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Acts
23:1-35
“And Paul, earnestly
beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good
conscience before God until this day. 2 And
the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the
mouth. 3 Then said Paul unto
him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to
judge me after the law, and commandest me to be
smitten contrary to the law? 4 And
they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high
priest? 5 Then said Paul,
I wist not, brethren, that he was the high
priest: for it is written, Thou shalt
not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. 6 But
when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he
cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of
a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection
of the dead I am called in question. 7 And
when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the
Sadducees: and the multitude was
divided. 8 For the
Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 9 And
there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the 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. 10 And when there arose a
great dissension, the chief captain [the Tribune], fearing lest Paul should
have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded then soldiers to go down, and to
take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. 11 And
the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer,
Paul: for as thou hast testified of me
in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 12 And
when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves
under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had
killed Paul. 13 And they were
more than forty which had made this conspiracy. 14 And
they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we
have slain Paul. 15 Now therefore ye
with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you
tomorrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning
him: and we, or ever he come near, are
ready to kill him. 16 And
when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into
the castle, and told Paul. 17 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. 18 So
he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the
prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto
thee, who hath something to say unto thee. 19 Then
the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside
privately, and ask him, What is that thou hast
to tell me? 20 And he said, The
Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though
they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 21 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: and now are
they ready, looking for a promise from thee. 22 So
the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See
thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. 23 And
he called unto him two centurions, saying, 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; 24 and
provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. 25 And
he wrote a letter after this manner: 26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. 27 This
man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him,
having understood that he was a Roman. 28 And
when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him
forth into their council. 29 Whom
I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid
to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. 30 And
when it was told me how that the 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. Farewell. 31 Then
the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by
night to Antipatris. 32 On
the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: 33 who,
when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor,
presented Paul also before him. 34 And
when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he
was. And when he understood that he
was of Cilicia; 35 I
will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s
judgment hall.”
Introduction
Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/teachinglibrary.asp?Book=44
“Now, there’s no
chapter break of course when it was written, “And Paul, earnestly beholding
the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience
before God until this day.” (verse 1) now look, I’m sure that Claudius Lysias said [to Paul] ‘I hate to tell you this, but
you’re speaking Greek today, ok, because Hebrew’s Greek to me, do not go in
there and speak Hebrew again, I need to know what to tell Felix. So, if you’re going in there today, you’re
speaking Greek.’ Paul, look, this is
the 5th testimony to the Sanhedrin that we know of, in regards to
the Kingdom of God. Jesus stood in front
of the Sanhedrin and gave testimony of God’s Kingdom. Peter and John, after the lame man was healed
stood in front of the Sanhedrin and gave testimony. The twelve were then brought and stood in
front of the Sanhedrin, and gave testimony. Stephen, chapter 7 [of Acts] gave one of the most remarkable testimonies
to the Sanhedrin. And now Paul, five
times specifically we know, that the Lord loves this group of men enough that
he gives them testimony after testimony after testimony, this is five incidents
we ever heard of, five the number of grace. Paul now, to give this incredible testimony. Now after this scene, if we go into this chapter,
the Sanhedrin passes off the New Testament, we don’t see them anymore, this is
the last we’re going to see of them. And
the Lord Jesus makes sure that they get equal testimony. Remember, Nicodemus turned to Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea had turned to him. Many of the priests
that were officiating when he was crucified and the veil was torn had come to
faith. Barabbas was a Levite, a
believer. So, no doubt the Lord loves
these people. He puts Paul in front of
them here. Within 12 years, 70AD, the
city’s going to be destroyed, the Temple is going to be ruined. Here God is still being gracious. [And God is being gracious by having the
Jerusalem church, as the headquarters church in Judea, remain within Jerusalem
and Judea as a living witness with an estimated 100,000 believers living in
their midst until most of them fled north and out of Judea, my estimate, around
67AD when the apostle John emigrated north to Ephesus with Mary, Jesus’
mother.]
Paul
Begins His 2nd Attempt To Give His
Testimony To The Sanhedrin
Look what it says, “Paul,
earnestly beholding the council,” I think he was earnestly beholding the
council because there were some familiar faces there. No doubt, some faces had changed, it’s been
over 20 years since Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin. But there are familiar faces that he still
knows, no doubt. And he says to them, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this
day.” (verse 1b) which is respectable, but it’s friendly, ‘Men and brethren.’ He makes himself equal with
them. He says “I have lived in all
good conscience before God until this day.” I don’t know if we can say that. Now, by the way, “conscience” is not the test, the Scripture is always
the test, Paul would speak of the conscience 23 times. Paul, no doubt, in chapter 9, ‘in all good
conscience’ was persecuting the Church, he believed that was the right
thing to do. We’re not sure if he’s
saying here, ‘he I’ve done everything I’ve done with the right motives, I
just didn’t have all the information,’ or is he saying ‘since I’ve been
a believer that I’ve lived in all good conscience,’ we don’t know, but
that’s just a remarkable statement. You
and I, I’ve been saved 27 years, since 1972, I know Paul, now over 20 years now
for him to say ‘I have lived every day in all good conscience before
God,’is a remarkable thing to say. And look, if our conscience’s condemn us, he’s
greater than our conscience, ‘if we confess our sins he’s faithful and
just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Conscience can condemn when it shouldn’t be
condemning. But it is wonderful, you
know, my son, when he was in Bible school he would call me, and he was a bit
disillusioned in Bible school, and I said “You know, you’re there, not to
learn Bible, you’ve been sitting in church your whole life, you’re going to
learn Bible for your whole life, you’re there to get closer to Jesus, so find a
place to get alone.” And I remember
one night we had this long conversation, he said “Dad, one of my Bible
teachers said, If your conscience is pure before the Lord, that you can have a
better walk with him,” he said, “Do you think that’s true?” I said, “You know, I don’t, in the
sense that the one he forgives the most is the one he loves the most, look at
Paul and how he slaughtered the Church, and to that degree, he realized the
depth and the power of God’s love and forgiveness.” I said, “Look at David, and the
problem was, David was never the king or the father that he was before he fell,
but he was a much better Psalmist, and that’s what we’ve all gleaned from him
this day.” But I said, “There
were men, like Joseph, in Genesis, and like Daniel, who were sterling in their
character, and changed the course of human history, who walked before the Lord
and didn’t have to worry about that question.” And he said “That’s the way I want to walk before the Lord.” And I think that he does. And I said “You need to, when I got saved
out of the world, I was immoral, I was a dog, I used substances, all kinds, I
was intolerant, I just enjoyed knocking somebody down,
and you don’t have to have any of those things hanging in your memory.” I said, “You know, my conscience
doesn’t bother me, I’m justified, sanctified and glorified in the complete work
of Jesus Christ, and it makes me love him with all of my heart, you go for it,
you go for it, you do this right, you do this right.” He says “I have lived in all good
conscience” what a great way to live “before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them
that stood by to smite him on the mouth.” (verses 1-2) he’s hitting the
wrong guy, first of all, Paul doesn’t take to this kind of stuff very
well. Ananias is not Anus or Caiaphas
from the Gospels, this man has been in power as high priest about nine years by
this time. The Talmud tells us he was an
extreme glutton, history tells us he was a scoundrel, a ruthless man, so sold
himself out to the Romans, he sold off so much, and in 66AD, when there started
to be a Jewish uprising, remember the Romans in 70AD ended that, him and his brother
Hezekiah ran and hid in the aqueducts, and the Jewish people assassinated him,
within a number of years of this. So, we
look at this guy, here he is, he’s going to stand before Paul, and he’s going
to hear this incredible testimony, which he’s going to decline, he’s going to
turn away from. It was his eternity, he
had little idea that within 8 years, 9 years he’s going to be assassinated, he’s going to be dead. We don’t know if he’s offended because Paul said ‘I’ve lived in
all good conscience,’ or because he’s called them “brethren” and made
himself equal with them, or maybe just because his conscience is bothering him,
but he gives a command, says ‘hit this guy in the mouth,’ and
they strike him in the mouth. Jesus,
remember, received the same treatment, it tells us in 1st Peter that
when he was reviled and reviled not again. He committed himself to the bishop and shepherd of our souls, I know one thing
for sure, I ain’t Jesus, because I immediately, you
know, I want to respond when somebody does something like that. You read the Book of Galatians, it says the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh, it’s always the flesh first (cf. Galatians 5:17). When somebody cuts me off in traffic it is
not the Spirit first. If somebody cuts
me off in traffic it’s not like in my heart I say ‘O bless you, O bless you,
I’m so glad it’s me that you cut off, not somebody else who would be angry,’ no
it’s the flesh first, ‘You jerk! Where’d you get your license!’ and then ‘Ok, ok, Lord, I know, he’s created in your image and likeness, you should
have given him eyeballs…’ It’s
always the flesh that comes up first, and Paul is like us, he gets hit in the
mouth, to him, the high priest, “Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite
thee, thou whited wall:” you gotta like
Paul, “for sittest thou to judge me after the law,
and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?”
(verse 3) Now he calls him a whited wall, this was the
time of the Feast, and they would whitewash the sepulchers and the walls,
anything that would be defiling. They’d
just whitewash, cover up that which was unclean, and it became an idiom or
insult, and that’s what he does here. Jesus had called this group, in Matthew chapter 23 in the scathing
address he gives, ‘You are whited sepulchers, you know, outwardly you
look nice and clean, but inwardly you’re filled with dead men’s bones.’ I wonder if Paul was there and heard that,
and it had stuck in his heart. But he
just goes off here. And my personal
feeling is, he gets a little bit in the flesh here. You don’t have to believe that, I think I’d
like to believe it so I can get in a little once in awhile. He says ‘Thou sittest in judgment of me according to the law, and then you command me to be smitten
contrary to the law?’ “And they that
stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy
people.” (verses 4-5) ‘I didn’t know, brethren, that he was
the high priest…’ and Paul did have bad eyes, we know that, I don’t
think he’s lying here, if he’d have recognized. If the Romans were there, the high priest would not have been in this
position to preside over this meeting, it would have been the Romans, so Paul
says, ‘You know, I didn’t know.’ Isn’t it interesting, he respects the office, even though he doesn’t
respect the man. [In the Navy we were always taught “You salute the uniform, not the
man.”] Isn’t it interesting
here. He says ‘I know what the
Scripture says, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.’
Paul
Starts His Third Riot In Two Days
“But when Paul
perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried
out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection
of the dead I am called in question.” (verse 6) one part of this crowd were Sadducees, the ruling party, and the other part
were Pharisees, which were the majority party, though the Sadducees had power, ‘He
cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee,’ he
doesn’t say ‘he was a Pharisee,’ he still considered himself, ‘I
am a Pharisee, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, born of the tribe of Benjamin,
circumcised on the 8th day,’ we read in Philippians. “I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection
of the dead I am called in question.” (verse 6c) “And when he had so said, there arose a
dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.” (verse 7) Now,
evidently, Paul at this time, it says he perceived, God gave him wisdom. Jesus had said, in Mark 13 and
other places, ‘When you’re brought before rulers and councils for my
name’s sake, don’t take anxious thought about what you will say, because in
that hour the words that you should speak will be given to you.’ And the words that he should have spoken were
not ‘God will hit you, you whitewashed wall!’ Now he’s realizing, and God is giving him
wisdom, he perceives no doubt through the Spirit, ‘Hey, the ruling party
here, they’re Sadducees, Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, they
don’t believe in angels, they don’t believe in spirits, they don’t believe in
life after death.’ You know, they
embrace the Torah, but only in the sense of keeping the Law. They were hedonist because they had no sense
of judgment, they had no sense of passing into eternity and standing before
God, they were hedonistic, they were carnal. And the other group, the Pharisees that had
been born out of the Babylonian captivity and wanted to preserve Orthodoxy,
they embraced not just the Torah, but the Prophets and so forth, and they
believed that there is a resurrection [cf. Ezekiel 37:1-14 is one major
prophecy the Jews take literally as one of their main or central resurrection
prophecies given in the Prophecy Scrolls], they believe that there are angels,
there are spirits, and Paul says ‘Hey, I’m a Pharisee, since when has
that been wrong? And I’m called into
question today because I believe in the resurrection? What’s the problem here?’ And so the Pharisees, who didn’t like the
Sadducees anyhow, because there were less Sadducees but they were the ruling
party, then some of the Pharisees said ‘Ynaaa,
what is the problem here, what’s wrong with this?’ he says ‘I’m
called into question because of this? I’m a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, and I’m being called into
question about the resurrection?’ “And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees
and the Sadducees: and the multitude was
divided.” (verse 7) [Paul had just created a verbal Donnybrook,
where the gloves drop to the ice, and here we go!] “For the Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.” (verse 8) Now look, I’m going to tell you something,
belief determines morality. One of the
reasons the world we live in hates the idea of Creation, and in these days is
against all scientific evidence, is because it implies accountability, if there
is a Creator, then there is one day of giving of account, and that is the thing
that they hate. It is not an
intellectual exercise, it is a problem of the heart. And the Sadducees in Jerusalem, the ruling
party, they were corrupt, they were immoral, there’s all kinds of things, if
you study and read about them. The
Sadducees, they say there’s no resurrection, no angels, no spirits, but the
Pharisees, they believe in all of that. “And
there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the 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.” (verse 9) the scribes, they were the guys
who copied the Scripture, they knew it, ‘we find no evil in this man, and
if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.’ “And when there arose a great
dissention,” now the “dissention” is there’s an uproar again, poor
Claudius, this is his third riot in two days. “And when there arose a great dissention, the chief captain” the
Tribune, Claudius Lysias “fearing” look at
this, “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.” (verse 11) look, this is the most prestigious assembly
in Israel, these are the greatest religious leaders in the country. These are the guys that should drink tea with
the little finger up in the air. These
are the most refined, polite, prestigious leaders in the country, and the
Romans say ‘We’d better get him outa there
before they tear him to pieces.’ [There’s only one person who was part of the Sanhedrin that truly was
refined and prestigious, and that was Gamaliel, and he probably wasn’t there,
may have been dead by now, but he certainly wouldn’t have attended this,
because his advice, which they didn’t heed, was to leave these Christians,
Messianic Jewish believers alone.] Isn’t
it funny? “fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them,” ‘he commanded the
soldiers, Run down and get him and take him by force from among them, and bring
him into the castle, the Antonio Fortress again.’ What a scene.
Jesus
Comes To Encourage Paul In His Cell
“And the night
following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in
Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” (verse 11) The night following, all of this uproar, Paul
in the Antonio Fortress, is in custody, we don’t get the sense he’s in a
dungeon, he’s in some type of custody in prison, and as he’s there, thinking ‘Lord,
I’m tired, I thought I had a great opportunity yesterday, I started a riot,
shouldn’t have said the word “Gentiles,” thought I had a great opportunity
today Lord in front of the Sanhedrin, and everything blew up in my face
again. O Lord, I love these people, I
grew up with them, my heart burns for them.’ And as he’s there, no doubt he’s disheartened, because the Lord
mentions it, as he’s there it says “the Lord stood by him,” what was
that like? I’d have had a heart
attack. Look, he doesn’t have a
lightbulb in his cell, you have to understand this, you know he’s probably in
the dark praying, and all of a sudden you sense somebody there with you, “and
the Lord stood by him,” this is the third or fourth time now the Lord has
come to Paul, how remarkable. “and
said, Be of good cheer,” that’s not “cheer up, keep your chin up, cheerio,
hip, hip!” this is literally “Take courage Paul,” because he
was loosing heart, it’s tender “Take courage,
Paul,” “for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear
witness also at Rome.” He doesn’t
say ‘You blew it, man, I love ya, there’s grace,
so much for living in front of me in good conscience, that’s out the window
now,’ Jesus doesn’t say any of that. He said ‘You’ve given a testimony here, Paul.’ You know, Paul’s sitting there thinking ‘Cheer
up, take courage, I’ve started a riot, three times I’m in prison,’ the Lord
said, ‘No, you’ve given testimony, that’s exactly what I wanted, the
Sanhedrin has heard their final testimony, Paul, be of good cheer, be
encouraged,’ “for thou hast testified,” Paul, “for as thou hast
testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” (verse 11b) God’s
design, he hadn’t blown it. He must come
out of this situation, we’ll follow him to Caesarea, he has to go in custody, evidently Luke is there with him for almost two years. He must tell Luke, ‘Luke, we’re going
to Rome.’ …Luke must have said ‘Are you sure?’ and Paul said ‘Luke
I’m telling you, the Lord stood with me. I don’t know what the holdup is, but we’re going to Rome.’ No doubt it was during that time in Caesarea
that Luke continued to go back to Jerusalem, and talk to Mary, talk to
eye-witnesses, began to construct his Gospel, and put together the testimony of
those that he talked to. But Paul, no
doubt, communicated his very personal experience to Luke. Look, he stands with us, the same Book, the
Word of God tells us that he’ll never leave us or forsake us, that he’s with us
always, to the end of the age. And some
of you say ‘Well I don’t feel him, I don’t feel him, the Bible says he’s
with me, I don’t feel him.’ Well you
know where Jesus is when you don’t feel him? He’s standing right next to you, not wanting you to feel him, that’s
where he’s at, wanting you to mature and wanting you to grow. You know, my girls are ten years apart, I had boys inbetween, but the
girls are ten years apart. And it was
funny, you know I got to watch and to study, and they taught me more theology
than anyone else. If God loves me more
than I love them then I still got a lot to learn. But Hannah, when she was 3, 4, 5 years old she
would say ‘I need Daddy love, I need some Daddy love,’ and she would
snuggle up, and what she was saying she needed me to hug or she needed me to
hold her, she needed some Daddy love. And that was very physical to her, she needed to feel the sensation. Whereas at the same time, Joanna was 16 years
old, and she would hang out in the hallway here with her 16-year-old cool
friends, and if I’d walk up to her and say ‘Let me give you some Daddy
love,’ she would say ‘Get out of here!’ because she wanted to be
cool. But the truth is, Joanna as 16
understood more of the sacrifice her mom and I made to care for her, to send
her to Christian school, to help her get everything lined up in her life,
things that we did for her, she understood more of that. Younger and immature, ‘I need Daddy love,’ and like a good Father he condescends to us, ‘Lord, I need your presence, I
need to feel that,’ and there are times someone even like Paul needs that,
and he condescends. But this is not
based on whether we feel him or not, when we’re not feeling him is because he’s
wanting us to grow up, he’s standing there right next to us not letting us feel
him, because he wants us to believe, because he has said to us, ‘and
heaven and earth are going to pass away, his Word is never going to pass away,
the grass withers, the flower perishes, but the Word of our God stands
forever,’ he wants us to believe that though we feel him or not, he is
with us, and he never leaves us, and he never forsakes us. That is part of maturity. Because, you’re right, look, when I was a new
Christian, sometimes the way I knew he was with me, is I got goosebumps, I
mean, that’s a real Biblical test of whether God’s with you. But he was gracious enough. Sometimes when I was first saved, I would say ‘O Lord, what should I do,’ and boom, it [the Bible] would fall open,
falls open to Hebrews 6 or 10, it would always blow your mind. But you know, you’d want it to fall open
somewhere. And he condescends, we’re his
children, we’re his kids, he stoops down to us, he gives us those things, he’s
that tender. But as we grow and as we
mature, our testimony is to be based on his Word, it never changes, it never
yields, it is intolerant, it is Truth. I appreciate that so much. And it tells me that I’m the apple of his
eye, he tells me that I can sit alone and lift my voice and say ‘Father,
Father, being a son is way higher than being a pastor, Father.’ When I get to heaven [into the Kingdom of
Heaven, wherever it might be located (cf. Revelation 21:1-23)] the worship
leaders will still have a job, I got nothing to do when I get to heaven, I’m
going to go back to leading worship again. Be sensitive, maybe he’ll stand with you this evening. Paul would say at the end of his life, things
haven’t changed for him, ‘All men have forsaken me, but the Lord himself
stood with me,’ when he gave his final testimony before Nero. It is my prayer every Sunday, ‘Don’t you
let me go up there alone, I’m right over here by the wall, don’t let me go up
there [in front of everybody] alone, I’m in 2nd Timothy, you know
where I’m at, your Word is true Lord, you go up there with me, don’t you dare
send me up there alone, Lord.’ That
would be a terrible experience for everybody. And he’s faithful to be with us, he never leaves us or forsakes us. What a Saviour,
what a God we have. So read ahead, in
the rest of chapter 23, chapter 24, there’s some incredible things, we’re going
to get to the Euroclydon, if you don’t know what the Euroclydon is shame on you, it’s not a ride at the amusement
park, read ahead…
In
review
We have come as far as
verse 11 in chapter 23, if you’ve been following along. Paul, finally getting to Jerusalem, longing
to get to Jerusalem, years earlier wanting to remain in Jerusalem. Chapter 22 tells us that the Lord told him to
depart, that they wouldn’t listen to his testimony. He has made a circuit of years, then back to
Jerusalem several times with offerings from the Gentiles, the big meeting in
Jerusalem in Acts 15 in regards to the Gentiles. But now he has longed to come to be there on
the Feast of Pentecost, said he knew the Holy Spirit was witnessing that bonds
and afflictions awaited him, that did not move
him. Agabus had come and met him at Caesarea at the house of Philip and bound him with his
own garments and said ‘So shall the man who owns this garment go bound to
Jerusalem by the Gentiles,’ that’s exactly the situation he’s in this
evening as we pick up here in chapter 23, verse 11. He had already written Romans, Romans chapter
9 the first three verses Paul says ‘I’m always troubled in my spirit, I’m
in heaviness, I wish myself accursed from Christ for
my own countrymen, for the Jews.’ And
he was passionate. So he’s in an
environment where he thinks, ‘This is finally where I wanted to be, I understand
their hearts, I understand their theology, they know that I was zealous against
Christianity, I’m the perfect guy to deliver this message.’ And of course, as he begins to speak, a riot
begins, they accuse him of bringing Gentiles into the Courts and being against
Moses, and as that has calmed down he’s taken to the steps of the Antonio
Fortress, he asks if he might speak to them, the Tribune whose over 1,000 men
said ‘Aren’t you this Egyptian?’ he says ‘No, let me speak
to them,’ he starts to speak in Hebrew, they settle down, they listen,
he starts to share, ‘I’m from the School of Gamaliel,’ they knew
who he was, and when he gets to the fact that God has sent him to the Gentiles,
when he says that word, a riot erupts again, you remember, this Tribune
Claudius Lysias brings him into the Antonio Fortress,
which we visit when we go to Israel today, the remains of it, and there he told
the Centurion to bind him and to scourge him, Paul said ‘I’m a Roman
citizen,’ they realized that they should never have done that, they
unbound him, and Claudius Lysias realizes then ‘I
need to refer him then to Felix,’ who was the Roman Procurator in
Caesarea. But he knows he can’t send him
without exact accusations, very important to the Romans. So he says let me meet again with the
Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, and hear the accusations, and he told Paul ‘Don’t
talk Hebrew this time, talk Greek so I know what’s going on.’ And that erupts into a third riot in two
days. Now Paul, we find him in the cell
here, in a Roman prison, he’s incarcerated, no doubt I believe at the lowest
point in his life since he’s saved, feeling discouraged, feeling as though he’s
failed, I believe that, because it says that after these things were over,
Jesus stood by him, and said to him, “Be of good courage, Paul.” I think that betrays what was going on in the
heart of Paul, he was discouraged. I
think he’s at a very low point. And he
says to him, ‘You’ve given testimony here in Jerusalem, and now you’re
also going to give testimony in Rome.’ And
Paul realizes ‘Lord, you know exactly where I’m at, you know exactly what
I’m going through, you know my heart, I’ve felt so forsaken.’ And the Lord was there, to be with
him. Not James, not Peter, not John or
some of the others, it’s the Lord that stood with him.
Paul
Is Saved From A Conspiracy Against His Life, The
Romans Take Him By Night To Caesarea
Now, that brings us to
verse 12, and it’s interesting, you think if the Lord appeared to you and told
you he was taking you to Rome, that things would kind of clear up and you
wouldn’t have any problems. The next
verse says “And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and
bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink
till they had killed Paul.” (verse 12) they put
themselves under “an anathema.” Now the verse before this says ‘The Lord appeared and said Paul,
cheer up, be of good courage, you’re going to Rome,’ the next verse
says ‘there’s 40 guys that decided they’re not gonna eat or drink till they kill him.’ “And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came” these 40+ men “to the
chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound
ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain
Paul.” (verses 13-14) ‘It’s him or us, we can’t
take it, with great zeal they’ve done this.’ Now, the chief priests and the elders have
the right, if they want to, to dissolve the oath they’ve taken, and they let
them go forward with it. Now they’re
telling the chief priests what they should do, “Now therefore ye with the
council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more
perfectly concerning him: and we, or
ever he come near, are ready to kill him.” (verse 15) “And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their
lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.” (verse 16) Now this
is an interesting verse, comes out of nowhere. Paul’s sister’s son, Paul has a nephew in Jerusalem. Is Paul’s sister also in Jerusalem? We don’t know that. Was Paul’s nephew sent to Jerusalem like he
was, to study in the School of Gamaliel? We don’t know that. Are Paul’s
sister and her son believers? I would
imagine you’re not around uncle Paul very long, you’re
bound to hear the Truth. We don’t know
that. At least this nephew loves and
respects Paul enough that he’s not going to let this conspiracy go
forward. Now probably his mom heard,
we’re assuming, because these men put themselves under an oath, this big
secret, but then they went and told the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin no doubt talked with their
wives and their wives said ‘What was the big meeting about? Ah nothing. No, come on, what was it about? Do you really want to know? Ya, forty guys, they’re not gonna eat or drink until they kill Paul,’ and then the wives no doubt were
talking about it, and somehow it got to Paul’s sister or Paul’s sister’s
son. You know, a secret is something you
tell one person at a time in the church. Ah, you promise not to tell everybody, so you tell one person at a time. And it had spread, and somehow this nephew
now finds out, he comes to the Antonio Fortress, and he says ‘Uncle
Paul,’ is he this big? Is he
this big? The word can include from a
boy up to a young man. How old was
he? We’re not told. This would be great if it was 6-year-old,
7-year-old, ‘Hey, Uncle Paul, look at all these crazy guys, they’re gonna try to kill ya.’ “So he [Paul] called one of the
centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief
captain:” the Tribune “for he hath a certain thing to tell him.” (verse 17) Paul
doesn’t tell the Centurion, “So he took him, and brought him to the
chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and
prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto
thee.” (verse 18) Isn’t it interesting, look what he does, “Then the chief captain” the
Tribune “took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and
asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?” (verse 19) he’s probably a young boy. Now this would be something you’d do with a
younger boy, you’d take him aside, get him away from everything, and say ‘What
is it that you have to tell me?’ The
Tribune shows discretion here. “And
he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though
they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 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: and now are they ready, looking for a promise
from thee.” (verses 20-21) Here’s this boy telling the Tribune what to
do. “So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, see thou tell no man that
thou hast shewed these things to me.” (verse 22) ‘Make sure you don’t tell anybody about
this.’ Now, the Tribune, “And
he called unto him two centurions, saying, 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;” (verse 23) again, the Tribune
oversees a thousand men, centurions oversee a hundred men. He calls unto himself, notice, verse 23, two
Centurions, that would be 200 men, it says “make ready two hundred soldiers
to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten,” 70 cavalry, “and
spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night,” so this is 470 men
guarding Paul. God takes care of his
kids, doesn’t he. He’s using this corrupt government to move the Kingdom forward, he’s got
40 guys who think they’re going to hurt him, then these guys are going to be
hungry dudes, because they ain’t going to eat till
they kill him, this fast lasts for over two years, we know that for sure
[literally, if they complied with their oath, they’d be dead from dehydration
within three days]. So the Lord says ‘O
yea?’ he gets a little boy involved, he uses natural means, and opens a
different door, and he puts around Paul 200 Roman soldiers, 200 Roman spearmen
and 70 cavalrymen to now get him out of town, it says, to Caesarea. Now look, Caesarea is about 65 miles or so,
kind of northwest on the coast. Caesarea
is the capital of the Roman Procurator, that’s where his seat is, of authority,
not in Jerusalem. Pontius Pilate and the
Procurators would come to Jerusalem during the Feasts, because the populations
would swell, and they had to keep order in Jerusalem or face Caesar. So they often would be in Jerusalem for the
Feasts, so we hear of Pontius Pilate, we hear of him being in Jerusalem, but their
seat of power was in Caesarea by the Sea, many of you have been there, it’s
beautiful. So he is, pulls together
these 470 men now, to move Paul to Caesarea.
Paul
Sent To Felix The Roman Procurator With A Letter From
Claudius Lysias
And he says in verse
24, “And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.” Now
Felix, we’re going to meet him, interesting character, it’s not again, get the
cat out of your mind, please. [that dates us, Pastor Joe, most folks now wouldn’t know the
cartoon about Felix the Cat ‘That Wonderful, Wonderful Cat’] Felix and his brother Paulus were
slaves. Their mother Antonia was the
slave of Claudius’ mother. Claudius is
now Caesar. When he was a little boy his
mom had a female slave named Antonia, she had two little boys, Felix and
Paulus. So Felix, Paulus and Claudius
grew up together, and were fast friends. As Claudius becomes Caesar and the Emperor of Rome, Paulus is appointed
a very specific position in Rome, in the government there, and Felix is given
the Procuratorship over Syria and Judea. He’s a powerful man. Tactius, a Roman
historian tells us he ruled with royal power, but with the mind of a
slave. He was cruel, he was
intolerant. In fact, in Roman history,
he is he first man to have a Procuratorship that was
a freed man. He was the first slave ever
to be a Procurator in Roman history, so he’s a strange character, but he is
governor at this point in time. So Paul
will now be taken to Caesarea where Felix is there on the throne. Verse 25 is very interesting it says “And
he wrote a letter after this manner:” the Greek phrase “after this manner” typhos, the idea is “this is the exact text” so
Paul is going to be in Caesarea for two years, this letter was on the archives
there, Paul was allowed to see it, remember he’s friends with Cornelius in
Caesarea, he has great favour from this particular
Tribune, somehow Luke actually saw the exact text, so here is, for you and I,
the actual text of the letter, written in verse 26 it begins, “Claudius Lysias” now this is the chief captain, the
Tribune we’ve been hearing about all along, and his name is Lysias,
he’s called Claudius Lysias because he purchased his
freedom under Caesar, and Caesar acknowledged that, he was Claudius, so he
takes that first name, he is Claudius Lysias, “unto
the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting…”
“Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor
Felix sendeth greeting.” that’s the
way the letter opened. “This man was
taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him,
having understood that he was a Roman.” (verse 27) that’s not exactly true, Claudius Lysias. First of all he thought he was an Egyptian,
when you go back to chapter 22, he said ‘Aren’t you that Egyptian?’ ‘I’m not Egyptian, I’m from Cilicia, a Jew.’ Then he says ‘Take him into
Antonio and scourge him,’ that’s when he finds out he was a Roman
citizen. So he doesn’t say ‘Ya, I tied him up, bound him, I was going to scourge him,
then I found out he was a Roman,’ because then he’d be in trouble. [in reality, this
letter also displays the perfect brevity of a military report, including only
the most pertinent information. The Book
of Joshua reflects a perfect military report of the conquest of Canaan.] So he says ‘This man was taken of the
Jews, he was being mistreated, and I rescued him, having understood that he was
a Roman.’ “And when I would
have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their
council: whom I perceived to be accused
of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of
death or of bonds. And when it was told
me how that the 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. Farewell.” (verses 28-30) Paul moving by night, he does
that a number of times in the Book of Acts. “Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris.” (verse 31) now this was Paul’s last view of Jerusalem. When we go on the trip to Jerusalem, the last
night when we were there, we drive around the city, look at the walls, this was
Paul’s last view of Jerusalem this night, as they took him from the Antonio
Fortress, probably out the north gate and on his way to Antipatris,
which was 35 miles northwest, a Roman fortress, Paul looking over his
shoulders, it would be the last time he would see Jerusalem, in this
world. And “on the morrow” 27
more miles they have to make now to reach Caesarea, so this must have been a
forced march at night, moving quickly, and “on the morrow they left the
horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:” (verse 32) so they’re
more than halfway to Caesarea, at that point they just send him on with the
cavalry, the 200 spearmen and the 200 soldiers return now to Jerusalem, “who,
when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor,
presented Paul also before him. And when
the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of
Cilicia;” which is under the jurisdiction of Felix, he said “I will hear
thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s
judgment hall.” (verses 33-35) that’s Herod’s palace there. Not that Paul lived in opulence, he was not
living at leisure in the palace, but no doubt there were rooms in there where
political prisoners were kept. We don’t
know if he was chained to a guard at this point in time or not. But certainly he had leisure there, and he
will be there for two years, so this will end up to be a very important time in
his life, while he’s there at Caesarea…[transcript of a connective expository
sermon on Acts 23:1-35, given by Pastor Joe Focht,
Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related link:
Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/teachinglibrary.asp?Book=44
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