Living Hope Church

Pastor Phil Steiger: Good morning. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 23.

This morning, we are Lord willing going to finish the chapter, verses 12 through 35. When we read, we will pick up just slightly before with verse 11 just to set a little bit of context for us. But before we do that, let's pray and ask that God would bless the preaching of His word this morning.

Father in heaven, we are privileged once again to gather around the opening of Your word, to hear its contents read, to hear them explained and applied to our lives. And so we pray, Father, that You would use this time by Your spirit to show us Your faithfulness.

Father, we have sung how sweet it is to trust in Jesus, and how we have proved Him over and over again throughout our lives. Father, that is so perfect with the passage that we arrive at this morning, as we see yet another occasion in which the faithfulness of Jesus was shown in the life of Paul. We cannot help but think that as Paul experienced the events of this narrative account that we are about to read together, that he grew in his confidence even more, to see the care of the Lord providing for him, protecting him through the circumstances of providence.

So, Father, we pray that as we approach this amazing passage, You would convince our hearts of these same things as well. Show us how it is that You have worked in the details of history and give us confidence that You are continuing to do so today and in our own lives, so that we might trust You more and more. And as we see You doing this, we acknowledge that we can claim no credit for it. There are times, just as You intervened in Paul's life, that You work beyond our ability, that You work in ways that we could not have planned or foreseen, so that You get the glory, as You use the weak things of the world to confound the wise and accomplish Your purpose in a way that we can take no credit for whatsoever.

And so we pray, Father, that You would glorify Yourself now through the preaching of Your word in Jesus name. Amen.

Well, before we read the passage, let's remind ourselves where we are, as we are picking up in the book of Acts this morning again. Where did we leave Paul off last time we saw him? Well, he has just narrowly escaped a brutal flogging by revealing his Roman citizenship before standing trial before the Sanhedrin, as we saw last week. And it was during that time that the Lord gave Paul the wisdom to declare the root issue, which was his hope in the resurrection, while also exploiting the Pharisees and the Sadducees disagreement over the doctrine of resurrection.

And in doing so, the council became so chaotic to the point that the Roman tribune once again had to rescue him from the violent turbulence that came at that time. Now, for a second time. But the following night, the Lord Jesus came to Paul to give him just what he needed, just when he needed it. He comforted Paul with his own presence. He commended Paul for his faithfulness in witnessing in Jerusalem, and then he told Paul that just as you have been My witness in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.

And that implies really a promise. If Jesus if Jesus is telling Paul that he must testify in Rome, there is an implicit promise that Jesus will keep him safe until the time when he could testify in Rome. But that promise in our passage this morning, it is immediately going to be put to the test, as really Paul comes into further controversy and danger, resistance coming against him once again. And so we ask the question as we work through the passage, how is Jesus's promise going to play out in these circumstances?

But as we get into this, the structure of this morning sermon is going to be a little bit different than normal, rather than stopping and pausing for explicit statements of observation and explicit statements of application on the screen, as we normally do. Instead, those elements are just going to kind of be more woven into the exposition as we are working through before at the end we will kind of conclude with, "Okay, what can we take from this narrative overall?"

But ultimately, what we are going to see together this morning is that in His sovereign providence, the Lord of hosts ensures that no scheme of man will thwart the fulfillment of His promises or the success of all He wills His servants to accomplish. In His sovereign providence, the Lord of hosts ensures that no scheme of man will thwart the fulfillment of His promises or the success of all He wills His servants to accomplish.

So follow along with me as we read Acts chapter 23, verses 11 through 35. And this is the word of God to us this morning.

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than 40 who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore, you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near."

Now, the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush. So he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him." So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, "Paul, the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you." The tribune took him by the hand and going aside, asked him privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?" And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than 40 of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent."

So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, "Tell no one that you have informed me of these things." Then he called two of the centurions and said, "Get ready 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix, the governor." And he wrote a letter to this effect: "Claudius Lysias to his Excellency, the governor Felix, greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him."

So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the next day, they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, "I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive." And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's Praetorium.

So as we begin this morning, there are several groups that we are going to see, several figures at play within this narrative. And the first group that we see comes in verses 12 through 15. And they are the wicked conspirators, the wicked conspirators. Verse 12: "When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul."

So we see this statement here, the timing of it, that it was when it was day. This links verse 12 to what we just saw in verse 11. It was the following night after Paul's Sanhedrin trial that Jesus gave him the promise of protection. And now the next scene takes place when it becomes day again. So the linking of these time references shows us that this threat that we are about to read about should be seen directly in light of Jesus's promise to protect Paul. So we come expecting to see how Jesus's promise of protection will play out in light of the immediate threat to Paul's life here in the passage.

And we understand from verse 12, you can see just how badly some of the Jews wanted Paul dead. So much so that they are committing to neither eat nor drink anything until they are able to accomplish his murder. That oath would necessitate that they carry out the killing of Paul as quickly as possible. And the translation in the KJV, it is also really insightful here. It says that they bound themselves under a curse. So why does the KJV say curse instead of oath? Well, it is because the underlying Greek is actually that they anathematized themselves. In other words, they were invoking the curse of God upon themselves if they did not succeed in killing Paul before the next time that they ate or drank anything.

And I can't help but see really even just a subtle reminder of King Saul, who also undertook an oath like this, did he not? During one of Saul's campaigns, you may remember, against the Philistines, we read in 1 Samuel chapter 14 verse 24, "And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day. So Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, 'Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.' So none of the people had tasted food."

And just as King Saul was so zealous in his fight against Israel's enemies that he bound his men by an oath not to eat until the victory was won, so too these conspirators are so zealous to see Paul dead that they commit to eat and drink nothing as well until they can kill Paul. It would seem then that these conspirators are viewing Paul as an enemy of Israel, even to the same degree that the Philistines were the adversaries of Israel.

But if we know the way that the biblical narrative actually goes, it's not exactly a flattering thing to be compared to Saul, is it? We know that it was Saul who was really on the hunt for David trying to kill God's servant David for a long time. And there were many who conspired against David during that time as well, just as the Jews are constantly throughout the book of Acts hunting Paul, seeking him, conspiring against him. And yet, the Lord delivered David from all of his enemies, just as God would deliver Paul to accomplish all of his his purpose and task as well.

But let's move on into verses 14 and 15, we read, "They went to the chief priests and elders and said, 'We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore, you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.'"

So these conspirators, they are numbering more than 40. They go to the Sanhedrin and involve them in the plot as well. They are supposed to ask the tribune to send Paul back under the pretense that they really need a second hearing in order to really gain more clarifying details on Paul's case. But the 40 plus conspirators, they'll be waiting along the way in ambush, waiting for Paul and his escort to come along so that they can jump out and kill him.

And since Paul would be escorted by Roman soldiers, they would really need at least 40 or so men, you would think, to be able to ambush the escort and kill Paul successfully. And when they attack, we can only guess that many of the assassins would likely be killed too in the fray by the Roman soldiers escorting Paul. And so they are very serious about killing Paul, even to take on such a great risk in the attack. But they need this plan because they knew that Paul was too safely secured in the fortress of Antonia where he was currently being held. They had no chance of getting to him inside the fortress. And so they needed a ploy to get him out in the open so that they can take him out.

And by killing Paul before he even gets near to the Sanhedrin, it would disconnect the Sanhedrin from having any appearance that they too were involved in this plot. But there is an interesting detail here. Notice exactly who it is that they go to in the Sanhedrin. It says that they go to the chief priests and the elders. Commentators note that the scribes are not listed here, which is significant, because the scribes were mostly made up of the Pharisees. On the other hand, the chief priests and the elders were more dominantly composed of the Sadducees. And you remember from last week, which group was more sympathetic to Paul during his trial? It was the Pharisees, right?

So it seems that the conspirators are not approaching the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin, but rather the Sadducees, who they believe will be more favorable to the plot. But think about just how wicked these religious leaders truly were. They were wicked to such a level that the conspirators had confidence that they could safely go to them and ask them to be involved in the murder plot. These men did not fear that they would be penalized for their conspiracy to murder. Instead, they felt confident that the ruling religious body in Israel would help them carry it out. That's corruption on the highest level.

And yet we have to remember that in conspiring against Paul, the Sanhedrin and these plotters are not just conspiring against Paul. They really are this is an expression of their plotting against the Lord Jesus Himself. Because Paul is Jesus's representative, His servant, His apostle, carrying out His mission. But this shouldn't surprise us really because this is the same Sanhedrin which denied Jesus the proper justice. And it is the same Sanhedrin which opposed the apostles earlier in Acts. Let's go back to Acts chapter 4, verses 23 through 29, where we can actually see how it is that the apostles earlier responded when they were opposed by the Sanhedrin.

"When they were released," we read, "they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, 'Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, 'Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed.' For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness.'"

But I want us to notice the logic here. After being opposed by the Sanhedrin, the apostles recall what psalm? Psalm 2 in their prayer. That's the one that they're quoting from. And they say that this psalm was fulfilled when the rulers, Herod, Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the Israelites came together against Jesus, resulting in the crucifixion. But by recalling the opposition against Jesus, after they themselves have just been opposed, the apostles seem to understand that because they are Jesus's servants, the Sanhedrin's opposition toward them is really just a further expression of their resistance to Jesus in keeping with Psalm 2, playing out those same principles.

So, why do I bring all this up? Because it's this same Sanhedrin, these same rulers of Israel, that are now joining in the plot against Paul and thus further plotting ultimately against Jesus, just as they've done from the beginning. The principles of Psalm 2 are still being played out again and again. And yet no scheme against Christ will ever ultimately succeed. Because look at how the Lord responds to such plots, even in the remainder of Psalm 2. If we went back and we kept reading Psalm 2 verses 4 through 9, we read, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury, saying, 'As for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy hill. I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage, and the ends of the earth Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."'"

So the Lord, He is not worried in the slightest. He knows that His Messiah Jesus is secure. God the Father has installed Him as His chosen King, and there is no plot whatsoever that will succeed against Christ. But returning to Acts 23, we see that the threat against Paul's life, it is very serious. And so we say, "How will the Lord fulfill His promise to bring Paul safely to Rome?" Well, let's keep reading to find out, as we move into verses 16 through 22, the providential youth.

Beginning in verse 16. "Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush. So he went and entered the barracks and told Paul." So Paul's nephew is introduced into the narrative here with very little explanation. We know very little about Paul's family. From chapter 22 verse 3, we understand that Paul was brought up in Jerusalem. So if his parents moved to Jerusalem when he was young, and if Paul and his sister were raised there, does this mean that his sister continued to live in Jerusalem as an adult to start a family, and that's why her son is also in Jerusalem at this time? When Paul says in Philippians 3 verse 8 that he suffered the loss of all things, does that imply that his family shunned him and disowned him when he became a Christian, as was the common Jewish practice at this time?

If so, why does Paul's nephew want to help him here? Does it indicate that perhaps Paul's sister and nephew also converted to Christ at some point? Or does it merely indicate that for this nephew, the blood tie was strong enough to overcome any other family hostilities? Furthermore, how did Paul's nephew hear about the plot? Is it possible that this nephew was studying under the religious leaders just as Paul had, and it's from that context that maybe he overheard something about the plot within the Sanhedrin?

Well, the answer to all of these questions is, we simply don't know. Luke doesn't tell us. The best we can do is speculate. But that's okay, because the answers to those questions really aren't important. What matters is what Luke wants to show us. And he is showing us how this great plot involving assassins and religious leaders is overcome in the providence of God through something as simple as a young lad.

Let's continue on in verses 17 through 21. "Paul called one of the centurions and said, 'Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.' So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, 'Paul, the prisoner, called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.' The tribune took him by the hand and going aside, asked him privately, 'What is it that you have to tell me?' And he said, 'The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than 40 of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.'"

At this point, we ask the question, how old was Paul's nephew? And I think with this one, we can have a little bit more material to go off of than the speculations of the previous question. Because in verse 17, Paul calls him a young man. Young man is a translation of the word neanias, which is defined as, quote, "a young man beyond the age of puberty, but normally before marriage, young man."

But we may gain some additional insight from a passage that we've been to previously in Acts chapter 20. You'll remember when the young man Eutychus falls asleep in the window and falls to his death before Paul raises him from the dead. And chapter 20, verse 9, also uses neanias to describe Eutychus. But then in 20 verse 12, Eutychus is described as a youth, a translation of the word pais, which can refer to, quote, "a young person normally below the age of puberty and without distinction as to sex, child."

And so, evidently, there is some overlap in the range of meaning of neanias, young man, and pais, youth. Perhaps Eutychus was right on the edge between both of those states, so that he could be referred accurately by either term. So from the example of Eutychus, we learn that neanias, young man, the term for Paul's nephew, can sometimes fall on the lower end of that age spectrum, potentially.

And I think that a younger age is more likely for Paul's nephew here because of the way that the tribune, did you notice the way the tribune takes him by the hand, to take him aside privately to talk with him. The action of leading him by the hand, almost the way that you would lead a child, seems to indicate someone very youthful. So we could perhaps think of Paul's nephew as maybe a very young teenager, perhaps.

And this likely contributed to the nephew's ability to be admitted into the barracks to gain access to Paul. Given the volatile situation and how the mob wanted to kill Paul, do you think the soldiers would let just anybody in? No. Well, if this young man is very young, clearly not yet an adult, he would not be perceived as a threat and so would be more likely to be granted access to Paul.

And look at what the tribune says in verse 22. "So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, 'Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.'" So the tribune didn't want Paul's nephew to tell anyone that he informed the tribune of the plot because he couldn't risk the conspirators finding out that the tribune knew. If they found out that the tribune knew, they could scrap the plot and make a different plan, one which the tribune might not be able to stop a second time. By keeping this knowledge private, it would also help the tribune to carry out his next move without the conspirators suspecting anything. When it comes to matters of military intelligence, you don't want the enemy knowing how much you know.

But notice the providence and power of God here. This is what we need to slow down and consider. God has just thwarted a conspiracy to murder His servant Paul, involving more than 40 assassins and the highest religious ruling body in Israel, using what? Merely one young lad, who evidently just happened to be at the right place at the right time to hear about the plot.

And this shouldn't surprise us even one little bit, because this is so often how God works, is it not? So often God uses the smallest and the most unsuspecting of means to accomplish His great big ends. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 27 through 29, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

This is how God so often works in salvation, calling not the world's elites, but the lowly of society. And that's how God worked in the cross, choosing the weakness of a crucified Messiah to save the world. And this is how God worked to protect Paul, using one young man to stop the scheming of great powers in Israel.

And in this way, nobody can boast. Only God gets the glory for His protection of Paul. Paul cannot claim any credit whatsoever in his escape from this plot. If left to himself and his own resources, he would surely have been killed in this plot, especially considering how zealous his would be attackers really were. But God stepped in and intervened with this young nephew.

And we need to remember that this is how God works in the world. When everything looks so hopeless that you just can't see how you are going to get out of a situation, we should never give into despair because the God who controls all factors and circumstances that we could never plan for or calculate is the God who works in perfect wisdom. He could be moving people and situations and in places far away from you, in ways that you don't even have the slightest clue of, that at a some point in later time, He is going to bring to connect with your circumstances at just the right time and just the right way. And you have no clue that He is already preparing those things right now in other people.

When things seem so hopeless, don't forget to factor God into the equation. Second of all, beyond not forgetting to factor God into the equation, don't underestimate the way that God could use you, no matter how small or insignificant you feel. Because just as God may be moving in ways that you can't begin to know to address your needs, so too, you might be the one whom God is working through to help someone else in ways that you can't understand or fully grasp.

God used one single boy to stop powerful forces of evil in Israel, to protect an apostle, and as we are about to see even in just a moment, to move an army into motion. Just one lad. So don't ever think that God can't use you in big ways. And let that keep you from discouragement when you're tempted to think that your life isn't making any difference. At the right time, and in the right place through the providence and power of God, your life just might make all the difference in a given situation.

But we continue to read how this newly revealed information moves the tribune to action in verses 23 and 24, where we see the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts. "Then he called two of the centurions and said, 'Get ready 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix, the governor.'"

So first of all, let's remember that this commander is a tribune. That is his rank. The standard number of men which a tribune had command over was 1,000. So Jerusalem probably had a garrison of a thousand Roman soldiers during the events that we are reading about. And yet look at how many men the tribune sends on the mission to escort Paul safely to Caesarea. 200 soldiers, 70 cavalry, and 200 spearmen. That's 470 men.

Do you realize that means the tribune is devoting roughly half of his entire force, roughly half of the entire force garrisoned at Jerusalem, to protect Paul? That's incredible. But why would he do this? Well, one, he knew that the plot against him was serious. With 40 plus zealots under such an oath and willing to die in an attack against Paul, it would take a large force to ensure that nobody could break through and strike a killing blow against Paul in the midst of the chaos if an attack did ensue.

But second of all, Paul is a Roman citizen under the protective custody of the tribune. And it would not be good for the tribune if he failed and allowed a citizen under his care to be assassinated. So the tribune is taking this very seriously as well. And with the riot, with the chaotic scene before the Sanhedrin, and now with news of this plot, the tribune knows that it's simply too dangerous to keep Paul in Jerusalem any longer. Beyond this, the controversy surrounding Paul has now reached boiling point. Jerusalem is a powder keg. And if there are any more incidents with Paul, it might just blow.

And as one charged to preserve the peace, the tribune cannot have that. To protect Paul, he has no other choice but to get him far away from the city. So he sends Paul to Caesarea. And that's about 65 miles from Jerusalem. If we look on our map here, we can see that down here is Jerusalem, and he is going to send Paul all the way up here to the coast in Caesarea, about roughly 65 miles or so away. And Caesarea, it was the seat of Roman rule in the entire region of Judea.

And he commands them to set out at the third hour of the night. In our way of reckoning time, that would be 9:00 p.m. So this commander, he is he is wasting no time. They are to set out that very night and to use the cover of night to get Paul as far from the city as quickly as possible. It would seem that the goal is to get Paul far away before the conspirators even realize he is gone. This also gets Paul out of town before the Sanhedrin even have the chance to send the request for him to be sent for a second hearing. So that rather than telling the Sanhedrin, "No," the tribune can answer, "Well, he is he is not here. He is out of town. He has already been sent on up."

And he sends Paul to Felix, the governor. The situation has gone beyond this Roman commander, and he knows that things have escalated to the point that he needs to pass Paul up the chain of command to those above him. And in this quick escape, Paul is treated quite well. He is given mounts, plural, more than one. So Paul has the luxury of riding, rather than being forced to go on foot, and he has more than one horse too. Perhaps we could think that that second horse is to carry his bags if he has any, or to switch horses maybe if the the horse would need a rest or something like that.

But why have I titled this section of the message, the Lord of hosts? Well, throughout the Old Testament, the Lord is often referred to as the Lord of hosts. Think of a host as an a grand force, an army, a host of soldiers. And this phrase, it can have different connotations depending on how it's being used. But let's look at just one of the ways that it's used in Isaiah chapter 13 verse 4.

There we read, "The sound of a tumult is on the mountains, as of a great multitude. The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together. The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for battle." This verse is in the context of an oracle against Babylon. And verse 4 describes God summoning a host of armies from the kingdoms and nations of the world to come against Babylon to destroy her in judgment.

So we understand that part of what the title Lord of hosts conveys is that God is sovereign over all armies of the earth, not just the armies of heaven, not just the armies of Israel, but even the armies of the nations that don't even know God. He is able to direct them according to His purposes, according to His will, as He sees fit. And that's exactly what we see happening in Acts chapter 23. Though the Roman army does not seek to serve the Lord, the Lord sovereignly directs them according to His purposes nonetheless, using them as His instrument to fulfill His promise of protection to Paul on his journey to Rome.

But this idea of God using people and forces to unwittingly do His bidding, even when that's not their intention, is seen even further in verses 25 through 30, the self-seeking tribune. The self-seeking tribune. Verse 25. "And he wrote a letter to this effect." So we understand from that phrase that it's just to this effect that this is not an exact word for word reproduction of the letter, but it conveys the gist of what was communicated. Paul very well may have heard that letter read during his time before Felix, and then recalled its contents to Luke, of what it said from memory.

But verse 26, we see who is sending this letter. Claudius Lysias. So for the first time, we finally get to hear the tribune's name. We can stop calling him tribune and can finally give him a name, Claudius. Claudius Lysias. And remember that he purchased his citizenship for a large sum. The fact that he is called Claudius could indicate that he took the name Claudius in honor of the Emperor Claudius, if Claudius was the emperor who was reigning at the time when he was granted citizenship.

But who is it sent to? "To his Excellency, the governor Felix, greetings." Who was Felix? Well, Felix served as the governor of Judea from AD 52 to roughly AD 59. History has not remembered him as a very good ruler. The Roman historian Tacitus said that he had, quote, "practiced every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of a king with all the instincts of a slave." End quote.

But as we move into verse 27, where Felix will recount some of the events that we've already just been reading about in Acts, I want you to notice how Felix really airbrushes over some of the details to paint himself in a more favorable light. Look at verse 27. He says, "This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen."

So notice that he says nothing about nearly flogging Paul illegally. He conveniently leaves that part out. And notice too that in Claudius's recounting of things, he paints it as if he already knew of Paul's Roman citizenship at the time when he first rescued Paul from the mob, rather than finding it out later and after the fact. And as Luke is describing what happened, Claudius's airbrushed letter is so realistic because this is truly so often how we are as human beings, is it not? Seeking to minimize our flaws and exaggerate our strengths.

But this airbrushing, it reveals something to us about Claudius's heart. It further reinforces something that we already know about him, and that is that nothing he is doing here is motivated by a love for the Lord. He's not protecting Paul out of a service for Christ. He is simply acting in a self-preserving way, wanting to maintain his duty as a Roman tribune to protect the Roman citizen under his custody in order to avoid reprimand, and leaving out any weaknesses in his handling of the situation in order to promote himself to his superior.

And why does this matter? It matters because it further reinforces what we noted earlier, that God absolutely can and will use people for His purposes, even those who are not seeking to serve the Lord. And yet that should not surprise us because once again, God has always worked this way. And I want to show you one of the clearest examples of this from the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter 10. We will read verses 5 through 15.

"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger, the staff in their hands is My fury. Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of My wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But now pay attention to this, verse 7. But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think. But it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For he says, 'Are not my commanders all kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As My hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?' When the Lord has finished all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says, 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of peoples and plunder their treasures. Like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples. And as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth. And there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.'"

And then notice how the Lord responds to that arrogant speech. "Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it? Or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood."

So in this passage, God calls Assyria the rod of His anger. God uses the wicked nation of Assyria to judge the northern kingdom of Israel through the Assyrian invasion. So God is wielding Assyria like a tool in His hand against Israel to judge His people. But notice that the king of Assyria is not seeking to cooperate with the Lord in any way. Verse 7 says that his intention is not to be serving the Lord as an instrument of judgment. Instead, he's just acting as a sinful human who wants to plunder and pillage for his own glory. And yet when the Lord is done punishing Israel through Assyria, God will then turn right around and punish Assyria's king because his heart in all of this was so wicked and proud.

He thought that he accomplished his conquest through his own might, not recognizing that he was merely a tool in God's hand to accomplish God's will in the earth. And God says in verse 15 that this is as silly as an axe thinking it's better than the one who swung it, or a staff thinking that it can actually lift a person, rather than the person lifting the staff. In modern terms, we would say this is like the tail wagging the dog.

But notice how powerful this is. What's the point? Assyria is wicked, acting sinfully. They don't love or seek to serve the Lord. And yet, in God's sovereignty, He directs Assyria to accomplish His will even as they have no clue that even in their sin, they are playing right into God's hands. God does not condone sin, He will punish it. And yet God uses even the sins of wicked people in a sinless way to accomplish His purpose in the earth, all without impugning His own character even in the slightest.

And we see something similar happening here with Claudius Lysias. That's the connection I'm making. He's just looking out for his own self-interest in the performance of his duties, massaging the details in his favor. And yet all the while, we know that the Lord Jesus is using Claudius to protect Paul in keeping with His promise, even though Claudius Lysias is not acting as a servant of Christ.

Let's read the rest of the letter, verses 28 through 30. "And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him."

So this is really significant because here you have Claudius affirming in writing that based on the Sanhedrin trial, he did not believe that Paul was guilty of any true crimes against the empire. Nothing deserving of death or imprisonment. This was, as far as Claudius could tell, simply an intramural debate among the Jews about religious matters. So Claudius is basically saying, he thinks Paul is innocent.

Nevertheless, things were now out of his hands, and Paul would not be released, as Paul's case was to be sent on on to a higher level to be heard by Felix. But this statement of innocence is once again important for one of Luke's purposes in writing Acts. On several occasions, we have noted how Luke seeks to demonstrate that the Christian movement is not one of political revolution or a dangerous attempts to overthrow Rome. Christians are peaceful citizens who practice the whose practice of the way should be fully legal and accepted within the Roman society. And that truth is emphasized again by Luke in his recounting of Claudius's letter, that this man is innocent. He's done nothing deserving of imprisonment or death.

So the plot has been made. The plot has been discovered. A plan has been hatched to get Paul out of Jerusalem. The letter has been recounted. And now we resume the narrative once more to see the protection plan put into motion. Let's look briefly at the cared for apostle, verses 31 through 35.

Verse 31. "So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris." This was a Roman military outpost, roughly 35 to 40 miles from Jerusalem on the way to Caesarea. We can see it on the map once again. So remember, Paul started in Jerusalem. Claudius is sending him to Caesarea, but they stop halfway here at Antipatris.

So for the Roman force to travel that far, roughly 35 to 40 miles, with most of the force traveling on foot, all in the space of that same night, must have meant that they were being pushed at an absolutely exhausting pace to get that far as fast as possible to get Paul to safety. But we keep reading in verse 32. "And on the next day, they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him."

So the next day, once reaching Antipatris, the force has made it far enough from Jerusalem that the immediate threat to Paul's life has diminished. So the entire force is no longer required to carry out the remainder of the journey. Instead, Paul goes on with just the smaller cavalry force, which will be sufficient at this point in the journey for the remaining 25 to 30 miles of of of the way to Caesarea, while the foot soldiers then turn back and take the the long march back to Jerusalem once again.

But we get on into verse 33. "When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, 'I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.'" So why does Felix want to know what province Paul is from? I think the most simple and straightforward answer is that he wants to make sure that Paul is actually within his jurisdiction to hear the case.

And as we noted a couple of weeks ago, Tarsus, Paul's birth city, is in Cilicia. Now, Cilicia was not part of Judea, and so would actually have fallen outside of Felix's jurisdiction technically. So why did Felix agree to hear the case? Well, it could be that since Paul's alleged crime was committed in Judea, Felix felt that he could judge the case nonetheless. But there is another possibility, based on my research, Felix was subordinate to an even higher ruler, the Legate of Syria. Cilicia was within this Legate's jurisdiction. And based on this relationship, Felix may have felt that he had the liberty to hear the case as a representative of his superior, rather than bothering him by sending the case higher up.

But whatever the exact reason, Felix determines that he can hear Paul's case. We read the final phrase of our passage today, verse 35, the second half, "And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's Praetorium." This was a palace that Herod the Great had built, this Praetorium. It eventually became the place where Roman governors officially lived, even as we see here happening in the book of Acts. But it's at this place where Paul is going to spend quite some time for more than two years in the chapters that follow over the course of various trials. And it seems that the palace must have had prison cells for prisoners like Paul being kept there.

But now that we've reached the end of our passage, let's stop for just a moment to consider all that has happened. Through the events of this passage, Paul has been safely delivered from the assassins' conspiracy. He has been brought from Jerusalem to Caesarea with incredible speed and now resides safely in the governor's own palace, finding further safety from the guards assigned to him. Paul may be a prisoner, but he is a safe prisoner, a very safe prisoner.

And this is all because the Lord Jesus cares for Paul and has carried out through these details and events the fulfillment of His promise in verse 11. Paul is going to testify in Rome about Christ. And this leg of the journey should give Paul even greater confidence that this indeed will happen, just as Jesus has said.

But as we begin to wind things down here, let's stop and ask a question. If the whole point of this narrative was to show that the Lord was protecting Paul so that he can make it to Rome, just as He promised, why does Luke go to such length and detail in telling this vivid story of how it all played out? Well, to take a crack at that question, let me relate to you something that my brother taught me.

My brother, he studied film and graduated from Liberty University with a degree in cinematic arts. And we've discussed films at length together over the years. And something that my brother has really bemoaned as a sign of a poor movie is when the movie does too much telling and not enough showing. In other words, a poor screenwriter insults the intelligence of his audience by feeling the need to have his characters verbally explain everything that's happening, almost as if they're explaining it for the audience. But a good screenwriter just shows the story play out and trusts the audience to put the pieces together and to pick up on the unspoken dynamics at play through the visual cues on the screen and the emotions of the characters.

And as my brother has put it, good movies live by the principle, show, don't tell. And in the same way, as we consider the narrative in Acts, sometimes it's more effective for an author to make his point by showing the readers how God's faithfulness plays out, by illustrating it in the narrative. Luke could have just said, "Jesus promised Paul's safety, and then He protected him from the conspiracy." End of the passage. He could have done that. But instead, Luke has chosen to draw us into the story so that we can see Jesus's promise played out before us, along with the ways that God works in the details of real people, places, and history.

Perhaps we could imagine Luke saying to us, "I don't just want to tell you that God is faithful. Let me show you His faithfulness in action." So believer, if you don't pick up on anything else through this whole story, pick up on this one thing. God is faithful in the details. His promise stands fast, even in the midst of forces much greater than you. And if there is some task that He has planned for you to do or to accomplish in His sovereign decree, no force on earth or in hell can stop you from carrying out that task.

Rest in this truth, and let it give you courage to keep on going in your efforts to serve Christ. But unbeliever, if there is anyone today, whether in the room or later online, who does not know Christ. Unbeliever, you should take very seriously the truths about God that we have seen this morning. In your sinful rebellion against the Lord, you will never overcome Him. In your sinful rebellion against the Lord, just as we've seen, He overcomes every plot, every scheme, every wicked imagination of man. And we've seen that He laughs, because the kingship of His Messiah is so sure.

And we've also seen that God is even sovereign over the wickedness of man, using it for His own purposes, regardless of the sinner's intent. What does that mean? That means, unbeliever, that God is going to use your life for His glory, to fit within His larger purposes in one way or another. You can't avoid that. But if God is going to get glory from you anyway, wouldn't you want to be on His side, so that you display the glory of His grace, rather than the glory of His judgment?

You can't beat Christ, so I implore you, join Him. We looked at Psalm 2 earlier. Let's return there once more to see how the psalm concludes in light of Jesus's unassailable kingship. Psalm 2, verses 10 through 12. "Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."

So the choice is clear. You can resist the Son and be smashed by Him, or you can find refuge in the Son and be saved by Him. So seek refuge in His gospel today. Turn from your rebellion against Him and trust in His sacrifice and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins and the promise of new life. Only then can you find comfort in the sovereign providence of the Lord, who moves people and powers to accomplish all of His good pleasure.

Because ultimately, as we've seen together this morning, in His sovereign providence, the Lord of hosts ensures that no scheme of man will thwart the fulfillment of His promises or the success of all He wills His servants to accomplish. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, You are the great and glorious God. When we read a passage like today, we recognize that we are nothing and You are everything. There is no force, no military power, no ruling body, no conspiracy of man, nothing in this earth that can ever so much as thwart or impede Your progress and Your purposes in the world by even so much as an inch. Lord, the very schemes of man that seek to dethrone You are the very things that You play into Your own hands to accomplish Your purposes in a way that will further Your mission and support Your servants in the way that You see fit.

And so, Father, we thank You that because of Jesus Christ, You are on our side. That is a grace given to us, not because of anything in us, but only because of Jesus that we know that Your favor is towards us. And so we thank You for the refuge we find in Jesus, so that when we see this all-powerful God, we can say, "He is for me, not against me." We thank You for this in Jesus's name. Amen.