Have you ever heard the phrase; no good
deed goes unpunished? It’s probably akin to the Scripture, “All who live
Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12.
It’s probably how Paul was feeling about now.
He was in the middle of doing a favor, a good deed for
the Christian Jews, but then the religious Jews stirred up the mob and they
attacked him.
The mob would’ve beat Paul to death if the Romans
hadn’t rescued him.
When Paul tried to speak to the mob, they flew into a
frenzy.
Acts 22:24
the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he
should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they
shouted so against him.
That they may know Him
Picture the scene.
Paul was the one beaten. Paul was the one arrested.
Paul, still bleeding from the beating, is the one about to get whipped in a
Roman interrogation.
Why?
Sadly, because the mob has influence.
It shouldn’t be this way, but the spoiled child
screams and cries and throws a fit, because it works.
The mob shouts and protests and riots, because it
works.
The peacemakers appease the child, cave in to the mob,
just to regain some peace and order and figure out what happened.
In the process, many times, the innocent pay, and the
mob goes free.
However, there’s more here to the story than what
meets the eye.
Tune out the chaos and confusion and noise of the
crowd and we can hear the heartbeat of someone searching.
Twice the heart of the commander is revealed. Verse
24: “That he may know why they shouted so against him.” Then
again in verse 30: “He wanted to know for certain why he was accused
by the Jews.”
On the outside he was just doing his job, but on the
inside was he wondering what was so different about this man, that made the mob
so mad?
Perhaps he pondered about another Man that not so long
ago in that same town had the same effect on the mob. Did he hear the disciples
speak of how that Man died and rose again?
Maybe he marveled at how they faced death with courage
and conviction rarely seen in the bravest of soldiers.
Did he long to know Someone as, intimately, intensely,
as they knew the Man they called Jesus?
Did he want to believe in something as strongly they as
they believed in this thing they called Eternal Life?
Jesus prays it like this:
John 17:3.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Lord, through the noise and confusion and
chaos of the crowd, help us to see those who are searching, flow through us to
them, so that they may know You and receive You and have Eternal Life
with You.
25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion
who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and
uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the
commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”
27 Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a
Roman?”
He said, “Yes.”
28 The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this
citizenship.”
And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
That I may know Him
Verse 25 Bound with thongs? No, not weirdo
underwear.
Leather straps, bound him to a whipping post in
preparation for scourging.
Of course, Paul knew it was not legal to bind
or punish a Roman citizen without allowing the opportunity to state his case,
to defend himself.
The punishment intended for the accused could fall
upon the accuser if they violated this law.
Paul was born in the Roman empire, in the city of
Tarsus; thus, he knew he was automatically a Roman citizen. More prestigious
than purchasing citizenship, as the commander had done.
Paul knew who he was, a Jew by blood, a Roman citizen
by birth.
He knew this citizenship gave him rights.
So, he played the Roman citizen card.
There’s no shame in that. Why take a beating, if you
don’t need to?
Besides he already had one that day.
Paul knew who he was on earth by birth, but most
importantly, he knew who he was by being born again, as a citizen
of heaven, a child of the King of all the earth.
The other day as I was leaving Church someone outside
asked, “You’re not one of those born again people, are you?”
It was an awesome open door to explain from Genesis to
Jesus what being born again, really means. And then, because I know Him,
I was happy to say, yes, I am born again.
Paul knows Him, that’s why he wrote:
Philippians 3:8-11.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not
having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship
of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may
attain to the resurrection from the dead.
To follow Christ, is to walk in Love. To walk in Love does
NOT mean you are to be walked on as a doormat.
You turn the other cheek, yes.
Take the lowest seat, no problem.
Be servant of all, gladly.
You know doing such things is not lowly or demeaning
but honoring and pleasing to your Lord.
You have
nothing to prove to the world, and the world has nothing to offer you.
2 Timothy 1:12
I am not ashamed, for I know whom I
have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have
committed to Him until that Day.
Hosea 6:3
3So let us know— let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises,
He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that
water the earth. (Berean Standard Bible).
29 Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew
from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a
Roman, and because he had bound him.
This reminds me of a movie where a man was being arrested,
until he pulled back his shirt and revealed the medal of honor hanging around
his neck.
The soldiers suddenly released him, stepped back and
saluted him.
Knowing Paul was a Roman citizen caused them to step
back.
How much more valuable is the honor of knowing our
great God?
Peter puts it like this:
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who
once were not a people but are now the people of
God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
30 The next day, because he wanted to know for certain
why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded
the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and
set him before them.
The commander, wanting to know for certain why
Paul was accused, brought him before the religious leaders.
The mindless mob might’ve hated Paul for no good
reason, they’re just looking for a reason to riot.
But surely the more refined, educated, levelheaded officers
of religion would see through the foolishness of the mob and settle the matter
in a peaceful manner.
Right?
Acts 23:1 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said,
“Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this
day.”
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded
those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
That all may know Him
Chapter 23 opens with Paul extending an olive branch.
“Men and brethren,” he
calls the very ones who stirred up the mob against him.
But Paul’s olive branch is met with a punch in the
mouth in verse 2. (Maybe Paul invented that phrase, “no good deed goes
unpunished.”)
Paul also said, “I have lived in all good conscience
before God until this day.”
Do you, or have you ever felt guilty? Dirty? Spotted?
Unclean?
Acts 23:1 reveals that all may know Him.
All can be cleansed from the past. All can be free of guilt, spot or wrinkle.
How does this verse say that?
Because Paul says, “I have lived in all good
conscience.” Paul, the once genocidal terrorist against Christians. The guy
who intensely pursued, chased, hunted Christians to the death. (See
last week’s lesson: Diókó.)
If Paul can have his conscience cleansed. If he can
know Him. So can I. So can you. So can all.
3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed
wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be
struck contrary to the law?”
4 And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high
priest?”
5 Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the
high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your
people.’ ”
Speak the Truth in love, even if it's a
rebuke, “You white washed wall”.
But the Word of God trumps all. “I
did not know he was the high priest, brethren; for it is written ‘You shall not
speak evil of the ruler of your people’
Note: Paul did not
apologize. He simply stated the fact that he did not know Ananias was the high
priest, and so he spoke.
He accepted his wrong but stood by the Truth of his
words.
Unafraid and unashamed to speak Truth to power.
6 But when Paul perceived that 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; concerning the hope and resurrection of the
dead I am being judged!”
7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For Sadducees say
that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess
both.
Sadducees don’t believe in afterlife, no heaven, no
angels, this is all you get.
That’s why Sadducees are so sad you see. 😊
Paul must’ve been tired of fighting, so he throws a
bone he knows the Pharisees and Sadducees will fight over. The resurrection of
the dead.
9 Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the
Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but
if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”
Now Paul has some allies.
Now it’s nice to watch a fight rather than being on
the receiving end of one.
10 Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander,
fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to
go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.
God is not the Author of confusion, or division. However,
He has used it in the past. He is Sovereign. 2 Chron. 20:22. As soon as they
began singing, the LORD confused the enemy camp.
This didn’t take an act of God. Paul just knew how to
trigger them by bringing up a subject they always fought over.
As Paul expected, a great division broke out.
The sad part is, those are the people who profess Godliness,
who profess to know the LORD, and the Word. They should be united in peace and faith.
And yet, the Romans are the ones to bring peace, the secular
law steps in to keep the peace amongst those who ought to be peacemakers.
Oh Lord God, we Your Church have fallen so
far, we’ve fought amongst ourselves enabling secular Godless governments to
rise and rule the world. Forgive us. Have mercy on us. Revive US again, to be
Your glorious Church without spot or wrinkle.
So that all may know You.
11 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.”
That all may know Him.
Through this tangled web, Jesus steps in and weaves a
golden thread, His Divine Plan, His wonderful ways, into the wicked ways of
man.
So that all may know Him.
This is to help complete His Divine Plan stated in
Acts 1:8.
Acts 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
From Rome, the Holy Spirit, used Paul to pen books
that preached the gospel to the ends of the earth, and will do so until the end
of this age.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, we want to know You, to love
You, so intensely, that Your love shines through us to all those around us, so
all those You’ve given us, know You too.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
Call or text: 612-554-2522
Email: pray4measap@aol.com
Facebook: Church at WPV
Books: amazon.com/author/dougspurling
Watch online:
Facebook: To Know Him, Acts
22:24-23:11
You Tube: To Know Him, Acts
22:24-23:11
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s Seed for you
to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
No comments:
Post a Comment