Conspiracy

[ 001 ] Good morning, my name is Rodney… dismiss KidCity.

One of my favorite TV shows [ 002 ] is an action drama called Prison Break, where a brilliant engineer puts together this masterful plan to break his brother out of prison. And one of the problems with the show is that every episode ends on a cliff-hanger. You know what I mean, right? Every episode ends with these moments of suspense, twists and turns you didn’t see coming, new problems that interrupt the plan, and I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a show like it where it is so easy to just keep watching one after the other. It gets to the end of an episode and you find yourself saying it’s only 11pm…just one more season.

The end of Acts is starting to feel like that. [ 003 ] Every episode ends with a cliffhanger, where Paul’s life is once again in danger. From his very first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion in chapter 9, all the way to chapter 23 today, the Jews have tried to kill him. They drove him out of Antioch in Acts 13, stoned him in Lystra, tried to get him arrested in Corinth; Had a plot to kill him at sea in Ephesus Acts 20 (Wiersbe, 1:496).

Then in Acts 21, Paul has returned to Jerusalem to deliver support for the church, but the Jews incited a mob who tried to beat Paul to death over a wrong assumption. The Romans saved Paul’s life there in the temple, the next day they had to save his life again when the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin threatened to tear Paul apart. And Paul ends up once again spending the night in a dark prison cell, discouraged, alone, not sure how his life’s story is all going to be written.

It’s just been one harrowing episode, one narrow escape after another. Many followers of Jesus, worshipers of Yahweh, have had stories like this ever since sin entered the world. Much of the Bible is stories of people who just went from one hardship to another. But in every story, whether it’s Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Ruth, Mary Magdalene, Peter, or Paul here in Acts, the Lord always shows up one way or another to reinforce his promises.

[ 004 ] Read verse 11 of chapter 23 with me again, this is where we left off last week, “The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

The Lord stood by him. Jesus encouraged and strengthened Paul. He didn’t change his situation this time. He didn’t send an angel to bust open the prison doors. He stood by him. And when Jesus stands by you, no matter how dark the night – morning always comes. That has been God’s promise ever since Noah stepped off the ark. Psalm 30:5 “…Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.”

[ 005 ] 12 When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who had formed this plot. 14 These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.” 

Oaths like this were pretty common in the Bible. Often times the person making the oath would say something like, may the Lord deal with me ever so severely if I do this or that thing. That is probably what is happening here. May the Lord deal with us ever so severely if we don’t have Paul dead before our next meal. We are so committed to this, that we invite the Lord to smite us, to bring suffering to us, if we don’t fulfill this vow.

Today you probably hear oaths like this, and we might say, I swear I did the job you asked me to do, if you are a little more serious, someone might say – I swear on my mothers grave or a stack of Bibles. And if you’re really serious, someone might say, I swear to God. Jesus comes along and basically says, listen, forget all of that. Forget those levels of seriousness. You don’t need to say I swear on my mother’s grave, or swear to God or whatever. Just let your “Yes” mean yes, and your “No” mean no. Say what you mean, and let your word be good enough, don’t make oaths (Houdmann).

These Jews hate Paul so much, they want him dead. They are willing to do anything to never have to look at him or hear from him again. And if you would have asked the Sanhedrin, or these Jewish leaders, “Why do you want to get rid of Paul so badly? Why do you hate him so much?” They would have said, we are protecting our temple. Protecting our law. Protecting the purity of Judaism. We are getting rid of the stain that Paul is  – we are making Judaism great again, thank you very much ––– and yet, they are willing to break the Ten Commandments by murdering Paul to keep the law pure! (Gangel, 5.390).

Just because you’re passionate doesn’t mean you’re right. These guys were 1000% convinced that God was on their side, that they were doing what honored him, pleased him, and that they were holding fast to what was right in a world where Paul was leading people astray. They studied the word of God day in and day out. History tells us that these high ranking Jewish leaders would have had the entire OT memorized. They weren’t misguided because they left the Bible on the shelf. They were misguided because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Their ambition was centered around how this will make me look.

Paul knew what it was like to be in their shoes – he had been the exact same way. Passionate about the wrong things, until Jesus intervened in his story. And Jesus is about to intervene again. The plan for this assassination is in play. It’s being scoped out.

[ 006 ] 16 But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul. We didn’t even know he had a sister, did we? But Paul is sitting in the barracks, maybe spending time in prayer, just thanking Jesus for the encouragement in the night, and praying about the day, when all of a sudden, his nephew knocks on the door, and tells him there is an ambush being set for him right outside the barrack walls.

[ 017 ] 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him, brought him to the commander, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.” 

So, verse 19, the commander pulls the young man aside and says, hey what’s up? What do you have for me?

20 “The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him. 21 Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than forty of them lying in ambush—men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 

When they say they want Paul to be “brought down”, that is because the Roman military had a fortress at one corner of the temple complex. Nearly 1000 troops could be stationed there, and it’s where Paul is being held. So these 40 people who want to ambush Paul aren’t hiding in the forest like it’s the Colonial Militia in the Revolutionary War. If Paul is being held in the barracks of the Antonia Fortress, this is the same effect as saying “Tell the commander to bring Paul downstairs again.

So the conspiracy against Paul is this: Some Jewish leaders said, let’s go back to the Roman commander and tell him that we’re sorry things got a little out of hand last night with the Sanhedrin – we have a few more questions we’d like to ask Paul to help you get to the bottom of this. But, when he brings the prisoner down the steps of the fortress and into the temple, we’ll jump them during the transport, and kill Paul.

Verse 13 says there are 40 men involved in this assassination plot. They probably imagine maybe 12-15 Roman soldiers will escort Paul down the steps of the barracks headed for the inner court of the temple, and that’s when they will be ambushed and overwhelmed them. Some of them will die at the hands of the Romans, some will be arrested and put in jail – but hopefully not before Paul is bleeding out on the ground.

What the Jerusalem Jews didn’t calculate here in Acts 23 is that Jesus had stood by Paul the night before and told him that he is protected. What they have not calculated is that God is providentially ruling over all things actively working against their plans, and protecting Paul.

[ 008 ] You might read verse 16 there, and be tempted to say, wow, lucky for Paul, his nephew just so happened to be walking by when the conspiracy was being planned. Maybe he walked by as they were planning who would hide where, and how it would go down. But lucky for Paul…

Here’s my question to you this morning, River City: Do you believe that? Is Paul’s nephew overhearing the conspiracy conversation simply good fortune? Better yet, how do you suppose Paul thought about it? He’s alone, discouraged in the darkness of his prison cell, when suddenly the Lord stood by him and said keep your chin up, Paul, you did well in Jerusalem, and you’re going to do well in Rome. In other words – Paul, you are invincible until you get to Rome. You cannot and will not be killed.

Paul wakes up the next morning, and in walks his nephew to tell him about an ambush. Do you think Paul is thinking, wow, that was lucky?! We sang a song this morning that proclaimed and declared that God is sovereign, which means like a King, he rules over all things. Yahweh is King. There is nothing that happens in this world that is outside of his authority. [ 009 ]

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).  Daniel 4:35 states, “He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can block his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” Here’s the positive way of saying that he will accomplish all his will: “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me… My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:9–10). Then you have Ephesians 1:11, one of the most sweeping statements of sovereignty in the Bible: “. . . according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

Whether you thought about what you were singing this morning, or you just thought it sounds cool, the words we sang means that God doesn’t just rule over the earth – it’s not only that he has the power to do what he wants – he actually does! Christians throughout the centuries have stood on this understanding that God orders every action on this earth, large or small, to the praise of his glory and his eternal and infinite wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

If you are somehow convinced that God is not allowed to intervene in our lives, that the world runs on natural laws and chance – then the song we sang should have gone like this: [ 010-1 ] Your plans are still to prosper, you have not forgotten us, but I hope someone walks by at the right time so that your plan works the way you hope. [ 010-2 ] You’re with us in the fire and the flood and in the prison. Faithful forever, perfect in love, we sure hope that things turn out well.

In a sermon on Ezekiel chapter 1, which is a fascinating vision of the glory of God, the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes – that every particle of spray that smashes against a boat, every bug creeping over a rosebud, as well as the sun in the heavens, is fixed and upheld by the powerful and perfect will of a holy God.”

And some of you may balk against that. You don’t like that. You say, well what’s the point then? If God has already fixed everything, he’s going to just do whatever he wants to do – Life is meaningless. Spurgeon knew his church would think that too, so he went on and explained, Fate says whatever is must be. It is what it is. But God’s providence is not like fate. Fate has no purpose – it just is. God’s providence has a purpose. The very verse we use to comfort ourselves in suffering and hardship and trials, [ 011 ] Romans 8:28, says that God is working all things together toward a beautiful and glorious end, of making sinners into saints, of making enemies into sons, and that end God has in mind is so wise and holy and gracious and joyful that the last thing anyone would call it is boring, meaningless fate (Piper, 36-37). On the day the Lord returns, or the Father calls you home, you will step foot into heaven and I PROMISE you, you won’t complain one BIT that God was orchestrating everything toward this end.

[ 012 ] Here in verse 16, God intervenes in Paul’s story yet again. It’s a relatively small thing, but it has massive significance. While Paul stood in the darkness praying, God was seeing to it that a young man overheard a conversation that he should not have heard. That’s the miracle. That’s God’s intervention in the story. That’s his providence at work.

I think of how many times I’ve heard people say, and I’ll confess, how many times I’ve thought this myself – God is silent. He’s not working. I don’t understand why God isn’t doing anything! We’re praying. We’re being faithful. We’re taking the correct steps. But God isn’t doing anything. What an absolutely arrogant thing to say: I’m working, but God isn’t. God is doing 10,000 things every second and we maybe are aware of 4 of them. Psalm 121 says that he is our Protector, and that the Protector never slumbers or sleeps.

So how does the commander respond? He gives Paul the greatest security escort you could imagine. [ 013 ] Verse 23, We’re going with 200 foot soldiers, 70 men on horses, and 200 more men with spears, choppers in the sky, drones watching – almost 1/2 the armed forces stationed in Jerusalem – and at 9pm as darkness settles in and the Jews are going to bed hungry but excited about the ambush they’ll pull off in the morning, Paul is mounted on a horse, surrounded by 470 of the best soldiers on the planet, headed for Caesarea and safety.

There’s a story in 2 Kings 6 where the nation of Israel was under attack by another local king, and God performed another miracle where Elisha uncovered a conspiracy and warned the king about the plans of the enemy. Well, the enemy king was so frustrated by this that he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army to Elisha’s hometown in the middle of the night, and they surrounded the city, hoping to take out the prophet. Well, Elisha’s servant woke up the next morning and to his surprise, they were surrounded by a massive army, so he asked Elisha, what are we going to do?! We’re done for!

And Elisha said, don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them. And Elisha prayed that God would open the servant’s eyes to see the spiritual reality of the situation – [ 014 ] The Lord answered his prayer, and allowed the servant to see the mountains were covered with horses and chariots of fire all around them.

[ 015 ] Psalm 34:7 says “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.” God doesn’t just save us – he protects and provides and sustains. Paul is encouraged that Jesus stands with him one night, and the next night he sees a deliverance like no other.

Now, if you think that God’s protection and encouragement means that you will not face difficulty in life, you should probably start over in Acts and read it again. The rest of Acts is going to be filled with trouble for Paul. But God is being faithful to his promise to never leave or forsake Paul, and to continue the good work he started IN him.

[ 016 ] So the Roman commander writes a letter to send with Paul, and you can read the cliff notes of that letter in verses 25-30, and the soldiers bring Paul to Caesarea where he is placed under guard in the palace of Herod. 5 days later, in chapter 24, the high priest and his lawyer show up to make their case against Paul, accusing him of being an agitator, a plague, and a temple-desecrator, and [ 017 ] in verse 9 The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were true.

And for the third or fourth time in a row, this episode ends with Paul seemingly being stranded. Oh sure, God brought him out of the prison and brought him to the palace, but Lysias the commander never showed up for the trial. And at the end of chapter 24, [ 018 ] you can see Paul is going to sit here in the palace prison waiting for his trial for over 2 years. Waiting. Trusting. Believing that God is doing something, although he had no idea what. Not much closer to Rome than he was before.

But here’s how Paul talked about his life and [ 019 ] ministry in 2 Corinthians 4, Oh we’ve been afflicted in about every way you can be afflicted. We’ve faced all kinds of things from every different angle – but we’ve never been crushed. Oh we’ve been perplexed. We’ve asked questions. We’ve prayed, God I don’t see what you’re doing or how you’re doing it, I don’t know when you’re going to come through, I am perplexed at how I’m getting to Rome, but I can’t get out of this jail cell – but we’re not in despair. Oh we’ve been struck down more than once. I’ve had my head bashed in by rocks, I’ve had fists to the face, beaten with rods, I’ve been tied up more times than I can count, but I’ve not been destroyed.

[ 020-1 ] Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, and we’re not sure how much longer our bodies can handle this, our inner person is being renewed day by day. Every day, God is working IN us, renewing us, shaping us, filling us, strengthening us, convicting us, helping us, [ 020-2 ] For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. [ 020-3 ] So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen doesn’t last very long, but what is unseen is the stuff that lasts forever.

Even if suffering and persecution lasts all 90 years of my life, it’s still momentary. Even if it feels heavy, and it’s difficult, and it’s brutally painful – it’s light compared to that first step into the fullness that is heaven for us. Yes it’s affliction now, but there is glory coming! [ 021 ] First the cross, then the crown.

See, we’re still watching Paul continue to follow Jesus almost step for step. Some of these same people in the Sanhedrin tried to ambush Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with soldiers and local authorities. They put Jesus on trial in front of the chief priests as well. They falsely accused him. They slapped him in the face. They plotted his death. They blasphemed his name.

But what they didn’t calculate about Jesus is that death couldn’t hold him. What they didn’t calculate about Jesus is that you don’t take his life, he lays it down – and since he has the power to lay it down, he has the power to take it up. What they didn’t calculate about Jesus is that his death would actually BE the great deliverance story that they had been praying for and hoping for. What they didn’t calculate about Jesus is that he is the way, the truth, and the life; the only way to be right with the Father.

What they didn’t calculate is that Jesus left the palace of heaven to come to the prison of sin and death where we sat because of our rebellion against a holy God, and there in the prison, Jesus let himself be ambushed, let himself be stretched out on the whips, let himself be crucified so that you and I could be set free from the prison of sin and death and fear, and be raised with Christ to new life; from the being on the outs with God, to being his family, around his table of grace.

It’s to that table we come today through communion. [ 022-1 ] In the Lord’s Supper, look back (1 Cor 11:24) to what Christ did. He let himself be ambushed, gave up his body in the place of ours, poured out his blood so that we could enter into the New Covenant.

We’re told in 1 Corinthians 11 to examine ourselves when we do this. [ 022-2 ] In the Lord’s supper we look inward (1 Cor 11:28), confess any sin the Lord brings to mind, and remember that Jesus died to overcome the power of sin and destroy the works of the devil.

We’re also told in 1 Corinthians that the Lord’s Supper reminds us that we are not alone. [ 022-3 ] Look around (1 Cor 10:17). Those who have trusted Christ for salvation have been born again, they have been spiritually brought from death to life, and belong to the family of God. For that reason, I think this is something Jesus instructed us to do as the gathered church, not something you do by yourself at home. Sharing in this meal together speaks to the unity of the church as the body of Christ.

And last, Paul reminds us that when we do this together, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. [ 022-4 ] In this meal, we look forward (1 Cor 11:26) to a time when Christ returns, and the kingdom of God will be fully realized. So we remember and anticipate at the same time.

SOURCES

S. Michael Houdmann, https://www.gotquestions.org/let-your-yes-be-yes-and-no-be-no.html

https://www.bibleref.com/Acts/23/Acts-23-13.html

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996)

Kenneth O. Gangel, Acts, Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998).

John Piper, Providence, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020)

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-the-sovereignty-of-god