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Paul Before Felix.
--ACTS 24:10-16,24-26.--MAY 17.--
"I will fear no evil: for thou art with me."--Psa. 23:4.
FIVE days after Paul's arrival a prisoner at Caesarea
the Chief Priest, Ananias, accompanied by a public advocate and a deputation
from the Sanhedrin, also appeared in the city to make charges against Paul, and
the trial at once took place. The advocate, Tertullus, began his case by making
very flattering allusions to the governor--very hypocritical allusions, as we
know from secular histories of the time. "Both Josephus and Tacitus
represent him as one of the most corrupt and oppressive rulers ever sent by the
Romans into Judea."
Flattery of this kind, undeserved praise, is
extremely reprehensible; totally contrary to the principles which govern the
Lord's followers. It is dishonesty, hypocrisy. Nevertheless, flattery is a very
powerful weapon, which the unregenerate have little scruple in using, and it
frequently gives them a decided advantage in worldly affairs, in opposition to
the Lord's faithful, who are restrained from such flatteries, being obliged to
consider truth and honesty in all their words and dealings. Some of the Lord's
people are, on the other hand, inclined to carry honesty in such matters to an
extreme: many in Paul's stead would have felt it their bounden duty to have
upbraided Felix roundly. It is no more obligatory upon the Lord's people to
denounce every wrongdoer whom they may meet in the street than it is for them
to tell all homely persons they may see of their lack along the lines of
beauty. The Apostle's course in this case is an illustration of the possession
of the spirit of a sound mind. When it came his turn to address the governor he
neither upbraided nor reproved him, nor did he utter any words of flattery. The
introduction to his defense was every word true in the fullest sense, and yet
it was framed and presented in courteous and agreeable language.
Politeness is always a part of Christian
character. In the world it may be polish, but in the Christian it is not merely
a veneer, but represents the true sentiments of the heart, developed along the
lines of the spirit of life--love. Love leads to gentleness, patience, [R3194 : page 154] kindness, etc., and even in
the case of disobedience it will hesitate to utter an unkind word, and will
avoid the same so far as duty will permit.
The advocate, or attorney, Tertullus, made
serious charges against the Apostle. He would have him appear to Felix as more
or less a conspirator against the Roman government--at least a raiser of
tumults and seditions amongst the people. This charge was made broadly,
applying not only to the present instance, the tumult at Jerusalem, but that
everywhere, throughout the provinces of Rome, wherever he went, tumults arose amongst
the people. It did not seem to occur to this attorney that the tumults might be
caused by evildoers in their endeavor to stop the progress of righteousness and
truth; the thought he endeavored to present to Felix was that whoever
occasioned tumults, regardless of his plea, was to be considered an enemy to
good government, law and order. The same arguments are powerful today with
those who do not appreciate the true principles of justice and liberty. It will
not surprise us at all if by and by the enemies of present truth take a
similarly unjust stand against us, who are seeking to walk in the footsteps of
the Apostle-- seeking to present the truths of a new dispensation to our
brethren in Babylon, who are not only themselves unwilling to hear, but are
easily aroused to anger, vituperation and persecution, that they may prevent
others from receiving the good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all
people.
When the charges had been preferred, Paul was
permitted to speak for himself, and did so to good effect. He showed (1) that
he had but recently arrived in Jerusalem; that he had raised no riot or
commotion, but that, on the contrary, at the time of his arrest he was quietly
worshiping God in the Temple--disputing with nobody and interfering with
nobody's rights. (2) He challenged his accusers to produce proofs of the
truthfulness of their charges--denying their ability to prove them; and thus in
a most reasonable and legal way showed that the burden of proof was upon his
accusers, and not upon himself. (3) He did confess, however, that there was
some ground for the animosity manifested against him, and this was that his
fellow-Jews charged him with believing and teaching heresy--a split-off from
the Jewish religion. It was his answer to the charge that he was a ringleader
of the sect of the Nazarenes; he denied that it was heresy against the Jewish
religion, and a sect, or split-off party. It was his enemies who called
Christianity heresy, and separation from Judaism, but their charges were false
from the Apostle's standpoint. Christianity, instead of being split off from
Judaism, was the natural outcome and proper development of it--the fulfilment
of the promises of God upon which the hopes and prospects of Judaism were all
built. The Apostle shows this matter most distinctly in his letter to the
Romans (chap. 11), where he pictures the Jewish nation as the olive tree whose
root was the Abrahamic promise, and whose branches were the people of Israel.
He does not picture Christianity as another tree, nor yet as a new shoot out of
this original olive tree, but he does picture it as the fuller development of
this tree, representing all Jews refusing to progress and to accept of Christ,
as branches that were broken off--all the true Jews who continued to be
recognized of the Lord,--all the Israelites indeed,--were the Christians who
from Pentecost onward have been known as spiritual Israelites.
Progressing, the Apostle justified the claim
which he made at his hearing before the Sanhedrin; viz., that a serious part of
the objection raised against him by his countrymen was his belief in the
resurrection of the dead, which some of them also allowed, or believed,--
"that there should be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the
unjust."
That the Apostle preached a gospel in many
particulars different from the general belief of our day, is quite evident from
this presentation of it--the making prominent of the doctrine of the
resurrection of the dead. True, some might claim that it is unnecessary to make
this doctrine prominent, because there are few Sadducees today--few who deny
the resurrection of the dead. We answer that there are few who believe that
there are any dead. The vast majority of mankind, Christians as well as
heathen, have adopted the theory that none are dead--that those who appear to
die really become more alive than ever. Not believing in anybody's being dead
it would be impossible for them to believe in the resurrection of the dead. Instead,
another thought prevails now; viz., a resurrection of the body-- the
person or soul, it is claimed, does not die, but merely sheds the body as an
old garment, and at some future [R3195 : page
154] time is to have it back. But it will be conceded that if this were all
that the Apostle meant by the resurrection of the dead,--if he really meant a
"resurrection of the body," his argument was a weak one. It would be
foolish to waste much time or breath or energy in discussing such a proposition
as would have no particular advantage or merit, even if it were proven.
The Apostle had a totally different thought: his
preaching was to the effect that death is a real penalty for sin, and that
there never could be life or consciousness, except by a resurrection of the
dead, and that a resurrection of the dead could only come by divine favor in
the accomplishment of a redemption of all that had been condemned to death. In
preaching the resurrection, therefore, he was declaring not only his faith that
Christ Jesus was not dead, but also his faith that God would in due time grant
the world a resurrection. [R3195 : page 155] Thus
Jesus and the resurrection constituted the sum and substance of the gospel hope
from the Apostle's standpoint and--because we take his--from our standpoint
also.
The question may occur to some--if resurrection (anastasis) means a full, complete raising up out of death conditions into perfection of
life conditions, how could the Apostle here speak of the resurrection
"both of the just and unjust"?
How shall we understand this, and harmonize it
with other Scriptures which declare that only the justified shall attain full
perfection of life?--that he that hath the Son may have life, and he that hath
not the Son shall not see life--in its perfection?--that he that will not obey
the great Prophet shall be cut off from amongst his people--cut off from life,
in the Second Death?
We answer that the Apostle is not carrying his
argument down into the future, declaring that in the future the just ones shall
attain to the full perfection of life and the unjust ones also; he is merely
referring to those who in the present time are just and unjust. The just of the
present time are "justified by faith," and if faithful to the
conditions of the call are to have part in the First Resurrection. The unjust
of the present time are the unjustified, the unbelievers, and the Apostle
explains that they believe not because the god of this world hath blinded their
minds. (2 Cor. 4:4.) However, as the
Scriptures distinctly show, it is to be the special work of the next age to
open all the blind eyes and to unstop all the deaf ears, and to cause the
knowledge of the Lord to fill the whole earth, to the intent that those now
unjustified, unjust, may be just before God, and thus share in the resurrection
which is provided for all, and which will accomplish the resurrection of all
except as its gracious provisions are individually rejected.
Having stated thus his belief in a future life,
by a resurrection, the Apostle declares that his present life was being used in
accordance with that hope of a future life--with a conscience that controlled
his thoughts and words and deeds in relationship to God and men.
Can we wonder that Felix, perverse though he
was, himself felt disinclined to yield so noble a prisoner to death, even to
accommodate and please the flattering attorney and the influential high priest,
whose favor he would undoubtedly prefer to hold? The record leads us
additionally to infer that Felix considered that in Paul he had a good
opportunity for receiving a bribe for the performance of justice; for in his
narrative the Apostle proceeded to show that so far from seeking to do injury
to his fellow-creatures, he had brought with him from foreign cities large sums
of money. Felix thus perceived that the prisoner, who had liberal education and
talent and Roman citizenship, had friends not only in Jerusalem, but abroad. He
doubtless concluded that they would be quite willing to make him a handsome
present to effect the Apostle's release. This is the suggestion of the 26th
verse.
Apparently Felix was considerably interested in
his prisoner, and mentioned him to his wife, a Jewess: he was called before
them, that they might know further respecting this new teaching. His curiosity
was evidently soon more than satisfied, as the Apostle proceeded with his
subject, showing the plan of God, the righteousness of the Law, the inability
of fallen man to fully meet its requirements, that Jesus became the Redeemer of
those condemned by the Law, and that now salvation and life eternal are open to
as many as will obey the gospel--forsake sin and lay hold by faith upon the
Redeemer. The Apostle proceeded to show that righteousness was the reasonable
requirement of the divine Law, and that the acceptance of God's favor in Christ
led to self-restraint and opposition to natural tendencies, and that there is a
judgment day to come, in the which all deflections from righteousness will be
rewarded with stripes proportionate to knowledge. The governor trembled; his
own wicked life and licentious course stood out before his mental gaze, and he
realized that, according to the standards presented, he would have many stripes
to bear in the future. His wife, Drusilla, was really the wife of King Azizus;
but her conscience, evidently more seared than his, seems not to have been in
the least agitated. Felix suggested that at a more convenient season he would
hear further of the gospel; but we doubt if ever he called for any further
explanations--he already had enough, more than he was willing to obey. His
course is one too frequently imitated since. Many who tremble as they think of
their sins, hope that a more convenient time for breaking off may come to them;
but a convenient season for abandoning sin--when sin indulged in our members
will make no objection to being ousted--will never come. He who would become a
follower of the Lord Jesus, must courageously accept of Christ, the power
divine for the breaking of the shackles of his slavery to sin--must first love
the liberty wherewith Christ alone can make us free. Those who have not this
craving will remain slaves of sin until the glorious Millennial morning shall
break, until after the completion of the election Church of
"overcomers"--until the dawning of the Millennial morning, when the
overcomers, with Christ at their head, shall break all the shackles of sin and
set all prisoners free, and command all to render obedience to the laws of the
Kingdom of God, inflicting stripes of punishment proportionate to their present
wilfulness in sin, with a view to their recovery, [R3195
: page 156] and for restitution to all that was lost in Adam and redeemed
with the precious blood.
A good lesson may be learned from the Apostle's
method of presenting the truth to Felix. He did not attack the governor's
character, nor berate him for his sins. He did better than this. Ignoring the
individual entirely, he lifted the mirror of the perfect law of love and
liberty and righteousness before the governor, and let him see for himself how
far short he came of the perfect standard which alone God can approve. Would
that all of God's children could learn thus to reprove sin--by letting the
light of truth and the corroboration of the same in their own conduct shine out
--their words, and no less their conduct, being epistles of the grace of God
and his gracious arrangements, both for rewarding those who seek him and for
chastening and correcting those who require it!
The courage of the Apostle in holding up the
truth before one who so largely had to do with the decision of his own case is
remarkable and commendable. It is in full agreement with the declaration of our
Golden Text. Those who are on the Lord's side, and who, therefore, have the
Lord on their side, in all of life's affairs, need fear no evil. This absence
of fear, however, should not in us, any more than in the Apostle, lead to
bravado or discourteous manner or language. The divine rule is, as expressed by
the Apostle, that we should speak the truth in love.--Eph.
4:15.
Another lesson taught us by the Apostle's
experiences, yea, by all of the Lord's notable children, from the Master down,
is that the assaults of calumny, slander, etc., can do them no lasting harm.
Look at the Captain of our salvation, against whom all manner of evil was said
and done falsely, even to the extent of calling him the prince of devils, and
crucifying him as a blasphemer of God. How those assaults of the great
Adversary, through his deluded children of disobedience, serve now to make the
Lord's character and conduct the more transparent and resplendent! So also it
is in respect to the Apostle Paul's experiences--they all reflect grandly upon
his character today. Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" gives a scene
which illustrates this feature of our lesson and encourages all of us to
disregard the slanders and evil speakings of the present time, if so be that we
can continually realize the divine favor and blessing with us and upon our
efforts to serve the Lord. We give an extract from Bunyan's writings as
follows:--
"Then the shepherds had the pilgrims to
another place, called Mount Innocence, and there they saw a man clothed all in
white, and two men, Prejudice and Ill-will, continually casting dirt upon him.
Now behold, the dirt, whatsoever they cast at him, would in a little time fall
off again, and his garment would look as clean as if no dirt had been cast
thereat. Then said the pilgrims, 'What means this?' The shepherds answered,
'This man is named Godly-man, and this garment is to show the innocency of his
life. Now, those that throw dirt at him are such as hate his well-doing; but,
as you see, the dirt will not stick upon his clothes; so it shall be with him
that liveth innocently in the world. Whoever they be that would make such men
dirty, they labor all in vain; for God, by that a little time is spent, will
cause that their innocence shall break forth as the light, and their
righteousness as the noon-day.'"
W.T. R-3194b : page 153 - 1903r