In Acts 24:24-27, we see that Felix, the Roman governor, did not reach a decision about what to do with Paul, and therefore left him in custody. The charges against him – of inciting resurrection and of desecrating the temple – were not proven, and if Felix had done what was right, he would have acquitted Paul and let him go. Because he wanted to please the Jews, however, he did not do so and instead kept him in ‘custodia libera’ (under supervision, but allowed visitors) for two years before he himself was moved to another post. During this period, he spoke with Paul on many occasions and definitely heard the basics of the gospel, which Luke defines for us as ‘faith in Christ Jesus.’ (Acts 24:24)

Faith is seen by Paul as the key element in life (see Rom 4:3, 13-25). He spoke to Felix about ‘righteousness, self-control and the judgment that is to come’ (Acts 24:25), and these are the ‘basics’ of the gospel message: how God, through the act of justification, gives the sinner His own righteousness (Rom 3:21-26, 2 Cor 5:19-21) and thus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, gives us the power to overcome temptation and achieve self-mastery (a topic which may well have irked Felix, who was by now on his third wife!) In this way, we are shown that we can escape the awful final judgment of God because we are now accepted as His children and are free from all condemnation. (Rom 8:1) Felix was undoubtedly affected by this message (Acts 24:25 tells us he was afraid), but – like so many today – was not affected enough to repent and believe.

Paul shows us that even when in custody, he was committed to preaching the gospel. He never missed an opportunity to speak about faith in Christ Jesus and what that meant for our lives today. We may find it discouraging that Felix never seems to have come to faith himself, but salvation is from God. Our role is to be faithful witnesses to what He has done, and Paul did this consistently.

I’ve never been very good at maths, but one thing I have always liked is the sense that you know where you stand with the subject! 2 plus 2 always equals 4. 3 multiplied by 5 always equals 15. I even liked algebra at school because I was given a set of rules to follow, and if I did what was required, I would get the right answer. That kind of definitive linear learning was something I really appreciated.

Most of us want life to follow the same kind of patterns we find in mathematics. We don’t like ambiguity or nuance. We want to believe that if we do good things, then we will be blessed. We want to believe that those who do wrong will be punished. This simple kind of reasoning seems eminently fair to us and we are thrown into confusion when faced with grace and mercy, because God does not seem to work in the same way that maths does!

Throughout the Bible, we see people’s yearnings for this simple kind of living, where my fortunes are determined by my actions, where God blesses the good and punishes the wicked. Job and his friends wrestled with this, for Job was a godly man who faced great suffering. Why? The book spends a lot of time pondering this question (without ever giving us a conclusive one-size-fits-all answer, it must be said), because we so often equate the goodness of God with material prosperity, physical health, and emotional well-being. Asaph faced the same dilemma in Ps 73, when he felt like giving up on faith because it didn’t seem to guarantee short-term happiness or prosperity whilst those who ignored God seemed to flourish. We have to understand that God’s ways are not our ways, and that there is much in life which lacks the clarity of mathematics!

Paul is left languishing in Caesarea because Felix, the governor, cannot bring himself to acquit him, even though it is manifestly obvious he is not guilty of any crime. (Acts 24:1-27) There were no political votes in doing the right thing, and so he basically refused to do what was right. We may well feel outraged at this conclusion, outraged that Paul is prevented from further missionary activity by the cowardice of the man supposedly in charge of justice. Yet we need to realise that God’s agenda will not always coincide with ours. God can work powerfully in our lives when we feel He is furthest away from us; He can be doing great works in us and through us, even when we may feel abandoned and forsaken. The psalmist recognises the value of affliction (Ps 119:67, 71); we must learn to move away from simplistic thinking if we are to grow up in God. ‘Divine confinement’ – perhaps through illness or disappointment – does not necessarily mean divine disfavour. Paul would write to the Philippians of the need for contentment no matter what the situation. (Phil 4:11-13) He learnt the lesson that life is not perhaps as clear-cut as we would like, but he also realised that God was working for his good in it all. (Rom 8:28) When we learn the same thing, we become skilled in living well, whatever our mathematical ability!

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, ‘What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.’ This realistic view of the world might be deemed somewhat pessimistic and depressing by some, but as someone who loves history, I soon came to understand its truths. Each generation may feel innovative and ingenious (and clearly can be!), but there is a sense in which ‘same old, same old’ also rings true. People’s actions and reactions don’t really change; ‘progress’ is not a relentless linear march forward, but is peppered by factions, jealousy, rivalry, selfishness… and sin.

Acts 24:1-27 continues the story of what happened to Paul when he arrived in Jerusalem. He has got into trouble with the Jews there who accuse him of breaking their laws by bringing a Gentile into the temple area reserved for Jews alone and has faced mob lynching and a plot to kill him before being brought to Caesarea to face trial before the Roman governor, Felix. Some may find this part of Acts repetitive and boring, but it’s a vivid reminder that there is nothing new under the sun. The resistance of Jews to the message of Jesus led to His crucifixion; the resistance of Jews to the message of Jesus as Messiah and resurrected Lord continued to mean persecution, imprisonment and sometimes death to His followers. Once more (this time at the hands of a trained lawyer, Tertullus), Paul is accused of being a ‘cult leader’, which would lead to his religious freedoms being revoked, and thus he would no longer be able to preach the gospel under the protection of Rome. A similar charge had been levelled at Paul in Corinth, but Gallio had thrown it out of court (Acts 18:12-17). There is a singular lack of originality in the charges against Paul, but this did not make it any easier for him!

Each generation tends to feel that its problems and its challenges are unique. History teaches us otherwise – or at least, that there are common threads to the problems and challenges (which is why the past can teach us so much, dealing with principles which are universal.) Most of us, for example, have never faced a pandemic before, but even a cursory glance at history shows us that plagues and pandemics have occurred frequently in the past, often with devastating consequences, but at least reminding us that this is something not quite as unique as we may have believed or as frightening as we may think (Covid-19 has a good recovery rate when compared to some previous plagues, for example!) History is there to teach us, to show us good practices and also to point to ways that are perhaps not so good so that we can avoid these and save ourselves much trouble. We do well to look back and to learn. Far from being depressed by there being nothing new under the sun, we can find ways of dealing with situations from the examples of others and can learn to trust God by seeing how He has cared for people since the beginning of time. He does not change and therefore we can have hope in every situation.

In tackling the subject of where people live and where God lives, Garry spoke from Col 1:24-27, which ends with the words about the mystery of God, ‘which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ God’s aim was always to live in His people, but for many years, this seemed a mystery. God now dwells in His people, the church; we are God’s temple. (1 Cor 3:16)

This is both an individual and a corporate thing. 1 Cor 6:19-20 makes it plain that each individual is a temple, a place God inhabits. The word used for ‘temple’ does not refer to the whole temple or tabernacle, but to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary beyond the curtain, the place where only the high priest could enter, and enter only once a year. This was the place where the majestic presence or manifestation of God was – and it is this place which is used to describe us! We are so special to God, ‘Christ in you‘ is such a privilege and gives us confidence, hope and trust. He is the One who made the earth by His power and founded the world by HIs wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding (Jer 51:15) and yet He wants to live in us, directing us to an eternal hope which never fades or goes out of fashion. God living in each one of us is an incredible blessing now, but is also the promise of much more to come!

In our Little Big Church tonight, Garry looked at places we live. Many people live in houses, but even these can be different types (terraced houses, semi-detached, mansions, bungalows etc.)

Some people live in high-rise flats:

Others may live in caravans or even in tents or barges.

Sadly, some people have nowhere to live and must sleep outdoors.

When the Israelites left Egypt, they were in the desert for forty years and lived in tents. Eventually, they made a Tent of Meeting where God’s presence dwelt. This was known as the Tabernacle, and was made to God’s specific instructions.

We had some tents for the children to hide in!

Later, when the Israelites had their own land, they lived in houses and the king even lived in a palace. David wanted to build a temple for the Lord so that He had somewhere beautiful to dwell, rather than a tent. The temple was built by Solomon, David’s son.

Sadly, the people came to believe that God only dwelt in that temple, but in truth, no one building could ever be enough to ‘house’ God. The New Testament teaches us that God does not dwell in buildings made by man, but dwells inside each person who receives Him as Lord. We become the temple of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. (1 Cor 6:19) God dwells in us! The church is not a building, but people in whom the Lord dwells.

Eugene Peterson, speaking on John 14:6 when Jesus declared HImself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, commented that these three things must not be separated if we are to live well for God. “The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life. We can’t proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus truth.” (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Jesus Way,’ P 4)

We are so used to the world’s way of working that often, we don’t even recognise that we are not operating in the same way that Jesus did. Human effort, achievement, wisdom, knowledge and pride are the primary ways of the world. James reminds us that there is a difference between earthly wisdom and spiritual wisdom, telling us that our good life must be seen through ‘deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.’ (James 3:13) He talks about earthly wisdom leading to bitter envy and selfish ambition, and goes on to say, ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’ (James 3:17) God’s ways may well seem counter-intuitive to the world’s ways; certainly God calls us to do things His way, which includes unlimited forgiveness, kindness and love even for our enemies, none of which will make sense to us if we are only looking at it from a natural perspective.

Faith and grace are the key ingredients to living well (see Eph 2:8-9). Grace is outrageous; it offends all we believe about virtue and the benefits of effort and achievement. It is undeserved, unmerited. There is nothing we can do which will qualify us for it, but there is equally nothing we can do that will bar us from it. God’s grace is there for us to receive freely, and the way that things work in His kingdom is by faith.

Proverbs 3:5-6 shows us how God wants us to live:

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.^’ (Prov 3:5-6)

To please God, we must be willing to lay down our lives for others, to embrace what may well seem like foolishness in order to obey Him and to trust God no matter what things may look like to our natural eyes. When we do this, then we will not only understand more of how God works in our world, but we can show others how He works by being the visible demonstration of a life of faith.