Acts  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 9/14/03 Brad Brandt

Acts 21:37-22:29 "The Importance of Being Ready"**

You’re sitting at your desk at work and a partner says to you, "You got a minute. I just found out my father has cancer. You know I’m not the religious type, but this news has really turned my world upside down. I know you lost your father last year. How did you cope?"

You’re at your locker at school and a classmate says, "Man, it’s been a lousy week. Nothing’s going right. I can’t take it any more."

While in the checkout line at the grocery you notice the person in front of you struggling to lift a sack of potatoes to the counter, so you help her. To which she says, "Thanks, that was kind of you. It’s hard to find people who really care about you these days."

What do those three scenarios have in common? They are all opportunities. "Opportunities for what?" you ask. They are all opportunities to present Christ to people in need.

Opportunities to represent and present Christ to others are all around us. The Bible says that the Spirit of God is at work preparing people to listen. That is a given. And so is this. His plan is to use us to reach them.

But we must be ready. "Be ready always," Peter wrote, "to give an answer of the hope that is in you (1 Pet 3:15)."

Sometimes we miss the opportunities, quite frankly, because we are not ready. Oh, we see the opening but just flat out freeze up.

Evangelist Leighton Ford offers this perspective, "What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me: "I am afraid I might do more harm than good." "I don't know what to say." "I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions." "I may seem bigoted." "I may invade someone's privacy." "I am afraid I might fail." "I am afraid I might be a hypocrite." Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected.  A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, "What is your greatest hindrance in witnessing?" 9% said they were too busy to remember to do it. 28% felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn't really care. 12% said their own lives were not speaking as they should. But by far the largest group were the 51% whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react!"

One of the first things I heard after I became a Christian was, "If you really love Jesus, you need to tell others what He has done for you. Be a witness." The reason I heard that counsel—and you probably heard it, too—is because it’s biblical. "You shall be my witnesses," Jesus said (Acts 1:8). Colossians 4:6 commands, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

But to give an answer, you must have an answer. To be a witness you must know how to witness.

My goal today is to help us get ready to share Christ with others. If you are a Christian you have an assignment. I want to help you fulfill it, and the text before us will be our guide.

We’ve been following the apostle Paul for many weeks now in our study of Acts. We left off the last time as Paul was arrested for being misrepresented by an angry mob in the Jerusalem temple. They just about beat him to death before the Roman commander, Claudius Lysias, intervened. He, along with a host of his soldiers grabbed Paul, bound him with chains, and carried him towards the fortress of Antonio, with the crowd shouting, "Away with him!"

Not exactly a good opportunity for a witness, some would say Actually, to Paul it was a perfect opportunity, as we’ll see. If we are going to be ready to make the most of the opportunities God sends our way, we need to do three things, as Paul did in Acts 21:37-22:29.

That is, we need to look around us and see the opportunities God is putting in our lives to spread the gospel story.

The event we’re about to study is an important one. It serves as a transition point in the book of Acts, for here Paul passes from being a free man to being a prisoner of the Roman government, a position he’ll hold until the end of the book. The event also demonstrates the importance of being ready.

As story begins Paul is at the top of the steps, with the mob behind him. But he saw more than a mob. He saw an opportunity. So he did two things.

A. Paul spoke to the commander (37-38). "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. "Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?"

A couple of things Paul did surprised the commander. First, he was polite and respectful even in the most tense of circumstances. Second, he spoke in Greek. That caught Claudius Lysias off guard for Greek was the language of cultured, educated men, not criminals such as he assumed Paul to be.

Actually, Lysias made an assumption based on recent happenings in Jerusalem. Barclay explains, "Somewhere around A.D. 54 an Egyptian had led a band of desperate men out to the Mount of Olives with a promise that he could make the walls fall down before him. The Romans had dealt swiftly and efficiently with his followers but he himself had escaped…" This rebel, as Lysias reports, had 4,000 terrorists that followed him. The word "terrorists" ["murderers" in the KJV] is the Greek term sikarion which derives from the Latin word sica for "dagger." There was actually a terrorist group at this time who hated both the Romans and Jewish collaborators, and used the following strategy. They would mingle in crowds, with a dagger hidden under their cloak, stab their victim, and then melt away into the crowd to avoid detection. These terrorists were especially active during the Jewish festivals, such as Pentecost which was happening at the time.

The commander thought Paul was one of these terrorists, perhaps the Egyptian himself, and that the crowd had caught him in the act of murder. In verse 39 Paul denied the association, clarifying, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city." In other words, "I’m not an Egyptian and I’m certainly no terrorist. I can speak Greek because I’m a citizen of Tarsus, no insignificant city." Tarsus was a cultural center with a university rivaling the one in Athens. Paul’s mention of Tarsus explained his knowledge of Greek.

What Paul did next must have shocked Lysias.

B. Paul asked to speak to the crowd (39-40). Verse 39 again, "Paul answered, …Please let me speak to the people." Remember this is an irrational crowd that just a matter of seconds ago tried to rip Paul apart. Why did he want to speak to these furious folks? Did he really think he could change their opinion of him? I don’t think so. But it wasn’t their opinion of him that mattered. What mattered is that they needed to hear about the Savior.

Verse 40—"Having received 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."

Paul’s actions challenge me. He doesn’t see a mob of people who hate him. He sees a host of individuals who need to hear the truth about Jesus. He doesn’t condemn these people for their harsh treatment of him, for he was once just like them, as he’ll soon share. He sees them. He sees them as they are—lost, depraved, blind, and in need of hearing the only news that can change lost, depraved, and blind people.

If we’re going to be ready, we can’t give way to fear. Fear causes us to freeze up.

There was a test conducted by a university where 10 students were placed in a room. 3 lines of varying length were drawn on a card. The students were told to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the longest line. But 9 of the students had been instructed beforehand to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the second longest line. 1 student was the stooge. The usual reaction of the stooge was to put his hand up, look around, and realizing he was all alone, pull it back down. This happened 75% of the time, with students from grade school through high school. The researchers concluded that many would rather be president than be right. 

If we’re going to be ready to make Christ known, we need boldness. That starts with seeing the opportunities around us and, by God’s grace, making the most of them no matter what the personal cost.

Hugh Lattimer once preached before King Henry VIII. Henry was greatly displeased by the boldness in the sermon and ordered Lattimer to preach again on the following Sunday and apologize for the offence he had given. The next Sunday, after reading his text, he thus began his sermon: "Hugh Lattimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest--upon Whose message thou are sent? Even by the great and mighty God, Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully." He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceeding Sunday--and with considerably more energy. 

Why did Paul speak to the mob that day? When God placed an opportunity in front of him, he saw it. If we’re going to be ready, we need to see.

Seeing the opportunities is good, but it’s not enough. Once we see them we must make the most of them. We must speak. Lost people can’t read our minds. Faith comes by hearing. They need to hear, which means we need to speak.

When Paul spoke that day, in essence what he did was share his testimony. If you are a Christian you have a testimony. It’s your personal story of how you became a Christian. Your testimony is one of the most powerful tools you have to witness for Jesus. What makes a testimony so potent is that no one can deny it. It happened! It happened to you! Granted, the hearer can resist Christ, but he cannot disprove what you are saying. It happened!

What’s sad is that many Christians can’t share their testimony. Oh, they have a story to share, but they’ve never taken the time to think it through so they can articulate it. Paul’s testimony here takes 2 minutes and 25 seconds to read. In less than three minutes Paul shared the story of what the Lord did in his life—and I would urge you to prepare yourself to do the same. Paul’s testimony included three components.

A. Paul shared about his life before Christ (1-5). "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." Stop for a moment. Do those words sound familiar? They are the same words that Stephen used to begin his defense some 25 years earlier, in the same city, before some of the same people, including Paul himself.

Notice Luke’s comment in verse 2, "When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic [KJV says ‘Hebrew’], they became very quiet." Why did Paul switch from Greek to Aramaic? Because that’s the heart language of this audience. Paul speaks as a Jew to these Jews. When he later shared his testimony with King Agrippa (ch 26), the story line obviously remained the same, but he adapted it to that particular setting.

That’s one of the wonderful things about your testimony. It’s the story of what God has done to bring you to Himself. But that story is full of details, and you must be selective, for some details are more pertinent to one audience than another.

In fact, the record of Paul’s testimony appears in one form or another five times in the New Testament: three times in Acts (chapter 9, here, and chapter 26), and twice in Paul’s letters (Philippians 3 and 1 Timothy 1). And each time different features are emphasized.

Notice the first thing Paul said to his unsaved Jewish audience in verse 3, "Then Paul said: "I am a Jew." They needed to hear that. They wrongly thought he had betrayed his Jewish heritage. No, he says. I am a Jew.

He continues (3-5), "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today [Gamaliel, of course, was a famous rabbi of which they all knew]. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished."

Don’t miss how Paul used the beginning of his testimony to connect with his audience. He’s building a bridge. No, you can’t force people to cross the bridge that leads to Christ, but if you build a good bridge you can take Christ right to them!

Paul called himself a brother, identified himself as a Jew, and told them he was trained in a reputable Jewish school. Then he shared how he used to do what his listeners were presently doing, namely, he tried to get rid of followers of Jesus. In fact, Paul exposed some very embarrassing facts from his past. I used to arrest Christians. I used to throw them in prison. I even used to kill them.

Those were memories that Paul wished he could forget. But he couldn’t. So he did something better. He used those memories of past sins to reach people for Christ, thus magnifying the grace of God. On another occasion, when he wrote down his testimony and sent it to Timothy, he had this to say about his past (1 Timothy 1:15-16):

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

A person can’t be saved until he or she comes to grips with his or her sin. Therefore, in sharing your testimony, be honest about your sin. Be honest that you were (and still are!) a sinner, just like they are. But, praise God, you’ve experienced God’s remedy for sin!

Which brings us to the second component of a good testimony. Here’s component #1. Paul shared about his life before Christ.

B. Paul shared how he came to know Christ (6-16). "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ "‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. " ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. "‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. " ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there [note that Paul doesn’t refer to Ananias as a Christian, though he was, but in a way that would establish credibility with the Jews]. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. "Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’"

Notice once again that all Paul did was to tell a story, his story. He just presented the facts of what happened to him. His listeners couldn’t deny the facts. In the end they wouldn’t like the facts and they would hate the implications of the facts, but they couldn’t deny the validity of the facts. What they heard is what happened to Paul.

Of course, Paul didn’t just tell them about himself. He used the story of his life to tell them about Jesus. He clearly put the spotlight on Jesus.

He even included the dialogue. I said, "Who are you Lord?" He said, "I am Jesus of Nazareth." I said, "What shall I do, Lord?" He said, "Get up and go into Damascus." And so on.

There’s something compelling about a story. That’s especially true of the story of your testimony of salvation.

You see, the official position of the Jews was that Jesus had been an imposter whose body was stolen by the disciples after his crucifixion, and that the disciples started the rumor about his resurrection. Of course, that was the position that Paul himself took at one time. Until that day in A.D. 35 when he had a personal encounter with the One he previously thought was a fraud!

The story spoke for itself. "Fellows Jews, I know you’re struggling to believe in Jesus. I did more than struggle. I tried to get rid of anybody who said they believed in Him. Until He broke into my life, dropped me to my knees, and said, ‘Enough! I’m taking control of your life now!"

In telling the story of what happened in his life, Paul was actually telling his listeners what needed to happen in their lives. "God told me (and he’s saying the same to you today), ‘What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name (16).’"

By the way, does verse 16 mean that baptism is required for the washing away of sins? No. In Bible interpretation, we must compare Scripture with Scripture. The whole of Scripture forms the framework by which we understand particular Scriptures, and the whole of Scripture makes it clear that a person is saved by faith in Christ, not by any ceremony or work (Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). We are saved by calling on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Then we give evidence of that saving faith by being baptized. Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest translates verse 16, "Having arisen, be baptized and wash away your sins, having previously called upon His Name."

And that’s what had happened in Paul’s experience. According to Acts 9:17, Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit before he was baptized, which would indicate his salvation preceded his baptism. It is the "calling on Jesus’ name," and not the baptism that produces the cleansing from sin.

In sharing his testimony, Paul shared about his life before Christ, then about how he came to know Christ. There’s one more component of a good testimony…

C. Paul shared how Christ changed his life (17-21). "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ "‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ "Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’"

If there’s anything that Paul’s testimony makes clear, it’s this. Jesus Christ changed him. Prior to coming to know Christ he was a blasphemer and violent killer of Christians. But the day Christ entered his life that all changed. He went from hating to being hated. He went from being the hunter to the hunted. He went from blaspheming to preaching the name of Jesus. That’s what I call change!

Most of you here today are Christians. If you are a Christian, you have a testimony. But answer this. Do you have a testimony? That is, has your life really changed? And if it has, do you have a testimony? By that I mean, can you share the story of what Christ has done in your life in clear and simple terms?

As D. L. Moody walked down a Chicago street one day, he saw a man leaning against a lamppost. The evangelist gently put his hand on the man's shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The fellow raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, "Mind your own business!" 

"I'm sorry if I've offended you," said Moody, "but to be very frank, that IS my business!"

Friends, it is our business to share Christ with people, and sharing our testimony is a great place to begin. I encourage you to write out your testimony and practice it. Here are some guidelines.

1. A good testimony is conversational, not preachy. You’re telling a story. Don’t use the word "you" (as in, "You need Jesus."). Use the words "I" and "me" (as in, "When I was a young boy I thought I was a Christian because my family went to church, but then I learned from God’s Word that Jesus died for me.").

2. A good testimony is brief. Paul shared his testimony while standing on the temple steps, and did so in about three minutes. You can share yours while standing in the line at the grocery store, or while waiting for the ballgame to begin—you can if it’s brief.

3. A good testimony establishes common ground. "I am a Jew. I was trained in the Law. Gamaliel was my tutor." Those pieces of information were hooks that captured Paul’s Jewish audience. When you share your testimony, do the same.

There are a lot of people who go to church today that don’t know Jesus. I used to be one. I used to have religion but not a relationship with Jesus. When I’m talking with such a person I emphasize that. It’s common ground for us.

4. A good testimony points people to Christ. Again, do it conversationally. "You know, I used to think that if I lived a good life I’d make it to heaven. But then I went to a church that actually taught me the Bible, and I discovered something. God sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue sinners. I learned that the reason He died wasn’t merely to give me an example. He died because I need a Savior. And He rose again to show His death was sufficient to save me from my sins."

5. A good testimony leaves the door open for more. The purpose of a testimony isn’t to share everything you know about Jesus. A good testimony creates interest for more. Sometimes I’ll conclude my story by saying, "Getting to know Jesus was the greatest thing that ever happened in my life. Maybe some time we can talk more, that is, if you’re interested."

If we’re going to be ready to maximize the opportunities God sends our way, we need to see—see the opportunities. Then we need to speak—tell them the story. Then…

To God, that is. By submitting, I mean we need leave the results up to God. And there will be results, for two reasons.

A. God is at work. From eternity past God predestined to save sinners (Eph. 1:5; Rom 8:29-30), and He is doing exactly that. His Spirit is at work today convicting sinners of their need for Christ (John 16:8ff.). We know that. The Bible says so.

B. People will respond. In fact, every time His Word is shared there is a response. Not maybe. There is. People will respond in one of two ways.

1. Some will resist. On the other hand…

2. Some will want to know more. In response to Paul’s testimony, it was the former. Verse 22—"The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!’"

Everything seemed fine until Paul used what Swindoll calls "the G-word." Then the listeners went ballistic. Did he say Gentiles? We are Jews, and we don’t relate to Gentiles. We don’t eat with them. We don’t let our children go to school with them. We don’t even like them! Get rid of this traitor!

If you think about it, had Paul not uttered that one word he might have been set free. My hunch is he knew that, but Paul’s goal in life wasn’t personal comfort and safety. His goal was faithfulness, particularly to be a faithful witness no matter what the cost.

They said he was anti-Jewish. That wasn’t true, and he worked hard to correct that misunderstanding in this speech. But there was something he couldn’t hide, something he knew would infuriate them. He was serious about the task of reaching Gentiles, a task that he knew wasn’t popular with his Jewish friends. Yet it was God-given task, and it was part of his story, so he told it.

Let that sink in. As Wiersbe surmises, "Paul would rather be a prisoner than give up his burden for lost souls and for missions!" Can that be said of you?

Our job is to preach Christ and leave the results—whether good or "bad"—up to God. See, speak, then submit.

For Paul, here were the results (verses 23-29): "As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?" When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen." The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. Then the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied. Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains."

Why Paul didn’t mention his Roman citizenship sooner, I don’t know. Perhaps he thought it would alienate the Jews. Now, however, he uses it to establish credibility with the Romans.

I sense sarcasm in the commander’s voice here. It was a crime to falsely claim to be a Roman citizen, and if a person did so they would be executed. Paul didn’t exactly look like an upstanding Roman citizen at this point, bloodied from the beating the mob gave him and clothes torn. "I had to pay a big sum of money for my citizenship. You don’t look like you’ve even got enough money for the lawyer fees you’re going to be paying!"

To which Paul responded, "I didn’t buy my citizenship. I was born a Roman citizen." Apparently, Paul’s father was a Roman citizen.

To say the least, this discovery changed the mood of the Roman soldiers. As quickly as their hands would move, they removed the chains and backed off, for they knew it was illegal to scourge a Roman citizen. In fact, it was illegal to put a Roman citizen in chains without a preliminary hearing, a crime they had just committed.

Answer this. Did Paul fail that day? You say, "I don’t think he changed the crowd’s opinion. It seems like he failed." Hold on. It’s not our job to change people. It’s to exalt Christ in every situation and leave the results to Him. Submit. Think about it from this perspective. True, Paul lost his freedom that day, but he also caused a whole city to think about Jesus Christ!

Now let’s make it personal. Bill Bright makes the observation, "Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior." 

Make It Personal: If you know Christ…three things are true.

1. You have a story to tell. David Brainerd said, "I care not where I go or how I live or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep, I dream of them; when I awake, they are first in my thoughts." Dear friend, if you know Christ you have a story to tell!

2. You need to tell the story. See the situations, then speak!

3. You can begin today!

Acts  Sermon Series