WHAT TO DO WHEN IN A DUNGEON
Act 23:11
Dr. Stan Coffey
Sometime ago I was in the Holy Land along with some of our members. We had the privilege to go places I had not been on previous trips. They had discovered since the last time I had been there the house of the High Priest, Caiphas and it was at that house where Jesus was tried first by the Jews. They brought him before the high priest with his hands tied behind him after giving him a severe flogging. That night he spent the night in a cistern. It was dug out of pure rocks and limestone. It was a part of the high priest’s dwelling. When we went down into that cistern under the high priest’s house, we were told that it was also used in some seasons as a dungeon to hold prisoners who would be tried by the high priest. There we saw carved out of stone places where prisoners would have their hands tied as they were forced to stand on their feet all night long and sometimes for days with their hands bound to that place in the rock. It was deep and dark with a stairway leading down into it, and more like a dungeon than anything else. It was that place where our Lord spent the night before he was to be tried by Pontius Pilate. As we worshiped and sang unto the Lord that night in that dungeon once again we were reminded that the Christian life is not always on a mountain top. Sometimes it is in a dungeon. Many of you are going through a dungeon time experience right now. A dungeon is a place where you are bound. It’s a place where you are restricted. It’s a place where you are held against your will. Some of us are in a prison of despair. Some of us are in a dungeon of depression. Some of us are in a dungeon of sickness and disease. We want to witness for the Lord and live for the Lord and serve the Lord but we are bound. Our only ministry seems to be that of prayer and testimony to those that God brings our way. Now I’ve been so blessed all of my ministry. I began preaching when I was 19. I preached every week from the time I was 19 until this last year when I had back surgery. I missed one Sunday in all those Sundays for over 30 years - about 35 years without missing a single Sunday because of illness. There was one time after we came back from Russia when I became ill. I missed a wedding and I missed the service. And so my little problems this year are nothing compared to many of the people that I visit. But you know I was reminded this week - God brought my mind and my heart to this passage because in this passage Paul was placed into a dungeon. I didn’t want to be at home last week. I wanted to be here. I wanted to be preaching. To make it worse when it came time for the service they had Wimbledon tennis on. I don’t play tennis. I don’t even like tennis. Of course you don’t like anything you’re not coordinated in. You can criticize golfers if you can’t play golf. Tell them it’s unspiritual. If they were spiritual, they wouldn’t play golf- ha! Ha! You know I could watch Adrian Rogers and be blessed but I couldn’t see some of you that I would see on TV. It really reminded me that every day that we have is a blessing from God. You know if you can attend church be sure and attend it. The day may come when you can’t attend it. We never know what experiences God is going to bring to us. But Paul is in a dungeon. If you will notice with me in Chapter 23 of Acts verse 11, the Bible in the previous verses says that Paul appears before the Sanhedran. Now when he came before the Sanhedran it was with great anticipation. You see he had been to school with those who had been members of the Sanhedran - the school of Gemaliel. The most renown school in all of Jewish Theology. Paul had graduated with honors. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. And yet when he came to Christ his Jewish heritage was left behind. His Jewish brothers turned on him because of his coming to Jesus and receiving the Gospel. Now Paul had a chance to tell his story about the Damascus road, the blinding light, the wonderful love of Jesus and how he fulfilled the prophets. But he was soundly rejected. In fact they rejected Paul in such a manner that it caused a riot. They had to call out the riot squad and some people were pulling at him from all directions. They nearly pulled Paul literally apart. And so the soldiers, partly to quiet down the riot and partly to save Paul who was a Roman citizen as well as a Jewish Christian, took him into the dungeon - partly for punishment and partly for his own safety. So he’s sitting in the dungeon feeling like he’s pretty much failed in his witness to his Jewish brothers - wondering about his future as a preacher of the Gospel - with everything being so uncertain and so dark. And I think about that dungeon we visited. Maybe his arms were tied to the places in the dungeon that were provided for the restraining of prisoners. Maybe his feet were in the stocks. So you can imagine how he felt. Just like you feel today in your dungeon - helpless, alone, powerless. In verse 11 it says “the following night the Lord is near Paul and said ‘take courage’. The King James says “be of good cheer Paul. As you have testified about me in Jerusalem so you must testify about me in Rome.” When you are in the dungeon the first thing I notice here is that the Lord stood by him. The Lord stood by him that night the Bible says. I want to tell you Jesus stood by him as:The sympathizing Christ - If you are in a dungeon of despair or disease, if you are restrained by physical or emotional maladies from being what God wants you to be - Jesus stands by you and He whispers to your ear what He told Paul. He said Paul I know what it is to be in a dungeon. It may have been that very same dungeon at the house of Caiphas in which Paul was restrained. The very same dungeon into which Jesus was cast. Jesus is over there in the corner and the apostle Paul looks over and says Hello Jesus. He said Hello Paul. And then he looks to his side and Jesus was standing right by him. He didn’t have to say anything. He just put his hand on his shoulder. And Jesus stood there and said I can sympathize. This place looks familiar to me. These restraints look very familiar to me. Paul you’re not alone. I was in the dungeon. Jesus stands by you as the sympathizing Savior as one who has been there, one who has suffered, one who’s been criticized, one who’s been castigated, one who’s been lied about and one who has been beaten down. And Jesus not only came as the sympathizing Christ, but
The strengthening Christ - Paul wrote later on in Phillipians 4 from the Roman prison. He wrote in verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I tell you when Jesus comes and stands by your side you are strengthened by the very presence of the living Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Those watching in hospitals or you’re home and you’re ill - you’re beat down and you’re depressed and you’re discouraged. If you’ll open your eyes of faith and look - Jesus is standing by your side and he wants to strengthen you today. But not only did he stand by him as a strengthening Christ and the sympathizing Christ
He stood by him as the Sufficient Christ. Because the Bible says His grace is sufficient for every situation of life that we face no matter what it is. But when God sent Moses, Moses said, “God, who shall I tell the children of Israel has sent me?” And God said, “I Am that I Am. Tell them that I Am has sent you.” The thing about the words I Am - these words are an unfinished sentence. I am what? Well friends you fill in the blank. Amen? Whatever you need Jesus is. Whatever Jesus is, He is in you. All that He is in you He will be for you and through you. Never less I live, not I, but Christ lives in me. For I am crucified with Christ. Paul saw Jesus standing by him as the sufficient Christ. If you are weak He says I am strength. If you are afraid He says I am courage. If you are lonely, He is your companion. If you are ill, He says I am your healer. If you have sinned, He says I am your righteousness. All that you need Jesus is - just fill in the blank today. If you need a friend, He says I am a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Just let the beauty of the Lord as the Psalmist says come down upon you and recognize you have no need that He’s not promised to meet. It’s already been met through His grace. And through His word. The Lord stood by him.
Paul says a second thing in verse 11. He said the Lord spoke to him. He said the Lord spoke to him there and what did Jesus say? What does Jesus say to you in the dungeon? You notice first of all It was a word of cheer. This is so much like Jesus. And this is so different from the religious world. Praise God! I can just feel the self righteous people say, “Paul no wonder you’re here. You’ve probably done something wrong. Paul, you’ve sinned against God. That’s why you’re sick. You’re sick because you’ve sinned and that’s why you’re here. Paul, you should have been more careful. You shouldn’t have been as bold.” Those are the things the devil tells you. But Jesus gave him a word of cheer. He said be of good cheer. In the NIV it says be of good courage Paul. It was a word of cheer and Jesus today when you are in that dungeon doesn’t come to scold. He doesn’t come to condemn. He doesn’t come to pile on guilt. He doesn’t come to discourage you or to hold you down but to set you free. Be of good cheer through the Lord Jesus Christ. You know there are three times in the Gospels that Jesus said be of good cheer. We call this the three cheers of Jesus. Dr. Fish taught us this in evangelism class in seminary. Just one day he off the cuff said, “ If any of you preachers need a sermon for Wednesday night or Sunday he said do this one - The Three Cheers of Jesus.” He said turn to Matthew 9:2. “Jesus turned to the paralytic and said be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Then he said you turn to Matthew 14:27 where the disciples are on the stormy sea. Jesus says,” Be of good cheer it is I. Be not afraid.” It was a cheer of encouragement. Then you turn to the Gospel of John 16:33 and there Jesus says,” In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer I have overcome the world.” Jesus came with a word of cheer. Then he came with a word of commendation. He said Paul as you have testified for me in Jerusalem so you shall testify for me in Rome - this prison notwithstanding - what you consider defeat notwithstanding - this difficulty not withstanding. You shall preach for me in Rome. Paul knew all of his life that it was God’s will for him to take the Gospel to Caesar so that Caesar would hear that even Caesar would find forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul didn’t know he was going to Rome as a prisoner. Paul didn’t realize the Roman state was going to pay his passage on the ship. Paul didn’t know Rome was going to feed him and clothe him until he got there. You see God even uses those bad circumstances to turn things around. So he spoke to Paul this word of commendation and he said to him you will testify for me in Rome. In other word’s Jesus doesn’t overlook your testimony. He said Paul, it’s kind of lonely standing out there by yourself and the whole Sanhedran court all around you. It’s kinda lonely. There wasn’t a Stephen to help. There was no Barnabas. There was no Silas. There was no Timothy. There was no Mark. It was kind of lonely there, but he said Paul I heard you. I heard you. I heard what you said about me. I heard you weren’t ashamed of the blood and the cross. You weren’t ashamed to be called a Christian. I heard you. Ladies and gentlemen whether the church or the conventions or the denominations or the community or anybody else ever recognizes what you have done for Jesus - he remembers every dollar you’ve given - every time you’ve prayed - every time you’ve honored Him. Every time you shared Him. Every time you’ve spoken for Him. Every time you could have lived for the devil you could have lived for yourself but you said no to glorify God - He heard you and He said look, you didn’t fail I commend you. I got ahead of myself -then there’s a word of certainty. He said as you have preached for me and testified of me in Jerusalem so will you also testify in Rome - meaning this - A Christian is absolutely indestructible as long as they are in God’s will for their life. You read the book of Revelation. The believers overcame the devil by the word of their testimony. By the blood of the Lamb because they loved not their lives unto death. Until God was finished with their witness on earth, the devil couldn’t touch them. The devil couldn’t destroy them. That’s true of your life and mine. As long as you are here, God has a purpose. God has a plan. When that plan is finished, when that plan is finished, God will call you home. I’ve had so many of the saints ask me, “Brother Stan, why does God leave me here day after day to suffer with cancer?” I don’t know. I can’t tell them. I just know that God calls some to suffer. The Bible says it. I just know God has a purpose in it. You may say,” God, I’m useless. I can’t go visiting for you. I can’t teach a class for you I can’t even witness except for the ones who come into this room.” You may say, “my mother is in the hospital or rest home. They don’t know me when I come in. They have Alzheimer’s. They don’t know when I leave. They don’t know why I came in. Bro. Stan. Why does God leave them here like that?” I don’t know. I just know what God’s Word teaches. When God’s ready, when God’s finished, when God says they have completed what He has called them here to do then He’ll take them home to be with Him. You see the power of life and death is in the hands of God. Some people say, “Bro. Stan, why was my child taken as a baby or why was my child taken as a teenager?” I don’t know. But they finished God’s plan for their life evidently. It may be that they weren’t following God’s will for their life, but God was finished with them or He wouldn’t have allowed it to happen to them. Because in eternity it’s not the longevity of life but the contribution of life that counts. Only God knows the answers to such things. “Pastor, we need to fire you because we hired you to tell us the answer to this.” You just have to fire me because I don’t know the answer to this. You just have to ask God one day. I don’t know why a young lady in our church left a husband and four boys behind. I don’t know why she didn’t get well from cancer. I know that her last days God used her as a powerful witness. I tell you instead of trying to figure out “why” in that situation we need to figure out “what” God is telling us through that situation because God is speaking to us. So he said, yeah Paul you are going to end up in Rome. It may not look like it now but it’s going to happen. In Romans 4:21 the Bible says Abraham believed God even against all odds because he believed that what God has promised He was able to perform. Last of all the Lord not only stood by him and spoke to him, but notice the Lord safeguarded him. You look in verse 12 you’ll find there are some fellows in this passage who made a conspiracy. It says the next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. And there were 40 men involved in this plot. Now the next verses tell you they went to the Chief Priest and the Scribes and said now look here - we hate Paul, we hate Jesus, we’re gonna kill him and we’re not going to eat until we have killed Paul. I’ll tell you those guys must have been mighty skinny by now amen. Cause they didn’t kill him. God delivered him. You know what? God so happened to have Paul’s nephew as a waiter in that room. He was waiting on the high potentates, the Scribes and the Pharisees and they didn’t think about talking business in front of him. They didn’t pay him any attention. He was the one that filled their glasses and brought their food. He heard what happened. So what happened? He visits Paul in the jail and says look here - they’re going to kill you. They bound an oath by all that is living that they are going to kill you. So Paul told the Centurion and the Centurion said well we’ve got to protect this man he is a citizen of Rome. We can let this Jewish conspiracy kill this man. And so you know what they did? Look in verse 31 and see what they did. They got 200 foot soldiers and 200 spear men and 70 horsemen. That’s 470 Roman soldiers. Verse 31 says so the soldiers carrying out their orders took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipas. The next day they let the cavalry go with him while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. Here were 40 men that were lying in wait - as soon as he came out of that jail - pow! We’re gonna kill him. We’ve sworn we will not eat until it happens. And so hearing about that plan by the providential nature of God - having someone to warn Paul about what happened, Paul had left Jerusalem in the early morning hours with an escort of 470 Roman soldiers. Man, he left in style. It was more a convoy for the man of God .Was there a king in that convoy of 470 soldiers? No it’s some crippled shriveled up old man they call Paul. They say he’s a preacher of Jesus and the good news. Ladies and gentlemen when you are in the dungeon, the Lord will stand by you. He will speak to you. He will safeguard you. All the way to heaven’s gates. There was a member of our church, a young man, with a wife and a little boy. He had a brain tumor. This man’s family loved the Lord and they served God here for many years. We prayed for him that God would heal this tumor. He did and finally through prayer and therapy he got where he could function again. He didn’t ever get to the place where he could work, but to the place where he could function and enjoy life and be in church and serve God. He came to this altar and was prayed over many, many times. But the cancer came back. I remember visiting him in the hospital. On his door while he was in the agony of rehab trying to train his mind to work over and over again every day - exercising every day - going to rehab - every day working hard I said how do you do it? Man, how do you do it? I knew how he did it and he pointed to the wall. I looked on the wall and on the wall was a picture of Jesus going to Mount Calvary. Bearing his cross. He said that’s how I do it. You know the cancer came back and now he doesn’t know anybody. He doesn’t know his family. He’s in a facility for people like that. But you know that I believe if we could see his heart, if some how we could open his heart and his mind we would still see in that heart and mind that picture of Jesus carrying the cross with a bloody back stumbling beneath the load, but going forward. For he said not my will but mine be done.
