Take Courage

Today's text is from Acts chapter 23.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

The whole chapter.

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.

And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.

Are you sitting to judge me according to the law?

And yet, contrary to the law, you order me to be struck?

Those who stood by said, Would you revile God's high priest?

And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.

It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.

And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, no spirit nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, We find nothing wrong in this man.

What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?

And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

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 forty 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 down 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 forty 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 two hundred soldiers with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night, and provide mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him safely to Felix the governor, and he wrote a letter to this effect.

Claudius Lysius, 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 by the next 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.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

Blake, well done.

Thanks for reading the whole chapter.

Uh it's really great to have someone else do that so you don't have to read it up here when you're preaching.

But no, seriously, it's a it's a joy to be with you all this morning.

My name is Mike.

I work with Reformed University Fellowship.

It's the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Live just up the road with my family.

Um gosh, I'm trying to remember the last time I was here.

I think it was earlier this year, like maybe March.

Uh I don't expect any of you to remember that, but I'm just mostly talking out loud as I say that.

But uh, it's great to be back with you again.

I'm really glad that James and his family can be enjoying the sweet sunshine of Disney World.

And um as you as we just heard, we're gonna be looking at Acts chapter 23.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

Uh so before I get started, I'd like to pray for us quickly and then we can jump into the passage.

Please pray with me.

Gracious God, thank you so much for your word to us this morning.

I pray that as we gather here to worship and to listen to your word, that you would abundantly give forth your Holy Spirit among us, that you would uh bring alive your word in our hearts, that you would encourage and nourish us spiritually in Jesus, that we would hear from you and that you would change us.

May all the cares and concerns of our lives be set aside for this hour as we focus our hearts and our attention on your word.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In 1980, my grandmother purchased a plot of land up north in Wisconsin, which is where I'm from, up on Washington Island.

It's that island on the tip of the peninsula of Wisconsin.

And we camped there for years.

My dad uh drove when I was growing up this 1986 Volkswagen camper van, the one of those with the tops that pop up.

It looks like a square block.

Um, I think they're worth$100,000 today if you want to buy one.

Um and, you know, we spent a lot of our time in the summers just on the little, there was a little spot of beach on the shore.

And we would, you know, I'd play with my plastic trucks and toys and boats in the sand.

And I have this memory of looking up and seeing my grandparents and parents from time to time kind of pulling out pieces of grass that were encroaching on our little spot of beach.

Uh turns out this is called lime grass.

It's an invasive species of grass in Wisconsin that's super stubborn and typically takes over beaches.

We wanted a beach without the spiky grass, so we would pull up the grass as often as we could as we would go there.

But every time we came back to the island, it had grown and spread and taken over further.

Well, the kingdom of God is a little bit like limegrass.

In Acts chapter 23, the Apostle Paul was being uprooted.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

His enemies were doing weed control.

They wanted to stop the spread of Christianity and put an end to one of its main propagators, but they couldn't.

The kingdom of God will grow and spread slowly, sometimes even imperceptibly, but grow it will.

It simply cannot be stopped.

One of the benefits of lime grass, as I've read, is its extensive root network provides significant erosion control and actually keeps sand dunes from washing away over time.

Again, this is a little bit like the kingdom of God.

I imagine a world apart from God's presence and work in it, just slowly eroding away over time.

But the kingdom of God provides erosion control.

No wave can wash it away.

No person can thwart it.

No government can squeeze it out, though many have tried and failed.

Now, of course, the kingdom of God isn't just an external phenomenon that's happening out beyond us in the world.

It's also present and personal and uh in our own hearts.

The kingdom of God is his personal, gracious rule and reign over the hearts of believers.

So, in that sense, the kingdom of God must invade your heart and mine.

Here's where we're going with this passage in Acts chapter 23.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

Nothing can stop the kingdom of God.

I would love for you to walk away with that this morning.

Nothing can stop the kingdom of God.

I've five points.

It is a whole chapter, after all, that we're going to look at this morning.

Uh but we'll the last two are quicker.

Uh, Paul's weakness cannot stop the kingdom of God.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God.

Prison walls cannot stop the kingdom of God.

Evil vows cannot stop the kingdom of God, and secular rulers cannot stop the kingdom of God.

I'll mention those again as we go through, but let's start with Paul's weakness.

Look again, if we can, at verses two through three.

And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by Paul to strike him on the mouth.

And he said to them, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.

So our passage starts out rather dark.

Paul is under arrest in Jerusalem, and if you look earlier in Acts, his friends told him, Don't go there, Paul.

The Spirit said to him in a vision, persecution and suffering are awaiting you there.

But he went anyways.

The tribune had nearly flogged him, which was terrible punishment, to try to examine him.

But when Paul shared that he was a Roman citizen, the centurion and the tribune stopped.

So currently, here's the scene.

The chief priests, the whole council, the tribune were gathered together to ask Paul the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews.

And the first thing Paul says is, I have a clean conscience before God.

And upon doing so, he catches what I imagine was a right hook into the mouth.

Now we've seen lots of movies.

I don't know about any of you here.

I have not truly been punched in the face before.

There's no telling how I would respond in a moment like that.

But factor in that Paul has been arrested on truly trumped-up charges and tried before a completely biased council of elders, the situation seems what I imagine to be rather frustrating.

Historians will note that Ananias the high priest, he ruled between 47 and 58 AD, and he was known for being very vicious and violent and influential and wealthy.

Clearly, he saw Paul as a threat and a perverter of the Jewish religion.

He orders the punch, and Paul responds by calling down a divine threat.

Did Ananias deserve it?

It sure seems like he did.

But was it a godly response from Paul?

Probably not.

I think it's fair to say that Paul's response, at least of name-calling, was sinful.

Some have tried to argue, some commentators, that Paul's response was okay, that it's justified because the godly should rebuke the sinner.

Now, of course that's true at times, but I don't think we need to prove that Paul never sinned after he became a Christian.

In fact, the writings of the New Testament, his own writings, would argue otherwise.

When someone becomes a Christian, they're not suddenly sinless.

Perfection has not reached this side of heaven, as they say.

Paul was sinned against by Ananias in the council, and in response to an unjust punch, Paul sinned against Ananias.

Now, this happens to us all the time.

Not the punching, but just think about it.

Random strangers judge you.

Your children say hurtful things.

Friends gossip about you.

Parents manipulate you.

Supervisors abuse you.

Your spouse is harsh or neglectful toward you.

Pastors like me let you down.

We are sinned against constantly.

Here's the question for each of us to consider today How do we respond when we are sinned against?

Commenting on this passage, John Calvin wrote this The faithful ought not break out into wrathfulness, that they do not return one evil for another, but that they overcome evil with goodness.

Now Calvin is clearly here commenting on Paul's own words taken from Romans chapter 12, which read this Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now I'm convinced these words from Paul would be utterly impossible were it not for the help of the Holy Spirit.

No part of my sinful heart would have wanted to respond to Ananias in a godly and gracious way.

And Paul, even though he was a Christian and had the Holy Spirit, at least initially responded sinfully.

But look at what happened next.

Look at verses four and five.

Those who stood by him said, Would you revile God's high priest?

And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

Now this is remarkable.

Paul is immediately humbled and he walks back his threat that he made to Ananias.

He remembers that God's word calls him not to speak evil of rulers.

He even calls these men brothers.

This is unbelievable.

Now, friends, we can learn from Paul here.

Sin cannot stop the kingdom of God, even our own sin.

How do you respond when you're sinned against?

Consider Jesus.

When he was arrested and put on trial for trumped up charges, he too was questioned by the high priest.

Listen to John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Is that how you answer the high priest?

Remarkably similar situation.

Jesus answered him, If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong.

But if what I said is right, why do you strike me?

So in a similar situation, when hit in the face, Jesus responded with composure and grace.

So once again, how do you respond when you're sinned against?

The true mark of a Christian is not sinlessness, but repentance.

If you are a Christian, let your posture be this slow to anger and quick to repent.

Sin cannot stop the kingdom of God because our sins have been covered by Jesus.

And the kindness of God, Paul wrote in Romans 2, leads us to repentance.

That was our first point.

Now we're on to our second.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God.

So the first few centuries following the life of Jesus, persecution was rampant.

Christians were threatened, beaten, stolen from, slandered, tortured, and murdered.

A famous example of this is a man named Polycarp from the second century.

He was a martyr.

And when he was facing death, he was asked to deny his Christian faith.

Here's what he said.

You threaten me with fire, he was burned, which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.

But why do you wait?

Bring forth what you will.

Man, Polycarp.

Now not everyone was as bold as Polycarp, but many were, honestly.

Paul faced persecutors who wanted him dead, but the persecutors were divided.

Look again at verses six and seven.

So Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees, the other Pharisees.

He cried out in the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.

It is with respect to the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.

And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

Paul was no fool.

In fact, he was very cunning and wise.

Sadducees were sympathizers with Rome, and they did not believe that the resurrection was taught in the first five books of the Old Testament.

The Pharisees, they were silent rebels against Rome.

They were considered more progressive in their theology, and they did believe in the resurrection taught in the first five books of the Bible.

So Paul here capitalizes on their disagreement.

Now what he said about the resurrection, it was not false.

Of course, he believes in the resurrection, right?

But was this all of his theological differences with the Jews?

Not even close.

But if he could just if he could disturb their unified hatred, even for a moment, he could, and he would.

Look at verse 9.

Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply.

So some of the Pharisees wanted to acquit Paul because of his belief in the resurrection.

So evidently their dispute with the Sadducees ran deeper than their dispute with Paul, which was not a mild dispute, as we know from the New Testament.

Now, wouldn't it have been sweet if right then and there they, you know, they voted to release Paul so he could get back to his missionary journeys, but that wasn't God's plan.

Instead of release, apparently they were concerned that the whole group would just murder Paul right then and there.

So the tribune acted to preserve Paul's life.

This was actually the first time the tribune saved Paul's life.

The second time is later in this chapter.

So he had him taken away and locked in the barracks.

Now, even today in the world, a significant percentage of the world's population is opposed to Christianity.

Much of the Middle East and North Africa, parts of South and Central Asia, for 2,000 years in the history of the church, rulers and nations have resorted to violence to stop the kingdom of God.

But if anything was going to stop it, would it not have been the unjust murder of Jesus?

With only three years of ministry under his belt, Jesus' perfect life was taken from him.

All of his disciples scattered and left him.

One of them betrayed him.

People mocked him and spat on him and laughed at him.

Peter, one of his closest friends, when he was, he felt so threatened he denied even knowing Jesus when he was questioned by a youth.

The death of Jesus should have snuffed out the spark of Christianity.

And it would have, were it not for the resurrection.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God because Jesus truly was raised from the dead.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God because Jesus faced the tidal wave of God's wrath for our sin.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God because Christians have the same spirit that raised Jesus.

And the hope of the Christian is kept safe in heaven, as Peter wrote, undefiled and unfading.

Brothers and sisters, believe this good news.

Violence cannot stop the kingdom of God.

Consider our third point, prison walls.

It's a short one.

Look at verse 11 with me.

The following night the Lord stood by him, Paul, and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.

Now, I I think this verse is sort of the hinge for the whole chapter.

It's the turning point.

Right when Paul needed it the most, Jesus came to him.

Can you imagine what Paul must have been feeling in the barracks that lonely night after he nearly was torn apart by the hands of these rioters?

I imagine deep loneliness, certainly some anger, and a bone-rattling fear of death.

Jesus knew what Paul was facing and what he was feeling, and in his kindness, he came to Paul to encourage him.

Author Dan Alnder once wrote a book called Encouragement.

I think it came out in 2013, and he offers a formula for how to encourage someone.

And here's what he says: there are two parts that go into it.

Encouraging words are spoken in love toward another's fears.

That's exactly what we see Jesus do to Paul here in our passage.

With love, Jesus spoke to Paul's fear of death.

He exhorted Paul to take courage, which is the same verb that Jesus used when he walked on water, and his disciples were filled with fear in response.

Then he makes Paul a promise that this isn't the end of the road for you.

You must get to Rome to testify about me.

Now, this wasn't a sugar-coated promise, because as we know, Paul testified about Jesus in Jerusalem and he suffered very badly.

So it seemed to be, it would almost imply you're going to do a little bit more testifying and probably a little bit more suffering in Rome.

Yet, despite persecution and suffering, Jesus' words must have warmed Paul like a piping cup of tea on a cold winter night.

Nestled between hatred and imminent death on the one hand and an evil vow by forty men on the other, it's Acts chapter 23, stands one verse of comfort in verse 11.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

Is this not how the Christian life often feels?

We have real hope in Jesus, but it's surrounded on all sides by suffering and doubt and anxiety and loss.

Jesus wasn't restricted by Paul's imprisonment.

He showed up inside the walls.

But my question is how does Jesus show up for us in our suffering?

As one writer put it, let us learn, even in our most extreme afflictions, to stay ourselves upon the Word of God alone.

And because Jesus does not appear by visions any longer, we must meditate upon his influence.

Innumerable promises.

So Jesus shows up in his promises, by his spirit, through his people and in his church.

So meditate on the promise of Jesus.

Share in life in community with other Christians and continue to faithfully gather to worship God on Sundays.

And through these things, friends, in the midst of your suffering, Jesus will be there.

Let's consider the fourth point.

Evil vows cannot stop the kingdom of God.

Almost immediately after Jesus' encouragement, evil strikes again.

Look again, starting in verse 12.

So when it was day, the Jews made a plot.

They bound themselves by an oath, neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.

And 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.

They weren't messing around this time.

No more discussion about what Paul believed.

No more disagreement with the Sadducees.

No more rescue by the tribune.

They wanted Paul dead, and they were willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

In what I imagine was a rash decision, 40 Jews bound themselves by an oath, neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

Forty, and on its own, this would be terrible and evil.

Forty men reasoning that the ends justify the means.

Forty men believing that murder was the best course of action.

Forty men willing to risk their own freedom to take the life and freedom of another.

But to make matters worse, they involved the Jewish High Council, which is called the Sanhedrin, in their scandal.

And as we see from the text, they were completely honest with the council.

They told them all what they were committed to.

They even went so far as to ask the council to leverage their position of power so that they could accomplish their murderous plot.

Ask to examine Paul again, and we will kill him, they say.

Now, what's really unsettling here is that the highest leaders of the Jewish people completely go along with the plan.

They voice no objection.

They don't question the tactics.

Not a single person stood up and said, No, my brothers, what you're planning is not good.

We will try this man in a court and hand him over to the authorities for sentencing.

This doesn't happen.

Every single one of the Jewish leaders were complicit and supportive.

This is incredibly disappointing.

And it's also very enlightening.

How does it enlighten us?

Friends, I want you to see just how deep the rabbit hole of sin truly goes.

The depravity or the sinfulness of the human heart is extreme.

And you know what's scary and humbling is that our own hearts are indeed capable of the same things.

Authentic believing Christians commit shameful, ugly sins.

The Bible is actually full of godly people committing foolish, selfish, extreme sin, and you and I are not exceptions.

The reality is we often wrestle with sinful desires of the heart.

Our hearts don't always point to the truth.

They often point merely to what we want.

Sometimes we want to drink too much.

Sometimes we want to spend money we don't have on things we don't need.

Sometimes we neglect our family for something selfish.

Sometimes we're drawn to things unpure.

Sometimes we want to work too much to get a certain title or promotion.

And sometimes we want to get our identity from a sport or a hobby or a certain grade point average if you're a student.

Brothers and sisters, the only true guide for faith and life is God's word.

If your friends tell you it's okay, you deserve this, don't blindly trust them.

If your own gut tells you, just do it, it'll be okay.

Don't blindly trust it.

If the internet tells you, go for it, no one else will know.

Definitely, definitely don't trust that one.

The only true guide for faith and life is God's word.

Let's consider our fifth and final point.

Secular rulers cannot stop the kingdom of God.

So the plan was devised.

The hungry and thirsty Jews were ready.

The council was supportive.

Satan was probably pumped at this point, thinking that one of the biggest defenders of Christianity was about to be eliminated.

And with the most unexpected turn of events, the evil plot is foiled.

Look again at verses 16 and 17.

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.

The son of Paul's sister somehow heard of their ambush.

How?

We don't know.

The Bible doesn't tell us.

We have no idea.

Maybe he was in the room.

Maybe he overheard someone talking later on.

But one thing is for sure God put this unnamed nephew in the right place at the right time.

Nothing can stop the kingdom of God.

Friends, this is what we call a doctrine known as divine providence.

I want to give you a short definition, a long definition, and then a scripture point, a scripture reference to back it up.

So here's a short definition.

Divine providence is God's control and direction of things and events in this world.

Here's a long definition.

God, the great creator of all things, does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, meaning incapable of being wrong, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will to the praise and glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

Here's the scripture reference, Ephesians 1.11.

God works all things according to the counsel of his will.

So notice how all-encompassing God's providence is.

Notice how wise and holy God's providence is.

And notice the ends to which God's providence is aimed: justice, goodness, mercy, and his own glory.

In a single verse, God dismantles the murderous plan of 40 Jews.

Did it even seem hard?

Did God seem at all stumped or confused on how to handle this?

Not in the slightest.

God used a boy who was willing to speak up in the face of evil to ultimately deliver Paul from the hands of these evil men.

God's providence, if we think about it and how it comes to bear in our lives, can and should bring great comfort to the Christian.

Knowing that our lives are in the hands of our good Father is reassuring.

However, God's providence can also present great challenge to the Christian.

Sometimes God gives us hard providences.

He leads us through bumpy roads in life with loss.

Just look about, look at Acts 23.

It's the whole chapter.

Paul having hard providences.

In those times, the greatest comfort is not found in remembering just divine providence.

Well, God is at work somehow.

We should do that.

We need to, but not just that.

The greatest comfort is found in believing in the cross of Christ.

Why do I say that?

At the cross, we find the clearest expression of God's great love for us, actually intersecting with the hardest providence that Jesus could ever face.

The substitutionary suffering and punishment for the sins of you and I, of all of God's people.

So for the suffering Christian, for you and I, when the days are hard, there's nowhere else to go.

Go to the cross of Jesus.

Even still, you may be thinking, I'm not sure I agree.

We're not robots.

I'm truly free.

How can I be free and God control all the events in the world?

It's an excellent question if you've ever pondered it.

Listen to an old Baptist preacher by the name of Charles Spurgeon reflect on this.

He wrote, I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes.

That every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens.

That the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses.

The creeping of an insect over a rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence.

The fall of leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.

He that believes in a God must believe this truth, Spurgeon says.

There is no standing point between this and atheism.

There is no halfway point between a mighty God that works all things by the sovereign counsel of his will and no God at all.

A God that cannot do as he pleases.

A God whose will is frustrated is not a God and cannot be a God.

I could not believe in such a God as that.

Spurgeon's point is simply this the only escape from divine providence is atheism.

There is no halfway God.

It's a bit of a paradox that we will never fully understand.

But what we do matters, and divine providence is real.

We see this in Scripture.

You could say it this way: God determines both the ends and the means.

The means matter.

The boy in Acts chapter 23 played a real role in Paul's deliverance.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

And the actions of the tribune matter as well.

Last two verses to reference, verses 23 and 24.

So he called the centurions and said, Get ready, 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, and go as far as Caesarea in the third hour of the night, and provide mounts for Paul to ride.

So, in case you missed this, this was 470 men that the tribune ordered to take Paul to Caesarea.

Those 40 Jews, even if they were present and ready, wouldn't have stood a chance.

The chapter goes on to describe Paul's safe passage, the letter that Claudius wrote to Felix, the governor, and mentions the future hearing that Paul would have once his accusers arrived.

What a chapter.

The battle is not over, but we see the power and the glory of God's invisible hand everywhere.

I'd like to wrap up by comparing Paul to Jesus and leave us with a very brief exhortation.

Paul was hit in the mouth.

So was Jesus.

The Pharisees said of Paul, We find nothing wrong with this man.

Pilate said of Jesus, I find no guilt in this man.

The Jews plotted against Paul and failed, while Judas led a mob against Jesus and succeeded.

Paul was delivered to Felix with the protection of 470 men, while Jesus was delivered to be flogged and crucified.

Paul would eventually die as a martyr, but Jesus died as a savior.

Paul's mission was to testify.

Jesus' mission was to rescue.

Nothing can stop the kingdom of God because nothing can stop Jesus.

The tomb is empty.

Satan has been crushed.

The record of debt for our sin that stood against us has been nailed to the cross.

The Holy Spirit has been given to believers.

The hope of heaven is anchored to the bedrock of our hearts.

And God is at work in this world and in our lives to accomplish his good purposes.

So, take courage, brothers and sisters.

Take courage.

We pray for us.

Gracious God, we thank you that you are good and you are working and you are faithful and that Jesus is on the throne and that your providence is real.

We thank you that we see that play out in Acts chapter 23.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

And I pray, Father, that by the help of your Spirit we would remember it to be true in our own lives, in our own days and weeks and months and years.

That you love us, that you are good, and that you are bringing about your good purposes so we can trust you.

We pray this humbly in Jesus' great name.

Amen.