“THE COST OF FOLLOWING GOD”

Acts 21;1-36

INTRODUCTION

Sentiment is running high at Iowa State to name the new football stadium for an ex-football player and not, as ordinarily happens, after the heftiest contributor. The player, Jack Trice by name, was no All American. Except for one game, the only game he ever played for the Cyclones, he was not even a starter. That was 50 years ago. In the noiseless footsteps of time since then, memory of Trice on the Ames Campus had all but vanished.

“One day last year, English teacher Alan Beals became curious about a plaque attached to the old State Gym. Under a code of dust and bird droppings was a tribute to Trice. Beals assigned some students to find out why.

“Jack Trice, they learned, was a sophomore in 1923. He was married, majored in animal husbandry, with a 90 average, and played football. He also was black. Because of that, he was kept out of the first two games of the season, but the team and coaches rallied behind him, and he started against Minnesota at Minneapolis.

“Ahead 14 to 10, in the third quarter, Minnesota ran a cross buck, and the Iowa State defensive line crumbled. Trice rushed in to close the gap. He stopped the play, but fell on his back and three charging Minnesota players ran over him.

“As he was carried from the field, Minnesota fans rose and chanted, ‘We’re sorry, Ames, we’re sorry.’ Trice returned to Ames, lying on a bed of straw in a Pullman railroad car. He was taken immediately to the college hospital; two days later, died of hemorrhaging lungs and internal bleeding.

“The day Trice was buried, friends found in his jacket pocket a note that he had written to himself in the Minneapolis hotel room on the night before the game, headed, ‘My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life.’

“It read, ‘The honor of my race, my family, and myself is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part.’”

Acts 21 brings us to one of the most emotionally charged scenes in Paul’s ministry. As he travels toward Jerusalem, believers beg him not to go. Prophets warn him of suffering. Tears flow. Yet Paul is resolved.

John Phillips writes that Paul was “a man who knew where he was going because he knew whose he was.” John MacArthur notes that Paul’s determination shows that “Spirit-led obedience often includes Spirit-revealed cost.”

The question confronting us today: Will we follow God even when obedience is costly?

1 - POINT # DISCERNING GOD’S WILL (vv. 1–14)

A. God’s Will requires Conviction-

Following God begins with settled conviction—the heart decision about who God is and what we believe.Joshua: “As for me and my house…” — a conviction before a battle (Josh 24:15).Deborah: Led Israel because she believed God before Barak did (Judg 4–5).David: Faced Goliath because he was convinced of God's power (1 Sam 17).

Conviction precedes clarity. Conviction leads to mission.

Practical Steps

Write your convictions down.Paul wrote them (Acts 20:24). Joshua declared them (Josh 24:15). Writing conviction clarifies calling.

Speak your convictions out loud.David testified to Saul before ever facing Goliath (1 Sam 17:32–37).

Surround yourself with conviction-sharpening people.Deborah strengthened Barak’s weak faith (Judg 4:6–9).

B. Conviction Leads to Mission

Paul Was a Man on Mission. Paul’s journey reads like a military campaign. Luke lists location after location (Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea)—a snapshot of a man driven by divine purpose.

Lloyd-Jones: “The Christian does not drift—he is driven.”

Paul did not drift. He marched.

Practical Steps

Name your God-given assignments for this season.(Prayer, family leadership, serving, discipling, etc.)

Review your mission weekly.Like a soldier checking marching orders.

Eliminate distractions ruthlessly.Mission requires margin.

Nehemiah 6:3 “So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?””

C. Missions Requires Objective

Paul’s mission was rooted in God-given objectives: Know God deeply.Proclaim His Word faithfully.Be a godly husband. (Though Paul was single, the principle stands for all men.)Be a godly father.Be a godly friend and witness. Missions without objectives becomes motion without meaning.

Practical Steps

Define “wins” biblically, not emotionally.(Faithfulness > success, Integrity>opprotunity )

Commit to measurable rhythms.Ex: read Scripture daily, pray for three people, invest in your marriage weekly.

Ask others to hold you accountable.

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

D. Paul Listened to the Holy Spirit

1.through the Spirit is inconclusive -we must weigh the Spirit- 1 Corinthians 14:29 “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.” Paul’s warnings (v. 4, v. 11) were not prohibition but preparation.

2. Paul was sensitive to the Spirit- When he was forbidden by the Spirit to preach is certain regions, Paul did not disobey Acts 16:6–7 “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” but Paul obeyed when told to go Acts 16:9–10 “During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

3. The Holy Spirit never forbid him to go- Acts 20:22–23 ““And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.”

4. The Holy Spirit would not contradict Jesus- Acts 20:24 “But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”

5. Paul had no conviction of doing wrong- Acts 23:1 “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day.””

MacArthur: “The Spirit was not forbidding Paul; He was forewarning Paul.”They urged him not to go because of fear, but Paul endured because of faith.

APPLICATION

You cannot follow God without conviction. Decide today what you believe.You cannot finish God’s mission without objectives. What is God calling you to do?You cannot endure suffering if you confuse warning with prohibition. God warns you not to stop you, but to strengthen you

2 - POINT #2 GO THE EXTRA MILE (vv. 15–25)

A. Humility Is Needed (vv. 18–19)

When Paul arrives, he submits to the elders and recounts what God had done.

Not boasting—reporting. Spurgeon: “Humility is the secret of strength.”

Practical Steps

Report ministry as God’s work, not your own.(Acts 21:19 — “he related one by one the things God had done.”)

Ask: “What can I learn from these leaders?”

Practice going last—let others speak first.

Micah 6:8 “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

B. Communion (vv. 15–19)

From Caesarea to Jerusalem, Paul traveled with believers—shared life, shared burdens, shared mission.

Hospitality in the early church was not convenience but covenant.

Practical Steps

Open your home regularly.

Pray with believers, not just for them.

Carry someone’s burden this week (Galatians 6:2 “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” ).

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

C. Concern (vv. 20–22)

The Jerusalem elders express concern for Jewish believers confused by rumors.

Lloyd-Jones: “Truth never fears examination; love never fears sacrifice.”Paul understood both.

Practical Steps

Learn to Listen .The elders communicated their concerns; Paul listened.

Clarify misunderstandings before they become conflict.

Ask: “What does love require of me here?”

Proverbs 18:13 “The one who gives an answer before he listens— this is foolishness and disgrace for him.”

D. Compromise (vv. 23–25)

This was not doctrinal compromise, but cultural sensitivity.

Paul agreed to Jewish purification rites to avoid unnecessary division.MacArthur: “Paul flexed where he could flex so he could stand where he must stand.”Historical InsightThe Nazirite vow in Jerusalem was expensive and highly visible—Paul’s participation was a public demonstration that he was not anti-Jewish culture.The temple courts were heavily monitored, especially during festivals; Paul’s actions would have been widely observed.Be flexible—know what is essential and what is not. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.

Practical Steps

Hold tightly to doctrine, loosely to culture.

Make sacrifices to remove stumbling blocks (1 Cor 9:19–23).

Do what promotes unity, not ego.

Romans 14 — Matters of liberty.

APPLICATION

Go the extra mile for unity, not ego.Be flexible where Scripture allows.Practice communion—live life with believers.Sometimes the cost of following God includes surrendering your rights for someone else’s growth.

3 - POINT #3 THE CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLOWING GOD (vv. 26–36)

A. Obedience Does Not Prevent Trouble

Paul obeys God and the church—and is misunderstood, slandered, and attacked.

The riot erupts in the temple courts where Roman soldiers watched from the Fortress Antonia—a reminder of constant political and religious tension.

Practical Steps

Expect opposition.Don’t interpret difficulty as misdirection.

Keep your eyes on Christ, not circumstances.

Commit to finishing your assignment even when you are resisted.

2 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” — “All who desire to live godly…will suffer persecution.”

1 Peter 4:12 “Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you.”

B. Obedience Sometimes Increases Trouble

Paul is seized, dragged, beaten, falsely accused of bringing Gentiles into the inner courts.Lloyd-Jones: “The measure of your trouble may be the measure of your usefulness to God.”

Practical Steps

Accept temporary loss to gain eternal reward.

Refuse bitterness—release your attackers to God.

Strengthen your inner man through Scripture and prayer.

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.”

C. Faithfulness Always Has a Price :

“Paul’s suffering was not a detour—it was the road.”Like Christ, Paul faced violence for doing God’s will, not for running from it.Historical InsightThe law against Gentiles entering the inner sanctuary was so strict that Rome allowed the Jews to execute offenders—even Roman citizens.The riot shows the explosive volatility of Jerusalem at festival time, especially with tensions between nationalists and Rome.

Practical Steps

Remember suffering is not failure—it’s formation.

Pray: “Lord, use this pain for Your glory.”

Look for gospel opportunities in adversity.Paul turned riots into revival.

Romans 5:3–5 “And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

APPLICATION

Expect misunderstanding when you follow God.Expect spiritual opposition when you walk in obedience.Expect God to use your suffering to advance His gospel.

CONCLUSION

INTERNAL BLEEDING — THE HIDDEN COST OF OBEDIENCE

Just as Jack Trice wrote, “My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field,” Paul threw his whole being into obedience—and it wounded him internally and externally.

Many believers suffer internal bleeding today:

Hurt from betrayal

Quiet fears

Discouragement

Spiritual exhaustion

Deep loneliness

Paul endured all of these. But he never bled alone—Christ was with him (2 Tim 4:17).

Paul’s journey in Acts 21 shows us three realities:

Following God requires conviction—you must know whom you believe and commit to His mission.

Following God requires going the extra mile—in humility, unity, and sacrificial love.

Following God carries consequences—misunderstanding, hardship, even loss.

But here is the hope: God uses obedient lives to accomplish eternal purposes. Paul’s tears did not stop him. Prophecies did not deter him. Suffering did not silence him.

“I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13)

Spurgeon said, “The cost may be great, but the reward of obedience is greater.”

So today— Will you follow God when it costs you? Will you obey when obedience brings tears? Will you walk forward when the Spirit warns you of suffering but calls you anyway?

May the Holy Spirit produce in us the same conviction, humility, and courage that marked the Apostle Paul—so that when the world asks why we follow Christ, we too can say:

“The Lord’s will be done.” (Acts 21:14) All-American