Acts 23:1-11
~18 min read
SERMON OUTLINE
TRANSCRIPT
In John 15:20, Jesus said, “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”. Throughout the Book of Acts, we saw how the disciples were being persecuted, primarily by the Jewish people who had aggressively opposed the church and the gospel. But the strongest opposition came from the Sanhedrin Council. The Sanhedrin was the highest religious ruling body of the Jewish people in Israel. Any decision or authority involving Jewish law rested upon the Sanhedrin. There were two main groups which composed the Sanhedrin — religious groups, which dominated the Sanhedrin — the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had their own temple police force, which could exercise punishment for anyone who violated Jewish law. However, they did not have the right to execute capital punishment unless the case involved the desecration of the temple.
The background was that Paul had faced opposition from the Jewish people, and there were several false accusations made against him. False accusations that he had opposed the Jewish people, he had opposed the law, and he had also blasphemed against the temple. All these were serious accusations, and because of that, he was attacked and severely beaten. Only the intervention of the Roman soldiers had saved his life. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias, tried unsuccessfully to find out what Paul had done. So he planned to use scourging to extract certain information from Paul and perhaps even to force him to make a confession. But when he realised that Paul was a Roman citizen, he immediately stopped in his plans because it was illegal to scourge a Roman citizen.
Finally, he decided to call the Sanhedrin since this was a Jewish matter, and they were the highest religious ruling body. Therefore, Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin. The chief captain would not have turned Paul over to the Sanhedrin for a trial because he was a Roman citizen, and there were no charges made against him, nor were there any witnesses to testify against Paul. So most likely, this meeting did not take place in the Sanhedrin's normal meeting place, which would be the temple grounds. But, it would be somewhere outside of Fort Antonio, where the Roman troops would be ready to rescue Paul should anything get out of hand. If you look down to verse 10, that was exactly what they did. “And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.” — or the Roman barracks.
Now, this will be the fifth time the Bible records for us that the Sanhedrin was called to investigate and decide on religious matters. The first time was when they were called to evaluate the claims of Jesus Christ. That was the first instance we saw in the Bible that the Sanhedrin was called. Jesus himself stood before the Sanhedrin (you can read about that in Mark chapter 14). The second time was when Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4. The third time was when all the apostles were arrested, and the Sanhedrin commanded them to stop preaching the gospel, to which Peter and all the other apostles replied, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). The fourth time the Sanhedrin was involved was at the trial of Stephen. This will be the fifth time. Notice each time when Jesus, the apostles, Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, they did not compromise. Nothing could stop them from speaking the truth. Now what about Paul? Today we want to learn about Paul's response as he stood before the Sanhedrin.
I. The Conscience
Our first point is “The Conscience”. Paul appealed to his conscience. Let us begin with verse 1, “And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." To earnestly behold is to look intently, to fix one's eyes on something or someone. Some people think that Paul was looking intently on the Sanhedrin because of his poor eyesight. Others believed that he was trying hard to find out anyone he could recognise in the Sanhedrin. Most certainly, that was not the case. He was able to fix his eyes intently on the Sanhedrin because he knew he was innocent of any wrongdoing. He knew that God was with him. He had complete confidence. That was the reason why he did not cower in fear or guilt.
The normal way of addressing the Sanhedrin Council was rulers and elders of the people. Remember, this was the highest religious ruling body of the Jewish people. But Paul was different. He had close ties to the Sanhedrin. Remember, he was a Pharisee. He was persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ previously. In fact, he could even be a member, a former member of the Sanhedrin Council. Therefore, he greeted them very differently and he said, "Men and brethren," as if he knew them. "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." Here, Paul was appealing to his own conscience. There are two things for us to take note in this one statement.
Firstly, how do we know our conscience is good? How can we say we have lived a good conscience? Secondly, there's this little phrase "before God." Every man has a conscience, whether a believer or unbeliever. The conscience is a person's moral sense of right and wrong. It is the faculty that passes a moral judgment on our actions. But it is possible for the conscience to be damaged. It is also possible for the conscience to be misguided, misinformed, and dysfunctional. If you remember, Paul's conscience had once permitted him to persecute the Christians. He was even present when Stephen was killed, and he participated in it. At that time, he thought that was the right thing to do. At that time, he had a clear conscience, but it was misguided and it was misinformed. A person can be living in sin and worldliness. He or she can be committing adultery and yet, at the same time, say, "My conscience is clear." What kind of conscience is that? It is a dysfunctional conscience.
Have you ever encountered someone who says to you, "My conscience tells me this is right. My conscience tells me that is wrong"? My friends, we have to bear in mind that our conscience is not the voice of God. Our conscience is not infallible. That is why the Bible speaks of a weak conscience. Our conscience can be weak. Read that in 1 Corinthians 8:7,10. The Bible also talks about our conscience being defiled (Titus 1:15). The Bible also talks about a wounded conscience. Our conscience can be wounded (Hebrews 10:22). Worst of all, the Bible talks about our conscience being seared with a hot iron. I believe most of us here are very familiar with 1 Timothy 4:2. Maybe you can turn with me to 1 Timothy 4:2. Allow me to read for you. Let's begin with verse 1. The Bible says, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,” — or clearly — “that in the latter times” — or in the last days — “some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron". To have our conscience seared with a hot iron is like a hot iron burning the garments. It is burned already, numb already, no more feeling anymore. So these people who have departed from the faith, they listen to deceitful spirits, and then they also listen to the doctrines of devils, and they speak hypocritical lies and continue to do so even though they still have a conscience. The Bible says it is useless because that conscience has been seared with a hot iron. No more ability to respond to moral rights and wrongs. It is a conscience that is useless.
So all man has a conscience. The difference between a believer and an unbeliever is that the believer has the Word of God to guide his conscience. The believer has the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide him to understand the Word of God. So the believer must allow the Word of God and the Spirit’s leading to guide his conscience. The only way he can do that is to constantly be exposed to the Word of God. When the Bible says this is the right thing to do, he does it, and he will continuously do it. When the Bible says this is the wrong thing to do, he abstains from it and continues to abstain from it. When you and I live our lives according to the standards of God's Word and the Spirit's leading, then we can say, like the Apostle Paul, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."
So, my friends, do not just appeal to your conscience, but appeal to your conscience in relation to the Word of God and the Spirit's leading. So let every one of us always live our lives in all good conscience, obeying the Word of God, and also allowing the Spirit of God to lead us as we live our lives.
II. The Confrontation
Our second point is “The Confrontation”. Look at verse 2, "And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth." This Ananias should not be mistaken with the Ananias in Acts chapter 9. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, this Ananias was one of the most cruel, evil, corrupt high priests ever to hold office. In fact, he stole from the common priests the tithes and offerings that should go to them, and he would beat anyone who resisted. So, consistent with his violent and wicked character, Ananias ordered those people standing beside Paul to strike him on the mouth. The original word for smite is more than just a slap to the face. It speaks of a beating. So you can say that Ananias commanded the people standing beside Paul to give him a hard beating, where? On the mouth.
Verse 3 says, "Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten” — according or — “contrary to the law?'" If you look at 1 Corinthians 4:12, Paul said to the Corinthians, "[When we are] being reviled, we bless; [when we are] being persecuted, we suffer it". Some people might be wondering why Paul did not practice what he preached. Or what about the example of Jesus Christ when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not (1 Peter 2:23). Remember the occasion when Jesus was also smitten by the Romans? What did he say? He merely said this, "If I have spoken evil, then tell me what I've spoken. If I've spoken well, then why do you strike me?" You can read about that in John 18:23. The best answer to that is, of course, Paul was not Jesus. Jesus was the sinless Son of God, while no doubt Paul was the most godly man who ever lived, but he was still a sinner.
So all those bystanders when they heard Paul rebuking the high priest, they were shocked. Verse four, "And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?" To revile is to reproach, insult, or abuse. Although Ananias was an evil man, a disgrace to his office, yet he was not to be reviled but to be respected because of his God-ordained position of authority. You see, the high priest stood before God, and to abuse him, especially when he was discharging his office, whether he did the right thing or the wrong thing, was blasphemous. How do we apply this into our church today? We have pastors, elders, deacons serving in the different offices. These offices were ordained by God for the church. The office bearers are not perfect; no man is. They make mistakes. Sometimes they would also make wrong decisions. You may agree with them or disagree with them. You may want to vote them or not vote them in the next election. But as long as they are still in office, you must not reproach, insult, or abuse them, but to respect them. Why? Because of their offices. Because those were God-ordained positions of authority.
So when Paul knew that he was the high priest, he immediately said in verse 5, "Then said Paul, I wist not,” — which means I did not realise — “brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." Here, Paul quoted Exodus 22:28, which said, "Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy people." Paul reacted by showing his understanding of Holy Scriptures and his submission to it too. No matter how bad the high priest was when the Word of God convicted his heart that he had sinned against God in reviling the high priest, Paul immediately admitted his mistakes, his faults. Some people find it hard to believe that Paul could not recognise the high priest. Others said that it was because of his poor eyesight or he had not visited Jerusalem for many years already. Yet others said that this was an informal gathering, so the high priest Ananias did not put on the high priestly garments, so Paul could not recognise him, or he did not sit on the official seat. Any of those explanations could be possible, but the point is this: Paul did not give any excuses for his failure to recognise the high priest. He did not give any excuses. He simply admitted his mistake and accepted responsibility for his words. "I did not know he was the high priest, and the Word of God said, you must not curse the ruler of the people." That was what Paul said.
What can we learn from here? One day, we may find ourselves in an adverse situation or we may find ourselves facing very difficult people, wicked people, which lead us to say or do the wrong thing. When that happens and the Word of God convicts our hearts of our sins, it doesn't matter how bad the situation is. It doesn't matter how wicked the people are. If it is a sin, it is a sin. We do not give excuses for our sins. Instead, what we should do is just confess our sins before God and repent. If we need to apologise we apologise. So, the lesson to learn is that if we have sinned, we have sinned. Let us not give excuses. There will always be situations, there will always be difficult people. But let us confess our sins, and God, who is faithful and just, He will forgive us.
III. The Conflict
Our third and final point is “The Conflict”. So, look at verse 6, “[And] when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." Paul knew that he could not and would not receive a fair hearing from the Sanhedrin. And when he found out that some of the council members were Pharisees, he immediately called out to them. As we mentioned earlier, there were two main religious groups which dominated the Sanhedrin: the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the central truth of Christianity, Paul believed that the whole issue was about his belief in the resurrection. That was the reason why he said, "Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." The Sadducees and the Pharisees had their theological differences. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection; they also did not believe in angels, spirits, afterlife, while the Pharisees believed in all these doctrines. In a sense, the Pharisees' theology was closer to that of Christianity. So, humanly speaking, it is more possible for a Pharisee to believe in Jesus Christ than a Sadducee. Interestingly, the Bible records for us Pharisees who became Christians, people like Nicodemus and others, but no Sadducees. Of course, salvation belongs to God and God alone. The conviction must come from Him.
Look on to verse 7, “And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.” That sparked an argument between them, and verse 9 says, "And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God." The contention was so intense that some of the scribes or teachers belonging to the Pharisees' group, they were even trying to defend Paul against the Sadducees. Personally, I do not believe they were genuinely supporting Paul. I believe that they were only using him as a pawn. In other words, they saw him as someone they could use to attack the Sadducees. Even though they might use phrases like "let us not fight against God." Why do I say they were not genuine? Because they knew the Sadducees would not accept it. Because the very moment the Sadducees accept it, that would mean they accept the existence of angels and spirits. That was why they said this, "If a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God" knowing that the Sadducees would not accept. If the Sadducees were to accept, then it would mean that they believe an angel or the spirit has spoken to Paul. Not genuine. Sometimes people may outwardly appear to be supporting you, but they support you for a purpose, for an ulterior motive, in order for them to get at someone else. Let us be wise.
Verse 10, “And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.” Until now, the chief captain still could not understand what was the real crime that Paul had committed. As far as he was concerned, he was not interested in the theology being discussed. He was only interested in knowing whether a crime had been committed or not. So again, God used the Romans to rescue Paul from his own people who hated him, just as they had hated the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, verse 11, “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." The Lord will never forget, neither will He forsake His servants. Never. The Lord will never forget, neither will He forsake you, the believers, His children. Even Paul, when he was confined in the Roman barracks, humanly speaking, he was alone. But as believers, we will never be alone. The Lord stood by him, which means the Lord stood at his side, ready to help, ready to comfort him. And the Lord encouraged Paul to be strong. That is the meaning of "be of good cheer"—be strong, be of good courage, Paul. Remember, previously, Agabus had already prophesied what would happen to Paul when he arrived at Jerusalem. That did not stop Paul from coming to Jerusalem. In fact, he was so adamant to come to Jerusalem that when his friends tried to stop him, knowing that he would be persecuted, what did Paul say? Well, turn with me to Acts 21:13. Acts 21:13, this is what Paul said when they tried to stop him from going to Jerusalem. "What mean ye to weep [or] to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord". In other words, I'm not only ready to be arrested, I'm ready to die. So, in Paul's mind, he was ready to die in Jerusalem. And perhaps now the time had come for him to die. But the Lord said to him, "Your life will not end in Jerusalem. Just as you have testified of me here in Jerusalem, I want you to testify of me at Rome."
My friends, our life is in God's hand. Do you truly believe that our lives are in God's hand? Nothing can happen to us unless the Lord permits. No one, nor any situation, can take away our lives unless the Lord allows it. As believers, when the Lord allows us to continue living on the face of this Earth, we know for sure that there is still work for us to do. Whether as a parent bringing up your children, as a pastor leading the church, as an evangelist preaching the gospel, as an elder, a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, we know in our hearts that there is still work to be done. Our work is not finished yet. If the Lord were to take us home, then we know that our work is finished, our job is done. Just as Paul's work was not yet finished, he will not die in Jerusalem; instead, he will go to Rome. Why? Because there's still work for Paul to do in Rome. The Lord wants him to testify at Rome. And when he has finished his work at Rome, the Lord will take him home to be with him forever and ever.
So, my friends, this is also our lives. Our lives are in God's hand. If we are still living, it means there's still work to be done. You and me, we need to find out what work the Lord wants us to do and to faithfully do it. When death knocks on our doors, do not be afraid, be of good cheer. For we know that our work is finished, we have fought a good fight, we have finished the course and now we are ready to meet our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So, for Paul he was ready not just to be arrested at Jerusalem, he meant it, he was ready to die. But God said, “Not yet, you must be faithful to testify of me at Rome.” Was Paul faithful? Yes, he was. So, I pray that all of us will also take heed. Let us be faithful, serve the Lord as long as we are still living, do the work. When the Lord calls us home we are ready.
Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for this privilege and opportunity for us to consider this portion of scriptures and to draw spiritual lessons from it. Help us not just to learn Thy word but to apply Thy word into our lives. Indeed, Thy word is true, Thy word is infallible and inerrant. Help us to learn whatever Thou has intended for us to be instructed tonight. Indeed, we ought to appeal to our conscience, but not just our conscience, because our conscience may sometimes be misguided, misinformed, damaged, and dysfunctional. Therefore, our consciences need to be guided by the standard of Thy Word, and Thy people need to be led by the Holy Spirit. O Lord, help us do to remember this vital truth that we live our lives at every moment looking at Thy Word and through the wonder-working of Thy Spirit, be led to live our lives that we can one day say, like the Apostle Paul, "We have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." Oh Lord, help us so that we can also make this statement as well. Help us also, even if there are times because of adverse situations or very difficult people that we may meet and face which led us to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, if it is a sin, it is a sin. Help us, oh Lord, not to give excuses. Remind us that we ought to confess our sins before Thee, and Thou art just and faithful to forgive us. If we need to apologise, we apologise. May our hearts not be hardened. And we also pray that our lives are in Thy hands. Remind us, oh Lord, because as humans, we always forget. As long as we are living, there's work to be done. When Thou takes us home, it means our work is finished. This is a vital truth that we ought to cling on to, whether as parents, pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, fellowship leaders, members of the church, we ought to remember this. Help us to discern what work Thou hast for us, and may Thou find us faithful. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF ACTS30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #3: The Church and the Sacraments30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #3: The Church and the SacramentsActs 2:41-47
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #2: The Church and Fellowship30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #2: The Church and FellowshipActs 2:42
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #4: The Church and the Prayers30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #4: The Church and the PrayersActs 2:42
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #1: The Church and The World30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #1: The Church and The WorldActs 2:42
Always Ready to Defend the FaithAlways Ready to Defend the FaithActs 6:8-15
The First ChristianThe First ChristianActs 11:19-26
Low ExpectationsLow ExpectationsActs 12:1-19
Message 5: The Church & DiscipleshipMessage 5: The Church & DiscipleshipActs 14:20-28
God Encouraged His ServantGod Encouraged His ServantActs 18:9-17
The End of the Second Missionary JourneyThe End of the Second Missionary JourneyActs 18:18-28
The Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyThe Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyActs 19:1-7
The Riot at EphesusThe Riot at EphesusActs 19:21-41
The Characteristics of a Faithful ServantThe Characteristics of a Faithful ServantActs 20:1-6
The Lord's Day Worship ServiceThe Lord's Day Worship ServiceActs 20:7-16
The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 1)The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 1)Acts 20:17-19
The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 2)The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 2)Acts 20:20-24
A Charge to Keep (Part 1)A Charge to Keep (Part 1)Acts 20:25-28
The Believer's Conviction (Part 1)The Believer's Conviction (Part 1)Acts 21:1-6
The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)Acts 21:7-16
Paul’s Arrival At JerusalemPaul’s Arrival At JerusalemActs 21:17-26
Paul's Arrest at JerusalemPaul's Arrest at JerusalemActs 21:27-39
Paul's Response to His ArrestPaul's Response to His ArrestActs 21:40-22:21
The People’s Response to PaulThe People’s Response to PaulActs 22:22-30
Paul Stood Before the SanhedrinPaul Stood Before the SanhedrinActs 23:1-11
God's Miraculous Deliverance (Part 1)God's Miraculous Deliverance (Part 1)Acts 23:12-17
God’s Miraculous Deliverance (Part 2)God’s Miraculous Deliverance (Part 2)Acts 23:18-35
The Accusers before the Roman Governor FelixThe Accusers before the Roman Governor FelixActs 24:1-9
Paul’s Defence Before FelixPaul’s Defence Before FelixActs 24:10-21
Felix's Response to Paul's DefenceFelix's Response to Paul's DefenceActs 24:22-27
Paul’s Defence Before FestusPaul’s Defence Before FestusActs 25:1-12
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 1)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 1)Acts 25:13-27
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 2)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 2)Acts 26:1-18
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 3)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 3)Acts 26:19-32
A Friend In Need Is A Friend IndeedA Friend In Need Is A Friend IndeedActs 27:1-12
What Can Trials Do To Us?What Can Trials Do To Us?Acts 27:13-26
The Prophecy Came to PassThe Prophecy Came to PassActs 27:27-44
Paul's Arrival at RomePaul's Arrival at RomeActs 28:1-16
The Story Did Not End HereThe Story Did Not End HereActs 28:17-31
