Good morning to everyone. A little chilly this morning. Ray said he had 10 below at 4:30 this morning, so winter is upon us. Yeah, it was chilly out there. 

We're going to be looking at Acts 21 this morning and into the first part of chapter 22, continuing our study through, really, the life and ministry of Paul these last months. In Acts 21, we've come to a pivotal point in the life and ministry of Paul. 

And we've seen thus far in Luke's record, starting all the way back in chapter nine, that Paul has been a free man. He's been traveling about, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's gone on mission trips, founding churches, then returning to strengthen the brethren in those churches, traveling great distances and through many hardships. 

But now, after this event in our text today, Paul's going to be sedentary, a prisoner of Christ in the Roman legal system. And he's going to see a lack of justice and expediency throughout the legal process, and will sit and wait, and eventually make his way to Rome before Caesar, and will be delivered to be with his Lord. 

Well, just as with Jesus, we will see that the legalistic Jews will falsely accuse Paul, will seek to kill him, and they're going to cause all Jerusalem to be disturbed over this faithful witness for Christ. 

Now, you remember, Paul's in Jerusalem to minister to the church there, made up almost entirely of Jews, and he's come with gifts from the Gentile churches, even bringing with him some of the Gentile representatives to present this money in order to show their love for the saints there and to minister to them in their need. 

And Paul's been warmly welcomed by the leadership here, by James and all the elders, and they've rejoiced over the work that the Lord has done through Paul in the Gentile regions. But we saw last time that there's a problem that must be dealt with. 

The legalistic Jews in Jerusalem have filled the minds of the believers there with lies and accusations concerning Paul, and apparently there's a great question as to what it is that Paul teaches, especially relating to the Jews and the customs and traditions of the law. 

And so we saw last week that James and the elders tell Paul to take four men who have taken a Nazarite vow to pay their expenses, to go into the temple with them, and see to the fulfilling of these vows. We noted that Paul had taken the same vow and was also there to fulfill his obligation in the temple. This was no compromise on his part, but just him expressing his worship toward God for all that he had done. 

Remember, Paul wanted to praise God, to worship God, and thank Him for what had happened in Corinth, and he took this vow in Corinth and then completed and cut his hair in Sincrea, and now he's made it to Jerusalem, and he's just exercising the customs and traditions of his father's and his culture. 

And we see in verse 26 that Paul did not contest or resist this command by James and the elders, but the next day he takes the four men into the temple to make the necessary offerings, and that's when things begin to get interesting. 

If you look at our text at verse 26, it says, then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. 

Now, when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help. This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place. 

And furthermore, he has also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place, for they had previously seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was disturbed, and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 

Now, as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took 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 near and took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and he asked who he was and what he had done. And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. 

When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob, for the multitude of the people followed after crying out away with him. Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, may I speak to you? He replied, can you speak Greek? Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4,000 assassins out into the wilderness? 

But Paul said, I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people. So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people, and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language saying, brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now. 

And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said, I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our father's law and was zealous toward God as you all are today. 

I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in chains, even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. 

Now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So I answered, who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. 

I've given you five points for your outline this morning. First, we're going to look at accusation. Second, accurate understanding. Third, attack. Fourth, away with him. And fifth, apology. 

Well, first in our text, we see the accusation against Paul. Now, if you look back to verse 21, you'll see James has already informed Paul as to what the Judaizers are saying about him. He says, but they have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs. 

Now, down in verse 28 of our text, we see them level these accusations against Paul in the temple, having seized him. They say, men of Israel, help. This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place. 

So what is the nature of the accusation against Paul, against the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to these Jews? Well, first of all, the accusation is a little bit ridiculous and exaggerated when they say that he teaches all men everywhere. 

There were, because this was the time of the feast, Jews from all over the place, including Ephesus. And you know that these guys had had dealings with Paul before, and you can imagine how popular Paul must have been in the synagogues of Ephesus, having come there and led the Jews, many of the Jews, to Christ and many of the Gentiles, and taught them for three years, warning them against a legalistic salvation. 

And they must have known Paul, because it says, when they saw him, seeing him in the temple, they stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him. And they cried out, verse 28, men of Israel, help. This was a call to attack Paul, to likely kill him, to drag him out of the city and stone him, perhaps, because of some great blasphemy or defilement that he had caused. So they attack him, they lay hands on him, and this is the accusation. 

This is the man, the one you've heard about, the one who came to our city and many cities and led men away from the synagogue, away from the truth. Now, look what they say. This is the man who teaches all men everywhere. 

Well, now, I don't think that this is quite an accurate commentary on the ministry of Paul, all men everywhere. I don't think Paul had quite accomplished evangelization of the whole world as much as he desired to, but the accusation is always exaggerated. 

What has he taught all men everywhere, according to these people? He's taught them against the people, that would be Israel. He's taught them against the law, that would be the law of Moses, and against this place, that would be the temple. 

And furthermore, he's also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place, which was a lie. None of these accusations were true. These are false accusations brought against Paul in order to facilitate his demise, just as they did with Jesus. 

Let me ask you, was Paul against the Jewish people? Did he teach against them? Was Paul anti-Semitic? I'd like for you to turn over to Romans nine with me, please. Romans nine at verse one. Paul writes, I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have a great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God and the promises, of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all the eternally blessed God, amen. 

My friends, Paul loved the Jewish people, his brethren. He was a Jew. And here in Romans nine, we see his heart, his great burden for the Jewish people and how much he wants for them to turn to their Messiah, Jesus, and believe. Paul didn't hate the Jews. He didn't teach against the people, he was for them. He wanted them to be saved. 

He even said he himself would be accursed if it could mean the salvation of his brethren according to the flesh. This statement really moves me, it almost troubles me to read that. If you really think about the truth of eternal punishment in the lake of fire, about the reality of being accursed from Christ, it's almost impossible to wrap your mind around. 

Yet Paul loved the Jews so much, he could say that he would be accursed if it meant their salvation. So Paul was not against the people. He did not teach against the people. But was he against the law? Was Paul antinomian against the law in his teaching? 

And this is a point at which I would like to spend some time because I think it's vital for us to understand because Paul was continually accused in the preaching of the gospel of being against the law of God. But the gospel was never and is not against the law of God. 

There's a lack of accurate understanding among the lost concerning the truth of the saving power of Jesus Christ through faith in Him, through trust in the good news message of His death, burial and resurrection of life in the new covenant in Christ. 

And we see this in our time as well as we try to witness to those who are involved in religion who are trying to earn their way to heaven. Turn over to Romans 3.21 with me, please. Romans 3 at verse 21, this is a tremendous section on Paul's explanation of justification by faith. 

Romans 3.21, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe for there is no difference. 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law? Of works? No, by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 

Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Since there's one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 

Now look at verse 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law. We establish the law through faith. What does this mean? 

Well, it means that the law was given for a specific intent, for an express purpose. Verse 19 of Romans 3, if you look back. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, in order that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Galatians 3.18, it says, for if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. He says a scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to all who believe. 

The law was our tutor to bring us to faith in Christ, that we might be justified by faith, but after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. You see, this is what the Jews did not understand. This is what the religious men of our time do not understand. 

God gave the law for an express purpose of showing us our sin in order that we might recognize our total inability and sinfulness before a holy God and that we might turn to Jesus in faith and be saved from the wrath to come, to be released from the controlling power of indwelling sin and become new men with new hearts and a new spirit and thus live a new life that brings glory to God. 

But the gospel always brings this false accusation because men lack an accurate understanding of the nature of salvation. And I'm afraid this is often the case even in the church among believers. There's an insufficient understanding of the nature of the salvation that Christ provides and thus we still see men today trying to produce righteousness by living by the law, failing to see that what has been accomplished in our salvation and who we are in Christ and God's means for producing holiness in our lives. 

Turn over to Romans 5 with me, please. We'll look at verse 20, Romans 5.20. He makes another clear statement here about the law. He says, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Paul says a mouthful in these two verses concerning the purpose of the law, the state of the lost man and Adam, the purpose of God in the gospel and the salvation of lost men, placing them into Christ. But the essence of what he says is that grace is the means to holiness, not law. 

And so there is the typical response, the objection, the accusation that we see in our text today alleging that Paul and his gospel are antinomian, they are against the law, that they promote licentiousness. Look at 6.1, Romans 6.1, following those two verses. 

Paul says, what shall we say then? If righteousness comes by grace through faith, what shall we say to this? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Here's the question, here's the lack of accurate understanding, here's the accusation against the gospel. I hear it all the time, my friends. When I witness to religious men, they say, oh, so it doesn't matter how we live. It doesn't matter if we sin, we can just do whatever we want because it is by grace through faith so we just believe and then we can sin all we want. 

Is that what Paul taught? Is that what the gospel is? Is it against the law? No. And this is Paul's answer in Romans 6:2, no, no, no, by no means, may it never be. Certainly not. Because here's the key, my friends. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 

Paul was not against the law, he did not teach licentiousness or antinomian doctrine. He knew that the law was given for an express purpose and that the law is fulfilled, it is established when it is used for that intended purpose to lead a man to faith in Christ. 

And thus we establish the law by coming to faith in Jesus and receiving His righteousness. And having come to Christ, the man in Adam is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love and he's made a new creation in Christ. 

The old has passed away, the new has come. You see that old man, that man in Adam, the man under law, under sin, destined for death, the man dominated and controlled by indwelling sin, died. He was crucified, buried, and raised to newness of life with Christ. 

He died to sin; therefore, Paul says, we can no longer walk in it. We can no longer live in sin under the control and power of sin as we did in Adam. And the answer to a holy life is not law, for the law cannot produce righteousness. It has no power; it only demands holiness, it does not deliver it. 

The law brings only wrath, but a new life in Jesus, a new creation. Christ living in me as I abide in Him through faith one day at a time, this is God's way. This is His means to conform me to the likeness of Christ and to produce holiness in my life. 

You see, there's a lack of accurate understanding of the gospel when legalistic religious men level this accusation. And the scriptures could not be more clear concerning the new covenant life in Christ. 

We are no longer under the law, but that does not mean that we live in sin; in fact, we cannot live in sin because we died to sin and we are new men in Christ. The basis of our holy living, of our new life that brings glory and honor to God that shows the transforming power of the gospel is our death with Christ and our resurrection with Him to a new kind of life. 

In Galatians 6:15, Paul said, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. In Colossians 3 it says, If you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 

Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Verse 9, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and you have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. 

Turn over to Ephesians 4 with me, please, another text that makes this clear. Ephesians 4:17. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord. Speaking to believers, Paul says that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. 

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus. What is the truth? That you have put off the old man, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you have put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. 

Paul consistently taught this truth. But it wasn't only Paul who taught this truth. Think of Peter in 1 Peter 1:15. He says, But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 

Because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. Why, Peter? Why should I be holy? Because it's the right thing to do? Peter says, Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. 

My friends, I want you to get this straight. God saved us for the very purpose of living a holy life, a new life, a witness to men in this world. But the means to holiness is not the law, but a new creation. 

Our death, burial, and resurrection from the dead, this is the basis, this is the foundation, this is the why we can live a new life. And the good news is, the how is clear as well. It's not by the law, not by striving and agonizing to keep some external standard. 

Rather, this holiness, this conformity to the character and nature of God is produced as a fruit of abiding in the vine. Listen to Ephesians 3, Paul's prayer for them. He says, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, depth, and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Verse 20, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, to all generations forever and ever, Amen. 

Jesus said, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 

Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. 

There's no thin doctrine in the New Testament. Galatians 2:19, listen to how clear: For I through the law died to the law in order that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Listen to verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Paul did not teach against the law. He taught an accurate understanding of the purpose and the limitations of the law and holiness by a new life in Christ as He lives His life out through us. 

So Paul did not teach against the people, he loved the people. He did not teach against the law, he established the law by leading men to faith in Christ. But what about this place, back in verse 28 of our text? He teaches all men everywhere against this place, referring to the temple and the ceremonial aspect, the customs and traditions of the Jews. 

It's interesting that they would make this accusation when the very purpose for which Paul stood in that temple with those Jewish men who had taken that Nazarite vow, as he had also, was to show the Jews that he was not against the customs and the traditions. 

He had not taught Jews that they had to forsake their culture, their customs, their traditions. If it was their desire or conviction to keep the feasts or to circumcise their children, then that was fine. He stood vehemently against the false gospel of the Judaizers and legalism, salvation by ritual and religion, but he was not opposed, as we see by his own witness, to men who wanted to keep the traditions, practicing their faith in this way. 

So we see that all these accusations are false. But the truth didn't matter to these men. They were filled with wrath. Anger consumed them because Paul was a faithful preacher of Christ and he had turned the world upside down, specifically their world, in places like Ephesus. 

And when they saw him, they literally went nuts, consumed with hate and a desire to do away with Paul. Look at verse 30 of our text, "...and all the city was disturbed. And the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." And he goes down there and he gets Paul and he rescues him, as it were, from the mob. 

He's carrying him up because of the violence of the mob. In verse 35 it says, "...when he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob, for the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, Away with him!" 

This is the same cry we heard from the crowds of Jews before, when Jesus was before Pilate. Away with him, crucify him, we will not have him to rule over us. His blood be upon our heads and the heads of our children. Crazed with hatred, my friends. 

Moved to insanity by the sin that consumed them and their absolute rage against the gospel truth. This is what we see in this attack on Paul. And now he's being torn apart, he's being beaten to the point of death if God doesn't intervene. 

But the Romans were close by, and hearing the tumult and desiring most of all to keep the peace, they move in, they rescue Paul, they take him into custody. 

And here's where we come to a most instructive and inspiring moment in the life of Paul. Here's an example for us, my brothers and sisters, of what to do as we struggle through the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, the ebbs and flow of this life, and the answer is to be faithful today. 

No matter the heartache or the joy, no matter the relative comfort or pain, the rich, the poor, the good, the bad, no matter what the day brings, be faithful today. I sometimes hear Christians getting all caught up in figuring out what the will of God is for their lives, trying to make plans for the future. 

What is the will of God for this or for that? And they make it into a stressful situation, thinking that if they make the wrong choice, if they do the wrong thing, they're going to mess up the will of God for their lives. May I tell you, my friends, that the will of God is your sanctification. 

That the will of God is for you to be a witness. That the will of God is for you to trust Him, to be content in Him. That the will of God is for you to be faithful today. Philippians 4:11, Paul said, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content. 

I know how to be abased. I know how to abound everywhere, and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow and its struggles. There's enough for today. Just abide. Just trust. Just be faithful to your calling today. That is Paul's lesson for us again and again, but most vividly in our text today. 

Try to put yourself in this scene, this place, this riot, these false accusations, this physical attack by this mob. Perhaps you can relate in some way to a situation where you have had the purest of motives. 

You've done the righteous things. You've gone above and beyond to glorify God, to minister to others, and there are false accusations. There's a personal attack to do you harm. We may not have had such an experience as Paul here, but we can relate to the situation. 

What do you do? Where do you go? In the midst of trial and trouble, distress, worry, fear, or pain, today, this day, what do I do? Be faithful, my friend. This is the answer. 

Paul was attacked by a mob that wanted to kill him. They were tearing him in pieces, beating him with intent to kill him, and there was no hope in the midst of them. And then he's ripped from their grasp by the Roman soldiers, arrested, drug out of this place. 

So what does Paul do? Where is his heart? He takes this as an opportunity. He wants so much for them to be saved. He believes so strongly in the gospel, in Jesus, that in the midst of this most dire of circumstances, he decides to take this as an opportunity to witness. 

This is stunning, my friends, but what an example it is to us. We're going to look more next time as Paul makes his apology, his defense of his faith, of his actions, of the gospel of Christ. 

Right here, right now, this day in which he lives, he chooses to be faithful to the ministry to which Christ called him. And he asks them, may I speak to the people? And he speaks Greek, which impresses the Roman soldier because he's mistaken who he thinks he is as this guy, Egyptian, who led these assassins in and they go in during the feast and they just stab the Jews and kill them individually and then slip off. 

Paul said, no, I'm a Jew from Tarsus and Cilicia, it's no mean city, let me speak to the people. And he gives them permission and then Paul gives this apology and the apology is his testimony of how he was saved, how Jesus came to him, how he was zealous as a legalistic Jew in killing these Christians. 

But then Jesus came to him and saved him. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. Paul chose to be faithful today, no matter what his life threw at him, no matter what the circumstances, the trials, the suffering, he chose to be faithful today. 

What is the answer for our darkest days? Our greatest struggles? Our less than favorable circumstances? Trust Him, believe Him, and be faithful where you are. 

Peter shows us the example of Christ, the passage the pastor opened with this morning, I'll close with now in 1 Peter 2:19, listen, for this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 

But what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. 

When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. 

For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You again for this example of the life of Paul as we see him now arrested, attacked, beaten for his witness for Jesus. We thank You for his passion, his desire, his faith in You and his trust in You as he shows us by his actions that he just wants to be faithful. 

And Father, that's our deep desire in our heart as well, to be faithful, to trust You, to abide in You. And we pray that by Your grace, You would help us to do that, to produce fruit for Your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.