Well, if you would take your Bibles and open them to the Book of Acts, Acts 23, the text that we will be looking at together this morning, is Acts 23, verses 12 through 35. So we'll begin in verse 12, and my ambition is to work our way through the remainder of the chapter. And we will read the text in its entirety when you arrive there, because this is the word of God, and you are the people of God on the Lord's day. If you're able, would you please stand Again, to hear from the God who still speaks to his people in scripture. Acts 23 beginning in verse 12, Luke wrote these words as he was carried along by God's spirit. 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. 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. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God will stand forever. You may be seated. I grew up in a small rural town in central Texas. Gatesville was the name of the town. It was one of those towns where everyone knew everyone. I mean, everyone knew everyone. In fact, if you met someone that you did not know, you would ask questions like the following. What's your father's name? How about your mother? Do you have any siblings? Your grandparents, are they from around here? You're trying to piece it all together because certainly you knew someone in their family. Well, it was not uncommon to inquire additionally about someone and receive the response, oh, that's so-and-so's boy, or that's so-and-so's grandson. A common way of knowing someone was knowing their family members, even if you didn't know that particular individual. Well, if you were to ask me who the most popular figure in the New Testament is apart from the Lord Jesus, okay? Jesus is off the table on this one. I would say the Apostle Paul, right? In some senses, I feel that we know a great deal about the Apostle Paul. It feels as if I know him personally, to be honest with you. You know, I can almost picture him in my mind. Imagine his personality, having spent so much time in the word of God and even preaching through portions of scripture that are either about him or portions of scripture that he wrote. On the other hand, we actually know very little about Paul, if you think about it. To be more precise, we know very little about his family. Very little about his family. From Philippians chapter three, we know that he was reared a committed Jew, circumcised, he says, on the eighth day. He was a Hebrew from Hebrews. Probably another way of saying I'm full Hebrew. My mom and my dad, both Hebrew. Right, he was from the tribe of Benjamin. It may be, in fact, that Paul received his Hebrew name Saul from the first king of Israel, who also was from the tribe of Benjamin. Additionally, we know from Acts 22, even just recently throughout our exposition in the book of Acts, that Saul, or Paul, was born in Tarsus in Cilicia. It comes up again, even in our text here, the conclusion of chapter 23. Moreover, he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, a well-known Jewish rabbi, been among the Pharisees during this time. And he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem. So at one point or another, Paul and presumably his family had moved to Jerusalem for Paul's education. We also know, at least when he authored 1 Corinthians, that Paul was single. In fact, Paul actually exhorts others to consider being single, even as he was in 1 Corinthians chapter seven. But when you consider all the details of the Apostle Paul's life, we really know very little. If you were to attempt, I even thought this past week I listened to a sermon preached by Sinclair Ferguson, who's one of my favorite contemporary theologians, still alive. I read and listen to people who still walk the earth. It is true. But Sinclair Ferguson even brought up the reading and writing of biographies. If you were to attempt to write a biography of the Apostle Paul, it would be extremely thin, wouldn't it? When you think about very little, the scant details that we have concerning the Apostle Paul, And yet, in our passage this morning, we're introduced to a detail we didn't previously have. And we don't have it anywhere else. We're introduced to Paul's nephew. Fascinating to me. Right in the middle of the story, you have this young man who enters the scene. Actually, the language that's used, neoniskos is the Greek word, probably used to refer to a young man around the age of 20 to 29, a young man in his 20s, and perhaps earlier in his 20s. And the young man is unnamed, but we do know that this man is the son of Paul's sister. This young man was Paul's nephew. Moreover, it is through the aid of this nephew that the apostle Paul's life is going to be spared, all under God's sovereign plan. And yet, and yet, this text is not about Paul's nephew, is it? In fact I think this is perhaps why we know very little about the Apostle Paul to be honest because there isn't a text in the New Testament that is fundamentally about Paul. And this text is not essentially about Paul's family or Paul's nephew. No no this text is fundamentally about the benevolent sovereignty of the risen and ascended Jesus Christ. And Paul's nephew plays a role under God's sovereignty exercised through Christ. So that's what this text really is about. And as Christ is fulfilling his promises to the Apostle Paul, we see Christ's good sovereignty materializing for the good of the Apostle Paul, for the extension of the kingdom, and for the glory of God's name. In fact, we're gonna see in the text as we make our way through these few verses together, that those who seek to thwart God's plan, and there are those who seek to thwart God's plan in our text, those who seek to thwart God's plan actually become instruments for accomplishing God's purpose. Fascinating. As Paul will write later in Ephesians chapter one, verse 11, God truly does work all things according to the counsel of his will. So if you're taking notes, we are going to make our way through this text under three headings. Three headings, and we're just going to follow the order of the story. First, we will observe the conspiracy of the Jews. the conspiracy of the Jews, and here we're focused on verses 12 through 15. Second, we will find the intervention of Paul's nephew. The intervention of Paul's nephew in verses 16 through 22. And then finally, after first, the conspiracy of the Jews, and second, the intervention of Paul's nephew, We will conclude our time together walking through what I have called the protection of the Romans. The protection of the Romans in verses 23 through 35. As a brief reminder, I mentioned this as we started our worship this morning, young worshipers, you have a couple of questions in the worship aid that was provided by Brandy Satterfield. Again, if you don't have that and you'd like to make use of that, parents, grandparents, they are free, as far as I'm concerned. If you're okay with it, they're free to make their way back there and grab those young worshiper aids and use those throughout the sermon with us. Okay, with these things behind us, let's look together at the first heading, the conspiracy of the Jews. Verses 12 and 13, look down at the text with me if you would. When it was day, the Jews made a plot and they bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than 40 who made this conspiracy. Now the language used by Luke to describe this oath that the group of 40 Jews took is strong here. In fact, the Greek word that's used is the word from which we derive our English transliteration, anathema, which means cursing or curse. The verb is anathematizo, you can actually hear the word anathema here. So these 40 Jews had put an oath on one another and on themselves, essentially saying, may we be cursed if we do not fulfill this oath. Interesting, isn't it? And of course, the oath was that until we take the life of the Apostle Paul, of course they wouldn't have called him the Apostle Paul, Until we take the life of this man, we will not eat and we will not drink. In other words, we have a limited amount of time to fulfill this oath. Spoiler, they don't fulfill the oath. And as a result, what Luke wants us to see as he's born along by God's Spirit is indeed they are cursed. Not primarily because of the oath. but because of their rejection of the one who became a curse for his people, Jesus the Christ. So these 40 Jews are, in fact, cursed. Now don't miss the irony. Those who should have been observers of God's good law are the ones breaking God's law. After all, God's law instructed the preservation of life In fact it proscribed and prohibited the unlawful taking of life. But these men who claimed to be observers of Torah, observers of the law God had granted to Israel given through Moses on Mount Sinai, the same law that said you shall not murder, these Jews are actually described as those breaking, willfully breaking and disregarding God's law. So these 40 went to the chief priests and to the elders. Now just a little bit of background here, not much is necessary. However, chief priests, when it's used in the New Testament, is most often used to describe, perhaps all the time, I could have made sure that was the case comprehensively, most often used to describe the group of priests that either are serving as high priest or have served as high priest. So these are the highest of the priests, okay? So the chief priests, and then the elders, the elders is just a group of people often sitting on the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish council, but the Jewish leaders in Israel had had elders, at least according to the Old Testament, since the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter three is the first time we read of the elders who are overseeing the people of Israel. So here, the chief priests and the elders receive these 40, Jewish men who were under an oath and under a curse to take Paul's life. And these 40 men convince the chief priests and the elders to deceptively request another examination of Paul before the Sanhedrin. So this is all being done in subterfuge. So the plan was, look, request, chief priests, request of the tribune, the commander, the Roman commander who's keeping Paul in the barracks, that we see him one more time to examine his case more closely. Make empty promises, like perhaps we'll be able to determine it so that it won't bother you anymore. And when the tribune decides to send Paul to appear before the Sanhedrin at some point or another, the 40 men say, before he even gets to where you are, we'll seize him. We'll overwhelm the few guards that they'll send with Paul and we'll take his life. Now remember, last Lord's Day, if you were with us, we observed Paul calling the high priest a whitewashed wall. You remember that? Acts 23 verse 3. God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. In other words, the high priest, and now as we find alongside the chief priests, the others, and the elders, they're all charlatans. They're all imposters. They are not on the inside what they appear to be on the outside. They're full of dead men's bones as Jesus said concerning the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Now remember what God has already promised Paul. This needs to remain in our mind as we're reading through the narrative. Acts 23 verse 11, you can glance down if you like. Acts 23 verse 11, 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. So we know what's going to happen. Paul is going to make his way to Rome. How do we know that? Because the risen and ascended Lord over heaven and earth has promised it. We know this is going to take place. The 40 conspirators, the chief priests, and the elders, they are arrayed against the purpose of the sovereign Lord. They are organized in opposition to God. However, they will be used as one of the avenues and the instruments for accomplishing God's purposes. And I want you to see that time and time again throughout the remainder of the book of Acts, okay? So that's the conspiracy of the Jews. We're just walking through the text under these three headings. The second heading I mentioned to you as we began this morning is the intervention of Paul's nephew. So we're introduced to someone new, and he's anonymous. Perhaps to remind us that the text is not essentially about him. He also is an instrument in the hands of the Redeemer. Verse 16, now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush. We aren't told, by the way, how he heard of their ambush. That fascinates me, does it fascinate you? I have no idea. If we needed to know it, guess what? It'd be in the text. But it's fun to think about. have no idea how this young man, again, probably in his early 20s, just because of the word that's used now, niskos, in his early 20s, how he would have heard about the ambush. It's also fascinating how this young man appears to be given access to a conversation with the Roman Tribune in the subsequent verses. I think, I think the point is, God is sovereignly orchestrating all things, even the surprising details. So the son of Paul's sister, he hears of the ambush, and then as verse 16 goes on to say, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. By the way, I want to say this too. We're not told whether this young man is a believer in Jesus. Also fascinating to me. Paul was rescued out of his pharisaical tradition and stream. Presumably, his family had abandoned him as a result of his faith in Jesus. I don't know. Maybe others in his family came to know the Lord Jesus. Maybe here the Lord, again, is using this Jewish nephew who is not a believer as an instrument in his hands. I point these things out not because I want to spend long speculating about them, but because I want to accent God's sovereignty and the theme of the text. So, when this young man discovers that the Jews plan to assassinate Uncle Paul, he goes to Paul in the barracks. And he shares with Paul. Now, I want you to notice, after he shares with Paul, notice what Paul does not do. Paul does not merely, now, okay, that word I just used is very important. He does not merely respond in this way. This would be an appropriate response alongside of other responses. He doesn't merely respond in this way. Something like this. Well, they cannot prevent the sovereign plan of God. Don't worry about the feeble attempts of man to oppose God. Do nothing. Christ has already promised me that I will appear in Rome, so I will let go and let God. Paul understood, why am I bringing this up? Paul understood that God ordains the means as well as the end. This is extremely important. Many theological conclusions are the product of failing to see this. God ordains not merely the end, but the means for accomplishing that end. In other words, God often fulfills his promises through human agents, like us, like others. And in this case, the Lord uses Paul's nephew, just to make it perfectly clear. Yes, indeed, Paul is going to go to Rome. That is a promise from the Lord Jesus. But how he's going to get there, we don't know. And apparently, as the story unfolds, the way the Lord eventuates this promise to bring Paul to Rome is through the nephew. and through Paul encouraging the nephew to go and speak to the tribune and through the tribune and through the Roman protection, through hundreds of soldiers and so on and so forth. And it's through all of these means and instruments and avenues that God will indeed fulfill his promise. The centurion then escorts Paul's nephew to speak to the tribune or the commander. Notice verses 19, 20, and 21. Again, we're still making our way through that second heading, the intervention of Paul's nephew. The tribune took him by the hand. Now, that's interesting, isn't it? Do you see a soldier today holding hands? with a young man who comes to share information with him. No, this is more of an Eastern, an ancient Eastern practice. This would have been very common. I'll never forget going to India on a mission trip, and I was there for two weeks, and the first time, and then I began to see it everywhere, the first time I saw so many men walking with their pinkies locked, just walking together. That would mean something entirely different in the culture in which I exist. Right? But in India, it was normal. In fact, at one point or another, if I recall, there was one of the leaders who recognized, maybe he recognized that those of us who had gone, it was a group of pastors that had gone to India, they recognized that we were looking and wondering, what does that mean? And he reminded us that, well, actually, this is a different culture than you're used to. All that means is that they're friends. They're friends, so they lock pinkies. And so here, fascinatingly, this Roman tribune grabs the hand of this young man and takes him aside, of course, to speak with this young man in private. And going aside, he asks him privately, what is it that you have to tell me? Verse 20, and he said, that is Paul's Nephew says to the Tribune, the Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the council tomorrow as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. Verse 21, do not be persuaded. They are lying to you. 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. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent. So then, we just continue to follow the story. The Tribune commands Paul's nephew to say nothing about this to anyone, presumably, of course, to protect the young man's life, the nephew's life, but also, and presumably, to secure the plan that the Tribune is going to put into motion to take Paul eventually to Caesarea, and then, of course, eventually to Rome. And so, the first two headings, of course, the conspiracy of the Jews and the intervention of Paul's nephew, both materialize under the meticulous sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Christ is exercising his sovereignty among humans, but he's also doing it through human agents, through the use of means. Third, the third heading we find in the text is the protection of the Romans. Look at verses 23 and 24. 23 and 24, then he called two of the centurions. This is, by the way, the tribune, the Roman commander. He called two of the centurions and he said to them, get ready. Now notice, 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. That would have been about nine o'clock p.m. So he's gonna do all of this at night. So 400, approximately 470 soldiers to escort Paul at nine o'clock at night. Of course, and through the night, verse 24, also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix, the governor. And notice the treatment of Paul, the prisoner. The tribute instructs protection, and it's, it's massive, it's, Even to us, perhaps excessive protection of Paul as he travels to Caesarea. Paul doesn't even have to walk. Did you notice that? Provide mounts for him. In other words, give him animals so he doesn't have to walk. He's going to ride like a king to Caesarea. Again, all of course materializing under Christ's good, benevolent, meticulous sovereignty. I'm reminded, as I was looking through the text this last week, I was reminded of Psalm 23, verse 5, where the psalmist writes, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup, and then, I can't help but think of the King James, runneth over. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And we're seeing this take place in the life of Christ's servant and apostle, Paul. And then we have a summary of this letter written by Claudius Lysias, the tribune. It's the first time we receive the name of the tribune. Up until this point, he's just known as the tribune, kiliarkos in the Greek, the tribune or the commander. But here, it's Claudius Lysias, and he writes this letter to Governor Felix. And by the way, it's no surprise that Luke can include a summary of the letter since ancient practice was almost exclusively to read out loud. Did you know this? There's, you know, a little plug for early Christianity, early Christian history. Augustine, Augustine wrote a book called Confessions, and he wrote this book, 397 to 400, and in this book, he talks about his mentor, Ambrose of Milan, and he actually describes Ambrose as doing the surprising thing of reading in silence. Because you didn't read that way. Now, it was common in antiquity to read out loud. Everybody read out loud. And so here, likely what would have happened is when Felix received it, he read it out loud. And so others around, including the Apostle Paul, could hear the letter. And so in God's kind sovereignty, this was recorded in the pages of Scripture. Just a little bit of a historical footnote for us as a church. There are a couple of items I want to highlight in the letter. First, notice that Claudius Lysias paints himself in a fairly positive light. Did you see that? If you know the story, it's not that he lies, okay? It's not that overt. But he does shade the story slightly in his favor. Lysias In the narrative we've already read, the Tribune had already bound Paul and was about to have him flogged before he discovered he was a Roman citizen. You remember that? In fact, Lysias was fearful once he discovered that Paul was a Roman citizen. After all, he had already broken the law by binding Paul. But in the letter, he leaves out some of these details. I don't blame him. Perhaps I would have as well. Would have just offered this up, necessarily. Notice verse 27. This is what Lysias tells Felix, the governor. This man was seized by the Jews, 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. Yeah, true, but not all the truth. Second, I want you to notice the Tribune declares Paul to be innocent of any crime that would merit his death or even imprisonment. And this is a theme that is recurring throughout Paul's imprisonment. He is in prison unjustly. He's innocent. He's innocent. Well then why is he in prison? Because of the wickedness of men? Absolutely. More importantly, because of the sovereign commission of Christ. who said concerning Paul in Acts 9, 16, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. Who also actually showed the apostle Paul, Acts 21, as Paul was visiting various towns, various places, the Holy Spirit, Paul said, would testify to him in every city that bonds and afflictions await him in Jerusalem. Yes, yes, he's imprisoned because of Christ. But here we're told, verse 29, This, by the way, shouldn't surprise us. As we think about Paul's imprisonment being the result of the wickedness of man and the sovereignty of God, after all, we've already learned in Acts that God sovereignly orchestrated the most egregious sin ever committed by humanity, the murder of the incarnate God. Who killed Jesus? Humanity? In some sense, yes. God. in a fuller sense, in an ultimate sense. In fact, back in Acts chapter four, verses 47 and 48, Peter prayed these words. 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. So they were all arrayed against Father, your servant, Jesus. And then verse, verse 48, chapter four. Actually, I believe it's verse 28. Don't quote me, check me. Acts four. They were arrayed against Jesus to do whatever your hand and plan had predestined to take place. Friends, at the center of Christian belief at the center of what we believe as followers of Jesus is this, God is able and indeed does take the most heinous of human tragedies and employs it for the eternal good of his people. That's the death of Jesus. Both a tragedy and the instrument for our eternal life. It's why every year when that Friday rolls around just before Easter, we have the audacity of referring to it as Good Friday. Friends, it may be that you're here this morning and you've not come to grips with that reality. The reality that God is big enough To put it crudely, God is sovereign enough, God is omnipotent, such that he's able to wield what he hates to accomplish what he loves. That's the death of the God-man Jesus Christ. And of course, we believe as followers of Jesus that the story didn't end with the death of Christ and the crucifixion of Christ, rather the death of Christ gave way to the vindication of Christ when the Father raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. And Jesus appeared to many of the disciples over a period of 40 days, after which time he ascended back into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and someday he's coming back to this earth to finish what he started. So if you don't know this Lord Jesus this morning, I would plead with you. Consider Christ. We believe that Christ is Lord and Savior. There is no other. And so we would plead with you, trust in the Lord Jesus. Surrender to the Lord Jesus. Treasure Jesus Christ above everything. And if you'd like to talk more about this after the service, we would love to visit with you. One of the ways you can do that is as you exit this room through one of the double doors behind you, you take a left. And on the right-hand side, that room out there that I mentioned earlier called Crossroads, there will be elders and other church leaders around there. Go in there and ask the question about Jesus. Perhaps you trust in Jesus for the very first time this morning. Perhaps you have questions. We would love to dialogue with you. Perhaps you come alongside of us and us alongside of you to more passionately serve the one who is worthy of all of our service, the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, well, we've seen so far the conspiracy of the Jews, the intervention of Paul's nephew, and then third, the protection of the Romans, and all of this materializing under Christ's sovereignty, his meticulous sovereignty. What I'd like to do is just close with a few summarizing thoughts as we wrap up. And so some of these texts, as I've studied them don't yield as easily these takeaways. And so I'm trying to, each Lord's Day, kind of package some of these takeaways that really do grow out of the narrative of the text as the Spirit has inspired Luke to write. And so here are a few, I think, takeaway thoughts about this text for us as followers of Christ. First, first, goes without saying, but I'll say it, Christ is sovereign over every facet of your life. every facet of your life. There is no portion of your life over which he hasn't already cried, mine. Not a modicum of existence in all of creation. over which Christ does not exercise his sovereignty. Moreover, Paul will write in Romans chapter eight, verse 28, that Christ exercises that sovereignty for your eternal good, if you're in Christ. if you love Christ and are the called according to His purpose. This includes both what we consider blessings and pains. It includes gains, it includes losses. Although we cannot make sense of it all, it is for us to trust Him. He is sovereign. over every bit of our lives. Second idea that we glean from this text is this. God always keeps his promises. God always keeps his promises. We live in a world of broken promises, don't we? I'd be a wealthy man if I had a dollar every time a politician has made a promise that he or she did not keep. And to be honest, if I allow cynicism to take over, I think, perhaps unjustifiably these days, you're lying to me every time you open your mouth. And then it gets real, doesn't it, when we recognize, even in our moments of frailty and depravity, at the same sin that infects those in positions of authority still infects us. As a father, I am heartbroken when I realize my yes was not yes to my children or my no was not no to them or to my wife. My yes was not yes. My no was not no. We live in a world and we are often people of broken promises. This is not the case with God. Now, to really lean into this reality, it is important to be closely familiar with the promises of God, okay? In fact, I remember being a young Christian, I had just come to know the Lord Jesus, and there were some promises I thought He had made to me. And I thought He had made these promises to me because I was told He made these promises. And I went through a kind of crucible. In my faith, as a young believer, about a year in, was disillusioned for a period of time, even wondering whether indeed the gospel was true, because did not God promise these things? And yet, I was not enjoying the fruit of those promises. And come to find out, in God's goodness, I revisited the text and found out, really, that He had never promised those things after all. So my disappointment actually had more to do with a misinterpretation of God's promises than God's promises themselves. So we often go awry in misunderstanding and misinterpreting what God has promised. Let me give you some examples. God has not promised you a life free of suffering and loss. Look, I've got bad news for you. If you came to Christ thinking, you know what, I'm going to come to Jesus and everything's going to be great and peach is in cream and he is just so consumed with my comfort, he just can't stand it. And I love that the God of all things wants nothing more than for my comfort. You're going to be disillusioned before long. Friends, Christ never makes this promise to us. And what he has promised is to rescue us through suffering, not always from, through suffering, and to use every ounce of suffering for our eternal good. That's a promise. The sufferings of this life are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed. These light momentary afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that we see, but to the things that we cannot see. For the things that we cannot see are eternal. The things that we see, however, those things are temporary. These are the promises of God. And so we can trust, we can trust a God not who absolves us entirely and exempts us entirely from the experience of suffering and loss, but a God who wields and employs and harnesses and ordains every ounce of our suffering for our eternal good and His eternal glory. That's a promise. That's a promise. Another often misinterpreted promise in Scripture. I won't go through many of these. I'll just mention this last one, OK? Misinterpreted promise in Scripture is found in the words of the Lord Jesus. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it, John 14, 14. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Christ does not promise us carte blanche. opportunity to receive everything we want regardless of our motivations, regardless of the usefulness of what we're requesting. In fact, elsewhere we are told that we often ask and do not receive because we ask with wrong motives, James 4.3. So we're told elsewhere, by the way, sometimes you're gonna pray for something and you're not gonna get it, and it's often the case that you're praying for something with the wrong motivations or for the wrong purposes, and God is good to withhold these requests from you. What Christ does promise, however, in passages like John 14, 14, if you ask anything in my name, You will receive it. What he is promising is to give us everything in accordance with his good purposes for us. It's similar to this. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Right? The lions may grow weak and hungry. Psalm 34. But those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. where Paul will say, my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. These are promises. It's actually similar to what I've told my children. Whatever you want, ask me. If I think it is good for you, I'll do my best to give it to you. If I don't think it's good for you, I'll do my best to keep it from you. If that's true of a broken earthly father, how much more true is it is of our heavenly father? Okay, third idea. Third idea that we'll take away from the text is this, and we'll just basically state it. God does not always fulfill his promises within our preferred timeframe. God does not always fulfill his promises within our preferred timeframe. Now, where in the text am I getting this? Well, I'm reading this text in conjunction with the narrative. I'm a little bit ahead of you, perhaps. Acts 24, verse 27. We learn, and it actually does surprise us to some degree, we learn in Acts 24, 27, that Paul was in prison in Caesarea for just over two years, or right at two years. Two years he waited in prison for the fulfillment of the promise, as you have borne testimony to me in Jerusalem, so you will bear testimony to me in Rome. Nowhere in that promise was, oh, and by the way, I'm going to keep you in prison for a couple of years just so you can prepare. I don't know about you, but I'd have a hard time with that. I don't know how much Paul struggled or didn't struggle during this time, but it is a wonderful reminder that God indeed fulfills his promises, but not within our preferred timeframe. I should wrap up. That's the takeaway number three. William Cooper, I've quoted him a number of times throughout Acts, I think, and it's no accident. that it's one of my favorite hymns. And so, you know, your favorite hymns just kind of bubble up. They're the kind of songs that, if you're ever given the stewardship of having to enter terminal cancer or knowing that your death is imminent, the kinds of songs that you want indelibly imprinted in your heart and in your minds, in your mind, rather. William Cooper's song, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, A wonderful song, wonderful hymn about God's sovereignty. I'll just read maybe two or three verses as we wrap this text up. Cooper wrote these words, deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. And then finally I will read this one. His purposes will ripen fast unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we are grateful this morning for the time we have had in your word in Acts 23 verses 12 through 35. We're grateful for the reminder that the conspiracy of the Jews, the intervention of Paul's nephew, and the protection of the Romans all served as instruments in your hands and the hands of your son, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus. We're thankful that you exercise your sovereignty for your glory and for our eternal good. And we pray that you would comfort us with these truths as we leave this place together here in just a little while. We pray all of this in the name of your son and by your spirit. Amen.