PEOPLE WILL TRY TO DISCREDIT BELIEVERS BY LYING ON US

Proclamation:

“… I went up to Jerusalem to worship.  My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city.  And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.”  Acts 24:11-14 (NIV)

Explanation:

The apostle Paul was arrested and escorted to the governor for a hearing.  After the elders and their lawyer, Tertullus, had presented their case against him to Felix, the governor, Paul was allowed to speak. (Acts 24:1-10)  Paul basically said that the charges against him were false.  He said that he was in the temple when they seized him but that he did nothing wrong.  He said that he was on trial because he publicly declared that he believed in the resurrection of the dead. (Acts 24:17-21)  When Felix had heard Paul he sent him back to prison, but he called for him frequently and talked with him, and yet still kept him in prison for two years as a favor to the Jews. (Acts 24:25-27)

Application:

As believers we are encouraged to share The Word of God and to tell others about Jesus, The Christ.  However, when we tell some people, especially non-believers, about The Lord Jesus we will offend some of them.  In an effort to keep us quiet and to keep others from believing us, some people will lie on us or about us in order to discredit us.  The Bible says when men persecute us and say all manner of evil against us falsely that we should rejoice because great will be our reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:11-12)  So, let us keep on spreading the gospel.

Run Your Race To Win The Prize

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. " 1 Corinthians 9:23-25 (NIV)

After a lengthy discourse on all the things that he would do to win souls for Christ, Paul here encourages the people to live their lives as if they are in a race that they want to win. Most races are run for short lived goal, but the Christian race is run for an imperishable eternal crown.

Like the single minded athlete or runner in training who is focused on winning, we should have that same type of focus when we work for The Lord. We need to prepare for our race. W e need to run our race with diligence. We need to keep our focus on the prize. Our prize is to hear Jesus say "Well done, good and faithful servant ..."