SELF DEFENSE (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.”

Acts 24:10-13

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The scene was a court hearing in Caesarea with the Roman governor of the province, Felix, presiding.

In yesterday’s message, we read where high priest of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, Ananias, had made the trip to Caesarea accompanied by some of the elders and a prosecuting lawyer by the name of Tertullus, who opened the proceedings with the following statement:

“We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.”

“We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.” Acts 24:2-8

And with that, attention turned to Paul who had the floor and the opportunity to offer up his defense against the accusations levied against him. We’re going to look at his statement across the next several devotions, starting with the opening today. Look again at Paul’s words here:

“I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.” Acts 24:10-13

Here we see Paul begin by striking back at Tertullus’ assertion that he had caused massive insurrection while in Jerusalem. In fact, Paul hadn’t gone to Jerusalem to do anything else but worship as he entered the city twelve days ago, hardly enough time to organize mass chaos in a city as immense as Jerusalem.

Further, Paul disputes the allegation that he stirred up trouble anywhere, especially in the places of worship such as the temple and synagogues. In fact, he tosses the case back into the laps of the Jewish religious authorities and their lawyer, challenging them to prove to Felix that their charges were true.

Of course, Paul knew that this couldn’t be done short of flat out lying about what had happened but then again, the high priest and his entourage couldn’t be underestimated. After all, they had managed to take down Jesus through false contentions and Paul was far from Jesus.

But here’s the thing. God was with Paul. Ananias may have had Tertullus to prosecute Paul but he had God as His great Defender. And this is the first and foremost truth we need to always remember when life’s circumstances bring us to the place where we need to defend ourselves, sometimes against false blame.

We all have the best defense Representative ever in our Lord and no one stands a chance when they go up against Him. If it’s the Lord’s will for us to be pardoned, then we will be pardoned. If it’s His will for us to be defeated, it’s always for a greater purpose, just as it was for Jesus.

So the next time someone is levying false allegations against you, turn to the Lord and ask Him to come to Your aid as only He can. Rest assured, He will answer your call and act in accordance with His will for the situation at hand.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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