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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A C T S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We left Paul a prisoner at Cæsarea, in Herod's judgment-hall,
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expecting his trial to come on quickly; for in the beginning of his
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imprisonment his affairs moved very quickly, but afterwards very
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slowly. In this chapter we have his arraignment and trial before Felix
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the governor at Cæsarea; here is,
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I. The appearing of the prosecutors against him, and the setting of the
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prisoner to the bar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. The opening of the indictment against him by Tertullus, who was of
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counsel for the prosecutors, and the aggravating of the charge, with
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abundance of compliments to the judge, and malice to the prisoner,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:2-8">ver. 2-8</A>.
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III. The corroborating of the charge by the testimony of the witnesses,
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or rather the prosecutors themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:9">ver. 9</A>.
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IV. The prisoner's defence, in which, with all due deference to the
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governor
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:10">ver. 10</A>),
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he denies the charge, and challenges them to prove it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>),
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owns the truth, and makes an unexceptionable profession of
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his faith, which he declares was it that they hated him for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>),
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and gives a more particular account of what had passed from their first
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seizing him, challenging them to specify any ill they had found in him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:17-21">ver. 17-21</A>.
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V. The adjourning of the cause, and the continuing of the prisoner in
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custody,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:22,23">ver. 22, 23</A>.
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VI. The private conversation that was between the prisoner and the
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judge, by which the prisoner hoped to do good to the judge and the
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judge thought to get money by the prisoner, but both in vain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:24-26">ver. 24-26</A>.
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VII. The lengthening out of Paul's imprisonment for two years, till
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another governor came
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:27">ver. 27</A>),
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where he seems as much neglected as there had been ado about him.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ac24_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac24_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Speech of Tertullus.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with
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the elders, and <I>with</I> a certain orator <I>named</I> Tertullus, who
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informed the governor against Paul.
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2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse
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<I>him,</I> saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and
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that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy
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providence,
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3 We accept <I>it</I> always, and in all places, most noble Felix,
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with all thankfulness.
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4 Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I
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pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.
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5 For we have found this man <I>a</I> pestilent <I>fellow,</I> and a
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mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a
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ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:
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6 Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took,
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and would have judged according to our law.
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7 But the chief captain Lysias came <I>upon us,</I> and with great
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violence took <I>him</I> away out of our hands,
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8 Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of
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whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof
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we accuse him.
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9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We must suppose <I>that Lysias, the chief captain,</I> when he had
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<I>sent away Paul to Cæsarea,</I> gave notice to the chief priests,
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and others that had appeared against Paul, that if they had any thing
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to accuse him of they must follow him to Cæsarea, and there they would
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find him, and a judge ready to hear them-thinking, perhaps, they would
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not have given themselves so much trouble; but what will not malice
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do?</P>
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<P>
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I. We have here the cause followed against Paul, and it is vigorously
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carried on.
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1. Here is no time lost, for they are ready for a hearing <I>after five
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days;</I> all other business is laid aside immediately, to prosecute
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Paul; so intent are evil men to do evil! Some reckon <I>these five
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days</I> from Paul's being first seized, and with most probability, for
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he says here
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
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<I>that it was but twelve days since he came up to Jerusalem,</I> and
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he had <I>spent seven in his purifying the temple,</I> so that these
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five must be reckoned from the last of those.
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2. Those who had been his judges do themselves appear here as his
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prosecutors. <I>Ananias</I> himself <I>the high priest,</I> who had sat
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to judge him, now stands to inform against him. One would wonder,
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(1.) That he should thus disparage himself, and forget the dignity of
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his place. She <I>the high priest</I> turn informer, and leave all his
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business in <I>the temple at Jerusalem,</I> to go to be called as a
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prosecutor in <I>Herod's judgment-hall?</I> Justly did God make <I>the
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priests contemptible and base,</I> when they made themselves so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:9">Mal. ii. 9</A>.
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(2.) That he should thus discover himself and his enmity against Paul!.
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If men of the first rank have a malice against any, they think it
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policy to employ others against them, and to play least in sight
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themselves, because of the odium that commonly attends it; but Ananias
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is not shamed to own himself a sworn enemy to Paul. <I>The elders</I>
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attended him, to signify their concurrence with him, and to invigorate
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the prosecution; for they could not find any attorneys or solicitors
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that would follow it with so much violence as they desired. The pains
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that evil men take in an evil matter, their contrivances, their
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condescensions, and their unwearied industry, should shame us out of
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our coldness and backwardness, and out indifference in that which is
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good.</P>
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<P>
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II. We have here the cause pleaded against Paul. The prosecutors
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brought <I>with them a certain orator named Tertullus,</I> a Roman,
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skilled in the Roman law and language, and therefore fittest to be
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employed in a cause before <I>the Roman governor,</I> and most likely
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to gain favour. The high priest, and elders, though they had their own
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hearts spiteful enough, did not think their own tongues sharp enough,
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and therefore retained Tertullus, who probably was noted for a
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satirical wit, to be of counsel for them; and, no doubt, they gave him
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a good fee, probably out of the treasury of the temple, which they had
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the command of, it being a cause wherein the church was concerned and
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which therefore must not be starved. Paul is set to the bar before
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Felix the governor: <I>He was called forth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Tertullus's business is, on the behalf of the prosecutors, to open the
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information against him, and he is a man that will say any thing for
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his fee; mercenary tongues will do so. No cause so unjust but can find
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advocates to plead it; and yet we hope many advocates are so just as
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not knowingly to patronise an unrighteous cause, but Tertullus was none
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of these: his speech (or at least an abstract of it, for it appears, by
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Tully's orations, that the Roman lawyers, on such occasions, used to
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make long harangues) is here reported, and it is made up of flattery
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and falsehood; it calls evil good, and good evil.</P>
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<P>
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1. One of the worst of men is here applauded as one of the best of
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benefactors, only because he was the judge. Felix is represented by the
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historians of his own nation, as well as by Josephus the Jew, as a very
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bad man, who, depending upon his interest in the court, allowed himself
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in all manner of wickedness, was a great oppressor, very cruel, and
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very covetous, patronising and protecting assassins.--Joseph.
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<I>Antiq.</I> 20. 162-165. And yet Tertullus here, in the name of the
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high priest and elders, and probably by particular directions from them
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and according to the instructions of his breviate, compliments him, and
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extols him to the sky, as if he were so good a magistrate as never was
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the like: and this comes the worse from the high priest and the elders,
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because he had given a late instance of his enmity to their order; for
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Jonathan the high priest, or one of the chief priests, having offended
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him by too free an invective against the tyranny of his government, he
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had him murdered by some villains whom he hired for that purpose who
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afterwards did the like for others, as they were hired: <I>Cujus
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facinoris quia nemo ultor extitit, invitati hac licentia sicarii multos
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confodiebant, alios propter privatas inimicitias, alios conducti
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pecunia, etiam in ipso templo--No one being found to punish such enormous
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wickedness, the assassins, encouraged by this impunity, stabbed several
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persons, some from personal malice, some for hire, and that even in the
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temple itself.</I> An yet, to engage him to gratify their malice
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against Paul, and to return them that kindness for their kindness in
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overlooking all this, they magnify him as the greatest blessing to
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their church and nation that ever came among them.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) They are very ready to own it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>By thee we,</I> of the church, <I>enjoy great quietness,</I> and we
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look upon thee as our patron and protector, <I>and very worthy deeds
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are done,</I> from time to time, <I>to the whole nation of the Jews, by
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thy providence</I>--thy wisdom, and care, and vigilance." To give him
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his due, he had been instrumental to suppress the insurrection of that
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Egyptian of whom the chief captain spoke
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:38"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 38</A>);
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but will the praise of that screen him from the just reproach of his
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tyranny and oppression afterwards? See here,
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[1.] The unhappiness of great men, and a great unhappiness it is, to
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have their services magnified beyond measure, and never to be
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faithfully told of their faults; and hereby they are hardened and
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encouraged in evil.
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[2.] The policy of bad men, by flattering princes in what they do amiss
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to draw them in to do worse. The bishops of Rome got themselves
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confirmed in their exorbitant church power, and have been assisted in
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persecuting the servants of Christ, by flattering and caressing
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usurpers and tyrants, and so making them the tools of their malice, as
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the high priest, by his compliments, designed to make Felix here.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) They promise to retain a grateful sense of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>We accept it always, and in all places,</I> every where and at all
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times we embrace it, we admire it, <I>most noble Felix, with all
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thankfulness.</I> We will be ready, upon any occasion, to witness for
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thee, that thou art a wise and good governor, and very serviceable to
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the country." And, if it had been true that he was such a governor, it
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had been just that they should thus accept his good offices with all
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thankfulness. The benefits which we enjoy by government, especially by
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the administration of wise and good governors, are what we ought to be
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thankful for, both to God and man. This is part of the honour due to
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magistrates, to acknowledge the quietness we enjoy under their
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protection, and the worthy deeds done by their prudence.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) They therefore expect his favour in this cause,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They pretend a great care not to intrench upon his time: We will <I>not
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be further tedious to thee;</I> and yet to be very confident of his
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patience: <I>I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a
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few words.</I> All this address is only <I>ad captandam benefolentiam--to
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induce him to give countenance to their cause;</I> and they were so
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conscious to themselves that it would soon appear to have more malice
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than matter in it that they found it necessary thus to insinuate
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themselves into his favour. Every body knew that the high priest and
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the elders were enemies to the Roman government, and were uneasy under
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all the marks of that yoke, and therefore, in their hearts, hated
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Felix; and yet, to gain their ends against Paul, they, by their
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counsel, show him all this respect, as they did to Pilate and
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Cæsar when they were persecuting our Saviour. Princes cannot
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always judge of the affections of their people by their applauses;
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flattery is one thing, and true loyalty is another.</P>
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<P>
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2. One of the best of men is here accused as one of the worst of
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malefactors, only because he was the prisoner. After a flourish of
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flattery, in which you cannot see matter for words, he comes to his
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business, and it is to inform his excellency concerning the prisoner at
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the bar; and this part of his discourse is as nauseous for its raillery
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as the former part is for its flattery. I pity the man, and believe he
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has no malice against Paul, nor does he think as he speaks in
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calumniating him, any more than he did in courting Felix; but, a I
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cannot but be sorry that a man of wit and sense should have such a
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saleable tongue (as one calls it), so I cannot but be angry at those
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dignified men that had such malicious hearts as to put such words into
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his mouth. Two things Tertullus here complains of to Felix, in the
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name of the high priest and the elders:--</P>
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<P>
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(1.) That the peace of the nation was disturbed by Paul. They could not
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have baited Christ's disciples if they had not first dressed them up in
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the skins of wild beasts, nor have given them as they did the vilest of
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treatment if they had not first represented them as the vilest of men,
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though the characters they gave of them were absolutely false and there
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was not the least colour nor foundation for them. Innocence, may
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excellence and usefulness, are no fence against calumny, no, nor
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against the impressions of calumny upon the minds both of magistrates
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and multitudes to excite their fury and jealousy; for, be the
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representation ever so unjust, when it is enforced, as here it was,
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with gravity and pretence of sanctity, and with assurance and noise,
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something will stick. The old charge against God's prophets was that
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they were the troublers of the land, and against God's Jerusalem that
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it was a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+4:15,19">Ezra iv. 15, 19</A>),
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and against our Lord Jesus that he perverted the nation, and forbade to
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give tribute to Cæsar. It is the very same against Paul here;
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and, though utterly false, is averred with all the confidence
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imaginable. They do not say, "We suspect him to be a dangerous man, and
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have taken him up upon that suspicion;" but, as if the thing were past
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dispute, "<I>We have found him</I> to be so; we have often and long
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found him so;" as if he were a traitor and rebel already convicted. And
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yet, after all, there is not a word of truth in this representation;
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but, if Paul's just character be enquired into, it will be found
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directly the reverse of this.</P>
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<P>
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[1.] Paul was a useful man, and a great blessing to his country, a man
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of exemplary candour and goodness, blessing to all, and provoking to
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none; and yet he is here called <I>a pestilent fellow</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"<I>We have found him,</I> <B><I>loimon</I></B>--<I>pestem--the plague</I>
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of the nation, a walking pestilence, which supposes him to be a man of
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a turbulent spirit, malicious and ill-natured, and one that threw all
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things in disorder wherever he came." They would have it thought that
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he had dome a more mischief in his time than a plague could do,--that
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the mischief he did was spreading and infectious, and that he made
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others as mischievous as himself,--that it was of as fatal consequence
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|
as the plague is, killing and destroying, and laying all waste,--that it
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was as much to be dreaded and guarded against as a plague is. Many a
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good sermon he had preached, and many a good work he had done, and for
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these he is called a pestilent fellow.</P>
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<P>
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[2.] Paul was a peace-maker, was a preacher of that gospel which has a
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direct tendency to <I>slay all enmities,</I> and to establish true and
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|
lasting peace; he lived peaceably and quietly himself, and taught
|
|
others to do so too, and yet is here represented as <I>a mover of
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sedition among all the Jews throughout all the world.</I> The Jews were
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disaffected to the Roman government; those of them that were most
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bigoted were the most so. This Felix knew, and had therefore a watchful
|
|
eye upon them. Now they would fain make him believe that this Paul was
|
|
the man that made them so, whereas they themselves were the men that
|
|
sowed the seeds of faction and sedition among them: and they knew it;
|
|
and the reason why they hated Christ and his religion was because he
|
|
did not go about to head them in a opposition to the Romans. The Jews
|
|
were every where much set against Paul, and stirred up the people to
|
|
clamour against him; they moved sedition in all places where he came,
|
|
and then cast the blame unjustly upon him as if he had been the mover
|
|
of the sedition; as Nero not long after set Rome on fire, and then said
|
|
the Christians did it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] Paul was a man of catholic charity, who did not affect to be
|
|
singular, but made himself the servant of all for their good; and yet
|
|
he is here charged as being a <I>ringleader of the sect of the
|
|
Nazarenes,</I> a standard-bearer of that sect, so the word signifies.
|
|
When Cyprian was condemned to die for being a Christian, this was
|
|
inserted in hi sentence, that he was <I>auctor iniqui nominis et
|
|
signifer--The author and standard-bearer of a wicked cause.</I> Now it was
|
|
true that Paul was an active leading man in propagating Christianity.
|
|
But, <I>First,</I> It was utterly false that this was a sect; he did
|
|
not draw people to a party or private opinion, nor did he make his own
|
|
opinions their rule. True Christianity establishes that which is of
|
|
common concern to all mankind, publishes good-will to men, and shows us
|
|
God in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and therefore cannot be
|
|
thought to take its rise from such narrow opinions and private
|
|
interests as sects owe their origin to. True Christianity has a direct
|
|
tendency to the uniting of the children of men, and the gathering of
|
|
them together in one; and, as far as it obtains its just power and
|
|
influence upon the minds of men, will make them meek and quiet, and
|
|
peaceable and loving, and every way easy, acceptable, and profitable
|
|
one to another, and therefore is far from being a sect, which is
|
|
supposed to lead to division and to sow discord. True Christianity aims
|
|
at no worldly benefit or advantage, and therefore must by no means be
|
|
called a sect. Those that espouse a sect are governed in it by their
|
|
secular interest, they aim at wealth and honour; but the professors of
|
|
Christianity are so far from this that they expose themselves thereby
|
|
to the loss and ruin of all that is dear to them in this world.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> It is invidiously called <I>the sect of the
|
|
Nazarenes,</I> by which Christ was represented as of Nazareth, whence
|
|
no good thing was expected to arise; whereas he was of Bethlehem, where
|
|
the Messiah was to be born. Yet he was pleased to call himself,
|
|
<I>Jesus of Nazareth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:8"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
And the scripture has put an honour on the name,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+2:23">Matt. ii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
And therefore, though intended for a reproach, the Christians had not
|
|
reason to be ashamed of sharing with their Master in it.
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> It was false that Paul was the author of
|
|
standard-bearer of this sect; for he did not draw people to himself,
|
|
but to Christ-did not preach himself, but Christ Jesus.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[4.] Paul had a veneration for the temple, as it was the place which
|
|
God had chosen to put his name there, and had lately himself with
|
|
reverence attended the temple-service; and yet it is here charged upon
|
|
him that he went about to <I>profane the temple,</I> and that he
|
|
designedly put contempt upon it, and violated the laws of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their proof of this failed; for that they alleged as matter of act was
|
|
utterly false, and they knew it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:29"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 29</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the course of justice against Paul was obstructed by the
|
|
chief captain.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They pleaded that they <I>took him, and would have judged him
|
|
according to their law.</I> This was false; they did not go about to
|
|
judge him according to their law, but, contrary to all law and equity,
|
|
went about to <I>beat him to death</I> or to <I>pull him to pieces,</I>
|
|
without hearing what he had to say for himself-went about, under
|
|
pretence of having him into their court, to throw him into the hands of
|
|
ruffians that lay in wait to destroy him. Was this judging him
|
|
according to their law? It is easy for men, when they know what they
|
|
should have done, to say, this they would have done, when they meant
|
|
nothing less.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They reflected upon the chief captain as having done them an
|
|
injury in rescuing Paul out of their hands; whereas he therein not only
|
|
did him justice, but them the greatest kindness that could be, in
|
|
preventing the guilt they were bringing upon themselves: <I>The chief
|
|
captain Lysias came upon us and with great violence</I> (but really no
|
|
more than was necessary) <I>took him out of our hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
See how persecutors are enraged at their disappointments, which they
|
|
ought to e thankful for. When David in a heat of passion was going upon
|
|
a bloody enterprise, he thanked Abigail for stopping him, and God for
|
|
sending her to do it, so soon did he correct and recover himself. But
|
|
these cruel men justify themselves, and reckon him their enemy who kept
|
|
them (as David there speaks) from shedding blood with their own hands.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They referred the matter to Felix and his judgment, yet seeming
|
|
uneasy that they were under a necessity of doing so, the chief captain
|
|
having obliged them to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"It was he that forced us to give your excellency this trouble, and
|
|
ourselves too; for," <I>First,</I> "He <I>commanded his accusers to
|
|
come to thee,</I> that though mightest hear the charge, when it might
|
|
as well have been ended in the inferior court." <I>Secondly,</I> "He
|
|
has left it to thee to examine him, and try what thou canst get out of
|
|
him, and whether thou canst by his confession come to the knowledge of
|
|
those things which we lay to his charge."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The assent of the Jews to this charge which Tertullus exhibited
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They confirmed it, saying that those things were so.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. Some think this expresses the proof of their charge by witnesses
|
|
upon oath, that were examined as to the particulars of it, and attested
|
|
them. And no wonder if, when they had found an orator that would say
|
|
it, they found witnesses that would swear it, for money.
|
|
|
|
2. It rather seems to intimate the approbation which the high priest
|
|
and the elders gave to what Tertullus said. Felix asked them, "Is this
|
|
your sense, and is it all that you have to say?" And they answered,
|
|
"Yes it is;" and so they made themselves guilty of all the falsehood
|
|
that was in his speech. Those that have not the wit and parts to do
|
|
mischief with that some others have, that cannot make speeches and hold
|
|
disputes against religion, yet make themselves guilty of the mischiefs
|
|
others do, by assenting to that which others do, and saying, These
|
|
things are so, repeating and standing by what is said, to <I>pervert
|
|
the right ways of the Lord.</I> Many that have not learning enough to
|
|
plead for Baal yet have wickedness enough to vote for Baal.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's Third Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to
|
|
speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many
|
|
years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer
|
|
for myself:
|
|
11 Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but
|
|
twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.
|
|
12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any
|
|
man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues,
|
|
nor in the city:
|
|
13 Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse
|
|
me.
|
|
14 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:
|
|
15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow,
|
|
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
|
|
and unjust.
|
|
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience
|
|
void of offence toward God, and <I>toward</I> men.
|
|
17 Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and
|
|
offerings.
|
|
18 Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the
|
|
temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult.
|
|
19 Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they
|
|
had ought against me.
|
|
20 Or else let these same <I>here</I> say, if they have found any
|
|
evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,
|
|
21 Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among
|
|
them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in
|
|
question by you this day.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here Paul's defence of himself, in answer to Tertullus's
|
|
charge, and there appears in it a great deal of the spirit of wisdom
|
|
and holiness, and an accomplishment of Christ's promise to his
|
|
followers that when they were before governors and kings, for his sake,
|
|
it should be <I>given them in that same hour what they should
|
|
speak.</I> Though Tertullus had said a great many provoking things, yet
|
|
Paul did not interrupt him, but let him go on to the end of his speech,
|
|
according to the rules of decency and the method in courts of justice,
|
|
that the plaintiff be allowed to finish his evidence before the
|
|
defendant begins his plea. And when he had done, he did not presently
|
|
fly out into passionate exclamations against the iniquity of the times
|
|
and the men (<I>O tempora! O mores!--Oh the degeneracy of the
|
|
times!</I>) but he waited for a permission from the judge to speak in
|
|
his turn, and had it. The <I>governor beckoned to him to speak,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
And now he also may have leave to speak out, under the protection of
|
|
the governor, which was more than he could hitherto obtain. And, when
|
|
he did speak, he made no reflections at all upon Tertullus, who he knew
|
|
spoke for his fee, and therefore despised what he said, and levelled
|
|
his defence against those that employed him. And here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He addressed himself very respectfully to the governor, and with a
|
|
confidence that he would do him justice. Here are not such flattering
|
|
compliments as Tertullus soothed him up with, but, which was more truly
|
|
respectful, a profession that he <I>answered for himself
|
|
cheerfully,</I> and with good assurance <I>before him,</I> looking upon
|
|
him, though not as one that was his friend, yet as one that would be
|
|
fair and impartial. He thus expresses his expectation that he would be
|
|
so, to engage him to be so. It was likewise the language of one that
|
|
was conscious to himself of his own integrity, and whose heart did not
|
|
reproach him, whoever did. He did not stand trembling at the bar; on
|
|
the contrary, he was very cheerful when he had one to be his judge that
|
|
was not a party, but an indifferent person. Nay, when he considers who
|
|
his judge is, he <I>answers the more cheerfully;</I> and why so? He
|
|
does not say, "Because I know thee to be a judge of inflexible justice
|
|
and integrity, that hatest bribes, and in giving judgment fearest God,
|
|
and regardest not man;" for he could not justly say this of him, and
|
|
therefore would not say it, though it were to gain his favour ever so
|
|
much; but, <I>I the more cheerfully answer from myself,</I> because
|
|
<I>I know thou hast been many years a judge to this nation,</I> and
|
|
this was very true, and being so,
|
|
|
|
1. He could say of his own knowledge that there had not formerly been
|
|
any complaints against Paul. Such clamours as they raised are generally
|
|
against old offenders; but, though he had long say judge there, he
|
|
never had Paul brought before him till now; and therefore he was not so
|
|
dangerous a criminal as he was represented to be.
|
|
|
|
2. He was well acquainted with the Jewish nation, and with their temper
|
|
and spirit. He knew how bigoted they were to their own way, what
|
|
furious zealots they were against all that did not comply with them,
|
|
how peevish and perverse they generally were, and therefore would make
|
|
allowances for that in their accusation of him, and not regard that
|
|
which he had reason to think came so much from part-malice. Though he
|
|
did not know him, he knew his prosecutors, and by this might guess what
|
|
manner of man he was.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He denies the facts that he was charged with, upon which their
|
|
character of him was grounded. <I>Moving sedition,</I> and <I>profaning
|
|
the temple,</I> were the crimes for which he stood indicted, crimes
|
|
which they knew the Roman governors were not accustomed to enquire
|
|
into, and therefore they hoped that the governor would return him back
|
|
to them to be judged by their law, and this was all they wished for.
|
|
But Paul desires that though he would not enquire into the crimes he
|
|
would protect one that was unjustly charged with them from those whom
|
|
he knew to be spiteful and ill-natured enough. Now he would have him to
|
|
understand (and what he said he was ready, if required, to make out by
|
|
witnesses),</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That he came up to Jerusalem on purpose to worship God in peace and
|
|
holiness, so far was he from any design to move sedition among the
|
|
people or to profane the temple. He came to keep up his communion with
|
|
the Jews, not to put any affront upon them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That it was but twelve days since he came up to Jerusalem, and he
|
|
came up to Jerusalem, and he had been six days a prisoner; he was
|
|
alone, and it could not be supposed that in so short a time he could do
|
|
the mischief they charged upon him. And, as for what he had done in
|
|
other countries, they knew nothing of it but by uncertain report, by
|
|
which the matter was very unfairly represented.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That he had demeaned himself at Jerusalem very quietly and
|
|
peaceably, and had made no manner of stir. If it had been true (as they
|
|
alleged) that he was a <I>mover of sedition among all the Jews,</I>
|
|
surely he would have been industrious to make a party at Jerusalem: but
|
|
he did not do so. He was in the temple, attending the public service
|
|
there. He was in the synagogues where the law was read and opened. He
|
|
went about in the city among his relations and friends, and conversed
|
|
freely in the places of concourse; and he was a man of a great genius
|
|
and an active spirit, and yet they could not charge him with offering
|
|
any thing either against the faith or against the peace of the Jewish
|
|
church.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He had nothing in him of a contradicting spirit, as the movers of
|
|
sedition have; he had no disposition to quarrel or oppose. They never
|
|
found him <I>disputing with any man,</I> either affronting the learned
|
|
with captious cavils or perplexing the weak and simple with curious
|
|
subtleties. He was ready, if asked, to give a reason of his own hope,
|
|
and to give instruction to others; but he never picked a quarrel with
|
|
any man about his religion, nor made that the subject of debate, and
|
|
controversy, and perverse dispute, which ought always to be treated of
|
|
with humility and reverence, with meekness and love.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had nothing in him of a turbulent spirit: "They never found me
|
|
<I>raising up the people,</I> by incensing them against their governors
|
|
in church or state or suggesting to them fears and jealousies
|
|
concerning public affairs, nor by setting them at variance one with
|
|
another or sowing discord among them." He behaved as became a Christian
|
|
and minister, with love and quietness, and due subjection to lawful
|
|
authority. The weapons of his warfare were not carnal, not did he ever
|
|
mention or think of such a thing as taking up arms for the propagating
|
|
of the gospel or the defence of the preachers of it; though he could
|
|
have made, perhaps, as strong a party among the common people as his
|
|
adversaries, yet he never attempted it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. That as to what they had charged him with, of moving sedition in
|
|
other countries, he was wholly innocent, and they could not make good
|
|
the charge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Neither can the prove the things whereof the now accuse me.</I>
|
|
Hereby,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He maintains his own innocency; for when he says, They cannot
|
|
prove it, he means, The matter is not so. He was no enemy to the public
|
|
peace; he had done no real prejudice, but a great deal of real service,
|
|
and would gladly have done more, to the nation of the Jews. He was so
|
|
far from having any antipathy to them that he had the strongest
|
|
affection imaginable for them, and a most passionate desire for their
|
|
welfare,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:1-3">Rom. ix. 1-3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He bemoans his own calamity, that he was accused of those things
|
|
which could not be proved against him. And it has often been the lot of
|
|
very worthy good men to be thus injured, to have things laid to their
|
|
charge which they are the greatest distance from and abhor the though
|
|
of. But, while they are lamenting this calamity, this may be their
|
|
rejoicing, even the <I>testimony of their consciences</I> concerning
|
|
their integrity.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He shows the iniquity of his prosecutors, who said that which they
|
|
knew they could not prove, and thereby did him wrong in his name,
|
|
liberty, and life, and did the judge wrong too, in imposing upon him,
|
|
and doing what in them lay to pervert his judgment.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He appeals to the equity of his judge, and awakens him to look
|
|
about him, that he might not be drawn into a snare by the violence of
|
|
the prosecution. The judge must give sentence <I>secundum allegata et
|
|
probata--according to that which is not only alleged but proved,</I> and
|
|
therefore must enquire, and search, and ask diligently, whether the
|
|
thing be true and certain
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+13:14">Deut. xiii. 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
he cannot otherwise give a right judgment.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He gives a fair and just account of himself, which does at once
|
|
both clear him from crime and likewise intimate what was the true
|
|
reason of their violence in prosecuting him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He acknowledges himself to be one whom they looked upon as a
|
|
heretic, and that was the reason of their spleen against him. The chief
|
|
captain had observed, and the governor now cannot but observe, an
|
|
uncommon violence and fury in his prosecutors, which they know not what
|
|
to make of, but, guessing at the crime by the cry, conclude he must
|
|
needs have been a very bad man only for that reason. Now Paul here
|
|
unriddles the matter: I confess that <I>in the way which they call
|
|
heresy</I>--or a <I>sect, so worship I the God of my fathers.</I> The
|
|
controversy is in a matter of religion, and such controversies are
|
|
commonly managed with most fury and violence. Note, It is no new thing
|
|
for the right way of worshipping God to be called heresy; and for the
|
|
best of God's servants to be stigmatized and run down as sectaries. The
|
|
reformed churches are called heretical ones by those who themselves
|
|
hate to be reformed, and are themselves heretics. Let us therefore
|
|
never be driven off from any good way by its being put in to an ill
|
|
name; for true and pure Christianity is never the worse, nor to be the
|
|
worse thought of, for its being called heresy; no, not though it be
|
|
called so by the high priest and the elders.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He vindicates himself from this imputation. They call Paul a
|
|
heretic, but he is not so; for,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He <I>worships the God of his fathers,</I> and therefore is right
|
|
in the object of his worship. He does not say, <I>Let us go after other
|
|
gods, which we have not known, and let us serve them,</I> as the false
|
|
prophet is supposed to do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+13:2">Deut. xiii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
If so, they might justly call his way heresy, a drawing of them aside
|
|
into a by-path, and a dangerous one; but he worships the God of
|
|
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not only the God whom they worshipped, but
|
|
the God who took them into covenant with himself, and was and would be
|
|
called their God. Paul adheres to that covenant, and sets up no other
|
|
in opposition to it. The <I>promise made unto the fathers</I> Paul
|
|
preached as <I>fulfilled to the children</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:32,33"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 32, 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so directed both his own devotions and those of others to God, as
|
|
the <I>God of their fathers.</I> He also refers to the practice of all
|
|
his pious ancestors: <I>I worship</I> the same God that all my fathers
|
|
worshipped. His religion was so far from being chargeable with novelty
|
|
that it gloried in its antiquity, and in an uninterrupted succession of
|
|
its professors. Note, It is very comfortable in our worshipping God to
|
|
have an eye to him as the God of our fathers. Our fathers trusted in
|
|
him, and were owned by him, and he engaged to be their God, and the God
|
|
of their seed. He approved himself theirs, and therefore, if we serve
|
|
him as they did, he will be ours; what an emphasis is laid upon this,
|
|
<I>He is my father's God, and I will exalt him!</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:2">Exod. xv. 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He <I>believes all things which are written in the law and the
|
|
prophets,</I> and therefore is right in the rule of his worship. His
|
|
religion is grounded upon, and governed by, the holy scriptures; they
|
|
are his oracle and touchstone, and he speaks and acts according to
|
|
them. He receives the scriptures entire, and believes all things that
|
|
are there written; and he receives them pure, for he says no other
|
|
things than what are contained in them, as he explains himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:22"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
He sets not up any other rule of faith, or practice but the
|
|
scriptures-not tradition, nor the authority of the church, nor the
|
|
infallibility of any man or company of men on earth, nor the light
|
|
within, nor human reason; but divine revelation, as it is in the
|
|
scripture, is that which he resolves to live and die by, and therefore
|
|
he is not a heretic.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He has his eye upon a future state, and is a believing expectant
|
|
of that, and therefore is right in the end of his worship. Those that
|
|
turn aside to heresy have a regard to this world, and some secular
|
|
interest, but Paul aims to make heaven of his religion, and neither
|
|
more nor less
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I have hope towards God,</I> all my expectation is from him, and
|
|
therefore all my desire is towards him and all my dependence upon him;
|
|
my hope is towards God and not towards the world, towards another world
|
|
and not towards this. I depend upon God and upon his power, that
|
|
<I>there shall be a resurrection of the dead</I> at the end of time, of
|
|
all, both <I>the just and unjust;</I> and the great thing I aim at in
|
|
my religion is to obtain a joyful and happy resurrection, a share in
|
|
the resurrection of the just." Observe here,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That there shall be a resurrection of the dead, the dead bodies of
|
|
men, of all men from the beginning to the end of time. It is certain,
|
|
not only that the soul does not die with the body, but that the body
|
|
itself shall live again; we have not only another life to live when our
|
|
present life is at an end, but there is to be another world, which
|
|
shall commence when this world is at an end, into which all the
|
|
children of men must enter at once by a resurrection from the dead, as
|
|
they entered into this, one after another, by their birth.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It shall be a resurrection <I>both of the just and of the
|
|
unjust,</I> the sanctified and the unsanctified, of those that did
|
|
well, and to them our Saviour has told us that it will be a
|
|
<I>resurrection of life;</I> and of those that did evil, and to them
|
|
that it will be a resurrection of condemnation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:29">John v. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+12:2">Dan. xii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
This implies that it will be a resurrection to a final judgment, by
|
|
which all the children of men will be determined to everlasting
|
|
happiness or misery in a world of retribution, according to what they
|
|
were and what they did in this state of probation and preparation. The
|
|
just shall rise by virtue of their union with Christ as their head; the
|
|
unjust shall rise by virtue of Christ's dominion over them as their
|
|
Judge.
|
|
|
|
[3.] God is to be depended upon for the resurrection of the dead: I
|
|
have <I>hope towards God,</I> and in God, that there shall be a
|
|
resurrection; it shall be effected by the almighty power of God, in
|
|
performance of the word which God hath spoken; so that those who doubt
|
|
of it betray their ignorance both of the scriptures and of the power of
|
|
God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:29">Matt. xxii. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental article of our
|
|
creed, as it was also of that of the Jewish church. It is what <I>they
|
|
themselves also allow;</I> nay, it was the expectation of the ancient
|
|
patriarchs, witness Job's confession of his faith; but it is more
|
|
clearly revealed and more fully confirmed by the gospel, and therefore
|
|
those who believed it should have been thankful to the preachers of the
|
|
gospel for their explications and proofs of it, instead of opposing
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
[5.] In all our religion we ought to have an eye to the other world,
|
|
and to serve God in all instances with a confidence in him <I>that
|
|
there will be a resurrection of the dead,</I> doing all in preparation
|
|
for that, and expecting our recompence in that.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) His conversation is of a piece with his devotion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of
|
|
offence towards God and towards men.</I> Prophets and their doctrine
|
|
were to be tried by their fruits. Paul was far from having made
|
|
shipwreck of a good conscience, and therefore it is not likely he has
|
|
made shipwreck of the faith, the mystery of which is best held in a
|
|
pure conscience. This protestation of Paul's is to the same purport
|
|
with that which he made before the high priest
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:1"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 1</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I have lived in all good conscience;</I> and this was his rejoicing.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] What was Paul's aim and desire: To <I>have a conscience void of
|
|
offence.</I> Either, <I>First,</I> "A conscience not offending; not
|
|
informing me wrong, nor flattering me, nor dealing deceitfully with me,
|
|
nor in any thing misleading me." Or, <I>Secondly,</I> A conscience not
|
|
offended; it is like Job's resolution, "<I>My heart shall not reproach
|
|
me,</I> that is, I will never give it any occasion to do so. This is
|
|
what I am ambitious of, to keep upon good terms with my own conscience,
|
|
that it may have no cause either to question the goodness of my
|
|
spiritual state or to quarrel with me for any particular action. I am
|
|
as careful not to offend my conscience as I am not to offend a friend
|
|
with whom I daily converse; nay, as I am not to offend a magistrate
|
|
whose authority I am under, and to whom I am accountable; for
|
|
conscience is God's deputy in my soul."
|
|
|
|
[2.] What was his care and endeavour, in pursuance of this: "<I>I
|
|
exercise myself</I>--<B><I>asko</I></B>. I make it my constant
|
|
business, and govern myself by this intention; I discipline myself, and
|
|
live by rule" (those that did so were called <I>ascetics,</I> from the
|
|
word here used), "abstain from many a thing which my inclination leads
|
|
me to, and abound in all the exercises of religion that are most
|
|
spiritual, with this in my eye, that I may keep peace with my own
|
|
conscience."
|
|
|
|
[3.] The extent of this care: <I>First,</I> To all times: <I>To have
|
|
always a conscience void of offence,</I> always void of gross offence;
|
|
for though Paul was conscious to himself that he <I>had not yet
|
|
attained perfection,</I> and the evil that he would not do yet he did,
|
|
yet he was <I>innocent from the great transgression.</I> Sins of
|
|
infirmity are uneasy to conscience, but they do not wound it, and waste
|
|
it, as presumptuous sins do; and, though offence may be given to
|
|
conscience, yet care must be taken that it be not an abiding offence,
|
|
but that by the renewed acts of faith and repentance the matter may be
|
|
taken up again quickly. This however we must always exercise ourselves
|
|
in, and, though we come short, we must follow after. <I>Secondly,</I>
|
|
To all things: <I>Both towards God, and towards man.</I> His
|
|
conscientious care extended itself to the whole of his duty, and he was
|
|
afraid of breaking the law of love either to God or his neighbour.
|
|
Conscience, like the magistrate, is <I>custos utriusque
|
|
tabulæ--the guardian of each table.</I> We must be very cautious
|
|
that we do not think, or speak, or do any thing amiss, either against
|
|
God or man,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+8:21">2 Cor. viii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] The inducement to it: <I>Herein,</I> <B><I>en touto,</I></B>
|
|
<I>for this cause;</I> so it may be read. "Because I look for the
|
|
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, therefore I
|
|
thus exercise myself." The consideration of the future state should
|
|
engage us to be universally conscientious in our present state.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Having made confession of his faith, he gives a plain and faithful
|
|
account of his case, and of the wrong done him by his persecutors.
|
|
Twice he had been rescued by the chief captain out of the hands of the
|
|
Jews, when they were ready to pull him to pieces, and he challenges
|
|
them to prove him guilty of any crime either time.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. In the temple. Here they fell furiously upon him as an enemy to
|
|
their nation and the temple,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:28"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
But was there any colour for the charge? No, but evidence sufficient
|
|
against it,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It was very hard to accuse him as an <I>enemy to their nation,</I>
|
|
when after long absence from Jerusalem he came to <I>bring alms to his
|
|
nation,</I> money which (though he had need enough himself of it) he
|
|
had collected among his friends, for the relief of the poor at
|
|
Jerusalem. He not only had no malice to that people, but he had a very
|
|
charitable concern for them, and was ready to do them all good offices;
|
|
and were they his adversaries for his love?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+109:4">Ps. cix. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was very hard to accuse him of having profaned the temple when
|
|
he brought offerings to the temple, and was himself at charges therein
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:24"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
and was found <I>purifying himself in the temple,</I> according to the
|
|
law
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that in a very quiet decent manner, <I>neither with multitude nor
|
|
with tumult.</I> Though he was a man so much talked of, he was far from
|
|
coveting to show himself when he came to Jerusalem, or to be crowded
|
|
after, but went to the temple, as much as was possible,
|
|
<I>incognito.</I> They were Jews from Asia, his enemies, that caused
|
|
him to be taken notice of; they had not pretence to make a tumult and
|
|
raise a multitude against him, for he had neither multitude nor tumult
|
|
for him. And as to what was perhaps suggested to Felix that he had
|
|
brought Greeks into the temple, contrary to their law, and the governor
|
|
ought to reckon with him for that, the Romans having stipulated with
|
|
the nations that submitted to them to preserve them in their religion,
|
|
he challenges them to prove it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Those Jews of Asia ought to have been <I>here before thee,</I> that
|
|
they might have been examined, whether <I>they had aught against
|
|
me,</I> that they would stand by and swear to;" for some that will not
|
|
scruple to tell a lie have such heavings of conscience that they
|
|
scruple confirming it with an oath.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. In the council: "Since the Jews of Asia are not here to prove any
|
|
thing upon me done amiss in the temple, let <I>these same</I> that are
|
|
<I>here,</I> the high priest and the elders, say whether they have
|
|
<I>found any evil doing in me,</I> or whether I was guilty of any
|
|
misdemeanor <I>when I stood before the council,</I> when also they were
|
|
ready to pull me in pieces,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
When I was there, they could not take offence at any thing I said; for
|
|
all I said was, <I>Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in
|
|
question by you this day</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
which gave no offence to any one but the Sadducees. This I hope was no
|
|
crime, that I stuck to that which is the faith of the whole Jewish
|
|
church, excepting those whom they themselves call heretics."</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac24_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul Converses with Felix; Felix Trembles; Paul's Trial Adjourned.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect
|
|
knowledge of <I>that</I> way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias
|
|
the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of
|
|
your matter.
|
|
23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let <I>him</I>
|
|
have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance
|
|
to minister or come unto him.
|
|
24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife
|
|
Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him
|
|
concerning the faith in Christ.
|
|
25 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 will call for thee.
|
|
26 He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul,
|
|
that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener,
|
|
and communed with him.
|
|
27 But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room:
|
|
and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the result of Paul's trial before Felix, and what was the
|
|
consequence of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Felix adjourned the cause, and took further time to consider of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>had a more perfect knowledge of that way</I> which the Jews
|
|
called heresy than the high priest and the elders thought he had. He
|
|
understood something of the Christian religion; for, living at
|
|
Cæsarea, where Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was, who was a
|
|
Christian, from him and others he had got a notion of Christianity,
|
|
that it was not such an evil thing as it was represented. He himself
|
|
knew some of that way to be honest good men, and very conscientious,
|
|
and therefore he put off the prosecutors with an excuse: "<I>When the
|
|
chief captain shall come down</I> hither, <I>I will know the uttermost
|
|
of your matter,</I> or I shall know the truth, whether this Paul did go
|
|
about to raise sedition or no; you are parties, he is an indifferent
|
|
person. Either Paul deserves to be punished for raising the tumult, or
|
|
you do for doing it yourselves and then charging it upon him; and I
|
|
will hear what he says, and determine accordingly between you." Now,
|
|
|
|
1. It was a disappointment to the high priest and the elders that Paul
|
|
was not condemned, or remitted to their judgment, which they wished for
|
|
and expected. But thus sometimes God restrains the wrath of his
|
|
people's enemies by the agency, not of their friends, but of such as
|
|
are strangers to them. And though they be so, if they have but some
|
|
<I>knowledge of their way,</I> they cannot but appear for their
|
|
protection.
|
|
|
|
2. It was an injury to Paul that he was not released. Felix ought to
|
|
have <I>avenged him of his adversaries,</I> when he so plainly saw
|
|
there was nothing but malice in the prosecution, and to have delivered
|
|
<I>him out of the hand of the wicked,</I> according to the duty of a
|
|
judge,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:4">Ps. lxxxii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
But he was a judge that neither feared God nor regarded man, and what
|
|
good could be expected from him? It is a wrong not only to deny
|
|
justice, but to delay it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He detained the prisoner in custody, and would not take bail for
|
|
him; else here at Cæsarea Paul had friends enough that would gladly
|
|
have been his security. Felix thought a man of such a public character
|
|
as Paul was had many friends, as well as many enemies, and he might
|
|
have an opportunity of obliging them, or making a hand of them, if he
|
|
did not presently release him, and yet did show him countenance; and
|
|
therefore,
|
|
|
|
1. He continued him a prisoner, commanded a centurion or captain to
|
|
keep him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He did not commit him to the common jail, but, being first made an
|
|
army-prisoner, he shall still be so.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet he took care he should be <I>a prisoner at large--in libera
|
|
custodia;</I> his keeper must let him have liberty, not bind him nor
|
|
lock him up, but make his confinement as easy to him as possible; let
|
|
him have the liberty of the castle, and, perhaps, he means liberty to
|
|
take the air, or go abroad upon his parole: and Paul was such an honest
|
|
man that they might take his word for his return. The high priest and
|
|
the elders grudged him his life, but Felix generously allows him a sort
|
|
of liberty; for he had not those prejudices against him and his way
|
|
that they had. He also gave orders that none of his friends should be
|
|
hindered from coming to him; the centurion must not forbid any of his
|
|
acquaintances from ministering to him; and a man's prison is as it were
|
|
his own house if he has but his friends about him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He had frequent conversation with him afterwards in private, once
|
|
particularly, not long after his public trial,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. With what design <I>Felix sent for Paul.</I> He had a mind to have
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some talk with him <I>concerning the faith in Christ,</I> the Christian
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religion; he had some knowledge of that way, but he desired to have an
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account of it from Paul, who was so celebrated a preacher of that
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faith, above the rest. Those that would enlarge their knowledge must
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discourse with men of their own profession, and those that would be
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acquainted with any profession should consult those that excel in the
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knowledge of it; and therefore Felix had a mind to talk with Paul more
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freely than he could in open court, where he observed Paul upon his
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guard, <I>concerning the faith of Christ;</I> and this only to satisfy
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his curiosity, or rather the curiosity of <I>his wife Drusilla, who was
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a Jewess,</I> daughter of Herod Agrippa, that was eaten of worms. Being
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educated in the Jewish religion, she was more inquisitive concerning
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the Christian religion, which pretended to be the perfection of that,
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and desired to hear Paul discourse of it. But it was no great matter
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what religion she was of; for, whatever it was, she was a reproach and
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scandal to it-a Jewess, but an adulteress; she was another man's wife
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when Felix took her to be his wife, and she lived with him in whoredom
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and was noted for an impudent woman, yet she desires to hear
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<I>concerning the faith of Christ.</I> Many are fond of new notions and
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speculations in religion, and can hear and speak of them with pleasure,
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who yet hate to come under the power and influence of religion, can be
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content to have their judgments informed but not their lives
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reformed.</P>
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<P>
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2. What the account was which Paul gave him of the Christian religion;
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by the idea he had of it, he expected to be amused with a mystical
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divinity, but, as Paul represents it to him, he is alarmed with a
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practical divinity. Paul, being asked <I>concerning the faith in
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Christ, reasoned</I> (for Paul was always a rational preacher)
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concerning <I>righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.</I> It
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is probable that he mentioned the peculiar doctrines of Christianity
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concerning the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and his being
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<I>the Mediator between God and man;</I> but he hastened to his
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application, in which he designed to come home to the consciences of
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his hearers.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He discoursed with clearness and warmth <I>of righteousness,
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temperance, and judgment to come;</I> and here he showed,
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[1.] That the faith in Christ is designed to enforce upon the children
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of men the great laws of justice and temperance. <I>The grace of God
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teacheth us to live soberly and righteously,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+2:12">Tit. ii. 12</A>.
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Justice and temperance were celebrated virtues among the heathen
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moralists; if the doctrine Paul preaches, which Felix has heard of as
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proclaiming liberty, will but free him from an obligation to these, he
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will readily embrace it: "<I>No,</I>" says Paul, "it is so far from
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doing so that it strengthens the obligations of those sacred laws; it
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binds all under the highest penalties to be <I>honest in all their
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dealings,</I> and to <I>render to all their due;</I> to <I>deny
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themselves,</I> and <I>to keep under the body, and bring it into
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subjection.</I>" The world and the flesh being in our baptism
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renounced, all our pursuits of the world and all our gratifications of
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the desires of the body are to be under the regulations of religion.
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<I>Paul reasoned of righteousness and temperance,</I> to convince Felix
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of his unrighteousness and intemperance, of which he had been
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notoriously guilty, that, seeing the odiousness of them, and his
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obnoxiousness to the wrath of God for them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+5:6">Eph. v. 6</A>),
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he might enquire concerning the faith of Christ, with a resolution to
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embrace it.
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[2.] That by the doctrine of Christ is discovered to us the judgment to
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come, by the sentence of which the everlasting state of all the
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children of men will be finally and irreversibly determined. Men have
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their day now, Felix hath his; but God's day is coming, <I>when
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everyone shall give account of himself to God, the Judge of all.</I>
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Paul reasoned concerning this; that is, he showed what reason we have
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to believe <I>that there is a judgment to come,</I> and what reason we
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have, in consideration thereof, to be religious.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) From this account of the heads of Paul's discourse we may gather,
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[1.] That Paul in his preaching had no respect to persons, for the word
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of God, which he preached, has not: he urged the same convictions and
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instructions upon the Roman governor that he did upon other people.
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[2.] That Paul in his preaching aimed at the consciences of men, and
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came close to them, sought not to please their fancy nor to gratify
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their curiosity, but led them to a sight of their sins and a sense of
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their duty and interest.
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[3.] That Paul preferred the serving of Christ, and the saving of
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souls, before his own safety. He lay at the mercy of Felix, who had
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power (as Pilate said) <I>to crucify him</I> (or, which was as bad, to
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deliver him back to the Jews), <I>and he had power to release him.</I>
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Now when Paul had his ear, and had him in a good humour, he had a fair
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opportunity of ingratiating himself with him, and obtaining a release,
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nay, and of incensing him against his prosecutors: and, on the
|
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contrary, if he disobliged him, and put him out of humour, he might do
|
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himself a great diskindness by it; but he is wholly negligent of these
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considerations, and is intent upon doing good, at least discharging his
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duty.
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[4.] That Paul was willing to take pains, and run hazards, in his work,
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even where there was little probability of doing good. Felix and
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Drusilla were such hardened sinners that it was not at all likely they
|
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should be brought to repentance by Paul's preaching, especially under
|
|
such disadvantages; and yet Paul deals with them as one that did not
|
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despair of them. Let the watchman give fair warning, and then they have
|
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delivered their own souls, though they should not prevail to deliver
|
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the souls they watch for.</P>
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<P>
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3. What impressions Paul's discourse made upon this great but wicked
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man: <I>Felix trembled,</I> <B><I>emphobos genomenos</I></B>--<I>being
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put into a fright,</I> or made <I>a terror to himself, a
|
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magor-missabib,</I> as Pashur,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:3,4">Jer. xx. 3, 4</A>.
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Paul never trembled before him, but he was made to tremble before Paul.
|
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"If this be so, as Paul says, what will become of me in another world?
|
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If the unrighteous and intemperate will be condemned in the judgment to
|
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come, I am undone, for ever undone, unless I lead a new course of
|
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life." We do not find that Drusilla trembled, though she was equally
|
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guilty, for she was a Jewess, and depended upon the ceremonial law,
|
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which she adhered to the observance of, to justify her; but Felix for
|
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the present could fasten upon nothing to pacify his conscience, and
|
|
therefore trembled. See here,
|
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|
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(1.) The power of the word of God, when it comes with commission; it is
|
|
searching, it is startling, it can strike a terror into the heart of
|
|
the most proud and daring sinner, by <I>setting his sins in order
|
|
before him,</I> and showing him <I>the terrors of the Lord.</I>
|
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|
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(2.) The workings of natural conscience; when it is startled and
|
|
awakened, it fills the soul with horror and amazement at its own
|
|
deformity and danger. Those that are themselves <I>the terror of the
|
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mighty in the land of the living</I> have hereby been made a terror to
|
|
themselves. A prospect of the judgment to come is enough to make the
|
|
stoutest heart to tremble, as when it comes indeed it will make <I>the
|
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mighty men and the chief captains</I> to call in vain <I>to rocks and
|
|
mountains to shelter them.</I></P>
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<P>
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4. How Felix struggled to get clear of these impressions, and to shake
|
|
off the terror of his convictions; he did by them as he did by Paul's
|
|
prosecutors
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
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<I>he deferred them;</I> he said, <I>Go thy way for this time, when I
|
|
have a convenient season I will call for thee.</I>
|
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|
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(1.) He trembled and that was all. Paul's trembling
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:6"><I>ch.</I> ix. 6</A>),
|
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|
|
and the <I>jailer's</I>
|
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:29"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 29</A>),
|
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|
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ended in their conversion, but this of Felix did not. Many are startled
|
|
by the word of God who are not effectually changed by it. Many are in
|
|
fear of the consequences of sin, and yet continue in love and league
|
|
with sin.
|
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|
|
(2.) He did not fight against his convictions, nor fly in the face of
|
|
the word or of the preacher of it, to be revenged on them for making
|
|
his conscience fly in his face; he did not say to Paul, as Amaziah to
|
|
the prophet, <I>Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten?</I> He did not
|
|
threaten him with a closer confinement, or with death, for touching him
|
|
(as John Baptist did Herod) in the sore place. But,
|
|
|
|
(3.) He artfully shifted off his convictions by putting off the
|
|
prosecution of them to another time. He has nothing to object against
|
|
what Paul has said; it is weighty and worth considering. But, like a
|
|
sorry debtor, he begs a day; Paul has spent himself, and has tired him
|
|
and his lady, and therefore, "<I>Go thy way for this time</I>--break
|
|
off here, business calls me away; but <I>when I have a convenient
|
|
season,</I> and have nothing else to do, <I>I will call for thee,</I>
|
|
and hear what thou hast further to say." Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Many lose all the benefit of their convictions for want of
|
|
striking while the iron is hot. If Felix, now that he trembled, had but
|
|
asked, as Paul and the jailer did when they trembled, <I>What shall I
|
|
do?</I> he might have been brought to the faith of Christ, and have
|
|
been a <I>Felix</I> indeed, <I>happy</I> for ever; but, by dropping his
|
|
convictions now, he lost them for ever, and himself with them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] In the affairs of our souls, delays are dangerous; nothing is of
|
|
more fatal consequence than men's putting off their conversion from
|
|
time to time. They will repent, and turn to God, but not yet; the
|
|
matter is adjourned to some more convenient season, when such a
|
|
business or affair is compassed, when they are so much older; and then
|
|
convictions cool and wear off, good purposes prove to no purpose, and
|
|
they are more hardened than ever in their evil way. Felix put off this
|
|
matter to a more convenient season, but we do not find that this more
|
|
convenient season ever came; for the devil cozens us of all our time by
|
|
cozening us of the present time. The present season is, without doubt,
|
|
the most convenient season. <I>Behold, now is the accepted time.
|
|
To-day if you will hear his voice.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. After all, he detained him a prisoner, and left him so, when two
|
|
years after he was removed from the government,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was convinced in his conscience that Paul had done <I>nothing worthy
|
|
of death or of bonds,</I> and yet had not the honesty to release him.
|
|
To little purpose had Paul reasoned with him about righteousness,
|
|
though he then trembled at the thought of his own iniquity, who could
|
|
thus persist in such a palpable piece of injustice. But here we are
|
|
told what principles he was governed by herein; and they were such as
|
|
make the matter yet much worse.
|
|
|
|
1. The love of money. He would not release Paul because he hoped to
|
|
make his market of him, and that at length his friends would make a
|
|
purse to purchase his liberty, and then he would satisfy his conscience
|
|
by releasing him when he could withal satisfy his covetousness by it;
|
|
but he cannot find in his heart to do his duty as a judge, unless he
|
|
can get money by it: <I>He hoped that money would have been given him
|
|
of Paul,</I> or somebody for him, and then he would have loosed him,
|
|
and set him at liberty. In hopes of this, he detains him a prisoner,
|
|
and <I>sends for him the oftener, and communes with him;</I> not any
|
|
more about the faith of Christ (he had had enough of that, and of the
|
|
judgment to come; Paul must not return to those subjects, nor go on
|
|
with them), but about his discharge, or ransom rather, out of his
|
|
present captivity. He cannot for shame ask Paul what he will give him
|
|
to release him, but he sends for him to feel his pulse, and gives him
|
|
an opportunity to ask why he would take to release him. And now we see
|
|
what became of his promise both to Paul and to himself, that he would
|
|
hear more of Christ at some other convenient season. Here were many
|
|
seasons convenient enough to have talked that matter through, but
|
|
nothing is done in it; all his business now is to get money by Paul,
|
|
not to get the knowledge of Christ by him. Note, It is just with God to
|
|
say concerning those who trifle with their convictions, and think they
|
|
can have the grace of God at command when they please, <I>My Spirit
|
|
shall no more strive with them.</I> When men will not hear God's voice
|
|
<I>to-day, while it is called to-day,</I> the heart is commonly
|
|
<I>hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.</I> Paul was but a poor man
|
|
himself, <I>silver and gold he had none</I> to give, to purchase his
|
|
liberty; but Felix knew there were those who wished well to him who
|
|
were able to assist him. He having lately collected a great deal of
|
|
money for the poor saints to relieve them, it might also be expected
|
|
that the rich saints should contribute some to release him, and I
|
|
wonder it was not done. Though Paul is to be commended that he would
|
|
not offer money to Felix, nor beg money of the churches (his great and
|
|
generous soul disdained both), yet I know not whether his friends are
|
|
to be commended, nay, whether they can be justified, in not doing it
|
|
for him. They ought to have solicited the governor as pressingly for
|
|
him as his enemies did against him: and if a <I>gift was necessary to
|
|
make room for them</I> (as Solomon speaks) and to bring them before
|
|
great men, they might lawfully have done it. I ought not to bribe a man
|
|
to do an unjust thing, but, if he will not do me justice without a fee,
|
|
it is but doing myself justice to give it to him; and, if they might do
|
|
it, it was a shame they did not do it. I blush for them, that they
|
|
would let such an eminent and useful man as Paul lie in the jail, when
|
|
a little money would have fetched him out, and restored him to his
|
|
usefulness again. The Christians here at Cæsarea, where he now
|
|
was, had parted with their tears to prevent his going to the prison
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:13"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and could they not find in their hearts to part with their money to
|
|
help him out? Yet there might be a providence of God in it; Paul's
|
|
bonds must be for the furtherance of the gospel of Christ, and
|
|
therefore he must continue in bonds. However, this will not excuse
|
|
Felix, who ought to have released an innocent man, without demanding or
|
|
accepting any thing for it: the judge that will not do right without a
|
|
bribe will no doubt do wrong for a bribe.
|
|
|
|
2. Men-pleasing. Felix was recalled from his government about <I>two
|
|
years after this,</I> and Porcius Festus was put in his place, and one
|
|
should have expected he would have at least concluded his government
|
|
with this act of justice, the release of Paul, but he did not; he
|
|
<I>left Paul bound,</I> and the reason here given is because he was
|
|
<I>willing to do the Jews a pleasure.</I> Though he would not deliver
|
|
him <I>to death, to please them,</I> yet he would continue him a
|
|
prisoner rather than offend them; and he did it in hope hereby to atone
|
|
for the many offences he had done against them. He did not think Paul
|
|
had either interest or inclination to complain of him at court, for
|
|
detaining him so long in custody, against all law and equity; but he
|
|
was jealous of the high priest and elders, that they would be his
|
|
accusers to the emperor for the wrongs he had done them, and therefore
|
|
hopes by gratifying them in this matter to stop their mouths. Thus
|
|
those who do some base things are tempted to do more to screen
|
|
themselves and bear them out. If Felix had not injured the Jews, he
|
|
needed not to have done this to please them; but, when he had done it,
|
|
it seems he did not gain his point. The Jews, notwithstanding this,
|
|
accused him to the emperor, and some historians say he was sent bound
|
|
to Rome by Festus; and, if so, surely his remembering how light he had
|
|
made of Paul's bonds would help to make his own chain heavy. Those that
|
|
aim to please God by doing good will have what they aim at; but so will
|
|
not those that seek to please men by doing evil.</P>
|
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