Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 7

January 7;   Acts 23:11;   7/260(II);   ‘Knowing Ahead of Time’

 Acts 23:11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said,  "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome." 

The Roman commander sent for the religious leaders of the Jews.  He wanted to know exactly what they were charging Paul with.  The religious leaders were composed of Pharisees and Sadducees.  Their theology was completely different from each other.  Paul, was a Pharisee and he knew the spiritual differences between the two groups and got them arguing with each other by the things he said.  The debate got so violent that Paul had to be removed by the Roman soldiers and brought once again into the barracks.  The next night, the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision and told Paul ‘to be of good cheer,’ because as Paul testified of Jesus in Jerusalem, he would also testify of Jesus in Rome.  That meant the Paul knew he would be safe until he got to Rome, even before he went there.  As Christians, especially as we, by our own desire, can walk very closely with the Lord.  If we choose to do so, we can become very sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  It is not to say that others cannot, but those who sincerely desire the things of the Lord put themselves in a much greater position to hear from Him.  Some Jews banded together, the day after Paul’s vision and bound themselves with an oath to kill Paul.  The Lord had already promised Paul’s safety in order to testify in Rome.  It ‘just so happened’ that Paul’s sister’s son heard of the plot of the Jews. He went to the barracks and told Paul.  Paul in turn told the Roman commander, who organized a sizeable force of Roman soldiers, to escort Paul to Rome.  There is great protection when you walk close to the Lord.  Revelation given to help you.