Acts 21:37–22:29 | “Urgency in the Midst of Adversity.”

Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to Acts 21. And we will pick up today at verse 37. 

I have a friend who pastors a church in the Chicago area who grew up an atheist. His parents were atheists. And he used to insult and bully Christians in his high school. But after high school, he got saved. And his life radically changed. In fact, he became a pastor. And irony of ironies, he planted a church in the very high school where he used to harass Christians years earlier. How’s that for a providential irony!

Over time members of his own family got saved. He shared Christ with his father, and his dad got saved. And then he and his dad started witnessing to his mom. But mama wasn’t buying this whole Jesus stuff. And so this pastor and his dad just kept praying and waiting for God to work on her. 

Sure enough, a few years later, this pastor’s mom turned to Christ. And then she wanted to get baptized. And this pastor was like, “I don’t think I can objectively determine your readiness for baptism, mom. Talk to one of our elders.” So one of the elders of the church interviewed her and confirmed that she was saved and ready for baptism. 

And so, this pastor got to baptize his mom as a public declaration of her faith in Christ. Is that awesome or what? Usually it’s the moms who are used by God to evangelize their children. In this case, it was a son who evangelized his mama. 

Why do I tell you that story? Because that pastor, after getting saved, began working as an evangelist to his family with urgency. That’s the key word for us today—urgency. Life is short. Eternity is long. And our approach to evangelism and sharing Christ with others needs to be urgent, whether it’s family members or total strangers.

And from Acts 21:37 all the way to Acts 22:29, we’re going to see urgency with the Apostle Paul. We’re going to see “Urgency in the Midst of Adversity.” 

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Now let’s review the context for this passage. If you remember, Paul was absolutely certain in Acts 20 that God wanted him to go to Jerusalem even when his friends said, “Paul, don’t go there.” Paul went anyway. And Paul was absolutely certain that he would face adversity and affliction when he got to Jerusalem. He went anyway. And as we saw last week, Paul goes into the temple participating in this vow as a display of his Jewishness. But the people rise up to persecute him anyway. They grab him in the temple and start wailing on him. They beat him to a bloody pulp until finally the Roman soldiers arrive to quell the uproar.

And verse 33 tells us that when the soldiers got there, they arrested Paul! Which is curious to say the least! They arrest the guy who is bloodied and bruised on the ground, not the guys who are standing over him with bloody fists. But it’s not a bad thing. It probably saved Paul’s life. So the soldiers arrested Paul and bound him in chains, just like Agabus prophesied a few weeks before this.

And verse 35 says this.

35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”

“Off with his head! We want that guy dead!” This was a murderous, riotous, bloodthirsty crowd. They wanted vengeance on Paul because (allegedly!) he had dared to speak against the people, the law, and this holy place—i.e., the temple (21:28). 

Coincidently this took place during the Feast of Pentecost. So the crowds were much larger than normal in Jerusalem. And the crowds were foaming at the mouth with religious fervor. So you could see how easily something like this could happen to Paul. 

Now here’s where the story gets really interesting. Watch what Paul does next. Because a lesser man, like myself, would have used this opportunity to sneak out of town. A lesser man would have quietly left with the Romans. A lesser man would have regrouped and waited for a more opportune time to reach Jerusalemites for Christ. At least a time when—you know—they didn’t want to kill you! A lesser man would have had less urgency in the face of adversity. 

But watch what happens. Look at verse 37. 

37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And [the tribune] said, “Do you know Greek? 

The tribune probably thought Paul was some uneducated thug. I mean they were beating this guy up outside the temple. So he was really surprised to hear Paul speaking Greek instead of Aramaic. 

And maybe based on his accent, he makes the following assumption: 

38Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 

What?!!! Where did that come from? Why would he think that about Paul? 

Well, Egyptians at this time spoke Greek. Egypt had been absorbed into the Greek Empire years before this. And so the tribune surmises that Paul must be this famous, false messiah who led a revolt in Jerusalem. 

According to Josephus (a first century Jewish historian), there was an Egyptian false prophet a few years before this who promised that he would bring the walls of the city of Jerusalem down like Jericho. The governor (or Roman procurator) of Judea at this time was Felix. This guy held the same office as Pontius Pilate before him. And Felix and his troops killed many of the followers of this Egyptian. But the Egyptian “Assassin” somehow managed to escape. This tribune assumes that Paul was that Egyptian prophet. 

But Paul says, “No! no! I’m not that guy.” Who are you then? 

 39 Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. 

Tarsus was an important city in the Roman Empire at this time. So this statement would have gotten the Tribune’s attention. 

And here’s Paul’s request. 

I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”

TRIBUNE: “You mean the people that just beat the living tar out of you?”

PAUL: “Yes, them.”

TRIBUNE: “You mean the people who are yelling right now, ‘We want that guy dead’?”

PAUL: “Yes, those people.”

TRIBUNE: “You mean those venomous, murderous people, who would have killed you if I hadn’t rescued your sorry self?”

PAUL: “Yes, those people. I’ve got something to say to them!”

TRIBUNE: “Okay, man. It’s your funeral.”

Verse 40 tells us that the tribune agreed to Paul’s request. And do you know what Paul’s going to tell this crowd? Do you know what Paul’s going to tell this group of ruffians who just tried to kill him? 

I hate to get ahead of the story, but I’ll just tell you now. He’s going to give his testimony. He’s going to tell them how Jesus saved his soul. 

Paul was so committed to the gospel, Paul loved Christ so much… Paul loved lost people so much that even when they wanted to kill him, he still wanted to tell them about Jesus. This sense of urgency was so pressing in his soul. Is that awesome or what? If that doesn’t fire you up for the gospel then your wood is wet. 

Write this down as a first point from this text. I want to give you today four answers to the question: What Does a Sense of Urgency Look Like?

Here’s the first answer.

1) A boldness in the face of opposition (21:37–39)

What does boldness in the face of opposition look like?

1. 
   Let’s say your coworker says that Christianity is passé. And you say, “I beg to differ. Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you what he’s done for me.” 
2. 
   Let’s say your sister-in-law says that there’s no afterlife. And you say, “Oh, yes there is! And you know what? I want you to go there with me. Believe in Christ and we can spend eternity together with him.” 
3. 
   Your babysitter says, “Life is meaningless.” And you say, “No, it’s not. Life is meaningful. And Jesus loves you. And he wants to save your soul and secure a place for you in eternity. Won’t you embrace him as your Savior?” 

It’s easy for us to see Paul’s actions in Jerusalem as heroic and unbelievably bold and courageous. And we think to ourselves that we could never imitate him here. But don’t think you have to. Not right away, anyway. Start small. Start with your kids. Start with the kids in children’s ministry. Start with your neighbors. Start with your family and your extended family. Just share your faith! Just share your testimony! And don’t let opposition be an obstacle to bold proclamation of Christ as your Savior and your Lord. 

Now don’t be obnoxious as you present the gospel to others. But I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think we as a church run the risk of obnoxiousness in the way we present the gospel. I know I don’t as your pastor. I think we as a church are more at risk of fear and courage-lessness than obnoxiousness when it comes to sharing the gospel. 

So take a courageous step of faith. Make a courageous move towards a lost person. Step out with a sense of urgency. We only get one chance at this life; and life is so short. Don’t waste your life hoarding the gospel that we hold dear. 

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Here’s a second thing that you need to have if you are going to have a sense of urgency. Write this down as #2 in your notes.

2) A love for your listeners (21:40-22:2)

Paul says elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 13, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (13:1–3, NIV). If anyone ever had the right to hate a group of people… if anyone ever had a right, humanly speaking, of despising a group of people, Paul had that right with this crowd in Jerusalem. They wanted to kill him. They tried to kill him! 

But watch what Paul does in response in verse 40.

40 And when [the tribune] had given [Paul] permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. 

What do you think that looked like? Do you think Paul raised his fist to them and was like, “A curse on all your houses!” No, it was probably more like this, “Calm down, calm down. I need to tell you something.”   

Here’s a replica of the temple complex and what’s called the Fortress Antonia that towered over it. 

Replica of the Temple Complex with the Fortress Antonia - (Click for Slide)

This was a Roman fortress that sat on the backside of the temple. And this is the place where Paul was taken after he was arrested. And Paul was on the steps leading up to this fortress when he addressed this crowd. This was the perfect place to address a large crowd that was underneath him.

And if it was me, I would probably say something like, “Alright! Put a cork in it, you bunch of ruffians!” But look what Paul does. He speaks to them in Hebrew (literally the Hebrew dialect, probably a form of Aramaic in that day).

40b … And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, 

Alistair Begg said this would be like an Irishman addressing a crowd in Gaelic. This would be like a southerner addressing a southern crowd with a southern drawl. Paul speaks in their heart language.

saying: 1 “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.” 

Brothers and fathers? That’s odd. I don’t know about you, but my brother and my father have never tried to kill me. But Paul loves these people. He views them as family, even though they just pummeled him. 

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet.

His use of the Hebrew language, and probably also his tone, quieted them. Paul loved these people. He loved them! Paul says in Romans 9:3, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Now here’s the application for us. If you are going to be an unafraid witness for Jesus Christ, if you are going to give your testimony to a group of lost people, you better love them. You better not testify with a spirit of hate or vindictiveness or animosity. That doesn’t work. And that’s not biblical. Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (see Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27–28).

And this’ll help—try to remember just how unlovable you were when Christ came and saved your soul. Remember how unlovable you were when your friend or your coworker or your parents shared the gospel with you. That should help you love unlovable people when you share your testimony with them.

By the way, do you know how to share your testimony? I hope you do. I hope you don’t say, “O yeah I’ve always been a Christian, ever since I was born.” That’s not a testimony. I hope you don’t say to people, “Yep, God helps those who help themselves. That’s how I got saved.” That’s not a testimony. In fact, that’s heresy. 

“Alright, well how do I share my testimony, Pastor Tony?” Watch what Paul does! 

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So the crowd is quiet in verse 2. And Paul starts to give his “defense.” But it’s not really a defense. All he really does is tell them about how Jesus saved his soul.

And he said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 

What’s Paul doing here? Well he’s giving his credentials as a Jew, but he’s also building a rapport with his listeners. “I am just like you.” Or more appropriately, “I was just like you.” 

4 I persecuted this Way 

Remember, “the Way” is the term for Christianity used in the book of Acts. 

4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. 

“I was just like you!” says Paul. “In fact I was more zealous for Judaism than you are! I was a persecutor of Christianity!” 

By the way, this is a different approach than how Paul presents the gospel in Athens. Paul contextualizes the gospel for his audience, which is important. The way you share the gospel should differ depending on your audience. The essence of the gospel can’t change. But the way you share it and how you address the specific circumstances and the specific needs of your listeners can change and should change. 

6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 

That light must have been pretty spectacular to outshine the noonday sun. 

7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light…

By the way, the word for brightness here is the Greek word δόξα, which means “glory.” This wasn’t just a glorified halogen light bulb. This wasn’t even the light of the sun or the stars in our solar system. This was the glorious radiance of Christ that blinded Paul. This was shekinah glory that overwhelmed and incapacitated Paul.

11 And since I could not see because of the [glory] of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. 12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 

Notice again how Paul is contextualizing for his audience. He’s pointing out how devout Ananias was as a Jew. But not just as a Jew, as a Jewish believer in Christ!

13 [Ananias]… came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him [that’s Ananias]. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One [that’s Jesus] and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

Acts 9 tells us that Paul regained his sight and was filled with the Spirit. He believed and was saved and then was subsequently baptized. Paul, a persecutor of the church... Paul, a murderer and an enemy of Christ… Paul! … Got!... Saved! He got saved. 

And it wasn’t because he was smarter or better looking than anyone else. It wasn’t because he logically figured it out while everyone else was too doltish to put it all together. He got saved because God sovereignly reached down and grabbed a hold of his life and said, “Paul you’re mine! No more working against me. From now on you’re working for me!” 

And by the way, courageous Ananias was willing to meet up with a killer. Talk about urgency. Talk about boldness and gutsiness. And now, Paul is imitating that gutsiness by sharing his own testimony in-front of a hostile crowd of killers. We could use a little bit of that gutsiness in our day.

Write this down as a third point in your notes. Urgency means boldness in the face of opposition (21:37–39). Urgency means love for your listeners (20:40–21:2). And thirdly urgency means… 

3) A clear and compelling testimony of conversion (22:3–16)

Not “Yeah, I’m a Christian, because my parents are Christians.” Not “I just went to church and it seemed like the right thing to do.” Not “I made a deal with the man upstairs.” Don’t say that, please. That’s unclear and ambiguous. Urgency means a clear and compelling testimony of conversion. 

And I know some of you have an awesome Damascus Road experience that is just begging to be told. “I was going 100mph in the wrong direction, and God dropped a boulder on my life. Then I knew my need for a Savior! Now I’m going 100mph in the opposite direction living for Christ, and if necessary, dying for Christ.” That’s awesome! Get that story out there! Tell somebody about it! And tell them that they can have peace with Christ too.

You might say, “Tony I don’t have a dramatic Damascus Road experience. The gospel got preached; I got saved. That’s it! And there were no histrionics. There were no ‘boulders’ or ‘voices from heaven.’ There were no dramatic, life-altering encounters with God. So I don’t know how to be compelling when I share my testimony.”

If that’s you right now, let me just say two things about that, because I know that represents a fair number of Christians in the church. Two things: 

1. 
   Salvation, however it takes place, is always a life-altering encounter with God. If you say I was five years old, my parents shared Christ with me, and I got saved. That is life-altering! If your life hasn’t been altered, then you haven’t been saved. So don’t minimize that. Don’t think less of yourself or your testimony because it happened simpler and less dramatically than someone who came to Christ later in life. 

That’s my story, by the way. I was a grade-schooler at Nazarene Christian School in Austin, Texas. The principal at that school got up during chapel and preached the gospel. I was convicted about my sin. I came forward and gave my life to the Lord. That was my life-altering experience of salvation. And I love telling that story. I’m not embarrassed to share that with anyone.

1. 
   If your story is like mine, just because your conversion doesn’t have a dramatic set of circumstances surrounding it, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t amazing. If you can’t emphasize the circumstances surrounding your conversion (a divorce that brought you to your knees, an addiction that was consuming you, a Damascus road encounter with Jesus like the Apostle Paul), then emphasize the theological drama that was enacted when you came to Christ. 

We can all say this. “I was an enemy of God. I was separated from him because of my sin, because of humanity’s sin as a whole. And yet God in his mercy came to earth and took on human flesh and died for me. And when I realized that and believed in that work the Holy Spirit came upon me and gave me new life in Christ. And I was a new creation at age five or ten or fifteen or fifty. And now my life is lived for him! 

Are those things true when you got saved? Are those things any less amazing than a drug addict who came to faith in his or her twenties? I don’t think so. 

We want to share Christ with a sense of urgency and conviction. And an essential part of that is “A clear and compelling testimony of conversion.”     

Maybe some of you right now might say, “You know what, Pastor Tony? I don’t have a testimony of conversion. I don’t know when or even if I’m saved. I don’t sense the Holy Spirit moving in my life.” Well perhaps that’s because you’re not saved. Maybe it’s because you assumed you were saved because your parents were saved, or you were baptized as a baby, or because you were always surrounded by Christians. 

Maybe you walked in today unsaved, but you want to leave here saved. Maybe today’s service is the “boulder” in your life. It’s the dramatic moment in your life that you’ve been waiting for. 

If that’s the case, don’t delay any longer. Just bow your head right now. Right now! I’ve got more to preach. But for someone in this room (or online), this sermon is over and you need to respond. Just bow your head and confess your sin before a righteous God. 

Just say to the Lord, “I’m a sinner. I need Jesus. I believe in Jesus’s death on the cross as a payment for my sin. I believe in Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. And from this point forward I’ll live for him.” 

Let this day be a day of salvation for you. 

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Now let me preach a little more to confirmed believers in this room. Urgency means boldness in the face of opposition (21:37–39). It means love for your listeners (20:40–21:2). It means a clear and compelling testimony of conversion. But urgency also means this:

4) A willingness to suffer rejection (22:17–29)

If you are not willing to suffer rejection... if you are not willing to risk your reputation for the sake of Christ and the gospel… if you are not willing to suffer insults and name-calling and stereotyping and awkwardness and embarrassment and emotional pain… you won’t have a sense of urgency. And you won’t see God do amazing things as you bear witness to his glory. That privilege will go to another. 

2 Corinthians 2:15–16 says, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” As Christians, we exude this effervescent, aromatic fragrance. It’s the fragrance of Christ. For some people they breathe it in, and it’s the breath of life. It’s the fragrance of the living. For others, it’s the stench of death. 

Listen, the most precious thing that we get to do in this world is lead people to new life in Christ. It is a wonderful, awesome privilege. But that same smell that brings joy and hope and new life in Christ to some, provokes hate and insults and rejection and death in others. And you got to risk that. If you are going to have urgency, you’ve got to risk that. I’ve got to risk that. 

If you are going to be the fragrance of life to some, you’ve got to be willing to be the fragrance of death to others. That’s just the way it is. Urgency means a willingness to suffer rejection. 

Here’s what happens to Paul. Look at verse 17.

17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 

Now this is after Paul’s Damascus road experience. This is after he got saved. He comes to Jerusalem, and he starts asking God, “What’s next? What do you want me to do, God?” And during that time of prayer in the temple, he falls into a trance. This is the same word, trance, that was used of Peter when he had the vision from heaven with that sheet full of all the clean and unclean animals (Acts 10:9–16). 

And here’s what God shows him. 

I fell into a trance 18 and saw [Jesus] saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 

Now take note of this. This is Paul arguing with Jesus about whether or not he should preach to Jews in Jerusalem. Paul thinks he’s the perfect candidate to preach to Jews. Paul thinks, because he’s been converted out of great violence towards Christians, he’s the perfect person to tell people that Christianity is true. 

But God’s ways are not our ways. And God’s plans are different than Paul’s plans. God knows that if Paul stays in Jerusalem, he’ll just get himself killed, so he sends him out of Jerusalem to minister to Gentiles in the Roman Empire. 

And verse 21 says this: 

21 And [Jesus] said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” 

So that’s what Paul did. He travelled all around the Roman Empire preaching the gospel, planting churches, and running for his life. 

Now on a scale of 1 to 10, how good was Paul as a minister to the Gentiles? He was pretty good, right? How many of you think God knew what he was doing sending Paul to the Gentiles? 

But watch how the crowd responds to this statement. Look at verse 22.

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

The “word” that infuriated them was the word “Gentiles.” They were doing fine until Paul insinuated that Gentiles could be saved as well as Jews. That was too much for this Jewish crowd. They just go bonkers. 

These Jews were incensed by the idea that Gentiles could be saved, which is interesting because their OT Scriptures told them that they would be a witness to the Gentiles. See Isaiah 40-55 for more on that!

And look at verse 23.

 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 

These were demonstrations of contempt in Jewish society. If they had stones, they would probably start throwing them at Paul now. 

24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 

The tribune probably didn’t understand the Hebrew dialect that Paul was using when he spoke to the crowd. So this mass confusion led to a decision by the tribune to examine Paul by flogging. This was the same kind of flogging that Jesus endured before the cross. It was customary for Romans to use this for interrogation. And people often died from this use of torture. 

But Paul does something smart here. Look at verse 25. 

25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 

Listen, here me on this. This is an important statement from Ajith Fernando and his commentary on the book of Acts. Fernando writes, “[Paul] was not a masochist who took on suffering unnecessarily.”  Paul was willing to suffer for Christ, but he wasn’t fatalistic in his approach to suffering. And here he even uses a little bit of shrewdness to ward off this torture.

Because look at verse 26.

 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 

The famous Roman philosopher Cicero said, “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him an abomination, to slay him is almost an act of murder.” These guys could get in some serious hot water for these actions with Paul.

27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

As we’ll see next time, the tribune now tries another tactic to find out what all this hubbub is about with Paul. He turns to the Sanhedrin. How does that work out for him? Well, as we’ll see, that doesn’t work out good for anybody—Paul, the Sanhedrin, or the tribune! More on that next time. 

But let’s finish up here. What’s the point of all this? What’s the abiding message of this pericope of Scripture, Acts 21:37–22:29? The point is this. Paul was faithful to Christ. Paul was bold and courageous in his attempt to share the gospel. Paul was willing to risk everything in an act of love for people who hated him. They wanted him dead. And his boldness didn’t result in salvations. It didn’t result in fragrance of life, only fragrance of death. And it didn’t result in safety, security, and prosperity. 

You might say, “Well, Paul got rescued from a flogging! God protected him from that.” Yeah, but nobody would say Paul got off easy. He gotten beaten up by the Jerusalem crowd before all this happened. Also we know from 2 Corinthians 11:24–25 that Paul was flogged five times throughout his life! God didn’t always protect him or save him from that fate. If suffering was evidence that God doesn’t love us, then God hated Paul! 

The point is this. Paul exemplified for us a heroic demonstration of love and boldness and willingness to suffer rejection for the gospel. The sense of urgency was so pronounced in his life that he was willing to risk everything, to suffer greatly in order to preach the gospel and testify to the saving power of Jesus Christ. If Paul was willing to do that in front of a murderous, merciless mob of hostile people, how much more should we be willing and ready to share our testimony with those who we come in contact with? Even if that means we become the fragrance of death to some, it’s worth it. It’s worth it in order to become the fragrance of life to others. Amen? 

And Paul had those opportunities too. Paul saw many people come to Christ. Not this time in Jerusalem. But plenty of other times, he did. And I want to see people get saved. I want to be the fragrance of life to some. I desire that we as a church get more and more opportunities here to become the aroma of Christ, the fragrance of life to some. 

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I’ll close with this. The story is told about Charles Spurgeon, the great nineteenth century preacher in London. When he was fifteen years old, he was unsaved. And he was searching. He was trying to find the Lord. And one particular Sunday, it had snowed really bad in his hometown (Colchester), and he couldn’t get to the church that he was hoping to go to. So he went to a closer church, a little primitive Methodist chapel. And his soul was aching. He was trying to find some relief to the lack of assurance he felt for his soul. 

And the snowstorm was so bad that there were like twelve people at this church. And the preacher didn’t even make it to the church. So they went up to one of the laypeople, a shoe-maker, and said, “You’re preaching today.” 

So this shoemaker got behind the pulpit and started preaching. And his text for the day was Isaiah 45:22, where it says in the KJV, “Look to me and be ye saved.” So this shoemaker started preaching. And he said to those twelve people, “You need to look! You need to look! Look and be ye saved!” 

And eventually—I guess he ran out of material—he looked as Spurgeon, who was downcast. And said, “Son, you look miserable. And you’re going to be miserable till you obey my text. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ and be ye saved.”

And you know what? Charles Spurgeon got saved that day. And he went on to be the most famous preacher in the English language. He got saved in a little primitive Methodist chapel through the preaching of a layperson. And we don’t even know that shoemaker’s name. 

And Spurgeon says this in his autobiography, “Like when the bronze serpent in the wilderness was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things in order to be saved. All I had to do was look to Jesus Christ!”

Have you looked to Jesus Christ? Have you believed in his finished work upon the cross as the payment for your sin? That’s the only way to salvation. Look to him!