In Acts 20, Paul and the others were standing on the beach at Miletus with the elders and the others literally weeping as Paul was boarding the ship. They knew they would never see their beloved Paul again. They all understood the danger that awaited Paul when he went as it were to the lion’s den of Jerusalem. He barely escaped the multiple plots and schemes of the Jews to kill him as they followed Paul and now, he is headed straight to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:
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.
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.’”
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.
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.”
26 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.
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.)
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.
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!”
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[a]:
I used to look at the book of Acts one thing which I always used to remember about the passage which we read today about Paul being warned by the Prophets that he will be chained in Jerusalem and it will be difficult. And Today I am preaching this chapter. I’s amazing.
we have seen three missionary Journeys and this chapter points to the end of the third missionary journey. This chapter talks about God’s Leading , direction , suffering and confirmation .
Here Paul has to make a decision . I am taking about major decisions. I’m talking about major decisions which we have to make in life. Decisions that will alter the course of our life. Where to go to school. Who or IF to marry. What job to take. Whether to start a family. Whether to buy a house. Whether to join or associate with a church. Whether to put in for or take a promotion. Where to invest and how much to invest. Whether or not to retire and when. What to do in retirement. Whether or not to seek treatment for an illness, and what treatment to undertake. How to appropriately care for parents or spouses or children who need special care. And may more. These decisions can change the course of our life.
The Holy Spirit Confirms:
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.
Will just summarize the entire chapter, Paul being warned by his disciples, followers. And then by a prophet that in Jerusalem there are hardships waiting for him. It was not that they wanted him to go. It was the love and emotions . They say him not to go because he will be persecuted.
In the past Paul escaped many trials, the beat him, tried to kill him in other places, one time they thought he died but he rose again. He escaped all that But this time, The Spirt confirms him that This would be the last, he wont be able to escape this time. This was a confirmation to Paul. This morning I will speaking on God’s will, the word of God for us this morning.
God’s will: The will of God consists of things that are in line with God’s plan and purpose. Simply stated, it is the things that God desires.
Picturise God’s will:
- All good and everything goes well
- Fit’s a little bit with my desire and my will
If I say everything but then it becomes my will so I need a little bit of my desire and my will.
- Suffering is not God’s will and It’s Sin
- My Past experiences
- It worked in that way so it will work this time also the same way.
- 100% Confirmation
- Road should be clear and no confusion , then it’s God’s will for me.
In our life we will be either doing God’s will or going against it. We can broaden it with our responses.
No Desire to know the will of God:
The response of this group is that they don’t want to know the will of God but they are aware of it but they don’t desire to know. They don’t ask for it. It’s all about their planning and desires. They do everything by themselves and then say God your will be done.
Desire to Know the will of God but don’t submit to the will of God.
The response of this group is that they know the will of God but does not do it. They are highly resistant by imaging the cost they have to pay.
Desire to Know the will of God and do the will of God
The response of this group is that they desire to know God’s will. They wait on God. They Keep their desires aside and they do the will of God.
Actually , we can write a book on the aspect of God’s will. There are so many stories, so many experiences, so many people we have come across over the period of years who have either choose God’s will or they refused to accept God’s will. Our Spirt cries out. We have so many personal experiences. We had a desire to go to Pune and settle down. We communicated with our Pastor as well. I have shared this many times, we even went and prayed for that place. I choose a Company which had a branch in Pune as well. We were very excited. Pune being an IT Hub , my carrier and some international schools in Pune , we were confident that is the Place. One fine day , we got a call from our Pastor to meet and within few minutes everything changed. He was asking us to move to Panvel. Now whatever he said contradicts to our plans , prayers, desires, comfort. But I have seen my Pastors life, I have seen the hand of God in his family and ministry.
Paul’s response to God’s will.
He Acknowledges the will of God:
When Paul choose to go to Jerusalem, He knew that there are oppositions waiting for him. And he escaped many times before. Once he wanted to go to a place but the holy spirit does not allow him to go. But this time he sees a difference that People are speaking the will of God to him that he has to suffer. But with great emotions and love , they see the future what he is going to go through. But Paul acknowledges the will of God.
Paul Surrendered to God’s will:
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.’”
The Prophet is not talking about what may happen but he is taking about what will happen.
Agabus has already been mentioned on one other occasion.
Acts 11:28-30 (ESV)
28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Paul enjoyed success in many places but he was also ready for challenges.
Paul was ready to suffer in God’s will:
God spoke to Ananias in Acts 9
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Suffering was waiting for him. A journey which will be difficult and Paul choose to do that. Our Journey with God will not be easy and it will be adventurous.
Paul choose hardship, unknown journey, trusting God to the fullest. He accepted it with willing fully and cheerfully What would you choose?
Paul God’s Will Entirely:
The one thing which I believe, it’s most important for us is Paul did not leave his calling halfway. Before this event he established churches, his name was well known, he did many miracles but why he has to go to Jerusalem.
Many of us are sometimes quite selective about what aspects of God’s will we are willing to do. We think that if we have done 99 % of the will of God, that is good enough and we have done very well. The 1 % of the will of God which is still undone does not matter to us. But it matters to God. But when we look at our Lord Jesus we see that He did not leave any part of God’s will undone. He said it was finished. He completed it.
In our Christian Journey , we move form one place to another, from one church to another being very selective, our vision changes, our goal changes and God’s will in our lives also changes.
This was also the difference between King Saul and King David in OT times. Saul was told to carry out some instructions – to destroy the Amalekites, with all their animals. But his obedience was incomplete. He carried out the order to destroy the Amalekites, but he did not do it completely. He spared their king and all their cattle. And then he tried to substitute what he had not done, for something that He thought would be even better – giving animal sacrifices to God. For that, he was rebuked and rejected by God with the words, ‘to obey is better than sacrifice.‘
Now, it was precisely because of this that God chose David to be king to replace Saul – Acts 13:22
After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
This implies that David carried out God’s will completely, 100 %, without leaving anything out, or making any substitutes.
We have to be careful not to fall into the error of King Saul who did God’s will, but not thoroughly. 90 or 95 % is not good enough. Seek to do it 100 %
In this text, Luke is showing that Paul has to go to Jerusalem. We remember that the believers there were suffering greatly and Paul and the others were to arrive with much needed aid that they had collected through the generosity of the churches.
There are many similarities between what Luke writes about Paul and what he writes about Jesus in his Gospel. As each one set their face like flint to go to Jerusalem. we must see the general similarity between what Paul is about to suffer in Jerusalem and what Jesus suffered there.
And therefore as we look at the whole world, we can see now just how greatly lacking it is in submission to the will of God. John 3:19 tells us ‘that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.’
How would I respond to God’s Will.
- Have a Desire Hear from God
- Have a Desire to Hear from People
- Start working on the Calling.
Our Journey..
Jesus said it is finished, Paul said I have finished the race
2 Timothy 7
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
John 19:30
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Perhaps someone has done something against you and to this day, you bear a grudge against him and refuse to forgive him. God reveals His will in Ephesians 4:32 ‘And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
Perhaps not many people thought that Amy Carmichael had much of a chance at being a missionary. Suffering from neuralgia, Amy was often weak and in pain so great that she was confined to her bed for weeks at a time. But Amy knew that God had called her to mission work. And with the encouragement of a few, she did go. In India, she found her life calling, and spent her remaining 55 years there without ever going home. Her life was dedicated to ending child prostitution and giving a home and a future to India’s many orphans. Amy was also a prolific author, and her many books have encouraged and inspired many throughout the years.
One can give without loving but cannot love without giving
In Missions , God’s will is adventurous, it’s joyful, it’s painful but is amazing. You all are here not my accident and we are hearing our message today about the will of God is also not accident. It’s God’s will.
If we are in a place of making decisions, hear God clearly. Always have someone in our lives whose thought challenges our thoughts.
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the Renewed Hope Community. The Renewed Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that Renewed Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel, Church in Karanjade because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.
0 Comment