Pressure from All Sides
Notes
Transcript
Outline
Outline
Chp. 21
I. Pressure to go Against God’s Will (v.1-14)
II. Pressure to Compromise (v. 15-25)
III. Pressure from Opposition (v. 26-40)
I. Pressure to go Against God’s Will (v.1-14)
A. First Pressure (v.1-6)
1. Sailing (v.1-2)
Paul and companions jump on a cargo ship and travel from Miletus making their way to Syria then up to Jerusalem
2. Arriving in Tyre , Syria (v. 3- 6)
Paul lands in Tyre which is in Syria. They find fellow believers in Syria,
They stay with them 7 dayss
The believers told Paul not to go to Jerusalem - not the first time that Paul has been told not to go down to Jerusalem .
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.
the Holy Spirit had made it know to Paul what awaited him in Jerusalem
B. Second Pressure (v. 7-14)
1. Arriving at Phillips House (v. 7-9)
From Tyre they go to Ptolemais and stayed 1 day. The next day they went down to Caesarea and come to the house of Phillip the evangelist
Phillip- was one of the 7 men chosen to serve tables in Acts 6:3
men of Good reputation , full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom
He would have been friends with Stephen who was stoned to death in Acts 7, with the approval of Saul of Tarsus. The same man here ( 20 years later)
Phillip left Jerusalem fleeing from the persecution and God would use that to send Phillip to Samaria where God began to do a great work. Phillip is later sent by the Holy Spirit to the desert where he meets the Ethiopian man who comes to faith in Jesus and is baptized.
Phillip leaves the desert making his way up the coast preaching the gospel wherever he goes up until he come to Caesarea. It seems as though Phillip stayed here in Caesarea.
Phillip was Faithful
20 years have passed and we see him here still serving the Lord and being used by God
Phillip has (4) daughters that are virgins and prophecy , which tells us that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The character of the daughters was a direct reflection of the character and faithfulness of Phillip’s own life. There is something to be said of a consistent life lived for God, that makes an impact on those around us.
2. Agabus the Prophet (v. 10-11)
As they are there many days Agabus comes and prophecies
Agabus
We see Agabus in Acts 11:27-30. He declared that there would be a famine in the land . The church in Antioch therefore sends provisions up to Jerusalem by the hands of Paul and Barnabas.
Agabus’ Prophecy
Agabus takes Paul’s belt and ties it around his feet and hands and the Holy Spirit speaks through him saying “ so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt , and deliver him into the hands of the gentiles”.
3. Paul’s Determination (v.12-14)
this is the second time on his way to Jerusalem that he has heard these words and that the fellow believers have tried to get Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
some people believe that Paul was going against the Holy Spirit , that the Holy Spirit was telling him of what was coming in order to get him not to go . But that is not the case. The Holy Spirit was reminding Paul, confirming what God had told him from the very beginning of his salvation.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
From the beginning God had called Paul to a specific calling, to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. That would be his mission. Yet with this great calling , there would be hardships and difficulties that would come because of that calling .
Paul understood this , and he knew that to resist the consequences of his calling was to resist the will of God.
It is possible that the constant reminder by the Holy Spirit was meant to reassure and to bring confidence that he was walking in God’s perfect will.
the pressure he was receiving from his friends was well intended but it came of a lack of understanding and from a place of human reasoning.
they heard what the Holy Spirit said, but they did not interpret it correctly. They reacted to what the Holy Spirit said with human emotion and concern for Paul.
Do not be Moved From God’s Will
this is important to know. Because you and I have to understand that God has a specific will for our lives. And his desire is for us to walk in that will and to fulfill everything that he has for us.
with that said , there are things that the enemy will use to try to get us out of the will of God. This is the battle that we go through daily and it is the battle that Paul went through as he would say....
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul would not be moved from accomplishing God’s will even if it meant giving up his life.
Question
WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES AND HINDERANCES THAT SATAN USES TO STOP US FROM FULFILLING GOD’S WILL ?
Hardship
certain paths or roads that God takes us down come with difficulties and hardships. And we will have to make the decisions to press through the difficulties or to stop because of fear.
God is calling me to break off that relationship, its too hard.
God is calling me to remove myself from those friends , it s too hard
God is calling me to get off of social media, its too hard
God is calling me to apologize and to make it right with that person, its too hard
Satan will use the hardships and difficulties to keep us from obeying God.
2. Sin
sin is the thing that Satan loves to use in the life of believers.
he knows that if he can get us to get involved in sin he can stop our forward progress spiritually.
sin will cause us to strain our relationship with God, sin will make us disqualified , not useful to the master 2 Tim. 2:22
3. Self will
In our desire to fulfill our own will, our plans.... we can deny all wisdom, all counsel and knowledge for the sake of getting what we want.
this plays out alot in relationships. It doesn’t matter what age, people have a way of throwing all wisdom and sound counsel out the window in the attempt to satisfy a desire, or to satisfy lust which they think is love.
HOW AM I TO FULFILL GOD’S WILL ?
KEEP PRESSING FORWARD
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
keep pressing forward. Forget about past mistakes, if you have fallen and maybe have gotten out of God’s will, get back up and keep pressing forward.
2. REMOVE ALL HINDERANCES
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
We have to remove any obstacles any hinderances in our lives, things that can stop us from moving forward . Things that will stop us in our tracks .
3. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
many of the obstacles that come in our way are meant to get our focus off of God and get our eyes on other things .
this is why it is important to get our eyes back on Jesus.
Transition
this is what Paul was doing. He was not willing for anything , including hardships or well meaning people , to stop him from fulfilling the will of God.
this is the determination that we need to have.
II. Pressure to Compromise (v.15-25)
A. Arriving in Jerusalem (v. 15-17)
B. Paul Meets with Jerusalem Leaders (v. 18-25)
Paul Goes into Details (v. 18-19_)
Paul gave them every detail that happened on his mission trips
2. The Elders Response (v. 20-25)
because of the rise of Jewish Nationalism in the mid AD 50’s, the Jews looked for anything to uprise in Jersualem.
The rumors of Paul teaching Jewish people in the areas outside of Jerusalem not to keep the law, or not to keep the ceremonial law of circumcise would make christian Jews upset.
there is a pressure here from James and the church elders to keep the peace and not to make any one stumble.
they call for Paul to have to make decisions that may be against his own convictions.
See the Letter to the Romans and the Galatians was already written at this time. He spoke about those who would return back to the traditions of the law , turning from the grace of God to get caught up again in the law.
Paul would call out Peter earlier
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
Paul is now put in a position to have to do the very thing that he called out Peter for , for the sake of keeping the peace.
Paul here finds pressure to make it look like he keeps the law in order to make the jewish Christians feel better.
They tell Paul to go with these 4 men who had taken a nazerite vow, and their time was almost up. they would have to go to the temple at the time of theri vow coming to and end and cut off their hair and they would offer it as a sacrifice on the altar, they would also have to offer a animal scarifice , Paul was to pay for these things and also to join them.
Pressure to Compromise.
Pressure is a tool that Satan can use on our lives to get us to compromise, to go against our own convictions .
the pressure can be well intended like it was here, Paul had a desire to minister to the people and so he went along with it. But no matter how well intended the pressure may be, we are not to go against our own convictions that have been places there by the Holy Spirit.
PRESSURES COME FROM
PEERS
Those at our schools, our friends, our teamates
the feeling that i have to fit in, the worry of being made fun of, of not having friends.
this pressure can often lead us to make bad decisions, decisions that are against our moral and spiritual convictions
2. SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram , tik tok, etc.... it is all fake.
it puts out a fake reality that can cause pressure in our own lives. As i watch the prefect filtered life of someone, i assume that it is all real and prefect and that my life is not.
it puts pressure to have to have a life like other people, or to look like other people etc.... and this pressure can get our focus on the wrong thing.
3. AUTHORITY FIGURES
This could be teachers, coaches , parents, pastors or leaders… These people for the most part are all well intended. the pressure to make us better at what we do. To be better students, better athletes, better christians and the reality is that sometimes ...... those expectations can be wrong.
when i became a Christian , i had all kinds of pressure from my family to turn away from God and back to our old religion. It was well intended , but was not the right thing for me.
We can sometimes assume that all of the things people in authority say has to be right and comes from God. i am not saying it is or it isn’t, but you have to know what God is calling you to do and what convictions that he has given you and make sure you stick to those convictions.
4. Government
government can place certain mandates like the vaccine that can go against your convictions . They can say that we can’t worship or we can’t meet together, in these times we cannot allow the pressure to make us compromise our convictions.