Misunderstood in the Temple
Text: Acts 21:26-36
Introduction
1. Illustration: One day, C.H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weathervane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weathervanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.” “I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.”
2. When we face rejection for our faith or for sharing that faith with someone, it often stems from a misunderstanding. Those rejecting us see it as us trying to force our beliefs on them or trying to take their way of life from them.
3. However, this is the result of a misunderstanding. They think we’re forcing something on them they don’t want, but we are just trying to share the greatest love the world has ever known.
4. Read Acts 21:26-36
Transition: In our text today, we see…
I. The Green Goblin of Jealousy (26-30).
A. Roused a Mob Against Him
1. “Jealousy is a negative emotion that involves feeling resentment, bitterness, or hostility towards someone who has something you don't.” Keep that definition in mind because we’ll come back to it.
2. Paul finally makes it to Jerusalem, and as usual, false rumors follow him. Some of the Jews have been saying that he has been telling Jewish believers not to follow the laws of Moses. So, the church leaders in Jerusalem ask Paul to go with four men they had selected and join them in a purification write in the Temple. Paul agrees to their request.
3. In v. 26, Luke tells us, “So Paul went to the Temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them.”
a. Paul’s willingness to go with these other men to the Temple was a sign of his humility. He had been all over the world, preaching the Gospel, leading people to Christ, starting new churches, and even had a following in Rome, although he had never been there.
b. He had performed miracles, trained new leaders, and had a bigger impact on the Kingdom of God than these elders could possibly imagine.
c. Yet, he did not lord it over them or ask them, “who do you think you are?” No, he didn’t do anything of the sort.
d. Instead, he agreed to their request, although they were politically motivated, and went to the Temple to satisfy the religious zealots.
e. He showed himself as a Jew to the Jews in order to try and win them for Christ.
f. However, his humble gesture didn’t win over enough of these leaders to stop them from being against him.
4. Now, Paul was trying to play nice with these people, but their jealousy of him caused them to attack him. In vv. 27-28 Luke writes, “The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, 28 yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.”
a. It’s a bit ironic that Paul’s antagonists weren’t even from Jerusalem, but rather they were non-Christian Jews from Asia.
b. They recognized him in the Temple while he was finishing his purification ritual.
c. The only reason that these Jews were even in Jerusalem at this time was because it was the feast of Pentecost, and they recognized Paul from his time of ministry in their country.
d. So, these Asian Jews grabbed Paul and stirred up the crowd against him. They began shouting a series of bogus charges against him, saying that he was against the Jews.
e. He had not been everywhere, as they claimed, and he had not been against their laws or the Temple.
f. And the biggest charge they filed against him was bringing Gentiles into the Temple.
1) The outer court, known as the Court of the Gentiles, was the only place that the Gentiles could go in the Temple, and to go beyond was a serious offense.
2) The Gentile that they were referring to was a man named Trophimus, who was from Ephesus and happened to be traveling with Paul. But he was not in the Temple with Paul on this day.
5. Now, this was nothing but pure jealousy. Remember, “Jealousy is a negative emotion that involves feeling resentment, bitterness, or hostility towards someone who has something you don't.”
a. They knew how effective Paul’s work had been among them, and they were using this to discredit him and weaken his work.
b. This is a tactic that is still used today against church leaders.
c. People who are against the church and try to stop the work of the Lord from continuing, go after church leaders in an attempt to discredit the church.
d. They do this out of jealousy. They are filled with anger and resentment because they feel that we have something that they don’t.
e. We cannot stop them from doing this, but we can live our lives with integrity and let the truth of lives speak for itself.
f. Even in times of rejection and anger towards us, we need to live our lives as Christ did, and He will take care of the rest.
B. If the World Hates You
1. Illustration: Many of our sisters and brothers are persecuted even in our own time. Voice of the Martyrs reports, for example, the experience of a young man named Philip, who lives in Laos. Philip walked two hours to another village to hear the gospel. Just three weeks after he returned home as a new believer, the police paid him a visit. They told him that any religion other than Buddhism was strictly forbidden in the region where he lived. They accused him of embracing the faith of foreigners and warned him that things were sure to go badly for him. Sometime later, the authorities pressed him to sign a document renouncing his newfound faith. He refused, and, before long, his neighbors, incited by the local government, killed his livestock and harassed his children. Philip and his family had to move to another village. Asked why he remained a Christian when it caused him such difficulty, he said, “My people are in darkness, worshiping they-know-not-what, and they are enslaved in their sin. I must tell them about Jesus, the only one who can save them from the destruction that awaits them.” Others, like Philip, have suffered the loss of their jobs and their property. Some have been rejected by their family and friends. And many have been murdered for their faith in Christ. (“Laos: Rejected for Christ, Part 3—Philip.” 2 January 2018. Voice of the Martyrs. Web. 2 August 2018. < https://vom.com.au/laos-rejected-christ-part-3-philip/>).
2. If people reject you for your faith, remember that they are not rejecting you, but rather the one in whom you believe.
a. “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.” (Jn. 15:18-20).
b. It is a reality of our faith: people will reject us for it. But we are in good company, for they also rejected Jesus, Peter, James, John, and Paul.
c. However, we must keep in mind the reasons that people do this.
d. As I mentioned earlier, some do it out of jealousy. We have something they don’t. They can see the joy and peace that Jesus brings, and they wish they had it.
e. For others, they reject us because they don’t want to change. They think that they will have to give up all of their “fun.” The truth is, there’s nothing more fun than knowing Jesus. He brings us abundant life!
f. Still others reject us because they have been hurt in the past.
g. No matter what the reasons may be, we must always be faithful to Jesus because He is always faithful to us.
Transition: But the good news is, when we are rejected…
II. The Advocate Comes to the Rescue (31-36).
A. The Commander of the Roman Regiment
1. As a result of these false accusations, Luke tells us in vv. 30-31, “The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. 31 As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.”
a. The accusations against Paul sent the city into an uproar and started a riot.
b. This resulted in what we would call a “lynch mob,” as they dragged Paul out of the Temple and the gates, the ones between the inner court and the court of the Gentiles, were closed behind him.
c. They immediately started beating Paul and their intention was to kill him.
d. Isn’t it ironic that the final scene at the Temple in the Book of Acts is the gates slamming shut to keep Paul out?
e. However, one thing these Jews hadn’t counted on was the commander of the Roman regiment finding out and investigating the riot in the city.
f. Let’s keep in mind that the whole reason that Paul was in Jerusalem was that the Holy Spirit wanted him to go to Rome, alive!
g. It was this commander that the Holy Spirit would use to see that Paul made it to Rome.
2. In vv. 32-33, Luke tells us, “He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done.”
a. The commander took immediate action, calling out his soldiers and officers.
b. The fact that the word “officers” is plural indicates that at least two hundred soldiers were dispatched to the scene of the riot.
c. It was the quick action of the commander that the fact that the close proximity of the Antonia Fortress, which was adjacent to the Temple, were responsible for saving Paul’s life.
d. One of the great aspects of Luke’s writing is that he was very detailed, and he wrote that Paul was bound with two chains.
e. This tells us that Paul was handcuffed to two Roman soldiers, one on each side of him.
3. Now, the commander had asked the mob what Paul had done wrong (probably not the smartest thing he’d ever done). Luke tells us in vv. 34-36, “Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. 35 As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him. 36 And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”
a. Asking a mob what the problem is usually ends up in mass confusion, and this was what happened that day.
b. Some shouted one thing and others shouted something else, which resulted that the commander couldn’t get to the truth.
c. As a result, the commander ordered that Paul be taken to the garrison, which was probably the safest place for him to be in the entire city.
d. The garrison had been built by Herod the Great to protect the Temple area, and it housed somewhere around a thousand soldiers.
e. But these rioters weren’t about to give up that easily. When they saw Paul being taken away from them, they became so violent that the soldiers had to lift Paul up on their soldiers to keep the mob from killing him.
f. Again, the Holy Spirit uses these Roman soldiers from killing Paul, and he was able to continue his journey to Rome.
g. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate too! He is always there to protect us, guide us, and teach us.
B. I Will Send You the Advocate
1. Illustration: Without the Holy Spirit the church could not exist. It is He who inspired the writers of Scripture, and He who dwells in every Christian, giving us life in Christ. All our efforts are dust and ashes apart from Him. A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents. The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 PM for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $3.50. (pause) Then my wife’s father died and left us ten million dollars." When Jesus died for us, He sent us the Holy Spirit, enriching us with all we need to live in Him.
2. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised to send us an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to defend us in our time of need.
a. “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.” (Jn. 15:26).
b. The word Advocate in this verse comes from the Greek word Paracletos. It can be translated a number of different ways: helper, counselor, intercessor, or advocate. In non-Biblical literature it had the meaning of an attorney, someone who defends a person in court. That’s the meaning it has here.
c. The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, comes and defends us when we are being persecuted.
d. He stands next to us and pleads our case for us.
e. He is always right there to defend us.
f. “But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mk. 13:11).
g. So, when people come against you, don’t worry about what to say to them, just let the Holy Spirit speak for you.
Conclusion
1. When we stand for Jesus…
a. We come face to face with the green goblin of jealousy.
b. But the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, will be there to defend us.
2. What’s the point preacher? As we live our life of faith, realize people will come against us, but the Holy Spirit will always be there to defend us in our time of need.
