ACTS CHAPTER 23:12-35,
“Standing Fast Waiting Upon Christ”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the apostle Paul as he was being interrogated by a Roman commander, and then
by the Sanhedrin, and we saw that on that day that things just went from bad to
worse for Paul
1.1.1.
We saw that from the way
that Paul handled the situation that he was in that he had learned several
lessons prior to that which helped him to deal with the situation
1.1.1.1.Paul had learned that God is always in control and on the throne
regardless of how things may seem
1.1.1.2.Paul had learned that the trials and struggles that we go through in
this life are being used in our lives as discipline from the loving hand of our
heavenly Father
1.1.1.2.1.They happen for our own good (Romans 8:28 says ‘all things work
together for good’ in a Christian’s life)
1.1.1.2.2.God knows that we need the discipline that He gives us otherwise we
would end up going in a path that would be very bad for us
1.1.1.2.3.They do not come as punishment from God but as discipline, and out of
love
1.1.1.2.4.We saw how that the Lord promised us in John 16:33 that in this world
we would have ‘tribulation’, and this Greek word means a tremendous crushing pressure
1.1.1.2.4.1.We saw how with a diamond that the formation of it in the earth as well
as the cutting and polishing of it by a jeweler is very similar to how God
works in our lives to form us into a precious jewel that will reflect the
precious image of Christ in our lives
1.1.1.2.4.1.1.We saw that the diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance on
the earth and that it can only be cut by another diamond, and thus the diamond
is the most enduring of all precious gems
1.1.1.2.4.1.2.We saw how that a diamond is basically carbon that is formed deep
within the earth as a result of tremendous pressure and heat, and that this
corresponds to the way that the Lord produces the image of Christ in our lives
through our trials and struggles
1.1.1.2.4.1.3.We saw that a diamond consists of crystals, some of six facets but most
have eight, and that the diamond is shaped by a jeweler using a diamond
wheel. He shapes each of it’s sides to be just the right shape and at just the right
angle in relation to all of the other sides.
This illustrates how God is shaping us and smoothing out our character
so that we reflect the image of Christ in all of it’s many facets
1.1.2.
We saw that the Lord stood
at Paul’s side during the night before today’s events and told him to ‘take
courage’ for he would go to
1.1.2.1.We saw how that the Lord often encouraged His disciples to ‘take
courage’ when He was here on this earth
1.1.2.2.We saw how that the Lord encourages us also in the midst of the
crushing pressure of the tribulations and struggles that we are going through
1.1.2.2.1.The Lord promises, ‘when you pass through the rivers I will be with
you’
1.1.2.2.2.He is with us even when we are being rebellious, for He says, ‘I will
never leave you nor forsake you’
1.1.2.2.3.The scriptures teach, ‘though we are faithless, yet He remains
faithful’
1.2.
ln our study today, we are going to see that now that Paul has been
assured by the Lord that He will go to Rome and testify there, that all circumstances
surrounding Paul would seem to indicate otherwise and that Paul would not get
out of Jerusalem alive, and yet through circumstances orchestrated by the Lord
Paul is rescued so that he indeed will go to Rome and testify for the Lord
1.2.1.
We will in this study look
at what it means to ‘wait’ upon the Lord
1.2.2.
We will see that it is as we
act upon faith in Christ and His Word that we stand fast for Christ and see Him
mightily deliver us
2.
VS 23:12-15 - “12 And when it was day, the Jews
formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would
neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 And there were more than
forty who formed this plot. 14 And they came to the chief priests and the
elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing
until we have killed Paul. 15 “Now, therefore, you and the Council notify the
commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his
case by a more thorough investigation; and we for our part are ready to slay
him before he comes near the place.”” -
A plot was formed among the Jews to murder Paul
2.1.
When Paul had
been before the Sanhedrin just previous to these verses, he had caused them to
have a division amongst themselves, between Pharisee and Sadducee, by claiming
that he was on trial as a Pharisee for his belief in the afterlife. When Paul declared this the Pharisees in the
party had jumped up to his defense and said that perhaps it could be possible
that an angel or a spirit had spoken to him. However, by the next day a group of 40 Jews
has made a vow to ‘neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul’, and they
came to the ‘chief priests’, i.e. the Sadducees, and the elders, and made their
plot known.
2.2.
Some
conspirators came up with a plan to bring Paul once more down to the council
saying that the Council wanted to obtain more information concerning his guilt
or innocence, then they would capture Paul in route
and kill him.
2.3.
This plot was
much more devious and full-proof than anything else that the Jews had tried to
do to murder Paul, however the Lord was behind the
scene protecting Paul by ordering some unusual circumstances.
2.4.
Jesus taught
His disciples not to make oaths (to swear by heaven, the throne of God, etc.)
and this story here reveals the utter foolishness of making rash oaths to the
Lord. An oath is a very solemn
commitment that a person makes to the Lord, and an oath should only be made
when a person ‘knows’ that he will and must keep the oath, come what may, and
when he feels compelled by a great compunction that it is of utter importance
that he make the oath. The Lord expects
us to keep our oaths.
2.4.1.
We don’t hear
of 40 men who died of starvation after this point, so I assume that these men
all went back upon this oath of theirs’ which they made to Jehovah in their
misguided zeal.
2.4.2.
In
2.4.2.1.Jephthah
fulfilled his foolish vow and sacrificed his daughter to the Lord because of
the vow.
3.
VS 23:16-22 - “16 But the son of Paul’s sister
heard of their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17
And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to
the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and
led him to the commander and *said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and
asked me to lead this young man to you since he has
something to tell you.” 19 And the commander took him by the hand and stepping
aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report
to me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down
tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more
thoroughly about him. 21 “So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them
are lying in wait for him who have bound themselves
under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready
and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 Therefore the commander let the young
man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these
things.”” - Paul’s nephew overhears
the talk of this plot to ambush and kill Paul, and through him the plot is
subverted
3.1.
This is the
only mention in the Bible of Paul’s nephew, or his sister for that matter. It has been speculated that these folks were
probably unbelievers at this time, however, in truth we know nothing about them
except what is written here, and we cannot make too many great assumptions
about them from that.
3.2.
There are
no such things as coincidences in this life
3.2.1.
God placed
the nephew of Paul in such a position that he overheard the plot that the men
were making. Then, Paul’s nephew went
immediately to Paul to tell him of what he had overheard. Paul then asked that the Roman Commander hear
what the lad had told Paul, and the lad told the Commander his story. God then places it upon the Roman Commander’s
heart to send Paul with an armored guard of 470 soldiers to take Paul away from
the city to a safe place where Paul could be tried for any charges and present his story
to Felix, the Roman Governor.
3.3.
In this
chapter, we see that Paul is in prison, however unlike when Peter was in
prison, there is not now a big prayer meeting going on. Paul is in the hands of God’s
providence. We might think from his
circumstances that this may have been the greatest threat Paul had faced to
this time, and yet we know from the previous study that the Lord had appeared
to Paul and told him to be encouraged that he would go to
3.3.1.
These men
thought that they were perfectly safe to speak out about their plot to murder Paul, however it is God who is ordering the scenes from
the background.
3.3.2.
One person
has said that, ‘there is not a scene but which God is behind, and there is
not a scene which He is behind that He is not moving’.
3.3.2.1.If there is any difficulty that we are in, God has placed
it in our life. It comes from His hand. From all eternity He knew and planned that
this event occur in our life, and it is important for us to realize that the
things that happen in our life are ordered by the Lord, they don’t just happen
by chance.
3.3.2.2.God controls all of the circumstances in our lives,
including even the very smallest of details.
He is even in the ‘minutia’.
3.3.3.
Where is God
when He appears to be silent in our life?
Working in just as great a way on our behalf as always...
3.4.
Christ had appeared
to Paul and told him that he would be delivered and testify for Him in
3.4.1.
Have you ever
noticed that different people can go through very similar situations, and some
tremble and fear and lose their faith, and yet others are undaunted by what
they go through? How we learn to wait
upon God determines what our responses will be during those hard times and
trials that come into our life.
3.4.2.
David had
been anointed as king of
3.4.2.1.God had anointed David to be king and by doing this
David should have taken heart that though for the present time his
circumstances were the pits, in time God would fulfill that calling in his life
and place him over the nation. Yet, God
was using that time to bring David to the end of himself so that when he
finally was made king that he would follow the Lord completely and be obedient
to Him as he should be.
3.4.3.
In Matthew
chapter 14 we read of a very interesting story.
Jesus told His disciples to get into a boat and go to the other side of
the sea of Galilee, and then He stayed behind
ministering to people before going up on a hill to pray and seek the
Father. After being out in the water a
good part of the day and rowing diligently a storm began to be raised up and
the waves began to swamp the boat and the disciples were sure that it would
sink and that they would die. Jesus then
came to them walking upon the water, and the disciples were even more
frightened because they thought that He was a ghost. But as Jesus told Paul on the night before
these events, He told His disciples, ‘take courage, it is I, do not be afraid’. This was the incident where Peter obtained permission
from the Lord to walk out to him on the water, and initially walked out of the
boat but then when he began to look at his circumstances (the huge waves) he
was frightened, and Jesus had to reach down and pull Peter out of the water. The Lord then got into the boat and
immediately the sea calmed. Then, Jesus
rebuked His disciples for their little faith.
You see, the disciples should have known that when the Lord tells you to
go to the other side of the sea, you are going to go to the other side of the
sea.
3.4.3.1.The Lord had told Paul to ‘take courage’ for he would
not perish but go to Rome in order to testify for Christ, and thus Paul just
had to wait upon the Lord for his deliverance and salvation.
3.4.4.
We Christians
find ourselves waiting on God for all kinds of reasons:
3.4.4.1.Answer prayer
3.4.4.2.Provide needs
3.4.4.3.Provide a mate when we are single
3.4.4.4.Daily supply of strength
3.4.4.5.To speak to us from HisWord
when we are spending time with Him
3.4.4.6.To deliver us from harm and
trouble (as was Paul’s case in our text today).
3.4.5.
Myself, I
have found myself during the greatest part of my life as a Christian in one
holding pattern or another waiting for the Lord to fulfill what I felt that He
had told me He would do in my life.
3.4.5.1.For instance
3.4.5.1.1.God called me to fulltime ministry in 1975, and thus I
went off to Bible college and obtained a degree in
Religion from a Christian school, and yet it was not until 1994 that God opened
the door for me to pastor for the first time when we went and planted the
Calvary Chapel in
3.4.5.1.2.When we felt called by the Lord to plant the church in
3.4.5.1.2.1.God sees the big picture when we only see a very small
part. He knows what will happen
tomorrow, and His vision for us is actually much greater than that which we
have for ourselves.
3.4.5.1.2.2.We realized that God had as part of His plan for us to
minister to that family in the way that we did before we moved away. He also wanted to teach us many lessons as we
ministered to them.
3.4.5.1.2.3.We realized also that God wanted to show us in a
profound way that His hand was behind us and leading us so that when we got to
those places where we might be discouraged we could look back to God’s having
shown us that He had called us to that place.
3.4.5.1.2.4.Pastors and church planters
go through struggles that no one else will ever understand. After we had been in
3.4.6.
‘Waiting’
upon God for a Christian is ‘to wait in confident expectation’ of what the Lord
is going to do. It is not to just be
made to sit in one place and left with nothing to place your hope in a except perhaps wishful thinking or blind optimism. It is knowing that
God will come through, and that it will be glorious, but it will be in God’s
timing not in our own.
3.4.7.
In Isaiah
40:31, Isaiah wrote about how those who wait on the Lord have their
strength and endurance renewed, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”
3.4.8.
Concerning
waiting on God, Andrew Murray once wrote, “Be assured that if God
waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly
precious. God waited four thousand years, till the fullness of time, ere He
sent His Son. Our times are in His hands; He will avenge His elect speedily; He
will make haste for our help, and not delay one hour too long.”
3.4.9.
God brings us
through the difficult times and trials for many purposes, many of which we may
never know. However, one thing that He
does want to teach us through them is that ‘He can be trusted’. We can trust God with our lives. He has our best interests in mind at all
times.
3.5.
We are to
be ‘steadfast’ and wait upon the Lord in our lives. The scripture
has much to say about being ‘steadfast’ in our faith and waiting upon the Lord.
3.5.1.
In Proverbs
11:19, Solomon wrote the following encouragement to be steadfast in our
faith, “19 He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,And he who pursues evil will
bring about his own death.”
3.5.2.
In Isaiah
26:3, Isaiah wrote about how that the Lord will keep the person in perfect
peace who is ‘steadfast’, as some translations have it, or whose mind is stayed
on Thee, “3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
3.5.3.
The apostle
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:58 an exhortation to be steadfast and immovable
in our faith, “58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is
not in vain in the Lord.”
3.5.4.
In 1 Peter
5:10, Peter writes about how that the suffering and trials that we go
through as Christians cause us to be made ‘steadfast’ or as some translations
have it ‘established’ in our faith, “10 And after you have suffered for a
little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in
Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
3.5.4.1.In this verse Peter also points out something else
that is very important concerning our trials and sufferings. They will not go on forever (though many
times it seems as if they will), but are only temporary, last for a short
season, and then they are over.
3.5.5.
In our lives
as Christians, God calls us to ‘stand steadfast’ upon what God has promised us
from His Word that He will do, and thus ‘waiting’ upon the Lord is to have
‘confident expectation’ of what God is going to do, because we are trusting Him
to fulfill His promises.
3.5.6.
To stand fast
we must not look to the arm of the flesh in any way to bail us out of our
trials and struggles. We must not
connive and try to manipulate our circumstances in the power of our own flesh,
but rather rest and know that it is the Lord and He alone who shall deliver us.
3.5.7.
In Job
13:15, as righteous Job endured the horrible and intense trials that the
Lord allowed him to go through, and in spite of his unfaithful counselors, in
spite of the fact that he did not have a clue why he was having to go through
the horrible suffering he was going through, and in spite of the fact that he
didn’t even know if or when the Lord would give him relief from his sufferings,
he chose to be steadfast and have faith in God as he said, “15Though he
slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.”
3.5.7.1.Do you realize that the Lord never even told Job why
he had to go through the trials that he went through? He just revealed Himself to Job in His might
and power and that was enough for Job to be humbled and to learn the lessons
that he had to learn at the end of these trials. Job learned that he had to trust God in
everything in his life by faith, in spite of all of his circumstances and
whatever he must be made to go through.
3.5.7.2.As Job, we may never know why we have to go through
some of the difficult things that we have to go through in this life, however
we must just learn to ‘stand steadfast and wait upon Christ’ in all things in
our lives.
3.5.8.
The
opposite of being ‘steadfast’ in our
faith in Christ is to be ‘double-minded’, and in James 1:6-8,
James wrote about what the ‘double-minded’ man should expect from the Lord, “6
But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is
like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For
let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
3.6.
When
4.
VS
23:23 - “23 And he called to him two of the
centurions, and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the
night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.”” - The Roman
commander summons 200 soldiers with 200 spearmen to come and escort Paul safely
away from the barracks
4.1.
With 40 men
who had taken a vow not to eat or drink until they had murdered Paul, we might
think that things looked pretty grim for Paul, however the Lord knew this would
happen all along and prepared an army of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200
spearmen, to escort Paul up to Caesarea where he would be safe from attack.
4.2.
We Christians
need to realize that God hears every word or threat that our enemies breath or speak concerning us, and He is committed to
protecting His people. In Prov.
2:6-8, we see that the Lord guards the way and protects His people, “6 For
the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding. 7 He holds victory in
store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the
course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones”.
5.
VS 23:24-30 - “24 They were also to provide
mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. 25 And he
wrote a letter having this form: 26
“Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor
Felix, greetings. 27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to
be slain by them, I came upon them with the troops and rescued him, having
learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And wanting to ascertain the charge for which
they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council; 29 and I found him
to be accused over questions about their Law, but under no accusation deserving
death or imprisonment. 30 “And when I was informed that there would be a plot
against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to
bring charges against him before you.”” -
The Roman commander sends Paul to Felix the governor accompanied with a
guard and sends with him a letter
5.1.
In verse 26,
we learn that the Roman Commander’s name was, ‘Claudius Lysias’.
5.2.
We see in
these verses that the Roman Commander had a political motive in sending Paul to
Felix, the governor. He was trying to
show his loyalty to
5.2.1.
In reality,
we saw last chapter that the Roman Commander learned that Paul was a Roman
citizen after he had had him illegally bound and commanded one of his soldiers
to whip him until he confessed his crimes.
5.3.
The Roman
Commander said that he brought Paul down to the Jewish ‘council’, or Sanhedrin,
in order that he might ‘ascertain the charge for which they were accusing
him’. However, instead of being
concerned about what was right and seeking to know the truth, in reality he
probably brought Paul to the council only out of practicality, so that he could
wash his hands of the matter, not break the Roman Law, plus satisfy the Jews by
letting the council carry out a death sentence upon Paul.
5.4.
The Roman
Commander said that he himself had found Paul ‘to be accused over questions
about their Law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment’.
5.5.
The Roman
Commander had Paul brought to Felix and told the Jewish men seeking to kill
Paul to bring formal charges against him to Felix.
6.
VS 23:31-33 - “31 So the
soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night
to Antipatris. 32 But the
next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the
barracks. 33 And when these had come to
6.1.
The army of
men which the Roman Commander had sent with Paul escorted him as far as was
needed to be sure that he would safely make the rest of the journey to
Caesarea. Then, all but the horsemen
left Paul and headed back to
7.
VS 23:34-35 - “34
And when he had read it, he asked from what province he was; and when he
learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing after
your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.” -
Felix tells Paul that he will grant him a hearing after his accusers
arrive
7.1.
Felix read
the letter from the Roman Commander, and then asked Paul what country he was
from. Paul replied that he was from
Tarsus of Cilicia.
7.1.1.
Then, Felix
told Paul that he would give him a hearing after his Jewish accusers from
7.2.
Paul was held
in ‘Herod’s Praetorium’.