“Taking Prudent Measures” – FBC Morning Light (6/6/2023)

Paul’s Imprisonment and the Plot Against Him

Well, a good Tuesday morning to you. Today we're reading in 1 Kings 19 and 20 in Acts 23 and Psalm 112. It's pretty tempting to zero in on 1 Kings 19 today and focus on Elijah and his juniper tree experience, but instead I want to go to Acts 23 and look at Apostle Paul who is imprisoned.

He's being held in captivity. He's being held really for his own safety and also for the purposes of conducting an investigation. Let's get the background of that. Back in chapter 22, a great upheaval had occurred in the city of Jerusalem because of Paul.

He was being accused of violating the sacredness of the temple and the Jewish authorities were creating quite an uproar in Jerusalem over Paul. The Roman authorities nabbed him to get him away from the mob, and Paul asks if he can address the mob in chapter 22.

They say, okay, fine, and he starts speaking. They thought he was somebody else. They thought he was an insurrectionist. He said, no, I'm a Hebrew. They allow him to speak. He speaks and everybody is listening very attentively in chapter 22 until he comes to the place where the Lord had commissioned him to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

Well, that just set off the Jews. They don't want to have anything to do with the Gentiles and didn't want to have any notion that Gentiles should become the people of God. The uproar came. People cried out, languishing, and all of that stuff, wanting Paul to be executed.

Again, the authorities take him inside the barracks and one of the commanders says, okay, we're going to scourge you. I find that really a strange way of conducting an investigation. They're going to beat him with a cat-and-nine-tails to beat out the truth in him.

Nevertheless, he appeals to his Roman citizenship, says, is it legal for you to do that? They back off because, no, in fact, it's not. They couldn't treat a Roman citizen in that way. He's then just simply held in custody, waiting for a hearing.

The Lord’s Encouragement to Paul in Prison

It's while he's in custody that the Lord comes to him in verse 11 of chapter 23, and this is where I want to kind of zero in. The Lord comes to him that night and he says, be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.

That had to be incredibly encouraging, and what assurance that had for him, that whatever is going to happen as an outcome of this hearing and this uproar in Jerusalem over him, and the cry for his execution, that it was not going to be successful.

He was not going to be executed, because God said he's going to have to go to Rome. He was going to be testifying of the Lord in Rome. So how encouraging that would have been for him, what confidence that would have given to him.

Divine Providence and Paul’s Nephew

Well, in the meantime, as the Lord is giving that encouragement to Paul, there are 40 Jewish authorities in this Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, if you will, who have plotted together and they've committed themselves to see to it that Paul is assassinated.

And they come up with this plan, 40 of these guys, they come up with this plan, and here's what they say the plan is. He says, you therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he, Paul, be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him, but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.

So when Paul is being taken from the prison to the hearing hall, these committed executioners were going to assassinate Paul. But, verse 16 says, Paul's sister's son, so his nephew, hears about this ambush, and he goes in and enters the barracks and told Paul.

Now, by the way, how's that for an example of divine providence, right? Having Paul's nephew right in earshot of these conspirators who want to assassinate Paul. So Paul's nephew comes to Paul and says, hey, listen, this is what's going to happen.

This is what these guys have plotted to do. All right, now pause here. What was the message that Paul just received from the Lord? Don't be afraid, Paul, because as you've borne witness of me here in Jerusalem, so are you going to bear witness to me in Rome.

Well, Paul could have heard that news from his nephew and said, eh, don't worry about it. You know, the Lord said he's going to take care of me, you're going to protect me, I don't have to worry about some conspirators that want to take my life.

Just don't worry about it, go home, go to bed, get a good night's sleep. But he could have done. But isn't it interesting that that's not what he did? What he did instead was he told his nephew, he got one of the centurions and said to the centurion, take this young man over to the commander, he has something to tell him.

And so Paul's nephew goes, tells the commander of this plot, this conspiracy, and the commander then takes action to spirit Paul out of town under the protection of guards and take him up to Caesarea.

Prudence, Provision, and Trusting God Without Presumption

Now, here's the thing. Paul's actions here demonstrate something I think it's a very important principle for us to grasp. We have great promises of the Lord's protection, we have promises that the Lord will provide our needs, the Lord promises to providentially work and direct in our lives.

But that does not preclude taking prudent measures on our part to avoid danger or to provide needs. I think for the example of the whole idea of a savings account, or building some kind of retirement savings or something like that, I think you can be foolish about it, I think you can be obsessed over those things, but you can also have an attitude that says, well, you know, God said he's gonna take care of me, so I'm not gonna set anything aside for the fear of the future, I'm not gonna try to get any savings account, I'm just gonna trust the Lord.

He said he'd provide and take care. Well, he did. But the Lord also told Paul, I'm gonna get you to Rome. That didn't stop him from being prudent and taking reasonable, wise measures to ensure his own safety.

So let's extrapolate from that experience of Paul and his practice, and apply it in some very reasonable, practical ways in our own lives. We have the promises of God, but that doesn't preclude prudent, wise measures on our part.

Father, help us, I pray, that we would be truly a people of wisdom and understanding, knowing how to apply your Word to our lives in a way that is very much compatible with the promises that you have made to us.

Help us not to be presumptuous in our faith, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Tuesday. I hope the Lord will bless you in it. Good day.