THE LORD STOOD BY HIM
Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
Is it not wonderful when our Lord stands by us and, as it were, giveth us songs in the night? And what a notable night it was! For that morning the Apostle Paul had literally been slapped in the face at the command of the highest religionist that there was on the planet – the Jewish High Priest. But now he was being comforted by the soothing words of the highest spiritual man in the universe – God’s High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. {A man of religion will always attack a man of the Spirit!}
Oh, what a blessing to have the head-slap of religion in order to have the heart-soothing of the glorious presence of the very Prince of Peace! 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
This communion with the Just One was prophesied! And just as the sound of the wind in the garden of God alerted the Parents of the approach of Creator God, who came to them in the breath of, or, the wind of the day, so this coming of the Lord to stand by the Apostle Paul was notified by the Spirit through Ananias’ prophesy. Acts 22:12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
King David was not to go out to battle until he heard the sound of God in the tops of the mulberry trees. (2 Sam. 5:24). And the trembling, frightened disciples, hiding in that upper room could not go out in gospel boldness until there was the sound from heaven of a rushing, mighty wind! (Acts 2:1-2). Have you hear that joyful sound, dear Reader? Have you heard the spirit-filled prayers of the brothers communing in the Spirit with God in public prayer, almost unconscious of those saints sitting on the pews with them? Have you heard the singing of the songs of Holy Zion as hearts are opened, so that voices cannot remain silent, as that new song which no one else knows pours forth? And were you then ready for the King of Glory to come in?
Or did you have to hide and sew fig leaves together for self justification? Were you part of the Lamb’s Wife who had prepared herself for her Heavenly Husband and had made herself ready? Or, were you still of that Harlot spirit, absent of the effect of redeeming, sovereign grace, and only concerned with outward adorning which shuts the Beloved outside for the dew to cover his head? Song 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
The true church shall be brought back to worship in order to receive her King. Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. But to be brought to worship, one must be brought to admiration of the Savior. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
And to be brought back to admiration one must be made experientially aware of his own depravity and sinfulness, and therefore what it took to cleanse him from all unrighteousness. Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
We do believe in the doctrine of “Total Depravity.” But we have lost the spiritual concept of our own selves being depraved sinners! We have constructed a straw man and fault him alone for being a sinner. We now frequently use the terms, “them” and “us.” But the scriptures clearly state, ALL have sinned and come short…! “Us” are just as much sinners as “them!” But now we have our Calvinism , and our traditional religious practice for our assumed cleansing, and to be our savior. Knowledge has puffed us up. We need, like the Apostle Paul to continue to repeat, “I am the chief of sinners!” Dear Reader, when we stand in heaven, glorified, we shall be nothing more than a cleansed, forgiven sinner! That is why his mercy must endure forever! For mercy is exclusively for the guilty!
“And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
‘Jesus died my soul to save,’
My lips shall still repeat.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He wash’d it white as snow.”
E. L. Hall 1820-1889.
A trip to the undertaker will no more make one into a glorified saint, worshipping Christ in spiritual union with that innumerable host which John saw, than a plane ride to a foreign country will make a man a missionary!
This communion with God ended the strife with others of this belief! Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 9 And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
We understand that this present event was a one time occurrence. For in Acts 24:15 it would seem that these Pharisees were again at odds with the apostle. But, none the less, it is a truth, commonly stated by even the world, that “Birds of a feather flock together.” And it was the work of the Lord to break up the combined wrath of the two groups of Jewish belief, (Sadducees and Pharisees), present at this time, in order to grant His apostle to escape harm.
Consider but these two passages concerning the walls of the Jewish partition being broken down by the mutual work of the Spirit of God in both themselves and the Gentiles. Acts 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Therefore whether it was but the temporary relief of the Pharisees’ rage, or the eternal oneness of those in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, a common belief relieves strife. There are more religious denominations than there are heads and horns on that beast in the Book of the Revelation! But there is but one church – one spiritual organism! And they all believe but one Truth – the Lord Jesus Christ!
Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
The time of God’s appearance to Paul – Did you take notice of the two divisions of time included in our two verses of text? In verse eleven it states that the Lord appeared to Paul during the night. And then in verse twelve it states, when it was day. This is expressive of the order in which the Creator originally established the measure of time. Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And this is also the way that God ordained the order of the sacrificial worship. Leviticus 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. And we are instructed to “seek” this Sovereign as pertaining to his being in charge of time. Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: And that sovereignty is set forth in his Lordship over light and darkness. Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
It was in the evening of a new day (since the day begins and ends from evening to evening, with the daylight hours included within), in which the Lord came to Paul to comfort him. And then it was in the daylight hours of that same day in which the Lord sanctioned a serious opposition to his very life, in order that he might reveal a most unique deliverance.
These two periods are also of note in this age of gospel revelation. Let us look at two verses, penned by two apostles.
1 John 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. In this verse we see that the darkness that is past is the time before the cross and Christ’s accomplished redemption. So this verse is the Apostle John giving instruction of a new commandment in the new day of the Holy Spirit’s applying redemption.
We have confirmation of this in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ coming to preach the gospel of his kingdom. Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And in this gospel age there is manifest a most glorious thing. There is a “city” – the Bride of Christ, which is the spiritual and true church – who is being translated into the realm of the light of the glory of God shining within, with therefore no need of artificial, or created light. Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Revelation 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
For they walk in the same Light that first shown in the beginning of the first day of creation, as the sun, moon, and stars were not created until the fourth day! They now walk in the spiritual illumination of the Light of Life himself, the Lord Jesus Christ! John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Also we find another verse, penned by the Apostle Paul concerning night and day. It is in his letter to the Roman believers. For in Romans 13:12 we read, The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. But here he does not speak of John’s day of gospel light which overcomes the past darkness before the redemption. For the Apostle Paul here refers to the night of the present day of time, and directs attention to the approaching day of eternity!
And he has warned the believers of Thessalonica of this very thing. 1 Thessalonians 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
There is coming that very last day of time on earth. Every clock shall have had it’s last usefulness. For this next approaching day shall not have succession. Therefore we shall not need time, which is only for the measure of succession. The day shall be of eternal glory, and darkness shall never infringe on it. For He who was that Light of the first three days of creation shall then lay down his robes of mediation and shall then, like the present sun in the center of the natural order, as the center of the eternal realm, take on the glorious Being of God all in all (1 Corin. 15:28). For none in heaven or hell, neither demon, or angel, or any of mankind shall then be able to ignore him!
But the night of damnation shall never have the hope of another morning’s light! For the torment there shall be for ever and ever.
Pastor Gene Breed 09/08/13
