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Careful with the Truth

Careful with the Truth
Words of Faith 8-3-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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Acts 24
Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. [2] When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: "We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. [3] Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. [4] But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.
[5] "We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect [6] and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. [7] [8] By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him."
[9] The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

Paul’s trial before Felix was the third of five trials recorded in Acts. The trial raises an interesting question-- How is it that religious people can accuse one another of such dastardly deeds which did not occur?
Ananias, the high priest, personally traveled from Jerusalem to Caesarea on the coast and employed an attorney for this process. It must have been important to him. Apparently, Paul and his message represented a truth that was so disruptive to his political power that Ananias could not allow Paul to continue.
Tertullus began with words of flattery that were typical of such proceedings in the ancient world and then leveled three charges. 1) Paul was a troublemaker who had stirred up riots around the Roman world. 2) Paul had led an illegal religion or “sect”. 3) Paul had sought to desecrate the Temple.
All of the accusations were false but were rooted in some fragment of the real situation. The facts had been shaded and then twisted to achieve a political end.
1) Indeed, it seemed riots did break out in many cities Paul went to, but he never incited these riots; enemies of the faith had done so.
2) The Christian faith called “the Way” had some differences with Judaism but had been declared in several court rulings not to be an illegal religion but simply an extension of Judaism.
3) Paul had shown complete respect for the Temple area but because he had been seem with Trophimus the Ephesian in the city, it was assumed that he had desecrated the Temple by bringing him there (Acts 21:28-29).
In a sense, it is astounding that the same set of facts can produce such diverse interpretations. But perhaps we should not be so surprised. The easy-read on this passage is to point out what a bad-guy Ananias was. The truth is that religious people can become so entrenched in their own opinions that they lose all track of reality! The danger is that the very same thing can happen to us!
We don’t like to think about it, but our Christian convictions are held very passionately and sometimes get confused with our opinions about everything from politics to church matters. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves vilifying those we oppose and shading our version of events toward our end rather than seeking to expose the truth.
The warning here might be to be very, very, careful with… the truth. Even and especially when we are confident that we are fighting for a good cause. Truth is precious. Winning arguments and conquering opponents is not the primary goal of this faith journey. Yet sometimes these same heavy-handed tactics are in the church today!
It is significant to recall that, among other things, Jesus claimed to be The Truth. We must keep The Truth before us always. It is the Truth that will set us free, not the “victory” claimed in debate.

Lord, forgive me if I have shaded the truth. Forgive me if I have passionately sought to win rather that seek the victory You have for us. Give me the grace to always keep the Truth of Jesus foremost in every conversation. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2001, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.