Book of Acts - Ch. 23, Vs. 1-35 (06/29/2003)

Park Meadows Church

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We start chapter 23 this morning. We watched and listened while Paul suffered the heartache of people trying to persuade him to not go to Jerusalem, but he knew that he had to go, that he was being led by the

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Spirit. So, today, he makes his plea to these people.

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And Paul, earnestly beholding the counsel, said, Men and brethren,

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I have lived in all good faith, all good conscience, before God until this day.

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Now, earnestly beholding. Dennis, when you earnestly behold somebody, what do you do?

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Alright, that doesn't exactly answer my question, although it's a good synopsis of the verse.

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David, what does it mean, earnestly beholding? David is hearing it.

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Alright, he's open -faced with the counsel. They can find nothing that he is hiding from them.

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He is not hiding anything. But he says, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

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Now let me ask you, had

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Paul a good conscience when he was persecuting the Jews, or the Christians?

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Dennis, alright,

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Greg, that's exactly right.

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He didn't have any secret desire or personal gain, no sinister plot.

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He was doing what God had ordained him to do. Does the

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Lord measure men's sincerity by the tides of their affections,

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David? It is by the constant desire of a person's resolutions and a general course and tenor of their conversations.

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Every man's conscience is as his life.

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Every man's conscience is as his life. If it be not a good conscience at all, it is no good conscience at all.

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There is nothing that so enrages a man that is living a lie as someone that practices a good conscience.

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Was this meeting of the Sanhedrin an honest attempt to determine if Paul had received a revelation from God?

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Greg? No. No. Very obvious. Verse 2.

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And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

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Things are getting rather violent. Hypocrites are forced at length to betray themselves by their violence.

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As men we are subject to anger. We found out last week that Dennis got angry once in a while.

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But, as Christians, we must not let it become an act.

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Verse 3. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whitest wall, for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law.

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David turned to Matthew 23 .27, if you will, please. Now, up to this point,

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Paul did not realize that this was the high priest. What one thing prevented his recognizing this man?

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Greg? Well, Paul didn't recognize that he was the high priest.

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Why? But he was appointed to that office.

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Is Clarence back there? He is back there.

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He was nearly blind. But he doesn't use that as an excuse.

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Now, in Matthew 23 .27, we find out what he meant by whited sepulcher.

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David? It's very obvious for us, looking at the situation, that the

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Holy Spirit, or God's providence, led Paul to speak these words.

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It was within the next year that the man was murdered. 4.

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And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?

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Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest. For it is written,

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Thou shalt not speak evil. Well, I dropped a page.

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Someone finish that verse. Do we have the right today to say anything we want about a public official?

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David? Clarence, when can we speak about a public official?

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Reaction. Behavior. All right.

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As long as they are operating in the confines of their office and speak truth, you cannot speak evil of them.

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It's when they step outside of their office. 6.

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But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other part

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Pharisees, it gave him an idea. He cried out in the council,

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Men and Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope and resurrection of the dead.

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I am called in question. Now, Greg, this was rather wise on Paul's part, don't you say?

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Do you feel like the Lord is guiding Paul in what he says?

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Now, the Pharisees and Sadducees didn't like each other, even though they had united against Paul.

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The Pharisees believed in predestination and resurrection, as Paul did.

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The Sadducees did not. They believed just like a modern -day

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Baptist church. We may sometimes lawfully set the wicked against themselves so that they stop assaulting us in order that the truth is not hindered.

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7. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the

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Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. Just all of a sudden, by this movement on Paul's part, he quickly had the

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Pharisees on his side. For the

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Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit.

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But the Pharisees confess both, the

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Sadducees and the Pharisees. Even though the Sadducees believed in the law of Moses, and they prayed and watched religiously for the coming of the

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Lord, they did it all unknowingly, just for the benefits gained in this life, just like most people do today.

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They were sad, you see. 9.

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And there arose a great cry, and the scribes that were of the

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Pharisees part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.

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David, was that good advice? Paul, before this, had previously mentioned that Christ appeared to him when he was on the road to Damascus.

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We remember that story. Even though the scribes might not be ready to admit the doctrine of Christ's resurrection, yet they could consistently, with their own principles, allow that the soul of Christ might appear to him.

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Now, David, what is the difference if you would see the soul of Christ or see

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Christ? Is there a difference? So, their thinking was wrong, in that you can see a soul.

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They immediately caught at this as furnishing a strong proof against the doctrine of the

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Sadducees, who neither believed in angels nor spirits, while the

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Pharisees professed both. Every sect on the earth right now had both learned and unlearned men.

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The former here, the Pharisees, used to be the mouth of the party.

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10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.

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Now, we accept this with not even blinking an eye, but Dennis, is this not

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God's providence, that he is having

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Paul protected and he uses heathen soldiers to do it? The presence of God with his suffering servants outweighs all of their discouragements.

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11 And the night following, the Lord stood by him, him being

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Paul, and said, Be of good cheer,

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Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

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Now, David, what do we see about this that is rather startling? That's exactly it.

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He did not send an angel to tell Paul. He came himself.

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Clarence, what significance, if any, do you attach to that? That's exactly right.

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It was a great honor to Paul that the Lord himself came. Yes. That's true.

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God conferenced a suffering apostle with his own presence. And with the gracious manifestation of his special favor, the

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Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, and so forth. When a child of God knows that he is in the will of God, he then and only then has peace in his heart.

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So if you have peace in your heart, the other end of that is you're in the will of God.

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Verse 12. And when it was day, certain of the

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Jews banded together and bonded themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed

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Paul. Now, Clarence, did they despise this man,

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Paul? Let's look at that vow a little bit.

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You would not make a vow unless you intended to fulfill it. By the way, the last we heard of this group, they starved to death.

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To make such a vow was ridiculous. For if he ate, he would break his own vow.

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And if he did not eat, he'd die. Seems like an impossible situation, doesn't it?

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But they had an out. They had manufactured an out.

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All they had to do was go to the priest and rescind their vow.

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Now, if a vow can be made and then you take it back, it's not much of a vow, is it?

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Rather easy. Verse 13.

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And they were more than 40 which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests and elders and said,

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We have bound ourselves under a great curse that we will eat nothing until we have slain

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Paul. Now, is there anybody else in history that did the same thing?

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David, can you think of anybody? Dennis?

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All right. Can you think of anyone else in history that has gone before the

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Sanhedrin and made such a vow? Or maybe not exactly the same vow, but did practically the same thing?

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Greg? Joy? Who?

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No, we have a record of it in the Bible.

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It was Judas. He went to the Sanhedrin and says, How much will you give me to point out

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Jesus to you? In Luke 24 .4.

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And he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them.

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15. Now, therefore, ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him, and we, wherever he come near, are ready to kill him.

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Yes. No, I'm sorry.

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That's what I was getting at, but you were, you would have. Okay, let's go on.

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They say we shall lie in wait, and we're going to dispatch him before he can get to the captain.

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The plan was well and deeply laid, and nothing but God and his providence could have helped

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Paul. The best laid plans and so forth, you remember.

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And when Paul's sister's son, now here we have a reference to Paul's family.

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It was his sister's son heard of their lying in wait.

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He went and entered into the castle and told Paul. Now, to find scripture that supports a little bit more,

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Proverbs 21 .1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he will.

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We have to remember that. Now, we have a brief glimpse of Paul's life, and this is all we have.

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Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain, for he hath a certain thing to tell him.

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Well, now I must ask you, why did Paul do this? He had already received the promise from the

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Lord that he would live to go to Rome. For Paul to not do this would have been doing what to God?

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Tempting God. He knew that divine providence acts by reasonable and prudent means.

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And if he neglected to use the means in his power, he could not expect God's providence to work on his behalf.

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He that will not help himself according to the means and power he possesses, has neither reason nor reservation to assure him that he shall receive any assistance from God.

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God does not depend on man. Now, lest I leave in your mind something contrary to the truth,

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Paul could not do anything else. He did not do anything else. So everything else is supposition.

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So he took him and brought him to the chief captain and said,

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Paul the prisoner called me unto him and prayed me to bring this young man unto you who hath something to say unto thee.

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Then the chief captain took him by his hand and went with him aside privately and asked him,

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What is that thou hast to tell me? David, what is the significance that the scripture put in here that he took him by his hand?

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I think that's right. This shows that he must have been his.

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And it throws a pleasing light on the kind -hearted impartiality of this officer.

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And he said, the boy now, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldst bring down Paul to -morrow into the council, as though they would inquire something of him more perfectly.

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But do not thou yield unto them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him.

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And now they are ready, looking for a promise from thee. Looking for a promise from thee.

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That he would go along with it, that he would bring Paul down. Bigoted and hypocritical professors of religion, who have adopted wrong principles and been corrupted by their wicked practices, are often among the most deceitful, hardened, and cruel of mankind, and the most malignant oppressors of divine truth.

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This, as is so often the case with God's people, not till the last moment, when the plot was all prepared, did the deliverance come.

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David, tell me, why does he wait till the last moment, when all else fails, when all avenues have been tried, and you can only go one way, and that way seems impossible?

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That's when God works. So the chief captain then let the young man depart and charged him,

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See thou tell no man that thou hast shown these things unto me. When God has work to do, he will have instruments to do it.

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Is that right? That's true. And though we see them not, they are not very far from us.

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23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying,

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Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night.

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Now this is only one man going. What a strong guard does

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God set around him. Heathen guard, by the way, to secure him from the

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Jewish rage. Two hundred soldiers, threescore and ten horsemen, and spearmen two hundred.

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So that's two hundred plus forty plus two hundred is four hundred and forty. And horses for Paul and his guards, all to be done at nine o 'clock at night to go seventy -five miles.

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That seems rather much to me, but the captain's not taking any chance.

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24 And provide them beasts, that they may set

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Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. Now this governor has come on stage.

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Is he righteous or unrighteous, David? That's right.

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Oh, it was a great number. Yes. No, I think if anything it was perhaps more.

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That's true, but there was a great multitude of soldiers with Jesus.

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Of this man, then governor, we will hear more about him a little bit later. He was originally a slave, but had risen by base arts to a high position.

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His brother Paulus was the emperor's favorite and secured the important post of the governor for Felix in A .D.

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52. In A .D. 60 he was removed. That's enough about him right now.

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And he wrote a letter after this matter. Claudius Laiusus, unto the most excellent governor

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Felix sendeth greetings. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them.

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Then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a

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Roman. He found out later that he was a Roman after he had taken him.

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28. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him,

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I brought him forth unto their counsel, whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death, of bonds, the persecution of peaceful citizens on account of their religion, of their reading the

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Bible and judging of its meaning is such an outrage as to be condemned even by the heathen.

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When practiced, it has ever been, and will ever be, a corrupt disgrace not only to the

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Christian, but to the civilized world. And it is rapidly progressing that way.

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29. And when it was told me how that the

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Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him.

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30. As the proper person before whom this business should ultimately come, by whom it should be decided.

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31. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipater.

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32. His great favor toward the Apostle in committing him a prisoner not to the common jail, but to Herod's palace, a fair prison, if a place of confinement can be so called.

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33. The Sanhedrin at Jerusalem thought of his own country and of his own religion, yet were not so kind to him as Felix, the heathen governor.

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32. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him and returned to the castle.

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The morrow after they reached Antipater's, they all returned but the horsemen.

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Caesarea now was only 26 miles away, and they figured there wouldn't be any danger in those 26 miles.

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33. Who, when they came to Caesarea and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented

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Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what providence he was, and when he understood that he was of Cilicia, I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers also are come.

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And he commanded to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. Another word on providence.

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We've seen it here. It's still in operation today.

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It becomes providence because we don't understand or know the future. Every being that God has formed has been given the necessary power to perform the duty for which that being was destined.

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Every being that God has formed has been given the necessary power to perform the duty for which that being was destined.

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We have all been destined. The whole world has.

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The action that takes place. The non -action that takes place.

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Everything. I cannot stress that enough.

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But everything is programmed by God. And we're simply working it out.

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We have to make decisions. Rightly so. Is there a word from anybody now?

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That's right. So should we. Anything else?

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Very interesting. Anything else?

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The many things that you must suffer. Dennis dismisses, please.