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.

- When a dog bites, we say

it’s the owner’s fault, it was abused, it feels threatened or scared, that’s

just what dogs do. We don’t see that people hurt people for the same

reasons?

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?