The Book of Acts
Paul before Festus, part 2
Acts 25:7-12
We began last week a study of Acts 25, verses 1-12 where once again, we learn of an assassination plot by the Jews to kill Paul. They try to get the new governor in Caesarea, whose name is Festus, to go along with a plan to bring Paul from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and their intention is to ambush and kill him.
But Festus doesn't go along. Instead he invites the Jewish leaders to travel with him back to Caesarea. And that's what they do.
verse 6
True to his word, he gets home, and immediately tackles this case, and at verse 7, we move from the assassination plotted to
2. The Accusation Presented
verse 7
So what were the accusations? We read those back in chapter 24. Now remember, it's been two years since these accusations were made, but the Jews are still upset about it.
That said he was seeking to overthrow the Roman government, stirring up the Jews to rebel, and blasphemed the temple and God by allowing a Gentile to enter.
And as we've already seen, they were all made without evidence.
Remember, I told you last week about some principles that are just under the surface of this text, and here we come to another of those and that is the typical response the world gives to the truth of God is opposition and persecution.
According to Jesus in Matthew 5, that opposition is driven by two things. “Blessed are you, when men shall persecute you, and revile you, and accuse you falsely, for my sake.”
The accusations are false and they are driven by hatred for Christ. That is exactly what Paul experienced.
Now obviously, there are some Christians whose lives are not lived to honor Christ and they bring accusations on themselves, but Paul stood on more than one occasion to say his conscience was clear. therefore the accusations were false.
But the point of it is that if you really receive the true rebuking of the world as Paul received it, it won’t be because you fouled up so much you deserve it. It will be false, and it will be for Christ’s sake, because of the reality of your testimony for Christ.
Our lives should be so lived that the accusations are false. Our lives should be so lived that the only accusation people could make was that they ccan't stand our relationship with Christ, therefore, if they have to lie, they will.
And that, by the way, is the third point. We’ve seen the assassination plotted and the accusation presented, but we also take note of
3. The Absence of Proof
In all the trials of Paul, nobody ever brought any credible evidence against him. They had nothing but false charges that were made up to support their accusations. Notice they end of
verse 7
They couldn’t prove any of them. No witnesses, no support, no evidence, no case. Now I'm going to make an assumption and I realize that is dangerous. But we are told in verse 6 that that several days went by before Festus returned to his place. So how do you think the Jews used those days?
I would think they used it to assemble their case against Paul. In fact, I think that is why the Holy Spirit includes that little detail. He wants us to know they've had plenty of time to get their case together, including coming up with some witnesses. But there were no witnesses. Paul had done nothing wrong. Nothing has changed from what Felix discovered two years ago.
So now they come before Festus and nothing has changed, and everything is just like it was before. They bring charges, Paul responds, they have no witnesses, and the case fails to stand the test of evidence.
And there we see another of those principles emerge and that is the powerful witness of a blameless life.
Listen to
1 Peter 3:14
Once again, we are talking about someone who suffers and is accused because they live a godly, Christ-honoring life. If that happens, you can expect God's blessing and you don't have to fear their opposition.
Instead, do three things. First, guard you're heart, guard your mouth and guard your mind.
verse 15
That means set apart Christ in your heart and be careful about how live. We could say it this way: live a holy life.
Number two, Be careful of what you say and how you say it. Make sure you speak the truth of god.
And number three, keep your attitude right. Don't get all puffed up and full of yourself. Instead just trust God and do it,
verse 16a
Keep your conscience clear.
That's how you deal with persecution and opposition that comes because you live for Christ.
Stand on what you are by living a holy life, speaking the truth, staying close to God. When you do that, your life is clean, your conscience is clear, and your thoughts are clear.
So what happens as a result of that?
verse 16b
You know how to frustrate those that accuse you? Give them nothing to accuse you of, and they’ll have to face the fact that the real issue is their hatred of Christianity.
That's how Paul lived his life. They hated him because they hated Jesus Christ. And he forced them to face that fact, because no accusation they brought against him would stick.
There was no evidence brought against Paul of any wrongdoing against anybody.
verse 8
And apparently, that's the end of the case. Nothing else is said by his accusers. And you would the case would be closed.
And if Festus would have done the right thing, like the Roman court earlier, and certainly in the case of Felix, he would have dismissed the charges and release Paul, with his apologies for the previous two years. But instead, what happened?
verse 9
Festus could care less about Paul which is evidenced by the fact that he's will to use Paul to his own advantage. And by this time, Paul is getting close to being in the flesh a little bit, as we can understand.
In fact, it's a good thing Paul is not like a bunch of Baptist brothers I've know, and maybe a few of the sisters also!
verse 10
That’s pretty strong language, especially when you're talking to the judge that can determine your fate. But remember, Paul knew who was calling the shots!
Notice he says: “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat.” Any province with a governor who sat on the seat of judgment was Caesar’s representative, and here he was standing before the representative of Caesar.
So, he says, “Look, I’m standing here before Caesar’s judgment seat which is where this case needs to be heard. If I've committed a crime against Rome, then deal with it. It's already been established that the Jews don't have a case against me. Now let's deal with the Roman accusation.
’ve never done anything wrong to the Jews, and you know I haven’t. By the way, how do we know that Festus knew they didn't have a case?
He told Agrippa the next day!
verse 18
In other words, Festus said, “I thought they had a case, but they didn't." Then he goes on to tell the king that it's really just a religious disagreement about some guy named Jesus.
In the meantime, Paul is being bounced around like a ping pong ball from one authority to the other. So he makes a very shrewd move and calls upon his rights as a Roman citizen and says there is no need for this to go back to Jerusalem. Try me here. I like his courage, don’t you?
verse 11
I would guess Festus had heard very few criminals or those accused of crimes say "Kill me if I deserve it. I'm not afraid to die and I'm not trying to avoid."
But that was how Paul lived. Remember, for him, to die was gain. Just send me home to Jesus! He says, “It isn’t death that I’m avoiding; it’s justice that I’m seeking.”
That's a very gutsy move! And then to top it off, notice what he says at the end of
verse 11b
“I appeal unto Caesar.”
Now, that was not just an offhand comment; that was an official appeal. And that brings us to our fourth point,
4. The Appeal Proposed
A lower court judgment could be appealed to Caesar. In fact, the appeal could be given before or after the verdict of the lower court. All an accused Roman citizen had to do was appeal the case to Caesar, and immediately, the present case was suspended, and that’s what Paul does.
He says, “I’m taking this thing to Rome.” He realized he was getting nowhere in Caesarea. He was stuck in this little political battle that was going on, so says, “I appeal to Rome”.
So the case is immediately shifted out of the hands of Festus and into the hands of Caesar in Rome.
By the way, I remember God making Paul a promise about going to Rome while he was down and out in jail. So I would guess Paul got kind of excited on the inside when he said that!
Now when he was stuck in the cell that night and the Lord showed up and told him to "cheer up" and that he was going to Rome, I doubt if he knew it was going to happen like this, but nonetheless, he's on his way to Rome, and he knew God was getting him there!
Now to be honest, from a human standpoint, appealing to Caesar wasn't the best move a man could make when you remember who the Caesar was!. He was probably a whole lot better off messing around with Festus in Caesarea than he was with a maniac like Nero in Rome!
Nero is in the running for the most immoral man that ever lived. He killed a man named Brittanicus who was the son and heir of the emperor Claudius in order to gain power.
He killed his mother to please his lover who somebody else's wife. Then he got mad at her and killed her by kicking her in the stomach while she was pregnant. He wanted to marry his adopted sister, Antonius.
She wasn’t real excited about the deal, so he killed her. He assassinated another man so he could marry his wife, and basically, that's how he spent his life. Then he burned Rome, and finally, did the smartest thing he could have done and killed himself,
And I mention that, just to draw attention to another of those principles that emerge from this text and that is
- the courage of a committed Christian
Paul does two things that show his courage, and both are done with full knowledge of what he is getting himself into. First, he more or less rebukes the governor of Judea, and number two, he puts himself in the hands of a maniac.
Some would say those were foolish things to do, but I think it shows courage that is born from his confidence in God. He knew God could overrule Festus, and God could control Nero, and on that basis, he was courageous.
verse 12
Don't you know Paul's heart was racing when he heard the news? By this time, he’d already written the book of Romans and told them he wanted to come and minister there, and now he is on his way!
And we'll pick up there next time.
Let's pray.
