Acts 23:11-35 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem… In the story of the sack of Troy, Virgil has told us of the coming of Venus to AEneas to persuade him to abandon the useless defence of the city. She dispels the cloud which dims his vision, and enables him to see invisible deities who assist the Greeks in their work of conquest and destruction. AEneas now learns that he has done battle, not against "flesh and blood," but against spiritual forces mightier than all the powers of earth. The classic story clearly pictures the natural blindness of men to the spiritual forces which overrule their lives, and the special favour bestowed upon him whose eyes are opened to see events in the light of the unseen world. And this is the great lesson here. I. GOD IS EVER PRESENT AND ACTIVE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS. Not always manifestly. The young man who stood by the side of Elisha at Dothan saw nothing at first to persuade him that God was present. But when his eyes were opened he saw that "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire." The forty conspirators here sought no help and feared no hindrance from the hand of God, although their design was made in the name of their religion. But when the fruits of religion are hatred and wrath and thirst for blood, God is not in it. The help to which these men turned was their own cunning. "If we can manage Claudius Lysias," they said, "nothing shall save Paul." And yet God was present and active, giving them freedom to make their plans, and some degree of freedom in executing them, but keeping results in His own hand. So, let us believe, He always works. II. GOD'S AGENTS IN THESE EVENTS WERE BLIND TO THIS TRANSCENDENT FACT. 1. Claudius Lysias was unconscious of anything of the sort. He was only a shrewd man, bent upon extricating himself from perplexing difficulties. Alarmed by the, to him unaccountable, violence of the Jews, and disturbed by his non-recognition of a Roman citizen, he fixed upon the plan of sending Paul to Caesarea, as a safe way of relieving himself from further responsibility. 2. More culpable was the blindness of the chief priests and elders and conspirators. How came it that they, belonging to the nation chosen of God to receive the special revelation of His will, were so blind to His purposes? The answer is: Their moral blindness was a result of past sins. We can see God in His plans and wishes only along the line of a sincere and holy purpose. III. THE APOSTLE WAS THE ONE MAN OF OPEN VISION. Nothing in his outward condition had power to obliterate or to disturb his sense of God's nearness, and of His infinite grace. The Roman barracks had been to him a Bethel. 1. To find the reason for this vision we must go back to the very beginning of Paul's Christian life. In the saying, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision," is to be found the reason why at critical moments in his life the Lord "stood by him" to reassure his heart. There is a wonder working instrument of science, by the aid of which one may hear the voice of a friend who is in the heart of a distant city. So upon devoutly attentive ears there may fall, distinct and musical, the still small voice of God, which not all earth's many voices can drown. 2. The apostle's assurance of God's presence led him not to a passive reliance, but to cooperation. As he saw the power of the Roman soldiery enlisted in his behalf, he gladly availed himself of their protecting care. When the young man came into his presence to reveal the plot of the conspirators, be immediately availed himself of this information, and laid claim to the help of the chief captain. (W. G. Sperry.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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