Wow, imagine being thrown into jail on charges that are totally untrue. Man, that is bad news. That's really bad news. And for two years. That's a long time.
Yeah. But it's not such bad news. For Paul, it's actually good news. Good news and we'll see how that can be today. On more than ink.
More than one. than the ink. That's us. Yeah, we're glad you're with us. I'm Jim.
And I'm Dorothy. And we are excited and motivated as we read through together these passages in Acts as we're going through Acts. We're in the end of Acts, kind of the last few chapters, and Paul's in custody, right? Yeah, he's been in Caesarea for probably a little over a week. Right.
And lots of stuff happening there in the Roman court and also back in Jerusalem. They're making plans and scrambling around.
So we're going to hear Paul make a defense of himself.
Well, we heard one last week. We've got one today. We've got another one coming.
So it's really interesting how consistent they are. Yeah, yeah. And to remind you, just last time we looked at this, the Jews who just really have it out for Paul, I mean religious leadership in Jerusalem, they want to take him down desperately.
So they hatched a plot to kill him. He was sort of rescued by the Romans, and now he's in protective custody of the Romans. And now the Romans are trying to figure out what to do with him. He's a citizen, so they have to do the right things. But last time we had...
One of our first kind of court appearances, and this guy Tertullus, a professional lawyer, was hired by the religious Jews, we think, to make a case against Paul.
So, last time we were together, we heard Tertullus make this totally non-evidential, emotional plea that was just, I mean, it was just no proof at all. It was just goofy. And so, we heard that, and again, no evidence at all. You cannot go into a court today in America, let alone in Rome, and try a case without any evidence. But this guy, Tertullus, with really flashy, you know, flattery to Felix, who's the judge here, and you know, he just, it was, it was stupid.
Yeah. Yeah. So now Paul gets to actually defend himself. And so, in fact, the governor Felix said, so Paul, defend yourself. That's where we got to in chapter 24, verse 9.
And so they all got together and he wants Paul to speak.
So that's where we are.
Okay, so let's read. We're in Acts 24, chapter 24, verse 10. And when the governor, this is Felix, when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied, Knowing that for many years you've been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. You can verify that it's 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.
Yeah, let's stop there because he's directly refuting what Tertullus had said. This is a very powerful defense because what he's saying is we got new witnesses, got a new witness. the evidence? Where's the evidence? Yeah, I mean, what are we talking about here?
And in fact, when he mentions 12 days, what he's saying is that, look, in 12 days, the people who should have been witnesses are still here. If this is something that happened a year before, then you have a hard time finding witnesses. But it's just been 12 days.
So what he's saying is that who's here to verify what these accusations are all about? I mean, Tertullus called him a plague.
So, I mean, in very vague language.
So, Paul just starts off by saying, Show me the evidence. Have they shown you the evidence? No, they haven't shown you any evidence.
So, and I haven't stirred up the crowds. In fact, let's just remind our listeners: what was Paul doing in Jerusalem when he got arrested?
Well, he was behaving like an observant, law-abiding Jew. Yes. He had gone through proper cleansing and was in the temple going through a very Jewish ceremony, making offerings and sacrifices, and he had not taken Gentiles into the temple as they had claimed he'd done.
So they had made all these assumptions about it. In fact, this whole thing was a measure in which they would say, Paul, you need to disprove to people who criticize you and say that you're no longer being a Jew. Right. And they say, why don't you do this with these other guys? And Paul says, yeah, sure.
That was on the advice of the Jerusalem church. Right, right. But what they chose for him to do was something was right down the center line of the road in Judaism.
So he wasn't. Inciting a riot. He was being a model Jew. And that's what he was doing. And that's when he got arrested.
And that's when all this happened. And he came into Roman custody.
So.
Okay, so before we go on here, I'm just really attracted by the fact that Paul says, hey, I'm really cheerful to make my defense before you. And we talked about this last week, but why would he have been cheerful? He's locked up. He's being falsely charged. But remember back in chapter 23, verse 11, after he had been locked up the first time, the Lord Jesus himself appeared to him and said, just as you have testified to me here, you will go and testify to me in Rome.
And so Paul knows he's standing firmly in the center of God's plans for him. And he's like, well, I just, here I got a Roman authority in front of me. I'm going to go for it. That's right. In a way, he's saying, I knew I was coming here.
So let me just say a few words. And I know I'm not going to die here. Right. Because the Lord had said, you're going to Rome. Right.
So God has given him reason to be confident in what's happening next.
So he starts off his plea with Felix, not by sounding. And really wimpish, but by saying, look, there's no evidence. There's no evidence. And there should be. And, you know, if my accusers had evidence, you would know it by now.
But have they brought any evidence? And of course, the answer is big fat zero. No evidence, no witnesses.
So he goes on in 14.
Okay, but this I confess to you.
Okay, so he is going to confess to something. Sure. This is what he did. 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 both of the just and the unjust.
So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. Hmm. Anything you want to say about that? No, I mean, he's basically saying, I'm a Jew still, but I am a part of the way. That was the title for the movement that Jesus had started, the followers of Jesus.
Back in chapter 9, that's what Paul was persecuting. Right. He was persecuting members of the way. The way. And yet, Tertullus, who we just mentioned, the lawyer who was hired to be against him, Tertullus said that Paul was part of the sect of the Nazarenes, which is a different way of looking at it.
But Paul says it's the way. And look, I worship. I worship the God of our fathers. That's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. That's a Jewish thing.
Believing everything laid down by the law, the law of Moses, very Jewish, written in the prophets. Yes, yes, yes. Having a hope in God.
So he's saying what I'm doing is I'm not abandoning Judaism. What I'm doing is I'm right smacked up in the middle. And instead of abandoning Judaism, in a sense, through Jesus, it's being fulfilled. But he doesn't even bring that up right now. But he does say what's.
What the Pharisees will agree with him is that, you know, they got me because I profess that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. Right. In other words, there's going to be a judgment. That was part of the issue. And of course, as we remember, the Pharisees, as the ruling, one of the ruling classes, was for that.
They were for the resurrection. The Sadducees were not. Right. But he's saying, you know, up to this point in what he's saying, I'm, you know, I'm a Pharisee Jew.
Well, and he says, my conscience regarding these things is clear. And that's the statement for which he received a blow in the chapter before from the high priest, right? That they regarded that as insolent. Because the religious leaders, you know, he said he was sinning, basically. He was against the law.
But he's saying, nope, I'm not. I'm sinless. And that's what really made them mad, made him slap him.
Okay.
So verse 17. 17.
Now, after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.
So remember, he had been carrying an offering. To the Jews in Jerusalem that gathered from the Gentile churches.
So as I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. Yeah, I looked those up in case I just so I could remind myself. Right. You can find it in Galatians 2:10. You can find it in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians, both chapters, and in Romans 15.
So you can go back and chapter 3. Very well documented there. Very well documented kind of thing he was doing, bringing help to the Christians there in the Jerusalem area. Yeah, okay.
Okay, verse 18.
So while I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia 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, 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'm on trial before you this day. Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So That's the statement you were talking about last week when you said he might have indicated that he regretted having done that. Right. That was deliberately divisive between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. It's interesting to me that he says, you know, the only wrongdoing they found against me was maybe this one thing. And he totally overlooks the fact that he had called the high priest a whitewashed tomb.
That was bad. That was bad. But, you know, his point right here is the same as as he opened. It's basically, we don't have any witnesses now, do we? In fact, I was in the temple just minding my own business.
That's his words. Doing my religious Jewish thing. Doing my Jewish thing. And then some Jews from Asia. And of course, we know those are guys from.
We said, probably Ephesus. Probably Ephesus, yeah.
So they, and so he says they were the ones that raised the stink, not me. I was just minding my own business. They're the ones that are.
So if you want to have a case against me, you need to have them here testify. That's what he's saying in 19. Have them here if they have anything against me. And if you can't raise those guys from Ephesus, well, then these men are right here. The ones that are standing, have them say what the wrongdoing is, you know, what they found when I stood before the council.
Otherwise, you know, you don't have a case.
Well, okay, so let's go back to the fact that he says this one thing that I shouted, I cried out while standing among them. It's with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I'm on trial before you this day.
Well, we were told by Luke in the last chapter that Paul said that because he perceived that there was a mixed crowd of Pharisees and Sadducees, and he knew that bringing up this idea of the resurrection of the dead was going to raise a division between them. It was going to highlight a historical problem they had with each other. Other, and so he was maybe taking advantage of them in that way. That's one way of. Reading that.
And I think, I can't remember now, but I think where he talks about slight regrets, I think that's still to come. That might be in the last chapter. I forget where that is, but it's not quite here because it says he has slight regrets. But anyway, well, here he names it as something that they might bring charges against him for, but that doesn't even figure in their plan. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. And even here, he doesn't tie Jesus to the resurrection issue. No.
So we're talking about something that's still very squarely Jewish. Will there be a resurrection from the dead? And the Pharisees said yes, and the Sadducees said no. Yeah, and that's an argument they were having even in Jesus among Jesus' ministry.
So what he's saying is, I got arrested because of this divisive issue that's not of my doing. Right. They've always had this argument. Yeah. Yeah.
So that's his whole, that's his whole defense. That's it. He starts off with saying, bring on your witnesses. Got none? No.
Right. And here's the thing. And I'm doing Jewish stuff. Right, right. And And by the way, if you want witnesses, talk to those out-of-towners from Asia.
They need to be your witness, but they're not here either.
So it becomes clear that Wyatt was a head scratcher for the tribune who arrested him or who was protecting him and delivered him to Caesarea. And now it's a head scratcher for Felix as well.
Well, and you got to remember, too, that Paul's accusers are in their room at this time.
So he's basically laying down the gauntlet. He's saying to these guys, you know, you need to come up with evidence like right now.
So he finishes this very short speech saying there's no evidence. And of course, from Felix's perspective, he hasn't heard any.
So then, you know, as I fill in the gaps, I see Felix turn to the accusers and, you know, they're shrugging their shoulders and they've got no evidence.
So at this point, Felix really has all the evidence he needs, which is this guy is being prosecuted and there's no evidence that's testifying against him.
So at this point, Felix ought to say, There's no evidence for this guy. I should let him go. Right. That's not exactly what happened. But that's not what happens.
But I'm just saying at this point, you know, a judge should say no evidence means we don't have a trial. Right. So that's where it should go, but let's see where it does go.
So, verse 22, 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.
Now, he had received a letter from the Tribune, but apparently the Tribune wasn't there.
Okay, so verse 23. 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 his needs.
Okay, this is a totally spineless response. It is. It's like Felix is just trying to avoid the whole thing. Right. And that's why I premise this by saying he's got enough evidence to say there's no evidence.
We throw it in.
Okay, but what do you think of the fact that it says he has a rather accurate knowledge of the way?
Well, he knows what's been going on for the last 20 years. 20 years is how far we are from the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So he's been seeing this going on. He knows what's happening in the area. He's no simpleton when it comes to issues about that.
So that means what he can do is he can spot falsehoods about the way. In a way that other people couldn't. He's not just an ignorant Roman in that sense.
Well, and it's possible that his knowledge of the way comes from the fact that his wife, we're going to find out in a couple of verses, is Jewish. Yes. So we'll talk about her in a minute. But it's interesting that he's, I'm just going to kind of avoid this. We're just going to put this off for another day.
But let's not mistreat Paul because he's a Roman citizen. Yep. Yep. And I think that's the constraint he has. Paul is a Roman citizen, but in a way, Felix doesn't want to let Paul go, right?
But he, because if he just lets him go, he'll make him unpopular with the Jewish contingent that's staring at him.
So he's got to do something.
So he'll keep him in custody, but he'll keep him in kind custody and give him a little bit of liberty to let his friends bring dinners to him. Stuff like that, you know.
So that's why I say it's really very spineless because he's not following the letter of the law. He's basically following what these Jews, these Jewish leaders, these. The prime Jewish leadership, what they want is to have Paul killed.
So this is like a halfway measure. It's a halfway measure, but it kind of avoids violence. Right. Because Felix's job as governor in this, in the Jewish position he was in, or position over the Jews, was to keep the peace. And, you know, if you do a little reading about Felix, you'll discover that he actually was removed from office in 60 AD because he failed to do exactly that.
He did not resolve conflict well between the Jews and the Gentiles in Caesarea. Yeah, yeah. He has a history of not being a great governor.
So, but this is just a spineless way of deferring so you can make everyone happy. You make the Jews happy by not by not letting him go. You make Paul and the way happy by not being cruel against him, right?
So it's kind of an in-between halfway.
Well, we'll see what happens.
Well, he probably already knows that in a few days he's going to have visitors that he can talk this over with. Yeah, yeah. So let's read on.
So he's in Paul's in custody, and some days a lot, Terry. I'll reforce it in 24.
So after some days. Who knows how long? After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla. We'll talk more about her. She was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
I'm going to stop there for a second. Wow.
So, this is fascinating. Although Felix is pretty familiar with the way he wants with his wife in the presence, the Jewish wife wants to hear about this supposed Messiah, Jesus. Isn't that interesting? Yeah. When we talk about Drusilla, again, you have to kind of poke around to find out who she was, and we're going to learn more about her in the next chapter.
But Luke tells us here that she was Jewish, so she probably had some interest or acquaintance with what had happened during her lifetime with what a guy proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah. Yeah. And Luke is very careful in how he says this. Have him speak about faith in Messiah, Jesus. Christ is just the Greekized version of Messiah.
Right. That's a Jewish way of saying for Felix to his wife Drusilla: let's have Paul talk to us about who he claims the Messiah is, which is Jesus.
So that's very specific right there. But look at what he talks about. Verse 25. And as he reads, Reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed. Yeah, let's stop there.
I think those three things are fascinating. They really are. They are fascinating. And as he reasoned about righteousness, which is the standard that God will use to judge us against. What righteousness is all about, which, by the way, will be kind of a pithy and sore subject with Felix and Drusilla.
Okay, yeah. Because they have, to put it kindly, kind of lax morals.
Well, and their marriage was scandalous because he had apparently caused or enabled her to be divorced from her previous husband so he could marry her. Right. So when we talk about standards of righteousness, that first topic is, and you know, and if Paul really presses in, he'll say, look, judgment is coming. Right. You know, he said this to the guys in Athens: judgment is coming, and righteousness is the standard.
How are you doing on righteousness? And self-control.
Well, yeah, and self-control is an interesting second issue. Because if you know what the standard of righteousness is, which is the law, the Jewish law, and Drusilla was very familiar with that, even if you're a well-intended person, you'll try and self-control your sin, right? You'll try and, you know, hold back your worst tendencies, be a little bit righteous.
Okay, but the Roman culture was not known for self-control. No, it wasn't. Especially among the royals. Right. It's a double whammy.
This second self-control is a double whammy. On one side, it's like no one's demonstrating any self-control in preference toward goodness and righteousness. And on top of that, even if you're compelled to want to be more righteous, self-control isn't going to get you there.
So it's like the problem is righteousness as a standard. Self-control is what you're trying to do or what you're not trying to do. That's a problem.
So then. Point three is, and look, you're toast at the coming judgment. There's going to be a judgment.
So there's a standard, there's your inability to do anything that's sufficient for the judgment, and there's judgment, and it's coming. It's scheduled on the calendar. Isn't it interesting? There's no reference to Jesus specifically in that sentence. No, right.
Well, this is the bad news of the good news. It's the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, which I'm talking about you, Felix and Drusilla.
Well, as Paul wrote in one of his letters, God will judge. The day is on the calendar. God will judge everyone by a man, Jesus Christ. By a man, Jesus.
So no wonder Felix is alarmed.
Well, sure. He's just been called on the carpet. He's totally convicted. For his immorality. Yeah.
And his inability to fix the immorality.
So what does he do? He squirms out from under it. Again. He says in verse 25, go away for the present. And when I get an opportunity, I'll summon you.
At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul.
So he sent for him often and conversed with him. Oh, that is fascinating.
So Felix makes a habit while he's holding this office of keeping Paul imprisoned and then coming listening to him talk about the gospel and w It just seems to fall on deaf ears. Yeah. He's looking for money, and Paul is looking for an opportunity to talk about Jesus. Julius is hoping to be bribed, which was illegal, which is illegal. And, you know, Paul had friends coming in and out who technically could have had their pockets full of money.
Right. So Paul could have sent a message to him saying, hey, you guys can get me out of here because Felix wants money. Just do a fundraiser.
So this goes on for two years. Yeah, read the verse 27. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Ha ha.
Yeah, that's the end of the passage for today. But for two years, he tries to milk Paul of money. For two years, Paul gets to teach him about Jesus. Yeah. I mean, Felix is without excuse.
So, this goes on for two years. And by the way, too, I looked this up. The legal limit you can hold someone is two years before they have court.
So, the changeover in the governor was kind of fortuitous because he could keep him in jail and not violate the law because Felix is not going to be in jail. Oh, so fast as you can. Yeah, I wonder if Drusilla was present in some of those conversations. Could be. Yeah, we don't know.
Because we're told specifically that that he came with his wife and sent for Paul. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Felix knew a lot about the way. Presumably, he knew a lot about who Jesus was, who he claimed to be. Uh, and and presumably, Drusillo had heard some about this and said, Well, you know, there's no way he couldn't be the Jewish Messiah, he didn't overthrow Rome, right?
That would be the common complaint, even to this very day, among the Orthodox Jewish community. Jesus cannot be the Messiah because of that.
So, I'm sure for Felix, it was like, Well, here's this guy. If you want to talk to someone who really has the inside scoop, who's really promoting who Jesus is as the promised Messiah of the Jews, and a guy who's very learned, he comes out of Tarsus. That's that's like the MIT of the world for them.
So, I think Felix just says, Honey, you need to listen to this guy because he's probably got the best scoop on Jesus I've ever heard. Um, but then I don't think Felix is really interested in knowing about Jesus for these two years, he's interested in seeing if he can pump money out of Paul.
Well, that's probably true, but Paul takes advantage of the situation. Oh, totally makes me think of Paul's attitude toward imprisonment. Uh, and we'll talk about this a little bit more next week. But his attitude towards imprisonment was, Hey, I'm an ambassador. In chains.
Right. Right. I am here to preach the gospel to anybody who will listen, whether I'm chained to them or I'm stuck in prison. If they come see me or they call for me, I'm going to preach the gospel.
Well, yeah. And technically speaking, if you really wanted to, as an initiative, if you wanted to preach to kings and to governors, how are you going to gain an audience otherwise? There's no way to do it. It's not like you knock on their door and say, you know, I like to, I have a message to you about Jesus. And the king would say, get out of here.
You know, that's not going to happen. But in this case, in this case, not only does he get an audience with this governor, he gets two years of audience. I mean, there is no better way than being in prison. Yeah. You really wonder what was going on in Drusilla's mind all this time since we're told that she was a Jew.
And this probably makes sense that she was part of these conversations or once in a while. I think so. The fact that he pulled her in, I think, shows a curiosity on her part. And she was steeped probably in Jewish political history during her lifetime, at least, because she, it turns out, is the great-grandmother. daughter of Herod the Great.
Exactly. So we'll get into that a little bit more next week when her brother shows up. Yeah. Yeah. The family connections here.
You know, we talked in the past about having a roadmap so you can see where we are in the Mediterranean. You really need one. This one, you need a family tree because it gets pretty dense. You need a Herodian family tree to figure out who the players are. It's all insiders.
There's hints of incestuousness here. I mean, there's just a lot of crazy stuff going on. All of these people, Felix, who we've been looking at, Drusilla, the next guy coming up, Festus, Agrippa, you'll see in the next all these people have family insider connections. That's the way things work in the ancient world. It kind of works that way.
Well, that's the way things worked in the Roman world, anyway. Exactly. So you need that roadmap. But in this particular case, it's fascinating. God has arranged an audience with Felix, a two-year audience with Felix.
Felix does not look responsive. We don't really know what happened in all of that. But God arranged something that Paul in his own power could never have ever arranged. And by doing something, something that looks like negative news. I'm going into jail.
And yet even going to jail, going into prison is affording God an opportunity that only God can orchestrate. And here he orchestrates it. Unfortunately, Felix seems to have a lack of courage to really respond to the gospel. He knows the way. He knows about Jesus.
He has two years to ask Paul questions. And he doesn't seem to respond. All he does is delay. But Paul is consistent and he's cheerful and he's truthful and he's faithful. Yep, yep.
And that's what he's doing.
So we're out of time.
Next time, we're going to pass the baton to the new governor, Portius Festus. And Festus is going to, he's going to get an earful of the gospel as well, as well as another guy by the name of Agrippa.
So all of these testimonies in front of very important people will not stop. And you're going to want to be here and see this happen again.
So I'm Jim. And I'm Dorothy. And this is More Than A. Come back with us as we do it all over again. Yeah.
Okay.
Bye. Bye. There are many more episodes of this broadcast to be found at our website, morethanink.org. And while you are there, take a moment to drop us a note. Wow, can you believe that?
Two years Paul was there. That's amazing to me that he had this single audience, Felix, for two years. God arranged that. Yeah, God arranged that he would speak to important people, and he sure did. And next time, there's more.
There's more. We'll see that. Bye. Bye. This has been a production of Main Street Church of Brigham City.
