July 3, 2008 - A Message from the Pastor

     In preparation for the July 4^th weekend message, I have been studying a passage in Acts 22 that is an account of the Apostle Paul’s arrest in the Temple at Jerusalem .

Paul was accosted by the Jews in the Temple and blamed for bringing Gentiles into the court of the Jews, which was a capital offense.  Consequently, they were trying to beat him to death when the Roman official heard of the uproar and came to his rescue by taking him into custody. As they carried Paul off the scene, Paul requested permission to address the crowd. His attitude and spirit in this address is a model of how a Christian should think and behave when suffering unjustly. John McArthur, in his commentary on Acts, gave five ways Paul responded.

Here is a summary in my words;    

1.        Paul accepts his situation as “God ordained.”

a.       Paul knew going to Jerusalem that he faced arrest, yet he continued to fulfill God’s plan for his life.

b.       Why do we think we would be exempt from suffering as Christians when the scripture makes it clear that we will all suffer to some degree?

2.       Paul used his circumstances as an opportunity. 

a.       There was a crowd and they needed to hear about Jesus Christ, so he spoke to them.

b.       Sometimes God may allow us to experience “trying circumstances” to give us a platform for speaking His grace.

3.       Paul was conciliatory toward his persecutors.

a.       He didn’t threaten them or revile them for their behavior.

b.       He was even willing to say that their zeal to beat him was their zeal for God’s honor.  

c.       Oh that we could learn to “Bless those who persecute you….” Romans 12:14

4.       Paul exalted the Lord Jesus.

a.       He did not speak of his own greatness or achievements, but of what God had accomplished in his life.

b.       His concern was not his own vindication, but God’s message of salvation through Christ.

5.       Paul expressed “selfless love.”

a.       He loved the “weaker brethren” in the Jerusalem Church to even be in the Temple for a purification rite in the first place.

b.       He loved his countrymen even when they hated him.

c.       He loved God more than he loved his own life.  That love made him willing to suffer for the cause of Christ.

      Few of us will ever suffer anything like Paul experienced, but we all will suffer.  We experience emotional suffering in unfulfilled relationships, unrequited love, and misunderstandings; in addition we may suffer physically, or economically, and in some cases persecution for what we believe. Let our prayer be that when we suffer, we might suffer willingly for the glory of our Savior with the attitude Paul modeled. 

God Bless you,

Jerry Berry