The Measure of A Man
Read Acts 21: 17-40
As I look at this passage, I thought more
about what kind of man Paul was rather than seeing that it was just
about his arrest. It is the arrest of Paul, but it is also the measure
of the man who is seen in the midst of the circumstance that interests
me. I may never get arrested. I may never have to face what Paul did, but I
need to learn the lessons of humility that he exemplified here. From Acts 21:27 on, Paul becomes a
prisoner. His days as a free man are over, and from here on he’s a
prisoner in various places. What intrigued me was the question, ‘How can one continue to give a positive testimony in such a negative situation?’ Now, I suppose that every Christian is
faced at times with the dilemma of how to come across with a positive
attitude in a negative situation.
So how can you keep a positive frame of mind, in a negative situation? I think a good way to learn how is to watch
a man who did it. When we come to the Apostle Paul, we see a man who
knew how to take a negative situation and turn it into something
positive. As we move toward verse 27 of Acts 21, we
are reminded that Paul arrived in Jerusalem on a positive note after
completing three missionary journeys. After meeting with his brother in
Christ and making a report and goes through some purification rites, he
goes to the Temple to worship. But he encounters a mob, who in a frenzy
want to murder him. Let’s look at this story a little closer.
I. Based on v 27 The culprits in the attack were some Jews who were from Asia.
When they saw Paul in the temple, they saw their opportunity.
When they saw him in the temple, they stirred up all the people.
Most of the time lies can move people to action quicker than truth.
Someone once said, “IT IS ALWAYS EASIER TO ROUSE MEN TO FIGHT FOR THEIR RELIGION THAN TO GET THEM TO LIVE BY IT.”
– So what did they accuse him of? They said that he was going around teaching “against our people, and our
law, and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple
and defiled this holy place.” So the first accusation was that he is
anti-Semitic, someone who hates Jews. Now, that’s a little difficult to
accuse an individual of being anti-Semitic when he’s a Jew himself. Then they said he was against the “the
Law.” In other words he’s anti-Moses. He’s anti-biblical. And then they
sum it up by saying he’s against, “this place.” (the Temple). Now those accusations were a bit general
and they really couldn’t do much to the guy who believed those things
even if they were true. So they came up with something specific in verse
28. They say, ‘he brought Greeks into the temple and polluted the holy place.’ Now that’s a very strong accusation. Because They had previously seen him with
Trophimus the Ephesian in the city they just assumed that he was with
Paul. But they had no evidence. For a Gentile to enter the Temple was taboo. The Gentiles were
restricted to an outer court. It was the part of the Temple known as the
Court of the Gentiles. And in between that area and the inner court,
was an area for Jewish women to worship. And then the inner courtyard
was only for Jewish men. And then of course only the priest and the high
priest could enter the Temple itself. But Gentiles were only allowed in the outer court. There was even a sign
posted on the wall that no foreigner could enter. Anyone doing so would
have no one but himself to blame for his death.Now what’s interesting in this: even if
Paul had taken Trophimus in there, it should not have been Paul who was
apprehended, it would’ve been Trophimus. So this shows us that something
was out of whack here.
Verse 30,
“The
whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all
directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and
immediately the gates were shut.,”
It goes on and said that they wanted to
kill him, but fortunately in the great providence of God, the life of
Paul was not to end quite yet.
II. Then we see him ARRESTED (Romans)
The one thing that the Roman Government wanted in its colonies was civil
order. They didn’t tolerate riotous mobs or civil disorder. And any
commander who allowed it was in real trouble. As a result, they had
observation towers to watch over somewhat concealed areas. Because most
of what went on in terms of people congregating went on in the temple
courtyard, there was a garrison of soldiers in the Northwest corner of
the Temple area.
Well, the soldiers saw what was going on.
In verse vss 31-32 it tells us that Immediately solders came bursting in
through the crowd and the Jews then stopped beating Paul.
B. Verse 33 say that they “The
commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two
chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.”
They assumed that Paul is guilty of
something. They assumed the crowd wouldn’t have gone crazy like this
unless Paul was guilty of some crime. I think it’s interesting that this is the
fulfillment of prophecy. I can imagine Paul thinking, “Yep, what Agabus
told me in Caesarea has come to pass.” The Jews captured him, and he is
delivered to the Gentiles, who have now chain him. I’m bound just like
Agabus bound himself with my belt.
C. Romans were pretty good at trying to
bring about justice. As a result, they wanted to find out what this man
had done, what he was accused of, who he was, and what was going on.
Verse 34 says,
“Some in the
crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could
not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be
taken into the barracks.”
Nobody had the faintest idea what was going on. They were just hollering, and screaming all kind of stuff.
III. But here in this story I want you to notice -The ATTIUDE of a Paul In this whole story from the very beginning, the Paul hasn’t struggled
or said anything. Paul is humble. I see his humility in three ways in
these passages.
#1. In the beginning of this text we see
his humility even as he attributes all his success to God. When he first
came back to Jerusalem we read in verses 19 and 20, that he gave a
report about what God had done on his missionary journeys. After hearing
this they all praised God. But one thing he didn’t say was, “Look what I
did. Look what I did.” Rather it was always what God had done. Here we
see Paul’s humble and submissive nature as he spoke of God. All he
wanted to do was glorify God, not himself.
#2. He also submitted to God’s servants on earth.
In verse 22 the leaders tell Paul, this is what we want you to do, do
what we tell you. Now Paul was a great Apostle of Jesus Christ,
personally commissioned by the Lord Himself, yet he is humble enough to
listen to the wisdom and suggestion of these men.
#3. He also submitted to God despite potential suffering
In the beginning of this chapter we read that he was warned that
something bad may happen if he went to Jerusalem, but he had to go
anyway. He just had to obey God’s will no matter what, even if it meant
more suffering. As a prisoner from here on out, I think we
can get an idea of how Paul viewed his imprisonment. As a point of
reference, I would call your attention to how he began
Ephesians 3:1.
Where from jail Paul writes, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of
Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.”
The point is, Paul never viewed his
situation as anything other than God authored. He never viewed his
imprisonment as an imprisonment of men. He doesn’t say, “I write unto
you, Paul, a prisoner of Rome.” He’s always a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
He recognized that it was Christ who brought him into such predicaments. And so consequently, his imprisonment
represented nothing more a new ministry. To him, it didn’t mean the end
of anything; that all was lost. It meant the beginning of something new.
He saw it as a means to a greater end. Somehow it was part of God’s
plan.
What a humble attitude to take. To be able
to view a situation that may seem horrible to everyone else as something
quite different, that God may want me in a certain situation to glorify
Him in a new or unique way.
And that’s just what happened here. Before
Paul is carried off into the Roman barracks Paul is given a opportunity
to address the crowd in Chapter 22. And what does he do?
- He tells the crowd what happen to him on the road to Damascus as he tried to persecute those who were Christians.
- He told them how he met Jesus on the road, how we was lead blind to Damascus, how when Ananias can to him,
- How his sight was restored, and how God chose him to see the Messiah and become a witness on His behalf.
- He told them how Ananias instructed him to be baptized in order to wash his sins away.
He would have never had that opportunity to
preach Jesus the them that day if there was no uproar, if he hadn’t
been arrested. He would never have had the chance to preach to the Roman
officials and later go to Rome if he hadn’t been falsely accused,
beaten and then arrested there that day. Paul humbly learned that God can use even
the darkest of times to bring about a greater good and propel an
individual into amazing works of service. Likewise I want to tell you here today that
God can and will use your trial, your dark days to bring about some
unexpected or even unseen good. And we can either sit around whining or
boohooing, or we can humbly trust God and look for the opportunity to
serve Him in some way even while in that trial.
I’ve titled this sermon, The Measure of A
Man. What kind of attitude you have in these hard times, in trials will
show what you are made of, whether you are a man or woman of faith, or
all fluff.
Invitation
(This sermon is slightly based on a sermon by Jimmy Chapman)
