From
Acts to Revelation
Part
62 – Paul is Arrested
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week, we saw Paul preparing to take
the Nazerite Vow with four other Brother's in Christ. As they prepared, first
shaving their heads, and then going into the inner court in the Temple, some
Jews recognized Paul, and began a riot.
The Roman guards came, and Paul's beating stopped,
and they arrested him.
We
will see three things in today's scriptures;
WHY GOD ALLOWS CERTAIN THINGS
IN OUR LIVES
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
CONDEMNATION AND CONVICTION
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 21:33-40
33 The commander came up and arrested him and
ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he
was and what he had done.34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some
another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the
uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When
Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be
carried by the soldiers.36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he
asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do you
speak Greek?” he replied. 38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four
thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?”
39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from
Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak
to the people.”
40 After receiving the commander’s permission,
Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all
silent, he said to them in Aramaic (or Original Hebrew)
a. Paul is
arrested by the Roman guards
i. Actually, God allows this to happen so Paul would be
saved from the mob beating him to death.
ii. Sometimes in our lives we do not understand why God
allows certain things to take place.
iii. What we need to remember is;
a.
James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows."
iv. Sometimes it can be difficult to know if something
in your life is from God or Satan.
a. The difference between condemnation and conviction
is this;
1.
CONDEMNATION is from Satan, who uses
guilt to hold you down, keep you a slave, and make you want to run FROM God.
2.
CONVICTION is from the Holy Spirit, who
uses it with understanding, to lift you up, make you free, and cause you to run
TO God.
b. Conviction from the Holy Spirit causes you to move
towards God, and will build and edify, strengthen your relationship with God,
not weaken it.
b. The
Commander tried to question the crowd, but they were a mob, and shouted many
differing answers as to why they were beating Paul.
c. So the
commander took Paul to the barracks.
d. The
crowd yelling, "GET RID OF
HIM!"
i. The same cry we hear from the crowds towards Jesus
in Luke 23:18
ii. Why? Because it is the voice of the same spirit...Satan.
iii. Remember Ephesians
6:12!
a. For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
iv. Paul's enemies were not the Jews attacking
him...they were pawns, used by the spirit of Satan to stop the Word of God! The
real enemy of Paul was the evil spirit.
II.
PAUL WRONGFULLY IDENTIFIED
a. Paul,
speaking in Greek, asks the commander to speak to the people.
i. This was prompted by the Holy Spirit
ii. God saved Paul from the murderous mob, placed him in
"protective custody", and placed him near the barracks, where he
would now be "safe" to speak to the crowds on the Lord's behalf.
b. The
Commander was surprised Paul could speak Greek, because he thought Paul was
someone else!
i. The commander thought Paul was an Egyptian who had
started a rebellion in the wilderness with 4,000 terrorists.
III. PAUL
EXPLAINS WHO HE IS
a. "I
am a Jew from Tarsus, a citizen of no ordinary city (LIT. - no mean city.)"
i. Tarsus was infamous for philosophy and learning
b. The
commander gives Paul permission to speak.
c. God is
STILL working here!
i. Paul was saved from the mob
ii. protected with armed guards from the Jews who were
trying to kill him
iii. lead to a safe place
iv. and now, the Holy Spirit prompts Paul to speak one
last time to the Jews.
d. The
last cry-out to the Jews, by God in scripture.
i. Remember, it was the feast time in Jerusalem, all
the God fearing Jews from all the lands were here.
ii. Jews who did not follow Christ as well as Jews who
followed Christ, but thought Paul was teaching against the Law of Moses, were
present, and wanted Paul dead.
iii. This will be the last recorded cry-out by the Holy
Spirit to the Jews.
e. Paul
stood on the steps,
i. surrounded by
armed guards and in chains, motioned to the crowd. When they were silent, he
spoke in Aramaic (or the original Hebrew tongue, which has since been lost...we
do not know).
CONCLUSION
WHY GOD ALLOWS CERTAIN THINGS
IN OUR LIVES
All
good comes from God's hands, and if God allows something, it is ONLY for our
good and growth, if we will learn from the experiences, and try to have
understanding of how they came about, whether it was CORRECTION, DISCIPLINE, INSTRUCTION,
or BLESSING we failed to recognize.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
CONDEMNATION AND CONVICTION
Condemnation
is from Satan, for Jesus said, "I did not come into the world to CONDEMN
it...but to save it."
Condemnation
is Satan's tool, to use guilt, holding you down, and keeping you a slave to
sin, in hopes you will run FROM God instead of to Him.
Conviction is of God's Holy Spirit, to build
you up, edify and strengthen you, so you will come to a closer relationship
with God.
Conviction
will always draw you nearer to God!
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