Acts 23:11,12

Acts 23:11,12 And 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. And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. These are two very opposite verses. One tells us that Paul will preach in Rome, but the other says that these forty men will do everything that it takes to kill Paul. So, which one do you think succeeds? The second is forty Jews who make the prediction, but the first is God Who tells Paul that he will go to Rome. I think God’s prediction will come to pass, don’t you? Paul was in big trouble in Jerusalem. But God told him to be of good cheer. Even in the midst of trouble, God has a purpose and His Holy Spirit is at work making things happen in such a way that God himself will get the glory. The Pharisees were condemning Paul. The Scribes were speaking out against Paul. Forty men took a suicide promise to kill Paul. But God had other plans. Rest assured, God will not let us die until we have fulfilled what He has for us to do. And Paul had a job in Rome – and to Rome he went!