New Testament Sunday School Lesson 38: "Thou Hast Testified of Me"

Part of the baptismal covenant is a commitment to "stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places . . . even unto death."  The construction of this phrase appeals to me.  We are to "stand" as witnesses: not sit, not kneel, not recline: stand!  The selection of this word to be a part of this covenant is more than grammatical fortune.  Most of the time when we deliver our witness of God and his work, especially to a hostile audience, we will be standing.

I was in a college Sociology class following my mission.  The teacher was engaging.  His lectures reached into my heart and mind and I enjoyed almost everything he did. Almost.  In spite of repeated claims that he was a member of the church and an active one (he told us he taught Gospel Doctrine in a local ward), he seldom skipped an opportunity to criticize the church.  He may have done this from an inflated sense of the need to get his students (who were mostly Latter-day Saints) to think for themselves, or from a sincere belief that the church was too autocratic.  At any rate, I learned early in the course that he would challenge my willingness to "stand as a witness" from time to time.

The first time it happened, the discussion had turned to the Mountain Meadows Massacre.  I am not sure now, at a distance of 34 years, how we got from sociology to Iron County but we were there and Dr. Whoeveritwas directed a searching discussion into the causes of that tragic event.  At one point, because of a comment from an interested but uniformed non-member student, the professor observed that to his certain knowledge, the death of the wagon train members at Mountain Meadows had been ordered by Brigham Young himself.

I was jerked from my cautious interest in the discussion as a non-participant,  anxious to get on to other less controversial things, to a position of responsibility.  I knew that what I had just heard was not true.  I had studied enough church history and read enough of the documents about this event to know that Brigham Young tried desperately to prevent the least inconvenience from coming to the members of the wagon train.  I thought about making that very point. I had just returned from two years of standing as a witness.  But I was in a class of perhaps one hundred and seventy students (this was a required undergraduate class) and I was surrounded by strangers.  I was reluctant to make a display of myself, and besides, my declaration would not matter that much anyway, would it?  I sat, wrestling with myself in the silence following this statement, hoping the discussion would turn in another direction.

And then, exactly in front of me, a young woman stood.  Her hands gripped the back of the chair before her. Her voice was tight and she quivered with emotion.  "Dr. Whoeveryouare, I'm a new member of this church.  I was baptized less than a year ago. I've never even heard of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, so I don't know what you're talking about.  But I know you are wrong!"  And she sat down.

This was, I believe, the most powerful lesson I learned in college.  No teacher ever reached into my heart the way her simple, powerful testimony did.  She was willing to stand as a witness when I was not.  But I made a promise to myself that day, studying the back of her head, consumed by my own shame.  I told myself that I would never sit again when it was time for me to stand.  This is a promise I have tried to keep.

As we study Acts 21-28, we will see again and again Paul standing as a witness.  He would have been on his feet in an instant in that class, his eyes blazing, his voice like "the roaring of a lion."  Joseph Smith described Paul in this way:

When you finish this lesson and your study of these scriptures, perhaps you will describe him as Alma said all baptized disciples should be described as one who was willing to "stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places . . . even unto death."  

Paul sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre.  He found disciples there and spent a week with them.  They knew, by the Spirit, that troubles awaited Paul in Jerusalem and told him "that he should not go up . . ." (Acts 21:4)  But after a week he departed and came finally to Caesarea, and to the house of Philip, one of the seven, who had begun his work in Caesarea 25 years before. (See Acts 8:40)  Paul stayed there for "many days" and was finally visited by a prophet from Judea named Agabus.

Like the people of Tyre, the saints of Caesarea pled with Paul not to complete this journey. "And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:12).  But Paul knew that he was supposed to go to Jerusalem. 

And so Paul, who wanted his life and his words to stand as witnesses,  answered:

What kind of report is Paul giving in 21:19?  What concerns do some have about the

While he is in the temple, Asian Jews make a fearful charge against Paul.  What is it ? (21:27, 28).  You can imagine the uproar if a well-known Mormon in your area brought non-members into the temple.  Such a thing was explicitly forbidden according to inscribed stone makers still in existence.  Any Gentiles brought within the bounds of the court of the temple would be killed.  Of course Paul had not brought Gentiles into the temple, but the four men mentioned by James who were under the vow.

What was the result of this accusation? (21:30, 31).  Paul was rescued from a fearful beating  ("they went about to kill him") by the Romans.  As they conducted him from the scene of the tumult and into the Antonia Fortress, Paul made a request: "I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people" (21:39).

Paul, ever the witness, desired now to bear his testimony to people who had just discontinued their attempt to beat him to death.  This might have been a good time to disappear into the Roman fortress near the temple and wait for things to cool down.  But Paul had spent many years testifying of the divinity of Christ, and he wanted to do so now.  These people must not regard the disciples of Jesus as men who would profane the temple.  Paul stood on the steps of the Antonia Fortress and told the story of his rigorous Jewish upbringing and of his conversion and his ministry among the Gentiles (Acts 22:3-22).

The people rejected his witness, but that was not the most important thing.  Paul knew that true disciples stand as witnesses regardless of the way people respond.  In fact, for the next two years Paul would bear witness of Christ at every opportunity except one.  When he was allowed to speak to the "chief priests and all their counsel," (Acts 22:30) he did not give his testimony.  These were the men most responsible for the crucifixion of Christ.  Why might have prevented Paul from testifying to these people?  Might it be this?

It is clear that these wicked men tried to "turn again and rend" Paul.  Read the account of the murder plot in Acts 23:12-24.  What message did the Lord give Paul the night after his confrontation with the Sanhedrin? (Acts 23:11).  Note the instruction given to Paul in this verse and the reason for that instruction.  "

Paul, to avoid the murder plot being hatched against him, was taken to Caesarea, the capitol of Roman Judea, and the residence of Felix, the Roman governor.  After five days, Ananias and other members of the Sanhedrin came to Caesarea to tell Felix about Paul.  They brought a public speaker (an orator) to deliver their message about Paul.  This man accused Paul of being a "pestilent fellow," a "mover of sedition," a "ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes," and one who had "gone about to profane the temple" (Acts 24: 5, 6).

When Paul was permitted to speak in his own defense, he made these points:

Paul spoke eloquently in his own defense, and Festus deferred the matter, he said, until he could question the Roman centurion in Jerusalem.  What reason does 24:26 suggest for Festus' decision to keep Paul at Caesarea?

Some time later ("after certain days") Felix came with his wife Drusilla and sent for Paul.  Of what did Paul speak? (24:24). What other message did Paul deliver with his reasoning? (24:25).  How did Felix respond? (24:25).  Do you not find it wonderful that Paul is always willing to bear his testimony?

How long was Paul at Caesarea before a new governor came? (24:27).

The bitterness of enemies is amazing.  After all this time, during the visit of the governor to Jerusalem, the high priest tried to turn Festus against Paul, and besought him to bring Paul to Jerusalem.  Why? (25:1-3).  Festus invited them back to Caesarea where they could bring their accusations of wickedness against Paul (25:4,5). To this some at least agreed. They came to Caesarea and "stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove" (25:7).  Paul answered for himself, but Festus wanted to take Paul to Jerusalem.  Paul, instead of agreeing, said, "I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest" (25:10). Why do you think Paul prolonged his imprisonment in this manner? (see 26:32).  What did the Lord tell Paul in Acts 23:11?

What problem does Festus have with regard to the sending of Paul to Caesar? (25:27). Who does he invite to hear the matter with him to help him know what to write?  (25:26).  Paul, after recounting his aggressions against the church, bears powerful witness of his conversion, and of Christ.  When Paul was converted, what did he do?

Notice the way in which Paul summarizes his life since his conversion:

This testimony reminds me very much of declaration to his son Helaman in Alma 36:24: "Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

What was the response of Festus to witness? (26:24). What was the King's response? (26:28).  Agrippa used the word "almost."  Of that word and its usage in this context, President Harold B. Lee taught:

During the shipwrecked journey to Rome, Paul again and again exercised his powers of faith and seership to bless and protect and heal, presenting himself both as a witness and a light. 

When he arrived at Rome, he was placed under house arrest (28:16). After three days there what did Paul do? (28:17) Why did Paul say he was bound? (28:20). When many were gathered together, what did Paul teach them?  How much of his time did he spend at this work?

“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23).

Paul did not have great success in this endeavor, for "some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not."

What did Paul determine therefore to do? (28:28) 

According to the Bible Dictionary, while in Rome Paul "suffered martyrdom, probably in the spring of A.D. 65."

As much as any man in the history of the world, Paul stood as a "witness . . . of God at all times and in all things, and in all places . . . even unto death." (Mosiah 18:9)

Paul not only stood as a witness, but he did it in the face of personal hazzard and continuing danger.  He said of himself,