The Boiling Point

Text: Acts 22:22-23:11

Central Idea of the Text: Confronted by beating, trial and death, Paul maintains his cool.

Proposition: When faced with tremendous pressure, God gives his peace to those who seek him.

Purpose: All who hear should be reminded that in all things, God promises us his peace for the most pressure-filled situations.

Intro

212 Degrees. It is the boiling point. Most of us have had to be reminded of that fact when making things like spaghetti, or mac and cheese, or mashed potatoes. You put the water on the stove. You run to do some other task in some other room. Then all of a sudden, you hear the dreaded sounds. Tss. Tss. TSSSSSS. The water that you left to heat has reached its limit. It’s all over the stove. It’s made a great mess. And you feel kind of stupid that you’ve just done this for the 36th time in your life.

But water isn’t the only thing that does this, and there are a lot bigger messes that get made with a boiling point is passed, when pressure builds past the breaking point, or when a small spark comes into a very flammable or volatile substance. It’s not uncommon to see some of those viral videos occasionally come into your news feed, and make you jump when you watch them. I’d show one as an example this morning, but I didn’t want anyone with a ticker that isn’t in good shape to have a heart attack on me this morning, so I refrained.

This doesn’t just apply to chemicals or substances, right? As we know, there are people situations that can tend to spiral out of control when one group passes their breaking point. Today’s text reminds us of this as the heat in Jerusalem gets turned up on Paul. Will he get burned? Or will Paul live to witness another day? Let’s look at today’s text, found in Acts 22:22-23:11. [Read Text]

This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the Apostle Paul. As he witnesses, you teach us to witness. As he faces great pressure, you teach us how to face pressure. As he shows wisdom to endure, you teach us to endure. Lord, please help you people not to run from the challenges of being a Christ follower. Help us to embrace daily the taking up of our cross to follow the Savior. Help us to do the hard things. Help us to speak up. Help us to endure. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Thinking back (from our Sermon 2 weeks ago) to the journey we’ve been on leading Paul into Jerusalem, we remember that he had received warning after warning about how hard this journey to Jerusalem was going to be. Tears were shed at Miletus (with the Ephesian elders), at Tyre and at Caesarea. When Paul arrived back at Jerusalem, he was warned by the church leaders to make preparation to present himself as an obedient Jew, one who still worshipped the God is Israel, but who also recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah. Troy did a great job of talking about Paul’s initial confrontation with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Paul was given an opportunity to speak up for himself, and Troy encouraged us to look for opportunities that we have to share what Jesus has done in us.

But what Paul spoke of as his ministry to both the Jews and the Gentiles, these Jews of Jerusalem viewed (at best) as mischief or (at worst) as malevolence. We saw last week in 21:27 that the people were “stirred up” and that they “laid hands” on Paul. Verse 30 says that they dragged Paul from the temple, and verse 31 says the Jewish leaders were seeking to kill Paul. Paul (and we) can be thankful that the Jews were not the final authority and that the Roman authorities had the greater authority in the area and maintaining the peace in Rome. The Tribune hears of the trouble swirling around Paul, and he desires to have the Roman authorities settle the dispute. The Roman tribune is the one who ensures that Paul can speak and give his testimony.

But the final word that really sets the people off going into today’s text is in verses 17-21, when he says that he had a vision of the Lord speaking to him, and telling (in summary): “These (Jews) are hard of heart and will not listen to you … go for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” When they heard this, it was like Paul set a spark off next to the gas can of their rage, and in verse 22, they are again calling for Paul’s life to end. It turns out that the warnings that proceeded this account were very real, and that the Paul who ran the gauntlet of warnings of the church will now have to somehow survive the very real threats on his life.

So is it “freak out” time for Paul? AHHHH! The end is here! Time to lose my cool before I lose my head!

Not at all! The Paul who is pressed here had written these words two years earlier to the Corinthian church from 2 Cor 4:7-12:

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 ESV

7 But we have this treasure [the Gospel] in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Hear those words from verse 8 again: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Do you think the man who wrote those words was just faking it and is going to freak out in the face of trouble. No way! This Paul would remember in this moment the greatest command of scripture, reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” In the pressure cooker of Jerusalem, Paul will keep a cool head and love the Lord by using his MIND to speak the right words that need to be heard so that he may live to witness another day. Today’s text shows us how Paul survived an explosive situation in the moment. Paul’s Appeal and Paul’s assurance provide a road map through this twisted road of trouble.

We start by looking at ...

Paul’s Appeal

That is, Paul’s appeal as Paul’s words and the strategic and creative ways his mind works to put the brakes on the rage. It starts in verse 25, where we see ...

Paul’s appeal to Identity

Now, as we said, the Roman authorities have stepped in. They have a great interest in not seeing a riot or vigilante killing. So the Tribune order for Paul to be brought back for interrogation at the jail. It’s believed that there must be something more that he has done, and they are ready to flog it out of him. If you remember the flogging of Jesus in the gospels, you know what a horrible thing this could be. It was a handle, with 3-9 leather straps attached, with sharp metal weights at the ends. When the subject was flogged, the metal would often catch and rip at the flesh. Merely the sight of it and the tying of Paul’s hands to the post would have been enough to make a person scream. But Paul does not lose it. He has waited until this strategic point to play the card of his identity. He says to the Centurion who is ready to flog him: “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” Paul knows who he is, he knows the law, and he knows his rights. It becomes clear in the following discussion with the centurion that while the centurion is a citizen via a purchased citizenship, Paul is a citizen from birth. In other words, he had a relative on up the line from him who had purchased citizenship, and he is both fully Jewish and fully Roman. This is a serious issue. There are records. If Paul were lying, there would be heavier penalty. But they can affirm that Paul is not, and that puts these Romans, both the guards and the Tribune, in danger of heavy penalty for breaking Roman law in their unjust treatment of a Roman citizen!

It is good for the church to note here that Paul is well verse on both the law of the Jews and the laws of the Gentiles. He knew the legalities and the advantages that had been given him, and he was ready to use the blessing of his Roman citizenship to be rescued from the moment of pressure

So, the tribune is in a tricky spot. He cannot hold Paul without a charge, and he cannot allow the disturbance and riot conditions among the Jews to persist. He is charged with keeping the peace. So in verse 30, the Tribune once again gathers the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, to get to the bottom of what Paul has done wrong. It is here that Paul makes his second appeal ...

Paul’s appeal to Conscience

Look at how Paul starts his defense of himself before everyone gathered in 23:1: ““Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” Once Paul says these few words, he is immediately greeted with rage. The high priest orders him to be struck on the mouth by the guards, and Paul was struck. How could Paul say such a thing! He has upheld the idea of Jesus as Messiah, he has walked away from his responsibilities as a pharisee, and he has taken his message to filthy Gentiles! But did Paul lie under oath?

It is good for us to consider Paul’s position. He said he live all his life in good conscience before God. When we stop to consider this, we know it is true. Paul was a Jew. He was brought up to follow the law. He loved the Lord. He loved God so much that he dedicated his life and service to being a pharisee. He loved God so much that when he saw an uprising of a blasphemous Stephen, he was there to give blessing and hold the coats of everyone who helped to put Stephen to death. Paul loved God so much, that he left Jerusalem … to pursue the Christians and lock them up. But then! Jesus steps in in Acts 9, greeting Paul in a vision, blinding him, and asking Paul why he is persecuting him. Paul, as we noted last week, was stunned. He met the one who he persecuted and he realized what the Christians were saying was really true. And so in his blindness, he went from a conscience that was 100% for Yahweh to a conscience that was 100% in for Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. He lived and served from that point ever since. Paul could say, in this way, that his entire life had been lived from a point of view that he was doing all that he could to do what was right. If there was ever a man of good or clean conscience, Paul was that guy. He did not deserve that smack in the mouth.

So he calls out the man, calling him a whitewashed wall, while not knowing that he is the high priest and deserving of that respect. Paul is informed, and thus backs away from being caught in accusations of putting down their ruler. Again, his desire is to have a clear conscience toward God. He does not desire to do wrong in God’s sight. As we look at this text, it does give us some insight into the role of the conscience in the life of the Believer. As Paul knew the truth from the Old Testament as an obedient Jew, he did his best to yield his conscience to God. When he met Jesus, he realized he had missed the Messiah, that there was revelation that needed to now transform and inform his conscience. And it was from that transformed conscience that he made his appeal on trial before the Sanhedrin. So it must be with us. As our conscience is informed by the word and by Jesus and by the Spirit, we must yield to what is given us.

To this point, it is obvious that they are going to use any little crack in Paul’s words to accuse him of wrongdoing. So Paul makes his final appeal ...

Paul’s appeal to Resurrection

Paul goes in verse 6 to remind the leaders of his status and to drop some words that no one in the room can ignore: “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” Now, the room was not welcome to him before, but Paul reminds them that for the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin, he is one of them. And he is on trial because of the resurrection. Note here, he did not bring up Jesus. He simply mentioned the resurrection. And this is the spark that is about to set off the bomb that will allow Paul to fight another day.

The text says that the room was full of Sadducees and Pharisees. These were the same two contingencies of Jewish leaders that Jesus had butted heads with during his ministry. It was know for a long time that the Sadducees were the more “liberal” wing of the Jews, and they were in the majority when it came to numbers. It was they who down played resurrection, and who downplayed much of the supernatural. The Pharisees, in the minority, did believe in a resurrection, and did believe in the miraculous. So when Paul walks into the room on trial, seeing a divided room, he uses a side to his advantage. It’s like walking into a politically charged room, and saying “I’m a major MAGA republican, and I believer abortion is murder.” or saying “I’m a deep blue democrat, and I think we should ban all guns.” The statement is automatically going to rally one half of the room to your side, as well as spark much debate, yelling and contention. Yes, Paul is on trial because of the resurrection (of Jesus), but just the mere mention of the word means that there will be no verdict on Paul’s guilt and no condemnation of Paul to beathing or death on this day.

Note here, nothing Paul says is false or misleading, but it is certainly a tactic to call the proceeding into a delay because he knows the conflicts and politics involved. In all three cases, the mind which God created Paul with is put to full use. It is another way of living out Paul’s principle in Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Paul would live to see another day, but he had to be wondering … “What is the path through this? I’m mentally and physically exhausted. God, have you brought me here just for me to die? What will tomorrow hold?” That brings us to ...

Paul’s Assurance

Take a look at verse 11:

Acts 23:11 ESV

11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

When Paul was grabbed by the crowd, he was taken alone. When he was taken for questioning, he was taken alone. When he was brought back in front of the Sanhedrin, he was brought there alone. And now for his own safety, Paul has been taken to the Roman barracks, and left in a cell alone. He’s used all of his godly wisdom that God has given. Will he die here? I love these 5 words: The Lord stood by him. At his lowest, most lonely, most vulnerable, having given everything for God … the Lord stood by him. Jesus was there, present with Him. The Jesus who once blinded him is now the Jesus who comforts, strengthens and encourages him.

What words does he strengthen him with? Take Courage. But not just those words alone. If it were those words alone, it might have been the equivalent of your coach watching your clock get cleaned out on the football field and then saying to you: “Buck up! Get back out there! You got this!” No, Jesus ties Paul’s courage specifically to that which is coming. “As you’ve testified for me in Jerusalem, so you will testify for me in Rome.” What is that, friends? is it just me, or is that a promise from Jesus … tied to specific things, places and actions that Paul has and will engage in? It is a promise from Jesus. And it may be a Sunday School answer, but I need to ask it anyway: Does Jesus break his promises? Does he? The answer is a resounding no. The Holy Spirit first prompted, the Savior affirmed it, and the mighty hand of God is going to carry and protect Paul to testify in Rome! The beatup, exhausted, discouraged Paul can do it because he has the first promise of Christ Jesus. And that is the same promise that Paul celebrated when he write in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is a promise specifically for endurance through trial. Remember, Paul was “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed ...”

Summary/Invite

When Paul was faced with threats and violence at the boiling point, he was delivered by two means. The Lord used Paul’s mind to make an appeal and navigate the threats of the day with Godly wisdom. And the Lord gave Paul assurance that he would indeed live to see Rome. Just keep being faithful, Paul. You will live to see another day.

When there is no peace, we have a God who gives us peace. And that is a peace that is for us and with us, whether we, like Paul, have another day, or whether we, like Stephen in Acts 7 do not. Remember even that day, as Stephen was being stoned, he looked up and saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand. And Stephen cried out “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.” God’s peace in Paul’s life, God’s peace in Stephen’s death. Paul lived. Stephen died. Both belonged to the Lord.

I had this week under control, and the sermon almost complete, and then Friday morning happened. Many of you know that our secretary Tessi and her husband Seth got word Friday morning that their daughter Ren had passed away in a car crash. It turned that day for many of us topsy turvy. I am grateful to work along side many other great Christians and pastors in our community that pulled together this weekend to be present and supporting that family. But I just have to say that it made preaching this message really hard. Great for Paul, glad he survived and all, but what about a 17 year old that is gone from us about 80 years too soon? But the thing I’m struck with in this day and moment is this: Paul’s moment could have come so much sooner. As the day of our death could come for any one of us. It’s only by grace that any one of us takes a breath today. What can help the dying in the moment of their death, and what can help the living to go on living? It is the peace that God gives. Paul wrote to the Roman church in Romans 14:8 “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” I know that Jesus had rescued Ren. She claimed him as savior and was buried with Jesus in baptism. To close her eyes in this life is to open them in the next. And I know that Jesus has recued me. He called me, washed me of my sin and taught me to live a new life. And that peace is the same peace that remains in the heart and head and hand of every disciple of Jesus Christ.

The question for you today is: DO YOU KNOW THAT PEACE? It belongs to those who Believe in Jesus and place their faith fully in him. How can you respond and know that you have it? Call on Jesus today. Say Jesus I need you. Jesus I am a sinner. Jesus, I want to leave my sin behind today. I want you to save me Jesus. If that is you, calling out to him today. Don’t keep is secret. Fill out a connect card, and let us know that God is stirring in your life and heart. Let us help you take the next step. Confess before others: I believe in Jesus. Be baptized in His name as he commanded. It is then that you will know and continue in the salvation that has been purchased by the blood of Jesus for you!