WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.079 Please take your Bible with me to Acts chapter 21. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.480 Acts chapter 21. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.000 If you are our guest this morning, I want to welcome you. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:33.600 We're so glad to have you. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:39.039 We are nearing the end of our study through the book of Acts. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:49.679 In chapter 21 this Sunday, if everything goes as planned, we'll finish this the end of August. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:01:06.239 Acts chapter 21 begins with, begins a long section of Acts that is a tense and challenging portion of early Christian history. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:10.719 Chapter 20 ends with an emotional departure. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:19.120 The Apostle Paul leaves some familiar territory and friendships that he's developed in the city of Ephesus. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:26.879 He leaves with tears, everybody, shedding tears, because they're grieved that they won't see him again. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:34.480 They wouldn't see him again because Paul is now headed toward his second home, Jerusalem. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:39.439 His first home, where he was born, the city of Tarsus and the region of Cilicia. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:47.840 But he grew up in Jerusalem as he was trained to be a Pharisee under an expert in the law of God. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:02:03.359 So we might think that a joyful homecoming would follow Paul's painful, sorrowful departure from those who loved him, and as he goes home from his missionary journeys. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:14.240 But the following chapters of Luke's historical account reveal that the Apostle Paul did not have a joyful homecoming. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:22.960 In God's goodness, the apostle would experience an unwelcome homecoming. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:34.639 So this morning we're going to look at the first three sections of chapter 21 of a detailed recounting of the apostle's experience of following in Christ's steps. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:46.879 We're going to see that resting in Christ's grip enables us to follow Jesus contentedly in the strength that he provides. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:53.199 The first section, verses 1 through 16, recounts Paul's homeward progress. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.800 We often refer to that as a travel narrative. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:04.879 The second section, verses 17 through 26, describes the preparations that are made for Paul's homecoming. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:12.000 And the third section, verses 27 through 36, relates what I've called the hometown proscription. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:17.599 So let's first review Paul's progress toward home. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:21.360 This progress is filled with predictions. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:29.039 And it sounds initially like we're listening to someone recount their family vacation. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:44.479 You ever been in that situation where you are kind of forced to sit and listen to somebody tell you all about their vacation when you have no clue what happened, you really weren't on their trip, you don't really care that much about somebody else's family vacation. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.840 That sounds what's going on here. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.280 Luke mentioned some of the friends they met along the way. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:56.800 You may or may not have heard of some of their friends, and if you haven't, it makes it even less personal. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:08.319 But the difference with this travel narrative is that it isn't from that acquaintance at church or that neighbor down the street or even a close family member. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:15.039 It's from Luke, the author of about 25% of the New Testament. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:22.399 That means it has a bit more significance to you than a friend's travel stories. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:31.040 We ought to hear it with greater interest than any vacation that we haven't experienced. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:39.120 This travel story also isn't about Paul setting out on a challenging missionary journey. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.240 He's finished with those. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.720 And now he's going home. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:53.519 And tracing that homeward progress helps us identify the significance of that journey. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:05:10.639 These first 16 verses cover approximately three to six weeks based on the average sailing time between stopping points and whether or not there was a ship immediately available to jump onto to go to the next leg of the journey. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:18.959 Each of the stopping points, though, would have been familiar to Luke's first century readers, whether they were Christian or Jewish. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:23.680 And there were Jewish populations in each of these locations. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:39.360 So each stop would provide an opportunity for Paul to associate with other ethnic people similar to him in order to, in each synagogue, proclaim Jesus Christ. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.120 But Luke doesn't talk about that. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.319 It probably happened, but he doesn't say that. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:56.720 Of course, there are Christians mentioned later when they get to Tyre and Ptolemaeus and Cayria, and of course, Jerusalem. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:08.879 So in a span of a few weeks, Paul and his companions went from Western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, to Syria, and then south to Israel. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:17.199 But why does Luke see tracing that travel journey as necessary? 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.079 And why should we know it? 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.800 Well, there are at least three reasons. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:31.040 I think there are more than that, but maybe three primary reasons are number one, this section serves as a transition. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.680 Paul's major missionary journeys are complete. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:46.560 Now we're moving from all of that church planting effort and that evangelizing effort to Paul's imprisonment and then his transfer to Rome. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:52.319 And Jerusalem is the hinge point between those parts of the apostle's life. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:07:01.519 So Luke needs to show how Paul went from Greece and Asia Minor back to Jerusalem so that we can get to the next major section. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:06.160 But reason number two is to show us the progress of the gospel. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.720 This all started in Jerusalem. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:20.480 And from Jerusalem, an evangelist by the name of Philip went to some Samaritan people and regions around Jerusalem. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:30.240 He went south of Jerusalem to meet up a guy from meet up with a guy from Ethiopia, whom he led to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.519 That man took the gospel to Ethiopia. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:48.560 While Philip, that evangelist, went northward back through Israel, north to Caesarea, where now he's met up with by the Apostle Paul, the same apostle who took the gospel all throughout the Middle East and into Europe. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.879 The gospel has progressed across the known region of the time. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:10.079 But number three, and the primary reason that Luke includes this travel narrative has something to do with the predictions of what Paul would encounter when he arrived back in Jerusalem. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:16.959 Now, Paul knew that going home would not be filled with fun and games. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.040 Some of you know what that's like. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:30.879 You may not have great relations at home, and you may sense that dread, the discomfort of needing to go home. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:51.679 Paul said to the Ephesian elders back in chapter 20, verses 22 and 23, he says, I'm going to Jerusalem bound or constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that I am that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.519 Wouldn't you or wouldn't I then turn around and go the other way? 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:08.879 But he says, God has bound me such that I have to go, knowing it's not going to be fun when I get there. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.960 That's what we find in this first section of chapter 21. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:19.519 Paul already knew what was going to happen, and now every stop along the way, there are more predictions. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:25.840 And they continue as he travels, each stop reminded of what's awaiting him. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:42.799 When he gets to Syria and he stops in Tyre, the disciples there had some awareness or some expectation as a result of the Holy Spirit's bringing that awareness to them. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:49.120 They stayed with the disciples there for seven days, it says in verse 4. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.799 Verse 7, they went on from Tyre, they arrived at Ptolemy's. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:22.799 This prophet Agabas reminds us of an Old Testament prophet like Jeremiah, who used object lessons to teach the people. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:25.440 I've often wondered how he does this. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:30.879 Does he go up to the Apostle Paul and undo his belt off of his cloak and take it off of him? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:32.559 That would be kind of awkward. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:41.919 But he uses Paul's belt to wrap around his own wrist to say, when you get to Jerusalem, they're going to use chains to do this to you. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:50.399 I don't know about you, but that would make me want to say, should I make this trip? 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.519 Is this a really wise thing to do? 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:06.000 The result is that Paul's ministry team, including Luke in verse 12, urged him not to go to Jerusalem. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:14.240 Everywhere he's being told, warned, it's being predicted, when you get there, this is what's going to happen. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.840 But don't forget, Paul already knew this. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:20.559 He already expected it. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.519 The Spirit was compelling him to go. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:30.720 And Jesus, back in the early chapters of Acts, had already told him that he would suffer for his name. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:42.879 And now everyone in his circles, everyone around him understands by God's work in them the coming danger, and they are begging him to not go to Jerusalem. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:49.919 If everyone is begging you to not do something, don't you stop and think about whether or not it's a wise thing to do? 00:11:51.759 --> 00:12:01.600 So the tension is rising with each stop, closer and closer to Jerusalem, and with each prophetic warning. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:13.759 Now it doesn't seem as though there are indications that Paul shouldn't go, but there are predictions of what will happen when he gets there. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:22.080 And when these predictions become clear to Paul's friends and co-workers, they pressure him not to go. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.320 And that pressure gets even stronger. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:32.240 It's like the weight becomes heavier when we get to verse 13. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:40.720 Paul's friends are weeping about what's been predicted, and his heart is broken. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.600 But his resolve is unfazed. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:55.279 He's grieving not because of what's going to happen to him, he's grieving about what's happening in his friends. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.600 And there's no persuading Paul differently. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:02.480 He says, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:08.240 For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:17.840 And since he would not be persuaded, we, Luke says, including himself, we ceased and said, Let the will of the Lord be done. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.320 There's no persuading Paul differently. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:30.799 So they they resign themselves to the sovereignty of God and decide we can't let him go alone. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:38.320 So after these days, verse 15, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.919 So we see here the dedication of the Apostle Paul to the Lord Jesus. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:50.159 We see the perseverance of the Apostle Paul in the face of impending pain and hardship. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:53.600 And we see the heart of his friends and co-laborers. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:14:02.000 All three of those aspects take on greater weight with each prediction and each step closer to the Holy City. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:04.240 So what do we do with that? 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.519 It's a travel narrative. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.440 Some of you may have been in some of these places. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:16.879 Some of you may be able to imagine the road that Paul took. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.600 But for most of us, it's like listening to somebody else's vacation. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.759 It's going to end badly. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:33.120 Friends, God's purpose and his plan are highlighted in Luke's travel narrative. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:39.600 Remember, the Lord Jesus is working from heaven to fulfill his kingdom purposes. 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:50.399 And that includes sometimes intentionally taking his servants through suffering and trials, both expected and unexpected. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:15:12.559 So I suggest that Luke leads us through the tension of this travel to show us Paul's attitude and perseverance so that we too might run the race set before us with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:15.120 How do we do that? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.240 Well, first, we must consider our faith attitude. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.159 I'm not speaking about faith as a church. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:28.080 I'm speaking about your attitude in your faith. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:39.279 If Paul is our example as he should be, then our attitude must be one of complete trust in God's word. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.879 Paul knew what was coming. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:48.240 He knew exactly what was coming. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:52.559 In general terms, suffering and imprisonment. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:00.879 He didn't know exactly what that looked like, what form that would take, but he knew that there was going to be suffering and imprisonment. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:10.480 But he also trusted in what God said at the very beginning when he came to saving faith that he would suffer for Jesus' name. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:26.720 Repeated or even continual reminders of the cost of following Jesus require an implicit trust in the word of Christ, that these are part of his purpose and will. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:38.879 Whenever you face suffering and uncertainty in your life, the first place you need to go is to rest in the word of God's grace. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:46.960 Trust in it that he is purposeful, and he has planned for you and your life that is good. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:53.679 Second, our perseverance must be focused on the superiority of Jesus Christ. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.279 How do you face this like Paul? 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.759 Think about your faith attitude. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:01.440 It needs to be one of trust. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.240 You also persevere with a focus on the superiority of Christ. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:15.599 I know this is hard for us to imagine in our free country, but if you are a Christian, you have embarked on a lifelong journey of death. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:24.720 You have taken up Christ's cross and his sufferings as your own. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:33.119 Like Paul, you are walking in the steps of your Savior, your forgiver, and your sustainer. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:46.480 So if you face trials and suffering and pain without a sincere focus on the beauty and the glory and the magnificence of Christ, you're going to sink like Peter in the waters of the Sea of Galilee. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:18:01.519 But growing in your faith understanding of the glory, greatness, and wonder of Jesus Christ will spur your perseverance so that you can echo Paul's words in verse 13. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.119 I am ready. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:18.640 We can then face and endure all things with contentment because we can face life in a fallen world with the strength of Jesus Christ. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:26.720 That's a lot to learn from a travel narrative, isn't it? 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:28.960 But it's rich. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:31.839 Look with me now at the next section. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:37.119 Paul's homecoming preparation, which is all about his purity. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.960 Verse 17 ought to surprise us. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.960 And it sets up another surprise later. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:56.319 The last section left us contemplating our trust and perseverance in the face of severe obstacles, as Paul plunges headfirst into the waters of persecution. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:02.559 And then Luke writes, When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:03.759 Wait, what? 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.359 Everything that we've heard so far is what's going to happen. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.559 And what happens is happiness? 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.200 How does that make sense? 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:18.079 That's not what we expect, so we have to look carefully and remember. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:25.279 It's the brothers and sisters who received us gladly. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:34.160 When Paul got to Jerusalem, it was the Christians who received them gladly, not the non-Christians. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:40.079 We're also told that they meet with all the elders, not just some of them, but all of them. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:49.920 Then they fill in all the Jerusalem elders and all the things that God has done through Paul, and everybody rejoices. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:20:02.000 Notice in verse 19, Paul related one by one the things that he had done. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:08.000 No, the things that God had done. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.039 See how Paul's focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:18.799 And Luke is recounting for us what Jesus is doing from his place in heaven. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:26.960 Faithfulness is expressed by what God does through us, not what we have done. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:32.880 And so in return, verse 20, the elders relate how God worked in Jerusalem. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:37.680 There are now thousands of believers in Jerusalem. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:43.200 But therein lies an unexpected point of difficulty. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:55.039 When you have thousands of believers, thousands of Christians in one community, it's likely that there are going to be rumors. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.440 And that's the problem. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:07.680 Paul's status, his reception, and his reputation among Jewish believers in Jerusalem hinges on rumors. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:10.000 On rumors. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:11.680 Look what they say. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.559 Verse 21 They've all been told about you. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.960 That you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:25.359 It's all rumor. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.200 Nothing of the sort happened. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:41.519 Paul proclaimed Jesus as the fulfillment of Moses' prophecies, of all that Judaism pointed to, but he didn't tell Jews to no longer be Jewish. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:49.359 In fact, Luke shows us all throughout the book of Acts how Paul followed Jewish prayer customs. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.519 He spoke in synagogues. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.759 Paul was a Christ follower, but not anti Jewish. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 In fact, Paul was at the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.240 Chapter 15, where the elders of the church gave instructions to the Gentiles, not Jews. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:13.279 They told non-Jewish believers in Jesus that they didn't have to become Jewish to be counted among God's people. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.839 But the rumor became that Paul was telling Jews, stop being Jewish. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:24.960 In fact, Paul was in Jerusalem because he had a desire to be there for the Feast of Pentecost. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.720 He wanted to worship in the temple. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:35.039 And he followed Jewish charity patterns by bringing an offering for the poor people in Israel. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:38.640 So it's all rumor. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:52.960 The elders' wise conclusion, verses 22 and 23 and 24, consists of showing rather than telling. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.160 We sometimes think that show and tell is the best choice to make. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:00.559 This is a situation, just show them. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.400 Just show them. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:09.519 Paul was encouraged to demonstrate to the Jewish believers that he hadn't abandoned Jewish heritage. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.599 How could he do that? 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.279 Participate with some other brothers who are maybe under a Nazarite vow. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.920 You can look that up in your Old Testament sometime. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:26.640 Because the end of their purity time was to shave their heads, which is what a Nazarite did at the end of his vow. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:34.880 Join them in a purification rite, a common Jewish custom, to show that he was dedicated to God. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:44.160 That Paul had no problem purifying himself before the Jewish people. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:47.440 He had no problem worshiping in the temple. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:52.880 He had no problem offering offerings to God in the temple. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:24:02.880 Paul's a Christian, but he has no difficulty joining in a Jewish custom while maintaining his faith in Jesus. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:10.079 He could be Jewish and follow Jewish customs and Jewish laws, even though they're already fulfilled in Christ. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:18.079 All while proclaiming that faith in Jesus is the only way of salvation. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.720 I think what's happening here is that Paul is seeking to become all things to all people. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:46.319 But he follows through not to cause problems with Jewish unbelievers, but Jewish believers who are believing rumors. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.519 This isn't a salvation issue. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:51.920 This is a unity concern. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:25:00.400 And for the sake of unity in the body, Paul follows a Jewish purification process to show he's not opposed to the law of Moses. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:02.400 He still believes in the Old Testament. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:08.079 He is Jewish and he thinks well of Jewish customs. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:19.359 It's a challenge, I think, to us to consider how we can pursue unity with other believers over non-essential matters. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:27.599 Paul wasn't teaching that the temple was now useless, even though Christ's temple is now among his people. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:32.799 He didn't teach that Jewish Christians must move on from Old Testament patterns. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:41.680 Instead, he demonstrated that even Old Testament purification acts can be acts of worship followed for the sake of unity and truth. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:43.680 That's a challenge for us. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:50.559 But the ultimate issue here is the irony that's behind all of this. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:26:07.920 The irony is that Paul is preparing himself for this homecoming by purifying himself, by demonstrating to everyone that even though he's been going all throughout non-Jewish areas, he is still a righteous Jew. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:16.480 And that sanctifying act doesn't affect unbelieving Jews, but believing Jews. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:25.759 So at the end of verse 26, Paul is a purified Jew. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:34.400 He's gone through the process to demonstrate that he has taken care of his sin, whatever it might be. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:42.400 And it's the unpurified Jews who create the problems. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:54.160 We see that in the next section where we find Paul's hometown proscription, which is a kind of purging. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:03.279 So our third section, verses 27 through 36, describe a temple uprising. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:15.680 I've called this section a hometown proscription, and I think that probably needs some explanation because we're familiar with prescriptions, but maybe we're not so familiar with proscriptions. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:21.279 The clearest definition I could find comes from the Columns Dictionary. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:29.920 The proscription of something is the official forbidding of its existence or its use. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:46.079 Maybe the better for our purposes is how Princeton University describes it. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:28:10.000 Interestingly, proscription was a legal but somewhat underhanded political way of getting rid of personal and political opponents in the Roman Empire. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:16.720 It had been employed in Roman political circles for at least a hundred years by this point in time. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:31.680 Those who were the targets of proscription were considered outlaws, and anything they or their families possessed could be taken from them, and they were either banished from the empire or executed. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:37.279 In the worst cases, people were hunted down and executed, and their families were forever punished. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:44.480 Said differently, around the time of the first century, proscription was a means of purging. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:51.599 It was a way of eliminating someone you didn't want around. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:55.839 Now Luke doesn't call this temple uprising a proscription. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:08.559 Nevertheless, what Paul experienced amounts to a kind of rejection and banishment, first from the temple, second from Judaism, and third from any aspect of being Jewish. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:14.720 And they reject him because of a misconstrued accusation. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:17.440 Look at verse 28. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:26.480 Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everywhere against the people and the law and this place. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:32.400 Now it wasn't the local Jews who were initiating this. 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:37.279 Verse 27, it tells us that there were Jews from Asia where he had just come from. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:48.000 Somehow, people, Jewish people from the region of Turkey and Greece, the area that he's just been ministering in, have come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:54.720 They are there, they recognize Paul, and they stir up everybody who is from the area against him. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:01.759 Their perception of his teaching was that it ran contrary to Jewish law and customs. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:05.359 That's a misconstrued accusation. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:10.000 But they also reject him because of a faulty assumption. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:27.680 They saw Trophimus the Ephesian in verse 29 in the city of Jerusalem with Paul, and they automatically assume that Paul has brought him into the temple beyond the court of Gentiles, into the court of men, which would defile the whole temple. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:33.839 And so they grab Paul, they drag him out of the temple, and they shut the doors to the temple. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:41.920 To put this into a mathematical equation, they added one plus one and got six six six. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:47.119 It's a faulty assumption. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.720 They stir up the whole city, it says. 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:52.240 Verse 30. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:31:02.000 They were all stirred up, and everybody's running to the temple intent on carrying out an act of prescription against a former Pharisee turned Christian. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:07.920 They seize him, they drag him out of the temple, and they begin to beat him. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:11.680 Of course, the Roman officials think he must have done something bad. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:13.599 He must have done something illegal. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:21.200 So they arrest him, they bind him with chains, they take him for questioning, while the riled up Jews cry out, away with him. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:28.720 Remember, Paul is the purified one. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.119 Paul is the unjustly accused one. 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.200 Paul is unjustly arrested. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:44.480 He's unjustly beaten, chained, and soon to be questioned. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:48.160 Paul's rejected by his own people. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:53.680 Does any of that sound familiar to you? 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:56.559 Because it should. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:21.200 As Jesus told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, and ultimately to be handed over to the Gentiles, so Paul was compelled to go to the holy city to be rejected and handed over to the Gentiles. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:30.319 As Jesus was unjustly accused, arrested, and beaten, so Paul was wrongly accused, beaten, and arrested. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:37.920 As Jesus came to his own people and was not received by them, so Paul came to his own people and was not received by them. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:53.599 As Jesus is the pure one, the sinless and undefiled one put on trial for the good news of the kingdom, so Paul was a purified ambassador for the king, put on trial for the good news of the kingdom of Christ the Lord. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:33:13.920 As Jesus was content to rest in the love of the Father for him, for the purpose of the Father for his world, and entrust his life to the loving kindness of the Father, so Paul had to rest in the love of Christ for him, in the purpose of his king for his world, and to entrust his life to the loving kindness of his Lord. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:20.000 All of that was spoken beforehand in the life of Christ, and so it was predicted for Paul. 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:30.480 Luke shows how this man that we know as the Apostle Paul could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:44.960 He could face the predictions, he could purify himself as an act of worship, and in effect be purged from his people because he had learned in whatever situation he was to be content. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:54.160 His contentment came from submitting himself to the person of Christ. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:34:13.920 Paul was a chief of sinners, rescued by the word of God's grace, and mercifully used by God's grace to speak of him wherever he went and to endure whatever the Lord laid in front of him. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:18.480 His contentment came from submitting himself to the will of Christ. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.239 Paul was a messenger to the Gentiles. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:33.360 He was God's means of spreading the gospel and building churches among non-Jewish people, but that came at the cost of being misunderstood and rejected by his own people. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:43.360 And his contentment came from submitting himself to the truth of the word of God's grace. 00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:51.039 Listen to what that meant for the Apostle Paul. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:58.559 Even as you consider what it might mean for you to seek contentment in Jesus. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:13.039 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to Christ and not to us. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:19.119 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:23.920 We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:29.199 We are persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:37.199 Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested on display in our bodies. 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:41.840 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake. 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:48.239 For the life of Jesus is always manifested in our mortal flesh. 00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:59.679 This is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase in thanksgiving to the glory of God. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.079 So we do not lose heart. 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:11.119 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:21.360 For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:29.039 So we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that we can't see. 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:32.559 For the things that are seen are transient, they're here and they're gone. 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:46.559 But the things that are unseen are eternal, and we know that if the tent that is our earthly dwelling, our bodies, if it is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:56.400 And because of all that we endure in this tent, in this house, in this body, we groan, because we long to put on our heavenly dwelling. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:01.039 If indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked, that would be embarrassing. 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:10.880 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened, not to be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:17.039 For he who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us his spirit as a guarantee. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:22.239 So we can always be of good courage. 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:30.320 And we know that while we are at home in the body, we're away from the Lord. 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:35.280 And so we walk by faith and not by sight. 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:38.800 Yes, we are of good courage. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:42.800 And we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:44.320 To be with Christ is always better. 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:48.480 But whether at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. 00:37:49.760 --> 00:37:58.639 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether evil or good. 00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:05.119 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:24.320 Friends, the Apostle Paul could know what's coming and face it all with perseverance and contentment because of his focus on Christ and eternity. 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:32.000 A seeming boring vacation journal. 00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:42.960 Travel narrative that speaks right to the heart of every single Christian who faces life in a fallen world. 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:45.599 What's your focus going to be? 00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:47.119 Would you pray with me? 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:56.800 Lord Jesus, draw us closer and nearer to you each day, that we may be challenged to be content. 00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:11.599 So that our hearts and our minds might be drawn to you and you might fill us with your spirit to do all things in your power for your praise and your eternal glory. 00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.159 And in the meantime, Lord, we ask that you would even come soon. 00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:22.719 Take us home to be with you and restore all that is wrong to be right again. 00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:29.039 So that all may know you in your glory. 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:30.079 Amen. 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:35.920 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:42.960 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:47.280 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.