To Caesar You Shall Go Series

TO CAESAR YOU SHALL GO!

Text: Acts 25:1-12

Introduction

1. "In prayer, you ask for things and give thanks for things. Why? Because you recognize that God is the author and source of all the good that you have had already, and all the good that you hoped for in the future. This is the fundamental philosophy of Christian prayer. The prayer of a Christian is not an attempt to force God's hand, but a humble acknowledgement of helplessness and dependence. When we are on our knees, we know that it is not we who control the world; it is not in our power, therefore, to supply our needs by our own independent efforts; every good thing that we desire for ourselves and for others must be sought from God, and will come, if it comes at all, as a gift from his hands.... In effect, therefore, what we do every time we pray is to confess our own impotence and God's sovereignty. The very fact that a Christian prays is thus proof positive that he believes in the Lordship of his God." (JI Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. InterVarsity Press. 2008 pp. 15-16).

2. In our text today, we see some amazing things, but the greatest thing we see is Paul’s belief and trust in the sovereignty of God.

3. Now, put yourself in his shoes. Jesus had appeared to him and told him that he was to preach the Gospel in Rome. Since then, he had spent the last two years in jail when he hadn’t done anything wrong, and there was a plot to assassinate him. If that were me, I probably would be moaning and complaining, not to mention, worrying myself sick.

4. But nowhere in our text does it say Paul was worried. Why? Because he believed in the sovereignty of his almighty God.

5. Read Acts 25:1-12

Transition: Let’s see what happens as Paul’s journey to Rome takes another step.

I. The Sovereignty of God at Work

A. At this point Paul has been incarcerated for two years for a crime he didn’t commit. The previous governor, Felix, didn’t find him guilty of anything, but wouldn’t decide about letting him go because he was afraid of the Jews.

B. But now we find that there is a new sheriff in town. There is a new governor in the region, and he will now be making the decision on Paul. Luke tells us in vv1-2, “Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem, 2 where the leading priests and other Jewish leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul.”

1. The new governor, Festus, didn’t waste any time in getting to work. After just three days, he went to Jerusalem and met with the Jewish religious and political leaders.

2. Of course, their first thing on the agenda was to get rid of Paul, and so, they told Festus the same old lies that they had told his predecessor.

3. We don’t know much about Festus, but what little we do know is that he was a fair-minded person, which was the opposite of Felix.

4. In fact, other than the Jewish historian Josephus, what Luke tells us about him is most of what is written about Festus.

5. For two years, the greatest evangelist and church planter in the early church had been sitting in a jail cell.

6. But let us be reminded that the goal here was to get Paul to Rome safely so that he could preach the Gospel.

7. God promised Paul this would happen, and God always keeps his promises.

C. Then Luke tells us in vv. 3-5, “They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way). 4 But Festus replied that Paul was at Caesarea and he himself would be returning there soon. 5 So he said, “Those of you in authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your accusations.”

1. Again, it had been two years, but the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Paul.

2. In fact, what started with 40 radicals has increased to all of the Jewish leaders. They concluded that the Romans weren’t going to convict him of anything, so they had to take matters into their own hands.

3. As a result, they asked Festus to bring Paul back to Jerusalem for a hearing. They were savvy leaders and wanted to use this “favor” from Festus as a means of building a good relationship with them.

4. But Festus told them that Paul was already in Caesarea, and he would be returning there soon, and they could come with him.

5. Of course, this didn’t make them happy because their hatred a vindictiveness against Paul was an obsession, and it was surely stimulated by the devil, but they would have to wait.