Dwell in the Word: Acts 21:37-22:21

Think on these questions as you dwell in Acts 21:37-22:21:

1. The passage emphasizes Paul's testimony of his conversion and his call to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, despite the resistance and rejection he anticipates from the Jewish people. How does Paul's experience serve as a model for believers today when faced with potential opposition or rejection in sharing the gospel? What lessons can be drawn from his perseverance and commitment?

2. The concept of taking the gospel to the Gentiles, considered unclean by some, challenges traditional beliefs. In what ways does Paul's mission to the Gentiles reflect the inclusivity of the gospel message? How can modern-day Christians embrace and live out this inclusivity in their interactions with diverse individuals and communities?

3. The passage highlights the transformative power of God's grace, as seen in Paul's conversion from a persecutor of the church to a devoted follower of Christ. Reflecting on your own journey of faith, how has God's grace transformed your life? In what ways can this personal experience motivate and inform your approach to sharing the gospel with others?

Transcript:

 So, here we see the continuation of the story of Paul going to Jerusalem. We were introduced to this idea of Paul going to Jerusalem through the prophetic words that people received about Paul going to be persecuted there. And you'll remember that they encouraged Paul not to go, but Paul says, Hey, I'm willing to suffer.

You haven't told me that God has told me not to go. You've just told me that I'm going to have.  I'm going to be arrested and bound and all this kind of stuff. But I've been, I've been feeling this need to go to Jerusalem. And so, what did we see last time? We saw on Wednesday that Paul was arrested and now we're seeing his testimony in front of the people here in Jerusalem.

And what happens is, is they're going to take him away, but then he asks to speak to the people around him, so he does it in Hebrew, and that gets their attention. And so, he tells the story of his coming to faith, because he wants them to understand that he once, uh, was like them and opposed the gospel, but something has happened in him, and he wants them to know this story.

And so, we see some insight into what happened. We read what Luke recorded, right? But there's some different details in here about the conversion of Saul to become Paul, that we don't see in that original story early on in the book of Acts. And so, we see in verse 14 that Ananias tells him the God of our fathers appointed you to know his will to see the righteous one and hear a voice from his mouth.

So,  what is happening here is that Paul is letting us know that he has been told by Ananias That God ordained this, that this is from God himself, that all that has happened has come to pass because it is the will of God. And then what do we see? That he's going to be a witness for him to everyone of what you've seen and heard.

And then what did Ananias say? Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. So that Paul... Paul himself who had persecuted the Christians and we'll, and we'll see, we see that here a little bit later on him explaining that to people, making sure they know it, that Paul who persecuted Christians is receiving forgiveness for that.

And now he is actually following the way instead of just persecuting the way, right? He is now purporting.  And so, he tells this story, and we see something else we haven't seen yet in Acts. He tells this story about him returning to Jerusalem, praying in the temple, and he falls into a trance. And this is what the Lord says to him, Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.

And so, what is, what is Paul saying, like these people who killed Jesus, who are the ones who are supposed to be the children of God, are not going to accept the testimony that you have. They're not going to listen. And so, this is a difficult thing for these people to hear. And we're going to see that. I'm going forward that they don't like to hear this that that they're being told how stubborn they are and in the process they prove How stubborn they are, right?

And so, Paul talks about what he has done to persecute the way what he's done to persecute the early church and He's saying hey, this is who I was God knew that that you were going to persecute me. God knew that you wouldn't receive the message and so what's the final thing we see in verse 21 that he says to Paul, go, for I will send you away, you far away to the Gentiles.

Now here is this difficult thing that we've seen throughout the book of Acts.  Gentiles are considered to be unclean. They're considered to be outsiders. They're considered to be, well, dogs is the language that is often used. We see that in the New Testament.  And here now we're saying that God is saying, take this message that the Jews will reject a message from God.

Take this message to the ones that you consider to be unclean, you consider to be dogs. That isn't very popular. But we see here that what Luke is wanting us to see from the life of Paul is that all people are able to come to faith. And, and not all people like every person ever. Well, every person could, theoretically.

Paul is talking about the way that the gospel has gone out to all people that not just the Hebrews But all people the Gentiles as well. Those are unclean Christ makes them clean Even the one who has persecuted the church the one who was resistant himself is now taking that message to those who were considered to be unclean and we're going to see that they have trouble with this message, right?

They have had trouble with this idea all throughout the book of Acts. We see this In some of Paul's writings in the New Testament, right, where, where you need to follow the law, you need to be circumcised, you need to do these things, and Paul is consistently saying, no, faith, faith in Christ is what matters.

And so, we continue to see the faithfulness here of Paul, despite what is happening to him, despite his chains, he is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, for us here, you know, we could once again find an application, continue to be faithful to proclaim. Christ, but I've said that a bunch of times throughout acts.

And so, I want to draw something out here Really quickly that we should come away with an application here think and dwell on today How beautiful it is that you were a child of God. You were an outsider. You were not a Hebrew person more than likely You were not a Hebrew person, but yet God came to you and through Christ He has made you a people for his own possession.

He loved you Even though you were not of the right lineage. It didn't matter What matters is that you've been adopted into the family of God. You have been made a child of God, by grace, through faith, on account of what Christ has done for you alone. Not on anything that you've done, but because you have been given the gift of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, I challenge you today. Think about that today. Think about the fact that you were an outsider and now you're an insider. And so may we proclaim the gospel to everybody knowing that others through hearing the Word and the work of Spirit in their lives, they can be a part of the family of God as well.

May that bring us joy and may it motivate us to share the gospel.