Acts 22:1 – “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” The word here translated as defense is the word from which we today get the words apology and apologetics. It is same word translated as “answer” in 1 Peter 3:15. It is to give a reason, an answer, or a defense for something said or done, or not said or done. When we think of this word we often think of great apologists of our time such as C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Ravi Zacharias and more recently J. Warner Wallace. The erudition that these men possess is daunting and it can make us despair if we could ever know as much as them. They know so much how can we ever be a witness for Jesus? We can believe that since we do not know as much as our pastors, or any of these men, than how could we freely be a witness of the Gospel. Yet we must remember what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15 “…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…” Stress the fact that all believers have a reason for our hope. I remember being a neophyte in the Lord with perhaps under a year of maturity. I would tell anyone who would listen and would even witness on the street. Certainly I was no vault of knowledge in the Word but two things I knew and with that, and with the excitement of the love of the Lord within me, I was excited to share the Gospel with people. We know what we believe about Jesus and we know what God has done in our lives. And though I was a neophyte with a neophyte’s knowledge, I was blessed to lead some to the Lord.
What knowledge do all believers have? We all know the basics. We know that we were (are) sinners (Romans 3:23) and we know that Jesus died to save sinners (Luke 19:10, 1 Timothy 1:15. We know that we responded to the call from God (2 Peter 1:3, John 15:16) to come to Jesus and when we did we repented (turned away from) of our sins (Acts 3:19, Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:10) and knowing that only by faith in the person and works of Jesus can one have peace with God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We know that we love Jesus and deeply desire to live our lives in a way that would honor and please Him (Colossians 1:10). We know that one day we will be with God in Heaven (John 14:1-3, Revelation 3:5, 1 John 5:13). Now the verses here are for those who already know them, but want to memorize them. They live within us and are the foundation of our faith. And they are for those who would like to one in the fold of Jesus.
Now some may protest that it is hard for them to memorize scripture. Though our memory is not as weak as we may protest. If we think of sports, or recipes, or directions, or many other parts of our lives, we witness to ourselves that we are capable of memorizing much if it is important enough to us. Still what is most important about scripture is not if we can quote book, chapter and verse, but whether or not we know it in our hearts and live it out in our lives. So, if someone asks us a reason for the hope that is within us, we can tell them without using verses. We can tell them what was missing from our life before Jesus, we can tell them how we came to the Lord and we can tell them how much better, how much different our lives are now that we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We don’t need to memorize verse to do that, we just need to remember what God has done for us. So we, all of us, can do that. Being a good witness is telling about your relationship with Jesus and what He has, and is, doing for you. No-one can contest your story, or the validity of it, after all, you are the one who had lived it out and who does live it out.
When Paul gave his defense, he shared what he knew. Now he could quote scripture, but much of what he here quoted was from the experiences of his life. We can all do that. Let us all do that! Let us be great witnesses of God by telling others how wonderful, how great God has been to us and how He can be the same for them. Let us tell people how God has saved us to an eternally better life. Let us tell people that our hope, based on His promises, is that we will never see hell but will live forever with Him in heaven. When we do that, people will come to the Lord. That is what Jesus calls us to do in His name. Tell others what God had done for us. We are a living epistle of the greatness of God. Let’s share our story and glorify God. Praise God! Thank you Jesus.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”