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Guest (Male): Tested and passing the test. That's next right here on Study the Word.

It's been said that each of God's ministers will be either approved or ashamed at His coming. And of course, you can't be approved unless you're tested. Thanks for joining us for today's Study the Word with Thom Keller. Thom pastors at Calvary Chapel Lebanon and is about to continue his look at the book of Acts.

We come to chapter 24. It's there we find Paul being tested. He's on trial, literally, and how he handles this testing may surprise you. So how does he fare? Well, let's find out, beginning with some background to bring us up to speed. Here's Thom.

Pastor Thom Keller: Acts 24. Now, to give a little background as you're turning to that, this takes place in about 58 AD. Jesus was crucified, they think, in about 29 AD. So, this is 29 years after the crucifixion. That's about where we are in the timeline in the book of Acts, 29 years later.

Chapter 24, verse 1: "Five days later, Ananias the high priest arrived with some of the Jewish leaders and the lawyer Tertullus to press charges against Paul." Paul is now on trial in Caesarea. Paul's third missionary journey has ended, and he is now in Caesarea. He's finished his third missionary journey, which we said before was 2,300 miles. Dangerous miles, really, over the very southernmost part of the Alps is, in essence, where he traveled.

And at the end of chapter 21, Paul appears in Jerusalem to keep his vow. Remember, he made a vow that he was going to go to Jerusalem, probably the vow of a Nazirite, which was where he cut his hair and burned it on an altar there in Jerusalem. When he's there, he's in the temple. While he's in the temple court, some Jews from Asia, which is again the area that he had established the churches to the Gentiles, some Jews from Asia see him there. They recognize him and they know that this guy is the one that's teaching the Gentiles that they can come to faith in Christ without adhering to the Jewish law. And they go ballistic.

Remember, the Gentile church was centered in Antioch, and the Christian church that really came out of the Jewish movement was still in Jerusalem. They were really still holding to adhering to the law. So, when Paul comes back to Jerusalem, it's bound to ignite fire. They see him there, they accuse him of bringing a Gentile into the temple, they drag Paul out of the temple, and they shut the doors. They close the doors and they begin killing him.

This is all taking place in the Hebrew language, of course. These Jews are yelling, they haul him outside. Where they would have taken him would have been through this gate. There's a gate here. This is Antonio Fortress. This was really where the soldiers - Herod built this to house the soldiers, and he built it right next to the temple. This was known as Herod's Temple. Herod built the temple and he built this fortress right next to it because the Jews were known as a rebellious group of people, always fighting anybody that tried to exercise power over them. So, he built this fortress right next to the temple.

The Jews are trying to kill him. The commander inside hears about it. The commander sends centurions and soldiers. The Bible says that they ran down the steps. They bind Paul with two chains or leather straps and they start taking him up these steps to the praetorium. They start taking him inside to try to figure out what went wrong because, again, it was all in Hebrew. The Romans didn't understand Hebrew. It was just a lot of gibberish to them and they know that this group is trying to kill this man.

They start taking him up the steps to interrogate him. Paul, on the way up, says, "Would you please let me address the crowd? I'd like to speak to them. I'd like to talk to them." So, as they're climbing these steps in, just picture the commander. He speaks in Greek now. He says to the commander, "Would you let me address the crowd?" So Paul begins addressing the crowd again in Hebrew. Picture these centurions with him. Paul's now speaking in Hebrew. The centurions know nothing of what he's saying, but the crowd is quiet.

And I read the message that Paul gave to the people. It takes about three minutes to say it. So for three minutes, Paul's on those steps with the centurion speaking to the crowd in Hebrew. The guards know nothing of what he's saying. They're quiet. The crowd is quiet until he gets to one word. He said, when God said, he said, "And God sent me to the Gentiles." When he said the word "Gentiles," the crowd went wild. They lost it. Chapter 22, verse 23 says they cried out, tore off their clothes, threw dust in the air. What a scene.

And again, these centurions had no idea what he said. For three minutes the crowd's completely quiet. He says one word, they go nuts. They go ballistic. They tear their clothes off, they're throwing dust in the air. And so again, they now haul him into the praetorium to try to find out what's happened.

In chapter 23, he's brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, 71 men, of which Paul had at one time been a member. And Paul gets in the flesh very quickly. He says to the high priest - the high priest orders him struck, and Paul says, "May God strike you, you whitewashed wall!" And someone leans over and says, "Paul, do you know what you just said? You just cursed the high priest." He said, "Oh, I didn't know it was the high priest. If I would have known that, I wouldn't have said it because the Bible says we should never say anything or show disrespect to anyone in authority." He said, "Oh, I didn't know."

And then, this is the point I want us to really focus on. Then it says, then Paul thought of something. He thinks up a plan. And he says, he's in front of the Jews now, the Jewish Sanhedrin, and he says, "I'm on trial because I believe in the resurrection of the dead." And it splits the Sanhedrin right down the middle because, again, the Sanhedrin splits the Supreme Court right down the middle because some of them are Pharisees and some of them are Sadducees. And the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection, and the Pharisees did.

And so this was a point of contention between them. This was the hot point. I mean, if you wanted to see these guys get riled up, just bring up the resurrection because they'd go toe-to-toe with this thing. Because they were so much in disagreement and it was such a huge issue. Along with it, the Sanhedrin did not believe in angels, did not believe in the Holy Spirit, did not believe in life after death. The Pharisees believed in all of these things. It's a huge division, huge difference for a group of men that really saw each other as peers in almost every other way.

So Paul has this idea. "I know how to get out of this. I'm on trial because I believe in the resurrection of the dead." Well, all of a sudden, the Sadducees say, "Well, this man deserves to die." And the Pharisees say, "No, wait, maybe he's right. Maybe he saw an angel on the road or something," because the others didn't even believe in angels. So Paul's plan to get out of his predicament is by saying, "I believe in the resurrection of the dead." It's his plan that's very important as we go into today's chapter.

They then haul him off and now he's up in Caesarea. And that's where this scene takes place today. He's in Caesarea before Felix. Ananias is the high priest. Tertullus is a top-gun lawyer. We know nothing more about him. There's no other history that's any account of Tertullus after this. Maybe he was disbarred after this, who knows?

And Tertullus begins his case. When Paul was called in, verse 2, Tertullus laid charges against Paul in the following address to the governor. So it's the Jews, Paul, Tertullus, and Felix, the governor of Caesarea. The lawyer says to Felix, "Your excellency, you have given peace to us Jews and have enacted reforms for us. And for all of this we are very grateful to you. But lest I bore you, kindly give me your attention for only a moment as I briefly outline our case against this man."

Now, this translation cuts this a little bit short of what really was said. What Tertullus says to Felix is so flattering that it's almost nauseous. Let me read this out of the Amplified Bible. This lawyer is before this Felix. We'll talk about who Felix was, but listen to what he says: "And when he was called, Tertullus began the complaint against Paul by saying, 'Since through you,' he's talking about Felix, 'since through you we obtain and enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight and provision, wonderful reforms, amendments and improvements are introduced and effected on behalf of this nation, in every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we accept and acknowledge this with great deep appreciation and with all gratitude.'"

A little thick, huh? I mean, he's really trying to curry his favor. And it's interesting, it reads like even Tertullus got sick of it because he said, lest I bore you, kindly give me your attention. It's almost like you can see Felix there rolling his eyes. "Oh, come on. Cut it. You Jews hate the Romans, we know that. Don't give me this line about how much you love me." You can almost see him rolling his eyes and in response he says, "But lest I bore you, kindly give me your attention for only a moment as I briefly outline our case against this man."

So the lawyer goes on, verse 5: "For we have found him to be a troublemaker, a man who is constantly inciting the Jews throughout the world to riots and rebellions against the Roman government. He is a ringleader of the sect known as the Nazarenes. Moreover, he was trying to defile the temple when we arrested him." And the footnote there says some manuscripts add: "We would have judged him by our law, but Lysias, the commander of the garrison, came and took him away violently, commanding his accusers to come before you. You can find out the truth of our accusation by examining him yourself." Then the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true.

Well, he says that he's a Nazarene. Why did he bring that up? You'd think he would have said he was a member of the Way, which is what Christians called their movement. Or he would have said he's a Christian. Why did he say he's a Nazarene? It's because Nazarene was a slur. Do you remember when Peter went to get Nathanael? He said, "Come, we have found the Messiah. He's from Nazareth." Do you remember what Nathanael said? "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" It was known as the Newark of the world. Anybody here from Newark? Okay, we can pick on the city if no one's from there. But it was just kind of a place that they said nothing good came out of Nazareth. So again, it's a slur.

And they say that we would have judged him by ourselves, but the commander of the garrison came and took him away violently from us. Well, was that what happened? No. In Acts 23, the chapter before this, when Lysias sends his letter to Felix, he sends a letter to Felix to explain why Paul is being sent there. So Felix had this letter in hand and the letter said this: "This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with troops, I rescued him."

So Felix knows the truth. He knows that Lysias said that the Jews were trying to kill him and he rescued him from the Jews. Here the Jews are saying that we were trying to take him to a fair trial, but Lysias came and violently took him away from us. So Felix knows this isn't true. But as you're going to hear about Felix, Felix really didn't care too much about the truth.

Verse 10, now it was Paul's turn. The governor motioned for him to speak and Paul said, "I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, and this gives me confidence as I make my defense. You can quickly discover that it was no more than twelve days ago that I arrived in Jerusalem to worship at the temple." Again, keep that in mind. This is a very narrow frame of time that we're talking about from where he was first taken in the temple to where he's now appearing before Felix, only twelve days. "I didn't argue with anyone in the temple, nor did I incite a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city. These men certainly cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing."

"But I admit that I follow the Way," again, which is what Christians called their movement. They didn't call themselves Christians. They didn't call what they followed Christianity. They called it the Way in the first church. "But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a sect. I worship the God of our ancestors and firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the books of prophets. I have hope in God, just as these men do, that He will raise both the righteous and the ungodly. Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and everyone else."

"After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people and to offer sacrifices to God." Remember they took up a collection because there was a famine and Paul was bringing the money. "My accusers saw me in the temple as I was completing a purification ritual. There was no crowd around me and no rioting. But some Jews from the province of Asia were there, and they ought to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me. Ask these men," you can picture him pointing to the Jews, "ask these men here what wrongdoing the Jewish High Council found in me except for one thing. I said when I shouted out, 'I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead.'"

Paul turns to the Jews, the Sanhedrin there, and he says, "Look, tell me what I did wrong. Tell me what I did wrong except one thing, that I said I'm on trial because I believe in the resurrection of the dead." Well, let's do a little bit of history on what's taking place here on this governor, Felix. Felix began his life as a slave. He was a member of a no-name family. He had no connections except Felix's brother, Pallas, was good friends with the Emperor Nero. We don't know how that friendship took place, but they were friends. As a result of that friendship, Pallas obtained his freedom and from freedom he later was appointed by Nero as a governor. He was the first slave in the history of the Roman Empire to go from slave to governor.

He was cruel, barbarous, vengeful, self-seeking. He would hire hitmen to kill off any of his rivals or anyone that he feared. He had been married three times and this plays into the end of this story, Drusilla. He had been married three times, wife number one we know nothing about. The second wife was the granddaughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. That was his second wife, their granddaughter. His third wife was Drusilla, who was known for her beauty. She was a beautiful daughter of King Agrippa.

Her father was the Herod who was eaten by worms. Remember, he received the praise of man instead of giving it to God, and it said he was struck by worms? That was her father. Her grandfather was Herod the Great, who was the Herod that was in power when Jesus was born and then he went to the districts of Jerusalem, of Bethlehem, to kill all the babies two years old and younger. That was her grandfather. Her father was the Herod who died of worms. They must not have had flea collars back then, I guess.

Drusilla had been the wife of King Azizus, but Felix hired a magician, a man by the name of Simon, who was a Jew, and through his magic, he seduced her and convinced her, Drusilla, to leave her husband and marry Felix. Now, some surmise that this is the same Simon that was the sorcerer that was converted, but it probably is not the same, although it could be.

The Roman historian Tacitus said of Felix, quote, "He indulged in every license and excess, thinking that he could do any evil with impunity," meaning that he couldn't be prosecuted because of his position. He was a master of cruelty and lust, who exercised the powers of a king with the spirit of a slave. So Paul is giving his defense before this man.

And again, as Paul gives in verse 14, he says, "I'm a member of the Way." Something to keep in mind is that the word "Christian" really wasn't used by Christians in the book of Acts. The word "Christian" is only found three times in the book of Acts. In chapter 11, it says that in Antioch is where they were first called Christians. In chapter 26, where Agrippa says, "Thou almost persuadeth me to become a Christian," he says to Paul. And the last one in the whole New Testament is 1 Peter 4 where Peter says, if anyone suffers as a Christian.

The idea is that the word "Christian" was really used by non-Christians to describe Christians, that Christians themselves probably did not use the word "Christian." They used "members of the Way." And probably the reason is that they held the name Christ so holy, so in high reverence, that to be thought to be on par to be used that closely identified with Him was almost sacrilege. They called it the Way. And the three times that it is used, it's really used in a way that would be non-Christians referring to the members of the Way.

Now, note in verse 17, Paul tells Felix, "I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people." Hang onto that. Do you think Felix dropped that? Do you think Felix forgot that? Paul said, "I returned to Jerusalem," this was only twelve days ago, "I returned to Jerusalem with money to help my people." Would that be five dollars, six dollars, ten? I mean, that would be a lot of money if he's coming back to help his people. Felix tucked that one away, and it shows up in the end of this chapter.

Also note in verse 15, Paul says, "I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both the just and the unjust." And we don't have the time to go into this, but there's going to be a resurrection of the just and there's going to be a resurrection of the unjust. The resurrection of the just will take place for the most part, except for what happens during the tribulation. It's going to happen right at the point of the rapture, right before the seven years tribulation begins. That will be the resurrection of the just. The resurrection of the unjust takes place at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, where those who are unsaved, who never knew Christ, will be brought back and judged. It's in Revelation 20, the Great White Throne Judgment.

But in verse 20 and 21, and we want to park here for a little bit because this is very, very significant. Paul says, "Ask," he says, "ask these Jews if they found any wrongdoing in me except for this one statement that I cried out concerning the resurrection of the dead. For that reason, I am being judged by you this day." Now we want to park here and stress a major turning point that takes place in Paul's ministry right here.

What is Paul really telling us in 20 and 21? What's he really telling us? He's acknowledging that he knew he was in the flesh when he said that. Is that the reason that Paul was in trial? No. He was in trial because he did not teach his Gentile converts to keep the Jewish law. That's why he was in trial. That's why they hated him. Paul said, "If I didn't preach Christ, salvation through Christ alone, I wouldn't be persecuted anymore."

See, if you preach legalism, especially in this era, Paul wouldn't have been persecuted. He was persecuted because he taught salvation by grace alone. The same reason Luther was persecuted, the same reason most of us be persecuted in a church setting. Salvation by grace alone is not really well-accepted by people who believe you have to keep the law in order to be right with God. So he knew he was in the flesh when he said it. It was his strategy to break that Sanhedrin right in half, the Sadducees and the Pharisees right down the middle.

It was a good plan. It was a great plan. It was masterful. It was genius, really. He knew the Sanhedrin. He'd been a member of it. He knew right where to go. And it got him what he wanted. It got him out of his trial in Jerusalem and it got him to Caesarea under the auspices of a Roman governor who is now going to hear his case instead of the Jews. That's what he wanted because he was afraid the Jews were going to kill him. But it started Paul on his road toward Rome and a hearing before Nero that eventually led to his death by Nero. It was a great plan. It got him what he wanted; it did not take him where he wanted to be.

And what made Paul do this? Well, we have to remember is that Paul was a human just like us. He had flesh. In Romans, he said, "The thing I don't want I do, the things I should do I don't do. What a wretched man I am! Who can deliver me from this life of sin?" Paul continued to live struggling with sin, as you and I do.

Guest (Male): We're not alone in our struggle against the human condition, but God is able to work all things together for good, as we'll see next time. We're going through Acts right now on Study the Word with our pastor and teacher, Thom Keller.

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You're invited to worship with us here at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, where Thom serves as pastor. Visit ccleb.com for our service times and see what's coming up at the church there too. When you get a chance, download our free Android app. Search Calvary Chapel Lebanon in the Google Play Store. Thanks for studying the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. We'll dig deeper into the book of Acts with Thom next time. We hope you can join us.