Paul's Trial Before Felix, Part 3

Acts 24:17-27

This morning, as we come to our study, it is our joy to again look at Acts 24.  We'll complete our look at Felix, the tragedy of a man who had great opportunity and postponed it and forfeited it.  We're concerned, here at Grace Church, with studying the Word of God and taking it verse by verse.  II Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable," so since all is profitable, we expect the Spirit of God to really teach our hearts in this passage.

We'll look at verses 1-27 as a total, and we have been dealing with those verses and going slowly through them.  This passage does deal with the man, Felix.  We know Felix was the Roman governor who was assigned to Judea.  The Apostle Paul was on trial before him.  Paul had been accused of certain crimes, all of them false charges.  They had been drummed up by some antagonistic Jewish leaders who wanted to see Paul dead because he was such a threat to their theological security.  So the case finally found its way to the governor of Judea, a man by the name of Felix.

As we look at the case, we not only see Paul and the history and example of his blameless life, we see God at work.  Particularly, I think, for our study this time, we see Felix: a tragic, tragic man who had a life and death issue at hand, and squandered it.  Felix must judge, in the case of Paul.  The problem that really began in Jerusalem, as they tried to kill Paul, has now been pushed to a higher court, the court of Felix, in Caesarea, the Roman headquarters.  Felix must make a legal decision regarding Paul, but beyond that, he must make a personal decision regarding Jesus Christ.  That really is the ultimate. 

The passage, then, deals with a legal aspect in the trial, and then a very personal aspect in the life of Felix.  The record is the record of a man who forfeited a tremendous opportunity.  You know, few men have had the privilege of having the Apostle Paul in their house for two years.  With all of his brilliance, and all that he knew, and all that God could do with and through him, and all that Felix heard and was exposed to, the sad, sad truth that he rejected.

Let's look at the trail again, as we have, in these verses.  There are three parts: the prosecution, the defense, and the judgment or verdict.  We saw last time the prosecution.  In verses 1-9, the Jews come to Caesarea and they accuse Paul of three things: sedition, that is, they say he is an insurrectionist, that he stirs up Jews against Rome, which is not true and he had not done that in Jerusalem at all.  They secondly accused him of sectarianism, that is, not only was he a political criminal but he was a religious heretic.  Sectarianism, he was a member of the sect of the Nazarenes, at the end of verse 5.  The third thing they accuse him of is against God, that is sacrilege.  Verse 6.  "He goes about to profane the temple."  So supposedly, he is a criminal against Rome, a criminal against Israel, and a criminal against God.

As we saw last time, all those charges against Paul are false charges, all of them.  He is accused of all those things and guilty of none of them.  But you know, I think we need to stop for a footnote here.  This is something that I think Paul anticipated and expected; I think he took it for granted.  I think, also, that throughout the history of the church, there is a groundwork laid not only Biblically but historically, for the fact that Christians who live holy lives in Satan's world will always have to contend with false charges, false accusations.

In order for you to see the perspective, let me take you back to a prophecy that Jesus gave in Matthew 10.  We're going to look at a rather extended portion for a moment, but we'll cover it rapidly, so keep your attention on the passage and listen to the words of Jesus.  Here, He sends out His disciples (or apostles), and tells them some certain things: what to do, what to look for, what to expect, how to react to it.  He knows that when they go, they are going to have problems; this is anticipated. 

Matthew 10:16.  "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves."  Now, the very first thing He says indicates that there will be a certain amount of hostility when they get out there.  When they begin to confront the world with the truth, there is going to be hostility.  They are sheep in the middle of wolves, and the very implication of that kind of metaphor is hostility.  He says, "You should be as wise as serpents," that is, keen and shrewd, wily, not evil, but careful and clever in planning your strategy, and "As innocent, or guiltless, as doves."  Clever and innocent.  That is, you should do things with wisdom. 

Paul has shown us again and again his blamelessness and again and again his cleverness in the way he was able to construct the situation for the benefit of the Gospel, even in the midst of a very negative and hostile audience.  Verse 17 goes a step further.  "Beware of men," isn't that interesting?  Your biggest problem will be people.  He doesn't say, "Beware of Satan."  It's assumed that Satan is behind the scenes.  "Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, they will scourge you in the synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the pagans."

Notice the prophecy.  Men are going to be your problem; don't naively trust men.  Don't get suckered into confidence; don't fall into their traps.  Don't do anything that would enable them to bring a valid charge against you.  "They will bring you to councils."  Paul had already experienced that, "They will scourge you in their synagogues," he was on the verge of being scourged not in the synagogue, but in Fort Antonia.  Incidentally, the Jews did do the scourgings in their local synagogues.  "And you shall be brought before governors and kings."  Paul has, at this very time in which we see him, been brought before the governor, Felix.  And in chapter 26, he'll be brought before the king, Agrippa.  So here is Paul fulfilling, to the very letter, the prophecy that Jesus gave that was, for the most part, fulfilled by all the apostles.  All of them.

He says, in effect, "Expect this."  This is kind of a comforting thing in the middle of what He just said, "Be not anxious in how or what you shall speak.  Don't worry about giving your testimony.  For it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak.  For it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your father who speaks in you."  That is a direct promise to the apostles.  I don't think we can accept that directly.  That is the promise of divine inspiration, and that belonged to the apostles.  It is similar to the promise in John 14:26 where Jesus said the Holy Spirit, "Will guide you into all truth and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have spoken."  In other words, He would give the Gospel writers recall of all that Jesus said, accurately.  That's revelation.

     The promise here is that, when they opened their mouths, God would do the speaking; the Spirit would speak through them.  I think, in an indirect sense, that can kind of passed down to us in the fact that the Spirit leads us and guides us.  But we don't just open our mouths and God talks through them as did the apostles and Bible writers.  So this is a promise dealing with inspiration.  Of course, in all of the six phases of Paul's trial, whenever he spoke, he spoke revelation.  God gave him the words and they are recorded in Scripture as the Word of God. 

     He says, in verse 21, other things that you can expect, "That brothers will deliver brothers to death, fathers will deliver children, children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death."  For the sake of Christianity, brothers will kill each other, children will kill their parents, and parents will kill their children.  That's how hostile the system is going to be to Christianity.  That's a prophecy.

Verse 22.  "You shall be hated of all for my name's sake."  Notice the reason for this hostility is not because the person is a bad person; it's because of Jesus Christ.  It says in I John that, "The whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one."  So since Satan is controlling the world, since the prince of the power of the air dominates, and since he is so strongly against Christ, the system that persecutes the believer is really persecuting Christ.  "You will suffer for my name's sake.  It is because of who I am and because of the hatred for me, they will pass their animosity on to you."

Now, skipping some thoughts, he goes down to verse 26.  "Don't fear them, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known."  In other words, don't be afraid, because ultimately, there will come a time when judgment will be done and proper rewards will be given and unmask the truth of who was real and who wasn't and who deserves reward and who doesn't.    Don't fear. 

     Verse 27.  "Whatever is going on in darkness will be revealed in light," so that's the way you should speak.  "Whatever you've heard in secret, you speak out boldly.  What you've heard in your ear, you shout from the housetops because, in the end, God will vindicate and truly reward." 

     Verse 28.  "Don't be afraid of those who kill your body, but be afraid of that one who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell," that's God.  Fear God, not men.  If you want to fear men, then you're going to clamp up and not give a bold testimony, right?  So the Lord says, "Don't fear men.  Fearing men will cause you to shut your mouth.  Fearing God will cause you to open your mouth, because then you'll want to be obedient to Him."

He knows about you.  "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father knowing."  Did you know that God even knows when a bird dies?  Verse 30.  "The very hairs of your head are all numbered."  For some of you, that's not a big problem.  Verse 31.  "Fear not, therefore, for you are of more value than many sparrows." 

You say, "Does God actually count, 'One, two, three?'"  He doesn't need to; He has instant information.  He knows everything immediately.  Anything that exists, He knows.  He doesn't count and He doesn't discover truth; He knows everything.  Now don't think about that for too long; it's very difficult.  He doesn't count the hair on your head; He's not standing there, looking over your bathroom in the morning, watching what's falling on the floor.  He has instant knowledge of everything.  If it exists, it is cataloged in His brain.

Now, He goes on to talk about the fact that we should expect this and God is going to care for us; don't let it be something you're afraid of.  You need to step out and be willing to pay a price.  The price is going to be animosity from the system.  Down in verse 36, He says, "You're going to have to expect that your foes are going to be in your own household, and realize that if you love your father or mother more than me, you're not worthy of me.  You'll have to take up your cross and follow me.  If you really want to find your life, you're going to have to be willing to lose your life." 

So you see, He says that there is going to be a price to be paid; expect that you'll get false charges.  That's just part of it.  They're going to accuse you because they're still hating Jesus.  Satan is still militantly against Christ, and he attacks Christ through those who name the name of Christ.

In Luke 6:22, "Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and shall separate you from their company."  Have you ever had that?  When you're a Christian and no one wants anything to do with you?  Have you been alienated, ostracized?  "And when they shall reproach you," that means they'll knock you, criticize you, speak evil of you.  "When they cast out your name as evil."  Oh, that so-and-so, he's a Christian.  He says, "When all that happens, blessed are you.  For the Son of Man's sake."  They're doing it because of Him. 

What should be your reaction when they do this?  I like this.  Verse 23.  "Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy."  Oh, I'm getting persecuted again!  See?  You say, "Why should I leap for joy?"  Because it says in the same verse, "Your reward is great in Heaven."  That's exciting.  Your reward is great in Heaven.  Listen, you need to expect that the world is going to be antagonistic.  You should expect false charges; it wasn't any shock to Paul.  Now that's the prosecution and a footnote.

Let's look at the defense in Acts 24.  Paul, having heard their false charges of sedition, sectarianism, and sacrilege against him, decides he'll answer them when he is asked to by Felix in verse 10.  He replies categorically to the three accusations; first of all to the accusation of sedition, he replies in verses 11-13. 

Verse 11 says, "Because thou mayest understand that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship."  In other words, he says, "I trust your judgment in the case.  You're going to know that I haven't committed sedition; you know that I haven't done anything to cause a political revolution.  It's only been 12 days since I arrived, and seven of those days were in the temple purification (or nearly seven) and five of them I've been here in Caesarea.  There was no time for me to do this." 

Verse 12.  "In those days when I was in the temple, they didn't find me disputing with anyone, I wasn't raising up the people [that means collecting a crowd] in the synagogue or the city.  Neither can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.  There is no proof that I have done any of these things.  I haven't been here long enough to start a revolution.  The time that I was here, I was in the temple, and the time that I was in the temple, I wasn't arguing with anyone and I was not creating a crowd to start a riot."  But here they are, accusing him.

You know, it's amazing when you think about the fact that they accused Paul.  It's another good illustration of the stupidity of man's evaluation.  There are two men.  Felix is cruel, evil, immoral, materialistic, greedy, oppressive, steeped in blood, ruling by brutality, gaining his position by collusion and corruption.  Beside him stands the Apostle Paul - gentle, beloved, godly, Spirit-filled, courageous, kind, selfless, truthful, generous, hard-working, etcetera.  And what do they say?  "Oh, most noble Felix.  This is a pain in the neck, a pestilent fellow."  They don't know. 

     The world's perspective is always reversed.  It reminds you of Jesus and Barabbas, doesn't it?  There stands the lovely Son of God and a common, ordinary criminal, and they say, "Not this man, but Barabbas.  Release unto us Barabbas.  Crucify Jesus."  The world's judgment.  You can go back to Malachi.  One of the seven deadly sins that destroyed Israel, Malachi said, was that they kept lifting up evil men.  They kept exalting evil men.  It's staggering, and we do that in our society even today.  Stupid judgments of selfish men.  They accused Paul, but the man who ought to have been accused was Felix, for his corruption.  And they, in turn, for theirs as well.

So he replies, "There is no time for political sedition because I haven't been here long enough.  It is obvious that I wasn't doing that, and there are no witnesses."  That's the end of it, folks.  If there aren't any witnesses, there is no accusation. 

In verse 14, he answers the second of their accusations, that he was a religious heretic.  He says, "This I confess unto thee, that after the Way, so worship I the God of my fathers.  I admit, I do worship according to Christianity.  But I am still a Jew; in fact, I consider myself, in the truest sense, a Jew.  I worship the God of my fathers, I believe all things in the law and prophets.  I have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust."  In other words, "I am committed to the facts of Judaism right down the line.  They are the heretics." 

The implication is that they're not worshiping the true God; they don't believe all things in the law and prophets, and they don't believe in the resurrection.  Since they were Sadducees, they didn't.  "I am the true Jew; they're heretics."  So he indicts them. 

The third accusation was sacrilege, that he had attempted to profane the sacred temple and was accused of blaspheming God.  He replies to that in verses 17 and following.  Notice verse 16.  He says, "In this do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.  I have a clear conscience; I have not created a riot, I have not gone into a heresy, and I have not blasphemed God.  I neither offend men or God; I have a clear conscience." 

Then he replies to the accusation of sacrilege in verse 17.  "After many years, I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings."  He explains what he was doing when he came, to show his motive.  It wasn't to blaspheme God.  It was after many years, and it could have been four years since he was there before, or it could have been many years since he had lived there and went on the road to Damascus.  Either way, it was many years. 

So after many years, "I came simply to bring alms to my nation."  Alms means money for the needy.  "I came here for one reason: I had to bring money to the needy."  Remember he had collected that money from all the Gentile Christians, and he was bringing it to give to the Jewish Christians as a sign of love.  He said, "I came to bring alms to my nation, even offerings."  You say, "What is the difference between alms and offerings?"  Alms is the definition of what he brought; an offering is the source of what he brought.  It was the money for the needy given by the Gentiles.  They were offerings that he brought to give to the needy.  "That's why I came." 

I want you to notice something interesting.  He says, "After many years, I came to bring alms to my nation."  You say, "Well, wait a second.  He didn't give them to the nation, he gave them to the Christian Jews."  Mark what I told you last week; the only true Jew in existence is what?  The Christian Jew, one who is a Jew not outwardly, but inwardly.  So there is no reason to qualify that. 

You say, "Well, maybe Paul is getting himself off the hook by using a generality."  Not really.  Paul didn't distinguish the Christian Jew from the rest because, in his mind, a true Jew was one who believed in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  He was right.  So he did bring, to his nation, these things.  "I came here," he says, "To bring alms to my nation, offerings.  There I was in the temple, minding my own business," that's in the white spaces between 17 and 18. 

Verse 18 says, "Whereupon certain Jews from Asia," Asia Minor, a Roman province where Paul had preached at Ephesus for three years, "Found me, purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with tumult."  Now notice he says, "I was in the temple, carrying out a simple vow of purification, going through that Nazarite vow, worshiping in that very Jewish way, that customary way.  And these Jews from Asia Minor came and they found me there.  There was no multitude gathered, there was no riot going on.  They saw that; I was doing nothing there.  I had not desecrated the temple so that a multitude had grabbed me.  I had not desecrated the temple so that it started a hassle.  When they came upon me, there was no multitude there, there was no tumult there." 

Believe me, if he had done what they accused him of, dragged a Gentile into the inner part, there would have been a hassle going on.

"There was no tumult, there was no crowd, I was simply there, doing what I was doing, and they seized upon me."  And they did.  They said, "This is our chance to get rid of that guy while he's here; we've got a mob, let's get him.  They tried to kill him; read it in Acts 21:27-30. 

     They just jumped on him and tried to kill him on the spot.  They were so angry with him because of what he had done in their own province.  So many Jews had been saved, and it put such a dent in their synagogue attendance, and it was undermining the whole of their operation.  They were very venomous toward Paul, so they tried to kill him.  He says, "I was just there.  There was a crowd, but I hadn't violated a thing.  I was there purified."  Rather than desecrating, he was purified.  He had just gone through a catharsis; he had gone through a customary approach to a real cleansing, a time of dedication and commitment so far from desecrating.  He had been really dedicated in those hours, in those days.

     In verse 19, he throws a monkey wrench in their whole plan.  He says, "Who ought to have been here before thee and objected, if they had anything against me."  In other words, "If there was a hassle going on in there, you ought to get some of the people who were in the hassle to come here and give testimony.  Where are your witnesses?  I mean, you just came in here and said I was desecrating the temple, but who says so?  Give me some eyewitnesses.  Where are they?  If I was starting something in there, if I dragged a Gentile in there and created havoc, where are the eyewitnesses?"  There weren't any.  You know why?  Because he hadn't done it.  I don't know, maybe they were afraid to bring in a lying witness because maybe his lie would be exposed.

Verse 20.  "Let them come, or else, let these same here say."  Or, he says, "Felix, what about these guys?  Ananias and the elders and these guys here, why don't you let them tell you if they found any evildoing in me while I stood before the council?  I mean, if there are no eyewitnesses from the supposed desecration of the temple, why don't you let them tell you what they determined in the council?" 

     Remember, at the council, they said, "We're going to find out what this guy did," but it ended in a riot.  They never did find out anything.  "Let them tell."  Well, they didn't have anything to say; they didn't find out anything.  So there was no accusation from witnesses and there was no accusation from the Jewish hearing.  The only thing they could come up with, in verse 21, "Except for this one thing, that I cried, standing among them, concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am called into question by you this day. The only thing they can accuse me of is making an issue out of the resurrection.  That is all." 

     Of course, Paul knows that's no criminal issue at all, it's a theological discussion.  These guys were standing right there; they had been in the council, but they had nothing to say.  There was no accusation given.  The only thing they could say was that he had said something about the resurrection and someone got uptight about it.  That's all; it was theological, no issue for a court. 

     Incidentally, Felix knew this.  He knew it even before Paul's testimony, because in Acts 23:29, he got a letter from the tribune of Jerusalem who explained it.  "Whom I perceived," he said, "To be accused of questions of their law but having nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or bonds."  In other words, Claudius Lysias, when he sent Paul to Felix, sent this letter along and said, "Felix, this guy hasn't done one thing to break the law.  It's a whole theological issue between the Jews." 

     So the last of Paul's testimony is in verse 21.  What he does is, he throws the whole case back into theology.  It's a very wise move.  Here he is, wise as a serpent, throwing the whole case into the theological area.  And he knows from experience that a Roman judge cannot make a determination in a case or regarding Jewish theology.  There is no crime, no criminal act, no civil crime; there is nothing.  Felix knew that, he knew the real issue.  Paul just gave him the responsibility.  He said, "The only thing they've got that hassles them is that I made a statement concerning the resurrection of the dead.  That's probably the only issue they could bring up."

     Now, the key to this testimony is verse 16.  "In this do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and man."  What he says in giving his testimony is, "I have a clear conscience.  My life is blameless."  Tremendous.  No crime.  It is tremendous to be able to stand up in front of a court and not only be as wise as serpents, but be as blameless and innocent as doves.  Then you are