Latest / United Baptist Church / Paul’s Defense to the Crowd

Transcript

Paul’s Defense to the Crowd · United Baptist Church

• And we pick up our story. The Apostle Paul is the target of an angry mob. He has been misrepresented. He has been falsely accused. He was attempting to demonstrate his appreciation for his willingness to follow Jewish customs when he was unceremoniously pulled out of the temple and and the doors of the temple were shut behind him. And the people who pulled him out and more so began to beat on him until the Roman commander arrived with his soldiers. And for a time at least, they saved Paul's life. And as was predicted by the Prophet Agaba and those who warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem in the first place, he was bound. He was shackled. He was placed in chains. And as he's being brought into the barracks, he inquires of the commander, May I say something to you? I'm thinking that Paul may just have been the most polite captive. This Roman Tribune had ever encountered in his life, having been grossly mistreated by the people mis handled by the soldiers. Chained before hearing any of the charges. It seems Paul would have. I think you would agree with me. A reason to be agitated and a reason to be a little bit on edge. And yet, through it all, he remains calm and respectful. Last week, we noted Paul's admirable faithfulness. This morning, I'd like us to marvel a bit at his composure. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would like a sheep before his shearer, like a lamb, led to the slaughter, be silent. And so he was. Though Jesus was cruelly treated, mocked and reviled, he never responded in kind. Now we look at Paul, who is so very full of his savior, so ready to follow him wherever that might lead, that he too remains calm like his Lord and steadfast while enduring harsh and unjust treatment. He doesn't demand anything. Instead, he just asks. May I say something to you? Well, the commander is taken aback. He wasn't expecting to be spoken to in Greek. He doesn't know Paul. And so he asked him a question. Are you not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the 4000 men of the assassins out into the wilderness, which for us, reading the book of Acts, were like, What? Who, what? What is this all about? Is a fascinating aside, actually. Last week, remember we talked about Jerusalem being this city of unease, a city of unrest, all kinds of uprisings, commotions, rebellion full of people suffering under and upset about the Roman occupation, while among those rebels was a false prophet who gathered a group of thousands to his cause. And he lived in the desert. And those followers were known as the assassins, or literally the dagger men because they had a practice of coming into the city and milling around in the crowds and hiding their daggers underneath their cloaks. And then, at an opportune time approaching, perhaps a Roman or a Jew who was pro Roman and stabbing that person. And then fleeing again into the crowd, making a way unnoticed. This leader, this rebel leader of the dagger, Men of the assassins, assassin told his people that the walls of Jerusalem would fall at his command and would expose the Roman soldiers and they would be able to rush in there and they would be able to overtake them. When the Romans caught wind of that and they weren't about to let some attack happen. They took a preemptive strike and they went out and they killed hundreds of the assassins and they imprisoned hundreds more. But the leader escaped. And this is why the Roman commanders are you this guy? Because I see there's quite a tumult going on. And I can see why people might want to put their hands on you. Are you this guy? And Paul just says, No, I'm a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. So Paul kind of drops a little a little there. I do come from pedigree. I do come from from a pretty important place. He would have recognized that. But even then, he doesn't come over the top in any way. He says this, I beg you. So he still respectful of authority. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people, Paul, to ask for his opportunity to speak. But he doesn't demand it. So I don't know who said it first, but whoever said it was right. You get more flies with honey than with vinegar. You can win people to your side more easily with kindness and with humility. And by being respectful than you ever will with harshness and pride and hostility. Christian If and when your faith is challenged and it's bound to be, how you respond to that, can have an impact, a great impact on whether or not your response will be heard. Paul is humble, Paul is respectful, and his request is granted. So he goes to the steps and he quiets the crowd with the gesture of his hand and he begins to speak to them in their own language. He begins to address them just the way that Stephen, the first Christian martyr, began his address way back in chapters six and seven. Like Paul after him, Stephen was accused of speaking against Moses and against God and against the law and against the temple. The charges against Stephen were fabricated, and when he defended himself, his enemies could not put up with or counter his wisdom, the Scripture tells us. And so they lied. They resorted to lying about him. Paul is in a very similar situation. At 2122. Sorry about that. Brothers and fathers here, the defense that I now make before you. This will be the first of five defenses that Paul the prisoner, gives in concluding the book of Acts. The word translated defense is apologia. It is the word from which we get our term apologetics, which is the act of defending the faith, defending doctrines through reasoned arguments and discourse. Peter, in his first episode, gives this command in your hearts, honor Christ. The Lord is holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. Don't give anybody a reason to think poorly of you. Be gentle, be respectful, but be ready and do respond. Apology. Rex is defending, defending. And the person giving a defense is called an apologist. Every Christian is called to be an apologist. Put some pressure on you this morning. Every Christian is called to be an apologist, just like R.C. Sproles has said that everyone's a theologian. The question isn't whether or not we are theologians. The question is what sort of theologians are we? Are we good theologians are really bad theologians. But the reality is everyone is a theologian. And the same way every believer is called to be an apologist. All of us are supposed to be able to offer. What that means is all of us are supposed to be able to offer a well reasoned argument for the hope that we have within us. So can you do that? How do you how do you feel about that? Imagine that today after worship, you have a chance to talk with someone who doesn't know anything about Christianity or why you believe what you do. Or worse, maybe this person thinks they know something about Christianity. They think they know something about what you believe. Maybe they're even antagonistic toward it. Maybe they think that you are simple because of your faith or your approach to life is simply anti-intellectual. How would you defend the hope that you have within you? How would you explain it? But I can see some of you shifting in your seats already just in anticipation of this make believe scenario. Well, I'm going to have to gather my thoughts here. I'm going to have to and I have to go look online and I've got to think somebody has a commentary somewhere in the house. What does Peter say? Always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason. Well, the hope that is within you, you, you you know, this beloved Peter's not making a suggestion that is an imperative. That is a command. Always be ready. And we if we're not prepared to do that, it's if I put it to very simply, if we're not prepared to make the case for why we believe what we believe, we are in sin. Always be ready to give this defense to anyone who asks. I don't say that to upbraid you. I don't say that to make you feel bad or make you feel guilty. I say that actually because we talked a bit last week about how we see the signs of the times. Do we not? Then doesn't it make sense that we are going to be called upon more and more to defend the beliefs that we hold that are contrary to the values that are being espoused by our culture? We've got to be ready to give a defense. And if we're not ready to give a defense and this is the encouragement, let's get ready. Let's get ready. By all means, let's take some time and get ready. Seriously, think about that, if you would. If someone were to ask you today, why do you believe in Jesus? What would you tell them? Get that ready. Now, it's intimidating to say everybody's a theologian and I know everybody's an apologist. I are some people better than others? Oh, yes. Some people are very good. And some people are gifted at defending the faith. One of our UBC missionaries is Travis Pelletier, who works as an apologist on the campus of the University of Maine at ORNL. And he's going to be a speaker in October in East Brook at the East Brook Baptist Churches Annual Apologetics Conference. And I highly recommend that you attend that conference. The title this year is Answering Social Challenges to Christian Belief. It's a very relevant conference and Travis is a very gifted speaker and presenter, and yet his ministry is not the exclusive domain of professionals. We've gotten used to that a little bit in our culture, I think, But not my lane, not my thing. I'm not a professional. We professionals, just about everything. Actually, when you think about it, it's gotten quite silly. I'm not going to go into that. But I will just say this apologetics is not the exclusive domain of professionals. Every believer is called to be an apologist. In the next 22, we see Paul in that role, and again, we note his composure. This is another bit of instruction for us from this account of Paul's experience is when you are under fire, keep your cool. Think about that now so that when the stress comes, you'll be ready to respond properly. When you're under fire, keep your cool. Kipling Put it this way if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If if you can keep your head when those about you seem to have lost their minds, don't lose yours. That's a natural reaction, though, isn't it? If somebody is being ridiculous or irrational or hostile to us, we may feel like, well, we're just going to be ridiculous and irrational and hostile back. That's just the natural thing that we do. And Paul doesn't do that, and that's informative for us as Christians as we think about how are we going to navigate the challenges of our faith coming under fire. Paul is remarkably composed. He's talking to a group that just tried to kill him and they thought they were right to do it. They thought he had brought a Gentile into the temple Temple and defiled the thing he hadn't. But that's what they thought. So they were full bore ahead with, Let's just kill this guy. Let's get rid of him. That's the group that he's talking to. This is the mob who falsely accused him of doing things that he did not do, of saying things that he did not say. This is the this is the ancient day version of the posse that hang somebody first and maybe ask some questions later. But look at how Paul treats them again. The love of Christ shines through a love that isn't theoretical friends, a love that looks on enemies and genuinely wants their welfare, their good, a love that's not overcome by evil, but a love that overcomes evil with good. A love to which we all as followers of Jesus, are called to practice. We might wonder, how could he be this way? How could he be so cool? How could he? How could he be so calm, committed? And I'm sure there are lots of reasons, but I want to throw one out there. I think that struck me as I was studying this passage. It dawned on me when I was thinking about how does he do this? How do any of us do this? How do we pull this off? Do you realize in these moments, on those steps, as Paul addressed that crowd, he's not fighting for his life. He's fighting for. There's you see, Paul gave his life up a long time ago when he decided that he was going to follow Jesus. You read that in Galatians 220. I'm crucified with Christ. Therefore, what I no longer live, but Jesus Christ lives in me. Paul gave himself up long ago. It would be up to God to preserve him or not to preserve him. And Paul's good with that, and he understands this. It's God who vindicates ultimately, and he either will or he won't. In these moments, it's God who avenges? That's the whole thing about Romans 12. This is why we don't have to be overcome by evil, why we can't overcome evil with good, why we're not to take justice into our own hands. Why? Because I will repay, says the Lord. Yes, that's New Testament. I will repay. And Paul knows all this. And Paul is okay with that. God contains for his people. And we remember that on axis 1414. What does that say to a fearful people? You need only be still. Some of you know this. Some of you some of you harbor this verse in your hearts because we need it there. You need only be still. I will fight for you. All those all this stuff. And that's why he can stand out there and talk to those people. He's not he he's not trying to justify himself. He's not trying to make himself look good. He's not operating out of some desperate need to be to be anything he he does. Yes, he does want to set the record straight. He wants him to know the truth about him because they have lied about him. But he wants them to know the truth about him so that perhaps they will continue to hear what he has to say. Maybe they would be willing to say, I guess we get this guy wrong. Maybe he's not. Then maybe we should listen to what he has to say. Because what Paul really wants is what he's been all about for the last 20 years or more. Now. One more opportunity to speak to a crowd about Jesus. That's what he wants. One more chance to give a defense for the gospel, the gospel that saved him, the gospel that can save them, and without which no one will be saved. No matter how righteous, no matter how religious, no matter how zealous the Scripture is clear. There is no other name, no other means under heaven by which man may be saved except Jesus Christ Jesus, the way the truth and the life he says. And no one comes to the Father. But by me, it all hinges on the good news of Jesus, the perfect son of God, the fulfillment of prophecy, the promised Messiah, that Paul would love to sit with those Jewish people and say, See your own scriptures. They lead us right here to Jesus, this Messiah that you are waiting for. He has come to Earth. He was crucified on the cross. He died there as a sacrifice for sin. His shed blood has paid the penalty for sin. He was buried and he did rise from the dead. And his resurrection testifies to the acceptance of his sacrifice to God and his defeat of death. And that all who will trust in Him will receive eternal life. Paul wants another chance to say this again. These people who want to kill Paul, like all people, they just need Jesus. And he just keeps trying to show them who they are and what they need. He is so dedicated. He's not trying to save his life. He's trying to save theirs. So let's look at his defense briefly, because we're going to have other chances to look deeper into this testimony. So we'll just hit the high points this morning. Verse three, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. So it's Paul's saying right away, says, I'm I'm I'm from around here. That's what we say. I'm not a come from away. Okay. I did come from away. But I got here really early and I stayed really late. I was brought up here. I was I was I was schooled here. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel. And that's a name that that those people in that crowd would have said to me earlier. Well, that's something one of the finest teachers Israel had had ever known. Gamaliel, we encountered him earlier in this study of acts in chapter five. He emerged there as the voice of reason. Remember when the religious leaders were enraged and they wanted to kill the apostles and Gamaliel? Luke tells us it was a teacher of the law and held in honor by all people. And basically what he says is leave these guys alone because if what they're doing is of God, you're not going to stop it. If, if and if it's of God and you oppose it, you're going to find yourself opposing God. And if it's not of God, it's going to go away anyway. That's just a voice of wisdom. That's Gamaliel and Paul. Paul was saying, I was taught by this guy in the strictest ways of the law and people would have respected that. I was zealous, he says. I was zealous for God, as all of you are this day. Did you catch that when it was read before, as all of you are this day? One writer on that last comment says it's as if Paul's search for the nicest thing he could say about a mob that just tried to murder him. I was zealous for God, just like you. You guys are really great at zealously jealous things. I was so jealous of you to pound on me that way. Good, zealous thing. I mean, he's winsome. He's winsome. He's died. Taken away from me. I know why you're passionate. I know what you love. But help me. Help me help you, Paul continues, and I'm paraphrasing now as to zeal. I hated the Christians and pursued them to death in prison. I did that until one day on the road to Damascus. This resurrected Jesus guy knocked me to the ground and he asked me why I was persecuting him. And there was a light is shown around me and it was so bright that it made me blind and I had to be led the rest of the way in order even to get to Damascus. And it was there. Jesus told me that he was going to reveal what I was to do, and it was there as well that a man named Anthony is another one who was respected by all, restored my sight and told me the God of our fathers has appointed me to know his will and hear his voice and be a witness for him. You know something? Believer? If you're a believer here today, if you're a Christian here today, the God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to hear his voice, and to be a witness for him. All this to say Paul Paul's. I didn't go looking for this Jesus. He came looking for me. Really? That's the story, right? I didn't go looking for him. I was persecuting his people. I was killing them. I was dragging them away. I did not go looking for him. He came looking for me. Justice. He's looking for you today I was told to arise. Paul says to be baptized, to call on his name. I come back to Jerusalem. I went into the temple to pray. Remember one of the one of the accusations against Paul said he has no regard for the temple, but here is saying I went back, I went to the temple in order to pray, and while praying in the temple I fell into a trance and Jesus told me to hurry and to leave the city because my testimony wasn't going to be accepted there. And I contended with him. This again is me paraphrasing, but that's what's going on. I contended with him. Have you ever done that with a Lord? You you sort of get a revelation. You get an idea, you read his word, the spirit convicts you of something and you begin to fight back. But, Lord, you don't understand. Why wouldn't people listen to me, Paul, saying, I've persecuted all these people. I have done all that I have done to show my zeal for these people. Why wouldn't they at least listen to me? But that's not what happened. Jesus said to me, Go for I will send you away to the Gentiles. And then Luke tells us for first 20 to up to this word, they listen to him up to this word. These devout and dedicated Jews didn't want to really hear much of anything about Gentiles. We've noted already the volatility of the city, the spiritual climate, the political climate. The Jews are under occupation by the Romans, by Gentiles. They are oppressed by Gentiles. Their traditions are in jeopardy because of Gentiles. They have no love for Gentiles. They have no real concern for Gentiles, especially not any mission of God out to save these Gentiles. This, despite the consistent thread throughout God's Word that salvation would come to Gentiles as well, that the Messiah would be a light to all nations. But you know what? They didn't really want to accept that. They didn't want to believe that. So they stopped listening. Catch this. They stopped listening when their sensibilities were offended, when what was being spoken, did not agree with what they wanted to believe. So let me toss this out to you as a caution. As you weigh the claims of Christianity, the gospel is on offense. Jesus, the claims of Jesus and Jesus himself, the Bible tells us, will be a stumbling block over which many will stumble. Many will trip, and some will be crushed by that wall, which is to say that many may believe in God and what is said about God to a point. But when it gets to the place where they don't like what they're hearing and they don't agree with what is being said because it contradicts what they already believe or what they want to value or what they want to be true, they stop short. I would encourage all of us to come to God in a more humble posture than that. If you are seeking God, you must be willing to hear what is said and taught and not just shut your mind because something offends you. If God is God and if His truth is true, we must be willing to accept it on His terms. We must be willing to change our minds to conform to his. And yet so many throughout the ages have wanted God to yield, have thought we know better. We know what we like. We know what we value. God, you come over to us. How do you think that works? God doesn't come over that way. He doesn't change and people say, Okay, then I can't believe that is they will only go so far with him, but not to the point of faith. And that's what's happening here, is these people have heard something. They were willing to listen and they got to a place where, no, we're not we can't go down the Gentile road. We're done. The crowd rejects Paul's defense. I like the understatement Ben Witherington panned in his commentary. He says, despite Paul's eloquence, this speech does not accomplish what Paul it hoped it would. Oh, really? How do you get that job as a defense speech? It is a failure. Yeah. For the verdict from the crowd, which is the judge here is very negative and negative enough that the Roman Tribune, who probably didn't understand a word of what was being said, is spoken in Aramaic, likely he didn't know what Paul was saying, but he knows a riot when he sees one. And that's that's the response. People get really up in arms, very angry. They raise their voices, Luke tells us. And they said, Away with this fellow from the earth. Again, we talked about that last week. A way with him isn't just take him away, it's take him away and kill him. He doesn't he shouldn't be on the planet. That's what they're saying. And they're shouting and they throw in their clothes and they're flinging dust into the air. And so Paul is whisked away, apparently, that the Tribune is is is convinced that Paul must be the problem based on the crowd's reaction. And so he was made subject to verse 24 interrogation by flogging. In interrogation by flogging. Luke Right. Said so casually, I read that A what kind of interrogation is that examination By flogging, we have another name for that. We call it torture, a method of exacting a testimony from someone we're going to beat on you until you tell us what we want to hear. Of course, Paul reveals his Roman citizenship that brings the examination process to a hard stop, sends it in a new direction, and that will be where we pick up next week, Lord willing, for this week, Paul's defense. It did not go according to plan. Well, that depends on who's the plan we're talking about. Again, here's another reason to keep your composure under duress. God has a plan. Does he, for instance, know that Paul is destined for Rome? Yes, he does. Does he have work for Paul in Rome and along the journey? Absolutely. He does, yes. The speech doesn't win. Paul, any fans? Not as far as we can tell. It doesn't win anybody to the kingdom. But the crowd's reactions sets in motion the chain of events that will send Paul to Rome. That will send Paul to more opportunities to share the gospel when he gets there and along the way. So here's the concluding thought, Christian. When it doesn't go like you thought it would, when it doesn't go like you hoped it would, God is with you and God is working and God has a plan. Our Father, we thank you and praise you for your Word, for its relevance. Even now to our lives, we pray that you would buy your spirit, make us a people of composure. When our faith comes under fire, enable us with sufficient defense and faith to lean back on you, to provide the words in the moments when they are required. Let us be willing vessels of your truth and not shy away from the challenges that will present themselves, nor fall back in the face of intimidation. Let us, like Paul, remain gentle and respectful and kind and truthful. Lord, would you fill our hearts with consideration for others that is greater than the consideration we so naturally have for ourselves. But you make us in this way more like Jesus, who, for the joy before him, endured the cross and its shame. And like Paul, who steadfastly continued on being willing to do whatever he was required to do in order to be faithful to you and have an opportunity to share that gospel that he loves so much Help us to love the gospel like that. Help us to love one another like that. We pray and we ask in Christ powerfully. Amen.