Shrewd and Innocent

Let me pray for the reading and teaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you will speak to us.

We are hungry for your righteousness.

We humble ourselves before you to receive meekly the implanted Word, which is able to save ourselves.

Amen.

We want to be faithful witnesses to Jesus.

So in this passage, speak to us.

Teach us from Paul's example here of how to do that, even when our environment, people around us are hostile to faith.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Acts chapter 22, starting verse 22.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

Up to this word they listened to him.

Then they raised their voices and said,

Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live.

And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogged to find out why they were shouting against him like this.

But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by,

Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?

When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him,

What are you about to do?

For this man is a Roman citizen.

So the tribune came and said to him, Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?

And he said, Yes.

The tribune answered, I bought this citizenship for a large sum.

Paul said, But I am a citizen by birth.

So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid,

for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

But on the next day, he desired to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews.

He unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet.

And he brought Paul down and set him before them.

And looking intently at the council, Paul said,

Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to 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 is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.

Are you sitting to judge me according to the law?

And yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck?

Those who stood by said, Would you be vile God's high priest?

And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest.

For it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees,

he cried out in the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.

It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.

And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees,

and the assembly was divided.

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit.

But the Pharisees acknowledged them all.

Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply.

We find nothing wrong in this man.

What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?

And when the dissension became violent,

the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them,

commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force

and bring him into the barracks.

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said,

Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about meeting Jews,

so you must testify also again.

When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath,

neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.

They went to the chief priests and elders and said,

We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.

Now therefore you, along with the council,

give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you,

as though you were going to determine his case more exactly.

And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.

Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush,

so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.

Paul called one of the centurions and said,

Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.

So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said,

Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you,

as he has something to say to you.

The tribune took him by the hand and going aside, asked him privately,

What is it that you have to tell him?

And he said,

The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow,

as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.

But do not be persuaded by them.

For more than 40 of their men are lying in ambush for him,

who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him.

And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.

So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him,

Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.

Then he called two of the centurions and said,

Get ready 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen

to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.

Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

And he wrote a letter to this effect.

Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency the Governor Felix,

Greetings.

This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them

when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him.

Having learned that he was a Roman citizen.

And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him,

I brought him down to their council.

I found that he was being accused about questions of their law,

but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man,

I sent him to you at once,

ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.

So the soldiers, according to their instructions,

took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatrus.

And on the next day they returned to the barracks,

letting the horsemen go on with him.

When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor,

they presented Paul also before him.

On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from,

and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

he said,

I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.

And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Various religious groups face persecution for harassment for their faith

throughout the world, according to the Pew Research Center.

But according to the research which started around 2007 and continues to today,

Christians are harassed in more countries than any other religious group.

Open Doors USA wrote in their 2021 World Watch List report

that 340 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution.

It's one in eight believers worldwide.

In other words, many fellow Christians live still, to this day,

in an environment that is hostile to our faith,

much like the believers in the book of Acts.

And our passage today teaches us some valuable lessons

on how we ought to conduct ourselves in such an environment.

So this will be a particularly relevant message for those of you who will become missionaries

in places where Christians are persecuted.

But most of you might be wondering,

well then, what does this have to do with me?

I'm not planning on becoming a foreign missionary.

And there's no persecution here in the U.S.

You're right that the U.S. has largely been spared

of the persecution that Christians face much in the world.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear

that there is a growing clash of worldviews and ethics

in our cultural moment.

And in some places of even this country,

being a Bible-believing Christian

is no longer something that confers social respectability.

Rather, it is a social liability.

To give you one example,

Carl Truman, a Presbyterian pastor

and professor at Westminster Theological Seminary,

widely respected, highly regarded,

he recently wrote a book entitled

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self,

which is a thoughtful and theological

and philosophical critique

of the American cultural attitudes towards sex.

There's no hate-mongering in that book at all.

Both the ideas in the book

and the tone of the book

are eminently reasonable.

But on August 7th of last year,

he gave a series of talks on this topic

to the Sacramento Gospel Conference,

which was live-streamed

through the YouTube channel

of the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

And the Wall Street Journal notes that,

quote,

twice during the event,

the live broadcast was booted off the air.

Viewers were informed

that the first interruption

was due to a copyright violation,

possibly the result of Christian music

that the conference organizers

played during the break.

But in the second,

more mysterious instance,

Truman's presentation went dark

because of a, quote,

content violation.

Neither Truman nor Emmanuel Baptist Church

has been told

whether that was intervention

by a machine's algorithm

or by a human being

who was watching it,

who had been flagging it.

What is clear is that Google,

which now owns YouTube,

determined that the Bible's teaching

on sexual ethics,

as communicated by Truman,

was, quote,

harmful content,

or a form of hate and harassment.

Admittedly,

this is still nothing like

the censorship and persecution

that believers

in some other parts of the world face.

Nevertheless,

in a real way,

some Christians' beliefs

are marginalized

and viewed as irrational

and unacceptable.

And for that reason,

even for us,

this passage offers

some very helpful insights

on how we should navigate

this complex world,

how to conduct ourselves

as witnesses for Jesus

in such climate.

In Matthew 10, 16-18,

this is the New International Version,

Jesus said to his disciples,

I am sending you out

like sheep among wolves,

therefore be as shrewd as snakes

and as innocent as doves.

Be on your guard,

you will be handed over

to the local councils

and be flogged in the synagogues.

On my account,

you will be brought before governors

and kings as witnesses to them

and to the Gentiles.

What Jesus told his disciples

is happening exactly

in this passage.

Paul's taken before kings

and governors

to bear witness to them

about Jesus.

He's taken before the Gentiles

and Paul must be shrewd

as a snake

and innocent as a dove.

And that's the main lesson

that Luke wants to convey to us

here through Paul's example,

that as sheep among wolves,

we must be shrewd and innocent,

trusting in God's presence

and protection.

So let's first talk about

Paul's shrewdness

and then we'll talk about

Paul's innocence

and then about finally

God's presence.

So Paul is here

in the middle of his defense

before the Jewish mob.

He's sharing his testimony

of his conversion,

how the Lord Jesus,

the reason Lord Jesus

met him on the road

to Damascus.

And he's trying to explain

to them that he's not someone

who is against the Jews,

hostile to the Jewish people

and the law and the temple.

But he's trying to tell them

why he was sent

by the Lord Jesus

to go minister to the Gentiles.

But as soon as Paul mentions

going to the Gentiles

to talk about Jesus,

the Jewish mob is fed up with him

and will hear him no longer.

It says in verse 22,

up to this word

they listened to him

and then they raised

their voices and said,

away with such a thumb

from the earth,

for he should not

be allowed to live.

They want to get rid

of Paul for good.

They want not just

his censorship

or imprisonment,

but his execution.

The mob starts

getting out of control again

and then they start

in verse 23 shouting

and throwing off their cloaks

and flinging dust

into the air,

which are all gestures

that Jews use

to protest something

or to express indignation.

And not wanting

to lose control

of the situation,

the Roman Tribune

orders Paul

to be brought

into the barracks

saying that he should

be examined by flogging

to find out why

they were shouting

against him like this.

He knows something

that Paul has said

that has provoked the mob,

but he didn't understand

that because Paul

was speaking to them

in the Hebrew language

and so he plans

on interrogating him

by flogging,

basically torturing him

to extract information

from him.

This was a really

cruel method of torture.

Some people died

from the flogging

that the Romans used.

A lot of people

were crippled for life.

So Paul's facing

grave danger

at this point in time.

And as Paul

is being stretched out

in preparation

for the flogging

for maximal damage,

Paul says in verse 25

to the centurion

who was standing by,

is it lawful for you

to flog a man

who is a Roman citizen

and uncondemned?

This is a rhetorical

question.

Paul already knows

that the answer

is no.

It is not lawful

for the Roman citizen

to be flogged

without due process.

But this is Paul's

polite and indirect way

of informing the centurion

that he is,

in fact,

a Roman citizen

with certain protections

and legal rights.

Earlier in chapter 21,

verse 38,

the tribune

had mistaken Paul

for an Egyptian.

But now he's mistaken

him for an ordinary Jew,

just a Jew,

and not as a Roman citizen.

It would have been fine

for him to do that

to Jews,

but it would have been

illegal for him

to do it to a Roman citizen.

So this alarms him.

The centurion is taken aback

by Paul's declaration

of citizenship.

And so he goes

to his superior

and reports it back to him.

And he expresses

some cynicism

because he had to pay

a lot of money

to become a Roman citizen.

So he says,

I bought this

for a large sum.

In order to become

a naturalized Roman citizen,

you have to be sponsored

by someone prominent,

usually a military general

or even the emperor

of the Roman Empire itself.

And so he must have been

a pretty well-to-do,

prominent person

with social standing.

He purchased the citizenship

for a large amount of money.

And so he's implicitly

questioning Paul's claim.

How can you,

a poor Jew,

afford something like that?

But Paul replies to him

in verse 28,

I am a citizen by birth.

In order to be

a Roman citizen by birth,

both of your parents

have to be Roman citizens.

And being a citizen by birth

was considered at that time

to be more prestigious

than being a naturalized citizen.

And so it says in verse 29,

those who were about

to examine him

withdrew from him immediately.

And the tribune also

was afraid,

before he realized

that Paul was a Roman citizen,

that he had bound him.

You can imagine

the tribune's predicament.

Even though Paul

was guaranteed due process,

before he was condemned

by a fair trial,

he had bound him

and very nearly

flogged him,

even though he was not

even allowed to find him.

If Paul were to seek

legal redress,

he could be punished

and possibly lose his post.

He had to stop the record.

That's why the tribune

was afraid.

Now, this episode

is a very good demonstration

of Paul's shrewks.

Paul knew his legal rights

as a Roman citizen.

And he used it

to his advantage

when the situation

called for it.

Likewise,

we should know

our legal rights.

Whether that's here

in the United States

or the foreign country

you happen to be in,

administering in,

and we should appropriately

invoke those rights

because we can continue

to proclaim

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However,

there is an important caveat.

The fact that

some situations

call for us

to assert our legal rights

does not mean

that we should always

do so.

For example,

as chapter 22,

verse 29 tells us,

the Roman tribune

was not allowed

even to bind Paul

before he was condemned.

But earlier in chapter 21,

verse 33,

he bowed to him

before a Jewish mob.

When they came

to arrest him,

Paul could have

asserted his Roman citizenship

right then and there

and said,

I am a Roman citizen

by birth.

But this Jewish mob

over here,

they're abusing me

without cause.

Paul could have done that.

He could have easily

turned the table on them.

And maybe the Roman tribune

wouldn't have even

arrested Paul,

would have instead

arrested some of the people

who were trying to kill him.

But Paul didn't do that.

It's impossible to say

exactly why,

what is going through

Paul's mind

because Luke doesn't tell us.

But remember that

these Jews were accusing

Paul of being

against the Jewish people

and the law

and the temple.

And Paul's assertion

of Roman citizenship

right before the Jews

in order to preserve himself

at their expense

would have confirmed

to them that Paul

was in fact

someone who had betrayed

his Jewish sympathies

long time ago.

So it's possible

that Paul,

even though it would have

been expedient for him

at that point

to reveal his citizenship,

that he didn't do so

for the sake

of his gospel witness

to the Jews.

For Paul,

the ultimate goal

was bearing witness

to Jesus

not self-preservation.

In fact,

he already said

in Acts 21,

Acts 21:13

verse 13,

I am ready not only

to be imprisoned

but even to die

in Jerusalem

for the name

of the Lord Jesus.

But when he is away

from the Jews

facing the Roman tribune,

Paul surely invokes

his Roman citizenship

so that he might be

scared of the plogging.

We see Paul sure this

in other parts

of this passage as well.

Claudius Lysias,

that's the name

of the Roman tribune,

having been unable

to discern the real reason

why Paul was being

accused by the Jews,

convenes the Jewish

council again

so that he could observe

their formal examination

of him.

But as the examination

proceeds,

Paul realized

very quickly

that the odds

are stacked against him.

This is not a fair trial.

The Sanhedrin

is already prejudiced

against him

and have predetermined

his guilt.

So it says

in chapter 23,

verse 6,

when Paul perceived

that one part

of the Sanhedrin

were Sadducees

and the other Pharisees,

he cried out

in the council,

Brothers,

I am a Pharisee,

a son of Pharisees.

It is with respect

to the hope

and the resurrection

of the dead

that I am on trial.

The Jewish ruling

council,

the Sanhedrin,

was at that time

majority Sadducees,

but they had

a very strong

and vocal

Pharisee minority.

There were

several theological

differences

between Sadducees

and Pharisees.

The Pharisees

were reformers

who supplemented,

who added

to the Mosaic law

by counting

the rabbinic traditions,

the oral traditions

handed from generation

after generation

as authoritative.

The Sadducees,

on the other hand,

were traditionalists,

and they rejected

not only the oral tradition

of the rabbis,

but also the books

of scriptures

besides the Torah,

the law,

the first five books

of the Bible.

They rejected

the rest of the Old Testament.

And the one effect

of that was that

Sadducees denied

the resurrection

of the dead,

which is really

only explicitly tied

in the later

scriptural passages

like Ezekiel 37

and Daniel 12.

So the Sadducees

believed that both

body and soul

ceased to exist

after death.

They believed

in the annihilation

of the soul.

And taught

that there is

no afterlife

where the soul

or the spirit

is in an angelic state

or as a spirit

awaiting the future

bodily resurrection.

Now these differences

are summarized by Luke

in chapter 23,

verse 8.

The Sadducees say

that there is

no resurrection,

nor angel,

nor spirit,

but the Pharisees

acknowledged them all.

Paul,

given his extensive training

as a Pharisee

under the esteemed

Pharisee Gamaliel,

is well aware

that the resurrection

of the dead

is the hot button

theological issue

of the day.

He knows that

that doctrine

is a central point

of contention

between Sadducees

and Pharisees.

And he is exploiting

that to divide

the opinions

of the St.

Pedro concerning him

and win over

the favor

of the Pharisees.

And Paul is not,

I want to add,

being deceptive

or manipulative

here,

he is a Pharisee.

He was descended

from Pharisees.

And the central

theological issue

at hand

is the resurrection

of Jesus

from the dead.

And for Paul,

Jesus' resurrection

in particular

was inextricably tied

to the general

resurrection

of the dead.

That's why

when some believers

in the city of Corinth

argue that there is

no resurrection

of the dead,

Paul wrote to them

saying in 1 Corinthians

15, 16 and 17,

if the dead

are not raised,

not even Christ

has been raised.

And if Christ

has not been raised,

your faith is futile

and you are still

in your sins.

Belief in the resurrection

of the dead

is at the very heart

of the Christian faith

because without it,

there is no resurrection

of Christ.

So Paul is not

distorting the truth

when he says,

it is with respect

to the hope

and the resurrection

of the dead

that I am on trial.

Even though Paul,

of course,

understands that the Pharisees

didn't agree with him

on every point,

he recognizes that

they are on the same page

about this particular matter

and so he uses that

to his advantage.

And Paul's calculation

proves accurately.

He says in verse 7,

when he had said this,

a dissension arose

between the Pharisees

and the Sadducees

and the assembly

was dividing.

The word translated

dissension here

is later translated

24-5 as riot.

So the disagreement

here is not

a civil,

cordial one.

Verse 9 confirms this.

It says,

then a clamor arose

and some of the scribes

and Pharisees

and the Pharisees

party stood up

and contended sharply.

We find nothing wrong

in this man.

What if a spirit

or an angel

spoke to him?

So imagine,

people are rising up

from their seats,

they're raising their voices,

they're flailing their arms,

possibly even calling names.

There is great clamor

and sharp contention.

And this verbal brawl

soon erupts into

an actual physical brawl

because it says

in verse 10,

when the dissension

became violent,

the tribune,

afraid that Paul

would be torn to pieces

by them,

commanded the soldiers

to go down

and take him away

from among them

by force

and bring him

into the barracks.

Just as Paul

surely addressed

the tribune

as a Roman citizen,

he now surely

addresses the Sanhedrin

as a Pharisee,

which helps him

escape the kangaroo court

that had already

predetermined his guilt.

And like Paul,

we also need to know

our theology

and we need to know

the culture of the people

with whom we are

sharing the gospel.

What are their belief systems?

How is their society run?

What will be the stumbling blocks

for them coming to faith

in Jesus?

So that we can navigate

the complexities

of that culture

and the ministry

effectively among them.

There's one more episode

in this passage

that showcases

Paul's shrewdness

as a missionary.

In chapter 23,

verses 12 to 15,

this is more than

40 Jews

bind themselves

with an oath

that's saying

that they would neither

drink nor eat

until they've killed Paul.

That means they are

literally dead serious

about killing Paul.

They're willing to lose

their lives trying

to kill Paul.

In God's providence,

the son of Paul's sister,

which we didn't even know

he had,

overhears this plot.

And then it says

in verse 17,

Paul called one

of the centurions

and said,

take this young man

to the tribune

for he has something

to tell them.

So he hears from his nephew

about this plot

and then Paul

sends the nephew

to the tribune

to report that to him.

And the centurion

takes him over

and then nephew

gets to share this

with the tribune.

But notice a couple

of things here.

Notice that Paul

refers to his nephew

generically as a young man.

Doesn't call him

his nephew.

And the centurion

also calls him

a young man.

And notice that Paul

doesn't tell the centurion

about the assassination plot.

Instead,

he wants his nephew

to tell the tribune

directly.

It's obvious

that there is an interest

in keeping this intelligence

confidential.

Because verse 19 says,

the tribune

took him by the hand

and going aside,

asked him privately,

what is it

that you have to tell him?

And after hearing

Paul's nephew's report,

he says in verse 22,

that the tribune

dismissed the young man,

charging him,

tell no one

that you have informed

me of these things.

Why are they so

hush-hush about him?

There's several reasons.

Paul is protecting

the whistleblower,

his nephew,

by referring to him

genetically as a young man.

Because if word gets out

that Paul's nephew

leaked this valuable information,

then him and his family

might be endangered

by the Jews

that were trying

to kill Paul.

Possessing intelligence

about an assassination plot

was potentially

a money-making opportunity.

In the same way

that people nowadays

make money

by divulging

valuable intelligence

to interested parties.

So if Paul

entrusted

this sensitive information

to the centurion,

or if the nephew

told the centurion

about the conspiracy,

the centurion

could have leaked it

to other parties

in order to gain

the favor of the Jews,

or maybe in hopes

of some kind of payment.

And that would have

prompted them

to change their plans.

So in a dangerous

situation like this,

communication

had to be

discreet

and careful.

Similarly,

when there is

intense persecution

against Christians,

we have to be

judicious about

how we speak

and how we act.

Avoiding

inflammatory language

and other potential

triggers.

Being discreet

about our ministries

and meetings.

In the book,

God's Smugglers,

Dutch missionary

Andrew van der Beek,

who is the founder

of Open Doors,

a missions organization

that supports Christians

who are persecuted

around the world,

recalls how

in the latter half

of the 1990s,

in the communist countries

behind the so-called

Iron Curtain,

Christians could not

meet openly

for worship.

So they had to keep

their gatherings

small,

in secret.

So instead of

all the worshippers

arriving around

the same time

like we do,

their arrival

would be staggered,

timed,

and spread out

over several hours.

Only one person

or two arriving

at a time

to avoid any suspicion.

As sheep

among wolves,

we must be shrewd.

But the fact

that we are

to be shrewd

does not mean

that we can

sacrifice our integrity

at the altar

of pragmatism.

Jesus told us

not only to be

as shrewd as snakes

but also to be

as innocent

as doves.

Jesus taught us

this for a reason.

Luke points out

how Paul is a model

of this principle

as well.

There are several

attestations

in this passage alone

of Paul's innocence.

Several people,

really all of the

major characters

in this passage

attest to Paul's

innocence.

First,

it is from

Paul's own mouth

in chapter 22,

verse 25.

Just before

he is to be

flogged,

Paul says,

I am uncondemned.

Is it lawful

for you

to flog a Roman

citizen

who is uncondemned?

The Roman

legal system,

at least for citizens

at the time,

required,

like our legal system,

that the defendant

be presumed innocent

until proven guilty.

And Paul's claiming,

I am uncondemned.

I'm innocent.

Is it lawful

for you to treat me

like a criminal?

So Paul is innocent.

Even some members

of the Sanhedrin,

the Jewish ruling

council itself,

in chapter 23,

verse 10,

says this of Paul,

we find nothing wrong

in this man.

Again,

Luke's reminding us

Paul is innocent.

And finally,

the Roman tribune

himself,

Claudius Lysias,

writes in his letter

to Governor Felix

in chapter 23,

verse 29,

I found that he was

being accused

about questions

of their law,

but charged with

nothing deserving

death or imprisonment.

Three times,

Luke's emphasizing

Paul's innocence.

Christians may indeed

turn the world

upside down

by preaching Jesus

in the power

of the Holy Spirit,

but they are not

to be violent threats

or mutinous outlaws.

They are to be

aided to peace,

not disorder in society.

And Paul's innocence

is contrasted

from the miscarriage

of justice

by the authorities

themselves.

In chapter 23,

verse 1,

when Paul's testifying

before the Sanhedrin,

Paul says,

Brothers,

I have lived my life

before God

in all good conscience

up to this day.

That's a bold thing

to say.

Paul is saying,

up to this very day,

I have not been

transgressing God's law.

I have a clear conscience.

There's nothing wrong

that I have done

that I have not taken

before the Lord

in confession.

There is no

unconfessed sin

in my life.

I have a clear conscience.

I've been keeping

the law

to the best of my ability.

And then the high priest

Ananias orders Paul

to be struck in the mouth.

That's because

he's trying to show

people that Paul's a liar.

Strike him in the mouth

so he can lie

with his mouth again.

But Paul is not a liar.

So he says in verse 3,

God is going to strike you.

You whitewashed wall.

Are you sitting to judge me

according to the law?

And yet contrary to the law,

you order me to be struck?

Leviticus 19.15,

the law,

the Old Testament law,

forbids partiality in court.

But Ananias was clearly partial,

having already presumed

Paul's guilt.

So in the same way

that Jesus pronounced

woe on the Pharisees

and describes for their hypocrisy

in Matthew 23.27,

calling them whitewashed tombs,

which outwardly appear beautiful,

but within are full

of dead people's bones

and all uncleanness.

Paul pronounces God's judgment

upon Ananias

who calls him

a whitewashed wall,

a wall that is rotting

and crumbling on the inside,

but whitewashed

to look sturdy

and clean on the outside.

Though he is supposed

to be, Ananias,

rendering judgment

in accordance with the law,

he is himself

in violation of the law

as the supposed judge himself.

And at this point,

Ananias' associates

scold Paul in verse 4,

saying,

Would you revile

God's high priest?

And Paul's response

is to me surprising.

He says,

Humbly,

I did not know, brothers,

that he was the high priest,

for it is written,

You shall not speak evil

of a ruler of your people.

I think if I were

put in Paul's place,

I would have responded

a little bit differently.

I think I would have

been tempted to reply,

I couldn't care any less

that you're the high priest,

Ananias.

You're all pretending

to be dignified

and presiding over this trial

when this is all a farce.

This is a mockery of justice

and you deserve every word

I said to you moments ago.

That's what Paul

could have said.

But he doesn't do that.

Even while he's being

subjected to a sham

of a trial,

even at the face

of his own death,

potentially,

he wants to hold on

to his integrity

and do what is right

by God's word.

Because God's word says

in Exodus 22, 28,

You shall not speak evil

of a ruler of your people.

Even when we are wronged,

we must do no wrong in return.

Even when we are reviled

and sinned against,

we must not revile

and sin in return.

Peter Wenner,

who is a conservative

policy advisor

and political speech writer,

he was formerly working

for George W. Bush,

he wrote in an article

recently in The Atlantic

critiquing Donald Trump Jr.'s

recent speech

at Turning Point USA.

saying,

this is what

Trump Jr. said,

quote,

if we get together,

they cannot cancel us all,

okay?

They won't.

And this will be contrary

to a lot of our beliefs

because

I'd love not to have

to participate

in cancel culture.

I'd love that it didn't exist,

but as long as it does,

folks,

we better be playing

the same game,

okay?

We've been playing

T-ball for half a century

while they're playing

hardball and cheating,

right?

We've turned

the other cheek,

and I understand,

sort of,

the biblical reference,

I understand the mentality,

but it's gotten

us nothing,

okay?

It's gotten us nothing

while we're seated

ground in every major

institution in our country.

First,

Trump Jr.

is mistaken

to conflate

conservatives

with Christians,

even though there are

a lot of conservative

Christians.

there are

atheist conservatives

and there are

corrupt conservatives,

just as there are

atheist liberals

and corrupt liberals.

Second,

claiming

that turning

the other cheek

has gotten

us nothing

exposes

his naked

pragmatism.

For him,

it's about

what works,

what gets us

things,

what gets us

influence,

what gets us

clout,

what gets us

power in this country,

what gets us

the things that we want.

to be

to be

but that's not

what following

Jesus is about.

I want

the major

institutions

in our country

to reflect

Christian values

and Christian

priorities

just as much

as the next

person,

but not

at the expense

of our integrity,

not by

compromising

our witness

to the world,

not by being

disobedient

to our

Lord's commands.

Jesus did not

say,

I am sending

you out

like sheep

among wolves

that forget

outfitted

with body

armors

and guns,

slander back

when slander,

revile back

when revile.

No,

that's not

what Jesus

said.

He said,

I am sending

you out

like sheep

among wolves

and that

means you're

going to be

torn apart.

That means

we will

suffer.

That means

we will be

persecuted.

And that

means some

Christians

will even

die for

their faith.

But that

is the

path of

Christian

obedience.

Why must

we follow

that path?

1 Peter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

19-25

says this,

for this,

I can have

this to show

you,

for this

is a

gracious

thing.

When

mindful of

God,

one

endures

sorrows

while

suffering

unjustly.

For what

credit is it

if when

you sin

and are

beaten

for it

you

endure?

But if

when you

do good

and suffer

for it

you

endure,

this is a

gracious

thing in the

sight of

God.

For

two days

you have

been called

because

Christ also

suffered for

you,

leaving you

an example

so that

you might

follow in

his steps.

He

committed no

sin,

neither was

deceit found

in his

mouth.

When he

was reviled,

he did

not revile

in return.

When he

suffered,

he did

not threaten,

but continued

entrusting

himself to

him who

judges

justly.

He

himself

bore our

sin in

his body

on the

tree,

that we

might die

sin and

live to

righteousness.

By his

wounds you

have been

healed,

for you

are straying

like sheep,

but have

now returned

to the

shepherd and

overseer of

your soul.

Because

Jesus,

the Lion of

Judah,

who had

all the

power in

the world,

died as

the sacrificial

lamb of

God.

We are

now to

be his

sheep,

following in

his footsteps.

Living as

sheep among

wolves,

so that

we might

bear witness

to Jesus,

even in

a hostile

lamb.

And because

we are

sheep among

wolves,

it is

necessary that

we be as

true as

snakes and

innocent as

doves.

And as

we're enduring

suffering and

persecution for

Christ's sake,

maintaining our

innocence,

God assures us

that we will

never suffer

alone.

And that's

my final point,

and it's my

shortest point,

so don't

worry.

God's

presence.

Smackdown in

the middle of

this passage,

chapter 23,

verse 11,

it says this,

the following

night, the

Lord stood

by him and

said,

take courage,

for as you

have testified

to the facts

about me in

Jerusalem,

so you must

testify also

in Rome.

Isn't that

wonderful?

what God

said?

The Lord

himself, the

Lord Jesus

himself appears

to Paul.

He didn't send

an angel here.

He appears

himself, and

he says the

Lord stood

by Paul.

He stands

by his people

who bear

faithful witness

to him.

He stands

by his people

who suffer

for his

name's sake.

It reminds

me of what

Paul said at

the end of

his life.

In 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 4:16

chapter 4,

verse 16,

when he was

being persecuted,

he says,

at my first

defense,

no one came

to stand

by me,

but all

deserted me

may not be

charged against

them.

But he says

this,

but the

Lord stood

by me

and strengthened

me.

In the

face of the

most intense

persecution,

even when

your family

members leave

you,

even when

every single

one of your

brothers and

sisters in

church forsake

you,

even when no

one else

stands by

you,

the Lord

will stand

by you.

That's the

promise of

this passage.

Right after

Paul's traumatic

trial before

the Sanhedrin,

and right before

the Jews plot

to assassinate

him,

he says the

Lord stood

by Paul,

and he told

him,

take courage,

assuring him

that he will

not die in

Jerusalem.

In fact,

you're going to

go all the

way to Rome.

You will bear

witness to me

even in the

capital of this

empire.

You will bear

witness to the

name of the

Lord Jesus

before Caesar

himself.

You will not

die here.

Take courage.

Take heart.

God had to

say that to

Paul because

Paul was

losing heart,

because his

courage was

failing.

Even a

weathered

veteran like

Paul grows

weary,

weak,

and fearful

at times,

and our

gracious Lord

Jesus knows

that.

Our Lord is

not callous.

He's not

indifferent to

our suffering.

When we

bear witness

to Jesus,

Jesus is

with us

to strengthen

us.

He will

never leave

us alone.

Some of

you have

testified to

your Lord,

our Lord

Jesus,

to your

friends and

family over

the holidays,

and maybe

you're

discouraged by

their response.

Perhaps

some of you

were mocked

or ostracized

recently for

your faith in

Jesus at

school or

by your

family members

or at

work.

And maybe

you're not

afraid to

take a stand

for Jesus

again.

But the

Lord Jesus

says to you

this morning,

take heart,

take courage.

Those who

acknowledge him

before man

will be

acknowledged

before God

who is in

heaven by

the Lord

Jesus himself.

so let's

bear witness

to him

as sheep

among wolves,

shrewd and

innocent,

trusting in

God's presence

and protection.

Let's pray

together.

God,

we thank you

that you

are a

gracious,

gentle,

and kind

Lord and

master.

We thank you

that when we

suffer for your

name's sake,

you do not

leave us.

You are not

indifferent.

You're not

callous.

You

sympathize.

you

empathize.

You

are near.

You're not

far off.

God,

we ask

that that

truth,

that we

would remember

that truth

and that we

would be

encouraged by

that truth

to bear

faithful witness

to Jesus

here at home

and to the

end of the

earth.

because your

name is

worthy of

it all.

Because there

is no other

name under

heaven given

to mankind

by which we

must be

saved.

It's in

that precious

name we

pray.

Amen.