Acts 24 - The resurrection changes everything!

Once again we see false accusations and what Paul says in response. I think God is trying to pound into my head something, on both sides of this issue. First, I’ve got to make sure I am not bringing any false accusations, any gossip or slander, against anyone. When false accusations or lies are held up against the truth, they will not stand. I need to make sure, in all communication and in all representation that I make of myself and my family, that it is nothing but the truth. Secondly, I need to be prepared to face false accusation and I need to know how to respond. The first thing in that is I need to make sure I’m not leaving room in my life and in my walk for accusations of sin or a reason for someone to falsely accuse me. If a false accusation has any truth to it, then that is on me and that is my issue. I can’t, or at least shouldn’t, get upset when somebody accuses me of something that I am in fact guilty of! Also, I need to take notes from Paul on how he responds. He responds with truth, in love, and without concern about whether he can convince someone that his side is the right side. He simply presents the truth and leaves it at that. That’s the approach I need to take as well.

I laughed as I read these first few verses at the obvious brown-nosing and manipulation that comes from Tertullus, and it’s obvious that he is going to work hard to try to convince Felix of something that isn’t true. Isn’t that the case when we lie, that we often expend much more energy and work to try to convince someone to believe the lie than it would take to just tell the truth. Tertullus sets their case before Felix, and the mob of Jews joined in on the attack as well, then Paul gets a chance to speak.

This is when we once again are given an example of how we should react in situations like this, but the thing that caught my attention in this passage is in verse 15 and again in verse 21. Paul takes a quick minute to bring up the resurrection, which is really at the heart of the issue here. Paul believes that Jesus was the Messiah, and one of the key components of that is that Paul believed Jesus truly rose from the dead as He said He would do. And, because of that, there will be another resurrection someday, of the righteous and the unrighteous. Paul doesn’t beat around the bush or talk about the ancillary things with Felix, he cuts right to heart of the difference between him and his accusers, the resurrection. The cross was an incredible event, but the resurrection changed everything. Jesus dying on the cross was a brave act of sacrifice, but it wasn’t the first act of sacrifice. He wasn’t the only person to have been killed for His faith or His belief in something. He wasn’t the first or the last person to die as a result of his religious beliefs or because that’s what He felt God was telling Him to do. But, and this is a huge BUT, He was the first and the last of these religious martyrs to get up and walk out of the grave. He was the first to conquer the thing that was unconquerable. He was the first to put death and sin and Satan in his place, and that changed everything.

When I think about the resurrection, it’s easy to classify it as a historical event, a great event at that, but it’s easy to leave it as such. It’s easy to remember the resurrection as something that happened 2,000 years ago. It’s easy to even hold a very high appreciation for the resurrection as it was the event that will allow us into Heaven someday. What’s not easy, however, is to look to and think about the resurrection and the effect that it has on my life right now. Right now, today, I can walk away from that temptation to lie to someone to make them think better of me because Jesus walked out of the tomb. Right now, today, I can turn my eyes elsewhere when some girl on TV is wearing nothing but her underwear because Jesus rose from the dead. Right now, today, I can eagerly share the message of the cross with people because the cross doesn’t end with a dead guy, the events of the cross end with Jesus, our Redeemer and our Savior, alive and well and returning back to Heaven where He belongs. The cross was an incredible event, but the resurrection changed everything.

Felix and Paul have a lot of conversations and I think many people can relate to Felix. There was obvious interest in “the Way” as he kept having Paul come back and kept hearing him teach about it, but he just wouldn’t give in. He wouldn’t submit and he wouldn’t take that step to place his faith in Christ. He knew what was at risk: a strained relationship with his Jewish wife, living up to the standard of righteousness, and the call to exercise self-control. For Felix and the position that he was in, that meant giving up a lot. In the end, Felix left Paul in prison as a favor to the Jews. Once again, someone abandoning what was right to please the crowd. Felix did it 2,000 years ago and I struggle with the same thing today. Man’s sinful nature and disobedience runs strongly all throughout history.

You’d think His love would be enough. You’d think I would always choose His approval and His way above the ways of my heart and the ways of man. You’d think that would be a no brainer, but it’s not. As I’m finishing this passage and listening to Pandora, out came David Crowder’s performance of “How He Loves.” You would think hearing those lyrics and believing that truth would be enough. I want it to be!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzfPHnoT0-0

 Father accept my worship and praise this afternoon as worthy of you. I want to always choose you, to always choose your way and your will, but it’s not easy. Remind me every day of your love and the fact that I am sinking in your grace as you pour it out over me constantly. As I remember that and reflect on that, I can’t help but give you all I’ve got, which is what you want.