The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 21 verses 26 through 32.

Tony Clark: Acts chapter 21 looking at verses 26 through 32. Father, we are so grateful that we can still get your word out. No matter what, Lord, you have allowed for technology to take your word around the world. So God, I pray that this word would do just that, that it would do all that you desire for it to do today in our lives and in our hearts. Speak to us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts 21 looking at verses 26 through 32. The title of this message is "Making Peace Part 2." In part one of this study, we saw the great lengths the great apostle Paul went through to make peace with some Jewish Christians. They heard through some rumors that Paul was telling Jews around the world to forsake the law of Moses and that they no longer needed to circumcise their children, which was considered blasphemy in this particular time according to verse 21.

The church in Jerusalem told Paul to take four men in verse 24 and be purified with them and to pay their expenses. This would show the Jewish Christians that those rumors about him aren't true and that he walked orderly and kept the law as well. Paul submitted to this. We pick up the story in verse 26.

Then Paul took the men and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. Paul agreed to listen and obey what the leaders in the Jerusalem church told him to do. He took the four men and was purified with them. This says a lot about the great apostle Paul because he didn't have to do this.

Just like he would later say in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 20, "To the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews." Paul knew that going through this purification would not violate his conscience nor violate God's word in his life, so he did it. He was thinking, "If I have to do this to bring peace between me and these Jewish Christians believing these rumors about me, then I will do it."

Paul wanted to see them saved. This whole concept is referring to removing any barriers or walls that people have up that will keep them from accepting Jesus Christ. Whether you believe it or not, there are a lot of people in your life and my life that have certain walls that they have up that are keeping them from Jesus Christ. This is referring to jumping over walls or jumping through hoops in order to see people come to know Jesus Christ.

What are you willing to do to see people saved? I'm not talking about violating our conscience or disobeying the clear teaching of God's word. Do we have a heart to see people get saved to the point where we are willing to go to great lengths, remove any barriers, and jump through any hoops to see them saved? This was the heart of Paul for sure. The end of verse 26 said that an offering should be offered for each one of them, which marked the end of their seven-day purification process.

Paul would not submit to offering up a sin offering when he would clearly write later on to the church in Rome, in Romans chapter 10 and verse 4, "Christ was the end of the law to everyone who believes." He probably offered up the peace offering or offered up a consecration offering, which speaks of having fellowship with God. Jesus was the fulfillment of all of these offerings when he died for us on Calvary's cross in order for us to have peace with God.

The Bible says the wages of sin is death. We are all born into sin, so we are all separated from God. The cross, Jesus paying the price for our sin on Calvary's cross, brought peace between us and God. Jesus paid the price for our sin. Therefore, now because of the cross, we have peace with God. Do you have peace with God today? Are you far from God? You can have peace with God through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Because of Jesus going to the cross, paying the price for our sin that should have been us on Calvary's cross, he paid the price for our sin. Now because of that substitutionary death of Christ on the cross, we can have peace with God when we repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are justified. That word justified was a judicial term. It means to be declared innocent. Because of what Jesus went through for us on Calvary's cross, we have been declared innocent before a just and holy God.

Maybe you are out there and you have peace with God. You have a relationship with the Lord, but you are not experiencing the peace of God. Philippians 4:6 and 7 says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Verse 7 says, "And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

It can happen to any of us, especially during the crisis time that we are in right now. Have you allowed worry to rob you of the peace of God? When worry comes in the front door, the peace of God goes out the back door. Normally, worry comes as a result of a lack of prayer according to these verses. Verse 6 says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer." When worry comes in the front door, prayer goes out the back door.

In other words, worry comes in our hearts as a result of a lack of prayer. We can't worry and pray at the same time. We cannot worry and be in prayer. When we are praying, we are not worried. You can't have both. This verse says when we pray, the peace of God would act as a garrison around our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This was a military word. It was to set a garrison, a protection. When we are in prayer, God will allow the peace of God to surround our heart to keep worry from coming in and to keep fretting from coming in.

We will have a peace that the world didn't give us and the world can't take it away. We will have that peace guarding our heart. It will bypass our minds. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind. You will not realize why it is that you have a peace when your mind is freaking out. You will have that peace because you are a person of prayer. Even though you don't understand it, you are a person of prayer and you know that God is on the throne. God is in control and he is going to take care of you.

The offering Paul offered up was a peace offering or the consecration offering. Did this appease the Jewish Christians Paul was trying to make peace with? Verse 27 through 29: "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."

After the seven days of purification had ended, the Jews from Asia, which is modern-day Turkey, who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, saw Paul in the temple with these four men he was purified with. They stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him as if to make a citizen's arrest. These Jews were from the city of Ephesus where Paul spent three years ministering. We know from verse 29 that they were from Ephesus because Paul's traveling companion at the time was a man by the name of Trophimus who was from Ephesus. These folks who stirred up the crowd recognized Trophimus.

They stirred up the crowd by crying out in verse 28, "Men of Israel help. This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people the law and this place." These were some very serious charges against Paul. They said, number one, Paul was anti-Semitic. They said he spoke against us as a people. Then they said, number two, he spoke against the law referring to the law of Moses. Finally, they said, number three, he spoke negatively about this place referring to the temple.

These were serious charges in the Jewish community, but they were false. They were only rumors. We could say today that all of this was fake news. Paul didn't do any of these things, but these were the rumors circulating throughout the Jewish community about him. We can't stop what rumors are said about us, but we can control how we respond to them. If you know that the rumors aren't true, then allow the Lord to vindicate you. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord like Exodus 14 verse 13 says.

Allow the Lord to fight your battles. This is so hard to do because you want to defend yourself. It is tough. Allowing the Lord to fight your battles is tough because sometimes we think God is taking too long and that we can do it a little bit faster than he can. We can search it down a little bit better. Allow the Lord to fight your battles. Stop trying to chase down every rumor and who said what and when. You will spend all of your time trying to get to the bottom of who started the rumor about you, especially with social media. You trying to chase all that down? Good luck with that because you will be all day and all night constantly chasing it down and it's gone viral now. You don't know where it started. Allow the Lord to fight your battles.

Then they accused Paul of defiling the temple by bringing a Greek into it. The Gentiles or non-Jews were allowed in the temple in that part of the temple designated the Court of the Gentiles. Luke the author gives us a parenthetical phrase in verse 29 to give further clarification on these false claims. They had previously seen Trophimus with Paul in the city whom they supposed that Paul brought into the temple. However, even if he did, Trophimus was allowed in the temple in the Court of the Gentiles.

There is nothing worse for people who have been walking with the Lord a little while than a religious, critical, judgmental spirit. Jesus had his harshest words to say to the religious leaders of his day who were critical, religious, and judgmental. We are upset when we see a Trophimus at church, someone who is an unbeliever. Woe be unto us when we are upset when we see anyone we don't like at church. Someone from another race? If you've got that in your heart, that's even worse. If you've got some kind of issue because someone is not the hue of color of skin that you are, you've got some major issues, major problems.

You'll be critical and judgmental about that sort of thing. Please be careful of this kind of spirit. Greeks or unbelievers were allowed to go to the temple, but because of the Jews' hatred for non-Jews, by the time Jesus came on the scene, the Jews hated non-Jews so much that they said the only purpose of Gentiles, non-Jews, were to keep the flames of hell burning. They despised non-Jews that much and they were appalled to even see anyone that was a Greek near the temple, let alone in the temple.

Beware if you see an ex-spouse, an old friend, or an old boss come to this church when we gather together again. Woe be unto you if you have this kind of spirit. If your heart is like this, then you're no different than these Jews who were trying to stir up the crowd against Paul. Calling up folks? "Girl, you'll never believe who was at church today." We deal with that kind of spirit. That is a religious, critical, judgmental, satanic spirit.

We're going to see all kinds of folks flood into the temple when all of this is over. Woe be unto us if we say, "Somebody was in my seat," or "Can you believe who showed up? They shouldn't have been there. I'm surprised the roof didn't cave in." Watch yourself. Watch yourself if that's you. If that's your kind of heart, you'd better get it right before we all begin to gather together again because this is how they were in this particular time.

Look at verses 30 to 32: "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."

Not only did this group stir up those in the temple, but it spread quickly to the point where verse 30 says all the city was disturbed and in a mob mentality ran together, seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple and immediately the temple guards, which consisted of the Levites, immediately closed the doors. They didn't want this mob to kill Paul in the temple and thus defile it. But it was okay for them to kill Paul right outside the temple as long as the doors were closed. What hypocrisy we have here.

There is something else I would like to draw to your attention and that is once they seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, the last part of verse 30 says immediately the doors were shut. Sometimes we must realize, recognize, and accept when the doors are shut for us to do a certain thing. You protest and say, "But Pastor Tony, I want to do it so bad." We need to pray that God will give us eyes to see when the doors are shut.

Revelation 3:7 and 8 says God opens up doors no man can shut and he shut doors no man can open. When the door is shut on a particular job, when the door is shut on a particular position or relationship, stop trying to kick the door down. Realize that this chapter in your life is over and move on. Somebody out there needs to hear that. The door is closed, so move on. I had to do this in my own life. When I came here over 26 years ago, I longed to go back to California. Longed to. Palm trees, sunshine, beaches. It was nothing like where I grew up and I longed to go back.

It took 12 to 15 years. Each year I would go back for a pastor's conference or gathering. I would just say, "Oh, look at this sunshine, this weather. Boy, it's so good. I wish I was back here. Back in Virginia, they're freezing and I've got this sunshine. Look at these blue skies and the water. This is just so great." The Lord finally had to say, "Stop. Quit fooling around. This door is shut. You aren't coming back." "What are you talking about?" "You aren't coming back. You can come back to visit, but you aren't coming back."

I had to realize that that door was shut. It took 12 to 15 years for me to realize that door was shut. I had to settle it in my heart that that chapter of my life, no matter how good it was, is over. I've been here now 26 years. That door is shut. Somebody needs to hear that today. That door is shut. That person, he or she, has moved on. There's no need to mourn over that. It's enough. That door is shut. That position is gone. That job, that opportunity is not there anymore. Let it go. We like to stew in our own stuff when God is saying that's done. Give it a proper burial and move on.

Paul had to realize this. No matter what, Paul wanted to reach his people. He wanted to reach the Jewish people. In Acts chapter 9, it talks about how he will be a witness to the nation of Israel. But he had to realize God had called him to reach the Gentiles and he wanted to reach the Jews so much. He said, "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved." He said, "I wish that I was cut off, I was accursed, I was eternally condemned if it would mean that my people would be saved."

Every time he tried to go after his people, there was a riot. A mob tried to kill him. He had to be chased out. He had to be snuck out by night time every time. Paul wanted to be the apostle to the Jews and God said, "I will let you witness to them, but Peter is going to be the apostle to the Jews. I'm going to send you to the Gentiles." Paul protested and said, "God, I was a Pharisee. They know I used to persecute and kill Christians. I need to be an apostle to the Jews."

Every time he tried to be an apostle to the Jews instead of just being a witness to the Jews, a riot broke out. They tried to kill him. They did what they could to do away with such a man. They constantly plotted to take his life and he had to realize, he had to come to a place where the Lord had to speak to him in a vision, in a trance and say, "They aren't going to receive your testimony. So it's time for you to go and be what you're called to be, what I've called you to be, which is an apostle to the Gentiles." Paul was bummed about it, but he had to realize that door was closed. Not only was it closed literally as they dragged him out of the temple and they closed the doors, but the door for him to be an apostle to the Jews was closed. He was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

Once the crazy mob was outside the temple, it was Rome's responsibility to get involved. Verse 31 says as they were seeking to kill Paul, God intervenes by allowing the news to come to the ears of the commander. We know from Acts 23 and verse 26 that the commander was Claudius Lysias. Commander comes from a Greek word, chiliarchos, which means a thousand. So he was a commander of a Roman cohort, which consisted of a thousand soldiers. He was told that the whole city was in an uproar. The commander in verse 32 immediately took soldiers and centurions. Centurions were captains or leaders over 100 soldiers.

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