Read Acts 23.
It was George Whitefield, the great preacher from England of the 1770's and
founder of the University of Pennsylvania, who said, "We are immortal
until our work on earth is done."
Behind that quote are several crucial and personal understandings.
1. Such a person understands God's purpose for their lives.
2. Such a person endeavors to live each day according to God's will for them.
3. Such a person will be taken by God when their individual mission is
fulfilled.
That realization for the committed follower of Christ provides an incomparable
confidence. It bolsters our faith in that no matter what may happen, this
life is temporary at best. Every day, then, counts. Though,
on a human level, we certainly feel the loss of someone who dies or when
things do not go according to our plans, we likewise have the certainty that
God knows what He is doing. It is His plans that matter, not ours.
That is what it means to call Him Lord.
Here in this chapter, the Roman tribune did a noble thing to get to the bottom
of the facts. However, the people who were in charge of the trial included
the very ones who had already determined to kill Paul. Two times in two
chapters this same Roman tribune had to physically rescue Paul from being
beaten to death. The official sanction of this oath taken by forty men to
go without food until they murder the Apostle Paul reveals the total lack of
any godliness among Israel's religious leaders.
There are no more dangerous individuals like those who oppose the veracity of
the Scriptures and the believers in Jesus. The world will force
acceptance of any other belief system and any behavior, even atheism. But
one who commits their lives to Christ and His word are subject to persecution
and worse.
But God intervened again for Paul. The plot became known. The
Satanically energized enemy had forty men. God used the Roman government
to provide four hundred and seventy trained fighting soldiers to protect Paul.
God even provided a horse for him. They left at 9 PM on a quick
35-mile journey. This is the third recorded time in Acts where Paul had
to escape a city at night.
Persecuted? Yes. Beaten and suffering? Yes. But he
remained immortal until he would fulfill his assigned mission. Jesus had
already confirmed His will for Paul. "Take courage, for as you have
testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in
Rome." (23:11). These words were meant to comfort him in midst of
every challenge.
To the Romans, Paul wrote: "...in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)
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