The Future Is Now
2014-11-02
Acts 25:1-12
1Now three days after
Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid
out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul1 that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an
ambush to kill him on the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and
that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5 “So,” said he, “let the men
of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about
the man, let them bring charges against him.”
6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten
days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the
tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 When he had arrived, the
Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and
serious charges against him that they could not prove. 8 Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of
the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”
9 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to
Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges
before me?” 10 But Paul said, “I am
standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I
have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for
which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing
to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to
Caesar.” 12 Then Festus, when he had
conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar
you shall go.”
Acts 25:1-12…Yes, some of you may remember I preached on this
passage 2014-08-24 (Paul’s Secret to Submission), but it
is different this time. :)
Chap 25 is preparatory to Paul’s preaching of the gospel in chapter 26-28
& beyond.
·
Paul used his Roman legal rights/existing laws to open
the door for future ministry.
o
This has some application to USA elections. Act 23:12-15, 25:1-4, 8-9
After 2 years the Jews asked Festus to transfer Paul to Jerusalem. (planned
to kill him again.)
· Festus knew the right thing to do (release
innocent Paul) but he did not do this because he wanted to please the Jews
& not offend the “important” people.
Paul was facing equally bad choices:
·
If he was tried
by Jews, found guilty though innocent, he would then be put to death;
·
If he was tried by the Roman, Festus, most likely he would be found guilty and simply that would simply get rid of a
problem.
·
If he were to appeal to Caesar, this would prolong
his imprisonment and could possible lead to death.
o
In life….our options are generally not black/white.
§ Like deciding
between imperfect candidates.
Paul used divine revelation (vision) & human reasoning aided by the Holy Spirit
to make his decision. Act
25:10-12, Ps 119:105
·
We also need to use reasoning aided by Holy Spirit & base our decisions on the Word/Biblical
truths to determine who to vote for…..not allegiances to a certain political party/others.
·
Be an informed voter…use voter guides to compare positions
with the Word on clear moral areas: Abortion, same-sex marriage, how help poor.
o
Then vote for the people who HOPEFULLY uphold godly
values in their public service.
Paul’s decision was not based on temporary personal gain (he wasn’t
afraid to die) but rather on a lasting gain for Gospel/others…protect Christians
with the same rights as Judaism.
·
Houston, TX subpoenaed certain pastors’ sermons contain
homosexual and gender identity comments.
o
Houston city attorney: “If someone is speaking from
the pulpit & it’s political speech, then it’s not going to be protected.”
§ The 1st
Amendment protects Political/social commentary by all.
·
In Coeur d’Alene (Cor-da-lean), Idaho, a nondiscrimination
ordinance was required by a privately owned chapel. On Oct 17, 2014 they
were asked to perform a same-sex wedding or face up to 180 days in jail & $1,000
in fines for each day they would not do the ceremony.
·
“Many have
denied the idea that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that
are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here –
and it’s happened this quickly,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel
Jeremy Tedesco.
·
This is
how religious liberty dies. Liberties die by a thousand cuts. An
intimidating letter here, a subpoena there, a warning in yet another place. The
message is simple and easily understood. Be quiet or risk trouble. The subpoenas in Houston now alert us all to
the fact that trouble is now inescapable. Albert Mohler
In a fallen, chaotic world, that seems unguided & uncontrolled, God uses
man’s efforts to achieve His purposes.
·
Paul used all his God-given rights as a Roman
citizen.
o
We must use all our available legal avenues to see God
honored in our civil government.
§ This means:
Be faithful voters who vote based on your faith.
There is said to be 90 Million Christians nationwide, 39 Million of these
don’t vote.
Because God Almighty, whom we
serve above all men, made human governments His way of running the world, “Let
every person be subject to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from
God, and those that exist have been instituted by
God” (Romans 13:1). In a
democratic republic like ours that means at least: VOTE. John Piper
o Imagine if all 90 Million Christians
exercised their right to vote.
God instituted government over us & we’re called to be light in
darkness.
·
Vote Tuesday for people who will hopefully uphold
godly values in their public service. We can be confident that we can’t thwart God’s
purposes or predict His means, but that He will use us as He wills, to further
the gospel.
1 Pet 2:13-18, 2 Chronicles 20:6, Ps 145:13, Act 7:56, Rom 8:38
o
God is sovereign over the US elections & the uncertain
future.
§ Our hope is
not in any candidate but in Jesus Christ who is seated on throne!
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