Defending the Word Against Traditions of Men
By Michael Klikas
05 November 2006
Adult Education Hour
Acts 22
Introduction: As we started out last week we talked about out stewardship of the Word of God. We said that we have a responsibility to know the word of God so that when someone says something that is contrary to the word of God we can pick that out right away. We saw how this was a problem with the Jews at Jerusalem and how Paul identified it right away. Do you know enough of the Word of God to identify man made traditions and false doctrines or do you call the pastor every time. There is nothing wrong with calling the pastor, but if you lean on him instead of the word of God you are sinning. That may sound like a pretty bold statement but we are commanded to search the scriptures and to grow in grace. If you don’t open the word of God yourself you will not be able to do that. What if a Jehovah’s Witness comes to your door? Are you going to ask them to wait while you call your pastor to have pastor talk to them?
We then talked about the difference between the outward man and the inward man. The outward man can be cleaned while all the while the inward man is still filthy. We saw this with the Jews also. They were more concern about their appearance before men then they were before God. How about you? Are you more concerned with the outward and what others here see then you are with what God knows?
Next, we talked about legalism and how this comes about. This is what we said concerning this all too often problem today. We twist and ad to the law our own fallible rules and regulations that really have nothing to do with God’s moral law. We become legalistic by our traditions and the way we conduct ourselves. “Legalism implies that people are not right with God unless they live up to these legalistic rules. It is putting the emphasis on an outward show instead of God’s inward work in the heart.” – Pastor Black
Then we found out what happens when you teach what is right. If you teach the truth then you can expect that others who are religious and zealous towards the outward man will accuse you of everything from blasphemy or heresy to being holier then thou.
Another area that we covered was the appearance of others. You cannot assume that someone believes the truth because they name the name of Christ or because they “look like” a Christian. If I do not know someone I am going to force them into an apologetic conversation to see if they truly know the Lord as their Savior or not.
Finally we talked about those who are weaker in the faith. Whenever we are dealing with someone who is weaker in the faith it may be that in order to help them along because of what they have learned in the past, we may have to come down to a spiritual level that they can understand and grow at.
So let’s cover the very last scripture we covered and then move into our study just so we can have a smooth transition. If you remember, or if you don’t, we said that we needed to stand to fast because if satan can come in and divide the family then he can get tot the church.
Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
Very simple application here, if you try and stand fast in the flesh you will fall hard and fast in the flesh. But if you stand in the power and might of the Lord then there is nothing that can move you. If you stand in the flesh then you stand alone. But if you stand fast in the Lord then the Lord and your brethren are standing there with you. I understand that Galatians 6:5 says for every man shall bear his own burden. I know that you can’t fully know or understand what I am going through just as I can’t fully know or understand what you are going through. But we can pray for one another and encourage one another so that we are there for each other. We are not on a deserted island all alone.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
If you do a study on traditions you will find that this is the only place in the Bible where traditions are mentioned in a positive light. However, the word in Greek shows up in a positive light as the word ordinances and can be found in 1 Corinthians 11:2 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6
The reason that these traditions are good is because they are godly traditions that help us grow in the Lord. It is not just a tradition that we do over and over again and after a while have no idea why we are doing them. It is a tradition that brings us closer to the Lord by not being vain or repetitious in nature. It is the same as building godly habits instead of sinful habits.
Now as we consider these verses and think back to what is going on with Paul, we see that the Jews in Jerusalem were more concerned about their traditions then they were about pleasing God with their lives. People will defend their traditions to the death because the tradition itself is security to them. What a shame it is when we put more faith and trust in a tradition then in the Lord himself. Traditions cannot save us nor can they provide for and protect us. When we think of the Catholic Church we think of a church that is full of traditions, and rightfully so. However our church is not exempt from this. I have heard people in the past get all up in arms because we changed how many songs we would sing at the opening of the service. What do you mean we are going to sing two songs now? We have always sung one song. That is going to throw off everything. Why was the invitation changed? All the invitations that I have seen have been done this way or that way.
We are so prone to habits and traditions that when something is done that seems out of sort to us, we trust more in what we know then what the word of God says. Go back to Acts Chapter twenty one again and look in verse twenty eight.
Acts 21:28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
Acts 21:29 (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
Acts 21:30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.
Acts 21:31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Acts 21:32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.
Help me, this guy Paul is teaching something that goes against my beliefs and traditions. Oh no, he even brought Greeks in the temple; now that is reason to kill him because you know how us Greeks are?
Really what is at the heart of the issue here is ignorance. We see ignorance every day in all kinds of people from issues of racial prejudice to religious prejudice. The word of God expels ignorance because the Lord doesn’t care what religion a person is or from what ethnic group a person may be in. Why is that? Because all of us are sinners before the Lord and the Lord’s elect are based on his sovereign choice without respect to where we were born, what religion we were before he saved us and what our family ancestry is. The Bible says that there is no difference between Jew and Greek, bond or free. The reason we hold prejudices is because of pride and ignorance. We are better then, fill in the blank. They don’t deserve the Lord’s mercy because they are, fill on the blank. When you commit yourself to being the kind of apologist that the Lord wants you to be, it doesn’t matter who you are defending your faith to because you are defending your faith for the purpose of pleasing the Lord and giving the truth from the Word of God to that person or people .
When you commit to being a biblical apologist, then there are going to be people like this person in Acts 21:28 that will be offended because of the gospel. They will try and turn others against you by making others think they are right. It may be that your family is turned against you. You may have to each lunch at work by yourself. While you may not be taken out and beaten like Paul was, you might be mocked or given the silent treatment for standing up for what is right. You may even lose your job because of standing up for the truth that is contained in the word of God.
Paul was accused of heresy, have you ever been accused of that? Paul was treated as a common criminal, has that ever happened to you? Paul was physically and verbally attacked, how about you? Even in of all of this, he still defended the gospel against false teachings and traditions that could save no man. Yet when a Jehovah’s Witness comes to the door we either pretend we are not home, or say no thanks we have our own beliefs. We have learned to answer the religious crowd the same way they answer us when confronted with the gospel.
I don’t think any of us have been beaten or arrested for the Lord’s sake, but when we hear someone say that The Virgin Mary, who did not remain a virgin, was perfect just like the Lord Jesus Christ we do not challenge them to show us where the Bible says that. When people pray to all these other dead people that can’t hear them or help them, all we do is scoff at them and talk about how lost they are but we don’t tell them the truth from the word of God. Why is that? What are we afraid of, or is it that it’s an inconvenience and we think that it’s a waste of time? All to many times we are like these men of Jerusalem in that we are too quick to condemn what we know is wrong, or in their case, what they thought was wrong, but it stops there, at least until we get home and talk about those people and how lost they are. We don’t we talk to them instead we talk about them? What the men in Jerusalem lacked was a learner’s spirit. What we lack today is a teacher’s spirit. As I said it’s easier to talk about someone then to someone. If someone personally offends us what do we do? Hopefully we go to that person and tell them how they have offended us and try to get things squared away. As an apologist for the Lord Jesus Christ we need to do the same thing and tell others how they have offended the Lord either by their traditions, their false doctrine and or their sin.
What will happen when you stand up for the truth? The so called laws of this land and what we would call decency will not even stand with you. Now no one that I know of has been jailed in the USA for defending the gospel but it has happened in other countries and continues to happen even today. But what you have seen in this country is a moral decay that once was based on the word of God and is now based on what the people want. We know what happened to Israel when they got what they wanted but lost what they needed. We have the same thing happening here today. We are rejecting the Lord and seeking after are own lust! You have things like sodomite marriage which is a complete oxy-moron. If you speak out against them then you’re evil because they have their rights. Quickly turn over to 1 Samuel chapter eight.
1 Samuel 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
1 Samuel 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.
1 Samuel 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
1 Samuel 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
Now drop down to verse eleven. The Lord tells Samuel to go ahead and give them a king because they have rejected God and not Samuel. Then Samuel enters into apologetic mode as we will see.
1 Samuel 8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
He goes on to tell Israel just what kind of king they will have and how does Israel respond? They responded basically the same way the Jews in Jerusalem did by rejecting the word of God.
1 Samuel 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
1 Samuel 8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
You can warn people but until the Lord opens their eyes and gives them understanding, they will continue in their sin and they will continue to justify themselves in their own mind. But that nonetheless does not take away our responsibility of warning people and defending the truth. Even with hot topics today we have to continue to do right and not ignore it or pretend that it doesn’t exist or that it doesn’t affect us.
You have the struggle over such things as infant murder that has pitted those who are sill trying to keep some of the moral fabric in this country together while others wish to shred it so that they can consume whatever sin it is upon their own lust. The more you stand against sin the greater the chances are that you will be labeled, watched as someone who would commit hate crimes, and be called a bigot. In Canada it is now against the law to speak out against the sodomites. It’s only going to get worse, so do we obey man or God? Do we forsake apologetics to conform and fit in, or do we continue to give our verbal defense according to the word of God, regardless what happens?
When we stop caring about ourselves so much by focusing on being rejected by others and start loving the Lord and focusing on giving a verbal defense for the Lord it will seem as though it’s second nature despite what happens. Let me just say this. I am not an issue oriented person. I don’t focus on the issues but rather on the word of God. When you focus on the word of God, sinful issues are naturally brought up because God’s word deals with sin.Go back to Acts Chapter twenty one and look in verse thirty one.
Acts 21:31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Acts 21:32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.
Acts 21:33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
Acts 21:34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.
Acts 21:35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.
Acts 21:36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
Here we see the sovereign hand of God protecting Paul for purpose of all these people being exposed to the gospel. Even the soldiers would hear the gospel. So when things seem to get worse remember that God is sovereign and He has sovereignly planned the situation that we find ourselves in because you never know who will be exposed to the gospel as a result of that situation. But if you are concerned about is yourself then you will never please God, even when others do hear the gospel. The Lord’s plans will not be thwarted by our disobedience, but it will be us who loses out on the blessings.
If you were here when I preached through the most of the book of Jonah, you will remember that Jonah didn’t want to be used of the Lord yet he was and God’s will was accomplished while Jonah sat and sulked. Will you be an apologist like Paul, or an evangelist like Jonah? You see, despite what the people cried while Paul was being taken away by the soldiers it was not enough for him to not give a verbal defense for preaching the gospel instead of the outward ceremonial law. You may hear something like that also, in that people may say get away from me, or I don’t want to hear that. So again, the question that begs to be asked is what do you then do? What do you think Paul did? I know he said sorry for all the disruption, I’ll just go home and not bother anyone anymore.
Nope, that wasn’t what Paul did. Instead he took the opportunity to see if he could not only speak to those who wanted him taken away but to the soldiers also, even if it was indirectly. You know, many times when we confront false doctrine in the public there are many people who hear what we are saying by virtue of just being in the area. We don’t need to pray for opportunities, they are already there. All we have to do is be obedient and open our mouths. Remember what we said from our look at 1 Peter, apologia means a verbal defense. So let’s look at verses thirty seven through forty because we will see the example of how Paul handled this situation and that will also get us up to where we will see our word apologia in action in verse one of chapter twenty two.
Acts 21:37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
Acts 21:38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?
Acts 21:39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
Acts 21:40 And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
Did you know that there is a difference between a verbal defense and an argument? All too many times people think that they are entering into an apologetical debate when what they are really doing is getting into an argument. Yelling is not a verbal defense and neither is being disrespectful. Someone can be disrespectful without yelling. The goal is to show the person you are engaged in the defense of the gospel with the truth from the word of God and not from you personal opinions or just how holy you and I think we are. The other problem is then when someone gets angry, either on one side or the other control is lost. You want to be able to control yourself and if at all possible, control the conversation by giving the truth. We know that the Bible says the law will stop every mouth, but if we verbally assault someone, their first reaction is to get defensive themselves.
Notice how Paul handles the situation even when theses people are beating on him and he’s about to be arrested. He asks permission to address the crowd and because citizenship was so very important back then, he identifies where he was from. But what’s even more interesting is the fact that Paul addressed this captain in the Greek language. What this did is it showed that Paul wasn’t just some guy off the street but that he was very educated. Now the Lord can use an uneducated person just as easily as person with a Masters degree or a doctorate in theology. So just because we do not have a formal education doesn’t mean t hat we shouldn’t know all we can about the Lord and be able to carry on a theological conversation with anyone. Besides that, you can have a Masters degree in computer sciences but how will that help you in giving a verbal defense of the gospel if you fail to study the word of God. What that Masters degree may do though, is it may open doors for you whereas someone else who doesn’t have that degree may not have that opportunity. So while education is important, and you should get all the education you can, your primary goal is now more about the Lord then anything else. So that is what Paul did, he used his education for the glory of God and the verbal defense of the gospel.
The captain is taken by surprise by this and asks if Paul is an Egyptian. Why did he ask this question? You will have to wait for the answer next week. This is very interesting so I know when we meet again the very first question you’re going to ask me is why did the captain ask if Paul was that Egyptian.