Acts 22:30-23:32 - Providence and Courage

Introduction

Have you ever heard someone say, “God was with me that day!”? What do they usually mean? They usually mean that they avoided the worst. They were in a terrible car accident, and they didn’t die. They expected some dreadful news from the doctor, but instead all was well. Some catastrophe occurred at a place they normally go, but for some reason they didn’t go that day.

But is that what God’s presence means? Does God being with His people mean that they won’t suffer, or that circumstances will work out for the better?

Or has God in Christ actually promised to be with His people through the midst of the worst circumstances… to be with them in the fire, to be with them as they face persecution, to be with them as they suffer for the sake of Christ’s name?

Today we’re continuing our study through the book of Acts, and we’re deep into the last leg of Paul’s mission to testify about Jesus all the way to Rome. What we encounter in the passage before us is a faithful Christian and the providential God, who works all things according to His wisdom and goodness and power.

In just a moment, we’re going to read a lengthy passage that’s part of several scenes in an unfolding storyline. We’re looking at a few of those scenes today, as part of this one episode, and I want to give you a little heads up about the length of our reading as well as my rationale for starting and stopping our reading at what might seem like odd places.

I’m so thankful for the 16th century printer who was a Frenchman named Robert Estienne.[i] He is better known by his Latinized name, Stephanus, and he is the man who added verse numbers to the Bible. There were chapters divisions in the Latin text, added sometime in the 1200s, but Stephanus gave us verses.

Often, Stephanus did a great job with his verse divisions. But sometimes, the chapter and verse breaks just don’t make sense to me. In our passage today, for example, chapter 23 begins with the phrase, “And looking at the council, Paul said…” (v1). But what council? And why was Paul talking to a council?

Well, Acts 22:30 tells us these details. That’s why my passage selection doesn’t match well with the chapter and verse numbers, and I’m even going to stop in mid-paragraph at the end. You may not agree with my section-breaks, but at least you know I’m consciously trying to keep Luke’s sections intact as we go.

Let’s stand together as I read this lengthy account of Paul’s last couple of days in Jerusalem from Acts 22:30-23:32.

Scripture Reading

Acts 22:30–23:32 (ESV)

30 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.

23 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 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?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” 5 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.’ ”

6 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.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

9 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?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.

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.”

12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 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. 15 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.”

16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 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.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”

20 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. 21 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.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

23 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. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

25 And he wrote a letter to this effect: 26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 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. 28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 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.”

31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him.

Main Idea:

God intends Christians to live virtuously, to testify faithfully, and to find their courage to do both in His good and meticulous providence.

Sermon

1. Paul’s Life (22:30-23:5)

After having been rescued from the Jewish mob twice (in chapters 21 and 22), Paul was brought to what was apparently an unofficial meeting with the “chief priests and all the [Jewish] council” (Acts 22:30). This meeting seems to have been neither religiously formalized by the Jewish leaders nor legally binding according to Roman law. Instead, it was a fact-finding mission since the Roman tribune wanted “to know the real reason why [Paul] was being accused by the Jews” (v30).

I’ve marked off these six verses as emphasizing Paul’s life, not because it tells his whole story – Paul had summarized his life in his “defense” from the steps of the barracks in Ch. 22 – but this section emphasizes Paul’s life in the sense of his character. Paul’s life bears witness to his virtue and consistency as a God-fearing man, and Paul’s life (his character) is on full display here.

We see it first in his own statement that he had a clear or “good conscience” as he stood in front of that council of accusers (v1). The council had already condemned Paul, and they wanted him dead. But “before God,” Paul said, my “conscience” is “good” (v1).

Whatever Paul was specifically saying about his “life before God” and his “good conscience up to [that] day” (v1), we know at least that Paul was claiming that he – and not the council – was on God’s side. And this was no shallow or careless claim. Paul knew God’s word (he cited a specific verse from memory in v5!), and Paul knew the implications of what he was saying about Jesus having been resurrected and God’s blessing now going out explicitly to the Gentiles.

In short, Paul was saying, “Whatever happens from here, God is my witness, and I’m doing and saying what is right; and God will vindicate me on the last day.”

The council didn’t like to hear that, so “the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by [Paul] to strike him on the mouth” (v2). This just shows how corrupt and enraged this council was, since they appear to have been completely disinterested in any discussion or debate. They answered Paul not with scriptural arguments or careful reasoning but with an outburst of violence.

And this brings us to the second display of Paul’s life or character here. He didn’t return violence with violence, but instead he pronounced God’s judgment. Look at v3. Paul said, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall!” (v3). This was a prophetic word of judgment, not in the sense that Paul could see the future, but in the sense that Paul was judging Ananias’s act as outrageously hypocritical. And Paul expected that God would – either in this life or the next – “strike” Ananias as the corrupt sinner that he was.

Notice too the similarity between what Paul said here and what Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees during His earthly ministry. In a litany of seven “woes” or seven prophetic words of God’s judgment, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). Twenty years or so later, the Jewish leaders in front of Paul were standing under this same prophetic condemnation.

It's also worth noting that hypocrisy and corruption and self-preservation are recurring themes in our passage today. The Jewish council repeatedly acted hypocritically in an effort to kill Paul, though the Jewish high priest was supposed to be the model of virtue. So too, the Roman tribune acted out of self-preservation, though he actually worked to save Paul’s life… at least for a time.

But this is not the Christian way! And Paul’s example here is excellent! He did not strike at his accusers, even after they struck him; and he forged ahead with a clear conscience, even as the highest Jewish authority alive at that time acted with a complete disregard for truth and justice. But there’s still one more!

Look at v4-5. Someone in the council pointed out that Ananias was in fact the “high priest” (v4), and Paul’s word of judgment had been directed at him (v3). Paul’s response is curious, and I confess that I’m not sure exactly what to do with it. I can say, at the very least, that it does speak to Paul’s life or character, in the sense that Paul seems to apologize and even honor the position of high priest, even though the man in the role is dishonorable.

At any rate, the contrast could not be more obvious between Paul’s life and that of his accusers. Paul’s accusers were the holy and religious men. They sat in the seat of justice, and they were supposed to defend and enforce God’s law. They were the ones responsible for putting aside all personal ambition and for living in light of whatever God had commanded. Instead, Paul’s accusers were trampling on God’s law in an effort to gain or keep personal standing. They were defying the very commands they were supposed to enforce, and they were overcome with rage and fury at the one whom they perceived to be a threat to their self-interests.

Paul, on the other hand, was the accused criminal. Paul was alleged to be a blasphemer, and he was blamed for inciting the mob-violence of the day before. And yet, Paul was the picture of self-control. Paul was the one citing and applying Scripture. And Paul was the one appealing to God’s own revelation as that which must be heard and obeyed, even at great personal cost.

Brothers and sisters, I wonder how many of us would have such a showing if our lives were put on display today. What would someone learn about our character if he or she were to observe our actions and hear our words when we suffer the least amount of stress or inconvenience. God help us!

Paul’s exemplary life is exactly the sort of platform one can stand on to give a faithful Christian witness. And since his life was virtuous and God-fearing, then his words about God, a good conscience, and the resurrection are more credible.

2. Paul’s Testimony (v6-10)

Verses 6 to 10 could take us into the weeds a bit since Luke alludes to a disagreement between two Jewish groups – the “Sadducees” and “Pharisees” (v6). I think Luke provides us enough information in the text itself for us to understand the basics. Verse 8 says, “the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.” In short, the Pharisees believed in some kind of resurrection from the dead, and the Sadducees did not.

I don’t think we need to spend much time looking into the details of this argument to follow Luke’s narrative, and I don’t think the division between these groups serves any purpose other than explaining why the meeting turned “violent” (v10) when Paul mentioned “the resurrection of the dead” (v6). But I do think it’s Paul’s statement about resurrection that is most important to these five verses.

Some might say that Paul was being clever when he pointed to this one claim of his – “the hope and the resurrection of the dead” (v6) – as the reason he was “on trial” that day (v6). Some might think Paul only mentioned “resurrection” because it was a major disagreement between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. But it is a fact that Paul was indeed on trial for preaching on the resurrection! Paul may have been clever, but he was telling the truth. He was “on trial” because he was claiming that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews and the Romans had conspired to crucify as a criminal, was the resurrected Messiah.

I’m wanting to point this out, because I think we would be sorely mistaken if we primarily think about Paul’s interaction here as clever maneuvering. If this is an aspect at all of what’s going on (it may or may not be), its certainly not the primary emphasis. Rather, the primary weight of Paul’s testimony here is fact that his message centered on the death, resurrection, and hope that is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

As we can observe in v11 (which I think is the key verse of our passage today), Paul’s commission and his aim was to “testify [or “bear witness”] to the facts” about Jesus. Namely, that Jesus was and is the prophesied Messiah of old, and in Him alone can any sinner find God’s blessing and favor (i.e., not in Jewish ethnicity and not in abiding by the law of Moses).

What I’m saying is that Paul’s opposition, those persecuting him here, were focused on the very heart of Paul’s message, which was the gospel itself. Paul’s witness or testimony to his Jewish kinsmen was not that they should clean up corruption among their leadership. Paul was not on a social justice mission to make sure that every Roman citizen was treated fairly in the courts or in the marketplace. No, Paul’s message and his exhortation was focused on Christ as both Redeemer and Lord, Savior and King… And Paul pointed to Jesus as the resurrected Messiah in order to argue that everyone everywhere should repent and believe.

Friends, I’m not saying that Paul or any Christian after him has no interest in working toward the betterment of society. Paul himself wrote many instructions for Christian living that do affect societal improvement when implemented (just read Paul’s letters to various churches in the NT, and his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus, which emphasize how Christians are to “behave” [1 Tim. 3:14-15]).

But, brothers and sisters, I am saying that the earliest Christians (Paul included) were notinterested in the least in merely making Jerusalem or Rome great. They did not merely want to see their friends and neighbors have better living conditions, or marriages, or job opportunities. Paul was not trying to get Jews and Gentiles together for the sake of some undefined notion of love or unity.

No, the Christian mission – Paul’s testimony – was that God had sent His Son into the world in order to justify guilty sinners – through His life, death, and resurrection – so that in Him repenting and believing sinners might avoid God’s wrath and enjoy God’s blessing.

Of course, this message has huge implications for how we and everyone else ought to live… but this central claim is where the conversation must begin.

Did Jesus die in the place of sinners and rise from the dead? And is He the resurrected Lord and Savior? If yes, then we must live in light of that reality! If no, then, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, “let’s eat and drink” and indulge ourselves in whatever pleasures we can, “for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32)!

Friends, Christians ought to be known in the world for being the most virtuous and the most loving people around. But living a life of virtue and charity and good work is not the same as being a Christian witness in the world. Lots of non-Christians do good stuff, act in virtuous ways, and give time and money to causes they think are worthwhile.

Paul was not in trouble that day for being a good man. The initial mob which started this whole episode – Paul’s arrest and the council meeting – turned against Paul while he was carrying out an act of piety and charity! Paul was literally in the Jewish temple aiming to appease the religious sensitivities of the crowd!

No, Paul was in trouble that day for not keeping his mouth shut about the resurrection of Jesus and the gospel call for sinners to repent and believe. Virtuous living, fine… Christian witness, not fine. And this is the common response of the world to Christians throughout the ages: Be loving, do good, be charitable… but just don’t say anything about Jesus being the resurrected Lord and Savior.

The corrupt and confused Jewish council did disagree about resurrection, but none seemed to disagree about Jesus of Nazareth. They all thought that He was most certainly not the Messiah. But their theological argument became so violent that Paul’s life was threatened again, and the Roman tribune pulled him by force back into the barracks (v10). And it was there that the resurrected Jesus “stood by” Paul (v11), and Jesus said something I think we all would do well to consider.

3. Providence & Courage (v11-32)

As I’ve already said, I think v11 is the key verse for what Luke is wanting his reader to understand about this whole passage. In fact, what happens in v11, in the context of this episode, is reaching down and touching the very foundation of what the whole book of Acts is about. The reason we call it “the book of Acts” is because Luke recorded the “acts” or “deeds” or “history” of the Apostles. As early as the second century, a Christian named Irenaeus called this book “Acts of the Apostles,” and the name stuck.

The title “Acts of the Apostles” is accurate, so far as it goes. But it is more accurate to say that this book of the Bible is a record of the acts of the Holy Spirit, or even more precisely the acts of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

At the very beginning of the book, Luke records Jesus’s commissioning of His Apostles to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And this commission to be Christ’s witnesses came only after Jesus’s promise to send the Holy Spirit to empower their efforts. Then, the rest of the book of Acts is an ever-intensifying record of how Christ, by the presence and power of His Spirit, energized and enabled gospel-expansion through the witnessing efforts of the Apostles and other Christians… And all this despite repeated waves of persecution from different directions in various contexts.

By the time we get to Acts 23, which is where we are today, we’ve seen the gospel preached in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and in far-flung regions of the Roman empire (Asia minor and Achaia). Sinners have repented, believed, and been baptized; and in this way local churches have been established all over the map. And now we are about to see the gospel go as far as Rome, the capital city of the largest empire in the known world, and it’s Paul who’s going to preach it there.

But Paul was not alone! In fact, the Lord Jesus came “near” or “stood by” Paul and said, “Take courage” or “Take heart” or “Be of good cheer” (v11).

But why?! Why should Paul take up “courage” or “cheer”? Was it because the Jews were all about to convert to Christianity? Was it because the Jewish leaders were soon going to thank Paul for testifying to them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ? No, the Jews mostly rejected Jesus and persecuted Christians.

Was it because the Romans were going to defend Christians against persecution? Was it because Rome was going to become a Christian nation? No, Rome ramped up persecution against Christians sporadically throughout the first three centuries, both informally and at times by Caesar’s decree. In fact, two of the most beastly emperors who persecuted Christians were Nero (54-68 AD) and Domitian (81-96 AD). And when another Roman emperor (Theodosius) did officially declare that Rome was a “Christian” kingdom in 380 AD, one can hardly argue that it was a pure advancement of the gospel or absolute good for Christians. At best, this was a mixture of progress and decline for true, biblical Christianity.

Even within our passage this morning, we can see that Paul’s circumstances did not get better. I’d say, in one sense, they got worse. But before we look more closely at the unfolding circumstances, let me offer an answer to the question I’ve left hanging here. Why should Paul take up “courage” or “cheer” (v11)?

It seems to me that the reason is both the presence and the providence of God. Verse 11 says that “the Lord” was “near” or “by” Paul. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ was with him! And v11 also makes it clear that the Lord’s plan was for Paul to “testify” in “Rome” just as he had “testified to the facts about [Jesus] in Jerusalem” (v11). Indeed, the Lord Jesus said Paul “must” do this (v11).

In this way, v11 distills the two concepts that we see side-by-side throughout the rest of the passage. The Lord God Himself is with Paul, empowering him for his mission to be a faithful Christian witness. The Lord has planned Paul’s testimony in Jerusalem (including Paul’s opposition and arrest there), and the Lord has also planned Paul’s testimony in Rome. The events are unfolding in real time, but the Lord is behind them all – it’s all according to God’s providence… it “must” happen. That’s concept number one: God’s providence.

Concept number two is human effort and participation and responsibility. In v11, it’s especially Paul’s effort and participation. According to God’s providence, there “must” be a courageous witness in Rome, but who is the one God was calling to “take courage” and to “testify” in Rome? It was Paul!

This is a plain example of what J.I. Packer called the “antinomy” of “divine sovereignty” and “human responsibility.”[ii] I think the best practical treatment of this subject is found in Packer’s book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. I highly recommend this book to you, and if you promise to read it soon, I have a few free copies I’ll gladly give away after the service. Just ask me.

An “antinomy,” wrote Packer, “exists when a pair of principles stand side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet both undeniable. There are [good] reasons for believing each of them; each rests on clear and solid evidence; but it is a mystery to you how they can be squared with each other. You see that each must be true on its own, but you do not see how they can both be true together.”[iii]

Those of you who haven’t been Christians very long, or those of you who have, but you haven’t thought very deeply about what the Bible actually teaches, listen carefully to me. You teenagers who will sit in a college classroom and listen to your philosophy professor (or maybe even your religious studies professor!) pick at core doctrines of the Christian faith, listen up. Just because you or someone else has a hard time understanding something, doesn’t mean it’s not true!

Let me say that again, because it’s really important… and I think it would be a great line for you to keep in your pocket and use in a future conversation. Just because you or someone else has a hard time understanding something, doesn’t mean it’s not true. But once you start listening for it, you will hear people all the time say that something the Bible clearly teaches simply cannot be true because they can’t understand how that truth can be true alongside another.

That’s what Packer is getting at with his description of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility as an antinomy. The Bible tells us God is sovereign, the Bible gives us example after example of God’s providential governing of whatsoever comes to pass, and the Bible also teaches us that man is fully responsible for all that he thinks, says, and does. But the Bible does not explain the mechanics of how these two function together. And you and I don’t have to feel responsible in the least to explain what the Bible leaves unexplained.

The reason I’m highlighting these two concepts today is because (as I said) they show up side-by-side in v11, and they reverberate throughout the rest of the passage… And it is precisely the Lord’s sovereignty or providence over all that’s happening that is meant to be the source of Paul’s courage (v11)!

How can Paul “take courage” despite the fact that “forty” guys swear an “oath” to “kill Paul” or die trying (v12-15)? It is because Paul knows that even this horrifying death-threat is according to the Lord’s providential plan to get Paul to Rome (v11). But this in no way lowers or negates the responsibility of those would-be murderers. No, they are clearly presented to us in the passage as nefarious and scheming sinners.

Therefore, “take courage,” Paul. These sinners mean you harm, but even their wicked plans are working according to God’s plan for you!

And what do we make of developments we see in v16-22? Luke mentions Paul’s nephew, but we know nothing else about him. This apparently insignificant “young man” (v17) somehow overhears the plan for an “ambush” (v16), and he’s somehow able to get a “private” audience with the Roman tribune (v19).

Is all of this by chance? What if the nephew had not overheard about the scheme? Was the Lord’s statement that Paul “must” (v11) testify in Rome ever in any real danger of being overturned? And how about the nephew or the Roman tribune? Do they have no intention of their own? Don’t they each have their own perspectives and desires and plans of action? Of course, they do!

But “take courage,” Paul! God is sovereign over insignificant boys and powerful men! The Lord hasn’t overlooked anything, not even the smallest detail.

And then there’s the fascinating military and political tactics we read about in v23-31. The Roman tribune spares no expense, sending maybe as many as half of his entire army to escort Paul safely to “Caesarea” (the major port-city of Judea) in the middle of the night (v23). Not only that, but the tribune also sends Paul with a gushing letter to “Felix,” the “governor” of Judea (v25-26).

“Claudius Lysias,” the tribune, even goes so far as to declare Paul’s innocence and to explain the Jewish “plot” against him (v25, 30). The tribune conveniently left out the part about nearly flogging Paul as a Roman citizen, but you don’t get to be a Roman official by telling the whole truth all the time.

Did the Roman soldiers have no will in all of this? Were they merely pieces on God’s chessboard? And how about the tribune? Was he not interested in avoiding a conspiracy and a potential riot between competing religious factions in Jerusalem? Of course, he was!

But “take courage,” Paul! God is sovereign over Roman soldiers and rulers, and God can even use selfish pagans to protect His people from the most committed adversaries.

The episode ends (at least as I see it) in v32, with Paul riding horseback away from Jerusalem with a company of mounted Roman soldiers as an escort to make sure he gets to Caesarea… with Rome as his final destination. And we can see God’s providence, and we can imagine Paul’s courage uplifted. But we ought to also remember that God’s providence and Paul’s courage are not coincident with great circumstances… quite the opposite!

Paul was still under arrest! Paul still had 40 guys committed to his murder! Paul had still been flatly rejected by his kinsmen when he stood (just a couple of days ago) to proclaim the gospel in the streets of Jerusalem! One commentator said, “while Paul fulfills God’s will and advances Christ’s mission as a Roman prisoner in the closing chapters of Acts, this ‘progress’ does not come easily.”[iv]

I’d say that’s an understatement! Not only does it not come easily, God’s will for Paul and the advance of Paul’s mission as a Christian witness progresses here against seemingly impossible opposition! And I think that’s the point. I think Luke would have his reader understand that Paul’s advance and the success of the Christian mission was not dependent upon happy cooperation from Jewish leaders or Roman magistrates, nor was success dependent upon the perfect arrangement of chance encounters or strategic planning.

No, Paul was a faithful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ – both in his life (or his character) and in his testimony (or his words about Jesus) – and the success of Paul’s mission was entirely dependent upon the Lord!

Conclusion

So, how should this affect the way we think about our own Christian witness, our own lives and testimonies today? As we have noted in our study of Acts before, Paul is unique. We are not Paul, and this is not Jerusalem or Rome. But there are some ways we can look to Paul as an example, and there is a strong biblical theme on display in our passage today.

First, I think we can and should aim for faithfulness – both in our lives and in our testimonies. I think we should strive to live as faithful Christians, striving for holiness and resisting temptation to sin in every aspect of our lives. Of course, this is a huge task, and we will be at it until we die, but we can make progress if we will stick with it… and we will benefit much if we join in the task together.

May God help us to be faithful Christians together, depending on one another and taking responsibility for helping and encouraging and challenging one another.

Second, I think we can always look for ways to testify more frequently, more intentionally, and more knowledgably. Some of us need to grow in our understanding of the gospel so that we will feel more confident to talk about it. Some of us need to make a plan: to meet more non-Christians, to have gospel conversations with people we already know, or to invite a friend or two to read through a book of the Bible together and talk about it. And some of us need to stop waiting for “the right moment,” and just start jumping in there to see what might happen.

May God help us to be courageous witnesses for Christ, regularly and thoughtfully testifying to the good news about Jesus and the hope sinners may find in Him.

Third, I think we might benefit most today by embracing the fact that the Lord is with His people, and He will accomplish all He has planned to do with and through us… even though that might mean hard times and dark circumstances.

Right after Jesus announced that “all authority in heaven and on earth” had been “given to” Him, He commissioned His disciples to “make disciples… baptizing them… [and] teaching them” (Matt. 28:18-20). And then Jesus gave them, and all those who would believe in Christ through their message, a marvelous promise. Jesus said, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

Do you know that this promise remains true today? Christ is always with His people. But this does not mean that every Christian will enjoy the American dream! No, some Christians will face the worst persecution imaginable, and others will go through all manner of personal pain and suffering. Every Christian will endure some kind of hardship and suffer in some way for the name of Christ (Acts 14:21-22; Phil. 1:29).

Brothers and sisters, there may be terribly difficult times. ahead for Christians in the western world, and we may not see many of our friends and neighbors converted in our lifetime… But take courage, Christian! The Lord Jesus Christ is with His people, and His gospel is true, and our hope is sure… And, whatever difficulty we might face, all is according to His sovereign plan.

May God help us to trust Him, to trust that He is all-powerful and that He is always good… And may God grant us courage, knowing that He is working out His good and righteous plans in and through all the details of our lives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.

Calvin, John. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. Edited by Henry Beveridge. Translated by Christopher Fetherstone. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Packer, J. I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Kindle. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2012.

Peterson, David. The Acts of the Apostles. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2009.

Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

Endnotes

[i] See this very brief and informative introduction to Robert Estienne from 5 Minutes in Church History with Stephen Nichols at Ligonier: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/robertus-stephanus. [ii] Packer, location 161. [iii] Packer, location 129. [iv] Peterson, 611.