And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. 2 And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, 3 in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. 4 But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. 5 For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6 He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. 8 By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

9 The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so. (ESV)

Tertullus was a clever lawyer. He was also scurrilous. First of all he used flattery. Warren Wiersbe makes the point that if we did not flatter ourselves we would not so easily fall prey to flattery. History shows that Felix was not worthy of these words. In fact, his cruelty and accessibility to bribes, led to a great increase in crime in Judea. He was eventually removed from office and replaced by Porcius Festus

Next, this wily man resorted to slander. See how the way we use words can distort the picture and give a false sense: ”…plague…ringleader…sect…” This was scandalous. May God help us to always use words with accuracy and honesty, and to never seek to subtly malign another’s character.

Paul did not deliberately cause riots, and it was not his fault if there was a riotous response to the message he preached, but such was the hatred of the gospel in many of the Jews in his day. He certainly did not ‘try’ to ”profane the temple” (6). Having begun with flattery, and moved on to slander, the lawyer’s final weapon was outright lies.