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I’m going to invite you to Acts chapter 24 where we’re going to be together today. Acts chapter 24. In the last section of the book of Acts, we’re coming to the conclusion here. And if you want to know where we’re going after Acts, we have a few more weeks. Acts goes all the way to chapter 28. And so after that, we’ll, we’ll be in the summer and we always take some time in the summer to look through the book of Psalms together. So we spend a few weeks in the book of Psalms. We have planned the summer, six weeks to spend together in the book of Psalms and, and focusing our our worship and seeking after the Lord. So after we conclude Acts, that’s where we’ll go. And so we’re, we’re in that final stretch of the book of Acts where Paul has just concluded his third missionary journey, and he’s headed back to Jerusalem, where he’s going to spend the rest of his time in the book of Acts in imprisonment. He’ll spend a couple of years in imprisonment in in Jerusalem, and then on to Rome, where he spends another couple of years in imprisonment in Rome. And we’re seeing how the Lord took the gospel throughout the known world through his people, and ultimately ends in the capital of of the Roman Empire in, in the city of Rome itself. And in the book of Acts we’ve learned together is teaching us how the Spirit of God worked through the people of God to accomplish the will of God.
How Christianity went from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth. In fact, the thesis statement of the Book of Acts is Acts chapter one, verse eight. And that’s what it shares with us, is God’s desire for us to take the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth, and within a span of 30 years, which is what the Book of Acts covers, we see how the church, with such passion for the Lord, saw the gospel go forth, churches, birth people coming to new life in him. But along that journey we discover together that it wasn’t always easy for God’s people. And the same is true for you today. Just because you follow Jesus doesn’t make your life easier. In fact, in some ways it can make your life challenging. When we follow Christ as Christians, we don’t follow Christ because because it’s an easy path. The reason we follow Christ is because it’s true, and we want to surrender our lives to what’s true, to find the purpose which God has created us in him. And as you’re looking at these, these final moments recorded of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, this is not the end of his life. He continues on from this and does further missionary journeys before he’s ultimately arrested. And eventually he’s beheaded. He’s martyred for his faith. But but Paul, in these moments, if you remember, as he’s traveling to Jerusalem, he was warned by his friends that there’s trouble that awaits him.
And sure enough, shortly after he arrives in Jerusalem, he’s at the temple. There’s a riot that takes place. The Jewish people seize him, and they really want to end his life. But it’s Roman soldiers who recognize what’s happening, and they come into this moment, and they rescue the apostle Paul. And they’re a little bit bewildered by by the the ruckus around the apostle Paul and the, the tension that’s built by his presence to the point where they they can’t believe that there really is. It’s just an argument among their faith tradition, meaning as they see this, this riot established around the Apostle Paul, they think he’s a he is a figure that’s created this uprising. And it’s frustrated the people. And they think there’s more to the story than, than, than just this disagreement in the faith. And so they decide that they’re going to flog the apostle Paul to get to the bottom of it, and they get ready to prepare to do so. And in that moment, it’s Paul who raises their attention to the fact that he is a Roman citizen. And and the Roman soldiers recognized that the way they were about to treat the the Apostle Paul was actually illegal according to being a Roman citizen and Roman society. It was a prestigious thing to be able to call yourself a Roman citizen in in the Roman Empire.
In fact, the majority of people didn’t have that sort of status. And they were dumbfounded that the apostle Paul did. And they asked him even those questions, like, how did you come to that to have this citizenship? Because it is a prestigious marker for people to have have for themselves, especially in the first century. And so Paul shares that with him. But but one of the things they they have to recognize in the middle of getting ready to flog him is that they can be held accountable for treating a Roman citizen that way. And so when when Paul is being rescued by these Roman citizens, we’re reminded or excuse me, these Roman soldiers were reminded if it was just left up to the Jewish people, Paul’s fate was in their hands and his demise was inevitable. But now that Rome has stepped in, and especially these soldiers, it’s it’s rescued the apostle Paul from this moment, this demise. And they they decide the tension is, is, is built up so incredibly adverse or opposed the apostle Paul that they’re actually going to send Paul to Caesarea, which is a town on the coast. And they do so in the darkness of night. And it’s during this moment that the leader of the Roman soldiers, he writes a letter to send to the governor Felix of this region to share with him what’s taking place for the Apostle Paul. And he exposes to Paul this particular letter.
He says, this is what I’m writing to the the governor. I want you to be aware of this. And he sends Paul with with that letter, and he sends Paul in the darkness of night with hundreds of soldiers for his protection. In fact, there’s 400 soldiers and another 70 cavalrymen, which which speaks again to how much animosity is built towards the Apostle Paul, but also how much the Roman soldiers are going above and beyond to say to Paul, look, we did you dirty, Paul. We did we. We should not have tried to flog a Roman citizen. But please don’t tell the governor, right. I’m writing this letter. We’re sending the red carpet for you as you’re coming into Caesarea. And it’s interesting to think about how the apostle Paul, he traveled to Jerusalem like it tells us in his story. As he ends his third missionary journey, he stops in Miletus. And in Miletus he meets with the leaders of the church of Ephesus before continuing on, and he eventually lands in the town of Caesarea, the coastal town, and he spends time with Philip the Evangelist, an individual you learned about in Acts chapter six, seven and eight. Sort of a a humble setting in comparison to Paul now, and that he stayed with Philip the Evangelist goes to Jerusalem, and now he’s returning to to Caesarea, but he’s doing so with with hundreds of soldiers. I mean, this would have been like the kind of escort you would expect for a dignitary.
But here’s now the apostle Paul, with the red carpet rolled out, coming back into Caesarea and meeting with Felix the governor. And you get the idea as you read chapter 24, that in this uprising against the apostle Paul and the charges they’re bringing against him, that Felix didn’t really believe, according to verse 23 and 24, that that Paul was truly guilty of what’s being charged against him. In fact, even though he’s imprisoned, he’s given incredible freedom to travel about when he’s in Caesarea. And even Felix in verse 24 takes time to just continue to dialog with the apostle Paul outside of his court appointment before a tribunal. And so, but but looking at this story, we’re just reminded that in following after Jesus, there is there is a world that opposes God’s people. And how is it God desires for us to respond in those moments? We look at the Apostle Paul’s life in Acts chapter 24 as as an example for all of us in the midst of a hostile world. What does it look like for, for us to to honor the Lord? How should we respond? Well, let me give you a point, number one in your notes, and we’ll talk about this as we move through the passage together. But number one is this begin this way. Recognize everyone has a preconceived idea about Christ. Everyone has a preconceived idea about Christ.
And sometimes as as followers of Jesus when when we’re interacting with people about who Christ is, we’re not so much interacting with people about who Christ is as much as who they think Christ is. Or sometimes we’re interacting with them about their perception of who they think Christians are. And sometimes that perception, especially as it relates to Christians, might actually be true. They could have had someone given them a poor, a poor testimony of Jesus through their own own behavior. And because of that, they’ve just considered every Christian that way. And so when they interact with you, they’re just taking out all their aggression of something they experienced in their past. But, but everyone has this preconceived idea of who they think Jesus is. But, but what’s important for us is help them to consider who he truly is. That’s why we even encourage anyone who comes into a, B, c whether you’re you’ve been a part of our church for years, or you’re just new in and investigating Christianity. I think it’s critical for all of us in our faith journey to pick up God’s Word and just let Jesus share with us who Jesus is. That when you read the Bible, read it from the perspective of a child. Don’t. Don’t assume or just carry baggage of what other people have told you about Jesus, but just take the time to let Jesus share with you who he truly is, and let the Lord shape that.
Now, I’m not saying in telling you this that you need to just live this isolated life of Christianity where, okay, you know, we’re, we’re talking about who Jesus is this morning. And I’m not saying don’t listen to me, but what I am saying is, is as we talk about even Christ this morning, that it’s important to not only listen, but to, to take your own time into God’s word, to see, okay, is this is this really who, who Christ is as it’s being presented to me so I can truly find my identity rooted in him? Everyone has this, this preconceived idea of who Jesus is. And no doubt you’re certainly seeing this in the first century. And can I just tell you up front, we’re going to see as this unfolds that with first century Judaism, they, they they have come to this, this place, this perspective that Jesus is going to disrupt a lot of their traditions and their cultural identity. And they’re more comfortable living in that rather than in truly who Christ is. And can I just be honest with you? Christians can even do the same thing that we can get so comfortable in the traditions of things that we’ve done, that we fail to recognize the importance of why we’ve done them to begin with, meaning we’ll marry ourselves to tradition and just completely lose sight of of the foundation of our faith. Who am I in light of who Christ is? And we start to think the tradition is the faith.
And that’s not always true. Now, I’m not saying it’s unhealthy to have tradition. Traditions can be wonderful things, but it is unhealthy to marry yourself to traditions, so much so that you truly just lose sight of who Christ is And with first century Judaism. If I want to tread lightly here. But just say this like there is the faith of what Judaism is. And then there is the practice of what Judaism has become by the first century. And I might even go so far as to argue what it was in the first century, wasn’t what God gave to them previously, because tradition started to usurp the truth of God’s Word. And you’re going to see this as Paul lays this out in a moment. But but Jesus. And because of that, I, Paul, has become a threat to that cultural identity. And so they’re coming in and they’re raising this against him. And so verse one, after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one tertullus. Let me just say this real quick. If you remember, Paul’s taken away in the darkness of night. And so they have no idea that Paul’s Paul’s left Jerusalem. They are still assuming he’s in that town and they’re going to kill him. That’s their desire. We saw in in Acts chapter 23 together. And all of a sudden they found out, oh, Paul got moved in the darkness of night.
And now they have to prepare a group of people to take a caravan to Caesarea. And so it took him a few days, but finally five days later, they arrive and it says they laid before the governor their case against Paul. And when he had 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 the nation in every way and in everywhere. We accept this with all gratitude. Let me just stop this and let you know. Tertullus is becoming the spokesman for the Jewish people here, right? And he’s doing the classic what we call blowing smoke and kissing up. That’s what he’s doing in these in these verses to Felix. Because when you read what you’re saying about Felix, and then you historically go back and read about Felix, what you learn about this particular governor is really. No one had anything nice to say about him unless they were just trying to get on his good side for something they wanted. Because this guy was a terrible individual. He was terrible in his leadership and his morality. He lacked in his leadership and morality in his personal life. And the man was just no good either way. And in fact, if you go back in history, you discover that Tacitus, who was a a first century Roman historian, said this about about Felix. He said, Felix is a master of cruelty and lust who exercised the power of a king in the spirit of a slave.
And so what he’s saying is like, if you can imagine someone who was treated with brutality or just looked down upon and abused like a slave, all of a sudden given authority, and he’s saying he responds with that type of, of, of cruelty. Like anger is what’s motivating or, or this, this desire for power over people and manipulating people to get what he wants. This is what Tacitus is describing as Felix’s leadership from the latter half of the first century, as he writes about this from a historical perspective. And then he goes on in verse four, but he makes the switch, right? He he puffs up, Felix, you’re just so wonderful. And then he doesn’t want to go on further because he’s like, if he goes on further, he knows nobody’s going to believe what he has to say. So he’s like, he makes this masterful pivot. But to detain you no further, as if to say, your time is so precious and important, we don’t we don’t want to waste that. I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. And he sort of takes that, that perception of a of a humble posture, even though they’re going to make false accusation, lies against Paul. It’s like, but if you could just hear this poor beggar for just a moment. And so they’re, they’re ultimately driving to this place of the charges they want to bring against the apostle Paul.
And here’s where they lay them out for us in verse five to verse nine. This is the charges they bring against Paul. They, they they bring three different ideas to Paul. And we’re actually going to look at the first one, the third one. Then I’m going to go back to the second one. But it says this. Verse five for we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world. And as 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, affirming that all these things were so. So here they come against the apostle Paul and they’re saying, you know, obviously, if you go through this trial, Felix, verse eight, you’re going to discover this yourself. But here’s our charges in the beginning. First half of verse five, what they say about Paul is he stirs up riots among the Jews. And this was a great introduction. If you’re a tertullus in this moment and you’re trying to represent your, your people and wanting to see the demise of the apostle Paul because the first thing that would have piqued the ears of a Roman leader would have been been hearing that there is a riot creating disruption among the area that he is governing.
Because the quickest way to lose your position as a governor is to let that information get back to the leaders of Rome, to find out that you can’t keep under control the area that you’re called to govern over. So this would have immediately taken Felix by attention. Oh, this guy’s a disrupter in my area And so there’s there’s this charge that he brings. And we know that this is not true, but this is the charge they bring against him, this false accusation. And then in verse six, it says he even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. So there’s not only this concern for Felix, but then he’s representing this concern for the Jewish people right here. Here he is. He’s he’s coming to our religious place to desecrate that. But we seized him. And this is, again, is another way of saying to Felix. Felix, we’re under you. And one of the things that you want to do in order to keep your political power is to keep us happy. And if we’re not happy, there’s going to be this disruption and we’re going to have an uprising against you. So Felix is hearing from from a couple of places you want to appease your people. Also, don’t let Rome hear you’re not in control. And both of these are false accusations. Paul’s going to give a response in a moment, but I want you to see the primary argument is, is sandwiched in between all of this.
And this is what they say about the apostle Paul. The second half of verse five, it says the Jews throughout the second half, there is he is as he’s going throughout the Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader, it says of the sect of the Nazarenes. So here’s the real charge that they’re frustrated with by the Apostle Paul is really related to this Jesus of Nazareth, making him a leader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Now, it’s a little bit of a debate among scholars as to what exactly is intended by this phrase. As the Jewish people present this charge against Paul, what is it? The sect of the Nazarenes? A few different thoughts. Rise out of that. I want you to know I’m going to give you what I think is the most obvious thought and saying the most obvious thought. I think it’s the only correct thought. I could be wrong, but I’m usually never not. So. So there’s that. But I’m kidding, I’m wrong. I’m wrong a lot of times. But not not in Scripture though, that’d be terrible. I have this job and be wrong. But he’s the sect of the Nazarenes and it’s I think it’s important to ask, okay, why is he referring to Christians that way? Because when you read the New Testament, you discover that this is not a popular phrase for us.
In fact, the most popular phrase for us in the New Testament is the followers of the way. We might think it’s the phrase Christian. Obviously we call ourselves Christians. So obviously in the New Testament, the most popular phrase for us is Christian. I would tell you that’s, that’s actually one of the least used phrases in referring to us. It’s only used like three times in the New Testament, and it was a derogatory term even then that you’re this this mini Jesus running around of that terrible Jesus, you know? So you guys just are many reflections of that Jesus person. But the most popular phrase for us is followers of the way Jesus taught us the way, and we follow the way that Jesus taught us. You’ll see Paul use that phrase in referring to us in just a little bit. But here this particular leader wanted to use us as as people of the Nazarene. And so what does he mean here? I think that this phrase is actually another derogatory term in referring to us as, as as Christians or followers of the way, you know, those people of the Nazarene. And the reason for that is because of the way people saw Nazareth. It’s like saying today that you’re from Duchenne. You know, it’s like when you read when you read John chapter one, verse 46, when Philip, when Philip first met Jesus, the thing that Philip immediately said was, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Like Nazareth was this podunk place.
And and you think about Duchenne today. We just know, like people in Duchenne, they can’t even pronounce their town correctly. Right. It’s it’s obviously Duchesne people. You need to get with it and learn to read at least like, I’m just kidding. You guys just know I’m saying that jokingly. If you’re from Duchenne, I’m from West Virginia. I mean, there’s not a leg to stand on over here. So when you think about what the reason they’re doing this, they’re just trying to use some, some sort of derogatory way in referring to Jesus as, as being this person of Nazareth, you know, this place of little influence, this small town that, you know, nothing’s going on there. Of course, if you’re thinking about leaders of the world, there’s nothing that’s going to come out of Nazareth. And so they’re, they’re mocking the idea of of Christianity and what it stands on. But it’s important for us to remember in in terms of interacting with a hostile world, Old. Everyone has a preconceived idea about who Jesus is, and because of that, there’s often a defensiveness to who you are. And so how do we how do we respond as as God’s people? Let me let me give you the second point in your notes. The best response is one with integrity and truth. The best response is one with integrity and truth. And, and let me just be a little blunt here, but also I want to be mindful of how we hear this thought of, of being a people of integrity, because there is this tendency in all of us, when things don’t go the way that we want, that we can get frustrated and in that frustration, even get defensive and start attacking other people.
And sometimes, if we’re honest, what comes out of us is not what we would always want. Hindsight. And if we had the ability to do over, we would go back and want to do that over. And so anytime we’re faced with pressure in this world, it’s important for us to consider what comes out of me when when I don’t get what I want or what I hoped, or when someone feels malicious towards my character and integrity. How do I respond in those moments? And that’s, that’s an important place in your life to examine your own heart in relationship to the Lord. Because what comes out of us when we’re provoked could be a reflection of where our life isn’t fully surrendered to the Lord yet. And for us, it becomes a growing opportunity of then how I can learn in that moment to better reflect Jesus moving forward. And maybe there is a place in that where I can go back to someone that I faltered in front of and just say, you know what, I messed up. I wasn’t right for me to behave that way, even when you were a jerk.
But it wasn’t right for me to behave that way. But but here’s the kind of person. Don’t throw the word jerk in there. But here’s here’s the here’s the kind of person I want to be, right? And you get to align your life back to to what you’re about in Christ, to help people see, even in your mistakes, even in your sin, your life is still sensitive to the calling of Christ in you, and you honor the richness of who Christ is, even in your failures. Now I, I was, I was mowing the lawn, mowing the lawn, the one of my go to’s I always do when I mow the lawn is listen to Tim Keller and his one of the series they had posted for him at least yesterday was the conclusion on on his series in the book of Jonah. And one of the things he said in this I really appreciated was that, you know, when it comes to the book of Jonah, have you ever considered how we even know the story of Jonah? He said, because when Jonah went to Nineveh to preach, Jonah went by himself. How in the world do you know the story of Jonah when Jonah went on a journey by himself? Unless Jonah told us the story. And why in the world would Jonah ever want to tell us the story? Because. Have you ever read the story of Jonah? What you find out is Jonah was an idiot, and you get told that in every chapter, right? His heart just hardened to the things of the Lord.
Like, why would Jonah want us to know that story? Lest his life have been radically transformed by the grace of God. And over and over again, God’s mercies poured out to him, and Jonah becomes confident in what he’s received in in the Lord by giving, receiving his his grace and forgiveness that Jonah could share this story with us. Not really concerned with what you think about him because he’s found his identity completely rooted in in the forgiveness of the Lord towards him. And it’s the same for us when we mess up. So what I want you to hear is like, as you represent Jesus in this world, when you do stupid things, I don’t want you to hear and you’re a terrible person. Try harder. And the next time you fail, I want you to feel like a greater failure. What I what I want you to hear is how good and rich the grace and forgiveness of God is in your life. And when you recognize everything that Jesus has done for you, the opportunity he gives you to turn your life to him again and again, that the broken parts of who we are continues to be surrendered to the Lord, that we can find his transforming power in us. Because the point of our life is to make much of us but to make much of him.
And so when we think about honoring him, what does it look like? The best response is, is one with integrity and truth. And Paul says it to us like this in terms of integrity. Verse 16, so I always take pains to have a clear conscience towards both God and man. And Paul is saying, this isn’t easy, and sometimes there’s sacrifice involved in this, and I take the path of sacrifice for the benefit of others to the glory of God, that they can see the richness of who Christ is. And when you look at the Apostle Paul’s life and you look at other leaders of the early church in the first century recorded in in Scripture, you find that they didn’t always do this perfectly. Even Paul, like in Acts chapter 15, we were told in his second missionary journey that the apostle Paul had this, this disruption in his relationship with Barnabas. In fact, the Greek word there is that’s used is this sharp disagreement. This large argument is what Paul, the apostle Paul is having with Barnabas. Right? So there was this contention in their own relationship. Now, I’ll say from that some beautiful things took place because we learned something about Paul’s personality and how he moves forward. And Barnabas is like, Paul was this task driven individual, and he picks with him Silas, who was more aligned with the way he does ministry. And so they went on this missionary journey together.
And Barnabas is one that’s more relationally focused. And so Barnabas takes with him John Mark, who was an individual that just needed to develop and grow in the Lord. And Paul knew if Barnabas wanted to take John Mark on that journey. And Paul knew if we allow John Mark to go, our journey is going to go much, much more slowly, and we’re going to focus on him more than just reaching the cities around us. And Paul wanted to get to it. And so they separated. And I would just look at that disagreement and say, look, I don’t think that that was necessarily honoring. I think the flesh came out in both of them. But but I do think that God was glorified as they were humbled in the midst of that circumstance to seek to honor the Lord with their lives. I mean, even even the Apostle Peter was this way. Remember, he gave up on Jesus during his crucifixion. And even as as as Peter was reconciled to Christ and he started to follow Christ with his life. It tells you in Galatians chapter one that that that Peter was honoring a different gospel. He started to be influenced by, by religion rather than relationship in Christ and what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. And Paul had to oppose him to his face. So they didn’t necessarily walk perfect lives. And so there’s this struggle in this. There’s this struggle in us to surrender.
There’s this, this struggle and being able to lay ourselves down for the benefit of others because we tend to be self-focused as people rather than selfless focus for the glory of God to the benefit of others. But Paul is saying, this is this has been the aim of my life. I want to get to this place where I’m just striving with no regrets and the goodness of who God is for the benefit of others. I want to be a person of integrity. In fact, Charles Spurgeon said it like this the quotes on your screen. A clear conscience is a soft pillow. And I think of a better way to go to bed at night than when other people show you their backside. You just keep honoring the Lord in the way that you live. Paul is saying to us, here’s, here’s the best response for our life, one of integrity. And then get this one of truth. And Paul goes through and he, he gives for us a response to Tertullus accusation against him. And he lays it out exactly as Tertullus did. He gives the first argument that aligns with Tertullus and the second and the third, and we’re going to read through it the same way that we read through it a minute ago. We’re going to look at the first, the third, and then the second together. But in verse 11, Paul speaks to the governor and he says in verse 11, you can verify.
It’s emboldened here. 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 disrupting 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. Here’s what Paul is saying is like the charge against him was this guy created riots. And Paul is saying, that’s not even possible because by the time I got to Jerusalem, to the time I find myself in Caesarea. Right now it’s been 12 days. Like no one in the first century can stir that kind of a riot in 12 days. When we know that I spent the majority of time here in Caesarea. How in the world could I stir a riot in Jerusalem? So Paul responds to that first accusation. Then Paul goes on to the second accusation. He says in verse 17, now after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. He’s talking about going to the temple in Jerusalem. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews and from Asia they ought to be here before you, and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me, or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the Council. So Paul is saying so not only did I not create a riot, but I definitely didn’t profane the temple.
I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was observing what the Jewish people would want me to observe. And I was in the temple doing what I should be doing and nothing more. But these Jewish people from Asia. And if you read about Paul’s missionary journeys, you know, as he traveled throughout the Roman Empire, there was Jewish people from those regions who constantly followed Paul and created disruption. And now they followed him all the way to Jerusalem to do the same thing. And Paul was saying it was that group that created this stir. And here I am in Caesarea. And if they really had a charge against me, why are they not here to bring that accusation? But then Paul Forrest gets to the crux of the matter, and he says this. He begins to say, if you really want to know why I’m on trial, it’s this reason and this reason alone. And in verse 14, he says, but this I confess to you, this idea of a confession is really about a creed. And, and the idea of a creed is the foundation of what makes you who you are. This is where I’ve rooted myself in identity. This is what determines the steps that I take in life. And this is the reason I’ve been put on trial, because we could ask the same for you. What determines who you are? What governs the decisions that you make? What’s at the depth of your soul leading you in the course of your life? That’s what Paul is exposing here.
He says, but this I confess to you, that according to the way, which is the way Christians were referred to in the first century, they were followers of 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. And Paul is saying here, like, there’s this, this debate now between us and the Jews, this argument between us and the Jews, where I’m telling you, I’m following the foundation of our faith, not the way that tradition has developed our faith, but the way the Lord has passed our faith to us through the purpose of the law and the declaration of the prophets, and all that would be fulfilled, and the Messiah who was to come. Verse 15, 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 man. So, Paul, if you remember, as he lays this out, he he gives the first argument against riots. He says, that’s not me. And we looked at the second argument against profaning the temples. And again he says, that’s not me. But then he goes on and says, but here it is.
It’s it’s dealing with the identity of who Jesus is, according to our Old Testament and his resurrection. And so they don’t lose sight of that. As Paul lists those arguments out, one, two and three, when you get to verse 21, he again reminds them of the big idea. He says to them, 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. He is saying to us, guys, if you really want to know everything that we’re to be about as God’s people, everything that we are hinges on this one moment in history, the resurrection of Christ. Because the resurrection of Christ validates the identity of Jesus and the truthfulness of the Bible and the promises that God came to fulfill. And therefore wraps up my identity in him because I’m created in him for his purposes. And so Paul hinges our identity, everything that we are on this one thought. And it kind of leads you to the conclusion for, for all of us just to consider, man, if someone put me on trial on the foundation of what I am about, could I defend this? Could I, could I really root the the thought of Christianity down to this, this one fundamental idea like take everything else away. If you want to know the one thing that helps shape our identity and everything as God’s people, the building block for us that established the foundation of our faith is what Jesus accomplished through the death, burial, and resurrection.
It’s critical for us to understand how how paramount this is not only in the identity of Jesus, but then everything that we become in light of who he is. And in fact, if you were just to consider like, okay, what, what is it about Christianity? Like, I love when you go back historically and you study Christianity. One of the, I think one of the things that’s very encouraging to read is anything written by not well, not anything, but a lot of the things written by the Jewish people pre Jesus. Like if I’m studying Jewish history and I really want to understand what was taking place during this time period, I do like to read anything pre first century. I really don’t give as much credence to anything post first century. And the reason for that is because there is this flavoring of the writing of the Jewish people that was dictated by the identity of Jesus. And so the writings become more about disproving Jesus than the way they truly thought about the Messiah pre first century. And when you read pre first century writings, what you start to discover about the Jewish people is they were certainly looking for a messianic figure, an individual. Now, this wasn’t every Jewish person that taught this way, but you certainly see it peppered throughout the writings.
If you talk to people from a Jewish foundation today that aren’t Christ followers, what they’ll often tell you is they still believe in a Messiah, but their messianic figure, they think, is more all of the people of God. Meaning we’re all going to be saviors to the world in some way. And the way that we we carry ourselves like there is some truth in the idea that God wants you to do good and help people. That is, that is honest and true. But to say that’s the messianic figure I don’t think is necessarily true to the pre first century paintings of the Messiah. In fact, when if you go back, you can do this on AI today, it’s so easy. But if you go back and say, what was the understanding of Jesus pre first century, you can see there was often these pictures painted that this messianic figure would be an individual who would rule as a prophet, a priest or a king. And in fact, they just flavored from the Old Testament thoughts that he would he might even hold all those offices. But they were looking for this prophetic priestly kingship position that the Messiah would rule. And this is everything Jesus was for us. I mean, when you read the New Testament, that’s what it proclaims of Christ. That is the final prophet in Hebrews chapter one, that he rules as king for us and as he tells us, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
And in Mark chapter one, verse 15, when Jesus, where is that that identity as that messianic figure, even his name declares that for us. You think Jesus Christ isn’t his first and last name as much as his a title representing his own identity. And Jesus comes from the word Yeshua, which is the word. Yeah. Is God the name for God? And Shua is the name of salvation. He’s the saving God, and Christ is the Messiah, the Anointed One. He’s the saving, anointed God coming for us. And so this, this, this picture of everything Jesus would be for you and for me, which I got to move through this quickly. But if if you think about the focus of the resurrection, what is, what is important for us to understand? There’s there’s different positions theologians take. And this is not an exhaustive list, but when it comes to the validity of the resurrection, how do we know it’s true? Well, you look at the Old Testament, you have prophetic statements about Jesus. Like Micah five two tells us he’d be born in Bethlehem. Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14, he would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 53 talks about him being crucified before the crucifixion exists. Psalm 22 talks about him being pierced in his feet and in his hands. Genesis chapter three, verse 15 tells us he’ll come from the seed of a woman, and that he would crush the head of a serpent, but suffer a fatal wound in the process.
Daniel chapter nine, verse 24 to 27, gives us the the timeline for when the Messiah would arrive, and it. Recognizes it’s before the the destruction of the temple. I mean, there’s not been a temple in Jerusalem for almost 2000 years. And it’s this indication for us that the Messiah would appear before the temple was gone. I mean, all of these prosthetic statements, hundreds of them validating who, who Jesus would be that aligns itself with Christ. And not only that, you have the empty tomb. If you look at passages like end of the book of Matthew, Matthew 27, the last four chapters, you have the Jewish authorities telling the Roman leaders, hey, we need to seal the temple, because they kept teaching about the resurrection of Jesus. And we don’t want someone coming and stealing his body from the tomb and trying to validate that his resurrection was real. So they sealed the tomb. And then when you get to chapter 28, verse 11 to 15, you find those soldiers that were guarding the sealed tomb running to the Jewish authorities saying oh, we’ve got a problem. The tomb is open. There’s no body inside. And they’re like just tell people that it got stolen. And here’s some money to just encourage you in your lie, right? So, so there’s the idea of the empty tomb eyewitness testimony, which we consider reading the New Testament. It’s eyewitness testimony that’s recorded.
Like Luke goes around and speaks to eyewitnesses and even writes the name of those eyewitnesses as if to say, if you don’t believe me, go talk to them. They’re still alive. In fact, when, when when Paul wrote first Corinthians 15, he talks about Jesus appearing to 500 people at one time. It’s like saying to us that Jesus appeared to the masses. Just asked, there’s the radical transformation the disciples that gave up on Christ. The question is like, what? What changed? They went from cowards running away from Jesus at his crucifixion to all of a sudden giving their their lives for Christ to the point that they lived destitute lives. They were martyred. Why would they do that unless they saw a dead man walking? I could go on, but I’m out of time. So you’re going to Google the rest of those? I don’t know what to tell you. But but but the point is, is for us to understand the validity of the resurrection, how paramount it is to our faith to testify to the truth and do so with integrity. And the last point is this the battle appears external, but it is internal. Remember when people become contentious over the idea of Jesus, there’s something deeper happening in them than just simply a hatred towards you. And so therefore, it’s critical not to take it personal. And you see this with Felix. I’ve just got to read verse 25 for time’s sake. But it says, Felix called Paul to him and says, as he reasoned about righteousness and self control in the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed.
So Paul, sharing with him about the importance of Jesus. And Felix is concerned because Felix realizes that in order for him to embrace Christ, he’s got to get off his own throne. He’s got to humble himself before who Jesus is. And Felix doesn’t want that. In fact, you see this in the next verses that tells you in verse 26 and 27 what Felix was primarily interested in. It says in verse 26. At the same time he, Felix hoped that money would be given him by Paul in verse 27, when it says, when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus and desiring to do the Jews a favor. Felix. Felix left Paul in prison. And so Felix, what he’s ultimately doing is satisfying himself. I want personal gain from this. I want power and favor from this. And so he’s leaving Paul in prison, not because he believes Paul is guilty, but because Felix is interested in serving himself and rather surrendering to to Christ. Felix wants to continue to honor his own life as if the glory belongs to him and not to the Lord. I need to close with this, but let me just say this for all of us guys, I think it’s important to look at the truthfulness of the resurrection because that does hinge our Christianity does hinge on it.
If Jesus isn’t resurrected, Christian Christianity should not be believed. But if he is, it changes everything for us, who we are in light of who he is. And it becomes important for us not to just see it as historical information, but to make it personal. What does it mean for you and for me? There was a man, a famous painter, and if anyone has a painting by this guy and wants to donate it to me personally, I accept. His name was Rembrandt and Rembrandt. He painted, I think, a series of five paintings in dealing with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But one of the things that was interesting about Rembrandt is he would sometimes include himself in the paintings. And he. He certainly did in the in the picture of Jesus’s crucifixion. You see his head there at the bottom of Jesus’s feet. And this is Rembrandt’s way of saying, not only did this happen to Jesus, but this happened because of me and this happened for me. This is Rembrandt’s way of saying, Jesus hung on this cross for my sin so that my life could be found in him. It is important to understand the resurrection of Christ from a historical place, but it’s more important to understand the resurrection, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ from a personal place. That Jesus did this for you, and because he was willing to do this for you, this changes everything for you if your life would surrender to him.