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Intro:
We will continue to pray through the Book of Acts, focusing on chapter twenty-four.
Enemies.
Enemy is defined, a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
Nations have enemies.
People have enemies.
Businesses have enemies.
What about us, do followers of Christ have enemies, and how are we to deal with our enemies?
Jesus tells us how to deal with our enemies.
More than that, He shows us how to deal with our enemies.
Before our salvation, we were all enemies of God.
Because of sin, God was HERE and we were THERE.
But God sent Jesus to help him reconcile with His enemies.
We might think, that is great, but that is Jesus.
How do I deal with my enemies?
Through prayer and dependance on the Holy Spirit.
Through a life of prayer and help of the Holy Spirit, we will have compassion and concern for our enemies.
Acts 1 - promise of power
Acts 2 - received power
Acts 3- exercised power
Acts 4 - prayed for more power
Acts 5- people lied and God displayed His power
Acts 6- conflict arose and God used people of power to help the church
Acts 7- Stephen reminded them of God’s power in history
Acts 8- walked in power to spread Gospel in Samaria
Acts 9- Saul was converted through an encounter with God’s power
Acts 10- the power of God fell on the Gentiles as Peter preached
Acts 11- Peter defended Gentiles receiving power
Acts 12- the church prayed and Peter was released from prison
Acts 13- God sent Barnabas and Paul as a result of prayer
Acts 14- Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to new regions proclaiming God’s message with power
Acts 15- they prayed and God gave powerful discernment
Acts 16- Paul and Silas prayed and praised in prison, and God set them free
Acts 17- Paul stayed consistent in the face of hardships because of his prayer life
Acts 18- Paul prayed and God helped him reach the city of Corinth.
Acts 19- Paul put what he prayed for and believed into practice and God answered
Acts 20- Paul prayed as he headed to Jerusalem, knowing difficulties laid ahead
Acts 21- Paul Told everyone he was ready to go to Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit led him there
Acts 22- Paul took time to witness to those who hated him
Acts 23 closes with Paul waiting for his accusers and for the governor, Felix to determine his fate.
Through a loophole, Paul’s enemies, the Jews, were not allowed to kill him.
Instead, they turn to the Romans, which the Jews actually considered an enemy and sought their help with killing Paul.
There are three parts, [The Case Against Paul], [The Confession of Paul] and [The Conversation with Paul].
Let’s begin
1.
The Case Against Paul
Paul waited on his accusers for five days.
They devised their plan for Paul’s demise.
They hired an attorney by the name of Tertullus.
He was a Jewish lawyer who acted as their spokesmen.
The first thing they did was to compliment the governor.
This sounds wise enough, but Jewish historian Josephus explains that the Jews hated Felix.
Felix was a very harsh man who had opposed and hurt the Jews many times in the past.
But the enemy of their enemy was their friend and their haterd for Paul outshined their disdain for Felix and they begin to compliment him for all of his “wonderful” qualities.
They didn’t mean a word of what they said, but they wanted to manipulate Felix so that he might agree and side with them.
They accused Paul of three crimes, hoping one of them would stick.
First, they accused Paul of being a {creator of dissension among the Jews}.
Though the Romans gave the Jews a certain amount of liberty, one thing they would not tolerate was dissension.
They did not want the Jews to create problems for the Romans.
Therefore, the Jews attempted to paint Paul as the culprit.
Second, they accused Paul of being the ringleader of the Nazarenes.
Hear how they all Paul, “this man.”
They had little regard for the Apostle and their words to him are meant to belittle him.
We need to remember that to be called a Christian was not a compliment.
We carry the title of Christian as a title of respect and honor.
However, in those days it was a derogatory term.
It literally meant, “little Christ”.
Therefore, they compared Paul with the little Christ’s who was of the Nazarenes.
This was meant to be an affront to Paul.
He was highly educated, but he walked with the simple.
Finally, they accused him of defiling their temple.
Though no one saw Paul enter the temple with a Greek, the rumor continued to spread.
They mentioned this because, as a state religion, they were legally authorized to protect their temple.
Therefore, they hoped that Felix would hear their arguments and send Paul back to their custody.
He lied that the Jews were handling the situation when the Romans came and violently took Paul, when in reality; the Romans only came because Paul was about to be killed.
Our enemy will always build a case against us, but God will have the final say.
2. The Confession of Paul
Paul was given the chance to defend himself and he did it cheerfully.
Paul refutes all three of their accusations.
Paul explains that it had been twelve days since he came to Jerusalem.
A lot can happen in twelve days.
Paul reminded them that the only reason he came was to worship in the temple and to give an offering to the poor.
However, the Jews made accusations, but they didn’t have a witness.
Furthermore, when they attempted to paint him as a leader of the Nazarenes, they wanted to project that Paul worshipped a different God than the Jews.
If this was successful, then they could have had Paul tried on other grounds for his religion would not have been recognized by the Romans.
However, Paul points to the fact that the WAY, or Christianity was merely the fulfillment of Judaism.
Paul believed in the same law and prophets and he worshipped the same God.
Finally, they accused him of defying the temple when in reality; he went to the temple to worship.
Had he been as vile as they claimed, he wouldn’t have wanted to go to the temple.
They only accusation that Paul accepted any guilt had been in the Sadducees accused him of preaching the resurrection.
Remember, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, but the Pharisees did.
He didn’t go to the temple to defile, but he went to be purified.
With each accusation, Paul defended himself against their lies and as a result, the governor didn’t know what to do.
When the enemy accuses us, depend on the Word of God and the message of salvation.
3. The Conversation With Paul
The Jews hoped Felix had little knowledge of the Way, Christians, but Felix did know about the Way.
Therefore, he decided to wait until Lysias, the commander came to make his decision.
Lysias was the commander that arrested and then protected Paul.
History shows no evidence that Felix ever called Lysias.
Therefore, Paul was released to house arrest, given the liberty to have guests and to speak to whomever he wanted.
Later Felix called Paul back.
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