Putting the gospel on hold, Acts 24

I don’t know about you, but I think a lot of people have a problem with procrastination.  Putting things off.  Speaking for myself, it’s one of the few things I am really very good at.  I put the “pro” in procrastination.  I’ve been working on renovating my bathroom for almost a year now.  Maybe longer.  I try not to think about it.  It makes me feel guilty.  I just tell my wife that God is using me to teach her patience.  My latest excuse is that I’m waiting for winter when I will need something to do indoors. 

But the truth is, I’m just a sorry procrastinator.  And while procrastinating on finishing my bathroom renovations may cause some irritation for my wife, there are other things which if we procrastinate in can really get us in trouble.  Things like filling up your gas tank (Randy), or filing your taxes, or paying a speeding ticket.  Some things you don’t want to procrastinate about.

I heard a fictional story about the devil and a group of his demons who got together to try to figure out some way by which they could deceive as many people as possible, and win the spiritual warfare against God. So Satan said that he would like for someone to volunteer to go to earth and to seek to win the victory for his kingdom. And one of the demons raised his hand to volunteer and the devil said, “Well, what are you going to do?” He said, “Well, I’m going to go to earth and convince them there is no God.” And the devil said, “That won’t work because the glory of God’s creation will  convict men  that there must be a God.” Another one raised his hand and said, “I will go to earth and convince them that there is no heaven.” And the devil  said, “That’s not really a good idea either because God has planted eternity in the hearts of men so that they will hope for heaven.”  A few other excuses were offered and summarily rejected and finally one demon then raised his hand, and he said, “I’d like to go.” And the devil said, “Well, what are you going to do?” The demon said, “Well, when I go down to earth,  I’m simply going to tell them that there is no hurry.” And the devil said, “That will work!  You’ve got the job.” That is the essence of procrastination.  That there is no hurry.  It’s not that urgent.  There is always tomorrow. It’s a strategy that has slain thousands and thousands of people for all of eternity.

Today we are introduced to a man that is a great example of someone that procrastinated and lost out on his greatest opportunity.  That man is Felix, a Roman governor to whom Paul has been sent to be tried.  This man was quite a sordid character.  His name however meant happy.  That’s another classic strategy of the devil by the way.  The world calling something freedom which ends up trapping you.  Calling something fun which kills you. Calling something true which is a lie.  Be wary of the devil’s schemes. Anyhow, Felix had been a slave at one point, but his brother’s political connections with the emperor of Rome had resulted in being set free and given political appointments which eventually landed him the job as Pontius Pilate’s replacement as the governor of Judea.  He was married to a beautiful Jewish woman named Drusilla who was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. Her father murdered the Apostle James. Her great uncle, Herod Antipas, slew John the Baptist. And her great grandfather, Herod the Great, killed all the babes in Jerusalem under 2 years old.  She had been married to another king in Syria when she was 15 years old, but Felix seduced her and made her his wife.  And Felix had already been married twice before her.

Now Felix as Roman governor is the acting judge of Paul’s case.  Paul has been sent to Felix by the Roman commander Lysias in Jerusalem in order to keep Paul from being assassinated by the Jewish leaders.  So our story picks up in chapter 24 with Paul’s accusers coming to make their accusations to Felix.  It’s interesting to me that the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin have come on short notice to make their case about Paul, and they hired a Roman lawyer named Tertullus to represent them.   They had their own lawyers, but they hire a Roman lawyer to present their case to a Roman judge.  It proves once again my point I made last week concerning the ancient proverb, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  Over and over again we see the Jewish religious leaders conspiring with their enemies, the Romans, in order to kill Christians.  False religion and politics make strange bedfellows, but it’s something we see presented over and over again.

So Tertullus starts out by flattering Felix in an obvious attempt to butter him up. This illustrates another aspect of false religion. Flattery is associated with false teachers.  They tell you what you want to hear in order to take advantage of you. Jude 1:16 says “These [false teachers] are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”  And so we will see that this  same man that flattered so effortlessly also lies just as effortlessly.  He brings false charges against Paul. 

The first charge he brings against Paul is that of sedition. He says, “we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world.”  The second charge is that of heresy; “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”  And the third charge was profaning the temple; “he even tried to desecrate the temple.”  Now that third charge is interesting in light of the unrest in Israel right now.  Just because of an unfounded rumor that Israel is going to try to take over the temple mount the Palestinians have been attacking Jews by dozens of stabbings over the last week or so and the whole region is close to erupting in war.  So the temple has always been a subject of tension, and no less so than in the days of Paul.  And it was obvious that Felix would understand this being the governor of Judea.

Now I don’t want to belabor the judicial proceedings here.  I want to move on to the latter part of the text and talk about Felix’s response to the gospel.  But let me summarize quickly what Paul’s defense was, because it left the Jewish leaders and their Roman lawyer speechless, from what we can tell in the text. 

First of all, Paul does not lower himself to flattery. Paul is not some servile, fawning servant of the court.  Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ.  I love the quote by Charles Spurgeon who said, “if God has called you to be a minister, do not stoop to be a king.” Paul is polite, even courteous as is expected behavior to a judge and especially to a governor.  And Paul says what is true and probably the only good thing that can be said of Felix, which is that he had been governor a long time.  That was a good thing for Paul, because it meant that Felix had to be familiar with Judaism, had to have some knowledge of Christianity, and would be familiar with Jewish history to some degree.

Then Paul said it had been only twelve days since he arrived in the city of Jerusalem and obviously some of those days have been spent out of Jerusalem in Caesarea. It’s apparent the apostle didn’t have time to raise sedition against the Roman Empire. So the apostle simply pleads there is insufficient time for this charge of sedition. There was no evidence for sedition.

The second thing that he responds to is the charge of heresy. And in verse 14, he says, “But this I admit to you, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets and have hope toward God.” So he points to his worshipping the God of their fathers. He points to his beliefs, his conduct. He says, “I believe all that is written in the law and the prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”  So he says they believe in the same God and trust the same scriptures.  And then I love the fact that he throws in there again the statement which cost him getting punched in the face before:  I have a clear conscience before God and man.

Boy, I think if the majority of Christians could say that then there would be a different perception by the world in regards to Christianity, would there not?  The biggest complaint by the world is that the church is full of hypocrites.  People who claim one way and live another way.  Paul would tell the church later in one of his epistles, “be imitators of me.”  Can we say that as well?  Can we say that to our kids, to our wives, husbands, co workers?  Imitate me, because I imitate Christ.  Well, that should be our goal.  We are to be holy and blameless even as He is holy.  We are to live godly lives so that we do not bring reproach upon the name of Christ. 

The third charge was that of desecrating the temple.  And this is the one that had started the riot to begin with which caused Paul to be arrested.  So Paul carefully details how he purified himself in accordance with temple laws, how he came to bring alms to his nation, how he brought sacrificial offerings, and that at no time did he instigate a riot or uproar.  But the Jews from Asia who had caused the riot were not there at this hearing, and if they had charges to that affect they should have been present to make them.  He went on to say that the only thing he had done was to cry out “For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.” 

So in effect, Paul showed that the charges against him were bogus, they were without warrant, they had no witnesses of any crime.  And I believe that his argument fully convinced the judge because the text says that Felix had a more accurate knowledge about The Way.  He knew that what Paul believed did not constitute a criminal act.  But Felix was not an honorable judge.  He was looking at the situation and trying to figure out how he could profit from it.  And so he put them off, and said he would wait until Lysias the commander came before making a decision.  This was obviously a delaying ploy because Luke said in the last chapter that Lysias had written a detailed letter saying that Paul had done nothing wrong, but their disputes were solely about their religion.  So this is the first time we see Felix  postponing, procrastinating making a decision, in hopes of making some money off of the deal.

Then Felix orders that Paul be kept in custody, and yet given a certain amount of freedom so that his friends can minister to him.  Now that was a unique situation.  It’s interesting that God would allow Paul to languish in this sort of relaxed house arrest for two years under the remainder of Felix’s reign.  From a human perspective, this must have been the most unproductive time of Paul’s life.  Certainly this was a mistake for God to leave this great man in prison when he could have been establishing churches on foreign lands, and preaching to people all around the world.  And yet we must believe that in the sovereignty of God this was His plan for Paul, even though God’s purposes were not clear to us.

I have counseled people who are dealing with all sorts of issues in life, from marriage issues to drug addiction, and one constant element that I have to address is the matter of time, of waiting, of dealing with what seems like delays.  Time is one of the primary means by which God proves or tests a man or a woman.  I do not mean he tests you to see what you will do.  But what “ to prove” means is God uses time to sort you out, to refine you, to change you, to enable you to know Him more fully, more intimately.  To come to depend solely and fully upon God.  And unfortunately, many people fail that test by trying to circumvent it.  Young people especially are often in such a rush that they spoil God’s plan.  But God uses time to refine us, like a vineyard uses time to refine fine wine.

Dr. F. B. Meyer has written these words: "So often we mistake God, and interpret his delays as denials. What a chapter might be written of God's delays. It is the mystery of the art of educating human spirits to the finest temper of which they are capable. What searchings of heart, what analyzings of motives, what testings of the Word of God, what upliftings of the soul, 'searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of God signified.' All these are associated with these weary days of waiting which are, nevertheless, big with spiritual destiny. But such delays are not God's final answer to the soul that trusts him."

We aren’t privy to all that God did in Paul’s life during these two years. But we can be certain that it was not wasted time.  The years the field lies fallow produces a better crop in the future.  We do know that his letters to the Ephesians, the Colossians, the Philippians,  were all written after this. And in Philippians there is a passage which I think grew out of this situation. In the fourth chapter the apostle says, “Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13) Undoubtedly, Paul proved this truth while in Caesarea these two years.

One thing we are told concerning this time Paul spent in prison is the procrastination of Felix to the offer of the gospel.  It’s interesting to see the contrast between Paul and Felix.  Paul has to wait for two years.  God uses the time to refine him.  It is not wasted time, it’s time invested.  But Felix procrastinates for two years.  He wastes time. He hears the gospel from one of it’s greatest teachers for 2 years and yet he wastes that opportunity.  His procrastination costs him the greatest opportunity of his lifetime.

Well, it says that a few days after putting Paul under house arrest, Felix’s wife Drusilla comes to see Felix, and so he brings Paul out to speak to them together, to hear more about Christianity.  I think the text indicates there is a real interest on Felix’s part to learn about faith in Christ.  It was said about this Way that it was turning the world upside down.  And we can see from Felix’s response that Paul’s message really shook him up. 

But let me say something first about what Paul had to say.  A lot of people would have looked at this situation as an opportunity to restate your innocence and try to use this private audience to get released from prison.  After all, there is a lot more that you could do for the Lord out of prison, or so it would seem.  But Paul does not attempt to do that.  Or some people might have been more noble and said I will use this as an opportunity to get to know Felix and Drusilla.  Make friends with them, relate to them, and maybe if they see how nice I am and what a regular guy I am, then I will be able to introduce them to the gospel later.  But Paul doesn’t do that either.  Paul uses the opportunity to go right to the basic doctrines of the gospel;  righteousness, self control, and the judgment to come.  Not exactly how to win friends and influence people.  But exactly what was necessary.

You see, Paul had no illusions of the luxury of time.  He understood the urgency of the gospel.  He knew he was going to eventually go to Rome because the Lord told him.  But he didn’t know when or how.  All he knew was that right then he had the opportunity to preach the gospel to the governor and his wife and probably a palace full of court attendants.  And so Paul preached hellfire and damnation.  Not much “just have a relationship with Jesus” in that message. Because Paul knew that unrighteousness cannot have a relationship with God.

So he preached on righteousness.  What is that?  That is the standard of God.  It’s the law of God.  The law that condemns us to death.  The standard of God’s righteousness that we can never measure up to.  He preached on the righteousness which is counted to the believer on the basis of faith.  The faith of Abraham which was counted unto him as righteousness.  He preached on 2Cor. 5:21 which says, “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  He preached that Jesus died on the cross taking our sins upon Him, so that His righteousness could be transferred to us. 

And then it says he preached on self control.  Wow!  I like that.  Don’t hear a lot of messages today on self control, do we?  What is that mean?  I think he is talking about sanctification.  “The sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”  Hebrews 12:14.  And probably threw in a couple for Felix and Drusilla’s benefit about immorality such as 1Thess. 4:3-4 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”  Bet that went over well.  And then to wrap up sanctification he probably closed with Rom. 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

And then Paul wraps up his message with a section on the judgment to come.  And maybe Paul quoted Jesus Himself on this one, perhaps Luke 12:2-5 "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”

Well, after Paul’s message it says Felix trembled in fear.  He became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.” This was the second time Felix procrastinated.  This time he was under conviction.  The Holy Spirit obviously shook him up.  But Felix says I’m going to wait to a more convenient day. 

You know, when a man refuses the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and rejects it, having received the ministry of the Holy Spirit that leads to trembling, when he begins to turn away from it, another thing begins to work in his heart; and that is his heart becomes hardened. And it becomes more and more difficult for an individual who has once received the conviction of the Holy Spirit and rejected it to turn to the Lord.

Not only does he make the tragic mistake of rejecting the Holy Spirit, but his greed springs up and sees this as an opportunity to maybe make some money off of Paul.  Perhaps he thinks that the churches will offer to buy his freedom.  So he brings Paul out from time to time to hear him more, but the Holy Spirit’s conviction fades away with each rejection until he no longer feels fearful.  He no longer feels the trembling in his soul.  He imagines that he has a more convenient day still in his future.   And little does he know that he will never get that opportunity again.  They say that the same fire that melts wax hardens clay.  It is a dangerous thing to reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Listen, today is the accepted day of salvation.  If you hear this call today, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you today, then it is not too late.  Simply call on the name of the Lord in repentance and faith and you will be saved from the wrath to come.  We used to sing this old hymn when I was a boy called “Almost Persuaded.”  I will close with a couple of verses from that hymn and then we will pray.  I hope that you will not wait another day.  There is no more convenient day.  Today is the acceptable day. 

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;

“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;

  Seems now some soul to say,

  “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

  Some more convenient day

    on Thee I’ll call.”

Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!

“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last;

  “Almost” cannot avail;

  “Almost” is but to fail!

  Sad, sad that bitter wail—

    “Almost—but lost!”

Be now persuaded, oh, sinner, hear!

Be now persuaded, Jesus is near;

  His voice is pleading still,

  Turn now with heart and will,

  Peace will your spirit fill—

    Oh, turn today!

The gospel on trial, Acts 23

For the sake of context, let me remind you of the circumstances which have occurred prior to this chapter.  Paul had arrived in Jerusalem, and gone to great extremes to try to make sure he did not offend the Jews, even to the point of helping certain Jewish men consummate their Nazarite vows, which Paul may have participated in as well which included purifying himself, shaving his head and making a sacrifices in the temple.  But certain Jews from Asia had come as well and having seen a certain Greek man in the city with Paul assumed that he had brought him and other Gentiles into the temple and defiled it.  Or if they did not assume that, they used it as a pretext to accuse Paul of a great crime against the temple.  So the whole city ends up in a riot in which Paul was being mobbed literally to death. 

Someone ran to the Roman garrison and told the commander there was a riot occurring at the temple mount, so he took a group of soldiers and rushed to the temple area and took Paul prisoner.  Unable to find out why the riot had started or what Paul had done he took him away to question him, and when Paul spoke to him in the Greek language the commander was surprised to find that Paul was not some Egyptian terrorist leader that he had thought him to be.  So Paul asked before he went into the barracks if he could speak to the people.  And the commander agreed.  Paul saw it as an opportunity to preach to the Jews at Jerusalem.  The whole city was gathered there and became dead silent when he began to speak to them in Hebrew.

So Paul started out by giving his testimony.  He told how he had been one of them, even a leader of the Jewish religion, a Pharisee taught under the famed rabbi Gamaliel.  He told them how he was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians when a voice from heaven called out to him and a bright light blinded him.  He told how it was Jesus Christ, who they had put to death.  He told how he was saved by faith in Christ and was baptized.  Now the Jews listen quietly to him of all that he had to say  up to the point where he said that Christ had told him to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles.  And at that point they burst into another riot.  Once again the commander of the Roman soldiers had to intervene and take Paul  away in order to prevent him from coming to harm. 

The commander still didn’t know what all the ruckus was about.  So at first the commander thought he would just start to scourge Paul until he confessed whatever crime he was guilty of.  But when Paul told him he was a Roman citizen and it was not lawful to scourge an uncondemned man, then he ordered for the chief priests and the Council to assemble so that he could find out what they had against him.

Now then our text today picks it up at that point.  Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews made up of 70 leaders, plus the high priest.   Now I have entitled today’s message “The Gospel on Trial.”  If you look at our website, you will notice that a large portion of my messages in Acts have been about some effect of the gospel.  In Defense of the Gospel, Bound for the Sake of the Gospel, The Power of the Gospel, and many more if you care to look.  Following that pattern, today is the Gospel on Trial. And for the sake of breaking down this chapter into sections, I have made an outline as follows;  the Council, the Commendation, and the Conspiracy.  We are going to start of course with the Council.

As I said, the Council is hurriedly called to the commander’s headquarters for a hearing, a makeshift trial of the Apostle Paul.  It’s interesting that Paul’s accusers are the leaders of what is really the church of God which had become apostate.  Judaism was the national religion of Israel.  The Jews were allowed a certain degree of self rule under Rome’s authority.  So on the one side you have 71 of the most esteemed leaders of Judaism, on the other side you have the Apostle Paul, and acting as the judge and jury is the Roman commander, who would have been in charge of  10 centurions and 1000 Roman soldiers.  He was the face of the martial law Rome imposed on it’s territories such as Israel, who were allowed a certain degree of self rule, but they were superintended by the Roman government who settled any problems that the Jews were not able to deal with, or had not been given authority to handle.  So it is a trial of sorts, and Paul is defending himself against what amounts to 71 lawyers, with a biased judge sitting on the seat of judgment who has the power to condemn Paul to death if he desires.

And it’s interesting that Paul is given the floor first.  I’m not an authority about judicial proceedings, but I believe it is customary to announce the charges, or to bring charges against a person before you hear from the defense.  But in this case it is as if it’s a foregone conclusion that Paul must be guilty of some grievous crime, and though they do not know what it is, they will give Paul the floor in order to try to establish his innocence.  It is a reversal of proper procedure.  He is guilty and has to prove his innocence. We are going to see in the next few chapters that they never do come to a point of having anything to formally charge Paul with.  They will set him before kings in order to try to find something to accuse him of, and eventually even send him to Caesar, but they will never have a criminal charge against him.

Paul’s situation is very similar to that of Christ.  Wrongfully accused, wrongfully arrested, beaten without being found guilty, tried in kangaroo court and the Roman judge repeatedly says I find no fault in this man, and yet the Jews cry out for His blood.  And finally Pilate goes along with them and orders Christ’s execution.  It will be a couple of years before Paul is executed, but there are many parallels in his ordeal to Christ’s.  Paul would write the Philippians later and say, in Phil. 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”  He would indeed know the fellowship of His sufferings.  And I would suggest that as believers, we too must share in the fellowship of His sufferings if we are going to share in His glory, even as Hebrews 2 makes clear. We may not be thrown in prison, but to some extent we will learn obedience from the things which we suffer, if we are truly followers of Christ.  Suffering is the means by which God sanctifies His people. Heb. 12:6 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Perhaps Paul realized the irony of these events as he looked intently at the Council gathered together before him.  He used to be a part of the Sanhedrin, though 20 years earlier.  Now he looks intently at them, and says earnestly to them, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.”  Notice he calls them brethren, acknowledging that he was one of them.  And another point that should be noticed is the word translated “lived” technically should be translated “lived as a citizen,” or “conducted myself as a citizen.”  Now that’s important, because he is not talking about achieving spiritual perfection here, but about being a model citizen of the nation of Israel.  He had broken no laws.  That is what he had originally been accused of.  And so Paul defends his actions.  He says he has a clear conscience before God.

And in response the high priest orders him to be struck in the mouth.  The word there is a stronger word than a slap.  It means to beat someone. 

Now there are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks out there that seem to love to take this instance as well as some other things that Paul did during this time and say that Paul sinned.  That he loses his temper.  Some say that his whole desire to go to Jerusalem was a prideful, egotistical thing which caused him to be unnecessarily arrested. But I do not happen to agree with the critics of Paul, even though many of them are men that I have great respect for.   I tend to think that unless specifically indicated by scripture that Paul was in error, we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

But specifically, most of them find fault with Paul’s response to getting punched in the mouth.  Perhaps that’s because they haven’t been punched in the mouth themselves, and that makes them a little less compassionate towards those that are.  Have you ever noticed that?  Have you ever noticed how people who haven’t ever had a particular problem tend to be less compassionate towards those that have a problem such as alcoholism or drug addiction or things like that? It’s easy to become judgmental and look down on those caught up in such a thing as having somehow been more deserving, that they must have brought it upon themselves.  But I would remind you that we are all sinners.  And the sins of some men go before them, and the sins of others follow after.  But we are all sinners. And sooner or later, your sins will find you out.

But I want to defend Paul’s answer and response as not being sinful.  He says in vs. 3 in response to getting punched in the mouth, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”  Now a lot of Bible scholars say that Paul lost his temper here.  But I would remind you that this is supposed to be a court of law.  Paul is acting as his own lawyer.  And I think that he has every right to yell, “Objection!”  I think he has every right to be angry.  We don’t know if he was angry or not, but I can assure you that I would be angry if I got punched in the mouth for no reason whatsoever. 

But for Paul’s innocence I will appeal to the example of Jesus who entered into the temple on two separate occasions and made a whip of cords, and kicked over the money changers tables and drove out of the temple the scoundrels that were soaking the poor people who came to make sacrifices.  I would have to say that Jesus was a little bit angry.  When you start kicking over tables and chairs and beating people with whips I think it’s safe to say that you’re angry.  So Jesus got angry.  He had a righteous anger.  He said the zeal for My Father’s house has consumed Me.  I think there is a place for anger.  Eph. 4:26 says, “Be angry and sin not.”  Jesus had a right to be angry because the Sanhedrin and the chief priests were prostituting the temple and taking unfair advantage over people who were coming to worship.

And Paul had good reason to be angry.  The Sanhedrin were claiming that Paul had violated the law of the temple, and yet they were violaters of the sanctity of the temple.  They not only robbed people of their money and their sacrifices, but they robbed them of the truth of the scriptures.  They had adulterated the scriptures for their profit.  Furthermore they had put to death the Messiah of the Jews because He had threatened their position, their power and their profit center.  So they murdered the Son of God. 

So I believe Paul rather vehemently responded, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.”  Well, how about that response, the critics say?  Maybe Paul should have turned the other cheek.  He should not have said that.  After all, whitewashed wall refers to a whitewashed tomb which had dead man’s bones in it.  It looked white and clean on the outside, but it is corrupted on the inside.  And Paul didn’t have to be so mean.  He didn’t have to call them that.  He wasn’t very loving.

Well, once again Jesus said basically the same thing to the Pharisees in Matt. 23:27-28  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”  That actually is only one of eight “woes” that Jesus gives in that chapter, all directed at the scribes and Pharisees.  So we might argue that Paul essentially is following the example set by Jesus and perhaps even tones it down a bit.

Now the question of turning the other cheek is a fair one and we should explain the difference here.  As I said earlier, the Sanhedrin represented the rulers of Judaism which was supposed to be the church of God.  They claimed to represent God, to teach the truth of God and lead the people to faith in God.  And that is the reason that there is a harsher judgment towards those that are teachers than those that are followers.  Jesus had nothing but compassion towards the lost sheep of Israel.  And Paul as well is in Jerusalem for the sake of bringing the gospel to the Jews, and for the hope that some of them will be saved he is willing to risk his life.  But for the religious leaders both Jesus and Paul had scathing criticism, because they saw through their hypocrisy.  Consequently, as a pastor I have compassion towards those that are trapped in churches that are not teaching the gospel, or that have been led astray by false teachers. But I have harsh criticism for those that teach a false way and put stumbling blocks before the people.  And the Bible backs up that distinction. James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

So Paul makes the point that the High Priest was guilty of breaking the law for having Paul struck before even being charged or certainly found guilty of a charge.  And Paul was absolutely correct according to Duet. 25 which says that a man has to be found guilty to be beaten.  And according to historians, Paul's words ended up being prophetic. The corrupt High Priest’s final days - despite all his scheming and bribes - were lived as a hunted animal and ended by being brutally assassinated by  the hands of his own people.

But the Jews rebuke Paul for his response, and say “Do you revile God’s high priest?” And Paul apologizes by saying, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.’”  Again, the critics use this as an example that Paul realized that he had done wrong, and was guilty of losing his temper.  But there are a couple of things that counter that argument.  One is that the Council was not seated in it’s usual quarters, nor more than likely wearing their ceremonial robes.  So it was just a guy in the crowd as far as Paul was concerned that told them to strike him.  He would not have recognized him without his ceremonial robes or his seat in the Sanhedrin.  And secondly, there is the issue of Paul’s eyesight.  There are at least a couple of places in Paul’s epistles where he makes reference to his eyesight, and the idea seems to be that he had very poor vision, possibly due to his experience on the road to Damascus. Though God had healed him, yet it’s possible that God left a tangible reminder which Paul later called his thorn in the flesh which God did not take from him.  But again, it’s a good possibility that Paul was unable to see well enough or determine from the situation that the man speaking was the high priest.

Well, I think at that point that Paul realizes he is not going to get a fair trial.  He is having to defend himself for something he didn’t do.  Whatever he says is going to be used against him.  The Roman commander is going to let his accusers beat him up right in his courtroom.  And they are not going to even formally charge him.  So Paul comes up with another tactic.  He is well versed in the politics of the Sanhedrin.  He knows it is made up of two political groups that are essentially at odds with one another doctrinally, but politically they are allies in their resentment towards Rome.  And Paul is astute enough to know that they are united in their resentment towards Christianity.  Even more so than they hated Rome they hate Christ.  Remember when Christ was being examined they cried out, “We have no king but Caesar!” They feigned allegiance to Rome, but their hatred for Christianity was obvious.

So Paul’s strategy was to use his opponents differences against one another.  It was basically a strategy of “divide and conquer.”  There is an ancient proverb which says, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  And that encapsulates the restrained animosity of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the two groups that made up the Sanhedrin.  But Paul as a former member realizes how deep the division is.  And one of the main points is that the Sadducees do not believe in spirits, or angels, nor in the resurrection.  But the Pharisees believe in all of them.  So it was as if there was a conservative branch and a liberal branch of the Sanhedrin. 

Paul, perhaps realizing that if he is going to get out of there alive he has to get the whole case thrown out of court, says, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”  And that started another near riot, with the Pharisees saying “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” The argument became so heated, that the commander was afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces.  Each side was literally pulling him apart.  So once again the commander has to rescue Paul by force and take him to the barracks in order to keep harm from happening to him.

Now I have spent all this time covering my first point, and I have two more points to go.  So I will just briefly say something about each of the remaining points.  In a way, they are sort of the application to this story.  Paul is on trial for the gospel.  And in some way, sooner or later we will all be on trial for the gospel if we really are contending for the faith.  We will encounter opposition.  We will encounter hostility.  We will be attacked. Sometimes we will find that even enemies of one another will unite in their hatred for us. Many times like Paul we will find ourselves alone, seemingly abandoned, feeling like everyone is against us.  Wondering where God has gone when we needed Him.  Wondering why God doesn’t answer. 2Tim. 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

One thing I love about the Psalms is that David often talks about those very kinds of things.  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Ps. 22) Or Ps. 3, “O Lord, how my adversaries are increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, ‘there is no help for him in God.’”  David cries out to God to vindicate him because he is righteous, in Ps. 7.  “Arise O Lord, in thine anger, Lift up Thyself against the rage of my adversaries.”  He says in Psalm 6 that at night he makes his bed swim with his crying, and he dissolves his couch with his tears.  In Psalm 56 David says that God keeps his tears in a bottle.  I read that it was a custom in the ancient Mideast, when people mourned at a funeral, to catch their tears in a bottle and give them to the person they mourned for as a token of their affection and care.  What a picture that presents of God’s care for us when we are afflicted.

So here is Paul, probably quite dejected, bruised, feeling abandoned perhaps, overwhelmed by the hatred towards him, and he is in the prison and probably considering that his life is soon to be over.  I’m sure a godly man such as he was praying some of the prayers of David.  And suddenly in the middle of the night, in the darkness, the Lord appears to him.  Luke isn’t big on dramatics, he just states the facts.  But what a dramatic thing.  Twenty years after the Damascus road experience, the Lord appears at his side and says, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”

I love the fact that it says the Lord appeared at his side.  Not way off in a vision in heaven somewhere.  Not far off, but at his side.  Proverbs 18:24 says, “there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  And Psalm 145:18

“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.”

I was talking to a young man the other day about prayer and he was asking if he should pause for a while when he is praying to try to hear if God is answering him.  And I said if you want to hear from God, then read His Word, don’t listen for voices in your head.  God speaks through His word.  Paul was an apostle.  And this is one of the special times that the Lord manifested Himself to Paul and spoke to him.  But we have the written word of God which Peter says is a more sure word of prophecy.  Besides, as I told this young man, if you think you hear a little voice in your head, how will you know if it is of God?  It has to be corroborated with the word of God, in order to know it is the word of God.  That is the problem with the pope speaking ex cathedra. They claim that his words are the words of God, therefore they supersede the written word of God.  And that is how they get the doctrine of the assumption of Mary and other false doctrines.  So we can rely on the written word of God. 

But Paul is comforted by the word of the Lord.  He recieves commendation from the Lord. He knows that he will not die before he gets to Rome.  His commission is confirmed by the Lord, he is meant for Rome.  And I’m sure that was a great comfort and encouragement to Paul.  When we are discouraged, that is where we need to go.  To the word of God.  To the promises of God. Psalm 12:6-7  “The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever.”

Finally, the last point quickly, the conspiracy.  We read the story, I will not retell it in the little time we have left.  But I want to point out one major principle.  What we see here is the providence of God.  We don’t see a miracle.  A miracle is when God breaks through the natural world, the natural processes, and performs a supernatural event.  Providence is when God performs His will using natural circumstances to accomplish His purposes. 

There is a great debate in theological circles between Calvinism and Armenianism.  And I hate the exclusiveness of both of those titles.  As if one necessarily excludes the other.  Basically, when you hear those names used, they refer to the sovereignty of God versus the free will of man.  I do not have time to debate the merits or detriments of each of those doctrinal positions today.  But I will say this.  Providence is God using His sovereignty to work through man’s free will in order to achieve the purpose and provision of God.

And we see that illustrated here.  The evil conspiracy of the Jews is to murder Paul.  But providentially God has placed Paul’s nephew nearby to overhear their plot.  And in turn he tells Paul, and Paul has him tell the commander.  And then the commander makes a military decision, a tactical decision and arranges for 470 solders to escort Paul out at 9pm at night and marches 35 miles to Antipatris arriving the next day.  Then the soldiers return and the horsemen continue on with Paul to Caesarea which is another 35 miles or so, which is a Gentile city.  And Paul is delivered to the Governor Felix.  And Felix has Paul put up in Herod’s Praetorium, which was the former palace of Herod.  Not a supernatural miracle in all of those proceedings.  People seem to be making decisions on their own, and yet God superintends all these random circumstances to bring about His purposes.  That is a greater miracle than sending an angel to sweep Paul up and deliver him.  And I believe that is the predominant way that God uses today to work out His will in the world; through providence.

I can’t help but remember Psalm 32:6-7 which we sang part of earlier, “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.  You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.”

I think this story of Paul being moved from Jerusalem to Caesarea is one of the greatest illustrations of the providence of God.  And I just want to close by encouraging you that as you go through trials and tribulations, to lean not on your own wisdom, but rest on the promises of God.  And the God of Providence will work out His plan for you as you wait on Him. Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Paul was on a mission from God, and so he could expect God to see him through all the tribulations that happened in the course of his mission.  And when we are living our lives as a witness for God, then we can expect God to providentially work all things together for good as well.  But a word of warning, providence does not necessarily cover us when we pursue our goals and live our lives for our pleasure or benefit and then expect God to get us out of the mess we make of our lives.  When we live for ourselves, we do so to our own peril.  God is not bound to extract us from the mess we get into as a result of our waywardness and selfishness.  But when we live for God, for His purposes, then we can trust in His providence no matter how dire the circumstances may seem.

William Cowper wrote these words many years ago, but I believe they are still true for us today; “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.  Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill  He treasures up His bright designs  And works His sov’reign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break  In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;  Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

In defense of the gospel, Acts 22

Last time we looked at how Paul was bound for the sake of the gospel.  You will remember that he considered himself a prisoner of the Lord, first and foremost.  The chains of the Romans, being arrested by the Jews, being held in prison by the Romans, none of that superseded the fact that Paul first and foremost had given himself up to be bound by God.  He was the prisoner of the Lord.  He had renounced all that had been of benefit to him in the world, to become a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.  So his physical bonds did not really faze him.  If that was God’s plan, then Paul was just fine with physical bonds, if it produced spiritual gains. 

And so Paul was content because he had committed himself to the Lord’s will.  He trusted the Lord’s will and plan for his life.  And in that respect he is an excellent role model for us.  As I said last week, the whole Christian life can be summed up in the idea of trusting in God’s plan for our lives. All rebellion, all sin is really just an attempt on our part to try to do it ourselves, to make our own decisions, to think that we can handle life on our own and do it on our own terms. Romans 14:23 says, “whatever is not from faith is sin.”  So the Christian life is coming to the point of surrendering to God’s plan and trusting that His plan is good, and we can rest in His wisdom and His purpose.  So Paul did not worry about imprisonment because he believed that it was in God’s plan.

Now as we noted in the last chapter, Paul has been arrested by the Romans, but that arrest actually served to deliver him from being beaten to death by the Jews.  But then Paul asked the commander in the Greek language if he could address the crowd, and he was surprised to find that Paul spoke Greek, because he had thought that he was an Egyptian revolutionary.  So he gives Paul permission to speak, and Paul addresses this riotous mob of Jews from the steps of the garrison.

Paul’s address here is a recounting of the events of his conversion and commission by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.  And we looked at that conversion experience in detail in chapter 9.  So I don’t think it’s necessary to go back over all of that again.  But what I would like to point out this morning is the fact that when most people would be relieved to be delivered from the mob, even if it meant being arrested, and would have been rushing to get out of there away from the murderous intent of the crowd, Paul wants to stop and preach to them.

Paul saw this as an opportunity.  As I said last week, God often uses adversity as a ministry opportunity.  We need to recognize that in difficult times, God has a purpose for us, and often that is so that we can be a testimony to others who are watching us in that adversity to see what we will do.  Everyone goes through adversity in this life sooner or later.  But our true character is revealed in tribulations.  How we deal with adversity as Christians is often our greatest testimony.  Our greatest witness to the world is not how many blessings we can claim as Christians, but how we live out our faith in the midst of adversity.

So Paul saw this persecution as an opportunity to preach the gospel.  Now that is really amazing when you think about it.  He was close to death, close to being beaten to death by this mob and had narrowly escaped by the hands of the Roman soldiers.  And now he asks the commander to stop retreating so he can turn back and address the Jews.  He reminds me of the heroic first responders during 9-11 that were running for the burning buildings when everyone else was running from them.

And why does Paul do this?  Does he have some sort of death wish?  No, but he has a burning desire in his heart for the salvation of his people, the Israelites.  He recognizes that he is not the one who is in danger here.  These Jews are the ones on the verge of catastrophe. In just a few more years, in 70AD the Jews in Jerusalem will be massacred.  Their temple will be destroyed by fire.  Paul knows that they are the ones who have form of religion and yet are unsaved.  They are condemned to die without Christ and face eternal judgment and the wrath of God.  And Paul’s love for his people far outweighs his concern for himself.  He is willing to give up his life for his friends, his countrymen. 

Please understand this principle; Christian love is not as the world’s concept of love.  Christian love is sacrificial love.  And I think we miss that far too often.  I think far too often our so called love is only in effect as long as it doesn’t interfere with our success, as long as it doesn’t cause our discomfort, as long as it doesn’t crack our thin veneer of respectability.  And so we stop short of truly loving others as Christ loved the church, because we are not willing to lay down our lives for the sake of others.   Well, you don’t see that sort of callousness illustrated by Paul.  You see him willing to sacrifice his life if necessary for the salvation of people who hated him and who were trying to kill him.

Now this is really the whole point of my message; to use Paul’s example for our own admonition to reach the lost, to reach family members, friends, colleagues, countrymen who are dying without Christ and are one day going to face the wrath of God without hope.

I’m afraid that we have lost sight of that fact, ladies and gentlemen.  We have lost sight of the fact that our family members and friends who are lost without Christ, will one day wake up in hell, in a fire which cannot be quenched.  Jesus portrayed what that looked like in his story of Lazarus and the rich man. Luke 16:22-24 "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.”

Folks, I am afraid that the church doesn’t talk about hell any more.  And consequently the world doesn’t really believe that hell is a real place.  Furthermore, even most Christians do not really think about it as a real place, where our unsaved loved ones and friends will one day find themselves in eternal agony, in eternal flames.  It seems too bizarre to be real.  And unfortunately even our theology doesn’t endorse the possibility in view of what we think must constitute a loving God.  The former mega church pastor Rob Bell recently wrote a book called, “Love Wins”, in which he says that hell does not exist, because the concept of hell cannot be reconciled to his view of a loving God.  And I’m afraid that a large part of the contemporary church agrees with him.

But Paul knew that hell is a reality for the lost.  And he knew that even the ultra religious Jews who worshipped the One True God were going to find themselves separated from God by that awful chasm between Hades and Paradise unless someone told them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So Paul is running for the burning buildings, so to speak, in hopes that he might save some of them, even if it meant possibly losing his own life.

We need to remember the purpose of the gospel.  The purpose is not so that we can belong to a group of like minded people who share our interests, who are part of our social class, who have houses like ours in the better neighborhoods, and who share our values. But the purpose of the gospel is stated by Jesus in Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  Not to save good people, even righteous people, or people of good social standing.  But Jesus came to seek out and save those who are lost, the drug addicts, the prostitutes, the drunkards, the sexually perverted, the God-haters, those without hope, those without prospects, without a future, those that are down and out.  And those are the ones we are told to go out into the highways and byways and compel to come in.

And yet I am afraid that often the contemporary church is at odds with Christ’s purpose.  I am afraid that we have lost sight of what it is that we are to be about.  And so we work at being successful in our jobs, we come to church for an hour or so once a week if we’re lucky, and we think that the purpose of the gospel is to benefit us, to bless us, to make our lives better, to enrich our lives and secure a better future for ourselves.  Meanwhile the world around us is dying and going to hell.  Everyday in Sussex County it seems someone is dying of a heroin overdose.  But it isn’t just drugs that are killing people.  Everyone is dying or in the process of dying, some are just on a faster track than others.  And so many do not know the Lord as their Savior.  But God has chosen you to proclaim the good news of His salvation.  God has put you in the path of hundreds of people every day who are dying without the Lord.  God has put you there to be a witness, a bold proclaimer of the good news, to run for the burning buildings and save those that are trapped there. Jude 1:22 says, “And have mercy on some, who are doubting;  save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”

God has commissioned us to be the good Samaritans that will stop what you are doing, get down from our high horse and help the lost, the unfortunate, spending whatever time and money and resources necessary to bring them to the ultimate healing of salvation.

Now I want to look briefly at the way Paul goes about this and try to draw a couple of points out that we can apply to ourselves as we reach out to the lost.  I’m not going to exegete his testimony, per se.  As I said we have looked at his conversion experience in detail before and I think his testimony speaks for itself.  But I mainly want to focus on his introduction.  Because I think there are some principles there for us which could be helpful when we reach out to our families and friends with the gospel.

First of all, notice that when Paul addresses them, he spoke their language.  He had just finished speaking Greek with the Roman Commander, but when he turns to speak to the gathered Israelites, he spoke Hebrew.  And when he does, they grow quiet.  In verse 40 of the last chapter, it says there was a great hush on the crowd when he raised his hand to speak to them.  I think they were amazed by his courage, to turn and face his accusers, to face the mob that tried to tear him to pieces. 

I don’t know how many of you saw Netanyahu speak to the United Nations the other day.  But he accused all those nations of being silent about the atrocities perpetrated upon Israel by Iran and the fact that Iran had publicly declared it’s intention of wiping Israel from the face of the earth.  And so he stood there and stared at them in silence for about one full minute.  It was amazing.  It was uncomfortable.  And perhaps that is what it was like when Paul raised his hand and prepared to speak.  A great hush came over what had been a riotous mob.

However, I should point out the difference between animosity towards the Jewish nation and animosity towards Christianity.  In Israel’s case, their enemies are to be defended against, even to the point of war if necessary.  But in the church’s case, the enemies of the gospel are not our enemy, but our mission field.  They are who we seek and save.  And so we do not vilify the enemies of the gospel and justify or recommend harm coming to them, but if necessary we offer our own lives as a sacrifice for the sake of winning those that are lost.  That is what Jesus did, and that is what we do as His disciples.  And that is what we see Paul doing.  He is risking his life for the sake of possibly saving some Israelites.  That’s what he was saying in Romans 9:3 “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”  That should be our attitude as well, our concern for their salvation should outweigh our sense of self preservation.  It should outweigh our desire to live a comfortable, self centered life.  Our concern for the salvation of the lost should be paramount in our lives and our primary focus.

So back to our point, Paul speaks their language.  I think that a modern day application of that is our need to speak to people in a language that they can understand, whereby we can communicate effectively the gospel of Christ.  That means we may need to rethink theological terms that perhaps aren’t part of the daily language of the people.  I’m not talking about in church necessarily. For the most part, the church is for saints, for the edification of believers.  And in the church we need to use terminology that clearly delineates certain doctrines and theology.  But when we reach out to the lost, we should make sure that we are speaking their language.  Now that doesn’t mean coarse language.  We shouldn’t let any coarse or profane words proceed out of our mouths.  But we do need to talk to people in a language that they can understand.  That’s why tongues are unprofitable for the church or for those that are unsaved.  That’s why we don’t deliver homilies in Latin.  But even more to the point, when we are witnessing, we need to make sure we are speaking in a way that people can understand what we are talking about.  That’s pretty basic, but in a day when a lot of people have been brought up with no theology at all, we have to be careful not to talk above their heads.  We just can’t refer them to John 3:16 without telling them what John 3:16 says.  I’m amazed when I see these bumper stickers or billboards that just put scripture addresses on them as if the unsaved know what it says there.

Notice next, he addresses them as men, brethren and fathers.  In other words, Paul sought to show his kinship with the crowd, even with the enemies of the gospel.  Were it not for the grace of God, we would all be enemies of the gospel. Col 1:21-22  “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” 

The point to be made by this is not to proclaim the gospel in a condescending way, as if we are righteous and way up here, and unsaved people are despicable and way down there.  But to recognize the kinship we have to one another.  All men and women are of the same family of Adam.  Every race, every color and every creed shares with us a common ancestry.  None of us received mercy and grace because we somehow were better or more deserving than others. 

Paul didn’t see this angry, murderous crowd as his enemy, but as brothers and fathers, sharing a common ancestry. He saw them as bearing the likeness of God.  And so he loved them enough to reach out to them with the gospel, even if it meant risking his life.  Paul is looking for areas of commonality in this situation.  And he is not afraid to take advantage of it and use it to gain their attention. 

You know, I realize that speaking to family members about salvation can be very hard.  There can be years of misunderstandings, hard feelings, wounded pride and so forth to overcome.  But I would urge you that are mature to humble yourself and do what is necessary to repair that breech in your relationships with your family members so that you can witness to them about the gospel in hope that they might be saved.  I would encourage you to pray for them without ceasing in anticipation of the next time you will see them, and ask God to give you the opportunity to witness to them.  I should not have to tell you that it is a matter of eternity - of eternal life or eternal death in hell.   Your family should be your first priority in presenting the gospel.

Thirdly, Paul appealed to their common nationality.  He appealed to their common heritage as Jews, as a native of Jerusalem, of graduating from what we might consider the local university under the most well known teacher, Gamaliel.  I’m afraid that our heritage in this country is no longer popular as it once was.  There are a lot of history revisionists that want to play up our nation’s shortcomings and expound on all the supposed atrocities committed in our country.  Be that as it may, I am not advocating getting into politics here or expounding so called American values.  None of that is the gospel.  Hell doesn’t care if you are Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, or American for that matter.  Politics are not helpful in winning the lost. 

But what we can take from this is finding areas that we have in common with the lost and using that to our advantage to gain an opportunity to present the gospel.  Maybe it’s the fact that you are both from Texas and that gives you an appreciative audience.  Maybe it’s just the opportunity afforded by being your neighbor in your development. Maybe it’s your common interest in golf, or surfing or motorcycles.  But whatever opportunity you can find to gain an audience, use it to maybe see their defenses drop a little, and then from there introduce them to the gospel. 

We may not find much results today by walking up to a stranger on the sidewalk and trying to take them through the Roman’s road in the first 3 minutes of conversation.  But if we take our salvation seriously, if we take the prophecies of scripture seriously, then we will start thinking strategically about how we can open up a conversation with people we know about the gospel.  And one way to do that is use a common interest to be able to open communication with them.

Finally, Paul appeals to a common theology.  He appeals to the God of their fathers, the law of Gamaliel, which was the respected law of the land.  And he says that he was zealous for God even as they were.  If you can believe statistics out there, then a majority of people in America believe in God, or so they say.  The difficulty is what kind of God they believe in.  Paul said in Rom. 10:2 “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”  And I’m afraid that is still true today, especially in the evangelical movement. But nevertheless, it is a point of agreement by which to start a conversation about eternity.  Most people don’t like to talk about God.  But as I pointed out last Wednesday evening, there will be some times in life when people will start talking about God, when they are more receptive to talk about matters concerning eternity. 

I think that is one of the things that happens in a national crisis.  It’s interesting that two weeks ago I said that it was unlikely that in your lifetime someone would ever point a gun at you and tell you to deny Christ or die.  I was suggesting that we often deny Christ for much less reason than that, sometimes simply because it may be uncomfortable to do so, or because of the fear of social rejection.  But just two Friday’s ago in Oregon, someone did stick a gun at people’s heads and ask them to declare if they were a Christian or not, and if they were he shot  and killed them.  So unfortunately, though I would still say that it is unlikely that you or I will have to face that question, I am afraid that it is happening with greater frequency as our society becomes ever more anti-Christ.  However, this national crisis presents an opportunity to discuss the gospel with unsaved people that we know.

Another opportunity that might present itself is the death of a friend or loved one or a serious illness.  Those are often times when people are more receptive to talk about God.  A good thing that happens as a result of such a crisis is that we often have an opportunity to talk to people about our faith in Christ, and they get a chance to see our faith lived out when we have a crisis of our own to deal with.

Paul even went so far as to identify with the crowd by saying that he also used to persecute the church, or the Way, as he refers to it.  And that simply goes back to the idea that all of us were at enmity with God before we became converted.  We all were held captive under Satan’s dominion, to do his will, to work against the gospel.  I think of some of the things I did before I got right with God.  People that I caused to go astray, people I hurt.  Things I did to promote sin and wickedness.  And I think if you were honest you would have to admit things you did as well that caused immense damage to the cause of Christ. 

I visit a man in prison every other week, and this guy is facing a life sentence in prison, but he is now a Christian.  So I try to be a light in his life in a very dark place where he has very little hope.  And he is doing pretty good.  He is growing in the Lord.  But one thing he has to live with is all the lives he helped ruin when he was a drug dealer for years in Baltimore. He knows that he caused ruin in hundreds of lives, hundreds of families.  And so he feels remorse over that.  He now knows he is forgiven, but it should serve as an impetus for him to serve Christ now with the same zeal that  he once served Satan. 

Yes, we thank God for His grace by which He saved us and forgave us.  But never forget that our sin didn’t just get blown away like some dandelion fluff in the wind.  But our horrible sins were put on Jesus’ scarred and shredded back, and he went to the cross and died a horribly painful death to pay for our sins.  And if we really are grateful for His sacrifice that we might receive eternal life, then surely we will sacrifice our temporal lives to live for Him and His glory. 

Well, let’s try to wrap this up.  The next thing Paul does is he tells the story of his conversion.  Listen, you may not know all the high doctrines of the church, you may not be a theologian, but if you are truly saved, then you have a story to tell.  You can tell how Jesus saved you and what He saved you from, and what He saved you for.   Paul was a master theologian.  He explained every doctrine of the church in His writings to the churches.  But when he speaks to this crowd, he doesn’t speak about the doctrine of predestination, or the doctrine of limited atonement.  No, he simply tells the story of how he was saved on the road to Damascus.  How God found him, and called him, and spoke to him.  And then he tells about his response to that call.  How he called upon the name of Christ for the remission of his sins, how he was baptized, and how God called him to be a witness to the Gentiles.

I would encourage you folks to do some homework this afternoon or tonight.  I would encourage you to write down your testimony, how you were saved.  When you were saved.  How you know you are saved.  I can’t help but wonder if someone might be afraid to do that because they don’t really know if they are truly saved. Perhaps you can’t really say how you were saved.  I would urge you to think carefully about your salvation.  As Paul said in 2Cor. 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”

Hopefully, you know well how you were saved.  You will never forget when you called upon the Lord and trusted in Him for forgiveness of sins.  And you have the testimony of the Holy Spirit living in you that convicts you and teaches you and helps you as you continue to follow after Christ.  And if that is your testimony, then I would encourage you to share it with as many people as you can.  Share your common ancestry, share your commonality as a sinner, talk to your friend or loved one in a way that they can understand, and tell them how you came to know the Lord and how He changed your life. 

I’ve said it at least a dozen times lately, there is no greater testimony than the testimony of a transformed life.  The life you live now should be ample evidence of the truth of the gospel and the power of the gospel.  And if you cannot say that about your life, then you really need to get down on your knees and get right with God, so that your walk matches your talk.  That is the testimony that God desires.

Well, one final caution.  I wish I could tell you that when Paul did all these things the result was that thousands of Jews became saved that afternoon.  But the sad fact is that they ended up shouting “away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”  Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world will reject the message of the gospel. The Jews revolted when Paul said that the Gentiles were now going to be the recipients of God’s grace.  They wanted to believe that they only were the chosen people of God.  They alone deserved God’s favor and blessing. 

The point of irritation which Paul stirred up was the idea that God would even consider going to the Gentiles and bring them into the same blessings the Jews had enjoyed. Their rejection of that idea was visceral. But what a twisting and distortion of God’s purposes.  The fact is that the nation Israel had been called of God to be the witness by which the nations of the world would be reached. But instead of obeying that call they had selfishly harbored God’s grace all to themselves and condemned the rest of the world as undeserving sinners by neglect. But the fact is that Christ came to save sinners.  And so we need to reach out to sinners.  The church is not a country club for respectable, religious people, but a mission of mercy to the lost and hopeless and helpless.

To a great degree we are guilty of  the same neglect as those Jews. We act as if God is not interested in the world, that he wants only us, that we are the favored people of God. We have gathered our robes of respectability about ourselves and withdrawn into our Christian country clubs and in effect are saying, "Let the world go to hell! We are the object of God's favor and blessing." And we have neglected and even resisted the chance to reach out to the lost, hopeless humanity around us. 

In closing, please understand an important principle.  God uses human instruments in divine intervention.  He has always used human instruments to perform His will.  And God has chosen us, as testaments of His grace, to be the human instruments by which the lost can know the truth of the gospel and be saved.  I pray that you will receive this commission from the Lord, and act in defense of the gospel even as Paul did, regardless of the cost to personal pride or even safety.  Let’s win the lost for the sake of our Lord. Let’s start with our families, and then our neighbors and coworkers, and then our communities.  Let’s run for the burning buildings, that we might by some means, save some, snatching them like brands from the burning.