Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

So, we are in a six-week series finishing the book of Acts, and I've said before that the great thing about studying the book of Acts together is that you've been getting the background for the whole New Testament of the Bible?

And yeah, I myself keep experiencing that I was reading in Philippians this weekend thinking.

Hey, I know these people and I know that story and have some sense of how it works.

So, six weeks is going to bring us through chapter 28, and then we'll have to finish that whole book.

Today, our Bible passage is acts 22 verses 1 through 29 and Lease van Harten is going to read for us today.

Thank you, lease.

Acts 22 verses 1 through 29 brothers and fathers.

Listen, now, to my defense, when they heard him speaking Aramaic, they became very quiet.

Then Paul said, I am a Jew born in in Tarsus of cilia, but brought up in this city, I stuttered and studied under gamelia and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.

I was just a zealous for God, is any of you are today.

I persecuted the followers of this way to their death arresting, both men and women and throwing them into present prison 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.

About noon as I came near Damascus.

Suddenly a bright light from Heaven.

Flashed around me.

I fell to the ground and Heard a Voice.

Say to me, Saul Saul.

Why do you persecute me?

Who are you?

Lord?

I asked I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.

He replied my companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him.

Who was speaking to me.

What shall I do?

Lord.

I asked get up the Lord said and go in to Damascus.

There.

You we told all that you have been assigned to do my companions.

Led me by the hand into Damascus because of the Brilliance of the light had Blinded Me.

A man named ananias came to see me.

He was a devoted Observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living.

There.

He stood beside me and said, brother Saul receive your sight and at that very moment.

I was able to see him.

Then he said, the god of our ancestors has chosen you to know, his will and to see the righteous one.

And to hear words from his mouth.

You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

And now, what are you waiting for?

Get up, be baptized and wash away your sins calling on his name.

When I returned your ruthelen and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord.

Speaking to me.

He said, leave Jerusalem Jerusalem immediately because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.

Lord, I replied these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you, and when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed.

I stood there give my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.

And the Lord said to me, go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

The crowd, listen to Paul until he said this, then they raise their voices and shouted rid the Earth of him.

He is not fit to live.

As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air.

The commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.

He was directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this as they stretched him out to flog him.

Paul said to the centurions standing there.

Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?

When the Centurian heard this, he went to the commander and he reported it.

What are you going to do?

He asked this man is a Roman citizen.

The commander went to Paul and asked, tell me, are you a Roman citizen?

If I am, he answered then, the commander said, well, I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.

But I was born a citizen Paul replied.

Those who were about to interrogate him with Drew immediately.

The commander himself with alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul a Roman citizen in Chains.

great, so, this is a Story that already in progress, we started last week, last week.

We saw how the crowd all came to be and we got to this moment where Paul is about to speak and then that week's episode ended and we said, L, man.

We got to come back to hear how the stories get in.

So that's what we're doing.

Now.

We're back and we're hearing the speech that Paul gave.

And so let's just engage with that story.

So it starts out with a reminder of what what lifetimes episode was about.

There's a little bit of overlap in what we read verses 1 and 2, but I can just put it this way.

The setting is Paul is giving a defensive himself to a hostile crowd and a good way to summarize.

This moment.

Is that leading up to it?

There were two things that went terrible and one thing that went perfect.

The two things that went terrible are these the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem told Paul to do a certain thing.

And they thought that if he did that, it would work.

And Tallwood the rumors that have been circulating about Paul would calm down and things would go well for him.

So what they said to do was they said we want you to sponsor for men who are taking a vow in the spirit of Numbers Chapter 6 and Nazarite vow and Paul.

If you sponsor them, we think that people will look at you and they won't be suspicious of you and they want they'll see that you're being a Jew and acting I could you.

Paul did exactly that.

And in the process of doing exactly that things went terrible.

This is how the crowd game 22b and gathered around.

Somebody saw us all in.

It's it, it worked terribly.

The other terrible is the companions of Paul who had been traveling with him.

Toward Jerusalem had been hearing.

That something bad a weighted Paul in Jerusalem.

So they were begging and fall.

Please don't go.

But Paul said, I have to go, God is sending me there, and this now is their nightmare come true.

They were afraid, that Paul would be arrested that he would be possibly killed and here's this mob screaming to kill him.

So that's the to Terrible's.

What's the one thing that went perfectly.

The one thing I went perfectly is this is just what God.

Orchestrated, he has the perfect person, Paul, where he wants him, Paul's perfect.

Because Paul's is Metropolitan person who is able to speak good Greek.

So he can interact with the Roman Garrison commander, and he's able to speak Hometown Aramaic, because he grew up in Jerusalem.

So God's got exactly the right person.

Ready to witness to him in this moment.

And the other thing that's perfect is God has a big mob of people who hate him while who hate Jesus in one place.

God goes to mobs of people who hate him because he often wants to do something.