S. S. Times Acts 24:10-21 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned to him to speak, answered… I. GENERALLY. Paul defended himself — 1. Cheerfully, because he knew he was defending a good cause. 2. Skilfully, knowing that one is not excused for using bad arguments, because he is engaged in defending a good cause. 3. Confidently, having already been tried and acquitted at the bar of his own conscience. 4. Defiantly. Right-doing calls for no apologising. To submit is to admit, when one is openly charged with evil-doing. 5. Paul made his defence defiantly, knowing that he had given no occasion for the accusations brought against him. Conscious innocence makes a man bold; conscious guilt makes a man bluster. II. SPECIFICALLY. 1. He confessed Christ (ver. 14). 2. He served God (ver. 14). 3. He reverenced the Old Testament (ver. 14). 4. He believed in the resurrection (ver. 15). 5. He sought a clear conscience (ver. 16). 6. He helped the needy (ver. 17). III. LESSONS. 1. "I confess." What Paul had done he was ready to acknowledge. No man should be slow in pleading guilty when he is charged with being a follower of Christ. 2. "They call a sect." What if they do? Fear not the cry of sectarianism so long as only Christ's enemies are raising it against you. 3. "Believing...the law." Has that law been repealed? Then remember that it demands your allegiance as much as it did Paul's. 4. "Hope toward God." Toward God is the true direction for hoping. Hopelessness Godward means blank despair manward. 5. "Exercise myself." It requires constant effort to follow Christ closely. But it is the best kind of exercise. It made of Paul a giant in moral strength. 6. "Conscience void of offence...alway." Some one has wisely said, "It is always term time in the court of conscience." 7. "I came to bring alms." Paul had come among the Jews on an errand of mercy, and the merciless Jews had straightway sought to slay him. 8. "Certain Jews...ought to have been here." But they were not there. Such men prefer haranguing a lawless mob to testifying in a court of law. The devil's agents are constitutional cowards. (S. S. Times.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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: |
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