THE LIVING CHURCH
Meditations in the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 22:30 to 23:11

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WE OBSERVE in these verses something of the hate of the world directed at the Gospel, and towards Paul because he sought to preach the Gospel, albeit the hate came from within the religious community of the Jews who professed to obey God. It is a sad thing that the most virulent opposition to the Gospel often comes from within the church because the church has become corrupted by the world. The only test of the church is through an honest appraisal of the church through the Bible, the Word of God. I say 'honest appraisal' because it is very easy to find we corrupt the truth by allowing our opinions to colour our understanding, rather than allowing the Word of God to form our opinions.

It is the apostle himself as he faces and reacts to this hate which has been the focus of my thoughts as I have read these verses. I notice four things about the apostle here which are instructive and encouraging for us in our Christian pilgrimage.

Firstly, there is Paul's testimony in verse 1 of chapter 23. He can say ' I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day'. This duty to God to which he refers is the way he lived, and the ministry that he had been engaged in. By this testimony he could say that he had been faithful to the Gospel both in the way he lived and in the preaching and teaching he had been engaged in. Further, not only was his conscience clear concerning the truth he preached, but it was clear with regard to the ministry he had performed. He had served Christ faithfully in proclaiming the Gospel as much as he could, and in every way he was able. A good conscience in this way is a very precious thing as we have to face the opposition of the world. It gives us real strength as we suffer accusation from the world. What is important in life is not what human beings say, but what God says, and whether we can say with Paul that we have a good conscience before God. Let us seek to serve God faithfully and to testify to our Saviour whenever we can.

Secondly, I marvel at Paul's graciousness and humility. He had been wronged seriously by the High Priest when the High Priest ordered someone to strike him. Yet when he was told that the one who had sinned against him was the High Priest, he apologised for the just rebuke he had ministered (v.5), because the Jewish law ordered respect for the High Priest and his authority. I find in this a most extraordinary degree of humility. He apologised straight away without defending himself, obeying strictly the rules of the Jewish people, and observing the dignity which was due to the office of High Priest, even though the honour and integrity of the office had been compromised by the High Priest himself. How Christ-like Paul is here. He had right on his side, yet he humbles himself and leaves judgement to God, and places himself under the authority of the laws of his nation even when they were being abused and used wrongly.

Thirdly, I wonder at Paul's wisdom and astuteness. It is right to use ever just means to defend the right, and in the doing of this we need always to seek to set forth Christ in some way or other. Paul uses the division between the Pharisees and the Sadducees over whether there was life after death, not only to defend himself from wrong accusation, but also as an opportunity to preach Christ and his resurrection from the dead. Even in his great trial Paul did not lose sight of the prime purpose of his life, which was to preach Christ. It is not wrong to defend our cause before the world, as long as we do it justly and in a Christ-like manner. Our ultimate trust is in God, but as we trust in God we may use all just and proper means to preserve our safety. Further, how we need to be like Paul, as even in adversity he continued to proclaim the wonder and love of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, let us notice the consolation of the Apostle in his trial. This comes in verse 11 where we read of the Lord appearing in a vision to Paul and telling him that he need not fear, because God's purpose was that Paul should testify to Christ in Rome, and this purpose would not fail. There is a great deal of consolation for us in this incident.

It reminds us that God has a purpose for every one of his believing people. It tells us next that the Lord is constantly engaged in working this purpose out. Then it assures us that this purpose of God cannot be thwarted by any opposition from man or devil. Further we are assured by this purpose of God that our lives are in His care and safe so that this purpose will be accomplished, and then God will bring us to his glory when this purpose has been completed.

There are times when we may feel that we are alone and things are getting too much for us. Paul may have felt this at this time, yet Christ had not forsaken him and encouraged him at his time of need. It is the same for every believer. We are in God's care always, and he is watching over us, and we are safe in his purpose.