Acts - Week 15 (23:1-11)

This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd.

Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people

striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through

our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church

at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message.

If you haven't been with us, we are in the book of Acts and

we're going to be in chapter 23 this morning.

There's Bibles in the pews if you want to turn to that.

It's in the back half, 5th book into the New Testament there,

chapter 23. Before that, though, Pastor

Chris had an announcement a couple weeks ago about a new

ministry that we're starting and it's going to be involving lots

of things, but most specifically a a medical mission trip with

Doctor Michael close. So he is in the planning stages

and more details will be coming out.

But if you're at all interested in what you've heard so far

about this or even the prospect of a medical mission trip is

just something that's enticing, appealing to you somewhere in

South America, the details will be will be forthcoming.

Dr. close will be out at the connection Center after the

service today. If you would even just like to

let him know. Hey, keep me on a list for one

more stuff comes down. I want I want to know more as

this comes out. Meet him at the connection

center after the service. All right, so we are in Acts

Acts 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23. If you haven't been following

along or just need a refresher from last week.

Paul was preaching in Jerusalem and there came a point that the

Jewish crowds were kind of done hearing the message that he had

to bring there was there was rioting.

It wasn't safe anymore. They actually arrested him and

brought him to jail and brought him before a trial basically,

and God had promised him that he would have opportunity to preach

in Jerusalem. Didn't didn't really quite

picture it to the crowds to a courtroom, but that's the

opportunity that presented itself before him.

So we turn to chapter 23 and Paul is before a gathering of

the Sanhedrin, the the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the religious

leaders of the law. These two groups didn't see eye

to eye on everything, but they were the influencers.

They were they were the leaders there.

They were somewhat the Sadducees were more influenced by the law.

They didn't really believe in the resurrection of Jesus or any

divine nature of God or angels of the Holy Spirit or anything.

The Pharisees were still very much rooted in Old Testament

law, Jewish law, and that you still even even if Jesus came

and rose from the dead and there was this pathway to everlasting

life, you still had to dot your IS and cross your T's about all

these things in the Old Testament and you still have to

live by the law so to earn your way into that salvation.

So neither 1 is really in total agreement with the gospel that

Paul is preaching, but he appeals to them having having

failed. And I, I don't mean any

disrespect towards Paul, but in his perspective, even we'll see

in the text, he feels as if he had failed to, to bring the

gospel to the crowd. There wasn't the response that

he thought, there wasn't the thousands of lives changed that

we've seen in in past places in Acts.

There wasn't this stirring revival of the early church in

response to the gospel. So Paul, Paul is in this place

of wondering what's different, what changed?

He didn't have influence on the people, but maybe he could have

influence on the leaders to lead the people.

So we turn to Acts chapter 23 starting at verse one.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

Looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers, I have

lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.

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.

I got it Rory, thank you. Though those who stood by said,

Would you revile God's high priest?

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.

And is it? It is with respect to the hope

and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.

When he had said this, a dissension arose between the

Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

But the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, no Angel nor

spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Then a great clamour 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?

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 me in Jerusalem, so you must

testify also in Rome. This is the word of Godfather

God, our Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, would you speak and move

in power in this time? May we take courage as we look

to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Open our hearts, minds and ears to hear what you have to say to

us this morning. We're ready to listen.

Jesus name, Amen. There's a big scene that's

happening here and there's lots of different details that are

interesting, that are factual, that are historical.

I'm going to go past all of those and we're going to jump

right to what I think is the crux of this passage, the very

last verse, verse 11, the response of God to the work that

Paul has done thus far. After all of this, remember the

crowds rioted. They didn't want to hear what he

had to say. He for a fleeting moment, Paul

had an advantage in in the Sanhedrin, in this assembly when

he appealed to the Pharisees saying, hey, we both live by the

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

We both believe in that. But that really just sparked

disagreement between the two factions.

It did not compel the Pharisees to then go forth and influence

the people on that item. It just kind of cited the

Pharisees more with Paul and the Sadducees were then against all

of them together. Didn't really get us anywhere.

The gospel was again cut short, so much so that out of

protection for Paul, who last week we remember the emphasis on

him being a Roman citizen. This tribune, the centurion, the

soldier ordered that Paul for his own protection, be taken

into custody and be put into jail so that no one else could

get at him. It was his responsibility, the

soldiers responsibility to protect Paul's life.

So Paul, after these moments of failure among the crowds, among

the Sanhedrin, is sitting alone in a jail cell, wondering what

went wrong and wondering what might be next.

But the following night, after all this happened, Paul

earnestly wanted the salvation of people we see earlier in

acts. In his letter to the Romans, his

heart broke for people to come to know Jesus Christ, and out of

these two latest opportunities to do that, he saw no result.

He saw no response. He was making Jesus known, but

the people didn't want to know him.

Lives were not changed. In these moments where there's

seemingly no progress, we can feel useless and worthless.

Paul almost certainly wrestled with these things, wondering if

God was even going to continue to use him anymore.

Was this the end of the line? He he knew it was coming near.

He knew the end of his life was drawing near.

Was this the end of his ministry?

But in the darkness of the night, the Lord Jesus came to

Paul and stood by him. Paul, of course, had a a unique

experience of this. There has never once I've been

leading worship on Sunday mornings for 15 years with

regularity. There has never been once after

one of those Sundays that Jesus just pops up and it's like, hey,

that was great, do it again next week.

Never happened to me. I've preached about 50 times in

the past two years sitting in my office after the service.

Never once has Jesus pulled up on the couch.

Hey, that was a good word today, Do it again.

I've never had that sort of response.

Does that mean I'm not preaching the word of God rightly?

You can tell me if that's so, I feel that I've been faithful to

it. Paul had a unique experience of

the manifestation of Jesus and we can have the same confidence

of this. Matthew 2820.

That is the Great Commission. Go therefore and make disciples.

But the promise of Jesus at the end is, and surely I will be

with you always to the very end of the age.

He does not send us off to do his bidding alone.

He sends us to make disciples with him.

Paul, though physically alone, was not truly alone.

And for those of you that feel apart from God, maybe further

from God than you've ever felt or or at least felt recently,

God knows right where you're at today.

Just like he knew right where Paul was at, even in prison,

even at his lowest. Even if you're hiding where

you're at today from everyone else around you in your life,

God knows where you're at right now.

Paul was alone, but he wasn't truly alone.

Jesus was enough, and it was better to be in jail with the

Lord Jesus alongside him than to be anywhere else without him.

So Paul had confidence in this moment.

God also met him right in this jail cell.

How often do we pray God deliver me from this circumstance, heal

this sickness, take this affliction, this struggle, this

relationship, this reconciliation that I need, Make

it right. We so often want Him to deliver

us from our circumstances. Maybe He wants to meet us right

in Him. He wants to meet us right in

those circumstances, right where we are, so that we know we're

surrendering to his strength to get us through and that we know

it's it's truly not of our own doing.

Are we demanding an escape or are we demanding a relationship

that sustains us through whatever we face?

The next part of this, it says that this is the English

standard version of of the Bible, a more literal

translation even, is this phrase be of good cheer, take courage,

be of good cheer. The the Greek word here means

confident, courageous. We only see this same phrasing

of of take courage or be of good cheer exactly in the original

Greek. It only occurs five times in the

New Testament. Jesus in Matthew Chapter 9 told

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

the bedridden paralytic, Be of good cheer for your sins are

forgiven. Jesus told a woman with a 12

year old affliction, Be of good cheer daughter, for your faith

has made you well. Jesus when his disciples were

frightened on the Sea of Galilee and he was about to calm the

storm, told them be of good cheer.

You need not be afraid. The night before his

crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples, in this world you

will have trouble, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome

the world. So in all four of those prior

instances, Paul had the confidence, Your sins are

forgiven, your faith has made you well.

You need not be afraid. I have overcome the world.

So therefore, take heart, take courage, be courageous.

Paul undoubtedly needed to hear this message.

Jesus was there to cheer on Paul's faithfulness.

He knew exactly what he needed to hear because while the

situation looked bad, it was about to get a lot worse.

We didn't get to the second part of this passage, but the very

next day there were 40 Jewish assassins that plotted together

and made an oath to assassinate Paul before they would ever eat

or drink again. Their goal was to kill Paul.

That was coming tomorrow and right now Jesus says be of good

cheer. Why?

Not because everything's fine, not because everything's going

to be roses and rainbows tomorrow, but because God is

still on His throne. Jesus is still by Paul's side

and He will hold to His promise in eight Romans 828 to work all

things together for the good of those who love Him and are

called according to his purpose. God undoubtedly called Paul to

this work. He was not going to let him down

in it. As a Christian, as a follower of

Christ, we are in the unique position.

Anyone can be of good cheer when things are great, when things

are going well, as Christians were called to be of good cheer

even when things are bleak, even when they're at their darkest,

because we need to know and trust that God is mighty and

wonderful no matter the passing crisis of our day-to-day

moments. Jesus goes on to affirm and

encourage Paul. For as you have testified to the

facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.

He's saying you've done it. You've been faithful to the

message that I gave you. Well done, good and faithful

servant. Paul's getting that message

right now, and he encouraged him.

But there's still more to be done.

Paul could have been very discouraged about the lack of

results, especially over the past couple days.

Though he was faithful to the message, there was seemingly

very little fruit and impact from this message.

Paul could have been in a place of discouragement.

Jesus encourages him. Well done, do it again.

This can be said of us too. Y'all keep coming back each and

every week. Chris and I keep coming back

each and every week because there's still more to be done

for the Kingdom of God. Never once have we ended a

Sunday saying we did it. It's done, it's finished.

There's more to do. For the faithful follower of

Christ, there's always more to do.

More people to bring to Him, More ways to glorify him in your

life. More people to pray with.

More humble ways to serve. More hungry to help, More naked

to clothe, more weary Saints for you to encourage.

The faithful servant receives those opportunities with good

cheer. The lazy servant receives those

opportunities begrudgingly. All this again.

Here we go again. We're called to be of good cheer

in the continual opportunities raised for faithful followers of

Jesus. Because his final encouragement

to Paul is there's still more to be done.

So as you've done, you must also continue to testify in Rome.

You must bear witness in this same way.

This was twofold for Paul because while it was an

encouragement to keep doing the work.

It was also promised protection. You're going to make it to Rome.

You almost got killed today, but my plan is for you to preach in

Rome, and that's more than a day away.

So you'll make it through tomorrow.

In Paul's writings earlier in Acts and in his letters to the

Romans, he he writes of his affections for the people of

Rome. He wanted to go to Rome to

preach to the people, to preach to the rulers.

It was something he sought after and dreamt of as a part of his

ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God was about to fulfill the desires of his heart, the

faithful longings of Paul, to see the gospel in Judea and

Samaria to the ends of the earth.

He wanted to go right into the belly of the beast and preach

Christ and him crucified. He knew Jesus.

His life's sole mission was to make him known.

He faced his enemies in the streets, in the Sanhedrin, in

the courtroom, knowing that he had nothing to fear from them so

long as he was faithful to the God that work, the work that God

had called him to. God had more for him to do, and

he would protect him through it. So what can we take from this

today, Church? Are you in a place where you

feel like you're going to be judged by the results of your

faithfulness to God? If you're not bringing that

family member, that friend, that coworker, maybe you are loving

them like Jesus would. Maybe you've shared your faith,

your experience, and they're just not coming around.

Are you living in a place today feeling judged by the lack of

outcomes that God has worked out in their life?

That's not the place that we're called to be.

We're called to live our lives in faithfulness to God's will,

and we're called to be judged on the faithfulness of Jesus to

God's will. We will only be judged by the

results of what was done on the cross, not the results of lives

that we changed here on earth. Paul could take heart even when

it seemed things were not going well.

The gospel was not going forth. Lives were not being changed.

But that wasn't the point. The point was for Paul to be

faithful to what God called him to.

And that's what he affirmed. That's what he encouraged is in

Paul. You're doing it.

You know Jesus and you're making him known, and that's what I

have set out for you. So my protection goes before

you. You're going to do the same

thing in Rome. Hear that message today, Church?

You're called to be faithful, to know Jesus and make him known.

Do not bear the weight of lives changed, of affecting someone's

behavior or morality with the gospel.

That's for the Holy Spirit to work out, and I'm not saying it

as a cop out. We absolutely can influence

people, but do not bear the weight of their eternal outcomes

on your own life if you're faithful to love them like Jesus

would to love them. In this example of Paul, that's

what we're called to be of good cheer in if you know Jesus and

your everyday is spent making him known.

That is the crux of the call of the Christian life.

Faithful to his will and let him control the rest.

It's in Christ alone that we have this hope.

It's in Christ alone that the results matter.

But he's the one who finished it.

Let's pray. Thanks for listening to ERC

Sundays. To support the work God is doing

at Emmaus Rd. Church, visit

emmausrdonline.org/giving.