Acts 23 Round Two: God's Presence is in the Storm

When storms close in, clarity can break through like lightning in a dark sky. We walk through Acts 23 with Paul as he faces the Sanhedrin, navigates a violent split over the resurrection, and holds fast to a single promise: you will testify in Rome. That word becomes the center of gravity for everything that follows—an ambush plot by forty conspirators, a providential warning from his nephew, and an armed night escort to Caesarea under Roman protection.

We share how a steady heart is not born from quiet circumstances but from a clear calling. Paul models a rare blend of conviction and restraint: he speaks boldly, corrects himself with Scripture, reads the room with wisdom, and trusts God without shutting off common sense. Along the way we unpack the cultural and theological fault lines between Sadducees and Pharisees, why the resurrection became the spark in the chamber, and how divine assurance reframes danger as direction. Providence here looks practical—overheard plans, thoughtful officials, and timely letters—reminding us that God’s guidance often moves through ordinary means.

If your life feels like a courtroom with shifting rules, this journey offers a field guide to inner peace. We talk about using daily Scripture to steady your mind, listening for God’s voice when the noise rises, and taking wise steps even when people like Governor Felix complicate the path. The takeaway is simple and strong: you may not quiet the storm outside, but you can cultivate the peace within by holding to what God has said. If this speaks to you, follow the show, leave a rating, and share it with a friend who needs courage today.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Framing The Storm And Theme
• 1:22 Luke’s Lens And Paul’s Mission
• 2:06 Sanhedrin Showdown Begins
• 4:16 Division Over Resurrection Explodes
• 6:00 The Lord’s Assurance To Paul
• 6:17 Assassins’ Oath And Nephew’s Warning
• 7:21 Military Escort To Caesarea
• 9:55 Peace In Chaos And Closing Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Acts chapter 23. And if I could give this one a title, we're really kind of continuing this idea of God's presence is in the storm. We're really walking with the Apostle Paul as over these few days, he's really having to embrace God's presence as kind of an eye in the middle of a very difficult storm. And we're going to get into all that in just a little while and see how that kind of impacts our life. But of course, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe on the YouTube channel. Make sure you're leaving us a five-star review on the podcast. Make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion and engaging with us, also letting us know how we can make this better. We always want to make this better. And I want to hear from you, what do you think about the music that we're putting on the end of these videos? Is it encouraging for you? Is it helpful for you? We want to be able to make it something that you can use and it can be a blessing and a benefit. And if it's just not doing anything, if it's not beneficial, then we'll cut it out. But we're going to keep it going for a couple of weeks and just see if it will add benefit to you. Okay. All right. As we get ready to get into Acts chapter 23, remember this book of the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit through Luke, the doctor turned investigative journalist. And now he's traveling with the Apostle Paul. He has firsthand account of all these things that are happening in the life of the Apostle Paul. And now the whole narrative is Paul has been told by God that he is supposed to preach the gospel in Rome after he gets to Jerusalem. And so he's taking these next steps. So first God tells him, You got to go to Jerusalem. So he goes. Well, now he's about to tell him, Don't worry, the path to Jerusalem is taking you to Rome. And so God gives us the next step so that we can take the next step. And what we're seeing through all of this is that God's voice is sometimes the loudest when the storm is also the darkest. It reminds me of you ever been, you know, outside somewhere, and all of a sudden you just see this flash of light, like lightning, and you just see it. Well, if you've really thought about it, that light is is bright, but it's just as bright as this the the daytime sun. It's no brighter than the daytime sun, at least it doesn't look like it to my eyes. What makes it brighter is because of the darkness that surrounds it. And many times God's voice will seem loudest when the storm is the darkest. Not because he speaks any louder, but because his voice becomes clearer when we're looking for him. And when it is um it is interspersed or or it um contrasts with the darkness around us. So we never want a bad time to come, but when the bad time comes, we go, wow, I'm gonna have an encounter with God in the middle of this. And we can see this because this is what's happening in the Apostle Paul's life. And so remember what happened is he's having to stand again before the council of Jewish people, and now he is in front of this is the Sanhedrin, and these are the top-tier leaders of the Jewish world. They're there and they're wanting to hear what is the deal with Paul. So you have two different groups you have the Pharisees and the Sadducees who are there. Sadducees, they're the ones who kind of buddy up to the Romans the most. They don't really believe in the resurrection, they don't believe in a lot of the books of the Old Testament, very liberal, very, very, very out there. And I don't mean that as in a political way, just their their thinking is very just not really orthodox, very, very, very close to the Roman people. On the other side, you got the Pharisees, very, very conservative, not politically, but when I'm talking about their belief system, they believe in all of the Old Testament, they do believe in the resurrection of the dead, they believe in all this stuff, but they're very legalistic, so they got their problems too. So both of these groups come together to form the Sanhedrin, and now Paul is standing before all of them, and he's got to give an account for himself. So if you got your NLT Bibles open with me to Acts chapter 23, NLT version, let's jump into God's word together. You ready? Here we go. Verse 1. Gazing intently at the high council, that's the Sanhedrin, Paul began, Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience. Instantly, Ananias, the high priest, commanded those to uh close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. But Paul said to him, God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite. It'll mess around, man. What kind of judge are you to break the law by ordering me to be struck like that? Excuse me, Paul. Um, um, those standing near Paul said, Do you dare insult God's high priest? Oh, I'm sorry, brothers. I didn't realize that he was the high priest, Paul replied. For the scriptures say you must not speak evil of any of your rulers. Uh, but heaven help him if he hadn't have been a ruler, because Paul wouldn't mess around on this day. Verse 6. Paul realized that some of the members of the high council were Sadducees, and that some were Pharisees. So he shouted, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and was uh where as were my ancestors. I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead. This divided the council, the Pharisees against the Sadducees, for the Sadducees say there's no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. We see nothing wrong with him, they shouted. Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him, and a conflict grew more and more violent, so that the commander was afraid that they would tear Paul apart. Poor Paul, if he's not getting arrested or beat, he's getting tore apart. So he ordered the soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress. That's really amazing if you think about it. That Paul just used his wisdom to help them help get him out of the situation. Verse 11. That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the good news in Rome as well. So Paul knows now this isn't going to end with his death. He's going to make it to Rome, and now he's ready to go. Verse 12. The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. They went to the leading priest and the elders and told them, We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. So you and the high council should ask the commanders to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way. But Paul's nephew, his son, his sister's son, heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul. Paul called for one of the Roman officers and said, Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him. So the officer did, explaining. Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you. The commander took his hand, led him inside, or led him aside, and said, What is it you want me to know? Paul's nephew told him, Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending that they want to get more information. But don't do it. There are more than forty men hiding along the way to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. And they are ready now, just waiting for your consent. Don't let anyone know you told me this, the commander warned the young man. So, Paul's got a bounty on his head at this point. They have determined not to eat or drink until they have killed him, which is hilarious to me because if they kept their oath, 40 people are in the dead now. And they died pretty bad, uh, not eating or drinking because they didn't get him. All right, verse 23. The commander called two of his officers and ordered, get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight. Also, take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. So you and talk about an entourage. They got one. Provide horses for Paul to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix. Then he wrote this letter to the governor. From Claudius Lysissus to his excellent excellency, Governor Felix. Greetings. That's a really big hello. This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him safely. Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him. I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law, certainly nothing worth imprisonment or death. But I was informed of a plot to kill him. I immediately sent him to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you. So that night as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Anthropis. They returned to the fortress the next morning while the mounted troops took him to Caesarea. When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix. He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. Celestia, Paul answered, I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive. The governor had told him this, and then the governor ordered him to be kept in prison at Herod's headquarters. So, once again, in the storm is where God's presence is. All of this chaos is happening. All of these things. Paul's going to speak to this person, and there are people there getting mad. There's a plot to kill him, 40 guys, there's a midnight escape. All these things are going on. And then what's bad, we don't know this, you know, in context, lest you know history, but Governor Felix is a crook. He's a bad guy. He is he is nobody's friend in this scenario. And so, in some ways, it would look like things just went from bad to worse. Because for the right bribe, Felix would have handed Paul over to anybody. And so it could look like it's bad. But the reality is, is even in the midst of this swirl, right in the middle of it, there's Paul. And Paul's good because he has the word of the Lord. And the word of the Lord says, You're not going to die, Paul, till you get to Rome. And that's what's amazing about God's word. That's why I think we should read God's word every day, is because we can't always help the storms on the outside, but we can absolutely help the peace we have on the inside. And the peace that kept Paul in the middle of this is a word from God that said, I got you. When I read God's word every day, it reminds me that God's word is true, that God's word is powerful, that God's word is above all of this stuff, and so let the storms rage. I don't want them to, but I can't help that. Let let people say what they're gonna say. I don't want them to, but I can't help that. I can't help the storms on the outside, but I can help the peace on the inside by knowing God's word. How is God's word going to keep you peace at peace and centered today? My hope is that's exactly what it will do. Let me pray for us and we'll be done for today. Father, thank you so much for your goodness, your kindness, your mercy. God, we would love to never have a storm in our life. We'd never we'd love to never have a bad day. We love for everything to be okay, but we know sometimes our journeys take us through storms. But my hope is today that as present as the storm is in everyone's life, even more visible will be your goodness and your kindness. I pray you'll be with us today. Let us experience your presence. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Don't forget, God's Word says in Acts chapter 1, Jesus said, We will receive power. When? When the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Then we will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. My prayer today is that you'll experience the power of God and it will encourage and empower you to be a witness to the world today. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Acts chapter 24.