Acts 24:10-27
Prayer: Father, I ask that you give us Your Holy Spirit this morning so that we might have a true sense of Your holiness and purity and justice. Please use this Word like a great mirror so that we might see ourselves accurately. I pray that You would not allow any of us to look away until we see Your Son Jesus for who He truly is and have peace in Him. And we ask in His name, Amen.
Introduction
How do you handle false accusations? Do you get angry? Do you crumple into a ball of sorrow? Someone has said that when you are falsely accused you should not hate your accuser since even if that accusation is false, there is much that you could be justly accused of. Here, Paul faces pagan courts, false accusations, and political corruption, but instead of Paul being consumed with wrath or despair, he speaks with poise and courage, and at one key moment, he causes the judge to tremble. Who’s on trial exactly?
The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the Christian doctrine of peace, joy, and courage. It is what allows Christians to sleep at night, answer false accusations, and face trouble with a grin. The doctrine of justification by faith means that in the face of accusation and trouble, we already have the final judgment, the true verdict, full acceptance, full vindication brought into the present. The just live by faith – faith in God’s justification. Apart from this justification, the final judgment is fearful, and so is every other trouble. And in that panic, you will become unjust.
The Text: “Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation…” (Acts 24:10-27)
Summary of the Text
After acknowledging Felix’s long service as governor (Acts 24:10), Paul proceeds to explain that it was only twelve days ago that he went into the temple peaceably and none of the Jews’ accusations can be proven (Acts 24:11-13). Paul says that what they call a “heresy” is simply the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, culminating in a resurrection of the dead, and therefore he strives to walk blameless in that faith (Acts 24:14-16). Paul says that he came to Jerusalem to bring an offering, and he was actually ceremonial clean in the temple (not profaning the temple) when he was interrupted by certain Jews – none of whom are present to testify as eyewitnesses (Acts 24:17-19). The men present had only been witnesses of the Jewish council, and the only thing he said there was that he was on trial because of the resurrection of the dead (Acts 24:20-21).
Felix, knowing something of the Christian faith, deferred a decision, saying he would wait until Lysias came down to testify but commanded that Paul be kept with relative comfort and freedom (Acts 24:22-23). Some days later Felix and his Jewish wife requested that Paul speak to them about faith in Jesus, and as Paul explained the gospel to them, Felix became afraid and sent Paul away (Acts 24:24-25). Felix’s political colors show as he often called for Paul, primarily hoping for a bribe, and so Paul was left in prison for two years, even after Felix was succeeded, as a favor to the Jews (Acts 24:26-27).
Heresy & Catholicity
Paul specifically answers the charge that he follows the “heresy of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5, 14). While this Greek word for “heresy” could mean something relatively neutral like “sect” or “party” (e.g. Acts 5:17, 15:5), it also meant a division or schism between the faithful and unfaithful: “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19). “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject” (Tit. 3:10). It is listed among the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:20), and it is the destructive teaching of false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1).
This is in contrast to what Paul says he actually believes which is everything in the law and prophets with a hope in the resurrection (Acts 24:14-15). This corresponds roughly to the end the Apostles’ creed: “I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” If heresy is schism/division, orthodoxy (right faith/worship) is true catholicity/unity. The word “catholic” literally means “whole” or “universal.” This is what we mean by the “holy catholic church.” While people commonly use “catholic” to mean “Roman Catholic,” we mean the “whole Christian church” or the “true universal church.” We believe that the Roman Catholic church actually divided from the universal church. The early Reformers all labored to show that the true catholic church followed Scripture more closely and did not submit to the Pope as a universal pastor.
So Paul insisted that he was holding the “whole” revelation of God, which now included the death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, those who rejected Christ were “dividing” God’s revelation and becoming sectarian and heretical. This is the case for Jews who reject Christ as Messiah, and this is true of “Christian” groups that have abandoned the fullness of Scripture. The “holy catholic church” is holy because it is committed to all of Scripture applied to all of life. All of Christ for all of life.
The Hope of the Resurrection
Our text mentions the final judgment three times: “the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15), “touching the resurrection of the dead I am called into question” (Acts 24:21), and “as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled” (Acts 24:25). We confess this in the Creed every week as well: “from thence He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.”
When Paul pressed this point home, it clearly touched some kind of nerve in Felix, and he trembled with fear. It was evidently not enough to convince him to repent and believe or even do basic justice, as he continued holding Paul, hoping for a bribe, and doing favors for the Jews. But Felix trembled and sent Paul away.
The Bible says that there will come a day when everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and the secrets of our hearts will be laid bare: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Rom. 2:16). “for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). All the secret thoughts, the selfish motivations, the lies, the cheating, the manipulating, the conniving, all our big and little heresies – all the things you think no one knows about – will be manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.
This is why Paul tells Felix that this is why he constantly presses to have a clean conscience before God and men (Acts 24:16), and presumably this is why Felix trembles.
Applications
So how can sinners have a clean conscience before God? “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14)
Far too many people think that being a Christian means “being good,” and yes of course we do want to be good and serve God. But being a Christian is fundamentally about the constant problem we have that we are not good. You can’t serve the living God with dead works. All our good works are like “filthy rags” (Is. 64:6) – tainted with selfishness, greed, pride, lies, manipulation. All our good works (trying to match God’s holiness) are “dead works.” And you can’t serve the living God with dead works.
So our consciences need to be purged, cleansed, and sprinkled clean. Our consciences are like the hands that offer us to God, and sin is the puss, the mold, the gangrene, the rot and filth on our hands. And this is why even our good works need to be washed clean. If our hearts/consciences are not clean, our best works are still dead works.
So this is the good news of Jesus Christ: He died and rose again so that anyone who asks can be forgiven and have a clean conscience. Good works with a bad conscience are dead, but good works with a clean conscience are sprinkled clean. They are justified. Remember the tax collector and scribe – who went home justified? The one who knew he needed mercy.
And this is the key to fellowship and joy in a marriage and family. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:7, 9). This is how you strive for a good conscience before God and men. This is how you are always ready for the resurrection and the final judgement – confession of sin and forgiveness brings the light of the final judgment (for believers) right into the present.
But of course it is perfectly possible to mouth the words of confession and forgiveness like the scribe – I thank thee that I’m not like other men. But you can tell you’re doing that because you don’t go home justified. You don’t end up with peace in your heart and usually there’s very little peace in your home. So, this is the charge: look to Christ seated on His throne in majesty. He is holy and true and pure. And there are holes in His hands.
Prayer: Father, whatever is in the way of true humility, please rip it out of our hearts and hands. We need the peace and joy and courage of your justification, and we know that we cannot have it so long as we grab hold of our own goodness. So do whatever it takes. And we ask in the might name of Jesus, who taught us to pray…
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