Walking Through Acts
At one time or another we’ve all been on the receiving end of a sales pitch. You
might’ve been at home and you heard a knock at the door accompanied with the
ringing of your doorbell, and, if you’re parents of young children, it always seems
to happen during their nap time. And so, with all the patience that you have left in
your body you compose yourself and open the door to friendly looking man or
woman who has a clipboard or iPad in their hands and they begin their sales pitch.
They could be selling security systems, lawn treatment, pest control service, solar
panels so on and so forth. No matter what it is, whether they vocalize it or not,
the idea is that their product or service will change your life. It’ll transform it. So
much so that the price you pay for said product or service will be more than worth
the investment. Why? Because, from the salesman’s point of view, your life will be
so dramatically changed that you will never want to go back to how it was before.
Last week, I left us all on a cliffhanger. Paul had been dragged out of the temple
and beaten, only to then be arrested which actually ended up probably saving his
life. And Paul makes a peculiar request. “May I speak to the people that just beat
me and tried to kill me?” Paul is granted this request and so we arrive now to
Paul’s address to the Jews. He spoke to them in the Hebrew language and every
ear was attentive. Scripture tells us that there was a great hush that fell over the
crowd. May our ears now be attentive to the words Paul spoke to the people that
day.
Acts 22:1
“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
This first verse in our selection of Scripture today is one that begins with a bang.
Remember, Paul is speaking to people that hated him and wanted him dead. And
how does Paul speak to them? He uses familial language…brothers and fathers.
Although Paul is an anathema in the eyes and hearts of the Jews (hated him anddidn’t want to have anything to do with him), Paul saw them as family. And we will
see why here in a moment.
Acts 22:2
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language,
they became even more quiet. And he said:
Now’s the time when we fix our attention on what Paul has to say.
Acts 22:3-5
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the
feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being
zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death,
binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and
the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to
the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there
and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
Here is what Paul is doing. He is neutralizing the crowd, by identifying with them.
And although strategic and clever, those things aren’t the primary motivations
that drive Paul. He does this so he can gain a better hearing. Why bother? To
convince them of his innocence so he can spare his life? At first that may seem
plausible, but as we get further into the text today, we will see that this is not the
case.
The Roman Tribune who granted Paul this opportunity to speak to the crowds may
have thought Paul sought to fight for his innocence. Rather, Paul sought to speak
his faith. As we had seen with Stephen in chapter 7. No one could have seen it
coming. When many would think the defendants had their backs up against the
wall, Stephen as well as Paul, have something else on their agenda. That is to
present the gospel message. This was Paul’s motivation for speaking to the
people. Did he probably fear for his life? It’s very likely. But that doesn’t deter
Paul. He is not moved by such things.We get a glimpse of Paul’s psyche in his letter to the Romans. Where is Paul’s mind
at in all of this? What is his end game?
Romans 9:3
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake
of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
As we’ve covered a couple of weeks ago, Paul is perfectly willing to lay down his
life for the sake of Christ. But here today, we learn that he is willing to even go
farther than that and say, I would rather myself go to hell so that others might be
saved. How many of you would be able to say that? I would venture to say not a
single one of us, not even myself. I’d like to go to heaven as well.
Now, we’re not going to get into whether or not this kind of transaction would be
possible. Whether one can take someone’s place in hell so they could go to
heaven. In fact, it’s not possible. But that’s not the point. The point is to show us
the extent of Paul’s love and desire to see as many people saved as possible no
matter what it would cost him. If this doesn’t show the heart of Christ, I don’t
know what does. When a man has his heart beset upon the purposes of God even
willing to lay down his own life, there is nothing the forces of evil can do about it.
I can just imagine Paul looking out amongst the crowd of Jews who are just
seething with anger and hate; and him thinking to himself, Satan, you’ve done a
good job, for if I wasn’t in Christ, I’d be shaking in my sandals and shrinking back in
cowardice. But you’ve got me at the wrong time, for I’ve got Christ in me. In
essence, “Good try, but you’ll have to do better.”
Reece,
“The picture of Paul, beaten, bruised, and perhaps bloody, standing on the stairs
to the tower of Antonia, about to address the mob below in the courtyard, is one
to view with wonder and amazement. He loved these people. They were his
people, people such as he had once been, with a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge. How he longed to win them to Christ!”It is out of love and compassion that Paul speaks to these Jews. Apart from their
status in Christ, I’m just like you, is what Paul is getting at. And then he goes on to
credential his statement. “You want to kill me. Many zealous Jews have tried
already and were unsuccessful. Before I became a Christian, I actually sought to
kill Christians, and I was successful. If that’s not enough proof to show my zeal for
the Law, I even went outside of Jerusalem and pursued the fleeing Christians and
killed many of them. Even the high priest knows about me and what I’ve done as
well as the council of elders.”
And to this, we can only imagine what must have been going on in the minds of
the Jews. One thing that we can be pretty certain of is there was one question
that would have been raised. What happened? Did you fall on your head, get
struck by lightning, go on a walk about in Australia? Something seriously wrong
must have happened to cause Paul to defect.
And now here is Paul’s golden opportunity to answer that very question.
Acts 22:6-20
6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from
heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who
are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are
persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand
the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do,
Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be
told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of
the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and
came into Damascus.
12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the
Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother
Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14
And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the
Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for
him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait?
Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a
trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem
quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said,
‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned
and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your
witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching
over the garments of those who killed him.’
What happened to Paul? Jesus happened to him. Paul’s testimony of the gospel is
one of transformation. He wrote in his letter to the Corinthians, when one comes
to faith in Christ, they are a new creation. You’re not who you used to be. And in
the case of Paul, going from a killer of Christians, to being willing to go to hell for
the cause of Christ, I’d say that change was crystal clear to anyone and everyone
who came across him.
The question I would like to ask you is, does the life you now live in Christ look
drastically different from the one you lived before Christ got a hold of you? Here’s
the thing. It should.
I remember a sermon clip from a preacher named Paul washer. And he says,
“Imagine I show up late to Church on a Sunday morning and all the elders are mad
at me. The elders would say, ‘don’t you think it’s important to show up on time
and to appreciate the opportunity to preach the gospel?’ ‘You’ll have to forgive
me, I had a flat tire on my way here and while I was trying to change it out, a
lugnut came off and rolled into the middle of the highway. I was so preoccupied
with what I was trying to do that I chased that lugnut down and found myself right
in the path of a 30 ton logging truck going 120 mile/hour and it ran me over, and
that’s why I’m late.’ The elders would reply, ‘That is absolutely absurd! It is
impossible to have an encounter with something as large as a logging truck and
not be changed.’ ‘My question then to you would be, what is larger? A logging
truck or God?’”
Paul Washer ends with this question.“How can it be that so many people today would profess that they had an
encounter with Christ and yet they are not permanently changed?”
Paul’s life was a living testimony of the transforming power of the gospel. So, what
happened to Paul? Jesus did.
Acts 22:21-22
21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said,
“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”
These are the last two verses that we will look at today and they touch on
something very important. The entire time Paul is giving his speech, there was no
commotion or outrage. In fact, I can imagine that many were being won over by
Paul until the mention of one word…Gentiles.
You see, this is a prime example of Paul preaching the entire gospel. Yes, he
wanted many to come to faith in Jesus, but he would not do so by leaving out any
part of it. He wasn’t going to compromise the gospel just so people would believe
in Jesus. What the Jews did not like, in fact, what they hated, was that the gospel
message was available to everyone and not just themselves. These Jews thought
that because they were God’s chosen people, that they had some special privilege
or access that others didn’t. No, the gospel message is not restricted to any one
people group, but it is for everyone.
Everyone is on level footing at the foot of the cross. Here’s what I mean by that.
The rich need Jesus just as much as the poor. The joyful need Jesus just as much
as those who are mourning. Young and old. Men and women. The sick and the
healthy. Those with a past and those who have lived upright as far as they could
manage. I could go on and on. Everyone needs Jesus and salvation through faith in
him is available to everyone. Every single one of us in here are deserving of
eternal damnation, but because of Christ’s death on the cross and his
resurrection, we have hope of eternal life through him and him alone.The Jews we are reading about today didn’t want anything to do that! They didn’t
want to hear it. They just couldn’t handle the fact that the gospel was available to
everyone including the Gentiles.
Here’s a bit of conjecture on my part, but I bet they believed that the Gentiles
didn’t deserve it. Afterall, they didn’t have to go through all the many years
observing all the laws and statutes that they had to follow. The Jews were a lot of
times oppressed by other people groups as I’ve mentioned in previous sermons.
Let us never think that anyone is underserving of the gospel lest we fall into the
same entrapment as the Jews we are reading about today.
If there is one thing you take away from today’s message, I would want it to be
this,
“The gospel is for everyone.”
A clear example of this is in the life of a man named Thomas Ryman. I heard this
story while listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast and it’s a story of transformation.
Piano to play here.
“On the night of May 10, 1885, Riverboat Captain Thomas Green Ryman arrived at
a downtown Nashville religious revival to see what all the fuss was about. He left
town that evening called by God to build a big, beautiful church.
At the time, Ryman was a prominent 44-year-old Nashville businessman and the
owner of a major riverboat company. He started the business with his father and
quickly took over management of the venture at 15, fishing the Tennessee River
near Chattanooga during the Civil War to support his mother and four siblings
after his father died. Over time, Ryman amassed a 35-ship fleet as well as various
saloons and side businesses catering to rowdy river life. Ryman directly profited
from the alcohol, gambling, and unsavory behavior that the popular Reverend
Sam Jones was set to rail against on that hot revival night in May, and he arrived
with a few friends to see just what the good reverend had to say about the
situation.What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Reverend Jones was famous
for his tent revivals, and this one drew a crowd of thousands to Spruce and Broad
(8th Ave and Broadway). Though Ryman arrived as a curious spectator, the
Reverend’s sermon and the energy of the faithful crowd stirred something deep
and surprising inside him. He pledged then and there to use his wealth and
influence to construct a building large enough to hold every person who wanted
to hear Sam Jones and others preach. He wanted to ensure that the good citizens
of Nashville would have a proper place to worship together and that they would
never have to attend a revival under a tent again.
Seven years and approximately $100,000 later, in 1892, Reverend Jones stood
behind the pulpit of Ryman’s brand-new Union Gospel Tabernacle to preach. He
declared, “I believe for every dollar spent in this Tabernacle, there’ll be $10 less
spent in the future on court trials. This tabernacle is the best investment the city
of Nashville ever made.”
When he died in 1904, Ryman was widely regarded as an exceptional
businessman and a pillar of faith, generosity and kindness in the Nashville
community. “
As Christians who carry a message of hope with us wherever we go, we’ve got
something better to offer to people than solar panels, or lawn care services, or
home security systems. We’ve got the life-changing, transforming message of the
gospel. And it is truly something that we don’t want people to live without.