"Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor" Sermon Acts 23:12-35

“Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor”
[Acts 23:12-35]
May 1, 2011 Second Reformed Church

We return to our look at the book of Acts this morning – and it’s been awhile – so let’s remember where we were:

Paul returned from his third – and unbeknownst to him – final missionary journey to Jerusalem. Jews who had thrown riots in Ephesus, in what we now call Turkey, had followed him to Jerusalem, and there they accused him of teaching people to turn against the people of Israel, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Law of God. And they decided to kill Paul.

As the crowd began its attack on Paul, the noise rose to the ears of a Roman tribune by the name of Claudius Lysias, and he and his centurions stepped in to stop the riot and the murder of Paul, binding him and demanding that the crowd tell Lysias what was going on, but they couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer.

The mob seized forward and tried to take Paul from Lysias, but Lysias was ready and had the centurions lift Paul over the crowd to bring him into the barracks. There, Lysias questioned Paul, and Paul explained to Lysias – in Greek – who he was and asked that he be given an opportunity to explain to the crowd what he really taught.

Lysias allowed Paul to speak to the crowd, and Paul stood up before them and spoke to them humbly in Hebrew. He explained in detail who he was, who trained him, his work as a Pharisee, employed by the very high council – the Sanhedrin – that was now coming after him. He explained that he had met the risen Jesus Christ Who proved Himself to be the Promised Savior, and so Paul was now witnessing to Jesus as the Savior; Paul never spoke against the people of Israel or the Temple or the Law of God – he was a faithful Jew who believed that God’s Savior had come, just as the Scriptures promised.

Paul told them that Jesus told him – before his first missionary journey – that he was to leave Jerusalem, because they would kill him if he stayed, and instead, God sent Paul to the Gentiles to bring the Gospel of Salvation to them.

Up to this point the crowd was listening quietly, seeing that they had been misled, but when Paul said that the Savior and the Gospel were not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles – for the non-Jews – for all the people of the whole world, the crowd went wild again and called that he immediately be put to death.

Lysias continued to be confused as to what the problem was with the Jews and Paul, but he thought they might be satisfied if he had Paul tortured with the flog. But as he was readying Paul to be tortured, Paul revealed that he was a Roman citizen, and since it was illegal for a Roman citizen to be flogged, and Lysias unbound him, but returned him to the barracks.

The next day – the day before this morning’s reading – Lysias allowed the Sanhedrin – the high council of the Jews – to meet with Paul to discuss their differences. Paul claimed his innocence of all charges, and the high priest had Paul struck. Noticing that both Pharisees – who believed in the resurrection of the body – and Sadducees – who denied the resurrection of the body – were present in the Sanhedrin, and that discussion with them was hopeless, Paul got them to fight with each other by telling them that the reason he was a Pharisee by training and the reason he was being persecuted was that he believed in and taught the hope of the resurrection of the body.

The Pharisees and Sadducees began arguing with each other over the resurrection of the body, and they began to get violent. To save Paul and the Romans, Lysias again instructed them to take Paul into the barracks.

During the night, Jesus came to Paul and comforted him and told him that he was not to worry about the crowd and their desires against him, because Jesus would make sure that Paul got to Rome to testify of the Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus before Nero.

Our Scripture picks up the next morning: forty Jews made a secret plot and vowed that the would not eat or drink until they killed Paul. These forty went to the chief priests and the elders and told them that they had taken a vow and would not eat or drink until Paul was dead. And they told the Sanhedrin, “What we need from you is to ask the tribune to bring Paul down to your council chambers that you might examine him again more carefully to really understand the case against him. As he crosses from the barracks to your chambers, we will kill him.”

Have you ever told someone a secret and “the cat got let out of the bag”? Have you ever told several people a secret and had it spread? Can we imagine what might happen when forty people try to keep a secret – and not even forty – they told the chief priests and the elders, as well – it could have been more like eighty people in on the secret?

Well, they didn’t keep the secret. In fact, immediately, word got to Paul’s nephew of the plot against Paul Talk about not keeping the secret Immediately, Paul’s family knew what they were plotting.

So, let us see, first this morning, that Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan. Jesus had promised Paul that he would not be killed in Jerusalem; in fact, Paul was going to preach the Gospel to Nero in Rome.

The Psalmist wrote, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’

“He who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’

“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make your nations a heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:1-12, ESV).

The nations – the kings – the rulers – plot against God. They meet in secret and plot to overthrow God and not allow God to accomplish His Plans. And God laughs: “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”

We are taught on every page of the Scripture that the God of Creation, the God of our Salvation, the God of everything that is and will every be, is Absolutely Sovereign. That means, if God makes a promise, it will happen. It means, no matter how much anyone dislikes God’s Plan and wants to stop it – it can’t be stopped. As the old musical said, “You arms are too short to box with God.”

Solomon says it very straightforwardly: “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against God” (Proverbs 21:30, ESV).

To the person who loves God, this is wonderful news: God is Sovereign and Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan to do or not do. God does not stand or fall based on what we do or do not do. God is not crippled by our disobedience, and God is not suddenly able to accomplish His Plans when we follow Him. God is God and God is Sovereign and God will accomplish all that He has planned to His Glory.

To the person who hates God, this is terrible news – news they will not admit. Instead, they will foolishly plot against God and His Savior and do everything they can to overthrow Jesus and stop the Will of God from coming to pass, and God says, “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”

So much for the secret plot – Paul’s family knew about it right away. So, Paul’s nephew asked to talk with Paul, and he told Paul about the plot. And what did Paul do? Did Paul call for a centurion and tell him that, as a Roman citizen, he demanded those involved in the plot on his life be brought to trial and condemned for attempted murder? No, he didn’t. He called for a centurion and told him that the boy had something he needed to tell Lysias. As a Roman citizen, he had the right to have messages conveyed to the Roman authorities, and Paul used the Roman law to his advantage and to the Glory of God.

So, let us notice two things:

First, it is acceptable for us as citizens of our country and state and town, to use the laws that are in place for our good and our neighbor’s good and to the Glory of God. For example, in this country, we have a “Bill of Rights” in which it states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

I am using that law this morning by preaching to you that there is Salvation Only in Jesus Alone. In telling you that God came to earth in the human person Jesus of Nazareth – that He lived and died for our sins according to the Scripture, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Right Hand of God the Father – I am exercising a right that I am given by this country.

Not everyone agrees with what I just said about Jesus and the Gospel and the way to salvation. Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitt Romney are both Mormons, and they would disagree with what I just said about Jesus, but we have a law in the country which allows us to speak freely, and so we should – to the Glory of God.

Second, we are to love our neighbors. We are to do everything we can to help our neighbors be everything God has called them to be and to keep them from falling into sin. What does that have to do with our text? What did Paul think of the Jews that were trying to kill him? Paul wrote, “I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belongs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. In them belong the patriarchs and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:1-5, ESV).

Paul could have had the Jews tried for attempted murder, because he was a Roman citizen, but in wisdom and love, he did not use that part of the Roman law, but loved the very people who were seeking to kill him. Why? Because Paul understood that he was just as much a sinner as they were, and they need Jesus and His Salvation just as much as he did.

Paul loved his kinsmen so much, he tells us, that if it were possible for him to be damned to hell in exchange for the salvation of the Jews, Paul would volunteer to be eternally damned – that’s love of neighbor.

Paul tells us that for the sake of Christ and His Gospel, we are to love even those people who want to kill us. We are not to seek vengeance against them, but to seek their salvation through Jesus Alone. Not easy, is it?

Is there ever a time to pursue prosecution? Yes, the Scripture is clear that there are times. We don’t have time this morning to discuss every crime that has ever been committed. Let us understand that we are not called to be doormats or to let people “get away with murder,” as the expression goes, but we are not to seek vengeance, and we are to seek the benefit and the Salvation of everyone. OK? If you have a specific example you’d like to discuss, we can do that another time. For now, let us see that Paul loved those who sought to kill him.

Paul’s nephew explained to Lysias that the plot was afoot, and Lysias believed Paul’s nephew. Lysias also used wisdom in his response – having dealt with these parties over the past few days.

Lysias called two of his centurions and told them to get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen at 9 P.M. and transport Paul to Antipatris – about forty miles away. In the morning, the seventy horsemen would take Paul the rest of the way – about thirty miles – to Caesarea, where Felix, the governor, would handle Paul’s case.

And Lysias sent Paul along with a letter to Felix stating the facts of the case: First, the Jews were trying to kill Paul, and when Lysias found out he was a Roman citizen, he interceded and gave Paul protection. Second, after questioning Paul and the crowd, Lysias found that Paul was guilty of nothing requiring imprisonment or punishment – Paul and the Jews just disagreed about how to understand their religion. And third, when Lysias discovered a plot to murder Paul – right under his nose – he thought it best, since Paul was a Roman citizen – to get him to the protection of the governor and have him sort the matter out.

Paul was safely taken to Governor Felix in Caesarea, and the letter was read to Felix. Felix asked where Paul was from, and he told him Cilicia. And Felix said he wanted to hear his accusers so he would be able to make an informed decision about Paul and his case. So Felix confined Paul – not in prison, but in Herod’s palace.

Just as a glimpse into what we will see, Lord willing, in the next few weeks, Felix had been a slave who rose up through the ranks and eventually earned the role of governor. He was smart and resourceful. However, the historians of the day also say that Felix, a friend of Caligula, “served with all cruelty and lust.”

Paul was a prisoner. The Romans didn’t know what to do with him, but they had to protect him because he was a Roman citizen. The Jews wanted to kill him, but Jesus had promised Paul that he would preach the Gospel before Nero in Rome.

Let us be encouraged that our God is Sovereign and will carry out His Plans and keep His Promises and Glorify Jesus – just as the Scripture says. No human or government can thwart God’s Will.

Let us remember that God has given us government and rulers, and we are to use the laws of our world for the good and to the Glory of Jesus.

And let us remember that we are to love our neighbors – even those who want to kill us – not seeking vengeance, but looking for ways to let them know the Gospel – that salvation is Only through Jesus Alone – praying for them and seeking their good – to the Glory of Jesus.

And as we join together in receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, let us remember that our Sovereign God and Savior, Jesus, meets with us spiritually in the bread and the cup, and He ministers to us and gives us the grace to follow after Him in wisdom, to live for Him, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

May Jesus equip us this day for all He has called us to do today.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You are Sovereign and Trustworthy. We thank You that no human being can stop Your Hand or call Your Will into question. Fill us with confidence and hope in all that You have said. And give us Your wisdom that we might live wisely, using the law and loving our neighbors, that the whole world would know Jesus is Lord and Savior. For it is in His Name we pray, Amen.