Introduction
Before Christmas we were studying Acts 20 and Paul’s farewell speech to the elders in Ephesus. So, Paul had spent around three years in Ephesus. At first he preached in the Jewish synagogue. Then he moved to the hall of Tyrannus where he taught the people every day for two years. And Luke tells us that the word of the Lord went out from that hall into the surrounding area so that all the Jews and Greeks in the Roman province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. And the lives of many people were changed for the better as God’s word did its work in them and they gave up their sins and committed themselves to doing God’s will.
Eventually it was time for Paul to leave. He first re-visited some of the churches he had planted previously. But now he wants to get to Jerusalem and also to Rome. And on the way, he arrived at Miletus. And while he was there, he sent for the elders in Ephesus. And when they arrived, he spoke to them about his own work in Ephesus and he instructed them to keep watch over themselves and over all the flock. The elders were to keep watch over themselves so that they themselves won’t wander from the truth. And they were to watch over the Lord’s flock. That is to say, they were to keep watch over the Lord’s people in Ephesus so that they won’t be led astray by false teachers. And that’s the work of the elders in every generation: keep watch over yourselves and keep watch over the Lord’s people under your care.
And after Paul finished his speech, they knelt down and prayed. And they wept and embraced and kissed one another. And Luke tells us that what grieved the Ephesian elders the most was the thought that they would never see Paul again.
Verses 1 to 16
According to verse 1 of today’s passage, Paul and his companions had to tear themselves away from the Ephesian elders. I’ve said before that saying good-bye to the Ephesian elders was a sad and moving occasion. And that’s confirmed by these words. Because of the bonds of love between them, which were created in them by the Holy Spirit, it was no easy thing for any of them to say good-bye to one another. Saying good-bye was painful. Just as it’s painful when we tear a bandage from our skin, so it’s painful to tear ourselves away from people we love.
But Paul had to go, because — as we learned back in verse 22 of chapter 20 — the Holy Spirit was compelling him to leave. We don’t know why or how, but God the Holy Spirit had communicated to Paul that he had to travel to Jerusalem. And so, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, Paul was prepared to leave his friends in Ephesus and move on from there to Jerusalem.
And Luke tells us that they put out to sea and sailed to Cos, which is a small island. Then they went to Rhodes, which is another island. And from there they moved on to Patara. There they got on a ship which was sailing to Phoenicia, which was a small country to the north of Jerusalem. This ship took them past the island of Cyprus and it stopped at Tyre. And according to verse 4, there were some believers there and Paul and his companions decided to stay with them for a week.
And Luke tells us that through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. However, look at verse 5: when their time was up, Paul and his companions left and continued on their way. So, Paul and his companions disregarded what the local believers in Tyre said about not going to Jerusalem. Though the believers urged him not to go, he continued on his way. And this seems puzzling, especially as Luke mentions in verse 3 that the believers in Tyre urged him ‘through the Spirit’. Was Paul disobeying the Spirit of God? Was he disobeying a word from the Lord? And the answer is: no, he wasn’t disobeying the Spirit of God. After all, Paul said to the Ephesian elders in the previous chapter that the Holy Spirit wanted him to go to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit was compelling him to go.
So, how do we fit these two things together: the Holy Spirit compelling Paul to go to Jerusalem and the believers in Tyre telling him through the Spirit not to go? It seems likely that what the Holy Spirit revealed to the believers in Tyre is what would happen to Paul when he reached Jerusalem and how he would face trouble there. That was the Spirit’s message to them about Paul. And because they were concerned for Paul’s well-being, they advised him to stay away from Jerusalem. So, don’t go there, because the Holy Spirit says you’ll suffer there. But because the Holy Spirit was compelling Paul, then he was prepared to go to Jerusalem no matter what the cost and no matter how he would suffer. The believers didn’t want to see him suffer. So, they urged him to avoid Jerusalem. But Paul was willing to go and to suffer for the sake of Christ and the gospel.
And so, we read in the rest of verse 5 that all the disciples and their wives and children accompanied Paul and his companions out of the city. And they all knelt down on the beach to pray for one another. And then they said their good-byes and went their separate ways.
And so, Paul and his companions continued on their voyage to Jerusalem. They sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais, where they stayed the night with some local believers. Then they sailed to Caesarea, where they stayed with Philip the Evangelist. We’ve met Philip before. He was one of the believers in Jerusalem who was chosen in chapter 6 to be a deacon and to oversee the daily distribution of food to the needy widows. He’s also the one who met the Ethiopian eunuch in chapter 8 who was going back home from Jerusalem and who was reading about the Suffering Servant in the book of Isaiah. And Philip explained the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch and how the Lord Jesus is the Suffering Servant who suffered for the sins of his people. And the Ethiopian eunuch believed and was baptised. Well, Philip now lives in Caesarea with four unmarried daughters who prophesied. And Paul and his companions stayed with them for several days.
And a prophet called Agabus turned up from Judea. And he had a message from the Lord for Paul. And this message was not only a word from the Lord, but it was also a sign from the Lord to show Paul what would happen to him. He took Paul’s belt and tied his own hands and feet with it. And having tied his hands and feet, he said: ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: in this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ And Luke tells us that when they heard this message from the Holy Spirit, they all pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Presumably the message the believers in Tyre received was something similar. The Holy Spirit was revealing to them how Paul would suffer for Christ and the gospel in Jerusalem. And because they were concerned for his safety, Paul’s companions urged him once again to stay away from Jerusalem. ‘Don’t go there, because you’ll only suffer there. The Jews will arrest you and they’ll hand you over to the Gentiles.’ And the only reason the Jews would hand him over to the Gentiles is if they wanted the Gentiles to execute Paul.
There are echoes here of what happened to the Lord Jesus. The Jews arrested the Lord Jesus, but they didn’t have the authority to crucify him. And so, they handed him over to Pilate for execution. And the Holy Spirit was revealing that the Jews in Jerusalem wanted the same thing to happen to Paul. So, they would arrest him and hand him over to the Romans to be executed. And Paul friends pleaded with him not to go.
And look how Paul responded to their pleas in verse 13. He said to them: ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?’ He’s affected by their concern. He’s moved by their pleas. They’re upset and he’s upset. However, then he went on to say: ‘I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ So, even though their pleas affected him and moved him, he was nevertheless willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. It was God’s will for him to go to Jerusalem and he would go, no matter what the cost to him. And no matter what they said to him, he would not be dissuaded. And in this way, he was just like the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s disciples warned the Lord Jesus not to go to Jerusalem, but he set his face to go and he would not be dissuaded, because it was his Father’s will for him to go to Jerusalem to suffer and to die for his people. And God had given Paul the mind of Christ. He was prepared to do what Christ his Saviour did. He, of course, could not die for the sins of his people the way Christ died for our sins. But who knows? Perhaps Paul’s suffering would somehow advance the cause of the gospel. But whatever the outcome, he was prepared to suffer all things for the sake of his Saviour.
And when they realised he would not change his mind, they gave up trying to persuade him and they submitted themselves to God’s will.
And after this, they got ready and went up to Jerusalem. Some of the believers in Caesarea went with him and they stayed at the home of this man, Mnason.
Verses 17 to 26
That’s the first part of today’s passage. The second is from verses 17 to 26. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the believers there received them warmly. And the next day they all went to see James and all the elders. This James is most likely the Lord’s half-brother. And we met him before, back in chapter 15. He seems to have been the leader of God’s people in Jerusalem in those days. And Paul reported to James and the elders in Jerusalem what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. We have to admire the way Paul gives all the glory to God. So, instead of reporting what he himself had done, he reported what God had done through his ministry. Paul was merely the instrument in the hands of the Lord and all the praise and glory and honour should go to God and not to Paul, who is only the Lord’s servant, doing the will of the Lord. And after they heard Paul’s report, they praised God. Do you see that in verse 20?
And then James and the elders in Jerusalem reported to Paul that many thousands of Jews have believed the good news about Jesus Christ. Isn’t that remarkable? They’re saying that the church in Jerusalem has grown since the Day of Pentecost. On that day, around 3,000 Jews were converted to faith in Christ. And since that time, many more thousands of Jews were converted. So, Christ was building his church on the earth. He was planting many churches throughout the Roman Empire through the ministry of men like Paul. And he was also building his church in Jerusalem at the same time.
And they went on to say to Paul that those many thousands of believing Jews are zealous for the law. They’re referring, of course, to God’s law. And specifically, they’re thinking about the ceremonial laws: the laws about ceremonial purity and what you could and couldn’t eat and what you could and couldn’t touch and laws about circumcision and that kind of thing.
These believing Jews were zealous for the law. So, although they now believed that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, who died to pay for our sins with his life and who shed his blood to cleanse us of our guilt, they still wanted to keep God’s laws about ceremonial purity.
And it seems there was a rumour going around among them that Paul was teaching the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from the law. And according to this rumour, Paul was teaching them not to circumcise their children and not to live according to Jewish custom.
Now, there’s no evidence that the rumour is true. There’s no evidence in the New Testament that Paul ever taught believing Jews not to circumcise their children and not to live according to Jewish custom. However, while he didn’t teach that, he did teach them that circumcision is of no value. And circumcision is of no value, because we’re saved through faith and not by keeping the law. We’re saved by believing in the Saviour and not by being circumcised or by keeping the Old Testament food laws and so on. So, the rumour was not exactly correct. But we can perhaps understand how the rumour was started.
James and the elders in Jerusalem go on to ask in verse 22: ‘What shall we do?’ That is to say: What shall we do to appease them? What shall we do to put their minds at rest? And they propose a solution which they tell Paul to do. Do you see that in verse 23? They’re saying to Paul: do what we tell you.
And what do they tell him to do? It seems there were four men with them who had made a vow which would be completed once they shaved their heads. Presumably it was some kind of temporary Nazarite vow which meant they would not cut their hair for a certain number of days. And whenever those days had passed, they would then cut their hair. We don’t know why they would make such a vow, but they did. And James and the elders tell Paul, not to make the same vow, but to perform the same purification rite which they would perform and then pay their expenses. They wanted Paul to purify himself, because the Jews who were zealous for the law would consider Paul unclean because he’d spent so much time among the Gentiles. And so, as far as they were concerned, he needed to remove any uncleanness he may have picked up from them. And paying the expenses for the four men was a big deal, because that meant paying for several animals which had to be offered to God as sacrifices. So, what they were telling Paul to do was costly. But, they tell him in the middle of verse 24 that if he does this, everybody will know that there’s no truth in these reports about Paul and they will know that he’s living in obedience to the law.
So, they’re hoping that this plan of theirs, which they’re telling Paul to perform, will pacify those believing Jews who are zealous for the law. As for believing Gentiles, James and the elders explain to Paul what he already knows, which is that they’re written to them about abstaining from certain things. We thought about those things when we were studying Acts 15.
So, that’s the plan. And the next day Paul took the men and did everything he was told to do. He began to purify himself and the men. This would take seven days. He therefore gave notice of when the purification would be complete and the sacrifices offered.
Verses 27 to 30
And James and the elders were hoping that this would satisfy the believing Jews. But what happened? Take a look at verse 27. Some Jews from the Roman province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. Presumably these are not believing Jews, but unbelieving Jews. And they stirred up a crowd and seized Paul. And they shouted to others, telling them that Paul is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and against our law and against the temple. And then they accused him of defiling the temple by bringing Gentiles into it. And according to verse 30, the whole city was aroused or stirred up and people came running from all directions. And they seized Paul and dragged him from the temple and the gates were shut. They dragged him from the temple in order to kill him.
Application 1
And that’s where we’ll leave it and we’ll come back to it on another Sunday. But what’s the point of this passage? What can we learn from it?
There are at least three things to learn. The first is a lesson which we’ve seen before, which is that Christianity began in a hostile environment. Back in chapter 20, Paul said to the Ephesian elders that the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that wherever he goes he will face prison and hardship. And we’ve seen that that was the case, because wherever Paul went, he faced opposition from those who did not believe. Unbelievers rioted because of him and Paul was beaten and stoned and imprisoned. And in this chapter, his friends in Tyre and in Caesarea warned him about what he would suffer when he got to Jerusalem. And even when James and the elders came up with their plan to placate the believing Jews, it still didn’t prevent Paul from suffering at the hands of the unbelieving Jews. Wherever he went, Paul faced troubles and trials and suffering for the sake of Christ and the gospel.
And yet, despite the opposition he faced, despite the hostile environment, the church grew. Paul was able to report to James all that God had done through his ministry. He was referring to all the Jews and Gentiles who had been converted and to all the churches which had been planted. And James was able to report to Paul that many thousands of Jews had believed in Jerusalem. Despite the hostility of those who did not believe, the church grew.
And the church still exists within a hostile environment. We’re surrounded by people who do not believe; and we’re surrounded by people who are scornful about religion. And we’re surrounded by people who have rejected all that is good and right; and they have given in to their sinful desires and inclinations to do evil; and they mock us for not joining them in their sinful practices. And in many places around the world, believers face outright persecution for their faith and every day they risk violence or imprisonment or death for the sake of Christ.
But we shouldn’t think that the church cannot survive in this kind of climate. Every so often I read in the local news about another restaurant that has closed. The owners complain that the economic climate is against them and there’s nothing they can do to overcome rising costs. And so, they have to close. But while the spiritual or moral climate may be against us, we needn’t be afraid for the future of Christ’s church on the earth, because the Lord has promised to build his church and he will not let the devil conquer his people.
And so, we needn’t be afraid, but we must pray to the Lord, asking him to do what he has said he will do and to build his church on the earth and here in Belfast. Ask him to use the foolishness of preaching to save sinners from the path of destruction, which they’ve chosen for themselves, and to give them forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of eternal life. And ask him to make them members of his church so that they will worship him here on earth. Christianity began in a hostile environment and yet it grew. And the Lord is able to keep his people and to build his church in our day as well.
Application 2
And then let’s think about James and the elders in Jerusalem. They were hoping to appease the believing Jews in Jerusalem who were zealous for the ceremonial law. But their plan backfired when Paul was seized by the unbelieving Jews.
And I think their plan needed to backfire, because they needed to learn that those Old Testament laws about ceremonial purity were no longer in force. They were put in place by God to teach his Old Testament people that they’re sinners who need to be cleansed. But we’re cleansed, not by ceremonial washing with water, but through faith in the Saviour who shed his blood on the cross to remove the stain of our guilt for ever. Those believing Jews needed to see that the laws about washing and circumcision were temporary. And now that Christ has come and has died for sinners, they are no longer necessary.
And James and the elders needed to see that so long as they continued to keep those laws, and to insist on them, the church on earth would always be divided, because there would always be one law for believing Jews and another law for believing Gentiles. Believing Jews would have to do this and believing Gentiles would have to do that. Believing Jews would have to avoid one thing and believing Gentiles would have to avoid something else. They would always be divided and they would always be suspicious of one another: ‘Why are you doing what we consider to be wrong?’ ‘Why do you approve of what we consider sinful?’
And so, the plan had to backfire so that the believing Jews would realise that the Old Testament purity laws were no longer required. They needed someone to shut them out of the temple so that they would realise that they no longer needed the temple, now that Christ has come to reconcile God and sinners by his death on the cross.
And if Jesus Christ is your Saviour — if you’re trusting in him for salvation — then you can be assured that his death washes away all of your guilt. No matter how bad your sins, no matter how badly you have disobeyed God, the death of Christ removes your sins from you and God will never ever hold them against you. And this is true because of Christ, who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and who shed his blood to cleanse us.
Application 3
And finally and far too briefly: The Holy Spirit revealed to Paul what would happen to him in Jerusalem. The Spirit could reveal it, because God had planned it.
Now, we don’t know what will happen to us in this coming year, because God the Holy Spirit has not revealed it to us. But since God controls all things, then we know that whatever happens to us, good or bad, is God’s will for us. And God, who is infinitely and eternally and unchangeably good, is able to work all things together for our good. And so, you should commit yourself to his care and keeping, trusting in him to help you face whatever trials and temptations may come and to remain faithful to him just as he promises to remain faithful to you.
Sermons and Stuff 