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Main Idea
We all bear witness to Jesus through our testimony.
Opener – Isaiah and the burning coal – Isa 6:1-8
This chapter is divided into two broad sections:
1. Paul’s testimony
2. The reaction to his testimony
Passage
Acts 22:1–21 CSB
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of our ancestral law. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished. “As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’ “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus. Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there, came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth, since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ “After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’ “He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
Structure of a testimony
Today is a Masterclass on how to effectively give your testimony.
Interestingly, Paul gives his testimony in the same structure we are encouraged to share ours today:
1. What your life was like before you were saved.
2. The salvation experience.
3. What life was like afterward.
Life Before Christ
Establishes credibility by:
• addressing them in relational terms – as brothers and fathers (also reflects Ananias’ attitude toward him).
• speaking in Aramaic (local dialect) – story of Paraguay – learning Guaraní.
• establishing intellectual roots by being from Tarsus.
• connecting culturally as a Jew who lived in Jerusalem (“brought up in this city”).
• establishing superior education and authority by being a student of Gamaliel.
• shared purpose – I persecuted ‘the Way’ and condemned all who followed it inside and outside Jerusalem.
A big part of your testimony is showing your audience that you feel their pain; that you know what it’s like to feel shame, regret, and hopelessness. Because you’ve been where they are now, you can lead them out.
Paul’s Conversion
While traveling to persecute Christians, Christ shows up.
Jesus equates persecuting His people to persecuting Him directly.
Before going to Damascus, Jesus informs Paul that he has been ‘appointed to’ a mission.
Jesus sends Paul to Ananias, who, though scared of Saul, who is ‘the persecutor, ‘ and welcomes him as a brother.
Ananias confirms that the “God of our Fathers” has appointed him to:
1. Know His will (and reveal Himself to Paul) – famed student of Gamaliel- you may have knowledge, but you haven’t learned God’s will (which is what he did in Arabia – he learned from God Himself.
2. See the Righteous One (used twice in Acts: 3:14;7:52 and a reference to Isaiah 53:11)
Isaiah 53:11 ESV
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.
3. Hear the words of His mouth (addressed by Him directly)
4. So that he could be God’s martyr (witness). Martyr in the Greek has two meanings:
a. A witness who testifies in legal matters
b. A person who loses their life for their faith
Psalm 116:15 ESV
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
In this moment, Paul tells the Jewish mob what Ananias was declaring to him in Acts 9. Jesus is Yahweh. The Righteous One is God Himself. That is central to any testimony.
Now, get to it! Why are you waiting??? Receive Christ, be baptized, and be His witness wherever He sends you!
This is another example of a believer’s baptism, where Paul is baptized by having his sins washed away by calling on His (Jesus’) name. The baptism is the outward witness of the inward renewal.
Life Afterward
Paul recounts a vision when he returned to Jerusalem three years later that is not found in the first account of his conversion.
This is another connection between Paul and Peter.
This vision took place at the temple, which would be communication from God at His house on holy ground. Like Isaiah and Samuel before him, Paul heard the word of the Lord in the house of the Lord.
In a vision, God told him to leave because they wouldn’t accept his testimony.
Paul replies with his approval of Stephen’s death, suggesting he might have a powerful witness among the Jewish Christians there.
But God, knowing they would not accept Paul’s testimony, says to GO and then elaborates on the mission: “I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”
Paul once rooted his identity in who he was, what he knew, and what he did. Something changed. Though he loves the Jews, he no longer defines himself by his ethnicity. Though he loves God’s law, he is no longer defined by his prestigious education. Though he loved the power that came with sanctioned hits on the Christian community, his ties with the religious elite paled in comparison to the new identity he has found in Christ Jesus and the purpose he now has as an agent of God’s Kingdom to the Gentiles.
You may not have had Paul’s dramatic conversion experience. Still, you do have an equally powerful and effectual testimony because you have a story with the same component parts. You know what you were like before you received Jesus as your Savior. You know how He changed you and how you have grown spiritually afterward. Every story of a redeemed life is powerful. Every story of God’s grace in the gospel applied to a human soul is transformative. Why? Because the gospel is the power to salvation.
The Jews no longer have to look to the sacrificial system for the removal of their sins. The God who demands a blood sacrifice to remove sin is the one who shed His own once for all time.
Passage
Acts 22:22–30 ESV
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.” And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
Jewish reaction
They were hanging with him until he mentioned that God was reaching out to the Gentiles. That straw broke the camel’s back and justified their slanderous accusations.
When you give your testimony, there are only two responses: acceptance or rejection. But, there is a spectrum of emotion within those two responses.
So, what was the response of the Jews? They were on the extreme end of rejection. They wanted Paul dead! They were like a bull who sees red. They roared, kicked up dust, and charged.
Their reaction was no different than the Jewish crowd who called for Jesus’ execution.
They somehow forgot passages like Isaiah 49:6, which says:
Isaiah 49:6 NIV
he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Unfortunately, sometimes your testimony will fall on deaf ears. But remember, your job is not to save them, your job is to tell them. God does the saving. As long as you are faithful to tell, you will retain a 100% success rate.
Roman reaction
Paul was brought back into the barracks and stretched out to be flogged (with the flagrum, not a lictors’ rod, like in Philippi).
Only then did Paul reveal that he was a Roman citizen by birth.
Claudius marveled at this because he had to purchase his citizenship, which means that Paul outranked Claudius in this context.
The Centurion and Claudius immediately ceased because punishing a Roman citizen without due process had steep consequences.
Roman delegation
Claudius realized he was firmly wedged between a rock and a hard place but is a persistent man.
He decided to let Jewish leaders take care of their own drama, sent Paul to the Sanhedrin, and got a report back from them.
Takeaway
Don’t underestimate, undervalue, or underutilize your testimony. Because again, as long as you are faithful to share the good news, you have a 100% success rate. Your job is to tell. God’s job is to save.
We all have a story of an encounter with the Righteous One who opened our eyes to see His glory, redeemed us, reconciled us to the Father, and gave us a purpose.
We all get to be martyrs (in the sense of being a witness) who point to the love, grace, and majesty of the one who saved us.
Therefore, we must be unafraid and willing to be martyrs (in the first sense) every day to those around us, and we love our Savior so much that we are willing to be His martyrs (in the second sense) if that is what God wants from us.