^ F H E a p o s t l e P a u l was on trial before Felix, the " Roman governor. So important was the case that Ananias, the high priest, had come down from Jerusalem and there was present also a Roman lawyer, Tertullus, to make the charges against Paul. There were four accusations: that Paul was a pest, that he stirred up sedition, that he was a ringleader o f the sect of the Nazarenes, and that he had profaned the temple. When the veteran preacher rose to make his reply, there was a solemn majesty about him. He opened his speech with courtesy but not with flat tery as Tertullus had done. Someone has said that Paul was a Jew by birth, a Roman by citizenship, a Greek by speech, a lawyer by training, a tent- maker by trade, and an apostle by the grace of God. The lawyer comes out in this able defense before the Roman governor. Paul knew Roman law and appealed to it when he declared that his accus ers back in Jerusalem ought to be there to prove their case. He flatly denied three of the charges, that he was a pest, that he had incited sedition, and that he had profaned the temple. The other charge he admitted in our text: “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resur rection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.” Paul had been called “ a ringleader of the sect o f the Nazarenes.” He answered, “ After the Way WHICH THEY CALL A SECT so worship I the God of my fathers.” It was really the accusing Jews who were sectarian. Paul was a better Jew than any o f them because as a Christian he was carrying Judaism to its logical fulfillment. The New Testament completes the Old and Jesus Christ is the fruit of all the types and prophecies that bloom throughout the law and prophets. I am a better Jew than any unsaved Jew because if they would follow their religion to its fulfillment and completion they would all be Christians. The Christians of the New Testament were not sec tarians who had split off from Judaism. It was the other Jews who had really split off because they left true Judaism when it fulfilled itself in Jesus Christ. The shoe was on the wrong foot and Paul quickly pointed it out. He was saying, “ I am a true Jew because Jesus is the Messiah and I have re ceived Him. You are the sectarians because you have departed from your faith.” You will observe that the apostle said “ After THE WAY which they call a sect so worship I the God of my fathers.” The early Christians were called those “ of this Way” (Acts 9 :2 ). There was
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by Vcfnce Havner
TH E KING'S BUSINESS
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