THOSE WHO SAVE IN TIMES OF PERIL

Acts 27:42-43 ... "The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, that none of them should swim away and escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention."

      Paul had spent nearly two years in prison in Palestine and had endured many hearings and trials before he appealed his case to the Emperor in Rome. Along with other prisoners he was turned over to a centurion named Julius and a contingent of Roman soldiers. Leaving Caesarea, they sailed in a ship of Adramytium as far as Myra of Lycia, where they transferred to a ship of Alexandria carrying grain from Egypt to Rome. All went well until they reached Fair Havens, a port of Crete. It was already late autumn, and the storms of winter were threatening. Any day sailing on the Mediterranean would become hazardous, if not impossible. So Paul advised Julius to winter the ship at Fair Havens. The centurion, however, took the advice of the ship captain, who wanted to make a run for Phenice, a more commodious port of Crete. Hardly had the great ship set sail than a tremendous storm swept it into the open sea, where the sailors had no reference points and were virtually lost. For the next two weeks the ship was blown helplessly about, so that almost all on board lost hope of ever reaching land again. Having been visited by an angel, Paul assured the people they would reach land, if they followed the instructions of the Lord.

      The next day the sailors saw land ahead and made a dash for shore. But quite a distance from it, the ship struck something like a reef or bar. Although the pounding waves demolished the stern of the ship, it was close enough to land, a beach on the island of Melita, that the people could swim or float there on debris from the disintegrating vessel. But the soldiers, fearing that the prisoners, whom they guarded with their own lives, should escape, advised their commander to kill them. Then comes a very significant statement:  "But the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention."

      The lives of the other prisoners were spared because of the presence of one man, the apostle Paul. For the past two weeks Julius had observed the godly and virtuous behavior of this unusual prisoner and had learned to respect both his counsel and his trust in the God he worshiped. There is a great lesson here for every Christian. In Mt. 5:13 Jesus said to His disciples, "You are the salt of the earth." Since salt is primarily a preservative, this indicates that Christians should be saving agents of their environment and the people about them. Most of the 276 men on the Alexandrian freighter were unregenerate sinners, but the Lord was willing to spare their lives for the sake of Paul. Because Paul had the attitude, behavior, and speech that befitted a committed Christian, he so influenced Julius, the officer in charge, that this man acted to save all the other prisoners. Christians today are surrounded by a host of people who are either irreligious or indifferent to religion. Our world is becoming more sinful and ungodly with each passing day, increasingly ripe for destruction as divine retribution. But the presence of a few faithful, stalwart Christians may be just the key agents that are staying God's hand. Except for these occasional lights in a dark world of evil, God would at once extinguish the whole. This realization should encourage Christians to redouble their efforts to live pure and holy lives, reflecting through them the glory of the Lord Jesus.

ALMOST PERSUADED

Acts 26:28 ... "Agrippa replied to Paul, 'In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.'"

      After Paul had spent about two years in prison in Palestine, he appealed his case to the Emperor in Rome. But before Festus, the Roman governor, could send Paul to Caesar it was necessary that he prepare the formal charges against him. To Festus this was very difficult, for it seemed as though the issues centered more on religious differences than on criminal conduct. When King Agrippa came to welcome Festus to his office, the governor now thought he had access to valuable help. With Agrippa being both a Jew and a Roman functionary, Festus thought surely he would be able to fathom the intricacies of this challenging case. He therefore set a time for the apostle to present his case before Agrippa. Thus we read that "on the next day, when Agrippa had come together with Bernice, amid great pomp, and had entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in," (Acts 25:23).

      It is noteworthy that, when Paul was given license to speak before the court, he did not launch out into a vigorous refutation of the charges against him nor eagerly defend his character, motives, and behavior. Rather, he first gave a brief account of how he had been converted from a champion of the Jewish persecution of Christians to an advocate for Christ. Then he began what was, in effect, a basic gospel sermon designed to appeal to the dignitaries arrayed in their finery before him. His message was interrupted by Festus with a declaration that Paul's great education had made him mad. Paul denied this with the statement that all he had just said was a matter of open knowledge which could easily be verified by witnesses. Then, turning directly to the king, he asked, "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?" (26:27). Paul was suggesting that a man of Agrippa's erudition should be able to see that Christianity is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. Also implied in his question was the idea that such perception should induce one to obey the gospel and become a Christian. Agrippa at once perceived Paul's motive and answered, "In a short time you will persuade me to be Christian."

      The king's answer may be interpreted in either of two ways. It could be he was flippantly casting aside Paul's appeal to him. That is, he was sarcastically saying, "Paul, do you really think you can persuade me to become a Christian during this short session? (The sense of the NAS used here.) Or, it might be that Agrippa had been cast into a serious frame of mind and was telling Paul that he had brought him almost to the point of conversion. (The sense of the KJV.) Actually, it does not matter whether the king was serious or being sarcastic. The important point is that he did not accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He assumed the tragic position of anyone, then or now, who is given an opportunity to renounce sin and accept salvation but chooses instead to continue in the course of sin to which he is accustomed.  To be "almost persuaded" is to be lost. To exchange eternity in heaven for whatever hinders you from accepting Christ as Savior and Lord is a bad trade, one that will be bitterly regretted forever.

TO OFFEND IN NOTHING

Acts 25:9 ... "I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the Temple or against Caesar."

      Paul remained under arrest in Caesarea for two years while Felix ruled as the procurator of Judea. Soon after Festus succeeded Felix in 59 AD, he arranged a hearing in Caesarea at which he had the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem present their case against the apostle. It says in v.7 that they brought "many and serious charges against him which they could not prove." When he was given license to speak for himself, Paul proclaimed, "Neither against the Law of the Jews or against the Temple or against Caesar have I committed an offense." Then, refusing to go up to Jerusalem for a formal trial before the Sanhedrin, believing he would be ambushed and murdered along the way, (see v.3), he exercised his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to the Emperor in Rome.

      Paul's disclaimer that he had offended in any way the Law of the Jews, or the Temple, or Caesar is actually the ideal behavior for every Christian. Followers of Christ are to be model citizens in their communities in order to bring honor to the Name which they wear. We are exhorted in I Pet. 2:12-16, "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as to one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God." This passage is telling us that our behavior is on display before the public, and since we are Christians, it broadcasts an important message about the effects of Christ in our lives. If our conduct is blameless with respect to community standards, it speaks well for the beneficial power of Christ acting within us. But if we occasionally disregard or defy those standards, it gives occasion for critics of Christianity to speak out against us and ridicule our Lord.

      To behave oneself is no guarantee, however, that malicious people will not still make accusations and seek occasions to vilify our Lord and His gospel. Paul had done absolutely nothing for which to be arrested, reviled as a public nuisance, and held in custody for a period of about four years. It is entirely possible, in fact even quite probable, that the irreligious, filled with venom against Christ, will make atrocious charges against Christians. Rather than be surprised and discouraged when such unjust treatment comes, Christians must be prepared. We are forewarned in the New Testament that if we are the witnesses for Christ we must be, such adverse reactions will come against us. Then Paul's ordeal becomes valuable inspiration to us. Finally, there is Peter's encouragement in I Pet. 4:16, "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that Name let him glorify God."

A MORE CONVENIENT TIME

Acts 24:25 ... "And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, 'Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you.'"

      After Paul's arrest in the Temple and the aborted hearing before the Sanhedrin the following day, he was transported by the Romans to Caesarea. Five days later a Jewish delegation came down to place formal charges against Paul. The apostle defended himself well against this inimical group with the result that Felix, the Roman governor, postponed any decision until the centurion from Jerusalem should come and give testimony about what had happened in the Temple. Paul was then placed under the guard of a Roman officer, but allowed the privilege of receiving visitors. Several days later, Felix and his wife Drusilla decided to hold a private hearing with Paul.

      When Paul was brought before this couple and permitted to speak, he "discussed righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come." It is significant that, rather than attend to the needs of his own personal security, the apostle  turned his attention to the spiritual needs of the pair who sat before him. He directed his words to the matter of righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. His words hit home, for there was nothing Felix and Drusilla needed more to hear and consider than these grave matters. They were quite devoid of righteousness and self-control; in fact, their conduct had been a public spectacle of the opposite. He was completely unscrupulous and willing to hire thugs to murder his closest supporters if they displeased him. Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa, the king who had beheaded the apostle James and imprisoned Peter, was first married to the King of Emesa, but had yielded to the seduction of Felix to forsake her husband to marry him. This couple became very uncomfortable as they listened to Paul's pertinent message, especially when he related everything to the final accountability in the judgment.

      When the inner tension became so great he either had to repent or cancel this disturbing meeting, Felix chose the latter. At once he exclaimed, "Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you." What a frightful decision this was that Felix made, for there is no record that he ever obeyed the gospel of Christ and obtained release from his lifetime of sin. The more convenient time that he supposed he would have never came to him or his wife. This ancient politician is a prototype of the countless individuals who have come face to face with God's will for human life, and seeing it is contrary to what they enjoy and desire, decide they will turn away from the moment of truth to find what they think is comfort in the deception of sin.

      Because of the hardening effect of sin, (Heb. 3:13), it is dangerous to circumvent the opportunity to become a Christian. The growth and influence of sin in the heart will make it less sensitive to the appeal of the gospel and less likely to renounce that sin in submission to Christ's call. The "more convenient time" to obey the gospel is the first occasion when your heart indicts you as guilty and challenges you to seek redemption. Thus we are told in II Cor. 6:2, "Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation."

LIVING IN GOOD CONSCIENCE

Acts 23:1 ... "Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, 'Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day'."

      On the day after Paul's arrest in the Temple the Roman captain brought him before the Jewish Council and the chief priests in the Temple court in order that he might ascertain what charges the Jews were bringing against him. When given an opportunity to speak, Paul opened with the statement quoted above. The high priest, considering Paul's declaration to be sarcastic, gave an order for him to be struck on the mouth. To save himself from such treatment Paul, who was an authority on the Mosaic Law, reminded them that to strike him before he was convicted violated the Law. Even this appropriate statement seemed like impudence to the officials standing around, who indignantly asked the apostle, "Do you revile God's high priest?" Paul replied that he did not know that the one there in the high priestly clothing was indeed the high priest. In effect, he was saying that he did not concede Ananias was fit to hold the office. Ananias was a notorious character, a glutton, a thief, a rapacious robber and quisling in the Roman service. By calling him a "whitewashed wall" (v.3), Paul compared him to a tomb painted white, echoing the words of Jesus in Mat. 23:28 to the Jewish elite, "Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." Outwardly, Ananias was garbed in the spectacular vestments of the high priestly office, but inwardly his heart was as rotten as the inside of a tomb.

      Paul's statement that he lived in all good conscience before God set his life in bold contrast to the high priest and his minions arrayed against him. There was no dichotomy in Paul's constitution. His inward life and his external life harmonized. Unlike his opponents, he did not project himself as a spiritual leader and expect people to defer to his sanctity and piety while in his heart he violated the canons of spirituality, integrity, purity, and sanctification. He wrote to the Christians in Corinth, "I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified," (I Cor. 9:27). The sincerity of this confession of Paul's inner struggle to be consistent in what he taught and what he practiced is evidence of his good conscience. One's conscience is a product of his moral and ethical education. It acts as an inner judge that approves of one's behavior if it conforms to his moral code, and it condemns his behavior if it violates that code. To violate one's conscience in and of itself is an offense against his own soul; i.e., it constitutes a sin against his own self, (Rom. 14:23; Jas. 4:17). A fundamental principle of a blameless life, therefore, is living in harmony with your own conscience.

      It is a serious matter to violate your conscience. When you do, you experience emotional pain that we refer to as a "guilty conscience" that is "hurting you." In time, however, that pain will pass if you choose to ignore it. But the result is a scarred, less sensitive conscience. After multiple instances of such treatment one's conscience becomes callused and totally unresponsive to unethical and immoral behavior. In I Tim. 4:3 Paul refers to liars who, by means of hypocrisy, "seared their own consciences as with a branding iron." A pained conscience is a spiritual warning that your behavior has strayed from the guidelines of your ethical and moral training. It is important that you never disregard such an alert, but act at once to correct the situation while there is still time and opportunity. Thus Jesus teaches in Mat. 5:23-24, "If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." In other words, to rectify a situation your conscience is disapproving is more urgent than the need to worship, since worship from a guilty conscience being ignored is not acceptable to God.

BEING A WITNESS FOR CHRIST

Acts 22:15 ... "You will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard."

      In Acts 22:1-21 Luke records the speech Paul made on the flight of stairs that led from inside the Temple compound up into the adjoining Roman fortress. Moments before, Paul had been mobbed by angry Jews who assumed he had brought a Gentile into the Temple. He would likely have been killed by them had not the watchful Romans saw the trouble and rushed down with a squadron of troops to rescue him. When he got up the stairs, Paul asked permission from the captain to address the crowd. Surprisingly, the agitated people became quiet and allowed Paul to speak until he mentioned the word "Gentile" (v.21); then they again flew into a rage.

      While they listened, Paul recounted to them the event of his conversion to Christ at Damascus. After seeing Jesus in the sky above the road on the approach to the city, he heard His command to "arise and go on into Damascus" where he would "be told of all that has been appointed for you to do," (v.10). Later, a man named Ananias,"a man who was devout by the standard of the Law," came to Paul with the Lord's instructions about what was appointed for him to do. First, of course, there was the necessity of obeying the gospel. Ananias said to him, "Why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name," (v.16). Now that he was a Christian, Paul was ordained by the Lord to be the primary instrument by which His gospel of salvation was to be carried to the Gentile nations to the north and west. Unto this great purpose Christ appointed Paul to be an apostle, declaring that "you will be a witness for (Me) to all men of what you have seen and heard."

      Although these words were directed to Paul with respect to the monumental work as an apostle that lay before him, there is a sense in which they may apply to every Christian. Paul literally saw Jesus in His heavenly radiance in the noonday sky, and he clearly heard the very voice of Jesus speak to him from high above. In his years of ministry for Christ, Paul received a great number of special revelations from the Lord in visions and dreams; in II Cor. 12:7 he refers to them as "the surpassing greatness of the revelations." It was his appointed task to be a witness to the things he had seen and heard, for it was by means of his testimony that others were to be led to the faith, persuaded to obey its provisions, and be saved by its power, (Rom. 1:16). No one today receives revelations in dreams or visions; no one hears the audible voice of Jesus or is permitted a visual experience of His radiant Form. But we can, nevertheless, still be witnesses, and very important ones at that!

      Every Christian is to be a steadfast student of God's word, which contains an inspired description of Jesus' deeds and words of salvation. In our faith we can "see" Jesus as He performed great deeds and can "hear" His vital sayings, lessons, and sermons. In Jno. 20:29 Jesus pronounced a special blessing upon those who build faith in Him without having seen or heard Him in person like His apostles were privileged to do. It is therefore our mission also to be "witness(es) to all men of what (we) have seen and heard." We should always be eager and prepared to share these insights with others for their good unto salvation. With this divine appointment filling his heart, Paul later declared in Rom. 1:15, "For my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." Christians today, motivated by their knowledge of Jesus and His gospel, should also feel this same eager desire to communicate their knowledge unto salvation to any and all whom they can get to listen.

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

Acts 21:27-29 ... "The Jews from Asia, upon seeing him (Paul) in the temple, began to stir up all the multitude and laid hands on him, crying out, 'Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled the holy place.' For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple."

      At the conclusion of his third missionary journey Paul, along with several Christians from Asia, including Luke the physician, went to Jerusalem. His visit there had a triple objective:  to report to the church on the progress of the gospel in Asia and Europe where he had labored, to bring gifts from the Christians in those regions to their poor brethren in Jerusalem and Judea, and to worship in the Temple. It was this latter activity that led the apostle into extreme trouble and danger. Paul was well known to the Jews from Asia who had come to Jerusalem to observe the festival of Pentecost, for he had preached in their synagogues and engaged in lively debates with them. They fairly hated Paul, for they understood his message to be an attack against orthodox Jews, against the integrity of the Law of Moses, and against the Temple with its sacrifices, rituals and priestly administrators. More than once in Asia they had tried in court to remove him from circulation, and failing that, had tried outright to kill him. With this loathing and rage pent up within them they simply lost control when they spotted their adversary right there within the sacred precincts of the Temple.

      No Gentile was allowed to pass through the gate into the Court of Israel within the outer Temple complex. Having earlier seen Paul somewhere on the city streets in the company of Trophimus, a Gentile of Ephesus, "they supposed Paul had brought (him) into the Temple." Their hatred of Paul immediately erupted in violence.  Starting a riot, they began to beat him with the intent to kill him, and would have done so had not a Roman police squadron quickly run down into their midst and pulled him to safety. As it turned out, Paul had not brought Trophimus or any other Gentile into the Temple, for he fully respected the rules governing the Temple and Jewish reverence for the sanctity of the Temple. The uncontrolled outburst of these people had been based upon a false presupposition. Groundless logic had led them to a false conclusion which almost cost an innocent man his life and made them guilty of murder. Had the Romans not restrained their fanatical zeal and foolishness, they would have spilled innocent blood in the Temple and polluted its sacred grounds far worse than Paul would have had he actually sneaked a Gentile inside.

      There is a most appropriate lesson evident in this account. How often do we size up someone, or an idea, or a situation when we know little or nothing about it? Do we not rush into conclusions when our grounds consist of rumors, appearances, or garbled and unsubstantiated reports? Sometimes we think we have the answers when, in reality, we don't even know the questions. Hardly a one of us hasn't once suffered disgrace and shame when we found ourself suspended in mid-air because we jumped to a conclusion, only to find no substance where we were sure a bedrock of fact existed. We should learn from such an awful experience to be more careful next time and gather more information before we set our mind and begin to act. Worse than our own embarrassment and personal chagrin, however, is the suffering inflicted upon the victim of our baseless, hasty judgments. That person is not due the catastrophe brought upon him, but the person who brings it by groundless, impulsive conclusions is due every part of the shame that comes back upon him when his error is exposed.