Where Are the Truth Tellers? (Acts 23, Jeff Kliewer)

Sunday morning to remember Jesus that you rose from the dead, you are alive, you are the truth, and this morning we're here for you.

All we desire in this life when it really comes down to it is you, to know you and to make you known.

We pray Lord that this morning would be devoted to you in our hearts, that in our hearts we would consecrate

Jesus as Lord. We pray that this morning as we look into your word that you would change the way we think to make us more

Christ -like. We pray that you would sanctify us by your truth, your word is truth.

We pray that you would help us not to be distracted by the million details that all of us have to handle in the course of a week, but we pray that this hour, this hour

Lord, would be yours. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Hans Christian Andersen is famous for his short fable,

The Emperor's New Clothes, and the story goes that there were some swindlers who went to a town boasting that they had a fabric that was invisible to anybody who was stupid or who was unfit for their own occupation, and these swindlers could weave this fabric and make a garment, and as long as you weren't stupid or unfit for your occupation, then the fabric would be visible to you.

So of course the Emperor, who was a vain kind of guy, very much into himself, and he loved his dressing robe, and he would get all dressed up every day, well he heard about these guys and he thought,

I have to have that. I need those clothes. So he commissioned them to make the

Emperor some new clothes. Well once the work was almost finished, the minister of the town was sent to inspect the

Emperor's new clothes. However, when he got there and he looked, he saw nothing but air.

It was invisible to him, so in his mind he thought, what, I must be stupid or I must be unfit to be a minister, but he couldn't accept that fact, so what did he do?

He began to lie and to say how beautiful were the colors of the Emperor's new clothes, and how amazing were these new garments, and he went back telling everybody that the garments are beautiful and amazing and the colors are stunning.

Finally the Emperor went to see his new clothes, and sure enough he couldn't see anything, but not wanting to look unfit for his work and not wanting to look stupid, he marveled at how great they looked.

He just assumed he couldn't see it because he was either unfit for his work or stupid, and sure enough he dressed up in his new clothes, which was nothing, and paraded around through the town, and nobody was willing to say that the

Emperor had no clothes. No one was willing to tell the truth, except one little girl or boy.

A child yelled out, but he's wearing no clothes, to which everybody at first held that child to scorn because they didn't want to look like they were agreeing with him, until finally the truth overtook the lie, and at the end of the poem, end of the story, the

Emperor is still parading, refusing to admit that he's wearing no clothes. We live in a culture that's telling lies in every direction, and they're trying to silence us from telling the truth.

We need to be willing to say that the Emperor has no clothes. Now if Paul has any problems in his life,

Paul's problem is not with telling the truth. Paul is very direct in the things that he says.

In fact, at one point he's writing a letter, and the church that he's been leading is dismissing his leadership and beginning to follow some other super apostles of some sort, and he says to them, have

I become your enemies by telling you the truth? He knew the cost of telling the truth.

In the story of the Emperor's new clothes, the minister lied. The minister joined in the chorus of the culture because he was afraid of looking stupid.

He was afraid of looking unfit for his job, and today we live in a culture where even the ministers are echoing the lies of our culture.

Sadly, but the Emperor has no clothes. The main idea

I want to communicate today is that when you tell the truth in a hard situation, it will be harder for you.

You will get hit for that. There will be a cost to telling the truth. Someone will call you an enemy for telling the truth, and yet it's better, and in the end this is the path that leads to life.

Truth telling leads to life, so we need to have courage to tell the truth.

We need to have courage to stand upon the Word of God in a culture that has no clothes.

So let's turn to Acts chapter 23. We're nearing the end of the book, and if you're like me, the first 20 chapters of Acts just captivate, and then the last chapters, there's so many trials and so much back and forth that it kind of, in my mind, almost blended together like a mush.

So going through and studying for this sermon series has been really helpful for me to really recognize the value of these last chapters of the book of Acts, and today

I think this concept of telling the truth, even if it hurts. There might be a husband and a wife that you're struggling, and you've seen a pattern of behavior in your spouse, and you know if you tell them what you know to be true, it will be painful, but to tell the truth is the very thing that that relationship needs.

On the other side of truth, there will be healing, there will be growth. Truth is the best path, even if it's painful for a time.

So we're gonna see Paul get hit. For what? For telling the truth.

Acts chapter 23. Follow along as we read. We'll do the first five verses to begin.

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers,

I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.

And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. That's a good one right there.

Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?

Those who stood by said, would you revile God's high priest? And Paul said,

I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

So here we have Paul the truth -teller in a confrontation with a liar.

Now he doesn't know at the first that this is the actual high priest over Israel, but look back with me at verse 1, chapter 23, verse 1.

Looking intently at the council. This is the council of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is the 70, the 70 ruling elders of Israel.

Remember, it was the tribune, the Roman leader, who rescued Paul when he was being beaten by the

Jews, and he took Paul out of that situation. But now Paul's been brought back to the council to say, look, let's sort this out, what's going on.

The tribune wants to know, so he demands, he commands that the

Sanhedrin meet and tell what is going on. He brings Paul in front of them, let's sort this out, what is happening here.

Paul says, brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.

That's a bold statement. Now remember, when Paul says that, he also understands that it's not his conscience that makes him innocent.

In 1st Corinthians 4 .4, Paul says, my conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

It is the Lord who judges me. Paul is saying, I'm not aware of any lies

I've told, I've not operated in deceit in any way in the preaching of the gospel. He's not claiming to be perfect, but he says he has a clear conscience.

In preaching Christ on the streets of Jerusalem, he has nothing to apologize for.

He recognizes, however, that standing before the Lord, there will be hidden faults.

And this is the case with all of us. Our conscience might be clear, but that does not make us innocent.

Did you know that in America today, there was a poll done, and there's still a vast majority of people in this country believe in heaven and hell.

But 99 % of all Americans believe that they are going to heaven.

Their conscience is not pricked. Their conscience is not guilty.

No matter what behavior people are engaged in, they believe they are going to heaven.

Now, how could that be the case? According to 1st Timothy 4 .2, there are teachers who are, in fact, liars who teach false doctrines and tell people what their itching ears want to hear.

And Paul describes this as a conscience that's seared as with a hot iron.

An iron has seared the conscience. What used to be soft and had feeling in it is now calloused and hard.

Just because someone has a clear conscience doesn't mean that they're operating in the truth. However, conscience is a gift from God.

It's possible for us to so ignore the voice of conscience that our conscience becomes clear, becomes seared.

But conscience is a gift from God that tells us when we're violating the moral law of God.

We as Christians should be able to say with Paul, my conscience is clear. And recognize that does not make us innocent.

So he truly says, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.

And now, juxtaposed to that truthfulness, that clearness of conscience where there's no guile, there's only what it is.

Paul doesn't trick or deceive. He tells things the way they are. Now juxtapose that to verse 2, and the high priest

Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

If you tell the truth and the degree to which you tell the truth boldly, you will be persecuted.

In a culture that has departed from the Word of God, it is the truth tellers that are held up to the most shame.

The people who will be ridiculed in the media and in the culture, in the movies that you see in Hollywood, on the shows that you watch on TV, it's those who hold to the truth of the

Word of God that will be reviled. And Ananias commanded that Paul be struck on the mouth.

We have to be willing to take a hit. But catch this, even though we will be hit, because we are fundamentally in a truth war, even though we will be hit, truth hits harder.

We are victorious in the truth. Now look at what happens in verse 3. Paul said to him, God is going to strike you.

We will be hit for telling the truth, but the truth ultimately will stand in judgment over sinners.

And according to Psalm chapter 98 verse 9, there's coming a day he will judge the world in truth.

Truth. God will judge in truth, and Paul warns of this coming judgment.

Now some say that Paul became maybe in the flesh at this moment when he said, God will strike you.

I'm not sure that that is a possible interpretation, that maybe Paul erred in being a little too harsh at this point.

But he says, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. He calls him a whitewashed wall.

Now what is that? That's an idiom, and Seneca actually spoke about this idiom at that time in the first century, writing this after saying that the whitewashed wall idiom.

He said, it is not only our walls which are coated with a thin outward ornament, the greatness of those men whom you see strutting in their pride is mere tinsel.

Look beneath the surface, and you will see all the evil that is hid under the thin crust of dignity.

When Paul says you whitewashed wall, that's not just like a little childish name -calling.

He's using an idiom to say that you look so good on the outside, you priests in your priestly white vestments, and strutting in your dignity, yet behind the outer appearance of godliness is an inner corruption.

Jesus would tell the Pharisees what? You are whitewashed tombs, not just a wall, a tomb, and inside behind that whitewashed tombstone is all kinds of dead men's bones and every unclean thing.

The outer appearance does not represent what's truly going on on the inside.

That's what Paul is saying. This is hypocrisy. He's calling them out for hypocrisy. That's why he calls him a whitewashed wall, and then points out, are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck?

You see, the problem here is hypocrisy. There's an outer appearance of righteousness, and yet a violation of the very law that the priest is supposing to uphold.

Verse 4, Paul's in a bit of a bind here because they point out, would you revile God's high priest?

And this is what I love about Paul's truthfulness. He didn't recognize that he was speaking to the high priest, the ruler of the people, but in hearing that, even from an enemy, he was willing to receive the truth.

Notice how he responds. In verse 5, Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest.

For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. Paul is willing to be wrong for having spoken that way to the high priest.

He's willing, and he quotes Exodus 22, verse 28. See, he has the

Word of God on his mind. He's able to quote Exodus 22, 28 to show that he erred.

He owns that. It was out of ignorance, it wasn't done on purpose, but he recognizes that the

Word of God tells the truth, and that, brothers and sisters, is the bottom line.

Truth is revealed through the Word of God, and this is the standard that Paul holds to.

So there's a battle, a truth war going on. He's getting hit physically in the mouth.

Sometimes we'll get hit metaphorically for telling the truth, but he's willing to stand upon the

Word of God. Now second, verses 6 through 10, I want you to notice, from this scene that unfolds, there is a division happening.

There is a dividing, that through the Word of God, belief in the biblical teaching,

God is sorting humanity into two groups. Notice 6 through 10. Now, when

Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other

Pharisees, he cried out in the council, brothers, I am a

Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.

And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the

Pharisees acknowledge them all. Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the

Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, we find nothing wrong in this man.

What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.

This is an interesting strategy, isn't it? Paul looks out and notices that there are

Sadducees and Pharisees both standing together in judgment over him. And he deliberately, because notice what it says in verse 6, it says

Paul perceived that one part were Sadducee and the other

Pharisee. So this is intentional. He's perceiving something, and then he's using that, wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove.

Now what is the difference between a Pharisee and a Sadducee? And don't give me that children's song, right?

The Pharisees are not fair, you see, and the Sadducees are sad, you see. That is not it.

Okay, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, it's really a lot like conservatism and liberalism today.

The Sadducees don't believe in the supernatural. They don't believe that there are angels and demons and that there's not these miraculous things.

It's all natural explanation. And then after death, there is no resurrection. The dead body just goes into the ground and that's it.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, believe the biblical teaching about the supernatural, that there are spirits and there is a resurrection from the dead.

Now does that mean that Pharisees are good and Sadducees are bad? Not at all.

But in one sense, and notice here, Paul does not simply say one is fine, the other is worse.

Paul actually identifies with one of the groups. Which one does he identify with? I am a

Pharisee. He recognizes that in that party, the belief in the supernatural and believing in the resurrection from the dead is right.

Now here's the problem with the Pharisees. Many of them were hypocritical.

Matthew 23, where Jesus calls them whitewashed tombs. They are not just teaching the

Bible, they are going beyond what is written, teaching traditions that are taught by men. So there is a hypocrisy to the

Pharisees. In fact, many of them are far from the kingdom of God.

We're told in Matthew 23, verse 28, Jesus speaking at this point, he tells them you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

So just because someone's a Pharisee doesn't mean that they're close to the kingdom of God. Their hearts, even though they believe in the supernatural, could be far from God.

And yet, many Pharisees, not all of them were like the ones described in Matthew 23.

Look with me at Mark 12, 34. One comes to him and they debate the Word of God.

It's a scribe, a Pharisaical scribe, comes, they debate, and Jesus tells him after they speak, you are not far from the kingdom of God.

Mark 12, 34. So what's going on here? Sadducees who deny that there is a resurrection of the dead, that there are angels, they're in rank unbelief, they are far from the kingdom of God.

But among the Pharisees, there are some who are drawing closer, and notice what we have happening here in verse, in chapter 23 now,

Acts chapter 23, verse 9. Some of the scribes of the

Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply, we find nothing wrong in this man.

What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? They are defending

Paul's right to believe and teach as he does. And these

Pharisees are not far from the kingdom of God. They may not be saved yet, but here is the bottom line.

God is sorting out humanity, not between Pharisee and Sadducee, but between sheep and goats.

Some of these may come to believe. Many others will reject

Paul until their dying day, and reject Jesus whom he preaches. But Romans chapter 8, verse 19 tells us, the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

There is coming a day when the sorting of humankind will take place.

It's called the great white throne judgment. And there in truth, God will judge the world, and on his right will be sheep and on his left will be goats.

And the sheep will be invited to enter into everlasting life, and the goats will be sent to everlasting fire.

This is perhaps the most politically incorrect thing that we could say, and the world will revile us for saying that.

But this judgment between sheep and goats will be based upon a man, the man

Christ Jesus. And those who repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ will be forgiven of sin, and will be given eternal life as a gift.

Those who reject Christ into their dying day will die in their sins, according to John chapter 8.

I believe it's verse 24. Jesus says, unless you believe that I am he, egore me,

I am who I am, unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

That means you die with your sin. Your sin goes with you unto judgment. There's no remedy.

You die in your sins. And so this is the division that's happening. And Paul capitalizes on that, that there might be some being drawn by the

Holy Spirit, and he commends Pharisees for the true belief that there will be a resurrection from the dead.

And this works to his advantage, because the enemies of the gospel at this point turn against each other, like Shia and Sunni, fighting each other.

And Paul is rescued out of that situation. So that's what happens in verse 10.

And now in verse 11. This is an encouragement. Guys, if any of you are in the truth war, and all of you are, and if any of you have been hit in the truth war and it hurts, hear this verse.

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.

The Lord Jesus stands by those who testify of him. You have nothing to fear when the

God of angel armies is by your side. We have a champion.

We have a conqueror. And yes, this truth war will be painful. It is hard to hear truth.

Harder still to say it. And the reaction of those who don't like what you say will be painful.

But Jesus stands by you when you speak the truth. Brothers and sisters, we need courage.

We need courage to speak the truth, to testify. And you say, well, it's a little hard for me to testify about Jesus Christ, because people don't want to hear it at work.

So you know what I'm gonna do? I'm just gonna live my life and be kind and nice, and I'll preach the gospel.

It just won't be necessary to use words. Remember that quote by Francis Assisi? Preach the gospel always when necessary.

Use words. Well, there's some kernel of truth in that, which is that we can't be like the

Pharisees and be hypocritical and live all kinds of crazy way, and then expect people to listen to us when we tell them the truth.

But the saying itself is wrong, because it is necessary to use words. You want me to prove that to you?

Look at verse 11. It doesn't just say testify of me, which you could kind of say, well, you know, you live a life and that will testify of Jesus.

What does it actually say? For as you have testified to the facts about me, so you must testify again.

There are facts about Jesus that are in incorporated and part and parcel of what it means to testify of Him.

In other words, you cannot testify of Him unless you tell that He is glorious.

If you do good all the time, and people notice how nice you are, someone could rightly conclude that you are good in their eyes.

You are good. You are glorious. You are a great person. You know, that is a good guy, but you have not testified of Him unless you in some way have let them know that you live for Christ.

Furthermore, there are facts that unless they hear, know, and believe, they cannot be saved.

Follow this. Unless they know that Christ died on a cross and was buried and rose from the dead, they die in their sins.

The message of the cross is foolishness to who? To those who are perishing. That part of the message is necessary.

We must speak the gospel. That's why I love that we have some people that go out regularly to preach the gospel, because that news, the facts about Jesus, is necessary for people to hear.

It takes courage to do it. So we move on. Twelve and following. Here we see enemies of the truth just descend into absolute irrational rage, like the shooter recently who went up shooting

Christians, many of them were Christians, not all, or claiming to be, in irrational rage to prove a political point.

Just insanity. Look at the insanity of verses 12 to 15. When it was day, the

Jews made a lot and bound themselves by an oath, neither to eat nor drink, till they had killed

Paul. It's insane. There were more than 40 who made this conspiracy.

They went to the chief priests and elders and said, we have strictly bound ourselves by an oath.

It's couched in religious language, an oath to God, to taste no food, till we have killed

Paul. No due process, till we have killed him.

This is their plan. It says in verse 15, now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you as though you were going to determine his case more exactly, and we are ready to kill him before he comes near.

Let a man meet a she -bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.

Proverbs 17, 12. The rage against truth -tellers has no limits.

There are people who so hate the message of the gospel that were they given a chance they would kill, like a she -bear robbed of her cubs.

I was watching a video the other day on YouTube, and a she -bear comes out of the woods, and the man of the house with his dog there has a shotgun, and he shoots, and the bear instead of running, charges.

This insane bear comes at the man with the shotgun, and the wife of the man with the shotgun is filming this from the window upstairs.

As the bear charges, he unloads again and catches that bear square on.

It rolls him over a couple times. The bear turns over again and charges the man who runs for his life and barely makes it into the door of his house, slamming the door before the bear could get him.

The rage of that bear, the insanity, running through shotgun blasts.

Do you think that our culture is anything different? What would restrain the she -bear?

We're going to find that out in just a minute, but there are quiet friends of the truth who have each other's back.

See, the church is the pillar and support of the truth. You, brother and sister who know the truth, you are not alone.

We, the church, are the pillar and support of the truth. So look what happens here. God and His sovereignty allows for Paul's little nephew to overhear the plot.

And the courage of this young man, watch this happen. Verse 16, now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush.

Paul's nephew. So he went and entered the barracks and told

Paul. That took courage. Paul called one of the centurions and said, take this young man to the tribune for he has something to tell him.

So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, Paul, the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you as he has something to say to you.

The tribune took him by the hand and going aside, asked him privately, what is it that you have to tell me?

And he said, the Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.

But do not be persuaded by them, for more than 40 of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him.

And now they are ready, waiting for your consent. So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, tell no one that you have informed me of these things."

We need some young men, some young women, old men, old women to be courageous enough to stand for the truth, to have each other's back, to stand up and tell the truth.

So how then is the plot averted? God actually uses government to stop this plot. Notice this in verses 23 to 25.

I love this, how God makes use of the government. Then he called two of the centurions and said, get ready 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.

Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter to this effect.

Before we read that letter, just notice it's according to Romans 13 4. The government does not bear the sword in vain.

Wrongdoers, evildoers who are intent to murder and to kill, God uses the government to restrain that.

It's why we as Christians living here are able to preach Christ. I am still free as a minister to tell the truth about what the

Bible says on social issues. That right is protected in this country under freedom of religion.

But if we did not have that protection, the wickedness of men would be like that she -bear.

There would be attempts. And even despite government, there still sometimes are. But government is a sword in the hand of God to restrain the evil of men.

That's part of God's common grace. We also see it in 1st Peter 2 14. The government is there to punish those who do wrong, and it restrains the evil.

Otherwise, Paul would have been killed here. But they have swords, they have spears, and the government restrains the wickedness of men.

So now the letter, and finally what I want you to see, is how this governor, this tribune, who's writing a letter to the governor, shades the truth to make himself look better.

It's not precisely truth -telling. And this is a lesson for all of us, because we all have a tendency to try to say things in such a way to make ourselves look better, and maybe even doctor the books a little bit.

26 to 30. Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency the Governor Felix, greetings.

This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a

Roman citizen. Remember back to Acts 22? I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

And when it was disclosed to me that there should be, would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.

So he writes this letter to the governor, but did you catch where he shaded the truth? I knew he was a

Roman citizen, and so I rescued him from the Jews. Do you remember the end of the 22nd chapter?

What did the tribune actually do? He rescued him from the Jews, but was assuming that he was, what, the leader, the

Egyptian leader of 4 ,000 assassins that had been led out into the wilderness. So he didn't know that he was a

Roman citizen, and when he found out he was a Roman citizen, he freaked out because now he had bound a

Roman citizen. This tribune was in trouble, but when he tells the story, he doesn't tell it quite like it happened.

Had he told it the right way, he would say, this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when

I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, and then I falsely assumed that he was at fault, and I arrested him instead of the people who were beating an innocent man.

That was the truth, but he shaded it to make himself look better.

Guys, when we're having an argument, when truth is on the table, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and don't shade it.

Don't shade it to make yourself, don't protect yourself by shading it. Don't twist it at all.

A little twisting of the truth makes it a lie. Tell the truth.

Do you see the deceit even in Claudius Lysias? So finally we have a showdown set up, and we'll leave off here from 31 to 35.

The soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatrus, and on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with them, with him.

When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.

On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from, and when he learned he was from Cilicia, he said,

I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive, and he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's Praetorium.

So the showdown is set up. The accusers are invited to come up to Caesarea and present their case against Paul, and Paul will wait there under guard in Caesarea.

The showdown is here. This is Caesarea, this culture.

In closing, I just want us to think about the truth war that we are in. There are enemies of the truth, and there are friends of the truth.

In the final analysis, we will stand in the truth, Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life in the presence of God, without deceit, without guile, but others will be departed, will be sent away from Him for all eternity.

In the meantime, a very helpful analogy to understand this world in which we live is the idea of a truth war.

We are at war. There's other analogies for this life, a race, but the

Scriptures often speak of this life as like a war. It's fundamentally a truth war.

How do you know that you're fighting on the right side? So much of the cultural clash that we see in the world is people who assume their truth, and then fight like justice warriors for a truth that they've only assumed.

The real war is at the level of truth, not at the level of justice, because until you come to an understanding of what's true, you can't fight for the truth.

You find yourself fighting against God, kicking against the goads, and not knowing it, you assume your truth, and then you fight for justice.

We're not in a justice war. We're in a truth war. Truth before justice.

And this plays out in every political question that's on the table these days. Evolution taught in schools.

The Emperor has no clothes. You are mocked as stupid and unfit to teach if you say that this world was created in six literal days just several thousand years ago.

You will be mocked and derided, and yet the very theory of evolution has no clothes.

You follow me? The idea that a lifeless planet spun out from an explosion would ever develop life is completely contrary to every law of science.

The irreducible complexities of the human body cannot evolve by any natural process.

It's utter foolishness and folly to say that it can. It's unscientific to say it can, and yet we're shamed for saying that the

Bible is true. Gender. We're forced to go along with the lie that one gender can be caught in the wrong body, and we're told that unless we agree with that truth, we are bigoted and we're harmful.

Counselors, even in this state, are unable to counsel someone who comes in feeling like they're a boy caught in a woman's body and tell them the truth.

They will be put out of practice. They are forbid of saying it.

It's a truth war, and yet even science will tell you that gender is a binary, that it's biological.

Think of sexuality. There is an effort to say that certain things are wrong, but there is no standard.

So some people will say it's wrong for there to be pedophilia or any other kind of aberrant behavior, and yet for Christians to say that homosexuality is sinful is called bigoted.

But by what standard could anyone say that anything is wrong unless we have a standard?

And the Word of God teaches that God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman. You will be called bigoted for saying that, and yet the

Emperor has no clothes. There's no logic in saying that anything is wrong unless you have a standard by which to judge right and wrong.

The rule of law. We could talk about abortion. You know there was a man sentenced to 22 years in prison because he introduced an abortive drug into his girlfriend's drink, not wanting her to have the child.

It's right that he be sent to jail for that attempted murder of this baby, but how is it, and by what logic, can she legally kill his baby that she's carrying in the womb?

The Emperor has no clothes, and yet the truth war in which we are engaged is fought at the level of justice, and social justice warriors rage against those who would say that a child, an innocent baby in the womb, has a right to live.

Guys, we are in a truth war, and Christians are being shamed by a culture that says, if you speak, you're the problem.

Not the murderer, but you're the problem. Do you see, though? It's a truth war, not a justice war.

And we'll close with the most important one of all, the gospel. I saw a meme come across Facebook that put words into the mouth of Jesus Christ, and it says things about judgment.

Don't judge anything. Never say that homosexuality is sin.

It's not wrong to worship other gods. It's not wrong to worship no God at all.

And then the bottom of the meme says, did I stutter? And these words are put into the mouth of Jesus Christ, but he said no such thing.

It's a lie. It's a twisting of the truth and put into the mouth of Christ, wanting to claim

Christ for the side of a lie. We are in a truth war.

The Emperor has no clothes. We have the Word of God, and our gospel says there's coming a day when

God will judge the world by a man. Jesus Christ. Are you willing to go preach him in a hostile environment?

I tell you this, the more boldly you proclaim that Christ is the way, the truth, the life, the only way to the

Father, the more boldly you preach the gospel, the more you will get hit in the mouth.

They will silence you with shame. They might even take your job or put you in jail eventually.

They will attack you the way Paul was attacked, but continue to speak the truth.

If we fall silent, if the watchmen who are entrusted with watching the walls of the city refuse to sound the alarm, how will the people make ready for battle?

And the blood of the fallen, the innocent, will be on our hands. Speak the truth boldly without fear.

The Emperor has no clothes. Don't be afraid of those who can kill the body or strike you in the mouth or throw you in prison.

Be afraid of the one who can throw both body and soul in hell. But we have a

Savior. We have good news, a rescue from hell, a rescue from judgment, for no matter what sin was committed, many who have committed abortions have turned to Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and found him to be a perfect Savior.

He can wash any sin. There is hope and there is forgiveness. There is a resurrection of the dead unto life, but that way is only

Christ. This is good news for sinners like me. I'm so thankful that people came and told me.

It was my mom and my dad first, but other bold witnesses confirmed that. I came to believe the truth and I found him to be good, forgiving, just.

We have good news. Are we willing to speak it? Where are the truth -tellers?

Here we are. It's all of us. We will get hit, but truth hits harder.

Be strong, be courageous. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the example we have here in Acts 23.

I confess, Lord, I've skimmed over this chapter for most of my life, never taking the example of Paul, never taking time to understand what it would mean for me to be so bold to speak the truth this way.

Lord, I pray for us as a church, as individuals in this church, as we go out into the world.

Help us to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. Lord, when we are reviled, for us not to revile back.

Help us to turn the other cheek. Help us to pray for our enemies, to love those who persecute us, and say all kinds of abusive things against us.

Lord, help us to speak the truth without fear. We also pray that in our relationships, not just in the world, but amongst other

Christians. Lord, we pray that we would be a people of truth -telling, that we would admit our faults like Paul did, that we could rightly be called truth -tellers like Nathanael.

People in whom there is no guile, no deceit. Lord, I pray that as we leave this place, you would wash our consciences clean, according to Hebrews 9, by the blood of Jesus, and that we would go forth in good conscience to speak the truth in Jesus name.