This morning in our Old Testament reading, we are turning to Isaiah chapter 53, perhaps the best-known chapter in the Old Testament, certainly the best-known chapter in any of the prophetic books. This foreshadows the sufferings of our Savior. Hear now the Word of God. who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, Yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men. Yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hands. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors." Now in the New Testament, please turn to Acts chapter 21. We pick up at verse 27 and we're reading through the end of this chapter. When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and lay 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. 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 cohort 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 had 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 them, 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 four thousand men of the assassins out into the wilderness? But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city, and I beg you allow me to speak to the people when he had given him permission Paul standing on the stairs motion to the people with his hand and when there was a great hush he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect saying let us pray father we thank you for your word and for the joy that it brings us. Help us now, Lord, to have ears open to hear and hearts ready to believe and to obey. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. When preparing the bulletin for today, I contacted my dear friend and colleague, the Reverend David Cornett, who will be preaching for us here tonight. And I asked David to send me a sermon text and title. Well, he replied that the title of his sermon would be, The Power of Positive Thinking, The Path to Health and Wealth. And for his text, he chose Joel Osteen's I Declare, Chapter 5. And of course, he was joking, as he so often does. Oh, and by the way, feel free to remind him of this tonight. If he had preached such a sermon, it would have been the absolute polar opposite of what I am going to be preaching this morning for Max 21. Indeed, these two sermons could not be any more different in their outlook and their advice. The message flowing from our passage today is all about suffering for the sake of Christ. This is not victorious Christian living, going from victory unto victory. No, this passage shows us injustice, falsehoods, and attempted murder. This is not the good life that gets better every day. Rather, this is an act of mob violence that almost ends the life of the Apostle Paul. And yet what we find here in this passage is not hopeless. It shouldn't inspire pessimism among us. But instead, this passage provides insight into the reality of the Christian life in this fallen world of sin. And so as we walk about the text, I want to first look at irony and irrationality. then we're going to see some similarities to Christ's sufferings and finish with providence and witness. Well, as we view the events in our passage here this morning, the irony of this situation is unmistakable. Paul was there in the temple in Jerusalem seeking to follow the advice of James and the elders of the Jerusalem church. As they had told Paul, rumors were circulating about Paul's attitudes toward the law and toward the customs of Moses. Paul's enemies had mischaracterized him as one who spoke against the law and actually discouraged the circumcision of Jewish children. But nothing could be further from the truth. Well, Paul had a complex and nuanced view of the law. Paul was no antinomian. He didn't deny or repudiate the law of God, but he actually affirmed that the law was righteous, holy, and good. So to seek to set the record straight, he had submitted himself to the ritual of ceremonial purification. This was necessary since he had journeyed in Gentile lands and he needed to be ceremonially cleansed. He was also prepared to pay the expenses for the four men who were under Nazarite vows. So by sponsoring them in the temple, James and the elders thought that it would clear Paul's name and show that he was no opponent of the Mosaic Law. And so Paul is doing the right thing. He's actually showing submission to the customs of Moses. We might say that Paul was bending over backwards to show his appreciation for his Jewish heritage. He's no rebel going rogue. He's actually showing humble obedience and regard for these matters. So what happened when he was seen in the temple in Jerusalem that day? Some Jews from Asia and most likely some Jews from Ephesus go thermonuclear at the sight of Paul. They began to stir up the crowd. They laid hands on him and they began crying out for assistance. And the turmoil that results and erupts was completely their own doing. Just listen to what they said. 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. And besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place. So let me parse out their accusations a bit. First they say, this man preaches to all men everywhere. In other words, he is a universal menace. He's been running around the ancient world causing trouble and he's speaking to everyone everywhere. I'm even just on a basic literal reading of this. That can't possibly be true. nobody speaks to all men everywhere at any time but they're they're overselling their point obviously second they say he preaches against our people and the law and this place so his menacing message is first of all anti-semitic secondly is anti-nomian it's against the law and third it's anti-temple So they're suggesting Paul hates our people and our law and our temple. He is an enemy of all good. He has utterly turned his back against us and against the law and against this beautiful, glorious temple of ours. Well, third, they say he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. Because they had seen Trofimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul, they jumped to the unsupported conclusion that Trofimus had been smuggled into the temple by Paul in order to violate the sanctity of the temple. So not only is Paul a bad man, but he has done bad things. very bad things. Paul is guilty of treason. He's worthy of immediate death. But the irony is this. Paul was not against his countrymen according to the flesh. He professed his willingness to forfeit his own eternal salvation if somehow they might be saved from the hell they deserved. He loved his Jewish brethren. He did all things in hopes that they might come to know the glory of Christ and that they might enjoy eternal life. Why did Paul always go to the synagogue first? Because he wanted his Jewish kinsmen to be saved. So he would go and he would reason with them, he would debate with them, he would try to persuade them even though they were very abusive almost immediately. And you know, I can understand this a bit in terms of my own ethnicity. As much as I make jokes about Dutchness, I really am sincerely concerned for the salvation of Dutch people here in the United States as well as back in the Netherlands and I know that there are numbers of even my close extended family who are not walking with Christ who are actually living in rebellion against the gospel and have turned their backs on their heritage that they were raised with And it grieves me to think of my kinsmen, my kinsmen according to the flesh, spending eternity in hell. Well, Paul feels this very keenly. And this motivates a lot of his ministry. And now he's being accused of not caring for his own people. He's actually speaking against his own people, they say. Well, that cuts deeply. That hurts. When you care so much to be said that you actually are an enemy of your people, it's a deeply wounding thing. It's also highly ironic that he would be accused of being against the law. I think that if I had time, I could produce for you a very compelling argument that Paul understood the law far better than the rabbis. and that he taught it more faithfully and more clearly than any Jewish teacher of the law of the first century. I think that's easily provable. You see, Paul was a great friend of God's law. He wasn't against it. He was telling them, look, you're not saved through obedience to commandments. The law is never a tool for your justification. but rather it points out your sin and it leads you to Christ where you find salvation so that the law can be your guide for how you live as a Christian in the world. None of the rabbis understood that and they certainly didn't teach it. So to be said that you're against the law when actually you understand the law far better and far deeper, this is just ironic and unfair. And then there's the matter of the temple. Was he really against the temple? Not at all. He honored and respected the temple. He did nothing to desecrate it, although he did not give it the idolatrous worship that the Jews did. The Jews, going back to the time of Jeremiah, believed that the temple itself, that physical structure in Jerusalem, was some kind of magic charm for them. They would commit all kinds of sin and then they would say, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, as if that kind of blotted out all of their wickedness. And the Jews of the first century were the same way. They viewed the temple in an idolatrous way. That's why they were so offended when Jesus said, tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days. So the Jews had a very skewed, a very unhealthy opinion of the temple. Paul actually understood it in its proper place. He wasn't against it. And as to Paul smuggling Trophimus into the temple to desecrate the temple, it never happened. This is fiction. It was unproven speculation. And just because you see someone in town with another person doesn't mean you've taken them into the temple to desecrate the temple. And so this is wild accusation. Well, not only was this scene highly ironic, but it was deeply irrational. The Jews of Asia were blinded by their hatred of Paul. Their appeal to their fellow countrymen was nothing but lies. None of it was true. And in their rage, they sought to murder a man who only wanted their spiritual good. If they would but repent of their sins and believe upon the Savior that Paul proclaimed, they would have life eternal. But being blind and dead in their sins, they act like savage beasts, like irrational animals. This is always the case. Sin brings with it a form of insanity which leads men deeper and deeper into evil. Well does Luke describe their actions as the violence of the mob. Bloodthirsty insanity overtakes them. And their irrationality is further proven when the commander is seeking to determine who Paul was and what was actually happening. Some shouted one thing, some shouted another. And the Roman commander couldn't make heads or tails of it. He couldn't find out the facts. because of the great uproar. This is what sin does. It darkens the mind. It drives men to insane evil. It's extremely evil when military equipment and weaponry is sent against houses of civilians in a country that's been invaded. If you've seen any of the footage of these horrific, bombed out apartment complexes, you can't say, well, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, that's right military thinking. This is what evil does. It goes crazy. It begins doing irrational things. And the deeper you get into evil, the more irrational it becomes. It's only when the grace of Jesus Christ is operative that we can expect sober, cool rationality. Right thinking, right speaking, and right acting. Men do not have that just in and of themselves in their sinful condition. Their evil drives them mad. But the grace of Christ comes and it transforms the mind. It opens up the will. It enlivens the emotions so that man is renewed and can begin functioning again as he was created to be functioning. And so what these people do to Paul is ironic, but it's also deeply irrational. Well, as the city is overcome with confusion over the uproar in the temple, the Romans quickly dispatch soldiers and centurions to the scene, at least 200 soldiers by all accounts. You might say, Pastor, how do you get that number? Where'd that come from? I didn't see that in my Bible. Centurions. A centurion was in charge of 100 soldiers. The plural means there's at least two. Two centurions with the hundred and hundred beneath them. Maybe more, but at least 200. So they come and they rescue Paul from being beaten to death by the crowd. And as they do, they take Paul and they bind him with two chains. This is rather unusual. especially since Paul had just received a thorough thrashing. Why bind him with two chains? Well, to fulfill the prophecy of Agabus, that Paul would be bound and turned over to the Gentiles. The commander and his men, unable to discern the true nature of this dispute, take Paul away to safety. And they're actually carrying him at one point. As they go, the furious Jewish crowd at their heels cries out, away with him. And this one small detail reminds us instantly of the sufferings of Jesus. When Pilate tried to release Jesus to the Jews, the Jews would hear nothing of it. And in John 19 we read, so they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. So you see, this is not coincidence, but rather this is Luke's subtle reminder that Paul suffered just like Jesus suffered. There are a number of points of similarities between Jesus' trial and condemnation and what Paul is experiencing here in Acts 21. So let me spell out some of the more important connections. Connection number one, they both suffered at the hands of the Jews. It was the Jews, specifically the Jewish leaders, that fomented Jesus' arrest, his trial, his condemnation, and his execution. They stood behind it all. And so here also it was the Jews from Asia that urged Jews from Jerusalem to join them in violence against Paul. The Jews were enemies of the Christians. Point number two, the Romans were involved. Though Pilate and then this commander don't drive the suffering, they are not uninvolved. The Romans were not innocent bystanders. A third point of comparison has to do with the falsity of the charges. Jesus was charged with all sorts of ludicrous things that were not true. And here Paul is accused of things that he never did. Another way the experiences are alike is that they were both beaten. Remember that Jesus was beaten by the soldiers, then he was scourged with whips. Paul here is almost beaten to death by the violent mob. And then finally, this was by the will of God for righteousness sake. Paul wasn't beaten because he had sinned or been foolish. He was beaten because he was a witness for Jesus. And likewise, Jesus suffered for righteousness sake. So the connection here is not insignificant. We're meant to see the parallels. To show us that these two cases are very much alike. That just as Jesus suffered, so Paul suffers. And we might add to it, so we too can expect to suffer. Raise your hand if you'd like to be exempt from suffering. Would you like that? I'd like that. I don't really care for suffering a lot. As my granddaughter Beatrix would say, not my favorite. But if you're a Christian, you will suffer. Now your suffering may take different forms. You may not be beaten by a group of thugs. Your suffering might be quite different, but you will suffer because everyone who seeks to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It just comes with the territory. It is part of the package. And if you're a believer in Christ, you will share in the sufferings of Christ. This connection explains some of Paul's statements in his epistles. Take Philippians 3.10 for instance. He says, that I may know Him, Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Now we hear this and we say, okay, I'd like to be conformed to Christ and I sure would like a share in the power of His resurrection, The fellowship of his sufferings? Yes, the fellowship of his sufferings. If you're sharing in his resurrection power, you are conformed to his death and you share in his sufferings. In Romans 8.17, Paul says similar things. He says, And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." If you are an heir of God, a child of God, if you are a co-heir together with Christ, you will suffer with Him so that you may be glorified with Him. This is the path of the cross. It's not a rocket ride to cosmic victory. It is suffering as the goal through which we attain glory. Jesus suffered and died on the cross and was resurrected and glorified. And that's the same pattern we follow as Christians. So as much as I'd like to tell you, you can have a nice, easy, pain-free life with no trials or difficulties, that would be a lie. That is not true. And if you're a Christian, I mean, if you believe in Christ, don't be surprised when suffering comes your way. Don't be shocked when it's unjust and unfair. When you're accused of things that you didn't say or do, It just comes with the territory. If that's what they did to Jesus, how do we think we're somehow going to get out of that and be exempted from that? If it was true for Him, it will be true for us too. But it's also true that He was glorified and we will be too. Those wicked persecutors of the church who seek to destroy Christ and His truth do not gain glory. they gain eternal shame and damnation in the pit of hell. But we, through suffering, attain to glory because Christ carries us along in his train. So as we consider the situation in our text, we're struck by the injustice of Paul's experience and the irrational hatred of those who wanted to destroy him were reminded that his difficulties actually mirror and reflect those of the Savior as Paul was part of the fellowship of Christ's offerings, but in this section we should also see how God's providence leads to opportunities for witness. When we talk about providence, we are acknowledging that the great God of heaven rules and overrules all things for His own glory and for the good of His people. God works all things, even unjust and painful things, for His glory and for our good. We believe that nothing but nothing is outside of His sovereign control, nor beyond His ability to direct to His purposes. We see God's hand in this story in so quickly calling the riot to the attention of the Roman commander. The fact that the commander was in his office at the time the report came and that he had 200 sturdy lads to come to Paul's rescue is God's providence. God set that commander there in Jerusalem and then motivated and moved him to do what he did so that Paul could be rescued at the last minute. You know, if the commander had come just a few minutes later, he probably would have found Paul's dead corpse on the ground. It was that close. And then the fact that the commander actually engaged with Paul on the stairs to the barracks, was asking good questions about Paul, that too was God's providence. When Paul asked the question in Greek, it took the commander aback. And when Paul could prove that he wasn't the Egyptian cult leader of the assassins, that he was actually a respectable citizen of the noble city of Tarsus, and that this information mattered at all to the Roman commander, all that's God's providence. How would it have been if the commander had thrown Saul into a dungeon, Paul into a dungeon, without asking Paul any questions or listening to his replies? So the point is this, God is unfolding His providential plan for Paul in all of these events. Even though it's chaotic, it's not without God's sovereign control. And when we are tempted to think that nobody has their hand on the wheel of the universe, that this thing is just out of control, We have to bring ourselves back to the truth. God always rules and overrules. The world is never outside of His control. He is always guiding it. Though it may seem thoughtless and chaotic, He is always guiding it according to His purposes. And as this is all playing out, Paul is getting ready to speak perhaps one of the most powerful evangelistic messages that we find in the entire New Testament. And this really brings us to an important point, and I close with this. Oftentimes when we think about God's providence in our own lives, we tend to assume that God rules and overrules so that I can be happy, that I can have an easy time in life, and that I will be free to pursue my own interests and pleasures. But that is absolutely not how we ought to be thinking about God's preserving and governing of us and all around us. We ought to have the same ministry mindset that Paul had. How has God providentially ordered my life so that I can now be useful to him in witnessing to a lost, raging, irrational world." So as Paul is standing there on the steps, as he makes his hand motion to quiet the crowd, as he prepares to speak, this is God's providence leading to witness. I hope, I trust, that you pray for opportunities to witness for Christ, to speak on His behalf. Pray for that with co-workers, with next-door neighbors, with extended family members, with people you know in various organizations in the community. But as you're praying, Lord, give me opportunity Keep your eyes open to see how God's providence is going to open up the perfect situation for you to open your mouth and speak a word for Jesus. So don't think of providence as God lining things up for my comfort and ease. Think of God's providence in terms of how is God opening doors for me to minister to lost people. who need to know the truth of Christ. And if we have that mindset, where we're thinking about providence in terms of witness-bearing, we are then ready to open our mouths and to say, let's pray, Lord Jesus, we thank you for the good, sovereign control of this unjust and wicked situation. that you use this bad circumstance to open up to Paul a pulpit to proclaim the gospel to the Jews of Jerusalem and Asia who were crying out for his death. Lord, give us such sensibility that we would see in your providence those opportunities for witness-bearing that You open to us, and then give us the grace to seize them for all their worth, that we might be useful to Your kingdom and Your glory. For we pray it in Jesus' name, Amen.