Acts Part 44 | When Christ Stands Near, Fear Breaks | Acts 21:26-22:29

Paul arrives in Jerusalem knowing suffering awaits him. While in the temple, Jews from Asia falsely accuse him of opposing the Jewish people, the Law, and the temple—based on mere assumption. A mob forms, Paul is beaten, and Roman soldiers arrest him to prevent his death.

Instead of retreating in fear or bitterness, Paul asks to address the crowd. He shares his testimony—his former persecution of Christians, his dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus, and his calling to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. When the crowd erupts again, Paul is taken into custody, but by asserting his Roman citizenship, he is protected from unlawful punishment.

What appears to be disaster becomes the beginning of God’s sovereign plan to bring Paul’s witness before rulers and eventually to Rome.

Acts 21:26-22:29

See sermon study guide here: https://myrealchurch.org/teaching/acts/acts-part-44-faithfulness-despite-acts-2126-2229/

Transcript

Defining Courage And Its Cost

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If you have your Bibles, go with me to the Book of Acts, chapter 23. We've been going chapter by chapter, section by section through the book. Across space and time, courage has been one of the most desired and respected virtues. Think about the popular movies that we love with the protagonists who are these courageous heroes. The Lord of the Rings, you've got Frodo. Return of the Jedi, you have Luke Skywalker. In Braveheart, come on, men, you have William Wallace. In Saving Private Ryan, you have the whole squad, especially Captain John Miller and the Karate Kid. Yeah, Daniel LaRusso. And then I love the uh this one should be easy for you. The uh Born Identity uh series. Yeah, Jason Bourne. And we could go on and on. Think about the courageous historical figures that we so admire. We don't remember too many cowards. Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther the Reformer, Martin Luther King Jr., Dwight Eisenhower, Corey Tim Boom, and the list could go on and on. Different centuries, different continents, different con causes, but one thing in common, courage. I heard the other day on a podcast, someone, a pastor, define manhood. And I thought, you know, we could define courage by the same definition, with the same definition. So here is how I will define courage this morning. Courage is the glad acceptance of sacrificial responsibility. Courage is the glad acceptance of sacrificial responsibility. And how many know real followers of Jesus must be courageous? How many times did Jesus say, fear not? To follow Jesus is to have faith that results in taking on gladly the sacrificial responsibility of following Jesus no matter the cost, proclaiming his name no matter the cost. It's a willingness to give it all for the sake of his kingdom. Gladly. And that, friends, takes courage. Today, I don't know where you stand on the scale of courage. But I'll tell you this: a lack of courage will crush you spiritually. You will not endure in Christ. But possession of courage will bring to you unstoppable faith and steadfast endurance till the end. So today I want to talk about how each of us can be courageous Christians, even amidst the most horrible, trying adversity. If you're with me, say amen. Outside of Jesus Himself, no man in the New Testament, in my opinion, epitomizes courage like the Apostle Paul. Anyone agree with me? And you might ask, why does the Christian faith require courage? Like, why do we need courage? Well, it's because Christianity, due to popular belief in this country, is not all cupcakes and rainbows. First off, we need courage because following Christ might cost you everything. I want you to take your Bible and go to Acts 23. Or I'm sorry, let's go back to Acts 21, and I want to look at verse 3. That's not the right verse. I wrote it down. Hang on one second. I'm gonna find it here. Do you guys hey put that first verse up for me? Okay, here it is. 21, 13. Man, 13. I just missed the uh one. This is okay, so the Holy Spirit, Paul is wrapped up his third missionary journey, and the Holy Spirit, we read about this in chapter 20 and chapter 21, has told Paul, I want you to go to Jerusalem. And here is all that the Holy Spirit tells him. He doesn't tell him what is going to go well. He says, This when you go there, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suffer, you're gonna be imprisoned. And here's what Paul says. Paul, uh, he's traveling and he connects with some other believers who love him, and they say, Paul, don't go. We know what's gonna happen. And here's what Paul says for I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but to even die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And eventually, not in Jerusalem, but in Rome, Paul will be executed as a martyr. Now, I think that we would all like to say, if I were to ask you this morning, would you die for Jesus? You would say, Absolutely. And Paul made the claim, but as people say, talk is cheap. When push comes to shove, what would you do if your life was on the line? When I was uh very young, I want to stress that part, my grandparents lived in Georgetown, and I spent a lot of time at their house. And one Saturday I was uh there upstairs looking out my window, and just off to the left was a tethered hot air balloon, and they were giving rides. And so I went to my grandparents and I said, Hey, do you know what they're doing over there? She said, Yeah. My grandmother said, Yes. I said, I want to go. And she said, Chris, you're so young. You aren't scared to go up on that hard air balloon. I said, Oh. Nana, I have courage. I'm not scared of anything. I'm I want to go. So sure enough, they go, they buy tickets, and we're standing in a long line. And as we get closer, I look up straight up. And I realize that I might not want to follow through with my commitment. And so, unwilling to admit that I was not as courageous as I said, I looked at my grandparents, I said, Hey, I don't want to waste my time. It doesn't go up high enough. You know, when it comes to Christianity, we're not supposed to just declare courage and faithfulness and the willingness to die, but we've got to demonstrate that as well. And we'd all like to say, again, yes, that is me, but Jesus said in Matthew 13, again in the parable of the sower, he says that many will receive the gospel with joy, but when persecution comes, in other words, when push comes to shove, he said, many will fall away. But not Paul. Since Paul's conversion, can we agree that he's had nothing but unrelenting tribulation? I mean, think about this from city to city, immediately after coming to Christ and obeying that call. I mean, he has been imprisoned, he has been beaten, mocked, maligned, he was stoned, many scholars think to death, and Jesus raised him. And yet he kept going from city to city to city. And so here he is now in Jerusalem, back with his people, back at the temple. And you think, oh, finally, Paul's, you know, there and he's gonna get a reprieve. Don't be so sure. Because last week we saw that he's only there about a week when all hell breaks loose again. Trouble finds him. And I asked last week, and I'll ask again this morning: does trouble just have a way of finding you? You can move houses, you can move cities, but trouble just seems to, you know, you seem to just be a magnet to trouble, let's say. If so, stay away from me, all right? So Paul's in Jerusalem, and here's what's happened. He went to the temple, into the temple, and these unbelieving Jews started making accusations against him. They they did you know in Jerusalem, right there, do you know that last week we we saw that two different mobs or a mob two different times caused a riot and tried to kill Paul. Think about that. And you think you're having a bad day. Paul, the only reason he's still standing in chapter 23 is that the Roman soldiers who actually bound him, carried him above the mob, like over their heads, took him to the barracks. They let him back out in the first time, they take him back, it happens again. So here we are uh at the end of chapter 22. Paul's in the barracks again. And now I want you to turn to chapter uh 22, and we're gonna look at the last verse. So Paul's in the barracks, and it says, But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, the commander of this is the commander of the Roman uh soldiers, unbound him and commanded the chief priest and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. Here's what's happening. When the Romans took Paul to the barracks, they wanted to whip him, to flog him. It's kind of like CIA Black Scythe. They wanted to torture him until he spoke. But they found out Paul was a Roman citizen, which afforded him certain rights. So they said, Well, we've got to get to the bottom of what you know what's causing all this trouble. And so instead of whipping him, they call this council, the Bible says, together. Now, who is this council? It's called the Sanhedrin. Some people say the Sanhedrin. Pick your pronunciation there. Well, what is the Sanhedrin? Well, it's the supreme court of the Jewish people. They are a religious body, but they also wield a great deal of political and civil authority under, of course, Roman rule. Now, why should Paul be fearful in front of them? Like it's a court, surely he'll get a fair trial. Don't be so sure. Because the Sanhedrin might be familiar to you, they're talked about in all four Gospels. This is the same counsel that was involved in Jesus' crucifixion. So I want you to go to Matthew 26, or actually, I'll just read this to you if you don't have time to go there. 56 and 57. It says, Those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest. So different high priests, same council, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And now the chief priests and the whole council, look what they were doing. They were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. Paul is quite aware of this story. The Sanhedrin initiated the conspiracy. They bore false witness against Jesus, and they are the ones who handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. Jesus' blood is on their hands. This is whom Paul stands before. How would you feel? But Paul is courageous. He knows that this could cost him everything, but he treasures Christ more than his own life. He is willing to be imprisoned and even to die for the name of Jesus Christ. He doesn't just talk about courage, he lives it, he walks in it. Arlington Cemetery is the United States' most famous military burial ground. How many have ever been to Arlington? It's the final resting place of more than 400,000 soldiers and family members, many of them fallen heroes. When a person signs up for the armed forces, many of you have, they're quite aware of the cost, the risk, that it might cost them everything. Now, it might not, it doesn't cost every soldier everything, but it costs every soldier something. Like you may never be deployed, but if you are, you may watch your close friends fall. You might lose a limb, or you might lose peace of mind, or you might lose your life. To serve in the armed forces means a courageous willingness to sacrifice everything for our freedom. Thank you to those who serve. Following Christ may not cost you everything. Most of us in here will never be faced with execution because of our faith, though maybe if the country moves in the same trajectory. But do you know around the world, we're so this is so foreign to us because we're so involved in our own little world. But executions are happening every day. Do you know that scholars estimate that around one million Christians were martyred in the 20th century alone? More martyrs than in the first 19 centuries combined. So this is not something of just Paul's day. Now you and I may never face execution because of our faith, but there is a cost nonetheless to following Jesus if you're truly following him. You might lose a job some in here have because of your faith. You might lose lifelong friends, you might be cut off from your family, be maligned and mistreated. And it takes courage to be a Christian because following Christ will cost you something, and it might cost you everything. Are you willing to pay the price? It also takes courage to be a Christian because we have to speak the truth. God calls us to speak the truth. That's not easy today. Look at verse 1 in chapter 23. Luke says, and looking intently at the council, the Sanhedrin, Paul says, listen to what he says, brothers, I have lived my life this day before God. Excuse me, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day. He's speaking truth. And you say, Well, what's wrong with what he's saying? Well, the council has accused Paul of despising the law of Moses, of defiling the temple, and hating his own Jewish people. None of these accusations are true. And Paul's before the council, and he doesn't just go along with their accusations. He doesn't say, you know, high priest, you know a lot, and and you're right, and I'm sorry, and could you have mercy upon me? No. He says, you know what? I've got a clear conscience before God. I don't know what's wrong with you. You accuse me, but I stand before God with a clear conscience. Here's the implication the high priest and Paul cannot both be right. They cannot both be right with God. And so Paul's saying, hey, I think God's on my side. I think I stand securely in Christ, which means, high priest, I don't care what position you have, you can be wrong. And in fact, you are wrong. The high priest doesn't much like this. Look at verse 2. And the high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Now, how many here growing up sashed your mama and got your mouth smacked? And what did you do after that? You shut your mouth. If you're smart. Some of you I have my doubts. Paul doesn't shut his mouth. This gets even even better. Watch this. Look at verse 3. And Paul said to him, the high priest, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law? And yet, contrary to the law, you order me to be struck. Those are fighting words, friends. What's Paul mean here when he calls the high priest a whitewashed wall? Well, the imagery comes from Ezekiel chapter 13, 10 and 11, which reads like this. This is about false prophets leading Israel astray, precisely because they have misled my people, these false prophets, saying peace when there is no peace. And because when people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, saying to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall. So these false prophets, according to Ezekiel, are building flimsy walls, but they make them look real good on the outside and secure. They're like faux walls, if you will. I was thinking about that just this morning. And uh when my kids were young, one of their favorite movies was The Cat and the Hat, like movie. How many remember? Okay, yeah, you just don't want to admit it. So I remember this scene, Alec Baldwin. I can't remember his name in the movie, but he's the antagonist. And it's the kid's mom's boyfriend, Alex's, and um, Alec, and he appears very trim throughout the movie and in a very polished suit. You remember that? But there's this scene when he's alone in the house and he takes off his shirt and he's wearing like a man girdle, if there's such a thing, a body shaper, and he undoes it in this massive belly, just and he takes off his shirt and he's wearing like a stained wife beater, and he sits down, he starts picking his ears. He was trying to look like this dignified man, but he was a whitewashed wall. He printed himself up on the outside, but inwardly. That's not who he was. And so you do you catch the drift of what Paul is saying to the high priest? Oh, you're wearing the the robes and the attire of a high priest, and you know all the theological words and you know the law, but in on the inside, like the false prophets of the old testament, you, my friend, are corrupt to the core. Goodness gracious, Paul's got courage. Now look at verses three through five. Paul said to him, Oh, we want read that. Look at four. Those who stood by said this, would you revile God's high priest? And listen to what Paul says. There's controversy over what this means. But Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. Now, let me just give you a couple interpretations of this. One possibility is this Paul did have really, really poor eyesight, and he wrote about this uh in the letter to the Galatians. So they say, Well, he just didn't recognize the high priest. But you would almost have to be totally blind not to recognize the high priest in all his attire, right? The other thing, Paul knows he's standing before the council, and that the high priest is likely the one speaking to him. Here's the other interpretation, and I like this. Paul is kind of being tongue in cheek here, saying, you know, I didn't recognize you. You're not acting like a high priest. You know, hey, if you've got teenagers who think they're adults, right? I'm a man. Here's what you probably have said to them. Oh, you think you're a man, why don't you act like it? That's what Paul's doing here. What courage. It takes courage to tell the truth. There's a church on Main Street. Historic church, large church, that has a sign with a rainbow flag out, rainbow flag out front. And underneath the flag, it says, all welcome. And I can track with that, all are welcome. But then it says, and all affirmed. In other words, live in whatever sin you want to. And not only will we just welcome you into the church, but we'll tell you, good job, live how you want. You know why they and many other churches are like that now? Because they have no courage. And I would just argue their lampstand has been removed. And if they do not repent, those quote-unquote pastors will bust hell wide open one day and take half their church with them. Beloved, it takes courage to tell the truth. But let me say this it's scary to tell the truth in this culture, but it's infinitely more frightening to not tell the truth and have to stand before the judgment seat of God someday. Students, college students, you might have to stand up by truth by refusing to use certain pronouns that are not pronouns that are not biblical. Or you might have to defend the faith to a professor, one of our college students, was maligned in front of her whole class by a professor, but she stood up with courage. Dock my papers if you want, but I'm not turning from Jesus. Parents, you might have to, you will have to courageously teach your children counter-cultural truths. Or you might even have to hold a school or a teacher accountable for their demonic attempted indoctrination of your kids. All of us at some point or another are gonna have to stand up for truth. And I'm telling you, it's not easy. Can I get a witness? It takes courage. Now you might be sitting there thinking, as you hear me preach about courage, man, I just don't have that. I just don't know. But I've got great news for you today. Each of you, if you are in Christ, can have the same courage as Paul displays in our text today. What is the source of the courage? In verses 6 through 10, I'm not going to read that, but another riot breaks out amongst the council. Imagine that. Let me just read you verse 10. It says this, and when the dissension became violent, these people were crazy. The tribune, this is the Roman tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. Boy, that's a godly council. Commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. Friends, Paul is tired at this point. I mean, just arrived in Jerusalem, and three riots have broken out, three mobs have formed, and wanted to take his life, have attempted to tear him limb by limb. And he's in the barracks again for the third time. And listen to what happens at night. This is that key verse I just wanted to point you to. The following night, the Lord stood by Paul and said, Take courage. Now, this is interesting. Why would Jesus show up in the night in the barracks and tell Paul, Paul, take courage? I mean, hasn't Paul displayed courage up to this point? Well, you know why? This is my suspicion. That it's not that you just have courage or you don't. In every situation, you need a new supply of courage. You can have courage in the face of a snake tomorrow. And you can take that snake out, but the next day, if you're going to face a bear, you need some new courage. It's not that you have it or you don't. Every day you need a fresh supply of courage, just like peace and love and all of those things. The rest of chapter 23 and the rest of the book of Acts, Paul actually does have that courage and he makes it all the way to Rome, where he will eventually be martyred, and he'll do so gladly and courageously under the Emperor Nero. Tradition says, beheaded. And you just couldn't shake him. But what is the source of Paul's courage? Because I would argue today that it's the source of your courage as well. Look at verse 11 again. I love this. The following night the Lord stood by him. What's the source of our courage? It's the presence of the Lord. You remember in Matthew 28, 20, when Jesus gives the great commission to his disciples, he ends, you know, he says, Take the gospel to the world. And then he says, This, and lo, I am what? With you always to the end of the age. Christ is not just standing with Paul in one moment, but he has stood by him moment after moment after moment. And I want to take this one step further. Jesus' presence will be with you in adversity, but it will be the sweetest in adversity. You will sense Christ's nearness more than any other situation when your life is in trouble. In Eshvik, Russia, the evangelical church has held a day-long meeting celebrating the fall harvest and worship and preaching and fellowship. Our own Dr. Busky was invited there to be one of the speakers. He told me that the speaker before him had been a leader in the underground church before the fall of communism. He had been arrested and imprisoned numerous times. His last imprisonment was in Siberia. There he was tortured and had insufficient heat and barely enough food to survive.

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Dr.

Modern Witness And The Call To Stand

Perpetua’s Martyrdom And Final Charge

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Buski said to me that his sermon was amazing, but he said this. He said this: don't feel sorry for me. Listen, I had a honeymoon with Jesus. His presence was so real. And he said these words. He said, I encourage you to know that if we suffer tribulation, do not fear. In the midst of the worst of tribulation, Christ stands with you. When all hell breaks loose in your life, Christ stands by you. See, my friend Kara back there. You've been through it. But I saw Jesus' presence in your life. In the hospital as you stood behind your husband's bed and by the casket, Christ stood by you, and here you are today. I'm proud of you. Be courageous, friend. Christ stands by you. Don't know what you're going through today. When you're maligned because of your faith, Christ stands by you. Your job might be threatened because you stand up for truth. Christ stands by you. You might have just received a life-threatening diagnosis. Christ stands by you. Your spouse abandons you. Christ stands by you. Your bank account empty. Christ stands by you. Your reputation is ruined. Christ stands by you. Your prayers feel unanswered. Christ stands by you. You're facing overwhelming temptation. Christ stands by you. You lose someone you love. Christ stands by you. You feel hopeless this morning and broken. Christ stands by you. The world despises you. Christ stands by you. When you stand before your adversaries, Christ stands by you. When you stand before the devil himself who wants to sift you is weak, Christ stands by you. Hamicly Max, please. When you're on your hospital bed, about to take your last breath, beloved, Christ stands by you. And when you stand at the throne for judgment, Christ will stand by you. Take courage, my friends. If you are in Christ, Jesus' presence will give you the courage you need to endure. His presence will not just give you courage, it will give you hope, it will give you peace, it will give you joy, he will carry you through. Jesus does not always get us around problems. Through many dangers, toils, and stares, I've already come. He doesn't get us around problems always. As a matter of fact, most of the time, but when you're in the furnace like Shadrach, me, Shak, and Abendigo, you might not be brought out, but there's somebody in the fire with you. Oh, at least I could get a witness today. Stands by you. In A.D. 203, a new Christian named Perpetua was arrested in the city of Carthage for refusing to renounce Christ and to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Terry Busky wrote a beautiful full blog. It's on our website if you're interested. But here's the short of it. She was only 22 years old, and she was a nursing mother at the time of her arrest. Her father came to her in prison and pleaded with her, just think of the baby. Just offer the sacrifice. You don't have to mean it. Save your life. And Perpetua is said to have held up a simple jar and asked her father, can this be called anything other than what it is? No, her father replied. She said these words, Neither can I call myself anything other than what I am. A Christian. On the day of her execution, which happened in the arena, Perpetua and her companions entered the amphitheater. Tradition records that she adjusted her hair before facing the beasts, saying it was not fitting for a martyr to appear in mourning, but in victory. Twenty-two-year-old girl. After surviving the initial assault of animals, she and the others were executed by the sword. When the young gladiator assigned her her hesitated, she reportedly guided the blade to her own throat. How could a twenty-two-year-old girl have that kind of courage? Because in the amphitheater, Jesus stood by. Take courage.