Acts 21:1-16

Review

I think what I want us to take away from this farewell discourse is the idea of two roles both with responsibilities and consequences for their actions.

We should all appoint a watchman, in our day and age that is a Pastor who will tell us the truth and seek after us if we stray.

If this person fails at their job there is a judgement for them as we are told that in James 3:1

Now the second part is our need to listen to the watchmen we appoint. It is inconvenient to here the call to change our ways, to embrace uncomfortable ideas, to take a stand in a way that goes against the prevailing culture.

But as in the analogy above, if we don’t fold up our stall, bar the gates, run armed to the city walls our enemy will simply walk in and take what it wants.

It is incredibly dangerous to hear the call and ignore it, and if you have chosen the right watchman it is really suicidal.

Background

Unlike most of our other studies, we are not in one place but following a journey from Miletus where Paul just said good-bye to the Elders of the Ephesian Church to Jerusalem where Paul is headed to deliver famine relief to James and the Jerusalem Church.

Text:

English Standard Version Chapter 21

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

21 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 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. 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 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. 8 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. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 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.’ ” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 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.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Exegesis

English Standard Version Chapter 21

21 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 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. 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 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

It seems strange here that Paul is going to Jerusalem feeling compelled by the Spirit while these other believers are receiving warnings by threat same Spirit.

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 21

21:4 through the Spirit. Paul is not disobedient to the Spirit; the Holy Spirit is compelling him to go to Jerusalem (20:22 note), while also giving prophecies that hardship awaits him there (20:23). In response to such predictions, Paul’s friends, assuming that he should avoid such suffering if possible, tried to persuade Paul “not to go on to Jerusalem” (cf. vv. 11, 12).

English Standard Version Chapter 21

7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. 8 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. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 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.’ ” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 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.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 21

21:8 Caesarea A major seaport for Israel, constructed by Herod the Great.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 21

one of the seven Philip was one of those whom God used initially to advance the gospel beyond the Jews to the Gentiles (Acts 6:1–7). He ministered to the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26–40).

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 21

21:11 Agabus’ proclamation of a capture by the Jews and arrest by the Gentile authorities indicates a more serious situation than Paul has experienced thus far. The Jewish leadership has far greater power in Jerusalem, and the Gentile (non-Jewish) authorities are more likely to listen to their accusations there.

Acts Warning of Agabus (21:7–14)

Agabus has appeared previously in Acts, prophesying the coming of famine to Judea and prompting the collection from the Antioch church (11:27–30).

Acts Warning of Agabus (21:7–14)

In a symbolic act much like the acted-out prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, Agabus predicted Paul’s coming arrest in Jerusalem. He took Paul’s girdle, the long cloth that was wound several times around his waist, and bound with it his hands and feet. Then, just like an Old Testament prophet, he gave the interpretation of the act

As Martin Luther observes in his commentary “Surely this was no small temptation to cause him not to finish the journey which he had taken in hand”

Which is what I want us to look at in for our application this evening

English Standard Version Chapter 21

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

So Paul is under a very credible threat of death, anyone caught with him could easily suffer the same fate. He has been asked by the church not to go to Jerusalem, and yet we see here that he is accompanied by and sheltered by his fellow believers.

Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 21

they do not refuse to take part with him in the same danger; and yet this was a plausible excuse that they were bound by no law to be hauled to suffer death, through one man’s stubbornness. And this is truly to bring our affections in subjection to God, when we are terrified with no fear, but every one of us endeavoureth, so much as he is able, to further that which we know doth please him

Application

So this narrative reminds me of a quote from Jim Elliot he wrote as a college student “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

What Mr. Elliot had in mind with that quote written in the fly leaf of his Bible was service to God, that might and in his case would require great sacrifice. However, gaining eternal life with God for yourself and others through your efforts...which can never be lost in exchange for a life that will eventually be lost one way or another seemed to Jim and to Paul a good bargin.

Jim gave his life on a beach in Ecuador taking the Gospel to an unreached people called the Auca. Even though he had the means to save it as Paul did by not going to Jerusalem. In Jim’s case “As they turned they saw a group of Auca warriors with their spears raised, ready to throw. Jim Elliot reached for the gun in his pocket. He had to decide instantly if he should use it. But he knew he couldn't. Each of the missionaries had promised they would not kill an Auca who did not know Jesus to save himself from being killed. Within seconds, the Auca warriors threw their spears, killing all the missionaries: Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming and Jim Elliot.”

Operation Auca did not end there. In less than two years Elisabeth Elliot, her daughter Valerie, and Rachel Saint (Nate's sister) were able to move to the Auca village. Many Aucas became Christians. They are now a friendly tribe. Missionaries, including Nate Saint's son and his family, still live among the Aucas today.

I think sacrifices like Paul’s and the Elliot and Saint families point us to the importance of this word and the Gospel. We may never be called to make a physical sacrifice for believing this text. Or be called to leave friends and family, suffer poverty or danger.

But I think the question becomes, if the Gospel was so important to these Christians and tens of thousands of other whose stories we could tell are we taking it seriously enough. Are we ordering our days to gain what we cannot lose, prioritizing it over what we cannot keep?

“At a Christian camp in Colorado, a woman Bible teacher gave an illustration that changed my life. She said, ‘If the distance between the Earth and the Sun, 92 million miles, was reduced to the thickness of a sheet of paper, then the distance between the Earth and the nearest star would be a stack of paper 70 feet high. And the diameter of the galaxy would be a stack of paper 310 miles high. That’s how big the galaxy is. And yet, the galaxy is nothing but a speck of dust, virtually, in the whole universe. And the Bible says Jesus Christ holds this universe together with the word of his power. His pinky, as it were.” And then she asked the question: “Is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your assistant?”

-Tim Keller