57.930 convict him and Trying to run him out of Israel 00:02:57.930 --> 00:03:00.789 even worse than that trying to kill him So he's 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:02.590 going through all these different trials and 00:03:02.590 --> 00:03:06.889 hopes for a conviction And when studying these 00:03:06.889 --> 00:03:08.729 trials that we're going to be studying together, 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:10.189 and we looked at one last week, and we'll look 00:03:10.189 --> 00:03:12.710 at one this week, and then next week we'll do 00:03:12.710 --> 00:03:15.770 the same, we can't help but think about the life 00:03:15.770 --> 00:03:18.409 of Christ and the trials that Jesus went through 00:03:18.409 --> 00:03:21.150 on the night that he was betrayed, on the night 00:03:21.150 --> 00:03:25.270 that he was arrested and tortured and then eventually 00:03:25.270 --> 00:03:28.919 murdered the next day on the cross. Jesus would 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:31.319 go before one court and another court in front 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:35.280 of one judge and the next judge and he'd go and 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:40.460 it'd be again through each time he'd be proven 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:45.719 innocent. Each time Jesus not guilty and each 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:47.900 time they weren't sure what to do with him until 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:50.699 finally the crowd took over and chanted, chanted, 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.139 crucify him, crucify him and then he would be 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:58.509 hung on the tree. 25 years later or so thereabouts 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:01.750 we have the Apostle Paul Standing before judge 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:05.110 after judge court after court and each time the 00:04:05.110 --> 00:04:07.030 courtroom saying we don't know what to do with 00:04:07.030 --> 00:04:10.849 this man he's not guilty of what you guys are 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:15.009 saying that he is guilty of and Luke gives us 00:04:15.009 --> 00:04:18.529 these trials one after another and and I think 00:04:18.529 --> 00:04:21.129 he wants us to go back and even think about the 00:04:21.129 --> 00:04:24.779 life of Christ not because Paul is Christ, but 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:30.519 because Paul is proclaiming Christ. And so we 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.160 have again another opportunity to see the Apostle 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.920 Paul stand before a judge, or in this case, stand 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:43.449 before Governor Felix. In fact, in chapter 23 00:04:43.449 --> 00:04:46.310 he went before the Sanhedrin, in chapter 24 he 00:04:46.310 --> 00:04:49.550 goes before Felix, and in chapter 25 he goes 00:04:49.550 --> 00:04:53.250 before Festus, and in chapter 26 he goes before 00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:56.089 King Agrippa and Festus again, and you're gonna 00:04:56.089 --> 00:04:58.009 feel like coming to church is like a little bit 00:04:58.009 --> 00:05:00.199 of a deja vu. You're going to sit in the same 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:02.060 seat. You're going to grab your coffee. You're 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:03.600 going to shake hands. You're going to open up 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:04.899 the Book of Acts. You go, wait a minute. Didn't 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:07.439 we talk about this last week? It's going to feel 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.120 like that for the next couple of weeks as we 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:13.279 come into these courtrooms together to figure 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.819 out what's going to happen to the Apostle Paul. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:20.439 And at the end of the day, no one knows what 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.199 to do with Paul because he's done nothing wrong. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.199 And what is really on trial is not the man. but 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.800 the message. It's not the guy, but the gospel. 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:36.060 And it's not for crimes, it's because of Christ 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:40.040 and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.199 what's really happening in these chapters, in 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:46.040 these four chapters and in these four trials. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:50.199 It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that is on trial 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:54.360 through the Apostle Paul. You say, why is it 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:57.879 that the Romans got involved anyway? Well in 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:02.579 AD 6 this Roman province was established as Rome 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:07.279 would extend its reach all throughout the known 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:12.319 empire back then. Judea was a critical spot because 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.939 it was kind of a land bridge between Egypt and 00:06:14.939 --> 00:06:19.319 Syria. It was a spot that the Romans really really 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.339 liked but it was also a spot that was and had 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:27.670 political Instability it was always one of those 00:06:27.670 --> 00:06:30.750 places where riots would occur It was always 00:06:30.750 --> 00:06:32.470 one of those places where they couldn't settle 00:06:32.470 --> 00:06:37.850 the people down but room wanted this tight coverage 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:41.310 over this area because They wanted to tax the 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.949 people there. They were in it for the money The 00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:46.889 Jewish high priest was there and the Jewish high 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:50.189 priest was Ananias and he he could help Settle 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:53.209 the people at times, but Rome controlled the 00:06:53.209 --> 00:06:57.699 courts Rome was the only one that could enact 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:01.920 capital punishment. And during this time, the 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.639 Roman emperor was a man by the name of Nero. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:09.839 And he reigned from AD 54 to 68. Underneath him 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:13.300 was Governor Felix. And he was part of Judea 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.959 and the governor over that area. And he resided 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:20.259 in a city called Caesarea. And Felix had judicial 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:23.759 authority. He could hear trials like this one. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:27.319 He had military authority. He had the power to 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:29.819 imprison people. He had the power to release 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:34.660 prisoners. Ananias didn't have that kind of power. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:41.100 He was appointed, in fact, by even Rome. Ananias 00:07:41.100 --> 00:07:45.360 was over the Jewish council, which handled religious 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.819 law. But when it came to executing capital punishment, 00:07:51.410 --> 00:07:54.769 That could not happen without Roman approval. 00:07:55.389 --> 00:07:57.290 So what the Jews were doing is they were like, 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:00.389 okay, let's get him in front of the Felix, let's 00:08:00.389 --> 00:08:03.389 get him in front of Festus, let's make sure that 00:08:03.389 --> 00:08:05.509 he's in front of these people who could actually 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:08.790 say, yes, you are guilty and you deserve the 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:11.990 death penalty. So we have these trials going 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:16.490 on for that very reason. The goal here, For the 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:20.529 Jews is to have Paul killed remember in Last 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:22.829 week we saw this there was a plot even to kill 00:08:22.829 --> 00:08:25.529 him if you look in in chapter 23 in verse 12 00:08:25.529 --> 00:08:28.370 It says when it was day the Jews made a plot 00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:31.250 bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor 00:08:31.250 --> 00:08:34.830 drink till they had killed Paul All right. This 00:08:34.830 --> 00:08:39.110 is how hostile the area is right now Jerusalem 00:08:39.110 --> 00:08:41.570 is in an uproar they're all searching for this 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:44.049 man Paul and the Jews want to have him killed 00:08:44.049 --> 00:08:46.330 but they can't kill him unless the Romans tell 00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:48.149 himself so let's get him in front of the governor 00:08:48.149 --> 00:08:50.009 let's get him in front of the king let's do all 00:08:50.009 --> 00:08:52.889 that we can to get the Apostle Paul killed but 00:08:52.889 --> 00:08:55.009 when he goes before the Rome the Roman governors 00:08:55.009 --> 00:08:57.269 they look at him and go hey you've done nothing 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:02.090 wrong sound familiar yeah this is exactly what 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:04.590 happened to Christ they put him before the Roman 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:09.129 they said oh I find no fault in this man And 00:09:09.129 --> 00:09:12.570 here it is happening yet again the gospel on 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:17.129 trial and the gospel again Being the very thing 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.529 that the people hate but the gospel is the very 00:09:19.529 --> 00:09:22.409 thing that that brings peace and salvation to 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:30.629 the hearts of men So here's Paul he's in prison 00:09:30.629 --> 00:09:33.490 right or even before that during this plot to 00:09:33.490 --> 00:09:35.659 kill him remember his nephew came right out of 00:09:35.659 --> 00:09:37.080 nowhere it's like oh nephew didn't even know 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.120 he had a nephew right he came and heard what 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.399 was going on he heard that his uncle was about 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.440 to be executed once he left prison and these 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:48.519 people were going to come and kill him so he 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:52.080 let the romans know and and they went ahead and 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.120 they got as it says in verse 23 of chapter 23 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.059 they called two of the centurions and said get 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:02.919 ready 200 soldiers 70 horsemen 200 spearmen And 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.460 let's get him take him to Caesarea there and 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:07.240 the third hour of the night We're gonna provide 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:09.559 mounts for Paul to ride on and we're gonna bring 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:14.139 him safely to Felix so he has this this entire 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:16.919 entourage around Paul as he makes his way out 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.340 of Jerusalem and into the coast there to Caesarea 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:24.100 where Felix is and he stays there the night and 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:27.000 it says in verse 35 Felix says I will give you 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.710 a hearing when your accusers arrive Alright, 00:10:32.769 --> 00:10:35.950 so that's where we're at now. He's in front of 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:42.330 Felix chapter 24 verse 1 gives us then a unique 00:10:42.330 --> 00:10:45.909 trial a new trial There's some new faces here 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:48.830 in this trial. I want to give you these these 00:10:48.830 --> 00:10:52.049 faces as we we say these names We know about 00:10:52.049 --> 00:10:54.210 Ananias. He's the high priest. We've been introduced 00:10:54.210 --> 00:10:58.110 to him before He's the high priest of the council 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:01.980 of the Sadducees and the Pharisees Then you got 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:03.919 a man it says there there's some elders that 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.679 are there so Ananias brought with him from Jerusalem 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:08.820 All right, some of some of the elders of the 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:11.539 church some of the men with authority brought 00:11:11.539 --> 00:11:16.559 them with him These were were men who could understand 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.899 political matters. They're representatives of 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:20.919 the Sanhedrin They're there in this courtroom 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.620 and then we've got a new person here It says 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:27.220 there in verse 1 and a spokesman won Tertullius 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.980 The the the most easiest way to tell you who 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:35.500 this man is is to say this the Jews lawyered 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:42.580 up The Jews lawyered up They found the best lawyer 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:46.120 and all of Judea to ride along with them and 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:52.250 to take them into this courtroom They wanted 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:54.950 to have the Apostle Paul executed so they so 00:11:54.950 --> 00:11:57.590 Ananias said I know what I'll do I'll grab some 00:11:57.590 --> 00:11:59.330 of the men will try to intimidate him with all 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:02.629 these guys and then we'll grab the the best lawyer 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:06.049 in the entire country will bring him and we'll 00:12:06.049 --> 00:12:08.429 let him just say what he needs to say in front 00:12:08.429 --> 00:12:11.429 of the governor and for sure Paul is going to 00:12:11.429 --> 00:12:16.190 be accused of all these things Also you have 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:18.370 and I read it already at towards the end here 00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:21.330 at the when Paul is in custody here We have Felix, 00:12:21.549 --> 00:12:23.409 right? That's the governor and then we're introduced 00:12:23.409 --> 00:12:27.509 to his wife Jerusalem it was a Jewish woman and 00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:29.429 there's an interesting story there. Maybe we'll 00:12:29.429 --> 00:12:32.009 have time to get to it but this is the this these 00:12:32.009 --> 00:12:35.009 are the the ones who are here in this this courtroom 00:12:35.009 --> 00:12:39.090 and There's three parts to this that I want to 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:42.649 show you three parts to this in chapter 24 this 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:44.500 Courtroom scene that I want to show you and let 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.820 me just walk through them with you This morning 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:49.759 number one part one is this I want you to see 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.000 Tertullius's Prosecution and what he does is 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.980 he twists the truth And the principle here, let 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:02.340 me just give you this upfront as well So that's 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:04.259 part one principle number one is this is that 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.799 the world will lie or twist the truth to stop 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:11.230 the advancement of the gospel That's the principle 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:14.389 that I want you to think through as we study 00:13:14.389 --> 00:13:18.370 this part of this passage. Here's what it says. 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:21.190 After five days the high priest in Ananias, chapter 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:23.970 24 in verse 1, he came down with some of the 00:13:23.970 --> 00:13:27.330 elders and a spokesman, one a lawyer, Tertullius. 00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:31.350 They laid before the governor their case against 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:35.070 Paul. And when they had been summoned, Tertullius 00:13:35.070 --> 00:13:41.809 began to accuse him, saying, since through you 00:13:41.809 --> 00:13:46.490 we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, 00:13:46.710 --> 00:13:52.210 oh, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made 00:13:52.210 --> 00:13:55.350 for this nation, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:13:55.929 --> 00:13:59.590 Right, just buttering up the governor. In every 00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:03.629 way and in everywhere, we accept this with all 00:14:03.629 --> 00:14:08.399 gratitude. Verse four, but. To detain you no 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.419 further. I beg you in your kindness to hear us 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:16.679 briefly For we have found this man a plague One 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.299 who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:22.000 the world and is is a ringleader in the sect 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.259 of the Nazarenes He even tried to profane the 00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:30.399 temple, but we seized him By examining him yourself 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:34.580 you will be able to find out from him about everything 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:41.039 of which we accuse him. Everything of which we 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.059 accuse him. There's three things that Paul is 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:46.279 being accused of. Number one, it's right there 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:49.100 in verse five. He's being accused of sedition, 00:14:49.340 --> 00:14:51.740 which is he is someone who is starting riots 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:56.320 all throughout the land. This is what Christ 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.389 was also accused of. A man who starts riots all 00:15:01.389 --> 00:15:04.110 throughout the land. He says, oh he's one who 00:15:04.110 --> 00:15:07.230 stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout 00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:12.090 all the world. He's being accused of this. Secondly, 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:16.629 he's being accused of being the leader. The sect 00:15:16.629 --> 00:15:19.710 of the Nazarenes, which is so wild and bizarre. 00:15:19.830 --> 00:15:21.789 We've never even heard this yet before maybe 00:15:21.789 --> 00:15:23.809 they thought because he took a Nazarite vow This 00:15:23.809 --> 00:15:26.250 could have been why he did this but the net the 00:15:26.250 --> 00:15:29.250 Nazarenes are are are during that time They were 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:31.590 one of the most dangerous of all the Jewish sex 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:38.070 and in in Judea So so he's he's Causing all these 00:15:38.070 --> 00:15:40.590 riots. He's he's the leader of this dangerous 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:44.309 group and number three it says in verse six He 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:47.850 even tried to profane the temple, but we seized 00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:51.450 him He's also a man who profanes our religion 00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:55.710 and our temple now remember all that felix cares 00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:58.789 about is this he cares about money and he cares 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:02.669 about peace and He's got a guy now on trial the 00:16:02.669 --> 00:16:05.279 apostle paul who's being accused of what? of 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:07.899 causing riots, being the leader of a dangerous 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:12.620 group, and profaning the temple. So Felix must 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:15.620 be thinking, well, I don't want a riot to happen, 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:18.000 because if a riot happens, then Rome's gonna 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.500 hear of this, and Rome's gonna hear of this, 00:16:19.539 --> 00:16:21.340 they're gonna remove me from being a governor, 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.960 so I need to keep the peace, we need to take 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.120 this seriously, we need to figure this out, because 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:28.159 I don't want any trouble in the land, I need 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.080 order, and I need people to be taxed so that 00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:41.860 I can have the money. So Tertullius goes on with 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:45.519 twisting the truth. He doesn't just twist the 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:50.779 truth, he gives a flat -out lie. Verse 5, we 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:53.980 found this man a plague who stirs up riots among 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:57.899 the Jews when in fact it wasn't Paul who stirred 00:16:57.899 --> 00:17:01.779 up any riot. It was the opposite. It was the 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:06.490 opposite that happened. He just straight lies, 00:17:06.789 --> 00:17:09.710 twisting the truth here. He's not the leader 00:17:09.710 --> 00:17:13.430 of the Nazarenes. He never profaned the temple, 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:15.869 although the Jews may accuse him of that. He 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:18.329 never did it. What is he doing? He's just simply 00:17:18.329 --> 00:17:21.750 twisting the truth. And this is a reminder here, 00:17:21.750 --> 00:17:23.250 and this is where our principle comes into play 00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:25.109 here. This is a reminder here that the world 00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:28.609 will do anything to oppose the advancement of 00:17:28.609 --> 00:17:31.650 the gospel of Jesus Christ. The world will twist 00:17:31.650 --> 00:17:35.750 all kinds of truths to stop the gospel. They 00:17:35.750 --> 00:17:39.430 will twist, they will distort, they will stretch 00:17:39.430 --> 00:17:43.210 the truth in hopes to stop the advancement of 00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:46.589 the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? Because the 00:17:46.589 --> 00:17:53.849 gospel is always on trial. And it will always 00:17:53.849 --> 00:18:01.000 be on trial. The church is always the beacon 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.839 of hope for the community. The gospel of Jesus 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.539 Christ is always the hope of the community and 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:11.279 always the hope of the people. And when you have 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:13.920 those who are against it, they will do everything 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:17.579 they can, including twisting the truth, to stop 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:23.380 the gospel from going forward. Many of you maybe 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:28.390 saw the news last Sunday morning. Minnesota when 00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:34.069 agitators went into the church service proclaiming 00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:38.849 to be protesters storming into a live service 00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:42.349 standing up chanting with with their signs when 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:44.829 there's children in there and there's people 00:18:44.829 --> 00:18:49.369 in there simply worshiping pastor there they're 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:52.329 standing there trying to have some sort of control 00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:55.309 in inside this worship service and maybe you 00:18:55.309 --> 00:19:02.809 guys have have seen the news clips. These agitators 00:19:02.809 --> 00:19:06.250 just coming in with a single purpose to disrupt 00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:15.269 the worship of Jesus Christ. A journalist walks 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:17.910 in and wants to interview the pastor right in 00:19:17.910 --> 00:19:23.630 the middle of the service. Twisting the truth. 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.960 Claiming that the mob had every right to be there 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.599 when the mob did not have every right to be there. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.640 Twisting the truth, it was nothing more than 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:44.180 a lie. All to what? To stop the advancement of 00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:47.680 the gospel of Jesus Christ. Church, this is not 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:52.200 new. This is something that's been around for 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:55.579 years and years and guess what? It's gonna continue. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:00.500 A representative even from Arizona even doubled 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:02.859 down on this and he even said that these agitators 00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:08.220 had every right to be in that church. That's 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:15.599 a lie. That's not true. But yet we should not 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:17.779 be surprised by this as if this is something 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:21.960 new and this is something that should cause alarm 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.799 to us. No, we should know that this is exactly 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:28.980 what the world wants to do. to stir up dissension, 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:34.000 to stir up discord, to cause these things to 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.039 come into the church to cause us to stop preaching 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:43.700 the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what they 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:45.740 did to Paul. Hey, he's doing all these things. 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:47.619 No, actually, he's not even done any of those 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:50.180 things. He's accused of all these things. He 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:52.980 hasn't done any of them. But they're twisting 00:20:52.980 --> 00:21:01.230 the truth. Look what happens in verse 9 The Jews 00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:05.430 also joined in the charge Affirming that all 00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:08.210 these things were so All right. They're like, 00:21:08.430 --> 00:21:11.869 yeah, it's it's pile on now Yeah, we're behind 00:21:11.869 --> 00:21:14.750 him and what he says and this is exactly how 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:16.769 it goes And so now you've got now you've got 00:21:16.769 --> 00:21:19.369 inside this courtroom now right there. You've 00:21:19.369 --> 00:21:21.890 got all these Jews are saying Yeah, yeah. Yeah 00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:28.660 that that's the truth. That's the truth Ganging 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:34.420 up on Paul, affirming and confirming these allegations 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:39.019 against him, was nothing more than lie upon lie 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:43.160 upon lie. Well, how does Paul respond? That gets 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:46.819 us to the second part of this scene. Part two 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:50.839 is Paul's profession, and he testifies to the 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.940 truth. He testifies to the truth, and the principle 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:56.769 here, We'll see this is keep a clean conscience 00:21:56.769 --> 00:22:00.630 and speak the truth when lied against That's 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:02.950 the principle that I want you to see keep a clean 00:22:02.950 --> 00:22:05.930 conscience and speak the truth When lied against 00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:08.690 there's a response here by Paul and there's three 00:22:08.690 --> 00:22:12.269 parts to this response That I want you to see 00:22:12.269 --> 00:22:14.769 number number one is this is that Paul responded 00:22:14.769 --> 00:22:18.650 with respect He responded with respect verse 00:22:18.650 --> 00:22:21.990 10 when the governor had nodded to him to speak 00:22:21.990 --> 00:22:25.309 Paul replied Knowing that for many years you 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:27.569 have been a judge over this nation. I cheerfully 00:22:27.569 --> 00:22:32.750 make my defense He affirms that Felix is the 00:22:32.750 --> 00:22:35.769 governor he affirms that he is the judge over 00:22:35.769 --> 00:22:39.529 this he doesn't flatter him he just makes a respectful 00:22:39.529 --> 00:22:46.849 comment I Cheerfully make my defense. He he he 00:22:46.849 --> 00:22:50.529 has his opportunity with gladness He gets to 00:22:50.529 --> 00:22:54.839 defend himself Yet he does so with respect to 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:58.160 everyone that is in the room and the word there 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.799 there it says to Cheerfully make my defense that 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.140 word therefore defense. Maybe you've heard of 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:07.960 it. It's the word That we get the word for apologetics 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:12.960 from The word means this to speak in one's defense 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.680 against charges presumed to be false Apologia 00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:20.759 was a technical word in the Greek law They would 00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:24.960 use it in courts That was used of an attorney 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.980 who talked his client off from a charge preferred 00:23:27.980 --> 00:23:32.400 against him Our English word apology originally 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.680 did not mean to say I'm sorry, but it but it 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.420 actually referred to a defense presented in court 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:42.019 And this is Paul's opportunity I'm going to make 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:45.240 my defense but but he makes his defense very 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:48.759 much so with with respect to the court, respect 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.000 to the Jews, with respect to Felix. He doesn't 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.039 just say, oh, finally I get my chance. By the 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.240 way, these guys are a bunch of liars. And how 00:23:57.240 --> 00:23:59.240 dare you just let them get away with this, Governor? 00:24:00.009 --> 00:24:02.630 He doesn't come across that way at all. He comes 00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:06.569 in with respect to knowing, hey, I know what 00:24:06.569 --> 00:24:10.130 the truth is, and I can speak the truth in love, 00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:13.349 even though I'm getting ganged up on and lied 00:24:13.349 --> 00:24:16.089 upon right here, and I know that with a charge 00:24:16.089 --> 00:24:19.269 of guilty, I will be killed. He still has a calm 00:24:19.269 --> 00:24:22.869 demeanor of, hey, I'm gonna be respectful in 00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:30.490 this courtroom. And he makes his defense. The 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:33.349 same word that's used in 1 Peter chapter 3 and 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:37.329 verse 15 and 16 to defend and give a reason for 00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:43.849 the hope that is within us. Verse 11, you can 00:24:43.849 --> 00:24:47.650 verify, he says, it is not more than 12 days 00:24:47.650 --> 00:24:50.990 since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. Secondly, 00:24:51.150 --> 00:24:56.009 Paul responded with the truth. He responded with 00:24:56.009 --> 00:25:00.349 the truth. He comes and he just speaks the truth. 00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:04.349 He says verse verse 11 you can verify It's not 00:25:04.349 --> 00:25:06.190 more than 12 days since I went up to worship 00:25:06.190 --> 00:25:10.170 in Jerusalem It's been 12 days all these things 00:25:10.170 --> 00:25:13.710 have been going on verse 12 and they they did 00:25:13.710 --> 00:25:18.210 not find me Disputing with anyone or stirring 00:25:18.210 --> 00:25:21.589 up a crowd either in the temple or in the synagogues 00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:24.970 or in the city neither Can they prove to you? 00:25:25.450 --> 00:25:30.210 What they now bring up against me But this I 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:32.210 confess to you that according to the way which 00:25:32.210 --> 00:25:35.990 they call a sect I Worship the God of our fathers 00:25:35.990 --> 00:25:38.630 believing everything laid down by the law written 00:25:38.630 --> 00:25:41.769 in the prophets Having a hope in God which these 00:25:41.769 --> 00:25:44.910 men themselves accept that there will be a resurrection 00:25:44.910 --> 00:25:48.730 of both the just and the unjust So I always take 00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:50.970 pains to have a clear conscience towards God 00:25:50.970 --> 00:25:54.250 and man Now after several years I came to bring 00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:57.089 alms to my nation and to present offerings while 00:25:57.089 --> 00:26:00.759 I was doing this They found me purified in the 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:05.180 temple without any crowd or too old But some 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:09.119 Jews from Asia They ought to be here before you 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.059 and to make an accusation should they have Anything 00:26:12.059 --> 00:26:14.940 against me or else let these men themselves say 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:17.440 that wrongdoing they found when I stood before 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:20.539 the council Other than this one thing that I 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:22.819 cried out while standing among them It is with 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:25.140 respect to the resurrection of the dead that 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:28.720 I am on trial Before you this day. What is Paul 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.720 doing? He's just reiterating the truth of what 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:37.000 happened He's not spinning it He's not Sugar 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.480 coating it he's just simply saying hey, this 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.859 is what happened And by the way, if anybody should 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.700 be here, it should be these Jews from Asia. You 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:46.339 say well, who is that? We'll go back to chapter 00:26:46.339 --> 00:26:52.660 21 in verse 27 Right when Paul got there to Jerusalem 00:26:55.479 --> 00:27:00.200 He purified himself. He he paid for the these 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:07.339 haircuts for these guys Verse 27 when the seven 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:10.740 days were almost completed Jews from Asia Seeing 00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:13.759 him in the temple stirred up the whole crowd 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:16.279 and laid hands on him What's he saying? He said 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:18.619 hey if anybody should be on trial, it should 00:27:18.619 --> 00:27:23.000 be these guys who came from Asia Not me. I haven't 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.890 done anything They should be brought before you 00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:28.130 they can make an accusation against me they they 00:27:28.130 --> 00:27:32.880 can let you know what's going on here You know 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:35.759 all Paul is doing here is he he is simply just 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.700 just saying the truth and he even says He even 00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:41.240 says in here one time. He says I confess to you 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:43.259 as I it's if he's saying hey Here's what I will 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:45.380 confess to you these things and then he says 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:47.740 it's with respect to the resurrection that that 00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:50.920 I that I'm here Here is actually why I'm on trial 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:54.380 He he just comes across as a man who just wants 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:57.640 them to understand the truth of the situation 00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:03.009 And I'll even confess this to you That I believe 00:28:03.009 --> 00:28:08.430 And I worship the God of our fathers Everything 00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:11.410 that's laid down in the law and in the prophets. 00:28:11.430 --> 00:28:15.309 What is he saying? I believe in the full inspiration 00:28:15.309 --> 00:28:20.509 of the Old Testament. I believe in it all And 00:28:20.509 --> 00:28:26.369 I stand here as a man who defends himself because 00:28:26.369 --> 00:28:32.700 of the truth of God's Word He stands on the truth. 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:38.140 This was his confession. Yeah, I'm a Christian. 00:28:39.579 --> 00:28:42.839 Yep, I believe in the Old Testament. Yep, I believe 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.579 in the law and the prophets. I believe all that 00:28:45.579 --> 00:28:50.440 is taught there. And then he goes straight to, 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:55.660 in verse 21, the centerpiece of it all, the resurrection 00:28:55.660 --> 00:29:02.470 of Jesus Christ. This is really what's on trial 00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:06.670 This is really what's going on Felix. You want 00:29:06.670 --> 00:29:08.450 to know the truth They don't like the fact that 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:10.950 Jesus rose from the grave and that there's going 00:29:10.950 --> 00:29:15.069 to be a resurrection of the dead J Vernon McGee 00:29:15.069 --> 00:29:16.970 says this have you noticed that the resurrection 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:20.450 is the very center of Christianity? It has been 00:29:20.450 --> 00:29:22.549 from the beginning friend. What do you think 00:29:22.549 --> 00:29:26.490 of Christ is? Always the test did he die for 00:29:26.490 --> 00:29:29.940 your sins was he raised from the dead? Paul immediately 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:35.579 comes to the core, the resurrection. Paul would 00:29:35.579 --> 00:29:37.920 also go back to this in 1 Corinthians chapter 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:41.299 15. He would say this, now if Christ is proclaimed 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:43.500 as raised from the dead, how come some of you 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:45.259 say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:49.190 But if there is no resurrection of the dead then 00:29:49.190 --> 00:29:52.170 even Christ has not been raised and if Christ 00:29:52.170 --> 00:29:54.529 has not been raised Then our preaching is in 00:29:54.529 --> 00:29:57.690 vain and your faith is in vain It always comes 00:29:57.690 --> 00:30:01.430 back to the resurrection of Jesus Christ if he 00:30:01.430 --> 00:30:04.109 did not rise from the dead Church you have no 00:30:04.109 --> 00:30:08.180 hope of rising from the dead But because Christ 00:30:08.180 --> 00:30:11.700 has risen from the dead You will be raised to 00:30:11.700 --> 00:30:14.539 newness of life if you place your faith in Jesus 00:30:14.539 --> 00:30:17.880 Christ as your Lord and Savior Or you'll be raised 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:25.880 to eternal death And the Jews didn't like this 00:30:26.850 --> 00:30:29.430 They didn't like that that his message of the 00:30:29.430 --> 00:30:32.730 gospel dealt with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 00:30:32.730 --> 00:30:35.089 but this is what he does He just speaks the truth. 00:30:35.089 --> 00:30:37.470 He says this is what I'll confess to you This 00:30:37.470 --> 00:30:40.049 is what happened if you want to bring in some 00:30:40.049 --> 00:30:43.150 more people go to go find these these these people 00:30:43.150 --> 00:30:45.289 from Asia and bring them in this this is just 00:30:45.289 --> 00:30:49.670 the truth and Paul can respond this way number 00:30:49.670 --> 00:30:53.009 three. He can respond this way. Why because he 00:30:53.009 --> 00:30:57.279 has a clear conscience Okay, we cannot miss this 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:03.299 church Verse 16. I always take pains to have 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:06.420 a clear conscience towards what towards both 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:14.990 God and man He says I do my best I exercise my 00:31:14.990 --> 00:31:19.769 my heart my all my diligence my study all of 00:31:19.769 --> 00:31:22.809 it to have what a clear conscience before God 00:31:22.809 --> 00:31:26.329 and Before before man listen, it will be really 00:31:26.329 --> 00:31:29.569 hard for you to speak the truth to anybody if 00:31:29.569 --> 00:31:35.230 your conscience is not clean It'll be hard for 00:31:35.230 --> 00:31:38.789 you to stand upon the Word of God if your conscience 00:31:38.970 --> 00:31:44.210 is not clean before God and man. Especially if 00:31:44.210 --> 00:31:47.430 you know that what is hanging in the balance 00:31:47.430 --> 00:31:50.410 is a guilty not guilty and if you are guilty 00:31:50.410 --> 00:31:56.990 you're going to die. And the only way for you 00:31:56.990 --> 00:31:59.029 to be able to speak the truth and to hold fast 00:31:59.029 --> 00:32:02.630 without apology in the face of uncertainty is 00:32:02.630 --> 00:32:07.519 to have a clear conscience before God. You say, 00:32:07.619 --> 00:32:09.240 what does that mean? What is the conscience? 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:12.319 Well, the conscience is, listen to this, it's 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:15.500 the alert system that's built inside of you that 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:18.539 God has given to you to alert you to what is 00:32:18.539 --> 00:32:26.299 right and to what is wrong. And when you sin 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:30.700 and when you do evil, when you do things that 00:32:30.700 --> 00:32:33.960 you know is wrong, you soften your conscience 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:39.690 and you cover that alert system. There's one 00:32:39.690 --> 00:32:42.410 time I I had my alarm next to my bed and in the 00:32:42.410 --> 00:32:45.150 middle of the night I threw my pillow I Don't 00:32:45.150 --> 00:32:46.670 always throw my pillow, but this night I did 00:32:46.670 --> 00:32:49.589 I don't know why but and it covered the alarm 00:32:49.589 --> 00:32:54.049 clock and The alarm clock was going off into 00:32:54.049 --> 00:32:58.829 the morning, and I did not hear it Why because 00:32:58.829 --> 00:33:05.549 I had covered it In this case with a pillow when 00:33:05.549 --> 00:33:09.529 you sin church When you dilute your heart and 00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:11.849 mind with things that are not pure and holy and 00:33:11.849 --> 00:33:14.869 right You are covering the alert system to tell 00:33:14.869 --> 00:33:24.630 you what is right and wrong And you can't hear 00:33:24.630 --> 00:33:27.349 that alarm go off in your mind this is wrong. 00:33:27.349 --> 00:33:30.789 This is wrong. This is wrong This is sin. This 00:33:30.789 --> 00:33:33.509 is sin. This is sin. You can't hear it anymore. 00:33:33.849 --> 00:33:36.990 Why because you've diluted the conscience You've 00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:41.150 covered the conscience with one sin upon sin, 00:33:41.390 --> 00:33:44.369 with one show you shouldn't watch, with one website 00:33:44.369 --> 00:33:47.269 you shouldn't look at, with one comment after 00:33:47.269 --> 00:33:49.529 another, gossip, gossip, gossip, anger, anger, 00:33:49.609 --> 00:33:51.849 anger. You're covering your conscience. You no 00:33:51.849 --> 00:33:59.519 longer know what is right and wrong. And Paul 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:03.000 is saying what I take great pains I I spend so 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:05.839 much energy to have a clear conscience before 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:09.480 God so that I can stand up on trial and just 00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.219 Deliver the truth unapologetically and say God 00:34:12.219 --> 00:34:14.639 whatever happens happens. I've got a clear conscience 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:23.849 between God and man Not all that I could The 00:34:23.849 --> 00:34:25.909 only way to have a healthy conscience and a clean 00:34:25.909 --> 00:34:30.349 conscience is to feed your soul the Word of God 00:34:30.349 --> 00:34:33.530 and to repent of sin as quickly as it comes into 00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:40.269 your life. Turn away from that sin. Repent of 00:34:40.269 --> 00:34:44.969 that sin. Keep your conscience clear before God 00:34:44.969 --> 00:34:52.280 and keep your conscience clear before man. and 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:54.840 build that conscience up, strengthen that conscience. 00:34:54.920 --> 00:34:58.699 You can do that. You can do that through the 00:34:58.699 --> 00:35:00.840 reading of God's Word. This is why we want you 00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:02.980 in the God's Word. This is why you say, why do 00:35:02.980 --> 00:35:04.559 I have to have devotions every day? Why do I 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.079 need to be in the Word every day? Why do I need 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:10.639 to pray? Because you're building up a clean conscience. 00:35:11.099 --> 00:35:13.719 To be able to stand up for the truth of God's 00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:15.699 Word. To be able to stand in front of people 00:35:15.699 --> 00:35:18.840 to say, no, my conscience is cleared. I've worked 00:35:18.840 --> 00:35:22.840 hard to have it. This is the truth of what happened. 00:35:27.539 --> 00:35:29.360 And when the conscience goes off, you listen 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:34.039 to it. That's wrong. I shouldn't do this. I shouldn't 00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:36.360 watch this. I shouldn't listen to this. I shouldn't 00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:39.010 talk like this about people. I shouldn't... Talk 00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:41.309 like this behind their back. I shouldn't do this. 00:35:41.409 --> 00:35:45.809 I I want to have a clean conscience before God 00:35:45.809 --> 00:35:50.269 And the conscience is a trustworthy compass when 00:35:50.269 --> 00:35:53.829 God's word is your true north and paul worked 00:35:53.829 --> 00:35:58.030 hard at that Worked hard to have this clear conscience 00:35:58.030 --> 00:36:01.090 so that he can speak the truth Let me give you 00:36:01.090 --> 00:36:04.210 a third major point here as we work through this 00:36:04.210 --> 00:36:07.530 together number three We've seen Tertullius's 00:36:07.530 --> 00:36:11.130 prosecution, Paul's proclamation, and now I want 00:36:11.130 --> 00:36:15.530 you to see Felix's procrastination. His procrastination, 00:36:15.590 --> 00:36:18.889 what does he do? He turns from the truth. The 00:36:18.889 --> 00:36:21.429 third principle then I want you to look at as 00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:26.550 we wrap it up here is don't delay trust in Jesus 00:36:26.550 --> 00:36:31.190 today. Verse 22, but Felix having a rather accurate 00:36:31.190 --> 00:36:36.670 knowledge of the way put them off saying When 00:36:36.670 --> 00:36:40.750 Lesus the tribune comes down, I will decide your 00:36:40.750 --> 00:36:45.050 case. He's a commander of the armies there. He 00:36:45.050 --> 00:36:47.389 gave orders to the centurion that he should be 00:36:47.389 --> 00:36:51.070 kept in custody, but have some liberty and that 00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:53.170 none of his friends should be prevented from 00:36:53.170 --> 00:36:56.289 attending to his needs. And after some days, 00:36:56.289 --> 00:36:58.969 Felix came with his wife, Jerusalem, who was 00:36:58.969 --> 00:37:01.489 Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him. There 00:37:01.489 --> 00:37:05.429 it is, and heard him speak about what? Faith 00:37:05.429 --> 00:37:09.409 in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about what? 00:37:09.769 --> 00:37:12.869 Righteousness, self -control, coming judgment. 00:37:13.449 --> 00:37:19.510 Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present. 00:37:19.809 --> 00:37:22.989 When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. 00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:26.320 At the same time, he hoped that money would be 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:29.239 given to Paul, so he sent for him off and conversed 00:37:29.239 --> 00:37:31.119 with him. So he kept going back. Why? Because 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:32.980 he was hoping that Paul would be able to get 00:37:32.980 --> 00:37:36.460 some money and then pay him off. When two years 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:39.659 had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus 00:37:39.659 --> 00:37:44.619 in desiring to do the Jews a favor. Felix left 00:37:44.619 --> 00:37:50.150 Paul in prison. So here's Felix. Verse 22 he 00:37:50.150 --> 00:37:52.389 says a rather accurate knowledge of the way. 00:37:52.389 --> 00:37:56.650 He has an understanding of the truth We don't 00:37:56.650 --> 00:37:59.230 know exactly how maybe from his wife His wife 00:37:59.230 --> 00:38:02.349 is is Jewish and maybe she was helpful and helping 00:38:02.349 --> 00:38:06.829 him understand a little bit about what the believers 00:38:06.829 --> 00:38:12.309 the Christians believed He gave orders to the 00:38:12.309 --> 00:38:14.090 centurion that he should be kept in custody so 00:38:14.090 --> 00:38:18.050 Paul still in custody here, but but he'd have 00:38:18.050 --> 00:38:21.610 some liberty and that none of his friends should 00:38:21.610 --> 00:38:23.889 be prevented from attending to his needs. So 00:38:23.889 --> 00:38:27.269 I think that the governor let Paul do this because 00:38:27.269 --> 00:38:28.829 Paul could say to him, hey, just give me some 00:38:28.829 --> 00:38:31.670 money and let's bribe him out. So he wanted him 00:38:31.670 --> 00:38:33.210 to see his friends so that he could get money 00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:35.489 from them because he had already told him that 00:38:35.489 --> 00:38:37.530 he was there in Jerusalem to give them money. 00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:41.050 This whole thing. Now at this point it's down 00:38:41.050 --> 00:38:45.989 to the exchange of money. Verse 24 after some 00:38:45.989 --> 00:38:48.690 time Felix came with his wife, Jerusalem. I say 00:38:48.690 --> 00:38:53.610 who's this Jerusalem? Person this is his wife 00:38:53.610 --> 00:38:59.269 and this was a wife that That Felix basically 00:38:59.269 --> 00:39:02.550 took her out of a different marriage and and 00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:05.190 and Married her so okay, you're done with that 00:39:05.190 --> 00:39:06.550 marriage. You're coming into my marriage and 00:39:06.550 --> 00:39:09.369 now we're gonna get we're gonna get married That's 00:39:09.369 --> 00:39:12.030 essentially how that went down So they're in 00:39:12.030 --> 00:39:13.590 this marriage that they should have never been 00:39:13.590 --> 00:39:17.050 in in the first place And after some days here 00:39:17.050 --> 00:39:18.889 phoenix goes down to him. He starts talking to 00:39:18.889 --> 00:39:22.110 paul and and heard him speak about faith in christ 00:39:22.110 --> 00:39:26.070 jesus Now notice what the apostle paul specifically 00:39:26.070 --> 00:39:28.610 talks about here. He talks about what there's 00:39:28.610 --> 00:39:31.130 three things he reasoned about righteousness 00:39:31.130 --> 00:39:39.630 self -control and coming judgment If the guy 00:39:39.630 --> 00:39:43.369 that You talk to is the one that could say I'm 00:39:43.369 --> 00:39:45.349 going to charge you as guilty. Are you going 00:39:45.349 --> 00:39:48.190 to say hey look buddy? What you did in your marriage 00:39:48.190 --> 00:39:52.590 was wrong You're out of control You're not living 00:39:52.590 --> 00:39:54.869 in righteousness and oh by the way, you're gonna 00:39:54.869 --> 00:39:59.389 be judged for all these things Right. How does 00:39:59.389 --> 00:40:03.070 how does the apostle Paul do that? He does that 00:40:03.070 --> 00:40:05.949 because he understands the power of the gospel 00:40:05.949 --> 00:40:09.570 He does that because he has a clean conscience 00:40:10.030 --> 00:40:15.070 He preaches righteousness. He preaches self -control. 00:40:16.150 --> 00:40:19.309 He preaches coming judgment that you will be 00:40:19.309 --> 00:40:24.010 judged for what you do here on earth. He doesn't 00:40:24.010 --> 00:40:27.070 sweet talk the man who could free him. It doesn't 00:40:27.070 --> 00:40:29.489 sugarcoat the gospel and say I'm just gonna kind 00:40:29.489 --> 00:40:31.949 of soften it up get kind of ease them into the 00:40:31.949 --> 00:40:34.030 gospel You know, we'll just kind of kind of just 00:40:34.030 --> 00:40:36.130 ease a man Maybe we'll just throw a few a few 00:40:36.130 --> 00:40:38.369 little cultural things at him and we'll just 00:40:38.369 --> 00:40:40.369 soften it up and then when his heart's ready 00:40:40.369 --> 00:40:42.710 We'll pull the right strings of his heart and 00:40:42.710 --> 00:40:45.670 then I'll then I'll go. Hey, you need Jesus No, 00:40:45.670 --> 00:40:48.309 he just goes right at it You want to hear the 00:40:48.309 --> 00:40:51.570 gospel? Okay. Here's the gospel This is what 00:40:51.570 --> 00:40:56.820 it is and you're gonna be judged for this Felix 00:40:56.820 --> 00:41:00.920 was alarmed. Yeah, I bet he was alarmed But I 00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:03.079 heard nothing like this before and he says go 00:41:03.079 --> 00:41:08.400 away And he says this in a verse 25 look at it 00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:13.340 when I get an opportunity I will summon you What 00:41:13.340 --> 00:41:16.260 is he doing? He's procrastinating the reality 00:41:16.260 --> 00:41:18.900 of the gospel and how it could transform his 00:41:18.900 --> 00:41:21.739 life. And he's saying, hey, when my time is right, 00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:24.980 when it's right for me, when I'm done enjoying 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:27.820 the world, when I'm done enjoying the riches 00:41:27.820 --> 00:41:31.019 of this life, when I'm done enjoying all these 00:41:31.019 --> 00:41:33.539 things that I love, hey, don't come to me, Paul, 00:41:33.619 --> 00:41:37.440 I'll come to you. I'll summon you back to hear 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:43.519 this. And Felix. Like so many others who have 00:41:43.519 --> 00:41:46.500 gone before him and many others who have come 00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:49.539 past him and come after him, Felix ignored the 00:41:49.539 --> 00:41:52.500 message of grace and forgiveness. He missed the 00:41:52.500 --> 00:41:55.000 opportunity that God had placed before him for 00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:01.920 salvation. When I find the time, all summons 00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:04.860 you. When the time is right, when it's convenient, 00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:09.210 all summons you, Paul. kicks the gospel down 00:42:09.210 --> 00:42:12.750 the road and says, I enjoy my life too much to 00:42:12.750 --> 00:42:17.050 dare do anything like that. Too concerned about 00:42:17.050 --> 00:42:21.510 enjoyment in this life. More than he was concerned 00:42:21.510 --> 00:42:27.849 for his soul and eternity. He kept pushing it 00:42:27.849 --> 00:42:30.150 off and pushing it off. He'd go back and he'd 00:42:30.150 --> 00:42:32.989 see him, push it off, go back and see him and 00:42:32.989 --> 00:42:37.170 push it off, push it off, push it off. Again, 00:42:37.170 --> 00:42:39.949 J. Vernon McGee says this, friend, today your 00:42:39.949 --> 00:42:42.329 sins are either on you or they're on Christ. 00:42:42.949 --> 00:42:44.949 If your sins are on Christ, if you have put your 00:42:44.949 --> 00:42:47.309 trust in Him, then He paid the penalty for your 00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:50.969 sins over 1900 years ago. They do not lie ahead 00:42:50.969 --> 00:42:53.110 of you for judgment in the future, but if your 00:42:53.110 --> 00:42:55.889 sins today are still on you, then there is yet 00:42:55.889 --> 00:42:58.980 a judgment to come. People don't like to hear 00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:01.619 about judgment to come Felix and Felix and Jerusalem 00:43:01.619 --> 00:43:04.420 did not like to hear about it either But if your 00:43:04.420 --> 00:43:07.099 sins are not on Christ that is if you have not 00:43:07.099 --> 00:43:09.780 trusted him as your Savior Then you are going 00:43:09.780 --> 00:43:13.860 to come up for judgment You can close the book 00:43:13.860 --> 00:43:16.719 right now, but that doesn't alter a thing You 00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:19.780 cannot escape the fact that you are coming up 00:43:19.780 --> 00:43:28.400 for judgment Listen church souls are lost because 00:43:28.400 --> 00:43:38.659 of procrastination. And Felix and Jerusalem procrastinated. 00:43:44.699 --> 00:43:47.539 Paul preached the gospel and they said, we'll 00:43:47.539 --> 00:43:53.260 wait when we're ready. Church, leave nothing 00:43:53.260 --> 00:43:57.369 unsettled that is eternal. Leave nothing unsettled 00:43:57.369 --> 00:44:02.809 that is eternal Jc. Ryle says run no risk when 00:44:02.809 --> 00:44:09.050 your soul is at stake Second Corinthians 6 2 00:44:09.050 --> 00:44:12.110 says behold now is the favorable time behold 00:44:12.110 --> 00:44:18.610 now is the day of salvation Hebrews 3 15 today 00:44:18.610 --> 00:44:21.269 if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts 00:44:21.269 --> 00:44:25.289 and in 4 7 today if you hear his voice do not 00:44:25.309 --> 00:44:35.530 harden your hearts. Today is the day. Jesus came 00:44:35.530 --> 00:44:39.829 and died for your sins. Hell is a real place 00:44:39.829 --> 00:44:44.010 and it's eternal. Heaven is a real place and 00:44:44.010 --> 00:44:50.809 it's eternal. Don't keep pushing off Christ. 00:44:53.860 --> 00:44:58.460 Repent and believe Felix would one day wake up 00:44:58.460 --> 00:45:01.199 and he would find himself in hell because he 00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:08.960 procrastinated Place your faith in Jesus Christ. 00:45:09.500 --> 00:45:15.260 This was the message of Paul This was a message 00:45:15.260 --> 00:45:19.739 to the Jews and this is the message to us today 00:45:19.739 --> 00:45:23.929 verse 27 it says Felix Didn't know what to do 00:45:23.929 --> 00:45:30.369 with Paul So he left Paul in prison And Paul 00:45:30.369 --> 00:45:35.750 was there for two years in prison And the next 00:45:35.750 --> 00:45:40.150 time We'll see what happens in the next trial 00:45:40.150 --> 00:45:43.449 in chapter 25. Let's pray Lord. Thank you for 00:45:43.449 --> 00:45:51.849 this time Lord would you help us? lot of truth 00:45:51.849 --> 00:45:56.309 spoken this morning from your word as I prayed 00:45:56.309 --> 00:45:59.050 at the top Lord where there needs to be conviction 00:45:59.050 --> 00:46:01.889 would you convict us where there needs to be 00:46:01.889 --> 00:46:06.329 care would you comfort us and in all things Lord 00:46:06.329 --> 00:46:09.869 would you conform us to be like Christ whether 00:46:09.869 --> 00:46:14.789 if there's anybody here that does not know Christ 00:46:14.789 --> 00:46:16.769 as their Lord and Savior would today be that 00:46:16.769 --> 00:46:24.420 day That they summons you That they call upon 00:46:24.420 --> 00:46:28.860 the name Of the Lord Jesus Christ repent of their 00:46:28.860 --> 00:46:34.400 sins and embrace you as Savior and Lord There's 00:46:34.400 --> 00:46:40.119 no better day to embrace Christ than today Lord 00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:42.179 would you help us all in our fight for a clean 00:46:42.179 --> 00:46:46.260 conscience? Lord would you help us to first of 00:46:46.260 --> 00:46:49.440 all have a desire for a clean conscience? And 00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:51.460 then would you help us to have the boldness and 00:46:51.460 --> 00:46:54.400 the courage to make the right decisions to have 00:46:54.400 --> 00:46:59.260 a clean conscience? And Lord when we're lied 00:46:59.260 --> 00:47:02.940 upon when there's those who are twisting the 00:47:02.940 --> 00:47:07.960 truth May we stand upon the Word of God and the 00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:12.219 power that comes from it trusting in you and 00:47:12.219 --> 00:47:15.559 all these things and your sons then we pray amen