Paul and His Enemies

And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. under a curse...: Or, with an oath of execration And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me? And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council: Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia; I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. - Acts 23:1-35

    It is faith in God's sovereign providence that enables believers to live in this world of woe with peaceful hearts. 'We know', beyond the least shadow of a doubt, 'that all things', without exception, 'work together for good', eternal, spiritual good, 'to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose' (Rom. 8:28). God is on his throne! Though we cannot always see immediate good in what he does, we know that he is doing good. Therefore our hearts are kept in peace, even in the midst of troubles, trials and temptations. One marked feature of the book of Acts is its evident display of God's sovereign providence constantly bringing good out of evil for the accomplishment of his own purposes. Acts 23 gives us an instructive example of this fact. Four things are set before us in these thirty-five verses of the inspired record that need to be clearly understood and constantly remembered.

    1. The gospel of Christ is offensive to men (23:1-10)

    We must always carefully avoid offensive attitudes, actions and words, but we must never expect natural men and women to receive, embrace, or even be tolerant of, the gospel of Christ. Natural men are tolerant of every opinion and every religion of man's making. But the gospel of Christ-the truth of God, the religion of the Bible, the message of free salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, the message of salvation by blood atonement, imputed righteousness and divine regeneration is offensive to all unregenerate men (1 Cor. 1:18-25). It is offensive because men, by nature, hate God (Rom. 8:7). The gospel of Christ exposes man's depravity, sin and spiritual impotence (Matt. 15:19; Rom. 3:9-19; Eph. 2:1-4). It nullifies man's goodness, reveals the evil of man's righteousness and denounces man's religion as a worthless thing (Isa. 1:2-15; Amos 5:21-23). The gospel proclaims that salvation is by grace alone, without works (Rom. 11:5-6; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9). These things the natural man will not tolerate. The terrible uproar at Jerusalem was caused by one thing. Paul had preached God's sovereign, electing, distinguishing, saving grace, and the Jews hated it. Enraged, they cried, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live' (22:20-22; cf. Luke 4:25-29). With that as the background, read again Paul's speech before the Jewish Sanhedrin and its results (23: 1-10).

    Admire the boldness of God's servant (23:1-5). The Roman commander brought Paul in and set him before this bloodthirsty mob to be examined by them. But Paul was not intimidated. Even in bonds, he was bold for Christ. He told these men that his life had always been one of integrity, which they all knew to be true (23:1). Throughout his life, Paul was a man of principle. He was saying, 'I have always done what I thought was right for the glory of God.' Even before he was converted, he did what he did with zeal for God, though his zeal lacked knowledge (Phil. 3:6).

    As soon as Paul said that, Ananias commanded him to be hit in the mouth (23:2). Paul responded in a blaze of anger and indignation: 'God shall smite thee, thou whited wall' (23:3). He called Ananias a hypocrite (cf. Matt. 23:27) because he pretended to judge according to the law, but commanded him to be smitten contrary to the law. Self-righteous men who pretend to live by the law and judge others according to the law are hypocrites, for none of them obeys the law (1 Tim. 1:6-7; Gal. 6:12-13).

    This word from Paul was obviously an inspired word of prophecy. Five years later, this man, Ananias, was stabbed to death. In the same way, there is a day coming when God will avenge his elect by smiting their enemies with the rod of his wrath. When Paul was challenged for making this statement about Ananias (23:4), he responded, 'I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people' (23:5; Exod. 22:28). No doubt, Paul knew that the Jews regarded Ananias as the high priest. He was not an ignorant man. But he also knew that the Jewish priesthood had degenerated into nothing but a pretentious show, that the typical priesthood of the Old Testament had been fulfilled and thus nullified by Christ and that there is no high priest before God but Jesus Christ, the sinner's substitute (Heb. 7:24-25; 10:1-14; 1John 2:1-2). Paul's words in verse 5 have a tone of sarcasm in them. It is as though he were saying, 'Him—a high priest! If that man was God's high priest, I would not speak evil of him.'

    Then the apostle outwitted his enemies (23:6-10). He knew the Pharisees and Sadducees were enemies. The Pharisees were self righteous legalists, but they did believe the letter of the Scriptures and tenaciously defended the doctrines of immortality and the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees were liberals. The only time the two ever got together was to crucify Christ or persecute his people. Knowing their hatred of one another, Paul said, 'I am a Pharisee,' and got the two groups fighting one another. He made no compromise. In all points of doctrine wherein the Pharisees differed from the Sadducees, Paul was still a Pharisee. He hoped for and believed in the resurrection of the dead. Once the two groups started fighting, the chief captain sent his soldiers to bring Paul back into the castle, lest he be pulled to pieces by them.

    2. The Lord Jesus Christ is always faithful to his own (23:11)

    After two days of constant harassment, the Lord made himself known to his afflicted servant. Christ never leaves or forsakes his own (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5). We are never alone, but we do not always sense our Lord's presence. So in our darkest hours he appears and causes us to know that he is with us (Dan. 3:25). Perhaps Paul had become despondent. Perhaps he feared he had made a mistake in ignoring the warnings of his friends about coming to Jerusalem (20:16; 21: 13). Perhaps he feared he might never reach Rome. So, 'The Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome' (Ps. 42:11; Isa. 41:10; 43:1-5; 46:4).

    3. Our God wisely and sovereignly rules all the events of providence for good (23: 12-35)

    God rules all things absolutely for the eternal good of his elect and the accomplishment of his eternal purpose, for the glory of his own great name (Ps. 76:10; 115:3; 135:6; Rom. 8:28-30; 11:36). It was the wrath of wicked men that carried Paul to Cresarea and ultimately to Rome. God took the evil conspiracy of a band of Jewish zealots (terrorists) and brought good out of it. Because they plotted to kill Paul, God moved a pagan Roman commander to send Paul on his way under the protection of 470 soldiers! When he arrived at Cresarea and was brought before Felix, the governor, the latter said, 'I will hear thee . . . when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgement hall' (23:35).

    4. The saints of God in this world are a harmless and blameless people (23:29)

    The Jews sought every way imaginable to bring an accusation against Paul, but they found none. They hated him. They wanted to kill him, but he was a man of blameless reputation. His life adorned his doctrine. May the same be true of us (Titus 2:1O; Phil. 2:14-16). If we faithfully confess Christ before men, we shall meet with opposition, as Paul did. When men oppose us, the Lord will stand by us, as he stood by Paul. Let us confidently trust our heavenly Father's wise and good providence and seek, for the glory of his name, to live blamelessly before men.