Acts 21 - The Slippery Slope from the Gospel Back to the Law!
On to Jerusalem
21 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
Paul, Luke, and their companions continued their missionary journey after "tearing themselves away" from the Ephesians. Apparently there was a community of believers in Tyre, as Paul stayed with them for seven days. The people in the group urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem, "through the Spirit". Maybe it was a word of prophecy spoken through one of the leaders. Paul had to discern if this was of God, or the evil one trying to scare him off. The men and their families led Paul and the others out of the city, and they all prayed together on the beach.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
We have noted before that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost, everyone was given the gift of the Spirit and also the gifts of the Spirit.. In the Spirit there was no distinction between male or female, slave or free, and Jew or Gentile. Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, had four unmarried daughters who "prophesied". This is one of many instances of women prophesying in the New Testament and in the early church. To prophesy is to speak the Word of God in a timely manner. Sometimes it is "predictive" of what will soon happen, but more often it is "prescriptive" of God's will in a given situation.
The prophet Agabus was given specific predictive prophesy for Paul. And his prophecy was not just with words, but his clothing. The object lesson came through a belt Agabus took from Paul and tied his hands and feet with. This image was to show what would happen to Paul when he went up to Jerusalem.
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” 15 After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
Though Paul did not deny the truth of this prophetic message, he refused to let it deter him from following God's call on his life. It killed Paul to see the people weeping over him. Paul knew full well his obedience to Jesus could cost him his life. Paul spoke with such authority and confidence that the believers realized the only thing they could say was, "The Lord's will be done!"
The church often faces difficult decisions. The leaders of the church need to submit to God's authority and after praying should say together, "The Lord's will be done." If this is done with a sincere heart, one can't go wrong. Though the majority opinion was that Paul should not go up to Jerusalem, they trusted Paul's leadership.
Again, the warnings of danger came from the Holy Spirit and were meant to prepare Paul. The request to turn back was understandable, even logical; yet it wasn’t of God. They recognized as much when they here attributed Paul’s insistence to go to Jerusalem despite the danger as the will of the Lord.
It is easy to do – and a source of trouble – when we add our interpretation or application to what is thought to be a word from God, often thinking that it is also from the Lord. We often find it too easy to judge God’s will for someone else. - Guzik
Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem
17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
We see that James was the leader of the early church in Jerusalem. Paul told the believers in Jerusalem how much success God had given him in reaching the Gentiles. Though the men were excited about it, they also had a problem on their hands regarding these Gentile converts. The Christians in Jerusalem were almost solely from a Jewish background. They were still zealous for the Law for some good reasons and bad reasons.
The rumor was that Paul was teaching people to disregard the customs of Moses, and specifically that one not need to circumcise their children. This was a crucial decision point for Paul. If he doubled down and refused to accept their advice to join four other men in a Jewish purification rite, it would only further foment the opposition.
"They advised Paul to both join and sponsor these four Christians from a Jewish background. The Jerusalem elders believed this would convince everyone that Paul did not preach against Jewish laws and customs for those Christians who wanted to observe them. Paul agreed to do this, to demonstrate that he never taught Christian Jews to forsake Moses and not to circumcise their children and that they were required to ignore Jewish customs, as he had been falsely accused by some among the Jerusalem Christians. The Jerusalem elders understood that this had nothing to do with Gentiles who believe in Jesus. It didn’t mean that they had to perform any Jewish rituals to be right with God. Paul would rightly refuse to compromise on this important point. - Guzik
As a compromise, the Jews asked the Gentile believers to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, which included the blood of strangled animals, and to avoid sexual immorality. If these behaviors were exhibited, it would become stumbling block to the Jewish believers. In addition, obeying any of these three rules would not involve denying their faith in Jesus.
So the question was would Paul compromise on these issues for the sake of the gospel? Or would agreeing with these stipulations begin the slippery slope from the gospel back to the law?
Paul spoke to this issue in Corinthians when he taught,
"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." 1 Corinthians 9:20-22
This verse is very important for the way we understand how we reach the culture around us. Whole churches and denominations have split over issues related to how a church lives this out in its community. I think the more we study Jesus' life, and how he revealed God's love to people, the more we will know how to manage this balance.
For instance, it may not be wrong to have a beer with those in a bar who might be far from Jesus, but getting drunk would clearly be wrong. If we go into a church that has certain teaching around baptism and communion, we should be respect of that church unless we are asked to do something against our conscience and the Word of God.
I think the key thing is that we never compromise the gospel, or advocate behaviors in direct opposition to the Law, which is summed up by loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. And, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Importantly we need to be people of the Good News. God alone is judge, so we are commanded not to judge others in terms of their standing before God. This doesn't mean we approve of behaviors clearly prohibited in the Word of God, but God alone through the power of the Holy Spirit can convict someone to turn from their and accept Christ.
Paul Arrested
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)
But the agitators soon came from the places in Asia where Paul had planted churches. Some Jews accused him of teaching against the law and the temple. Besides he did the unthinkable by bringing a Gentile believer into the temple. They did not believe that God's temple was now in the hearts of all who believe in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. They clearly missed Jesus' message that God doesn't dwell in stone temples built by human hands, but in human hearts.
30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
In a twist of God's sovereign will, it was actually the Roman commander and his soldiers who came to rescue Paul. While the commander's main concern was the riot that had developed in his city, since the cause of it was Paul, he removed him from the situation.
33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”
Like the crowds around Jesus, the anger directed at Paul reached a frenzy. This is what we call a "mob mentality." Like we often see today, some people probably didn't even know why they were there. They just wanted to be part of the crowd. Once again Paul was rescued from the angry mob by the Roman soldier who carried him away from danger.
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. 38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?” 39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.” 40 After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic,
Instead of being a victim in the situation, Paul saw it as an opportunity to preach the gospel. I think this is one of Paul's most admirable qualities. As he said in Philippians 1, "For me to live is Christ and die is gain." Paul literally surrendered his life to Jesus and only cared about fulfilling the call God had given him and finishing the race by staying faithful.
When Paul stated he was a Roman citizen this gave him certain rights.
When Paul identified himself to the Roman commander, it put him in an entirely different standing. He was a citizen of Tarsus, not a suspected terrorist. Paul said, "I implore you, permit me to speak to the people." At this moment, when his life was in danger from an angry mob and he was suspected of being a dangerous criminal, Paul had one thing on his mind: “Let me preach the gospel!”
When you are in trouble do you see it as a possibility to preach the gospel?
I remember when I had seizures back in 2007 and was in the ambulance going to the hospital. I started sharing my faith with the guys in the ambulance. Granted I was pretty out of it due to the seizures, but I think my true heart was coming out. After all, I thought I might have just died so I had nothing to lose. Sometimes I wish I had that reckless abandon to preach the gospel more often, though I don't want to have to have another seizure to do it!
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