ACTS 24 RELATIONSHIPS TO THE GOSPEL2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 24 Relationships To The Gospel

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017.

Acts chapter 24, you can turn there in your Bibles as we continue our journey through the book of Acts and picking up with Paul the Apostle as he is in custody. The Romans have taken him kind of into protective custody, but also investigating for the riot that was there in Jerusalem and what's going on. And there was a threat against his life. And so we saw last time that Paul has been transported to Caesarea.

up in the northern part of Israel where there's a stronger Roman garrison and the governor Felix is there and so he's going to be kind of on trial there and testifying for the things that have taken place. And so we're going to look at this starting in verses 1 through 9. Let's read through Acts 24, 1 through 9 and here's what it says.

Now after five days, Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.

And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying, Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace and prosperity is brought to this nation by your foresight, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be too tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your courtesy a few words from us. Verse 5.

For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you.

By examining him yourself, you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him. Verse 9. And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. And so here we pick up the account with Paul the Apostle. He's in Caesarea.

He had come back to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. And in the temple area, the riot broke out. They attempted to kill Paul. And so the Roman commander went in and rescued him. But ever since then, he's been in custody. Now, we learn from this account, it's been about 12 days since all of these things happened. So it's all happened pretty quickly over the past few days. And now Paul is in Caesarea.

And now on trial before Felix, the governor, and going to be giving an account for these accusations that are brought against him. As we walk through Acts chapter 24, I've titled the message this evening, Relationships to the Gospel.

And we actually see three different relationships to the gospel, three kinds of relationships regarding the gospel message here in Acts chapter 24, as you have the account of the religious leaders and their accusations against Paul as a result of their relationship to the gospel. And you have Paul testifying of himself and his confession of the gospel. And then, of course, you have the response of Felix at the end of the chapter. And so we'll get to see that as well.

But the first point we find in those verses we just read, point one in verses one through nine, is unfounded opposition to the gospel. Here's the first kind of relationship to the gospel that we find, and that is an unfounded opposition.

Here we find as these accusations are brought against Paul that, well, they're unfounded accusations. It's lies and nonsense that is being spread and being spoken by the Jews as they bring these accusations against Paul.

Paul, and it represents their position, their relationship to the gospel message. The reason why they're so upset at Paul in bringing these accusations is because of their opposition to the gospel. And I would encourage you to think about it in this way, that is, all opposition to the gospel is unfounded. Unfounded.

All opposition to the gospel is not right. And it's made up stuff and it's lies and it's nonsense, just like we see brought forth by Turtellus here in this passage. And so it tells us in verse 1,

After five days, Ananias, the high priest, came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. Now, in the last encounter, the Sanhedrin had been gathered together by the commander, Lysias, and Paul was...

going to give a defense but he sensed that well there was the division of the pharisees and sadducees and there was no hope for a real testifying of the gospel because of the the accusations and the the chaos that was happening and so he proclaimed that it was for the resurrection of the dead that he was you know on trial and that brought on this

another riot and the commander had to rescue Paul again and then bring him up here to Caesarea. And so now they're up here with Felix and Ananias and the high priest, Ananias is the high priest. He comes with some of the Sanhedrin, the elders, and they bring their lawyer. Now this time, you know, Hey, it didn't go so well last time. We need some legal help. And so they bring Turtellist to try to make a case against Ananias.

Paul. Now there is no case against Paul, and we'll see that as we walk through, but they're going to do their best. And so in beginning these accusations, Tertullus, their lawyer, is now the one speaking. And he begins with some really elaborate flattery for Felix. Now, we may not recognize this because, you know,

You know, we don't know Felix. If we ask who is Felix, you know, we think of the cat or, you know, someone like that. But Felix for them was a horrible person. One Roman historian describes Felix as a master of cruelty and lusts.

who exercised the powers of a king with the spirit of a slave. And that was because he was, well, he began his life as a slave and his brother, they were separated, but his brother had a relationship with Caesar and so was able to kind of bring Felix out of that life of slavery and give him this position. But he

He lived his life and this authority that he had with great cruelty. And he was known for his wickedness and for all kinds of things that were not good. And so here is, Tertullus is addressing him. Notice in verse 2, he says, "...seeing that through you we enjoy great peace."

Now again, we may not recognize that, but you go back to the historians and the reign of Felix was not a reign of great peace. There was lots of uprisings, not just what happened to Paul on the Temple Mount, but there was all kinds of issues and things that took place, tumults and uprisings,

that happened under the reign of Felix. And so he says, through you, we enjoy great peace and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight. You can kind of see him just, you know, slapping on the butter, buttering him up, you know, getting him ready, just, you know, preparing and flattering him. You're so, you have such great foresight.

And so we just are so prosperous because you're so wise. And that's kind of the idea that Turtles is bringing here. And so he says, we accept it always. In all places, most noble Felix with all thankfulness. Now,

Felix knew. It was well known he was not liked. The Jews did not like Felix and they were not favorable and thankful for him. But again, this is the way that it was being presented. This is, you know, these flowery words that are unfounded, that are lies, that are flattery, used in order to try to gain, you know, some favor for these accusations that are to be brought. Well, he starts the accusations in verse 5. He says,

He says,

He says that Paul has created dissension among the Jews all throughout the world and that he's a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes and kind of talking down of Christians and followers of Christ by referring to them as a sect of the Nazarene. Of course, you remember that Jesus was known as Jesus of Nazareth because he came from there. And so this passage,

The Lord is with you, the Father is with you, the Holy Spirit is with you, the Holy Spirit is with you.

But you know what's interesting is that the Jews were the ones causing the dissension, not Paul. He would go from place to place to place and the Jews would follow him and create dissension wherever they went, following along behind Paul, catching up to Paul and stirring up. We saw that over and over again as we walked with Paul through his missionary journeys. And so there has been dissension, but it was not Paul's doing. He wasn't the one stirring up trouble.

In verse 6, he gives another accusation. He even tried to profane the temple. And we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law. So here's kind of the primary accusation. Paul tried to profane the temple.

Now, of course, that's not true. And Paul will testify to that. We read it earlier in Acts as we saw the account of Paul there in the temple area. He did not profane the temple. He was not attempting to profane the temple. They didn't find him profaning the temple. But that's the accusation. That's the declaration. It's a blatant lie. It's an absolute falsehood that is being brought forth here. And

...furthered by, well, we wanted to judge him according to our law. And instead what happened was the commander, Lysias, came by and with great violence took him out of our hands...

Now, we read the account, right? What was happening, the great violence was on the part of the Jews. They were attempting to kill Paul right there on the Temple Mount, right outside the temple. And the commander came in and rescued him. And so it's really the opposite of what he's describing. And so it's flattery and then lies and then more lies and then more lies. That it's just made up stuff, unfounded lies.

accusations against Paul as a result of their opposition to the message that Paul brought, the message of the gospel. And we've mentioned that before, how that needs to be the case, that the accusations that are brought, like Daniel, that there was no accusation found except for, well, maybe if it's in relation to his God, and that's an important aspect for us to consider for ourselves. But as we consider the response to the gospel message, we're going to

This is one response, unfounded opposition, because all opposition to the gospel is unfounded. It just might be for different reasons or different lies, but it's all lies. It's all nonsense, just like we see manifested here.

Well, moving on to verses 10 through 21, now we have Paul's opportunity to respond. And here we have another relationship, and that is a courageous confession of the gospel. And here we see Paul be bold in his testimony of the gospel message and declaring it again before these who have accused him. In verse 10, it says, then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered. And

And as much as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because you may ascertain that it was no more than 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. Here is Paul begins his defense. He's confident in the facts. And so he begins not with flattery, not like a turtlist. He doesn't begin with the same way. He begins with the facts.

And I think it's interesting to consider. So he says, I know that you have been a judge for many years of this nation, that you've been a judge, right? Just stating a fact. And I think it's interesting, you know, sometimes when you're

You don't have anything good to say. You can't figure out anything good to say. You just kind of state the facts, right? I heard Pastor John Corson sharing about this. He said, you know, sometimes when a parent brings you their little baby, you know, brand new baby that's been born and the parent is just so proud and it's the most beautiful baby they've ever seen. And isn't he beautiful? And Pastor John said, you know, sometimes you just have to answer, well, that's a baby.

You know, just state the facts, you know, and you're good there. And that's kind of what Paul is doing here, that you've been a judge of this nation for many years, you know, not, you know, faking Thanksgiving or anything like that, but just recognizing, acknowledging, hey, you have been a judge. And that was true. He had been a judge for many years. And he says, look, and I know you can find out very easily. It was only 12 days ago that I came to Jerusalem to worship. Right?

It was only 12 days ago that all this happened. So Paul is confident and he's secure in the facts. He's not worried and he doesn't have to make up stuff. He doesn't have to use flowery words in that sense, but he's just able to approach this straightforwardly with the truth of what happened. In verse 12, he says, 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 believe.

accuse me now in this legal proceeding there was of course the necessity of proof

But these guys didn't have any proof in their accusations against Paul. Again, it was all unfounded. And so Paul says, they didn't find me disputing. They didn't find me in the city or in the temple or anywhere. They didn't find me stirring up trouble. And all of these things that they've listed, they can't prove any of this. But then Paul goes on to confess in verse 14. He says, 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. 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. And so Paul says, look, all their...

Their accusations are nonsense. They're lies. They can't prove it. And they didn't find me doing any of the things that they said they were doing. But I will tell you what I was doing. And so Paul brings a bold confession here. He says, look, this is what it's about. According to the way, which was a way that they would refer to the following of Jesus Christ.

You know, we call it Christianity, perhaps, or we call believers Christians, that kind of thing. But it was referred to as the way and the followers of the way. He says they call it a sect. But according to the way, according to Jesus Christ and belief in Jesus Christ, he says, I worship the God of my father's.

Paul's confession began with, I worship God according to faith in Jesus Christ. Now, when he talks about worshiping God, he's not just talking about music. He's talking about my life is devoted to serving God.

according to the way revealed by Jesus Christ. My life is devoted to serving God. I worship the God of my fathers. I am faithful to serve God in the way that he's called me to. And then notice what he says in verse 14, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets. So he says, look, I worship God. My life is devoted to God. Secondly, I confess, I believe all scripture.

And here you have a strong testimony from the Apostle Paul. Of course, we also have the Scripture which tells us all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Written by Paul, right? It's testified here as well by Paul. I believe everything written in the Law and the Prophets. It was a way to refer to the Old Testament writings. And Paul says, look, they call it heresy. They call it a sect. They call this teaching heresy. But I confess, Paul says, I believe...

The scriptures. I believe the word of God and I live my life by the word of God. And along with that, the third thing Paul confesses is a hope in the resurrection. He says, I have a hope in God, which they also accept. There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. And so Paul says, all the things that they're accusing me of is nonsense. But there is hope.

The reality that I live my life by. And I will gladly give my confession for that. I will gladly tell you what I do or how I live. And that is I worship God. I believe all scripture. And I hope in the resurrection. And I think Paul, as he gives these three things, gives for us a very great model for how we should live our lives. And what we should be focused on. Having a life devoted to God.

believing the Word of God, and of course that includes the application and the living out of the Word of God as we talked about on Sunday, and then the hope of the resurrection, that looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ. And that is how we are to live our lives. These are to be the priorities of our lives. And Paul goes on in verse 16 to share the result of this confession, the result of this manner of life. In verse 16 he says, "...this being so."

I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Here's the result of having a confession like the Apostle Paul. If you're able to be courageous in your confession of the gospel, in your confession of Jesus Christ, here's the result.

That you will always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. This is what it looks like when the gospel is lived out. That we would strive to do what's right before God. That we would strive to have a right relationship with God.

That we would strive to deal with those matters of conscience when it comes to sin in our lives. That we wouldn't allow sin to continue and persist, but that we would confess sin and turn away from it in the way that God calls us to. That we would maintain that right relationship with God in dealing with those matters of conscience. And I would ask you to consider, does your conscience bother you?

Because the result of this courageous confession, of a strong confession of the gospel, of living to serve God, worshiping God, being devoted to God, and believing the scripture, and hoping in the resurrection, it results in a clear conscience.

As you deal with those sins, as you deal with those things and turn and draw near to God in the way that he's called you to. But he says, "...a conscience without offense toward God, but also in men."

And we've talked about that, the importance of authority that God has placed in our lives and the call that when you serve those authorities, you serve God. And to have a clear conscience towards those authorities is an important part of this confession of worshiping God and believing all the scriptures and hoping in the resurrection. This is the result. Paul the Apostle explains this later on in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 as well.

That famous verse that we all know, verse 8, we are confident, yes, well-pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So knowing that when I'm absent from this body, I'm going to be in the presence of the Lord, that's a confidence. And that's what's declared here by Paul in verse 8. But then in verse 9, here's the result. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to Him.

And so again, the result of this confession, the result of this confidence, this hope in the resurrection, this life devoted to God, this belief in the scriptures and the following of the word of God, it causes us to live a life where we're desiring to be well-pleasing to God. And again, it puts us in a state of being with a clear conscience.

Not that we don't fall short, not that we don't sin, but that when we do, we deal with it. We confess our sin, we turn from sin, and we draw near to God because we have the forgiveness that's found in Jesus Christ.

This is the result of a courageous confession of the gospel. And so again, I just want to encourage us to follow the example of the Apostle Paul because, well, he sets the model for us and shows us this is the lifestyle, the mentality, the heart that we need to have, worshiping God, believing the scriptures, and hoping in the resurrection. And notice in verse 15, he says, the resurrection is...

It's for the just and the unjust. And that's something else Paul goes into in 2 Corinthians 5, that because of the reality of eternity, it prompts us, it motivates us, and having a courageous grasp of the gospel message motivates us for our sake to be living for eternity, but also for the sake of others, knowing that there is a resurrection for not just the righteous, but

But there is a resurrection for the unjust, and that is a reference to the judgment and even the eternal judgment of those who reject Jesus Christ. And so there's a great necessity for us to be courageous in our confession of the gospel because those who reject Jesus Christ are

We'll have a resurrection as well, but theirs will be a resurrection of judgment. And so Paul says, this is my confession. This is the truth. This is my heart. This is how I live my life. Now he goes on to defend himself a little bit in verse 17. He says, now after many years, I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation.

In the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with a tumult. He says, they ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me.

So Paul says, here's what really happened. After many years, I've been away, but this is my nation. I came back with alms. I came back with a blessing for the Jews. Remember that collection he was receiving from all the different churches in Asia? He brought back this blessing and is there, he's making offerings, he's

He's there purified in the temple with those guys that... Remember James and the other apostles said, hey, why don't you guys... Why don't you take these guys and be purified with them and help them finish this vow to God that they've made. And so that's how they found Paul. They're purified in the temple, not causing a riot, not with a mob, not with a tumult. It was...

Their own doing that brought the mob and the tumult in their reaction to Paul's presence. But he didn't stir that up. And notice what he says in verse 19. Very accurate for legal proceedings. He says, Ananias and some of the Sanhedrin went up to the presence of Felix to bring these accusations against Paul.

But they weren't there. They weren't part of the original issue there on the Temple Mount. And Paul says, and nobody else here is either. They weren't there. And so if there was an issue, well, there should be some eyewitnesses. There needs to be some evidence. There's no evidence for these accusations there.

They should have come if there was a real accusation against me. Verse 20, Paul says, look, there on the Temple Mount, nobody who is there from that event is here in the courtroom today.

And so there's no eyewitnesses. This is all hearsay. Secondly, I was standing before these guys who are here as the Sanhedrin convened. Let them testify of any wrongdoing I did during that council meeting, during that hearing with Lysias, the commander, and the Sanhedrin.

And he said, the only thing that happened, the only one thing that stirred up any kind of commotion is that I declared that I'm on trial for the resurrection of the dead. That's the only thing that happened. And so Paul, again, he's just...

Dealing with the facts. He's dealing with the account of what actually happened without exaggerating, without flattering. He's just saying, look, this is what actually happened. And there's no eyewitnesses of all these accusations they're bringing. And then those who are here, let them testify if there's something I did wrong. But the only thing that really happened was I said concerning the resurrection of the dead. And so, again, even in the midst of that, Paul is testifying.

preaching the gospel. He's declaring the resurrection of the dead. He's talking about the things of the gospel message, even in his defense, because of course that was his mission. That was his mindset. He worshipped God. His life was devoted to God. He believed the scriptures and he hoped in the resurrection. And so he is staying focused on that and continuing a courageous confession of the gospel. A great example for us all.

Well, the third relationship to the gospel that we find is in Felix the governor. And so we'll look at that in verses 22 through 27. And here we see it as a convenient curiosity about the gospel.

In verse 22 it says,

And so Felix's response to this hearing, he had all these false accusations and nonsense and flattery and all of that. Then he hears some substance from the Apostle Paul about some of the facts. And he hears the gospel message and Paul's confession of his life devoted to God in that way. But he doesn't make a decision. He doesn't decide one way or the other. He decides, well...

I'm going to postpone. Now, can't really fault him for this because apparently Lysias, the commander, isn't there. So yeah, maybe there's some more perspective that he could receive from Lysias, you know, the commander who was also there and that testimony should be heard. And so that's probably appropriate. But as the verses go on, you see that Felix, he's kind of curious about the gospel, but

But it's very much on his own terms. And he's not willing to take the step to have a courageous confession. He knows about the gospel. Notice in verse 22 it says that Felix had a more accurate knowledge of the way. This isn't the first time he's heard about Jesus. This isn't the first time he's heard the gospel or heard about the resurrection of the dead or the resurrection of Jesus. He's familiar with these things.

But he's not committed to these things. This isn't his confession. He hasn't, well, he hasn't come to the place where that is his confession. But he is curious. Verse 24, it says, And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

Verse 25, now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. And so here we see in Felix, again, this convenient curiosity. He doesn't deal with and decide the case right away.

But he gives Paul a little bit of freedom. He's in prison. He's in custody. But he gives him a little bit of freedom, tells the guards, let his friends come and tend to his needs and bring him stuff and hang out with him. So he's in custody, but treat him nicely. Do well towards him. And then after a few days, Felix and his wife get together and bring Paul in and say, so tell us again, what's this message that you have? And we want to hear about faith in Christ.

An invitation, you know, hey, come share the gospel with us. That's a pretty cool opportunity, right? And so what does Paul do? Well, verse 25 tells us he reasoned. He reasoned. He spoke reasonably. We've often seen that, right? Christianity is a reasonable faith. He reasoned.

He didn't just deal with emotions or he didn't just deal with faith in the sense of it's just unreachable, you just have to believe. But he's reasoning, he's explaining, he's expositing, he's sharing. And three things he's speaking about, righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Here is Paul has this great opportunity with the governor, Felix. He doesn't hold back.

He delivers the full message. He's talking about righteousness, what's right and what's wrong. What God says is right. Now, one of the things that he might have addressed is Felix and his wife Drusilla, they were in an adulterous relationship. This was, you know, Drusilla was not originally his wife. She was somebody else's wife and there was this relationship that they have now.

That might be, it's one of the things that is often brought up by the commentators and the historians, this relationship that he had with Drusilla. But he's talking about right and wrong. He's taking a stand for righteousness. He's declaring to Felix, this is right as far as God is concerned, and this is wrong as far as God is concerned. And then he talks to him about self-control.

Now, I mean, again, you see the boldness of the Apostle Paul here. Courageous confession, right? He's talking to Felix about you need to have self-control. Now you know right and wrong and now you have the opportunity to respond to that and do what's right and be temperate and make good decisions and do the right thing.

And then he talks to them about the judgment that is to come. The rejection of the righteousness of God. And the disregard for self-control. What does that result in? It results in the judgment to come. Again, there's a resurrection for the just and the unjust. And so here Paul gives...

A strong, clear message, you know, continuing on really point to the courageous confession of the gospel. He brings it. And Felix is under conviction. It tells us there in verse 25, Felix was afraid and answered, go away for now. I can't handle this right now. This is too much. He was fearful. And I think that's interesting because, you know, he didn't dismiss it and say, oh, that's nonsense, you know, good show, whatever. No.

But Felix is recognizing the truth of the things that Paul is sharing and it's freaking him out. And so he sends Paul away. Again, he's not at the place where he's willing to actually confess it, but he's recognizing the truth of the gospel message. I like what Warren Wiersbe says about this. He says, actually, Felix was the prisoner and Paul was the prosecutor. Felix knew he was guilty, but instead of accepting Christ, he delayed.

And then he reminds us the convenient time to be saved is now. He's not willing to really respond at this time. So he puts it off. He's recognizing the truth of it. He's being convicted, but he's delaying it. He's pushing it out. And later on, you know, I'll call you again and maybe then we can, you know, respond to this differently or respond to this better. I can hear about it more. Verse 26, Meanwhile...

He also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore, he sent for him more often and conversed with him. So here you see in Felix that he's recognizing the truth. He's recognizing that Paul deserved to go free. He's even willing to let Paul go free. If only he would bribe him. Like, just kind of hoping, you know, hey, just give me some money, man. I'll let you go free.

So he's realizing Paul deserved to go free. He's willing to let Paul go free. But why did he not let Paul go free then? Again, because he wasn't willing to really make a stand, to make a courageous confession of the gospel or of other things as well, like Paul deserves to go free. He was curious. It was entertaining. It was fun.

something that he enjoyed. And so he calls for Paul more and more. And again, he's hoping for something to be resolved without him having to actually make a strong decision and a strong stand. He's hoping for something else to just kind of like happen so that he doesn't have to really make the decision. He's hoping for something convenient. I didn't have to make a decision about Paul because, you know, this happened or that happened. And so he calls for Paul more and more.

I was out of my control, you know, and kind of keeping it in that realm where, I mean, I know what's right and I know what's wrong, but I don't want to have to make a strong stand. I want what's convenient, what's easy. And if it would just conveniently be resolved, well, that would be so much better for me.

Verse 27, but after two years, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix. And Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound. Without a courageous confession, convenience won the day. And he leaves Paul in prison and

Knowing that he deserves to go free, even willing to let him go free. But he leaves Paul in prison wanting to do the Jews a favor. It was more convenient for him to leave Paul in prison. Felix was called to Rome to give an account for his reign because of his great wickedness and it was notorious. And so he actually is brought under charges in Rome by the Jews.

And so, well, it's more convenient now. Well, maybe if I leave Paul in prison, then the Jews will respond more favorably when they go to accuse me in Rome. That he's just, he's negotiating. He's looking for easy ways out for himself and not willing to do the right thing. Convenient curiosity about the gospel. He calls for Paul. He's willing to hear about it, but he's not willing to make a stand. And that will always lead to doing the wrong thing.

Postponing it does not help you make the decision. It delays it and it puts you in that position where you're going to be more susceptible then. It's going to always be more convenient to reject the gospel than it is to receive the gospel and take a stand for the gospel. And so here in chapter 24, we see these three relationships to the gospel.

unfounded opposition to the gospel. And I think, you know, we all know each other here. I don't think any of us have unfounded opposition to the gospel. Courageous confession of the gospel. I pray that that's us, that we have the life like Paul devoted to God, where we would testify, I worship God. I believe all scripture and I hope in the resurrection. And that results in, I live my life seeking to have a clear conscience before God and man.

And I pray that God would bring conviction to us if there is issues that are out of line in our relationship with God and our relationship with man so that we could respond and continue to live this life of a courageous confession of the gospel. That we would be steadfast in it and not just conveniently curious about

about the gospel. And we all know what that's like to have, well, we like the things of God. We like the things of church. We like the things of worship. And we have these times in our lives, even periods where we're invested and interested, but there's still not the strong, courageous confession of

But we haven't come to the point where this is my confession. I live my life to worship God. And I believe all scripture. And I put it into practice. And I live by it. And I hope in the resurrection. And it results in this. It changes my life. It dictates what I do and how I do it. And I just want to encourage you this evening. As we look at Paul and seek to follow his example. That we would have the right relationship to the gospel.

that we would not just be curious, that we would not just be kind of flirting or just enjoying some of the spiritual things. Because, listen, doing the right thing is hard. And that, you know, not just in the gospel message as far as, you know, evangelism, but living a life for God is hard. And it's going to require a courageous confession. It's going to require really a willingness to confess

Be like Paul, to stand in Paul's place and to testify like Paul testified and to stand before Felix and say, righteousness, this is right, this is wrong. The judgment to come if you reject it and you need to have self-control. We need to be willing to have a strong stance when it comes to the things of God because doing the right thing is hard. And if we're just in it when it's convenient, right?

then we're not going to be able to bring forth the message like Paul brought forth the message. We're not going to hold fast to the gospel like Paul held fast to the gospel. And like Felix, if we're just involved when it's convenient, we're just going to keep putting things off and ultimately doing the wrong thing because it was just about how convenient it was for us. And doing the right thing is rarely convenient. It's always going to be hard to make a choice to love God, to serve God,

To have the confession of Paul, I worship God, I believe all scripture, and I hope in the resurrection. That's going to be the hardest thing we ever do. It's not going to be convenient to live a life that way. But these are the truths. These are the realities of the gospel. It's worth a courageous confession. And so I want to encourage you to double down on the gospel message. Double down on the life of Christ and following him. And follow Christ openly and proudly.

Not in a prideful way, but not in a way that you're ashamed of the gospel. Like Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God unto salvation. So let's follow the example of the Apostle Paul and say, I worship God. I believe the scripture and I hope in the resurrection. Let's pray. God, I pray for each one of us that you would help us, not just to serve you or walk with you or pray,

Be involved in the things of your kingdom and your fellowship when it's convenient. But Lord, I pray that you would give us a boldness and a steadfastness in our confession, Lord, that we would follow you with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. Lord, that we would serve you, Lord, as we would be able to testify, I worship God, that my life is devoted to you, God. And Lord,

I live to honor you and to praise you. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to believe your word and to put it into practice as we talked about on Sunday, Lord, that we would be fruitful as we take your word and live it out and learn from you how you want to apply those things, Lord, in the day-to-day, in the moment-by-moment of our lives.

And Lord, I pray that you would cause our eyes to be looking towards you and your return, that we would continually be hoping in the resurrection. Lord, looking for your return and our eternity with you. And Lord, as we do that, Lord, we know the result will be a life that's lived for your glory and your honor with a clear conscience. And Lord, thank you that we

we can have our conscience cleansed, that we can be released of guilt as we turn to you. I pray that you would wash us, Lord, and wash away, Lord, all the things that even the guilt that doesn't even belong, but the enemy just throws accusations back at us. Lord, wash us as we come back to this courageous confession of who you are and what you've done for us. And Lord, it's not

It's not what we do for you. It's about what you've done for us and worshiping you, believing your word, and hoping in the resurrection. Lord, that's just our response to your revelation of yourself and what you've done. So Lord, help us to be strong in that, to be steadfast in that, to be courageous in our testimony of you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.