Download mp3 audio 

“But just when the seven days were about to come to an end, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and grabbed Paul. [28] ‘People of Israel!’ they shouted. ‘Help! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone against the people of Israel, the Law of Moses, and this Temple. And now he has even brought some Gentiles into the Temple and defiled this holy place!’ [29] (They said this because they had seen Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city, and they thought that Paul had taken him into the Temple.) [30] Confusion spread through the whole city, and the people all ran together, grabbed Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. At once the Temple doors were closed. [31] The mob was trying to kill Paul, when a report was sent up to the commander of the Roman troops that all of Jerusalem was rioting. [32] At once the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd. When the people saw him with the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. [33] The commander went over to Paul, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked, ‘Who is this man, and what has he done?’ [34] Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others something else. There was such confusion that the commander could not find out exactly what had happened, so he ordered his men to take Paul up into the fort. [35] They got as far as the steps with him, and then the soldiers had to carry him because the mob was so wild. [36] They were all coming after him and screaming, ‘Kill him!’ (TEV) 

 I don’t know if we like any of the new television shows or not because if we’re not watching baseball or bull riding, we’re watching a rerun of Andy Griffith, Coach or MacGiver.  Without question, Susan’s favorite is MacGiver.  The show originally aired from 1985-92, but it will undoubtedly live forever in syndication.  Richard Dean Anderson plays Angus MacGyver.  The fascinating thing about MacGiver, is his uncanny ability to solve any problem or avert oncoming disaster with common, ordinary objects like paperclips, gum wrappers, rubber hoses, a Swiss army knife or my personal favor, duct tape.  Whenever he was faced with a problem or dangerous situation, he’d start looking around his surroundings and find exactly what he needed to get out of the bind.  He faced every crisis by asking, “What are my resources?”

 Not a bad question to ask.

 A question the Apostle Paul asked too.  The biblical record shows this innovative church planter/evangelist using everything at his disposal to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this text, Paul was following the Disciple’s advice and going to the temple to purify himself when it turned ugly.  Instead of being impressed that Paul, a missionary to the Gentiles, was still keeping the law, the Jews incited a riot among the worshippers saying, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has profaned this holy place.” (Acts 21:28 HCSB)  The crowd quickly became a mob.  Paul was going to need more than a Swiss army knife and duct tape to get out of this bind—these religious people were so enraged, they were ready to kill him.  When the commander of the Roman cohort heard about the ruckus, he dispatched soldiers to intervene.

 When they arrived, the mob stopped beating Paul.  The commander ordered his soldiers to put Paul in chains and carried him away from there.  As they took him from the temple, the crowds cried out “Away with him.” (vs. 36)

 In the barracks, Paul asked his captors if he could speak, and when he did so, he spoke in Greek, the language of the Roman Empire, leading the commander to ask these questions: “’Do you know Greek? [38] Aren’t you the Egyptian who raised a rebellion some time ago and led 4,000 Assassins into the desert?’” Paul replied, “’I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.’” (Acts 21:37b-39 HCSB)

 Why would Paul ask to speak to the people?  He was safe where he was now, why would he want to address this angry mob before they had a chance to cool down?  If his only goal was to find a safe harbor, he would have thanked the commander for his intervention, produced the credentials necessary to clear his name and move on.  But that wasn’t his goal.  Paul was willing to go through whatever he had to and use whatever means he had at his disposal to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Being in a bind wasn’t a problem for Paul.  He had already been warned by the Holy Spirit that his trip to Jerusalem would end in his captivity.  Pain and suffering was a given for Paul—he was willing to do more than suffer, he was willing to die for his beliefs.

 So instead of scampering to safety, Paul asked to speak to the very people that were trying to kill him so he could tell them about the life changing power of Jesus Christ.  This is exactly what he did.
Thank you for reading the free preview of this sermon.  The full manuscript is available to Premium Members who've paid a nominal fee to access and use these resources in their ministry. For $49.95 a year, subscribers get access to over 300 full-text sermons and 2000 + Fresh Sermon Illustrations