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And all this week, I have been planning on presenting the next two chapters of Acts. All week long, I've been planning on doing chapter twenty five and twenty six because that's the kind of feel like that's the end of the the of this particular portion and praise God for the intervening spirit. This week, I woke up yesterday and thought, I can stop right there and it'll give them a break and I think it makes more sense for this week that we're all living in too. So, here we go. Acts 25.
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It's Paul's trial before Festus. Now, what we just finished two weeks ago was Paul's trial before Felix. So now some days later, Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife. This is Felix is the one who's listening to the case now, and Paul has already been declared innocent multiple times. He's already been moved in protective custody to Caesarea, Maritime Caesarea to get him out of the hot political climate of Jerusalem where he is hated and beloved by some but hated by many others and so Felix arrives with Drusilla, his wife, who is Jewish, should have a little bit of a background and understanding of what's going on and he sent for Paul and he heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
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That's what Paul was talking about was faith in Christ Jesus. Christ, Messiah, anointed one. This is what the Old Testament has been pointing towards. Christ, Jesus. But as he was discussing righteousness and self control and the judgment to come.
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Felix became frightened and Felix responded, go away for now. I don't want, I can't do this anymore. He was feeling conviction. He's feeling convicted and he says, go away for now and when I have an opportunity, I'll summon you and you could think who's right on the verge, almost persuaded as the old song says, but what was being discussed? This makes people uncomfortable.
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Righteousness and self control and the judgment to come. If we're honest, it should make all of us a little uncomfortable. On the front side of really understanding salvation in Christ, right? That's righteousness is where what's what is that? How do you define that?
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Well, we have it defined in Christ Jesus. We have it defined by good and holy God who is his exact nature and representation is Jesus. We can look to Jesus, the author, the perfector of our faith, and self control. Though he was, God did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped. You know, he emptied himself.
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Self control and the judgment to come. He came to open the age of grace and he will be here to close it too. So, the judgment to come is coming. That's what was being discussed. Next few verses at the same time, he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul.
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So, he's looking for a little bit of Mordita, a little bite, a little grease grease in the palm. That's what he was kind of hoping for. So, righteousness was not his primary concern. He he also used to sin for Paul quite often and talk with him But after two years had passed, this guy had deferred making a judgment for two years. Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and Felix wanting to do the Jews a favor.
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As a judge, should you be wanting to do one side or the other a favor? No. That's not an impartial blind justice. Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and Felix wanting to do the Jews a favor left Paul in prison. He deferred making a decision which he had every right to make for two years and then he left it for the next guy.
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So, here's where we start our and we're just going to examine the cast of characters just for these 12 verses. So, the cast of characters are Porcius Festus. We were just introduced to him and the Jews which I can say, I think I need to say for our day and our time, the religious folks, okay? These are the people who are doing their best as the religious folks. They wanted to live righteously, the Jews, and then Paul.
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So, that that's the cast of characters for these 12 verses. Festus, Festus is not gunsmoke sidekick. Okay? Not Marshall Dillon's sidekick. I every time I think of him, I think of that crinkled hat and that kind of weird affect but Porcius Festus ruled from '59 to '61.
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We have external evidence of this from Josephus' antiquities and he mentions it again in the Jew Jewish antiquities and Jewish wars. Those are the references if you want to look em up. It's kind of interesting but '59 to '61, that's not a long term, but it is the time when Paul was on trial. So we know that when it happened, we know where it happened, and this is a good historical accurate record of what happened. Now, Festus, then after arriving in the province, went up to probably from Rome.
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I mean, he's he is he gets his marching orders from Rome, and he arrives in the province most likely at Caesarea, Maritime Caesarea. That is the Roman stronghold in the area but honestly, Jerusalem was kind of the county seat, okay? It was the place where you had, if you went to do business, that was the most bustling of the towns especially if you had any business with anything related to Judaism and so, after arriving in the province, he went up to Jerusalem up is actually Southeast just a little bit but it's up because it's 3,500 feet of vertical change. He went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later. So, this guy is not deferring.
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He is getting things done. So, Porsius, we can say is a good administrator and he's intent on getting stuff done. Whatever is his responsibility, he wants to make sure it happens and that's actually what Josephus says about him. Now, the chief priest and leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul. Now, we've seen them before.
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We know who these people are and we know that they're kind of following. They had come down to speak in front of Felix and it looks like it's more than just the chief priest, the leading man of the Jews. The crowd is probably growing some in this appellate court. It goes up from there. Now, think about this.
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We have a law against double jeopardy. Right? If you're in jeopardy and you're declared innocent, you're innocent. He's been declared innocent and not let go. And it goes to a higher court.
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Who who appealed that decision? The prosecutors. That's weird. The chief priest and the leading man of the Jews brought charges against Paul and they were pleading with Festus. My professor of Greek says, they persistently implored him.
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It's sort of the same language of the the lady who was trying to get the judge to do what she wanted the judge to do and she just kept on going and tapping her foot in the door, kept on knocking. They persistently implored Festus. He's a new guy in town. He's only been there less than a week and he's with them and they have his ear and so they're persistently going after him. So, that's the the Jews and we're already through a few verses.
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We're not going very far today. Requesting a concession against Paul. So, this is the concession that they kept on imploring that he, Festus, might have Paul brought to Jerusalem. This is what we want. We want a change of venue.
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So, you all know what happens in change of venue cases, don't you? If you're a prosecutor, you want it to be the meanest possible jury that you can possibly get, and if you're a defense lawyer, you want somebody that knows nothing about the case that the change of venue is what they were looking for. Now, it goes on to say why they were looking for a change of venue. It says, at the same time, they were set in an ambush to kill him along the way. There are plenty of places in that 35 miles where they could have ambushed Paul.
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Now, we saw that he was led out of Jerusalem towards Caesarea with 200 soldiers and 70 horses and all of that. So, what they're saying is bring him back. Bring him back to us. This is where he really ought to be tried. Now, Ephesus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody.
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You can read that as protective custody, okay? He understands the case. Maybe in the three days that he was there, he read over the documents and he had people fill him in but he knows that there's danger in Jerusalem for Paul. So, he knows he's being held in Caesarea for cause because his life had been threatened. Perhaps, it even read Claudius Lysias' letter.
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It should have been in the file and that he himself was about to leave shortly. So, he knew that Paul was being kept there for a reason. He knew he was only going to be in Jerusalem a few more days. He needs to get back to Caesarea to do the business that he is there to do because that's where the Roman court is set up. Therefore, he says, have all of the influential men among you go there with me to Caesarea.
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It's not a long way away and y'all know how to get there. It's not a big deal. You can go with me and if there's anything wrong about the man which he's already implying, he doesn't see anything wrong with him. He's already saying Felix has said, I don't see anything deserving death. If there's anything wrong with the man, then have him bring the charges against him there.
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That's where the court is. That's the right place. And Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them and he went down to Caesarea back down the hill, 3,500 elevation feet about thirty, thirty five miles and on the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal. That man likes to get things done. He's not dilly dallying at all.
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A type A, we'll say. I, myself, am a motivated type B. On the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and he ordered that Paul be brought in. So, he's a good administrator, intent on getting stuff done and after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. Doesn't that sound menacing?
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It's a bigger crowd and it doesn't say that they were on, they were at the prosecution table and he's at the defense table. It says, they stood around him. Now, he's been threatened by a mob in Ephesus. He's been threatened by a mob in Corinth. He's been threatened by a mob.
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He's had to been lowered down over a wall before and he's been beaten a bunch of times before. But to have those guys standing all around him, that couldn't have felt comfortable. To me, this has a hint just to shade. It's not exactly the same verbiage but it sounds like Daniel in the lion's den to me. And he's surrounded by them.
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Paul arrives and they they stood around him and it says, bringing many and serious charges against him. Which they could not prove. Thank you, Luke. This is the shortest trial we see in Paul's time. Before Felix, it was much longer and he gave a detailed description of his conversion and he talked about Jesus and he talked about righteousness and self control and about judgement in the process of defending himself but this one, we just get just barely the facts and we're going to get another full description in front of Agrippa in the next two chapters but this just simply put, they brought a lot of charges but they couldn't prove em and while Paul said this in his own defense, I have not done anything wrong.
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Either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. Now, those are the three things, the categories I should say, the many and serious charges that were brought against Paul by just hearing his defense. These are the three categories. Now, there might have been a lot more charges, you know, specifically, he took Trophimus into the temple which he didn't but they thought he did. They couldn't prove it because it didn't happen.
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Hard to prove something that didn't happen. Against the law of the Jews, against the temple, against Caesar. So, if you were to kind of classify those, it'd be this, heresy, that's against the law of the Jews and we we constantly are looking for heretics, aren't we? Yeah. We always have been.
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Against the temple, for them, the temple was the place where heaven met Earth. It was the place where where God meets mankind and so against the temple would be sacrilege. If you were speaking against the temple or if you were plotting against the temple or if you were trying to bring an outsider inside of the temple. So, that'd be sacrilege and then, against Caesar would be treason because this is the Roman Empire and it is the Pax Romana, the Roman peace but it's enforced by the Roman military, right? So, they brought on charges of treason.
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If you were to look back at Jesus's life, what do you think he was charged with? These three. So, if you're following, Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. He's being charged with the same kind of stuff that Jesus was charged with. They couldn't prove any of it because none of it was true.
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But Festus, wanting to do Jews a favor. Dog gone at Festus. I had all these good hopes for you. He's a good administrator but he wanted to do Jews a favor. Why do you think that is?
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I mean, Felix wanted to do him a favor and left him in jail for two years, deferred, abdicated his responsibility. This one, Festus says, wanted to do Jews a favor. So, there's a hint here of people pleasing and if we're honest, most all of us have it. Not all of us. There are a few of y'all that don't care at all.
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But I mean, I'll just say. Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor. All these guys made this trip. Here they are. He replies to Paul and he said, are you willing to grow up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?
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If it's all the same to you, yeah, let them have what they want. So, he he wanted to do Jews a favor but at the same time, he followed the law. Okay. That's good. I I was I'm not going to say anything bad about Festus here.
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He was just trying to make it civil, trying to keep it civil. Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me? It's not them. I'll be the judge there too but are you willing to go up Jerusalem stand trial before me on these charges? Are you?
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So, this is the examining the cast of characters. This is Paul's character here. Paul, when confronted with this question and knowing what his nephew had told him, you know, were preparing an ambush on him and they're plotting his for his life and all that. He knows that he's in danger. So Paul said, I'm standing before Caesar's tribunal in Caesar's court, right here, right now, where I ought to be tried.
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This is the law of the land and this is where I ought to be. I've done nothing wrong to the Jews. This is a great line. Paul says, he's a Roman citizen. He understands his rights.
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He understands God's word better than the people who are accusing him. He's apparently not afraid even though he's surrounded by these other people. He's speaking clearly and he's not a doormat. He doesn't let him just run over him. Well, whatever you say, I guess so.
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I've done nothing wrong to the Jews as you also very well know. You read the case. You know that this is just trumped up charges. This is not real. As you also very well know.
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He trust him. To know. And he doesn't, he's not a believer. So, he but he trusts the system that he's in to work the way it's supposed to and he asserts it, right? That's good.
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That's Paul. If Paul says, if therefore, I am in the wrong, that's a statement of humility. If I'm in the wrong and I have committed something deserving death, I'm not trying to avoid execution. I am willing to stand judgement. I'm willing to stand.
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If I've done anything wrong, I'm willing. I'm not trying to avoid execution. Actions have consequences and he recognizes that but if there's nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. You can't just hand me over for no reason. I appeal to Caesar and that's his right as a Roman citizen.
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Where is Caesar? He's in Rome. Then, when Festus had conferred with his council, he said, you've appealed to Caesar. To Caesar, you shall go. That's the end of verses one through 12, okay?
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So, where is Caesar? Caesar's in Rome. It sounds crazy that the a little guy like Paul that's just in this backwater of the, he has the ability to appeal all the way up to Caesar and yes, that is the law and so, those guys, Lexrex, the law is king. To Caesar, you appeal, to Caesar, you'll go. So, that's the right of the God defending himself.
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The guy prosecuting, I don't understand how prosecuting gets to appeal. I don't get that because double jeopardy is so deeply ingrained in me and my American soul that I I just don't understand how you can keep on being declared innocent like Jesus was declared innocent seven or eight times in the passion and Paul's been declared probably six or seven times now by this point in Acts. So how's that for a change of venue from maritime Caesarea all the way to Rome? And we'll hear all about that in chapter 27, the getting there in 28. But if we're examining the cast of characters, Porcius Festus is, I think, a good administrator who's intent on doing the right thing according to the law, and that's good.
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There are some good things about Festus that we can see. In fact, even the people pleasing part of Festus, even if you're feeling a little people pleasing, then you can still do the right thing. You have to be objective about what's going on. Of course, he's Festus. We get that from him.
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The Jews, I really think that we need to read this as the religious folks. Paul has said a couple of times, he said, I understand in in short, summarizing. I understand where they are because that's where I was. Until I came to a saving and understanding of Messiah Jesus, I would be right where they are but the the facts of the matter are this, Christ is the way. He's the truth.
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He's the life and so, for him, he understands that religious animosity and religiosity has a driving effect on people that Paul gets it even though he's surrounded by him. He he gets that there's a fervor there that creates mobs and creates mob violence and I think that when we read this, we need to say to ourselves, am I guilty of any of this sort of thing? So, when we're examining the cast of characters and we look at the Jews, instead of becoming anti Semitic, all those darn Jews, they continuously or they kill Jesus and now they're trying to kill Paul. No, no, no, no, no, no. These were the religious folks and they thought they had right on their side just as Jesus had forecast ahead of time that there will come a time where the people who kill you think that they are doing God a favor and that time is still now.
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There are people that think when they kill Christians, they are doing God a favor. And Paul, the victor. Well, he still appealed to Caesar. He still gotta have his case heard but the foul will go with him, you know, but he's victorious in this case because he does not go back to Jerusalem where he's going to be killed alongside the road and he is though Festus has not declared it yet, he'll Agrippa and Bernice will come in and they'll hear the case but he is coming out of this victorious and we all know he will make it to Rome. So application.
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I'm gonna share my application first. Okay? And mine was based on two chapters. And particularly, these verses I think show that truth, so you might see the same application slide next week. But I'm also going to share James Montgomery Boyce as a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia for a long or in Pennsylvania for a long time.
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And his three points at the end of application I want to share with y'all too because I think they're really good, really, really good. So, the application, don't be afraid to tell the story of how you met Jesus. There's no theological argument against a changed life. Don't be afraid to tell the story of how you met Jesus and we've seen Paul do that multiple times and we'll see him do it a couple more times before this is over. Now, different audiences may get slightly different versions of that story.
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If you're speaking to the Jews, appeal to the Old Testament as much as you can. If you're speaking to Romans, appeal to law and order as much as you can. You know, but different audiences get slightly different versions of the story. That's okay. None of those, it's it's not a lie.
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Be careful, Jesus said. Go out innocent as doves but also be aware of what's going on around you. There is danger around us. Christianity is innocent before the state. Every time it comes up.
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In Luke, every time it comes up in Acts, Christianity itself is innocent before the state and to say that it's not honestly is blasphemy. It's calling good evil and evil good. Christianity properly practiced is innocent before the state. So I would say the practitioners, true practitioners of Christianity, followers of the way are also innocent before the state. You don't have to fear.
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We have We don't need to put our thumb on the scales. We don't need to put on thumb on the scales and say, because I am Christian. No. No. No.
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No. If you're truly a practitioner of Christianity, you are innocent before the state. Now, I'll I'll put with that. First Peter four says, hey, don't let it be because you're a murderer, a thief, or a meddler, you know, a busy body. Don't don't let them, they're going to say evil about you but don't let it be true basically.
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Like Paul says, if I've done anything wrong, I'll I'll be glad to pay the consequence for that but they're going to speak evil of you anyway. Let it be for your righteousness and not because you're a law breaker. People pleasing is not an inherently good quality. It's just not. But integrity is.
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Paul has integrity in this story. Festus seems to the religious folks don't. That's landing heavy in a room on a Sunday morning. I know y'all came here to hear God's word but the religious folks are the ones who don't have integrity in the story. The people who know the decalogue, the 10 commandments, thou shalt not murder our planning and assassination.
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That's awful. So, I'd say integrity really really matters and then Imma get to James Montgomery boys. He's a he's a he's a heck of a preacher. No god is sovereign Actually, let me put my glasses on so I can see what he says. Brad complained about being 40.
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Most of us don't live in circumstances where the world's accusations against us are as fierce as these were against Paul. Though there are places in the world where they're harsh and Christians do suffer physically. Nevertheless, you and I face a world whose value system is hostile to the standards of the Lord Jesus Christ, righteousness, in which we are constantly pressured to compromise or to deny our faith. How are you and I? We can sinful human beings as we are to stand against such pressure.
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How are we going to stand when the world says you have to go along to get along? Nobody who's rigid ever gets ahead. If you tell the truth, your competitor's going to get the edge. And pretty soon you'll be broke. Well, let me suggest three things and these are his three application points.
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Know that God is sovereign. He's sovereign over your circumstances. Yes, he's given you responsibility and yes, your responsibility but God's sovereignty matters. It makes a difference. He can use what is meant for evil for good.
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He can and I pray that we see him do that in our everyday life and in our times and in our nation. Knowing God is sovereign over your circumstances gives you great power because it means that even if things don't go right for you from a human point of view, it will still be right because God understands and does ordain. He he is not surprised. Let's think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they stood against the powerful monarch of their day, Nebuchadnezzar. Decreed that everyone had to worship a golden statue.
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It's set up on the plane and it represented the whole Babylonian empire, the whole system to refuse to bow to it was treason which is one of the things he was on trial for. So, these young men would not bow to it because that was idolatry and they knew better. So, he had him hauled in. He was outraged and he was ready to execute him by throwing him into a burning furnace but they were utterly unafraid just like Paul. How could that be?
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He was threatening with death. Where did their strength come from? And it came from their knowledge of God's sovereignty and they said, this is Daniel three seventeen and eighteen. If we're thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, oh king, but even if he does not. We want you to know, oh king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you have set up.
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The but if not, there is so great but if not, he can save us but if not, we're going to live as he has directed us, righteousness, self control, right? Judgment to come. I'd rather face God having done what I know he wants me to do than face man and get whatever they think I need. Know the Bible. No no god is sovereign as first.
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Know the Bible. You have to know the Bible because the situations we face are generally not black and white. If the situation is black and white, we know what to do but the problems that we face are usually gray. It seems that we ought to do one thing but then again, there's another side to it and if the situation does not seem gray immediately, if you talk to your friends, it'll be come gray soon enough. Since everyone will see it from a different point of view, there's only one way to find your way through the gray areas.
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Be studying the Bible. Be meditating on the Bible and be seeking to apply the Bible. There are some things that are very clear to understand but they are very hard to do and we fight over the things that are very hard to understand and have nothing really to do. There are things in it that we may not fully understand but when we do understand them, they're clear. The path is dark because the world is dark.
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But the Bible illuminates the path and shows us where to go. Amen. Amen. No god is sovereign, know the Bible, and pay any price necessary. You have to be willing to pay any price necessary to stay true to Jesus Christ.
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Any price? Yes, Any. There are times in history when Christians are told bow down or die just like those three guys and they refused to bow down. Many have died. The history of the church is filled with the stories of the martyrs.
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At other times, it's not death that's required but but such things as loss of reputation, success, advancement, or the good opinion of our friends. Well, we say if if I acted as a Christian in that situation, my boss would never understand. My wife, my parents, my friends would never understand. We fail to do what is right because we're not willing to pay that high price. That's people pleasing by the way.
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We're not ready to surrender everything to follow Jesus. You can know that God is sovereign and you can know that and know what is right because you study the Bible yet you can still fail to do what is right because you value something else more than obedience to Christ. So, we'll mention something from the Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solja Needson. He says that it had to do with weather when in the Russian prison. Let me just read this again.
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There was a notorious prison system of Russia where some prisoners seemed to survive the interrogations and maintain their integrity while others collapsed under it and lost their identity entirely. He says it had to do more with whether or not one was willing to pay the price for one's integrity. So, here's what Sultan Nathan says. At the very threshold, you must say to yourself in this prison, my life is over. A little early to be sure but there's nothing to be done about it.
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I shall never return to freedom. I am condemned to die now or a little later than now. But later on, in truth, it will be even harder and so the sooner the better. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me, those I love have died and for them I have died.
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From today, on my body, from today on, my body is useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious to me. Confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogation itself will tremble. Only the man who's renounced everything can gain victory. Now, you and I are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ in the middle of a hostile world and the only way we're going be able to stand against the world when it pressures us is if we're willing to give up everything to follow him.
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Everything you say? Yes, everything. But why should we be surprised? He gave up everything for us. It is he who said, if anyone would come after me, he must what?
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Deny himself. Take up his cross daily and follow me. A cross is a symbol of death. He was teaching that we must be willing to die to be his followers. That's the victory of faith that overcomes the world.
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Ask the band to come back up. Lord God almighty, I pray that you would impress upon us exactly what it is that you would have us do in our daily lives that is a denial of self and it is a following after Jesus. Would you show us that by your spirit? Would you empower us by your spirit to walk out the steps that you've planned in advance for us to responsibly carry out. In Jesus name, amen.
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Would you stand with us? I'll say the altar is always open for prayer and I'm up here but I'll turn the microphone off if you want to talk right now and I'm around if you want to talk during the week, okay? God is moving among us and I pray that be sensitive to hear his spirit and go as he directs. Amen.
