Review / Introduction:
Matthew 10:16-18 - "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles..."
How to be a Fearless Snake / Dove:
- Be wise! Think Defensively. (Acts 22:22-29)
- Be innocent! Live Blamelessly. (Acts 22:30-23:5)
- Be wise! Strike Deliberately. (Acts 23:6-10)
- Be innocent! Trust Fearlessly. (Acts 23:11)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:01
Acts 22, are you there?
00:03-00:04
We're going to get there in a second.
00:05-00:18
Just to recap, we have the apostle Paul is in Jerusalem, and he is in the temple where he was falsely accused by his enemies of, hilariously enough, being anti-Jewish.
00:21-00:31
So a mob tries to kill him, they actually drag him out of the temple, and were going to beat him to death, and Paul was then rescued/arrested by the Romans.
00:33-00:37
Now in their custody, we saw this last week, he asks to address the crowd.
00:37-00:44
He shares his testimony and he says, "Hey, here's how Jesus saved and changed me.
00:45-00:55
And how Jesus, verse 21, told me that He was going to send me to the Gentiles to minister to them." that gets us caught up.
00:55-01:04
The title of this message is, "I Will Not Fear Wolves." We're going to be talking about animals quite a bit today.
01:04-01:06
Anybody fans of the zoo?
01:07-01:09
Our family, huge fans, okay?
01:09-01:11
Huge, I love the zoo.
01:11-01:13
I love going to the zoo.
01:14-01:17
And we're going to be talking about a few animals today.
01:18-01:26
And to understand this passage that we're going to be looking at, We actually have to do a bit of a flashback.
01:27-01:33
And the flashback takes us back to Matthew 10, verses 16-18.
01:33-01:37
These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.
01:38-01:52
And you have to see the prophecy here, and see the commands that Jesus gives, in order for us to understand what's going on with Paul in the passage we're going to look at.
01:52-02:01
But Jesus said, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
02:04-02:09
So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
02:11-02:37
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles." Jesus said He's sending us out, do you see it?
02:38-02:40
As sheep in the midst of wolves.
02:41-02:47
Jesus promised that we, His people, are going to be treated the way that wolves treat sheep.
02:47-02:49
Don't you wish that was the other way around?
02:51-03:07
Don't you wish Jesus said, "I'm going to send you out as a wolf in the midst of sheep, and you are going to dominate, and you are going to be the predator, and you're going to be unstoppable." That's not what he said.
03:08-03:15
And when it comes to interacting with the world and dealing with the hostility of the world.
03:17-03:19
Permission to speak freely?
03:21-03:24
We are knuckleheads as a church.
03:25-03:29
And I don't just mean this church, I mean Christians at large.
03:31-03:32
Myself included.
03:33-03:35
Often times we have no idea how to interact with the world.
03:37-03:41
Here's three wrong ways that we as a church interact with the world.
03:41-03:43
jot these down. These are wrong ways.
03:44-03:47
These are wrong ways. We've all been guilty of these things, okay?
03:47-03:56
So, I hope you're not here today to affirm what you've been doing, but instead to see what God says and make some changes, amen?
03:58-04:03
Here's wrong ways that we have a tendency to interact with the world.
04:04-04:08
One is detach. Detach.
04:09-04:11
You know I'm going to huddle up my family?
04:11-04:18
Okay, we go to church in our holy huddle, and then through the week we get back in our homes in our holy huddle, and we don't interact with the world at all, ever.
04:19-04:20
They are not our problem.
04:23-04:23
We detach.
04:24-04:29
We think somehow that we can be in the world, but completely separated from the world.
04:32-04:36
Second wrong way that we interact with the world is condemn.
04:37-05:16
Christians they think it's just their job to point the finger. Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless, you're hopeless, you're hopeless, you're hopeless, you're hopeless, you're hopeless, you're hopeless, and some some Christians think that's their ministry. It's just to go around and point out all the evil and sin that Not to fall into this, but churches get this mindset, like, "Hey world, we're just like you.
05:16-05:18
You should come here because we're just like you.
05:19-05:21
The world doesn't need us to be just like them.
05:22-05:30
Their thing's not working." And just when the world needs us the most, here we are just acting like them.
05:31-05:33
And they walk in and say, "Well, there's nothing there.
05:34-05:40
They're not offering me anything." But somehow we think we'll win them by imitating them.
05:41-05:47
And I'm just saying, church, you gave me permission to speak freely, so this is on you now.
05:47-05:57
But when we detach and when we condemn or when we imitate, we are knuckleheads in dealing with the world.
05:57-06:01
But I want you to see, okay, we're here to make some changes, right?
06:02-06:03
Look at what Jesus said.
06:03-06:05
Can we put that verse back up, please, Mike?
06:06-06:07
Catch this.
06:07-06:15
Jesus said, "I'm sending you out sheep in the midst of wolves." Okay, this next two phrases, this is the key here.
06:17-06:32
"So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." I tried so hard to get a serpent and a dove to bring here this morning and have.
06:33-06:35
How creepy would that have been to like stand here preaching with a snake?
06:37-06:38
Or even worse, a dove.
06:39-06:44
Anyways, I even went to a pet shop and I'm like, tried to sweet talk them into loaning me one.
06:44-06:45
They wouldn't do it.
06:48-06:48
(laughing)
06:50-06:55
All right, so Jesus said, "Church, and you gotta get this.
06:56-06:58
Here's how we are to interact with the world.
06:59-07:06
Wise as serpents and innocent." As doves, why is it serpents? What does that mean?
07:06-07:12
Well, serpents can spot trouble a mile away, and they're always ready to deal with it.
07:14-07:19
Serpents, or snakes, are masters of self-preservation.
07:19-07:20
They are.
07:22-07:24
This past summer I was mowing in the yard, and there was a snake.
07:25-07:29
And I'm like, "I'm going to mow the snake." And he saw me coming, whoop, he vanished.
07:29-07:31
I tried to find the hole that he slipped into.
07:31-07:32
I couldn't find it.
07:34-07:38
Jesus said to be wise as serpents, and he said to be innocent as doves.
07:41-07:49
Doves. No malice in a dove. No wrath. No vengeful spirit in a dove.
07:51-07:57
Doves are the poster birds for peace, right?
07:59-08:05
Jesus said, as we as a church interact with the world, here's the picture that you need to have.
08:08-08:15
This is you, Christian, wise as the snake, but innocent as the dove.
08:17-08:20
In other words, be gentle, but don't be a pushover.
08:21-08:26
Be self-sacrificing, but don't let people take advantage of you.
08:26-08:30
But as people often do, we love to swing the pendulum to the extremes.
08:31-08:34
For some people, it's all serpent and no dove.
08:36-08:38
Meaning you're wise, but you're not innocent.
08:40-08:42
And you win people by being crass.
08:42-08:47
Or you consider that your Christian conduct doesn't matter to the world.
08:47-08:49
That's all serpent and no dove.
08:50-08:52
Some people are all dove and no serpent.
08:53-08:59
Meaning you're blameless in character, but you're clueless on how to interact with people.
09:01-09:02
Both of those are wrong.
09:04-09:10
Jesus said it's seeing yourself as the serpent/dove.
09:11-09:15
It's how you wisely witness without being worldly.
09:17-09:23
Or to state Jesus' teaching in the negative, Jesus was saying, "Look, sending you out as sheep among wolves.
09:24-09:28
Don't be clueless, but don't be worldly either.
09:29-09:29
Right?
09:31-09:35
Like, can we think of somebody that might have modeled this?
09:36-09:36
Can you think of anybody?
09:38-09:38
How about Jesus?
09:40-09:47
The most innocent and gentle person to ever walk on the earth, but he never fell into the traps laid for him by his enemies.
09:49-09:49
Read your Bibles.
09:50-09:54
You'll see that Jesus always addressed people in exactly the right way.
09:54-09:55
He always knew.
09:55-09:58
Jesus didn't have a one size fits all message that he just spit out to everybody.
09:59-10:08
Whether it was the woman at the well, or the harsh enemies, the Pharisees coming after him, Jesus always knew exactly what to say in every context.
10:08-10:14
He knew, like the snake, how to do a defensive strike.
10:16-10:20
But like the dove, Jesus was innocent.
10:21-10:24
So you're like, "I thought we were an axe." We are.
10:26-10:28
What I just gave you is the sermon for today.
10:28-10:33
And as we go through Acts, you're going to see the illustration of Jesus' words.
10:34-10:40
You're going to see Paul not only fulfill Jesus' prophecy, but obey His instructions.
10:41-10:41
Okay?
10:41-10:48
So what we're going to go through for the rest of the morning the illustration and with this some application.
10:48-10:53
So on your outline, how to be a fearless snake/dove.
10:54-10:56
All right, number one, be wise.
10:59-11:00
Think defensively.
11:01-11:03
This is snake stuff.
11:03-11:04
Look at verse 22.
11:06-11:13
It says, "Up to this word, they listened to him." Well, up to what word?
11:13-11:25
Well, Paul's giving his testimony, and as soon as he said the word Gentiles, they were like, "That's it! Enough, enough." You see, for the Jews to hear, "Are you saying that the Gentiles are equal with Jews?
11:25-11:28
Are you saying Gentiles can be saved without first becoming Jewish?
11:29-11:30
We don't want to hear any more.
11:30-11:31
Shut your mouth.
11:31-11:34
We are done listening." That's what's going on here.
11:34-11:39
By the way, that's not the reaction most preachers are looking for.
11:40-11:41
Look at this.
11:43-11:58
And 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 - that's just crazy, they're going crazy.
11:58-12:02
Were they throwing off their cloaks because they were getting ready to stone him?
12:02-12:05
That's what a lot of people think is going on here.
12:05-12:06
Flinging dust into the air.
12:07-12:09
They were just so outraged.
12:11-12:49
and they would do it And Paul is saying, because after Paul gives the sermon, he's like, "I still don't understand why everybody's so upset with this man." So this was his plan.
12:50-12:57
"Let's beat him within an inch of his life and see if we can get some answers." When it says, "flogging, understand," yeah, that sounds familiar, doesn't it?
12:58-13:00
That's what Jesus Christ endured.
13:01-13:11
It was a wooden stick with leather straps on the end, and the straps are actually woven, and woven into the straps of iron and bone.
13:12-13:12
Why?
13:13-13:22
Because when they whipped you, it wasn't like a smack, like if you've ever been hit with a belt, which we may or may not have as kids.
13:22-13:24
It wasn't like the smack.
13:25-13:30
Those pieces of metal and bone, when they hit were meant to just rip flesh off when you pulled back.
13:32-13:34
Jesus Christ endured that.
13:36-13:42
So if you're sitting here today and you've ever gotten to a place in your life where you're in a rut and you feel like, "God doesn't love me.
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"God doesn't care about me." I want you to think about something.
13:46-13:48
Jesus Christ willingly endured.
13:50-14:00
Not only the worst beating a human being could endure, but then he went on to endure the worst kind of execution by hanging on a cross that anyone could endure.
14:00-14:10
So if you ever get in that mindset of, "God doesn't care about me." I want you to put your eyes on the cross because that forever stands as a testimony that God cares about you.
14:12-14:12
Okay?
14:13-14:19
So, they're like, we can't get answers out of this guy, so let's beat him until he gives us answers.
14:20-14:46
Says, 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?" Whoa! Understand, when Paul asked that, the answer... it was a rhetorical question.
14:48-14:58
Under Roman law... remember, okay, Rome was the world power at the time, and Israel was under Rome's occupation, all right?
14:58-15:00
So Israel answered to Rome.
15:00-15:06
And if you were a Roman citizen, you had certain rights.
15:06-15:16
And one of those rights, we're going to talk about a couple other ones here, you could not be flogged without having a preliminary hearing, without being condemned.
15:16-15:19
You went through the courts, judgment was passed.
15:19-15:21
They couldn't just take you and beat you if you were a Roman citizen.
15:21-15:22
That was illegal.
15:23-15:26
And if somebody did that, and this is going to be very important here, you're going to see in a second in the text.
15:27-15:34
If an official did that, they could not only lose their job, they could be executed for that.
15:35-15:37
Are you starting to see the snake here?
15:38-15:40
Paul is stretched out. Can you see the picture?
15:41-15:43
He's stretched out, they're just about to beat him, and here's the snake.
15:44-15:50
He's like, "What you're about to do, is that legal?" Whoa, whoa, whoa.
15:51-15:53
Because I'm a Roman citizen.
15:54-15:58
And that puts the brakes on things pretty quick, right?
15:59-16:01
Which, by the way, I jotted this down in my notes.
16:02-16:03
This is actually kind of funny.
16:05-16:27
Do you remember back in Acts 16, if you were with us through this series, Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned, and then when they were released, thanks to the Lord showing up, they told the magistrates that they were Roman citizens, The magistrates, you remember that story, the magistrates were like, "We are so sorry.
16:28-16:29
We will escort you out.
16:30-16:32
We baked you some fresh cinnamon rolls.
16:34-16:35
We'll stop by Starbucks on the way.
16:37-16:39
And is there anything else that we can get you?
16:40-16:42
We are so sorry." Why were they like that?
16:42-16:46
Because they knew they just committed a major crime themselves.
16:48-17:00
Okay, so back in Philippi, Paul told the Philippian magistrates that he was a Roman citizen after he was beaten and imprisoned.
17:01-17:11
So do you think when we get to Acts 22, Paul was like, "Lesson learned?" They're just about to beat him, and he's like, "You know that Roman citizen card that I played in Philippi?
17:12-17:28
I'm going to lead with that instead of telling them afterwards." And of course, scholars are like, "Well, here's why he didn't in Philippi, and here's why he did here." Honestly, I think Paul learned his lesson.
17:28-17:30
"You know what? That really worked well in Philippi.
17:30-17:37
Why don't we get that out before the beating that we're Roman citizens?" Good plan, Paul.
17:39-17:40
Where are we at? Verse 26.
17:40-17:46
It says, "When the centurion heard this," that he was a Roman citizen, "he went to the tribune and said to him, 'What are you about to do?
17:46-17:54
"For this man is a Roman citizen." So the tribune, again, Claudius Lysias.
17:55-18:06
So the tribune came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" And Paul said, he said, "Yes." Now, why didn't he ask for ID?
18:06-18:13
Well, if you claimed you're a Roman citizen and you weren't, you lied about that, that was also death penalty, okay?
18:13-18:21
So back in Paul's day, if you were asked "You probably said you were a Roman citizen." It was kind of taking a face value because the alternative would be death.
18:22-18:24
So look at verse 28.
18:24-18:25
This is really interesting.
18:25-18:26
I thought a lot about this this week.
18:27-18:51
The Tribune answered, "I bought this citizenship for a large sum." Paul said, "But I am a citizen by birth." Now, what did Claudius Lysias mean when he said, citizenship for a large sum. Understand that citizenships were not for sale, okay?
18:52-19:01
You didn't go to Kmart and buy a citizenship. You didn't, you know, stop by Sheetz on the way to church, get a coffee, get an MTO, get a room in citizenship.
19:02-19:21
They weren't for sale. They could actually be purchased though by bribing corrupt officials. There's a lot of conjecture over what he meant by this He made a statement when he says, "I bought this citizenship for a large sum." I think I understand why he said that.
19:23-19:30
If you get the scene, here you have Paul, remember they thought he was the Egyptian terrorist, and they're about to beat him to death, and he probably looked pretty pathetic.
19:33-19:39
He's like, "I'm a Roman citizen." Lysaeus is like, "I paid a lot of money for my citizenship.
19:40-19:43
the implication there is, how did you buy yours?
19:43-19:44
Do you ever have somebody do that?
19:45-19:48
Like, oh, you drive that kind of car.
19:49-19:52
They kind of give you that, how can you afford to drive one of those?
19:53-19:56
It's like, it's really none of your business, honestly.
19:57-19:58
But I think that's kind of what he's doing here.
19:58-20:00
He's like, I paid a lot of money for mine.
20:00-20:01
How'd you get yours?
20:02-20:04
And Paul says, I was a citizen by birth.
20:04-20:06
How did his family get their citizenship?
20:07-20:07
We don't know.
20:08-20:11
but we know that his parents apparently were citizens and Paul was born into.
20:13-20:19
So verse 29, "So those who were about to examine him..." Boy, that's an understatement.
20:19-20:21
They were about to flog him.
20:22-20:25
But Luke, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, sort of tones it down a few notches.
20:25-20:27
They were going to examine him.
20:28-20:30
"...withdrew from him immediately.
20:31-20:38
And the tribune also..." Look at this. "...was afraid, For he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen, that he had bound him.
20:38-20:43
It was also illegal to bind an uncondemned Roman citizen.
20:43-20:45
So he's breaking all kinds of rules here.
20:48-20:51
And he's like, guys, we need to slow our roll.
20:51-20:52
Is that what the kids say?
20:54-20:56
Good, I put that in my notes, but I wasn't 100% sure.
20:56-20:58
So I'm gonna give you another run at this, all right?
20:59-21:02
So Claudius Lysias was like, hey, we need to slow our roll.
21:04-21:08
So in this passage you have Paul one second away from being beaten.
21:10-21:15
You see the self-preservation like a snake, striking back.
21:16-21:16
Is this legal?
21:17-21:18
You see, that's wisdom.
21:20-21:24
Because Romans, they didn't care about the Jews.
21:25-21:27
They sure didn't care about Jesus.
21:28-21:31
But you know there's one thing the Roman officials did care about.
21:31-21:34
There was exactly one thing that they cared about, and you know what it was?
21:35-21:37
I couldn't think of a nice way to say it.
21:39-21:42
What I have in my notes is covering their backsides.
21:42-21:44
Is there a nice way to say that?
21:45-21:47
Is that the best we're going to get there?
21:47-21:51
Okay. I don't mean to be crass, but seriously, I racked my brain.
21:51-21:52
I'm like, I can't think of a nicer way to say it.
21:53-21:58
That's all they care -- protecting their vocational, political position.
22:00-22:02
They cared about that.
22:03-22:08
So when Paul's like, "Hey, what you're about to do is illegal." They knew immediately all the implications that's going to come from that.
22:09-22:14
And they're like, "Whoa, stop, back up." That's snake stuff, man.
22:15-22:16
That is wisdom.
22:17-22:21
And there are times, church, that we claim our civil rights.
22:22-22:24
There are times, church, listen.
22:26-22:29
There are times that we use the world to our advantage.
22:31-22:33
That's being wise as a serpent.
22:35-22:43
Some people think it's wrong for churches to take advantage of things like, you know, non-profit, or tax breaks, or things like that.
22:43-22:48
If you can legally use the world to your advantage, you absolutely should do it.
22:48-22:50
That's called being wise as a serpent.
22:52-22:54
Now, yes, it's true Christians are going to suffer.
22:56-22:57
But we've seen this so many times in Acts.
22:58-23:01
If you can righteously avoid suffering, do it.
23:01-23:02
Because that's thinking like a snake.
23:04-23:05
Number one, be wise.
23:05-23:06
Think defensively.
23:06-23:07
Be a snake.
23:07-23:14
Use every advantage you can to protect yourself while witnessing, while living for Christ.
23:14-23:17
Number two, be innocent.
23:18-23:19
Live blamelessly.
23:20-23:21
Look at verse 30.
23:24-23:37
"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 the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them." Okay, so Rome's still confused.
23:37-23:39
Rome still has no idea what's going on.
23:39-23:42
They're like, "Everybody's really upset about this guy.
23:42-23:46
We can't figure out why, but now he's a Roman citizen, and now we really have no idea what's going on.
23:47-23:54
Okay, so he's Jewish, so let's get the council." the Sanhedrin, meaning let's get the Jewish rulers to understand.
23:55-23:57
Okay, we talked about Rome, Roman occupation, right?
23:57-23:58
Rome was in charge.
23:59-24:03
The Sanhedrin were the Jewish religious rulers.
24:03-24:07
They ruled the Jews underneath the umbrella of Rome.
24:09-24:10
So you see, the Romans gathered them.
24:10-24:12
This wasn't a formal trial.
24:12-24:13
They just wanted information.
24:14-24:15
So let's get the Sanhedrin together.
24:15-24:22
Now, this is really important as we go through the text, Because he says, I'm sorry, the Sanhedrin, rather, is made up of two factions.
24:24-24:29
The Sanhedrin is made up of the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
24:31-24:32
That's really important.
24:33-24:34
You're going to see why here in a second.
24:36-24:52
It says, "And looking intently at the council, Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day." It says, "Paul looked intently at the council." That means he looked them in the eye. Why?
24:53-24:56
Because Paul was a Pharisee before he came to Christ, right?
24:57-24:59
So he knew many of these people.
25:00-25:03
I guarantee you, he knew many of these people.
25:03-25:05
So now he's standing before them.
25:05-25:08
He looked them in the eye. "I know you. I know you." and he's looking at them.
25:09-25:18
He says the statement, "I've lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day." You're like, wait, wait, wait a second.
25:20-25:32
He was arresting and beating and imprisoning Christians and persecuting the church, and while they're stoning Stephen, he's like, "Here, let me hold your coat." How can he say something like this?
25:32-25:34
Well, he's exactly right.
25:35-25:45
saying is, "I've always tried to do what I thought was the right thing." Now he was wrong before, but he thought he was right. He's talking about his conscience.
25:45-26:03
Your conscience is that part of your brain that passes judgment on your actions. That you're like, "I can't do that in good conscience." Why? "Because of my brain, that's wrong." Or, "My conscience tells me I have to do this, and my brain passing moral judgment, yeah, that's what I What do I need to be doing?
26:06-26:08
Conscience isn't the measure of right and wrong.
26:09-26:11
God's Word is the measure of right and wrong.
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That's why we need to consider our convictions in light of what God's revealed.
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But all Paul is saying here is, "Look guys, you know me. You know me.
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I've always tried to do the right thing.
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I've never violated my conscience.
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I've always done what I thought God wanted me to do.
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Does that make sense?
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It says, verse 2, "And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth." Ananias was one of the worst high priests in the history of high priests.
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And you can do a little study on him.
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He was a thief. He stole from the common priests.
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He was violent, as we kind of see here.
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If I was going to strike him in the mouth, it wasn't like, you know, something light.
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This was a very violent word.
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This meant, you know, "crack across the face." Would anybody like to come up and demonstrate that on me?
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Wait, wait, no, no, no, wait, wait, I said that backwards.
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Would anybody like to come up, see this is what happens when you plan everything out.
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Would anybody like to come up and let me demonstrate on them?
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Oh, we wouldn't do that.
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But you see the point. Ananias was upset.
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And Paul's response, getting cracked in the face, "Then Paul said to him, 'God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.
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Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?'" Okay, Paul is pretty upset.
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His response was in anger, it was sinful anger, and he recognized that.
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Look at verse 4, "It is as 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.
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For it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'" That's from Exodus 22.28.
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So Paul didn't know.
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Did he take the high priest position when Paul was out of town?
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Or maybe he didn't have his high priestly robes on at the time and Paul didn't recognize him out of uniform?
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I don't know, but Paul just didn't recognize him.
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I think there's a word here, considering our political climate.
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"You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people." The way that any of our prayer meetings can tell you whether the presidents have carried our ideologies or not, we've prayed for them.
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We live in such a politically hostile environment, I think it would do us well to heed this verse.
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"You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people." We're commanded to pray for those that have those positions, right? Amen?
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So here, see in this passage, Paul was quick to confess, he was quick to repent, and he sought to not cause intentional offense.
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Here's the deal. If you want to dishonor God and ruin your testimony, "Well, that's not why I showed up today." Listen, if you want to dishonor God and ruin your testimony, here's how.
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It's real easy. Never own up to your mistakes.
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Never own up to your mistakes.
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Do you see how quickly Paul repented?
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He could have kept lashing out. "I don't care if you're the high priest or not! You don't do that!" He owned up to his mistake.
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He's like, "You know, the Bible says I shouldn't speak evil against a ruler, and I just did. I'm sorry." You see, church, if you suffer for Christ, it's a gracious thing in the sight of God, according to 1 Peter 2.20.
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But if you suffer because you're a self-righteous jerk who never admits when you're wrong, God isn't honored, and you're just getting what you deserve.
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So be a dove. Be innocent.
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Keep your conscience clear.
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Admit your mistakes.
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Even to your enemies.
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What a testimony that is, to say to your enemies, "You know what? I was wrong about that.
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I'm sorry.
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That's being a dumb.
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Alright, last two, much quicker.
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Number three, be wise.
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Strike deliberately.
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We're back to snake mode.
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Alright, look at verse six.
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"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.
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with respect to the hope and resurrection of the dead that I am on trial." And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say, "There is no resurrection, or angel, nor spirit." But the Pharisees acknowledged them all.
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You see what happened? This is so snake-like. Paul threw a grenade right in the middle of the council. He's looking around. He's like, Sadducee, Sadducee, Pharisee, Pharisee. Good. Oh, by the way, resurrection of the dead, just to put it in modern terms, imagine he stood before Congress and he's looking around. He's like, Republican, Republican, Democrat, Democrat, Republican. Universal health care is the way to go! And now they're fighting. "Universal health care is a big mistake!
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"Oh, you don't care about the people!" And now they're like fighting each other over that issue.
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That's exactly what he did here.
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Why? Because the Sadducees, they only believed in the Pentateuch.
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They didn't believe in, which I would argue that resurrection and angels and things like that are in the Pentateuch, but they only believe in the Pentateuch, but they also said there's no angel spirits, there's no resurrection, there's nothing really supernatural.
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What you see is what you get in the Pharisees.
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They believed in resurrection and angels and spiritual.
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And so Paul knew that was a bomb.
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He's like, "Resurrection of the dead and the Pharisees, you're gonna see here in a second." They're like, "Yeah, we're kind of, we kind of go with that." And the Sadducees are like, "Not buying it." Look at, Paul just totally turned the tables on them.
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Look at verses nine and 10.
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It says, "Then a great clamor arose as some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply." This is hilarious.
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These people that were, they hated Paul and they hated the Christians.
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They actually turn on the Sadducees now and they kind of align with Paul.
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They said, "We find nothing wrong in this man." Look at this next statement.
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This is the funny part.
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They said, "What if a spirit or angel spoke to him?" 'Cause the Sadducees didn't believe in that.
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So they're like digging it in even more.
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They're like, "How do you know an angel didn't show up?" "Oh, you don't believe in angels!" And it's just like, "Wrenching it in, wrenching it in!" It says, "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." So, Paul starts yet another riot, and he has to be saved by Rome.
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So Paul was snake-like, cornered and defended himself.
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Paul wasn't looking for a fight, understand that.
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Paul didn't show up to the temple with boxing gloves on, saying, "Who wants to go a few rounds?" He showed up to worship, he showed up to show his critics that he wasn't anti-Jewish.
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He came to Jerusalem to give an offering to the poor.
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He wasn't looking for a fight, but when he was backed into a corner, he wasn't going to roll over either.
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Well, it's hopeless.
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He made a bold and precision strike.
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In the same way, again, we don't, church, we don't go looking for a fight, but when we're cornered, we should choose our words to put our attackers on the defensive.
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I would encourage you to be a snake.
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Strike with the most powerful thing on the planet, and that's the Word of God.
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That's what Paul did.
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Instead of just striking you back with doctrine, "I'm going down, I'm going down swinging my Bible." Be a snake. Strike deliberately.
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And finally, be innocent.
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Trust fearlessly.
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This is the innocence of the dove here.
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This is a key verse because this verse and set the theme for our whole ministry year, along with Proverbs 28.1.
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It 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.'" How comforting do you think that was for Paul?
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If you've been with us the last few weeks and seen all these things that Paul went through, and went back in the cell.
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It says the Lord showed up and comforted him.
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The Lord stood by him and said, "Don't be afraid.
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Mission accomplished in Jerusalem.
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Next up, we're going to Rome, and you're going to do it again." How comforting do you think that was?
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Well, if the thought of dying in Jerusalem ever crossed Paul's mind of all this violence, you'd think this would have changed his mind.
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In other words, if God says Paul's going to Rome, what are the chances that Paul's going to Rome?
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Pretty good? 100%? More?
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Here it is, I'm going to close with this.
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Fearlessness comes when we embrace God's promises.
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This is the whole point of this.
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It's the whole point of this whole ministry year.
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Fearlessness comes when we embrace God's promises.
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The only way you are going to be bold as a lion is living as if you believe God's promises are true.
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Not just acknowledging them, but banking your life on them.
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So let me ask you, do you believe that God is with you how hard life gets.
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God promised that in Deuteronomy chapter 31.
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Do you believe that God is going to provide you everything that you need in this life?
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You believe that?
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Jesus promised that in Matthew chapter 6.
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Do you believe that God uses the difficulties of your life for your benefit?
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You believe that?
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God promised that in James chapter 1.
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Do you believe the Word of God is powerful and when you speak the Word of God, God moves?
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Do you believe that?
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God promised that in Isaiah chapter 55.
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And do you believe when all is said and done, you have the promise of eternal glory in heaven, purchased by Jesus Christ?
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Do you believe that?
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Jesus promised that in John 14.
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Because you see, if you bank your life on these promises, you will be wise as a serpent, you'll be innocent as a dove, and you'll be bold as a lion.
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Let's pray.
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Father in Heaven, wisdom.
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Your Word makes it so clear.
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the type of wisdom, the type of lives we are to live.
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Father, I pray today that we would leave here meditating on this glorious truth that you've given us, illustrated by the animal kingdom that you created.
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Father, we are sheep being sent out amongst wolves.
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We are defenseless.
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and the enemy is violent.
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Jesus called us to be as wise as a serpent, to think and to be calculating and to know how to strike and when to strike, but somehow at the same time to be innocent as a dove, be blameless, to have a reputation that can't be maligned.
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Through this, Father, we want to be bold as a lion.
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Your word tells us the righteous are bold as a lion.
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Father, give us the wisdom.
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When our day of trial comes, it might not be before the Sanhedrin.
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It might be before our neighbors.
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It might be before our family.
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It might be in a local courthouse.
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Find us to be faithful snakes and doves.
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Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 22:22-23:11
What does it mean to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16-18)? Restate this in your own words. What is the danger of being just one or the other?
What are ways Christians can “use the world to our advantage” as Paul did in Acts 22:25?
Re-read Acts 23:5. What does this say about how we should regard OUR leaders, even if we don't particularly like them?
How did the Lord's promise of Paul testifying in Rome give Paul courage? What promises of God give YOU courage?
What is your one big "take-away" from Paul's ordeal in this passage?
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves".