Divine Assurance and Faithfulness Amidst Adversity

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem so you must also bear witness at Rome.” And when it was day some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. [00:09:43]

So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” And so he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul, the prisoner, called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. [00:01:19]

And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.” Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And the next day they left the horsemen to go on with him and return to the barracks. [00:03:26]

And listen to what he says to him. He says, “Paul, be of good cheer, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem so you must also bear witness in Rome.” Again, remember the great commission at the day of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. When he left his disciples he said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth.” [00:11:37]

And he says to Paul, “Be of good cheer.” I think that’s one of those times when I think sometimes the English just doesn’t get it. It doesn’t really grasp the force of it. First of all, it says that Jesus stood by him. That’s weak. The words there in the Greek is that Jesus came, in a sense, overshadowing Paul. [00:12:45]

And we read, the very next day some of the Jews bound themselves together. Luke tells us this three times. That they were so convinced that Paul had to die that these forty plus men gathered together and took a sacred vow to go on a hunger strike. They would eat no food, drink nothing until Paul was dead. [00:14:36]

And notice how Paul escapes this one. In verse 16 “When Paul’s sister’s son…” This is the first time we ever heard anything about Paul’s family that whether he had any brothers or sisters. Obviously he had at least one sister, and that sister had a son, and this is a nephew. And we don’t know how in the world Paul’s nephew heard about this plot to kill Uncle Paul. [00:17:26]

I have a friend who’s a minister and he said their family motto is We stick with the stuck. I said, “What’s that?” He said, “I don’t know, but my dad always said ‘We stick with the stuck.’” That means we hang together as a family. That’s where our courage should come, shouldn’t it. In my house every day, every single day when my grandson Michael comes home from school before he says hello, before he does anything, he holds his hand like this Straight up. [00:17:57]

And he’s been wanting me to do that for him from the pulpit for months. So I’m loyal to my grandson. I appreciate his encouragement. And this is here. This is the only time we ever hear of this kid. He goes to heaven and God says, What did you do? And he says to God, Didn’t you read the twenty-third chapter of Acts? He says, I saved the life of my uncle Paul. [00:18:30]

And the commander said, give me four hundred and seventy soldiers. Give me some horses or something for Paul. Put him on that, and at nine o’clock tonight we’re out of here under the cover of darkness. And before these Zealots can find out about it we’ll have Paul safely in Caesarea. And so the soldiers did as they were commanded. [00:20:46]

And then we’re told how Paul was then delivered to Felix. Again, who was Felix? He’s the governor situated in Caesarea, a representative of the Emperor Claudius of Rome. He has great credentials in terms of history. Recently I mentioned a woman who was on television who said, “I don’t even know whether Jesus ever existed because there’s no mention of Jesus in any historical record apart from the Bible,” as if the Bible were not an important historical record. [00:23:30]

And of course she was wrong about that, because there are references in Suetonius and in Tacitus, however brief they are, to Christ. But in the meantime we look at the great historians of the Roman era and the four most important historians of antiquity—Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus, and far away the best historian of them all is Luke the physician—believe it or not, all four of those historians write about this man named Felix. [00:24:54]