BULLETIN ARTICLE – 18 November 2018

Things were not getting on well for Apostle Paul. It was not good because his integrity was in question. He was falsely accused by the Jewish religious leaders. Furthermore, it was bad because the Jewish religious leaders and their henchmen were vicious in their attempts to kill him. He had been put under arrest by the Roman authorities in Caesarea for two years and his case did not receive the fair trial that he deserved as a Roman citizen.

Acts 25 demonstrates for Paul what is expressed in: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Each situation in Paul’s life may be negative but God can string them together to form a good final outcome. That is God’s firm assurance to Paul. The Lord had told him in the prison barracks in Jerusalem: “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” (Acts 23:11). For us too, in whatever situations we may be facing – loss of job, illness like cancer, a difficult child, etc – God can, in his divine wisdom and love, turn these painful occasions to work it all for our good for we “have been called according to his purpose”.

Firstly, we note the absolute certainty of the promise in Romans 8:28 in Paul’s situation. Paul would have had to wait patiently on God when it seemed that his trial was a forgotten case under Governor Felix. To keep hearing false and baseless slander about his lack of observance of Jewish rites would have been intolerable. Having to repeat his defence of innocence over and over again to deaf ears was frustrating Yet, to Paul, the circumstances allowed him to preach the gospel to the Jewish religious persecutors, and to, not one but four people of authority and to others in attendance.

Secondly, we note the promise in Romans 8:28 is comprehensive: “We know all things work together for good”. With God, every detail of the situation that you and I may suffer is not wasted. It was certainly so for Paul. He knew his calling was to preach the gospel of Jesus in Rome. He used his right as a Roman citizen to be tried by Caesar in Rome – “I appeal to Caesar!” To reach the final highest court of appeal in Rome, he ended up being able to reason the gospel of Jesus with people in high authority. His two years of arrest in Caesarea actually proved to be a protective custody from the Jewish religious leaders’ malicious intentions and served to allow him to write letters from Caesarea to the churches he founded. The Lord used the repeated harassment to direct him to Rome where he not only witnessed to many, but wrote invaluable instructions and explanations as part of the Word of God – the Bible today.

Divine authority speaks of a God who is sovereign over all people and circumstances, moving events, ordering them so that all things add up to fulfil his own eternal plan.