Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

By praising God in the face of difficult circumstances 08/09/09

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision

Title: : ‘By praising God in the face of difficult circumstances’     Text: Acts 21:17-36

Introduction: God’s Word says:

Read: Job 14:1 ‘Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.’

Read: Eccl.: 2:22-23 ‘What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest...’

Read: James 1:2 ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,’

‘What? That’s not what I signed up for when I asked Jesus into my life.’ OK, you may not say those words, but I bet they have crossed your mind from time to time....particularly in difficult circumstances where God’s presence and power seem distant. And often you think ‘if it’s not one thing it’s another...every day I am hit with more problems.’

ILL: Mark Twain once wrote ‘December is the toughest month of the year. Others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, October, August and February.’ (Steve Shepherd)

ILL: A man in a hurry taking his 8yr old son to school made a turn at a red light where it was prohibited. ‘Uh-oh, I think I just made an illegal turn.’ The man said. ‘It’s ok dad.’ The boy replied, ‘The police car right behind us did the same thing.’ (Steve Shepherd)

Trouble, difficult circumstances. I think most Christians today feel that to brave the hazards of traffic on Sunday mornings is all the hardship they are willing to put up with. In contrast, the Apostle Paul moved ahead toward greater godliness in spite of the difficult circumstances he faced.

Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:12, wrote  ‘In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’

Yet...Scripture, time and time again, reminds us...no commands us, to Praise God in every situation.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 21:20. For it’s there we’ll discover we enlarge our vision of God by praising God in the face of difficult circumstances.

I. Acts 21:20b-26  Difficulties from the church

Read: Acts 21:20b-26

I don’t think Paul expected his troubles in Jerusalem to start in the church. After all, they were fellow Christians, who loved Jesus and were seeking to serve Him faithfully...just like Paul was doing. OK, not just like Paul was doing, but should that have made such a difference and caused him the difficulties it did? It would seem so.

Christian or not, we don’t like differences: we want everyone to do the same thing in the church, to act the same way, to believe the same things, to worship the same way. And when they don’t...there can be trouble.

The text says these new Jewish Christians were ‘zealous for the law.’ The Law of Moses, the religious feasts and fasts, circumcision and temple worship, is what they knew...it’s how they worshipped....all their lives.

·       Can you imagine yourself in a worship service praying with your eyes open and hands raised to the heavens?

·       Can you imagine yourself in a worship service that lasts 3 or more hours?

·       Can you imagine yourself in a worship service where all the men sat on one side and all the women sat on the other side of the worship center?

·       Can you imagine yourself in a worship service where there are no instruments and the only songs sung come directly from Scripture?

Within Christianity there are a plethora of differences in how we worship God. Cultural and ethnic differences cause us to worship differently. And humility ought to lead us to the conclusion that our way, is not the only acceptable way, to worship God.

That’s what we find in the text...with a little twist. Let me lay it out for you.

·       Paul was accused by some Jewish Christians in the church, of teaching that the Jewish Christians no longer needed to follow the Law of Moses, participate in the Jewish feasts and fasts, be circumcised or worship in the Temple.

·       Paul never said any of that...kind of...

·       Paul taught the Gentile Christians those things.

·       But Paul did not set them aside for the Jewish Christians.

James and the elders knew that the rumors concerning Paul were not true but the people needed to be convinced. But...with that being said, there was still trouble in the Jerusalem church and the elders wanted to maintain unity and peace.

So they asked Paul to follow Jewish tradition and take a vow because his contact with the Gentiles made him ceremonially unclean. The idea was, when the Jewish Christians see Paul do this they will stop believing the lies.

And notice that Paul agreed. Why? Because Paul understood the difference between biblical conviction and personal preference.

Let me make this what the Bible says and not just what I say.

Read: Romans 12:10 ‘Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. And remember the context of Romans 12 is corporate worship.

Read: 1 Cor 9:19-23 ‘Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.’

Different cultures, different worship practices, different ideas about Christian liberties, yet Paul said he could accept the differences and live in unity with them all, for the sake of the Gospel...to show unity in the midst of diversity to a world that wants everyone to fit into it’s mold.

So Paul, in great humility and in submission to the elders in the Jerusalem church, does exactly what they ask. Because he knew that maintaining unity in the church is more important than exerting his personal preferences. We can learn much from Paul here....and I am happy to say, we have as a church. You are flexible and you do give preference to each other...and God is honored.

Transition: Paul didn’t expect trouble when he got to the church in Jerusalem...but he faced it with humility and great grace. Next, he faces trouble from outside the church, will he act as humbly and graciously?

II. Acts 21:27-36   Difficulties from the world

Read: Acts 21:27-36

Paul does what he is told by the Elders in the Jerusalem church and the non-Christians Jews take it the wrong way...Did you know you can do what’s right, and still face difficult circumstances?

I want you to notice that it wasn’t the Jerusalem Jews or the Christian Jews who accused Paul and wanted to kill him...it was the Jews from Asia...from the places Paul had been and had been thrown out of...they were the ones who started the riot.

These Jews from Asia were in Jerusalem for the Passover too and they had had enough of Paul in their own towns. Here, in Jerusalem the center of Jewish religious power, they could finally be done with Paul...for good.

Notice also that they too made false accusations. They continue claimed Paul speaks against the Law of Moses, the Jewish feasts, and fasts, circumcision and Temple worship. We already know that’s a lie.

They also assumed that since Paul traveled with Gentiles, that they accompanied him into the part of the Temple reserved for Jews only. That never happened. He was there with 4 Jewish Christians ...but the truth, never stopped those who want to see Christianity defeated.

The Jews take Paul into the Temple and lock the gate with the intent of killing Paul. But the commander of the Roman troops came to Paul’s aid. Not that he cared about Paul, but his job was to keep the peace. He was not going to let a riot kill someone on his watch. Again we must not miss God’s providential care of Paul.

Transition: Paul faced trouble from the church and trouble from the world...did it stop him? Let’s see.

III. Acts 21:17-20a     Praising God

Read: Acts 21:17-20a

I started where I did in the text this morning for a reason. I wanted us to see what Paul knew he was facing. Remember, in almost every city he visited, the Holy Spirit told him that in Jerusalem he would face hardship, persecution and imprisonment. He knew it. This was no surprise to him.

Yet...the first thing he did when he got to Jerusalem was go tho the church to praise God and give testimony of the great and wonderful things God had done.

Notice that he didn’t speak in generalities or give them the short version. The text says Paul ‘...reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.’ Paul wasn’t going to leave anything out, to do so would keep some of the glory from God.

And the result? The Elders and those present in the church praised God!  That should be the result anytime we hear testimony of what God has done in someone’s life....praise the Lord! Amen!

Think about it for a moment....Isn’t is great when you get together with Christian friends and talk about what the Lord has done?

·       We need the fellowship.

·       We need the encouragement that God is still at work, especially if God has seemed distant in our own lives.

·       We need to know that God is still on the throne and doing great things in the world.

·       Sunday morning is a great place to give testimony of God’s presence and power in our lives and in the world.

·       We need to hear about it. And we need to give testimony of it...regardless of our circumstances.

Conclusion

In the face of difficult circumstances, Paul praised God. How could he do that? Because he had submitted his life and will to God.

·       He submitted his success to God by giving testimony not about what he had done, but what God had done. He always gave God the credit...the honor and glory, for all the blessings in his life.

·       He submitted to God’s servants by doing what the elders in the Jerusalem church asked him to do in order to restore and maintain unity in the church.

·       He submitted to suffering by understanding  He did not that suffering for Jesus Christ was not only inevitable but a privilege.

Like Paul, we enlarge our vision of God by praising God in the face of difficult circumstances.