Play the Game Like it's Already Won

Introduction

Good Morning! It is always an honor to get to preach, and I am thankful that Pastor Dennis has given me this opportunity to preach this morning. Today we will be continuing in the book of Acts and we will pick up in chapter 22, now we read verses 22-24 last week but we will pick up reading in verse 22 today for the sake of context.

This morning we will see God’s sovereignty in all things and yet our responsibility to continue to work and obey God even as He is sovereign and will accomplish His will. We see a great example of this in the Apostle Paul.

Lets read, God’s Word, Acts Chapter 22, beginning in verse 22.

Acts 22:22–23:11 ESV

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 flogging, 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, 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. 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 revile 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 acknowledge 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 me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

This is God’s word for us today. Would you pray with me?

Paul’s use of his rights 22:25-29

Paul says in 21:13 he is willing to go to prison and even to die for the sake of the Gospel. Was that just an empty phrase that is crumbling now that Paul is actually stretched out for the whips? Or was this Paul understanding the situation rightly?

Many scholars agree that Paul wrote Romans shortly before this trip to Jerusalem, meaning that Paul would have just penned Romans 13:1-7 which succinctly detail the relationship between any government and its citizens, for all governments receive their authority from God as He is sovereign over all things including “kings and kingdoms”. Paul, then, knows that the government is not a terror to good conduct but to bad, and knowing that the Romans are not about to persecute him for his beliefs or even for preaching, but rather are about to apply an enhanced interrogation technique of the day, Paul invokes his Roman citizenship with all rights and privileges. Paul is more than ready to suffer for the cause of Christ and he is also wise and holds common sense.

As Christians we are told to expect suffering and persecution. And we should prepare ourselves for persecution, but we ought to use our rights and protections from living in a free country, not to hamper the Gospel but to allow us more freedom to share our faith boldly.

This is what Paul does, he uses his rights to share his faith.

It was God’s Providence for Paul to have His roman citizenship, just as it is God’s providence for us to live in America and enjoy the freedoms we hold dearly.

We have so many protections against reprisal in this country. We have so little to fear.

And yet many of us are afraid of sharing our faith or doing so boldly.

Why?

Perhaps we are afraid of losing social standing.

Or afraid of being seen differently at work.

Maybe we recognize that our conduct most of the week does not match what we say we believe and we are ashamed to admit to those around us that we are Christians.

The protections and rights we have in America should only bolster our confidence. But nothing, apart from knowing Christ, will bolster our confidence sufficiently to share the Love of God.

The amount of freedoms we have, leave us without excuse.

Do you know Christ? Do you know what it means to know Christ?

Now, Paul knew Christ, we can say this with confidence. And yet he also knew his rights and used his rights. Not out of cowardice, but out of calculation.

Paul’s Example and Final Appeal

It was Paul using the rights of his roman citizenship that actually brings him to the council, since the Tribune wanted to know why the Jews were so upset with Paul.

Now before we get into this interaction that Paul has with the High Priest I want to spend some time in Acts 23:1 where Luke writes:

Acts 23:1 ESV

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”

What a statement Paul is able to make here! Now this is not hyperbole, nor is it self righteous boasting. This is Paul stating that he has lived his life with integrity and sincerity according to the commands of God by, and under, the Grace of God.

Are you able, am I able, to say that we have lived our lives before God in all good conscience?

We see in one of Paul’s letters, in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul telling the Corinthian believers and us by extension to “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.”

Now what is it to imitate Christ?

That is a sermon in and of itself, but we get a succinct idea of what it is to imitate Christ in John 13:34–35 Where Jesus tells His Disciples: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We know from John 17:17 that God’s Word is Truth and we know from 1 John 4:8 that God is Love. John 1 tells us that Christ is the Word, God’s Word is truth, thus God is both love and truth.

Therefore, to imitate Christ is to love with truth - both God and man. By this all people will know that we belong to Christ. This love drives us to compare our own lives to the truth of God’s word and to lovingly exhort one another to good works.

When we do this, though we do it imperfectly, we can say with Paul “I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” Not that we have lived perfect lives up to this day, or that we have introduced the most people to Jesus, or that we have read the most of the Bible.

None of that.

We can say we have lived our lives in good conscience - with integrity and sincerity - that is acting in accordance with what we say we believe and holding firmly to the truth we believe. We hold firmly to the truth, the truth is God’s Word, which must be the final authority to calibrate our conscience. We cannot live before God in good conscience if we are not living in accordance with God’s Word.

How do we know if we are in accordance with God’s Word unless we read it, study it, and hear it preached?

And while we do want to grow in knowledge of God we definitely want to grow in knowing God. This is done by spending time with God in His word and in prayer and in fellowship with other believers. And knowing God is demonstrated by how we love as James exhorts us to “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Now let me be clear. None of these things we do are an effort to be made right before God. Nor are they a means of keeping ourselves saved. Rather they stem from our Salvation and the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

Paul lived a life of love towards both God and people. Even as he makes this statement in verse 1 we see another appeal to his countrymen. The literal translation of the Greek word that gives us the phrase “I have lived” is actually fully rendered as “have lived as a citizen”. Paul was making an appeal to his countrymen as a fellow Jew, a fellow Israelite, that they would listen to him, and hear him.

But Paul was not permitted to complete his defense.

Whether it was Paul speaking out of turn or simply not liking what Paul had just said, the High Priest ordered that Paul be struck on the mouth.

Paul angrily responds with a response of prophetic judgement. Paul knew the law and he knew that one was not permitted to be struck - that is for judgment to be passed - without a trial. So Paul, is angered by the hypocrisy here - the man presiding over the council held to judge Paul according to the law acts in violation of the law.

As Pastor Dennis has walked us through Acts, one thing we have seen the past few weeks are the parallels between Paul and Christ - being turned against by the crowd and handed over to Rome - we see an intentional, though subtle distinction made by Luke here. Luke 22:63-65 records Jesus being beaten and mocked on His way to be delivered to the Council of Elders. Christ did not rebuke the men, nor display His power though He quite literally had every right to do so. Luke, in showing us Paul’s anger get the best of him, if only for a moment, helps us to remember that Paul was human, and only human, unlike Christ Who is Truly God and Truly Man.

Now Paul’s rebuke and judgment of the high priest was wrong because, as Paul stated “it is written You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people” Paul had lost his cool for just a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and admitted his mistake. To have just been punched in the mouth, Paul does gain his composure extremely fast. It is moments like this, the trying moments, the moments with great difficulty, and personal injury - whether physical or emotional - that the truth comes out. Paul lashed out in the flesh, yes, this demonstrated his humanity. But Paul also regained his composure and was able to focus on what was truly important - this reveals that Paul was in fact living his life in good conscience before God, that he was imitating Christ, although imperfectly, that he was operating out of love, that he was filled with the Spirit.

Now however mistaken Paul was in speaking out, the High Priest Ananias was struck by God, when he was assassinated nearly 10 years later, early in the Jewish War with Rome from 66-70 AD.

God’s sovereignty is again on display as Paul speaks and condemns Ananias, but also as Paul is able to use his status as a Pharisee to appeal to part of the assembly.

Paul Speaking the Truth

Acts 23:6–10 ESV

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 acknowledge 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.

Paul speaks the truth. On a basic level the Jews took issue with Paul teaching that Christ had risen from the dead. Paul, in a sense, appeals to the Pharisees. One thing Paul is doing, indirectly, is demonstrating the fact that he is a Pharisee and holds to the Scripture, that he has not rejected the Law of God but that he understands the Old Testament in light of the Supreme revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And he understands Christ’s work and its implications in light of the Old Testament. Paul, though indirectly, is still arguing his case before the sanhedrin.

But at the same time, Paul having been raised a Pharisee knows with near certainty that this statement about the Resurrection will incite the Sadducees.

The result is the pharisees and Sadducees get into an intense argument to the point that the tribune determines that he must send Soldiers to rescue Paul.

This reveals a spiritual problem. The Pharisees and Sadducees were working together and yet they disagreed on a fundamental doctrinal issue. We should learn what not to do here. As Christians we should be ready to work with men and women of good repute to accomplish Kingdom Objectives. However, we must not compromise doctrine for the sake of cooperation, and certainly must not compromise doctrine for the sake of power.

The Jewish leaders had prioritized holding onto power and prestige over fidelity to God’s Word. We must ensure that our cooperation is based on furthering the kingdom, not our own goals.

The Baptist Faith and Message, in speaking on cooperation in Article 14 states “Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.”

Do we keep the main thing the main thing?

Or do we get sidetracked by greed or power or desire for status?

Focusing on what is important does not guarantee ease, we can look at Paul for that.

The Roman Soldiers place Paul back in custody, though it seems to be a type of protective custody. Paul has tried multiple times to appeal to the Jews in Jerusalem, he gave up his rights, paying for four other men’s purification and going to the temple himself, was seized and beaten by the Jews, attempted to reason with them from Roman custody and was not permitted to finish his defense, and now he has barely been allowed to begin his appeal before he is silenced and taken away.

Paul is back in Roman custody, and there is no clear path ahead. Paul has come so far, was it all for nothing?

Lets look at verse 11.

God’s Sovereign Peace

Acts 23:11 ESV

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.”

Christ gave Paul comfort by telling him that he would testify in Rome. Paul can take peace in that because, although he doesn’t know all the specifics he at least knows he will get to Rome. And this comfort from God is a reminder to Paul that God is sovereign.

God has ordained all things that happen. God does not simply know what will happen, in the sense that He had to learn what would happen, rather God knows what will happen because God is in control of what happens. Of course this does not mean that man has no responsibility - man’s will and God’s sovereign will work together according to God’s plan. I do not fully understand how they work together so harmoniously but I know that must be the case if the Bible is to be believed.

We don’t know all the specifics of the future, but we know that God is sovereign and He works all things together for our good and His glory.

We don’t know where we’ll be in 10 years, or even in 10 seconds but we, at least generally, know what we are supposed to be doing wherever we find ourselves; we are to love God and love others.

Paul’s love for God kept him faithful through many trials up to this point and beyond. Paul’s love for God led him to lay down his rights and his agenda when he got to Jerusalem that he might preserve unity in the Church. His love for God overflowed into a love for others.

Paul’s love for God and others is what got him into so many difficult situations, including this one. If Paul had not been in the temple, going through the purification rights with the 4 other men, would he have been beaten, arrested, and then held in custody?

Our love for God and other people will likely cost us something. It may cost us time; it may cost us financial resources; it may cost us friendships or social standing. But whatever the cost we know that God is sovereign. And while we don’t know everything that will happen we know what happens in the end.

In March of 2023, the opening scene for a Jeopardy episode had to be reshot at the end of the live recording. When this was done the camera panned to the podiums and captured the final scores of the contestants. This error was not caught and when the episode was aired the viewers saw the final scores - the audience knew who would win before the game had even started. Although the audience didn’t know what all had taken place, the final outcome was revealed.

We know what happens in the end. Jesus will return as victorious, conquering King. And every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. We know Who wins. Though we may not know all the ins and outs, all the ways that it will play out, we do know Who wins. That shouldn’t spoil anything for us - rather it should encourage us to press on all the more knowing that God is working for our good and His glory.

Paul continued to press on. He didn’t waver, near the end of his life he was able to write these words to Timothy 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Conclusion

God is sovereign, and we don’t always understand why things happen the way they do. Some things may happen and we will never quite understand the reason why. But God in His sovereignty has placed each one of us where we are right now.

So lets work where He has placed us.

Use the resources and rights and abilities He has entrusted to us to further His kingdom.

Seek to live before God in a good conscience by loving God, demonstrated by obedience to God’s commands in scripture, and by loving others as shown by caring for people’s needs however we can.

Lets share our faith with those around us as we have ability.

And we can do these things without losing heart because we know that Christ is victorious. Christ’s victory is not a reason to quit, its all the more reason to strive forward. Playing the game like it’s already won is not to give up and fall into passivity, but to work hard, to press on, and to use every resource and opportunity available to us to see Christ reign victorious.

Would you pray with me?