Acts 25:1-27
Prayer: Father, we bow before Your glorious name. We confess that we are self-centered creatures and so often we can only think of ourselves. But we acknowledge this world, this story, our lives are for Your glory. So we ask for your Holy Spirit to be given to us now so that we might not miss the point, so that our hearts might be truly turned to You, and by beholding Your glory, may this word be a real encouragement to our hearts. Glorify your name in the preaching of this word, and may we go from this place praising you. Amen.
Introduction
This is a longer stretch of text describing the ongoing political grind surrounding Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea. This is something of the quiet before the final storm of the end of Acts (literally). But it contrasts with all the action of most of the book: prison breaks, healings, mass conversions, and controversy all to (seemingly) land with a thud of several years in a prison – a long slog.
Where is the fruitfulness of this? Sometimes the assignments of God are intense (moving, job changes, sickness, starting businesses, marriage, war, etc.); sometimes He acts in open and obvious ways and answers to prayer. But sometimes the assignments of God and His answers to prayer include a lot of waiting, patience, and maintenance obedience. And that can sometimes tempt us to discouragement, doubt, anxiety. But He is still at work. And sometimes the assignment is your heart, your attitude, your walk with the Lord. Yes, maybe you are waiting. Are you waiting faithfully? Stop blaming your circumstances, your spouse, your children, your job – you are responsible before God. We just said that we lifted our hearts up to the Lord. What did you lift up? Is it a fearful heart? A discouraged heart? An angry heart? A bored, disinterested heart?
The Text: “Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem…” (Acts 25:1-27)
Summary of the Text
The new Roman governor Festus immediately visited the Jews in Jerusalem, and they asked him to send Paul to them for a trial in Jerusalem, renewing the determination to ambush Paul on the road and kill him (Acts 25:1-3, cf. 23:14). Festus insisted that the Jews come and press their charges in Caesarea, which they did, and when Paul answered, Festus asked if Paul wanted to go to their court in Jerusalem (Acts 25:4-9). Paul insisted that he was innocent, and though he was willing to face death if he deserved it, he appealed to Caesar, and Festus granted the request (Acts 25:10-12). Now as Festus was preparing to send Paul to Rome, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice came to pay Festus honor, and Festus explained to them Paul’s situation (Acts 25:13-21). Agrippa asked to hear Paul, and so he was brought out again, and Festus explained the backstory, asking advice about what he should write Caesar (Acts 25:22-27).
Absolute Sovereignty & Real Freedom & Responsibility
It’s remarkable to note how close to death Paul had come: he barely escaped a mob (Acts 21:21), the Jewish council would have apparently killed him (Acts 23:10), more than forty men took vows not to eat until they had killed Paul (Acts 23:14), and now two years later, another plot has emerged to murder Paul (Acts 25:3). That would have been plenty to tempt Paul to be anxious, stressed, worried, or discouraged. Paul sometimes asked for prayer that he would be bold and not delivered over to his enemies (Rom. 15:30-31, Eph. 6:19).
Now remember that Paul received a supernatural word from the Lord, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11). But even with that clear word, notice that Paul has not been an inactive participant. He didn’t get the word from God and then sit back and watch. The absolute sovereignty of God does not displace human freedom and responsibility – even when there doesn’t seem to be a lot you can do. For Paul, this meant two years of waiting, punctuated with occasional hearings and testimony before corrupt politicians.
The Westminster Confession says, “God, from all eternity, did, by the most holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established” (III.1) Sometimes people ask: do you believe in predestination or free will? Do you believe in the sovereignty of God or human responsibility? And we say, the biblical answer is: yes. We believe in both.
“For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28).
How is this possible? He is God. How is anything possible? Nothing is outside of God’s control, and His control includes the choices and decisions of “second causes.” “Second causes” include things like prayer, preaching, telling the chief captain about a plot to murder you, defending your reputation, waiting patiently for months and years, obeying and having a good attitude today, exhausting appeals, and finally appealing to Caesar. God is sovereign; you are responsible for what you are responsible for.
Christian Life & Ministry
We are not told a lot about these two years in Paul’s ministry, but they seem relatively less exciting and significant – seems like it was a long slog. It could have been tempting to Paul to be discouraged that nothing much seemed to be happening. Remember all the early parts of Acts: prison breaks, being let down out of a window in the middle of the night, many conversions and miracles. Sometimes we are tempted to think of the times of the prophets and apostles as constant miracles and wonders, but sometimes they just spent two years in prison with occasional requests to preach to corrupt politicians looking for bribes.
This underlines the sovereignty of God and the seasons of Christian life and ministry. Sometimes your life and your spiritual life can seem particularly exciting, and other times it can feel like plodding, like nothing is happening. Or maybe it feels like you’re going backwards. Maybe it feels like you’re on one of those walking sidewalks but it’s going the wrong way.
And maybe you say, well, it would be less discouraging if I had a word from God that said, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” You might say it would be helpful if you had a clear word from God that everything will be alright. But you do have a similar word: “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). What is God doing? Preparing you for eternal glory. What was God doing when you were 7 or 17 or 27 years old? Sometimes it may have been obvious, but sometimes it was not very obvious at all. But God was still at work, and what He is doing is a good work.
Applications
Think, pray, and work generationally: What’s 2 years or 10 years or even 100 years compared to eternity? Our duty is to disciple all the nations. Our mission is to disciple Moscow, Idaho. We want to see Moscow city council publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. We want all cities, counties, states, and nations to do so. And this task, the Lord told us, is like a tiny mustard seed that goes into the ground and slowly but surely grows into a great tree. In the middle ages, they sometimes built cathedrals over the course of hundreds of years. Jesus said it is like leavening a large batch of dough. It takes time, but there is important action happening during that time. Your God is still active; He is sovereignly working all things. You are responsible for what you are responsible for. Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Gal. 6:9).
Preach the gospel and the faithfulness of God to yourself – to your own heart: sometimes your slippery soul is the assignment. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Guard your heart – because life is pouring it out of it. Jesus said something similar: it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of his heart. It’s easy to blame Hollywood, the economy, your parents, your boss, your spouse. But Jesus says there is a river flowing out of your heart. Are you guarding it? Is it life and joy and kindness? Or is it fouled and filthy with angst and bitterness and worry. Preach the gospel to yourself. Preach the faithfulness of God to yourself. Preach the glory of God to yourself. Have you ever noticed how often the Psalmist talks to himself? Do you ever talk to yourself?
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Ps. 42:5). “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps. 103:1-2). “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul” (Ps. 146:1).
But you don’t guard your heart and soul by trying to grab hold of it – that’s like trying to fish barehanded. You guard and tame your heart by opening all the windows and letting the light of Christ shine on it. And that light is the love and faithfulness and sovereignty of God. Jesus was crucified, buried, and on the third day rose from the dead for you and your salvation, for you and your eternal joy, for you and the healing of all the nations. Preach that message to your heart. Open up the windows of your heart and let that brilliant light shine in. And you do this by being in the Word regularly. Open the blinds by opening the word. And then you tell your soul to sing praises. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Prayer: Father, please press all of this into the corners of our hearts. Please do not let us be distracted or get off the point. You are good and faithful and true, and nothing our hearts desire compares with You. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You. So please give us this Sabbath rest, the rest of worshiping you, praising you, and so make our hearts fountains of life, so that we might not grow weary in doing good. We ask for this in the strong name of Jesus, who taught us to praying, singing…
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