Acts 23.23-35

WELCOME TO FELLOWSHIP PRAYER REQUESTS PRAYER TEAM ELDERS Unhindered The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth Providence is the divine outworking of all the decrees, the object being the ﬁnal manifestation of God's glory. He directs all things perfectly, no doubt, yet without compelling the human will. He works in the man the desire to do His will (Phil 2:13). The doctrine accordingly is full of comfort. Lewis Sperry Chafer Every believer who meditates on God's providence will sooner or later come to a point where they have to say, "I cannot understand this doctrine fully." Wayne Grudem The sovereignty of God is a very practical doctrine, providing believers with great comfort and encouragement in the face of diﬃcult or even tragic circumstances.

J. Carl Laney Resources

"PROVIDENCE" (Acts 23:12-35) "HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR POWERLESSNESS" (T.H.L Parker) "FELIX" (Acts 23:23-24:9) (Acts 23:24) (Chuck Swindoll) The word providence is one of those that do not occur in the Bible but nevertheless truly rep- (Chuck Swindoll) resent biblical doctrine. There is no Hebrew equivalent for "providence," and the Greek word From Paul's time in protective custody in Jerusalem throughout his transport to Caesarea and translated thus, pronoia, is used only of human foresight (Acts 24:2; Rom. 13:14; for the verb pronoein, Around AD 50, Felix’s predecessor, Cumanus, had made himself an enemy of the Jews. His during his stay in the Praetorium, he surrendered to his powerless position, sandwiched between two see Rom. 12:17; 2 Cor. 8:21; 1 Tim. 5:8). Rather, the Bible uses ad hoc descriptions like "he gives food dispute with the high priest, Ananias, son of Nebedeus, led to a hearing in Rome, where each accused unchangeable circumstances. His response to his powerlessness offers two lessons worth to every creature" (Ps. 136:25), or "he makes springs pour water into the ravines" (Ps. 104:10), the other of sedition against the empire. Meanwhile, back in Judea, Jonathan, the son of Annas, remembering. expressing in concrete situations God's mighty acts toward his children. served as the interim high priest. When Claudius found Cumanus guilty and banished him, Jonathan requested the appointment of Marcus Antonius Felix as procurator. First, refuse to wrestle and learn to rest. When you wrestle, you don't think clearly. When you We must resist the temptation to think about providence generally and independently of Christ. wrestle, you talk much and pray little. When you wrestle, you panic rather than trust. When you It would be possible to draw on certain psalms and the Sermon on the Mount, for example, for a Felix was a freedman, originally a slave with his brother, Pallas, under the daughter of Mark wrestle, you think only about your way, your rights, your plan, your well-being. I'm not saying there's doctrine of God's relationship to creation that had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But since in Christ Antony. Both men rose to prominence after gaining their freedom, with Pallas becoming a secretary of never a time to fight. When fighting can achieve a clear objective without committing a sin, then fight this relationship is established, attempting to understand it apart from him would be a the treasury for both Claudius and Nero. Felix used his family connections and wily politics to skim the for all you're worth. If struggling against your circumstances could make things worse, or when any misinterpretation from the start. In Jesus Christ, God has set up the relationship between himself and surface of scandals without actually getting wet. He somehow managed to make an impression on choice causes more problems than it solves, then it's time to take control of yourself and let God have his creatures, promising to carry through his purpose to its triumphal conclusion. The primal Jonathan, who now led the Annas crime family in Jerusalem. As a result, he became the only governor control of your future. on record to have been a former slave. relationship with Adam, renewed with Noah (Gen. 8:21-22), is no less in Christ than the covenant with Second, release your pressure and claim God's peace. In the book Your Churning Place, Abraham or Moses. Christ the mediator, who is the incarnate Word, establishes this relationship, and in At first, Felix worked hard to control the growing numbers of brigands in the region, outlaws Robert Wise says that everyone has a place where we feel the physical effects of pressure, him God becomes the God of people and they become his people. (The mediator must also be who used robbery and assassination as tools against Roman occupation. He captured and executed tension, anxiety, and frustration. regarded as setting up the relationship between God and creatures other than people.) As their God, many of them, but not all. Some he kept for his own use. After two years of listening to Jonathan’s constant criticism, he arranged to have the interim high priest murdered by the Sicarii, “dagger men,” You discover [the churning place] in the early years of your life. It seems to be located he will take up the responsibility for their earthly existence. an extremist faction of zealots. Soon, however, the plan backfired. Having done the deed, the robbers either near the pit of your stomach or at the base of your neck, where every muscle tightens. Providence may then be viewed from three aspects. used their underworld ties to the procurator to take over the city. One of their leaders was a certain When it begins to turn and pump like an old washing machine, you find that every other area 1. The creation is the stage on which God enacts dealings with humankind. Providence is God's Egyptian false prophet who “stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out of your life marches to its lumbering, dull, paralyzing beat.... gracious outworking of his purpose in Christ. Doctrines of predestination aside, from the beginning into the wilderness” (21:38). Felix cleverly used this revolt as an opportunity to clean up the city, make Nothing exempts us from the relentless process created by haunting memories and bankrupt God ordered the course of events toward Jesus Christ. From the biblical viewpoint, world history and himself a hero to the Romans, and eliminate the witnesses to his earlier crime. While the Egyptian expectancies. As universal as the human heart and head, the existence of the churning place personal life stories possess significance only in light of the incarnation. The squalid story of lust in escaped and was never seen again, Felix killed four hundred of the robbers. cannot be denied. Judah's dealings with Tamar (Gen. 38) takes its place in the Messiah's genealogy (Matt. 1:3). Caesar Scholarly Felix was an opportunist without a conscience. Tacitus described him as one who “practiced And it is not a constructive place. Positive thoughts lead to action and results, but the Augustus was on the throne in Rome for the sake of the unknown baby in its manger. every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of [a] king with all the instincts of a slave.” He used churning place is a tank that fills with anxieties that just settle in to a stagnant infection. 2. According to Acts 14:17; 17:22-30; Romans 1:18-23, God's providence served also the people and circumstances to accomplish his own agenda, which was to gain greater power and God never asked us to meet life's pressures and demands on our own terms or by relying upon purpose of bearing witness among the heathens. God's fatherly care accumulate more wealth. He used Jonathan to get his our own strength. ThisPractical self-reliance produces only an anxious, turbulent existence in which we become was a sign pointing toward himself. Romans 1:20 makes clear that the appointment in Judea, only to have him assassinated. He increasingly hardened and insensitive to God's leading. Earlier in his ministry, Paul had learned the purpose of this witness was simply to render humans inexcusable for used brigandsBackground to carry out his dirty work and then secret to powerlessness-surrender. When Paul stopped wrestling not knowing God. At this point also, therefore, providence is included prosecuted them to vindicate himself. He took bribes and against an issue over which he had no control, he learned to find in the doctrine of reconciliation. decided disputes based on political expediency instead of strength in God's peace. 3. The God who gives life further preserves humans while they justice. He allowed the high priest, Ananias, son of And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for are on earth. God is not a God of the soul alone, but of the body also. Nebedeus, to carry out his corruption and extortion without interference, and then he used his corruption to you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, In Matthew 6:25-34 disciples are reminded (by their Creator himself) of fuel the Jews’ dispute with Syria for his own political gain. therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that their creaturely relationship to God, and they are freed from all anxiety the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well about their earthly future. The other creatures (as exemplified by the For unknown reasons, Felix returned to Rome content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with birds and wildflowers) have been set in a definite relationship to God around AD 59, where Jewish delegates brought a persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I that he faithfully maintains. Will God bestow less care on humans, to complaint against him in court. He would have been am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:9-10) whom he has given a higher place in creation (Ps. 8:6-8)? Behind this convicted if not for another opportune connection. His By releasing control into the hands of God, Paul found doctrine lies God's almighty and loving freedom. brother, Pallas, enjoyed the favor of Nero at the time and successfully pleaded for his acquittal. greater strength than he had ever imagined could be his. In sum, the doctrine of providence tells us that the world and our lives are ruled not by chance or fate but by God, who lays bare his purposes of providence in the incarnation of his Son. That night after the explosive session before the Sanhedrin, the Lord graciously appeared to Paul and assured him that he would witness for him in Rome (23:11). The next day more than 40 Jews banded together under an oath not to eat anything until they had killed Paul. They made their plan known to some of the Sanhedrin , and somehow Paul's nephew heard of it. He in turn informed Paul in prison who sent him to the chief captain who made plans to thwart the conspiracy.

Charles Ryrie He also sent along a letter to Felix stating his belief in Paul's innocence as far as Roman law was concerned and also exalting his own part in the entire matter.

Charles Ryrie PAUL’S JOURNEY TO ROME c. AD 59–60 (Ac 27:1—28:16)

A Rome dr Black Sea ia Three Taverns ti c THRACE S TU Forum of Appius ea D PON S AN IA M AC E D O N Puteoli N I A Y H A A T I I I B A C T e O g e Adramyttium A D a

L A A n Rhegium I P S ASIA A A e P SICILY H a G A Syracuse C A C I A PELOPONNESE AMPH C P YL I Cnidus LYCIA I I L A C Antioch MALTA Myra Seleucia S CRETE Y US A R I CYP R C I I N A Mediterranean Sea E Sidon O

H P Caesarea Gulf of Syrtis Antipatris E N LIBYA Jerusalem I Alexandria ST PALE ARABIA Salmone Phoenix C RETE E GYPT Cauda Lasea Fair R Havens e 0 50 km. d

Wind of hurricane 0 150 km. S 0 50 miles e force–”northeaster” a 0 150 miles PAUL’S JOURNEY TO ROME c. AD 59–60 (Ac 27:1—28:16)

A Rome dr Black Sea ia Three Taverns ti c THRACE S TU Forum of Appius ea D PON S AN IA M AC E D O N Puteoli N I A Y H A A T I I I B A C T e O g e Adramyttium A D a

H P Caesarea Gulf of Syrtis Antipatris E N LIBYA Jerusalem I Alexandria ST PALE ARABIA Salmone Phoenix C RETE E GYPT Cauda Lasea Fair R Havens e 0 50 km. d

Wind of hurricane 0 150 km. S 0 50 miles e force–”northeaster” a 0 150 miles

Caesarea Marítima Questions for WITNESSES Can we really trust that God is working behind the scenes? Does God use unscrupulous people to assist his plan? How central are we to God’s plan? God is Actstelling a story. 23 Are you in it? What does faithfulness look like for you today? Leadership in the Time of Jesus •Roman Government - Caesar, GovernorsGovernors,, Proconsuls •Herodian Rule - Idumean Kings of Judea •Essenes - separatists living in the desert •Zealots - radicals willing to kill for the Nation •Pharisees - conservative legal experts •Sadducees - liberal aristocrats •Scribes - teachers of the law serving as judges •Sanhedrin - counsel (chief priests, scribes and pharisees) As throughout this section of Acts, Paul is the exemplary ﬁgure. He acknowledges God not only in his words but also by the very manner he faces the diversity of response [to his message]. He also uses the opportunity he has to be a testimony to God. Darrell Bock PROTECTION Sometimes God intervenes with overwhelming power and provision. Be Prepared! Acts 23:23-25 PROTECTION Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.” Acts 23:23-25 In a time when there was increasing unrest in Judea that will eventually explode into open revolt [in 70 AD, 13 years later], the precaution of ordering 470 soldiers to transport Paul to Caesarea is not farfetched. David Garland PROCEDURE In the midst of turbulent times, pursue the clear truth.

Be Determined! Acts 23:26-30 When a prisoner was forwarded to a superior, the subordinate oﬃcer was required to accompany the subject with a written statement of the case.

Stanley D. Toussaint PROCEDURE He wrote a letter as follows: Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him. Acts 23:26-30 Felix’s rule began in AD 52 or 53 and likely ended in AD 59 or 60, when he was recalled for his failure to deal well with Jewish violence. Felix’s rule was violent and chaotic, as the Zealots began to emerge during this time. In defense of Roman authority, he ruthlessly tried to put them down, only heightening the violence. Darrell Bock Antonius Felix He reveled in cruelty and lust exercising the power of a King with the mind of a slave.

Tacitus (Roman Historian) His letter highlights three crucial points. First, Paul was a Roman citizen, which obligated Felix to fulﬁll his duty as a representative of Rome. Second, Paul was not guilty of violating any Roman law; otherwise, Lycius could have handled the matter on his own. Third, the Jewish subjects were angry enough to murder Paul, which made their dispute a state matter with signiﬁcant political implications.

Chuck Swindoll Statements about Paul's innocence appear repeatedly in Acts (24:19-20; 25:25; 26:31; 28:18). Gallio draws a similar conclusion earlier in Acts (18:15). This detail is important to Luke: a neutral outside party assesses the issue and determines that there is no real threat to Rome, only an internal Jewish religious debate. Darrell Bock Luke’s stress on Paul's blamelessness before the Roman law is a major theme of this entire passage.

Ajith Fernando In any case, as we read the letter, we cannot help smiling. The Tribune was substantially accurate in describing how he had rescued Paul, giving him special treatment as a Roman citizen, brought him before the Sanhedrin, learned that the charges against him were only religious, not civil or criminal, foiled a Jewish plot against him, sent him to the governor, and ordered his accusers to come and present their case in court.

John Stott We obtain a glimpse of human nature through Claudius Lycius. He takes credit for more than he was really responsible for in protecting Paul, making it sound as if he stepped in and provided the appropriate protection from the start. This tendency to self exaltation, common as it is, still is not exemplary. It is one of the very human touches Luke gives to Acts. Darrell Bock At the same time, Lucius somehow manipulated the facts in order to portray himself in the most favorable light, putting his discovery that Paul was a Roman citizen before his rescue instead of after it, and drawing a discrete veil of silence over his serious oﬀense in binding, and preparing to torture, a Roman citizen. Nine of the principal verbs in his letter are in the ﬁrst person singular. The letter was fairly honorable, but decidedly self-centered. John Stott PRESENTATION We must be patient as the providential plan of God unfolds. Be Patient! Acts 23:31-35 PRESENTATION So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace. Acts 23:31-35 In sum, this passage continues to develop how God has providentially made it possible for Paul to travel to Rome to witness to the empire’s highest levels.

Darrell Bock Questions for WITNESSES God is always working behind the scenes. God does use unscrupulous people to assist his plan. We are important but not necessary for God’s plan. God’s story is all inclusive and He is sovereign. Faithfulness is sometimes active. Faithfulness is always very patient. The sovereignty of God is a very practical doctrine, providing believers with great comfort and encouragement in the face of diﬃcult or even tragic circumstances.

J. Carl Laney •Don’t be afraid; trust in God. •Be thankful for all good things. •There is no such thing as as good “luck” or “chance.”

Wayne Grudem LESSONS FOR WITNESSES

Depend solely on God while you patiently wait for His providence.