Dwell in the Word: Acts 22:22-23:11

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Acts 22:22-23:11:

1. Paul strategically uses his Roman citizenship to avoid unjust punishment and leverages the division between Pharisees and Sadducees to his advantage. How can modern-day Christians navigate legal rights and use strategic wisdom to protect their ability to share the gospel in contexts where they might face opposition or persecution?

2. The passage emphasizes God's assurance to Paul that he must testify in Rome. In what ways can believers discern and trust in God's guidance and assurance in their lives, especially when faced with challenging circumstances or uncertainties? How can the promise of God's presence and purpose provide courage in our daily testimonies for Christ?

3. Paul's diverse experiences, from addressing religious leaders to encountering opposition, demonstrate the multifaceted nature of witnessing for Christ. Reflecting on your own life, where and how has God placed you to testify to the truth of the gospel? How can you actively take courage and fulfill your role as a witness for Christ in your current spheres of influence?

Transcript:

 And so, the interesting journey of the Apostle Paul continues in what we have read today. Now, we know that he was arrested. We know that Paul came to Jerusalem despite warnings from other people. And we saw that the warnings were not that God had told these people That he shouldn't go, but they had, they had, it had been revealed to them How he was going to be treated and they didn't want him to go, but Paul's saying no, I'm supposed to go I'm just willing to suffer for the sake of Christ And so here we have an interesting story and we don't understand a lot of it And we don't have the time to dig too deep into it  But there was this Tribune who was going to be seen overseeing this trial of Paul They were they were going to give him lashes Uh, he was going to be beaten, but Paul is saying, wait a minute.

I haven't been convicted of anything. I haven't even been tried. Uh, I'm a Roman citizen. You can't do this to me. I have basically saying I have rights and this tribune says, Hey, I, I paid for my citizenship. And Paul says, Hey, I was born a Roman citizen. And then, so Paul is appealing to his Roman citizenship in this ordeal.

He's not afraid to say that he's a Roman citizen, even though his primary citizenship is in heaven. He is a Christian He isn't afraid to use what is available to him to protect his rights and to well even protect his body, right? so he ends up here in this council through a circumstance some circumstances and He realizes that not only are there pharisees Uh present but there are also Sadducees now It's important that we remember the difference between the Sadducees and it's spelled out for us here It helps us to know pharisees Believed in the resurrection not the resurrection of Jesus yet Or maybe ever depending on what type of if you were a pharisee who became a Christian Right, but they believed in a general resurrection at the end of history.

They believed in angels. They believed in spirits. And so, they were, um, much more, they were more of a traditional religious type of person whereas the Sadducees would be something that we would call materialists, right? There was nothing more than the physical world around them. Now this is kind of an interesting thing.

I don't know how this works. I would have to study it more but how do you be a Jewish person who Believes in God and yet you are a materialist. That is a very difficult thing Obviously they had different categories than we would have now, but Paul uses this to his advantage he pits the Pharisees and the Sadducees against each other, and we can sort of understand how that how this happens because I'm sure we have seen People who are religious and believe in, um, things that are spiritual.

We've probably seen arguments between people like that and modern day atheistic materialists, right? Uh, those conversations escalate relatively quickly. And so, it happens here that the Pharisees suddenly go, wait a minute. This guy's a Pharisee too. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? And so, all of this comes to a head here in the midst of this council.

And 10.  that the dissension becomes violent. And so, Paul is in danger. The tribune has him taken away to the barracks. So, he'll be safe. And so, Paul is once again, spared despite all. That has happened to him despite his being bound, despite the persecution and the difficulties. He has been kept safe He's been kept safe by the fact that he's a Roman citizen and God has ordained all of this to take place It is not, it is not Paul's time yet.

It is not time for him to face death When it's God's time It will come, but it is not that time yet. And that's what we see here in verse 11. The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, take courage, for as you have testified of the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.

And so, God is saying, Jesus is saying to Paul, You've done as has been asked of you, and you've done it here, and you must also do the same in Rome. In other words, I am going to keep you safe. Uh, we must have you testify to the truth of the gospel in Rome. Now this is interesting.  This doesn't seem like the type of witnessing that we would, would have, right?

But here is Paul in positions of power, speaking to Pharisees, speaking to Sadducees, speaking to the high priest. And when he gets to Rome, he is going to be speaking before people in other positions of power. God is standing by him. God is keeping him that he might witness to the truth of the gospel in the world.

And so, as we think about what this means, we come back to that application again. This is what this looks like for us. In the modern world. We need to take courage. God is calling us to testify where we are now You and I will probably never be called to testify to the truth of the gospel In Washington in front of Congress or in the Oval Office or anything like that, but we are to take courage We have been given a ministry where we are and what we do to witness and testify to the gospel.

And so, may we take a moment today and think about what does that look like for me? Is that in my family? Is it in my friend group? Is it where I work? Is it in our church? Is it in our schools? What does it look like for you to take courage and testify to the facts about Jesus?