Just a brief recap: through Tertullus, the auditor, the Jewish leaders had brought three charges before the Roman Governor Felix against Paul. The first charge would be of greatest concern to the Roman Governor because it concerned Rome—that Paul had violated the Romans' law in that he had caused sedition amongst the Jewish people living throughout the Roman Empire. You see, the Jews were living under the Romans at that time; therefore, anyone who caused sedition amongst the Jews—that person had violated the Romans' law.
The second charge was that Paul had violated the Jewish law in that he was a ringleader of the heretical group known as the Nazarenes. The third charge was that Paul had blasphemed the Jewish temple. In this passage, we are going to learn how the Apostle Paul very calmly and systematically refuted those charges one by one, and we will build our points based on the way Paul defended those charges. The title of our message is "Paul's Defense before Felix."
Our first point is "The Time in Jerusalem." Let us begin with verse 10: "Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, 'For as much as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself.'" Paul represented himself without a lawyer, and when he was given the opportunity to speak, he spoke. Notice, unlike Tertullus, who tried to flatter and compliment the Roman Governor, Paul did not do that. His words were very measured; they were not meant to flatter Felix, but rather to remind him that he had served long enough as the judge of this great nation.
At this point in time, Felix had served about five years, so he knew the Jewish beliefs and customs, and because of his knowledge and experience, he was expected to give a fair decision. So Paul's purpose was not to flatter him, but to remind him of his responsibility as a judge. Paul's defense against the charge of sedition—that he had violated the Romans' law by creating a riot amongst the Jewish people—was based on his time in Jerusalem.
Verse 11: "Because that thou mayest understand that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship." In other words, only twelve days ago, I was in Jerusalem, and I went up to Jerusalem for the purpose of worshiping God. Now, take a moment and consider this: twelve days. He had already spent five days in Caesarea waiting for the accusers, the Jewish leaders, to arrive, so he had only about seven days in Jerusalem, right? Remember, much of those seven days was spent in the purification rites—you can read about that in Acts 21, which we have considered several weeks ago.
So even if Paul wanted to stir up a rebellion, he did not have sufficient time to do that. His purpose in coming to Jerusalem was not to create a riot; it was to worship God. Was Paul truthful in saying that his purpose was to worship God? Most certainly. If you remember, he had wanted to arrive in Jerusalem in time for the Passover, but when he could not make it, he tried very hard to arrive in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. So he very clearly presented his first defense based on his time in Jerusalem.
Our second point is "His Mission in Jerusalem." Verse 12: "And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city." Raising up means stirring up the people by way of debating or arguing with them. You see, during his missionary journeys, he visited those churches, those cities, for one purpose and one purpose only: to evangelize. He went there for the sole purpose of preaching the gospel, and oftentimes, when you preach the gospel, it is inevitable that you will be engaged in debates, sometimes even public debates. Hearts will be stirred up.
But for this trip to Jerusalem, his purpose was not evangelistic; it was for the purpose of bringing an offering for the poor brethren. If you look down to verse 17, Paul says, "Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings." He had collected the love gift offerings from the Gentile churches throughout his missionary journeys. He was very eager to bring the money to help support the poor brethren in the Jerusalem church—that was his mission in coming to Jerusalem. So again, Paul very calmly presented his second defense based on his mission in Jerusalem: it was for the purpose of bringing the love gift offerings for the poor brethren.
Our third point is "The Nature of the Charges." Verse 13: "Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me." Do you know the reason why the Jewish leaders could not prove that Paul was guilty? It was because those charges, firstly, primarily, were religious in nature, and since they were religious in nature, it should not be brought up in a secular court. In fact, Felix should have dismissed the case immediately. For example, today, if there is an issue in our church regarding the divine nature of Christ—whether Christ is 100% God or 50% God or just 100% man—do we bring this issue to the secular court in Melbourne City and let the judge decide on such spiritual matters? Most certainly not.
But even if Paul were to be charged by the religious leaders, they still could not prove that he was guilty. So he went on to say in verse 14: "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets." The Jewish leaders had accused him of being a ringleader of this heretical group known as the Nazarenes, but instead, Paul said it is not heresy; in fact, it is the way. In other words, Paul introduced Christianity as "the way." This was in line with what our Lord Jesus has said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me." (John 14:6)
So rather than being a heretic, he said, this is the way that I preach, and it was in accordance with this true way that Paul worshiped the God of his forefathers, believing in all the things that were written and prophesied in the law and the prophets about the Messiah. So in a sense, he turned the tables around on his adversaries: they were the real heretics. They did not worship God because they had rejected the Old Testament; they had denied the Old Testament that had written about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. So rather than being a heretic, in fact, Paul was more orthodox than his accusers.
Look at verse 15: "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." In other words, Paul's belief in the Old Testament had led him to have this hope in God regarding the resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and unrighteous. This was a hope that the Jews themselves had also allowed, which means they had also accepted. Was the resurrection of the dead something taught in the Old Testament? Most certainly. Let me give you an example. Daniel 12:2 says: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life"—who are these people? The righteous, the just—"and some to shame and everlasting contempt"—who are these people? The unrighteous, the unjust.
Obviously, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, so most likely here Paul was referring to the Pharisees amongst the Jewish leaders because the Pharisees strongly believed in the resurrection of the dead. However, believing in the Old Testament, believing in the resurrection and the coming judgment must not only be something that will affect the minds only; it must also affect the heart and the life. That was why Paul said, I believe it, and it has impacted my life. Look at verse 16: "And herein do I"—which means because of this—"I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men."
My friends, do you really believe in the resurrection of the dead? If we truly believe in the resurrection of the dead, that there will be a time whereby the unbelievers will be raised to stand before the Great White Throne judgment, and the believers will have to stand before the Bema Seat of Christ to be judged for their works, then it must affect the way we live our lives, right? It must affect us so much so that we exercise ourselves, we train ourselves, we discipline ourselves to always have a pure conscience blameless before God and before men.
The reason why we persevere in our worship—even though we are tired, we still wake up and worship; the reason why we serve God—others may give up, but we press on. We do not just sing about the resurrection or remember the resurrection only during Easter. We believe it with all our hearts, and all of us as believers, we live in the hope of the resurrection. This truth was also taught by the Apostle John in 1 John 3:2–3. Let me read for you: "1 John 3:2–3: 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be,'" which means what we will be like in the future has not yet been revealed. "But we know that, when he shall appear, when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
So if you and I believe in the hope of the resurrection, then it must affect our lives in such a way that we would all desire to be pure, to be sanctified, just as Christ was pure and sanctified. Of course, we can never be like Christ—that kind of perfection—but there would always be this desire to be one who is patterned after our Lord, to be just like Him, to be sanctified, to be pure like Jesus was pure.
Our fourth point is "The Sequence of Events." Paul recounted the actual sequence of events that led to the riot. Verse 17: "Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings." A moment ago, we have already briefly touched on Paul's mission to come to Jerusalem. It was to bring the love gift offerings from the Gentile churches to support the poor brethren in the Jerusalem church.
Just to recap what we have learned in Acts chapter 21: When Paul arrived in Jerusalem with the offerings, he was very happy, very eager to present it to the Jerusalem church. But there were some Jews who had spread rumors about Paul that he had taught the Jewish people to forsake the law of Moses and disregard the Jewish traditions. Paul had never done that. So the suggestion was that Paul should join the four men who had taken the Nazarite vows in the purification rites.
Since Paul had just returned from his missionary journeys, he had traveled to many Gentile nations, so in a ceremonial sense, he was considered unclean. It would be good for him to join these four men in the purification rites or even pay for their expenses. The purpose was that the Jews would know that he was never against their Jewish tradition; he even participated in the purification rites.
Verse 18: Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with tumult. Which means, when these certain Asian men, or Jewish men from Asia, came to Jerusalem (now these were the enemies of Paul during his missionary journeys), they did not find him debating with the crowd; they did not find him creating trouble in the city. In fact, they found him participating in the purification rites in the temple. Yet, they still falsely charged that Paul had violated the Jewish law and that Paul had blasphemed against the temple. That was how the multitude was provoked to start the riot. So Paul again calmly presented the sequence of events.
Our last and final point is the absence of eyewitnesses. Paul reminded the Roman governor Felix that those Jewish men from Asia—they were the actual accusers, not these Jewish leaders standing before him. Therefore, the actual accusers were not present. That is what verse 19 means: "Those men from Asia, they ought to have been here before thee and object if they had ought against me." They should be here to accuse me if they have anything against me. Why? Because they were the eyewitnesses, not these Jewish leaders, not the Sanhedrin Council. The Jewish men from Asia, they were the accusers. So even the eyewitnesses had failed to show up. Do you know that even in our modern-day court trials, if the actual accusers, the eyewitnesses, or even the physical evidences are not present in court, the case will be thrown out of court?
Verse 20: "Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council." If you remember, Paul was called to stand before the Sanhedrin Council, the Jewish leaders, but it was after the fact, it was after the riot. They were not the eyewitnesses of what had happened, therefore, they had absolutely no case against Paul. So Paul was saying to them, "Since your eyewitnesses have failed to show up, you who are present here, you tell me what evil have I done before you, after the riot, after the fact." The only thing you can accuse me of is this.
Verse 21, our last verse: "Except it be for this one voice," which means, "except it be for this one statement that I've made, that I cried standing before them, touching or concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question by you this day." This is exactly what he said in Acts 23:6. This is the only thing he cried out before the Sanhedrin Council. Was it a crime to believe in the resurrection? No! Even under the Jewish law, it was not a crime; the Pharisees themselves believe in the resurrection. How much less the Romans' law! The Romans couldn't care less whether anyone would believe in the resurrection or not. So essentially, Paul was saying, this issue was not criminal; it was not civil; it was theological. And even on the basis of theology, he was not wrong to believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Can you see how Paul very calmly, systematically presented his defense before Felix? He did all this based on one thing: he spoke the truth. My friends, if there's one thing we can take home from this passage, always speak the truth. Then you do not need to turn to flattery; you do not need to turn to falsehood and dishonesty to cover up your lies. This week has been a most challenging one for me, and as I was studying this passage, it means so much to me because this passage can be applied to the circumstances that I was facing this week. Let me explain to you what has happened. As a church, I think you need to know what the pastor is going through.
There's a minister in Singapore whom I greatly respect. Recently, a lot of untrue negative things were said about him, and he was greatly affected—his church, his ministry, his family, his life were all affected. Those negative things were said by some people, especially one particular minister. Whether he said those things on purpose or not, I do not know; only God knows. I felt bad for this minister whom I respect greatly, and all I did was I said, "Yes, I also heard about all these negative things, and people were saying that this particular person said it." I was just speaking the truth. So, a few days ago, we had a chat via email—five ministers and one full-time staff. That minister whom I said supposedly said those negative things, he refused to admit he said those things, repeatedly questioned, "Who told you I said those things? Bring them in, name those people who told you I said this or who told you I said that."
I responded, "Well, you must always speak the truth. Do not try to shift the blame on somewhere else. You must take responsibility for the things you said. If you did not say anything about anyone, just do one thing: go to your pulpit, openly declare to your congregation, your board of elders, your session, your full-time workers, that you have not said anything." You know, I know in my heart, and I know for a fact that this minister has said it to many people. He was infuriated. He was so angry, he went on and on questioning. It was always the same thing: "Who said what I said? Bring them in, name those people who said I said this, who said I said that." I let him go on and on and on. Finally, I said to all the ministers, "You want to know the facts? You want to know the truth? Then let me show you the facts and record of who said what, not the exact words I said, but the point was there." All of a sudden, there was silence.
You know, when you speak the truth, the truth puts lies to silence. It is sad for me to discuss this in such a public fashion, but I think it is necessary. Even ministers behave like that, and it is so difficult to confront ministers, especially people whom we respect greatly. My purpose was not to shame anyone. Remember, I just want to speak up for this poor minister who had been attacked, and he was suffering quietly. If you remember, recently I visited Singapore, I was listening to this minister preach, and he said this on the pulpit. He said, "I was targeted, I was so troubled that I almost gave up my ministry." My heart broke, so I said what I said. Please do not do this to a faithful servant of God. But I was always very careful about the things I said; it must be based on the truth. It is a good thing to defend a brother in Christ, but even then, it must be based on the truth, right? We must always back what we say on facts and records, based on the truth.
You want to know the truth? You want to know the facts and records? Then let me show you the facts and records. Speak the truth always, and the truth will expose the sins of men. Do you believe it? Speak the truth always, and the truth will put lies to silence. Do you believe it? My friends, we must be like the Apostle Paul—always speak the truth, do not be afraid. We may face serious consequences, we may lose our friends, people may not like us because we confront them with the truth, but we cannot do anything against the truth but for the truth. Do you think God does not know? God knows. He wants his children to stand on the side of truth, not on the other side of the fence, where you have to tell a lie, and then you have to cover up that lie with another lie. Sooner or later, your sins will find you out.
Our Lord Jesus himself said this: "Let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Matthew 12:36). By the way, please do not think that I'm just making up this story or sort of an exaggeration. It is truly something that I've just encountered a couple of days ago. Pastor Koo himself was also one of the ministers present. Am I afraid? No. Will I continue to speak the truth? Yes. When you speak the truth, do not be afraid. You do not need to plan the strategy; you do not have to even prepare. In a sense, you do not even need to think. All you need to do is just speak from your heart what has truly occurred, and the Lord will use your truth to expose the sins of men.
Let us be like the Apostle Paul, not like the toist who tries to cover up and then flatter, compliment, speaking lies in the midst of truth, confusing the people. Be like Paul—he just narrates what is in his heart, what has occurred, the sequence of events, the nature of the charges, his time in Jerusalem, his mission in coming to Jerusalem. Everything was based on nothing but the truth. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, Thou who art all-knowing, hast led us to this passage and has taught us through Thy infallible and inerrant word that we ought to always speak the truth, and the truth will vindicate us, the truth will expose the sins of men. When we speak the truth, we are not afraid because we are on the side of the Lord. When we speak lies, then we ought to be afraid. When we speak the truth, we do not need to plan, nor prepare, in a sense, even to think, for we just speak from our hearts what actually has happened. So teach us, oh Lord, help us to draw spiritual lessons from this passage, apply it into our lives. This is the purpose that Thou hast given to us, to consider Thy Word. Thy Word is alive, and it can be applied to the circumstances we are facing at every moment. So teach us this, we ask of Thee, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.