Paul's Arrest, Part 4
Acts 22:15-30
We come again this morning in our study to the Book of Acts, and I call your attention again to our passage in chapter 21 and 22. We've been sharing together in this rather lengthy portion for the last several weeks. I think this is the fourth week that we've been in this portion from chapter 21 verse 27 through chapter 22 verse 30, and we will draw it to conclusion this morning. Up until chapter 21 of Acts, we have been following the ministry of the Apostle Paul as a free man. That is, he has traveled under the direction of the Holy Spirit without bondage to those places and those cities that God has led him to. He has had a great and glorious ministry.
From chapter 21 on, he becomes a prisoner; and from here on out until his death, he remains a prisoner. His ministry is not diminished in any sense. It's only different, so we see Paul from chapter 21 to the end of the book in chapter 28 as a prisoner. Now during the time of his being a prisoner, he gives six different defenses of himself, of his actions, of his attitudes. The first such defense is given here in chapter 21 verse 27 through chapter 22 verse 30, and so we've entitled this section "Paul's Arrest and First Defense." But as we have been studying this, more than just looking at the historical narrative as it flows in the text, we have also endeavored to see a principle behind the narrative, and that is the idea of giving a positive testimony in a negative situation.
In the midst of his arrest and defense, we see principles of how to give a positive testimony in a negative situation; and we have endeavored to draw those principles out. Now we have suggested several principles; and, today, we're going to conclude the suggestion of those principles as we look at the final part of the narrative; and, basically, the last of the principles that we'll be considering has to do with attitude. In giving a positive testimony, attitude is extremely important. The attitude that I have toward the unbeliever is going to color the kind of testimony that I give. If I really love the unbeliever as Jesus did, as Paul did, if I really have a deep concern and honest care for his soul and for his life, as Jesus did and Paul did, it's gonna affect my testimony toward him. And if I really love him, the negative in his life is gonna be superseded by the positive of my love; and it won't really matter how antagonistic he is or how unlike he ought to be he is, I'll love him anyway, if my heart is right.
And so in giving a positive testimony in a negative situation, attitude then becomes critical...Many Christians, through the years, and even today, have been accused of having wrong attitudes, and I think it's true in great measure. Christians are superior often in their thinking. They think they have something the lost don't have, and tend, rather than to reach down to lord it over, there are some who exude a kind of holier-than-thou, aloof, separated attitude. Then Christians have also been accused of being cliquish, clannish, unloving, uncaring, unsympathetic, and in some cases, as I said, I think it's justified.
You know, you can become so self-righteous and so involved with the body of Christ and with Christians that you sort of isolate yourself from the unsaved, and the only attitude left for them is sort of a condemnation; and in an effort to avoid defilement, you forsake them rather than loving them and being with them as Jesus was, as Paul was. A genuine, caring, honest, deep love for the lost is basic to effective testimony. I'll put it simply. I believe in my heart that you could verify the fact that the people who are the most effective in reaching the lost are the people whose love for them is the most genuine, because we tend to do what our love motivates us to do...
The Christian who is superior acting, who has a stern, condemning, self-righteousness is one who really doesn't love those people as Jesus did; and the result of it is, instead of winning people, he alienates people. So another factor in a positive testimony in a negative situation is true love, true concern. You know, it's often easy to treat people like statistics and kid yourself into the fact that you really love them when all you do is rack 'em up. Say, "Well, I led three more to the Lord this month." I'm not sure that's the love of the lost as much as the love of the self...
Have you ever gotten into a testimony where you're sharing Christ, and the thought that comes into your mind is, "Wait till I tell them that I led someone to the Lord. Aren't I something spiritually? That's kind of a sick thought, but I've had it...
Now, in this passage, Paul displays for us the right attitude toward the unbelieving, and that's basic to affecting them for Christ. You take it from the standpoint of God. First God so loved the world, then God gave His Son. This is true. This is basic. Paul makes the statement of his love for Israel. He loves Israel so much, he could wish himself accursed, and it's out of that that he loves them, that he gives them the Gospel.
Now, remember, that, as we come to chapter 21, the Apostle Paul has concluded his third missionary tour. He's arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the feast of Pentecost. It's a time when Jerusalem is jammed with people. Now when Paul was on these three missionary tours, he had both a positive and a negative impact. Positively, he won a lotta people to Jesus Christ and started a lotta churches. Negatively, he alienated Jewish people everywhere he went. The first thing he'd do when he went into a town was go to the synagogue, because he loved Israel so deeply, and so should we; and he would preach Christ in the synagogue; and some of the Jews would believe and the rest of them would be adamantly antagonistic; and, for the most part, they would begin to hate him...
And, as he went from town to town, this kind of hatred was built up, and it was built up until there was a whole world of Jewish people, mostly the leaders, rather than the populace. The populace being effectively influenced by the leaders who hated Paul. On this tour to Jerusalem, all the way along the tour, he faces the hostility of antagonism from Jewish leaders. Now, to make things worse, here he arrives in Jerusalem at feast time, and guess who's also in Jerusalem at feast time. All the Jewish leaders from all over the world. So he arrives in an explosive, volatile situation at the same time as his enemies. He's surrounded by the world of enemies that hate him.
As we pick up the scene in verse 27, he's in the temple; and he's in the temple carrying out a particular Jewish custom in order to show the Jewish Christians that he still held reverence for their traditions; and as he's carrying out this custom, he is seen there by some of these Jews who hated him. These non-Christian Jews, antagonistic Jews who hated him, they see him in the temple. In fact, it tells us in verse 27 that they were from Asia Minor, a Roman province, a Roman territory. Paul had ministered there effectively for three years and founded no less than seven different churches from influence through his ministry. He had a dramatic influence on that area; and here they see this, their arch enemy in the temple; and the flames of their hatred are fanned by the very sight of the man; and they realize that they, not only have their own resources, but they've got the resources of all the rest of these people from around the world who hate him just like they do, and the whole populace of very Judaistic, legalistic Judaism, and everybody there can be potentially whipped into a frenzy to bring about his death; and so they start a riot.
And from verses 27 to 30, they whip the riot up. Now, in this explosive situation, we're gonna draw out the spiritual principles that we see exemplified in the life of Paul as he gives a positive testimony in the midst of this horribly negative situation; and, as I said before, this is the only way to witness effectively, because, if you're really making a dent in the system, it's gonna be in a negative situation.
Now, on the your outline, which we'll use the same outline we've used for all these weeks, we'll just follow the basic flow of the text. First of all, the attack of the mob. They have whipped this mob into a frenzy by accusing Paul of being against the Jews, against the law, and against the temple. They have added to those general things the accusation that Paul has taken a Gentile into the forbidden territory of the temple and, therefore, he should lose his life. Which was a lie, he had not done that. Nor was he against the people, nor was he against God, nor was he against the temple.
All of this was a whipped-up frenzy. This was all a lie concocted to generate mob violence against him, and it worked. The mob went furiously together in verse 30. They took Paul. Drew him out of the temple, and they shut the doors of the temple, and they are about to kill him in verse 31.
We come to point 2 in our little breakdown, the arrest of the Romans. Immediately when the Romans saw the riot going on in the temple, their garrison that was ready for such times of riot, stationed in Fort Antonia, right to the northwest of the temple ground, steps descended right into the courtyard. Down came the centurions and their soldiers to break up the riot. Verses 31 to 36, then, is the Roman arrival that breaks up the riot. Now, the Romans assume that Paul has done something awful, so they arrest him. In fact, the commander-in-chief, the chiliarch, the chief captain, he thinks that this is the Egyptian revolutionary that previously had led a riot against Jerusalem. He just assumes that from what's going on, and so they grab Paul, and they shackle him, and they drag him up the stairs through the mob, carrying him over their heads, and they set him up on the top of the stairs, heading for the barracks. And, really, the Romans have saved his life...from the murderous mob.
Now, as we saw that, we saw the first principle of giving a positive testimony in a negative situation. We saw Paul totally quiet, totally submissive, allowing himself to be shackled and taken a prisoner. The reason is because God had told him this was gonna happen, hadn't he? Chapter 21 verse 11, the prophet Agabus had said he was gonna be bound and taken prisoner. Earlier than that, chapter 20 verses 22 to 24, the Holy Spirit told him in ever city that he was gonna be a prisoner, that things bad were gonna happen, so he just accepts it as God's plan.
Now, notice, principle No. 1 in giving a positive testimony in a negative situation, accept the situation as from God. Now, we've seen that, haven't we? You must accept the situation as God's will. Paul did that. If you think all God wants to do is make you lie in a bed of rose, you got it wrong. God wants to bring you testings and trials and difficult situations, for those are what make you strong. God wants to bring you into very difficult confrontation with an evil world, because that's how people are confronted with the Gospel, so you might as well get ready to know the fact that God is gonna bring you into negative situations; and when they happen, accept them as from Him.
Now, then Paul, secondly, after he was arrested, moved into principle No. 2, which is create an opportunity. Once you've accepted the situation as from God, create an opportunity. We find that in point 3, the apology of Paul, beginning in verse 37; and this is a long one. It goes all the way from 37 clear through chapter 22 verse 21. That's his whole long defense.
But we see that when he gets to the top of the stairs, they're starting to take him to the barracks, he says to this guy, he says to the commander, he says, "Could I say a few words?" And the man does a double take, because he says, "Can you speak Greek?" talked to him in Greek. He thought he was just a rabblerousing Egyptian who probably didn't know much of anything, let alone cultured Greek.
When he heard he could speak Greek, he thought, "My, that's a marvelous opportunity." And then Paul said, "Yes," he said, "I can speak Greek. I'm a man from no mean city. I come from Tarsus of Cilicia," which was sort of a high-class place; and he said, "I'm not the rabble-rouser you think I am. May I speak?" And the man thought, "My goodness, this'll be a great opportunity for me to find out what's going on here and find out what the accusations were. Hear the man's defense. So he said, "Fine, you speak."
You see what Paul did? He created his own opportunity. In the midst of a negative situation, he created a positive opportunity. Then he began to speak in verses 1 through 5 to the whole crowd. I imagine the man thought he might have spoken in Greek, since everybody spoke Greek there, but he didn't. He spoke in Aramaic, the Hebrew language. The Hebrew tongue is Aramaic, the vernacular. And he did that because he wanted the people to know that he could speak the way they spoke. He wanted to be conciliatory. He wanted to...to go to their level and have common ground; so he spoke their language, which probably was somewhat of a shock to the leader, because he didn't speak it as well. The reason we know that is because when Paul got all finished, he wasn't too sure what he said.
Now, it may have been that he had theological problems and couldn't understand the implications; but, basically, it was because he didn't understand the language very well. So Paul speaks in their tongue. He says, "I'm a Jew." Verse 3, "I studied at the feet of Gamaliel," who was the leading Jewish teacher of his day. "I was taught according to the perfect manner," that is the legalistic interpretation of the law of the fathers. "I was a Zealot," which is the farthest right-wing in the Pharisees' party. I was extremely zealous just like you are; and what he does there is say, "You know, I was every bit a Jew like you, and I even was zealous enough to do what you're doing today. I've persecuted people just like you're persecuting me." And, in a sense, he justifies their action.
And then he says, "Not only that, why, I was supported...verse 5...by the high priest and the whole Jewish Sanhedrin." And that's principle No. 3, beloved, in those five verses. What's he saying? Principle No. 3, giving a positive testimony in a negative situation. Do everything you can to win your audience