Acts 21:27-22:29

Please join me in your copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you.

I hope it's well read and treasured in your hearts.

To the book of Acts chapter 21.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

Our text this morning will begin in verse 27 of Acts chapter 21

Acts 21 · chapter mention

and go through verse 29 of Acts chapter 22.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

That's right, not three verses.

We're going to go almost a whole chapter this morning.

And this morning's sermon will be a bit different

because this morning's text is such a long one.

It's setting a stage for really the rest of Luke's second narrative

for Paul's arrest and his coming trials, his journey to Rome.

Also, because I'm just not feeling super hot today, here's the plan.

As we read the text, I'm going to stop.

I'm going to pause and I'm going to make comments.

I hope for your benefit.

I hope this will be helpful to you in understanding what's happening

to the life of Paul as Christ ministers through him in Jerusalem.

And then at the end of that, as I'm making notes through,

at the end of that, we will do a brief outline,

which will be the following.

Number one, we'll note the ferocity of the crowd.

Number two, the fearlessness of Paul.

And number three, the faithfulness of Paul.

So the ferocity of the crowd, the fearlessness of Paul.

And number three, the faithfulness of Paul.

Before I begin reading, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us.

That it was written for his glory and for our good.

And we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

I'll begin in verse 27 of chapter 21.

When the seven days were almost completed,

the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple,

stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out,

Men of Israel, help!

This is the man who was teaching everyone everywhere

against the people and the law and this place.

Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.

For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city,

and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

Then all the city was stirred up and the people ran together.

They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple,

and at once the gates were shut.

Recall that Paul, in order to maintain unity amongst the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem,

was participating in a custom along with four men.

We spent an expansive amount of time on this last week.

Luke's reference to the seven days has to do with that custom,

the purification that would have occurred at the end of that custom at the temple.

So we see that Paul is participating in the custom,

and Jews from Asia,

that is Jews who had rejected the gospel in Ephesus

and sought Paul's life there.

Some of these Jews are now in Jerusalem,

and they create a commotion by making a presumptive accusation

that Paul has taken a Gentile,

a non-Jewish person by heritage,

in the holy place of the temple.

The temple had various courts,

the Holy of Holies at the center,

that only the high priest went into one day a week,

called the Day of Atonement.

The holy place, which was reserved for Jewish worship,

and then the court of the Gentiles,

which Gentiles were allowed to be in.

So they presumed, having seen Paul with Trophimus,

I think that's how you say his name,

that they had taken him in there.

And I would suppose they're just looking for accusation to rail against him.

The text says that we've read so far,

at once the gates were shut.

The temple guard closed the gates to the temple

so that the temple would not be defiled by Paul's death.

They have dragged him out in order to kill him.

Continue reading in verse 31.

And as they were seeking to kill him,

word came to the tribune of the cohort

that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them.

And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers,

they stopped beating Paul.

Now the tribune is the commanding officer of the cohort

that's there of Roman soldiers that are there in Jerusalem.

A cohort loosely means a band of soldiers.

In this case in Jerusalem, there were a thousand soldiers,

760 foot soldiers and 240 cavalry soldiers.

There's a mention of both soldiers and centurions.

So if your curiosity is piqued,

the centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army.

So also a soldier, but an officer in the Roman army.

The tribune was charged with keeping the peace in Jerusalem.

Remember, this is an occupying army.

And he was meant with all of these Roman soldiers,

the cohort of a thousand soldiers,

to keep down any insurrections.

So when there was an uprising,

just like when Jesus was crucified,

they worked to appease the population at any cost.

If it meant crucifying our Lord and Savior,

this is what they would do.

If it meant arresting Paul,

this is what they would do.

They wanted to keep peace

in the place that they were ruling over.

So the tribune is not particularly sympathetic toward Paul.

He's just meaning to keep the crowd in order,

which in this case works out to Paul's benefit.

Verse 33.

Then the tribune came up and arrested him

and ordered him to be bound with two chains.

He would be bound between two soldiers.

He inquired who he was and what he had done.

Some in the crowd were shouting one thing,

some another.

And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar,

he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

And when he came to the steps,

he was actually carried by the soldiers

because of the violence of the crowd.

For the mob of the people followed,

crying out,

away with him.

So Paul is arrested by the commanding officer

who assumes that he is guilty of something.

Otherwise,

why would the crowd be so furious with him?

He has to be guilty of something.

However,

as he makes inquiry to Paul's crime,

the crowd is in such an uproar,

and so clearly not on the same page.

One saying one thing,

one saying another.

This is mob violence

that Paul finds himself in the middle of.

But the tribune decides to take Paul to the barracks,

which would have been just across the street

from the temple where he could question him

by torture for a confession.

The crowd at this point is in such a frenzy

that Paul has to be carried above the crowd.

This is my presumption,

but that he's actually carried,

lifted up above the crowd for his safety

so that he can, in fact, be questioned.

Verse 37.

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks,

he said to the tribune,

may I say something to you?

And he said,

do you know Greek?

Are you not the Egyptian then

who recently stirred up a revolt

and led the 4,000 men of the assassins

out into the wilderness?

Because Paul speaks in Greek to the tribune,

the tribune wrongly assumes

that Paul was an Egyptian man

that some years earlier led a group,

here Luke records,

of 4,000 men

to the Mount of Olives

where he proclaimed

that the walls of Jerusalem

would fall at his command

and the Romans would be routed.

So there was a man from Egypt,

we just know him as the Egyptian here,

makes this bold proclamation

that he would command the walls to fall

and Rome would be driven out.

Before that happened,

Governor Felix led Roman troops against him,

killing much of the insurrection,

but the man known as the Egyptian escaped.

Paul simply gives the tribune a simple response.

Verse 39,

Paul replied,

I am a Jew from Tarsus and Cilicia,

a citizen of no obscure city.

I beg you,

permit me to speak to the people.

And when he had given him permission,

Paul, standing on the steps,

motioned with his hand to the people.

And when there was a great hush,

he addressed them in the Hebrew language,

saying,

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.

I imagine they became even more quiet

because of the mass confusion

about who he was.

Upon hearing him speak in Aramaic,

I think many of the crowd recognized him as a Jew,

which calmed some of their false assumption about him.

So with the crowd now quiet,

and Paul standing on the steps,

he tells of his dramatic conversion.

He tells them how he went from Christianity's

most violent persecutor

to Christianity's greatest missionary.

Verse 3.

And he said,

I am a Jew,

born in Tarsus and Cilicia,

brought up in this city,

educated at the feet of Gamaliel,

according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers,

being zealous for God

as all of you are this day.

I persecuted this way,

speaking of Christianity,

to the deaf,

binding and delivering to prison

both men and women

as the high priest

and the whole council of elders

can bear me witness.

From them I received letters to the brothers,

and I journeyed toward Damascus

to take those also who were there

and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem

to be punished.

As I was on my way

and drew near to Damascus,

about noon a great light from heaven

suddenly shone around me.

And I fell to the ground

and heard a voice saying to me,

Saul, Saul,

why are you persecuting me?

And I answered,

Who are you, Lord?

And he said to me,

I am Jesus of Nazareth,

whom you are persecuting.

Now those who were with me saw the light,

but did not understand the voice of the one

who was speaking to me.

And I said,

What shall I do, Lord?

And the Lord said to me,

Rise and go into Damascus,

and there you will be told

all that is appointed for you to do.

And since I could not see

because of the brightness of that light,

I was led by the hand

by those who were with me

and came into Damascus.

And one Ananias,

a devout man according to the law,

well spoken of by all the Jews

who lived there,

came to me

and standing by me said to me,

Brother Saul,

receive your sight.

And at that very hour

I received my sight

and saw him.

And he said,

The God of our fathers

appointed to know his will,

to see the righteous one

and to hear a voice from his mouth.

For you will be a witness for him

to everyone

of what you have seen and heard.

And now why do you wait?

Rise and be baptized

and wash away your sins,

calling on his name.

Now it is worth pointing out

at this point

and noting that as Paul is telling

of his conversion,

he is sharing the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

He is weaving his story

into the greater narrative

of the world

and God's redemptive purpose in it

as he recounts the words

of Ananias,

Rise and be baptized

and wash away your sins,

calling on his name.

Now I will spare you

the Greek work it takes

to arrive at the following conclusion,

but Ananias' call

to rise and be baptized

and wash away your sins,

calling on your name

is more literally translated,

and I appreciate ESV,

which is the translation I'm using,

making it sound poetic,

but it's more literally translated,

rise,

get yourself baptized,

and your sins washed away,

having called on his name.

That is,

Ananias preached the gospel

of salvation by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Jesus Christ alone.

He is not suggesting

that baptism washes away sin,

but that faith in Jesus Christ,

calling on the name of Jesus Christ,

washes away sin,

which leads to the obedience

of baptism.

Hear it again.

Rise,

get yourself baptized,

and your sins washed away,

having called on his name.

So the calling on the name

precedes baptism.

Verse 17,

When I had returned to Jerusalem

and was praying in the temple,

I fell into a trance,

and saw him saying to me,

saw Christ saying to Paul,

Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly,

because they will not accept

your testimony about me.

And I said,

Lord,

they themselves know

that in one synagogue after another

I imprisoned and beat

those who believed in you.

And when the blood of Stephen,

your witness,

was being shed,

I myself was standing by

and approving

and watching over the garments

of those who killed him.

And he said to me,

Go,

for I will send you far away

to the Gentiles.

So Paul recounts

Jesus is commissioning him

in a trance

to carry the gospel

to Gentiles,

to non-Jewish peoples.

It has always been

God's purpose

to make himself known

throughout the world.

In Psalm 86, 9,

David writes,

All the nations you have made

shall come and worship

before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

Many Jews

had missed this reality.

Many of them were hanging on

to their ethnic

and national identity

as a people

who had been invaded

and were being ruled

by Rome.

They had missed

that God intended

His glory

to go out

amongst all peoples.

Praise God.

I think most,

if not all of us,

are benefits

of that good purpose

in the world.

So,

having missed that reality,

the Jews,

verse 22,

Luke records for us,

Up to this word

they listened to Him.

Then they raised

their voices

and said,

so this is in response

to Paul saying,

Jesus commissioned me

to go

to the Gentiles.

they raised their voices

and said,

halfway through verse 22,

away with such a fellow

from the earth.

He should not be allowed

to live.

And as they were shouting

and throwing off their cloaks

and flinging dust

into the air,

the tribune ordered him

to be brought

into the barracks

saying that he should be

examined by flogging

to find out why

they were shouting

against him

like this.

Jewish prejudice

against Gentiles

threw them

once again

into a rage

which they expressed

by calling again

for Paul's death

and making

expressions

of disdain

in throwing off

their cloaks

and flinging dust

into the air.

And so,

the tribune proceeds

with his original plan

to torture Paul

to find out

what he is guilty of.

Verse 25,

But when they had

stretched him out

for the whips,

Paul said to the centurion

who was standing by,

Is it lawful

for you to flog a man

who is a Roman citizen

and uncondemned?

When the centurion

heard this,

he went to the tribune

and said to him,

What are you about to do?

For this man

is a Roman citizen.

You see,

Roman citizens

were exempted

from torturous methods

of inquiry.

So Paul,

with a simple question

asked,

I think,

in the way I read it,

makes it known

to a centurion

that he is

a Roman citizen.

Is it lawful?

Knowing full well

it wasn't.

For you to flog

a man who is

a Roman citizen

and uncondemned?

Paul's treatment

could have cost

the tribune

his career

or possibly

even his life.

So the centurion

hastens to him

and reports

Paul's citizenship

to the tribune

who comes

and questions Paul

in order to confirm it.

Verse 27,

So the tribune

came and said to him,

Tell me,

are you a Roman citizen?

And he said,

Yes.

The tribune answered,

I bought this citizenship

for a large sum,

which likely means

that he had bribed his way

into becoming a citizen.

The law did not allow

for such a thing,

but likely he paid his way in

through illegal bribery.

Paul said,

But I am a citizen by birth,

a legitimate citizen.

Verse 29,

So those who are about

to examine him,

torture him,

and ask him questions,

withdrew from him,

immediately.

And the tribune

also was afraid,

for he realized

that Paul was a Roman citizen

and that he had bound him,

unlawfully bound him.

And this sets us up

for the trials

that are to come

in coming weeks.

So, as a reminder,

and in brief,

at least that's my intention,

let's note together

the ferocity of the crowd,

the fearlessness of Paul,

and the faithfulness of Paul.

Number one,

the ferocity of the crowd.

Now, the way in which

this crowd acts

should be no surprise to you

if you have been a student

of the book of Acts

along with us.

We have seen in our study together

a great number of crowds

upset by the teaching of Paul.

And we know that many years earlier,

it was persecution of Christians

in Jerusalem

that flung wide the gates

for a broad spreading

of the gospel.

Everywhere we've seen

so far in the book of Acts,

where the gospel is preached,

there is opposition

to the gospel.

Dovetailing this morning

with Paul's telling

of his conversion

in today's text,

we can recall Luke's record

following the stoning

of the first Christian martyr,

Stephen,

which was overseen by Paul.

We read in Acts 8,

Acts 8:1–4

verses 1 through 4,

And Saul approved

of Stephen's execution.

And there arose on that day

a great persecution

against the church in Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered

throughout the regions

of Judea and Samaria

except the apostles.

Devout men buried Stephen

and made great lamentation

over him.

But Saul was ravaging

the church

and entering house after house.

He dragged off men and women

and committed them to prison.

And verse 4 says,

Now those who were scattered

went about preaching the word.

Darkened hearts,

apart from God's saving grace,

want nothing to do

with the truth.

But rather,

as Paul states in Romans 1,

Romans 1:18

verse 18,

these people,

by their unrighteousness,

suppress the truth.

We find in our day

this to be true.

There's a great labor made

to suppress the truth of God.

Here, this crowd called

for Paul's death.

This morning,

around the world,

many Christians meet in secret.

Many Christians will be hated,

ridiculed,

imprisoned,

beaten,

and killed.

This should not

surprise us.

If we are

faithful witnesses,

we will not be

exempt

from this kind of disdain.

What should surprise us

is if we

don't experience

opposition

to the preaching

of the gospel.

The apostle Peter

wrote to Christians

experiencing persecution

in 1 Peter 4, 12,

Beloved,

do not be surprised

at the fiery trial

when it comes upon you

to test you

as though

something strange

were happening

to you.

And Paul wrote

to Timothy

in 2 Timothy 3, 12.

You're familiar with this

if you've been with us

in our study of Acts.

Indeed,

all who desire

to live a godly life

in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

I know that it will

take a different shape

in the place

that we live,

but we will

meet with opposition.

We will meet

disdain.

We will be met

with ferocity.

Beloved,

if we are faithful stewards

of the good news

that we have partaken of,

then the crowds

will be

ferocious.

If the prospect

of ferocious crowds

is frightful to you,

then let the example

of Paul serve you

in these next moments

as we look at

number two,

the fearlessness

of Paul.

Paul was not at all

surprised

by the ferocity

of the crowd.

As stated before,

he had experienced

such opposition

almost everywhere

that he went.

It was becoming

an old trick for him.

And he said

to the Ephesian elders

in Acts 20,

Acts 20:22

verses 22 and 23,

and now behold,

I am going to Jerusalem

constrained by the Spirit,

not knowing

what will happen

to me there,

except

that the Holy Spirit

testifies to me

in every city

that imprisonment

and afflictions

await me.

He was very aware

that something

in our term

bad

would happen

to him

in Jerusalem.

And he seemed

so very untroubled

by this,

believing, I suppose,

as he wrote

in Romans 8, 18,

for I consider

that the sufferings

of this present time

are not worth

comparing

with the glory

that is to be revealed

to us.

So he goes on

in Acts 20,

Acts 20:24

verse 24,

to say,

but I do not

account my life

of any value

nor as precious

to myself

if only I may

finish my course

and the ministry

that I received

from the Lord Jesus

to testify

to the gospel

of the grace

of God.

Paul believed

that his life

only had value

in that

it ascribed

value

to Jesus Christ.

He said as much

in Philippians 1, 21,

for to me

to live is Christ

and to die

is gain.

And in Acts 21,

the last part

of verse 13,

he said,

I am ready

not only to be

imprisoned

but even to die

in Jerusalem

for the name

of the Lord Jesus.

So Paul is

fearless

in the face

of opposition.

He believes

that if God

is for him,

no one

can be

against him.

He believes

that he is

filling up

what is lacking

in the suffering

of Christ.

And he believes

that this is

an opportunity

to preach

the good news

of Jesus.

Beloved,

do you seize

every opportunity

to make Christ

known?

Do you press

forward

or do you

shrink

back?

Are you a

faithful ambassador

of the gospel?

faithfulness

Let's be

further spurned

on by the

example of Paul

as we consider

number three,

the faithfulness

of Paul.

The faithfulness

of Paul.

I imagine

as Paul

is being

carried

to the

barrack

that he

whispered

a prayer

that went

something

like this.

Thank you,

Lord,

for gathering

another crowd

to hear the

good news

of your

saving grace.

Thank you

for allowing

me,

who once

was set

against you

and your

ways,

to now be

part of your

saving work.

Thank you

for granting

it to me

that I

should suffer

for Christ's

sake.

Thank you

for using

the wickedness

of Rome

to carry

me bound

up a

flight of

steps

where I

might

address

the

crowd.

Thank you

for your

goodness

to me.

Now,

oh God,

work mightily

by the hands

of your

servant

for the

sake of

your name.

Amen.

And then

Paul,

with kindness

and respect,

makes a

request

of the

tribune.

And I

love this,

especially

in our

day.

The most

popular thing

seems to

be to

rage

against

authority.

Says

simply,

may I

say

something

to you?

And then

he goes

on,

I am a

Jew from

Tarsus

and Cilicia,

a citizen

of no

obscure city.

I beg

you,

permit me

to speak

to the

people.

And then

to the

Jewish

crowd,

he says,

I am a

Jew born

in Tarsus

and Cilicia,

brought up

in the

city,

educated

at the

feet of

Gamaliel,

according

to the

strict

manner

of the

law

of our

fathers.

He

stands

in

solidarity

with

them,

being

zealous

for God

as all

of you

are

this

day.

Can

you

believe

that he

commends

them

for being

so

fired up

against

him?

He

says,

I also

am

zealous

as you

are

zealous.

Paul

respects both

the office

of the

tribune

and the

zeal

of the

Jews

and his

desire

to see

them

turn

from

their

ways

to

rightly

worship

Christ.

He's not

saying that

their action

is warranted,

but he's

rewarding

the

motivation

behind it,

proper

worship

of God

and he

wants to

see them

worship

God

as they

should

by Christ.

Then he

tells them

a story.

In telling

his story

to this

Jewish

audience,

Paul wants

them to

see God's

sovereign

working

in his

conversion.

Paul

wanted his

accusers

to know

as he

would write

to Timothy

in 1

Timothy 1

15

and 16.

The saying

is trustworthy

and deserving

of full

acceptance

that Christ

Jesus came

into the

world to

save sinners

of whom

I am

the foremost.

But I

received

mercy

for this

reason,

that in

me

as the

foremost,

Jesus

Christ

might display

his perfect

patience

and his

example

to those

who were

to believe

in him

for eternal

life.

I would

have liked

to have

known

what else

Paul

intended

to say.

The God

in his

sovereignty

and most

likely I

would suggest

as a

judgment

against the

people.

They cut

him off

and he's

carried

into the

barracks

and his

speech

stops

there.

But feel

the faithfulness

of Paul

in the midst

of that

kind

of situation.

If all

of you

suddenly

turned on

me

and were

yelling at

me,

I would

likely walk

out that

door.

Or jump

out that

window.

Paul

waves his

hand and

he hushes

an audience

and he

speaks to

them in

their

language

in the

way that

he had

hoped would

bring about

conversion,

bring about

faith.

We get

no record

of maybe

somebody in

that crowd

reached out

to the

Jerusalem

elders,

sought out

more about

this way

that they

were so

set against.

we don't

know,

but we

can observe

in Paul

his

fearlessness

and his

faithfulness.

Beloved,

if you are

in Christ,

you have a

similar story

to tell.

The

juxtaposition

of your

old self

to your

new self

may not

be as

stark as

Paul's

conversion

story,

but each

and every

person

who was

once dead

and has

now been

made

alive

by God's

mercy to

us in

Christ

has an

equally

miraculous

story

to tell.

In the

face of

ferocity

against the

gospel of

Jesus Christ,

are you

fearless,

trusting in

God's

sovereign

purpose

for your

good

and his

glory?

Are you

faithful

in the

telling

of your

story?

Let's pray

together.

Amen.