Good morning and happy Wednesday. I pray that you are having great success with your 5 minute challenge and are being blessed with 5 minutes to spend in God’s Word every day. After 90 days in a row in the 5MC, His Word has not only become part of my routine and a new habit but even deeper than that I find myself hungering for God’s Word. I wrote last week about God’s Word being “the bread” and Jeremiah “eating His words.” (Jer 15:16) We are sure to feed ourselves physically 3 times a day, seven days a week but how often are we feeding ourselves spiritually? Are we enjoying a ‘balanced diet’ of God’s Word? Don’t miss out on the joy of being in God’s Word daily.
As my new job progresses it is both fun and challenging to be working on a global scale. This morning I am hosting a Zoom call with people from California, Texas and Kyrgyzstan (borders China). Coordinating 3 different time zones and as many different schedules is a new and fun challenge. It also makes me sit in awe of technology. I read every morning in Acts of Paul writing letters by hand to the churches that have to be walked there to be read. Today, I can email across the planet in seconds and then video conference with people all over the world instantly. It makes me wonder how Paul would have used this technology to tell about Jesus. You know he would have!
Well, this morning we are in Acts chapter 24 and Paul is in custody under the jurisdiction of governor Felix in Caesarea. We read yesterday in chapter 23 of his life being threatened as he was whisked away by almost 500 Roman soldiers in the middle of the night. If you missed yesterdays lesson, check it out, it’s on here on the5mc.com under ACTS 23.
It only takes 5 days for the Jews that want to kill Paul to track him down to Caesarea and send a team down to prosecute him in the courts of Felix. Ananias the head priest along with some elders and their star attorney, Tertullus, are pulling out all stops to get Paul convicted. Tertullus make a very eloquent yet generic case against Paul as they really have nothing on him. Paul rebuts Tertullus and basically tells Felix that ‘they got nothing on me.’ Felix is quite the scoundrel himself historically and he can see through the smoke and postpones the trial until the captain of the guard that saved Paul can come to Caesarea to testify. Even thought at this point Paul is innocent, he is not freed. Felix keeps him under house arrest but gives him freedom to move about and accept visitors.
Now here comes my favorite part of the chapter. People that are full of the Holy Spirit have an attraction. They have a ‘pull’ to unbelievers that unbelievers cannot explain. But they can feel it and they want to be around it. Felix feels this attraction to Paul and sends for him. Acts 24:24 “and after some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Jesus Christ.” Friends, this is amazing. Do you know what would happen if one year ago Paul had asked to be able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Governor AND his wife IN THEIR PALACE? He would have been laughed off and probably beaten for the request, but here he stands, preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the throne room of the palace. In fact, Felix keeps Paul locked up for 2 years and during that time he had regular meetings with Paul. Acts 24:26b “So he sent for him often and conversed with him.”
Now this stirs me deeply. There a few points God puts on my heart about this passage. The first is what type of witness are we for Christ today? I love to read about Paul. Wherever he was and whoever was in front of him was going to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that was a guarantee. He preached it in the temple. He preached it in the marketplace while selling tents. He preached it to the men he was chained to in jail. He preached it to governors. He preached it to Jewish councils that wanted to kill him. He preached it to Jews. He preached it to Gentiles. The point? God puts a great variety of people in front of us each and every day, are we speaking of Christ? Is Christ so intertwined in our lives that when we speak to others we cannot help but speak of him? This was Paul and the example he lived. It’s one that I can strive for the rest of my days.
The next topic is specifically what are you professing? When Paul was put in front of all these diverse people, councils, mobs, temples and officials what did he tell them? Did he tell them about the latest book he’s reading on making your life great? Did he share a couple of motivational religious memes with grassy meadow backgrounds? Did he just invite them to church and then drop it? Did he put them on his prayer list for later? My friends the power of Paul was that whoever he came in to contact with heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin, died upon a cross and three days later was resurrected. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ and if you were around Paul you were going to hear it.
You know, if you were a stranger and we hung out for a while I don’t know how long you could be around me before you would hear the gospel. Sad but true. I often feel timid about sharing the gospel with people. What am I afraid of? People will be offended? I can’t remember a time where anyone has ever been offended if I told them about the love of Jesus. People might think I’m preachy? I shouldn’t be living a life worrying about what others think. I can really learn a lesson from Paul. There is one message and only one message we need to give those around us, the good news that Jesus rose from the dead to conquer sin and offer us eternal life with Him in Heaven. Through his death we can have life. Oh, how the world needs this message today!
So, in a political move to appease the Jews, Felix leaves Paul in jail for 2 years. (Acts 24:27) In fact, at the end of two years, Felix’s term is up and as he departs office he ‘as a favor to the Jews’ makes sure that Paul stays in jail. Chapter 24 ends with Paul in jail at the seaside resort town of Caesarea. Paul has been personally told by Jesus in his cell back in Jerusalem that he would testify in Rome (Acts 23:11) Right about now though, I bet Paul has to be wondering when this will ever happen. He was just a man and I often wonder how Paul suffered both physically and emotionally in order to follow Jesus the way he did. Tomorrow in chapter 25 the court room drama continues. God is moving Paul ever closer to Rome, but in the meantime He is using Paul to share the gospel of Jesus with everyone he comes into contact with. Tomorrow Paul will share Jesus with a king.
I pray that whoever God puts in front of you today can see the light of Jesus in you and will be drawn to you, and as they’re drawn, He gives you the power and opportunity to talk of Him.
Speak of Jesus. Speak Love. Speak Joy. Speak Happiness.
Blessings for your walk today.
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