In his sermon titled 'Testifying to Your Enemies,' Peter Allison emphasizes Paul's strategic approach in addressing a hostile crowd in Acts 21:40 to 22. Paul, having been seized and beaten by Jews and then rescued by Romans, is allowed to speak to the crowd. He builds rapport by speaking in Hebrew and addressing them respectfully as 'fathers and brothers,' which quiets the crowd. Paul identifies himself with them by sharing his background and his past persecution of Christians, thereby gently confronting their sin by acknowledging his own past misdeeds. He underscores the sovereign grace of God by describing his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, where Jesus Christ directly revealed Himself to Paul, a demonstration of God's initiative in salvation. Allison contrasts Paul's approach to that of Peter's blunt confrontation in Acts 2 and highlights how both methods are used by God. Paul’s testimony and his life transformation illustrate the power of forgiveness and the hope available to all sinners. Ultimately, the sermon encourages believers to testify boldly about their faith, regardless of the anticipated reception.

Acts chapter 21, we'll read the last verse, verse 40, and into chapter 22. Paul has been seized by the Jews in the temple as he was completing the, before the completion of the purification that he was doing. It's a weak process. He's been beaten by these Jews and saved by the Romans. And he's secured from the Kiliarch an opportunity to address them, which he now does.

And we pick up verse 40, chapter 21. So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying, Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now. And when they heard that He spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then He said, I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our Father's law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the High Priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon. Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me, and I fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, Who are You, Lord? And He said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. And those who were with Me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.

So I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise and go to Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do. And since I could not see for the glory of that light being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. And then a certain Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me and he stood and he said to me, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that same hour, I looked up at him.

Then he said, the God of our fathers has chosen you, that you should know His will and see the just one and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Now it happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple that I was in a trance, and saw Him saying to me, Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me. So I said, Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on you.

And when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. Then he said to me, Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' And they listened to Him until this word. And then they raised their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live. Then they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air. And the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and that he should be examined under scourging so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

May we love His law such that it is our meditation all the day. Heavenly Father, You have caused the scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may hear them and read them and mark them and learn them and inwardly digest them in such a way that by the patience and comfort of Your Word, we may embrace them and hold fast the sure and faithful Word of Truth. And I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips, that they may proclaim the riches of your grace in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Please. Well, last week we saw Paul's love for his enemies, as shown by the steps that he took to seize or even create an opportunity to bring the Gospel to his fellow countrymen, to set up what we just read. And today we want to examine the sermon, the message that he delivered to his fellow countrymen, and the steps that he took to induce this angry crowd, this mob, to listen to him. A crowd that, you know, you remember minutes ago was beating him with the intent to kill him. And I'd like to break this this morning into three main headings.

I won't call them points, but just three main emphases. And the first is how he builds rapport with this group, these people that were trying to kill him. Secondly, his identification of their sin, their transgression of the law, that's an important part of the Gospel. It's a necessary part of the Gospel. But we want to look at how He does it in this case.

And third, how He testifies to the sovereign grace of God. That's also an indispensable part of the Gospel. And we see each of these three themes or foci in this testimony. But first Paul builds rapport with the people to whom he wants to witness to preach the Gospel. That's important.

And the first way that Paul builds this report is addressing them in their native tongue. He spoke in polished or high Greek to the Kiliarch, which surprised that Roman tribune. Didn't expect that. He thought that Paul was some zealot, not a Roman, not somebody who knew polished Greek. But now Paul seamlessly switches to Hebrew.

It could have been the dialect that the Jews spoke on returning from Babylon, which was Hebrew mixed with Syriac. And many, if not most, commentators believed that Paul was speaking in Aramaic. And there are some dynamic equivalence translations, like the NIV, that actually translate it and say he spoke to them in Aramaic. But I think it was Hebrew. The text says Hebrew, not Aramaic.

And there was a different Greek word for Aramaic. It was known and used by the Jews. Josephus, a contemporary of this time, used this word, the other word in his writings, the Septuagint used, or another word for Aramaic. The Bible says Hebrew. I think the effect on the crowd is also an indication that He spoke in Hebrew.

So they quieted down when they saw Paul's success in petitioning the Kiliarch to be allowed to speak to them. Remember they, you know, Paul asked the Kiliarch, can I ask you a question? And the Kiliarch, he does it in Greek and the Kiliarch is surprised. And so here's Paul in chains, he's being carted off into the fortress, the barracks, Antonio, and now he's asking this question, and the Kiliak stops and allows Paul to address them. So I think that caught the Jews a little bit off guard as well.

When they saw this change of heart in the Kiliarch, and so they quieted down when Paul motioned with his hand that he would like to address them. But when they heard that he spoke in Hebrew, Luke says they became even more quiet. Even more quiet than they had become. Because the Israelites were raised with a reverence for the Hebrew language. In the rabbinic tradition, it was called the tongue of the Torah, the tongue of angels, the tongue of heaven, the holy tongue.

They had a reverence such that they wouldn't even say the Lord's name. They had a reverence for Hebrew, the Hebrew tongue, the Hebrew language. And that may be one factor why when they heard it, they became even More quiet. Now this is the same tactic that President John F. Kennedy used in his famous speech when he addressed some 120, 000 Germans on the steps of the West Berlin capital on June 26, 1963, about six months before he died.

He wanted to endear himself to those people, and so he spoke in German. And In his speech he said, 2000 years ago, the proudest boast was Kiwis Romanus Sum. I am a Roman. Today in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner. He spoke it in German.

And the crowd broke into applause. He had to work very hard on that. Biographers say that he spent quite a bit of time, days, weeks, preparing, having people train him to be able to say this in German with the correct pronunciation. Because apparently, although he was a very bright man, he didn't have a great gift for languages, they discovered. But he worked at it because he wanted to say it in German to these German people.

He wanted to endear himself to them. And so when the crowd broke out in applause, one of his biographers commenting on that said, quote, Kennedy who fiddles a bit with his suit jacket is grinning like a boy who has just pulled off a coup." Well, by the grace of God, Paul pulled off a bit of a coup, but unlike President Kennedy, Paul didn't respond with any self-satisfaction at this. He did this so that he might build rapport and be able to speak to these people who only moments ago were trying to kill him. And he continues to build rapport by addressing them very respectfully in verse 1, saying, Fathers and brothers. That's a reverent and even deferential form of address.

It's how we formally in the Presbytery address the Presbytery. Fathers and brothers showing respect. See, these were people who moments ago were beating him, trying to kill him. They were a mob. And now he's speaking to them as if they had honored him.

And I think this is an excellent example of both a soft answer and the power of a soft answer to turn away wrath. He doesn't harshly condemn them. He doesn't accuse them of being unjust, which they certainly were, beating him without a trial, unconvicted on rumors that were not true. Both of those responses, condemning them, accusing them, rebuking them, sternly, would have been completely understandable. But that's not what He does.

And please don't dismiss the humility that a soft answer in this context demonstrates. When someone has just mistreated us, when someone has just wronged us, when someone has just falsely accused us of doing something that we didn't do and brought some degree of shame to us, our natural response is to point it out, to seek to be vindicated in some way. It may even be to demand an apology. The natural response is to assume the moral high ground. And in effect, look down on people who have just mistreated us.

But that's not what Paul does here. This is Paul loving in deed and in truth and not in word or tongue as John teaches us. Now you might say, but Peter, aren't these just words he's saying? How is this loving in deed and truth? Yes, those are words that He's saying, but they're not just words.

See, with those words, Paul is returning good for evil. He is blessing those who were persecuting and showing kindness to those who were spitefully using Him. So those aren't just words. You know, you parents know how hard it can be for one of your children to acknowledge that they are wrong and ask a sibling for their forgiveness. The words just get stuck, don't they?

It's hard, because it's humbling. In fact, it can be hard for us too as adults, isn't it? Because It takes humility to express words from the heart. It takes humility to speak kindly to those who have just mistreated us or wronged us. An example of loving in word and tongue and not indeed in truth would be telling someone who is shivering in the cold to hope you get warm, but never giving them any means, a blanket, a coat, or some other way to get warm.

That would be loving in word and tongue. But that's not what Paul is doing. He's loving in deed and in truth in showing honor to these people. And it's not insignificant that Paul asked them to hear his defense. And this also is showing a measure of deference.

If a defendant in court refuses to speak to the court, refuses to give an explanation or defense, They are showing extreme disregard for the court, aren't they? That's what Ratko Milotic, the commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, did at his trial before the prominent UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague and Netherlands. And many other less prominent defendants do that too. He refused to enter a plea to the charges against him. He denounced the allegations as obnoxious and refused to even participate in any defense.

And for the Jews, on the Jews part, even the most corrupt courts want to make at least a pretext of allowing a defendant to give a defense, to speak in their defense. Even Roland Freisler, that most corrupt Nazi judge who presided over the kangaroo trials of the Sophie and Hans Scholl of the White Rose fame. Even he allowed them to speak a word in their defense, at least a little while, before he cut them off. So Paul is here showing deference to them in wanting to give it a defense. And they have a natural inclination to at least give the defendant a little bit of a chance to give the pretense of justice.

And so they quiet and they listen. And Paul begins his talk and the first thing that he does then is to build rapport, is to identify himself with them ethnically. I am a Jew, he said. He didn't trot out his Jewish credentials and identity to the Greeks in Athens in Acts 17. There he comments on the town and quotes their poets.

But here Paul is being all things to all people so that by all means, He might save some. And these are Jews, and so He identifies with them. He also identifies His birthplace as Tarsus. Tarsus was the chief city of Cilicia. And it rivaled Athens and Alexandria in its wealth and as a great center of learning in that world.

You notice this is the second time in the span of mere minutes, maybe even seconds, that Paul identifies himself as a citizen of Tarsus, of Tulliscia. He said, as he told the Kiliarch, it's a city of No mean insignificance. It's helping to build his credibility with these people. He's saying he wasn't a backwoods redneck, as we would say in our day. He wasn't from the sticks who didn't have a refined education.

No, he's saying he came from a center of great learning. It's like saying you have a Harvard MBA or a Wharton MBA, an Ivy League education, that you've interned with the office of the president or something. This is what he's doing. He's giving his credentials where he came from. Paul then highlights his connection with their city, Jerusalem.

He was brought up, He said, in their city. In other words, He's saying, I'm one of you. He presents credentials and experience that they would Respect. He says he was a disciple of Gamaliel. He was educated as a Jew in the details of the law according to the fathers.

These are things that they valued. This is what they thought of themselves. And he was zealous toward God and he says, as you are. He was zealous. He recognized their zeal.

And he said, I was that way. And these things that he mentions here, being a disciple of Gamaliel, educated as a Jew, zealous for the law, these are impeccable credentials for a Jew. Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel, the elder according to some sources. He was a leader of the Sanhedrin along with the high priest, Ananias. He was a distinguished teacher of the law.

He was the very first to be honored with the title Rabban, our master or teacher. Gamaliel is known for his humane interpretation of the law. And I think one example of his prominence among The Jews is demonstrated in Acts 5, 33 and following, where in his speech before the Sanhedrin, he completely changes the direction of the Sanhedrin. They were wanting to punish the apostles. They were plotting how they could kill them.

And he rises up and gives a speech and completely changes the course of the Sanhedrin. I think that's a very telling example of how influential and how highly he was regarded among the Jews. And he would have probably just recently died, less than ten years prior to this. So he's somebody that these people would have known. He's throwing out a name and saying, I was his disciple.

Since Paul was in Jerusalem and witnessed and he even says condoned Stephen's murder, he may have very well been in the Sanhedrin at that meeting that Gamaliel spoke. It might have been a subtle reminder to them. Remember Gamaliel and what he did. He highlights his strict observance of the ceremonial law. This was the very issue over which they were enraged, that he was teaching the Jews to deny the ceremonial law, not to keep it.

So he highlights that he was zealous for that law. Now notice what he doesn't mention here. He makes no mention of being a Pharisee. Because that would have alienated him from half the crowd. And we'll see shortly in the next chapter, that's exactly what he does in the next chapter.

He does mention him being a pharaoh, because he wanted to divide the crowd at that point. But at this point, that's not what he wants to do. And so he doesn't mention being a Pharisee that would have alienated all the Sadducees. So all these things Paul is doing very seamlessly, naturally, to build this rapport. But He also confronts their sin.

But He confronts their sin in such a way as One who has done the same thing they have done and are doing. He does it in a way that maintains and even has the potential to increase the rapport that he has established. His zeal for the law, which remember he said he acknowledged they had as well, led him to persecute the way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women. So he's saying, you're zealous for the law, I was zealous for the law, and that led to me persecuting to the death. He's taking responsibility for murder here.

Unjust killing of men and women. Of bringing them in chains to Jerusalem. You see, He said, you're also zealous for the law. You see how He's very gently pointed out their sin to them, but He's done it in such a way that he says, I was guilty of the same thing. And this is very different, very different, than Peter's sermon to the Jews in Acts 2, where he plainly and bluntly assigned to the Jews responsibility for the unjust murder of Jesus Christ.

He said there to the Pentecost Jews in Acts 2, men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, same title that Paul uses here, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death." That was a direct confrontation of their sin. And he does the same thing in Acts 3. On the portico, after healing the lame man, he preached another sermon. He says, but you denied the Holy One, the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. And you killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses." See, the Lord uses both of these presentations or sermons, both types the Lord uses.

Some ministers like John Newton, who was a profane slave trader, or Augustine who was a promiscuous playboy living with a mistress and having a son out of wedlock. They have conversions like Paul and are saved from wicked and blasphemous lives. And their presentation of the Gospel, their preaching is going to come from that context. And the Lord will use that. He'll use it mightily.

Others have no memory of ever being outside of Christ or estranged from His church. You see, when Paul is admitting to having done exactly the same things that the Jews were doing to Paul, he's pointing out their sin by pointing back at himself. Paul's able to talk freely about his past because he's been forgiven and he's been cleansed. When Christ forgives, when He cleanses, He removes the guilt and the shame of our sin and he casts it behind his back. He told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6-9, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were, it's past tense, were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified.

You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Such were some of you. You're no longer those things. You are washed. You are cleansed.

And the shame is removed. And so Paul is able to talk freely about his past murders. You see, Paul's openness about his past life brings hope. It offers hope to those who have similar backgrounds. He's someone who could identify.

He's someone that people with a similar background could identify with as somebody who understood their position. And He brings hope that they too can be cleansed so that they are no longer those things. God doesn't view Paul as the murderer. He's Paul the Saint. He's Paul the Apostle.

And the same with us, whatever our past lives. When we come to Christ, old things have passed away. All things have become new. We're new creatures. We have a new name.

We have a new song in our lips. We have a new heart. We're just entirely new. We have a new mind. Being able to talk freely about it isn't the same as glorying in it though, or exploiting it for profit or fame.

It's an exercise in humility. That it's only by the grace of God that we are changed and cleansed from these things. And those who never remember a day outside of Christ also need to learn the exact same humility. And sometimes that can be harder for them, because they may see themselves as better in some way. They've never done those things.

They've never lived a promiscuous life. There are no children out of wedlock running around the world. But I would say to you people, you need to know, And not just say, you need to know in your heart that in the words of the 16th century reformer John Bradford, there but for the grace of God go I. There but for the grace of God go I. There's no difference.

The third thing we see Paul doing in this message is to proclaim the sovereign grace of God. In his witness to his enemies, he proclaims a sovereign Christ. But he does it by showing them rather than telling him. This whole testimony has been about demonstrating as opposed to saying it. He's showing them.

He's showing them from His own life that God cleanses sinners. And now He shows them from His own life that God is sovereign. It's Jesus Christ that pursued Saul. There's nothing that Saul did to seek after the Lord. He'd say, I was riding on a horse to a city to do something, and next thing I know, I'm on the ground.

I'm knocked to the ground by light. I'm overpowered and blind." See, there was no inclination in Saul to seek after God. He wasn't looking for God. God sought him. And Jesus Christ overpowered Saul.

He rendered Saul helpless. Saul thought he was a pretty powerful guy. He had letters from the high priest that gave him extraordinary rendition today. Basically, that's what he had. He had letters of extraordinary rendition.

To take people out of their country and bring them to another country to be tortured. That's a measure of power. And here he is completely overpowered. He says, I fell to the ground. I was overpowered.

The bright light that shone. And he said later in his testimony, he said that light was brighter than the sun. It's a great power. After falling to the ground, he then hears a voice calling him to account for what he's doing. Jesus Christ held Paul accountable.

He says, why are you persecuting Me? See, Jesus is the Lord, the sovereign, even though Paul doesn't acknowledge that fact at this point. Jesus is holding him accountable for breaking His law, for persecuting him. We also see the particular nature of grace. Jesus speaks here only to Saul.

Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me." All the others that are with him, the people that were going to do the actual resting and roughing up the people, they couldn't hear anything. God in His grace has sought Paul. He's overpowered Paul. But only Paul can hear. Isn't that so like what we see today?

Two people can hear the exact same message. They can read the exact same words in the Bible, and one hears the call of Christ, and the other doesn't. That's the particular sovereign grace of God. The next thing he shows to them is that all sin is against God. All sin is against God.

Paul was murdering people unjustly. That's what murder is, killing people unjustly. But Jesus says, why are you persecuting me? David expresses the same sentiment. He had sinned against Uriah, murdered Uriah, and committed adultery with his wife.

But in Psalm 51, he says, against you, you only have I sinned. You only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge." You see, Jesus also identifies Himself with His people that those who persecute His people are persecuting Him. Remember Matthew 25. I don't have time to read the whole passage, but remember when He set the sheep and the goats on His right hand. And He said to those on His right, Come, blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom.

For when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink." And so on. And the people say, Lord, when did we do this to You? We don't remember doing that. And He said, Well, inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me." And then he would say to the people on his left, "'Depart from me, you cursed it into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Because when I was hungry, you gave me no food. When I was thirsty, you gave me no drink." And they're going to say to Him, Lord, when do we ever see You hungry and not do something for You, not feed You? And He will say to them, Surely I say to you, inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but they're righteous to everlasting life or eternal life. All sin is against God. And that's brought out.

Paul brings that out in his testimony. We see next in Saul's demonstration of the sovereign grace of God that Jesus reveals himself to Saul. We can't know God unless He reveals Himself. Paul says, who are you? Who are you?

And Jesus says, I am Jesus of Nazareth. Now Nazareth was a lowly place. Remember one of the disciples heard that and they said what good can come from Nazareth? That was the other side of the tracks, as we say today. Jesus identifies Himself as there, from Nazareth.

Verse 14. We, In the words of Ananias, we see that God chose Saul. The God of our fathers has chosen you. The sovereign grace of God, Paul didn't choose the Lord. God chose him to be his messenger.

He chose him to know his will and to see the just one and to hear the voice of his mouth. That's speaking of salvation. To know His will, to hear His voice, that's salvation. God chose Paul to be saved. And He didn't choose all the other people that were with Him.

We also see though that Paul acknowledges Jesus as His Lord. He says, what shall I do? What shall I do? In verse 10. You see, the direction and course of Paul's whole life has now changed.

Jesus is now his Lord. He's asking Him, Lord, what should I do? And from that moment on, He served the Lord. He never continued his old mission. He dropped it.

And he's told that he would be sent far away to the Gentiles. It's when they hear the word Gentiles, and Paul being sent to the Gentiles with the Gospel, that all of a sudden pandemonium breaks out again. And these Jews go a bit crazy. They start tearing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air, and raising a rabble. They reject that message.

We don't know if any of them in that crowd were saved or not. But what it does show us, this whole episode just shows us how Paul testified to them, probably knowing what kind of reaction he would get. And how often do we not witness to people because we know they won't receive it? You know, we might be right 99% of the time, that they're going to reject us, that they're going to consider us foolish, or stupid, or whatever, naive, because we try to witness to them. Paul wasn't any of those things.

He knew they might not listen. Probably wouldn't. In fact, He was told they wouldn't. Get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they won't receive your testimony concerning Me. That's what He was told.

God told them that. But He comes back and He's willing to witness to them again. It's a good reminder for us that even when we know, and are probably right most of the time, that shouldn't stop us from being willing to look foolish for the sake of Christ. It shouldn't stop us from not being unashamed of Christ and His Gospel. I know that's something I have to remind myself.

We need to witness to people regardless of whether we rightly, many times rightly, perceive that they won't hear us. We need to do it in a way that builds rapport. We need to do all that we can to reach out to them and to connect with them. But we need to testify to their sinfulness and their need of a Savior and the sovereign grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God equip us to do that.

Heavenly Father, We thank you for the richness of your Word, for its thoroughness and completeness, that through it we are able to be thoroughly furnished and equipped for every good work. Lord, may you nourish us and equip us this morning, that we would be able to boldly testify to your sovereign grace, to the forgiveness of our sins, and to the glorious and blessed news of your great redemption, that you are our Redeemer who buys us back from bondage to sin and to the evil one. You have purchased our freedom with your precious blood. And you have appeased the wrath of Almighty God so that we can have peace. Lord, we know that the Gospel is not about us, that it is about your kingdom and your glory.

We ask that you would take our eyes off of ourselves and off of comfort and enable us to proclaim your gospel with boldness, to enable us to endure the afflictions that you have said will come, and to enable us to do so with joy, knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us. Through Jesus we ask, Amen.