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"THE LORD STOOD BY HIM"
--ACTS
23:11-22.--MAY
10.--
"The
Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer."
AFTER the exciting
experiences of our last lesson the Apostle must have felt somewhat
depressed in spirit and discouraged. True, he had passed through
equally great trials amongst the Gentiles, but here, amongst his own
people, and in the City of the Great King, the opposition to the
gospel would be much more inclined to make him heart-sore. Besides,
he evidently had come to Jerusalem full of the thought that under the
Lord's providence he might accomplish a considerable work amongst his
kinsmen according to the flesh, and rescue some of them before the
great overthrow which he realized was impending. It was in this time
of great mental stress that the Lord so graciously communicated with
him by a dream, [R3190
: page 141] as
declared in the first
verseof
our lesson. What an encouragement it must have been! and the fact
that it was given is an assurance that it was needed; for the Lord
very rarely indeed interposes miraculously in the course of events
unless there is special necessity. On two other occasions, when the
Apostle was in straits, the Lord manifested his favor and encouraged
him in like manner.--Acts
18:9,10; 27:24.
How
much the Apostle must have felt strengthened by this vision, and
assurance of divine care, we can well imagine. Nevertheless, the Lord
was as truly with him and as fully caring for his interests as on
other occasions, when no vision attested the fact: and he is with us,
his followers of today, in like manner; and doubtless the visions
granted to the Apostle were destined of the Lord to be an
encouragement for "all who should believe on him through their
word." The Apostle's visions serve us as they served
him--assuring us also that the Lord is with his people, and is able
to care for and protect and guide and bless our efforts today, as
eighteen centuries ago. But to have the Lord thus with him and to
feel good cheer in the Lord's presence implied the fullest sincerity
and zeal on the part of the Apostle to do and to be all that would
please the Master; and similarly we can enjoy his presence and
appropriate to ourselves the message, "Be of good cheer,"
only in proportion as our hearts can realize that, however imperfect
our labors for the truth and for the brethren, they are done "as
unto the Lord" and to the best of our ability.
The
day before this vision, by order of the Roman commander, the Apostle
was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, of which the high priest,
Ananias, was president. The Apostle was permitted to address the
Sanhedrin, and began by declaring himself a Jew, who had always lived
in full harmony with the laws of his country--an honorable citizen.
It was at this time, it will be remembered, the high priest, possibly
thinking this language a reflection against himself (for he had an
unsavory reputation), ordered an attendant to smite the Apostle on
the mouth--an insult not at all uncommon in the East at that time,
and, to some extent, even to this day. The Apostle, justly indignant,
exclaimed, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall; for sittest
thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten
contrary to the law?" One who stood near him replied, "Answerest
thou God's high priest so?" and the Apostle replied, "I
wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written,
Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." It is
uncertain what the Apostle meant by this language. It may be his
defective eyesight did not recognize Ananias. Or, possibly, he meant
to be understood as questioning the right of Ananias to the title of
high priest. Or, in view of the fact that the antitypical high priest
is the Lord Jesus, and that the typical priesthood came to an end at
the time of Christ's glorification, the Apostle may have had that in
mind. However, he acknowledged the teaching of the law in respect to
the officers of the government, to render honor to whom honor is due;
and there is a lesson here for all of us in this day, when we find so
many disposed to "speak evil of dignitaries," and bring
railing accusations against them. The attitude of the Lord's people
should be a very conservative one in such matters--in harmony with
Michael's words to the Adversary, "The Lord rebuke thee!"
Reasoning
that he would have scant courtesy from such a tribunal, and knowing
that its members were about equally divided as between Pharisees and
Sadducees, and that the high priest was a Sadducee, the Apostle
appealed to the Pharisees that it was a case in which the Sadducees
were trying to do him injury because of his religious faith, much of
which was shared in by the Pharisees; and that a Sadducee, in
violation of the Law, had just caused a Pharisee to be smitten in the
mouth. He thus to some extent gained the sympathy of the Pharisees by
declaring that he was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, and that the
real animus of the opposition against him was on the score of the
resurrection of the dead--for the Pharisees believed in a
resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees denied it. Immediately
there was a contention in the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees to some extent
espousing the Apostle's cause, as against their adversaries, the
Sadducees. The meeting broke up in disorder, the Roman commander,
Lysias, rescuing Paul and removing him, and thus causing the
excitement to abate.
The
honesty and propriety of Paul's claim to be a Pharisee has been
questioned by some, but we regard their contention as without
foundation. The Apostle was a Jew; so were the Pharisees, and a Jew
may have either more or less piety without its affecting his
nationality. The Pharisees claimed to be strict believers of the Law
of Moses--believers in all that Moses and the Prophets did write, the
name Pharisee signifying holiness or completeness in the observance
of the Law. Paul had all his life been zealous for the Law of God and
for its complete observance, and he was no less so as a Christian.
Indeed, he was more so, for, having realized his own inability and
the inability of all men to keep the Law, he had laid hold upon
Christ, the sent of God, as the one through whom alone he would be
able to keep the Law perfectly, wholly: as he expressed it, "The
righteousness [the full, whole, complete meaning] of the Law is
fulfilled in us [holiness people, complete in Christ] who walk not
after the flesh, but after the spirit." All true Christians
today could make a [R3190 : page 142] similar claim to that of
the Apostle--that we are Pharisees --holiness people--keepers of the
divine law--observers of it in every particular to the extent of
ability, and with all shortcomings and deficiencies made up for us by
our Lord Jesus. We are not under the Law Covenant, for it has given
place to a better one, the original one; but as for the Law itself,
it is God's Law, "holy, just, good," and can never pass
away. It is recognized by us as much as it was recognized by the
holiness people of old, and more so; for we discern, not only its
letter, but its spirit--love for God and love for fellow-men.
The
Jews must have realized that their case against the Apostle would
appear very poorly in the eyes of the Roman commander, seeing that
they were doing the rioting on both occasions, that the Apostle was
the more sedate and willing to reason his cause, and that some of
those supposed to be his accusers had turned to his defense. Meantime
the sympathy of the Pharisees for Paul doubtless cooled off. At all
events, during that night more than forty of the deluded religious
enthusiasts bound themselves to God with a curse that they would kill
Paul. Such an anathema was in effect, "May the divine curse be
upon us if we do not effect the death of this man, whom we believe to
be an enemy of God and of our religion, and whom we believe it to be
our duty to destroy."
They
laid a plot, as follows: They would have the high priest send word to
the Roman commander that the Sanhedrin desired a fresh examination of
the prisoner on some other charges, the intention being that while
the soldiers would be bringing him these forty men would assault and
risk their lives to assassinate Paul. The matter was evidently not
kept as secretly as they supposed, for one of Paul's relatives
learned the particulars. Indeed, we know that it is impossible to
keep anything from God, and that the most secret engagements are,
therefore, powerless to do injury to the Lord's people. Nevertheless,
when the information reached the Apostle he did not say to himself,
God knows all about this matter and will take care of me, and,
therefore, I have nothing to do in respect to it. On the contrary, he
arranged matters so far as he could to defeat the plot--just as
though the entire responsibility for his preservation rested upon
himself. There is a lesson in this which many of God's dear people
need to learn, viz., that each of the Lord's followers is a colaborer
with the Lord in every good work. It is our duty to do all that we
know how to do in proper self-defense and in protection of one
another from the wiles of the Adversary and in the defense of the
cause we serve; but, having done all in our power, having exercised
all the wisdom and prudence we can command, we are to rest our hearts
in the knowledge that the Lord will take care of all that is beyond
our power to control, so that all things shall work together for good
to them that love God.
There
is another lesson for us in the fact that, although the Lord promised
Paul that, as he had been faithful in testifying of him at Jerusalem,
he must also preach the Gospel at Rome, nevertheless this latter
prediction was long deferred of realization. It was over two years
before he reached Rome, and then as a prisoner. We also need certain
lessons of faith. We not only need to believe that the Lord is with
us, and has the care of our affairs, but have need of patience and
perseverance in faith and hope and love; and ofttimes with us, as
with the Apostle, the Lord defers for a long time to complete our
deliverance from adverse conditions--defers for a long time the
opening of the desired door of opportunity in his service. We are to
remember his wisdom as well as his love and power, and to rest
contentedly therein after doing [R3191 : page 142] all within
our power. In Paul's case it may be that conditions at Rome would be
more favorable to his ministry later than they were at this time. It
may be also that the Lord had a work for him to do in the interim as
a prisoner at Caesarea,--amongst the Romans. And so in our affairs:
we are to look for the opportunities of service as they come, and
leave to our Lord the supervision of our life as a whole.
As
a result of the communication of the plot to the Roman captain, he
sent the Apostle under a strong military escort to the Roman capital
of Judea,--Caesarea. There the Apostle, although kept a prisoner, was
doubtless made comfortable, awaiting the trial before the Roman
governor, Felix. The essence of this lesson as a whole, in its
application to us, is expressed in the Apostle's words, "If God
be for us who can be against us?"
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