As two men in a believer, one of them is altogether sin. There's no good thing in him.
There's nothing there. Nothing good. And then there's
another man, and he stands before God perfectly. in Christ. And when that man that God has
called out of darkness leaves this world, he will leave this
world and that body of flesh, and the only thing that will
be left is that which God has created in righteousness. And
forever he'll be with the Lord. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for another time,
a precious time, a glorious time of all the things that we could
be doing in this world. You have granted us the privilege
to be here to hear of You. We ask Your blessing upon this
Word. May it be to Your glory and to
our good, for Christ's sake. Amen. Turn with me to Acts 21. Acts
chapter 21. Knowing that all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God. It is God-breathed. All Scripture was written down
by men who were moved upon by the Spirit of God. Holy men. That's what Scripture says. Holy
men. As the Holy Ghost moved upon
them, they penned Scripture, divine inspiration by the Spirit
of God. The Lord Jesus said of the Spirit
of God, when He, the Comforter, is come, He will not speak of
Himself, but He will speak of Me. knowing that the Spirit of God
will only speak of the Lord Jesus Christ and that He moved upon
men to write down the Scripture, then know this for a fact. There is no Scripture that is
insignificant. When we deal with a passage of
Scripture like we plan to deal with tonight, when you first
read it, as often the case is, it appears as though that it
is no more than a historical event. But knowing that the Spirit
of God only speaks of Christ, then we are looking for the message
of the passage which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like the Lord
when He spoke to those on the road to Emmaus beginning with
Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures those things concerning Himself. So, if we see a right,
then we realize whatever Scripture, let this be a rule, Rule of thumb,
when you read something in Scripture and it appears as though that
it is almost a side note, almost just a historical, it's something
that appears on the surface to have no relevance to us today,
rest assured, Christ is there. if the Spirit of God is pleased
to reveal Him, then we'll see the message of the passage. It's one thing to preach a passage
in a historical context. Anybody can do that. Just read
it. Anybody that can read the words
can read a historical event. But to get the message of the
passage, that's what we're looking for. We're looking for Christ. How do we see the Lord Jesus
Christ and the redemption and salvation of His people? That's
why He came. I came, He said, to seek and
to save that which is lost. Call His name Jesus. He'll save
His people from their sins. He came into this world to do
the will of the Father. The will of the Father is this. All that the Father hath given
me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up the last day."
So let's look. Let's ask the Lord's blessing
this evening on this passage of Scripture. Paul had just gone
in with four men. We looked at it last time. He
went in with four men who had taken the vow of the Nazarite,
regulations that they had to abide by. Paul made himself chargeable
to those men. We looked at the Gospel last
Wednesday. How did we see the Gospel of
God's grace? The Lord Jesus Christ came in
and made Himself answerable just like Paul did in type and picture
to those four men. Well, this evening we find that
Paul is now right there at the very end of that entering in
with those four men on that vow. And he had done what he had done
for the gospel's sake, that's what he said, to pay the debt
that these four men was going to owe to the law so that at
the end of their time, they would be set free. Now, we pick up
right there. Verse 27, and when the seven
days were almost ended, Acts 21-27, the Jews which were of
Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people
and laid hands on him. Now, Paul was in a place where it
would have been thought that it was a haven of protection. You would have thought that where
he was, he was in the temple. And you would have figured that
being in that temple, he was in safety. Surely nothing will
happen in a place of safety. Surely nothing could happen in
a place where so many rules and regulations and laws and this
and that. Nothing could happen where he
was. But from this first point right
here, when the seven bays were almost in and the Jews, which
were in Asia when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all
the people and they grabbed him. Here's the first thing we know.
There is no place of safety for any man except in Christ. There's no safety. Paul was in
a place where you thought he would be secure. The temple. You know, Adam and Eve was in
a place that you would have thought they were absolutely secure.
They were in the Garden of Eden. The garden that God had made,
placed man there, made man, made a woman. God fellowshiped with
him, surely man would be safe in the Garden of Eden. But you
know that Satan came and he spoke
to Eve, and Eve spoke to Adam, Adam with his eyes wide open,
knowing what God had told him. He said, you can touch all the
fruits, you can eat of anything, touch the fruit of this tree. Surely man would be safe in the
Garden of Eden. In that garden, God told Adam
in the day that you eat, you are going to die. And he did. Just like these Jews came in
a place that was supposedly safe and laid hands upon Paul. Sin laid hold of all mankind
in the Garden of Eden, and there the man fell and died spiritually. The Scripture says in verse 28,
crying out as they laid hands on him, ìMen of Israel, help! This is
the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people,
and the law, and this place, and further brought Greeks also
into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place." Here is the
second thing we learn. The evidence of sin is a lying
tongue. Brother Scott just read a passage
of Scripture. He says, are of God hear us. Those that are not of God, they
don't hear us. Those that preach the gospel
are heard by those that hear the gospel with a hearing ear.
But those that lie, those lying tongues, they're not of God. The evidence of sin is a lie. They accused Paul of teaching
everywhere against the people. That's what they said. That's
what they said about him. This man teaches against the
people. That was a lie. Romans 10 says, Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might
be saved. Paul wasn't against them. People
will say of people that preach the gospel of free grace, they
said, you know what you're trying to do? You're trying to close
people out. You're hung up on that sovereign grace stuff, electing
grace, and what you say is that nobody can come unless God allows
them to come, and you shut everybody else out. No, we don't. Men are already
shut out. I like what Brother Scott said
years ago. He said, you know what? Men say, you preach that,
you'll confuse people. He said, they're already confused. We're not shutting anybody up.
Men are shut out by sin. How do I shut somebody out of
the kingdom of God? That's what they're saying on
Paul. This man preaches against the people. They accuse Paul
of teaching against the law. That wasn't true. 1 Timothy 1.8
says, But we know that the law is good if a man uses it lawfully,
properly. If a man tries to use the law,
if he uses it lawfully, the law is good. A man that tries to
use the law to obtain life eternal, righteousness, Salvation, acceptance
with God. A man tries to use the law that
way, he's going to perish. Romans 3.20 says, "...therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified."
Paul says the law is good. Paul was not against the law.
The law is good if it's used lawfully. How is the law used
lawfully? Properly. Well, if the law be
the way by which I see, and I have a knowledge of sin and my inability
to keep it, the law is my schoolmaster to bring me to Christ. If it
be the way that I see the holiness of God's demand to be satisfied
totally and only in Christ, then I myself, I cannot obey that
law. Then the law has been used lawfully,
properly. The law is good. There's nothing
wrong with the law. The problem is me. The problem
is my inability. Paul wasn't against the law.
That's what they said. This man right here, he's preaching
against the people, against the law. These men were liars. John 8, verse 44, concerning
a lying tongue. Now you listen, men that stand
in a pulpit and lie on God, let me tell you the source of their
lies. Concerning Satan, the Lord said
he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. of a false prophet is that he's
a liar. He's a liar on God. He's a liar
on men. He's telling men that they have
ability to do something that they can't. And he's telling
men that God cannot do something that God says, I am the only
one that can do, save a sinner. I tell you, the way to know a
lie is to compare it to the Scriptures. What says the Scriptures? You
back it up with what you're saying by the Scriptures, and I'll go
along with you. You don't back it up by the Scriptures,
I don't believe you. Let God be true. Every man a
liar. The Scriptures continue, and
these men have been lying on it. It says in verse 29, For
they had seen before with him in the city of Trophimus an Ephesian,
whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.
You know, liars assume that things are so. Men without the Lord
Jesus Christ assume themselves to be right before God. That
which sets a man free is the truth. The truth. The truth. They lied on Paul. They lied
on God. The evidence of sin is that a lie is there. Third thing we note in this passage,
God is not the author of confusion. Verse 31 says, And all the city
was moved. And the people ran together,
and they took Paul, and they drew him out of the temple, and
forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill
him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band. that all
Jerusalem was in an uproar. The city was moved, it said,
thrown into commotion, thrown into turmoil. The carnal heart,
that heart that is not fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, joins
itself to what it thinks is right. False religion sounds good to
the carnal heart. It appeals to your senses. That's what it does. It appeals
to your emotions. It appeals to the flesh. The
whole city was all in a commotion, all in a turmoil. Man will never
join himself to that which honors God until God Almighty gives
him a new heart, a heart that will long after, seek after,
hunger after Christ. Are you sure about that? Absolutely.
Psalm 14, 2 and 3, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children
of men to see if there were any that did understand, seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. These men, Scripture says, all
of them moved, ran together, took Paul, drew him out of the
temple, shut the doors, went about to kill him. Boy, I tell you, here was the evidence, a picture,
Paul wasn't safe in the temple. Adam wasn't safe in the garden.
These men lied on Paul. Satan lied on God's elect. Lies on all men. He's the father
of lies. This whole city was in commotion,
confusion. And the Scripture says what they
did was that city took Paul the Apostle took him out, and these
fellows were going to kill him. Verse 31. What do you think the
law would do? What must the law do to all that
is found under the judgment of the law, the penalty of the law? What is it going to do? The wages of sin is death. Transgression
of the law is sin. Well, here was Paul. These fellows
had him out there right on the brink of disaster. What were they going to do? Verse
31 says, they were going to go about to kill him. Every one
born in Adam walking in this earth, every man in himself, deserves what these fellows were
going to do to Paul. Every man, every woman deserves
the penalty of the law in himself. But I want you to look at something.
As they went about to kill him, just like sin is deserving the
penalty of the law, And Paul was hailed by this group of fellows
that hated him, resented him, but tidings came unto the chief
captain of the band. You look at the glorious picture
of what this passage of Scripture sets forth concerning the grace
of God. In the midst of despair, in the
midst of what appeared to be absolute peril, tidings came
to the chief captain, the chief captain of our salvation, our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just in the nick of time, Paul
was almost gone. I'm telling you, when you realize
the glorious grace of God that would allow us until God was
pleased to call His own out of darkness. The grace of God that
gave us one more breath, then one more breath, one more heartbeat. How is it that God's people maintain
until God Almighty is pleased to call them out of darkness.
How is it? God keeps them. God watches over
them. He has always watched over them.
He has always loved them. He knew just exactly where they
were. Paul the Apostle was dragged
out of that temple, got him outside, slammed the doors, got him out
there and they were going to just beat the snot out of him.
And just till they killed him, he deserved it. That's what they
were going to do to him. But tidings came to the chief
captain, O God Almighty, who has eternally
seen and known the need of his people, saw them in their need
even in that uproar, even in the midst of utter despair. Man, I look back on my own life. You can look back on yours. I'm
telling you, boy, there was a time when I'd look back on my life
and I'd think, oh my! But for the grace of God that
would have rescued me At the very point, it points in my life
when even in my little fickle mind, I realize the instability. How unstable? I don't even realize
how unstable I was. But in the midst of Paul's despair,
tidings came to the chief captain, when it pleased God. That's what
Paul said. When it pleased God. who separated
me from my mother's womb, called me by his grace." How confused
was Paul the Apostle? Well, when he was Saul of Tarsus,
he was on his way to Damascus, and when it pleased the Lord,
the chief captain came to him, stopped him, knocked him off
his high horse. Here's the fourth thing I see
in this. what God purposes in eternity, He will accomplish
in time. Look at verse 32. It says, "...who
immediately..." That is, the soldiers, the chief captain of
the band, "...who immediately took soldiers and centurions
and ran down unto them. And when they saw the chief captain
and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul." What happened was these
fellows were beating him. They were going to kill him.
They had purpose. They were going to kill him. And there they were. Just when Paul was in dire straits,
the power of God's providential mercy was seen. These soldiers
and centurions, they came to the aid of the Apostle Paul.
But I'm telling you, look at the message of this passage.
Look in the Gospel of this passage. How does this passage of Scripture
speak of Christ? When they saw the soldiers and
the chief captain, they held off. Oh, how wonderful it is
to behold the goodness of God to rescue His own. When they saw those soldiers
coming, they backed off. And I'm telling you, when the
power of God said, Neil, it's enough. Release him. Release him from
going down to the pit. I found a ransom. Stop. Stop. Stop! That's enough. He came there
and got him. Oh, I tell you, when any believer
is given eyes to see the glory of God, he sees and knows what
the law would have done to him without a substitute, without
a Savior, without a Rescuer, without a Deliverer. What do
you think would have happened, humanly speaking to Paul, if
these soldiers wouldn't have showed up? They'd have killed
him. They'd have killed him. What do you think would happen
to any man unless Almighty God comes in the glorious power of
the Lord Jesus Christ and rescues a man? What do you think would
happen to him? These Jews were beating on an
object of God's mercy. And the Scripture says they left
beating when they saw one mightier than they coming to intervene. When those soldiers showed up,
it was over. Just as that apostle was helpless,
what could Paul do to defend himself against such an adversary. What could he do? The Scripture
says the city was on top of him. I mean, anybody that hated what
this man represented, hated the God that this man represented,
they were out there beating on him. What could I do to stop
what I deserved unless God intervened. What could I do? The Lord demanded justice. Sin, Satan, myself had me bound. My flesh was the servant of my
own rebellion against God just in the nick of time. Of course,
that's the way Paul saw it. That's the way I saw it. There
wasn't any nick of time with God. God is eternal. God knew exactly where I was.
God knew exactly where you were. He called you out of darkness.
He knew where you were. It just appeared as though to
me that I was almost gone. If He's ever purposed to have
mercy on my soul, How secure have I been eternally? Secure. What did I know about it? I didn't
know about it until He showed me, until He rescued me, until
He told me about it, told me what He had done. Look at this and consider this. God in mercy arrests His own. Look at verse 33. The chief captain
came near. What'd he do? He took him. These fellas was beating on Paul.
Those soldiers came up. That chief captain, the chief
captain came near. I tell you, I don't really know
if I've ever seen a passage near more clear. Not more clear. As clear, but not more. The chief
captain came near and took him. What did he do? He led captivity
captive. Paul was captive to those fellows.
I was captive to sin. And what did he do? He came and
in power, he took me. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me, draw him and took him." He is
mine. He is mine. I will have Him. He came and He took him and commanded
him to be bound with two chains and demanded who he was and what
he had done. I tell you, just like Paul, was
delivered by these soldiers from the certain death of those Jews. The elect of God were delivered
from the penalty of the law by the blood of Christ. He took
them. Bound with two chains. Securely
bound are the objects of God's mercy in regenerating grace. They are kept, how? By the power
of God. And then the Scripture says after
he was taken, he was bound with two chains and demanded who he
was and what he had done. Let me ask you this. Doesn't every
regenerated sinner do the same thing? Aren't they honest about
who they were and what they had done? Lord, have mercy on me,
the sinner. Remember that scripture we talk
about so often when the man, the Lord Himself, was wrestling
with Jacob. The Lord said to Jacob, He said,
What's your name? That's what they did to Paul.
He took him and bound him. He said, I want to know who you
are and I want to know what you've done. God's people are honest. They're honest. The man said to Jacob, he said,
What's your name? He said, Jacob. Surplanter? Trickster? Liar? Cheat? Scoundrel? He said, Not anymore. He said,
Your name is Israel, a prince with God. God's people are made
to be honest. what they are. I am what I am
by the grace of God. But I'll tell you this, even
as Paul was made to be honest, who are you and what have you
done? Here's the next thing I know. Satan ever accuses, even after
God calls His own out of darkness. Satan is the great accuser of
the brethren. He ever accuses. Listen to what
these fellows did. After that soldier, the chief
captain came and took him, commanded him to be bound with two chains,
and demanded who he was and what he had done. Now, the chief captain
has got him. The Lord takes his own. He brings them to Himself. Reveals to them that they are
His. They are bound, kept by the power of God. But listen
to the accusation. Even after Paul was taken by
the chief captain, verse 34, and some cried one thing and
some another among the multitude, and when he could not know the
certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into
the castle. They started lying on him. Even after the chief captain
came and got him, he still lied on him. He's Jews, just like Satan. And my conscience cried one accusation
after another. Well, he did this. He did that. You ain't heard all of it. Let
me tell you what else he's done. I agree. I agree. Yeah, yeah. I did this. 1 John 3, 19 and 20, Hereby we
know that we are of the truth. and shall assure our hearts before
him, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,
and knoweth all things." We go through this world kept by the
power of God, but always with the sound of accusation, resentment
against ourselves and against the God that we love. Verse 35-36 says, And when he
came upon the stairs, so it was that he was born of the soldiers
for the violence of the people, for the multitude of the people
followed after, crying, Away with him! Away with him! Being
born up by those soldiers, born up as we are by the power of
God, held, born upon the eagles of our blessed Redeemer, Savior,
even in the midst of being borne up by those soldiers, they still
cried after Him, away with Him. We don't have anything to do
with hating. It's like our Lord, away with
Him. Now this crowd here, they couldn't agree on the accusation
against Paul. Verse 34, some cried one thing
and some another. They never can agree. on exactly
the extent of what Paul had done. They couldn't even do that with
our Lord. But the only thing they could
agree on is having Him out of their life. I will not have this
man to rule over me. If you're hated of all men, the
Lord said, remember, they hated Me before they hated you. Those
that are not for us are against us. This world finds no pleasure,
no comfort about being around those that bow to Christ. They
have no comfort. You will be hated. And sixthly
and lastly, God Almighty rules among men. God rules among all
men. Verse 37, For the multitude of
the people followed after, crying away with him. And Paul was to
be led into the castle. And he said unto the chief captain,
May I speak unto thee who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art not
thou that Egyptian which before these days made us an uproar
and led us out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderous?
But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew. of Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, a citizen of no mean or common city. And I beseech
thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.' And when he had
given him license, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with
a hand unto the people. And when there was made a great
silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, could see no reason why those
soldiers wouldn't take him away. There was no obvious reason why. But that which stopped the chief
captain was a simple question. Paul asked him, can I speak to
you? Can I ask you something? May
I speak to thee? And that question arrested that
man That chief captain that held Paul captive. And that soldier,
just like Pilate, thought that he had the ability to do whatever
he wanted to do. This chief captain could have
taken him, thrown him in jail. He could do anything he wanted
to do with him. And Paul just asked him, he said, Can I ask
you something? Can I speak to you? And he stopped. The chief captain stopped. Christ before Pilate, when Pilate
said that he had power to do whatever he wanted to do with
the Lord Jesus, he said, you know that I've got the power
to, I can set you free or I can have you crucified. You know,
I can do it. You realize who I am? Pilate saith unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me, knowest not that I have power to crucify
thee, have power to release thee? And Jesus answered, Thou couldst
have no power at all against me, except it were given unto
thee." Paul wisely heeding the words of our Lord. I mean, he
was in a mess. These fellows was wanting to
kill him. And I'm telling you, the only
thing that stood between Paul and death were those Roman soldiers. And those Roman soldiers had
the authority to do whatever the Roman government gave them
to do, but there was one thing that was added to this scenario
that they didn't even know of. God Almighty doeth as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and nobody stops what He does. Can I talk to you for just a
second? Do you mind if I speak to you for just a second? In
the midst of all of this hollering and carrying on, and screaming,
and killing, we get our hands on you again. Wisely, Paul heeded
the words of our Lord. Matthew 5.25, these are the words
of our God. Agree with thy adversary quickly,
whilst thou art in the way with him. Paul spoke with tenderness as
he submitted to the Lord's will to be exactly where he was. Paul the Apostle knew the steps
of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Why is Paul exactly
where he is? Because that's where God put
him. You mean in the midst of all of that tumult and all of
that? Exactly right. He was right where the Lord put
him. And he knew it. Can I speak to
you for just a second? Proverbs 15 says a soft answer
turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Paul wisely. He spoke by the grace of God. Paul was given some liberty to
speak. And here was the hope of all of those that oppressed
him, those Roman soldiers, anybody else. Here was the only hope
that they'd have, is that Paul the Apostle, God's preacher,
would have something to say. And Lord willing, next week,
verse 22, we pick up exactly what he said. But you see how
God stopped everything and allowed Paul, by just asking that Roman
soldier, can I say something to you? And God stopped him. God put him there. Paul was submitted
to the trials that were sent by God, and God Almighty now
is going to show his purpose in sending the Apostle to this
place to preach the gospel. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Just an incident in history? Well, as the world
sees it, yes. But a picture of the marvelous
grace and power of God to rescue His own. out of the clutches
of sin, death, the penalty of the law, how God came to his
rescue, took him, bound him, kept him from the destruction
that was sure, the gospel of free grace. That's the message
of the passage. All right, here you go.