Paul in Jerusalem: The Beginning of the End

Introduction:

One of the disadvantages of having a wife with perfect recall is her ability to say back to me what I said.

This is particularly disadvantageous for me in an argument…

I’ll say something like, “I didn’t say that!”

And she’ll say, “Actually, this is what you said…” And then she’ll say exactly what I said.

Then I say, “Oh yeah, that’s what I said, but that’s not what I meant…”

In my opinion, this disadvantage should allow me the ability to change what I said to say what I meant… That should be my handicap, or something…

But this illustration of how I lose arguments points to something deeper…

How do we understand the difference between what is shared, and how to interpret what was shared?

Or, to put it in biblical terms:

How do we know we have accurately interpreted God’s word.

Revelation: A word given to us, like the Bible. God’s revelation to us.

Interpretation: Understanding that word. Our interactions and applications of the revelation...

We’re going to be wrestling through this a bit this morning as we look at this text…

Sermon Outline:

Paul’s Revelation and Interpretation

Kicking the Tyre’s Revelation and Interpretation

Riding Agabus’ Revelation and Interpretation

Paul’s Revelation and Interpretation

Paul’s Revelation:

Acts 19:21: “Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.””

Acts 20:22: “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there...”

“Resolved”:

“Set” or “place”

Local sense:

Placed a cup on the table. Deposited money. Like putting a pawn on a chess board.

Paul’s “PLACED” in the Spirit

“Constrained”:

“To tie” “Bind” “wind”

Paul feels compelled to go to Jerusalem knowing it may not end well...

BUT, He’s “constrained by the Spirit” to go there:

Picture of Cowboy’s Lariat:

v. 22: Imagine: Cowboy’s lariat: Lasso is a VERB. Paul was lasoed!

Spirit’s Pulling Paul to Jerusalem:

REVELATION:

Paul needs to go to Jerusalem:

INTERPRETATION:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me there, but history has taught me anything, I’m going to suffer.”

Kicking the Tyre’s Revelation and Interpretation:

Acts 21:4 “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.”

Seems to be a REVELATION here:

“And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.”

Now, I’m not sure about you, but this sounds confusing…

What’s the revelation here? Go or not go to Jerusalem, that is the question.

Did the Spirit communicate one thing to Paul and then another to the disciples in Tyre??

One study Bible (ESVSB): “But what these disciples told Paul was wrong, because the narrative clearly shows that Paul was being guided by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem.”

How can we reconcile this??

CLICK

John Stott: “Perhaps Luke’s statement is a condensed way of saying that the warning was divine while the urging was human. After all, the Spirit’s word to Paul combined the compulsion to go with a warning of the consequence.”

Fernando Ajith: “What the Christians in Tyre received from the Spirit was a prophecy that Paul would have trouble in Jerusalem. Out of that, they may have inferred that the Spirit was prompting Paul not to go to Jerusalem.”

David Pederson: “The Spirit did not prohibit Paul from going to Jerusalem through their urging but continued to warn him of the dangers.”

How to reconcile this:

Interpretation Principle: Whisper where scripture whispers…

Obviously the Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict himself, so we need to use that as our anchor in this conversation…

Revelation remains the same: “Go to Jerusalem…”

Through that revelation, they were urging Paul to avoid Jerusalem…

THROUGH verses IN

William Larkin: the word through allows the ability to combine the revelation with the disciples’ interpretation. Paul was PLACED in the Spirit, whereas the disciples worked through what the Spirit revealed…

As they wrestled through the revelation through the Spirit, they urged him not to go!

ESVSB as essentially right: The disciples were wrong…

But here’s the interesting part:

Motivated by love!!

Love and truth must go hand-in-hand: Assume God’s revelation is true, but we have to be very careful with our interpretation, EVEN IF WE THINK IT’S THE LOVING THING!

We’re going to unpack this more a little later on, but let’s get to this next interpretation:

Riding Agabus’ Revelation and Interpretation

Paul ends up in the port city of Caesarea.

Philip and his 4 Prophet Daughters.

Philip has been here for 20 years… Fulfillment of Joel 2: Young women will prophesy:

Values of the Kingdom: Unmarried women given a place of status Equals in God’s Kingdom!

Dorcas: Acts 9:36-42 Lydia in Philippi (16:15) Priscilla: Prominent missionary with her husband (18:18-19). Imagine being a fly on the wall:

Paul Philip 4 prophetesses Luke Sharing stories, providing Luke with material to write about!

And then along comes Agabus off the bus from Judea! He shares yet another revelation and interpretation

REVELATION:

Acts 21:10-11: While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. “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.’ ””

Revelation= “THIS IS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU!”

Long Cloth that wrapped around himself a few times: Like a huge wallet.

He wraps Paul like a mummy…

v. 11: “Thus says the Holy Spirit...”

From Judea, he knows the temperament in Jerusalem. He pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem (v. 12).

INTERPRETATION=Verse 12: When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Agabus only PREDICTED that Paul would be bound.

Those urging him NOT to go: Could they also be wrong??

Later humility? ‘We were wrong to urge him not to go. It was clearly God’s will.’

The way Luke records the story, the parallels to Jesus going to Jerusalem are just so clear.

Some argue Paul’s just being stubborn. Some argue Paul’s just being self-righteous.

But we can’t ignore the much stronger language we started with:

Paul is PLACED IN the Spirit. Paul is BOUND by the Spirit.

This MUST happen. Jerusalem IS the way to go. As difficult as this will be. As hard as it is to listen to your closest friends urge you not to go. With all the pain and strain waiting for Paul. Jerusalem remains Paul’s due North.

What can we learn?

Lesson #1: Truth and Love Are Bound Together

People pleaded for Paul not to go to Jerusalem. WHY?

Because they loved him!!

But what the issue with that is that they were putting their desire OVER and ABOVE revelation…

It was wrong for them to tell Paul to go against what the Spirit was so obviously telling him what to do!

TRUTH AND LOVE MUST BE BOUND TOGETHER:

But this is difficult to balance, isn’t it??

But people are doing this all the time right now, justifying all sorts of lifestyles and preferences because it feels like that’s the more loving thing…

And as well meaning as that is, you can’t separate truth and love—what’s revealed and how to interpret what’s revealed…

“I’d rather err on the side of love in cases of confusion…” “The Bible must mean something different because if God is love then it wouldn’t mean that.” ‘I have a high view of scripture, but I just see things differently.’ People create all kinds of interpretation gymnastics.

“A reformed church is always reforming...” Challenging statement…

IF reforming means always being sanctified, then this is a good statement. BUT, if a “reformed church is always evolving,” Then that’s different. The revelation remains the same, but the church can be so self conscious about fitting in with culture that it will try to repackage our interpretations.

One of the greatest challenges that face the church today is this post-modern mindset that love dictates reality.

Or, our feelings are ultimate…

But Biblical interpretation must play by the rules, to not allow worldview, cultural influence, or feeling get in the way of what GOD actually says…

God is love. But the Bible also says that those who Jesus obey him!

Love is obedience, not emotion.

Love is objective, not feeling.

Love is covenant, not sentimentality.

Love is truth are intricately woven together, and we need to be very careful to allow our feelings to override God’s revelation…

Very difficult to do, but absolutely necessary today.

Rule: when you read scripture, assume God understands love more than you do.

Rule: be aware of culture’s influence over you.

Lesson #2: Interpretation Should Unite the Church

Professor: the Bible didn’t fall in the sky in the King James Version with Maps in the Back

Philippians 2:5:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

Young’s Literal:

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God”

ESV:

“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…”

NIV84: It’s a poem!

“Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…”

NIV:

“Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…”

The Message: “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all.”

Which revelation is the Most Accurate?

Which interpretation is the most literal?

Which interpretation best captures what the revelation means?

Well, if you think any one of these is more accurate than the others, then let me actually show you the accurate revelation:

Phil 2:6: ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ.

Interpretation matters! Trying to capture what it’s saying!

In other words, we can admire the interpretation over the revelation!

JR Bucklew: the deaf community is craving just ONE translation, where we are blessed with multiple translations… Rather than view translations and interpretations as gifts for the church, we’ve actually used these translations as weapons against one another rather.

How do you judge people?

Rule: rake advantage of the resources available to you.

Conclusion:

Lesson #3: The Final Word

v. 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

Revelation is God’s will for our lives, and scripture provides for us the final word. The will of the Lord will be done!

The people gave up because they desired to submit to God’s will… and that’s a good thing. It was actually driving Paul crazy that people were trying to convince him!

Paul was on a journey to Jerusalem to face whatever trials were waiting for him there.

The best way to live is by submitting to the will of the Lord. Even if that brought trials and trouble for Paul, God’s plan was greater, better, more loving, more beautiful, and more eternal!

Paul and Jesus: Paul’s being very deliberate in trying to get us to see that Paul is in the right. He’s trying to get us to see that he’s actually modeling after Jesus!

Luke 22:42:

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Ready to face his future… with a desire NOT to go through with it, but submitted anyway.

Result? Salvation!

Humility under the authority of God’s revelation.

If Jesus said it, if the early church took a chapter out of Jesus’ playbook, shouldn’t we?