The Attitude of Paul
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2018 · 4 February 2018
Up until Acts 21, we have been following the ministry of the Apostle Paul as a free man. Beginning in Acts 22, he becomes a prisoner; and from here on out until his death, he remains a prisoner. His ministry is not diminished, it’s only different. Now during the time, he gives six different defenses of his actions and his attitudes. The first defense is given here in Acts 21:27 – 30.
In the midst of his arrest and defense, we see principles of how to give a positive testimony in a negative situation; and we have tried to draw those principles out. Now we are going to look at the final part of the narrative which has to do with attitude. In giving a positive testimony, attitude is extremely important. My attitude toward the unbeliever is going to influence my testimony.
If I really love that person, the negative in his/her life is going to be superseded by the positive of my love; and it won't really matter how antagonistic he/she is or how unlike he/she ought to be, I will love them anyway. And so attitude then becomes critical. Many Christians have been accused of having wrong attitudes, thinking they are superior, unloving and uncaring.
A genuine, caring, honest, deep love for the lost is basic to effective testimony. People who are the most effective in reaching the lost are the people whose love is genuine, because we tend to do what our love motivates us to do. The Christian who is condemning and self-righteousness is one who really doesn't love those people as Jesus did, so instead of winning people, he alienates people.
Now, in this passage, Paul displays for us the right attitude toward the unbelieving, and that's basic to influencing them for Christ. First God so loved the world, then He gave His only Son to die for the sins of those who believe. Paul also makes the statement of his love for Israel. He loves Israel so much, he is willing to be accursed. And it's with that attitude that he gives them the gospel.
Now the Apostle Paul just concluded his third missionary tour. He's arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the feast of Pentecost. It's a time when Jerusalem is jammed with people. Now on these three mission tours, Paul had both a positive and a negative impact. Positively, he won a lot of people to Jesus Christ and started a lot of churches. Negatively, he alienated unbelieving Jewish people everywhere he went.
The first thing he would do when he went into a town was to go to the synagogue. And he would preach Christ in the synagogue; and some of the Jews would believe and the rest of them would be antagonistic and, for the most part, they would hate him. And, as he went from town to town, a whole lot of Jewish people, mostly the leaders rather than the populace, hated him.
All along his way to Jerusalem, he faced hostility from Jewish leaders. Now, to make things worse, when he arrives in Jerusalem at feast time, all the Jewish leaders from all over the world are there too. So he arrives in an explosive situation in Jerusalem at the same time as his enemies. He is surrounded by all his enemies who hate him. These non-Christian Jews from Asia Minor, now see him in the temple.
Paul had ministered there effectively for three years and founded seven different churches. But they begin by accusing Paul of being against the Jews, against the law, and against the temple. This was all a lie concocted to generate mob violence against him, and it worked. And the whole population of legalistic Judaism, was whipped into a frenzy to bring about his death; and so they start a riot.
In Acts 21:30 they took Paul out of the temple, and then shut the doors. They are about to kill him in verse 31. But when the Romans saw that a riot started in the temple, the centurions and their soldiers entered to break up the riot. Verses 31 to 36, then, is the Roman arrival. Now, the Roman commander-in-chief, thinks that this is the Egyptian revolutionary that previously had led a riot.
They grab Paul and shackle him and then they drag him up the stairs through the mob, carrying him over their heads. So Paul is now on the top of the stairs, heading for the barracks. He is totally quiet and submissive, allowing himself to be shackled and taken prisoner. Why? Because God had told him through the prophet Agabus that this was going to happen, right?
Now notice, Paul accepted the situation as God's will. God wants to bring you trials and difficult situations, for those tests are what make you strong. God wants to bring you into difficult confrontations with an evil world, because that is how people react when confronted with the gospel. So you might as well get trained to face these negative situations; and when they happen, accept them as from Him.
Now then Paul, always creates opportunities to witness to people. Let us see what he does when he gets to the top of the stairs. He asks the commander, "Could I say a few words?" And the man is surprised that Paul speaks Greek. "Can you speak Greek?" "Yes," Paul said, "I can speak Greek. I come from Tarsus of Cilicia, which was a high-class place. This will be a great opportunity to find out what the accusations were.
So he said, fine, you speak. In the midst of a negative situation, Paul created a positive opportunity. Then he began to speak in Acts 22: 1-5 to the whole crowd. He spoke in Aramaic, the Hebrew language. Paul says, "I'm a Jew." Verse 3, "I studied at the feet of Gamaliel," who was the leading Jewish teacher of his day. "I was taught according to the strictness of our father’s law," that is the interpretation of the Law of Moses.
"I was a Zealot," which is the most right-wing in the Pharisees' party. I was every bit a Jew like you, and I even was zealous enough to do what you're doing today. I've persecuted people just like you are persecuting me. And, in a sense, he justifies their action. Then he says, "Not only that, I was supported, in verse 5, by the high priest and the whole Jewish Sanhedrin."
Paul was giving a positive testimony in a negative situation. Do everything you can to win your audience. Establish common ground. I know your motives. I understand your zeal, etc." Hopefully, they were saying at this time, “this guy is not so bad. He is a Jew, studied with Gamaliel, was a right-wing on the Pharisees' party, had orders from the high priest to do everything he did, and he just justified our motives.
But most of the mob did not know what was going on. Now, the first part of his defense describes the part before his conversion. The second part is the circumstances at his conversion, verses 6 to 16. Remember he was going to Damascus to capture Christians, and imprison them in Jerusalem. Then he saw a great light and heard Jesus asking him why he was persecuting Jesus of Nazareth.
You know that was another confirmation that Jesus had risen from the dead. If Jesus talked to Paul, this proves that Jesus of Nazareth was alive. Paul says, in case you doubt that, a whole lot of people were with me who saw the same light, and fell on the same ground. The only difference is they didn't hear what I heard. That message was special for me. Paul says, "What happened to me was a divine, supernatural act of God."
Verse 10, “So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.” I was going to Damascus minding my own business. Then a very bright light, and a voice out of heaven saying, 'Go do this,' I became blind, and I went. If you want to accuse somebody, you better talk to God. He did it.
Then a man showed up by the name of Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews who dwelt there. Verse 13-14, “He came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the ‘Just One’, and hear the voice of His mouth.”
That is a Messianic term describing Christ. And, every Jew standing there knew who the God of our fathers was. Now this is the key, Paul is exalting the Lord. He just wants them to know that if they reject this, they know they are rejecting God. Paul made sure that if they were going to deny him, that they were going to deny God, the God that they claim was their God, the God of their fathers, Isaac, Jacob and Abraham.
Paul says, the reason I am what I am is because God invaded my life and made me this way. If you want to argue, you will have to argue with God. Make sure that what you are giving testimony to is the miracle that God has brought into your life. The clearest testimony leaves a person only one option: to either accept the truth about God or to reject it. I believe in the sovereignty of God.
But every person has to respond to God's invitation, and that's exactly what we find in verse 16, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Now here is the balance of salvation, the response of the man. Revelation says, "Your names were written in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world." Some people believe everything, but they never receive the offer of salvation.
Three years after his conversion, Paul returned to Jerusalem from Arabia. That period is discussed in Galatians 1:17-18 and Acts 9. Now his defense includes his commission after his conversion. Verse 17-18, “It happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance 18 and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony about Me.”
Even as a Christian, three years later, Paul still revered Jewish customs. "So I was praying in a temple, and I was in a trance." This is a state of being transported out of the normal senses. Sometimes God takes His choice servants and gives them a consciousness beyond the natural senses of man. Paul was allowed to perceive a world of spiritual activity. In the presence of God, you will be open to that world.
Verse 19-21, “So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. 20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ 21 Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’” If they wouldn't listen to Jesus after He performed miracle after miracle right in front of their eyes, they also will not listen to you.
Well, when he said the word Gentiles, it released all their prejudice. They hated the Gentiles, and what bothered them most was that he was going around preaching equality. The Jew and Gentile are one in Christ, and they didn't have to become Jews. They didn't have to keep the law, and this infuriated them. So let us see the action of the people. All logic, all sense and all reason was consumed in their flames of prejudice.
Verse 22-23, “And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” 23 Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air.” Whenever they wanted to stone somebody, they took off their outer garments. But since Paul was at the top of the stairs, they started throwing dirt.
Look at the attitude of Paul in the midst of all of this. His heart overflowed with love, love for everybody. Love for the Jews throwing the dirt, love for the Romans standing there guarding him. That was his character. Claudius Lysias had a real problem. And so he figures like any Roman soldier, let us torture him.
Verse 24, “The commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.” So he brought him in to be scourged. They would stretch the man's body to the extreme, so that all the lashes would cut right into the flesh. Now scourging, if it didn't kill him would cripple him for life.
Verse 25, “And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and un-condemned?” Paul had never been scourged, because it was a crime to scourge a Roman. The penalty was execution. He was not mad. It's just a question that he offers. Paul said that every mark on his body was a mark of Jesus Christ.
Verse 26-27, “When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.” 27 Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.” Do you see how God had equipped Paul for every trial? Verse 28, “The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
He wasn't a second-class citizen. He was a first-class citizen. Verse 29, “Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.” Paul's attitude was selfless love for those around him. He did everything to win their hearts, and he loved the Gentiles enough to spare that commander's life.
Verse 30, “The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.” Let us pray.