SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 19 July 2026
Sermon Series: “The Acts of the Apostles” (#38)
Sermon Text: Acts 22:30-23:11
Main Points:
Introduction
I. A faithful testimony (22:30-23:1)
II. A living hope (23:2-10)
III. A present Lord (23:11)
Conclusion
The Apostle Paul knew that moments like this would come. When the Lord first called him, Jesus made it clear that Paul would be His chosen instrument to carry His name before Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). Paul understood that bearing witness to Christ would not always lead to acceptance. In fact, it would often bring opposition, hostility, and suffering.
And none of the audiences before whom Paul would testify would be easy. Speaking about Jesus before an angry crowd in the temple courts was already a frightening experience. But standing before rulers and authorities, where his words could determine his freedom or imprisonment, would be no less challenging.
Was Paul naturally courageous enough to face all these challenges? Perhaps, from the outside, we might think so. When we look back over Paul’s ministry, we see a man who preached the gospel in many different places and before many different audiences. It may appear that Paul was a man who was always ready for every challenge.
But we must remember this: Paul was not made of different material from us. He was not some spiritual superhero untouched by fear, weakness, or uncertainty. He was a man of flesh and blood, just like us. The same apostle who experienced the power of God also knew moments of trembling and discouragement.
When the crowd seized him in the temple and tried to kill him, it must’ve been a terrifying experience. And now, standing before the Sanhedrin – the highest Jewish court – Paul faced another deeply confronting moment. These were the very leaders who judged others according to the Law and traditions of Israel. Paul himself had once stood on the other side. He had once approved the persecution of believers in Jesus. But, now, he stood before them as the accused.
Surely, this was not an easy moment for Paul. His circumstances were overwhelming. His future was uncertain. His heart must’ve been troubled. And perhaps, this is precisely why the Lord Jesus appeared to him and said, “Take courage.” Paul needed strengthening. He was faithful, but he was still human. He was courageous, but his courage was not self-generated. His strength came from the presence and promise of his risen Lord.
What is remarkable in this account is that we hear very little about Paul’s fear. Instead, Paul is presented as a man who remains calm, thoughtful, and focused. He carefully observes the situation, and directs the discussion to the central issue – that is, the resurrection hope of God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
In just a few words, Paul gives a faithful testimony. He does not waste the opportunity by merely defending himself. Instead, he brings the court face to face with the truth of the gospel. His composure does not come from confidence in himself. It comes from a deeper reality – Paul is held by a living hope. In other words, hope sustains the witness.
And this is the hope that we consider today as witnesses of Christ. A hope that does not rest on our own strength, courage, or ability, but on the presence of the risen Lord who stands with His people and sustains them.
I. A Faithful Testimony (22:30-23:1)
Standing before the Sanhedrin, Paul looks ‘intently’ at the council and says, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”
This is an astonishing testimony. Why? Because Paul is speaking as the very man who once described himself as “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.” His past was well known – not only to himself, but also to many members of the Sanhedrin. Although Stephen’s execution recorded in Acts 7 had taken place about 25 years earlier, it was undoubtedly one of the defining moments in the early conflict between the Jewish leaders and the church. Many in the Sanhedrin would’ve remembered Stephen’s death, and they would also have known Paul’s former reputation as a fierce persecutor of the followers of Jesus.
For this reason, Paul’s words must never be understood as self-exaltation. He is not saying, ‘Look how good I am.’ Rather, he is saying, ‘Look what the grace of God has done in my life.’ The grace that saved Paul was also the grace that transformed him and enabled him to serve Christ faithfully. This is what he later confesses in 1 Cor. 15:10, saying, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.”
Notice, too, what Paul actually says. He does not claim to have lived a sinless life. He is not declaring his own righteousness. Instead, he speaks of a life lived before God. His conscience is clear because his life is accountable to God’s authority and shaped by God’s revealed will. The issue is not outward religion or human approval, but a conscience that stands before the living God.
That little phrase, “before God,” is the key to understanding Paul’s testimony. Before Paul stood before the Sanhedrin, he had already been living before God. The highest court in Israel might judge him, but there was a higher Judge before whom he had sought to walk faithfully.
This teaches us something essential about Christian witness. Before we speak for Christ, we must first live before God. A faithful witness is not someone who is flawless. A faithful witness is someone who knows that he belongs to Christ and desires to live faithfully before Him.
When our faith is challenged, when people misunderstand us, or even when we’re falsely accused, our confidence cannot rest on public approval or human opinion. Our confidence rests on this: through Christ, we stand accepted before God. A faithful testimony begins not with impressive words, but with a life faithfully lived in the presence of God. That’s what we hear from the Apostle Paul at the beginning of ch. 23.
II. A Living Hope (23:2-10)
As the proceedings continue, Paul directs the council to the very heart of the gospel – that is, the resurrection, the living hope that is found in Jesus Christ. This is the central issue Paul raises in v. 6, in these words, “It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
To understand the significance of his statement, we need to follow what unfolds before the council. When Paul declared that he had lived his life before God in all good conscience, the high priest immediately ordered those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. Paul responded sharply: “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall!”
That’s a striking response. Paul was not claiming sinless perfection. Rather, he was declaring that, since his encounter with the Lord Jesus, his life had been governed by God’s grace and directed toward faithfulness to God’s revealed will.
Yet, the high priest judged Paul unjustly. Before examining the truth of Paul’s testimony, he condemned him. The very man who occupies the seat of judgment failed to exercise righteous judgment. According to God’s Law, the high priest was called to uphold justice – not only in the verdict he reached but also in the way he conducted the proceedings. Yet, his judgment was neither impartial nor righteous. Therefore, Paul’s severe response exposes how seriously spiritual authority had become corrupted.
This exchange reveals something even deeper. It exposes the profound theological gulf between Paul and the council. Paul’s testimony was not a claim of personal righteousness. It was a testimony of a man transformed by God’s saving grace – a man seeking to live before God with a clear conscience. But the high priest interpreted Paul’s words through the lens of human righteousness. He mistook confidence in God’s grace for confidence in oneself.
In doing so, the high priest – and indeed the council he represented – revealed that they no longer understood what is truly meant to live before God.
This explains why the resurrection is not a secondary issue in Paul’s defence. It is the very heart of the matter before the Sanhedrin. Israel’s hope had always rested upon God’s promise to save His people – a salvation that ultimately triumph over sin and death through the resurrection. The prophets had long proclaimed this hope. Now, that hope has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead.
Therefore, Paul is doing far more than defending himself. He is proclaiming the gospel. He does not simply bring a defence before the council. He brings the council before the truth they most desperately need to hear – that is, the hope of Israel has been fulfilled in the risen Christ.
III. A Present Lord (23:11)
Notice, then, how this account ends. After the hostility, the confusion, and the violence, the Lord Jesus Himself stands beside Paul and says, “Take courage”! What does this reveal? It reveals two precious truths.
The first is this: the Lord Jesus never abandons His witnesses. He stands with them and strengthens them.
Perhaps you wonder whether that is true. You may have spoken about Christ to your family, friends, or colleagues, yet the Lord never visibly appeared to you or spoke audibly, saying, ‘Take courage.’
But, my friends, notice carefully what happened to Paul. The Lord did not come to him immediately after the hearing before the Sanhedrin. He came the following night. Paul spent an entire day carrying the weight of that painful experience. Then, at precisely the right time, the Lord stood beside him and strengthened him.
Has the Lord not often dealt with us in the same way? When you’ve felt discouraged in speaking for Christ, when you’ve wondered whether your witness accomplished anything, has the Lord not strengthened you through His Word? Through the preaching of the gospel? Through the encouragement of fellow believers? Has He not quietly renewed your heart and given you fresh strength to continue?
The Lord never abandons His witnesses. He does not merely send them out and leave them to themselves. He is present with them, and He gives them exactly the encouragement they need at exactly the right time.
Paul himself needed that encouragement. His courage was not the product of an unusually strong personality. It was the fruit of God’s sustaining grace. The same Lord who called Paul also strengthened Paul. And the same Lord continues to strengthen His people today!
The second truth is this: Christian witnesses do not need to wait until they feel fearless before speaking for Christ. Faithfulness is not the absence of fear. Faithfulness is obedience sustained by the grace of God.
We must remember who we are. We’re not the authors of the gospel; we’re messengers. A messenger does not invent the message, does not edit the message, nor determines how people will respond. His responsibility is simply to deliver faithfully what has been entrusted to him.
So, it is with us. We proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. We proclaim that everyone who believes in Him receives the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and adoption into God’s family. The message belongs to Christ; the response belongs to Christ.
Notice something else that we don’t read from the text for today. We’re never told whether anyone in the Sanhedrin believed Paul’s testimony. Unlike many other passages in Acts, there is no report of repentance, no record of conversions. No visible fruit. And my fellow believers, this silence is deliberate.
This silence reminds us that God has not entrusted us with the results of our witness. He has entrusted us with the responsibility to bear witness. The outcome belongs entirely to Him. Some will hear and believe; others will reject; many responses will remain hidden from us until the last day. That’s what Paul means when he says in 1 Cor. 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” What a liberating truth! The growth does not depend on us; it belongs to God!
That truth protects us from both pride and discouragement. When people believe, we cannot boast, because only God gives life. When people reject the gospel, we need not despair, because God’s purposes are often accomplishing far more than we can presently see.
Conclusion
After a day filled with hostility, misunderstanding, and violence, Christ Himself comes to His servant. Notice what the Lord does not do. He does not congratulate Paul for a successful defence. He does not reveal the outcome of the Sanhedrin’s decision. Instead, He gives Paul exactly what he needs most – that is, God’s presence, His encouragement, and His promise.
This is the Lord’s pattern for caring His witnesses. Those who faithfully bear witness may not always see visible success. But, they will always know the faithful presence of their Lord. Christ strengthens those whom He sends; He preserves those whom He calls; and He accomplishes His purposes through those who faithfully testify to Him, Christ.
Therefore, my fellow witnesses of Christ Jesus, hope sustains the witness. Our confidence does not rest in our courage. It does not rest in our eloquence, or the visible results of our works. Our confidence rests in the risen Christ – the sovereign Lord who sends us, who stands with us, and who accomplishes His saving purposes through our faithful witness. ***
St Columba's Presbyterian Church 