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Chosen no: R-4499 a, from: 1909 Year. |
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A Conscience Void Of Offense
--ACTS 24.--OCTOBER
17.--
Golden
Text:--"Herein do I exercise myself, to have always
a conscience void of offense towards God and towards men."
FELIX,
the Roman governor, received St. Paul
a prisoner. His enemies, the high priest and other Jewish rulers, hastened from
Jerusalem to Caesarea,
thirsting for his blood. They brought with them a Roman lawyer, Tertullus. His
knowledge of Roman usage and his skill as a pleader would, they hoped, enable
them to prove that St. Paul
was a dangerous character--a sort of anarchist. Felix was the judge. There were
no jurors. Tertullus made his charges and confirmed them by witnesses from Jerusalem.
Shrewdly
the Roman attorney complimented the governor along the lines of his hitherto
efficiency in preserving the peace and putting down every form of insurrection
and maintaining quiet and order. This very completely paved the way for the
lawyer's request that the governor should continue this praiseworthy course and
rid the land of an obnoxious trouble-maker--the Apostle. Witnesses were
produced who testified respecting the first tumult in the temple and also
respecting the one of the following day in which the Sanhedrin became divided
into two parts, and a general uproar ensued. The Apostle was credited with
being a ringleader of a sect called Nazarenes, and it was claimed that he made
trouble the whole world over amongst both Jews and Greeks.
This
was his case. He charged that the prisoner was guilty of sacrilege--that he had
defiled the temple, and the inference was deducible that he had caused rioting
within the holy sanctuary. The witnesses were produced to prove that these
charges were true.
The
governor motioned to the Apostle that he was at liberty to answer the charges. St.
Paul opened his defense by remarking that he was gratified that his judge had
been on the bench for some time and was well acquainted with Jewish customs;
that he would understand, therefore, what a novice could not, why the Apostle
had come to Jerusalem to worship after the manner of the Jews, to celebrate one
of their religious festivals. He came not to raise an insurrection, but to
worship, and no witness had testified, nor was it true, that he was found in
the temple even disputing or gathering a crowd; neither did he do these things
in the synagogues, nor anywhere; neither could his enemies prove the things of
which they accused him. This, his answer, was logical and complete. Still the
governor could not understand why there should be such a commotion under the
circumstances; hence it was necessary for the Apostle to explain that the Jews
had an antipathy against him, because of his different belief and not because
of any wrongdoing.
"A
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST AND UNJUST"
St.
Paul avowed that he had experienced no change in his Jewish belief--that he
still believed the teachings of the Law and the writings of the prophets; and
that he still held to the fundamental Jewish doctrine of the necessity of a
resurrection of the dead, and that thereby God's blessing should ultimately
come to Israel and through Israel to all the families of the earth. And,
continued the Apostle, I exercise myself, discipline myself, train myself, to
keep my conscience pure, free from violation of Divine and human laws. This was
a grand testimony. The force of it should have had weight, not only with the
governor and the prosecuting attorney, but also with the Jews, who murderously
sought the Apostle's life, because of a little difference of opinion on
religious questions. What a lesson we have here! A Roman governor and judge of
not too savory a reputation; a prosecuting attorney willing, regardless of
justice, to sell his talents for money; the Jewish high priest, typical of the
great Messiah, associating himself with those who were endeavoring to pervert
justice and to destroy one "of the sale of the earth"!
Our Lord
foretold that some of his disciples would stand before kings and princes, but
that they should not be dismayed, for he would stand by them to give them aid. How
literally this was fulfilled in St.
Paul's case! How evidently the Lord stood by him and
gave him the suitable words! He proceeded to explain that he brought alms to
his nation, the offerings of Gentiles, who had heard his message of the grace
of God. Certain Jews from Asia found him
purified in the temple, but without cry or tumult. Those Jews should have been
brought as witnesses, or those who were making the charges against him should
have been specific--should have said what he did tumultuously in the temple, or
what wrongdoing they found in him on the day following the mob, when before the
Sanhedrin. Only one thing could they charge, namely, that he cried out while
standing amongst them, "Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called
in question this day." Surely the governor could not think that in this
there was anything akin to rioting or anarchy. The prisoner had been quite in
the right, while those accusing him had been in the wrong. [R4499
: page 317]
The
Apostle's testimony shows us that in all of his preaching he laid special
stress upon the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead--the just and the
unjust. Alas, that in our day this doctrine has been measurably lost sight of. Few
Christians ever think of the resurrection. Few have ever heard a sermon on that
subject. Why is this? We reply that it is because a great error has come in
amongst Christian people in respect to the condition of the dead. According to
both Catholics and Protestants only the saintly are fit for heaven at death. Both
agree that only finished characters could properly be admitted there. Both
agree to our Lord's words respecting the Kingdom, "Few there be that find
it." Our Catholic friends tell us that nearly all heathens, Catholics and
Protestants go to Purgatory, where terrible sufferings for centuries will purge
them of sin and prepare them for heaven. Many Protestant friends tell us that
they do not see even this hope--that from their standpoint only the
"little flock" go to heaven, and all the great mass of mankind,
unprepared for the presence of God, must be sent somewhere and that the only
place for them is a hell of eternal torture, from which there will be no
escape. We need not quarrel with either party. Both views are too horrible to
be reasonable or just, not to mention loving!
We prefer to
go back to the words of Jesus and the Apostles and to note that, according to
their teachings, the dead are really dead and that their only hope is, as the
Apostle expresses it, a resurrection hope, "the hope of the resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust." It is not the
resurrection of the body that the Bible teaches, but a resurrection of the
soul, and that "God will give it a body" at the time of the
awakening. (I Cor. 15:38.) We could wish that all
Christian people would arouse themselves to a fresh study of the Scriptures:
that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead should be given its proper
place: and that thus much of the fog of "the dark ages" might be
gotten rid of--fog which has troubled us, saddened our hearts and turned many
away from God and the Bible--into infidelity. [R4500
: page 317]
RIGHTEOUSNESS,
TEMPERANCE, COMING JUDGMENT
The
governor-judge, after hearing both sides, set aside the case until Lysias, who
made the arrest, should be heard. Meantime St. Paul was given great liberty, the real
status of his case being evidently quite clearly understood by the governor.
Subsequently
Felix, evidently much impressed by the Apostle's demeanor, called for him again
at a time when his wife, a Jewess, was present. He wished her to hear the
Gospel message, which somehow seems to have appealed to him as reasonable. St. Paul doubtless
reviewed much of his previous testimony, and then reasoned respecting a coming
judgment or trial--that eternal destinies are not fixed, as a result of the present
life. Assuredly he pointed out that God had appointed a day of trial or
judgment for the world of mankind--the Millennial day, a thousand years long. In
it the whole world of mankind shall have a full trial as to worthiness or
unworthiness of perfection and life everlasting. The obedient shall be blessed,
uplifted, raised up, up to perfection. The wilfully disobedient shall be
destroyed in the Second Death. If then the trial of the world is in the future
age, and if in the present time God is merely electing or selecting the Church
to be the Bride of his Son and his Joint-Heir in the Kingdom, which is to bless
the world, how could these matters have any special influence upon Felix and
his wife? In two ways:
(1)
It might influence them to accept Christ and seek to be of the
"elect" Church.
(2)
Knowing of their future trial they should know also that the words and deeds of
the present life have much to do with the status of the individual when
awakened from the tomb. The vicious, the hypocritical, the self-righteous, the
wanton, the profligate, degrade themselves and increase the number of steps
that will be before them in the Millennium. On the contrary, every good deed,
every victory gained, every practice of moderation, would make the individual
correspondingly the better prepared for the next life. Every generous deed of
the present life makes its impress upon the character and will bring
proportionate blessings in that Millennial Judgment Day. On the contrary, every
evil deed, every violation of conscience, will surely receive its
"stripes" or just punishments.
As Felix
listened he was conscience-stricken. According to this theory he would have
much to give account for as one of the "unjust" in the resurrection. The
Apostle said nothing about fiery tortures, which an intelligent mind must
repudiate as unreasonable, but his argument was all the stronger without these.
His forceful argument was, "A just recompense of reward, both for the just
and the unjust." The Apostle was dismissed with the memorable words,
"Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season I will
call thee." Time and again Felix called for the Apostle, but never
apparently did he find his heart in a sufficiently mellow and humble condition
to accept the Apostle's message and surrender to the Lord. A lesson in this
connection for us all is that we should do promptly whatever we realize to be
our duty. St. Paul
remained a prisoner two years, comfortably provided for, preparing for the
further services of his important life, and writing several epistles.
W.T. R-4499 a : page 316 – 1909 r.