July 29, 2024 — suggested reading: Acts 22:22 – 23:11

“Paul looked directly at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day.” At that the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law you order me to be struck?” Those standing near him said, “Do you dare insult Godʼs high priest?” Paul replied, “I did not realize, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ʻYou must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.ʼ” Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!” When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) There was a great commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” When the argument became so great the commanding officer feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, he ordered the detachment to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Have courage, for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Acts 23:1-11

The Lord appears to Paul and says, “Keep up your courage!” What helps you “keep your courage?” How do you keep yourself moving forward when it seems like everyone and everything is against you? Max Lucado writes these words: “Do-it-yourself Christianity is not much encouragement to the done in and worn out. Self-sanctification holds little hope for the addict…(and I would add those who have made bad choices and bad decisions). At some point we need more than good advice; we need help. Somewhere on this journey home we realize that a fifty-fifty proposition is too little. We need more…We need help. Help from the inside out…Not near us. Not above us. Not around us. But in us. In the part of us we don’t even know. In the heart no one else has seen. In the hidden recesses of our being dwells, not an angel, not a philosophy, not a genie, but God.”

Paul’s strength comes in his relationship with Jesus. Though Paul showed a lot of spirit and strength when he persecuted Christians, Paul now preaches Christ crucified — the main difference is that his strength comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no other way Paul could have persevered through his shipwrecks, his beatings, his imprisonments, and other setbacks. Paul is a living example of the power of the Holy Spirit working in people.

Pastor Dave