The True and Reasonable Gospel - Pastor Tom Loghry Rockland Community Church Download

Under trial, Paul accounts for his life and message, revealing the Gospel can stand before any authority.

Transcript:

I want to start our time in God's word this morning with a question. And it may seem like a strange question or, if you're able to understand it, sometimes I don't always phrase questions in the most clear way, but if you do understand it, a question perhaps with an obvious answer. But I will ask it and explain what I'm getting at. The question is this: Can the gospel message hold its own in all places? Can the gospel message hold its own in all places?

In other words, can we expect the gospel message to hold up in all situations, or are there situations where we shouldn't bother serious people with its message? Now, of course, our instinct in this immediate moment might be, "Of course, we take the gospel to all people and places." But I suspect that we actually tend to live our lives in line with the expectations of our society.

In polite society, we distinguish between the public sphere and the private sphere. When we think about presenting the gospel, we usually envision doing so in churches or in homes or across tables in coffee shops. We don't usually imagine venturing to articulate the gospel in the halls of government, in civic spaces, perhaps also in academic spaces. "That's religion," they say in response, as a sort of final sentence-- indoctrinating everyone in our society under the notion that religious truth cannot be taken seriously. The serious stuff is scientific papers, sociological studies, legislation, and other such sources of truth. Yes, those sources can contain truth, but they are not the final word. And while living in a diverse society like ours does compel us to think how we will live well together in trying to find common ground, I do think that generations of American Christians have too quickly complied with the notion that the gospel must be fenced off from serious, adult conversation. That the gospel might be a personal truth, but not a public truth that can stand in court.

Today's passage reminds us that the gospel is without limits. It is not embarrassed in front of politicians. If you were with us last week, you'll recall that Paul has been imprisoned in Caesarea In Herod's palace, now occupied by the Roman authorities. He's been a prisoner there now for two years under Governor Felix, who knew Paul was innocent of any wrongdoing but was hoping to gain a bribe from him for his release. Two years, in which Paul lived out the words he would later write the Philippians from Rome. Last week, I incorrectly implied that he had already written to them. Those words in which he says, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." Paul's not just talk. He actually lives out his message. This is Paul's own story. But now a new governor has been appointed named Porcius Festus. And we pick up the narrative now in Acts 25.

And just to kind of prepare you, we're gonna read a lot of scripture this morning. My commentary on the scripture is not gonna match the amount of scripture we read because it's a lot of narrative, it doesn't need to be all explained, and so you should pay close attention as we read the word, as you always should. Picking up in Acts 25. Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 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. Festus answered, Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.

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. 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. Then Paul made his defense. I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.

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? 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. 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. After Festus had conferred with his counsel, he declared, You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.

So we have this new figure entering into the scene, this governor named Porcius Festus. He would've served around the year 59 or 60 AD, so that's kind of where we are in the timeline here. And Festus, apparently early on when he had become governor, went up to Jerusalem, and there, even two years later, the high priests, these religious leaders, were still gunning for Paul. They wanted to take him down. They wanted him to be killed. It wasn't enough that he was out of the way. He, they wanted him dead. And they weren't necessarily trusting that they would get the ruling they wanted from Festus, and so they had conspired that, well, maybe if we can just get Paul on his way here, we can kill him along the way.

You'll recall this is how Paul ended up in Caesarea in the first place, because there was a plot to murder him, and at that time, Claudius Lysias sent him to Caesarea so that he might be safe, kept safe, because Paul is a Roman citizen. He is due a just trial. And so Festus tells them, "No, we're not doing that. But if you want to come to Caesarea, we can, I will consider your case," because he's a new governor. He's not aware of all of the, the details here. And so they return to Caesarea. I shared some pictures last week of what that probably looked like, the man-made port they had there, and then also that's Herod's palace down there. And so that's where Festus would've held court.

Now, when the Jews arrive there, who are bringing these charges against Paul, they surround him and make all sorts of accusations. But once again, they're not able to prove anything against him. It's the same old story. And as a new governor, Festus is interested in trying to be on good terms with the Jewish people, and so he thinks, "Well, maybe I can send him back to them in Jerusalem." But Paul challenges on that because of his Roman citizenship. He reasons with him, you know, "Isn't this good enough? You're basically the governor. You, you're the representative of Caesar's court, and I haven't done anything wrong." Now, Paul is quite bold here. He, I mean, this, this man holds his life in his hands. He says, "If I've done anything wrong, kill me," basically. But he's so confident in his innocence, in the case that he's made, that he persists in saying, "No, I'm not going there." And instead what he does is he appeals to Caesar.

Now, the appeal procedure here would've meant that Paul is literally going to be sent to Rome, in which he will appear before the emperor Nero, and that he would decide his fate. And so Festus agrees. He says, "Okay, you've appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go."

But that's not where the story ends. Paul is going to have more to say to Festus and to also two other authorities which now enter the scene. Continuing on in verse 13, we read, "A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul's case with the king. He said, 'There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.

When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some point of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive.

I was at a loss how to investigate such matters, so I asked if he'd be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul made his appeal to be...