The Lord Stands By Us
April 11, 2021
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
Scripture Reading
Acts 22:30–23:11
30 But on the next day, desiring 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.
23:1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.3 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?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God's high priest?” 5 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.’”
6 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.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 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?”10 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.
11 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.”
Two quick things to mention before I pray. First, after church today our staff is driving nine hours to Indianapolis for a conference for church leaders. The conference is being held by an organization called The Gospel Coalition. We really appreciate what they do. If you’re looking for resources to help you grow in your faith, we would suggest The Gospel Coalition’s website. For three days we’ll pray and laugh and hear sermons and attend break-out seminars to learn how we can serve the church better. And I wanted you to know that’s what’s happening and to say thank you for sending.
Second, we’re coming back to the book of Acts. I’ll say more about that, of course, after I pray. But I wanted to say this: This year I really want to improve my preaching in a few specific areas. One of those areas is to get better at offering direct applications from the Bible to our everyday life about how to follow God. This sermon, however, will not be one of those. Basically, I have only one point to make, which I hope is an encouraging point; it will just take me 25 minutes to do it. And the point is this: Because Jesus lives and he loves us, we can face tomorrow.
Would you pray with me as we begin? “Dear heavenly Father . . .”
Introduction
Sometimes it makes sense to keep the end of a sermon veiled until you reach the end for the “surprise factor.” Other times it makes the most sense to share exactly where we will end, and the surprise comes, not from the end itself, but when we understand all that led up to the end. I think this is one of those weeks where it’s better to start with the ending, and then I’ll back up to explain all that happened to get that ending. So how does the passage end?
The last verse in our passage is Acts 23:11, which says, “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.’” The key phrases at the end of this passage are “stood by me,” “Take courage,” and “as in Jerusalem, so in Rome.”
What I hope to argue is that everything that led up to that moment—everything in the book of Acts through Acts 23:10, everything that led Paul to be alone in a jail cell—created a very specific type of discouragement for Paul. I want us to see Paul’s discouragement not as an “oh no, I have cancer” moment, but rather as an “oh no, the cancer is back” moment. Both moments are sobering and unsettling, but there is a special kind of discouragement when you believe you’ve done all you can do, and it wasn’t enough. That’s where Paul is at in v. 10. Maybe you’ve been in a moment like that yourself. Maybe that’s where you’re at now.
Now that we know where we’re heading, let me back up, and then we’ll return to this moment at the end to see the encouragement that we so desperately need.
To organize the sermon I want to use language from photography and film. In photography and film you have wide angles, closeups, and what are called extreme closeups. In the wide angle, you see it all. In the closeup, you see the subject, well, up close. And in an extreme closeup, you only see a part of the subject.
The Wide Angle: The Book of Acts
Let’s start with the wide angle. And by wide angle, I mean looking at our passage with the whole of the book of Acts in the background. Way back on October 6, 2019, we started our sermon series in the book of Acts. I know that feels like a really long time ago because 2020 lasted five years, but it was only 18 months ago. Since then, we’ve taken plenty of breaks, but we’ve preached about 40 sermons in Acts. We only a have a few to go, and we’ll finish before Memorial Day.
If you’ve been there with us, do you remember why we gave the series the title “Without Hindrance”? We gave it this title for this reason: Among all that Luke, the author of the book, wants us to see, he wants us to see that the mission of Jesus to save sinners and build his church goes forward without hindrance, even though there are actually many, many hindrances. Luke wants us to know—I believe God wants us to know—that God’s love for people and his church is unstoppable, and that is good news. In fact, the last word of the last verse in the last chapter of the book of Acts is “without hindrance”—two words in English, one in Greek. We think that was intentional, so we titled our sermon series that way.
As we see the book of Acts through a wide-angle lens, I should point out how it begins. The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of all that Jesus began to do in his life, death, and resurrection. The Gospels cover about thirty years, though mostly the last three years of Jesus’s life. The book of Acts covers the next thirty years. At the beginning of the book, Jesus ascends to Heaven, the disciples receive the power of the Holy Spirit—God’s presence among them—and they begin to tell others about Jesus through preaching and evangelism and missionary journeys. Paul is not a Christian at the beginning of the book. In fact, for the first third of the book, Paul is not a Christian. For the next third of the book, Paul is a Christian and completes several missionary journeys. And the last third of the book, Paul is in one jail or another on his way Rome to stand trial before Caesar. Just behold that wide angle for a moment. It’s a breathtaking panorama. In just thirty years after the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, churches are planted all throughout the Roman empire. It’s amazing what God did.
The Closeup: Acts 22:30–23:11
Now, let’s zoom in for a closeup on our passage. After our break for the Easter sermon series, we’re picking back up in Acts somewhat awkwardly in the last verse of chapter 22, and we’re going through 23:11. Let me read v. 30 again.
30 But on the next day, desiring 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.
What’s going on in this passage? Who is this “he” that keeps moving Paul around? Let’s talk about this. Just before our passage, Paul had come to Jerusalem. He came with money, and he came with church leaders. The church leaders are Gentile converts to Christianity. Paul raised the money on his missionary travels among Gentile Christians, and he’s bringing the church leaders to Jerusalem along with the money, so that he can help the churches in Jerusalem; Paul wants to show that the Gentile converts throughout the Roman empire love the brothers, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
But this doesn’t go as well as Paul had hoped. He is accused by some Jewish leaders of bringing Gentiles into the inner courts of the Jewish temple, which was a huge no-no. Now, Paul didn’t bring Gentiles into the temple; he’s falsely accused of this. But the accusation causes a mob of Jewish people to try to kill Paul. Roman soldiers break up the mob, rescuing Paul. Paul asks to speak to the mob, and he’s allowed to do so. They listen to the story of his conversion until he says the word “Gentile,” then try to kill him again. The Roman soldier is confused. So the Romans prepare to beat the answers out of Paul: Who are you? Why does everyone hate you? But Paul says he’s a Roman citizen, which is a big deal, so he can’t get beaten. It’s an eventful day for Paul. The Roman military leader decides to call all the Jewish leaders together to learn more. This happens the next day, and it’s where we pick up the story.
This is an informal trial for Paul to defend himself to the Jews, but it’s really so that the Romans can know what to do. The trial quickly descends into what would feel like obscure details about religions he doesn’t understand. Let me read vv. 1–5.
23:1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 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?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” 5 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.’”
When Paul says in v. 1 that he as “lived [his] life before God in all good conscience up to this day,” he is essentially saying that a good Jewish follower of God, should become a Christian. Paul is saying good Jewish people embrace their Messiah, Jesus. Then we get this detail that feels like it comes from a mobster movie. The high priest nobs to his lieutenant, and the guy slugs Paul in the month. Paul snaps back, calling them “whitewashed tombs,” which is a loaded Old Testament phrase (Ez. 13:8–16, esp. vv. 10, 11; Matthew 23:27). Paul is saying their souls are dead and decaying, and even though they painted white over themselves, the rot of their souls still stinks.
They then quote some verses from the Old Testament back and forth, where Paul essentially apologies, saying he didn’t know he was talking to the high priest and he should not have spoken that way. Look at vv. 6–10.
6 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.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 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?” 10 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 Sadducees were a more liberal or progressive part of Judaism, and they didn’t believe a lot of the Bible, including the parts about resurrection. The Pharisees believed in a resurrection. It would have seemed like they believed all of the Bible, except perhaps those parts about loving God with all their hearts (Deut. 6:4–7; Luke 10:27). Paul uses this disagreement between the two groups to his advantage and says in a loud voice that he is on trial because he believes in the resurrection. And with this, for the third time in just two days, the Jewish mob tries to kill him.
The passage began with the Roman military leader trying to figure out why the mob hated Paul. And by the end of the passage, he must have still been utterly confused. One pastor equated him to a recent West Point graduate who gets deployed to the Middle East, and while he’s trying to keep the peace, two religious factions that he knows nothing about have a violent dispute (Chase Replogle, “Conscience,” Acts 23:1–11, Bent Oak Church, February 10, 2019). But the Roman military officer is not the only one discouraged; Paul is too, even more so.
The Extreme Closeup: 23:11
So we’ve seen the wide angle. And we’ve seen the closeup. Now I want to do what is called an extreme closeup by zooming in even tighter on just v. 11.
11 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 where the passage starts to get really good for us to hear. I said at the start that Paul’s discouragement in this moment is not so much an “oh no, I have cancer” moment, but rather an “oh no, the cancer is back” moment. What did I mean by that?
First, Paul has done is very best and come up short. He thought about what to bring to Jerusalem to make this work. He brought donated money and Gentile Christians to show unity. And just a few months prior to the visit in Jerusalem, he wrote a letter to the church in Rome (likely during the stay in the Corinth region as recorded in Acts 20:1–3; cf. Rom. 15:25). We call the letter Romans. In that letter Paul mentions how much he wanted to make his first visit to the church in Rome and encourage those Christians (Rom. 1:11–13). Then, near the end of the letter, he writes,
At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. (Rom. 15:25–28)
In other words, he’s gone on written record that he wants to go to Rome. He’s done is best to work out the details. But now, in jail, it looks like all his effort has evaporated. Imagine an entrepreneur who has crafted the perfect business plan. She secured venture capital. She built marketing tools and launched a website. The public knows about the plan. Her friends know about the plan. And she’s done everything right. Then, in a moment, months and months of work go poof. That’s Paul; his weakness is a hindrance.
Not only has his own power and ingenuity let him down. He’s physically beaten up. All throughout his missionary journeys he took beatings, but never three times in two days. Every joint in his body must hurt. There’s no aspirin, no Neosporin, no antibiotics, no nothing to help with his pain. Paul’s wounds are a hindrance to the gospel. How’s God going to play music with a bruised reed or shine light through a smoldering wick?
And not only is there physical pain, but his own sin is also mingled up in his predicament. Most of the time, when the Bible presents that Paul did this or that, it’s putting forward a pattern to be imitated. That makes sense. He was a really, really good follower of Jesus. But all followers of Jesus are not Jesus. When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he also had words to share about loving enemies. For example, he says a lot about this in chapter 12. He says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. . . . Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (12:14–21).
Is that what Paul did? When Paul was cursed, did he bless? No, when Paul was cursed, he cursed back. In another place in Romans, Paul writes that he would even be willing, if it were possible, to be cut off from Christ for the sake of his fellow Israelites (9:1–5). Is that what he showed while on trial? Not really. He may have been clever with that line about the resurrection to start the squabble. But I’m not sure they really knew that Paul loved them. That Jesus loved them. And speaking of Jesus, contrast this with how Jesus acted when he was on trial. When Jesus was on trial in the Gospels, and the high priest told someone to hit Jesus, Jesus didn’t snap back (John 18:19–24). The apostle Peter puts it this way: “When [Jesus] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten” (1 Pet. 2:23). Paul knows his sin is a hindrance to God’s mission.
And these three hindrances stand between Paul and serving the Lord. He’s not strong enough to execute his plans. He’s beaten up. And he has his own sin to deal with. He tried his best, and he’s sitting there alone and feels like a failure. I told everyone I was going to Rome, and now I’ll never get there, he thinks. When said this way, do you know what Paul’s three hindrances sound like? It sounds like Paul is weak, wounded, and wayward.
But Paul also believes in the living Jesus. “It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial,” Paul says. And the living Jesus, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him that very night. And stood by him. And encouraged him. And the living Jesus had really forgiven him. When Paul was converted, Jesus shouted at him, “Why are you persecuting me?” Paul had participated in the death of Christians, which was wrong, of course, but Jesus asked Paul, not simply why are you persecuting Christians, but why are you persecuting me. But now, those sins are forgiven.
Paul is loved by the living, resurrected Jesus. And Paul is sustained by the living Jesus. And so are we, if we know Jesus in this same way.
Conclusion
I heard a story once about a pastor who was retired and got sick. In the hospital one night, he was alone and hobbled to the restroom, dragging his IV stand beside him. But he fell over. He couldn’t get up. He couldn’t reach up to call a nurse. He was helpless and hurt and angry. But as he laid there, the story goes, he realized how much God loves him. Laying there, he knew he wasn’t preaching sermons or leading Bible studies. He wasn’t praying for lost people in China. He didn’t have anything to offer Jesus but his need. It was as though he understood the gospel for the first time.
Church, I’d love to have seven applications for you about how to live as better followers of Jesus. But this morning, I just wanted to remind you that, because Jesus lives, you can face tomorrow. I’ll invite the music team back up as we pray . . .
