The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 24, verses 10 through 21.

Tony Clark: God bless you and welcome to Calvary Chapel. We’re thrilled to have you here to worship with us and to study the Word of God with us. We're trying to make our way through everything in life, and we have to stay in prayer as a church and as a nation. We must make sure that we vote biblically and think biblically. We shouldn't think or vote with our emotions, but according to the Word of God. That’s what we have to make sure we’re mindful of. I'm going to talk a little bit about those things being mixed into today's message.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 24. We're going to be looking at verses 10 through 21. The title of this message is "The Hope of The Resurrection." This is such a great subject to study because surely there has to be more than just this life. There has to be something more, something better than what was the common saying of the Greeks.

In 1 Corinthians 15:32, Paul quotes a Greek philosopher named Epimenides when he says, "Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die." That was the philosophy of the Greeks, and it was a phrase that was also known throughout Israel because Isaiah quoted it to the unbelieving Israelites of his day in Isaiah 22:13.

The thing is that the resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Paul would later say, also in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 17, that without the resurrection, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. So, the resurrection is the cornerstone of our Christian faith, and this is going to be the subject of Paul's argument that he's going to bring up here.

By way of background, here is Paul in court about to give his defense to the governor Felix. Tertullus, the hotshot lawyer the religious leaders hired to convict Paul, laid out in verses one through nine what he thought was a slam-dunk case against Paul. They quoted rumors and half-truths and exaggerations, which they were hoping the governor would believe.

Now it's time for Paul to speak. Look at what he says in verse 10: "Then Paul, after the governor had nodded for him to speak, answered: 'Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do more cheerfully answer for myself.'" When it was time for Paul to speak, the governor nodded for him to give his own defense. Paul didn't spend time trying to flatter Felix like Tertullus did previously in verse two. He just acknowledged that Felix had been the governor for long enough to be able to give a sound judgment on this case.

He had been the governor for five years to this point and previously had served under Cumanus, the governor of Samaria, for several years before this. Paul was so confident that he could refute their charges against him that he felt he didn't need some hotshot lawyer to speak on his behalf. This is why he said at the end of verse 10, "I do more cheerfully to answer for myself."

Paul, being as brilliant as he was, will refute each of their false charges against him one by one. The first charge he refutes is that of sedition. Sedition by way of definition is conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch. I just need to pause here. I never look at things that happen by chance. God orchestrates the timing of things, including the timing of messages. I just wonder if you are doing this on social media. Are you inciting people to rebel against authority, against a state or monarch?

We don't have a monarch or a king, but we do have a president. Are you posting things inciting people to rebel against the president? It's something to think about. The Bible says in Acts 5:29 that if the governing authorities are asking us to do something that is contrary to scripture, then we have to obey God rather than man. Take that a step further: if the governing authorities are not asking us to do something that's contrary to scripture, then we're called to obey.

I just wonder if you're accused of sedition, inciting people to rebel. Just look at your posts over the last six months. I wonder if you would be guilty if you were brought into a court setting and one of the charges against you, like it is with Paul, is sedition. Would you be innocent or guilty? Paul was totally innocent, but I wonder about you.

Look at what it says in verses 11 through 13. He says, "Because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me." Paul tells Felix in verse 11 that he could ascertain it was no more than 12 days since he went up to Jerusalem to worship God.

Meaning what he is saying can easily be traced or verified if Felix wanted to do it. In other words, he was saying that he wasn't in Jerusalem long enough to stir up trouble. Also, the reason why he came in the first place was to worship. He was actually there to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost; he wasn't there to stir up trouble. I just wonder if people see us as a person that stirs up trouble on the job, in the family, or on social media.

Do people view you that way, as just a troublemaker? If there is some mess to stir up, you’ll be the spoon stirring things up. This is how they view Paul, but I wonder if people view us that way. If there's some mess, you don't have to tell me who was involved; I knew so-and-so was involved. Paul said if you really want to do some digging, go do some digging, and if you can find someone, bring them to the court here.

Then Paul confidently said in verse 13 that they could not prove the things they were accusing him of, disproving the charges of sedition or inciting the crowd to rebel against Rome. He said these are false charges. Look at what he says in verse 14: "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets."

The second charge that Paul answers is sectarianism, which means excessive attachment to a particular sect or party, especially in religion. Or we would say that they were a fanatic. Paul said, "I confess that I am a Christian, a follower of the Way which they call a cult," but it is not a cult or a heretical sect. Then Paul showed them that Christianity was the fulfillment of what was written in the Law and the Prophets. He said, "In following Christ, I'm only worshipping the God of our fathers."

Whether you believe it or not, we owe a great deal to the Jewish people. They preserved the Word of God for us. One-third of the New Testament was written by Paul, who was Jewish. The rest of the New Testament was written by Jewish fishermen. We owe a great deal to the Jewish people. They were so meticulous about writing down the Word of God that it would just blow us away. They looked at the scripture as God’s Word.

We don't even know the vowels for the name of God, YHWH, because they felt the name of God was so holy they wouldn't even say it. They would only write the consonants down and then they would pause and say "The Name." They would go and take a bath, change clothes, change ink and pen to continue to write. This is how they reverenced the Word of God, and we look at it as just this thing that collects dust or gets banged around in our car. They reverenced this word.

Think about it. He was accused of sectarianism. Once again, that is excessive attachment to a particular sect or party, especially in religion. Let me pause and ask you, are you guilty of sectarianism? Look at your political attachment, your excessive political attachment to a particular party. I just wonder, do you even care what that party stands for? Do you know what it stands for, what it's for and what it's against, and how does that line up with scripture and your Christian beliefs?

"Oh, I don't care what they are, this is my party and we're going to stick to it." Is that you? Or do you vote biblically? No matter what the party, are you going to vote biblically? Many of you are going to vote based on your excessive attachment to your particular party, whether that lines up with scripture at all. You vote so anti-Bible, but then you'll come into the church and say, "Praise the Lord, Hallelujah." But every four years you vote for everything that goes against that "Praise the Lord, Hallelujah" and this book.

This is what they accused Paul of, and he’s going to refute these things. Look at verses 15 and 16. He says, "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense towards God and men." In these verses, Paul gets to the heart of his defense, which was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice what's attached to it: judgment.

He said in verse 15, "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept." In other words, the hope I am describing, even my accusers have this same hope: the hope of the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Paul was referring to Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2, which says: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." Paul's accusers believed this as well.

This is the same thing Paul said before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, which won him the support of the Pharisees, who were believers of the resurrection, and the contempt of the Sadducees, who denied angels, spirits, and especially the resurrection. Because of the resurrection of the just and the unjust, Paul constantly sought to have a good conscience before God and man.

In making this statement, he was implying that one day he would have to stand before God and give an account of his life. As a matter of fact, everyone will stand before God, the just and the unjust. I have to ask you here, are you ready to stand before God and give an account of your life to Him? Paul expected to. This is why he said, "I have hope in God." Do you have this hope, the hope that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust?

Jesus said the same thing in John 5, verses 28 and 29: "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." I just have to ask you, which resurrection will you be a part of? The resurrection of life or the resurrection of condemnation?

Now keep in mind, when the Bible talks about the resurrection, it is referring to the resurrection of the body, not the soul or spirit. According to 2 Corinthians 5:8, it says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In other words, when we die as believers, we immediately go to be with the Lord in heaven. Our bodies go to the grave until we are reunited with our souls in either the resurrection of life or the resurrection of condemnation, as 1 Thessalonians 4:13 through 18 describes.

Because of this fact, Paul said in verse 16, "This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense towards God and man." The Greek word for "strive" is *askeō*, and it means to train, to practice, or to exercise. It was used to describe training and exercising for the Olympics. The Greek word "without offense" is *aproskopos*, and it means to not cause to stumble, to be free from hurt or harm, not offending or blameless.

Which means Paul was saying that he was living in such a way as to not have his conscience accuse him of anything that would offend God or man, not causing hurt or harm to God or man. It reminds me of Ephesians 4:30 that says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Do not grieve. The word "grieve" there is *lypeō* in the Greek, and it means to cause pain to. Whenever we sin purposefully and willfully, we're causing pain to the Spirit of God that is in us.

So, I just wonder how we are living our lives today. Are we living in such a way as to not cause our conscience to accuse us? Are we living in such a way as to not offend God or people? Now, we know that there are times our Christian life will offend unbelievers, but are we striving, practicing, and exercising our Christian life in such a way as to not purposely offend people or God? Someone may protest and say, "Why do I have to live in such a way?" Because of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. One day we're going to be judged or give an account of our lives here on this earth. This is why Paul said, "I am striving, practicing, exercising myself to have a good conscience without offense before God and man."

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