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In Acts chapter 24, remember the last chapter, Paul was brought into court. Back in chapter 23, the multitude was attacking Paul. The chief captain, the Roman centurion, delivered him out of their hands. Then he made that big speech unto them, and when he got done with the speech, they said that he should be killed because he wanted the Gospel to go to the Gentiles. That's what made the Jews so upset. So they took him and arrested him, basically spent the night in jail. The next day, he stood in the court of the Jews, and the Jews were presiding. The Pharisees were there, the Sadducees were there, the high priests and the scribes. The Roman soldiers were there just as a bodyguard, just kind of observing. And Paul, of course, stands up in the midst, and he wanted to use a divide-and-conquer technique. So he basically perceived that half of the group were the Pharisees and half were the Sadducees. Well, the Pharisees believe in angels and spirits and the resurrection. The Sadducees denied all the supernatural occurrences of the Old Testament pretty much as far as an afterlife, angels, spirit. And so basically, he decided that he was going to pit them against one another. So he stood up and said, I'm a Pharisee! Which wasn't really true, but he used to be a Pharisee. But he stood up and said, I'm a Pharisee and I'm the son of a Pharisee. Touching the resurrection of the dead, I'm called in question this day. So then the Pharisees started arguing with the Sadducees about the resurrection. So he changed it, instead of being about him, to being about the resurrection. And the Pharisees didn't believe in Jesus Christ, but they did believe that someday people would be resurrected. And so basically, they start to fight with one another, and then the Pharisees say, well, you know, maybe this guy hasn't really done anything wrong. So they grab Paul and say, no, he's okay, and they try and deliver him. The Sadducees are grabbing him, trying to attack him. And so literally, he was being pulled in a tug of war between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the Roman centurion, the chief captain, Lysias, he thinks that Paul's going to be torn in half by these people, because it just became an angry mob. The Pharisees are pulling him, and the Sadducees, well, people are yelling, and it's just confusion. So he comes in with his soldiers and basically rescues Paul and says, this isn't going to work. We're going to have to take him to a different courtroom. Well, in the meantime, if you remember, those guys made an oath that they were not going to eat or drink, over 40 guys said, we're not going to eat or drink until we've slain Paul. Paul finds out about they decide that they're going to, the Roman centurion, he gets, I think it was 450 troops and a bunch of horses, and basically escorts Paul in safety out of Jerusalem, takes him over here to where he's going to be heard by the governor. And that's where we pick up the story here. So now he's in his second court appearance. The first one was that confusion where they were going to tear him in half, just to bring you up to speed in the story. It says after five days, so five days after that took place, Ananias, as the high priest, descended with the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. So when they get down to Caesarea, where Paul's going to be judged now by this governor, the high priest, and then they bring this guy Tertullus. Well, who's this orator Tertullus? He's basically like an attorney. We would today hire an attorney that would be really good at speaking so that they could stand in court and plead our case. Well, then there's another guy, the prosecutor, you know, and he stands up and, and pleads the cause of the offended party, which is usually the state or the government, unfortunately. But this guy Tertullus, he's brought in by the scribes and the high priest just to be a prosecutor in the case. So we're in a courtroom again. It says in verse two, when he was called for Tertullus, that's this prosecutor as it were, began to accuse him saying, seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always and in all places most noble Felix with all thankfulness. So what's this? This is him buttering up the judge. You're such a wonderful ruler. We just love you everywhere. We think you're great. Not withstanding that I be not further tedious unto thee. You know what tedious means? Basically, he's just being annoying. Like he's just talking about things that don't matter, just irrelevant. Like it has nothing to do with Paul. He's just buttering up the judge. But he says, you know, but I don't want to waste your time, you know, telling you how great you are. So he says that I be not further tedious unto thee. I pray thee that thou wouldst hear us of thy clemency a few words. So you notice the fancy language that this guy uses because he's an orc. That's his job. For we have found this man, a pestilent fellow. Now that's like we would call somebody a pest. Pestilence is talking about disease or it can also be referring to like a swarm of locusts coming in or flies, just annoying creatures. Think of pest control. So they say this is a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. So notice this guy's language. Every word that he's using is important here. First of all, it says he's a mover of sedition. Now that has nothing to do with religion. Paul was just preaching the gospel but they're trying to make it sound like he's this political agitator because sedition is a word that has to do with political revolution or agitation. That's not what Paul's going around doing. I mean, Paul's going around doing soul winning but they're saying, well, this guy is a mover of sedition among all the Jews and then just look at the exaggeration, throughout all the world. I mean, this guy is this worldwide rebellion, okay, up amongst the Jews, against the Romans is what he's trying to make it sound like. And he's a ringleader. I mean, think about that word, a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. And this is funny because people have attacked me before as pastor and they use the same type of term. What did they call me? They asked you like your leader and you're like, I mean, my pastor? You know, but they use these words like, you got one? Somebody said, somebody said, you're my spiritual father. People use these words like, they'll say, you know, you're a leader. It's like, are you talking about the pastor? And then they say this, you know, so you guys are going out and recruiting. It's like, no, we're soul winning. You know, we're out preaching the gospel. We're trying to get them to say, oh, so you guys are actively recruiting new members. So basically they, you know, they use words to try to put images in your mind of, you know, in our day, it'd be like a terrorist. They're trying to make him sound like he's like with Al-Qaeda or something. He's like a terrorist. He's a ringleader. And notice the word, the sect. You know, when you think of sect, it's kind of like our words today, a cult. You know, you say people are in a cult. That's what they need, like this sect, this cult, you know, the Nazarenes. So they basically give him this name, and this is never a name that Jesus Christ called them or sanctioned them. He was from Nazareth. That's the town that he was from. It's not where he was born, but that's where he was raised. And so Jesus Christ was called a Nazarene. But never were believers called Nazarenes. So this is kind of a derogatory, just to make it sound weird, you know, the Nazarenes, instead of just calling them, you know, believers or saints or Christians or whatever. So it says, who also have gone about to profane the temple, because so far he hasn't really brought any concrete accusations. Just he's a pestilent fellow. He's a ringleader of the Nazarenes, which is just translation Christian is what they're saying. Who also have gone about to profane the temple. So that's the charge that's being brought against him. He went about to profane the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to our law, but the chief captain Lysias came upon us and with great violence took him away. Now, is that what really happened? Yeah, they were just going to take him and judge him. No, they were going to tear him in half. They were literally going to tear him in two pieces. And Lysias didn't come in with great violence. He didn't hurt anybody. He just came in and just rescued him. They didn't kill anybody. I mean, you think of great violence. I mean, who got violated? No one. So they came in. So this guy is basically lying and twisting the story of what happened, making it sound like, well, everything would have been fine if this Lysias had stepped in. Not true. So he took him away with great violence. He says in verse 8, commanding his accusers to come unto thee by examining of whom thou mayest take knowledge of all these things whereof we accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. So they're all saying, yeah, that's right. It's true. Verse 10, then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast spent of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest understand that there are yet but 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people. He's not this agitator that they're making him out to be. Neither in the synagogue nor in the city. Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worshipped by the God of my fathers. Now watch this. Believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. Now that's an important verse. We need to understand that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. This is a New Testament belief. This is the Apostle Paul. And he said, I believe everything that is written in the law, and I believe everything that's written in the prophets. And we ought to say the same thing. We ought to believe every word of the Bible. And he says, and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, referring to the Pharisees, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Now let me stop and dwell on this for a moment. There will be, according to the Bible, a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. Let me break this down to you. Because here's what some people misunderstand. They misunderstand the word resurrection, okay? The word resurrection does not necessarily mean to come to life. That's what we think it means. Because obviously, with the resurrection of Christ, of course he did come back to life. He was dead, and then he came back to life. But the word resurrection in and of itself does not mean to come to life. It means to be raised up. Resurrection is the noun that corresponds to the verb being raised up, okay? So there's going to be a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust. Now Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross, he died on the cross, okay? He wasn't just asleep or in a coma. Jesus said in Revelation 1, I, he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell not dead. Jesus Christ died, and he was dead for three days and three nights. His body, we know, was buried in the tomb. But the Bible's clear that his soul descended into the nether parts of the earth, the Bible says. And it says that his soul was in hell for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now if you remember, Acts 2 31 says, this spakey of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh seek corruption. So there are two aspects of the resurrection of Christ. The soul resurrected from hell, and the body, you know, resurrected from the grave, okay? Two things going on there. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It says in verse number 22, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order. Christ, the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's to this coming, then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is dead. So here we see a timeline of the resurrection of the saints. We see first of all, he says, every man in his own order. Verse 23, right? So what are we talking about? The order of resurrection. Here's the first thing in order. Christ the firstfruits. Do you see that in verse 23? Here's the order. Christ the firstfruits. So who's the first person to rise in this order? Jesus Christ. And you say, wait a minute Pastor Aaron, other people resurrected like Lazarus. But wait a minute, Lazarus died again. He was brought back to life by Jesus temporarily but he died. Jesus Christ the only one who rose again in his glorified state never to die again. Sown in corruption, raised in corruption. First was Jesus Christ and to date, that is the only person who has been resurrected as far as never to die again. Other people will teach other doctrines on that. It's false. Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Okay, what's the next step in the order here? Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming, right? So Jesus Christ rose about 2000 years ago approximately. Well, afterward, the next step is going to be they that are Christ's at his coming. When Jesus Christ comes in the clouds, 1 Thessalonians 4, you know, Matthew 24, all different places talk about it. When Jesus Christ comes in the clouds, those that are Christ's at his coming will be resurrected, right? The Bible says the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So it's real simple. We've got Christ the firstfruits, afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. That's every believer who's ever lived. The dead in Christ and also those that are living that are in Christ. What's the next step? So we've got firstfruits, afterward, they that are Christ's at coming. Verse 24, then cometh the end. Okay, what is the end? Well, the Bible's going to tell us. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is dead. Well, the end, the Bible says, is after Christ has reigned and after he's delivered up the kingdom to the Father. Well, that reign of Christ is known as the millennium, where Jesus Christ is going to rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years. And the Bible says that after the millennium, after he has ruled and reigned for a thousand years and delivers up the kingdom to the Father, that's called the end. Okay, so we've got three stages of the resurrection here. We've got Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming, and then we've got the end, which takes place after the millennium when death will finally be defeated and destroyed for good. Go to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter number 20. And while you're turning there, I'm going to read for you from John chapter 5. And I hope you're paying attention closely to this because this is really important doctrinally. And you know, if you read the Bible, it's really crystal clear what I just showed you, 1 Corinthians 15, right? But I'm belaboring it because people don't comprehend this. They think that there's all these different resurrections. They've got seven resurrections and five resurrections. No, there's Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, and then the end, which is after the millennium when death is finally defeated. While you're turning there, I'm going to read for you from John chapter 5, another verse that you're going to want to think about as we go through this. John 5 28 says this, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Now does it say that they're going to come back to life? No, it just says they're going to come forth or forward. They're going to come up. They're going to come forth. He says all that are in the graves shall come forth in the same hour. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Okay? So we're in Revelation 20. So far we've heard about the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. Then Jesus called it in John 5 28, the resurrection of life versus the resurrection of damnation. So is that resurrection of damnation a resurrection of life? No. Because the word resurrect does not mean to come to life. It means to be raised up. Okay? Now, who's ever heard of someone who erects steel, like a steel erector? Right? That's a job. I remember when my dad told me he was in boot camp. And he's from Southern California. And my dad's thrown into boot camp with people from all over the country. And he's talking to another guy and he asks a guy, he says, hey, what do you do for a living? And he said, I erect steel. And this guy from Mississippi was there. And he said, you say you run a steel? He said, hey, we got a steel back home too. He thought it was like a still, like distilling. He knows what a still is. You know, like distilling illegal alcohol. So anyway, it was kind of funny because people from different parts of the country hear words a little different. He's like, I erect steel. Oh, you run a still? Me too. So anyway, erect, erecting steel, what are they doing? You know, they're lifting up these huge pieces of steel and setting them up there. They're raising them up. So get this word, resurrection, erection. That's how you talk about raising up. And the re at the beginning, the first two letters of the word resurrection re, what does that prefix usually mean? Again. Again. So are you getting the picture? Rise again to raise again. That's what resurrection means. So we're not talking about people necessarily coming back to life. Now the resurrection of life, yeah, they're coming back to life. Resurrection of damnation, not so. Let's read the Bible and I'll prove it to you in Revelation chapter 20. It says in Revelation chapter 20, in verse number three, this is talking about Satan being cast into the pit of hell for 1000 years during the millennium. It says, it cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and sent a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1000 years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed to little season. And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ 1000 years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 1000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with them 1000 years. Okay, so what do we see here? The first resurrection. Now, let me just define the word first for you. It means there wasn't another one before this. I know that's tough to understand. You know what the Bible says in Genesis one, the evening and the morning were the first day? That means that the earth wasn't around for millions of years before that. It was the first day. That's what first means. Okay. Well, what he said, some people say, well, this is the first kind of resurrection. But hold on a second. This is before the millennium, right? The first resurrection, people that were raised up again before the millennium. This is the same thing we saw in 1 Corinthians 15, afterward they that are Christ and his coming. Now, these people are not being raised up right here in chapter 20. These people were raised up years earlier in the book of Revelation. They're not raised up right here at this event. He just says, I saw thrones and there they were and they sat upon him. They lived and reign with Christ. He didn't say, by the way, they rose up five minutes ago. No, we saw these same people already resurrected in chapter 14 and in chapter seven, both places mentioned because it tells the whole story of Revelation twice. The chronology starts over again in chapter 12. That's a whole another sermon. It's very simple once you understand the basics of it. But the bottom line is that although this is talking about the fact that they rose up earlier, it includes people who did not worship the beast or his image. So that proves right there that the rapture does not take place before the anti-Christ is revealed. We already knew that from 2 Thessalonians chapter two. But we see here that the first resurrection is those that are Christ and his coming. It's before the millennium. But notice he said the rest of the day lived not again till the thousand years are finished. Now, is that talking about saved people or unsaved people? Well, it can't be talking about unsaved people because guess what? The unsaved people are not going to live again. They're going to remain dead and I'm going to prove that to you. Look if you would down at the next verse where we left off. It says, when the thousand years are expired, verse seven, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand and sea. Gog and Magog referred to in Ezekiel 38 and 39. It says in verse nine, and they went up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints about and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven to power them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. There's a verse on hell being eternal. It says in verse 11, I saw a great white throat and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them and I saw who? The dead stand before God. He said, I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and who was judged? The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the book according to the word. Did these people live again? Is this who we were referring to in Revelation 25 about the ones who lived again? No, these people are dead. They've been resurrected because it says in verse 13, watch what verse 13 says, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works. So the dead people who are in hell are resurrected in the sense that they're raised up out of hell. They're brought up out of hell. He said that they would come forth and that's called the resurrection of damnation. Damnation means condemnation basically. This is a stronger word for condemnation. So this is a raising up to be condemned. So they're brought up before that great white throne not alive but dead. He said, I saw the dead small and great stand before God. Let me ask them, is that believers? No, because the believers are not dead because Jesus Christ said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. So we're not talking about the believers who've already been brought back to life over a thousand years. I mean if you're listening to the sound of my voice right now and you're saved, well guess what? You're going up in the first resurrection. In fact, because you're right here, you're listening to the sound of my voice, you're a believer, everyone who is Christ said is coming is going up in that first resurrection. So you're going to have been brought back to life over a thousand years before this event takes place. Over a thousand years before this takes place, you're alive. So the dead here is not you, it's not me. It's unsaved people who were in hell, their soul is brought up out of hell, their body is brought up out of the sea or the earth or death or wherever and they're basically resurrected to be judged for their sins. And this is where the Bible says they're going to have to give an account for every idle word that they've spoken. Their sins are going to be brought out and used to condemn them and here's the thing though, look at verse 14. It says in death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Doesn't that imply that somebody is found in the book of life? If those who are not found are being cast in the lake of fire and these are somebody else there whose name is in the book of life is not being cast in the lake of fire, okay? Now here's the situation. Remember how in 1 Corinthians there were basically two, there was the firstfruits, Jesus, but there were only two resurrections of believers. There's Jesus all by himself, the firstfruits. Afterward they that are Christ's is coming then come at the end. Well guess what, that's what we're reading about in Revelation 20, the end. And when the Bible says the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished, who is that referring to? Who are these people that are coming to life again after the thousand years is finished that didn't go up in the first resurrection? Very simple, very easy answer. Those who lived or were saved after the first resurrection. It's that simple because after the first resurrection, if you remember, there's still several years of God pouring out his wrath on this earth after the first resurrection. Then there's a whole thousand year millennial reign of Christ and during that millennial reign of Christ there are going to be all kinds of human beings on this world marrying happy children, not us because in the resurrection we neither are going to marry nor be given a marriage, but there are going to be all the mortal human beings living on this earth who are going to be marrying and having children and those children will grow up and have a decision whether or not to believe on Jesus Christ, whether or not to be saved. You say well Jesus is physically on the earth, everybody will believe on him. Well actually he's already been here once. Did everybody believe on him? John chapter 12, but though he had done so many miracles before him, yet they believed not on him. So Jesus Christ will be on this earth in the millennium, not everyone is going to believe on him. Not everyone's going to believe that he is who he says he is. Not everybody's going to believe the truth. So there are going to be people who are saved after the first resurrection or people who weren't even born when the first resurrection took place or maybe they were just, you know, whatever. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? So that's why there's two resurrections. There's the first resurrection for and everybody who's under the sound of my voice is going to be in that resurrection if you're saved. But then at the end, the rest of the day, because obviously in Revelation 20, because the first resurrection had taken place years earlier, there are already some people who died in the interim that got saved after the first resurrection had already taken place or you know they've lived after that. And so the bottom line is those people are remaining in the grave, they're remaining bodily in the grave, their soul is in heaven, but they're not resurrected from the grave until after the millennium. So, you know, I hope that didn't get too complicated for you. Let's go back to Acts, that was all just one verse out of Acts 24. But anyway, you know, I just really want you to understand that doctrine and, you know, I don't think it's complicated. I mean, I hope everybody understood what I just explained. Some of you understood most of it or part of it or all of it, but yes, sir. On the dead, they don't come to life, are they zombies or something or what? No, no, no. I mean, if you want to call them a zombie, you can, but the bottom line is that they're basically brought up out of hell, okay, and they're considered dead. I mean, I don't know how to explain it. I don't know quite how to explain it because I've never seen a dead person standing before God being judged. Can you talk to them? Well, you could talk, I mean, they talked to the rich man when he was in hell. So, I mean, he was talking in hell. I mean, people in hell can talk, but they're just, see, the thing that I want you to understand is that the people that are in hell, they're just, it's only their soul that's in hell. Like if somebody dies right now, okay, we see their body. I mean, that's what we bury in the ground. And if someone's saved and they die, their body goes into the ground, their soul instantly is carried to heaven. A person who's unsafe dies, their body, we bury it, and their soul is instantly transported them to hell, okay. But in hell, they're not, they're bodily. They're only in the soul and they're in torment and they can talk and things and so on. They're going to be brought bodily to stand before God. And then the Bible says that Jesus Christ will destroy both soul and body in hell. That's what we see take place in Revelation 20 when they're actually thrown into hell with their body. So, you know, I mean, I guess zombies, not a biblical word, you know, but anyway, yeah, they're, they're basically, they're standing there, they're talking. They definitely understand what's going on just as they did in hell when they were only a soul. They're in their body and they're standing there and they're, they're going to, and by the way, this is the time when people will basically be bowing the knee and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God and Father. And people are going to be begging for mercy at this time. But if their name is not found in the book of life, it's going to be too late for them and they're going to be cast out into outer darkness as opposed to where they did reside in hell in the heart of the earth. In the heart of the earth is known as the bottomless pit hell. Well, that's relocated into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is called the second death. Bible says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Of course, we've all lied, but if we believe on Christ, our sins are forgiven. That's how we get into heaven. But without Christ, we're going to be some, you know, we would go to hell. So outer darkness, lake of fire is a different place. So they're not alive. The Bible is very clear to repeatedly tell us the dead are standing before God. It's a resurrection of damnation, not a resurrection of life. But I'm going to spend the whole night on that. So let's finish this up. I hope you comprehended that. And if you have any other questions, we can just talk about it after the service. But Acts 24 here, Paul is saying there's going to be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Those that are just, they'll be resurrected and basically their body will be brought back to life and they will live forever. Those who are unjust will be resurrected unto the resurrection of damnation. Verse 16, and herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man. You know, this is what we ought to do also, to exercise ourselves to keep a conscience void of offense toward God and man. The Bible says that the conscience of man is the candle of the Lord. It says in Proverbs, and it searches out the innermost parts of the belly. We have a conscience that God has given us, not Jimmy Cricket or whatever, but we have a conscience. And it's basically that part of us and that part of our mind and our heart that basically tells us when we're doing something wrong. You know, sometimes you go to do something and you just know it's wrong. And that's your conscience sometimes. That's the part of you that tells you that things are wrong. I'm not talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will convict also, and the Holy Spirit will rebuke us as well. But this is basically just our own conscience, our own mind. We as human beings, unlike the animals, have a sense that we've done wrong. And you ought to listen to that. Don't just brush that off. You know, if you do something wrong, or if you're about to do something you're not sure it's wrong, sometimes your conscience will kick in and say, don't do that. That's not right. And God uses that. The Bible says it's the candle of the Lord to basically shed light and expose some of our sins so that we won't commit those sins. So Paul said, I'm trying to have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man. I don't want to sin against God, and I don't want to sin against my fellow man. You know, sinning against God would be, you know, if I'm blaspheming God, blaspheming Christ or something like that. Sinning against man is I'm stealing from man. You know, if I kill someone or if I bear a false witness against someone. So we don't want to sin against God, we want to sin against man. It says in verse 17, now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings. Alms is what you give unto poor people financially. Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with tumult, who ought to have been here before thee and object if they had ought against me. Or else let these same years say if they found me evildoing in me while I stood before the council. So he says right here, these people that are here accusing me, Tertullus and these other guys, they haven't really accused me of anything concrete. I mean, if they've really done evil, why don't they bear witness of the evil? And he says, except it be for this one voice that I cried standing among them, touching the resurrection of the dead I am called and questioned by you this day. And when Felix heard these things, this is the governor, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, when Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. So basically Felix right here, he knows all about Jesus Christ, because he says he had more perfect knowledge of that way. That way, referring to the way in which Paul serves God and worships God as his father. So he knew about Jesus Christ, he knew about Christianity, he knew the gospel, and basically he just kind of wants to push this back. He doesn't really want to get involved, so he defers. He basically just kind of wants to push this off and look for an excuse. It's kind of like if you're in court and they say, you know, we're going to have to have a, what's it called, a continuance. You know, we need a continuance here, and it's kind of a stalling that takes place. Well, that's what's going on. He says, well, let's wait until the captain comes up. Let's get his side of the sword. Let's see what he says. So he just kind of pushes it off. But guess what? That just doesn't happen. Because as we read, two years go by, and Paul basically just sits and confine him. But the good thing is, Felix doesn't really have animosity toward Paul, so it says in verse 23 that he commanded a centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty. So basically he's technically arrested and being incarcerated, but he's basically given liberty and that he should forbid none of his acquaintances come at him. So basically he just says really loosely, maybe he's on like a house arrest type of thing. You know, don't worry about locking him up in the dungeon or anything. Just let his friends come to him. Let people bring him food and take care of him and whatever. Just go easy on him. So it says, and after certain days when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, so now Drusilla shows up. This is Felix's wife. She wasn't there before. And so, you know, she wants to hear Paul speak. She happened to be a Jewess. Felix is not a Jew, but he just knows a lot about Judaism and Christianity and so forth. He had a lot of knowledge about it. So Drusilla is a Jewess, which means female Jew. He sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. So he basically just calls a man and his wife's here and says, let's hear this preacher. He's a famous preacher and, you know, let's learn more about, you know, Christianity. Let's see what he has to say. Let's learn about the faith in Christ. Let's see what he has. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I'll call for thee. Now, and then it says he hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul. He's looking for a bride that he might lose him. Wherefore, he sent for him the offener and communed with him. But after two years, Portia Asbestos came into Felix's room. Basically, he's replaced as governor two years later, his term ends, and this guy Festus comes in. And Felix, willing to show the Jews of pleasure, left Paul bound. Now, let me explain this part to you. Felix here wants to hear about the faith in Christ, okay? But that's not what Paul decided to preach on. Paul comes in and starts to reason with him of righteousness. What is righteousness? Doing right. Temperance. What does temperance mean? Controlling yourself. Now, I remember, I've heard this word used differently like in the earlier part of the 20th century. My great aunt, so basically this is my father's aunt, okay? We found this little card that she had signed like 80 years ago. And she signed this in Sunday school and it said, Temperance Pledge. And it was my great aunt Blanche. And she said, I, Blanche, Mooney, you know, am basically committing to not drink any alcohol and to not, you know, smoke cigarettes and to encourage other children to do the same. And it was the Temperance Pledge. And it's funny, she still had it 70-some years later. You know, she kept this. As a little kid, she signed this card pledging, you know, I'm not going to drink and I'm not going to, you know, she didn't. She never did. So she signed that little card, made that little pledge. So that was a Temperance Pledge. Basically, I'm going to control myself. I'm just trying to help you understand the word temper. You know, I'm going to control my, I'm not just going to give into the flesh. And that was just one thing that they singled out, you know, alcohol and cigarettes. I'm not going to do that. And so temperance, yeah, okay, have you ever heard of someone having a bad temper? What does it mean? That's the opposite of temperance. A bad temper is just you're out of control. You fly off the handle and you're not under control of yourself. Okay, that's what a bad temper is. So temperance would be you are controlling yourself. So basically, he's talking about righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. He's talking about the fact that God is going to basically have a judgment to come, a final judgment. Maybe this is tying in with what we talked about, you know, being cast into the lake of fire, standing before God, having the books opened, and being judged according to your works, that judgment to come. And he's preaching on this stuff. I mean, he's preaching them about righteousness and temperance and judgment to come. And it says here, Felix trembled. So basically, he's scared. I mean, he's hearing Paul filled with the Spirit of God preaching this powerful sermon against sin about the coming judgment of God. And he's basically trembling. And he basically doesn't want to hear it. He says, go thy way, he says, take off. And he says, when I have a convenient season, I'll call for thee. Now, after that, he had him come in other times just because he's trying to get a bribe out of him. But this was the first time he called him in and heard him preach and he trembled. Now, there's a lot of things I want to point out just about this one verse. This is an interesting verse. First of all, I've heard people pull this out and basically use this to say like, you know, if somebody's not trembling, they didn't get saved. Now, here's the thing. This guy didn't get saved. So that's a pretty bad example. Because, you know, when we give people the gospel, they should tremble. It's like, wait a minute, this guy didn't get saved. So bad example. But I've literally heard this used as an example saying, you know, these people, you know, if there's no repentance, you know, they ought to be trembling and they ought to be crying. And if I don't see that emotion, then I don't think they're getting it. Well, here's a guy who wasn't getting it and he was trembling. Because here's the thing. If you hear the gospel and you don't get saved, you ought to be trembling if you're going to hell. But hold on a second. If you hear the gospel and you believe it, there's nothing to tremble about. It's good news. The Bible says it's glad tidings. So if the gospel's good news, it's not necessarily going to make you tremble and cry and get scared. Let's face it, it's good news. The Bible says it's the gospel and that's what gospel means. Because it says in Isaiah 61, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach glad tidings. And that's translated in the New Testament, Luke chapter 4, as the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. So basically, gospel and glad tidings interchangeably. Good news. The good news is that Jesus paid it all. The good news is that you can be saved right now. The good news is that you never have to face that second death. The good news is you'll never go to hell because you can believe on Jesus Christ and Jesus already paid it all. He shed his blood for all our sins. It's easy to be saved. Jesus did the hard part. You just got to believe on Christ and you can do that right now. Hey, that's a relief. That's a relief. Wow, great. Because people are worried about it. We knock on the door and we say, do you know for sure if you died, did you go to heaven? I don't know. Man, that'd be a scary thing if you don't know. It's a scary thing if you don't know for sure that you're going to heaven because hell is so bad. And when you show them how they can know for sure, a lot of times it's just a relief. Oh wow, you mean God loves me and he already did everything? All I got to do is accept the gift of salvation and just believe on it? That's a great news. That's a great message. So this thing of, you know, and it's all hyped up. It's stuff that you and I haven't really seen a lot, but we've heard about it. All those people coming down the aisle and falling on their face and crying in the sawdust trail and all the great creatures of the times of the past and we need revival because back then people trembled and they were crying and they wept at the mortar's bench and those were the good old days. You weren't even there. You weren't even alive. You read that in some comic book. It's just, it's a comic book. You know, it's like all these super, these Baptist superheroes. You know, they come into town and everybody just falls, you know, and then literally they tell these stories. This preacher Charles D. Payne, you know, he walked in and people just started crying and falling on their face and getting saved. I mean this, they tell these crazy stories about Charles D. Payne. I've heard these at intimate one-off atmosphere. Who's heard this stuff? Okay, yeah, he would come into town and they told this one story. He went into the church building to preach and his big crusade, you know, Charles D. Payne, and basically everybody was late and pretty much the church building was pretty empty and he was upset, you know, why are people showing up on time? Why are they late? And they said this is what it is because so many people were coming to hear a preach. They jammed up every road in the whole city and so Charles D. Payne just spent the next six hours just going from carriage to carriage just getting hundreds of people saved and they were like falling down and crying. He hadn't even preached. They're just crying when he gets there. They don't even know why and he just gets there and then this other time he walked into a factory and he walked into a factory just stood there and just flipped around and it was a factory owned by a friend of his and then all of a sudden the factory workers just started crying and they didn't know why and they just started and then they just shut down the whole factory and just had turned it into a preaching meeting and all these people got saved and tune in next time for more adventures of superheroes. But it's funny how you never read about that happening in the bible. You see Paul show up and he preaches. A lot of people are laughing at him and a lot of people say well we need to hear more and then some people get saved. You look at Jesus. A few people get saved. A lot of people rejected him. A lot of people don't listen. You never see somebody walking up not saying anything. They were just falling on their feet crying. The only time you see that is when people walked up to Jesus Christ. Sometimes they got on their knees and just fell down and said hey can you heal me or am I you know because I'm diseased and I've heard that you heal people. But you know this this stuff of the of the you know people need to tremble and if they're not trembling you know then that shows and they need to be sad and they need to be sorry and they need to feel bad about it. You know it's good news. Smile about it. I mean sure there's some bad news okay you're on your way to hell but it's not really bad news if you can find the truth and salvation right there that's good news. I mean when I give somebody the gospel it's like 10% bad news and 90% good news and the 90% good news pretty much demolishes the 10% bad news because they're not going to hell anyway. And so bad example this guy didn't get saved. He ought to be trembling because he's not saved. But here's another thing that you notice. This is the first time he's really hearing Paul preach. Because when Paul was in the courtroom he just kind of gave more of a legal defense. This is the first time he hears Paul preach. He's trembling. So it is making an impact on him. It is having an effect upon him. He doesn't get saved. And by the way he already knew about Jesus remember. He already had a more perfect understanding of this way. He's trembling the first time he hears it. But notice the second time is he trembling. No he's just trying to get a bribe. Just trying to get money. See what I'm saying. So here's a lesson. People need to get saved now. You know sometimes people hear the gospel and it really makes a profound impact on them. You know and God's word is cutting like a two-edged sword to their heart. And then they want to put things and say you know what let's talk about this in a more convenient season. But you know what after a time it wears off and then pretty soon that convenient season rolls around and you know what they're not really interested anymore. In fact they're just interested in extorting money out of the prisoner because he's just a crooked governor. He probably extorts money out of all kinds of prisoners and he keeps trying to extort money out of Paul. Paul's not going to give him any money. I don't know if Paul had the money but Paul just decided you know what I'm just gonna you know beat this in court or I don't know what he was doing. But the bottom line is here that this guy waited until another time to deal with his spiritual problem and to deal with the fact that he wasn't saved. And Paul's trying to preach to him that there's judgment coming. He needs to be saved. He puts it off for a more convenient time. You know what now is the accepted time the bible says. Now is the day of salvation. Some people some people the first time you give them the gospel is the best time is the most likely that they're going to get saved. And every time you give to them after that they're less likely to get saved sometimes. Now there are other types of people who when they hear the gospel they don't quite understand it doesn't quite sink in and that's just planting a seed and then later you come back and water it. Later you come back some people you're going to give the gospel to over and over again and then finally it clicks with them and they believe. Sometimes people just have to digest it a little bit but that wasn't the case here. This guy didn't need to digest it. He'd already heard all about it and he understood it well enough to be troubling and yet he should have been trembling like the Philippian tailor. Remember act 16? You know he said uh you know hey what must I do to be saved and they said believe on the lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And so you know when you're talking to people about the gospel you know you can't force somebody to get saved right because what they believe that's in their heart. I mean you can't control that and even if you get somebody to say something it's not going to do anything unless they believe it in their heart. So you can't make somebody get saved but you know what I always try to stress to people who want to put it off though I try to stress to them that now's the day of salvation. You know now is the time if they comprehend it and if they get it you know I try to encourage people to get saved right then and there because you know what if they put it off sometimes that that convenient season is never going to come or if it does come they're not really trembling anymore about the thought of hell and they've just moved on from that. And so basically that's what we see here two years go by new governor comes in Felix didn't get saved and he wants to stay popular with the constituency so that he can go back and maybe give some some dinners or some speeches where he can make some money so he decides hey did you just want me to leave Paul in jail I'll just leave him in jail let the next governor mess with this guy let's just defer it let's just keep continuing to pushing it out there so this new guy comes in Festus now he's the governor well now Festus is going to have to make a decision so another I mean we see Paul just going to court again and again now in the next chapter he's going to stand before Festus then he's going to stand before Agrippa in the next chapter so he's just standing before leader and you say man why does he have to go to court so many times about the same thing but God is using this because God actually prophesied that this would happen because God's giving him a chance to preach in these courtrooms because in chapter 25 and 26 he's going to be able to preach the gospel in court and all the people that are there are going to hear him and the governor himself and the king Agrippa is going to hear him let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father thank you so much for your word dear God and all the things that we can learn from it please just tell these words that sink down into our ears help us to understand the message tonight salvation is by faith alone the gospel's good news there's a judgment coming upon the unsaved and we ought to go preach the gospel to every creature that they might be saved and avoid that terrible day that we read about in revelation 20 and thank God those of us that are saved the second death has no power on us and we will live forever in a perfect place with the Lord Jesus Christ thank you so much for your word and just please help us to read it and study it in Jesus name. Amen.