Jesus in His Church - Paul..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Acts 24, this is the word of the Lord. Let's pay careful attention.

And after five days, the high priest and Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Since through you we enjoy much peace, And since, by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. But to detain you no further, I beg you, in your kindness, to hear us briefly. For we have found in this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world, and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him. The Jews also joined in the charge of Thurman that all these things were so. Verse 10. And when the governor had noted to him to speak, Paul replied, Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.

You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. But this I confess to you, 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 conscience toward both God and men. Now, after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.

While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crud or tumult. But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation should they have anything against me, or else, lest or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they have found when I stood before the council, other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them. It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day." But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off, saying, When Lysias, the tribune, comes down, I will decide your case." Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody, but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

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. At the same time, he hoped the money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Amen. This is the word of our Lord and Savior, beloved of Christ. the word of the Lord, the word of the Spirit of God that had come to pull through the lips of Agabus, the prophet. You remember in Acts chapter 21 that you are going to be captured, that you're going to be taken captive by the Jews and that you're going to be delivered onto the hands of the Gentiles.

That word indeed came true. The apostle is not free any longer. He doesn't have liberty. He's been taken by the Jews, and now he has been delivered to the Gentiles, to the Romans, and now he's not able to go from one place to another preaching the gospel as how he wanted or what he loved to do. And in that process of imprisonment, this apostle was given the possibility or the chance to present a defense.

And he's done it now twice. The first defense that the apostle presented, you remember, was to the crowds when he was there in Jerusalem, when he was taken in the temple, he presented this defense to the crowds. And the result of that defense was that when he reached a particular point in which he was speaking about the inclusion of the Gentiles, the anger crowd simply could not handle it anymore. And they respond in anger and also try just to capture him again to kill him. The apostle was also given after that another possibility of presenting another defense.

And that defense was before the high priest and the elders. You remember that in Acts chapter 23. Another defense that was presented by this apostle that also ended up in riots and confusion and all of these controversy between the elders of Israel. And again, the apostle was rescued from the hands of those who wanted to kill him. In all of this process of the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul, beloved of Christ, from the moment that he heard from God, the Spirit of God, through the prophet Agabus, that he was going to go to Jerusalem and to be imprisoned.

In all of this process of imprisonment, there is a man who has played a very important role. There is a man, a Roman, a Gentile, who has played a very important role in all of that process. And that man, you should know by now, is Claudius Lysias, or in the Bible, it's called the tribune or the chief captain or also the chief commander. This is the man, you remember, that when he was presenting the defense before the crowds, he came to arrest the apostle and basically rescue him from the hands of those who wanted to kill him. This is the same man, the Tribune Claudius Lysias, who allowed the Apostle Paul to present that defense, to actually speak to the crowds.

And also, even after the crowds responded in anger and also tried to take him back again, is this Claudius Lysias who brought him back into the barracks and said, OK, I need to find out what are the charges that these people are bringing against Paul. So he brought him before the elders and the high priest. Also, this man, remember, is the same man that rescued him again after that defense that was presented before the elders, before the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They're entering this controversy and they wanted to kill him again. This man, Claudius Lysias, played a very important role in taking him back or taking him again so that he will not be taken by the Sadducees or the Pharisees.

And as you remember, these Jews that were filled with anger and unrighteousness, they planned and they had this plot to kill. Remember 40 men that came together to vow to kill the apostle? And it was also through the providential work of God in the life of Claudius Lysias. that he received the report from this young man that, you know, 40 men are going to kill the Apostle Paul. And then he basically put together a small army so that he will be taken from Jerusalem, where the Jews wanted to kill the Apostle, to Caesarea.

It is through the providential act of God, through this man, that even this man, Claudius Lysias, writes a letter. You remember in Acts chapter 23 that he writes a letter to be sent to the governor. And now what we have here in Acts chapter 24 is precisely that. We have the defense of the Apostle Paul, now that he has been taken to this Caesarea, this province, or better, this city of Caesarea is the same province, to present this defense before Felix, who is the governor. Now, the role of Claudius Lysias is very important, beloved of Christ, because up until this point in Jerusalem, all the controversy, it could be in a general sense, it could be considered to be just a religious or a theological thing, right?

It was just a controversy that it was in relation to the interpretation of religious matters that the Sadducees and the Pharisees, of course, moved by unrighteousness, wanted the apostle to be killed. But now, when Claudius Lysias is now writing a letter and sending the apostle with this small army to Caesarea, now all of this is not only becoming a religious controversy, but rather it's also becoming a case, a legal case that is to be taken by the Roman Empire, to the point that if you go to Acts 23, in the last couple of verses, when Felix, who is the governor, this person is going to be important in the narrative of Acts 24. This Felix, who is the governor, receives the letter and he asked the question in verse 34. On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from, that is, Paul. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, remember he was from Tarsus in Cilicia, he said, I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.

Now, that was the instruction that Claudius Lysias, or the request of Claudius Lysias, when he had written his letter, that these men would go to Caesarea to be judged, if you want, by the governor, and then that the accusers, those Jews from Jerusalem, will come to accuse him. Now, this has become a more serious and a more legal, if you want, a criminal case against Paul before the Roman Empire coming before Felix. Now, we know from verse 8 in the chapter that we have just read that Claudius Lysias commanded the Jews to actually go and present his accusation before Felix in Caesarea. Now, beloved of Christ, what we're going to do is what I always do. Simply, we're going to go through the chapter, presenting to you the highlights and the very important things of the narrative of what actually took place, because it's important that we remember and we know what happened in the chapter.

And then perhaps, depending on the time and depending on your faces, we will meditate in one, two, three, perhaps a few things, and we will see how we go. Now, beloved of Christ, remember that the taking of the Apostle Paul was something that was in secret, right? It was nighttime and all of this little army that was put together by Claudius Lysias to be taken to Caesarea. So imagine the next day or the following days, the Jews would have been with such a big surprise that the man that they wanted to judge and the man that they wanted to kill is not there anymore. So they would have come to Claudius Lysias and of course, Claudius Lysias would have told them about what had taken place.

Now, we're told there in chapter 24 now that it's after five days that the high priest Ananias, together with the elders, indeed, they will go to Caesarea. Now, Caesarea would have been a city that we've said before that would have been like a hundred kilometers away from Jerusalem. So it was a long way, right? They didn't have cars or things like that. So it would have been a long way for Ananias, who was the high priest and some of the elders that left Jerusalem and went to Caesarea to present the accusation and present these charges against the Apostle Paul.

Now, the way that they are going to present these charges is through a person. You see there, right? There's a person and this person is Tertullus. And we have here in the ESV that he's a spokesperson or that he's an orator. This is a man who had the ability to speak.

This was a man that had been trained in the art of presenting an argument with words. So that means that the high priest Ananias and the elders have called this person Tertullus so that he will come to present the charges before Felix, the governor. This is the role of this man, this spokesperson of this orator. Now he's going to present the charges, of course, and now remember that this case has moved from being only a religious or theological controversy. Now they have to prove that this man Paul has broken the Roman law or has become a criminal, at least in the eyes of the Roman Empire.

Otherwise, it will just be simply a case of religion that is to be solved among them, right? So this is what they are going to try to do through Tertullus. Tertullus is the guy that is going to present the charges on behalf of the high priest and on behalf of the elders before Felix, the governor. Now, the charges are... being, or better, before we get into the charges, being an orator, being a spokesperson, he knows how to do things.

So he's going to just simply put there before he speaks one or two flattering words. So he's going to speak of the peace that this Felix has brought into the land and also of the very good policies that he has brought into the land, which happen not to be entirely true, but he simply just says those things with his mouth, just simply just kind of like watering the ground for the things that he's going to say. now he's going to present the charges and the first charge that he is going to present is a criminal charge and that charge that he's going to present is that Paul is a broker or a breaker better of the peace or a rioter In verse 5 it says, For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world, and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. He's basically saying, as you can see, the exaggeration, right?

Because Paul is taken to Felix just because of what took place in Jerusalem. Now, Tertullus, that is representing now the high priest and all of these elders, is saying that this man is a rioter, that this man is a breaker of the peace and that he has done it among the Jews throughout the world. And he is one of the leaders. He's one of the ring leaders here in the ESV of the sect of the Nazarenes. Now, beloved of Christ, rioters of those who break the peace in the Roman Empire were taken very, very seriously.

This will just simply move the peace and the stability of the empire. You remember that in Acts chapter 21, remember when the apostle was taken from the temple, from the crowds, and then Claudius Lysias came to rescue him by arresting him. The first interaction that Claudius Lydias had with Paul, it was actually a mistake, right? Remember that he was confused? If you go back there to chapter 21 in verse 87, we can just read how he was confused and we can learn something about rioters, if that is a word, of those who break the peace, stirring up the multitudes.

We are told that when Claudius Lysias took captive or arrested Paul in verse 37, as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, may I say something to you? And he said, do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian? Then, who recently stirred up a revolt and let the 4000 men of the assassins out into the wilderness. Now, this is very important information.

I don't know why I'm going to say this, but this is very important information, beloved of Christ, because the understanding of what for the Roman Empire, what a rioter represented, it was not only a person that was causing division, but it also was a person that was moving the masses and therefore breaking the peace. That's why Claudius Lysias confused the Apostle Paul with this Egyptian, because when he rescued him and arrested him, he saw him that he was surrounded by the multitudes, by so many people, and he thought that he was connected to this whole riot with the multitudes and with the crowds. This is very important to understand the defense of the Apostle when he presented here before Felix. So, please pay attention to that. So, he says, are you the Egyptian?

I thought that you were the Egyptian, the one who actually moved or took unto him or after him 4,000 men into the wilderness. So that means that whoever was a rioter, or whoever was a breaker of the peace, or whoever was stirring up the crowd, was a person that was not only causing division, but also taking multitudes after him or just moving people. Actually, that is the definition of the word that you have in the ESV, ringleader. in verse 24. He's a person that moves, that shakes the masses, that actually that what he says convinces people so that he will shake and move the stability of society.

And this is the charge that Tertullus, this spokesperson or orator, is bringing to Felix or before Felix against the Apostle Paul. that the Apostle Paul is a criminal, that it is breaking the peace and the stability of the Roman society. But also, in a very subtle way, he tries to connect that crime with the religious or theological accusation. He happens to say that he is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. of the heresy of the Nazarenes and that this heresy of this sect of the Nazarenes happened to also have profaned the temple.

So implicitly what Tertullus is saying to Felix is that this movement that it is a sect of what we are actually teaching from the law and from the prophets, a deviation from our teachings, considers a possibility to profane the temple and because the temple was profaned, it has caused a riot and it has broken the peace in Jerusalem. This man is dangerous. This man is breaking the peace. This man is stirring up the crowds into disorder. This man is moving and shaking the peace of society.

This is the charge that he's bringing. And then this Ananias, the high priest, and also then the elders, they will say that they agree with everything that they say. It says the Jews also joined in the charge of Thurman that all these things were so. The word there that speaks in verse 9 is so strong, brothers and sisters, that they basically covenanted with the words that were uttered by Tertullus. In other words, it's that the high priest and the elders could still confirm that the things that these men had said were completely true.

And this we're speaking about the high priest, and we're speaking about the elders of Israel confirming the words that these turtles has spoken of the Apostle Paul as a rioter and also as a breaker of the peace, as a man who is teaching a different doctrine and going against the things of the law of Israel. Now, we have heard the similar charge already brought before the Apostle before, but this is what they said. But now the Apostle Paul is going to present his defense. And beloved of Christ, you have to bear with me, because the way the Apostle presents his defense is not only, of course, the Apostle Paul very spiritual and filled with truth, but it's also very, very, very smart. Very smart the way that he presents his defense.

Now he's going to respond to the two charges that have been brought to him. The first one is a religious charge, right? That he is according to the sect of the Nazarenes and is profaning the temple. This is a theological or a religious charge that is to be dealt within the Jews. but also he's going to address in a very smart way the criminal charge that has been brought to him.

Remember that they have said that he's a rioter, that he's a breaker of the peace, just like the Egyptian who stirred up the crowds and had like 4,000 men brought into the wilderness. Just as that man, this is the pole that is in front of us. The one that is breaking the peace here in Jerusalem, the one that is convincing and shaking and moving people into social disorder. This is the pole that is in front of Felix. So the apostle is going to present his defense.

The first thing that I want to show you is his defense for the religious charge, for the theological charge. That is that you are of this sect, of this heresy of the Nazarenes. And through that sect of the Nazarenes, you have profaned the temple. You have profaned the law and Moses. So then in verse 14, he says he defends this charge, this religious charge.

And he says, I confess to you. And this is something that we've quoted before. I confess to you that according to the way which they call a heresy. It's not that it's a heresy, it's not that it's a sect, which they call a sect, which they call a heresy. It's according to that way that I worship the God of our fathers.

That it is that the way that we teach in this Nazarene Jesus Christ, or this person from Nazareth, the way that he taught us, the way that he instructed us, the way that he gave us, the way is the way that is used to worship the God of our fathers. And not only that, but he addresses and defines that, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets. Believing, not going against or contrary to the things that the prophets and the law says, but in alignment. Believing everything that they say is that we worship the God of our fathers. Beloved of Christ, what Apostle is saying is that this way that they call something that is not, it is actually what it is.

And it's through this way that we worship the God of our fathers. It's through this Nazarene Jesus Christ. It is through this Messiah who died and was resurrected. It's through these meek men, humble men, that we know what is the way to worship the God of our fathers. And that is not going against what Moses taught, but it's going actually in alignment with the law and with the prophets.

And it is because of that that we have, I hope that you guys have, You have attested that you have the hope of the resurrection of the living and the dead, of the just and the unjust. You accept that this is the hope of the resurrection. You believe that and we also believe that. But the way that we believe about the hope of the resurrection is actually the way. He is going to argue from here onwards that the way that he teaches is in alignment with divine revelation, so there's no charge, religiously or theologically speaking.

He's just trying to present to Felix, this is a matter of our law and our interpretation, and they are judging me with something that is even a lie, because the way of Jesus Christ is actually the way to interpret the Scriptures. But anyway, he has addressed that, and Felix is not going to be convinced just by addressing a religious or theological charge. He's interested about the other charges that have been brought to him, and he's going to address that in different parts of the text. Now, remember, beloved of Christ, that a rioter will be a person that breaks the peace there in the society and also that shakes people, even that move people onto him or herself, himself. For that, beloved of Christ, a rioter will require much time and effort.

For you to shake, for you to move people into social disorder and to convince people to follow you in a particular way, that requires time and effort. So the Apostle Paul in the second half of verse 10, when he's addressing or when he's starting to address saying, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, which is true, I cheerfully make my defense. He says in verse 11, you can verify that is a fact. You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. This is a man that has just arrived to the city.

He's been accused of breaking the peace and moving people and shaking people, and that all of these riots and all of this stirring up of the crowds was because of him. He says, it is only 12 days since I came to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with anyone and stirring up a crowd either in the temple or in the synagogue or in the city. Even more, he is going to say that his visit, his very short visit to Jerusalem, not only something that is very short, but it's something that had not happened in many, many years. You go down to verse 17, and he explains of how often he visited Jerusalem. He says, now, after several years, I came to bring, that is to Jerusalem, alms to my nation and to present offerings, that is, that for several years the Apostle Paul was not in Jerusalem, that he was not in the midst of the people, and that the stay in Jerusalem was something of only 12 days.

Yet they were accusing him of being a rioter, a mover of the mind of people, a mover of people that was causing the breaking of the peace there. But what the thing that he is going to do next is actually the thing that is the most Interesting and this is the best defense that he presents He is going to basically he's going to discredit the veracity or the verity or the truth of his accusers Remember that this has become now a legal case and Felix is waiting for the accusers of Paul to come Now, let's just remind ourselves of how things took place when the things that the apostle is being accused. If you go back to Acts chapter 21, so that you will understand what I'm trying just to say there. If you go to back to Acts chapter 21, let's just remember how things actually took place in the temple when he was caught. It says when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia who The Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help!

This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. Who are the first ones to bring this charge? These are the Jews from Asia. And actually, the Jews from Asia are the ones that saw the apostle in the temple.

And they are the ones that thought that because they had seen him with a Gentile, that the apostle Paul had brought a Gentile into the temple. And therefore, they thought that he had profaned the temple. It was the Jews of Asia, the ones that witnessed the apostle in the temple and how they interpreted the profaning of the temple. Then in his defense before Felix, the Apostle Paul is going to point to the little fact that the people that are accusing him before Felix happened to be people who were not present. And moreover, the Jews of Asia are not even there.

Beloved of Christ, we don't see much weight on that because our justice system works in a different way, which is based on evidence primarily. But in the early century, in the early society, the testimony of the accuser was of vital importance. The one that saw the crime and was a witness there seeing the things had preeminence when a legal thing was going to be decided or what judgment was going to be brought. Then the Apostle says that here we have that the Jews of Asia are not even present. It says in verse 18, by what I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult.

But some Jews from Asia, these are the ones that saw him in the temple, they ought to be here before you and make an accusation should they have anything against me. The ones that saw me and the ones that actually accused me and have brought all of these things to happen, they are not even here. And the ones that are here, the ones that are here do not have the authority to bring any type of accusations. In verse 20 it says, or else, verse 20, or else let these men, the ones that are in front of him, the high priest and the elders, all of those men, the Jews, or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found me when I stood before the council." What he's saying there is that these Jews, these Ananias and these elders, the only charge that they can bring against me is when I stood at the council and I spoke, because that's the first time that they heard me.

That's the first time that they saw me. That's the only charge that they can bring against me. And the only thing that I said before them in Acts chapter 23 is that we have the same hope, the hope of the resurrection. It says, Other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them, it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day. Actually, the presentation and the defense of the Apostle Paul is much better to what I have just presented to you.

But it's actually very, very smart what he does. And he takes all the facts and he basically discredits the accuracy or the verity of the truth of those who are accusing. Up until this point, Felix, the one that is supposed to carry justice in the land, the one that is supposed to decide that which is right and that which is wrong, the one that is supposed to make justice for the citizens, for the Romans, He has no evidence and he has no grounds not to let him free or just simply go. There's no reason why Felix, up to this point, that he will just simply say he's right. There's no accusers, the one that have seen him, and the only accusation that you can bring is that which you have already said.

Felix had to let him go. Yet, he says, we are told that even this Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off, saying, when Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. Now, beloved of Christ, what he's doing is actually very coward. He's very coward and he's very corrupt because he's now waiting for Claudius Lysias to come to give him a testimony that Claudius Lysias had already given him. When you go and read the letter that he sent, Claudius Lysias had made it very clear that he has not found any criminal reason of why these men should be taken captive.

That the only thing that he's seen is that there is a controversy, a religious controversy, and he has not found any criminal thing. This is written and this is sent by Claudius Lysias. It says in verse 18, chapter 23, and desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, this is Claudius Lysias in Acts chapter 23 verse 28, when he has written this letter, in verse 28 he says, and desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, he doesn't know, I brought him down to their counsel. I found that he was being accused about questions of the law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.

He already had the testimony of Claudius Lysias by a written letter that Claudius Lysias had not found any guilt in this man, any criminal guilt for which he will be prevented from his freedom, from his liberty. And every defense that the Apostle, and especially this legal defense that the Apostle had presented before Felix, it was sufficient for them to be free and for him to go. But beloved of Christ, we are dealing with falling nature, and that is the horrible thing about this matter. It is that the man who was supposed to make justice chooses not to give him that which he deserved, which is freedom. But actually what he does is that simply knowing that he is not deserving of full change and full, you know, removed from liberty and from freedom.

He says in verse 23, oh, it says in verse 23 that then he gave orders to the centurion. This is Felix. that he should be kept in custody, but have some liberty and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. Then we are told that he's going to spend there the apostle in that condition two years, two years in that condition. He's going to have the opportunity to come and address Felix and even to preach the gospel to Felix.

But two years. Two years when he should have gone free. There was no case against him. Justice demanded that he was going to be just let go. And it seems that Claudius Licius either did not come to Caesarea to speak to Felix or just simply that He just decided to keep him there.

We're even told that these men, when he left the church, these Felix, we're told in the end that when he was replaced by Portia Festus, having the opportunity to let Paul go and free, he did not give him freedom, but he left him in prison just to make or just to do a favor to the Jews. Beloved of Christ, that is so crooked and so unrighteous. And this is the thing that I want you to disperse. The unrighteousness, the wickedness, the depravity of fallen human nature. Not only evidence in Felix, but beloved of Christ, we have the high priest.

Ananias and the elders, those who have been chosen among the Levites or even among Israel, those who have been chosen by God to serve the people of God, those who have been chosen to open the Scriptures and to open the law of the Lord and to teach the congregation, to teach the Israelites. We have the man who is supposed to be an example to the people of God. The man who is supposed to be not only the one that teaches the Word of God, but also that exemplifies the Word of the Lord. leaving behind his duties in the temple, leaving behind his duties as a high priest to go a hundred kilometers away as a high priest with the elders who were supposed to be there in Jerusalem, teaching, exhorting, guiding the people. They choose to leave his God-given duty because they were playing this in false, empty religion.

So they go to pursue a case that is simply founded on pure lies. They travel all of this distance and after five days they go there just to simply present this thing that has not foundation. And we're speaking about the high priest and we're speaking about the elders of some of the elders of Israel. And not only that, but these people also have these men, turtulence, who with the art of his mouth is now going to present charges against the apostle. All of these fake charges, empty charges against the apostle Paul.

Beloved of Christ, not only the depravity and unrighteousness and wickedness of the Ananias and the elders and Tertullos, but Felix, the one who was supposed to make things right, the one who was supposed to take the decision. He said he was the one that says, I will give you a hearing and I will receive the accusation of the accusers. I'm the one that is going to decide. And this man, just to please the Jews, did not make the decision that he was supposed to make. And even we are told that this man throughout the two years that he will call Paul, you see there in verse 26, at the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul.

Corrupt. Judge, during these two years not only he sanctioned and he decided what he had to do but during those two years he was asking basically money to be bought and then to do the thing that he was supposed to do Now, the text is not very clear, but that word when we're told in verse 27, that when two years had elapsed, that Felix was succeeded, if that is how you pronounce that word, succeeded or succeeded by Perseus Festus, actually that word succeeded there, it speaks of an external force that came to actually remove him. They came actually to remove him from the role that he had. And he was actually an unjust, a wicked judge or a governor. He was a person that was doing things in a very, very crooked way.

And there was no justification for him, beloved of Christ, because for some reason this Felix, this governor, had accurate knowledge of the way, that is, that he knew, that he heard about the way, so that even he would understand the religious, theological, false accusation that the Jews were bringing against Paul. But beyond that, he had a wife, and his wife was a Jewish, Drusillus, so he would have been acquainted, or he would have known the ways of Judaism, of these religious ways. Beloved of Christ, the unrighteousness that is in falling human nature has no words. They are moved. Imagine when a person has the option to choose truth for a human being.

Just think about a human being in front of him. He decides to lie and to do that which is crooked, even if that decision is going to cost the freedom of another human being and potentially the future and the life of that other person. The only way that a human being can make that type of decisions is when they are completely governed by Satan. When the unrighteousness through them is just going to a level and an extent that he just simply does not care about justice. But now, beloved of Christ, what can we learn about this particular thing?

What can we learn not only from the things that we have just seen there historically or the narrative of Acts chapter 24, but more spiritually? First of all, beloved of Christ, imagine on the side of Paul the high level of temptation to despair, the high level of temptation just to simply be to be hopeless. Imagine that he cannot rely on the religious system for justice. So then they go to the secular system of justice. And now he knows that there is no hope, that these people are not going to make the decision that they are supposed to make.

that the decision of freedom and letting him go is something that is not going to be accomplished. Imagine the temptation just to simply lose hope about, am I going to be free? What is it going to happen to me? It's been now two years. How am I going to move from this particular point?

How am I going to make it to Rome as the Lord had promised that I was going to testify in Rome? Imagine. the temptation to despair or imagine the temptation just to simply just to lose hope, surrounded by wickedness, by the Jews, by the high priest and the elders and the governor and the system. Everything around him was wicked and unrighteous. And not only that, imagine the temptation to fix things in his own way.

It was just a matter for him just to simply take some money and to give it to Felix. And then Felix would have would have accepted him just to be free. Imagine the temptation of the thoughts that the apostle would have had, that this man who is wicked and unrighteous, that he is offering me and providing freedom just if I give him a little bit of money. And if I give him this, I'm going to get the freedom that I deserve. It is not just for me to be here.

It is not good that I will be here. There's so much need and I should be doing other things. I could just simply get my freedom by just giving the money that this man is asking. Of course, by the Spirit of the Lord and by the guiding in justice and in holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Apostle, the Apostle did not do that. He just simply stayed under the unrighteousness of the system, the unrighteousness of this judge, the unrighteousness of the religious system that he thought that he could trust, the unrighteousness of the elders, the unrighteousness of the whole thing.

And in the midst of that, he prevailed and he stayed just before the Lord. And he spent there two years, two years. But beloved of Christ, the Lord had said already to the apostle that he will have to testify in Rome, that he will testify in Rome. And the thing is that the ways of the Lord are so different to the ways of men that even through the much tribulation and difficulty of the apostle and this time that he spent at Caesarea, under the unrighteous and wicked decision of Felix, much was accomplished. Because, beloved of Christ, I don't know if you remember, but Caesarea is a very special place.

If you go back to Acts chapter 21, These two years of unrighteous imprisonment, these two years of wicked decision, these two years that the Apostle spent there at Caesarea under the unrighteous and illegal decision of Felix had a particular purpose. We were told in Acts 21 in verse 8 that something very important happened when the Apostle arrived to Caesarea on his way to Jerusalem. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea. And we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, This is the Holy Spirit. This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns his belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. When we heard this, we and the people there urging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?

For I am ready not only to go to prison, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, Let the will of the Lord be done." Beloved of Christ, the reason why these people were crying is because they didn't think that they were going to see the apostle Paul anymore. They thought that this apostle goes there to be imprisoned, even to die. There were people there that stayed at Caesarea that just 15 days before the apostle went back, that they had thought that they will never see the apostle anymore.

Yet this apostle who was now imprisoned in Jerusalem has started his fourth missionary journey. Now, not in the freedoms of choosing where he's going to go, but taken captive by the providence of the Lord, taking him through much tribulations and difficulties and sufferings, even to the point that he arrives to Caesarea, there where the many disciples were. And not only that, But Felix, the governor, allows this pool to have a certain liberty that the needs of the Apostle will be provided by those friends. And those friends of the Apostle at Caesarea happened to be the brothers and sisters. Two years the apostle was given to the suffering saints of Caesarea.

The suffering saints that thought that they will never see the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. These suffering saints that thought with much tears and much suffering, with many tears and much suffering, that they will not see the face of this one who speaks on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. then by the providential workings of God that were completely foreign to the evil intentions of Ananias, the elders, Felix, Tertullus, and the whole system, the Lord was working in his providence that the apostle will spend this time at Caesarea even having access to these saints. His needs will be provided and then he will spend time there. Beloved of Christ, this is the glory of the providence of God through much suffering and through much difficulty in the life of the saints.

And it's not through those two years that the Apostle managed to stay there at Caesarea that the wickedness of Felix is revealed through the preaching of the message of the gospel. Because as we have said, this wicked Felix, the governor, he will summon or he will call this apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ many times to hear him speak of the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, desiring that he will receive some money from this apostle so that he will give him his freedom. But we are told that when the apostle, of course, with his discernment and seeing the wickedness and unrighteousness of these men, in verse 25, we are told that he reasoned about righteousness, self-control and the coming judgment. Everything that Felix lacked, he was filled with unrighteousness. He was filled with lack of control or he did not have any self-control better.

And he was subject to the coming judgment that it is to come. This is the wicked Felix. But beloved of Christ, the most terrifying thing is what comes next. that this man, Felix, who is aware of the unrighteousness that he's committing against this man, this Felix who knows of the crooked and wicked ways of these Jews who are just manipulating and saying all of these things that have no foundation, He knows that he has broken the commandments of the Lord. He's acquainted with the way of the truth, the way of righteousness.

His wife is even Jewish and he knows religious stuff that when he hears the powerful preaching of the Apostle, speaking of righteousness and self-control and the judgment that is to come, that yes, he's alarmed, that he's pricked in his heart, that he is convicted, but simply he just lets that go and just simply goes, passes over his head and he ignores completely the warning that the Spirit of God is given through the mouth of the Apostle Paul, beloved of Christ. I don't know if you can see it or if you can even see it spiritually as I was just reading in these things. The more that we get closer to the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not only a glimpse of His righteousness and His holiness is given unto us, but also a glimpse of what unrighteousness is in the fallen world. And apart from the workings of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus Christ, the nature of all of these men is the nature that is still making work within us. And beloved of Christ, we have here wickedness and righteousness.

People who had the option, just from a human point of view, to do that which is right, and they chose to do that which is wicked. People that by choosing the path of unrighteousness, when they were convicted with the preaching of the gospel, or better, when they were confronted with the truth of the gospel, that they were so fallen and that they were so unrighteous and that they were so evil that even though they were convicted a little bit or alarmed, then they are moved once again to their ways of unrighteousness. And this is a fearful thing. To fall in the hands of the living God is a fearful thing, but it's more fearful to be on a way to fall in the hands of the living God knowing that ye have broken his law and not having any type of genuine spiritual fear." That was the condition of this man.

That was the condition of the so-called high priest Ananias. That was the condition of some of the elders. That was the condition of the deceiver. That is the condition of those people who chose to do that which was unrighteous. and chose it in a willing way, going with it, knowing where righteousness was, then they chose to do that which was completely unrighteous.

In the midst of all of that, beloved of Christ, it is the providential work of the Lord. keeping, sustaining His saints, and not only keeping and sustaining His saints, because this Apostle Paul that we have here spending two years at Caesarea, spending this time providentially with the saints in Caesarea, is the one that then is going to write many of the letters exhorting the saints that the work that the Lord has started in us He is going to bring it to completion. He is the one that is going to exhort the saint, saying that He is faithful to preserve us and to keep us. He is the one that writes to the saint, saying that He is loving and filled with mercy towards those whom He loves. He is the one that says that just as He has comforted us in our afflictions, we are to comfort those who are going through the same afflictions because of following the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the same man that then is going to instruct the church to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved of Christ, as the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 4 onwards, it is through the comfort of the believers, or it is through the consolation, better, of those who are in Christ, that we receive the comfort of God. When all of these people thought that they were doing something against Paul, the Lord was keeping him, sustaining him, and even gave him the glorious anointing oil and healing oil of the presence of the saints there at Caesarea, whom he loved. Amen?