May I please God to bless us
together this evening as we continue our meditation in the Acts of
the Apostles. And this evening we'll meditate
on chapter 25 and the first 12 verses. From verse 1 to verse
12. Now when Festus was come into
the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to
Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the
chief of the Jews informed him against Paul and besought him,
and desired favour against him, that he would send for him to
Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. But Festus answered
that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart
shortly thither, Let them therefore, said he, which among you are
evil, go down with me and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness
in him. And when he had tarried among
them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea. And the next
day, sitting on the judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought. And when he was come, the Jews
which came down from Jerusalem stood around about, and laid
many in grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. Well, he answers for himself,
Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple,
nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all. But
Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul and
said, Will thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these
things before me? Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's
judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews have
I done no wrong. as thou very well knowest. For
if I be an offender, or have committed anything worthy of
death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none of these
things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them.
I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred
with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? and to Caesar shall they go. I suppose this is one of the chapters
in the Acts of the Apostles which is seldom preached upon and yet
there is instruction to us today to observe how the Lord is on
the throne and how God is able to deliver the godly out of situations
which they knew nothing about. And yet here in this instance
the Apostle Paul, unknown to him, was really in danger if
Festus had given in to the requirement of the high priest and the others
at Jerusalem. But we see the wonderful overruling
power of the Spirit of God. And it's wonderful to think that
we come today still worshipping this same God. Men may plan,
but they're not able to perform it unless Almighty God allows. Now we have come now to Festus,
who's taken the place of Felix as governor. Now when Festus
was come into the province after three days, he ascended from
Caesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the
chief of the Jews informed him against Paul and besought him. We can see that as soon as he
came there, really, the high priest, who should have known
far better, and the chief of the Jews were so keen on having
the Apostle Paul judged that he might be put to death. It
seems almost as soon as Festus arrived in Jerusalem, they brought
him this request and desired favour against him. That means,
really, They desired to have that brought about, which really
wasn't just. They wanted a favour. A favour
from Festus. Well, there's no evidence that
Festus was a godly man. But nonetheless, we see how God
gave him that wisdom and how God instructed him to walk in
a certain way. And we still see that, don't
we, today? We're thankful. Sometimes in our Parliament,
Those laws which evil men try to bring onto our statute book
are frustrated for one reason or another. And so we see that
although these people desired his favour of Festus, yet he
answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he
himself would depart with us shortly. Well, there's no real
reason naturally why he should have been kept at Caesarea, why
he should not have been brought to Jerusalem. But of course we
know that once again there was his plan to kill him on the journey
if he was to set forth from Caesarea. And so what a blessing it is
to see that God is in control. And God is in control today.
He has all men's hearts in his hand. and neither Festus nor
these people would have realized the overruling gracious influence
of Almighty God on the Apostle Paul's behalf. And can we not
say, as Paul did say when he wrote to the Romans, and we know
that all things work together for good to those who love God
and to those who are called according to his purpose. And so here the
infestors would not allow the apostle to be brought to Jerusalem. Let them therefore, said he,
which among you are evil, go down with me, and accuse this
man, if there be any wickedness in him. Clearly he was not convinced
that there was, but nonetheless he requests that all those who
have a case against him should go down. And no doubt, as we
know, there was a good company. And so when he had tarried among
them more than ten days, He went down unto Caesarea, and the next
day, sitting on the judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought. So there was no real delay. The
first thing really he did was to sit on the judgment seat and
to command that Paul was brought forth. And when he was come,
the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about. and laid many and grievous complaints
against Paul, which they could not prove. Naturally speaking,
it would have been very daunting, wouldn't it, to think of all
these able people who were there all joined together, they were
all standing around the Apostle Paul, all to accuse him and if
possibly convince Festus that he was worthy of death. But again
we see the gracious hand of God influencing Festus, and Paul
was able to answer for himself. And it was seen that he was not
really afraid of the accusations which had been brought against
him, because he was going, not in his strength, he was going
in the strength of the Lord God. And my friends, what a blessing
it is for us today to know the same truth, that we may go, not
in our strength, but in the strength of Almighty God. And you see,
no one can prevail against the great God. What a blessing it
is to think that we have God on our side, and that God is
with us, and that God is going with us. And so, he says, he
answered for himself, neither against the law of the Jews,
neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar have I offended
anything at all. We've noted, haven't we, as we've
gone through the Acts, how the Apostle was not afraid to tell
the truth. However perhaps difficult it
may have been, and yet he was forthright in all the things
that he was able to declare. And it's an example for us, isn't
it? to be able to declare the reasons. He was able to give the reasons,
as we read previously, when he spoke before Festus, and we shall
read the reasons again, God willing, when he speaks before Agrippa.
And he was not afraid of the great and glorious Gospel, which
he loved. He loved to declare it. He loved
to preach it. He loved to set it before the
people. And he was not afraid. We have
a wonderful example, don't we? Sometimes we may be afraid, we
may be embarrassed. Oh, the Apostle Paul wasn't.
And maybe we have a desire to truly follow the wonderful example
that Paul shows to us. And then we read, but Festus,
willing to do the Jews a pleasure, Again, you can see that he didn't
really want to offend the Jews. He wanted to please them, if
he could. And so, if that's winning, to
do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul and said, won't they go
up to Jerusalem? And there be judged of these
things before me. Now, of course, if he'd gone
to Jerusalem, he wouldn't have been judged by Caesar. He would have been judged by
the high priest and the Sanhedrin and all those who were against
him. It would have been a very biased judgment. And so the apostle
had already set before them the desire that he wanted to go and
to be found at the judgment seat and to be before Caesar. And no doubt he was influenced
very much in the word that God had spoken to him. And it's good
to know, you know, when God speaks a word to us of direction, we
need to stand by it. Remember, in the 23rd chapter,
we read, 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." Well,
that was the word that God had spoken to him. That was the word
of strength to him. And therefore, surely he recognized,
yes, he would go to Rome. and therefore offered this position
at Jerusalem. Really, he had no alternative
but to respond in this way, and he said, I stand at Caesar's
judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. He was a Roman.
To the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have
committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none of these
things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar." Well,
he gave the reasons why he should therefore be judged by Caesar,
but I'm sure also he had in his mind that word of the Lord which
he'd given to him, that he would go to Rome, and the Lord would
be with him at Rome, as the Lord had been with him through his
life, through many changes, many ups and downs, as we've gone
through these chapters in the Acts, and we've seen how God
was wonderfully with him. And so we come to this statement,
and Festus then heard what the apostles said, And he conferred
with the council. That wouldn't have been the Sanhedrin.
It would have been the council in the town. And he therefore
conferred with them. And therefore he brought to Paul
this conclusion. And he answered, Hast thou appealed
unto Caesar? Unto Caesar thou shalt go. And so we see the Lord was with
the apostle. The Lord was appearing for him. His confidence was in his Lord. He wasn't having an easy path. He was imprisoned. And we know
that Felix caused him to be put into bonds, to be bound, and
that Ephesus was the same, so he wasn't quite enjoying the
freedom that he had enjoyed for those two years previously. But
nonetheless, he was still firm in the truth of God, still firm
in that way that the Lord had appointed for him. And it's good
to be able to read and to understand how the Lord did go before, how
the Lord did help him. and delivered him from many situations,
and the situation which we know, we read about here, that those,
the high priests, etc., had this plan to try and kill him. But
the Lord was on the throne, and we can thank God today, the Lord
is still on the throne. The Lord is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The Lord has not changed. The
Lord is still all-powerful. Power belongeth unto God. I know that you and I might have
our faith increased to believe we have a God who can do all
things. All things are possible with
our God. Those things which perhaps appear
impossible to us are possible with God. So as we read an account
like this, may we be encouraged to know that Lord God omnipotent
reigns, He is on the throne, and only those things can come
to pass which He, in His divine counsel, permits. May our hope,
may our confidence be in our God. Amen.