FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR FAITH?
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Opening Prayer
Father, use your Word to build in me greater trust in your power to save and sustain me.
Read ACTS 24:22–25:12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
22 Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” 23 He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.
24 Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.
27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.
Paul’s Trial Before Festus
25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.
8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Are there areas where you are frustrated in sharing the gospel? What is your remedy?
Paul is now a prisoner of Felix. Felix has the power to indulge his interest in the Way without the troubling interjections of the Jewish authorities. It becomes clear, though, that Felix doesn’t want the troubling interference of the Holy Spirit, either! We read that he becomes afraid when Paul talks of righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Of course he was afraid—it is God’s Spirit, not just Paul, who is speaking to him through Paul’s prophetic words.
Jesus teaches that the Spirit is a disturber of the peace of the world; the Spirit will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.1 Felix is experiencing the conviction of the Spirit, and he is frightened by the power; he resists and runs. Felix would rather accept a bribe from Paul than the gospel; he’d rather seek the favor of the Jews than the favor of the Lord. Paul is passed on to Festus, who, like Felix, tries to use Paul’s imprisonment as a bargaining chip to curry favor. Festus decrees that Paul will go to Caesar, but it is clear that the real power is with the Spirit and with Paul.
We partner with the Spirit in bringing the truth of Jesus to unbelievers, but it is agonizing to see God’s Spirit clearly speaking to people only for them to resist. It can make us weary, dispirited, and discouraged. Paul must have been wearied too. Yet, despite this, the will of God is coming to pass—Paul is going to Rome. Paul must have been encouraged by this. May we, too, find encouragement in Paul’s faith and eagerness to persevere.
Apply
‘I eagerly expect and hope that I will … have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.’2
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for those who founded and built your church. Inspire me with their examples of faith and courage to stand for what is right and boldly stand for the gospel.
1 John 16:8. 2 Phil 1:20.
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