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Well, in order that we might
continue this morning with our study through the book of Acts,
please turn with me to the book of 1 Peter 2. We're coming back
to Acts in just a few minutes. But there are some verses in
1 Peter that I think we need to keep in mind today as we look
at the text in the book of Acts. And in fact, we will be referencing
these verses again that I'm about to read here. But just to have
them in our own minds as a congregation before we look at the text, in
Acts 21, 1 Peter 2, verse 20 through 23. For what credit is there if when
you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?
But if when you do what is right, and suffer for it, you patiently
endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called
for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving
you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no
sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, And while being
reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered
no threats, but kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously."
Now turn over to 1 Peter 4, beginning with verse 12. Do not be surprised at the fiery
ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as
though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the
degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, Keep on rejoicing,
so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice
with exultation. If you are reviled for the name
of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God
rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers
as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But
if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but
is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to
begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us first,
what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of
God? And if it is with difficulty
that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless
man and sinner? Therefore, those also who suffer
according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to
a faithful Creator in doing what is right. Now turn with me to
the book of Acts chapter 21. We are today in Acts 21 beginning
in v. 27 going through v. 40 which
is the end of the chapter. If the previous chapters, the
previous messages that we've given here over the last few
weeks have prepared us for anything, it should have prepared us for
the events that transpire in our text today. It is at this
point that Paul begins to experience the bonds of which he has spoken.
The bonds which the Spirit of God has revealed to him. And
it is from this point forward all the way to the end of the
book of Acts. Acts chapter 28. That Paul is no longer a free
man. Of course, Paul has concluded
his third missionary journey. He is now in the city of Jerusalem. The assurance that he had given
to him of the bonds and the afflictions that awaited him, which he spoke
of in chapter 20, verse 23, are fulfilled in our text for today.
So Paul's days of peace in Jerusalem are certainly short-lived. And having been forewarned of
what was to take place, now he finds himself in the actual flames,
in the fires, not literally speaking, but certainly the fires of persecution. So begin reading with me, follow
with me as I read Acts chapter 21, beginning in verse 27, going
again to the end of the chapter. Remember, He has gone into the
temple with these four, if you were here last week, with these
four men who were under a vow. He has gone in to give credibility
that He has not been teaching against the law. He has not been
teaching against the people of God. He has not been teaching
against the temple. He has not been teaching against
the traditions of the Jews. And so he goes into the temple
with these four men, being consecrated himself as their patron, paying
their way for the completion of their vows. And so he is there
in the temple. Verse 27, when the seven days
were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the
temple, These Jews, of course, from Asia. They were those from
Ephesus, likely, or that surrounding area where, of course, Paul had
been ministering for three years. And they're in Jerusalem here
for Pentecost or for the celebration of that feast. Upon seeing him
in the temple, they began to stir up all the crowd and laid
hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, come to our aid. This is the man who preaches
to all men everywhere against our people and the law and this
place." Speaking of the temple. And besides, he has even brought
Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. for
they had previously seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, in the city with
him. And they supposed that Paul had
brought him into the temple. Then all the city was provoked,
and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul, they
dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were
shut. While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up
to the commander of the Roman cohorts that all Jerusalem was
in confusion. At once he took along some soldiers
and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander
and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander
came up and took hold of him and ordered him to be bound with
two chains. And he began asking who he was
and what he had done. But among the crowd, some were
shouting one thing and some another. And when he could not find out
the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought
into the barracks. When he got to the stairs, he
was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. For
the multitude of the people kept following him, shouting away
with him. As Paul was about to be brought
into the barracks, he said to the commander, may I say something
to you? And he said, do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian
who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men
of the assassins out into the wilderness. Paul said, I am a
Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. And
incidentally, he is, even by that statement, pronouncing his
Roman citizenship. And I beg you, allow me to speak
to the people. When he had given him permission,
Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his
hand. And when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the
Hebrew dialect. Suffering for the most part in
our experience is not a welcome experience. However, we find
and we recognize that it is common to all of humanity in varying
degrees, varying measures. Certainly there are some people
who experience greater degrees of suffering than others. We
also recognize that suffering is experienced in our present
day world because of the biblical teaching that we have. It's a
consequence of man's fall, the fall of Adam into sin, and that
the ramifications of that fall into sin were universal in their
effect. It affected not only humanity. It affects the world in which
we live so that we live in a fallen world. It's very natural in regard
to suffering that we do all that we can to avoid it. Try to protect
ourselves, isolate ourselves from any possibility of suffering
and to some degree that's a good thing. But the reality is eventually
suffering for all of us proves to be inescapable. We've all
experienced some measure of suffering. Christianity has never been presented
as an escape from suffering. as some would like to present
it. Well, become a Christian and all your troubles will go
away. Well, the fact of the matter is, you don't know what trouble
is sometimes until you become a Christian. So Christianity
has never been presented as an escape from suffering. Rather, Christianity brings to
the table a biblical worldview in regard to suffering. how we
are to understand and to see suffering. And we come to the
conclusion from the Scriptures that there is in fact a purpose. There is a purpose in suffering. Though the world may look at
it, the world looks at the suffering around it, the world looks at
the suffering that is experienced such as even is being brought
upon many cities and areas of our East Coast right now through
the hurricane. The world looks at that and it
seems that it's rather arbitrary. It's rather meaningless. And
for some who would look upon the sufferings in our present
day world and it's one of the charges they would bring, well,
if there is a God and this is His world, I don't want anything
to do with that God. And simply all that we're seeing
is a God who is righteous and allows the consequences of sin
of falling people in a fallen world to run the course. not outside His sovereign control,
but within and under His sovereign control. You see, the Christian
worldview sees suffering in the context of a sovereign God. A God who is sovereign in all
things, in all events, in all affairs, in all circumstances,
And that ultimately it is a reflection of His wisdom. It is showing
forth His glory in ways that are incomprehensible much of
the time to us. There is a higher purpose being
accomplished even in the midst of suffering. And the marvel
is that in the midst of a world that is marred by sin, a world
that is marred by everything that is in contradiction to God
by our fallen sin nature, by a world that has fallen, the
marvel is that even in the midst of that, that a God who is altogether
holy and righteous can work even these things for the glory of
His name. And it's done. Christianity through the Scriptures
again teaches us how to rightly review, rightly view, and to
even endure suffering as the people of God. Much of today's text that we're
dealing here with in the book of Acts finds illustration and
application for us in the book of 1 Peter, which is why I've
read those verses to you from 1 Peter 2 and 4. And it's recognizing
that God is sovereign in our affairs, that God is sovereign
over all suffering, and that we must choose to respond and
to view and to endure whatever suffering God may call us to,
to see these things as His design. How are we to view suffering
in our own experience? How are we called to endure suffering
in our experience? This morning we want to look
at our text and find what I trust will be some important principles
to guide us through suffering. The first principle I want us
to consider in light of our own personal experience of suffering
is this, that we are to be righteous in our conduct. That we are to
be righteous in our conduct. Paul has basically two charges. Two charges that are brought
up against him by these Jews from Asia in verse 27. The first charge is, in verse
28, is that he preaches against our people and the law and this
place. Either the city of Jerusalem
or the temple itself. Likely the temple itself because
of all that was done in the temple relating to the worship of God. This was, in fact, the charge
that we discussed in some measure last week. It was the charge
that was addressed by James and the other elders in verse 21
to Paul as he came to Jerusalem. That this is being said of you,
Paul, that you're preaching against the traditions of the people.
You're teaching against Moses. You're telling the Jews in these
other lands that they shouldn't even circumcise their children. So that charge has been addressed
in the previous section already to the believing Jews. And that charge is even countered
by the fact that Paul is here present in the temple. His presence
there in the temple is in fact showing a great honor to the
temple, to the Jews, to Old Testament law. He is there, remember, following
the instruction given in the book of Numbers regarding the
ending of a vow. The vow that was taken according
to the biblical pattern. So by His very presence there
in the temple, with these four men that He had come with and
being involved in His own sanctification, would, should demonstrate and
would, I think, did demonstrate to the believing Jews that in
fact what's being spoken of against Paul is not true. The second charge that's being
leveled against him is that he has brought Greeks into the temple. That's the immediate charge that
really gets things fired up here, that He has brought Greeks into
the temple and thus He has defiled this holy place. That's verse
28, the second part of the verse. Now the Gentiles were in fact
permitted in the outer courts of the temple. It was called
the courts of the Gentiles. That portion of the temple Gentiles
were allowed to come. But to go any further was a Roman
ratified capital offense. In other words, the Jews believed
that anyone going in other than a Jew should be put to death
and Rome allowed that to take place. They made that concession. to the Jewish people there, that
if a Gentile went beyond this outer temple, that they could
be put to death. Even if they were a Roman citizen,
they could be put to death by the Jews. There were notices
that were posted around this area and it said this, that no
foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the
temple and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so
will have himself to blame for his ensuing death. And so this was a very serious
charge to bring against Paul that he has brought Gentiles
and that he is party. with bringing those in to the
temple that should not be there. So we have here what is basically
according to verse 29 of our text, it's a charge of assumption.
Because it says in verse 29, they had previously seen Trophimus,
the Ephesian, who was one of those accompanying Paul from
Asia Minor, from Ephesus, who was a Gentile. a Gentile believer. They had previously seen Trophimus
the Ephesian in the city with him, and so they supposed..."
That's an important word, isn't it? "...they supposed that Paul
had brought him into the temple." And so that Trophimus would be,
of course, the offender as a Greek in the temple, but Paul would
have been party to it and so would have been guilty as well.
So you have here, it's a charge of assumption. against Paul without
basis. So the two charges that are leveled
against Paul, the first one is that he is teaching and preaching
against our people and the law in this place. That's not true.
The second charge that's brought against him here is that he has
brought Greeks into the temple, defiling the holy place. That's
not true. Two charges brought against him,
both of which are false. But there is no effort made here
to determine the facts. When you have people that are
wound up to the nature of these people and their hatred and their
fury against Paul, they're not concerned with the facts. They're
concerned with the appearance of things. They're concerned
with what seems to be going on and they don't like it and so
they have got themselves into quite a tizzy, upset about Paul
being there in the temple and what he is doing in his ministry. to note that these are charges
that Paul repeatedly asserts, even over the next few chapters
of Acts, especially the charge of having brought Greeks into
the temple. These are charges that Paul will
repeatedly assert his innocence. And I choose to believe Paul. The point is this. There are
the accusations and the charges that are brought against Paul,
but Paul is righteous. in his conduct. He's innocent
in regard to the laws of God as well as the laws of men. Paul recognizes the historical
privilege as well as the advantage of the Jewish people. Romans
chapter 3, what advantage is to be a Jew? None. Paul says,
oh, in every way, and he lists there. Here are some of the advantages.
There are some advantages, and that is the fact that Jewish
people were given and trusted with the covenants of God. And
Paul recognizes these things. And Paul is willing to submit
himself to the law in matters of indifference, where there
is no compromise of the Gospel message of salvation by grace
through faith alone. So in matters of indifference,
where he would say, you're free to do these things, you're free
to not do these things. And so he was quite willing to
submit himself, as we talked about last week here, to be all
things to all men, to be a Jew among the Jews, that he might
win some. Of course, he was Jewish. But to practice even in things
that he did not deem as necessary in light of the new covenant
through Christ, but was willing to participate because to do
so was not wrong, it was not a sin. And certainly Paul would
not approve much less attempt what would have been such a blatant
affront to the Jewish people in the temple by bringing in
a Gentile. Paul righteous in his conduct
and that is certainly what our practice is to be. That we are
to be a people that are righteous in our conduct. That our suffering would be for
the sake of and in the context of righteous conduct. So that the charges of our enemies
would be found to be ungrounded. that even if we should find ourselves
at odds with the laws of men, that we are not walking or living
in contradiction to the laws of God, to be righteous before
Him. And so with the verse there in
1 Peter 4, verses 15 and 16, suffering as a Christian, you
want to turn back over there with me real quick, let's just
look at that again. 1 Peter 4, verses 15 and 16, make sure that
none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or
a troublesome meddler. If you suffer for those things,
you kind of get what you've got coming, right? But if anyone
suffers as a Christian, and the idea of suffering for righteousness
sake, He's not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this
name. To suffer as Christians is to
be those who experience suffering, not as those guilty of sin. That
their suffering may indeed come upon us. We may anger men, but
we are right with God. And the fact of the matter is
we may or may not be vindicated before men. We might be vindicated
before men, and they see the folly of their ways, but we may
not be vindicated before men, whereas they're convinced they're
right to the very end. But we do rest assured with this,
that we are vindicated ultimately before God. That's our calling.
That we are to be righteous in our conduct. Let's not suffer
as evildoers. Let's let our suffering be because
we're doing what is right. And the charges were brought
against Paul, charges of guilt. He was innocent of both these
charges. A man who is righteous in all of his conduct before
God as well as men. The second thing we see here
in regard to our experience in suffering is that our suffering
should be reflecting on Christ. It should be reflecting on Christ.
Last evening at our home, I sat down with my children and read
through today's text and acts. I told the kids, I said, I'm
going to read this to you. This is what I'm preaching tomorrow. I just want
you to just listen and just tell me what strikes you about it.
And so I read them this text here in Acts. I said, well, what
about it? We've got a few things from back
and forth, this and that. And I said, well, let me emphasize
a few things, because I didn't get what I was looking for. I
thought it would be, you know, just glaringly obvious. So I
mentioned a few things in particular. And then Alex chimed in. He says,
this sounds like Jesus, the experience of Jesus. And it does. You know, if you read the account
of what takes place here in the Apostle Paul, it's impossible
to think about the sufferings that he called to endure in his
own experience without giving some consideration to the sufferings
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's just like you can't read
without thinking, boy, that sounds very familiar to me. Sounds like
something I've read back in the Gospels. So we must remember Jesus' suffering and the disciples'
suffering are deeply intertwined. It was Jesus Himself that made
the connection. Jesus alerted His disciples to
what was going to take place. And He tied their suffering to
His own suffering. Very quick, look at John 15. We've been here many times as
we've ventured through the book of Acts, but it warrants that
we revisit it again. John 15, beginning in verse 18. If the world hates you, you know
that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you are of the
world, the world would love its own. but because you're not of
the world, but I chose you out of the world because of this.
The world hates you. So what's the reason for the
hatred the world has for the followers of Christ? The reason
is they're followers of Christ. They're like Him. Remember the
word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master?
If they persecuted me, the master, They will also persecute you,
the slave, as far as the figure that He gives here. If they kept
My Word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they
will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know
the One who sent Me." So Jesus is the One who ties together
His own suffering and the suffering of His disciples. They're intertwined. They go together. Now, there's
two ways that the word reflecting and reflect can be used here.
And I use that word very deliberately because I want to use both these
meanings here. Two ways in which Christian suffering
is to reflect on Christ. Number one is in appearance. the believer's suffering, put
this in quotation marks, looks like. Looks like. In the sense that it is reminiscent
of Jesus and His suffering. So I think Luke has been very
deliberate here in the book of Acts. I think he's helped us
to make this connection here. In the record of Paul's ministry
in the last few chapters, we've noted, or we could have and should
have if we've not, that there are many striking parallels to
the last part of Jesus' own earthly ministry. For example, you have
in regard to Jesus, the deliberation, the determination that he has
that he is going to go to Jerusalem. We're not going to turn there,
but we could reference Luke 9, verse 51, where he sets his way
to go to Jerusalem. Luke 13, verse 22, again reminded
that Jesus has set His mind and His heart. He is going to Jerusalem. Other references in Luke's Gospel,
Luke 17, 11, Luke 18, 31, Luke 19, 11, and 28, just referencing
the fact, some of those almost in passing, that Jesus is on
His way to Jerusalem. We've also noted in the book
of Acts, in regard to Paul, Acts 19, for example, Acts 19, verse 21. Now after
these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go
to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. Saying, after I've been there,
I must also see Rome. Now also in Acts 20, verse 16, For Paul had decided to sail
past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia,
for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem. And then Acts 19,
verse 22, a verse that we spent some time on when we were in
this chapter. And now, behold, bound in spirit, I'm on my way to Jerusalem. In
other words, there is a sense of an inward compulsion. He must go to Jerusalem. So we have the parallel there
of the determination of both parties, of both Jesus and the
Apostle Paul. And remembering, all of those
are referenced for you in Luke. Of course, by Luke. The book
of Acts also written by Luke. So I think Luke is being deliberate
here in drawing these parallels. So that we see the similarities
here. The sufferings of Jesus and the
life that He's set upon, the life direction. You see that
in Paul as well. Going to Jerusalem. Then, of
course, we have the series of false charges and accusations.
Those were brought against Jesus. They're brought against the Apostle
Paul here. We have those that are seeking
to kill him. Verse 31, in our context, of
course, we all know that they were seeking to put Jesus to
death, which they ultimately did accomplish. And then in our
text in verse 36, "...for the multitude of the people kept
following them, shouting..." And NASB reads, "...away with
him." Does that sound familiar? See, the believer's suffering looks like and is in the sense
of, it's reminiscent should bring to our mind. It
should cause us to remember the sufferings of Christ. It's not
that we should expect our circumstances to be mapped out like this. Alright,
here's Jesus. Here's Paul. I don't see how I follow that pattern.
That's not what I'm talking about. I don't think that's even what
Luke is trying to get us to see, other than the fact that there
is a connection between the two. And that there is a sense in
which suffering in the lives of the believers should be a
reminder to us of the sufferings of Christ. And we can certainly
see it clearly in the life of Paul. It reminds us, doesn't
it? As we see the sufferings of Paul experienced, it reminds
us. of the sufferings of Christ. It's not to expect our circumstances
will always be so clearly parallel to Jesus as Paul's were, but
it is a reminder to us that to follow Christ is to be called
to suffer. 2 Timothy 3.12, all who desire
to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Paul's
words. Christlikeness includes rejection. Christlikeness includes being
hated. Christlikeness includes persecution. And it should be so much a part
of the believer's mentality that Jesus includes it among the Beatitudes
when you are persecuted. Oh, by the way, if you ever experience
something like this, when? When? in Matthew chapter 5 and 11 and
following. See, Christ's likeness includes
rejection, it includes hatred, it includes persecution, as well
as a God-honoring response. See, most of the time we think
of Christ's likeness, what are we thinking about? We're thinking
about our attitude. And that's certainly an important part of
Christ's likeness, that we want to be like Christ in our attitude.
To be like Christ is in some measure going to speak of your
experience. You want to be like Christ? Expect that you're going
to go through what Christ went through. That's what Jesus said.
They did this to Me. If they hate the Master, they
hate the slave. If they mistreat the Master,
they mistreat the slave. If they've done this to Me, they're going
to do it to you. Because you are Mine. So, one way in which the Christian
suffering is to reflect on Christ is in appearance. It's reminiscent. of the sufferings of Christ.
The other is, which you just touched on, is an attitude. An
attitude. That the believer's mind, and
what I mean in this context is this, the believer's mind is
to be on Christ's suffering. That we need to, in the midst
of our suffering, reflect upon Christ. Think about Christ. Consider Christ. Reflecting in
that sense. Now, I have to confess to you,
I don't find this sub-point of attitude in our text here, but
I do find it in the reading from 1 Peter. We're to have an attitude of
reflecting and thinking about the sufferings of Christ when
we suffer. We also find in Philippians 3,
verse 10, that Paul speaks about there the privilege that he might
know, speaking of Christ, that I might know the fellowship of
His sufferings. What's the context? As he suffers,
he's thinking about the fellowship with Christ and His sufferings. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 10, there
Paul, in the midst of the sufferings and the hardships he has experienced,
he says, that I will carry about in the body the dying of Jesus. Part of my Christian experience
is I'm being called to die, daily die, and who knows when I may
actually be called to physical death. But I'm carrying about
in the body, the dying of Jesus. In Hebrews 12, as the writer
of Hebrews here gives his exhortation for the saints that he's written
this homily to, to press on, We begin reading verse 1, therefore
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
of course there he's speaking of the great hall of faith that
he speaks of in Hebrews chapter 11. Let us also lay aside every
encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing
our eyes on Jesus. The author and the perfect of
our faith, but what about it next? Who for the joy set before
Him endured the cross. You need to be thinking upon
the sufferings of Christ in your sufferings. He endured the cross despising
the shame and sat down at the right hand of God. Verse 3. Here's the exhortation. Verse
3. Consider Him. In the midst of your suffering,
consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against
Himself. Why? So that you will not grow
weary and lose heart. Have you ever grown weary and
lost heart? And so much of the time it's
because we fail to consider Him when our experience of suffering
seems to be meaningless. It's like the world sees it.
It's just arbitrary. There's no meaning to this suffering.
That's not the case for the believer. Consider Him. who endured such
hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not
grow weary and lose heart. We need to reflect upon Christ. So that our sufferings reflect
upon Christ in these two ways. Number one, it is reminiscent,
it reflects, it shows light back to him in that sense of reflecting.
But number two, it's reflection in the sense that I'm compelled
to think about and consider. So two senses of the word there
of reflecting on Christ. See, let us fix our eyes on Jesus,
our Lord and our example in suffering. And to grasp the privilege that
we have to participate in His sufferings. Not redemptive sufferings,
but His sufferings that He endures by His enemies, even in the church
today. Let us consider Him, as the writer
of Hebrews tells us, who endured so much for our sakes. Finally, in our suffering, we must be
resting with the conclusions. most of the time we're going
to find that our sufferings places in circumstances that are beyond
our control. Where we find ourselves in some
measure at the mercy of others. Sometimes at the mercy of those
who are not inclined to be merciful. But our concern in such a situation
is this, that we are to be at rest. to be at rest, to be with
an inward peace that with whatever the concluding results may be,
I'm at peace. I rest because I recognize that
the consequences as well as the circumstances are under the control
of Sovereign God. So I rest in Him. I rest in the
one who controls. And we see here in our text today,
Paul is certainly in such a place where he is not in control. And
we find that he's not going to be in control for the rest of
the book of Acts, not in the ultimate sense. He's given some
liberties, but he's still also in some measure imprisoned for
the rest of our study. He's been seized, verse 27, Verse
30 tells us that he has been dragged from the temple. That's
a man that's not in control. When you're being drugged, you're
not in control. To verse 31 and verse 32, he was held and he
was beaten by those who want to kill him. So what we have here in these
circumstances, Paul's former testimony, which he stated back
in chapter, for us, chapter 21, verse 13, Paul answered, what
are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I'm not only ready
to be abound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of
the Lord Jesus is being put to the test, isn't it? Because he
is in the grips of those who are ready to kill him. carried by the soldiers, in verse
35, because this mob has become so out of control, that the soldiers
lift Paul and carry him so that they might had him questioned
to see who he is, what he's doing. And he does so, and the commander
thinks that he's captured quite a little treasure here. There's
been a fellow that stirred up some trouble, actually just a
few weeks prior, and led several people out into the desert. And
they thought, ah, he's come back, and the Jews are going after
him here. So he thought they had this Egyptian.
So Paul speaks to him in Greek. So you speak Greek? Yes, I do. Told him who he was. And Paul
requests to this commander that he might speak to the Jews in
verse 39. Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus
and soliciting a citizen vote in a significant city, and I
beg you, allow me to speak to the people. He received permission
in verse 40. And Paul's standing on the stairs.
He motioned to the people with his hand. And when there was
a great hush, he spoke to them. So permission is granted. The
crowd is hushed. Paul is built on top of this
staircase. He's been carried there. He gets
to the top of the stairs and he asks permission to speak and
he turns. He's looking down the staircase and this angry mob
is there. probably settled to some degree
because he's in the hands of the Roman soldiers instead of
their own hands, but he raises his hand in some measure to bring
about silence and it comes. Can you imagine this? Let's get
a picture here. Paul's at the top of this stairway. He is flanked for protection
by a group of Roman soldiers. probably 200 or so, right there
in close proximity. And the commander of the Roman
group is right there with him. Here is Paul, protected by Roman
soldiers, standing before a quiet Jewish mob to speak. And we're going to look at what
he says, Lord willing, next week. which we know he offers a defense,
but he preaches in some measure the gospel. Let me ask you, do you think
Paul came to Jerusalem with a plan to orchestrate a setting like
that? I think when I get to Jerusalem,
I'm going to find a way to get the Roman soldiers to protect me
and make me speak to all the Jews. You don't make plans like that,
do you? But there's a sovereign Lord
who can do things, and He does things, thankfully, that are marvelous. The God who orders our paths,
He brings such things about. So what Paul has set before him
is a golden opportunity. with the protection of Roman
soldiers to speak to his fellow countrymen in their own tongue
about Jesus. And that's not to say that every
such circumstance would turn out like that because we know
the reality is it doesn't. We know that God doesn't always
turn situations in such a way that we're able to have the opportunity
to speak. We know that. But if He wants to, if He so
chooses to, He can. Because He is God. He is the
Lord. Look back with me at 1 Peter.
1 Peter 2. Verse 23. This is speaking, of course,
of Jesus. It says, while being reviled, He did not revile in
return. While suffering, He uttered no
threats. But what did He do? He kept entrusting
Himself to Him who judges righteously. Take note of that. He kept entrusting Himself to
God. That was Jesus. Now look over in 1 Peter 4, verse
19. Therefore, those also who suffer
according to the will of God shall do what? It's the same word. Shall entrust
their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. So what are we saying here when
we say that we come in our sufferings that we're resting with the conclusion?
We're saying this. As an example of Christ, as an exhortation
of Scripture, we entrust ourselves to God who does what is right. That's what Jesus did in his
sufferings. He entrusted himself to God.
That's what the church, what the believers are called to do.
Entrust yourself to God. Entrust your souls to God. and
let Him do what He wills. It may not be anything as spectacular
as what takes place here in Paul. And let me just tell you, most
of the time, it won't be. OK? Let me just take you off
that little hope plant there. God may do, but most of the time,
it's not going to be anything so spectacular. Most of the time,
we're going to be called to experience our suffering and to bear the
brunt of it. Just know that. Okay? Though
we entrust ourselves to God, and if that's what He so ordains
for me and for us as His people, as His child, then so be it. He's good. And I'll trust Him. And He's going to do what is
right. So to endure suffering according
to God's will, which is what He says in 1 Peter, which is
also the title of my message today. We entrust ourselves to
God. Lord, I'm yours. You can't control
this anyway, but I know you can and I know you do, and I'm going
to trust you. I give myself to you. And to
leave the conclusions, to leave the results with God, to make
of it what He willed. But also keep this in mind. The
greatest suffering by the greatest sufferer ever endured on the
face of this earth resulted in the greatest accomplishment. Right? The greatest sufferer,
the greatest suffering ever experienced in this world, Christ himself,
in case you have any question. No one suffered like Christ.
The greatest sufferer in this world. And what was accomplished?
It was the greatest work imaginable. The work of redemption through
the sufferings of Christ. The bare minimum. Listen carefully. The bare minimum return on our
suffering. This is the bare minimum. is
our sanctification. If nothing else happens, if nothing
else happens in the midst of our suffering, this will. We are going to be sanctified. We're going to be made more and
more like Christ. Romans 8.28. It's either true
or it's not. God works through all things for the good of those who love Him and who are
called according to His purposes. All things includes suffering. And it may not even be anything
great, and it won't be as great as what was accomplished through
the sufferings of Jesus, because there's no more redemption to
be done. But the bare minimum of the return on our sufferings
is our sanctification. That's the assurance we have
in Scripture. So God help us that we view suffering
and that we endure suffering as He designs it, that we be
righteous in our conduct, we be reflecting upon Christ, and
that we be resting with the conclusions, entrusting ourselves into the
One who is good. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, So much we resist sufferings,
and certainly we're not called to pursue and to look for these
things. But, oh Lord, forgive us the times that we have simply
closed our eyes to any potential good. That we've seen the pain,
we've seen the heartache, and we've failed to say, Lord, what
do you have for me here? So it causes us to see suffering as one of those great means that
you have ordained to bring about sanctification in the hearts
and lives of your people. We pray these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.
Suffering as God Wills
Series Acts
| Sermon ID | 112620228338 |
| Duration | 55:15 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Acts 21:27-40 |
| Language | English |
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