They kept telling Paul
Acts 21:1-14 · Vern Peterman · Jul 22, 2018
Acts (2017-18), No. 71
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261911137597

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We're going to be working our way through this passage that Tim just read for us, Acts 21, 1-14. And as we do that, there are going to be five things for us to take a look at here this morning, and one of them actually precedes this passage that we read.

So the first one will be the church in the city of Ephesus. Paul had met, as we saw last week, in the 20th chapter. He had met with the elders from Ephesus in the city of Miletus, and he told them that he would meet with them for the very last time. And so we want to revisit that just one more time with a focus on a message that was given from Christ to the seven churches, and particularly the first one there, to Ephesus, some 40 years later.

And next we're going to talk about Paul's travel itinerary going from Miletus to Caesarea in the passage that we'll be looking at this morning that Jim read for us. There's certainly a, you know, he went from here to there and spent this much time here and that sort of thing. And so we'll want to take a look at that. Next we'll want to see, also included in that passage, warnings from the Holy Spirit or given through the Holy Spirit through the believers in both Tyre and as we see in more detail in Caesarea. So from the believers to Paul about Jerusalem. And also just looking at what kinds of trials and suffering are there, and what kind is it that Paul is going through here, and what does that mean to us? And then finally, what do we learn from how the believers, including Paul, handled the warnings?

It's actually a good place to kind of revisit, pause for a minute, and ask us what lessons the Lord's teaching is here. So I would begin by asking this question. Would you like to receive a letter from Jesus this week? Would you like that? We'll have Nancy pass around a sign-up sheet so that you can do that. No, just kidding. But would you like to receive a letter from Jesus?

This is what the church in Ephesus actually receives and in the others of the seven churches of Revelation chapter 2 and 3. And we'll only take a look at this one, Revelation 2, 1 through 3, because it is the one that is the follow-on 40 years later for the church in Ephesus. And it reads like this. Revelation 2, 1-3-3 begins, "...to the angel of the messenger," or the angel, we'll take it as the messenger, "...of the church in Ephesus write, The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands."

These are symbols that come out of chapter 1. Basically, these are references that point clearly to Christ. And this is the resurrected, ascended Christ. So it's referring to him. So he says this to the believers in the church at Ephesus, and this is about 95 AD, so about 40 years later than after the time that Paul had met with the elders.

So he says in verse 2, I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance and that you cannot tolerate evil men and that you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not. and you found them to be false, and you have perseverance, and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary." Verse four, and this is the heavy part. But I have this against you, you have left your first love.

Therefore remember from where you have fallen, ooh, wow, And repent and do the things you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

You've left your first love. That's pretty potent. Think about what does he mean, you've left your first love. We can start with thinking about God's love for us, for each one of us. For God so loved the world, John 3.16 begins, He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God so loved the world, He loved and He gave. And why do we say that's the first love? Our love for Him is in response to His love for us. This is 1 John 4, verse 19. We love because He first loved us. If we only knew how much God loves us, what a difference that would make. The Apostle Paul goes on to reaffirm that in affirming Christ's love for us.

In Galatians 2.20, it says, He loved and He gave.

He wrote again in Ephesians 5.2, Christ loved and He gave. Ephesians 5 25 he loved and he gave interestingly John 3 16 and Galatians 2 20 Ephesians 5 22 and 25 he loved and he gave is Always the same words in the same sequence every time he loved and gave He first loved us and gave If we only knew How much he loved us.

What a difference that would make. Now, since it's kind of smoky outside, I'll call this an experiment. And I'll apologize to those who are listening by tape, because my voice does not record as well that way. Also, I'm doing an acapella, or acapulco as they joke, right?

How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure, That He should give His only Son. To make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss The father turns his face away, As wounds which mar the chosen one Bring many sons to glory. Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers, It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished.

His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, No gifts, no power, no wisdom, But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.

And now the X verse that we sing only here at Holly Hills. Behold the man upon a cross, and I too die there with him. So I have died unto the world, and to the law and the sin. As there my Savior bled and died, His death is now my history. So I no longer live this life.

He now lives from within me." This first love is not just His love for us so that we love Him in return. But this first love is also His love for us that causes us to love one another. Not only could we say, if we only knew how much the Lord loves us, what a difference that would make. But if we only knew how much the Lord loves the person sitting next to us and nearby, what a difference that would make among us. First love. A first love that comes from Him first loving us. And us loving Him in return. And then finally, love for one another.

On page two of your handout, you have the map form of the itinerary that Dr. Luke recorded for us in this passage. And the itinerary starts with meeting with the elders at Miletus, who are from Ephesus. He meets with them there. And verse one in Acts 21 has him departing Miletus.

From there he goes to the island of Kos, then Rhodes, and then it records that he goes to Patara. And then from there he goes just to the south of Cyprus, headed towards the coast of what is Syria, that coastal area called Phoenicia, Tyre and Sidon are at the south end of that. So Phoenicia is marked there, that's the coastal area of Syria, including Tyre and Sidon. And then he goes to the south of Cyprus, And then here's Syria, which is the inland name for the larger area. They would have regional as well as larger area names. Just for example, this is the Front Range area of Colorado.

So it would be an example of that kind of thing. finally going to Tyre, as we read about in the account, and ending up in this account at Caesarea. By the way, as we'll soon find out, this is not Paul's last trip to Caesarea. He's actually going to return back there under circumstances he didn't quite anticipate, and spend about two years there. So anyway, this is the map version of Paul's itinerary.

The account gives a week's time, entire, and then not quite so much of a time designation, but more of an event designation there at Caesarea. So, let's take a look at, first we talk about warnings and teaching. This is something that came out of Acts 19.6, through Ananias. Jesus said that he would warn and teach Paul how much he would suffer for Jesus' name. So this is not the usual word. It's translated show, which is an okay term. It's not the usual word that is often used in the New Testament for show. It is one that includes the meanings warnings and teachings.

So Paul is going to be warned, as we see happens in this very passage. And he even brought it up in the last passage in chapter 20. But also teaching Paul this is what it means. This is why you are suffering. something we want to gain insight from ourselves.

So Paul had told the elders from Ephesus that he warned them, and the term he used was every city, I'm being warned by the Holy Spirit that bonds and affliction await me. So one of the things that comes out loud and clear here is Paul is not into pain avoidance. It doesn't mean that he's a masochist, heading for the pain per se. But he doesn't look at pain avoidance as the ultimate guidance of God.

Instead, although he is warned and he's told in every city, this is what you're headed for, he knows from the Lord Himself that this is what the Lord has for him. Although he is warned about what's ahead, he is indeed going there by God's deliberate and explicit direction. He was warned in Tyre, and we have a brief account of that with the believers there, a warning given by the Holy Spirit, and he was also warned in Caesarea, which we have more of an account of in this passage. And the warning was about what awaited him in Jerusalem.

The believers in each place did not want him to go to Jerusalem. They said, we don't want you to go there. We know what's coming up there in Jerusalem. We would rather not see you go through that. It sounds scary to us. Paul, we wouldn't want that for you.

But Paul, he himself knew that that's what he had to look forward to. even though the Apostle Paul was very well aware of what was awaiting him, what was ahead for him there in Jerusalem. The believers urged him not to go there. Paul knew what God had planned for him and what God intended.

And in fact, he said in advance, I'm going to serve the saints. Jesus appears to him after his time there at the end of his time in Jerusalem, and Jesus again, as he appears to him, says, just as you have served, past tense, the saints, so you will serve me in Rome.

So one of the points we'd like to make here is that not all suffering is created equal. All people go through pain and suffering Believers and unbelievers alike and it's a result of the fact that there is a Fallen world out there. Okay, the earth is cursed the human race is It gets the fulfillment of what Adam was warned about in the garden. The day that you will eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God told Adam, and the translations are often, you will surely die. In the Hebrew, it's you will die die, right? It's double. You will die die. And sometimes translated in dying, you will die, right? But that's the reason it's brought out that way.

All people go through pain and suffering because we live in a fallen world. Great tragedies will happen, and people will often be said to come out with, where was God in all this? Where was God? Why didn't God stop this? Well, guess what? If it's God's job to stop pain and suffering, He's doing a terrible job, wouldn't you say? But it's not God's job, and He warned Adam in advance. If you eat of that tree, you will die die. On the day that you will eat of it, you will die.

In the end, the pain and the suffering and the limitations are there with one significant purpose, especially for the unbeliever that we might seek Him. If everything was cool and cushy and everything just floated along and there were no rough spots at all, would people seek him? Probably not. Difficulties come to those in the unbelieving world because of that. Because we live in a fallen world.

For believers, and these are our next three that we want to take a look at, believers may also be disciplined by God. God can use circumstances to discipline the believer who has fallen off the track, right? And as a means of restoring that believer to the path of fellowship with God and with his unbelievers. Every trial of God has its purpose.

And this is one thing for us always to remember. We can get in the middle of something. Ever been through a trial and you say, that's about enough? In the middle of it, hey, it would be nice if this just stopped right now. You know, Nancy said a number of times, now would be a great day for the Lord to come back. Right? Ever heard that? Why? It's because we get in the middle of it and we say, boy, this is rough. And indeed, many trials are. And the Lord may in fact have a trial in place for us that's really His discipline of us, right? By the way, we need to cover something very important. Does God ever punish believers? Does God ever punish believers? The answer is no. Sometimes, I've talked to multiple pastors who had this happen. Somebody will come to him and say, how do I get God off my back?

Good luck with that, right? How do I get God to leave me alone, right? Or how do I get the rock out of my road, so to speak? And guess what? You're not going to get God off your back, because first of all, He's not on your back. Secondly, the rock that he put there had better stay there until the reason for it is taken out of the way. It is not the church's job to remove rocks from the road.

It is easy sometimes for us to want to pray, well take this away, take that away, well maybe it's supposed to be there. Believers may be disciplined by God. Secondly, believers go through trials and suffering designed by God for our spiritual growth. God is never messing up. Oh, there are going to be trials that we look at and we say, boy, that sure isn't what I'd pick. But God is never messing up.

We need what's happening to us one way or the other. Thirdly, believers also may suffer for Christ's name. That's what Paul was told through Ananias, that he was going to experience suffering for his name. That's what that word showed. I will show him. I will warn him and teach him. I will warn him and teach him how much he must suffer for my name, Christ said. There is suffering for his name.

In truth, in our culture, it's probably more unusual, but not necessarily. Have you ever had difficulty with a family member, maybe extended family member, or a friend, or a neighbor, because you're a Christian. That can be a part of it. Not because you're obnoxious, by the way. That doesn't count. But, because you're a Christian, you can have difficulty with family members because of his name. That's part of suffering for his name. There's something else that's very, very important for us as a takeaway here. What the Book of Acts shows us about conflict and harmony among believers. There are two places in the book of Acts, and we just looked at one of them, and we looked previously in chapter 15 at another.

Two places where the believers are at odds, and in both cases, it's Paul at odds with another believer or other believers. The first one we looked at was Paul and Barnabas. They had a sharp disagreement on how to begin the second missionary journey. Paul said, hey, let's go back to the churches and see how they're doing. Barnabas says, that's a great idea. How about taking my relative, John, John Mark? And Paul says, no way.

They had a sharp disagreement. We'll revisit that shortly here. But that put them off in different directions. Was that a really bad thing? Well, let's take a look. Here in this passage, the other believers and Paul were at odds about what to do with the warnings. He got repeated warnings.

This is what you're headed for in Jerusalem. You got bonds and afflictions that you're headed for in Jerusalem. And none of the other believers who heard about it liked the sound of it. I don't know, maybe even the Apostle Paul didn't like the sound of it either. But it wasn't going to stop him from going.

One of the things that we see here is this. Disagreement may result from God giving different ministries to different believers. And so those ministry assignments may put us in different directions. Did God lead Paul to go on the second missionary journey? Yes.

Because Paul did not accept Having John Mark go along, guess what? Barnabas spent time with John Mark and helped restore him to a place of usefulness so that he eventually was asked to be in ministry by both Paul and Peter. So did Barnabas have a useful time with John Mark? Absolutely. Did Paul make use of that time when he went off on his second missionary journey? Yes.

And he took along with him and began a ministry with Timothy, which lasted, from anything we can tell, beyond Paul's lifetime. And Paul ended up having Timothy either be a co-author mentioned in or the recipient of most of Paul's letters. So great value came out of both of what Paul did and what Timothy did, even though they disagreed. What it amounted to was a recognition, ultimately, on the part of both of them, of what the Lord had in mind for each of them individually. It put them on a different God-intended ministry path. So the disagreement was useful. It was a godly disagreement.

In here, what we see is God gave a message of warning through the Holy Spirit to the believers entire, to the believers, and especially through Agabus, their incesoria. That warning, however, that warning did not stop Paul from heading in the direction he was supposed to. Both the believers bringing this message of warning and the Apostle Paul headed towards Jerusalem, they were both doing what God intended. It put them for moments at conflict.

Second, biblical harmony is preserved when all are willing to be subject to the will of the Lord. In the end, a recognition, no, God's doing something different with this believer than He is with that one. And the disagreement is simply the starting point for ministry for both. It doesn't explain every single disagreement, but in both of the cases here in Acts, it certainly explains it and it gives us insight among ourselves.

The third point comes as a question. Having been seated together with Christ and the heavenlies, will there be church splits and public arguments amongst believers once we walk through heaven's gates and see the Lord face to face? Will you and I go and stand before the Lord and say, Lord, did you see what that guy did? I'm terribly upset. It was awful what he did. And he went off in a different direction. And, oh, we're going to split this church up. We're going to hit this direction and that direction.

Do you think we'll be doing that once we see the Lord face to face? I think not. So that's one of the things to keep in perspective, is how does this conflict, whatever we're doing, how does that fit with eternity? With an eternal perspective in mind and seeing what the Lord has already done and what eternity will be like, What's the perspective that I should have now?

And finally, in our eternal position, the unity of the Spirit is already present. This is what this great elective in Ephesians gets to look at here. An urging to preserve the unity of the Spirit. How does the unity of the Spirit get preserved? It's already there. We don't have to make a unity. Some people mistakenly aim for that. Let's make a unity. No, it's already there.

How does it get preserved? It gets preserved as, one, each believer walks in the Spirit, walks in dependence upon the enabling, empowering, and energizing of the Holy Spirit. Each believer individually. As each believer does that, then all believers in a church body will walk in unison together.

What's interesting is Galatians 5.16 and 25.

Galatians 5.16 is the one that says, walk in the Spirit and you won't satisfy the desires of the flesh. That's walk individually. There's a different Greek word in verse 25. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. And that word walk is not the same word walk. It means to walk together in unison. It's used of Roman soldiers marching together in unison and in harmony. The unity and the harmony among us comes because each believer walks in the Spirit and as we walk in the Spirit together. we walk in harmony."

Notice that with these disagreements, they were in the end resolved without disharmony. The Apostle Paul continued his loving friendship with Barnabas, to whom he referred affectionately. Paul Not only did he turn around in his idea about John Mark, but his time, John Mark's time with Barnabas was so useful that both Paul and Peter were asking to have John Mark around.

Isn't that great? The unity of the Spirit is already there. We're not called to create it, simply to preserve it. That's fantastic, and we're told how that preservation takes place. And that's a wonderful thing. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. As we see this passage, here is the Apostle Paul in one sense apparently at odds with a number of the other believers. We see the other believers carrying out exactly what you wanted them to do. revealing through the Spirit what was about to happen with Paul. And we see the resolution among that entire. They prayed together in Caesarea. They all acknowledged the will of the Lord ought to be done. And we just pray that for us each day and together, every one of us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.