Refuse to Compromise-- Acts 21-22:29

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Prayer:

Turn with me to Acts 21. Today we are going to largely take on 2 chapters of text, yet a single narrative. Which means, I’m going to highlihgt and read some portions of our text, and summarize others. So buckle up.

Introduction

Luther

In April of 1521 the Roman Catholic Emperor had forbidden the sale of all Martin Luther’s books, and ordered his teachings be stopped and all writings seized. His life was in great danger, and through a confidant he learned that if he traveled to Worms he would suffer death.

To which he responded, “I shall go to Worms, though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs.”

He went to Worms and on April 16th, stood before the emperor to stand trial. But before he gave a defense he requested and received the night for prayer and consideration of his defense.

He later wrote the essence of his prayer and this is what it reads,

How frail and sensitive is the flesh of men, and the devil so powerful and wise and active through the men of this world! O thou, my God, my God, help me against the reason and wisdom of this world! Thou must do it, Thou Alone! For this cause is not mine, but Thine.

O God, stand by me in the name of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, who shall be my protector and defender, yay, my Mighty Fortress.”

The next day he stood among the mob and before the emperor and the emperor said,

“I ask you, Martin— answer candidly— do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain.”

Luther responded: “Since you desire a simple reply, I will answer… Unless I am convicted by Scripture— I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other, but the Word of God is never contradicted. I cannot and I will not recant anything… God help me. Amen.”

Luther refused to compromise his faith and his convictions.

Although warned and begged by his associates to not go to Worms, and there threatened with impending death, Luther refused to compromise.

Refuse to Compromise

Now let me be clear most likely neither you or myself will probably ever be in the same position as Martin Luther, or for our text today, the Apostle Paul.

We probably won’t be brought before kings and governors and emperors to compromise our faith.

But the wisdom of this world (as Luther writes), is all around you, and you will face situations or circumstances that pressure you to compromise your faith and convictions.

It will be subtle, but nonetheless ill intented. And a few small concessions will inevitably lead to a compromised life.

Let me say that again, it’s a 1000 concessions that leads to a compromised life.

The simple locker room talk at that work event, that quickly demeans and dishonors God.

The quick little look online, that at first seems harmless, but quickly leads to full on sin.

The concession of unrestricted technology for your teenager, in an attempt to avoid a painful conversation.

The taxation loophole that everybody else takes advantage of, and would benefit you too.

Every concession of conviction, morally or theologically, lends to a compromised life.

But like Luther, the Apostle Paul never compromised.

Even in the face of great pressure, he never compromised.

So today, I want to encourage you to Refuse Compromise.

Today will see various pressures we face that tempt us to compromise, as well as HOW we can remain firm in our refusal.

Context:

On April 2nd, we saw that Paul is on his farewell journey. His missionary endeavors are coming to a close, and Acts 20:22-23 “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.”

So Acts 21 opens with him sailing toward Jerusalem and in verse 3 he lands in Tyre.

Acts 21:4 “And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.”

But he can’t be deterred and all the followers accompany him to the port where in Acts 21:5 “ And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed”

From Tyre he travels to Caesarea, Acts 21:8-12 “On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.”

Now this was the same Agabus who 12 years earlier had prophecied the drought over Judea in Acts 11.

But Paul would not be deterred:

Acts 21:13-14 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.””

So he finally arrives in Jerusalem and meets with the church there, led by James, the half-brother of Jesus, and begins telling them all that God had done through his missionary journey and the Jerusalem elders kind of receive him with mixed reactions.

vs. 19 they gave glory to God for all God had done among the gentiles, but then they begin to tell Paul… “Hey, we’ve been fruitful too, we have seen thousands of Jews come to faith, and they are all very zealous for the LAW… but they’ve heard about you. And these thousands have heard that you tell Jews among the dispersion to abandon the Law of Moses

AKA— you don’t have a great reputation here Paul, and your presence is putting us in a pretty tight place.

Acts 21:22 “What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.”

So they tell Paul to show his Jewish piety by paying for the vows of 4 men, and you yourself head on down to the Temple and purify yourself in accordance with Numbers 19:12.

So Paul did it… but it didn’t work.

While in the Temple the Jews from Asia (probably Ephesus) stirred up the crowd against Paul and cried out:

Acts 21:28-29 “crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”

They accused him of defiling the Temple by letting a Gentile in, and the whole city got all stirred up and they seized Paul and began to beat him, seeking to kill him! (vs31).

But the Roman Tribue heard of the commotion and acted swiftly to rescue Paul

And here’s where it gets interesting!

They were taking him to the barracks, and Paul says, Acts 21:37 ““May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek?”

Paul asked this is Greek, and the Roman said, “Are you not the Egyptian…?? (vs. 38).

A few months prior to this an Egyptian false prophet took a band of about 30,000 into Jerusalem and assinated various Roman officials, but had escaped.

So this Tribune thought they finally had him, and Paul says, Acts 21:39 “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.””

And the man lets him! Acts 21:40 “And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language...

And I’m not going to read his entire speech here, but he began to win them over:

He spoke in Aramaic, the native language of Palestinian Jews.

Told them he was born, reared and educated a Jew.

Brought up in Jerusalem

And far from being a law breaker, he was at one time a Law Enforcer, dragging away people of the WAY to trial.

And as the audience stands captivated, Paul begins to witness:

He relates His vision of Jesus on the Damsascus Road and how that changed everything for him… but then he drops the hammer.

Acts 22:21 “And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ””

Up until this point, the audience was all ears, but after he said the “G Word” he lost them.

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

So the Roman Tribune trying to get to the bottom of it, and really try and learn who this man is, stretches him out to whip him, because torture brings out the truth, but Paul says

Acts 22:25 “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?””

To which the Tribune says… HOW, I had to pay a huge sum for my citizenship, but Paul says, Acts 22:28 “ “But I am a citizen by birth.””

So they withdrew from him.

Paul faced great pressure, but Refused to Compromise.

He couldn’t be deterred! So, now I want to highlight some of the common pressures he face, as they are still applicable to us as well.

The first I’ll call the Pressure of Presumption

Pressured to Compromise

Pressure of Presumption

Presumption is an attitude or belief inferred as truth, but is in fact not certain or really known.

Presumption takes a probability, and draws a foregone conclusion.

And poor Paul, was pressured by presumption.

Every step of his journey was met with a foreboding of what awaits him. He couldn’t be sure, but the Spirit was expressly testifying that it wasn’t good…

In fact, 3 seperate times we see this foreboding:

Acts 20:22-23 “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.”

Acts 21:4 “And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.”

Acts 21:11 “And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ””

But here is where the presumption comes in, his companions interpreted the Spirit’s warning, as a directive.

They presumed to know the intent and mind of God in the giving of these warnings.

Their love and loyalty for Paul was pure--- they wanted to preserve him. Their motives, although noble--- were just shortsighted.

They were not seeing God’s ultimate purposes, but presumed they did.

I can hear it now:

Paul, you’ve been so fruitful… God would never want that to be cut short.

Paul, look at all the good that is left to do, you haven’t even been to Rome yet.”

Paul, the safest place for you to be is in the center of God’s Will...

Paul, how can God use you in prison? You’re of better use for the kingdom free.

All of these are presumptions to know the intent and mind of God.

And we will all, at times, face the pressure of presumption. SOMETIMES INTERNALLY, OTHER TIMES EXTERNALLY.

Meaning, sometimes we are our own worst enemies here. We can pressure compromise, by justifying our own desires.

Take that locker room talk again… You know that the conversation isn’t glorifying to God and a compromise of your conviction, but you reason, “Well, I need to be in the world right. How can I reach my co-workers if I’m just holier than thou.” You presume, in order to justify your compromise.

Take the temptation of workaholism… finding your identity and value in what you do.

We justify it don’t we by presuming… “Well of course God wants me to be the provider for my family. And I need to be a good steward of my job right!”

We pressure by presumption internally.

But the pressure of presumption externally is rapidly rising.

We hear it all the time… “God wants you to love, and obviously that means accept, tolerate_________.

I was encouraging a brother the other day to love his wife, and live with her in an understanding way, so that his prayers wouldn’t be hindered (which is straight out of 1 Peter).

To which he said, “That’s not the God I know. God would never ignore my prayers because of this situation in my marriage.”

Oh he wouldn’t… Do you presume to speak for God, when He has clearly spoken for Himself there in 1 Peter 3:7.

The pressure to compromise your convictions, will be girded with presumption.

And Paul’s companions presumed Acts 21:12 “When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.”

They presumed with their interpretation. The Spirit was revealing to prepare Paul, not to divert him, but they presumed to know the will of God.

But even in the face of pressure from presumption, Paul refused to compromise.

But I also see the Pressure for Comfort

Pressure for Comfort

We are pressured to compromise for the sake of comfort.

The truth is, we all hate being uncomfortable. And often times we will make small, little concessions just to avoid discomfort.

As it regards the pursuit of comfort, we are really swimming upstream as regards American culture.

Our society is marked by self-interest and ego-centrism that reduces all decisions to the question, “What am I getting out of it?” or “Will this make me happy?”

In the church, we believe that at the center of God’s Will is my own personal happiness, so if it doesn’t make me happy it must not be of God.

So we compromise biblical convictions just to serve our own desire for comfort.

But church we arent lean into our convictions like giving financially, or serving kids ministry, or fasting, or conisdering the interst of others above our own, or taking the log our of our own eyes, or cuting off our right hands, or forgiving, or disciplining our children, or carrying a cross f.

We don’t compromise biblical conivctions for comfort.

And Paul could have. What awaited him wasn’t comfortable, and yet he held fast anyway.

Finally, let me give you one more I see here: We are pressured to compromise in order to be accepted.

Pressure for Acceptance

We all want to be liked. To belong. To be accepted. And one of the primary reasons we concede our convictions is because we fear rejection

Follow Class from Josiah

Paul didn’t compromise, but he easily could have!

As the mob attacks him, Paul could have made it go away.

In that moment, he could have delivered such a Pro-Israel speech that the mob would have appluaded him.

But he did not concede just to be accepted.

He dropped the “G-Word”even though he knew it meant his rejection.

How often though do we bow to the pressure for acceptance?

So many of the concessions we make are driven by our desire to fit in, or belong.

But let me ask another question; How often do we bow to the pressure for acceptance, for our kids?

Ohhhh. We want our kids to be popular. Accepted. Successful.

So we buy them the latest technology, so that they fit in… and without proper accountablity and oversight we condemn them to compromise.

We cave to acceptance, and concede our convictions.

Paul would say we have conformed to the patterns of this world.

But Paul didn’t… He didn’t conform, instead he was transformed. But it begs the question: How?

How can someone like Paul, or Luther remain to steadafast in their Refusal to Compromise?

The answer is found in following Jesus.

Refuse to Compromise

The Journey Motif

Paul’s hastening to Jersalem is strongly reminiscent of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem in the gospels.

The same forebodings marked Jesus’ journey.

The same resolve and fortitude to go, knowing what awaits.

The same presumptions on the part of his disciples.

The same ending:

It was in Jerusalem that Jesus was arrested and ultimately executed, and it was in Jerusalem Paul was arrested, his life in jeopardy, yet ultimately executed in Rome.

As we have seen over the course of Paul’s life,

Acts 20:24 “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

He left everything to follow Christ, and his lasered gaze on Christ continued as he journeyed to Jerusalem.

And he was able to refuse compromise because he imitated Jesus.

Let me give you 2 ways Jesus was prepared to refuse, and these 2 ways were imitated by Paul, and should be applied by all of us as well.

Prepared w/ Purpose

In the Gospels, Jesus frequently spoke of why he came.

One poignant example is in Matthew.

Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

Here Jesus makes it clear… I’m headed to jerusalem to suffer many things and to die, and to be raised.

But immediately he faced pressure. Pressure from presumptuous Peter.

But he refused to compromise.

Much like Jesus, since his conversion Paul knew what he was about, what God has purposed for him to do.

Acts 9:15-16 “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.””

Confidence in this purpose prepared Paul to refuse compromise as he set his face toward Jerusalem.

But he also possessed a more detailed understanding of what he was about.

Paul could have easily compromised by distancing himself from the “G-Word”. Right? He could have been spared and even accepted if he just accepted a Jew-only Christianity.

It was his love and commitment to Gentiles that got him in trouble.

The accusation lobbed against him was that he had brought a Gentile into the courtyard of the Temple.

That was a big no no! In fact, archeology has recovered remains of pillars that stood between the court of the Gentils and the courtyard with incriptions on them that read, “No foreigners permitted. Penalty death.”

There was a Wall keeping Gentiles from the symbolic presence of God.

But Paul knew the Purposes of God,

Ephesians 2:14 “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”

He knew that Christ had torn down that wall of hostility, Ephesians 2:15 “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,”

His confidence in the purposes of God gave him the resolve to refuse to compromise.

What about you? Are you aware of your purpose? Do you know what God expects of you?

Now I’m not just talking vocationally. Like what he wants you to do regarding career, but what he expects of you in daily life?

It’s pretty simple, but the way to know the will of God, is to familiarize yourself with the Word of God.

The Word of God is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

So when pressured to engage that loophole on taxes the Holy Spirit can remind you, Mark 12:17 “Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.”

Or when pressured to choose acceptance over conviction you can be reminded of John 12:42-43 “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

hopper

The Word of God reveals the Purposes of God, and confidence in His purposes prepares you to refuse compromise.

Prepared w/ Prayer

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, he took one final escape to outside the city walls to the Mt. of Olives.

He knew the purpose had come, but he had one final prepration.

Prayer.

Matthew 26:36-39 “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””

He prayed. He knew that he was willing to accept his purpose. Willing to refuse a compromise, but was he actually prepared to follow through? He had to be sure… so what did he do!? He pryaed.

Prayer is the preparation.

And in his prayer he wanted his disciples to be prepared to refuse compromise too.

But instead, Matthew 26:40 “And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?”

And then he tells them Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

Oh how true this is Church.

This kind of ties in to last week’s sermon about the Resurrection and Paul’s references in Romans 7.

We want to do what is right, but just seem to lack the ability or power to carry it out.

Here Jesus tells his 3 closest disciples that he sees their willingness. They were just weak physically.

The weakness of our flesh often overpowers the willingness of our spiritual desires.

Jesus wasn’t scolding them, instead he was exhorting them. That the flesh is loud and strong.

You may be willing to refuse compromise but is your flesh strong enough to actually resist the pressure?

You better be prepared, and we prepare in prayer.

It’s what Paul did. He followed Jesus’s path of preparation.

In Acts 20 when he knew the purpose Acts 20:36 “And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.”

In Acts 21 when he knew the purpse Acts 21:5 “When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed”

Church, prayer is the best preparation to resist pressure of compromise.

Luther, again the night before his famous speech at Worms, requested a night in prayer.

Where he labored and prayed, “Thou must do it. Thou alone. For this cause is not mine but Thine.”

It is prayer that prepares our refusal to compromise.

Conclusion

Ya’ll, the pressure to compromise your convictions is never ceasing. And it may not be as dramatic as Martin Luther, or the Apostle Paul, or Jesus our Lord, but 1000 concessions leads to a compromised life.

And the only way to resist these pressures and refuse to compromise is to follow Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We have Jesus, and as we imitate him we will refuse to compromise.

A few years after Luther’s bold refusal, he reflected on that night of prayer and subsequent day and penned this line of his famous Hymn “A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD.”

“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. But did we in our own strength confide, our strving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that may be? CHRIST JESUS it is he!