The Lord's Will Be Done

 Acts 21:1-26

Paul was determined as ever.  Every step that his dusty, cracked sandals took it seemed as if he was gaining more confidence.  He was fully assured that he was doing God’s will.  Nothing was going to get in his way of ridding the world of those heretics called “Christians”. But, on his way to do more of “The Lord’s work” his trajectory was changed forever.  Jesus confronted Paul with his sin.  In that moment, Paul found himself face-to-face with God who is holy and pure. He didn’t argue or defend himself.  He surrendered.  Then, he said five words that changed the world.  In the end, I’ll share what I mean by that.  Right away, Jesus told Paul what he must do.  He didn’t share the gospel or share any assurance of salvation.  He said, “Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.” (Acts 22:10)  In Acts 9:15-16 we see what he was appointed to do: “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”   From the very beginning, Paul knew that he was going to face suffering.  He understood his mission.  By the grace of God and the power of the Spirit, he worked hard to this end.  This is the kind of person Paul was.  

I believe the story we’re going over today is a story of clarity and conviction.  It’s about surrendering to the lordship of Jesus.  I also think it’s a story of brothers and sisters in Christ having a genuine concern for one another.  The story begins in Acts 21.

After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 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. Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. – Acts 21:1-9

At this point, about 20 years had passed since Jesus died and rose from the dead.  Paul was on his third missionary journey.  I’m guessing that the church elders in Ephesus traveled about 50 miles to Miletus in order to tell Paul goodbye.  This shows you what kind of care the church had for Paul.  Like I said earlier, this is a story of brothers and sisters in Christ caring for one another.  That’s where we ended in Acts 20 last week.  

Luke says that he, Paul and the others stayed with the disciples at Tyre.  I don’t know if they were able to call or text ahead of time letting them know that they were coming.  Probably not.  I think the hospitality of Christians back then was something quite different.  I think there was a real devotion they had to one another. Speaking of the disciples in Tyre it says, “Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.”  I’ll come back to that statement in just a minute.

They came to Caeserea where Philip and his family lived.  Philip was an evangelist that was mentioned as one of the deacons in Acts 6.  The last we heard of him he had kind-of-a “beam me up, Scotty” moment when God made him disappear and reappear in Azotus.  He stopped in Caeserea.  He had four daughters.  It sounds a bit like March’s story.  I don’t know how it works but a female has some kind of special intuition.  You can call it “eyes in the back of the head.”  It might be some kind of radar.  I’m not sure.  There have been countless times that Miriam knew what I was doing or thinking even though I might have been totally silent or unseen.  It’s scary.  Very often I’ve asked her, “How did you know that?”  “I don’t know.” she’ll say innocently.  I’m thinking that there are secret cameras or a secret society, always watching and listening.  She doesn’t know how she knows it.  It just is, and that’s all it is.  I can never get it out of her how she knows.  Philip not only had five females in his house, four of them were prophets.  He didn’t get away with anything!

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 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 Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 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.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 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. – Acts 21:10-16

At this point, I think it would be good to try to make sense of whether or not Paul should have gone to Jerusalem.  Some people think that Paul was right in going to Jerusalem.  Some say that he shouldn’t have gone. I want to make some observations about what was actually said in Acts 21, then back away from this passage to get a big picture.  

1. Luke says,
   
   Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. - Acts 21:4  
   
   Somehow, the Spirit was involved in the disciples’ ministry to Paul.  The scripture doesn’t say what the Spirit said or who said what.  We do know that they urged Paul not to go.  Also, we don’t see anywhere where someone says, “The Holy Spirit says…”
   
   
2. Later, speaking of Agabus the prophet, it’s stated,
   
   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 Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles." - Acts 21:11
   
   We know that Agabus is a prophet of God.  It doesn’t say that he interpreted what the Holy Spirit said.  It says, “The Holy Spirit says…”  Another thing to observe is that he doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit said for Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  Neither does Agabus interpret the prophecy as the Spirit telling Paul not to go.
   
   
3. We read about Paul’s response,
   
   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." When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” - Acts 21:13-14
   
   We see here that Paul cares about they think.  He didn’t say, “Oh, I don’t care what you think!  Your opinion means nothing to me!”  Instead, we see that what the people said really did affect him.  His heart was broken.  He showed that his heart was gentle in his response.  We also see that he seemed to have a right motive for going to Jerusalem.  He was going to do this for the name of Jesus.  He was willing to die for Christ.  Regardless if he was supposed to go or not, it seems as if his heart was in the right place.  The text doesn’t say that they had an argument over who was right.  It does show that people on both sides of the issue cared for one another.  For both, their greatest desire was, “The Lord’s will be done.”

So, was Paul supposed to go to Jerusalem or not?  What was God’s will in this situation?  These are some of the possibilities as to what is going on:

1. Paul made a mistake. 
   
   
2. Paul purposefully disobeyed the Holy Spirit.  
   
   
3. The disciples in Tyre misinterpreted what the Spirit was actually saying.  

Now, I would like to step out of this story and look at the bigger picture, then I’ll come back to Acts 21.  

1. From the very beginning (Acts 9) Jesus told Paul that he was going to suffer as he preached the gospel.
   
   
2. The Holy Spirit had communicated with Paul that he was supposed to go to Jerusalem,
   
   “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” - Acts 20:22-23
   
   
3. Paul consistently had unselfish motives:
   
   I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. - Phil. 3:10-11
   
   
4. He consistently obeyed what the Spirit commanded as we see throughout Acts (i.e. 16:6).  
   
   
5. In some instances, prophets spoke or wrote about what the Spirit was saying, but they didn’t understand the interpretation.  Peter talks about the Old Testament prophets in 1 Peter 1:10-12.  They wrote about the messiah who was to come.  They searched and inquired about who this person would be and the timing of certain events associated with him.  They spoke exactly what the Spirit said even though they didn’t fully understand what it meant.  This may have been the situation in Acts 21 when the disciples of Tyre said that he shouldn’t go.  I think this is important for us to remember.  Christians will sometimes get a sense that the Holy Spirit is telling them something about another person.  It might be true that he is telling you something.  But, we need to be careful because we might not have a complete understanding of what he's trying to say.  Then, God brings another believer along, like Agabus, to clarify what the Spirit has been trying to say all along. 
   
   The way we get clarification is through the body of Christ.  God tells us how he wants the Body to work together to understand what he is trying to say: “Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. (1 Corinthians 14:29)  When we come together for sharing time for example, someone might have strong sense that God is saying something about a certain situation.  What God wants the rest of the body to do is evaluate what is being said.  So, don’t take offense if this happens.  God has told us that we need to do this.  He has designed the body of Christ so that we will be interdependent.

In Acts 20, Paul stated that he understood part of God’s will, but he didn’t understand all of it.  In Acts 20:22-23, what did he understand?  What did he not understand?  He said,

“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” - Acts 20:22-23

God’s will was for him to go to Jerusalem.  He said that he was “bound by the Spirit.” to go to Jerusalem. He was told by the Holy Spirit that he was going to face suffering in every city.  But he didn’t know exactly what was going to happen to him in one particular city, Jerusalem: “what will happen to me there [Jerusalem].”  One thing that’s really important to understand is that Paul didn’t let what he didn’t know to keep him from obeying what he did know. To me it makes more sense why Agabus said what he did.  God was using Agabus to show what would happen to Paul when he went to Jerusalem.  This situation is like what we go through.  We know certain aspects of God’s will but we still have questions.  God will sometimes send a person along to bring clarity.

When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 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. 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. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 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.” The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them. – Acts 21:17-26

Paul and his companions were finally in Jerusalem.  They spent quite some time traveling on the sea.  Paul had plenty of time to think about the persecution that was waiting for him.  I don’t know about you, but when I’m facing a tough situation I like to face it as soon as possible.  I don’t want to have a lot of time to think about it.  Not much is said in the scripture about what happened on that ship.  But God was doing something in Paul.  He was being prepared.  It seems like those that God uses the most get prepared the most.

Why would Paul take part in something that was from the old covenant, the old testament?  The vow mentioned here was probably the Nazirite vow that’s found in Numbers 6.  For some reason, these four men needed to go through the purification ritual.  Also, Paul had been in contact with many Gentiles on his trip.  In the eyes of the Jews in Jerusalem, he would need to go through the same purification as well.  The Apostle James and the Apostle Paul felt like involvement in the Nazirite vow was permissible as a Christian, as one who was under the new covenant. I think there are three things to keep in mind about this situation.  First, they knew that obeying the Law didn’t make them righteous.  It was impossible for someone to keep all the requirements of the Law.  Paul gives the purpose of the Law, 

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. - Romans 3:19-20. 

Second, they understood that their righteousness only came through Christ.  Jesus was the only one on this Earth who always did what the Father wanted. In John 8:29, he said, “I always do what pleases him.”  Jesus didn’t need to be purified.  He was pure.  He obeyed the Ten Commandments perfectly.  He never lied, never stolen, never lusted (therefore committed adultery in his heart), never murdered, never worshipped idols, always honored his parents, etc.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)  He was the fulfillment of the Law.  In speaking about the old covenant, the Law, Paul said, “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:1).  

Third, James probably had a good idea of what Jesus would have thought to be permissible.  James spent a lot of time with him.  Paul spent one-on-one time with Jesus.  He personally revealed the truth to Paul (Galatians 1:12).  

So, they felt it was permissible to continue doing the vow of the Nazirite.  They did it for the sake of the gospel.  Paul said, 

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 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. 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. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. - 1 Cor. 9:19-23  

How do you think you can follow Paul’s example in your daily life?                                                                                                   

What were the five words Paul said that changed the world?  I’ll go back to Paul’s conversion.  As he was retelling the story in Acts 22 he said, “What shall I do Lord?”  He recognized that Jesus was Lord.  He found repentance.  Surrendering to his Lord wasn’t just words he said.  In today’s time, there are many people who will say that Jesus is their Lord but their actions show that he’s not their Lord.  They’re holding something back.  When I talk with someone about Jesus being their Lord I’ll share an illustration.  Imagine that you have Jesus over to your house for supper.  You gladly welcome him into your home.  Of course, you spent the past two hours running around the house trying to clean up as fast as possible!  You eat together in the dining room, then go into the living room to talk for a while.  You take him to the room that he will be sleeping in.  To hide the lingering smell of dirty socks you use a Glade Plug-In that has the scent of frankinsence and myrrh.  Jesus looks across the hall and asks, “What’s in that room?”  “Oh nothing,” you say nervously…. “It’s just a bunch of junk.”  You surely don’t want to give him access to that room.  He can go everywhere he wants except in there.  Do you have a room that’s off-limits to Jesus?  Maybe it has to do with your money, your relationships, your sexuality, or your job.  Maybe it’s your free time.  “After all, Lord, this is my time,” you say to him.  Well, you might not ever say it to him directly like that, but that’s what your actions show.  In a way, to say that “Jesus is Lord” is to say that you’ve given him the key to every room.  I’m not asking if you’re scared to give it to him.  It can be a scary thing.  I’m asking if you’ve given it to him even though you might be scared.  

I was sharing the gospel with a student at Tri County recently.  He seemed to understand his sinfulness.  He didn’t argue with that.  He understood the gospel.  I then began to share that he needed to confess Jesus as Lord.  I shared the story with him and asked, “Is there any room in your life right now that’s off-limits to Jesus?”  He said that there was.  He didn’t share what it was but he wasn’t ready to let Jesus have authority over every area.  He wasn’t ready, so I backed off.  

Paul had given Jesus the key.  He had come to a point of surrender.  He wasn’t making any excuses.  As he was on the road to Damascus he told Jesus five words that I believe changed the world, “What shall I do, Lord.”  Here was a man who understood the lordship of Christ.  He called him “Lord.”  But he also knew that Jesus had the authority to tell him what to do in every area of his life.  When the disciples in Tyre were telling him that he shouldn’t go to Jerusalem Paul didn’t let that dissuade him.  Jesus was his Lord.  Jesus had authority over his life even when faced with trials.  After he said those five words he shared the gospel with countless people.  He trained others to do the work of evangelism.  He started multiple churches.  Much of the world that’s Christian today owes it to Paul’s surrender to Christ as Lord.  Just imagine what the Lord can do through you and I lived as if Jesus is Lord.  We would forgive when Jesus tells us to forgive.  We would give when he tells us to give.  We would share the gospel when he tells us to share the gospel.  We would obey him when he tells us to pursue other believers in our church.  We would be a different people.  This is what I pray for us.