February 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Acts 23:1-11:

¹And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
²And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
³Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
⁴And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?
⁵Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
⁶But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
⁷And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
⁹And 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.
¹⁰And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
¹¹And 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.

Devotional

The opposition to Paul in Jerusalem was powerful and threatening. The apostle's life was in danger. But the Lord had important work for him yet to do. The Apostle to the Gentiles was to witness in the chief city of the Gentile world-in Rome itself. And the Lord In the night stood by Paul and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." Human opposition to the apostle could not succeed in overthrowing the purpose that the Lord had for him. Paul could be of good courage, although his life was threatened; he was assured that the purpose of witnessing that our sovereign Redeemer had for him must be fulfilled!

The Lord does not now give direct revelations as He did to Paul. He does not speak to us as He did to Paul, "Be of good cheer." But He does speak to us through His infallible Word, the Bible. He does through the Holy Scriptures speak peace to our souls, encouraging us and exhorting us to be of good courage. Whatever opposition men may raise to our testimony and to us, we may be sure that the Lord's sovereign purpose for our witnessing must be fulfilled. His Word, honored through our testimony, will not return to Him void, but it shall accomplish that which He pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto He sent it (Isaiah 55:11)!

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)