(re)Assurance

Paul is preparing for persecution—like real persecution, not “someone on Facebook said something mean about me or someone I like or something I like.” Not that, but REAL PERSECUTION: the chained-up, beaten, arrested, and flogged kind of persecution.

But here’s the thing: Paul was ready for it. Ready and willing to face it. He told his friends as much.

Acts 21:13 NIV

13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Paul is ready for what’s about to happen. And, it seems to me, Paul is uniquely suited for this moment.

First, Paul’s ready and willing to be used for whatever the Lord has for him—good, bad, or in-between.

Secondly, he’s a Roman citizen (which will come in handy in a minute).

Thirdly, he’s a member of the sect of religious leaders known as the Pharisees. He can go toe-to-toe with these people. He is an educated and learned man; he knows the lingo, the theology.

He knows their arguments before they make them, and he’s about to start a little skirmish (or kerfuffle, if you will) between the Pharisees and the Sadducees who believe very different things about the afterlife. By saying just one word— “resurrection” —Paul knows he can pit the two parties against one another.

It sure seems to me that Paul is the man for the job. He’s the person most of us would pick for this task, in large part so we wouldn’t have to go through what Paul is up against. “Here’s an idea: let Paul do it.”

Paul is a good example for us to follow. He told the Christians in Corinth: “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

Paul himself shouldn’t be our hero; neither is Paul the hero of the story. The Hero of the Bible is Jesus and only Jesus. Paul is not a hero, but the Lord has given us, in Paul, a good and godly example in this and many other areas. Paul’s not perfect (this we know) and we will see his humanity here in full force. Still, his example is, in large part, helpful and positive.

We can learn from Paul, and we should.

So, let’s look at this moment in Paul’s life and see what the Lord would have us learn. If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Acts 22. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

Acts 22:22–23:11 NIV

22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” 23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” 27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. 28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. 29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. 30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. 1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” 4 Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” 5 Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.) 9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word!

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Paul had just mentioned his ministry to the Gentiles as he was giving a defense of the faith and of his gospel ministry. This didn’t set well with the Jewish Christians, and certainly not with the strict adherents of the Jewish religion.

So Paul is on trial, and we see how he responds. In the middle of trials, Paul can lean on his abilities or rest on his laurels, but those are (we see), nothing but

False Assurances

Look in your Bibles at verse 22-25.

Paul’s enemies are riled up. Do you see what they say?!? “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”

Yikes, right!?! I mean, wow. That’s some crazy hatred. This is what Paul is facing, what he knew he would face.

The crowd listening to Paul is shouting, throwing their cloaks, kicking up dirt and dust.

Paul is taken to the barracks. The commander ordered that Paul be questioned and beaten (it’s going to be a fun afternoon for our friend, Paul). They get right on with it and start stretching him out to flog him.

In my mind, I see this like a “Far Side” cartoon. Here’s Paul, being stretched out on the rack, and he calmly asks the guard, “Hey, could I bother you for a cup of milk? 2%, please.”

They’re on flogging step 3 of 5, and Paul questions the centurion: “Excuse me, sir…is this legal? Should you flog a Roman citizen? An innocent Roman citizen?”

The whole picture makes me smirk and shake my head. What composure Paul had! Of course he know that it was illegal to flog a Roman citizen before allowing him a formal trial or sentencing.

His floggers have to slow their roll. Not wanting to break the law themselves, they take Paul’s question— “Um, excuse me…is this legal, what you’re doing?”— to the commander.

It leads to a whole discussion of citizenship. Paul’s not a citizen by bribe, but by birth. Paul’s more of a citizen than the man in charge of his flogging. The commander is alarmed.

This is a bad day at work (probably a Monday); he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Paul has, in his favor and on his side, his citizenship as well as his standing as a Pharisee.

As Paul is brought to stand before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish court), he’s got a leg-up on most people.

The Sanhedrin was made up of 70 men—the high priest, the ruling elders (mainly Sadducees), and the rest were Pharisees.

Paul is among his peers. He’s not intimidated by them; he looks straight at them and speaks. He has a clear conscience before God. This doesn’t mean Paul hasn’t done anything wrong; it simply means that when he has sinned or been made aware of sin, he has humbly repented and turned back to God. His conscience is clear.

He shows us his willingness to admit his error in our text this morning. Ananias has Paul struck on the mouth—*pow*, right on the kisser.

Paul responds with some pretty strong language (v. 3). When Paul realizes that the person who ordered him to be struck was the high priest, he corrects himself and admits he was wrong to speak evil about the high priest (v. 5).

The high priest Ananias was a particularly bad high priest, but that is no matter. It’s wrong to speak evil about the ruler of your people (Exodus 22:28). Paul possibly didn’t know the high priest, having been absent from Jerusalem for many years, but that’s not a factor. Once Paul realized who he was speaking against, he did the right thing. His conscience is clear. He’s obedient to God and to God’s Word.

As I mentioned before, and as you know, Paul is pretty sharp. He might actually be the sharpest tool in the shed, the brightest crayon in the box.

Paul knows the make-up of the Sanhedrin. He knows his theology is at the source of the dispute. His belief in Jesus’ resurrection separated him from his fellow Jews—Pharisee and Sadducee alike.

Sadducees don’t believe in resurrection at all (that’s why they’re sad, you see?). The Pharisees believe in resurrection in general (but not Jesus’ resurrection). Go figure!

Paul’s mention here (and repeated mentions elsewhere) of the resurrection was going to ruffle some feathers. And yet, I don’t think Paul is merely trying to pick a fight; for Paul, the resurrection is a life-altering, conversation-shifting topic.

Paul, the Pharisee of Pharisees, states: “I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”

At this, a dispute breaks out and the assembly is divided. There’s a great uproar. The dispute became so violent the commander orders Paul taken away from the group.

Paul shows himself, in the middle of this trial, to be a Roman citizen and a Pharisee. He has a lot going for him. He’s a fairly important person, all things considered. He is, in many ways, one of them.

After all this, guess what? They still want to kill him (sneak peak ahead in the story):

Acts 23:12–15 NIV

12 The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

There’s a conspiracy, a plot, a hunger strike put in place. More than 40 men.

Paul’s citizenship, his membership as a card-carrying Pharisee, neither of these things help. These are false assurances.

There may have been many opportunities throughout Paul’s life that he could have leaned on his citizenship and his belonging to the Pharisees. It likely would have got him out of trouble a time or two.

But in this case, Paul can not depend upon either of those things; they are false assurances. They can’t, they won’t, they shorn’t help him out of the mess he finds himself in.

What are some of our false assurances?

For you, it might be your good works.

For others, you might think, simply by being better than “those people” that you’re golden; you’re set.

Some of you (like me) can/could depend upon your family name. My being Mike and Jan Case’s boy earned me a lot of favor with people and got me out of more than my share of trouble.

If you’re being fully honest, where is your assurance placed?

I believe it’s so common to depend upon ourselves. We’re taught and encouraged to be, in many ways, self-sufficient. “I can do it myself,” we say from a young age.

Like Paul, even more than we might realize, we depend upon and find assurance in our earthly citizenship. Truth is, this is a temporary kingdom that will go the way of all other earthly, man-made kingdoms. The Roman Empire was the greatest, most impressive of all time. Key word: was. There’s no lasting assurance or dependability in being a temporary citizen of a temporary kingdom—not Rome, not the United States of America, not Canada, not Sweden or Norway.

Like Paul, we might find some passing assurance in our religious observance. It’s fairly common for people to believe that they earn something or deserve something for their church attendance or service in the church. Now, there’s great value in serving Christ’s church and being able to be part of a local congregation, don’t get me wrong. There is, however, no assurance in religion. Religiosity, in itself, will do nothing, nada, zero, zip for you.

If you’re being fully honest, where is your assurance placed? If it’s not firmly, fully, finally placed on the finished work of Christ, it is a misplaced, false, and flimsy assurance.

In the middle of trials and all that life throws at us, we have

One True Assurance

One true assurance. This is glorious news or painful news; it depends where you’re at.

On the one hand, it’s painful to realize we have only one true assurance because that means everything we pin our hopes and dreams to is going to fail; all those things to which we give our lives will only disappoint.

On the other hand, it’s glorious and comforting and immensely helpful to realize that we do have one true and lasting assurance—something that never disappoints, something that is never untrue, something that cannot fail.

One true assurance: The Lord our God.

After Paul’s citizenship and pharisee membership fail to accomplish or assure, he’s hanging out in the barracks where he at least won’t be ripped to pieces by his enemies, and the Lord comes and stands near Paul.

Imagine the comfort! Paul had a very real sense of the Lord’s presence.

As Robert Murray M’Cheyne said: “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference; He is praying for me.”

How true this is! Read Romans 8. Christ is praying for YOU!

The Lord stood near Paul and He speaks:

Acts 23:11 NIV

11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Paul had found an unsupportive church in Jerusalem. He suffered physically and emotionally before the rulers and the crowds. He may have regretted some of his actions and some of his words. He was in need of the Lord’s grace and comfort and presence. He was in need. And the Lord would provide.

The Lord would assure, as He always does.

Jesus’ words here are specifically for Paul in this particular moment. Still, we find assurance and application here for our lives.

The Lord knows us, He’s for us, and He is not finished with us.

The Lord knows us—that is, he knew Paul’s situation and condition. He knows what we face, too. We are never outside His gaze. “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Jesus knows His sheep, by name and by need.

The Lord is for us. He tells Paul to take courage, to endure. He’s encouraging Paul not to give in. The Lord is in Paul’s corner, cheering him on. Over and over and over, Jesus Himself told His people: “Take heart!” As we walk in obedience to Him, He is for us.

The Lord is not finished with us. Paul has to wonder if he’ll make it past Jerusalem, if this is the end of the road. Jesus lets Paul know that His work through Paul is not yet complete. “You’ve testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Paul will, because the Lord has said, testify in Rome. Paul’s time, and ours, is in the hand of our Creator. As long as we have breath, Jesus has work for us to do.

The Lord is our one true assurance—He knows us, he’s for us, and He is not finished with us. Take heart! He Himself is our assurance.

And this is our

Constant Reassurance: God With Us

The Lord is with us. This is my favorite truth in the Bible. Jesus is present with Paul, present with us.

The Lord will never leave us, nor forsake us.

He is with us, to the end of the age.

We have this reassuring reminder every year at this time, especially. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we will, with every glimpse of the nativity, with every sound of the carolers’ song, with every sighting of Christmas lights—we will be reminded that God has come to dwell among us.

We have this reassuring reminder every year at this time. Listen to the old, familiar story:

Matthew 1:18–25 NIV

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

“God with us” no matter what we face.

“God with us” no matter what trial comes.

“God with us” lifting our heads high.

“God with us”—the reassuring truth that holds us close to the One who holds the whole world, and us along with it, in His mighty hands.

“God with us” because Jesus came to be here with us, to teach us, to save us from our sins and make us friendly again with God.

“God with us”, taking on human likeness, with us now and forever.

>Let’s repent of all false assurances, and cling to our One True Assurance: The Lord Himself.

This is the true assurance and reassurance Paul needed then, the assurance and reassurance we need today: God Himself, come to save and to comfort—Christ the Lord come to dwell with us.

“Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”

I’m going to pray and then we’re going to sing this amazing truth.