Paul’s Defense Before Festus

Acts 25:1-12
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, June 11, 2000
Copyright © 2000, P. G. Mathew

Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.”

After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.

Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no-one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Acts 25:1-12

The book of Acts records five times when Paul made a public defense of his faith in Christ. He defended himself before the crowd at Jerusalem, before the Sanhedrin, before the Roman governor Felix, before the Roman governor Festus, and before King Agrippa II. This passage speaks of Paul’s fourth defense, made before the Roman governor Festus in Caesarea around 60 A.D.

The Suffering of the Innocent

Paul was innocent of any wrongdoing, yet he found himself having to speak in his own defense in all of these situations. This is nothing new. Throughout history innocent people have been brought to trial and convicted of false charges on a regular basis. Some have been killed, while others have languished for years in prisons. I recently read of a policeman in this country who was innocent of the charges made against him, but who was convicted and sent to prison, where he spent many years before he was finally released. The irony is that those who convict such innocent people are usually promoted to better and bigger positions, while their “victims” suffer and have to work hard to get out of prison.

This type of suffering is not unusual for Christians. Jesus Christ himself was sinless, yet he was accused and convicted of blasphemy and sedition and sentenced to be crucified. He warned his disciples that they might face similar situations, saying, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). He also told them, “They hated me without reason,” and “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:25, 20).

This was the type of suffering the apostle Paul encountered and about which he warned others. When Paul was appointed by Christ to bear witness to his name, God spoke through Ananias, telling Paul how much he would suffer because he bore the name of Christ, and certainly we see Ananias’ predictions fulfilled in the life of Paul. In Acts 14, after being persecuted throughout the province of Asia, Paul warned the churches of Galatia that they also would have to go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.

Suffering is part of the normal Christian life. Jesus always asks his disciples to count the cost of being Christians: We must deny ourselves daily, take up the cross, and follow him if we want to be his disciples. There is no exception to this rule of suffering.

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

After his third missionary journey, Paul went up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple and was arrested on false charges made by the Jews. He defended himself first before the crowd at the temple and then before the Sanhedrin, before he was taken to Caesarea, where he defended himself before Felix Antonius, the Roman governor. After being kept under guard for two years by Felix, Paul then found himself appearing before Felix’s successor, Porcius Festus, to make another defense of his faith.

We do not know much about Festus other than that he was a better person than his predecessor Felix. Felix was born a slave, while Festus belonged to the Roman nobility. Festus probably arrived in Caesarea around 60 A.D., during the reign of Nero. Governor Festus was very inexperienced in Jewish affairs. Though he was better than Felix, he was a politician, and so he put political expediency before principles of justice. As a people-pleaser, Festus did what he could to ingratiate himself with the Jewish leaders. He did not rule long in Caesarea, dying in office after only two years.

The Antagonism of the Jews

The first thing we want to look at is the antagonism the Jews showed toward the apostle Paul, their fellow Jew. These Jews rejected their Messiah, Jesus, and were now convinced that his apostle Paul ought to be killed also. In their estimation, Paul was a heretic whose teachings were contrary to Judaism. That is why they demonstrated such tremendous visceral hatred toward Paul in making charges against him.

The first charge the Jews made against Paul was that he was teaching heresy, as we read in Acts 21. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, the elders of the church told him that the Jewish believers “have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs” (v. 21). The unbelieving Jews were telling the believing Jews that Paul was teaching these things.

The second charge the Jews made against Paul was that of sacrilege, meaning that he profaned the temple. Sacrilege was a capital offense in those days, and the Jewish Sanhedrin had authority given to them by Rome to execute anyone who defiled the temple.

The third charge the Jews brought against Paul was that of sedition. The lawyer for the Jews, Tertullus, told Felix, “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world” (Acts 24:5). He was accusing Paul of making trouble against Caesar, meaning against the tranquility of the Roman empire, against the Pax Romana. Such seditious activity was also a capital offense.

These charges-heresy, sacrilege, and sedition-were brought against Paul by the antagonistic Jewish community. Such charges had also been brought against Jesus, and later on were brought against Peter as well.

The Jews’ Attempts to Destroy Paul

The unbelieving Jews made several attempts to destroy Paul, as we read throughout the book of Acts. Shortly after Paul was converted, the Jews of Damascus conspired to kill Paul. He was able to escape the city in a basket, as we read in Acts 9:23-25. Three years after his conversion, Paul came to Jerusalem, and in Acts 9:29 we read of another plot of the Jews of Jerusalem to destroy and kill him. In Acts 14:5 we read of another plot by the Jews of Iconium to kill Paul, and in Acts 14:19 we read that Paul was stoned at the instigation of the Jews of Lystra and left for dead. In Acts 20:3 we are told about another Jewish plot to kill him, this time in Greece. In Acts 21:31-33 we read that a crowd at the temple of Jerusalem seized Paul, pushed him outside the gate, and began to beat him up, hoping to kill him, and in Acts 22:22 we find these same unbelieving Jews crying, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live.” In Acts 23:12 we read about a covenant made by forty Jews to kill Paul before he stood trial before the Sanhedrin.

When Festus, the new governor, arrived in Caesarea to take over from Felix, he immediately went to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Jewish leadership there. In Acts 25:3 we read that these Jewish leaders came to Festus and began begging Festus to let Paul come to Jerusalem to be tried there. They were, of course, planning to ambush Paul along the way and destroy him long before he reached Jerusalem.

What does this record of the opposition against Paul teach us? That if we as Christians are interested in having the world treat us very nicely, we will be disappointed. We must count the cost, as Jesus said. If we are Christians, we do not belong to the world, and the world will show its hatred towards us as it did toward Paul.

The Prosecution of the Jewish Leaders

The second thing we want to look at it is the prosecution by the Jewish leaders of Paul before Festus. Within two weeks of Festus’ arrival in Caesarea, he called a court to hear the case against Paul. Paul stood as a prisoner in chains, surrounded by this powerful council, the Sanhedrin, who opposed him.

In Acts 25:7 we read, “When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious [or heavy] charges against him.” We find that idea of “against him” repeated again and again. This is what Jesus said would be true of all his disciples. If you are a Christian, don’t be surprised if your mother turns against you, your father turns against you, or your friends turn against you. If you belong to Jesus Christ, you do not belong to the world.

Paul stood alone in the midst of the Sanhedrin as a prisoner of Rome, in chains, without a lawyer, surrounded by mighty men who were continuously making many heavy charges against him. Paul was the one against the many, following in the footsteps of his Lord Jesus Christ. Yet Paul was not alone even in this situation. The Holy Spirit-the Paraklete, the resident Boss, the Spirit of truth-was with him, giving him power and the words to speak before the court. So Paul was enabled to stand before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor. He had a clear conscience, great courage, and great peace–the peace of God that surpasses all human reasoning.

In contrast to Paul, the powerful members of the Sanhedrin-the dunatoi, in the Greek-were filled with the evil spirit, not the Holy Spirit. They were charging Paul with serious and weighty crimes that merited the death penalty, such as sacrilege and sedition against Caesar.

In a Roman court a person was presumed innocent until proven otherwise. These Jews were required not only to state their charges before the judge, Festus, but also to prove them. The prosecutors were required to call for eyewitnesses who must testify truthfully and then be cross-examined.

There was only one problem: These Jews could not prove any of their charges against Paul. They had not been able to do so when Paul stood before Felix, and they could not do so when he stood before Festus. In Acts 24:13 Paul told Felix, “And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me,” and in Acts 25:7 we read, “When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.” The prosecution’s case against Paul was not very strong.

Paul’s Defense

The third point we want to examine is Paul’s defense. It was a very simple defense, not like some elaborately contrived defenses we have seen in modern trials. Why was it so simple? Because Paul was innocent. In Acts 25:8 Paul says, “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” In the Greek it is, “I have not sinned against the laws of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” In other words, Paul categorically denied every charge leveled against him.

Against the Laws of the Jews

What were the charges the Jews made against Paul? As we said before, the first charge was that Paul was a heretic. This charge was simply not true. Nothing Paul preached was contrary to the Jewish scriptures; rather, it was a continuation of them. Paul knew that the Law and the Prophets prophesied about a Messiah who would come, suffer, die, and be raised up. Christianity, or the Way, as it was called, was the fulfillment of those prophecies. The Christianity Paul preached was not heresy; it was what the Old Testament scriptures taught.

Against the Temple

The second charge leveled against Paul was that he had defiled the temple by bringing a Gentile into it. Some Jews from Asia had seen Paul with a Greek, Trophimus, in the city and they presumed that he brought him into the temple precinct when he went up to worship. The problem was that this charge was also not true.

How did Paul answer this charge? “Absolutely not true!”he would have declared emphatically before the Sanhedrin. Paul had answered this charge two years earlier when he stood before Felix, and now I am sure he said the same thing: “I have not defiled the temple. I was ceremonially clean when I was in the temple to worship my God, who is your God also-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Against Caesar

The third charge made against Paul was that he had acted rebelliously against Caesar. This is the first time the name Caesar appears in the book of Acts. By making this charge, the Jewish leaders wanted to ensure that if Paul was not convicted for a religious crime, he would be convicted for a political crime.

Sedition against Caesar was a serious issue which Rome wouldn’t tolerate because Rome was for peace. During the reign of Felix there was an Egyptian who started a sedition. At one point the Roman commander thought Paul might be that man, so he asked Paul, “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?” (Acts 21:38) Paul, of course, denied the charges.

It was Felix who put down that sedition by the Egyptian, and it was Felix before whom the Jews charged Paul with sedition against Caesar, even though Caesar was not mentioned. In Acts 24:5 we read, “We have found this man to be a troublemaker. . . .” In the Greek text, the word for troublemaker gives the idea that Paul was a pest, one who was communicating a terrible disease throughout the whole Roman empire. That was sedition against Caesar. It was a very serious, weighty crime, and anyone who participated in it must be killed.

Now, as Paul stood before Festus to answer the same charge, I am sure he said something like this: “Festus, I am not a troublemaker in the Roman empire. I have not started any sedition.” Paul was telling the truth. “Yes, I preached and am still preaching about the kingdom of God, that Jesus Christ is Lord of all,” he would have said, ” but I am not against Caesar Nero.” Paul had already faced this charge of causing trouble to Rome several times before in his ministry. For example, in Acts 17 we read of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica. Some Jews began to oppose him there, and in verses 6-7 we read, “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: ‘These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decree, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.'” Paul and Silas were being with sedition, in other words.

Did Paul preach sedition against Caesar? It is true that he preached about another kingdom-the kingdom of God-and about another king, the Lord Jesus Christ. When he preached, Paul always declared that Christ died, that he is the Son of God, that he was raised from the dead, that he ascended into the heavens, and that he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Sovereign Lord of the universe.

But just as certainly as Paul preached that Jesus is Lord with a capital L, he also preached that Caesar is lord with a small l. Paul wrote about the Christian’s relationship to human government in Romans 13:1-7. In verse 1 we read, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” These are not seditious words. Paul recognized all God-established human government. And when we read the rest of that passage, we notice that we are asked as Christians to submit to all God-established, delegated human authorities. We are to obey our parents as God-established delegated authority. We are to obey the elders in the church of Jesus Christ which God has established, because it is another institution of God with its own sphere of government. We must submit to the rulers of the nations because they also are established by God to be his delegated authorities. In fact, secular authorities are God’s servants to do good, so Paul says that rebellion against secular authorities is rebellion against God. In this passage Paul says that we must pay taxes to the secular authorities and submit to them for conscience’s sake. Additionally, he said that we must fear the threat of the government which God has established, because God has given that authority the power of the sword. Additionally, in 1 Timothy 2:2 Paul exhorts Christians to pray for those who are in authority, which would include Caesar Nero.

So the charge of sedition against Paul was false. If it could be proved, Paul knew he would be guilty of a capital offense, and he was ready to submit to the government. That meant Paul was ready to die, as he states in Acts 25:11: “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die.” How could Paul say this? He respected and submitted to God, including all God-ordained authority.

Paul’s Innocence Was Clear

The truth was that Paul was innocent of all these charges made against him by the Jews. In Acts 25:7 we read that they brought many serious charges against him, “which they could not prove.” Although the Jews made these serious allegations against Paul, no proof was given and no witnesses were called. Why? There was no proof and there were no witnesses. Paul was innocent.

Paul declared his own innocence in Acts 25:10. He said to Festus, “‘I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done anything wrong to the Jews,” and then he added, “as you yourselves know quite well.” In other words, Paul was saying, “You as a judge know extremely well that I am innocent.” This was a mild rebuke to Festus, who should have released Paul because he was innocent, but he did not do so.

Paul was not the only one to declare his innocence. In Acts 23:9 we find another declaration of Paul’s innocence. After Paul gave his defense before the Sanhedrin, some of the members of the Sanhedrin who were Pharisees argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man.”

In Acts 23:29 we find a profound truth written by the Roman commander, Claudius Lysias, concerning Paul: “I found that the accusations had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.” In other words, Commander Claudius was declaring Paul was innocent.

In Acts 24:13 Paul told Governor Felix, “[My accusers] cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.” We already observed that the Jews made many charges against Paul to Felix, but now Paul was declaring that these charges could not be proved. Felix understood this truth, but he refused to let Paul go because he was a politician and a greedy person.

In Acts 25:18 we read what Festus himself said about Paul later on. “When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.” In verse 25 Festus spoke of Paul’s innocence to King Agrippa II, saying, “I found he had done nothing deserving of death. . . .”

In Acts 26 we find the conclusion of King Agrippa II himself concerning Paul. Agrippa, the great-great grandson of King Herod the Great, had been given authority by Rome to appoint high priests to be in charge of the treasury and other matters relating to the Jews. As a result, Agrippa was known as an expert in Jewish law. But when he finally heard the defense of the apostle Paul, he came to the same conclusion as the commander, Claudius Lysias. In Acts 26:30-31 we read, “The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, ‘This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment. . . .'” And in verse 32 Agrippa told Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” All of these rulers knew Paul was innocent, but they did not set him free.

In Acts 28 we find a final statement of Paul’s innocence made to the Jewish people of Rome. In verse 17 we read, “Three days later [Paul] called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: ‘My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.'” Paul was totally innocent of any charges leveled against him, and everyone knew it.

No Justice for Paul

The fourth point we want to look at is how justice was denied to Paul. Although all of these powerful people-Felix, Festus, King Agrippa II-knew Paul was innocent, they were also all interested in showing favors to the Jewish people. (PGM) We said earlier that Festus was a politician who wanted to please the powerful Jewish leaders. As a political newcomer, he did not want to antagonize the Jews, so he strove to be politically correct, even though in his heart he knew Paul was absolutely innocent and deserved only acquittal and freedom.

Festus’ lack of commitment to the principles of justice was not unique to him. Pilate also knew that Jesus was innocent, as he declared three times in the gospel of John. Yet Pilate was so influenced by the Sanhedrin that he judged against the Son of God, who came to give witness to truth.

In John 19:12 we see the intimidation of Pilate by the threats of the Jewish leaders: “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, ‘If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.'” These Jews were threatening to charge Pilate with the high crime of sedition. He knew they could easily go to Caesar and tell him, “Did you know that this man Pilate is not a friend of yours? How can we prove it? He let Jesus of Nazareth go, even though he claimed to be a king in opposition to you, Caesar.” So what did Pilate do? He gave in to the Jews.

The same was true of Felix. Felix knew that Paul was innocent, yet he kept him bound as a prisoner for two years and did not release him at the end of his term as governor. In Acts 24:27 we read, “When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.”

In the same way, Festus knew Paul was innocent. But in Acts 25:1-2 we read, “Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.” In verse 3 we read, “They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem. . . .” What was the favor they requested? “Hand Paul over to us so we can kill him,” the Jews were saying. “If you want to be popular with us, if you want to have our support, if you want us as leaders to stand with you, do us this favor.” In the Greek, the verb is in the perfect tense-parekaloun -which means they kept on begging, kept on asking, saying, “Do us a favor.” What was the favor? “Give us this Paul who preaches the gospel. We hate him and we want to kill him.”

Festus Concedes to the Jews

The Jews kept on begging, and in Acts 25:9 we read, “Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?'” What was Festus doing? He was trying to accommodate the request of the Jews by changing the venue to Jerusalem. He wanted to give in to the Jews so that they could kill Paul either by ambush or by convicting him falsely of a capital offense, either sacrilege or sedition, in the hostile climate of Jerusalem.

Festus asked Paul, “Paul, can you go to Jerusalem?” Festus ought to have set Paul free, but, as one already prejudiced, he gave in to the will of the Sanhedrin. But as a Roman citizen Paul had the right to take the case immediately out of the hands of provincial rulers like Felix and appeal to Caesar himself, and that is what he did.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

Why didn’t Paul appeal to Caesar before this? I am sure he expected any day that Felix would acquit him. When two years went by and nothing happened, Paul realized he could not get justice in Caesarea or in Jerusalem. Paul saw no alternative but to appeal to Caesar.

Paul explained his actions to the people of Rome in Acts 28:19, saying, “But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar.” Paul felt compelled for several reasons:

1. Paul knew Festus was biased. Although he knew Paul was innocent, he would not be willing to acquit him.
2. Paul knew a trial in the city of Jerusalem would lack objectivity, even if Festus were the judge.
3. Paul feared that Festus would use members of the Sanhedrin, who were manifestly against Paul, as his council.
4. Paul remembered how two years earlier the Jews had tried to ambush him, and he feared they would try to do so again. His fears were founded on truth, as we read in Acts 25:3.
5. Even if Paul were to be set free in Jerusalem, which was unlikely, he could not go around freely because his enemies would be there, seeking to kill him. Paul knew there would be no protection for him in Jerusalem, so he called upon Caesar in his behalf to ensure that he might be tried in Rome.

Paul’s Goes to Rome

In Acts 23:11 the Lord Jesus Christ told Paul he would be going to Rome: “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify about me in Rome.” God himself came to Paul and gave him a very encouraging word. The Lord Jesus Christ was telling Paul, “Paul, don’t worry about anything. You wanted to go to Rome, and that is where you are going.”

I am sure Paul became very happy about this and began to praise God. Everything was going to be all right, he thought. No doubt he thought he would go to Rome as a free man. I am sure he thought his problems would be resolved, he would be set free, and would be able to travel freely to Rome and later to Spain to preach the gospel.

Did that ever happen? No. Eventually Paul realized he would be going to Rome, not as a free man, but as a prisoner of Rome. But he also went as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. What great joy!

Paul’s Comfort in Injustice

In conclusion, let us ask a few questions. First, what type of comfort can an apostle of Jesus Christ have, sitting in prison for over two years, being bound with two heavy chains, praying every day and asking God to help him yet seeing nothing happen, seeing one after another powerful person deny him justice? Let me give you some ideas, because when you go through hard times, maybe you also can get some help from what I am trying to say.

1. True Christians will be persecuted. If we belong to Jesus Christ, we do not belong to the world; therefore, the world will hate us and persecute us. Persecution is our lot, but the Lord will be with us in the midst of any and all persecution.
2. We are immortal until our work is done. In Acts 23:11 when Jesus appeared to Paul, he told him, in essence, “I have a job for you to do. You will travel to Rome to do it, and no one will destroy you.”We must understand that each of us is called to do a job. We must persevere in that job, knowing that no one can destroy us until it is God’s time for us to die.
3. All things work for good for a Christian. We must remember the words Paul himself wrote in the book of Romans a few months before he faced these trials. In Romans 8:28 we read, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” As Paul sat in the prison of Jerusalem, I am sure he remembered these words he had written and received great comfort and strength from them.Paul probably got that understanding from Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20. Joseph’s brothers were against him and did all manner of things against him. But Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” God is always at work, and he works all things together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
4. God ordains troubles to work character in the lives of his people. Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-5, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” The more we suffer, the more patient we become; the more godliness we will have; and we will hope, not in the world, but in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why, without checking with us, God ordains troubles, that we may come to hope in Jesus Christ alone.
5. God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Before Paul went to Jerusalem, he wrote two letters to the Corinthian church. In 2 Corinthians 12 He said he had a problem, a thorn in his side. He prayed three times for God to remove it, but nothing happened. Finally God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I am sure this brought Paul great comfort as he was in prison.
6. God is with us. In 2 Timothy 4:17 Paul spoke about all the people who had abandoned him, but then he added, “The Lord stood at my side.” As the Lord was with Joseph in the pit and in Potiphar’s house and in prison, so the Lord Jesus Christ was with Paul in that prison in Caesarea for two years. Not only that, he is with you and he is with me also. He promised he would never leave us nor forsake us.
7. God is sovereign over all. We must believe that God is in control of all things, both large and small. Nothing is outside of his sovereignty, and all things happen by his will. Additionally, this sovereign God is committed to accomplishing the salvation of his people and he will do it.

In Romans 8:31 Paul asked, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Yes, everyone may be against you. They may surround you. You will stand alone, one in the middle, one against the many. But none of that matters. The one thing we need to ask is, “Is God for me?” If God is for us, then who can be against us? Everyone may be against us, but finally they shall not succeed. As Martin Luther wrote, “One little word shall fell him.”

In verses 33-35 Paul continues, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Then Paul concludes that nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This was the consolation of Paul in his trials.

Paul prayed for two years that God would set him free, but God did not choose to do so. This brilliant apostle, a Roman citizen, was bound in chains and left to languish in prison. Instead of receiving justice, he was reviled and hated. What humiliation! What misery! But God was with him.

The Promise of Final Deliverance

Like Paul, we have prayed for deliverance but sometimes deliverance will never come. There was some deliverance for Peter, as we read in Acts 12, but not for Paul. But God was with Paul. There was no justice for Paul in this world. Soon, however, the tables will be turned and the Lord will come and sit as Judge on his throne. Then all who have trusted in Christ will be justified and vindicated. As we read in Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Even this day Christians are suffering at the hands of wicked rulers throughout the world. If we are among them, let us console ourselves with the truth that soon our sufferings will be over and that all things work together for good. Let us take comfort in God’s word which tells us that tribulations work patience; patience, character; and character, hope. What is this hope? It is hope of the glory of God, that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, to meet us and take us to live with him forever. It is in this glorious hope that we can continue to labor, serve, and worship God. May we take comfort in the truth that if God is for us, who can be against us. May God help us to hope in God and his word and labor for him today until the day we are called home. Amen.