A Touch And Go Situation
Notes
Transcript
Review
Review
Turn to Acts 22.
Last week we travelled 700 Miles In Paul’s Shoes as he journeyed from Miletus to Jerusalem. Along the way, Paul enjoyed Christian hospitality, he moved forward despite knowing the future included suffering, he practiced self-denial so that he could effectively minister to Jew and Gentile, and he kept a calm demeanor even after he suffered at the hands of a chaotic mob. He had peace knowing that he was doing the will of God for his life. God intends for you and me to have the same certainty.
Message
Message
I’ve entitled today’s message, “A Touch And Go Situation.”
A Touch And Go Situation is a scenario that is precarious, uncertain, and usually dangerous.
First responders literally run into these kinds of circumstances every day. For a number of years, my mother-in-law worked in various departments as an RN at a hospital.
Read slowly:
To this day, if you were to ask her which was her favorite department to work in, she’d say, “The ER.”
She’s told my wife and I different stories from her experience there. I don’t remember the stories but I do remember her saying this: The craziest time in the ER, she said, was when it was a full moon. They had no medical explanation for it, but that was when they would have the strangest and often worst cases come into the emergency room.
Like many first responders, she enjoyed the unpredictable nature of her job. She embraced the adrenaline rush of providing triage. She welcomed the cases where other’s lives depended upon her skill and expertise.
Read slowly:
Acts chapter 22 reads like A Touch And Go Situation because Paul seems to go from one precarious circumstance to the next.
We’re going to pick up the story in Acts 21:39. Paul is conversing with the Roman tribune who rescued him from the bloodthirsty crowd.
Read Acts 21:39-22:5.
First, this situation goes…
Next slide here:
From beating to listening - Acts 22:1-21.
Paul had just been beaten by the mob. He was probably still bleeding from his wounds, but he signaled to the people and there was a great silence as they began to listen.
I am amazed at the wisdom that Paul displayed as he spoke to this mob-like crowd. We won’t dwell on every detail but I want to summarize what he did to gain their attention.
He spoke their native language - v. 2
He shared his credentials that would garner respect - v. 3
He complimented their zeal for God - v. 3
He used terms that would not cause unnecessary offense - v. 4
He told his story of salvation - vs. 5-21
He saved the most difficult part for last - v. 21
You see, Paul exercised biblical wisdom as he spoke to his enemies.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Read slowly:
Application: When you have an opportunity to share God’s truth with someone, don’t dilute the truth, but don’t make it bitter either.
Having a godly love for that person will prevent you from falling into either ditch.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Be wise! Be sensitive to what God wants you to say.
Look back at and read Acts 22:3.
Paul identified with these Jews and acknowledged that they were zealous for God. Paul commended them for it. Their passion for God was good! Their desire to please God was admirable! But their zeal for God was misplaced! They were missing the mark because they were trying to please God in their way, not God’s way. They were trying to please God according to their terms, not the terms that He had revealed in Scripture!
Paul explains this in Romans 10.
Turn to and read Romans 10:1-4.
Paul’s whole discourse to these Jews revolves around this idea: you cannot meet God’s standard of righteousness on your own! These Jews were trying to please God by living all of the laws of Judaism. They thought that by being Jews and by practicing the Mosaic law, they were guaranteed a place in Heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth! Their own attempts to live righteously could not impress a thrice holy God! Their zeal for God was good, but it was not according to the Scriptures, therefore, they were still condemned.
Today, like the Jews, you may have a passion to please God, but if you have not submitted to God’s terms, then you are just as condemned as these Jews were. Almighty God is not impressed by man’s religious fervor.
But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Romans 10:4 tells us that the only righteousness that God respects is the righteousness of His very own Son, Jesus Christ!
My friend, God’s call to you today is that you humble yourself, stop all pretense of trying to please Him by your religious effort, and instead, come to Him by faith, claiming the righteousness of His Son.
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
If you believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, His righteousness will be instantly applied to your account before God! You will immediately pass from condemned to justified in the court of God!
“Pastor Tim, that can’t be real. God wouldn’t make it that simple.”
Oh yes! It is real! God did make it that simple! You can get personal access to God only through the righteousness of Christ, not your own righteousness!
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
That is the decision that Paul made on the road to Damascus. That is the appeal that Paul was making to these devout Jews. And that may be the decision you need to make today.
If you do make that choice, I would love for you to tell me because there is a whole church family that wants to rejoice with you!
This touch and go situation goes from beating to listening, next, it goes…
Next slide here:
From listening to raging - Acts 22:22.
Read Acts 22:21-22.
What Paul said in verse 21 was very “triggering” for these people.
The term “triggering” or feeling “triggered” has grown in our modern American vocabulary the last few years. In this context, “triggered” means “to cause an intense and usually negative emotional reaction in (someone).”
When Paul told his Jewish audience that the Lord sent him to tell the Gentiles about salvation through Jesus Christ, they were triggered. They couldn’t stand it! They went ballistic.
Why? Because these Jews believed that they were saved because of two things:
They were Jewish - sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
They were zealous to do the works of the law
In other words, by birth and by works they were far more righteous than the godless, vile Gentiles. If Gentiles could be saved by faith in Jesus, it completely undercut everything they had lived and worked for their entire lives. The Jews couldn’t tolerate such a thought and they couldn’t stand Paul living another day on the earth for saying it. It is nearly impossible for us to understand just how upset these Jews were. The word “raging” is the best way I can put it. What Paul said here was blasphemy to them and it called for immediate death.
Understand, the problem was not Paul. The problem was not the truth he presented. The problem was those proud Jews who were stuck on their own self-righteousness. No one was going to tell them that they were sinners no different than the Gentiles.
Application: sometimes the things that “trigger” us are not other people or outside circumstances, but rather, ourselves. In other words, sometimes we’re the problem, not others. That was true of these Jews. That is true of us sometimes.
Our culture has mastered the art of blame-shifting. When we blow up or when we react in an intense or negative way, we shift the blame to others.
“Well, I was triggered by what they said.”
You may have been triggered by what they said, but you are still responsible for how you react.
He that hath no rule over his own spirit Is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Our culture doesn’t like that. Our culture has tried to remove responsibility for reactions, but don’t let our culture affect your thinking.
This touch and go situation goes from listening to raging, and next…
Next slide here:
From raging to torturing - Acts 22:23-30.
Just when you think the situation can’t get any worse, the Roman tribune loses his patience and decides to get to the bottom of it by torturing Paul. Keep in mind, he couldn’t understand what Paul was saying when he spoke to the Jewish audience. He had no idea what Paul said that he triggered the Jews.
Read Acts 22:23-30.
I use the word “torture” on purpose, even though it is not in our text. This particular type of whipping was so severe that the victims often would die of their wounds. The Roman commander knew that, but he wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know it now. He was done asking questions and trying to figure out who Paul was. The commander would find out by torturing Paul.
That brings us to the fourth part of this situation…
Next slide here:
From torturing to fearing - Acts 22:26-30.
When the centurion heard that Paul was a Roman, he puts the breaks on everything and goes straight to the tribune. This was like a captain going to the colonel and saying, “come see for yourself what we’re about to do.”
In verse 26, “take heed” is a command, not a question. The centurion was saying, “you come see with your own eyes what you’ve commanded us to do, because we’re not moving forward with this unless you’re there.”
Now why was this such a big deal? Because in Paul’s day, it was a severe violation of Roman law even to arrest or to harm a Roman citizen, much less torture one without a trial. If news of this reached the Emperor’s ears, this man’s career as an officer in the Roman army was finished. He could even be imprisoned or worse. Those severe penalties were in place to keep the slave population from rising up and overthrowing the Roman citizenry and law and order.
With one question, Paul disarmed his Roman captors and they went from torturing to fearing. Verse 29 says that even the tribune, a man not given to fear, was fearful of what might happen if news of this got out.
Application: Paul’s example here shows us that it is perfectly acceptable as a Christian to exercise your God-given and your constitutional rights, so long as you do it graciously.
Paul didn’t demand.
He didn’t get angry at the gross injustice he was experiencing.
He didn’t even try to take vengeance on the Roman commander.
But he did exercise his rights in a lawful, appropriate manner. Christian, go do likewise this week. Go exercise your right to vote - even if it means standing in line for five hours to do it. And then, after this week is over and the election is behind us, go be a Christian citizen modeled after the example of the apostle, Paul.
Conclusion
Conclusion
From beating to listening…
From listening to raging…
From raging to torturing…
From torturing to fearing…
Truly, this was A Touch And Go Situation.
We’ve seen several ways to apply this text to our lives today. During our invitation, you are welcome to come and pray at the front if you would like. You respond to the Spirit of God as He works in your heart.