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Acts chapter 23 is going through this last section of the book of Acts that we’ve been in together. And it’s really the the end of Paul’s missionary journeys have concluded, at least that’s recorded in the book of Acts. We know he went on more after the book of Acts was over, but in this last section of the book of Acts, we’re in this transition. It ends in chapter 28, but we’re in this transitional place where the apostle Paul is arrested for his faith. And in fact, as we read about this story, we find that Apostle Paul is going to spend a number of years in jail. As we as we journey through this book of Acts. In fact, he writes about some of his time in jail, in the book of especially the book of Philippians, but he writes the letters of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon during this time period, but multiple years that the Apostle Paul is spending in jail. We’re just now beginning at the place where Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem. He was he was gathered by an angry mob, and they wanted to destroy him. And as as this mob is attacking him, the Roman guards outside of the temple see this? And they run in and they rescue the apostle Paul, and then they arrest him. And now they’re getting ready to put him on trial. So Paul is just at the very beginning of being in jail. But you can’t help but imagine that as Paul spends now a number of years sitting in jail, that that there’s a place within the Apostle Paul and, and would be within any of us where we might start to question, Lord, how can you work in this circumstance? Is this really what you desire? Out of all the things I could be doing with my life, but because of my faith, I find myself imprisoned.
And so, God, where are you in this? That’s a common question I think all of us ask in the adversity we face. I mean, even a day like Mother’s Day, if there’s pain involved with a day like today, like what? What do we do with that? And how do I still acknowledge that there’s a good God amidst all of the adversity that I’ve gone through? And the Apostle Paul’s life teaches us about how we navigate that. But I want to do something interesting as we look at this together, because a lot of what we learn about the Paul’s life in the book of Acts here at the tail end becomes somewhat repetitive in its nature. And so what I want, what I want to do is we look at this story is, I’m going to give us a longer introduction that is going to give us a theological framework, and then I’m going to spend a shorter amount of time just looking at this passage, knowing that this, this the theme of this story repeats itself throughout Paul’s moments as we we come to the conclusion of the book of Acts.
And so this is going to be a longer introduction. So don’t worry, because we’re not going to necessarily start filling out things in your notes if you grab notes this morning. By the way, if you download the Alpine Bible Church app and click on notes, there’s a way to do it digitally if you want to do that as well. Sometimes it’s easier because you can also just click on a verse and it pops up for you. But as we go through this, I want you to know I plan to go through your note portion very quickly. All right, so we’re going to, we’re going to on the back end of this, just help us have a theological framework through the challenges we face in life as we seek how how the Lord works, the Apostle Paul’s life thinking about our own God. What does this look for me in the midst of the challenges that I face in my life? And when we think about how God orchestrates things, even among a path of adversity, we talk about this as the providence of God. And when you think about the the providence of God, I’ll give you a definition of this in a few moments. But we think about the providence of God. There are a couple passages that really stand head and shoulders above all else. No doubt the entire Bible is revealing to us the providential hand of God as he works all things out for his glory to our benefit.
But, but when we think about the direct stories that really highlight the providence of God, I think one that we often go to is the story of Joseph. And in the book of Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, remember, Joseph’s brothers threw him into slavery into Egypt, and he’s thrown even in prison at another point in Egypt. And he later in life he encounters his brothers again. They thought he was dead, but later in life they actually need his help. And and Joseph gives this statement in Genesis 50 verse 20, what you intended for evil, God intended for good or, or even in the book of Esther. You know anything about the Book of Esther? It’s a unique book because God’s not even really mentioned in the book, and it’s written from a human standpoint. But there comes a place in the book of Esther where Esther is raised by her uncle Mordecai, and she’s taken as as a bride, a queen to King Xerxes. And, and when she’s brought into the kingdom, it’s rather unique that here’s this Persian ruler. But now he’s got this Jewish wife, and there was this evil man during this time that hated the Jewish people. And he had a position of authority in Xerxes kingdom. And he really fools Xerxes into writing a law that would lead to the annihilation of the Jewish people.
And his His name was Harmon, and. And when Mordecai finds out about this, he realizes that that this has not been brought to Queen Esther yet. And so Mordecai goes to Esther and he encourages her to do something about this. And in fact, in verse 13, Mordecai shares this message. It says, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not think to yourself that the king’s palace, that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? I mean, if anyone knows anything about the Book of Esther, it’s really that phrase that echoes throughout the book for such a time as this, as if to recognize, you know, we kind of live our lives. Esther written from that standpoint, from a human, humanistic point of view. This this horizontal way of living, rather than so much focusing on the vertical in a relationship with the Lord. But but Mordecai is acknowledging in this moment that that God’s hand has been involved in this. And up until this point, we couldn’t exactly understand what is it God might do with putting Esther in this unique position as a Jewish lady with a Persian king? But we start to learn within the story that God’s purposes are working itself out.
That God always has, has the hand of of sovereignty, the hand of authority. And as Romans eight tells us, God works all things together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. But God, what does that look like and how does that work in my life? It’s wonderful when you go to the Bible and you see these these important stories, we’ll say of, of God working in unique ways and difficult circumstances. But to be honest, when I read about people in the Bible, those are like giants of the faith. And what about me? Of course, if God’s going to work in some wonderful way, it’s going to be through a princess like. And I’m no princess. Like, how does that what does that look like in my life? Like, it’s, it is uplifting and encouraging to see this, but God, what about just regular me? How does how does that work? And you know, when you see the story of Esther, you start to learn this isn’t just one unique time that God does this. In fact, in talking about the Apostle Paul, if you remember with with Paul’s life, it it told us coming to the to these final moments where Paul was going into Jerusalem. Paul was eyes wide open and knowing going to Jerusalem was going to cost him. Right. It even tells us in Acts chapter 20, verse 22, and now, behold, Paul says, I’m going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
Man, Paul. Paul also walked a difficult road, and Paul is aware of what awaited him in Jerusalem. And yet he moved with incredible boldness. He moved forward. And rather than sit and sulk in his sorrow, which sometimes we might do, that Paul sees this as an incredible place for God’s glory to be made known. And you think about the challenges that you’ve gone through in life. What a different worldview that is, right? Rather than become victim to my circumstance to perhaps consider, is this an opportunity for the glory of God to be made known? I mean, when you take time to even read the the epistles that Paul wrote during his imprisonment, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, the book of Philippians. And in chapter one, Paul, Paul acknowledges within the the context of that chapter that by, by being in prison during this time, God used this to reach the leadership in the Roman Empire that the. The Roman leaders, even the Roman guards, are coming to know the Lord. And what we might look at as, as an obstacle to accomplish God’s will, we might think, well, here I am and I’m facing adversity. We got to get past this adversity first so that we can get back to living in God’s will.
Paul sees this as the very avenue through which God’s will is made known. And not only does he talk about the way that that Romans are coming to know the Lord and leadership within the Roman Empire, but he also says, as I look to the body of Christ in Philippians chapter one, that. That my brothers and sisters in Christ are encouraged by my own faithfulness in the Lord in the midst of the challenges that I’m facing. I mean, Paul’s life becomes this model. And and we look at Paul’s life. I mean, if you remember in in Acts chapter nine, it said to us about him, the Lord said to Ananias, you remember Ananias was called to to go minister to Paul during Paul’s conversion. And the Lord said to Ananias about this For Paul he says, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. I mean, how incredible that in the challenges Paul faced, that he saw that as sometimes even the place that God was working to move about his greater will and purpose in this world. These weren’t a, a, a pause or a parenthesis to God’s hand moving. But the very catalyst that God desired to use to make his glory known to the benefit of those around him. Now, reading about Esther and looking at the Apostle Paul, we might again say to ourselves, well, of course, of course God would want to work in the Apostle Paul.
He’s the apostle Paul, right? I mean, God even says he’s his chosen instrument. How how unique is that for for Paul? He’s got that special calling on his life. So if God’s going to work in difficulty, of course he’s going to work in Esther a queen and Paul who’s got this unique special calling. But but I want to remind you in the Apostle Paul’s life again who he was without the Lord and who he was only because of the Lord. That’s what this word chosen is saying. Paul wasn’t doing anything great to be like, you know what? That guy is fantastic. Since I’m Lord, I’m going to pick this guy. He’s really impressed me. I mean, you think about what Paul’s life was up to this moment. He’s persecuting God’s people, even to the point that he’s willing to kill them. And Paul is the most impressive, underwhelming individual that God could have selected. But yet God, by his grace, has chosen him. And it’s the uniqueness of who God is that transforms who the apostle Apostle Paul becomes. But again, we could look at that and say, But God chose him. And of course, he’s special. However, guys, I want to remind you that while there is some uniqueness to this title, we should recognize how precious and special it is to be called The chosen of the Lord.
But I want you to know that as the Apostle Paul wrote his letters, he also used the same phrase in reference to who you were in light of who he was. And first Thessalonians chapter one, verse four, talking about the body of Christ. He says, for we know brothers loved by God that he has chosen you. The same power that worked in the life of the Apostle Paul, the same God who moved in his heart to transform who he was, to give him an entirely new identity as the same God who desires to work in your life too. You are chosen in him, and you think about what that means for you. Just the the beauty of being a part of a body that God will love us this way, but also the uniqueness of the calling that God also loves you in the same way he loves the Apostle Paul. And God also has a purpose for your life, just as he has a purpose for the Apostle Paul’s life. We’ll talk a little bit about that purpose in here in just a moment. But, but to think about the uniqueness and it’s not saying that, you know, as Paul went through difficult times, of course it worked out as Paul and of course, for Esther, she’s queen. But it’s saying that it’s the same God that just desires to to move through the every up and down of your life as well.
That challenges you go through aren’t the parenthesis to to the way God wants to move. And you’ve got to get past that in order to walk with the Lord, but rather it might be the very catalyst for the glory of God made known. In fact, when I think about my own life and what it took for me to come to know Jesus, if I’m being honest, I’m less susceptible to pay attention to the Lord when things are easy, then when things are challenging. In fact, I’ve kind of developed this love, love, hate for adversity in my life because I’m like I don’t want more adversity. But then you learn, but Lord, this is the very place that you used to drive me to my knees to seek you in your face. It’s the difficulty of, of life where I have found God has shaped me most deeply. And it’s not because I want those things, but it’s also for a place for me to remember that that these. These aren’t despite God, but rather God. God is such a big God that he can move and work through these things. So to understand this word chosen is very critical for all of us. Because, you know, I think one of the things that drives us into a community like this, into a gathering of God’s people, into a church, is, is that there’s something within us that we realize is broken. There’s something within us that often feels empty or amiss.
And we know that we need something different, something that’s going to transform or transition me from where I’ve been to, to where I know I need to be, but I can’t quite figure out how to get there. And this word chosen is reminding us of what it is, that it’s not about what you’re going to do, but it’s about embracing what Christ has done for you. And this is what gives you an entirely new transformation and an identity, because it’s not about this self achievement, but the greatness of who God is. And I want us to recognize when we think about the uniqueness of this phrase as as Christians like if no matter what road you walk apart from biblical Christianity, every antidote the world is going to give you, whether it’s in religion or humanism, it’s going to be focused on what you do in your own effort. Religion is about performance. In order to make God’s love be availed to you. He can’t stop loving you because you’re so darn lovable. Or from a humanistic perspective. It’s it’s the world’s system of giving you a standard of this is what success looks like. And so earn your way up the ladder. But then there’s Christianity that’s radically different. And it’s not about you availing yourself to God, but a God who has pursued you and the richness of his grace. That word chosen is a reflection of the grace of God, and we all struggle with it.
We all struggle with really embracing what that means, because typically as human beings and the way we wrestle with it is, is in one of two lanes either either we hear that and we think, well, yes, but is God really that good? And does God’s love really extend that far? Or are we tend to focus on ourselves. We either diminish the richness of his grace or we elevate the brokenness of our lives. Meaning. Well, you know, maybe God can love some people, but you don’t know what I’ve done. You know, so I’m pretty sure the extent of his love is probably stops about two inches from where I begin. And can I tell you that that that is the the great hesitation to stepping into everything that God has for you. How how glorious he is to elevate God and the the wealth of his grace and his love for us, no matter how far your sins gone. God’s love goes deeper still. And no matter how terrible you might be. Can I just tell you, when we think about the Lord like I’ve got a I’ve got to pay this penance first. I’ve got to show God that I’m worthy of love before I’m embraced by his love. Before I receive his love. Can I just tell you that the the danger of that type of, of thought on the outside. To many of us that kind of a stance looks humble.
But if I’m being honest with you, can I, can I just tell you it’s riddled with pride that it’s thinking so much of yourself that you’re forgetting to see how glorious and great God is. Oh, well, I’m the exception. God can’t possibly love me. Can I just tell you? You think way too much of you. Not enough of the richness of this God who desires to transform you. Chosen in him. His love extends far beyond. I mean, we even if you’ve been a believer for years, will wrestle with this like there’s something about us as human beings. Maybe it’s trauma we’ve gone through. Maybe it’s it’s, it’s enough adversity in life that we just, we always just think that, that, that it’s always going to lead to a valley that, that God can’t possibly be this good. And so we would rather stay where we are. Than trust him in what he desires to lead us in. We just kind of get comfortable, comfortable in our own brokenness. And just saying, you know, I just kind of, I kind of want to live right here. And I don’t want to completely let go and trust in where the Lord wants to lead me because I feel okay right here. Because again, we don’t realize the greatness of who God is. In fact, in first Corinthians chapter two, verse nine, it says it like this there has been no eye seen, ear heard, or heart truly believed in all that the Lord has for you.
I was just helping us begin to to realize, man, if we could just open up our eyes, that even in the challenges that you have an incredible God who desires to walk with you through all the adversity. In fact, if I just gave you another verse, I told you this was a long introduction. So if I gave you another verse real quick to move along. The Apostle Paul, when he’s writing the book of Philippians chapter three, I feel like he this, this place really culminates not only his identity, but he tells us what God’s will is for all of us. What is it God wants for me? And sometimes we think about what God’s will is for us. We oftentimes think about these positions or titles that we have, like I’ve. God created me for a job, so I got to figure out what my job is so I can live out God’s will for my life. And so we think about all the different titles or jobs or positions you’ll have in life. I’m employed or I’m an employee, employee or employee, or I’m a I’m a husband, I’m a wife, I’m a sister or a brother. I’m a parent or I’m a daughter or a son. All these different titles. And we think, oh, that’s God’s will for me. Because can I, can I just tell you, the primary reason God created you is not about what you can do.
And sometimes we get so fixated on that. Like there’s this thing that I need to be doing that God has for me. God’s not primarily interested in what you’re doing. God’s far more interested in who you’re becoming. Because if God gets your heart, he changes your life. So no matter what season of life you find your yourself in, no matter what hat you might be wearing in that season, that the Lord’s already got your heart and he’s going to just navigate your life through it. So the primary call in the life of the believer is not about what you’re doing. It’s about who you’re becoming. And the only way you’re going to become who God has called you to be is, get this a relationship with the Lord. The primary reason God has created you is for a relationship in him. And this is why Paul gives us Philippians three. He’s saying, I laid apart all of my religion for one purpose, that I may know him. And here’s how Paul wants to know him, because he wants to know this God in every season of life. That no matter where I’m walking, no matter what road I’m on, whether I’m on the top of the mountain or in the valley, what I’ve learned is there’s this God with me. And so through that, then I want to know your resurrection power, God, that that God who overcame the grave and overcame the worst day in history to give us victory.
That’s what I’m living in light of. And then he says that I may share in your sufferings, because I’ve come to realize as as what Paul is saying in this passage, Lord, I’ve come to realize that you’re the God who meets me in every storm of life. And these challenges aren’t despite your glory, but your glory is made known through it all. Now sometimes in life we get to see that glory resonating on this side of eternity. Other times, we don’t always know the full picture, and we won’t understand until we’re with him in eternity. But in Romans eight, it tells us God works all things together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. So let’s do this. We got to fill this out quickly, but I want you to start to see some of these, these, these passages. And I got a definition here for you, for the providence of God. So you have it in your notes. But God’s providence is this God’s ongoing care, guidance, preservation, and rule over all creation for his glory. That’s your first blank and his purpose. So it’s God’s ongoing care, guidance, preservation, and rule over all creation for his glory and his purpose. And it works like this that God sustains all things by his hands. We call this the common grace of God. Colossians chapter one, verse 17 literally says he sustains all things by his power.
Or Ephesians chapter one, verse 11. It reminds us that he governs all things that that he’s ultimately in charge of, of all things that in Ephesians 111, he works it out according to the counsel of his will and. And in so doing, the life runs concurrently. What I mean by that is that while man may choose to do evil things in this world, God orchestrates all of it for his glory. He’s bigger than the brokenness of life. And if you want a passage on that, I think Acts chapter two, verse 23 reminds us, it says this, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, but God raised him up. So there’s the evilness of humanity and the way that we want to work. But God is saying in this verse that while mankind may choose a course contrary to the Lord, that God always has the final say, and he will work it out for his glory, and there is no surprises to him. And when you think about how the divine hand of God works, he’s saying in the cross of Christ is that premier example to remind us as people that when we doubt the goodness of God, that he overcame the darkest of days for you and for me, you are chosen in him if you belong to the Lord. So what does that mean for me to live in light of that? How do I navigate that? Well.
Trusting in God’s promises. Let me give you four points in your notes. Number one is this acknowledge my adversity. Acknowledge my adversity. I want to show you how Paul does it in just a second. But let me just say it like this. Like sometimes in Christianity, we can get weird concepts from scripture. And when I say weird, I’m saying not biblical. That you sometimes are me can go away from a passage and think something contrary that the Lord doesn’t want you to think. And so when we rest in the providence of God or trust in the providence of God, we’re not saying we have to ignore pain. We’re not saying we have to pretend like things don’t hurt. In fact, we can be honest about those and God could still be good. And even this morning, if you’re going through tragedy, you’re going through hardship. Right now. I’m not saying the things I’m saying just to try to give you nice platitudes so we can ignore your pain. That would be terrible. What we’re trying to do is take our pain and hold it up to the goodness of who God is and saying, Lord, help me walk through this. And so when you look at Paul’s story, it starts off this way. I’ll read quickly, 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 him.
And he brought Paul down and set him before. Before them. And looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers, I have lived my life before God, and all good conscience up to this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him in the mouth. Nobody wants that, right? Verse three, it says, Then Paul said to him, God is good. 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. Paul is talking trash. You punch me, I’ll punch you. That’s what he’s saying. But but but in the story, there’s a little bit of, of questioning. Like, does Paul not know who this is? And there’s a good possibility that either Paul is saying this rhetorically, almost mockingly back. But I really think that what most likely has happened here is Paul’s been gone long enough that he doesn’t know the new high priest in his position. And so Paul speaks in such a way. That’s not not kind, nor is it good for the Jewish people according to their law, to reply.
And so this is where Paul acknowledges his mistake in, in what he’s done. But but you’re seeing Luke, right? Like Paul is in a difficult spot. And so he’s acknowledging the adversity of Paul. And number two is this walk wisely. Walk wisely. Just because we recognize God’s in control, that doesn’t mean just go do stupid things and say God’s in control. You know, he’ll just take care of this. We we’ve got to walk wisely. And I love what Paul does here because it says. Verse six, 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’s with respect to the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I’m on trial. 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 was no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledged them all. Verse nine then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply, we find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? And when the dissension became violent, the Tribune. Afraid what? 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.
Bring him to the barracks. Let me stop there. Let me just explain what’s happening. Paul was first captured by an angry mob that he didn’t want. The second time, Paul was responsible for creating an angry mob that he did want. And he does this in a brilliant way because he realizes when he’s sitting with the Sanhedrin. This is the ruling Jewish people that made up the Sanhedrin is a class called the Sadducees, and another group called the Pharisees. And they don’t always get along. But the one thing they’re getting along about in this particular moment is how much they hate Paul. And Paul realizes in coming to a room like this, that if he sticks around for long, it’s just not going to work out. So Paul decides, you know what? I’m going to get him to hate each other so I can leave. And that’s what he does. And the way he does it is by bringing up the resurrection, because the Sadducees didn’t believe in a resurrection, and the Pharisees did. So Paul comes in and says, here’s a bomb deal with that, and walks out. That’s what happens in this story, because he recognizes in the situation that this is not a this is not a place where God’s hand is is moving at the moment. And I think it’s important for us to consider when we go through adversity, because sometimes we try to force God’s will, God’s movement, and what we rather need to do is just look where God’s hand is working and join him in that walk wisely.
Number three is this remember who is who has ultimate authority. And this is what God reminds Paul in this story. And one of the things I love about verse 11, it reminds us how human Paul is because any of us facing challenges like this, we’re we’re going to question God. Before I take a step forward, just can you remind me that you’re with me? Can you let those words chosen in you echo in my heart because God I can see in front of me and it’s looking difficult. But if you’re willing to walk with me, I can do this. And in verse 11, this is what God reminds Paul of. As Paul no doubt is facing challenges. It says 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. And Paul, Paul is told by the Lord, look, really, he’s saying, Paul, this isn’t easy right now, and I’m not going to take away the struggle yet, but rather, I’m going to use this struggle. And not only is it going to be used in Jerusalem, you’re going to go all the way to Rome with this. You can imagine how amazed Paul would be with that kind of a statement, like, how am I sitting in a jail in Jerusalem, going to find myself all the way in Rome? And if ever you’re in a moment that seems like a moment of impossibility, that’s where Paul is.
And when we face adversity, we think the same things. God, how could you possibly bring good out of this? But by by the grace of God, we learn to experience the way that the Lord desires to move. And it’s not this parenthesis. Well, as soon as we get past the struggle, but rather it’s to say, open your eyes in the midst of the struggle because God still working. And so, Lord, how can you use the the pain of my past or the adversity of my moment for your glory? And Paul’s life becomes that example in this very personal way as as he’s wrestling with it. But he’s, he’s reminded of the one who is ultimately in control. And sometimes when we face struggles, we get so fixated on the struggle that we forget about the God who walks with us. And so the last point is this trust the Lord’s plan. Trust the Lord’s plan. And you can imagine Paul’s like, how in the world am I going to get to Rome? Well, he finds out in the very next verse. And I got to give you kind of the summary of this, because we’re running out of time. But in verse 12, it tells you when it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath to neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
So there’s these 40 individuals that made this oath that, you know, it’s either their death or his, and they’re not going to eat or drink till Paul’s dead. And the plan they concoct is say, okay, Roman, or excuse me, Jewish leaders lied to the Roman leaders to the point of lying. Now, for the purpose of murder. Lied to the Roman leaders to have them bring Paul back to us so that we can put them on trial again. But as he’s on his way here, we’re all going to jump out and yell surprise! And then we’re going to kill him. Right. So that’s the that’s their plan. But as they’re saying this, you find out in verse 16 that Paul actually has a nephew and his nephew finds out about this ambush. And in verse 17, he goes back and tells Paul. He tells Paul what’s going to happen to him, because during this time, sometimes people had access to those that were in prison. And, and no doubt Paul’s nephew does because he goes back and he tells Paul, and Paul says to his nephew in verse 17, and all go back and tell the Roman leaders This is that this is going to happen. So they did. And the Roman leaders then decided they need to do something drastic with Paul’s life because he’s in danger. And in verse 21, it tells us and recognizing this, if we skip on, let me go further.
It tells us in verse 23, then he called two of the centurions and said, get ready. 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea as the third hour of the night. So in the middle of the night, they’re yanking Paul out of jail so that no one is aware. And they’re leading Paul with hundreds of soldiers to the coast, to all the way to Caesarea and from Caesarea. He ultimately will go to Rome. But. But here you see the divine hand of God working. Here’s what’s incredible. It’s throughout Paul’s journeys, Roman authorities were the ones who imprisoned him and beat him. But now God has orchestrated in such a way that the Jewish people who have risen up against him and these Roman authorities, who often imprison him and beat him, had become the catalyst for God to accomplish his will in this world. What man intended for evil God has used for good. God is so good that he’s able to use even rebels to bring about his purpose in this world. Those who who oppose the Lord. And sometimes we go through some of the the worst things in life, and we may not understand why God could allow it, but we’re reminded in this passage how how God orchestrates those things as a chosen one. If we just keep in mind two things about the Lord.
He’s always in control, and he loves you more deeply than you can imagine. God, I may not always see how you’re going to work it out in this life, but Lord, I know you’ll work it out for your glory and my goodness, because you’re in control and you love me. I’ll close with this last illustration, but there’s a story of passengers on an airplane that were traveling in the midst of a storm, and it was a terrible storm, a lightning storm they found themselves caught up in. And it’s so terrible that the lights are flickering. The the plane is bouncing around, losing altitude significantly. It got to such a drastic moment that even the oxygen masks just dropped out of the top of the plane, and when the passengers finally saw that, they just started to spiral, some of them just yelling out of panic, others yelling because they’ve dropped to their knees and they’re just praying out loud for the Lord to spare them. I mean, it’s just an absolute chaos. They feel like it’s the end. They don’t even they’re not sure what’s going to happen. They realize it’s it’s likely coming to their demise. And so in the midst of all of this panic, there’s this one lady who happens to look over from her aisle and, and all of the chaos she sees everyone impacted but one individual. This one person sits so calmly and she’s bewildered by this. So much so that it trapped her in that moment that she became unaware of all the chaos around her because her mind became fixated with this one individual who was so calm in the midst of the storm.
Eventually, the place the plane got to this place of of calmness again, the turbulence was gone. And and it went back to this serene moment of like, nothing happened. But recognizing how calm this individual was, she decided to ask them. And what made the moment even more unique is that it was a child. And so she leans over to the child and she just simply says, out of all the the chaos that was going on around us, how did you remain so calm and just continue to color your book despite the panic of other people? To which the child just gave one line. My father’s the pilot. It was in that moment that that that woman had learned that child had all the confidence in the world because, well, he’s he’s probably experienced this, but he’s got confidence in who’s directing the plane. And guys, it’s the same for us and all the problems that we face. We so quickly forget that there is a God over it all and that God loves you far deeper than anyone in this room could ever imagine. And sometimes we’re reluctant to want to let go, to trust in the one who’s going to lead us forth. But when we do, God’s glory made known.