Single-Minded Devotion to Jesus

Please turn to Acts 21:17.

We have been asking a question—here in 2025.

How can you grow in your relationship with Jesus here in 2025? and you may not even want to think about it in terms of the whole year--think of the first quarter...

Take a moment—

My goal is to stir you up. some of you it may be more intentional time in his word. some of you already do that, it may be times of solitude, Sabbath or rest; some may be intentional times of community.

(silence)

Paul is following in the footsteps of Jesus. (on screen)

He is sold out for Christ—He wants to know Christ, listen to Christ, be one with Christ, glorify Christ, share Christ.

and just as Jesus headed to Jerusalem to suffer, so Paul is headed to Jerusalem...to suffer

God warned Paul that suffering was ahead of him; and the church community warned him to, not wanting him to go.

What happens next...

Let me read.

Acts 21:17–26 NIV

17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters (in Christ) received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. (James is the half brother of Jesus, and the leader of the Jerusalem church--Jewish background—he showed up in chapter 15; also wrote the book of James) 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” (we saw these mentioned in chapter 15) 26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

Remember Paul’s background is Jewish!

yet He is a Christian now.

yet rumors have spread about him that he encourages Jews who became Christians to turn away from their Jewish background, and that is not true! this could cause unnecessary offense and disunity

yes, Paul does preach salvation by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone and that does change a Jewish person’s relationship to the law in a huge way; BUT a Jew who came to Christ can still practice some Jewish ways from the OT. they just don’t save them.

so Paul is not against the Jews doing things like circumcision from the OT and some of the other things in the OT law, but they are not a means of salvation.

So Paul supports a vow—what’s called a Nazirite vow from Numbers chapter 6, a short-term about 30 day vow—where you would set aside 30 days for special devotion to God, not drink any wine or alcohol, avoid contact with a dead body (which would defile them), and not cut their hair. at the end of 30 days, you would get your haircut and present an offering in the temple)

I don’t think Paul participate in the vow—but he supported 4 other men taking it.

Paul will go with the men to pay their expenses and offerings, and participate in a Jewish purification ritual..

so Paul and James - participate in this because wants to unify the Jewish and Gentile church. He is free from the OT Mosaic Law, but sometimes joins in it) they want one church!

Acts 21:27–36 NIV

27 When the seven days were nearly over (so the vow is not over yet—but Paul was purifying himself as was the custom in the temple), some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, (these may have been Jews who had previously persecuted him earlier in Acts) 28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.) so in the Jews’ law—all of these accusations were considered punishable by death—teaching against the people, the law, the temple, and bringing a Gentile into the temple courts. archaeologists have found signs from the era showing that if Gentiles entered the inner courts of the temple, they would immediately face execution. show temple complex photo from ESV study Bible 30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. (they went outside the inner courts to the Court of Gentiles and beyond) 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. (the commander would have been in charge of 1000 soldiers.) 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. (on the temple complex—on the northwest corner was the temple area—so they could see what was happening immediately and address it) show temple complex photo from ESV study Bible 33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. (so last chapter—Agabus predicted Paul would be bound with chains…and it happened. God’s prophecy came true!) 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!” (which are similar words that were said about Jesus when he was on trial)

so if you were Paul…what would you do at this point.

would you stand with me as we finish—let’s see what Paul does...

Acts 21:37–40 (NIV)

37 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.

38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?” (btw - the Jewish historian Josephus mentions this too)

39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

40 After receiving 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:

Acts 22:1–22 NIV

1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. (so Paul is speaking in the Jew’s native language, not Greek, the main trade language) Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel (one of the most respected) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way (another name for Christians b/c they lived a certain way that was different than the culture—they follow Jesus—the Way, Truth and Life—they stood out!) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light (little stronger words than chapter 9) from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ 8 “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10 “ ‘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.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. (we know from ch. 9 he was blind for 3 days--but was actually beginning to see for the 1st time) 12 “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. (Ananias can vouch for me!) 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. 14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One (that’s Jesus) and to hear words from his mouth. Now, Paul was probably shocked by all this. He knew about Jesus. but in his mind—the Savior of the world, the Messiah sent by God to save them—doesn’t die. especially in the most horrific way possible. It’s an oxymoron—a crucified Messiah. so in His mind—Jesus must have suffered because He deserved it)—not so. He suffered innocently. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ (note—baptism the act itself in water doesn’t save you or cleanse you—it outwardly symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s inward cleansing in your life.” (btw—we have a couple of baptisms coming up this year—mid March and later August—or we have a portable tank and can do it anytime) 17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 “ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. 20 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.’ 21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” 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!”

so what would you have done in that situation…if you were Paul? (probably not gone to Jerusalem in the 1st place)

Here we see quite a contrast between Paul and the mob...

Think of some words that we could use to describe the mob...

making assumptions (21:29) they assumed Paul had brought, Trophimus, a Gentile, a non-Jew into the temple courts; so rushing to judgment

racism or discrimination (22:21-22) the mob felt it was fine to convert Gentiles to Jews, but to convert Gentiles to Christians without becoming Jews…that was a problem. that word Gentile was a trigger word. Yes--the Jews were God’s chosen people in the OT--but not because they were better, but simply out of God’s sovereign grace, and they were meant to be a light to all people, including the nations to eventually become God’s people.

chaotic, craziness; easily threatened, and defensive, insecure

zealous but misguided—zeal not based on knowledge

and just think how we could use those words to describe some of us or people we know.

How many of us live that way...

—making assumptions about others; putting labels on others (btw—we don’t like it when people do that to us, do we?)

—discriminating against others based on code or trigger words—(“you are a democrat or republican; you didn’t grow up here; you belong to that school system, not ours)

—craziness, threatened, defensive—it seems like some people just live their life from one chaos to another; lots of drama; some may have grown up that way, so that’s all they know

—maybe zealous but misguided—describes so many people on social media

while the mob seems to be in control—they are out of control.

and how many of us feel like the angry, misguided mob today?

that’s no way to live...

in contrast…

Think of the words we would use to describe Paul in this situation:

Calmness, clarity (22:1-21 - sense of peace and wits about him—he had the presence of mind to ask if he could give a defense and a very logical and passionate speech. this was after he was rushed, the riot happened, he was beaten, and rescued by the Romans. yet he had that—what gave Paul that calmness…amidst the pressure...

how did he not have a disposition like the mob?

what’s another word to describe Paul

Compassionate - (22:1)

22:1—he calls them brothers and fathers — these are his people—the Jews!

he identifies with them, trying to build some credibility.” “You think you guys are passionate and zealous—I was more.” Our junior quizzers are in Philippians, and Paul says in Philippians 3:4-6

Philippians 3:4–6 (NIV)

4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. (skip A, start in Section B) If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:

5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;

6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

he is pleading with his people…identifying with him. even after he had been persecuted by them several times in the book of Acts.

Romans 9:2–3 NIV

2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race,

what gave him that compassion for his people (which were his persecutors?) b/c most of us if we faced that, would be downright angry, and if we survived it, out for blood against the people who hurt us?

what broke any discrimination or racism against the Gentiles that His people displayed?

3. Courageous.... (22:1-21)

Paul’s testimony is an incredible model for us any of us sharing Christ.

He talks about his life:

A. Before knowing Christ (22:1-5)

B. Meeting Christ (22:6-13)

C. After meeting Christ (His calling 22:14-21)

while he is giving a defense against the accusations brought before him...

he is actually most of all—pointing to Jesus Christ.

What enabled Paul to have...

Calmness/Clarity

Compassion

Courage...

What do you think is at the root?

and what made the mob, really the opposite of that—so threatened, so unstable, out for blood, instead of getting the facts, overwhelming with violence?

the root of Paul’s display--

at the root—in his heart of hearts…was a single-minded passion for Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:21 NIV

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

this idea of single-mindedness is the idea of having one focused purpose, goal, or interest....

Jesus Christ drove everything...

He could be calm and at peace—because God had called him to this. He knew he was entering suffering—he expected. it’s a reminder that if God calls us to something—it will probably be difficult; it may not have a fairy tale ending. yet Paul took his hands of his life—and surrendered them to God? just like Jesus surrendered to His Father...

Have you ever thought that one of the reasons you and I don’t have peace is we haven’t surrendered to God the situation we are dealing with? not that we ignore our feelings—those are important and struggle and cry out—but what would it look like to have FMC be surrendered fully to Jesus for the glory and sake of Jesus?

(take a moment and pray for peace and calmness—the same God who was in control in Paul’s arrest—is in control of your life—how can you surrender it to the glory of Jesus? and if you are feeling threatened like the mob…acknowledge it)

He could be compassionate—even towards his enemies…this is modeling Christ—who loved his own to the end, even Judas who betrayed him. who hung on the cross and prayed for forgiveness for the people who did this. Paul resonated with the very people who persecuted them—because he was like them, and had been changed by the power of the gospel

Maybe Paul thought about this: his past life...that though Paul was a persecutor and violent man, oppressor, a terrorist—did horrible things—he had given them to God, confessed them, and the God of the universe forgave him! I can’t imagine the guilt he had from his past, the shame, the regret—yet Jesus’s grace reached farther. sometimes you and I can wake up in sleepless nights, sweating and the accuser Satan rubs our noses in our past—says “you are no good…remember what you did…who are you to think God can use you...” Paul had been cleansed 22:16—his sins were washed away.

Acts 22:16 NIV

16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

(take a moment and pray—maybe you need forgiveness for something that is haunting—you maybe for the first time; it’s possible because Jesus, the righteous one, paid it all. take a moment and pray for those you struggle to have compassion for—maybe it’s an enemy; and take a moment to pray for someone far from Christ—if God can reach Paul, He can reach them)

he could be courageous—speaking up for Christ, which we struggle to do so much. but since Christ was his greatest treasure…we speak up for what we are passionate about…for what changes us.

I have been thinking a lot about the book of Philippians—because our junior quizzers are studying and competing over it. my 3 kids are in it...

and I am struck about how Paul talks about Jesus

Philippians 3:7–10 NIV

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Is Jesus yours and my greatest treasure?

take a moment--and ask--how can you grow in 2025? how can you along with the Holy Spirit leading you, how can you be intentional to allow Him to produce this fruit in your life?

what’s the next step?