Acts 23
COMMENTARY:
: 1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said , Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. (4893 “conscience” [suneidesis] means the soul that distinguishes between what is morally good and bad, moral sensitivity, to know with, to be aware of or to know together.)
DEVOTION: Our morally before Christ is set through the influence of our world on our thought process. Our parents influence our thought process. Our teachers influence our thought process. Our friends influence our thought process. The fall of man in Adam affects our thought process. We are totally depraved. After salvation we can set a different standard to measure our actions, the word of God. Our application of our standard is given to us to help us understand who God is and how HE works. A good standard can be applied to guide us to a good life. The bad influence of our life before Christ can influence our actions even after we have chosen to follow Christ.
Paul had set a good standard for his life and with that standard he could have good actions. Before Christ, Paul had the standard of the Pharisees by which to live. Paul uses this word twenty-four times in Acts and his epistles. He could tell the Pharisees that he had a good or pure thinking process because he had obeyed the Law before his conversion and had obeyed the law of liberty since he followed Christ. The high priest did not like his comment.
We need to let God’s light shine into this part of our life, so that, we can clean up all the garbage we learned from the world, our sin nature and the influence of the devil in our world. What standard have we set for our lives? The Bible? Our Pastor? Religious teacher? Remember that Christ should be our standard. If HE is our standard, our actions will be good.
CHALLENGE: Check out your belief system constantly through the teachings of the Word of God. False beliefs cause us to act sinfully. True beliefs help us become more Christlike.
: 8 For the Sadducees say that here is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. (3670 “confess” [homologeo] mean profess, promise, to concede, declare, admit, say plainly, or to speak one language.)
DEVOTION: We sometimes might think that the liberal and conservative views are something new. We are wrong. They have been around since the beginning of religion. Two views seem to be around for almost any doctrine.
If a conservative says white the liberal says gray or black. Here we find that the two group in the Sanhedrin which was the ruling body of Judaism had both Sadducees and Pharisees in it. The Sadducees were the liberals who didn’t believe in a resurrection after death or that there were really created angels in heaven. The Pharisees believed in a life after death and that angels were around them.
Paul believed in a resurrection from the dead or else he would not have believed that it was Jesus talking to him on the Damascus road. He knew that Jesus had died on the cross. He also believed in angels as his writings show. So here he was in a group that was divided. He used that to his advantage. He told them plainly that he believed like the Pharisees which made the Sadducees angry. They fought amongst themselves.
We are not called to be a Paul but we are called to witness for the LORD. We might be confronted by those who don’t hold to the fundamentals of the faith. We need to take them to the statements of the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit do HIS work in their hearts.
When I was witnessing to a person of another belief regarding the deity of Jesus Christ we had to go to the Bible and I stayed in the Gospel of John and worked through what the Bible stated about the deity of Jesus Christ. Some days I would win the battle and other days I would have to go home and study more. In the end the individual of another religion had to admit that I had convinced him of the deity of Jesus Christ. The group moved him to another area. He was one of their church leaders.
It is not impossible to deal with those of other religions within Christianity. There are many cults that come to our doors that need to understand who Jesus really is and we are the ones who can show them in love. If you feel uncertain call an elder of your church to help. Then you can learn and do it on your own the next time.
CHALLENGE: Grow enough in the Word of God to work with other religious groups about their beliefs. Don’t always just slam the door in their face – give them the answers you have learned.
: 11 And the night following the Lord by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul for as you have testified of ME in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness also at Rome. (2293 “Be of good cheer” [tharseo] means to be of good courage, to have or be marked by confidence or assurance, to be bold, be enheartened, cheerful, or to have courage.)
DEVOTION: Paul had just faced his second run in with the religious leaders of Jerusalem. He knew what to do at that time. He divided them over doctrine. He used to be a Pharisee but now was a believer in Jesus Christ.
As a Pharisee he believed in a resurrection after his life on earth. He also believed that there were angels. His doctrines in this area were very conservative compared to the Sadducees who didn’t believe either of these basic doctrines. There are Bible teachers today that were famous in the past who didn’t believe in angels even though they are taught from the beginning in the Garden of Eden. These teachers were considers conservatives. There is nothing new under the sun as Solomon stated. There have always been liberals and conservatives and most of them don’t agree with each other. It is sad but true that Satan has won the battle in conservative circles by dividing us over doctrines or teachings that should not be fought over.
Now Paul was going to be sent to Rome to witness for the LORD. God knew that the capital of the nation needed the gospel preached. Our capital needs the gospel preached on every street corner. It would be great if there was a revival started in Washington DC. All things are possible with the LORD. Revival starts in our heart first.
Jesus told Paul to be encouraged or of good cheer. Remember he was in jail. The religious leaders wanted him dead. God wanted him to “be of good cheer” in those circumstances. Is God for real? The answer is YES!! HE wants us to rejoice when everything seems to be going wrong in our life. Remember HE has a plan for our life and HE is working that plan.
CHALLENGE: If we are not rejoicing in all circumstances, we are being disobedient to HIM. That isn’t good!!
: 16 And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. (1747 “lying in wait” [enedra] means an ambush, the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise, plot, or an ambuscade.)
DEVOTION: I have many people that I know around the United States. I have spoken from the East coast to the West coast. I have preached in Maine and in Florida and many states in between. The LORD has been very gracious to me and my family.
We have relative scattered in the same directions. So I really like to travel. My wife is more of a home body but I am one who likes to move around the country. Here we have Paul in jail in Jerusalem while he was brought up in Tarsus. He was educated in Jerusalem. Now he is in jail waiting for a trial. He has a relative overhear a conversation of the religious leaders. In the conversation he hears of a plot to kill his uncle. What is he supposed to do? He goes to the jail and tells Paul who send him to tell the chief captain of the plot.
Do you think this all happened by chance? Do you think that it was just fate that the nephew was in that place at that time? The answer is NO!! God had his protection over Paul because HE stated that he was going to be a witness in Rome. So he was going to Rome.
God knows what is happening and he has people in just the right places at just the right time to help us escape the plots of the devil and his evil angels. There is a war going on and we know that we have won the war but there are battles we face every day and the LORD knows what and who we need to help us fight those battles. HE cares for us.
HE tells us when there is one of HIS children who need encouragement and we are to respond with encouragement.
CHALLENGE: I receive calls or email from all over the world helping me to know when someone needs encouragement and I respond. You need to do the same in your world.
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