. After his report, the church leaders in Jerusalem told him about the devout Jews who were still practicing the Jewish ceremonial laws along with their salvation. They suggested that Paul, rather than incite a riot, join four men who had just completed their Nazarite vow, so when the devout Jews observed that, they would change their minds about him. This was the plan, and Paul willingly went along with the plan because he had planned to preach the Gospel to his own people at Jerusalem, and he did not want anything to hinder his plans of getting the message of Christ to them.
I. THE OVERSIGHT (VERSES 27-35)
Anytime you have plans, you have to consider two things:
(1) When all the planning is completed, someone has to execute those plans. Finding that someone is not always easy.
Illus: This is one of the problems in today's church. Many committee meetings are held behind closed doors, to deal with problems and goals that we are trying to achieve, but once those committees meet and come up with a plan, someone has to do more than just talk, someone must carry out the plans that were made. Someone said, “A committee usually keeps minutes and wastes hours.”
Someone else said, “The chairman of a committee is like the official at a bullfight, whose job it is to open and close the gate, so the bull can come in or go out.” But I like this the best, someone said, “There are more than 200,000 useless words in the English language, and at some committee meetings you hear all of them.”
Generally a committee of three gets things done if two don't show up.
Seriously, to accomplish anything, someone has to quit talking and activate those plans. Also when we make plans we have to consider:
(2) Regardless of how good we may think those plans are, we have no guarantee that they will succeed. James had an excellent plan, and Paul agreed to it, but the plan did not work out as they thought it might. In fact, that plan almost cost the apostle Paul his life.
lllus: I am sure that the apostle Paul, after he agreed to this committee's suggestion, soon felt like the guy who came home from a committee meeting, whose son came home from the zoo and was telling his parents about the giraffe he saw. He said, "He has the face of a deer, the neck of an ostrich, front legs of a camel, and back legs of a horse." The father replied by saying, "There's no such animal:" The son assured his dad there was, and proved it to him by getting him to go to the zoo himself. The dad saw the giraffe for the first time, and his son asked him what he thought about the animal. He said, “This must be the work of a committee.”
I am sure when Paul came close to losing his life, he felt toward this committee's suggestion the same way that that dad felt when he first saw that giraffe.
A. THE REBELS
Verses 27-29, “And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)”
Notice the Scriptures say that the rebel Jews saw Paul. Until this time they had maintained a hostile silence, but once they saw him in the temple, they assumed he polluted the temple because they had seen a Greek Gentile, by the name of Trophimus, with him in the city just a little while before that time. It does not take a genius to figure out that the people who do a lot of supposing, do not care about finding out the facts. It was forbidden for Gentiles to enter the temple, and they assumed that since they had seen Paul with the Gentile that day, that he had taken him with him into the temple. What they assumed was completely wrong, but when a person wants to find problems he will do it, even if he has to assume something that is not true.
One of the easiest ways I know of to get into some serious trouble is to assume something.
Illus: We suppose that because one or two public officials are dishonest, that they all are bad. We suppose if a speaker or a writer states an inaccurate fact, that he lied intentionally. Oh the wrong that has been done through assuming!
lllus: This reminds me of the story of one woman who met a woman friend that she had gone to school with. They were talking, when a teenager walked up that had a bad case of acne. The first woman turned to her friend and said, “That young man's face will make you sick!” The friend who she was talking to said, "Yes, that is my son...”
Illus: A pastor was welcoming the first-time visitors from the pulpit. He read the name from the visitor card of a lady visiting, and assumed that she was the mother of a man she came with. It turned out she was his sister, not his mother! Oops!
The rebel Jews of our text, assumed that Paul, whom they had seen with Trophimus, the Gentile, had allowed him to enter into the temple.
B. THE REVENGE!
Verses 30-36, “And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.”
The rebels, who hated and despised Paul, made false accusations against him. Look at verses 30-31, they stirred the whole town to violently turn on Paul.
Look at verse 31. They bound Paul up, and took him outside and had all intentions of killing him.
Look at verse 32. God caused the Chief Captain to hear the commotion, and he brought about two hundred men to save Paul from the mob.
Look at verse 33. The Chief Captain assumed the mob had a legitimate complaint. Again, I remind you we can get in serious trouble assuming, because what he was assuming was completely wrong. He immediately had Paul bound with two chains, and he wanted to know who Paul was and what he had done?
Look at verse 34. The crowd wanted to answer that question for Paul. They were so emotionally stirred, that they could not even get their story straight among themselves. Unity of purpose does not necessarily mean there will be unity of action. Someone said, “Men often work together when they have little in common.” So the Chief Captain had Paul taken into the castle.
Look at verses 35-40. As Paul was being led inside we see:
• In verse 37, he asked the Chief Captain if he could have a word with him.
• In verse 37, the Chief Captain was shocked he could speak in Greek and...
• In verse 38, the Chief Captain wanted to know if Paul was the Egyptian who had led a rebellion a few years ago.
• In verse 39, Paul assured him he was not, he was Paul of Tarsus.
• In verse 40, he was given permission to speak.
II. THE ORATOR (ACTS 22:1-21)
A. THE REVIEW
Read Acts 22:1-21. Paul reviewed before the crowd exactly how God supernaturally saved him, and how God had called him to preach the gospel to all mankind. He tried to convince them, that at one time in his life he was as zealous as any of them in upholding the supremacy of Judaism. He showed them by giving his personal testimony. The exciting thing about Paul is that he had a conversion to share. Many who profess to be saved today, cannot share their testimony because they have never been saved.
Illus: Many folks who are saved do not witness because they feel they do not know how. As we search the Scriptures, we find that five times Paul referred to how God saved him. He simply gave his testimony. Anyone who has been saved by God's marvelous grace can do the same.
Sometimes people object to people giving their testimony, but we have to remember, there are some who will not let you preach the Word of God to them, but they will allow you to give their testimony to them, which may lead to the place where you can show them what God's Word says about salvation.
In verse 18, Paul tells how he was in the temple in a trance, and God showed him that he must leave Jerusalem because they would not believe his testimony. He argued with the Lord that surely the Jews in Jerusalem would believe his experience, because they all knew how active he had been in opposing Christianity. He reminded the Lord that he was there even when they killed Stephen, but God who knows best, told him to leave and go to the Gentiles.
B. THE RETRIBUTION
Verses 22-24, “And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.”
Notice, as soon as Paul mentioned the word Gentile, that set this crowd off seeking for revenge. They had an intense religious bigotry toward the Gentiles. Bigotry in any shape, form or fashion is bad, but the worst kind of bigotry is religious bigotry. The Bible says they fell to the earth, cried out, cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air. The thing that set this off, however, was Paul's mentioning the word "Gentile." We still have those today who feel that God loves them and their family and no one else.
The Chief Commander saw this display of evil, and thought to himself about Paul, “Who is this man and what has he done?” He ordered Paul into the castle, and ordered him to be lashed to find out who he was and what he had done to stir this crowd so.
C. THE REVEALING
Verses 25-30, “And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.”
The centurion found out after he had Paul beaten and condemned, that he was a Roman citizen. The centurion sent word to the chief captain that Paul was a Roman citizen. Then the chief captain asked Paul if this was the case, and Paul revealed it was. The chief captain, when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen, was even fearful because he had bound Paul and had him lashed. He decided he would let him appear before the chief priest and the council (the Sanhedrin), for them to determine what kind of legal proceedings should be brought against Paul.
Notice when the chief captain realized what he had done was wrong, he was afraid. Can you imagine how thousands and millions of people are going to feel when they really realize what they have done to the Lord Jesus? They will experience fear like they have never experienced it before.
Conclusion:
I. THE OVERSIGHT
A. THE REBELS
B. THE REVENGE
II. THE ORATOR
A. THE REVIEW
B. THE RETRIBUTION
C. THE REVEALING
