Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. We'll start from chapter 2 verse 30 for context and then we'll flow into chapter 23. But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up until 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, 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, after 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 40 who made the conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, we have strictly bound ourselves by 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." And the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush. So we 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 into 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. 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 the 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 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 instruction, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipaterus. And on the very next day they returned to their barracks, letting the horsemen go on with them. 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 providence 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. Amen. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord, it remains forever. So brothers and sisters, we are still working our way through the book of Acts. It's been many, many months now. In fact, we're over two quarters of the way through this book, and it was only the other day that Nelson and I were discussing what comes next. It's incredible how time goes by so quickly. But we're working our way through the book. Chapter 23 is before us. And if your memory serves you well, you would remember that our brother, last couple of weeks, he took us through the contents of chapters 21 and 22. And for the most part, the contents of those chapters were but one day earlier than what we have here in chapter 23. Now we know that the context begins, and it should be fresh in our mind because we've been here for a few weeks, but the Apostle Paul comes back from his third missionary journey, and he comes back into Jerusalem. And upon arriving into Jerusalem, he meets up with James and the elders, and they are so happy to hear about the missionary endeavors, how the Lord Jesus Christ was saving so many Gentiles through the proclamation of the gospel from the lips of Paul, and they all rejoiced and glorified God, but there was a damper to it. Because it wasn't long before they spoke to Paul saying there are rumors, there's things happening in Jerusalem, rumors about what you've been teaching. Rumors that you are teaching Jews all over the known world to go against the Lord, to go against Moses, to forbid parents to circumcise their children. And something needs to be done about those rumors. The heart of the matter is that those who made the rumours and those who were believing those rumours didn't have a thorough understanding of what indeed the Apostle Paul was teaching. He wasn't teaching contrary to the law at all. The Apostle upheld the law. But he was teaching that Christ is the fulfillment of the law. That Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the rituals and the rites of the Old Testament. Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the law, the Mosaic law. Jesus is the fulfillment. The law is good, but Jesus is the one who fulfills the law. And these people hadn't probably made that distinction yet. They're still thinking that the Apostle is speaking against the Lord, against Moses, and it's causing their heart to be, I guess, moved. And so there was obviously some people who were sincere. We know that even Peter, it took him a while before he grasped the fact that the gospel should be going to the Gentiles, and that he can eat all foods. Jesus spoke to him in Matthew 15, and Mark 7 gives us that commentary that all foods are not forbidden. But they didn't get it until years and years later. Why? Because they were growing in their understanding of the faith. The Christian faith is, Jesus is a fulfillment of what they were learning and what they had been reading every week in the synagogues for some 1,500 years. That wasn't something that's going to change overnight. So, James and the elders, they propose something to the Apostle Paul, and he agrees. Because the Apostle Paul is not against the law. The Apostle Paul was never against the law of Moses. He upholds it even in his writings. Think of what he says in Romans chapter 7. He says, The Apostle Paul uplifts and exalts the law of God. He says, My beloved, it's precisely because the law is holy and good. It's precisely because the God of the law who gave them the law is good and holy. It's precisely because of those facts that perfect obedience is required of the law. See, this becomes bad news for the self-righteous, doesn't it? This becomes bad news for those who think they can obey God's law and give God what He expects in perfect obedience, because they cannot. God is perfect and His righteous standards are perfect. also. And the fact of the matter is that whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're Jew or Gentile, the debt that you have against the Lord, the debt you have against God, the Creator God, who's giving you His law, whether it's in your mind, or your conscience, or even as with the Jews, it's a written law that was given to them through Moses, that debt is too great. That law is too deep and it's too perfect and none of them can fulfill that law. And so your debt in violating one of those laws is now too great for you to pay. So whether you're Jew or Gentile, You are in need of a perfect substitute to fulfill the law. And that's the message of the gospel. That's what Paul was proclaiming. He wasn't speaking against the law. The law is holy and it's good. But the proposal that James and the elders made was a proposal for the Apostle Paul to come and to pay those four men who had gone into vows, likely Nazarite vows, and they needed to shave their heads, and they also needed to pay expenses for the sacrifices or any rites in the temple. And they said, why don't you go alongside these men, pay for their expenses, and you yourself undergo some purification rites in the temple. Now, these take about seven days. The Apostle Paul was happy to oblige. Well, if he helps the people in Jerusalem, if he removes obstacles from their way, he's happy to oblige because he knows his relationship with the law is a healthy one. His relationship with the rites and the rituals is a healthy one. He doesn't go around forbidding parents to circumcise their children. You cannot do that. Not at all. But if you're doing it unto righteousness, Then you have to be careful, because Christ is the righteousness. He's the end of the law unto righteousness. It is Christ that you need to be looking for. But he gives you freedom, and as the apostle knows and understands his Christian freedom, he's more than happy. He's more than happy to go and say, okay brothers, if this will help, let's do it. However, on the seventh day and probably the final day, most likely of the purification of the apostle, there's a problem because some of the Jews had crowded in front of the temple and they weren't happy. They weren't happy. What Paul was doing wasn't enough. You would think that his actions speak a thousand words, but they weren't enough because these people were still hung up on the fact, no, we believe that you're teaching against the law of Moses. And not just that, but they threw another allegation at the apostle, and that is that he's allowed a Greek Gentile to enter into the forbidden places for Gentiles to enter into the temple. And that's all you have to say. Like in the first century Palestine, among the Jews in Jerusalem, all you had to say is that someone has defiled the temple and everyone's going to be in an uproar. And so everyone was in an uproar. And that's what was confronting the apostle. A riot begins. Angry mob capture the apostle. They drag him outside the temple and they begin to beat him up. We're told they were intending to kill the man. And this commotion reaches the ears of the tribune who comes down with some soldiers. And then the Jews hand over the apostle Paul half-beaten to the tribune, just like the prophet Agabus said they would, right? Remember the prophecy. And then as they were escorting Paul away from the danger of being in front of the temple, as he came close to the barracks, the apostle said, please let me address my people. Please let me get a word in. And they did. They allowed the apostle to speak. And he does. And he speaks in Hebrew as if to say, I'm one of you. I'm not against you. Listen, I am one of you. I'm a Jew. I'm no different. I'm no different to you. I was a zealous Pharisee, one who upholds the law, one who believes in the righteousness. I believe in the law of Moses. I'm one of you, but the Lord converted me. He opened my eyes on the way to Damascus. He gave me life. He gave me light. I was on the way to persecute the church. I've been given letters from the chief priest in Jerusalem in the temple to go to Damascus and grab the Christians and drag them back into prison. I've got letters to do that. I had a zeal like all of you have. But let me tell you what Christ has done. And then he gets to the point where he says, Christ has called me to the Gentiles and that's it. They don't want to hear it anymore. They don't want to hear it anymore. As far as they're concerned, we want Paul. We want him out of the equation. We want him dead. So the Tribune hearing and knowing that Paul's life is at risk, is concerned that another riot will break out. He ordered Paul back into the barracks and he ordered that Paul would be flogged. But then we know the Apostle said, hold on, is it lawful? I'm a Roman citizen. The Tribune understands that the Roman citizens have high rights in Rome. Say what you want about that people, the Romans gave their citizens great rights. And you can't flog a man untrialled. So the Tribune withholds his flogging and then he puts Paul aside and then he organizes for the chief priests and the members of the Sanhedrin to come back the next day so that he can understand what's going on. Like the commotion and the riot. He just couldn't understand. We're told that he was going to flog him to question Paul. Why is it that the Jews were so antagonistic against him? Why do they want him dead? So the chief priests and the Pharisees, the members of the Sanhedrin, that's the ruling council of the Jews, come and convene the next day with the purpose that the Tribune can understand, why are you so bent on destroying this man? What has he done? to warrant this sort of hatred in your hearts. And that brings us to the contents of chapter 23 that is before us. Now, chapter 23 is divided into three parts, and those parts are conveniently titled for us now, Bible. So the first part is from verses 1 through 11, and the sections pertain to the hearing, you may say, of the tribune. So Paul is standing before the chief priests and the Pharisees, and with the intent that the tribune would know why it is that he's being charged. or what it is he's being charged with. The second section is from verse 12 to 22 and that brings to light the plot by the Jews to take Paul's life. They planned an ambush and we hear about it in verses 12 to 22 and the officials hear about the tribune in particular from the mouth of Paul's nephew. And then finally from verse 23 through the end of the chapter we read about the rescue plan. The rescue plan to rescue the Apostle Paul from the hand of the Jews who want nothing more than to destroy that man. And then that plan involves sending the apostle to a place called Caesarea, which is on the west coast, some about 100 kilometers or thereabouts away from where they are in Jerusalem. And then he would stay there because Philip tells him, or Felix, I should say, tells the apostle that you will get your hearing, but not until the Jewish religious leaders come up to have their say. So we'll be spending most of our time this evening on the first section. That'd be where we spend the vast majority of our time this evening, because I do believe there are so many principles in the first section that would be invaluable for us Christians to know how to deal with any persecution or any difficulty that comes our way. And it is an immense blessing to see how the Apostle Paul deals with these things, how he answers questions and so forth. So we'll take our time only in the first section, and then we'll follow the narrative to the end. But we'll spend most of our time in the first section. So now it's the next day and the Jewish council has convened. The chief priests, the Pharisees, the council are there. We have the high priest Ananias. We know he's there. And then we don't know whether they've had anything to say. We don't know if there's been any opening remarks by the tribune or the high priest. Normally in a Sanhedrin, the high priest is the one who takes the chair and he's the one who directs things. But we're not told of any words that have been exchanged. The Luke, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, takes us straight into what the apostle Paul says. And it's barely a few words that the apostle says. And the crowd is infuriated. Because the Apostle begins by appealing to his conscience. Listen to what he says. He says, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day. I love that. I reckon that's so rich. Let's not kid ourselves. Paul knows exactly why he's being tried. He knows exactly why he's there. He understands. He's suffered persecution in most places he's been. He understands the antagonism and the hatred that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings, and his persecution, for the most part, has been at the hand of the Jews. Yes, the Gentiles have persecuted him, like in Philippians, in Philippi, for example, and in Ephesus. He has been persecuted, but for the most part, it's been at the hand of the Jews. He knows why. He knows the charges that have been laid against him. But remember brothers and sisters, the apostle was one of these people. He was a Pharisee. He was well above the rest of his age. He was a learned man. He was a man who was one day going to be part of this Sanhedrin, most likely. That was probably his heart's intention. He understands their zeal. He understands that they have a zeal, but it's not exactly backed with a godly knowledge. But he knows the zeal. He was there once. He knows. But it's interesting. that he doesn't begin by making a defense against the charges that are laid against him. You realize that? He doesn't take a note of the accusations. He knows what the accusations against him are, against the law, against Moses, against the traditions, back in verse 21, chapter 21, 28, and also against parents circumcising their children. So he doesn't systematically take one at a time and then decimate them as he goes. He doesn't do that. He appeals to have a clean conscience before the Lord. That's how he opens up his defense. I love that. Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day. But you can tell a man's heart and his priorities by how he defends himself against accusations that could be detrimental to his own life. When one's life is in imbalance, men tend to get desperate. The Apostle Paul, I would think, in a cool, composed way, appeals to his conscience before the Lord. That's his primary concern. Not to examine the charges that are laid before him, but how is my heart before the Lord? How is my heart before the Lord? That's my starting point. That's where I start. I can talk after that, but the examination needs to begin in my own heart, and an examination to see how am I standing before God according to His righteous decrees. He's determined by His own conscience that His conscience is clean. Now, of course, the conscience is not the final arbiter of what is right and wrong. The Apostle himself tells us in 1 Corinthians 4 that although his conscience is clean, he says, I am unaware of doing any wrong. He then goes on to say that the final judge is Christ. It is Christ who examines fully and finally the conscience. But beloved, our God-given conscience testifies within us to whether we are acting, our actions, our outward actions, and also the intents of our hearts, whether they are according to what we believe in our very being to be good or evil. A fundamental part of our conscience is given to us by God. And although one's conscience can be defiled, Titus 1.15, or even Seared 1 Timothy 4.2, at the most basic level, The testimony of one's conscience will either excuse or condemn a person in relation to the works of the law that God has placed in their hearts. Romans 2.15 The conscience is a judge within a person of these things. Beloved, that's why it's so dangerous to go against or to act against your own God-given conscience. It's a dangerous thing to act against your conscience, because it's always sin. When you violate your conscience, it is always sin, no exceptions. And the Apostle Paul over and over again reminds us, not only in the book of Acts, But throughout his epistles, he reminds us that he himself is a man who continually examines his own conscience before God and before men. That he wants to be found pure in his conduct before God. And it's no different here when he's set before the Sanhedrin. He's saying that, I've examined my heart, my life has been lived, and I see a good conscience before the Lord. In verse 16 of the very next chapter, the Apostle tells us of how he takes pains, it says in the ESV. That is a word that says, I strive to have clear conscience before God and before man. That means he's actively making sure, he's actively examining his own heart, his own conduct, his own thinking, his own actions towards others. He's constantly examining these things to see whether he indeed has a good conscience before God, and that conscience is measured by his understanding of God's law. And that's a critical lesson. That's a critical lesson for us Christians to do the same. Because the conscience doesn't remain in a default position. You have to remember that. As I said earlier, one can defile one's conscience. One can violate it. One can continually suppress the conscience, even sear it, as we saw in 1 Timothy. But for the true Christian, the conscience is also being formed and informed by the righteous standards of God through His Spirit. Our consciences are constantly growing as they are being formed by the Word of God. Can you see the importance of committing your life to the Word? the words that Jesus has given us to inform our hearts, our conscience, our very being of what is right and wrong before a good and holy God? Hebrews 10.22 tells us, Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The sprinkling and the washing spoken of here with pure water is the Word of God. Conscience is cleansed and it's constantly growing into a robust, mature state as we continually come to the Word of God. You see, that is an element of being transformed into the image of Jesus, to have His heart and to have His mind. The Spirit works through the Word, and He presses that into our very being, and it informs our conscience. So as you and I grow in our understanding of the Word, our conscience will grow and compel us to walk by faith and according to righteousness. Because to act against our conscience is to act against what we have come to know. of what is good or evil through the Word, because it's the Word of God that informs our conscience. So you act against your conscience, and you're acting against what you've come to learn, what the Spirit has now pressed in your soul and informed your conscience to know what God's righteous decrees are for His people. And that's a dangerous place to be. You see, a violated conscience in this way, it's not of faith. And everything that is not of faith is sin. Romans 14. So if you violate your conscience, then that is sin. And repentance is in order. But here's the good news. That there is one who is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1.9. But beloved, only you know and only God knows your conscience. Only God knows the intent of your heart, the actions, your actions, the very secret things of your mind. Only God knows these things and He sees all. All is revealed. There is nothing hidden before Him. He sees all. And only you know if you have a clean conscience or whether there is a suppression going on. And if there is a suppression going on, then as I said earlier, repentance is fitting in that situation. You have the Word of God in your heart and the Word is informing your conscience. So as I said earlier, a declaration that your conscience is clean is a declaration as far as you can tell that you're walking according to righteousness, according to God's Word. And that's Paul's heart. That's his main concern. Like he's confronted by a people who want him dead. His life hangs in the balance. And he begins by saying, hey, the most important thing for me is to live my life according to his will, according to what I know he requires of me, according to my conscience, which is informed by scripture. That's a beautiful thing, I think. Yes, the authorities before Paul can make his life very difficult. They can make judgments that are just or unjust, and the consequences to those judgments are real. They can be very painful. They can be very difficult. Tribulation and persecution may come, but ultimately one needs to ask the question, who do I live for? Whom am I seeking to please? God or man? Beloved, that's the only question that matters for us Christians. Who do I seek to please? God or man? For Paul, it's clear to us, it's God. He's the one. He's the one he was seeking to please. No matter what the outcomes were going to be, no matter what the trials that he would face, or the tribulations that would come his way, the persecutions that he knew were waiting for him in every city that he went to, no matter what would come before him. His eyes were focused on pleasing the Lord and to be faithful in his life according to his conscience and the rest is safe in the sovereign hands of God because we've been called to live faithful lives. We haven't been called to know what comes next, or to act according to the outcomes, but rather God has given us and revealed His Word to us, and by the Spirit of God who presses His Word and gives us a desire to seek after Christ, we have been called to live faithful lives. And Paul was concerned to live a faithful life, leaving the rest to God. Now, Ananias doesn't like it. Ananias is an evil man. He doesn't like what Paul says. In particular, he doesn't like the way Paul says that his conscience is clean. When the Apostle says that, he's outraged. So he orders one of the men closest to Paul to strike him on the mouth. How could you? How could you say those words? That's filth coming out of your mouth is probably what Ananias is thinking. It's not that he's discouraging one to be concerned to have a clean conscience. I'm sure that wasn't the case. But in his view, Paul's conscience should have been stricken. Paul shouldn't have a clean conscience. Paul, according to them, was a blasphemer. He was blaspheming the law. He was deriding the temple. Paul wasn't exalting the things of Yahweh, according to them. So how dare you say before God, who sees all, that your conscience is clean? No, your conscience is corrupted by evil. Strike him and he gets stricken across the mouth. So the apostle replies, What does he say? He says, 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? What an incredible response. You see, as of yet, the apostle didn't know that this is the high priest. He didn't know he was responding to the high priest. Not yet. And so his outburst can sound like the Apostle is actually cursing this man who ordered another man to strike him across the mouth. But I'd like to suggest, rather than seeing it as the Apostle cursing this high priest, that at this stage he doesn't know he's a high priest, I think he was just stating the obvious. Like, this is a man who is in the Sanhedrin, because that's who were before the Apostle, And this is a man who supposedly knew the law and yet he's acting in a way contrary to the law. The judgment of God befalls unrighteousness. So to live according to the law of God is righteousness. To live or to break or to deride or not to live according to the law of God is unrighteousness. One comes with blessing and the other comes with curses. So an unrighteous person who just flippantly disobeys the law of God is to expect what? Judgment. I think that's what the Apostle Paul is saying. And the language of the Apostle, the language he's using is actually borrowed by our Lord, who incidentally had the same thing happen to him in John chapter 18 when he was tried. He also was struck across the mouth because he replied to the high priest in a particular way, which was honorable and not sinful. We're talking about Christ here. yet he was struck across the mouth. But our Lord, more in particular, the reference I'm making to is Matthew 23, when Jesus was speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees and he was declaring seven woes upon them. You remember, one of those woes was that the Lord called them whitewashed tombs. Whitewashed walls, whitewashed tombs. The same sort of terminology the Apostle Paul is using. Our Lord goes on to say that these whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanliness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, Jesus speaking of the Pharisees now and the scribes, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. You see that? Inside you're dead is what Jesus is saying. Full of hypocrisy, full of lawlessness. And that's Paul's exact point. With your mouth, you say that you're concerned for the law. In fact, I'm on trial. I'm on trial, Paul's thinking, because you're accusing me of being one who tells others not to revere and to break the law. So you have a great concern, at least outwardly, it seems like you have a great concern for the law. Here you are. Why are you keeping the law? Why are you keeping the law? You say that you're concerned for it, but you're not keeping it yourself. Providentially, on the Lord's Day that just passed, you would remember, as we conclude the seventh chapter in the Gospel according to John, that the same point was on the table, if you remember. The Jews in Jesus' day also had a facade showing that they had a real concern for the law, but in their actions, they proved otherwise. You remember, they were condemning Jesus without a fair trial, and Nicodemus said to them, is that okay? Is that lawful that you do this? Does our law approve of us condemning a man without a fair hearing? Beloved, I said it then and I'll say it again. Talk is cheap. One can say all they want about the law and about Scripture and about God and about Jesus. One can say all they want. It's the evidence of fruit that proves whether they believe it or not. you will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7 20. We love the law. We uphold the law. We're going to condemn you for not upholding the law and at the same time you're violating the law. That's the hypocrisy that Jesus spoke about and condemned with the seven woes in Matthew 23 and throughout his ministry. The high priest would have known better. He knew to strike a man across the mouth without a fair trial. He knew that was a violation against the law. This man knew the scripture. Leviticus 19, 15 says, You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Now I'm at risk of sounding like a broken record because on Sunday I made a point also that's worth repeating. Suppose in the unlikely event the high priest had forgotten that detail. Unlikely. Yet Paul makes him aware of it again. Back then it was Nicodemus on Sunday, right, in John 7. He was waking them up and going, wait a minute guys, you may be doing something that's not lawful. You may be acting in unrighteousness. That's actually grace from God when someone comes and says, hey, careful, careful, open your eyes, there may be something that you're doing that is not lawful. Paul brings to their attention that they are violating the law. Repentance would be in order, but there's not even a hint of repentance. There's no heed of correction. There's no humility among them for violating the law of God and striking a man without a trial. This man doesn't know what it is to have a clean conscience, does he? Because he's violating a clear precept of the law, and he doesn't even flinch. You know, Stephen accused the Jews some, many years back, it'd be probably 20, 25 years back in the context of the book of Acts. But before they dragged him out and stoned him, this is what he said to the religious leaders of the day. In Acts, the longest chapter, actually longest chapter, chapter seven is Stephen's speech. But towards the end, listen to what he says in Acts. Actually, you can turn there now. Acts chapter seven, verse 51. Let's go there. Acts chapter 7 verse 51, this is towards the end of Stephen's speech, he says, now he looks, and this is where the speech takes a turn, because up until now he's given a very rich history of the Jews and the law and Moses and the patriarchs, and now he brings something and he turns everything on a dime, really. Acts chapter 7 verse 51, he says, you stiff-necked people, speaking to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit, and your fathers did so to you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." you have the perfect law of God the oracles of God the precepts of God the rules of God are all before you what a blessing it is yet here you are violating the law of God like drinking a cup of water seared Consciences. We've just spoken about the conscience of the Apostle Paul. How concerned he was to make sure his conscience is clean. And yet, here we have Ananias, the high priest for that year. And he is being made known. Paul is now reminded him, hey, you're not doing things according to law. And he's not even concerned. I want you I want you to see how Paul acts when he realizes that it's the high priest that he was speaking to. You realize how he doesn't simply set it aside. Even though legitimately Paul didn't know. He didn't know this was the High Priest. Now, that fact may be a little bit hard to swallow when you're thinking about a local in Jerusalem. How can you not know that this is the High Priest? But you've got to remember, for the last 15 or 20 years, the Apostle Paul wasn't in Jerusalem. For the most part, he was all over the world, right? And he doesn't exactly get the Jerusalem news that have glossy colored pictures to tell you about the leadership changes. He didn't know. It's simple as that. He just did. He didn't know that this was the High Priest. But when he knows, when he's made known, when it's made known that this was the high priest, it's interesting that the Apostle quotes Exodus chapter 22-28, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. In other words, I know that I have violated Scripture. And in that acknowledgement, the Apostle is issuing an apology. I shouldn't have done that. That's why he's bringing up the scripture. Is this how you speak to the high priest? And he says, well, it is written. He recognizes that he has done wrong. Ananias was told by the apostle, you're breaking the law. Is it lawful? You know that you can't be slapping people without a trial. No concern. Now the apostle is made known that he is speaking out and cursing one of the rulers of God, a high priest. And then when he finds out that's the case, he issues an apology. I shouldn't have done that, is what he's saying. His conscience is alive. See, new information has surfaced to inform Paul's conscience. And now because his conscience is alive and he has a deep ingrained concern to keep his conscience clean before the Lord. What is happening here is not a bother to me. My main concern is that I'm going to keep my conscience concerned before God. He knows all. He sees all. But beyond that, I love him. I love Him. I live for Him. He is my delight, and I don't want anything to break my fellowship with God. And sin breaks fellowship with God. It doesn't break our position with God, but it will sever the fellowship that we have with God. Sin needs to be dealt with. And Paul doesn't want that to be in his heart and in his conscience. He's always concerned to make sure his heart is cleansed and clean before God. His conscience is alive. And so he knows that he has done wrong and he admits he's wrong. He doesn't make excuses for himself. But you shouldn't have struck me. It hurt. I was angry, okay, I was angry, I acted in a way maybe I shouldn't have acted. No, he recites the verse in recognition that he has sinned before God. I should not have spoken in that way. That's all there is to it. Because he wants his conscience to remain clean. He's concerned to be holy before God because he loves him. And the question is, can we say the same? We know Ananias can't say the same, but can we examine our hearts and say the same of ourselves, or do we let sin slide? But Paul's still standing there. He's standing before the people in the Sanhedrin, and now having made his conscience bear witness to his righteousness, I've lost this. Brother, was this just here? Okay, I'll put this back on. I didn't realise it fell. Sorry to everyone at home. So he's still standing before the Sanhedrin, and now the Tribune still needs to know why it is that the Jews were so offended at Paul, why they wanted him killed. They still want to know. The Apostle has made it clear that his conscience is clean before the Lord, but he also realizes now that there's a situation, right? And he also, we're told, the text tells us that he can see that there are the Pharisees there and there are the Sadducees. And we know from our understanding of Scripture that there's not much agreement between the two. He barely got a sentence out when he spoke earlier and he was struck upon the mouth, and now it's the same. He barely gets a sentence out before the whole crowd goes ballistic. Brothers, I'm a Pharisee, he says, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial. Now, to begin with, he says, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. Now, we don't know the Apostle Paul's mother or his father. Actually, the only family that we know of the Apostle is actually in this chapter. He has a sister and he has a nephew. That's it. We don't know any more. We know where he's from. We know he's from Tarsus, but we don't really know a great deal beyond that. So Paul says that he's son of Pharisees. It is in the plural, so possibly both his parents were Pharisees. That's a possibility, but I'm not really sure what he means by that. Commentators say different things, but I can't tell you. But irrespective, the Apostle knows that there's two groups that stand before him, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and he identifies himself intentionally with the Pharisees, not with the Sadducees. I am a Pharisee, he says. Now, we all know that Paul was a devout Pharisee. Philippians chapter 3, I was going to take it there, but we're not going to. Philippians chapter 3 speaks about the Apostle Paul's credentials as a Pharisee, as a Jew, as a Hebrew of Hebrews. We know that for sure. But to state that he's a Pharisee before these men, these high standing Jewish leaders before him, it says a lot. And there's a reason why he does that. But also it says that he's not riffraff. This apostle is not your run-of-the-mill sort of a guy. He's someone who's learned in the law, learned in the Scripture. He was concerned, as we said earlier, for piousness and holiness and acting out that which is written. Concerned to be able to understand Torah, memorize the books of the first five books of the Bible. He had a good working knowledge of Scripture. The apostle Paul was an expert in the law, even as a Pharisee. And his present tense identification where he says, I am a Pharisee, if you realize that in your text, clearly shows that he hasn't abandoned everything that the sect stands for. In particular, the hope and the resurrection of the dead in verse seven. The very reason why Paul says he's standing trial before these people. The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection of the afterlife. We know that, right? This life was it. And that's why so many of the Sadducees were living quite corrupt lives. They were very concerned to pursue riches and popularity and position. It was here, and that's it. This life, and once this life is over, that's it. So let's make the most of it was very much their philosophy. But the Pharisees, on the other hand, we know were different. They did believe in the resurrection, and they did believe in the hope of the resurrection. They believed in angels, we're told. They believed in spirit. They believed in heaven, and they believed in hell. The Sadducees didn't believe in these things. That's the Apostle. The Apostle's making the emphasis that he is a Pharisee, because the Pharisees believe in the resurrection. They believe in the hope of the resurrection, that this life is not all there is to it. There's something glorious to come. Now, some might feel uncomfortable because the apostles using the present tense in this case. But beloved, on doctrinal matters, much of what the Pharisees were saying were actually true. They did have the oracles of God. They had the Scripture. They studied it. They committed to it. They taught it. Now, they lacked in understanding. They lacked to see the fulfillment. Absolutely. But it's not without reason that Jesus, from His own blessed mouth, says in Matthew 23, He says, "...the scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. So do and observe whatever they tell you." Jesus is saying, do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but they don't practice. So the Apostle Paul wasn't upholding everything they stand for. That's not it at all. Because for starters, many, apart from the Christian Pharisees, they were still waiting for the Messiah. They hadn't recognized that Jesus is that Messiah. So Paul's not going to identify himself with those. But he is, I think, I believe, in this text, identifying himself with a sect that believes in the resurrection of the dead. Because Paul makes it crystal clear that there are a lot of differences between what he used to believe, in that passage in Philippians chapter 3, for example, what he used to believe as a Pharisee, as what he thought was a pious Jew, in regards to the law of Pharisee, in regards to righteousness, he said that he was perfect, right? and what he believes now, that Christ has opened his eyes and given him life. But however, the nature of the discussion here is, or the nature of the disagreement between the Sadducees and the Pharisees is very much on the resurrection, but just not only the resurrection, it is the hope that is found in the resurrection. And beloved, that's That's where there is another disagreement between the non-Christian Pharisees who don't find hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is himself the resurrection and the life. But the big difference here is not so much between what Paul is saying he believes and some of those Pharisees, but really between what the Sadducees believe and the Pharisees. It's between them two. And so when he mentioned the resurrection, the place exploded with absolute emotion. And it wasn't just verbal emotion. Verse 10 tells us that the dissension, that's a word that can also be translated rioting, became violent. You see, this was a huge point of contention between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. And it was also a huge point of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees in His earthly ministry. And I'm hoping that the text comes to your mind when the Pharisees came to ask Jesus a question. It wasn't a genuine question. It wasn't well intended. It was to trap the Lord. And they spoke to Him about a woman who had had seven husbands. And the reason for that is a husband should marry and he would die and marry and would die and marry and would die. She gets to seven. And then they asked Jesus a question in the resurrection. Whose wife is she? Which one of the seven? But I want you to see what Jesus says to them. He says, you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. You know neither the scripture or the power of God. Because the scripture is clear. There is a resurrection and you don't hold to the resurrection. And so the resurrection for the Pharisees wasn't a complete offense to them. And it was obviously something they held dearly in their hearts, because now there's a contention between them and the Pharisees, and things start to spark and fly, and there's rioting, or the riot is at risk of violence. And we know that's the case. We know that when the Jews of different sects opposed each other, we know that it got very, very, very heated. And we see a little glimpse of that when Peter and John, back in chapter four, after healing the man at the gate called Beautiful, how the Pharisees were completely offended because they were preaching Christ who is resurrected. Now, don't get me wrong. I think the Apostle Paul is brilliant. He's absolutely brilliant in bringing this difference in this opportune time. If the whole Council was unified against Paul, it would have been quite catastrophic for him. Imagine the Tribune who's legitimately wanting to know. He wants to know. The Tribune wants to know why the Jews are opposing Paul. If they had a united front against him, his situation would have been quite dire, I would think. But here the tribune is listening to what's going on and he sees, okay, we thought it was about Paul, now they're fighting among themselves. Who are these Jews and what are they doing? They've obviously got these religious facts that they disagree on and they can just spark and become angry at one another and begin to riot over this. That's the same sort of violence we saw them against Paul, but now Paul is in the background and now they're just completely having it against one another. Because he mentioned the resurrection, fireworks are going off. It's incredible. And so the tribune was able to look back and go, what is this? What is this? So he pulls Paul out of there because he knows he's going to be chewed up, he's going to be killed alive if he stays in there. So he pulls him out and he puts him away and he says, look, we're going to send you somewhere. We'll put you in the barracks. We'll leave you there for now. And we get you out of this bad situation. But beloved, I want us to see also that it's not just the resurrection that is in view here, but it's the hope of the resurrection. And the tragedy is not only do the Sadducees not believe in the resurrection, But the tragedy is that even the Pharisees who do believe in the resurrection, the ones that Paul is actually identifying himself with, they don't believe in the resurrection of Christ. So if there are Pharisees who are not believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, are they any better than the Sadducees? See, the hope is not only in believing something. The hope is in believing someone. In believing in Christ, who is the fulfillment of all that is in the Old Testament. Because, beloved, if you don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then what does Paul say? we are most to be pitied. Our whole Christian faith hinges, it stands or falls, upon not only the resurrection, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because if Jesus Christ wasn't crucified, wasn't buried, and then didn't rise from the dead, and is not now at the right hand of the Father, then we have no hope. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's read from verse 12. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. 15. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Listen to this. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Our hope lies in the resurrection, not only the resurrection, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent into this world to die on the cross as a atoning substitute sacrifice for those who would come to believe in Him. He's people, and if we believe in His resurrection, then one day we will be also resurrected with Him, for He is the first of the resurrected. He is the resurrection and the life. He's pulled away from the tribune, or the tribune pulls Paul away. But you read chapter 11, and one cannot but but think that Luke, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, doesn't want us to think that the Tribune was actually the Savior of Paul. But Christ is. Verse 11, the following night the Lord stood by him and said, just listen to that, the following night the Lord stood by him. and said, take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, you must testify also in Rome. Take courage. Aren't they beautiful words at the mouth or from the mouth of our Lord? Why would Paul need to hear these words? Because he's suffering. Everywhere he goes, there's tribulation, there's persecution. There's suffering for this man. It awaits for him wherever he goes. So why does Jesus need to tell him, take courage? Why does Jesus need to come and stand beside Paul and say, take courage? It's because men can easily be discouraged. Paul needed this. He needed the Lord to stand by him. I love that word. The Lord stood by him. How beautiful is that? The resurrected Savior. He stood by Paul, it says. He was real to him. He sensed him. He knew him. He knew he was there. And he says, take courage. And then he gives him that promise. As you have already done in Jerusalem, you'll also do in Rome. You will, Paul. You will testify of me in Rome. I'm going to get you there. Now Paul, it was doubtless that he knew how he would get to Rome, that he would be under arrest, but he didn't know that. But he knew that God is now giving, Christ is now giving him a promise that I'm going to get you, I'm going to get you to Rome. And then Paul was able to trust completely because Christ said he would, cried Christ will. But I also want us to see that despite hearing the promise, From the lips of our Lord Himself, Paul also does whatever humanly possible to preserve his own life for that mission. I want us to see that. Because in verses 12 to 22, we're told, over 40 Jews now vow not to eat or drink until Paul is killed. They conspire to kill him with a conniving plan, a plan of ambush, and they wanted to kill Paul on the way to the hearing again, and they wanted all that to take place so they can get rid of Paul completely. His nephew, we're told, he's about the plot. He comes to Paul and he informs Paul and Paul has received a promise from God. Yet he receives from his nephew word that the Jews want to kill him. But Paul has received a promise from God. So how is Paul going to receive the news from his nephew that the Jews want to kill him when he's received a promise from God? In Christ Jesus. So Christ promises Paul that he's going to get him to Rome. Paul knows enough to know that Christ keeps his promises. And now his nephew comes and says, Uncle, the Jews want to kill you. So what does Paul do? Why doesn't he sit back and relax? Why doesn't he tell his nephew, don't worry, Christ has promised that I'll get to Rome. Nothing needs to be done. Don't worry. Go on your merry way. All is good. I've been promised that Jesus is going to get me to Rome. Because he would be presuming on the grace of God. And there's no presumption in Paul. Instead, he tells his nephew, you go tell the tribunal straight away. This is urgent. Then and there, he brings a centurion. Paul says, call the centurion. I'll call the centurion. Take my nephew straight to the tribunal and let him tell you some very important information. But Paul, you've been promised. Jesus gave you his word. Why are you worried? Jesus promised you, Paul. But there is no place for presumption in the Christian faith, even upon the promises of God, even upon the abundant grace of God, even upon His loving kindness or on His sovereignty. We are not to presume on any of these things. There is no room for any of that. We are called biblically to be faithful to that which we have been given. And that means to strive for what is good, upright, righteous in God's eyes. And it was not a lack of faith that Paul urgently facilitates the escalation of the matter to inform the tribunal of the plot that the Jews have concocted to kill him. It wasn't a lack of faith. In fact, it was faithfulness to the Lord. Faithfulness to the Lord. Because Paul knew God or Christ would get him there, but Paul didn't know how Christ was going to get him there. His life was at risk. He didn't know, but now he does know. And now he has things that he can do within his means. to protect his own life, to preserve his own life for the mission that Christ has given him. What does he do? Does he stand back and put his feet up and say, all will be fine? Or does he act the Apostle Paul act? And I think, and I believe that is consistent with how we ought to act as well, brothers and sisters. So we have to be very careful not to presume upon the grace of God in our lives. Some have, and they start to ask questions like this. I pray. You believe in the sovereignty of God, don't you? Yes, I do. Then why pray? You believe in His sovereign grace in election, before eternity passed, before the foundation of the world, that there are some who are elected in Christ? Do you believe that, Christian? Yes. Then why evangelize? Isn't that a promise? That all who have been given to Christ will come to me and when they come to me, I will by no means cast out. Is that not a promise? Yes, it is. Will Jesus fulfill his promise? Yes, he will. Then can we sit back and say, Jesus, go ahead. They're going to be saved anyway, is what the mockers say. They're going to be saved anyway. They were elected in Christ before eternity passed. The backslidden might even say, hey I've confessed with my mouth and the Bible says if you confess with your mouth you'll be saved. Now sure I'm backslidden and I'm not really close to the Lord but I'll be fine because the word says I'm fine. Presuming upon the grace of God. There is no place in the Christian faith to presume upon the grace of God. Beloved, we've been called to faithful service. And that means to walk according to His Word and by His Spirit, with the wisdom He has given us, without presumption. Because, beloved, those who do presume upon the grace of God, Those who have a life that is consistent of presumption, a life that is defined by presuming upon His goodness and His kindness and His mercy and His grace, it's okay if I sin, He'll forgive me. Those who think that way don't belong to Him. We walk according to His word and we commit all our ways before Him in prayer. And He is the one who makes our path straight. The promise that Paul will get to Rome, he was promised and he believed and he found rest in that promise. But that doesn't take away from Paul to take seriously the information that now has been revealed to him in order to tell the tribune to let them know, hey, there are people after my life, you need to be aware of this. So his nephew does exactly that. Tells the tribune, And it's incredible, because he does listen to the nephew, and not only listen, he acts. On the third hour of that evening, which is about 9pm, he gathers some 470 military men, and he says, you're going to escort this one man, Paul, and you're gonna get him out of here. You're gonna get him to Caesarea, and he's gonna go to Felix, the governor of Caesarea, and we're gonna make sure this man is safe. 470 military personnel. Beloved, sometimes through our study in the book of Acts, we've seen God act miraculously. We know chains are broken, earthquakes, and doors are open of prisons. We've seen some massive miracles in this book, but sometimes the Lord uses providence. Just the natural things in this life that we think are no, They're not supernatural. It doesn't seem to us supernatural. It just seems like the normal things that we come across in life. But he uses those things. And when we look back, we see that the Lord's hand was upon them. And he's doing that now. Who was it that got him there? Was it the Tribune or 470 military personnel? Or was it Christ fulfilling his word when he says to Paul, I will get you to Rome? He doesn't know how he's going to get to Rome. But Jesus says, I will, and I will. And Paul doesn't put his feet up and presume upon the grace of God, but he works and he strives and he does all that he can with the information that he's been given. And that's faithfulness, beloved, because we've been called to be faithful, not to peer into the future to see the outcomes. We can't do that. But to be faithful with what the Lord has given us here and now. So the question is, if the Lord gives me the strength to live a holy life, is it to my credit? If I pray, my prayers were answered, do I get the credit? Speaking about the sovereignty of God and the need to pray. If I share the gospel like the example I gave earlier, and someone does actually come to faith, a sinner is redeemed by grace and comes into the kingdom of God, can I look back and boast? Because I had the powers of persuasion, because I spoke clearly, can I go and boast of these things? No, we look back and we claim that that is the work of God and God Himself. But we strive and we do all that we can within our power to live according to His Word and to please Him with every part of our lives. Every part of our lives. Beloved, what you do for Christ matters. It matters eternally. And because we've been called to live faithful lives, then we should and must look to His Word and walk according to the precepts of His Word whilst looking to Christ by faith, trusting in Him, trusting in the sovereignty of God. But walking, continuing to walk according to His Word, we never stand back, we never put our feet up and say God will be, He'll do the work on His own. He uses means and He's chosen vessels of clay like us. But it's His, He's the one who is the infinite treasure. Beloved, on the topic of prayer quickly, and we're almost done. Because that's a big one. A lot of Christians, they'll say that. They'll say, why pray when God knows the outcome? When nothing surprises the Lord, if it's all in His hands, then why should you pray? Beloved, the answer to that question is found throughout Scripture. As we look in Scripture, we look at the men of God, those who were prophets and those who were apostles, and Christ Himself. Christ Himself went up to the mountain and prayed. From what we can see, it looked like daily prayer. And it wasn't a minute or two or five or ten. He spent a lot of time with the Father. He was strengthened by spending time with His Father. Is Jesus not divine? Yes, He is. Did Jesus not trust that God will accomplish all His plans and purposes? Absolutely. If you and I believe that, He believed it perfectly. He'd have committed so much time in prayer. An example of this is Daniel the prophet. As Daniel was in Babylon, and the southern kingdom was in exile in Babylon, Daniel comes across the prophet Jeremiah's prophecy. And in that book, he sees that the Lord has said that 70 years, my people will be, people of Judah will be in exile. But after 70 years, I will restore them unto the land. Daniel sees that. And if anyone knows the sovereignty of God, you don't have to read very far into the book of Daniel to know this man knows it. He understands it. And he comes across a prophecy that says 70 years and I'll restore my people. And then Daniel does some sums and says, that time is coming. We're almost there. You know what he does? He doesn't throw a party. He puts on sackcloth and ashes. And he goes and begins to fast, and then falls on his knees and prays to the Lord, in essence, supplication on behalf of a sinful people, but also he comes to the Lord and says, Lord, that which you have promised, do. That which you have promised in your word, Lord, do that. Did Daniel deny or was he even 1% thinking that God would not accomplish his promises? No, Daniel knew that the Lord will. If He's promised, He will accomplish. But he gets on his knees and says, I'm going to align my heart with the heart of God. And I'm going to show my complete dependence and faith in Him. And I'm going to say, Lord, do what you have promised. And beloved, every prayer of ours, if it's biblical, is a prayer to God to do what He has promised. Can you think of a single biblical prayer that is a prayer apart from saying, Oh God, do as you have promised. Yet at the same time we're balancing that everything he promises he will accomplish. There's a beauty in those two truths and only true Christians are able to hold them simultaneously and say, I'm on my knees and I pray, yet at the same time I believe in his complete sovereignty and his goodness in every facet of my life. I trust that Jesus is the one who preserved me until the end, but I'm not going to stop from striving to enter into the kingdom. Those two truths are given to us in scripture and we have to carry them side by side. They're scriptural truths and we need to carry them in our heart and believe upon these things. The letter is sent, and I'm almost done. The letter is sent via the 470 military personnel. Paul now is at Caesarea, he gets there safely. Felix gets the letter, he opens it up, he reads it, and he finds that in that letter that the whole situation, we know that Claudius, the tribune, has explained all the situation to him. And then Felix promises Paul a hearing very, very soon. Basically, just as long as it takes for the chief priests and the Pharisees, the members of the Sanhedrin to come up. And we'll find in the next chapter, Ananias does come up, and he comes up to speak against the Apostle Paul, so he hasn't learned any lessons. But beloved, I just want to end with this point. When we look at this passage, and we see that the promises of Christ, and we see that Christ has actually told the Apostle Paul, I'm going to get you to Rome. Take courage. He stood beside him. I believe Paul was in need. When he was feeling that he needed the Lord, the Lord is always there for his people. And when he stood beside Paul, he said, take courage. I will get you to Rome. You're going to testify in Rome as you have testified here in Jerusalem. And Paul is trusting in the Lord. But then we look at the situation and we see he's still under arrest. It's not fair. He's done nothing wrong. He's done nothing wrong. The apostle has actually done nothing wrong. He's walking according to a good conscience. He's loving the Lord. He's serving the Lord. Yet we find him under arrest and we know our Bibles. He remains under arrest for years to come. And then we look at this situation and we say, that's not fair. Where's the justice? Well, why is it that the apostle is still in prison? Why is it? I mean, he's not actually in prison, but he's lost his freedom. Like he's at the praetorium of Herod, that is the tribunes, actually the governor's own residence. So Paul is probably well looked after there, but he hasn't got freedom to go wherever he wants. And the Bible tells us that he is guarded there. The last verses in that, or the last verse in that chapter, we're told, and he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium, Herod's residence. It's constructed for Herod, but that's where Felix lives. He's lost his freedom. Why is that? Why is that? It seems so unfair. It seems so unfair that the evil are the ones getting ahead, and the one who's done nothing wrong, who seeks only to serve the Lord, is concerned with his own holiness, concerned to preach the good news of the gospel, to pour out his life like a drink offering. It seems so unfair that he still lost his freedom. He hasn't got the freedom to do as he pleases, when he pleases, and he will go to Rome, and we know he goes to Rome under arrest. How is that okay? So, beloved, we can look at the text with that sort of lens, but we ought not. We ought to look at the text and think that God is completely, completely sovereign, and not only sovereign, but good in everything He does. Because I want to end with this question. If the Apostle Paul was free, how long will he survive? Think about it. The Jews were after him. They wanted to ambush him and kill him. This is similar to what happened in Damascus when he was lowered from the window in a basket. But this is now really violent stuff. They want him dead, gone. Jesus says, you're going to make it to Rome. Paul has no idea how he's going to get to Rome. He knows he'll get there. But at the same time, he's being faithful with the information he's been given because he doesn't presume upon the grace of God, nor should we. And now we're able to look back and see that if the Apostle Paul was actually on his own, and I don't want to presume on what could have happened, but it wouldn't be a very good situation. And I can say this right now, right now for the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 23, I can't think of a safer place on the planet than the Praetorium of Herod, under, under the guard of the Romans in the place where Felix himself, the governor is. Now, either way, the Lord would protect His own. But looking back, we can always, always see the hand of the Lord. And we ought not, in the moment, question Him. Because that is our natural inclination. Let's question the Lord. Let's say it's not fair. Why me? But may the Lord give us the heart to be able to come before Him and say, this is tough. this is difficult but I'm going to trust you and I'm going to walk according to your ways according to my conscience which has been informed by scripture and Lord I pray that you would guide and guide my path in all that I do let's pray