Grace Baptist Church

Pastor Chris Bell: I invite you to please turn with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 21, and Lord willing, we will be looking at the end of chapter 21 in through the first 21 verses of chapter 22 this morning. Follow along with me as we read Acts chapter 21, verse 37 through chapter 22, verse 21, and this is the Word of God to us this morning.

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?" Paul replied, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people."

And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: "Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you." And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet.

And he said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness.

From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'

And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.'

And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him.

And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.' When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.' And he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

Well, as we resume our study through the book of Acts this morning, let’s review very quickly where we’re at. Paul has finally completed his journey to Jerusalem to bring the Gentile relief gift to the needy Jewish Christians. But upon his arrival, the leaders in the Jerusalem church warned Paul that he may not be received well because there are rumors that he is teaching the Jews that are in Gentile lands to forsake their Jewish heritage and stop observing the Jewish customs.

In order to undermine this claim, Paul has participated in a vow that four Jewish Christian men have undertaken with the goal of showing that these rumors are false. But despite these efforts, the Jewish crowd has still seized Paul, seeking to kill him before he was then rescued by the Romans and bound in chains. It's at that point that we now pick up.

As we study today's passage, we will see Paul describe his life before he knew Christ. He’ll describe how he came to know Christ, and then he’s going to speak to his commission in service after knowing Christ. Really, that's one way that we can think about our personal testimony as well: What was my life like before I knew Jesus? How did I come to know Jesus? And then what is my life like now that I know him?

In Paul’s defense, we’re going to see the absolute difference that Christ makes in a life. Ultimately, what we’re going to see together this morning is that an encounter with the glory of Christ produces total life transformation and provides us with a testimony to defend our Christian hope to the lost. We’re going to look at three segments to Paul’s testimony this morning, his defense.

The first comes in chapter 21, verse 37 through 22, verse 3a, and that is Paul’s defense in relation to the people. He says, beginning in verse 37, as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, "May I say something to you?" Paul addresses the tribune in Greek, and this gets his attention. In verse 37, he said, "Do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?"

The common language of the Jews living in Palestine was Aramaic. But when the tribune hears Paul’s Greek, that it’s well-polished and he’s fluent in it, it gives him the impression that he’s not from around here. Greek was commonly spoken in Egypt. This leads the tribune to assume that Paul is, in fact, this Egyptian terrorist who tried to lead a revolt against the Romans in Jerusalem.

There’s a Jewish historian, Josephus, who actually records this event. We know from that that there was an Egyptian Jew who was a false prophet who basically led a bunch of his men out into the Mount of Olives. It was there that he told them that at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down. When those walls fell down, his men would be able to run in and rush the city and storm the Romans and take them over.

But the rebellion was put down by the Roman governor, Felix. A lot of the Egyptian's men were killed, but he himself did escape. So this tribune mentions the group called the Assassins as well. These were Jewish terrorists who made it their mission to assassinate other Jews who were sympathetic to the Roman occupation.

They had daggers, and they would go to big crowded areas and stab Roman sympathizers and then just quickly blend back into the crowd before anybody could actually notice what happened. Once the crowd noticed what happened and started to panic or to mourn, the assassin would just act right along with the crowd and so evade detection.

They used the cover of the crowd to perform these assassinations in broad daylight. If there’s anybody here who happens to play the Assassin's Creed video games, yes, it is exactly like that. These crowd assassinations take place with the knife and then slipping back into the crowd before anybody sees what happened. That is exactly what came to my mind as I read this, and maybe that's a useful illustration for you this morning.

When the tribune hears Paul speaking in Greek, he thinks that he must be this Egyptian. When the tribune sees the commotion of the crowd and hears Paul speaking Greek, he assumes it must be this same Egyptian who’s come back for maybe a second go at it or something like that, a second attempt.

We move into verse 39 though, and we’re going to see Paul is going to put that thought to rest. Paul replied, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people." Paul explains that, no, he’s not the Egyptian. Instead, he is a Jew from the city of Tarsus. You’ll see Syria down here below, then if you come up here and around, then you have Tarsus right over here on the map.

He calls it "no obscure city." In other words, it was a prominent and an important city. Indeed, Tarsus was considered to be one of the intellectual hubs of the ancient world. In the ancient world, someone’s importance was oftentimes evaluated by the place where they were born. If you were born in an important place, well, you must be pretty important.

The fact that Paul has his origin in this important city of Tarsus gives him enough weight to convince the tribune to let him speak. We’ll continue on in verse 40. And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: "Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you."

Paul motions to the crowd to quiet down enough for him to speak from the elevated position of the steps that he’s on so that everyone can hear him. And they do quiet down. But then he starts speaking no longer in Greek, but now in the Hebrew language, the text says. The ESV has a footnote here saying that this could also be translated as the Hebrew dialect, which actually is probably a reference to Aramaic.

It’s not that he is speaking in Hebrew, but rather he is speaking in the language of the Hebrews. As we noted earlier, most Jews living in Palestine at this time spoke Aramaic. Look at how he addresses them. He says, "Brothers and fathers." This is a way of showing respect and acknowledging that his audience are his own fellow Jewish countrymen. He’s identifying with them in that way. Brothers would be the younger men and fathers the older men.

He says, "Hear the defense that I now make before you." The word translated "defense" is *apologia*. It’s the same word from which we get our English term "apologetics," the reasoned defense of the faith. If you hear of someone giving an apologetic, that doesn’t mean that they are going to apologize as if saying "I’m sorry," but rather it refers to providing a reasoned argument in defense of something.

Probably the most famous passage in which we see this word *apologia* is 1 Peter 3, verses 14 and 15. Peter writes, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense—*apologia*—to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."

As Christians, we are always supposed to be ready to provide a defense to anyone who asks us a reason for our Christian hope. When asked why we believe what we believe, why our hope is in Jesus, we should be ready to provide a compelling answer. This is to be all the more so in times when we suffer for our faith, as the context of 1 Peter indicates. We need to be able to explain why our Christian hope endures even through suffering.

In our passage, Paul is about to make a defense. But we might ask: a defense against what? Let’s remember what the accusations were which actually were brought against Paul in chapter 21. In Acts 21:28, we understand that the crowds accused Paul of "teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place." That’s the accusation. Paul teaches everyone everywhere against the people, against the law, and against this place.

Though Paul doesn’t seem to respond to each of these accusations in a direct way, the flow of his defense in chapter 22 does seem to roughly correspond to these three topics: the people, the law, and the temple, which would be "this place." Let’s get into verse 2. "And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet." It really gets their attention when they hear that Paul knows their own language.

He goes on, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city." He wants to start by plainly establishing his Jewish identity. Although he was born in Tarsus, outside of the land of Israel, he says that he was brought up in this city, Jerusalem. Paul is no stranger to the heart of Jewish culture. He was raised in the chief Jewish city, the epicenter of Judaism, Jerusalem itself, as his parents probably moved there when he was young.

Why have we called this section of the passage "Paul’s defense in relation to the people"? As we mentioned, the crowd has accused Paul of speaking against the Jewish people. But as he begins his defense, Paul wants to make it clear that he’s not against the Jewish people; instead, he himself is one of them. He is Jewish. He was brought up in the absolute epicenter of Jewish life, Jerusalem. He speaks their language, and he respects them, addressing them as "brothers and fathers" with a respectful tone.

Notice also the incredible way that Paul has taken command of this situation. He just narrowly escaped being torn to pieces by the crowd and was forcefully carried away by the Romans and bound. And yet, in a matter of mere moments, he has completely managed to change the dynamics of the situation so that now not only the Roman tribune, but even the entire crowd has now come to a complete hush, ready to intently listen to his every word.

How has he done this? He has utilized his life experiences and resources to really make the most of the situation. Through his knowledge of Greek, he has gained the tribune’s attention. Through his respectful tone and his knowledge of Aramaic, he has gained the attention of the crowd. Through a simple wave of the hand, he has gone from a passive captive to an active witness, turning these bad circumstances really into a tremendous opportunity to speak of God’s work in his life.

In any situation, Paul maximized his circumstances and resources to glorify God. Is Paul truly the victim in this scenario? Well, yes, he is suffering wrongly and unjustly for the gospel. We could say that is true. Yet Paul did not succumb to some sort of a victim mentality which gave into passive resignation and despair. He took as much control of the situation as he could, seeking an opportunity to witness even while chained.

Learn to assess every situation through the lens of what opportunities God may be giving you to glorify him. You may find yourself in terrible circumstances. You may see that the exact opposite of what you hoped for is exactly what has actually come to pass. You may find yourself in the midst of pressures that you wish you could simply escape.

Rather than being so focused on the misery of the moment that you miss what God may be doing, instead, slow down long enough to ask: what might God be trying to teach me through this? How does biblical faith respond in a situation like this, based on the promises and patterns of scripture? How does this painful circumstance put me into contact with people that I can witness to or display Christian character to in a way that I would not have been able to apart from this hard experience? How can I respond to this trial in a way which shows others through my attitude that Jesus is the one I treasure and cling to and seek to honor even in this?

Recognize that, yes, though there are circumstances outside of your control, that doesn’t mean that you have to play the passive victim. You still have a choice of how you’re going to handle it. You can choose to take initiative to seek ways that you can glorify God and grow in him in whatever situation you find yourself in. I think we see Paul doing just that.

There is a second component to his defense, and that is going to be Paul’s defense in relation to the law. Remember that the crowd also accused Paul of speaking against the law. Well, now let’s see how it is that Paul’s defense actually seems to relate to that issue, beginning in verse 3b. He says that he was "educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers."

This is not the first time that we’ve seen Gamaliel in Acts. Let's go back and review what we’ve seen of him earlier in Acts chapter 5, verses 33 through 39. This is right after the apostles have witnessed to the Jewish council: "When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them"—that is, kill the apostles. "But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while."

He said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God. So they took his advice."

We note a couple of things here. First of all, Gamaliel is a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious body in Israel, and the most respected rabbi of his day. This top teacher is the one who personally trained Paul. Paul says it's according to this "strict manner of the law" that he was trained.

Judaism had different strains, but the strictest form of Judaism was the party of the Pharisees, which not only sought to meticulously follow the commands of the Torah, but also even added onto God’s law with many man-made rules and traditions and regulations as well. That’s what Gamaliel was. He was a Pharisee, and Paul was trained up as a Pharisee as well.

Second of all, notice Gamaliel’s advice. When the rest of the council wants to kill the apostles for their witness, Gamaliel urges them to slow down and let time prove all things. He says that, yes, there were other false movements that weren’t from God. If the apostles are false, then they will fade into obscurity just the same. But if the apostles really do speak for God, their movement will be unstoppable, and they wouldn’t want to be guilty of opposing God.

In light of that background, I find it very interesting that even in our passage today, you literally have a concrete example of this. You actually have the reference to the false Egyptian prophet whose movement was put down. Yet then you have Paul, whose mission can’t be stopped despite all opposition. Essentially Paul says, "Look, before you accuse me of speaking against the law, you need to understand that I understand the law better than anyone, even being trained by Gamaliel himself. So maybe just slow down there for a minute."

Then we continue on in his defense, continuing with verse 3. He says he was "zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women." He says that he was zealous just like them. In this, we see that really part of Paul’s defense in his attempt to appeal to his audience is to show them that he understands the way they think.

He’s basically saying, "Look, I understand why you’re so upset with me and trying to kill me. Why? Well, because I used to think exactly like you. It was religious zeal for God that once led me to persecute Christians, those who belonged to the Way, just as you are doing right now against me." Granted, we know that it was a misguided zeal, not according to God’s will, but it was a religious zeal nonetheless.

He goes on in verse 5: "As the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness." In other words, Paul’s defense includes the fact that there are corroborating witnesses to everything he’s saying. In case the crowd thinks that he’s just making all of this up, that the story of transformation is false, that Paul never actually was an enemy of Christianity, Paul says that the high priest and the council can corroborate his story. He indeed was officially commissioned by them to carry out this very persecution. Check my story; there are people who can verify it.

But he goes on in the rest of verse 5: "From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished." You can’t miss the irony here. Paul originally was commissioned to bring Christians to the very same situation he now finds himself in. Paul originally sought to bring Christians bound to Jerusalem, and now Paul is a Christian bound in Jerusalem.

This is really a powerful demonstration of the reality of Paul’s repentance, is it not? It is a demonstration that Paul has completely changed direction in his life. He has done a complete 180. The persecutor is now the persecuted. Jesus said that this would happen when he prepared Ananias to receive Paul. Back in chapter 9, verse 16, Jesus told Ananias, "For I will show him"—referring to Paul—"how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

Paul’s willingness to go from persecutor to persecuted powerfully demonstrates the reality of the repentance in his life. The same thing is true in Peter’s life as well. You’ll remember that Peter denied Christ three times for fear of suffering alongside Christ. And yet during Peter’s restoration, Jesus gives Peter the chance to say three times that he loves Christ, corresponding to the three times that he denied him.

Yet notice the promise that Jesus gives to Peter even in John 21, 18 and 19. Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

We know from history that Jesus’s words found fulfillment in Peter’s life when he was crucified upside down. Peter also was given the opportunity to demonstrate the reality of his repentance. No more would he deny Christ for fear of persecution, but instead, he would go on to actually die for Christ as he originally confessed that he would in self-confidence but failed to do on the night of his denials.

When you think about it, it is a kindness of the Lord that he gave these men, Peter and Paul, the opportunity, both of them, to demonstrate their repentance in such a radical way through these circumstances. The fact is, true repentance will always produce this kind of 180-degree turn. Look at the way Paul speaks of it even in Ephesians 4, verse 28: "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."

Repentance produces an earnest productivity in the opposite direction of what the actual sin was. Repentance doesn’t just move a thief to stop stealing; it also moves him to the complete opposite direction where he is now actually working so that he may have a surplus to give to others. Repentance brings a complete reorientation and a transformation of heart that leads to love in the opposite direction. But what could account for such a radical transformation in Paul? Only an encounter with the risen Christ.

Let's move into verse 6. "As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me." What’s the point of including this detail that it was at noontime when the light appeared? The point of this detail is that the brightness of Christ’s glory shone brighter than the sun even when it is at its strongest point of the day, at high noon.

The brightest point, and yet this light from Christ engulfs even the light from the sun at high noon. Paul describes his encounter in a way which is really reminiscent of Old Testament encounters with God’s glory. One example we might see is Ezekiel 1:26-28. "And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around."

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it—the response is exactly the same as Paul—"And when I saw it I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking." In a not-so-subtle way here, Paul is identifying Jesus as God, describing this appearance of Jesus with the way that we would expect to hear an appearance of the glory of God himself. The glory of the risen Jesus is the glory of God.

Let’s keep going in verses 7 and 8 and we’ll look at what Jesus says to Paul. "And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'" Notice secondly that to persecute Jesus’s people is to persecute Jesus himself. Jesus addresses Paul by his old name, Saul. Remember that he was Saul before he was Paul.

Then he asks why he’s persecuting him. To persecute the church is to persecute Christ because the church is the body of Christ. This even really speaks to the idea of our union with Christ, that we are in such close personal union with Jesus that to persecute us is to persecute him. That’s how closely connected we are with our Lord.

It really helps us understand that when the world persecutes Christians, it’s just an expression of their hatred for God. They can’t hurt God directly, so they do the next best thing, and that is to hurt his people. But the flip side of that is also true. If to hurt Christ’s people is to hurt Christ, then to love Christ’s people is to love Christ.

We see that even in Matthew 25, this flip side of that equation. This is during the time when Jesus describes the judgment of the sheep and the goats, and look at the way we see a very similar idea here. Matthew 25:34-40: "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Jesus says when you show an act of kindness to even the least of my saints, one of my people, it is received as an act of kindness to me myself.

Back to Paul’s defense, just as there were witnesses to corroborate Paul’s earlier persecution of the church, so too he wants to make very clear that there were witnesses to corroborate Paul’s Damascus Road experience as well. Look at verses 9 through 11. "Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus."

Paul’s encounter with Christ was not an inner, subjective, psychological experience. It was an objectively verifiable event which took place externally in the real world in a way that other people also witnessed. Now, some people might think that verse 22:9 contradicts 9:7, back when we have the first account of Paul’s conversion. Why is that? Why might they think that there’s a contradiction here?

Well, because in Acts 9:7, we read, "The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one." So in chapter 9, they were hearing the voice but seeing no one, and here in chapter 22, it says they saw the light but did not understand the voice. But there is a very simple solution that these are not really contradictory. Paul’s companions saw the light, but they couldn’t make out the distinct form of Jesus. They saw the light, but they saw no one. They didn’t see the figure of Jesus himself.

Likewise, they could hear the sound of the voice talking to Paul, but they could not distinctly make out what was being said in a way that they could actually understand intelligibly. So it’s not really a contradiction. But regardless, here’s the point: they were still present to objectively see the light and hear the sound. It wasn’t just in Paul’s head. And the light was so bright that it blinded Paul so that his companions then had to actually lead him by the hand to Damascus.

Notice Paul’s response to the Lord. He was brought to an utter and complete state of helplessness, being fully overwhelmed by the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And it’s in that condition that Paul, he cannot argue with Christ. The very one whom he believed was a false Messiah and sought to stamp out through persecution, Paul now can do absolutely nothing other than to ask in pure surrender: "What shall I do, Lord?"

That must be the attitude of any of us who are truly confronted with the glory and majesty of Christ in scripture. "What shall I do, Lord? What are your orders? Here I am. I am your servant. Command me." And in obedience to the Lord’s command, he does exactly what he was told: he goes to Damascus where he will meet Ananias. But notice how Paul describes Ananias in keeping with his defense before the crowd, verse 12. "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there."

Once again, remember that Paul is accused of speaking against the law. But he has emphasized that he was expertly trained in the law by Gamaliel, he was zealous just as the crowd is to the extent that he used to persecute the church, and the only thing that changed him was an undeniable encounter with the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And then he went on to receive further instruction from a man who was a devout Jew, observant of the law.

He’s emphasizing that. Paul’s first contact with a Christian was with a Christian who also was faithful to his Jewish heritage. So rather than being against the law, Paul is showing that his whole life has been devoted to it, and even his conversion experience was not contrary to the law but rather was initiated through an encounter with the glory of the very same God who gave the law in the first place.

Verse 13, he goes on. This Ananias "came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him." Ananias is used of the Lord to perform a healing miracle restoring Paul’s sight from blindness. This miracle provides validation to the message which Ananias is about to give, which is really confirming that Ananias really is bringing a message from the Lord.

Observe a few things from Ananias’s message, beginning in verse 14. "And he said, 'The God of our fathers...'" Once again, notice how the Jewish heritage is being emphasized in Paul’s defense. The God who revealed himself to Paul in Christ on the road to Damascus is none other than the covenant God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Paul is stressing that his faith in Jesus is not anti-Jewish. Rather, it is the natural fulfillment and culmination of all that the Old Testament scriptures pointed to. To identify Jesus as Lord is not a break from the faith and storyline of Israel. It is the next step in that same story. But we continue on and Ananias says that the "God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard."

He says that he has appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One. Paul’s healing from physical blindness to regain sight really mirrors and pictures Paul’s transformation from spiritual blindness to spiritual sight, as God literally allowed Paul to see the risen Jesus and trust in him. And that term, "the Righteous One," it’s a Messianic title referring to Jesus as that Messiah.

Isaiah 53:11: "Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." He’s using that Messianic title even in the way he’s describing Jesus here. You can see the sovereignty of God stressed in this whole account. Paul was not seeking Jesus; Jesus simply appeared to Paul on the Damascus road and interjected himself into Paul’s life in a way which absolutely overcame Paul when the time was right.

And all of this happened because it was God who appointed Paul to know his will and to see Jesus. The word translated here as "appointed" in verse 14, it literally means to choose for a particular purpose in advance, to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance. God has already appointed Paul for this life, both of experiencing salvation and apostleship, in advance and chosen to reveal Christ to him for the purpose of making him Christ’s witness to the world.

Paul is now qualified to be Christ’s apostle, since he has seen the glory of the risen Christ and can now be a witness to Christ in his resurrection. In light of this massive transformation that God has wrought in Paul by revealing his Son to him, Ananias urges Paul to respond to express that transformation outwardly through the act of baptism, verse 16. Ananias says, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name."

We don’t have time to give a full explanation of why baptism is not what saves us. But for those who want a more thorough refresher on that question, I would encourage you to go back and listen to Pastor Tim’s message from the Acts series which he gave on March 30, 2025, and the title of that message was called "Baptism and Justification." He deals with this question in a very thorough way there.

For now, we’ll simply note that as MacArthur points out, the phrase "wash away your sins" is grammatically linked to "calling on his name." It’s not grammatically linked to the phrase "be baptized." The act of baptism does not actually wash sins away, but it does symbolize it. The physical washing in the water is a picture and depiction of the spiritual cleansing that has taken place through faith in Christ as we have called on his name.

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. Or we could think of Romans 4. Romans 4 is also dealing with a covenant sign. Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant. Think about circumcision as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. It’s interesting in Romans 4, Paul’s talking about Abraham’s experience, and he says that Abraham was justified before he was circumcised, but he received his circumcision as a sign and a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith before he was circumcised.

If we’re thinking in terms of covenant signs—they're not a one-to-one correspondence, not direct—but we could even perhaps say that baptism is a sign and seal of the righteousness which we already have by faith before we are baptized, and then the baptism is just the outward sign of that inward reality. But let's stop and just summarize Paul’s defense up to this point.

Paul doesn't speak against the people. He's one of them. He respects them, and he used to think exactly like them. Furthermore, he’s not against the law. He understands the law better than anyone, having been trained by Gamaliel, and the only thing that can account for such a radical turnaround in Paul’s view of Jesus is the fact that he had a personal encounter with Christ in all of his glory.

Through that encounter, he came to understand that Christ is not against the law, but rather the fulfillment of it. Faithful law-keeping Jews like Ananias, who also trusted in Jesus, can attest to this fact. For someone as opposed to Christianity as Paul to become its most ardent defender due to this encounter with Christ, it is a powerful argument for the truthfulness of Christianity.

It is as if, in Paul’s defense, he’s saying to the Jewish crowd, "How else can you explain my transformation apart from the reality that Jesus of Nazareth really is the risen and glorified Lord? There is no other explanation of how I could be convinced as I have been." Paul’s transformation could only be explained by a personal encounter with Christ.

Let your own life transformation serve as a living testament to the truth of Christ. Although none of us will see the risen Christ with our own physical eyes until we are with him in glory, the same God who sovereignly revealed Christ’s glory to Paul on the road to Damascus is the same God who opens our spiritual eyes to see Christ’s glory through the pages of scripture.

Listen to how Paul describes this even in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 14 through 18. "But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

Even to this day, when most of his fellow Jews read the Old Testament scriptures, there is a spiritual blindness which prevents them from seeing how those scriptures actually point to faith in Jesus. But through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our eyes are opened to see the glory of Jesus in scripture. As we see Christ’s glory revealed on the page in the word, we are transformed into that same image in increasing degrees, little by little, from one degree of glory to another.

Just as Paul could not encounter Christ’s glory and remain unchanged, the same is true of us. You cannot encounter the glory of Christ through the ministry of the Spirit working through the scriptures and not be changed. If you are truly gripped by Christ in all of his majesty, your whole life will be changed. It will. You won’t be who you once were. Your priorities will change, your beliefs will change, your desires and your affections will change, your goals will change, your attitudes will change, your actions will change, your thoughts will change, your words will change, what you love will change, what you hate will change. You *will* change.

Some of that change may happen very gradually, but it will happen. And the story of how Christ has transformed your life is one of the greatest reasons you have in being able to give a defense of your Christian hope, because the same Christ that appeared on the Damascus road is alive and well today, still transforming lives. When you look at how you used to be and then you look at how you are now, and you see that there is no explanation for this other than the supernatural work of Christ by his Spirit in your heart, your testimony becomes one of the greatest assets that you have in your witness for Christ.

Through your testimony, you can testify to the power of Christ and the reality that his gospel really does save. It saves not just from sin’s penalty, but even from sin’s power. You might then ask: but what if I didn’t have a dramatic Damascus Road type of conversion experience? What if I trusted in Christ when I was five years old and grew up in the church and never went wild out in the world before my salvation?

Well, the fact is, you still know the transforming power of Christ, because even as a believer, you know the things that your sinful flesh still is inclined toward, and yet you also know how you’ve grown to fight and to kill those things more and more over the course of your Christian life. We all know this. What a glorious Christ, to interject himself into our life in just the right way at just the right time, show us who he is, and take command of our life as the powerful and risen Lord that he is. I hope that Paul’s defense shows you that afresh this morning.

There is one more element that we need to see in Paul’s defense briefly, and that is Paul’s defense in relation to the temple. Remember that the crowd also accused him of teaching everyone against "this place." That would be a reference to the temple. Paul’s defense has related to the people, it has involved references to the law, and now we see that he includes reference even to the temple as well in verse 17.

He says, "When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance." You see here another instance of Paul’s commissioning for his apostolic mission to the Gentiles. And it’s actually during the time that he is praying in the temple, in Jerusalem, that he receives this vision of the Lord Jesus and this instruction.

This word "trance," it’s the same word that was used to describe Peter’s experience in chapter 10 when he saw the vision of the clean and the unclean animals coming down on the sheet, which then prepared him to be a witness to the Gentiles as well. There are details of Paul’s story here, as he was in the temple, which are really reminiscent of Old Testament prophetic call narratives. In the Old Testament when some of the prophets are called and commissioned to their ministry, there are these narrative sequences where they get commissioned and there’s certain similarities and patterns about those times when the prophets are called.

There’s going to be some similarities with Paul’s commissioning here, even such as Isaiah’s call. Where is Paul when he receives this vision of the Lord commissioning him to the Gentiles? He’s in the temple. And then if you’ll recall in Isaiah’s vision, when he received his prophetic call to the ministry, he saw a vision of the Lord in his heavenly temple. Isaiah 6:1: "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple." He’s having this vision of the Lord in the temple.

Then let's go on to verse 18 as well. He says that he saw him saying to me, "Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me." In both narratives, the Lord predicts that the Jewish people will not receive the word of the one being commissioned. He says get out of Jerusalem; they’re not going to listen to you. In Isaiah 6, verses 9 through 10, he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and be healed."

When Paul hears the Lord’s statement that the people will not listen, he protests. "And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.'" What is the logic of Paul’s protest here? He’s basically saying, "Everyone knows I used to be the chief persecutor of the church, and for them to see the transformation in my life must clearly show them that something dramatic must have happened to change me in this way. My transformation is convincing proof that Christianity is true, that you, Jesus, really are Lord and Messiah. Surely they will believe me when they see the change in me."

Paul’s logic is correct, but sadly the predicted outcome was not correct. The Lord knew that even despite Paul’s transformation, the people would still not believe. That really shows us the hardness of the unbelieving human heart. You can have all the arguments to support Christianity and the gospel, you can have the compelling testimony of life transformation, and though these are powerful tools to aid us in our witness, even still they in no way guarantee that an unbeliever will actually respond in faith to our witness.

It reminds us that, once again, though we should be ready to give a defense of the reason for our hope in Christ, we know that only God by his Spirit can actually produce that change, and so we leave the outcome ultimately up to him. But in Paul’s objection, we see another similarity even to these Old Testament prophetic call narratives. Think about Isaiah. He objected that he was unworthy: "Woe is me! For I am lost; I am a man of unclean lips." Moses objected to his call by noting that he was "slow of speech and of tongue." Jeremiah objected to his call by saying, "Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."

Just as the Lord overcame all of these objections, so too the risen Christ overcomes Paul’s objection. He doesn’t even argue with Paul. He doesn’t even really respond to what Paul’s objection is. He simply just asserts the command again in verse 21. "And he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" This time he clarifies that because the Jews were largely rejecting Paul and the gospel, he is being sent to witness to the Gentiles who will believe.

Notice the potent strategy of Paul’s defense overall. For his Jewish audience, he has described his call in terms that they would recognize from previous figures they’d be familiar with, the prophets. He just put the Jewish crowd in a position where if they reject him now, they’re actually proving his point. If they don’t listen to Paul on these steps, Paul can say, "See, you’re just reinforcing exactly what the Lord Jesus told me would happen." He’s put them in really a no-win situation.

Furthermore, we see Paul’s wisdom in the way that he has incorporated the temple into his defense. He’s been accused of speaking against the temple. But would someone who is against the temple show respect for it by praying in it? Furthermore, Paul was accused of defiling the temple by bringing a Gentile into it. But it was actually *in* the temple where Paul received a reaffirmation of his call to go to the Gentiles.

Paul is showing throughout the whole defense that, far from being opposed to his Jewish heritage, he himself is deeply Jewish, and everything that he has done for Christ has been in obedience to the God of Israel who has revealed himself and his will to Paul. Nevertheless, with his mention that salvation will now go to the Gentiles, with them having direct access to God without first becoming Jewish, it struck a raw nerve and it's just too much for the Jewish crowd to handle.

Next week’s passage, we see the way they respond to it. Verse 22: "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!'" They listen all the way up until what point? When he says, "Jesus sent me to the Gentiles." They can’t handle it. The mention that salvation is now going to the Gentiles was too much for the crowd to handle. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Do you think that Paul knew that the crowd would likely respond negatively to that? Surely. Yes. Because it's been the major source of contention with the Jews all along. So why did Paul go there? Why include that if he knows it’s probably going to evoke a visceral reaction? Why did he mention that? Because to leave out such a crucial element of his commission would be tantamount to unfaithfulness to the gospel itself, which declares that in Christ, God is saving people from every nation.

We see multiple ways that Paul has sought to appeal to the crowd. He’s done that over and over again to present as winsome of a case as he can to them. But never at the expense of faithfulness to God’s message. That’s where Paul drew the line, and that is where we have to draw the line as well. As a commissioned servant of Christ, Paul prioritized faithfulness to his message over audience appeal.

In your witness for Christ, seek to be as winsome as you can, yes, but never be afraid to offend when necessary. Notice the phrase "when necessary." This is not encouraging you to go out of your way to just try to find inflammatory things to say. But the gospel is naturally offensive. Biblical truth is naturally offensive to a culture which runs in the opposite direction.

Don't be afraid to speak a plain truth which may offend when you sense that leaving it out or omitting it would result in unfaithfulness in the encounter. We want to learn how to relate to people as we witness. Yes, we want to make our gospel conversations as natural as possible. But sometimes you just have to learn when to be okay with a little bit of awkwardness. You have to embrace the fact that your witness is going to make some people feel a little uncomfortable. It’s going to feel hard to embrace that awkward moment or overcome that inhibition when you first start trying, but it’s like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger you’ll grow at taking those opportunities to witness and embrace the awkward if you have to.

Never lose sight of the glory of Christ. Reflect on the ways that his glory has transformed your life. Maybe you’re an unbeliever here this morning and Christ hasn’t transformed your life. Turn to him today in repentance and faith. Trust in him alone and his sacrifice on the cross, his resurrection, that through him and his work alone he can forgive your sins and trust him not only for forgiveness, but also for transforming power. But for the believers who would today say, "Yes, yes, I do see the change that Jesus has made in me," be ready to tell others of how Christ has worked in your life. Because ultimately, an encounter with the glory of Christ produces total life transformation and provides us with a testimony to defend our Christian hope to the lost.