Acts 23:12-35 - British Orphans and Lying Commanders

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Hope you are having a great day today. I know I am, and I'm excited about diving into our Tabernacle Talk for today. We are in Acts 23.

Acts 23, we've been with Paul as he came back to Jerusalem. He was attacked by a mob. He was arrested.

Last episode, there was a conversation happening between the Roman commander that had arrested him and the Sanhedrin, kind of the ruling high officials of the Jewish section of the government. So the Romans ruled over everything.

They allowed the Jews to be able to have some say. That's why Jesus was put on trial before his crucifixion. They had some areas that they had rule over.

They didn't have a rule over everything. And so yesterday we saw Paul interacting with them. And I'm going to start from verse number 10 where we read last time and then go on down.

When the dispute became violent, so we talked about Paul kind of stirred up some trouble between the Pharisees and the Sadducees because he told them, Hey, I'm here because of my belief in the resurrection of the dead, which was factual, specifically

that Jesus had raised from the dead. And the Sadducees and Pharisees fought about that because they disagreed on the resurrection. They disagreed on whether the supernatural could happen.

So when the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, rescue him from them and bring him into the barracks.

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, Have courage, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.

Verse number 12, When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. That's quite the commitment. This says we're going to do it, we're going to do it fast.

Verse number 13, There were more than 40 who had formed this plot.

These men went to the chief priests and elders, so this wasn't the Sanhedrin themselves, it was some lower level people, that then went to the chief priests and elders and said, We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse, that we will need anything

until we have killed Paul. So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you, as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. However, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.

So instead of the chief priests and elders and Sanhedrin, instead of them saying, No, like this is a direct violation of Proverbs 1, this is lying, this is laying in wait, this is ambushing and killing innocent people, all of these things, this is

bad. And they should know this because of their familiarity with the law. However, they do not say any of that. Verse 16, But the son of Paul's sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.

Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him. It's not often in scripture we get to see some of the family lives of many of the apostles.

We know about Peter and his wife's not necessarily mentioned, but his mother-in-law is mentioned, so we know he has a wife.

So there's Peter, and then we know Philip, he had four daughters, so obviously he has a wife, and here Paul has a sister that's around somewhere, and she has a son, and he hears about the plot, brings it to the captain.

Verse number 18, So he took him, brought him to the commander, and said, The prisoner Paul called me, and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.

Then the commander took him by the hand, and led him aside, and inquired privately, What is it you have to report to me?

The Jews, he said, have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

Don't let them persuade you, because there are more than 40 of them arranging to ambush him, men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they kill him. Now they are ready, waiting for a commitment from you.

So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, Don't tell anyone that you have informed me about this. So here we got some espionage, some secret listening in on evil plans. All of this is happening.

In verse 23, he summoned two of his centurions and said, Get 200 soldiers ready with 70 cavalry and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Also provide mounts so they can put Paul on them and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

So there would be a couple of reasons why there's so many soldiers here. Like, why does it need this big of a troop? Everything Rome did, they attempted to do with as much strength as they could that everyone would know, you do not mess with Rome.

There were also roaming bands of zealots, those that would be violent, attempted overthrowers of Roman oppression, Roman presence in Israel. And so those were all very common. Verse number 25.

The commander wrote this. He wrote a letter of this kind, Claudius Silesius to the most excellent Governor Felix. Greetings.

When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen. It's not exactly how that went down.

He didn't rescue him because he learned he was a Roman citizen. He rescued him, was going to beat him, and then learned that he was a Roman citizen after he had bound him.

But that would come with consequences for his actions, and so he didn't want to mention that. He says, wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin.

I found out that the accusations were about disputed matters in their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or chains. When I was informed there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you right away.

I also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in your presence. Therefore, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatres.

As they were ordered, the next day they returned to the barracks, allowing the cavalry to go on with him. When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

After he read it, he asked what province he was from. So when he learned he was from Cilicia, he said, I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers get here too.

And he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod's Palace, other manuscripts have in the governor's palace. So I would continue reading.

Tomorrow is going to be a little bit beefier of a reading time in the episode because Paul three different times in front of three different ranking government officials gives his testimony.

And so instead of having the exact same thing with slightly different people or a slightly different phrasing in the story, we're going to take it all just in one day. I want to talk today about some sovereignty that God provides in our life.

I want to talk about the grace that God provides, and we'll go from there.

So God's sovereignty that in these verses, even though God isn't mentioned anywhere from verse 12 on, I think verse 11 really helps us how we think about this passage, because it just looks like, hey, a bunch of random things happened that the Jews,

that there were some people that were plotting to kill Paul, and Paul's nephew of all people in Jerusalem just happened to be there and to hear about it, which I think is incredible. So verse number 11, The Lord stood by him and said, Have courage,

for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. So the Lord stood by him. Today, if someone stands by you, it could be, why are you up in my space? Or, hey, great to see you too, bud.

But I think one way in which the biblical authors use this phrase is to stand guard with, that it is someone that is next to you to protect you, to help you, to bolster your hope, your feelings of security.

And here, this is what Paul so desperately needed. He needed God to stand with him. I can think of the old hymn, Darlin, darlin, stand by me, oh stand by me, oh darlin, won't you stand, stand by me.

And I think it was Fanny Crosby or something. But God stands by Paul.

And so in circumstances when he needs the right people to be in the right place at the right time, hearing the right things, communicating the right things to the right people, God is there every step of the way.

And I want you to know as you are, if you are a believer in Christ, if you have made Jesus your Lord, then the Lord that stood by Paul will stand by you. I think of Hebrews 13, where he's promised he will never leave us or forsake us.

I severely doubt that you are like Paul in this instance, imprisoned with people plotting to assassinate you.

But if you are struggling in work, if you are struggling with your health, if you are struggling in your relationships, I want you to know that God is for you. He is not against you. He wants what is best for you and your life.

As we have talked about before, that might not always look like you get a bunch of money and that you suddenly become the healthiest person in the world. God doesn't often give us Eden on this side of life.

Because if we received everything that we wanted, we would turn our back on God. And that's shown over and over and over again in Scripture.

God has to give us our entirely new heart before he can place us back in that perfect state, back in that garden state of Eden.

But just because we can't have everything we want in life doesn't mean that God has abandoned us or left us alone nowadays or that we can't expect that anything will ever go right.

I think of the psalmist words where they say this, I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging for bread. And God has planned out how he wants life to go. I think even of the Sermon on the Mount, I mentioned it last time.

But in that prayer, one of the things that we are called to ask God for, the things that we are to expect to receive from him, except in incredibly special circumstances, when he has a greater plan for our good and for his glory and for reaching

others and for ministering to others, this is the normative life that we are called to pray to God for, that we would live lives in line with God's Word that would result in these realities coming. And then he says, is for if you forgive people,

they're wrongdoing. Your heavenly father will forgive you as well. That we are to anticipate God's presence, God's kingdom coming, that state of perfection that God has in heaven.

He intends to bring outposts of that kingdom here on earth until he comes once and for all and finishes the job.

So he's bringing the kingdom on earth where to pray for that to take place, that there would be places where forgiveness is offered, where there is love, where there is fellowship, where there is taking care of people.

We are to anticipate our daily substance. Verse 11 of Matthew 6, give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts. And some of that obviously is with our sin, but also that we would not be in captivity to various things in this life.

I can think of Paul in Romans 6, where he talks about the fact that we were slaves to sin, but now we are called to be slaves to righteousness, that the way we live, we can't help but live in a right relationship with God and with people.

These are all things that God tells us like, hey, these are the things that you need to pray for.

I think of 1st Timothy 2, I believe I've read the verse before on the podcast, but it's an excellent verse where he asks for prayer for kings and for everyone that is in authority.

It says, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

That's the life that God wants to bring about in your life, that as we follow him, we would find our lives to be places where it's tranquil, quiet, where we're able to live in godliness and honesty with other people.

Are you pursuing that kind of life? Are you asking for that life from God?

It's the life that God wants to give you, that in his sovereignty, here God is having some extraordinary circumstances for Paul, that he doesn't really have a tranquil or quiet life right now, but he is living in godliness, he is living in honesty,

he is surrounded by God's peace even in the midst of all of the craziness. Like he's safe with the Romans, which is not normally what you would think, especially not in those days. He is safe.

God is moving him to Rome and he promises him, hey, you're going to have life. That's a promise not many of us have every single day.

So many things that we could glean from this passage, but I think that one, sovereignty, God's sovereignty, the fact that he has good plans for us.

Pastor Ron loves the verse in Jeremiah 29, where God says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.

And that is the normal normative life that God has for you, that you would reach people with your life, that you would live in fellowship and in harmony with other people, that you would help to meet the needs of others, that you would care and

forgive others, that God would provide for your everyday needs. Are you praying and asking God, God, please take care of my needs today? It's something that God calls us to pray for.

The fact that we would pray for it means that sometimes we don't see it in the moment. We don't know where it's going to come from.

I would encourage you if you want to learn more about maybe prayer and asking God for provision, look at the story of George Mueller, and he had at least one orphanage in England. I believe it was late 1800s, early 1900s, if I remember correctly.

And what an incredible life, what an incredible testimony of how God would provide for them and those children again and again and again. And I'd encourage you read that story.

I'm sure there's a short YouTube video about it somewhere that you could watch, and you could be encouraged in your Christian life that you'd say, God, if you provided for these little British orphans, I know you can provide for me today.

God, if you provided for the children of Israel in the wilderness with manna and with water coming out of a rock, I know you can provide for me today.

God, if you provided tax money for Peter, like you did in that one story in the Gospels, God, if you provided tax money for Peter, then I know that you can provide for me.

God, if you provided for the widow woman who ran out of all of her resources and she was going to have to sell her sons into slavery in just a horrible situation, and God, you made her pots overflow with oil that she was able to sell and have

richness and be able to provide and was able to save her family, God, if you could provide for her, I know you can provide for me. God, if you provided for Elijah, and you gave him food from the ravens coming down into the wadis there in Israel, God,

then I know you can provide for me. Today, have faith that the sovereign God who oversees everything, He is with you. He is standing by you, watching guard over your life.

He will never leave you or forsake you, and He has promised to take care of your need.

I want to close with Philippians 4 and verse number 19 where the Apostle Paul says this, and I know that my God will supply all of your need in Christ Jesus according to His riches and glory. Today, know that God is for you. He's against you.

He is not against you. And He has promised He will provide for your needs. Call on Him, ask, pray and trust that He will be faithful.

Hope you have a great day. Tomorrow, we see Paul in front of three different government officials giving his testimony.