Do you remember what’s going on with Paul in the Book of Acts?
He was trying to make his way to Jerusalem, then to Rome, to continue expanding his mission to reach people with the message that Jesus Christ saves sinners.
You may recall that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he was to be persecuted because of the name of Jesus.
In fact, just last week, we learned in our passage that a prophet told Paul that he would be bound and imprisoned by the non-Jewish authorities.
Well, let’s investigate to see what happens. Let’s get “On the Case in Jerusalem.” Indeed, that is the name of today’s sermon.
Before we go any further, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Ok, I want to give you a heads up that we have a very large passage today. So, as we are “On the case in Jerusalem,” let’s take a little at a time.
In our investigation, we’re going to see four cases in this passage.
First, let’s see . . . I. A case of humility.
You may recall that Paul had finally made it back to Israel, to the port city of Caesarea.
So, that’s where we begin our passage.
Let’s look at Acts 21:15 and following to see what happens:
21:15 After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly. 18 The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. 21 But they have been informed about you—that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs. 22 So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come. 23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law. 25 With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.
Ok, here’s what’s going on:
Paul has made it to Jerusalem and he is meeting with the Christians there, most of them who are Jewish Christians.
As we know from elsewhere, and confirmed here, we see that the leader of the Jerusalem Church is James.
You may recall that Paul had already discussed the entrance of Gentiles (or non-Jewish people) into Christianity with James and the leaders in Jerusalem at what we call the Jerusalem Council, which we learned about in Acts 15.
James refers to that in verse 25 of the passage I just read.
So, Paul was with James and the leaders of the Jerusalem Church once again.
Paul was pleased to tell the Jerusalem leaders what God had done among the Gentiles.
Also, James was pleased to tell Paul that Christianity had grown in Jerusalem so that thousands of Jews believed in Jesus as their Messiah.
However, James also pointed out that those Jewish Christians were zealous for the law, which meant they were very excited to keep all the laws and regulations that were given to the Jewish people by God, through Moses.
Here’s the issue: Paul had been accused of instructing people to abandon the law given through Moses, which he did not do.
Let me just say, false accusations against people doing ministry is still alive and well today. Somedays, I feel like I spend half of my time correcting false accusations and incorrect information. The church dealt with it then, and the church deals with it today.
Nevertheless, James recommends that Paul join some others who are taking a Jewish vow so that Paul could show his devotion to the law of God and confirm that he is still committed to being a faithful Jew.
Now, to be clear, Paul did not have to do this. He had not done anything wrong. He could have simply refused to jump through these hoops.
However, Paul didn’t do that, did he? Instead, Paul showed humility.
Here, we have a case of humility. Paul chose to do something he didn’t have to do in order to try and not offend his brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul’s intentional choice to be humble is such a good model for us, church.
I promise you . . . if you seek to be humble, even when you don’t feel that you’re obligated to do so, things will go so much better for you, those around you, and certainly for your church.
As a pastor, I can tell you that the majority of the time when we have conflict in the church, people are not looking at themselves and how they can improve the situation. Generally, they’re pointing the finger at someone else.
Friends, if we can be a humble people, then we can be a holy people.
There was a case of humility with Paul in Jerusalem, and I pray that we’ll find a case of humility here at our church in Bartow.
Second, we see . . . II. A case of resistance.
Even though Paul was humble, there was still evil at work.
Look at verse 27 and following:
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him, 28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also 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 The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
31 As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos. 32 Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”
Well, the Holy Spirit told Paul that he was going to suffer persecution, didn’t He?
The Holy Spirit told Paul’s friends that Paul would suffer, didn’t He? The prophet Agabus told Paul that he would be bound by the Gentile authorities, didn’t he?
Here we are with Paul being dragged and attempts made on his life by the Jews, then he is taken into custody and bound by the Gentile authorities.
Pay attention to how all of this came about (on the human level): More false accusations were made against Paul.
These people claimed that Paul was bringing non-Jewish people into the temple, but there’s no evidence to suggest that he was, in fact, doing this.
So, again, we have false accusations at work, and we have evil at work.
I won’t speak much about this today because last week’s sermon was devoted completely to this topic. For today, just know that we had a case of resistance against Paul.
Next, we see . . . III. A case of conversion.
Despite all of this chaos and confusion, Paul finds a moment to speak to the crowd and explain himself. Let’s see what he says.
Look at verse 37 and following:
37 As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?”
He replied, “You know how to speak Greek? 38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”
39 Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”
40 After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic:
22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. 3 He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
8 “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
10 “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’
“The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’
11 “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus. 12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there, 13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth, 15 since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
17 “After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19 “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten. 20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’
21 “He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
22 They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!”
Ok, in these verses, we hear about the conversion of Paul.
By the way, you may notice that Paul’s testimony of his conversion follows the format that we learned when I preached about sharing your gospel story:
Paul shared how he was before Jesus, how Jesus gave him new life, and how he later lived a changed life for Jesus.
Paul was completely changed because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had been converted.
What about you, friends? Have you been converted by the life-changing power of Jesus Christ?
Well, notice that the crowd didn’t mind Paul sharing about his conversion. After all, thousands in that city had been converted to following Jesus.
However, they did not like that he was taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Luke said in verse 22, “They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, ‘Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!’”
Well, how did Paul react? That takes us to our final case:IV. A case of wisdom.
Did you know that wisdom is a gift from God? In fact, Proverbs 16:16 says, “Get wisdom— how much better it is than gold!”
Well, let’s read about the wisdom of Paul. Look at chapter 22, verse 23 and following:
23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. 25 As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes,” he said.
28 The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.
29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.
You know how they say in the movies, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way?” Well, Paul was about to get interrogated the hard way.
The Roman authorities were about to interrogate Paul by scourging him, which is basically being beaten or whipped.
However, Paul wisely asks, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned.”
Well, that question changed the situation because it, in fact, was not legal to scourge someone who was a Roman citizen and uncondemned.
You see, even though persecution was something that Christians would endure, and even though suffering makes us more like Jesus, Paul wasn’t looking to unnecessarily be punished.
So, we see Paul practicing a little wisdom.
We, too, ought to live our lives as wise people.
Paul would say elsewhere, in Ephesians 5:15, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise.”
So, let us notice and learn from this case of wisdom.
Also, let this bottom line summarize what we are learning today:Bottom Line: A case of resistance is sure to come to those doing gospel ministry.
I promise you that if you do the work of the Lord, you will face resistance.
I promise you that if you work with people, you will face resistance.
I promise you that if you seek to bring light and love into this world, you will face resistance.
Be prepared for it, and by God’s grace, walk through it. God will sustain you as you do so.
Challenge yourself this week in the following two ways.Weekly Challenge #1 – Seek wisdom.
James (the same James in this passage) says in James 1:5, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”
So, ask God for wisdom, and seek to live wisely every day, particularly when you face resistance.Weekly Challenge #1 – Seek humility.
Paul said in Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
We all need more humility. The moment you think you are humble enough, at that point you have demonstrated that you are not really humble.
So, each of us should seek humility and put on humility.
Well, that was us on the case in Jerusalem.
Now, let me get on your case for a moment about knowing Jesus.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.
