Encouraging Dads To Tell Their Story Series

Happy Father’s Day! Dads, there are too few good fathers around. Dads, I want to speak to encourage you to deepen your commitment to living a life of integrity in Christ.

To know Jesus is to have a story of how you came to know Jesus. This story is often referred to as your “testimony.” In fact, if you are saved you have a testimony or a story. Your personal story matters. The personal details of how you came to Christ matter – your children need to hear your story OFTEN. The change Christ makes in your life matters. Over the next few weeks, I want everyone to be able to tell their story with greater confidence. Again, your testimony is your story of how you became a Christian.

Luke, the author of Acts, describes five trials for Paul beginning in Acts 22. These five trials include speeches from Paul. In all, these stories occupy around 200 verses or six chapters in your Bibles. I want you to carefully watch how Paul shares his story. Notice how he is able to use his story to tell the story of Jesus. My prayer is that you and I will use our story to tell His story.

Today, we’re going to looking inside a first century Roman courtroom this morning. The scene is tense as forty men vow not to eat or drink until they have killed the Apostle Paul (Acts 23:12-15). Paul is soon before Felix as he was transported by 470 Roman soldiers after 9 pm to ensure his safety from reported death threats (Acts 23:23). Did you hear me when I said 470 soldiers? WOW! They didn’t send him with a couple of police cruisers sitting in front of his house overnight. They sent a battalion!

I want to tell you an intriguing story which will deepen your commitment to Christ’s and living a life of integrity. Now, I love a good legal drama as much as anyone. As you’ll see everything culminates in the aftermath of today’s legal drama as we eavesdrop on the private conversation between the ruling couple and their prisoner. For our story will culminate in a private conversation that Paul mentions three things that alarm the judge: “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment…” (Acts 24:25b).

Let me first introduce you to …

1. Prosecutor Tertullus

Tertullus, a Roman lawyer, represents the interests of the Jewish leaders and he offers the prosecution's speech. You could think of Tertullus as the “legal gun” for the Jewish people who include the high priest at the time, Ananias. Tertullus brings the formal legal complaint on behalf of Jewish leadership in verse one. In verses two through six, we see a summary of Tertullus' speech: “And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. 2 And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: ‘Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, 3 in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. 4 But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. 5 For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6 He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. 8 By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.’ 9 The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so” (Acts 24:1-9).

We know that the Jewish hierarchy wants to rid themselves of Paul because they have gone to the trouble to hire this “legal gun.” And the fact that the high priest himself made the 60-mile trip for the trial reinforces this fact. After the perfunctory flatteries (appropriate when speaking before Roman authorities), Tertullus cites three charges against Paul:

1) Paul sought to stir up riots among the people in verse 5;

2) He is a ringleader of the Nazarenes also in verse 5);

3) He sought to profane the Temple in verse 6.

These were very serious political charges and had Paul been found guilty, it would lead to his death. Tertullus calls Paul “a plague” where we might say in our day that such a person is a cancer that needs to be stopped. “This ‘disease’ has to be stopped,” is the essence of the lawyer’s argument. Now, the prosecutor sits down and it’s time to hear from the defense.

1. Prosecutor Tertullus

2. Paul on the Stand

By human calculations, Paul was merely a “butterfly before a steamroller.” For both Jerusalem and Rome were the two enormously strong power blocs of the day. The rule of Rome, represented in Felix, was some three million square miles round the Mediterranean Sea. The combined might of the two was overwhelming. Now this is real story as the entire scene plays out around circa 57 AD as Felix served as governor for about five years.