A Cheerful Defense | Acts 24:1-21

Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, the community of the Silvia Saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.

And they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.

Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.

But this I confess to you, that according to the way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

Now, after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.

While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult.

But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me.

Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council.

Other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them, it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.

That is the reading of God's word.

You may be seated.

Alrighty.

Take a seat.

Well, thank you everybody for coming this morning.

Uh, if you are new with us, you don't know this, but I am not our lead pastor.

My name is Roman, I'm our youth pastor.

Um, and our lead pastor actually decided to take a Sunday off.

We just need to give him a hand for that.

Everyone, how many know that it's a good thing when your pastor takes a weekend off?

This is a good thing.

Him, his wife Chelsea and Louie, they uh went down to Oklahoma uh just for the the weekend this week and the weekend.

Um and so I get to fill in for him.

So what that means is that it's youth group styles.

So we're gonna play indoor dodgeball, so we need to move all the ch I'm just kidding.

The the youth in the room, though, are gonna hear me more than once today, so they're gonna get tired of my voice.

Um but I'm just grateful to be here.

I'm grateful uh to be able to preach God's word with you, and I'm grateful for all of you who are here.

So uh on both corners, we have fans running.

Um last night we got a call.

Ashton and I headed up here.

The the church was at 84 degrees in the sanctuary, so it was quite toasty.

So we closed the doors, put the fans up, and it got cooler.

Um, but obviously as the day progresses, it's gonna keep getting warmer.

Shout out to our resident AC guy.

Raise your hand, Tyler.

Came up here this morning to see if we could get anything done.

There was no uh short-term solution that we could get done for the service.

We've got the fans running, so if it gets a little warm in here, just know it was a lot hotter in the drum cage, so you guys can spend some time in there if you'd like.

When I spent some time in Mexico on a missions trip, um we went to this church, and no joke, they called it the hot box because it was this cement building, it was this big old building, and they had no AC at all.

So we ministered in this church and it was extremely warm the whole time.

So we should just be thankful that uh we aren't there and that we're here.

Amen.

All right.

Well, uh, if you've been tracking with us for a while, or if you're new, you'll know that we've been in the book of Acts for the last almost year now, so it's been quite a while.

Um, but it's actually been an incredible time.

And as we've gone verse by verse through the book of Acts, this isn't something that I've ever sat under preaching verse by verse under the book of Acts before now.

And there's a couple of things that I want to point out, just for my perspective, um, over the last year or so that we've been in this, that has been incredibly impactful for me.

Number one, going verse by verse to the book of Acts, it's incredible to see the intentionality of the Lord, his leadership, and his use of just ordinary men to build his church and to bring his church about um from nothing.

So it's been cool to see just the Lord's faithfulness and his intentionality through the chapters and through these first couple years of the early church, and it's incredible to see that.

The second really cool thing that we see going verse by verse through the book of Acts is the relevancy to our culture and our church today.

Because if you look at any statistics or read any articles on young people today, what you'll find is that the masses are leaving things that seem inauthentic or seem like they're not getting any sort of real connection or intimacy.

And the the world and America and the Western culture were searching for deep connection and deep intimacy with the Lord, um, or with people in any context.

And so what we're seeing in the book of Acts is that purity of the early church, and how today, and what we hope our church grows to become and we continue to work on, is a model of the early Acts Church, where there's these deep connections, deep relationships, and intimacy with the Lord together as a group of people.

And so it's just been cool as we've been going verse by verse through Acts.

Um, the cool part as well is that we've been uh seeing Paul on trial for like the last eight weeks or so.

That's an exaggeration, but he's on trial once again today, and so we'll be picking up in Acts chapter 24.

Acts 24 · chapter mention

So if you wouldn't turn with me there, we will have it up on the screens.

But what I always tell the youth is it's always good to open it up yourself, because if I say anything that you don't see in the text, you can just start throwing tomatoes at me or throwing shoes at me.

Now, please don't, actually.

Just come talk to me afterwards.

Um, but it's always good that you open up the text yourself and see um it for yourself as well as it'll be up on the screen.

So if you haven't been tracking with us, or if you have, if you've missed a couple of weeks, just a little background on where we're picking up today.

So, Paul, a couple weeks ago, we talked about Paul was about to enter into Jerusalem, and in this moment his friends are telling him, Don't go into Jerusalem because they knew what awaited them, what awaited him was great persecution.

But the Holy Spirit prompted him to go anyways, and now we've seen him on this journey.

He went to Jerusalem, and now he's on his way to Rome, and he's seen nothing but great persecution, even in situations like we'll see today, where he didn't deserve it.

It was these situations where he didn't do anything, and it's just the enemy attacking him coming against him by the use of persecution.

And so we pick up here in chapter 24 where Paul has been taken captive.

Just last week we talked about this.

He's been taken captive and he's being brought to this guy named Felix.

Felix is the governor of Judea and Samaria, which is uh very relevant for the times.

That's something that that's somewhere that Jesus went often, and in the book of Acts is something somewhere we see the early church really residing in.

So Felix was a very relevant character to all the people that we'll talk we're talking about in the book of Acts as well as today.

So the text that we're in today is a trial scene.

So if you imagine it in a movie, or if there's, I mean, there's some uh crazy trials that are you know on the news or on TV nowadays.

There has been, for as long as there's been TV or newspapers, you can track trials and track these people doing crazy things and having to stand um trial for those things that they've done, those charges that are brought against them.

And so similarly, we have three main characters in today's text.

So just like if you were in a trial, you would see three main characters.

Number one, you'd see the judge, and the judge is exactly that.

It's the person that is bringing judgment to the situation.

He is the one that is deciding if you're guilty or if you're innocent or if there's not enough evidence for you.

In some of our cases, there's a jury, um, but today it's just a judge.

The second character is there's a prosecution or a prosecuting attorney, or there's a group of people who's bringing some sort of charge against somebody, and these people are skilled in bringing prosecu uh a prosecuting case against an individual.

And then the third person is the defendant or the person who is being charged with said acts.

And we have those three main characters in our passage today.

So, number one, our judge is the governor Felix.

So, like I said, Felix was the governor over Judea and Samaria.

So he's a very powerful guy, and he's judging this situation.

Our prosecuting attorney, the one who's bringing these cases for a group of people, is Tertulus.

I told um Teresa when she was reading uh the scripture that I'd been practicing how to say his name.

There's no I.

So if you hear me say Tertulus, yell at me, because that's not how you say it.

It's Tertulus.

So it's a lot of L's and a lot of W's or a lot of U's.

And so uh Tertulus, and he is our prosecuting attorney.

So he's bringing the case against Paul.

And obviously, the third person is one of the most famous people in church history and in the Bible, and it's our uh dear brother Paul standing trial once again as charges are coming against him.

So let's begin.

We're gonna go to the top of chapter 24 in verse 1.

And it says, and after five days, the high priest, Ananias, came down and some elders, and a spokesman named Tertulus, they laid before the governor their case against Paul.

So we're introduced to our first character, the prosecuting attorney, is the spokesperson for Ananias, and who's the high priest as well as some elders.

So this man is a trained professional in giving his case.

He's called a spokesman, and so they bring in their big guns.

This is the guy that's going to catch Paul in whatever they're charging him to, and there he's the one that's going to convince Felix that this man is guilty.

Verse 2.

And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, So this is the accusation, since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your for foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation.

In every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.

And so we see our second character, the judge, Felix, he's standing here.

And it was very customary in these times for in their opening arguments or within their first little bit for them to sort of flatter the judge or to give a little bit to the judge, maybe to soften them up or to butter them up so that they can receive some sort of benefit in their case.

So we see Felix doing this.

However, if you just take a slightly closer look, what you'll find is that uh Tertullus is representing a very deceptive and slimy point of view.

Because Felix was a very controversial judge in this time.

He was someone who often dealt with uprisings and different um occultic people, people who were coming against the government, and he dealt very harshly with these people, and he was very unpopular amongst the Jews.

And so, as Tertullus is saying this, he calls him most excellent Felix.

And so, obviously, right off the bat, we can see the dishonesty and the deception that's being represented here in the prosecution's case.

And so his attempt is to butter up Felix to make sure that the next words that he says are being heard.

So, verse 4 but to detain you no further, I beg you, in your kindness, to hear us briefly.

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.

He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.

By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.

So Tertulus brings out his case, and he accuses him of three different things.

So let's break those three things down.

So this man's a trained attorney, and the number one thing that he brings, an accusation against Paul, is what's called political sedition.

We see that uh right there in verse 4 and verse 5, it says that he was stirring up riots amongst all the Jews.

So political sedition is uh creating riots, like it says here, against those who are in power, against the political powers.

And interestingly enough, and what we see about Paul's life is that by this point in Paul's life, we are now seeing his life mirror that of Jesus Christ's.

Because Jesus, right before he died in Luke chapter 23, when he is standing before Pilate, the same charges that are brought against Paul here for political sedition for starting riots amongst the Jews, those same charges were brought against Jesus in Luke 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

And so we see those scenes mirroring as Paul and Jesus both were standing trial for political sedition.

The second thing that he is accused of is being that of a cult leader.

He says he's the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

So this is a man, what they're saying, who is very extreme and could be considered very dangerous.

He is leading this group of individuals who are on the zealous side, and this is going to be a potential problem.

And the third thing, and it's the thing that we're gonna dig in just a little bit more because it's relevant if you've been with us uh through Acts, as something that we've talked about previously.

So it says in verse 6, he even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.

So we're gonna discuss that further because Paul is going to address that accusation.

But Tertullus is saying that he attempted to profane the temple and we seized him.

But what is encapsulated in all three of these accusations is within the first sentence of what he says.

Verse 5, for we found this man a plague.

Those are very intense, pointed words, and it almost seems personal.

This is no longer a professional who is making a professional case against Paul.

But in his first words, he makes it plain and obvious that what he is after is he has a personal vendetta against Paul.

That this man has been a plague to us, that our life is being considerably changed because of this man, and it's not something passive, but it's something that is right in front of our face, and it is challenging our day-to-day life.

And so he calls Paul a plague.

I've been called a lot of things.

I'm a middle child.

I was telling Jerry and John this last week.

I have uh I am extremely skilled at pressing buttons.

I can find the thing that annoys you the most, and I will push those buttons until you uh get mad, and then I'll laugh at you and I'll walk away.

It's my biggest sin.

It's something I'm repenting of.

But that's not what is represented here.

This isn't Paul just being annoying for being annoying's sake.

But what we'll see is that Paul represents something that acts like a plague to this group of people, the high priest, to Tertulus, and to the group of people, the elders, that are represented here.

It says in verse 9, as we continue, the Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

So again, it's very similar to the scene that we see as Jesus stands trial.

Because it's not only a group of people who have no findings and have no backing who are bringing a charge, and it's like, well, this is just a bunch of hearsay because there's no there's no proof.

What we see here is just like Jesus when he stood trial in Luke 23, there's a group of people who are rising up saying, Yes, this man has done these things, and so now Tertulus, the high priest, the elders, and all of the Jews are watching, are now making these accusations against Paul.

And so you can feel, maybe, before we even get to Paul, the pressure that this man is under.

He's sitting there, and if it were I, I would be sweating bullets, I would uh, you know, my voice would be qu quavering, qu uh quivering, I wouldn't have any idea what I was supposed to say next.

I would be terrified almost to make my defense, unsure what to say, because of all these people who are just straight mad at me.

I'm someone who does not like people being mad at me.

And so I have a whole group of people who are just straight up mad.

Um, and so I would not handle this situation especially as well as Paul does.

Because in verse 10, it says, and when the governor, this is Felix, had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied.

So we're gonna we're gonna talk about a couple of different ways that Paul makes his defense and why he makes his defense.

Because if you read it at face value, this seems just like brother is his back is up against the wall and he's doing his best.

But Paul here, even under immense pressure, is attempting to make a point.

Continuing in verse 10 says, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.

I want to pause here.

Paul, under this immense pressure, with his back against the wall, what does he say?

The exact opposite of what I would say.

He says, I cheerfully make my defense.

Now, why can Paul, standing in this situation, cheerfully make his defense?

Because the truth about Paul, and what we'll see as he makes his argument, is that he recognizes and understands that it's not his name and his reputation that's on the line.

That as they bring this charge against Paul, what he realizes is they're actually bringing a charge against Jesus.

And so as he's standing there, he knows that my reputation doesn't matter.

My name doesn't matter.

But one thing that does matter is God's reputation and God's name.

And the truth about those things is that God comes to the defense of his name, his word, and his reputation every single time.

And so Paul doesn't feel the pressure that we would often feel of, well, I don't want these people to be mad at me, and I don't want to be known as someone who does these things.

Instead, he knows that Jesus is going to defend his word and his name, and so he can walk into this situation cheerfully making his defense for Jesus.

Verse 11.

You can verify, he's talking to Governor Felix, you can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

And they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues of the city.

Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.

So Paul, using Governor Felix as his proof, says, You know just as well as everyone here that there's no way that I was in Jerusalem, because I've been on my way here for the last twelve days.

You have accounted for my time in the last twelve days.

And in verse 14, Paul's about to do something that breaks the number one rule, if you're ever standing trial.

So my mom is an attorney, maybe your parents aren't, and they told you this as well.

But the number one thing that that my mom always tells me, and she's never gonna watch this, because which is good because this is kind of outing her, but the number one thing that she says is that if you ever were to s uh to not stand trial, but if I were to ever get pulled over, or if I ever am in a conversation with the police or with anybody who is charging something against me, the number one thing that I must not do is ever admit wrong.

How do you admit wrong?

You admit wrong by saying, Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that.

If I were to get in an accident and say, Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that.

Or if I were to say, oh my gosh, I shouldn't have done that, and just like freak out and say, Oh my gosh, I messed up.

What you're doing immediately in that situation is you are admitting that you were wrong.

And so my mom says, in every situation, whether I've got a ticket or I got an accident, which admittedly I've been in both, what my mom says is never in those situations admit that you did anything.

Let it all fall out the way that it may, and then deal with it there.

She obviously wouldn't want me to be dishonest, but you know, that's up to your opinion as well.

So what Paul says here breaks that golden rule.

He says here in verse 14, but this I confess to you, Paul is already now working behind the eight ball.

Because he's now addressing the accusations and he's now confessing to these accusations, which actually is a good thing in this situation.

Verse 14, but this I confess to you, that according to the way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and writ written in the prophets.

We did not pay Paul to plug the way.

He just chose to do it himself, and so.

We're grateful to him.

Shout out Paul.

Verse 15.

Having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

And so I will always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

So what what Paul is saying here is he's confessing to one of the charges that is brought against him.

But the way that he's doing it is very unique, and we're going to dig into it.

So the charge that was brought against him is that this man is a ringleader of the sect of the Jews.

This man is a cult leader, and they have their own religion.

They run their own businesses.

They have their own nonprofit.

They're doing things their own way.

But what Paul says is that this is what I confess, that according to the way, which they call a sect, they're calling the way, the lifestyle that they live, what the early church lived by, as a cult.

I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets.

And so Paul is saying, these people claim to be Jews, and if they claim to be Jews, then what's true is that them and I believe in the same God, Yahweh.

We have the same law, the law of Moses, that we reference, and the same prophets.

So them and I are not all that different.

That as I stand here, the sect that they call, or the way that they call a sect, is actually uses the same foundation that these people believe.

And so this thing that they call a cult, he now says, actually, we have a lot more uh uh similarities in what we believe than what they're saying.

And he says that he knows he's gonna stand before the Lord one day, just as they believe, and that they're gonna be judged, the just and the unjust.

And so he says everything he says with a clear conscience.

This is what's backing him, is that he knows, and he's referencing the fear of the Lord on his life, that everything that he says he knows one day he will be judged for, and so because of that, he's saying, You know that I'm telling the truth.

Verse 17.

Now, after several years I came up to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.

While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or turmoult.

But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you to make an accusation, should they have anything against me, or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council.

So you guys weren't charged to study up and do your homework, and I was.

So if we look back to Acts 21, this is what he's referencing.

And what the case that's brought against him earlier, they're referencing what happened in Acts 21.

Because what happened was, like he said, he's in the temple, he is purified in the temple, and it had been many years before he'd been there.

He had no crowd, there was no uprising, and what happened was some Jews from Asia came, seized him, and he stood trial for these very things.

So this is the second time for the same charge that Paul is standing trial.

But there's a notable difference here, and we can see how the argument breaks down right here in the text.

Because in Acts 21, the argument that's brought against him is that without a shadow of a doubt, this man profaned the temple.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

That's what they say in chapter 21.

But if we go up earlier in chapter 24, what they say is that he tried to profane the temple.

Because you understand, these aren't the same group of people.

These are people who have heard stories about Paul and are now attempting to put all of them together to make against a case against Paul.

And so immediately the case that they're bringing against Paul no longer has any basis as Paul is bringing the evidence up.

And what he says is, those people were the ones who seized me.

Why aren't they here standing trial?

And it's because I've already dealt with them.

This I already stood trial for, and I am no longer found guilty for this, and you will find the same thing to be true.

In verse 21, we see what Paul is attempting to communicate.

We see why he's able to cheerfully give uh this argument for the Lord.

And it says in verse 21, it says, other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them, it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.

So the one thing that he knows that this goes beyond everything that was said, but the truth of the matter is, is that this has to do with the resurrection of Jesus.

And that regardless of anything that they say, their personal vendetta, the thing that that they have against him, is that he claims that Jesus resurrected from the dead.

And so Paul makes this case cheerfully, with confidence, fully assured of what's happening, because he knows that his reputation is not on the line, but that he is making a defense for the resurrection of the dead.

That the difference in what he says, he says, we have the same law, we have the same God, we have the same prophets.

The difference is that there's the resurrection of the dead, that Jesus rose again, and this is what differs the way, those who follow the way, from the Jewish people of this time.

And so we see three things that are applicable to us that we can apply to our life, or things that we see about Paul that he's doing that are pointing us to Jesus.

Number one, the gospel, the way, is often a plague and foolishness.

It says in 1 Corinthians 1a, Paul is talking about the sacrifice of Jesus.

And it says that the sacrifice of Jesus is foolishness to the world.

But it's actually the power of Christ in us who believe.

And so for us who believe, the resurrection of Jesus is what we are our whole way of life, everything that we believe in is contingent upon that.

But it is foolishness to everyone else who doesn't see it relevant for themselves, to the world.

And similarly, Paul, his representation of the gospel to these people was seen as a plague.

And so here's what I would challenge you with, because in we're going through the um the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and youth.

And in Matthew chapter 5, it says that blessed are the peacemakers.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And so we have this kind of hanging over our head as believers, if we believe in Jesus, if our if our life is given over to him, that we're called to be peacemakers.

But what's also true is we see here is Paul, the one who represented Jesus on the earth, one of the best ways, was seen as a plague to those around him.

So here's my challenge.

If you are preaching or living out a gospel that is not foolishness or a plague to the world around you, then you may need to edit your gospel to fit the one that Paul preaches.

Because the truth of the matter is, is that when we live our life, what often happens if we are living our life towards Christ, that we go against the prevailing narrative of the time.

What we talk about in youth all the time is this idea of being counter-cultural.

And that the gospel and the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of God's word are counter-cultural by nature.

And so there's ways that we can make it look nice and we can package it up so that it's more digestible, and in a lot of instances that's a good thing.

However, if we move too far in one direction, what we can find is that we are no longer preaching or living out the representation of the gospel in the Word of God.

Because our representation of the gospel should be seen as a plague and foolishness to the world.

The second thing that we see.

Paul has the ability to cheerfully make his defense.

So if you're anything like me, you care way too much about your own reputation and your own name.

I I know a lot of people who live here in America who their last name means a lot to them, and it should.

That's not uh trying to villainize that or whatever, but what I'm saying is that as believers, if we are truly believers, then we have died with Christ, and our life is no longer our own.

And so if we've died with Christ, it's the blood of God that empowers us to do everything that he calls us to do.

So you are now called for a purpose, and you are called for a higher purpose that is given to you by God.

So you no longer represent yourself, but everywhere you go, if you claim to be a Christian, you are now representing God.

So because of that, you have the freedom to make your defense for God cheerfully in every situation.

That when you're backed up against the wall, when you are under persecution, when when there are people who are coming against you in those situations, you can have a cheerful defense of the gospel.

Because it's God who brings vengeance.

And ultimately it's God who lifts up.

The Bible says that he lifts up those who are humble, those who are meek.

He lifts those people up.

So if we give our life to Jesus, what he will do is he will lift us up.

And that he will also bring vengeance.

And like Paul says, he recognizes that one day, a truth that often we forget, that one day each and every one of us will stand before the Lord in judgment.

And if you have not accepted Jesus into your life, then that day you will be judged for the life that you have lived.

But for those who have found their life in Jesus have been washed by the blood, you are now seen as righteous because of the power of Jesus Christ.

And this is the confidence that we have in God.

But you can only do that if you can cheerfully make your defense knowing that it's no longer your name that's on the line, but it's actually Jesus' name.

And Jesus is going to come to the defense of his name.

And the third thing is the way is the one thing.

So the one thing that at the end, that the whole argument is about, that Paul recognizes this is the biggest difference, and this is why I'm standing trial today, is because and is due to the resurrection of the dead.

But what Paul doesn't do is what often evangelical Christians can do, and most of us are not like intentionally guilty of this, but this can happen, is when we look at the Old Testament, the law, the prophets, the God of the Old Testament.

As evangelical Christians, we can separate ourselves from that and say, I don't always recognize that God.

I don't always recognize the things are being said, but I know that I'm in a new covenant, and so I read the epistles and the gospels, and this is good for me.

Well, that's not how Paul saw it.

How Paul saw it was everything he believed was based and was had its foundation in the Old Testament, in the law, in the God of the Old Testament, and in the prophets.

We live now in a new covenant.

That is true.

But that new covenant can only be understood when we understand the old covenant and what God has brought us out of and into and what the things that bring us back to those things.

Now the way, not our church name, but the way of life that we live.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a follower of the way.

That way is narrow, it is not always easy, sometimes hardship comes, sometimes persecution comes, but if you are a follower of the way, then that lifestyle is contingent upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, I'm going to summarize, but that everything that we believe can only be true if Jesus actually resurrected from the dead.

Recently I saw a new report, it was an article, that said archaeologists have even further uncovered things that prove that Jesus was alive and that Jesus died.

And so more and more we're seeing the proof that Jesus was an actual dude.

It's becoming closer and closer to being recognized historically by everyone on different sides of the argument.

The difference is, is you can believe that Jesus existed on the earth and died all that you want.

But you are only a follower of the way because Jesus died and then was resurrected on the third day.

And that the resurrection of the dead is the one thing that we live our life for.

That following the way, the case that's being brought against us Christians fundamentally has to do with the resurrection of Jesus.

And so Paul knows that this is the subject of the text, that those who follow the way are representatives of Jesus, and Paul is the case study in this situation.

Because he's standing there, like I said, he's not sweating bullets like I would be, he's not sitting there quivering because he doesn't know what he's going to say next.

The truth of the matter is that Paul stands there knowing that his life is to be led by the God who came down, died on a cross, and on the third day was rose again.

Ashton, you can come up.

So just as a summary from this, from where we're at in the book of Acts, we see here in chapter 4 the continued story of Paul's journey, and he finds himself on trial once again for things that that, like he said, some of them weren't true, but what he admitted to are things that each and every one of us should find ourselves in.

That number one, the gospel that we preach, the gospel that should be that we live out, should be countercultural, and that in cases it could be called a plague to the people around us.

The cool thing about that word, that's not the same word in every translation, but I like that word.

Because often, in a negative way, a plague is like an outbreak of a disease.

It's something that doesn't just stay in one person, but it's an outbreak.

And similarly, we see that in the book of Acts, and it should be the case in our life, that this plague, which is called the way, which is the gospel of Jesus, should be like a plague to the people around us.

That it's an it's it's an outbreak amongst all the people that we know, all the people in our circle.

And whether or not those people make the decision for Jesus or not, they should know that we live a life that is following the way of Jesus, and that we preach a gospel that is found in God's word that seems like foolishness to the world.

We should be able to cheerfully make our defense for the gospel, knowing that it's not our name that's on the line, but that it's actually Jesus' name that's on the line, and he's going to come to the defense of his name.

And ultimately, we should know what we believe about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because if we do, then we are followers of the way of Jesus, and our life will begin to look so much different because we are now following after Jesus.

Thanks for listening.

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