Paul’s arrest and his trip to Rome

2008-08-22

01.  Our previous teaching dealt mostly with Paul’s second missionary journey.

02.  The present teaching focuses on his arrest at Jerusalem, trials, trip to and residence in Rome.

03.  We read from chapter 20:22-24:

And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

04.   Just like Jesus, Paul probably ended his ministry by dying for his God, although we are not sure of that.  What we do know from for certain from the Scripture we have just read, is that he knew he was going to suffer terribly and would probably have to lay down his life for Christ.  But now just look at his attitude towards this: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.”  Read these words over and over, write them on the walls of your room and on the doors of your home, burn them into your heart by meditation and Spirit filled prayer: “I consider my life worth nothing, if only ….”  This is the golden key to supernatural Christian ministry that will turn this world upside down for the devil and right side up for God.  His will, not mine.  His glory, not mine.  His Kingdom, not mine.  His comfort, not mine.  His joy, not mine.  Oh, how we cherish and protect our own lives.  How we seek to be comfortable and well supplied.  How we pursue a life without sorrow, care and pressure.  How we seek to receive from God rather than to give to God.  “I consider my life worth nothing, if only ….”  “I consider my life worth nothing, if only ….”  Let us meditate on these words day and night until a few drops of the spirit of Paul have condensed in our own hearts.  Then, together with him, we may be able to say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)  Then, we too, may perhaps understand somewhat why Paul was hesitant to take John Mark with him on a missionary journey which he knew beforehand would wrench every bit of life from them.  What a man.  What a great God that lived within him and made him to be the man that he was.

05.  But now let us continue.  In verses 33 and 34 he tells us a little bit more of how he managed to take the Gospel to some remote areas when he had no outside support:

I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.

06.  On reaching Caesarea, they were accommodated by Phillip the deacon.  There, a prophet, Agabus coming up from Judea, ministered  to him.  We read from verse 10-14.

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, ‘‘The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, ‘‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘‘The Lord’s will be done.

07.  You may very well ask, “But God himself was continually warning Paul that he was going to be arrested.  Why did he not heed this warning? Were his companions not quite right in pleading with him not to go to Jerusalem”? The answer to that question is that they were motivated to say this by their deep affection for Paul.  Their love for Paul caused them to elevate him above the will, plan and purpose of God. This is similar to what Peter did when Jesus told him He was going to be crucified.  Without even thinking, Peter retorted “Far be it from you Lord! This will never be done to you!“ (Matt 16:21).  Did Jesus commend him for his loyalty and love?  No, on the contrary, He rebuked him saying that his words were inspired by Satan and were a stumbling block to Him for He was seeking to fulfil His Father’s purpose in dying on the cross for the sins of men.  Just like Jesus, Paul refused to listen to their appeals.  He understood that he was being forewarned as Jesus was, with the purpose of strengthening and arming him for what was to come.  We should be very careful when counselling Christians when they are going through difficult periods in life.  We may work against God and divert a faithful servant of God from the way of the cross, instead of encouraging him not to flinch but to go all out and finish the race.

08.  Now let us hurry on. When Paul and company entered Jerusalem, the devil had the scene set to get rid of God’s fearless servant. They had hardly been there for a few days, when the prophecy went into fulfillment.  Someone had seen Paul with a Greek in the city and all of a sudden the whole city came into commotion shouting that Paul had brought uncircumcised Greeks into the temple.  So fierce was their anger that the army had to rush in and arrest him to save his life.  But Paul was forewarned and rather that being intimidated he appealed to the squadron leader to afford him the opportunity to address the multitude. 

Did he defend himself and plead for his life?  No, he just poured out the Gospel in a mighty powerful flow of Holy spirit inspired words (see chapter 22).  Of course, they hated these words and almost succeeded in having him lashed with whips but was saved from this by the fact that he was a Roman citizen (verses 23 to 29). Then he was brought to justice before a full sitting of the Sanhedrin, the upper counsel of the Jewish religion.  Paul, speaking with the wisdom inspired by the Spirit, cleverly set his judges up against one another with the result that the court had to be adjourned without having pronounced a verdict. Paul was held in custody overnight by the army.

09.  The more hot headed Jews however, had, had enough of court cases and arguing.  They wanted to kill Paul outright and conceived a plan. This however, came to the attention of the commander who removed Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea under heavy guard. So the conspiracy to assassinate him, failed.  God knew exactly how far He would allow things to go. (Chapter 23 verses 12 to 35).

10.  Now followed a series of trials in the course of which the High Priest at Jerusalem brought diverse accusations against Paul, charges which he could not prove.  In the first trial the Governor Felix presided as judge.  He was well versed in the Gospel but would not concede to the truth.  Let us read just a small portion of Scripture regarding this trial.  We read chapter 24:24-27.

Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.  27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

11.  What a bold prisoner Paul was.  Instead of pleading his innocence he plead for Felix’s soul by uncovering his sin.  The message went home and gave Felix a terrible fright for God’s judgment, but he had no desire for God’s holy living and so he cried out, “OK, enough, enough for now.  Go now.  When I find it convenient, I will let you know.” 

Oh my brother, when God finds it convenient to speak to us, we must find it convenient to surrender to him.  To think that to surrender to God tomorrow will be easier than to surrender today is foolish. That is the devil’s advice.  For the next two years Felix often spoke to Paul, but never found a convenient day on which to give his life to Christ.

12.  The next governor, Festus, was as corrupt as Felix.  Again the Jews laid their charges against Paul, but once more they could not prove it.  Festus however, wanted to do the Jews a favour and suggested to Paul that he go to Jerusalem for standing trial.  He probably knew that Paul would be murdered on the way.  Paul had, had enough of these corrupt officials. Remembering what God had said to him, namely that he was to testify for Him to the Caesar, he invoked his right as a Roman citizen and demanded to stand trial in the supreme court of Rome (chapter 25:11,12).  Festus had no choice but to make his request an order of court.

13.    But there was to be one more trial down at Caesarea. One of the reasons was that governor Festus was in a embarrassing predicament. On sending Paul to Rome, he had to write an accompanying  letter to his superiors, the appeal court judges, informing them of the charges against the accused and he did not know what to write; for there were no real charges. 

Brooding on this problem for a couple of days, he had a break when king Agrippa and his wife arrived in Caesarea for a visit.  As they were chatting about this and that, Festus told Agrippa about Paul.  Agrippa took the bait and expressed his desire to hear what Paul had to say.  The next day, Agrippa and his wife Bernice, all doffed up in their splendid imposing apparel, took their seats in the hall reserved for hearings. Then the cunning Festus had Paul brought in so that Agrippa could hear what he had to say. Paul wisely and clearly put forward his defence. This was again not so much aimed at his personal acquittal, but rather that every one of his listeners, and especially his judges, may have the opportunity of giving their lives to Christ and receive forgiveness of their sins.

14.  Now let us read chapter 26:24-28:

At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. ‘‘You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. ‘‘Your great learning is driving you insane.”  25 ‘‘I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. ‘‘What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”  28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  Another translation records Festus’s words as “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.

15.  Oh, how hard can the heart of man be that he can not even be persuaded by God’s greatest messenger, the apostle of apostles, the man who had seen and heard the voice of the risen Christ, a man who knew best to present the story of salvation in love and wisdom, a man filled by the Holy Spirit and with fire.  How terrible would the self rapproachement of a man like Agrippa be should he have landed up in hell with his own words for ever and ever wringing in his ears: “You almost persuade me.  You almost persuade me”.  “Why did I not allow myself to be persuaded on that terrible day?”

16.  Well, even Agrippa admitted that he could find no guilt in Paul. But God’s time for Paul to minister to the people of his country had come to an end.  Even God’s extended mercy has a cut-off point and now the Lord Jesus took his beloved messenger under escort to witness in Rome, the capital city of the world at that time.  Let us see what happened on his journey.

17.  We will read the whole of Chapter 27 for it will further our insight into what Paul had to go through to fulfill his commission.

When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.  3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. a So Paul warned them, 10 ‘‘Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the ‘‘northeaster,” swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17 When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘‘Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island

27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic a Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet b deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet c deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘‘Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. ‘‘For the last fourteen days,” he said, ‘‘you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.”

18.  There are no deep mysteries in what we have just read, so we will just make a few comments.  Firstly, see how the Lord looked after His dear servants, Paul and his companions.  Although they went through great hardship, they never got seriously injured neither did anyone loose his life. 

19.  Secondly, why did the Lord allow the shipwreck; He could have prevented it?  We seldom receive complete answers to our puzzling questions.  Often the Lord allows us just to take part in the suffering of all mankind so that they may see the victory we experience in Christ and be encouraged also to turn to Him.  Then again He allows the devil to punch us with heavy blows as with Job for no obvious reason; for reasons that do not really make sense to us right now.  Remember that Satan is going to be punished one day for each and every blow he landed on a child of God, even for one single hair he plucked out of my head.  Bless the Lord for His righteous judgments. 

The good which God brought from this disastrous incident was the salvation of a large number of these island people that had, notwithstanding all Paul’s journeys, not been afforded the opportunity of hearing the Gospel.  I am convinced that Paul could not be blamed for that, but you and I and our congregations may sometimes be so insensitive to God’s leading that He may have to allow a shipwreck along our life’s journey to wash us out onto the shores of His destination.

20.  Thirdly, see how the centurion, though a good man, rather took the judgment of the ship’s captain and the sailors, than the word of warning Paul had received directly from the throne of God.  Only when it was almost too late did he begin to look to Paul for advice.  It may happen that people will not accept a word we got from God but rather follow their own minds but God will see to it that we are vindicated in the end and that be recognized as His spokesman.

21.  Fourthly, just see how Paul the prisoner became the captain, taking gentle control of a desperately hopeless situation.  How was this?  While everybody was seeing darkness and rushing clouds and mountainous waves bashing the ship and tossing it from side to side, Paul suddenly saw a shiny angel standing right there in front of him.  The angel brought a message straight from the throne of God saying “Paul, don’t worry, you will not perish for I am taking you to Rome to preach to the Caesar, humanly speaking, the greatest man on earth.  And you know what, because I love you and you love these soldiers and sailors I am giving all of them to you, not one will die.”  Brother and sister there is an angel of God in each and every one of our storms!  The next morning when everybody was grey from fatigue and sullen with despair, Paul stepped forth, his face all aglow and brought God’s message of hope which radically changed the atmosphere.

22.  From that moment everybody looked to Paul for guidance and he kept on receiving guidance from the Throne above.  The second word he got was that they would be running aground on the shore of a certain island.  So they had something to do; look out for an island and prepare the ship to run ashore.  Next incident.  On discovering that they were approaching land, a number of sailors attempted to let down the lifeboat, secretly abandon ship and reach the shore to save their own lives.  Again it was Paul who discovered their plot.  His warning that unless all remained on board, none would be saved, carried with the centurion who ordered the towing rope to be chopped so that the boat would drift away.  The next morning it was again he that gave good sound advice saying, “You have not eaten for 14 days.  Better now have a hearty meal to strengthen you for what lies ahead.”  This sounded real good and having eaten well, they cast the rest of the grain overboard to lighten the ship.

23.  Soon after that, the ship ran aground and the moment to abandon it came.  A final crises arose when the soldiers drew their swords to slay all the prisoners for fear that they would escape. However, by now their commander had such respect for Paul that he wanted to save him and prevented his men from carrying out their intention.  In this way, God’s word of giving all these men to Paul, took another step towards fulfilment.  Then the ship got stuck in the sand and everybody made for the shore, either swimming or drifting there on pieces of wood.  The miracle was that not a single one died or even got injured.  Exactly as God had said.  Bless Him, the Lord of the universe, the God of Paul, my God, your God.

24. Now let us read chapter 28 verses 1- 10:

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

7 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. 8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. 10 They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.   

25.  Let us comment briefly. Firstly, see how God can protect us and provide for us even under the most difficult circumstances.  On this unknown island, God provided friendly people to take care of His wet, exhausted servants.  He worked in the hearts of the islanders to bring wood and build a strong fire so that everybody could warm and dry themselves by it.

26.  Secondly, see how satan will try everything to the very last moment to shake our trust in God.  Is it not remarkable that the snake bit Paul, specifically him, the spiritual leader of the group, the man whom everybody had just begun to trust.  But now see how Paul simply relaxed and allowed God to take care of the situation.  The islanders’ immediate conclusion was that he was a murderer being punished by God, but when God justified him by protecting him from the poison of the snake, they changed their minds and considered him to be a god. 

27.  Thirdly see the effect of Paul’s reliance on God. He was invited to the home of the governor of the island, healed his sick father, ministered the Gospel and saw many islanders getting saved.

28.  They arrived at the island in disgrace but left in dignity.

29.  Reading from verse 11 onwards, we note that no mention is made of Paul being tried by the Caesar at Rome. On the contrary, he was treated very kindly and had ample opportunity of ministering both to Jews and Gentiles.

30.  Now read verses 30 and 31:

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

31.  From his letters to the Philippians (Phil. 1:13 and 4:22) it is clear that he ministered and raised up disciples amongst the Caesar’s bodyguard and other members of his staff.

32.  A tremendous blessing came from Paul’s house arrest in Rome.  Because of the fact that he was no longer free to travel to the congregations, they sent representatives to him and he wrote letters back to them. These are read till this day as the inspired Word of God, equal to all the other Books of the Bible.  They contain a wealth of Christian teaching which we would not have had if he had been in a position to minister to those churches verbally.

33.  You will also note that the Book of Acts ends rather abruptly.   It seems as if the writer was going to record further happenings, but was hindered from completing what he set out to do.  Well, perhaps he had in mind to continue, but for how many years should he still have continued?  Which year was supposed to be the last year of that record.  The Book of the Acts is actually still being written by you and me as we carry out the great command of our Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the world, making disciples of all nations (Math 28:18).   May you and I be as committed as Paul.

34.  What a great treasure did Luke leave behind for the Kingdom of God by compiling this precious Book.  He had been working behind the scenes all the time and never even once mentioned his own name although it is clear from the preamble of the Book that he was the writer.  He suffered much of the hardships but did not covet the honour and recognition. 

35.  The last remark.  The Book of Acts is the Book of the mighty works of the Holy Spirit after the outpouring on the day of Pentecost.

36.  And so we have come to the end of our studies of the Gospels and the Book of Acts.  We trust that you have been enriched and that your heart has been set ablaze to serve the Lord as devotedly as did Stephen, Philip, Peter, Barnabas, Paul and all the many others.  Bless you.

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