Pressure From All Sides PT.II

Intro:

We left off last week looking at Paul finishing his third missionary journey. You remember that Paul was moved to go down to Jerusalem and he was informed by the Holy Spirit that chains awaited him there.

As Paul would leave Militas after speaking with the Ephesian leaders, Paul and his companions begin to make their way to Jerusalem by ship.

They hope on a cargo ship and begin the journey making different stops on their way. You remember that the ship made different stops until they arrived in Tyre. And on these stops Paul would happen to find fellow believers that he would spend time with.

now the Holy Spirit revealed God’s plan for Paul at these stops through prophecy and the people would beg Paul not to go down to Jerusalem.

And so as we began to discuss last week, we looked at what was happening in the life of Paul as he was finishing off this missions trips and would begin a new journey.

PAUL WOULD FACE PRESSURE TO GO AGAINST THE WILL OF GOD.

Time and time again the Holy Spirit would reveal what was going to happen to Paul in Jerusalem, that chains awaited him. And what we talked about is the natural human instinct is to protect someone we love.

the immediate response of the people including his companions, was to keep Paul from harm, yet what they all failed to realize is that suffering was part of God’s will for Paul.

And Paul knew this . He himself would say in ...

Acts 20:22–23 NKJV

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.

God would declare this in ....

Acts 9:15–16 NKJV

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.”

So this was all part of God’s will for Paul. And we talked about how many times we can avoid doing God’s will because of the hardships that is associated with God’s plan.

Paul felt the pressure of well intended people trying to get Paul to go outside of God’s will.

Transition

Paul would finally make his way to Jerusalem and he would meet with the elders and leaders of the church of Jerusalem including James the brother of Jesus.

Here he has an interesting meeting. Paul goes into details of his trips and of all that God has done and the leaders are excited to see what God has done in the lives of the gentiles.

-BUT...... there is one problem. While God has done a great work with the gentiles in the lands far away, here in Jerusalem, rumors have gone out about Paul.

there are rumors that Paul has been teaching Jews in the areas of Macedonia and Asia that have converted to christianity , not to follow the law of Moses. That Paul has told the Jews not to practice the ceremonial practice of circumcision.

And we talked about that during this time( mid AD 50’s) there was alot of Jewish Nationalism. In other words there was a lot of pride in being a Jew and of being seperate from the Gentiles.

this Jewish Nationalism would eventually lead to many up rises against Rome which would lead to the Jewish wars in AD 70 against General Titus who would defeat the Jewish up rise and would destroy the City , the City walls and would burn down the Temple.

this is what Paul was walking into....

PAUL WOULD FACE PRESSURE TO COMPROMISE HIS CONVICTIONS

James and the leaders come up with an idea of having Paul take 4 men who had taken a vow and were practicing Jewish rituals and to sponser them and to join them in their purification.

In other words what the leaders were trying to do was to shut down the rumors by making it seem that Paul didn’t tell people to stop practicing the law of Moses, when in reality Paul himself still practiced these things.

there is an attempt to make look good in the face of these law practicing believers, or legalistic believers.

At this point in history, Paul has already written his letter to the Romans and to the church in Galatia. And in both of these letters Paul addressed the ineffectiveness of the Law as far as salvation goes.

to the Galatians he rebuked them and asked them “who has bewitched you” that you should obey the truth.

he would talk about how he rebuked Peter when he came up to Antioch and Peter would act different around the Jews than when they were not around, he was playing this two sided life and Paul called him out on that.

so here now Paul is feeling the pressure to compromise on his own convictions .

Transition

and we looked at how this plays out in our life as well, how we face pressure in our life from the enemy to get us to compromise on our own convictions. And sometimes the pressure can even come from well intended people.

today we continue our story and begin to look at the Pressure from Opposition that Paul faced.

III. Pressure From Opposition (v. 26- 40)

1. Paul Enters the Temple (v. 26)

So Paul obviously goes along with the game plan of the leadership. He takes the 4 men and is purified with them, then they enter the Temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification , then they were to offer the offerings that Paul was to pay for you remember.

now some would questioned if Paul sinned or not. We really can’t say if this was a sin or not because it was a matter of convictions.

but we can see is some possible motives as to why Paul would have gone out of his way to partake in these ceremonies.

A. Paul’s Possible Motives

Paul may have desired an opportunity to Minister

Paul was a man who had a huge heart for seeing people come to faith in Jesus. So it is very possible that Paul’s desire in partaking of this was in order to build a bridge to the Jewish people.

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 NKJV

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

this was Paul’s heart and so this is a possible motive that Paul would have gone with the plan.

2. Paul was Desiring to Bring Unity

as we have mentioned already, there was a division in the early church between Gentile believers and many Jewish believers. The fact that Jewish people looked at the Gentiles as fuel for the fires of hell, did not make it easy when these Jews got saved. They brought much of there bias and religious rituals with them.

now Paul was a wise man and understood this and was trying to break the walls that separated the body of Christ. To the Romans Paul tells us one of the reasons he was going down to Jerusalem

Romans 15:25–27 NKJV

But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.

Paul must have taught the churches in Macedonia that they were partaking in the same spiritual salvation as the Jews, that they were equal in salvation with them and part of the same body.

and as a result the churches felt compelled to send help for the needs in Jerusalem. They felt that since they were one, it was there duty to help as well.

Transition

The early church was divided by the cultural differences and the different religious practices

As we look at his we have to ask ourselves

QUESTION

WHAT CAUSES DIVISION IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY ?

Differences in Cultures

different upbringings, different practices , different languages

2. Differences in Believes/ Convictions

even within the Christian world there can be differences in our beliefs , there are different types of denominations . There are differences in what we believe in the bible , different ways we practice church, different songs we sing . Different convictions like we talked about.

3. Differences in Personalities

We all understand this, even in a room like this, there are many different personality types. Some are outgoing , the life of the party, some are super quite and want to be left alone.

some are super nice and kind, while others can come off brash and harsh. There can be clashes within personalities a large settings.

4. Differences in Motives

there can be different motives as to why people do what they do and this can make people clash with one another.

5. Differences in Spiritual Maturity

This is a big one. The reality is that not everyone who sits in this room is at the same place spiritually. There are some that might not know anything about the bible. There are those who know all the bible stories.

there are those who have taken their relationship with God serious and there are those who don’t know what that means.

and this can be difficult to do life with when you are on two different places,

Transition

- All of these things are at work within this very room right now.

And God’s desire for us within this room, within this entire church, within the church as a whole .... if for unity

Psalm 133:1 NKJV

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

John 17:20–23 NKJV

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Unity speaks of being one, of the same .....

Question

HOW ARE WE TO BE UNIFIED WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE SO DIFFERENT FROM US?

We have to understand that our unity in the church is not based on our church, it is not based on our denomination, or what songs we sing, our unity is not determined if we all wear the same clothes or if we all come from the same culture, or if we like the same things.

you get what i am saying...... You and the person next to you will never be unified solely based on physical, mental or emotional connections. ...

Our unity is found in our common faith in Jesus as our Lord in Savior,

Our unity is found in a common reality that we are all sinners and in desperate need of a savior. (rom. 3:23)

Our unity is found in being common recepients of the love of God and the Grace of God.

Transition

it is these common realities that remove all differences we may have with the person next to us. When we realize and understand this is when we are unified..... and unity will be expressed with grace.

When we stop having grace for one another, disunity begins… and disunity is a result of me failing to see who i really am.

failing to see myself as a wretched sinner just like the person next to me. Instead i feel better than that person or that person.

true biblical unity will be found at the cross.

If we all learned to go to the cross daily , we as a church would be more unified , we as a youth group would be more unified and that unity would be expressed by having grace for one another’s mistakes

I just felt it was very important for us to see Paul’s heart in attempting to bring unity and how important it is in our lives.

2. Paul Falsely Accused (v. 27-29)