Acts 21 Part 2

The mother of four young boys often had difficulty curbing their energy, especially in church. But when her minister preached on "turning the other cheek," the boys gave him their undivided attention.

 

“No matter what others do to us,” he said, “we should never try to ‘get even.’”

 

That afternoon the youngest boy came into the house crying. Between sobs he said he’d kicked one of his brothers, who then kicked him in return. "I’m sorry you’re hurt, " his mother said.

"But you shouldn’t go around kicking people."

 

Still choking back tears, he replied,

 

"But the preacher said he isn’t supposed to kick me back."

 

It is tough to know what the Bible says about living your life but living in a world that doesn’t live by those standards.

 

We live in a complex world. 

 

We live in a world that lives by standards other than those found in the Bible.

 

Just recently the preacher named Louis Giglio was supposed to give the inaugural speech at the white house for the presidential inauguration coming up.

 

It was found out that he had delivered a sermon over 15 years ago saying that homosexuality is a sin.

 

When this was discovered by the White House he was pressured to withdraw from the inauguration.

 

We now live in a country where just plainly saying what the Bible says about something is not welcome by our president.

 

We live in a time when political correctness equals – you cant tell what the Bible plainly says.

 

Well this morning I have good news for you – the world was very complex in the 1^st century. 

 

In the 1^st century the world was in worse shape in many ways than it is today.

 

Today we have compromised Christianity – really that means no Christianity at all, back then you had just outright paganism.

 

It was this world that people like Peter and Paul boldly went into to proclaim the Gospel. 

 

It has never been more important to than now for us to look back at their example and build courage from their example.

 

We have to be courageous people that boldly proclaim truth – even if it is not Politically correct to do so.

 

Last week we saw the courage of Paul as he went to Jerusalem even though he had been warned.

 

Agabus the prophet told him that bonds and hardship awaited him but Paul was dead set on taking God’s word to Jerusalem and even to the world.

 

Today’s lesson marks the end of Paul’s third and final missionary journey.

 

Paul closes out his third journey that went to Greece and Asia Minor in Jerusalem. 

 

I think we can learn a few valuable lessons about Paul that directly apply to our situation today.

 

What are things that we learn about Paul’s view of the world and how that affects his spread of the Gospel.

 

1)   Paul’s had a proper UNDERSTANDING of the leadership and structure of the Church.

 

Paul had great respect for the local Church

 

Paul was an evangelist and technically was sponsored by the Church at Antioch.

 

Even though this is true there was great respect give to James and the elders at Jerusalem.

 

I think you have noticed throughout the book of Acts Paul has always called together the elders of a specific location or the believers.

 

Paul draws great joy and edification with meeting with the elders and members of each church in each location. 

 

Today this is not true in Christianity.

 

We see folks that don’t care too much for the local church.

 

Many parachurch organizations run rough shod over the local eldership or leadership of various churches.

 

God’s plan for civilization and the foundation of civilization is the family and the church.

 

These are the pinnacle of all human endeavors.

 

We tend to have some strange view of the church around in the world today  - I can just watch an evangelist on TV and that is church for me.

 

That is not God’s plan at all.

 

God wants us to belong to a localized group of believers and be accountable to spiritual leadership that shepherds over us.

 

Paul the great evangelist who wrote parts of our NT even submitted to an eldership of a local church.

 

Lets turn to our passage today-

 

Act 21: 17-21 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 

 

When Paul comes to Jerusalem he shows respect to the Church leadership by coming to them first.

 

Two things we see here – the brethren receive Paul gladly- the are excited to see him.

 

They are supportive of his mission efforts.

 

We as Christians should gladly support and receive missionaries.

 

I have heard of churches that when the missionary came into to give a report of mission work and spoke the church people complained.

 

They didn’t want to be bored with the details of mission.

 

We should have the attitude of Jerusalem and gladly receive missionaries and show them the support they need.

 

But we also see Paul seek out the elders of the Church.

 

He meets with James. -  We know James has taken a prominent role in the Church because of Peter’s departure.

 

Peter had left the Church in Jerusalem in Acts 12 because of the actions of Herod – Peter could no longer stay in Jerusalem because it was just too dangerous.

 

James had taken on a leading role in the church at Jerusalem.

 

This is James the brother of Jesus who wrote our NT book of James.

 

We know John’s gospel tells us that James the brother of Jesus did not believe in Jesus when Jesus was about his earthly mission.

 

! Corinthians 15 tells us that the risen Christ appeared to James.

 

James is mentioned specifically in 1 Corinthians 15, I believe, to show that his change of heart may have come from the resurrection of Christ.

 

Something had changed in James because later Paul will call him one of the pillars of the church.

 

James will go from skeptic to believer and leader.

 

So we find James as a member of the body of elders that we find in Jerusalem.

Not this morning you find the odd but I think we can find an example of how churches should be organized today.

 

In the beginnings of the Jerusalem church we see that the Apostles had a place of leadership.

 

The persecution comes and the apostles go to different locations and the gospel goes with them.

 

It was too dangerous for those apostles and on top of that they had the mandate to take the gospel to the world.

 

When the apostles left we can conclude that elders were appointed to oversee the church when the apostles left.

In Acts 14:23 we see that Paul and his mission team appointed elders in every church that they had planted.

This was important that each church had a body of elders to shepherd the church.

 

We see that Paul left Titus in Crete to set things in order

 

Titus 1: 5

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you

 

So it was about setting things in order – and part of that ordering of the church was appointing elders in every city where the church was located.

 

Now how can we learn from Jerusalem’s example?

 

Well just like Jerusalem – the apostles have physically left us.

 

They died and went to their reward over 2000 years ago.

 

They left us their writings and instruction and we have the authoritative NT to govern us but they left for us the order of the Church.

 

The church should be watched over and governed by a body of elders with deacons helping them.

 

The model from the Bible has an evangelist to preach the word – this evangelist in the 1^st century could be localized or be a traveling evangelist

 

And also a plurality of elders and deacons.

 

We see that Paul respects this ordering by giving a report to the elders of Jerusalem.

 

Lets turn back to our text in verse 20

 

Acts 21: 20-26

20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God ; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law ; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 "What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 "Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow ; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads ; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. 25"But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication." 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

 

2)   Paul was UNPRETENTIOUS

 

Paul was a man that was educated with the best – he had the best education of the Greeks but also of the OT and Rabbinical studies

 

He by way of sacrificing so much for the Gospel could claim superiority because of who he was.

 

I mean they are coming up with suggestions to show that Paul was supportive of the Law of Moses.

 

The law of Moses had its place- Paul never belittled the Law – but he wanted the new Christians to understand its place

 

Until around 70 Ad and the destruction of the Temple you had Jewish Christians who were Christians but still practiced many of the things in the Law of Moses.

 

What Paul had an objection to was these same Jews requiring the Gentiles to follow the Law of Moses specifically circumcision, Kosher diet law restrictions, and special holy days.

 

These were called specifically works of the Law.

 

Someone described the law in this way.

 

 He compared it to a dentist’s little mirror, which he sticks into the patient’s mouth.

 

With the mirror he can detect any cavities.

 

But he doesn’t drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can show him the decayed area or other abnormality, but it can’t fix the problem.

 

Our sin solution is not the law, but Christ.

 

He alone can take away our sins and give us the promise of eternal life. And many people seem to misunderstand this simple message of the gospel.

 

As long as folks knew that the gospel saved and not works of the Law – Paul had no problem with them.

 

Paul was not opposed to ethnic Jews still keeping Jewish customs he just didn’t want them Judaizing the Gentiles.

 

Some of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem had misunderstood Paul and his mission. 

 

The rumor was that Paul was telling the Jewish Christians to forsake the Law of Moses.  That was exactly what Paul was not doing.

 

Paul only taught this doctrine to the Gentiles.

 

So they gave Paul advice – to go and help some young men with a vow.

 

This vow that thee four men were undertaking was probably a Nazarite vow.

 

This would have been much of the same vow that Samson undertook.

 

These vows in Judaism were very expensive.

 

They were not asking no small favor from Paul.  This sponsoring of these men would have hit Paul in the pocketbook.

 

It tells us even more of his attitude.

 

He is willing to humble himself and take instruction from these men.

 

Even though he had done nothing wrong – he was going to go above and beyond the call of duty for the sake of the Gospel. 

 

He wanted nothing to impede the Gospel.

 

Imagine if we took that attitude today?

 

I heard about a little boy sitting on his front steps with his face cradled in his hands, looking so very sad.

 

 His dad came home just then and asked him what was wrong.

 

 The little boy looked up and said,

 

 "Well, just between us, Dad, I’m having trouble getting along with your wife, too!"

 

Sometimes we have trouble getting along with each other in the Church.

 

This was so true of the early church – some of Paul’s Jewish brethren had falsely accused him of something he had not been doing. 

 

What if everything we did was to ensure that the Gospel would go out?

 

Many churches would rather argue about things that don’t matter and run people off than worry about not being a stumbling block to others.

 

Our personal vendettas are not more important than the gospel.

 

If I have something against someone in the Church it is not bigger than impeding the Gospel.

 

I have literally heard of churches splitting and the entire thing started over the color of the carpet.

 

Paul would not understand that way of thinking.

 

Paul would do everything to win people to Christ even if that meant him giving up what he wanted to do or even suffering financially or physically for the Gospel.

 

Paul could have said – you know what I haven’t done anything wrong – those Jewish Christians will just have to get over it. 

 

I have nothing to prove- but he doesn’t say that – he is humble – UNPRETENTIOUS

 

Lets turn back to the text now-

 

Acts 21: 27-36

27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, "Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place ; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place."29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 At once he took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains ; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35 When he got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob ; 36 for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, "Away with him!"

Then in Acts 22 we see Paul gives a ready defense of his Position.

 

Paul will stand up and address the crowd and tell them about his history in Judaism-

 

He was as good a Jew as you could be – he explains that he was once zealous for the Law

He shows them that it was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that changed things for him. 

 

That Damascus road experience changed everything.

 

So who were these people?

 

More than likely there were Jews from Ephesus that recognized Paul

 

This was Pentecost and was one of the main feasts of the Jews that would bring people from all over the Diaspora of the Jews.

 

Pentecost would have them in a fever pitch about the Law of Moses because Pentecost was when they celebrated the Law of Moses and the giving of the Law to Moses at Sinai.

 

These Jews were probably the same ones that made Paul’s life miserable in parts of Asia Minor – now they are there in the Temple stirring up trouble.

 

They see Paul and Trophimus and assume that Paul brought a Gentile into the Temple.

 

If a Gentile went into the Temple they would be put to death.

 

All of the rumors and misunderstanding lead to this terrible scene.

 

People believed rumors instead of trying to find out the truth.

 

I can say the world hasn’t changed much in 2000 years. 

 

Summer vacation was over and Little Johnny returned back to school.

 

Only two days later his teacher phoned his mother to tell her that he was misbehaving.

"Wait a minute," she said. "I had Johnny with me for three months and I never called you once when he misbehaved!"

 

It seems that when people want to stir up trouble they have to tell someone how the feel.

 

These Jewish folks from Asia Minor could not help but try to stir up trouble for Paul.

 

We see Paul keeps his cool.

 

3)     Paul is UNDETERED in defending his position.

 

Even though he is falsely accused he gives a calm and intelligent defense.

 

He is UNDETERED under the worse circumstances. 

 

The Roman tribune thinks Paul is the Egyptian who lead a revolt that began on the Mount of Olives just a few years before.

 

This guy had slipped off and the Romans never found him. 

 

But Paul let him know who he was.

 

He is Paul the Roman citizen – falsely accused, a former zealous Jew, but now a follower of Jesus Christ.

When Paul was squeezed what came out – the Gospel – when he pressure was applied to Paul – he preached the truth of Jesus.

 

 A nurse in one of the great London hospitals complained to Bishop Taylor Smith that she had been rudely treated by some of the patients.

“Thank God for that!” he said.

“What do you mean?” asked the astonished nurse.

“Why,” said the Bishop, “if you are carrying a vessel and somebody knocks up against you, you can only spill out of the vessel what is inside.

 

And when people misjudge and persecute us,

 

 we can only spill what is inside.”

 

People and circumstances will bump up against us and we must ask ourselves what comes spilling out of us?

 

Is it joy for the gospel?

 

We can look at Paul and see someone so full of Christ that it is Christ that spills out of him when he is pushed.

 

From Paul we learn a lot of great examples of how a mature Christian looks.

 

I learn from him that he is UNDERSTOOD the place of the local Church in God’s plan

 

No one had a higher view of the local church than Paul

 

He also was UNPRETENTIOUS in how he approached people.

 

He would rather be put out himself than hurt the cause of Christ.

 

He was UNDETERRED in defending himself and the Gospel.

 

Most of all I look to the sheer determination that he had-

 

We in the coming days and years will need to be determined people.  We live in challenging times that are going to test our resolve as Christians.

 

The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona featured memorable moments of sports history.

 

Derek Redmond of Great Britain was on the way to fulfilling a lifetime dream, that of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.

 

He had earned a spot in the semifinals of the 400 meter race, and as the gun sounded to start the race,

 

 Derek got off to a great start. He was running the race of his life, and the finish line was in sight, when suddenly he felt a stab of pain in his right leg.

 

 He feel face first to the track with a torn hamstring. The race was over for Derek.

 

He struggled to his feet before the medical team could reach him.

 

Though every runner had passed him, he began hopping forward, tears of pain and disappointment streaking his face, determined to finish the race.

 

Suddenly, man plowed through the security guards on the sidelines and ran onto the track.

 

He raced up to Derek and hugged him, "You don’t have to do this," Jim Redmond told his weeping son.

 

"Yes I do," Derek answered.

"Well, then," his father said, "we’re going to finish the race together."

 

Derek’s father gripped his son around the shoulders, and they faced the finish line, resolutely waving off the security men who hovered around them.

 

They limped and hopped together, Derek’s head sometimes buried in his father’s shoulder, and stayed in Derek’s lane all the way to the end.

 

The watching crowd gaped at first at the unusual scene. Then one by one, they rose to their feet, and began cheering and crying at the son’s determination and the father’s support.