Unwavering faith
Acts 24:15 “I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
Imagine for a moment that you are standing in front of a group of powerful, well-known and important government officials. That alone would likely be rather intimidating. Now add to that situation that you are being called into this very official setting to defend your Christian faith. How well would you do? Would you know what to say?
The situation I just described is exactly the backstory for our Bible verse for this week. The Apostle Paul is called before the high priest, some elders, a lawyer and the Roman governor. He was accused of being a troublemaker and causing riots as he shared the Gospel.
When Paul was given the opportunity to speak, he didn’t deny that he believed in Jesus. Instead he boldly and confidently spoke of how he believed in the true God and then he added the words of our verse for this week. He boldly spoke of his confidence in the resurrection.
You are probably wondering what happened to Paul because he gave such an answer. If you open your Bible and read all of Acts 24 you will see that Paul was put in prison and kept there for a number of years for giving such an answer.
Would the way Paul spoke have been the response that you would have given? Would you have referenced the resurrection and the confidence which it gives you in living your faith? Remember in our devotion last week we said “There comes a time, however, when we must live the resurrection.”? The way Paul spoke is a perfect example of how to do that!
It is rather unlikely that most, if not all of us will not be put in the situation which Paul was. But, we will be put in situations where we have the opportunity and perhaps are even expected to speak about our Christian faith. What will you do? What will you say? Will you feel intimidated by the peer pressure or embarrassed to speak about your faith and your Savior?
Let me give you a real life example how you might be placed in such a situation. A loved one of yours who is a Christian has passed away and you are at the visitation with wave after wave of family and friends coming through the line. Would you sadly mumble something about how this is such a sad situation and how much you are going to miss them? Or, would you acknowledge that while you are certainly sad, because of your confidence in the resurrection you know for certain that you can look forward to a joyous reunion with your loved one in heaven?
Several times in the New Testament (Matthew 10:18, Luke 21:12 & Mark 13:9) Jesus makes a comment like this: “On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.”. Paul actually did have to face kings and governors; we likely won’t. But we will very likely face friends, family, peers and coworkers.
Lord, give us the confidence and the words to clearly and confidently speak of our resurrection faith! Amen.