Paul is warned about going to Jerusalem

In verse 1-3 of this chapter, the Bible details for us the path that Paul took as he works his way to Jerusalem.

We talked last week about how Paul felt as though he was bound in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem.

He had already been warned in several cities by people that he knew were led of the Spirit to warn him of what waited.

Yet Paul continued on.

He says that his life is not dear to him.

He says he is willing to suffer whatever cost, if he could just have the chance to be back in Jerusalem.

As a Jew he wanted to be back in the Holy City

As a Christian he was hopeful for the chance to preach the gospel here.

From city to city, Paul gets closer and closer to whatever awaits him in JerusalemOnly this time

If I could make one point about this trip, Luke recounts how they sailed around the south side of Cyprus.

This is where Paul and Barnabas had begun their mission to the gentiles.

Now, as it seems his mission is nearing a possible end, Paul passes the place where it all started.

Only this time, he is accompanied by a team of gentile men that each represent a different region of people that hace been reached with the gospel.

It’s an incredibly sentimental moment.

Finally, he ends up in Tyre.

In Tyre, Paul and his team found a conclave of disciples.

In Tyre we get our first glimpse of how God had been trying to, perhaps, prevent Paul from going to Jerusalem.

Paul spends 7 days with the disciples of Tyre.

During this time the disciples speak to Paul through the moving of the Spirit.

They urge him not to go to Jerusalem.

Not because they had a bad feeling, but because they were prompted by the Holy Spirit.

When Paul left Tyre, the disciples brought all of their families out to send him off.

Men, women, and children all go down to the seaside to send Paul off.

Paul may not have been concerned about the consequences of his decisions.

These people were convinced of what was in Paul’s future.

They had seen what awaited him, and they had done the best to dissuade him from going forward with his plans.

Paul was unmoved.

And so, just before boarding, Paul, his team, and the Tyrian believers kneel together on the sands of the Mediterranean and prayed.

From there they moved by sea down to Ptolemais and then by land to Caesarea.

In Caesarea, Paul and his companions find Philip the evangelist.

We have not heard from Philip since chapter 8 of this book.

Many years have passed and we have heard nothing from this man that was used so conspicuously in the early days of church history.

He was one of the original 7 deacons, along with Stephen.

He had brought the gospel to the Samaritans.

He had led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ.

He had preached the gospel all along the coast until he came to Caesarea.

This was where chapter 8 left him.

Apparently, Philip had moved from Jerusalem to Caesarea along with his family.

His 4 daughters were also with him.

They were actively involved in ministry with their father.

Paul stays with Philip for many days before heading down to Jerusalem.

No doubt, they had much to talk about.

They had been on opposite sides during those early days of the gospel’s spread.

But, then, Paul’s ministry, in large part built off of what Philip had started.

Aside from the fellowship with Philip, Paul receives a special visitor.

Agabus is another character that we have not seen since early in the book.

You may remember how the church at Antioch was told of a famine that would hit Judea.

They took up the offering and sent it back to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Saul.

Well, Agabus was the man that came to Antioch to tell them about this.

There’s all kinds of reunions taking place in this passage.

Agabus’ message, this time, includes some theatrics.

Paul had removed his belt in order to relax.

Agabus takes it up and wraps his hands and feet up in Paul’s girdle.

Then, he says, “so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the gentiles.”

When they all heard this prophecy concerning Paul, they began to renew their protests.

Luke is clear that it wasn’t just Philip and the others of Caesarea that begged Paul not to go.

Luke states that he and the others in Paul’s traveling team joined in with them.

Apparently, there were plenty of tears that were shed in trying to convince Paul not to go forward with his plan.

Paul, however, is unmoved still.

He asks them why they are trying to break his heart.

Why are they making this so hard for him?

He is not afraid of being bound or even of dying for Jesus in Jerusalem.

When Paul’s friends saw that he would not be convinced, they stopped trying to convince him.

They commend him to the will of God.

They would go and try to help him no matter what might happen.

This is a hard passage to try and draw a conclusion on.

Is Luke trying to tell us that Paul was wrong to go to Jerusalem?

Or, are we to admire his insistence in doing what he thought the Spirit would have him do?

Earlier in his ministry, Paul had gone to Macedonia because he had followed the Holy Spirit’s restraining him from other regions.

Last week, we saw Paul tell the Ephesians that he was going “bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem.”

Luke does not record how or why Paul felt this way.

Luke does record the numerous times that the Spirit directed others to first warn him of what was waiting for him in Jerusalem.

Then, in Tyre, the disciples “said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.”

You may not agree with me, and that is fine, but as I read this passage, I do not believe that God wanted Paul to go to Jerusalem at this time.

God sent messenger after messenger to try and warn Paul and to straight up tell him not to go.

Paul, however was set on going to Jerusalem.

He even used the same Spirit that was telling him not to go as his reason for going.

Remember, Paul was just a normal man like any one of us.

Could our hesitancy to assign blame to Paul be an indication of our holding him in too high regard?

Would it not be more helpful to acknowledge that even a man that was as greatly used as Paul was capable of going a direction that God did not want him to go?

This seems much more “in-line” with the biblical narrative.

This is more needed in my life than the idea that Paul is to be applauded for resisting his brothers and sisters in Christ who were led of the Spirit to try and warn him about his life choices.

How are we supposed to tell anyone to listen to the Holy Spirit, and listen to those that the Holy Spirit brings into your life?

Luke seems to be trying to warn his readers by showing that even Paul was capable of acting apart from God’s will in his life.

If Paul could be wrong, so can you and I.

As a child of God, God has indwelt your life with His Holy Spirit.

Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit was given to us in order to accomplish several tasks.

These tasks include leading us into the truth, and convicting us when we go astray.

Paul, himself, teaches us that Holy Spirit’s role in our life can be quenched; He can be resisted.

Many times in our lives, we will face times where what we want is not the same as God wants.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that what we want is sin.

Paul wanted to go to Jerusalem to preach the gospel.

What could be wrong with that?

It may be an issue of timing and location.

Maybe it was God’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem, just not right then.

Certainly it was God’s will for Paul to preach the gospel, but maybe just not in Jerusalem.

We see the same things in our life.

We want something good, but we want on our time and not His.

Or, we want to do something good, but we want to be in the place that we pick and not the place He picks.

God is still in the practice of sending people into our lives to try to warn us from making decisions that go against His plan.

Parents, pastors, friends, and even siblings can try to speak the truth of the Spirit into our lives.

Sometimes, we are too stubborn to listen.

Our minds are made up.

We are convinced that our cause is just and right.

No amount of tears and pleading will move us off of our position.

We barrel forward right into the consequences that we were warned of.

Here is the good news.

God’s grace is present even when we go our own way.

He will put people on our path that will be there for us even after we ignore their pleas.

And, the Holy Spirit, the one we are really ignoring, will never leave us or forsake us.

And, as we will see in Paul’s life in the coming weeks, God can even use our mistakes to bring about much good.

Whatever situation you may find yourself in this morning, the Holy Spirit has a path forward for you.

Maybe you took or are taking a path that you were warned about.

Don’t be deceived into thinking you are too far gone.

God can turn any path back to Himself.

Maybe you are considering a path or a choice and not only is the Holy Spirit inside you warning you, but others are being led to warn you as well.

Don’t be too proud to allow others to influence you.

If Paul was capable of resisting the Holy Spirit’s leading, so are we.