We were in verses one through nine last week, and you probably joke that your Bibles just automatically open up to the book of Acts. Mine does because it's open that way every day of the week as I prepare, and sometimes it's difficult to prepare. And this week was one of those, very difficult. Sometimes a passage, especially narration, narrating a story, It's difficult to find how can we apply this to our lives? What does God have for me out of this passage? And of course, we know of the Apostle Paul and how God used him, not only as a missionary, but to write the at least 13 letters, the 13 epistles that he wrote that we can go to that give much instruction, admonition, exhortation. I take when we read his words here at this trial before Felix the same thing. I look at his words, what God told him to say, led him to say as what's something we can get something from in our lives. The theme of this chapter, as I said last week, could be the trial of Governor Felix. Paul is before him at the end of this chapter in verses 24 and 25. Paul is on trial as far as the earthly life is concerned, but folks, Felix is on trial as far as eternity is concerned. And every person who doesn't know Christ as Savior today is on trial as far as eternity is concerned. In verses 1-9 we see the orator, that's Tertullus, before Felix, so that we have the context. Let's read verses one through nine. And after five days, Ananias the high priest descended with the elders and was certain with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always, and in all places most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Notwithstanding that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear of thus thy clemency a few words. For we have found this man, a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." Heresy. Verse 6, who also hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to our law, but the chief captain Lysias came upon us and with great violence took him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee, by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things whereof we accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. So there's Tertullus before Felix, and Paul is denounced for his faith in what he says. We're gonna see today in verses 10 through 16, it actually goes to verse 21, we'll have to get to verses 17 to 21 later at another time, but we see in verses 10 to 16, Paul before Felix, where Paul defends his faith, he is defending his faith before Felix. Last week I mentioned the difficulty or the problem that professing Christianity is, and that is this, that in general professing Christianity seeks favor with the world. We want to get along with the world. We don't want to cause any waves. We don't want to, as some people have said in the past, we don't want to rock the boat. We just want to make sure that we get through this life peacefully. Well, that's definitely not what the Apostle Paul believed. True believers will not be here just to get through, not to try to gain favor with the world. Rather, believers will defend the faith. Look at verse 24 where Paul uses that phrase, the faith. We are to contend for the faith, it says in the book of Jude. Today many people talk about my faith, your faith. The question is, how does my faith or your faith relate to the faith? Do you understand when I ask that question? You say you're a Christian. You say that you have put your faith and trust in something. How does your faith relate to the faith? The faith tells us there is a one and only faith. Does your faith synchronize with the faith? Your defense of the faith is not just in what you say about your faith. But your defense is in what you show about the faith by your faith. Paul's defense of his faith before Felix is expressed in two ways we're going to look at this morning. First of all, his worship in verses 10 to 13. Secondly, his service in verses 14 to 16. Let's look at verses 10 to 13, where we see how he is expressing his faith, defending his faith by his worship. I may also call this the worship of Christians. This is how our faith should be expressed. In this passage, what does Paul call Christians? Well, we're going to see that this morning. Felix calls them the sect of the Nazarenes. The Apostle Paul uses a different phrase that we've already seen and that we need to be reminded of. We see in verses 10 through 13, first of all, we see the facts concerning his worship in verses 10 through 11. In verse 10, The narrator says, which is Luke, then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, for as much as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself. Let's look at the facts here about Felix. Rather than flattering Felix, as did Tertullus, remember that last week? Oh, most noble Felix, you have given us so much. You are such a Greek. As he is there bowing and prostrating himself before Felix and flattering him the best he can, is Paul going to try to outdo him? Not at all. Rather than flatter Felix with lies, and folks, that's what flattery sometimes is, that's what it usually is, it's lies, telling the lies about somebody to their face to gain favor with them, as Teuterlis was trying to do. Rather than flatter Felix with lies, Paul gives concrete facts that Felix's years of service as a judge have provided him experience in judging. That's not flattery, that's a statement of the facts. and judging this nation. Well, what is this nation? It's the Jewish nation. Nation is another word for people, this people. In other words, the Apostle Paul is basically saying, here is somebody finally who knows this people like I do. If anybody knows the Jewish nation, the Apostle Paul does. And here's a man who's been a judge of them for years past, And Paul takes heart in that. In fact, he calls it, I cheerfully defend myself. Felix is the governor of Judea. And he understood about the great yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem at Pentecost. What's this time of the year? Pentecost. Paul has determined to be in Jerusalem at Pentecost. This is the great feast of the Pentecost. This allows Paul to cheerfully answer for himself. Again, look at that word answer in verse 10. It literally means defend myself. It's the Greek word where we get apologetics. He is defending himself. There's the facts about Felix in verse 10. Let's look at the facts about Paul in verse 11. Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship." Paul is stating facts about himself here and saying, you know what, Felix, you understand. You know exactly as a fact that it was only 12 days between my arrival and my arrest in Jerusalem. How does this relate to him defending himself? How is it possible for anyone to start a rebellion in that amount of time? So he states, I've only been here 12 days. There's the facts. Not much for us to get out of that, right? Except background. But let's go down to the findings, verses 12 to 13. The findings. Verse 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. Verse 13, neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. So number one, they did not find him arguing. You see the word disputing there in verse 12, disputing with any man. That word has the idea of debating, of arguing. No one found Paul carrying on an argument with anybody, now get something, in Jerusalem. You say, why did you say Jerusalem? Because you go back to what we've seen already. Has Paul ever disputed with anybody, folks? Has he ever argued with anybody? Has he ever debated with anybody? Not this time in Jerusalem. And I've pointed this out many times that sometimes we as believers think, oh, we're never supposed to get in a debate with anybody about religion. What? What? What? I'm just saying the Apostle Paul did time and again. Where did he mainly do it? You go back in the book of Acts here and he has disputed in synagogues everywhere. Thessalonica in chapter 17 and two of Acts, Athens in 1717, Corinth in 1804, Ephesus in 1819, but not in the synagogues of Jerusalem when he is visiting this time, not even in the temple, not anywhere in the city as he'd been disputing. He often argued with people, but not in the temple where they found him. What was he doing in the temple? I'll go back to verse 11. What did he come to Jerusalem to do? The very last word of verse 11 is out loud, please. He was there to worship. He was there to worship. They did not find him arguing. Secondly, they did not find him attacking. You look at the phrase there in verse 13 and it says, excuse me, the middle of verse 12, neither raising up the people. That's a very interesting way of expressing that he was not attacking anyone. He wasn't raising up the people. He wasn't making an attack of a crowd. He was not found causing a riot. So he neither, they did not find him arguing or attacking. Why does Paul mention these two things? Because in verse 13, these things they cannot prove. Let me ask you something. Was there a riot in Jerusalem because of Paul? Was there arguing in Jerusalem because of Paul? If it wasn't Paul, and it wasn't, Who was it? It was these Jews. Then why are they accusing him of what they themselves are really the ones guilty of? You've perhaps heard the phrase, especially in the last few years, the term projecting? How many of you are familiar with the term projecting? When you project onto somebody else that which you yourself are more guilty of. It's the very thing that Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 said, do not do. That's what he means when he says, judge that you be not judged. And then he goes on to say that how somebody will try to get a little speck out of your eye while he's got this beam protruding out of his eye. What is that guy doing? He is projecting onto you of being guilty of something that he himself is more guilty of, but to kind of hide the beam, which is very hard to do, he focuses on you and the little speck in your eye. This is what is taking place politically in our nation right now. But here, it's exactly what was taking place. The Jews, which were of Asia, are arguing and attacking. All you have to do is go back to chapter 21 and read the whole chapter. But hey, verses 27 to 31 give it to you right there. They're the ones guilty. But the worshipers of the way, we're calling them the way because Paul's going to use that term, the worshipers of the way never use violence, never use coercion to see people saved in their worship. Isn't it interesting that in Islam, It's not a religion of peace. You see, folks, they have to announce that to take your mind off of the fact that it's a religion of violence. So that's why they have to, everybody has to say it's a religion of peace. It's a religion of peace. George Bush did that all the time. It used to irritate me so bad. Well, this is a religion of peace. It is not. It's a religion of violence. Christianity is a religion of peace. And whereas other religions are religions of coercion, and every religion other than true Christianity is a religion of coercion. Mormonism, coercion. Islam, coercion. Hinduism, coercion. Violence, if you don't believe. Buddhism, coercion. Roman Catholicism, coercion. Just ask those who are the subjects or the objects of the grand inquisition of the 1500s. Christianity of love and persuasion. So they're attacking him what they themselves are more guilty of. And this is happening in a day when men thought that victory was achieved through violence and coercion. Rome. When you think of Rome, Marching throughout the world to conquer. And then you read of men in the book of Acts, like that Egyptian mentioned in chapter 21 and verse 38, who made an uproar and led 4,000 murderers in the wilderness. Coercion, violence. Go way back to Acts chapter 5 and verse 36, and you read about Thutis, who was joined by 400 others. Violence and coercion. Chapter five and verse 37, Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing drew much people after him. And even before the book of Acts, when they were ready to crucify Jesus Christ, Pilate said, you know, this is the time when I can release somebody else to you. And they all yelled the name Barabbas. Now we know the Barabbas was a robber. But according to Mark chapter 15 and verse seven, we learn just a little bit more about him, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him who had committed murder in the insurrection. He was a seditioner. He was an insurrectionist. He was a murderer. And yet they condemned Jesus Christ and let him go free. Paul's defense of his faith before Felix is expressed in his worship and how it's a religion, it's a worship of peace, a worship of persuasion, not coercion. Well, that brings us to the second point and my last point this morning. Paul's defense of his faith before Felix is expressed not only in his worship in verses 10 to 13, but now in his service in verses 14 to 16. This section is central to Paul's defense. This section of the passage is central to Paul's defense. Paul uses this trial. Paul uses his standing before Felix. Paul uses His standing before these members of the Sanhedrin who have come down from Jerusalem to make sure that he is taken care of, that he is imprisoned, that he is executed. Paul is using this as an opportunity to defend his faith, which is to testify of his faith in God, because his faith is the faith. You may ask, where do you get the word service, Pastor? I don't see the word service anywhere in verse 14. Well, let's read verse 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, and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just, and of the living. Now, you can read this quickly and you can just skim over so many good things in here. And this is where I did some camping out this week. But again, where do I get the word worship? Well, if you go back to verse 11 and look at the word worship, that's one word in the original. The word worship in verse 14 is a different word. In verse 11, the word worship has to do with adoration. Adoration. is an inner attitude displayed outwardly by bowing. But the word worship in verse 14, an entirely different word, is the word that as close as I can come has to do with conduct. I'm trying to reduce it to one word. Conduct, an outer action that is displayed in service, in serving. And therefore, let's read verse 14 that way. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so serve I the God of my fathers. And yet it's not the typical word for serve. It has nothing to do with slavery, which the typical word for serving does. It does not have to do with deaconing, which another word for serving in the New Testament has to do. This has to do with service. as I worship, a worshipful service. It is the way I conduct my life. This is what is true about me. Whereas the worship earlier might be acts of worship, bowing down in a service or going to the temple one day to worship or coming to church on Sunday to worship. But you as believers should be doing verse 14 all the time. It is worshiping through service all the time throughout the week. It is what Defines your life, it's what defines your weak, defines you in every way. And his service, he says in verses 14 and 15, is reflected in his confession. He says, but this I confess unto thee. Then he says, that after the way which they call heresy, now Paul is using the same word here that Tertullus used in verse 5 against him by saying the word sect. And Paul is saying what you call heresy, what you accusers call the sect or the heresy of the Nazarene, Paul calls what in verse 14? That after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers. Did you see that? That after the way, which they call heresy, the way, Paul calls it the way. It literally is the path, the road. The way is Christianity. And that comes from somebody who at one time said, I am the truth, the way. Jesus Christ and so followers of his were called the way. The way that he is talking about here is different than my way or your way. The path that you believe you must take ends up being your faith rather than the faith or the way. Notice the article before way, the. Notice the article before faith, the. Notice the article used before truth in the Bible, the. There is the truth, the way, the faith. And the question is, not your truth or my truth. It's the truth. It's not your way or my way. It's the way. It's not your faith or my faith. It's the faith. Now, if you have truly come to the faith in Jesus Christ, you can call it my faith. As you'll see in the book of Thessalonians, Paul tells them all the time, your faith, your faith, your faith. What they call heresy, what Tertullian called, Tertullus called heresy. He called it that because it was simply contrary to Judaism. Do you know of any heresies in this world? Have you ever studied theology where you can say, well, that's heresy. From our standpoint, it's heresy. But would others out there who look at a fundamental independent Baptist church say, man, that's heresy. Absolutely. Don't you think the Mormons would say that what we practice here is heresy? What we believe is heresy? So this is heresy to Judaism. Salvation is heresy to those you used to run with who don't understand your Christianity. They don't understand what you believe. And according to 1 Peter 4.4, Peter says there, now they speak evil of you. Yeah, they call you heretics. In other words, here's what Paul is saying here. In verse 14, here's how I serve the God of my fathers. And so he mentions two things here. In verse 14, the last part of verse 14, he talks about my faith. My faith, based upon the faith. Paul confesses, what he confesses includes what he believes. The word believing is the verb, it's the action of the noun faith. Faith and believing are the same thing. One is simply a noun, one is a verb. It's the action part of the noun. And notice what the apostle Paul says, that he is believing. In other words, he is serving God, worshiping God, Believing, while he's worshiping, he is believing what? All things which are written in the law and in the prophets. Now you could spend a lot of time right there. All things which are written in the law and the prophets. To those in the New Testament, the law and the prophets was a common expression denoting the entire Old Testament. So what he is essentially saying is here, believing the Old Testament. Let's stop right there because how many of you have even read through the Old Testament ever? All through? Yeah. Maybe you couldn't reach it. You don't even know what you believe if you haven't read the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul believed the entire Old Testament. As he's worshiping God, he says, I do so believing all that is written. Let me ask you something. Who's a better Jew, Paul or his accusers? You don't need to say anything out loud, but think about it. Who's a better Jew, Paul or his accusers? You know who is? Paul is. See what he says. You're in Acts. Go to the next book, that epistle that we have called Romans, that he wrote to the Romans, Romans chapter 2. Notice what he says in verses 28 and 29 of Romans chapter 2. For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Now jump to verse 29. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly. Now Paul was both a Jew Outwardly, because he talks about circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, he says in verse 28, but he has also won inwardly because, he talks in verse 29, it is the circumcision that is of the heart, is in the spirit. It is not in the letter whose praise is not of men, but of God. Who's a better Jew? Paul is. Let me ask you a question. Who's a better Jew, me or an unsaved man who is in the Jewish nation today? Who's a better Jew? Let me ask you, are you a better Jew than those in Israel? I believe all things written in the Old Testament. Here's the interesting thing. A Jew would say the same thing. I believe everything in the Old Testament. But who is revealed in the Old Testament? who to you is so clear? You just go, there's no doubt. Who do you see in the Old Testament? Well, I see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Noah and David and Solomon. No, no, no. Who do you see with a capital W, who, who do you see in the Old Testament that the Jew does not see? Who is it who at one time said, as he opened up and started talking about the Old Testament, the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, and taught of all things concerning me. Who was it who did that? Who was it who said, John 5, 29, search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Who said that? Jesus Christ. So who's the better Jew? Let me ask this question too. So how much of the writings, go back to verse 14, look at it, things which are written, those are the writings. How much of the writings do you believe? Huh? How many? How much of them? I mean, I know you believe in the New Testament. How about the Old Testament? That's what Paul's referring to here. All the writings. I believe. If you were honest, though, folks, you would declare that you only believe those things that you actually act upon. Stop right there. Because so many people say what they believe, but they never do. Do they really believe it then? Again, the Apostle Paul is talking here about My service, it's my everyday life, believing the writings. Thomas Jefferson had his own Bible, did you know that? You know what Thomas Jefferson did to his Bible? Great president, but not a Christian. He went through his Bible and anything he didn't like, he just basically cut it out. What by your service have you cut out of the Old Testament or the New Testament? You know what Christians have cut out of their New Testament? Hebrews 10.25, not to forsake the assembling of themselves together. Oh, I believe that. No, you don't, because you don't practice it. Ephesians 5.25, men, husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it? Oh, I believe that. Do you practice it? Literally, Paul is saying, I am serving, believing. While I am serving, I am believing. My service is not just going through the motions. My service to God is synchronized with my faith, what I believe. Service is not just synchronized with what he believed, but secondly, with what he hoped. Look at verse 15. And have hope toward God. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul talking about hope? And can you just see him as he's writing this? He's got his fingers crossed like this with his left hand because he's probably right-handed. I don't know. And he's writing, and, oh, I hope, I hope. Oh, I hope. Oh, I hope. No, Paul's confession includes what he eagerly anticipates. That's the New Testament definition of the New Testament word hope, eager anticipation. Can you have faith if you have no hope? If faith without works is dead, what is faith without hope? Can you really have faith if you have no hope? You see, a Christian's hope is merely an extension of his faith, the faith. It is a consequence of his faith, the faith. It is not possible to truly believe something if you don't have hope regarding that same thing. Biblical hope is not fingers crossed. It is eager anticipation. That's how we could sing this morning, 336, my hope is in the Lord. really what you're saying is my faith is in him but that gives me true hope my hope is in the Lord Paul's hope he says is what they themselves also allow you see that in verse 15 I have hope toward God which they themselves also allow Literally, they're looking forward to the same thing I am. They are waiting for the same thing. Who is? These Jewish people, these people around me who believed in the resurrection because now he says that there shall be a resurrection of the dead. There shall be a resurrection of the dead. It is literally a resurrection which is about to take place. Same is used regarding judgment in verse 25, the judgment which is about to be. I can just hear the unsaved people saying, you believers, you just keep going on believing about what you do about the resurrection. I simply believe that I will no longer exist. Well, here's the truth of the scripture, that both believers in Christ and believers in themselves will be raised from the dead. They're called the just and the unjust. Right here, it says the just and the unjust. Not only are the just raised, so are the unjust. The people who think that death just ends it all, that that terminates everything, they're hoping, they've got their fingers crossed And they're saying, oh, I just hope that nothing happens after death. I hope that death is the end of everything because if there's something that comes after death, what is it? And they know in their heart, in fact, Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes, God has said eternity in their hearts. They know there's something coming after death. What is it? And Paul hits it when he stands before Felix in verse 24 and verse 25. There is not only the resurrection which is about to take place, Felix, there is the judgment which is about to take place. Because the resurrection means that something happens to us after we are raised from the dead. Jesus made it very clear. Marvel not at this. For the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall come forth, all. They that have done good under the resurrection of life, they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation. Every cemetery in the world, whether a body has been located or not, every grave will have someone come forth. Just because someone believes in the resurrection, though, as these Pharisees do, they're listening to Paul saying this, and Paul says, you have the same, you're waiting for the same thing I'm waiting for, the resurrection. But just because you believe in the resurrection doesn't mean that you're saved. Because what about the gospel did they not believe? What resurrection did the Pharisees not believe in? They believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees didn't, but the Pharisees did. What about the resurrection did they not believe? That Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. You see, Paul was that Pharisee. Until on the road to Damascus, Jesus spoke to him from heaven. Who are you, Lord? What shall I do? Paul's service is reflected in his confession, but in verse 16 it's reflected in his exercise. He says, and herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God. toward men I see in that verse the content of his exercise because he uses the word herein and that refers to what he confesses he exercises in what he confesses out and interesting that word exercise has to do with asceticism I've mentioned this in Sunday school before the adult Bible class of the old ascetics the they were called ascetics A-S-C-E-T-I-C-S ascetic An ascetic was somebody who did everything they could to make life miserable so that they might gain some kind of favor with God in heaven. And I've told you about the pillar saints. Do you remember the pillar saints I've told you about? In early church history, there would be these men who were so dedicated to God. You know what they would do? They would find a pillar that had been abandoned, or they would build a pillar. They would climb this pillar. And they would sit on top of that pillar and spend the rest of their life on that pillar. You think I'm joking? Go find a church history book, Kenneth Laderet, Philip Schaff's history. Go find it. And they talk about these pillar saints. And they would literally stay up there. And that brings up all kinds of questions in your mind, doesn't it? How did they do this? Well, they did it. They did it. Well, where'd they get their food? Well, people who thought so much of them would bring a pole and have on the end of the pole the food that they would raise up to them and would do the cleanup around the pillar. But oh, how holy these people are. Okay, that's asceticism. That's the word that's used here. Not because Paul is talking about people like that. What he is talking about, and when you think about an ascetic, somebody who does that on top of a pillar. By the way, there was others who would hang off the edge of a cliff in a cage. And they would live in that cage. There was one pillar saint I read of, his name was Simon. I forget his last name. You're going to think I'm joking when I tell you this. He lived on top of the pillar for 30 years without coming down. The word means to do one's best, to take pains, to drill. Paul is saying here, and herein do I drill myself. Herein do I take great pains. It has a note of moral strictness about it without the later sense of asceticism that you see in church history. He is so careful. He is taking tremendous pains. I am exercising myself in what I confess. In my faith and in my hope, I exercise myself in it. It's that which many Christians today would call legalism. As I thought about this, I wrote this down and I put it on your notes. Many Christians, seem to be so afraid of being called legalists that they have, without shame, become illegalists. In other words, they're no longer as concerned whether what they do is right or legal for them to do as Christians, because I'm afraid somebody's going to call me a legalist if I live such an austere life. If I really just live for the Lord, people are going to call me a legalist. Well, that's the worst thing you can call somebody today, isn't it? He's a Christian. Oh, he's a legalist. Oh, boy. You call me legalist. Oh, no. What am I going to do? No. That's what you'd call Paul. He exercised himself. He did his best. He took pains. He drilled himself. He greatly disciplined himself in what he confessed. What did he confess? Faith and hope. There's the content of his exercise, then we see the consequence of his exercise. Exercising what he confesses allows him to have always a conscience void of offense, a conscience that is blameless, a conscience that is clear toward men and toward God. Etymologically, the word conscience is to share knowledge with oneself. You know You know that what you're about to do is wrong. You know it, and you're sharing that with yourself. It's your conscience. And if you do what you know is wrong, what have you just done to your conscience? You have violated it. You may act as if you don't know what you do know, but in so doing, you are not blameless. You have violated your conscience, that psychological faculty that distinguishes between what is right and what is wrong. It's one thing to have men accuse you as they did Paul, but it's another thing when your conscience accuses you. So how do you worship the God of our fathers? Extending back to the earliest one in the Old Testament. should be evident in what you confess, what you believe and eagerly anticipate, and in the exercise of what you confess. So many Christians today, folks, who, Christianity's just kind of, oh, just kind of blob along like a bobber on the ocean, just blob along. You do not see that with the Apostle Paul. You do not see that with Christians in the Old Testament or the New Testament. They're not just blobbing along. And that's the challenge that I was given this week. As I studied what the Apostle Paul is saying here, herein do I exercise myself. And they knew it. They knew it. And that's how at the end of this chapter, He could stand and look this governor in the face and reason, by the way, the word reason there is the same word dispute, and debate and say, righteousness, temperance, judgment. And Felix could hear those words come out of his mouth, but realize it's not just what this man says, it's how he lives. and he trembled. Why doesn't the world tremble today before Christians? Because what they say and what they do are two different things. Lord, I pray that our lives, what we do, would be synchronized with what we confess and that what we exercise, the exercise of our faith and hope, would be a testimony to you and what you've done in our lives. Lord, some of us have been saved when we were just little, young, as I was. And others who have been saved out of wickedness and sin are more dedicated, more on fire because they know clearly what they've been saved from. May all of us look at ourselves as 500-pence debtors, not just the 50 pence, but that we owe you as much as anyone else for what you've done for us. Not that we could ever pay you back, but Lord, may we live as though we could. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Closing hymn is 407.