https://youtu.be/iQ3zm6WPypo
Motives Matter (Acts 24:24-27) Scriptures in NKJV
Quick recap of Paul:
The Apostle Paul was in Jerusalem, in the Temple, taking part in a Jewish purification ritual, when some Jews seized him. With false accusations they stirred up a mob, caused a riot, and attempted to kill him. The Roman authorities stepped in to save him.
The Jews want him killed, but the Roman rulers couldn’t find a crime that he has committed. Certainly nothing worth imprisonment or death.
To save him from the rioting mob and a murder plot in Jerusalem, Claudius Lysias sent Paul to Governor Felix in Caesarea. Although he hadn’t committed a crime, the Jews could bring their accusations before Felix if they wanted.
The High Priest showed up to condemn Paul (but the original accusers didn’t show up.) Paul made his defense, no real evidence presented, but Felix wanted to wait a few days to decide, and talk to the Roman Commander who rescued Paul from the mob at first, so Paul was still held as a prisoner.
Read Acts 24:24-27
Motives vs Actions:
Actions are what you did, motives are why you did it.
We are “meaning making machines”, and determining motives is usually the first thing we do.
We will automatically assign negative motives to people’s action, but excuse the motives of dogs.
- When a person lashes out, we say they are just mean, jealous, spiteful, and malicious.
Example: The time a yelled and berated family member on the phone, with dad in the hospital dying, untreated PTSD, and brother diagnosed with kidney failure.
- My motives were good, but my actions were very wrong!
I apologized immediately. I knew instantly my actions were wrong. It was not accepted. The motives of everything I had ever done were now being questioned.
I had to tell them about my PTSD. Then all of a sudden, I was forgiven, and showed care and concern. I only received the sympathy that a wounded animal gets, not that of a beloved family member.
Wounded people will “bite” you too. It’s worth considering their possible motives for why.
Is that all it takes? Someone wrongs you and you’re done? What if Jesus did that to you?!
Tonight, reflect on your own motives and subsequent actions. Consider your response to the actions of other, despite their motives. WHY do you do WHAT you do?
Point #1: Consider Felix’s motives.
Proverbs 21:2, Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.
Read Verse 25:
Felix, “…had a more accurate knowledge of The Way…” (Verse 22), so he already understood what Paul was talking about. Felix was also notably corrupt.
Felix wife, Drusilla, was Jewish. She understood God’s laws also. She abandoned her husband to marry Felix. She knew what she did was against God’s commands.
The Bible says he was afraid (of what?) so he sent Paul away. Hearing Paul’s message, Felix and Drusilla clearly felt convicted. The possible judgment of God is scary for the unrepentant.
He is avoiding biblical truth, because the truth can hurt, and REQUIRE life change.
Read Verse 26:
- Felix wants a bribe to release Paul. (Remember, Paul did nothing wrong to be locked up.)
- “…he sent for him more often...”, every week to hear Paul’s message about Christ.
- He wanted to be in Paul’s presence, not for the gospel, but to get something for himself.
Read Verse 27:
Felix left Paul bound to please the Jews. He wasn’t Jewish. He didn’t believe they were right, but he left Paul in captivity anyways, presumably to maintain favor in their eyes.
His motives were to please the people around him. His actions were to be unfair to Paul.