Living Waters of Grace 12.05.25

This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark

Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,

County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he

continues teaching through God's Word.

Paul says I did not know, brethren, that he was the high

priest. For it is written, you shall not

speak evil of a ruler of your people.

So regardless of what Paul thought about this man's

leadership and his call and his ability to lead, the people at

this time didn't like him. Hypocrite, scoundrel, Pagan, all

the different names you could put on him.

He knew the scripture said you're not to speak evil of a

ruler of your people. There are some pretty wicked

leaders all around the world, men and women, who have risen to

the top because of how low they were willing to stoop to get

there, to be transparent. It's really pretty upsetting to

think that these people are in charge.

Well, in his message today, Pastor Clark teaches that

despite what you might think of those in authority, you are to

respect that God has placed them there.

You don't have to like or agree with those wicked rulers, but

you are to trust that God knows what he's doing.

Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts chapter 23 with today's edition

Acts 23 · chapter mention

of Living Waters of Grace. We are in the book of Acts

Acts 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23. Today's message is based upon

being in a situation as the Apostle Paul is in trouble in

prison and a lot of hassle in Jerusalem because he sort of

blew through the the red lights, a warning that the Lord had

given him as to what he was to do in the days ahead in his

ministry. And something we all can relate

to. I think all of us have blown

through red lights in our lives, literally.

And the police pull us over when we do it, if they catch us.

And also situations in life where we're going to make a

decision and we have a decision to make.

And sometimes we think we know what the right decision is and

we just make it and we find out later on it wasn't the right

decision. Has that ever happened to

anybody? Happened to me numerous times.

And we're supposed to get counsel at times, you know,

whenever we have a decision that's sort of difficult.

First of all, if you're married, you ask your spouse and pray

about it. That's the best place to start.

And then you might have some friends, some Christian friends,

brothers and sisters that you can ask to pray and tell them

you have a, a decision to make and it's difficult.

One, you don't know what to do. Paul, in this situation, as

we've been studying in the book of the Acts, he was told by some

close people that were in ministry with him that he

shouldn't go to Jerusalem. He's going to have a lot of

problems up there and have a lot of headaches.

And then a prophet told him as well that he shouldn't go, but

he decided he was going to go anyway because his motive to go

was good. He wanted to go share the gospel

with Jewish people. But the timing wasn't right and

the way he was going about it wasn't correct.

And so when we study this this morning, you'll be surprised.

I think it's some of Paul's responses.

I'm glad these things are in the Bible because it makes us

understand that we're all human no matter what we are, pastor,

apostle, whatever gifting that we might have, none of us are

beyond making mistakes, right? Because we're human.

And we'll see how he did make mistakes and how God still used

him. But in Psalm chapter 19, and

Psalms 19 · chapter mention

this is something to think about all of us as we study this

chapter in Acts today, it says in verse 12, who can understand

his errors? Question mark, cleanse me from

secret faults and keep back your servant also from presumptuous

sins. Let them not have dominion over

me. The presumptuous sin is to

assume that what it is you're going to do is OK, no problems.

You can't see your heart or the outcome ahead of time.

And so you just forge ahead thinking that everything you're

going to do is going to be cool and it's going to work out and

be no problems. And then whenever there's

problems and it doesn't work out and it causes issues in your own

life and the lives of other people, you realize you were

presumptuous. You know, you assumed upon the

Lord about something that he didn't give you a green light

for. So whenever you have a, a sense

like, Hey, we need to do this or this is what we should do, I'd

encourage you as I got to encourage myself, pray about it

for a while. Wait on the Lord, give us some

time. And then once you sense a

clearance and feel free to move on as God gives you grace to

move on. And then it says, the psalmist

says this is David, and surely we all know he had some

presumptuous sins when he ended up in the affair with Bathsheba.

It says, let the words in my mouth and the meditation of my

heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and

my Redeemer. So the Holy Spirit, he works in

our lives and He speaks to us in our conscience and through the

Word and in our minds. And I hear him most of the time

pretty loud and clear. Whether I want to hear him all

the time, that's another story, right?

But I know that He's always speaking and always want to

direct me. And I want my words, the things

that I say and the things I think about in my life to be

pleasing to Him, to be acceptable to him because He is

our strength and our Redeemer. So powerful section of

Scripture. Psalm 19, the whole Psalm.

You can review it, but you can make that your own prayer.

Lord, keep me back from making stupid decisions that are going

to affect myself and others in my testimony and a very, you

know, not cool way. So that is the foundation I

wanted to sort of share before we look at the the book of Acts,

Proverbs 21 two says every way of a man is right in his own

eyes, but the Lord weighs his the hearts.

So lots of times we think what we're going to do is no problem,

no issues. And and then we find out later

that there was a big issue because we we weren't listening

and we weren't paying attention. So we're going to go to Acts

now. Acts chapter 23, if you have

Acts 23 · chapter mention

your Bibles, but Acts chapter 23, let's pray.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

Father, we thank you, Lord, for assembling us together here

today as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And Lord God, speak to all of us about what it is you want us to

consider today. Maybe some of us are on verges

of decisions or doing things that we are maybe not well

advised over from you and from our closest friends.

Lord, give us wisdom. We need wisdom from you to know

how to live this life every day to make the right choices.

So Lord, may your blessing be upon your body, your bride, your

sheep. Feed us Lord, from your word by

your Holy Spirit. And we ask these things in Jesus

name, Amen. So Acts 23.

I'm going to read the first 10 verses and then make some

comments. Well, I'm going to start with

first 30 the next day. This is the previous chapter.

This leaves into 23 the next day.

Because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by

the Jews, he released him from his bonds and commanded the

chief priest on all the council to appear, and brought Paul down

and set him before them. Then Paul, looking at earnestly

at the council, said men and brother.

And I have lived in a good conscience before God until this

day. And the high priest Ananias

commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed law,

for you sit to judge me according to the law, and do not

command me to be struck contrary to the law.

And those who stood by said, Do you revile God's high priest?

And Paul said, I did not know, brother, and that he was the

high priest. For it is written, you shall not

speak evil of a ruler of your people.

But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the

other Pharisees, he cried out in the council.

Men and brethren, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.

Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am

being judged. And when he had said this, a

dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and

the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say there was no

resurrection and no Angel or spirit, but the Pharisees

confessed both. Then there arose a lot outcry,

and the scribes of the Pharisees party arose and protested,

saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an Angel

has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.

Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander,

fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them,

commanded the soldiers to get down and take him by force, and

among them bring him in to the barracks.

So Paul's intention of going to Jerusalem was to be able to

preach and and share the gospel and tell people about their need

of Jesus Christ, specifically the Jewish people, that they

might understand and believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah

that was prophesized throughout the Old Testament, had come and

was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day.

So now he's in a different setting here.

They're moving him to another group of people, the Sanhedrin.

This is a 70 or 71 Jewish leaders who rule according to

the Law of Moses to make decisions on judgment upon

people was made-up of Pharisees and Sadducees.

Pharisees were the conservative branch of the Sanhedrin, and the

Sadducees would be considered the liberal branch.

The Pharisees believed in a literal resurrection from the

dead. The Sadducees did not believe

that the body had a spirit or there was a literal

resurrection, that when you die, you just die.

So they were sort of at odds to begin with, but somehow they

rolled together. So Paul's looking at them and

he's thinking in his mind, how can I get these people to listen

to me? That was his whole focus.

So he says, men and brethren, He's calling them brethren

because Paul used to be a member of the Sanhedrin.

Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees before he got born again, before

he got saved on the road to Damascus.

He persecuted Christians, he hated the movement of God, the

way Christianity did not accept Jesus Christ didn't believe, and

until the Lord got ahold of him personally and he did become a

believer. But he's trying to not flatter

them, but find a way of entry into having an opportunity of a

conversation. And he says I've lived in all

good conscience before God until this day.

Now that came across, I'm sure to the leaders as well as the

big shot here that got upset with him, the high priest that

who in the world can honestly say that they've lived in all

good conscience before God until this day.

I don't know about you, but sometimes my conscience isn't

good. I'm sure yours isn't either.

But Paul being apostle, boy, God was so upon this guy and

anointing him in such an intense way that he kept him on the

straight and narrow and on a very, very short leash because

he was responsible for so much of the beginning of the New

Testament church and also writing the scriptures that God

had given him for us to read as we're reading now.

So he's saying that his life was in good place spiritually

according to the law and according to the Gospel.

The high priest hears this Ananias, and this Ananias is a

bad dude. He's not a good leader.

He's a scoundrel actually. He's hateful, he's vindictive,

he's godless. And he commands those who are

standing by Paul to strike him on the mouth just to, to start

beating him, which is illegal. You, you can't do that, let

alone with a Roman citizen. First of all, there's no crime

that he's committed. All he's doing obviously at this

point in time is offending this guy's ego.

And then Paul says to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed

wall, for you sit to judge me according to the law and do not

command me to be struck contrary to the law.

So that wasn't a good way to start out when friends and

influence people in a conversation before the

authorities, right? He's antagonizing this high

priest and everything he said is obviously true.

But Paul responded out of an emotion that made him angry.

Now, Jesus, whenever he was hit on the mouth, he didn't respond

this way. Matter of fact, Jesus didn't

open his mouth most of the time whenever he was being harassed,

something we can learn from. But Paul not being God,

obviously, and neither are we. When we get in a situation we

don't like and we think it's unfair, we're going to fight to

the end to prove that we're innocent.

And Paul wasn't going to take any guff from these people or

from this high priest. And so he basically says

something to him that he's a hypocrite.

Now, when I was in Israel and I saw the tombs and I was on the

Mount of Olives and looking down, I remember Jesus talking

about the Pharisees being like whitewashed sefalickers.

In other words, the tombs, they look really clean and beautiful

on the outside, but inside they were full of dead man's bones

and corruption. And I'll never forget that.

When I looked down and saw that, it just, you know, resonated and

reminded me of that because they look beautiful, but inside they

were just full of nothing but broken lives and dust and souls

that will unfortunately be on their way to a Christ less

eternity in hell because they never believed that Jesus was

the Christ. But what's happening here is

that Paul is tying him into this dead religion and this false

leadership he had that he's contrary and he's judging

unrighteously now. This guy eventually was caught

up couple years later before Rome was sacked and the Jewish

people had to scatter. But the Jewish people did find

this guy and eventually assassinate him.

So eventually he was judged for his crime of godless leadership

in government. And it says in verse 4, and

those who stood by said, do you revile God's high priest?

So first of all, this was an impromptu meeting.

And so there wasn't any kind of regalia and robes and all that

kind of stuff. And him sitting on a throne like

some big shot. He came in, sat there talking,

listening, and Paul wasn't even aware that the high priest was

there. And this is interesting.

In verse 5, Paul says, I did not know, brethren, that he was the

high priest. For it is written, you should

not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

So regardless of what Paul thought about this man's

leadership and his call and his ability to lead the people at

this time, then like him, hypocrite, scoundrel, Pagan, all

the different names you could put on him, he knew the

scripture said you're not to speak evil of a roller of your

people. Now I wonder how many pleasant

things you or I have thought or said about Joe Biden lately.

He's making a lot of crazy moves, isn't he?

Yet he's the president of our country.

He was elected. Whether you think he was elected

fairly or unfairly, it's not the point.

The point is God has appointed him to be the president right

now. Now, I don't like it any more

than anybody else, but he's our president.

So I'm convicted. Like, do I pray for him?

I'm commanded to pray for those who are in authority that the

Lord would work in his heart, that he would cause him to come

to some kind of reasoning in his mind to realize that the

legislation that he's making is causing us not to be 1 nation

under God anymore, but one nation under humanism and this

immorality and this disgusting agendas.

Every time we turn around some kind of new things coming down.

So we're not. We'll have to be real careful,

all of us. And I'm telling you about

myself, doesn't matter who's in office or who you like, who you

don't like, you need to pray for those who are in office.

That's our responsibility as Christians and we need to do

that. And maybe if we began to do

that, maybe there would be some changes in our nation because

that man needs God's mercy, just like you and I do.

And there was times in our lives that we probably were worse than

the way Joe Biden acts or lives perhaps.

But this is a very clear statement that Paul said you

shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.

In verse 6 it says but when Paul perceived that one part where

Sadducees and other Pharisees, he cried out in the council men

and brethren, I'm a Pharisee. He was proud to say that he was

a Pharisee. He was a son of a Pharisee

concerning the hope of the resurrection of that I'm being

judged. So all Paul's wanting people to

know is that Christ rose again from dead.

Amen. But Paul's whole focus was to

let these people know the good news that there's life after

death, there's forgiveness of our sins, and that we can

believe on Christ as our Messiah and have the promise of

everlasting life and never die. That's good news, right?

And they're wanting to silence Him.

Now what's interesting here is that when He said that the

dissension began to occur in verse 7.

And when He said this, the dissension arose between the

Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

Now He wasn't intentionally trying to cause some kind of

uproar, but He was just stating a case relating to what his past

was and the need for them to understand that there is a

resurrection where the Pharisees were wow, Amen.

That's what we believe that too. But the Sadducees in verse 8 say

there is no resurrection and no Angel or spirit, but the

Pharisees confess or believe both.

Then there arose a lot outcry and the scribes and the

Pharisees party arose in protest and saying we find no evil in

this man. So now the Pharisees are

supporting Paul. There's really no crime he's

committed. There's no reason for him to be

in chains or to be smacked around or to be persecuted right

now. Absolutely none.

And they're admitting there is no evil in him.

And so let's let it go. If an Angel or a spirit had

spoken to him and gave him this other revelation, they're saying

let us not fight against God. So now, when there arose of

great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be

pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go

down and take him by force from among them and bring him into

the barracks. So this was getting dangerous.

I mean, there was a big outroar here.

There was a potential here of murder upon Paul, and so they

had to get him out of there. It was this mass confusion.

So here's Paul. Now think about this.

It's like your greatest opportunity to share your faith

with your family, maybe on a holiday or someone you work with

and, and you think the timing's perfect and it's all set up and

you're just praying it's going to go well.

And you got all the verses lined up and you got your testimony

ready and you begin to tell the people about what Jesus has done

for you and it falls on deaf ears.

They begin to yell at you or complain or they don't want to

hear it. They bring up all your flaws and

faults that you've had in your life and saying, who are you to

say that you're a Christian? When you did this or you acted

this way, you said that and you know what it's like and you

would be deflated, right? You would be discouraged.

You had the chance to tell them and it seemed like it didn't

work out. Like, Lord, why?

I really practice. I was really prepared and my

intention and my desire was to really be a blessing.

And this is a mess. I've made a complete mess out of

all this. Now if Paul would have listened

to the people in regards to not going up to Jerusalem right now,

all this wouldn't have gone down this way.

But keep in mind that the Lord says all things work together

for good to those who love him and are called according to his

purpose. So in your life and mine, the

things that we've done or situations where we shared our

faith that it's just been a complete bust is never in vain

because the Lord promises His Word won't return void if people

laugh at you or scoff at you or reject you or ridicule you

because of what it is you believe and what you're

committed to in your life. We should distrust God in that

even though it didn't work out, we wish it would work out

better, right? But sometimes it doesn't.

And that's the mystery of life. God causes all things to work

out according to the counsel of His own will, not my will or

your will. His will be done right.

So we're to be obedient to do what he tells us to do,

regardless of the potential consequences, especially in

regard to sharing our faith or standing up for our faith.

But Paul is, I'm sure, discouraged now.

He's in this prison. It's not a pleasant place to be.

And this isn't verse 11. But the following night, the

Lord stood by him and said, now the Lord is faithful to be with

us in our failings. He's not like people who will

reject us and tell us we're worthless or we're disqualified.

Or, you know, the Lord is the God of the second chance, the

third chance, the fifth chance, the 100th chance.

He never gives up on us. He always comes to us to assure

us and to encourage us and to love on us.

He doesn't come to revile us or to condemn us or to judge us as

his kids. He's a loving father and he

knows how to minister to us. He knew Paul felt like a

failure. He knew Paul had the heads up

not to go. And Jesus didn't say, well, the

reason this has happened is because you didn't listen,

right? Like I would as a parent, I'd

say to my kids, if you wouldn't have done that, like I told you,

you shouldn't, this wouldn't have happened.

That's not the best way to minister to your kids.

You should try to figure out a different way to get to them,

right? But we're all the same way.

That's how we all act. And it's just, you know, self

righteousness or being judges or whatever.

But this is the Lord here. He says to him, be of good

cheer. Paul's down in the dumps, be of

good cheer. You got to be kidding me.

This is how God loves us. And he says Paul, for as you

have testified for me in Jerusalem, and he didn't give an

attitude of how well it went or how bad it went.

He just said you testified for me in Jerusalem.

That meant something. So you must also bear witness at

Rome, and Paul's greatest desire was to eventually get the room

before he died to share. Paul loved being in the big

cities and seeing the architecture and reading about

the artwork and meeting all the interesting people.

He loved the sightsee and he was a Taurus.

But he was also an apostle and whenever he went into a city he

wanted to become all things to all men that he might win some.

He tried to have start up conversations to be able to find

a place of relating with people on their term as opposed to

speaking down to him. He was just that way and

something we can learn by his methodology and evangelism.

He didn't pound people on the head like many of us have done

at times. And so he's encouraging Paul and

I pray today, wherever you're at and spiritual and walking and

life and circumstances and things that don't seem to be

working out right the way you'd like them to, but the Lord's

coming alongside of you telling you to be a good sheer, don't be

discouraged. Don't be dismissed for your

Lord, Your God is with you wherever you go.

We're so glad you joined us today on this edition of Living

Waters of Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching through

the Book of Acts, which is the only book that chronicles the

history of the early church immediately after Jesus's

ascension. It gives us a front row seat to

how the Gospel began to move outwards, starting in Jerusalem

and reaching into the heart of the Roman Empire.

In just three decades, a small group of frightened ordinary

believers became a bold, spirit empowered movement that

transformed the known world. Acts is not just a history

lesson. It's a reminder of what God can

do when His people are surrendered, obedient and filled

with the Holy Spirit. Their perseverance still

inspires us today. May we follow their example and

live faithfully for Christ in our own time.

We hope today's message encouraged you.

Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel,

Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA

area, we'd love to have you join us in person.

Our Sunday service begins at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.

Unit 6B. Be sure to visit

calvarychapelonline.com to confirm times and learn more.

If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM

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Join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, and give online

all at calvarychapelonline.com. Thank you for tuning in and

spending this time in God's Word.

Be sure to join us again for Living Waters of Grace.