On This Day: Getting In Trouble For Speaking God’s Truth

   “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. (Acts 26:19-21)

   Yes, the parallel to Charlie Kirk is plain to see. However, I want to both expand the picture from “Be like Charlie” to “be like the Apostles”, and narrow the picture from what everyone out there is doing to what God is doing with you.

   My first concern would be, how are you doing with this whole getting in trouble for talking about Jesus stuff? Are you one of the troublemakers who hate it when Christians claim that there is “no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”? or that Jesus alone is “the way, the truth, and the life”?

   Are you one of those fearful Christians who has never settled with God that “Jesus Christ is Lord”, and so you don’t see why you should set yourself up for trouble by telling people about him?

   Or are you a believer who sincerely tries to find opportunities to talk to others about Jesus but finds the scary side of things a bit overwhelming?

   I have never been a believer who has felt I had the right to keep the good news to myself. You know, just go to church, soak in the grace of God so we feel good and safe, and just leave that scary evangelism stuff to the hero Christians. I think I have known from childhood that the good news I was told was the good news I had to tell.

   However, I can really relate to the fear-based side of evangelism. You know, getting in trouble even when doing nothing wrong! That was such a painful thing for me in my growing up that it was ingrained into me to avoid danger. If I got someone mad, it always meant I was doing something wrong.

   Over the years, God has clearly ministered to me about this fear as John described, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (I John 4:18). Yes, my fear had to do with fearing punishment (getting in trouble for doing things the wrong way), and God’s love for me as his adopted son has been constantly working to “cast out fear” and fill me with faith in Jesus as my security with God.

   I am now able to look back at a long history of getting in trouble for “speaking the truth in love” and accept that it is the norm. If Jesus got crucified for BEING the truth in love, and Paul kept being persecuted for telling the truth in love, then us facing hate and hardship from the world for declaring to them “the good news of great joy” is just a fact of life. There’s nothing we can do about that except water down the message so people are no longer offended by truth, and that is NOT an option (even though so many churches are doing it)!

   I regularly find that Scripture, God’s word, is “teaching” me what to believe and share with others, “reproving” me in areas I was mistaken in something I believed and taught, “correcting” me in what I should believe and teach from hereon, and training me to walk in the “righteousness of faith” that is constantly growing up to be and act like Jesus.

   And the trouble that comes is simply a badge of honor that the world would treat us the same way as it treated our Savior. We don’t seek trouble. We don’t seek to be troublemakers (we are peacemakers). But we do accept the trouble that comes no matter what the direction and who the instigator. We unite with Jesus’ church in “the obedience of faith” without favoritism or partiality, and we support one another in whatever troubles we get in for sharing the good news about Jesus.

   I am pretty sure this is the first time I have gone through Luke’s account of the gospel and straight into his history of the early church as written in the book of Acts (normally I would have continued into John’s gospel).To see what happened to Jesus, and how the apostles led the way in living for Jesus no matter what, is still our living example of how to live for Christ.

   And if we need encouragement to tell people about Jesus, the best examples are right there in the word of God. So let us get in the word so we can go into the world with this good news. 

 

© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

 

 

On This Day: Making No Apologies for an Apologetic Defense

 

   “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

   And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said… (Acts 22:1-2)

   As my post to the left states, I had spent considerable time yesterday addressing for myself and anyone listening that there is a way Jesus wants us to rejoice when we are slandered instead of defending ourselves. So, when I turned the chapter to Paul’s message to the angry audience, I had to chuckle at his use of the word “defense” in reference to what he had to say.

   When I looked up the meaning of the word in Greek, I discovered it was the familiar word “apologia” from which we get the idea of “apologetics”. This is not the making of an apology, as though we are sorry for offending anyone with our sharing of the gospel.

   Rather, it means, “defense (legal) n. — the speech act of attempting to prove some act or belief to be reasonable, necessary, or right; especially occurring in a court of law” (Bible Sense Lexicon). With this one word, everyone listening understood that Paul wanted to make a legal defense of his ministry to the Gentiles, showing that he did nothing to disparage the law of Moses as the slanderers claimed.

   One of the threads in my journey of growing up in Christ has included the discovery that I had learned a self-protective way of making a defense. It was conditioned into me because I was constantly being traumatized by accusations of failing, doing wrong, not measuring up, when I knew that I had done none of the above. I knew the accusations were unjust, so I would have arguments in my mind about why I was not guilty of the charges angrily levelled against me. Sometimes I would take a chance and argue my case, but, as I think of it, it wasn’t when I was being attacked personally, but when someone else in the family was the target. Then I could be quite defensive!

   It has been around 50 years since I developed those self-protective strategies. Since then, I have had to learn that anything to do with self-protection, self-justification, self-indulgence, or self-centeredness is contrary to Christ. What, then, is Paul’s example in making a defense that uses the specific word “apologia” as a legal defense of his teaching?

   I know this will become clear in what I explore next (in Paul’s speech), but my first thought was what Peter said in I Peter 3. I will share the longer section here because it explains what it looks like for all us everyday disciples to follow Paul’s example.

   But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (I Peter 3:14-17)

  In this paragraph, Peter affirms Jesus’ words that we are to consider ourselves blessed when we suffer unjustly (see the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12). However, he calls us to “make a defense” using the same word as the apostle Paul. The key is in the focus of our defense: “a reason for the hope that is in you”.

   I have not done much studying of the early history of the church outside of what is written in Scripture. I am not sure how making a defense of our hope as the apostles meant it developed into what we now call “apologetics”. Today’s apologetics seems like a calling for gifted men, while Peter spoke as though every believer could make a defense (apologia) of the hope we have been given in Jesus Christ.

   Whatever I will learn in examining Paul’s defense in Acts 22 will include a mix of Paul’s unique calling. But what I learn about how every believer can give to others a defense of our faith comes down to the “reason for the hope that is in you” as is clearly taught in Scripture.

   In other words, if we have opportunity to share with others why we have hope in Jesus Christ, we do not need an apologetics degree in how to prove the Bible is the word of God, or how we know the Bible has not been corrupted over the years, or how to answer every claim of contradictions presented by skeptics. Some people are gifted in that, but it is not the way every believer is to give the reason for their hope in Jesus Christ our Lord.

   Instead, when I picture the everyday Christians of the first century being asked why they had hope in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah/Christ, the reasons they gave would be the biblical ones. It would be sharing what Jesus did for us on the cross that gave us our hope of eternal life. It would include sharing whichever of the prophecies we could remember that were clearly fulfilled in his coming. And it would most certainly revolve around how the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead gives us the absolute assurance that everyone who believes in him will also be raised up to be with the Lord forever.

   I do listen to the apologists of our day who can show how the Bible stands up to the evolutionary religion, to the Bart Ehrman kind of skeptics, to antagonists who try to hide their sins behind problems with the Bible, and to Mormons, Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses. I respect the truly biblical ones who are gifted to share the good news with people in all these different backgrounds and cultures.

   However, I do not believe that’s what Peter had in mind when he called us to always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks us the reason for the hope that is in us. I believe he was talking about how every Christian can state the reasons that we have hope in Christ according to the Scriptures.

   And, with that in mind, I am quite sure that Paul’s defense in Jerusalem will help us everyday Christians in today’s world share the reasons for our hope even while Paul did at such a foundational level. Every believer has the same reasons for why we have hope. Those reasons are all in the Scriptures. So share what you know from the Scriptures that Jesus did to give “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, and thank God for the gifted men who are doing the same thing in each of their gifted areas.

 

 

© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

 

 

On This Day: Accepting the Dangers of Preaching Christ

   While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” (Acts 21:10-14)

   In over 3 decades of treating God’s word like he is speaking to me, one of the most comforting and affirming characteristics has been the way God teaches me things that are exactly what I need at the time.

   Sometimes those things are just personal. God ministers a scripture to my heart for thoughts, feelings, and needs no one else even knows about.

   Other times, like today, the Scripture God uses speaks to me personally, but while addressing something going on in the world around me on a much bigger scale.

   And right now, as the world is reeling from the murder of a young lady on public transit and the assassination of Charlie Kirk, what in the world would God say in his word that is perfectly timed to how his children are doing in handling all the griefs and sorrows we are facing?

   I have just gone through Acts 20, where Paul was preparing the elders of Ephesus for his departure. He told them they would never see him again because he could see the finish line ahead and knew his race would soon be over. What a weight to carry! Not only were suffering and death always looming over Paul’s life, but he knew this particular journey would be the end of his ministry and the elders needed to know how they must build on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).

   What really stood out to me was the impact of the relational dynamic between Paul and the disciples. In relation to Paul leaving the Ephesian elders, Luke writes, “And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again” (Acts 20:37-38).

   In the case I shared above, Paul’s heart was breaking over the way the disciples were weeping at his willingness to suffer and die for the gospel. Even though Paul was the one who had endured so much already (with one “near-death experience”), these things affected everyone around him. You know, like is happening all around the world right now as people who never met Charlie Kirk are feeling deep grief over the ugliness of his death, the shock to his wife, and the loss to his children.

   The fact is that Jesus said this would happen. He warned about the suffering. He warned about the martyrs. He warned about the unjust trials and unfair persecutions. He made clear that the people living in darkness would see the great “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4) because “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (vs 6).

   And the next thing he testifies to is “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies” (vss 8-10).

   The two things I want to leave with you are the specific testimonies of Paul and the other apostles that, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). We may never face the same threats to our lives as Paul did. We may never be in danger of being in an assassin’s crosshairs. But we must have the same heart and mind, that our temporary and transient earthly lives are lived for Christ, and our deaths will give us the greatness of being with him forever in his eternal paradise

   And the other encouragement is to have your daily time with God in his word and prayer so you can see for yourself how personally God speaks to his children, that we know what he is saying, we can recognize what he is doing, and we can get to know him by experience as we join him in his work.

   That God would do this for me today in such a profoundly obvious way is not just for me. We are all to benefit from “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” because that’s how we know how to “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom,” and how to “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God,” even when the relational dynamic in our churches is filled with heartache and sorrow (Colossians 3:16).

 

© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)