ACTS | From Persecutor to Preacher | Acts 21:27 - 22:21

Let us now turn to our sermon text, which will be found in Acts. As we are making our way through Acts, we are in Acts, chapter 21 Acts, chapter 21 we'll begin in verse 27 we're going to actually spill into chapter 22 today. So Acts chapter 21 beginning in verse 27 and we'll read over to Acts 22 verse 21 before we read, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Acts 21 · chapter mention Acts 21 · chapter mention Acts 21 · chapter mention Acts 22:21

Our Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have given us your word, and we come to you now in prayer because we recognize that we are here in vain. We are wasting our time unless your Spirit opens up our eyes to see and behold the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, Lord, I do pray that indeed that you would unstop our deaf ears and hear of him crucified for sinners like us.

Lord, soften our hearts to receive your word. Do not let the seed be planted and it just be snatched away. Let not the seed be planted and it sprouts up quickly, but then dies away.

Lord, allow your seed now, by the power of your Spirit, to sink deep within our hearts, produce much fruit, give us life that can only be found in Christ. And it's in Jesus's name we pray, Amen.

People of God, here God's word for us this morning, from Acts chapter 21 beginning in verse 27 and reading to chapter 22:21[27] When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from[17] “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, [28] crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is 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.” [29] For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. [30] Then all the city was stirred up, and the temple, I fell into a trance[18] and saw him saying to me, people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. [31] And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. [32] 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. [33] Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they had done. [34] 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. [35] And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, [36] for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”[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, will not accept your testimony about me.’ [19] And I said,“Do you know Greek? [38] Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” [39] Paul replied,“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” [40] 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‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I

Acts 21 · chapter mention

[1] “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”[2] And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language,[a] they became even more quiet. And he said:[3] “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but 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. [4] I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, [5] imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. [20] And when 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.

[6] “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. [7] And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ [8] And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ [9] Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

[10] 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.’ [11] 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.

was standing by and approving and watching over the garments[12] “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, [13] 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.

[14] And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; [15] for you will be a witness for him to of those who killed him.’ [21] And he said to me, ‘Go, for I everyone of what you have seen and heard. [16] And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” He who has ears, let him hear the Word of God. Please be seated.

Now here we have the as we're making our way through the book of Acts, and we hear a little bit of Paul's testimony. And this is not the first time that we have this account, and this will also not be the last time we have this account. We'll actually hear this account three separate times in the book of Acts, and that's significant.

Anytime you have something repeated, we're to take note, right? That they the early church didn't have exclamation marks or things in bold, so the way that you emphasize something was by repetition. And through the whole book, we're going to have this account repeated three times. That this is an important count for us to consider. The first time we saw Paul in his Damascus Road conversion was back in Acts chapter nine, and back then when it happened, everything radically and dramatically changed for Paul and his life in a moment, if you will, in a twinkling of an eye, if you will, the persecutor of Christians in one moment, then suddenly becomes the Proclaimer of Christ. Overnight, the enemy of the church becomes the greatest missionary that the church ever sees. And how does that happen? Well, what changes someone so radically and so dramatically? Well, it's an encounter with the true and living Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul was then to go on to Damascus, and we're told he meets a man named Ananias. And God told Ananias that Paul would be a chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, and then also gave these sobering words to Ananias to give to Paul, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My name. And that's been true since we've met Paul, hasn't it all the way back in Acts, chapter well before chapter nine, really. But that's been true of his witness of Christ, as he has done his missionary journeys everywhere where Paul goes, he is met with rejection and suffering. And now in Acts chapter 21 we see that promise continuing to unfold further, even in the Spirit's repeated declaration that Paul, as you go into Jerusalem, you will face imprisonment and affliction. Paul knew what he was going into when he went into Jerusalem. This is no surprise that there is again another riot that Paul would find himself in chains, that he would find himself getting beat up. Now, if you knew that's what waited for you in a city, would you go there? If you knew suffering awaited for you somewhere, would you go. But I think most of us, I think myself included, I would make different plans. But why does Paul go? Why would Paul walk into known conflict, known suffering, known persecution, and the reason why is because he has encountered the true and living Lord, because Christ has set him free from fear and even death. And as Paul will later say, for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain, and he's going to go anywhere and everywhere, chains and beatings aside that Christ might be made known. So I think here's a question our text is causing us to ask, is, what happens to someone, or even us when we have truly met the true and living Lord, the risen Lord? Well, we see Paul even through beatings, even through chains and even surrounded by an angry mob. He can't stop talking about Jesus, and we see a life that is truly transformed, one a life that is willing to face opposition and suffering for Christ's sake.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

He's not afraid. He's willing to move forward that Christ might be made known, willing to do hard things, to go to hard people, to proclaim Christ to them. The second thing is, he's willing to trust God's providence and care in all of it. And then third, willing to boldly proclaim Christ now, a life first transformed by Christ, is willing to face opposition and suffering. The time here in our text is the it's Pentecost time. That is the Feast of Weeks. This was one of the three big Jewish festivals that would happen annually that Jews from all over the region would come back to Jerusalem to celebrate. Jerusalem would swell in size, probably triple in size. This feast of weeks is a celebration of the provision of God, the celebration of the wheat harvest, just like maybe we celebrated the Strawberry Festival, they are celebrating the wheat Festival. It's a big celebration. They are celebrating God's provision. And Jerusalem now is packed with Jews from all over the known world, even Jews who have come from the region of Asia, most likely Ephesus, are here in Jerusalem, and you remember Ephesus Paul went there. In fact, Ephesus was the city where Paul spent the longest time of all of his missionary journeys.

Paul spent up to three years in Ephesus, and he had a little seminary that he started and he taught he was there for a long time, and a lot of people who hated Christianity also hated Paul, but yet they could not stop him, even through riots.

Now, in our text, there are Jewish men, we're told, from Ephesus now, and they've traveled from Ephesus now all the way to Jerusalem, and they enter the temple to worship God, to sacrifice to God, to celebrate the Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. And guess who they see there, Paul. They see the guy that that was giving them problems in Ephesus, and now they see him again here in Jerusalem, and they cry out in verse, 28 men of Israel help.

This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and against the law and against this place. And they stir up the crowd. People grab Paul. They lay hands on Paul.

They're beating Paul. And again, Paul's being accused of these three things, which he has been accused of before, against the Jewish people, against the law of Moses and against the temple.

Now, as we talked about, I guess, a couple weeks now, Paul's not against these things.

He sees their fulfillment in Christ, but he's never taught against the law. He's never taught against the temple. He sees its fulfillment in Christ, but he's not against these things. And what's interesting is, back in chapter six, these are also pretty much the same accusations that is made against Stephen, and what did the crowd do with Stephen, with the same accusations back in Acts chapter six? Well, Paul knows, because Paul was overseeing it. They kill Stephen, and now Paul is in the same place as Stephen, and he. Actually will begin his defense in the same humble, respectful way that Stephen did with brothers and fathers. But I also, you know, the text ends with Paul's reflection on Steve, and I do wonder how much Stephen's sermon resonates and reflects on Paul as a man now who is transformed by Christ, who reflects back on him overseeing the death of Stephen when he heard Stephen's words.

And maybe Paul is thinking, you know, this is I was here watching Stephen be put to death, and now here I am about to be put to death, and I have that opportunity now, like Stephen had the opportunity to proclaim Christ, to preach Christ, to love my neighbors well enough to make Christ known that that they might live, that they too, might have life.

The crowd makes another accusation against Paul. They claim he's brought this Gentile Trophimus into the temple. And it's important to remember the temple structure. It was almost like a Russian doll, where you had like a greater court, and then smaller courts within, and the outside section that was where all the Gentiles could go.

And then there was another inner layer, that is where all the the Israel women could go. And then beyond that is the the Court of Israel. That's where all the men could go. And then just beyond that, that's where all the priests could go. And then right in the center was the Holy of Holies, where the high priest, once a year, could go. And you weren't allowed to go into other sections where, where it didn't, where you didn't qualify. In fact, archeologists have even found different signs that have said no foreigner may enter. Who is caught will have himself to blame for his death. There are warnings posted outside, on these walls, in these inner gates, that if you enter into an area where you're not supposed to go, you can expect to die, and it's going to be your fault if you do not ours. But Luke tells us the crowd assumed that Paul has brought this Trophimus inside because they saw Paul with him earlier. Now Luke's use of the word assumption here is hinting to us that Paul probably didn't do it, that they are just assuming that he did it because they saw him with them earlier in the day, but there's no proof. And as politicians have have learned so well, you can make a lot of accusations, and they are very easy to make, but very difficult to undo. So they make these accusations against Paul, and once the rumor starts to go, it's almost impossible to undo it and correct it. And now in verse 30 the whole crowd erupts. They are outraged. They seize Paul. He is dragged out.

The gates are shut behind him.

Verse 31 the crowd is seeking to do again what they did to Stephen to put him to death, and just like Stephen Paul loved the Jewish people, that's why he is there in the first place to proclaim Christ that they might be set free from their sin and misery and find life in Christ.

I also just want to note here too. Is that that for us, and also here for Paul, is that the world really does not hate silent Christians. We can be silent witnesses, and the world will be just okay with that. But what the world hates and what we find here in our text, what is hated is a witnessing Christian, someone who is willing, even through persecution, to proclaim Christ and make him known.

Because as soon as we start to open up our mouths about Christ and to attack the idolatry of our hearts and the pride of man, that's when the world will get upset and come after you, and we should expect hostility in that.

We should expect persecution.

But I think that's also one of the reasons why we might be so often silent, because we don't want the suffering we again. We just want to be comfortable. But yet, we must open our mouths. We must proclaim Christ. We must take up our cross daily, willing to face opposition and suffering for Christ's sake, and then second, a life who is transformed by Christ also trust in in God's providence. And we see God's providence here in a lot of different ways. Paul probably thinks that his life is about to end again, just like.

His brother, Stephen before him, but something ironic and very unexpected happens. The Roman soldiers arrive, and they rescue Paul. Now, if you know anything about the Roman soldiers, they are known for being good at one thing, and it's not rescuing, it's putting people to death.

And so the crowd gives way, because the Roman soldiers are showing up. And no doubt the crowd is thinking, great, the professionals are here because this is what they are trained to do. They're trained in torture.

They are trained in death, and we're just going to let them finish him. Now there's this Roman fortress that's near the temple, and they see and they hear this rush of commotion. The soldiers go in. They arrest Paul, and they they drag him away, because there's so much commotion in the crowd, they can't even figure out what he's being accused of, what's going on here. And from actually now on in the book of Acts to the end of Acts, Paul is in chains, and he is trusting even in God's providence. In his chains and all of this, he'll write back to the church in Philippi and say, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. So that has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ, and most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. What Paul is saying is, I'm in prison. I've been beaten, but praise God, because Christ is being made known, and it's emboldened other believers to speak of Christ. The crowd pursues the Roman guards, and they're all shouting away with him. The Roman commander approaches Paul with another assumption that he's a criminal.

He thinks that he's this Egyptian revolutionary, a rebellion that happened a few years earlier, and the they think that they've caught this Egyptian guy. And but Paul calmly responds since pretty much says, I'm not him. He speaks to him now in Greek, and the commander recognizes that Paul is not that man, in fact, he's an educated, articulate man. Paul explains in verse 39 I'm a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. And then he does something astonishing. After being beaten by the mob, arrested and chained, Paul sees an opportunity. I would see the opportunity get me out of here.

But Paul sees the opportunity I want to go back. He says, permit me to speak to the people again.

He sees an opportunity to proclaim Christ. And that's what's happening to this transformed life of Paul, this providential suffering he's experiencing is giving an opportunity to proclaim Christ, what looks like a disaster, maybe initially, is actually God pulling Paul up to a pulpit to preach. The mob thought they were silencing Paul. But again, in God's providence, God is putting Paul on a stage now that all of Jerusalem is about to hear the gospel proclaim to them. And this is what the last part, the third point, a life transformed. This is what we do.

This is what we do as Christians. We proclaim Christ.

We are His witnesses. And that's exactly what Paul does. The commander gives Paul permission to do that, and that might seem a little surprising, but as someone who's responsible for the law and order of the city, if there is a quick and easy way to restore peace as a commander, let's just do that. As he's talking to Paul, I think he thinks that there's just clearly been a misunderstanding. He sees that Paul is a Jew, just like them. They just, let's just settle this really quickly. Just let him stand up and speak briefly, quickly, and we'll have peace restored back in Jerusalem, and we can all go back and celebrate the Pentecost sound good. Let's do that. So that's what happening here. So Paul now in his chains, he comes up, and he now gets to address the entire crowd. And there's a hush that falls as Paul stands up to speak. And he begins to speak in Hebrew, the native language, we're told. And it begins with brothers and fathers, a group of people who have just pretty much almost beat him to death, a bloody pulp. Paul stands up humbly, says, brothers and fathers. Paul begins with common ground again, saying, I have no problem with the Jewish people. I myself am a Jew. I'm a Jew, just like you.

And he says, again, I'm. From I was born in Tarsus. At a very young age, I was brought here to Jerusalem. I was raised here in Jerusalem, trained at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the greatest rabbis of all time. What Paul's saying is, I am not against Jewish people. I am Jewish. I'm as Jewish as it gets. If you look up Jewish in the dictionary, you're going to see a picture of my face. That's what Paul's telling them. I'm just like you.

I was zealous for God, as you are this day, even more zealous for God I persecuted this way.

Notice that Jesus says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me. And Paul says, I persecuted that way to death. I I hunted Christians down, not only in Jerusalem, but in other cities. I asked the high go ask the high priest over here.

They're right over here. You can ask them. I went to them, they gave me permission to go hunt down Christians in other cities that I might drag not only men, but also women, drag them back here to Jerusalem and put them to death. Are you zealous for God? I'm zealous for God. Look what I was doing not only here in Jerusalem, I was going to other countries to stamp this Christianity out. You see how zealous I am.

Paul's recounting his great zeal to persecute and destroy Christ and the church. Now, Paul says he has a great education. The best Paul has religious training. The best Paul has moral discipline, the best. So what changed in Paul? What possibly could transform a man who was murdering Christians, hunting them down, men and women, dragging them out of their homes that they might die, and what transforms him in one moment to now be the greatest missionary of Christ ever. He meets Christ. Christ transforms his heart, and this is what he recounts to them. I was on the road to Damascus. I was there hunting them down. I was like Paul other places. He talks about himself as if he's this angry beast breathing out hot threats and murders. You think about a bull who was about to charge, and there's huffing, and you see the steam of his breath coming out. That's the picture Paul gives himself as he's going to Damascus. He is zealous. And he believed he is doing all of this to serve God. But then suddenly, a light brighter than the Sun flashes from heaven, and Paul says, it falls around me, and I fall to the ground, and I hear a voice from heaven say, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now I know whoever possessed such power, Paul says, must be the Lord, but I didn't know exactly who that was. So I ask, who, who are you?

Who are you Lord? And listen the next answer. The next thing I heard is, what changed everything? I am Jesus of Nazareth. In that moment, Paul realized something, that the man he thought was dead was living and reigning, the one whom Paul hated with a great passion is the very Lord God himself, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus told me to go then into Damascus and I'd meet a man named Ananias. And I obeyed, and I went, although I'd become blind and had to be led by the hand. But when I came, Ananias said, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And I saw again. But then Ananias said to me, the God of our fathers, that is the God of the Scriptures, the one that that you seek to worship, the God of Jacob and Abraham and and Isaac, the God of David, our the God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will that you would see the Righteous One. Now Paul's encounter with Jesus, the Righteous One allowed Paul to truly see allowed Paul the. The irony is his blindness was showing him that he was actually truly spiritually blind, but meeting the righteous one that is Jesus, allowed Paul to see that all of his law, keeping all of his religious zeal and fervency was never going to save him. He saw that he was not righteous, that he had been spiritually bind the whole time, and that the people of God are ultimately not an ethnic people, but by faith, those who see the righteous one Jesus, the Lord Jesus, Christ, Paul would write in Romans chapter three. But now the righteousness of God has been manifest apart from the law. Although the law and the prophets, it is that the Old Testament speaks about the righteousness of God apart from the law that bears witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus. For all who believe for there is no distinction, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ, Jesus. That's the only way brothers sisters, salvation is in Christ alone. That is the righteousness of God, not our fervency, not our zeal, not our law keeping, not our education, anything that you might be seeking to trust in and boast in. It's not going to save you.

The only thing that can save you was the righteous one, Jesus, and He has revealed Himself to me. This is what the Old Testament is revealing to you the whole time. See it for yourselves, and we know that's what Paul does, right? He goes into the synagogue every city he goes to and he reasons with them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ, that He had to suffer and die and would be raised again on the third day.

This is what the Scriptures teach. This is what Abraham and Isaac and Joseph, they all look forward to the Righteous One.

Even in Isaiah chapter 53 it says, the Righteous One, my servant, make many to be counted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. He's telling them. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the one you've been longing for. He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE and his life and his death and his now a resurrection. It's broken down this wall of separation that we have between the Jews and Gentiles. Salvation is for all who believe. If you believe, you are saved, not whether your father is Abraham, if your father was truly Abraham, you would believe what he said. If you followed Moses, you'd believe what Moses said, that he's pointing to Jesus, the Righteous One. Now we'll get there at the next text, but as soon as Paul mentions that salvation is also for the Gentiles, that's when they they cut them off, and they get very upset, and they start to riot again. But we're not there yet.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

Let me just end with one other thing. Is, not only does Paul confess that Jesus is Lord, if you look in the text too, in 22 verse 10, he also submits his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse 10, he says, What shall I do, Lord? And I think that's also what a transformed heart does. This is what submission, not just lip service, to Jesus, looks like. Now to think, if Jesus is truly your Lord and Savior, all of us should also be asking the question, What should I do, Lord, how shall I use my zeal and passion now? And I think for all of us, it's not whether we have zeal or passion, we all do. It's what should it be put towards? What should I use it for? And if someone were to examine your life today and look closely at it. What would they conclude you are most passionate about your career progression, your comforts, your hobbies, or would they find you are zealous about Christ? Now Jesus tells us what to do with our zeal and passion. He calls us to be His witnesses, and I think this is where we need to confess our own sin and confess renewed repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, Christ, Lord, transform my heart too, like you did, Paul, that my zeal might be for you. I think also this text is a reminder that none of us are too far gone. Paul hunted Christians. He was zealously approving their deaths. He sought to destroy the church, and yet Jesus was delighted to save him. None of us are too far for God's grace. But. Your past, not your current or even present zeal, not your guilt or your failures. The same Jesus who stopped Paul on the Damascus Road and rescued him and saved Paul is the very same Jesus who is proclaimed to you now, who is arresting sinners by the power of His grace, now redeeming sinners, now transforming sinners. Now and we cry out, Lord Jesus, do this now in us, and when we reflect on Jesus, when we get to know Him, when we see him as he's revealed to us in His Word by the power of his Spirit, everything changes in our lives, right? The things of this world do grow strangely dim, and the glories of Christ become more and more real and solid and lovely, and we love what Christ loves, because we love Him. It is indeed amazing grace that God would save a wretch like me and like Paul and like you. God is so merciful.

And that is the message Paul was proclaiming to Jerusalem, and it is a message that I proclaim to you now believe and the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous one, and you too will be saved. You too will have life and life everlasting.

May the Lord transform us, may he work in our hearts to be willing Christians now to those who are redeemed. May He make us willing to face oppression and persecution? May He make us willing in order to trust His providence is that even through sicknesses and pain hospitalizations, that those are all gospel opportunities that Christ might be made known make us willing, also, that we might open up our mouths and proclaim Christ crucified for sinners, the chief of sinners like you and me, let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a merciful God.

You are long suffering and patient and kind. Lord, You saved the chief of sinners like Paul and like us who are in the pews this day here at Bay Haven, Lord, I pray that you would indeed help us to see the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, that by the power of your Spirit, you would transform our hearts to put the death evil deeds and desires and to live a life for Christ, Lord, Help us to be witnesses. Let us not be afraid of discomfort and even death. Let us rest in Christ and have great freedom. Give us eyes to see more clearly this day our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's in His name we pray, amen.