ACTS 21:27

The Bible says in Acts 21:27-29, “And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and has polluted this holy place. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)” One of the things that these verses teach us is how terrible it can end up being when you make assumptions about someone. The very fact that it is an assumption means that it may not be true. Terrible things can result if you make a decision based upon an assumption about someone that turns out not to be true. These people assumed that Paul had taken a Gentile into the temple. They saw Paul with the Gentile, and then they saw Paul in the temple. Of course, they believed what they wanted to believe. It was convenient for them to accuse Paul and to stir up animosity against him. Should Christians be judgmental or make negative assumptions about people? The answer is obvious: we should not do it. We do not have to be gullible, but we should never judge someone’s motives. That should be left to God and to God alone. According to First Corinthians 13:7 love “believeth all things.”

The Bible says in Acts 21:30-32, “And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.” Of course, we know that the main reason that Paul was not killed was because God still had some things for Paul to do. Another one of the benefits of being a Christian is that you know that God is going to keep you on the earth as long as He wants you on the earth. No matter how many enemies you have, and no matter how things go against you; you will be kept alive as long as God wishes to keep you alive. You do not have to fear death the way that unbelievers do. You have God as your protector.

The Bible says in Acts 21:33-39, “Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he would not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him. And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and ledest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.”

Such is the unreasonableness of those who oppose the preaching of the gospel. They call evil, good; and good, evil. Paul preached good news about Jesus the Savior that could only have good results of living in heaven forever. And yet those who oppose the gospel will twist what is really happening to their own destruction. Notice that objective third party observers, the Roman soldiers, found it strange that Paul was at the center of this uproar. They thought that Paul must have been an Egyptian who led four thousand murderous men. This is very similar to the situation when the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate to be judged. Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, just as these Romans, as we shall see, knew that Paul was innocent. You cannot hide the truth from everyone. Just make sure that you stay on the right side of the truth. Cowards and liars are on the other side.

Notice how Paul used this situation. A tremendous uproar had just taken place in which he was beaten by the mob, and their intention was to kill him. He was saved just in the nick of time by the Roman soldiers, and then Paul says, “Let me speak to the people.” When Paul saw a crowd of people, even a murderous crowd, Paul saw an opportunity to preach the gospel and to give his testimony. If we were more diligent in looking for opportunities, we would also give out the gospel more often.

The Bible says in Acts 21:40-22:3, “And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you. And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith, I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.” Right away we see the value of knowing multiple languages. Paul had just spoken to the Romans in Greek. Now he turns around and speaks to the Jewish crowd in Hebrew. God always uses a prepared person for a prepared place. Learn everything that you can while you can, no matter how old or young you are. You never know when that might be a preparation for you to do something for God.

Paul did not have the gift of tongues to speak Hebrew and Greek. He learned them the normal way: through his past, through his upbringing, and through his opportunities. By speaking Hebrew to the Jews, Paul got their attention immediately. They were pleasantly surprised and therefore more willing to listen to him. Whenever someone thinks you are a foreigner, and then they hear you speak in their native tongue, their interest in listening to you increases. Their interest also increases when they see that they have other things in common with you. That is one of the reasons that Paul went into detail about his life as a Jew. Remember that one of the principles that Paul lived by in spreading the gospel was as he stated in First Corinthians 9:20-22: “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Even though this mob had just tried to kill him, Paul could not neglect the opportunity to tell them what Christ had done for him. In doing so, Paul would be telling them the gospel because the most important thing that Jesus had done for Paul was to reveal Himself to Paul and to save Paul’s soul. Paul said in Acts 22:4-6, “And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.” Immediately Paul tells them of the greatness of his own sins. Many times it is not a good idea to give all the gory details of the sins that you have committed. It can become too negative or too focused on self. Some people do not know how to give their testimony. You do not want a testimony that is so graphic that it would have to be x-rated.

Paul wanted to make it clear that he considered himself to be a great sinner in spite of his accomplishments in the Jewish religion. Paul said about himself, “I persecuted this way unto the death.” It was a terrible thing that Paul was involved in before his salvation. He pursued the sweetest, kindest people in the world: humble believers in Jesus. Paul tore mothers from their children’s arms no doubt and had them cast into prison. Others like Stephen were killed as he stood there approving of it. Horrible sins were committed by Saul of Tarsus. Paul knew it was so. He was ashamed of what he had been. He never forgot what Jesus had saved him from. He never forgot that his salvation was based solely upon the mercy of the Lord. Paul deserved nothing. He owed everything to Christ. He wanted to make that clear to his listeners. If someone thought they would be saved by their own works or their own goodness, it would not be because of what they heard Paul say.

In Acts 22:7-8 Paul said, “And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.” Of course, this is a perfect picture of salvation. The spiritual things that happened here are exactly what happens whenever anyone is saved. Sometimes you hear people say that they did not have a Damascus road experience the way that Paul did. One thing is for sure: you had to have gotten saved the same way that Paul did from a spiritual standpoint. There is no other way. Jesus said, “You must be born again.” When Paul got saved, Jesus came to Paul. Jesus initiated the contact. Evidently Jesus realized that now was the time to touch Paul’s life, to touch his heart, and to reveal Himself to Paul. If you have been saved, you did not come to Christ first. He came to you, and then you responded to Him. You had better be careful about the concept of taking someone to Christ or winning someone for Christ. No one gets saved until Jesus draws them. Be careful about telling someone that they have been saved just because they went forward in an invitation service. No one gets saved unless the Holy Spirit draws them, and Jesus reveals Himself to them. That is what happened in Paul’s life spiritually. If you say that Jesus has never revealed Himself to you, then you are not saved. When people are saved, they are saved by the living Christ and the risen Christ. If you do not know the Christ who is alive, then you are not saved.

The Bible says in Acts 22:9-10, “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.” Jesus is the Light of the world. The fact that He appeared as a great shining light to Paul should be no surprise. Of course, the light is symbolic of the fact that Jesus enlightens us. The whole world lies in darkness. The answer to that darkness is the light that only Jesus can bring. The problem with Saul of Tarsus, even though he was a religious man, was the fact that he was in spiritual darkness. That is why he was capable of persecuting innocent believers and cast them into prison and consent to their death. Why are horrible things committed in our world by human beings? Because people are in spiritual darkness. The only One who can deliver them is the same one who delivered Saul of Tarsus: Jesus of Nazareth, the Light of the world.

Paul saw the Light and he saw Jesus. The others with Paul also saw the light, but they did not see Jesus. One of the meanings behind this situation is the fact that God saves people one at a time. Salvation is an individual and personal experience. God is somehow working in the lives of every person in the world, guiding them at some time in their lives to bring them to the point of seeing their need of Jesus as Savior. That is probably what it means in John 1:9 where it says about Jesus, “That was the true Light, which lightest every man that cometh into the world.”

Paul saw the Light that is Jesus, and Paul changed. Paul was converted from a person, a Jew, who did not believe in Jesus to a person who did believe in Jesus; and all of Paul’s life was different from that point on. Jesus describe what Paul was like before his conversion right here in this passage. In Acts 22:7 Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Saul was persecuting believers, but Jesus said that Saul was actually persecuting Jesus. The way they treat the Lord is the way they will treat you, if you are in fellowship with Jesus. Saul’s problem all along was a spiritual problem. It was a problem in regards to his relationship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Why did Saul have such anger and aggression? Because of his own spiritual problem. He was resisting and fighting against Jesus, and therefore he was resisting and fighting against man. The problems of the world are spiritual problems that can be solved only when people have their lives changed by the Light that is Jesus Christ. Paul repented and, he was converted. We know that because he turned to Jesus and said, “What shall I do, Lord.” That will become the supreme question for anyone who is truly saved and who stays in fellowship with Jesus. You are saved, and now your question and your prayer for the rest of your life will be, “What shall I do, Lord?”

The question for you today is this: Have you seen the Light that is Jesus and been converted to Him and had your life changed?

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