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I’m going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter 21 is where we’re going to be together today in Acts chapter 21. And we are dealing with the really the, the final section of the book of Acts as we come to Acts chapter 21, because this is the conclusion of Paul’s missionary journey. And we find here in this particular chapter is where Paul is arrested and he spends the rest of his time in the book of Acts under house arrest. And, you know, it’s interesting when you study the Apostle Paul’s life, as we looked at the missionary journeys, he has certainly walked a difficult road in life. And it is it is intriguing when when you consider the kind of, of kind of results that take place in the life of people when we walk a difficult path. Meaning for some people, when they walk a road of adversity, it seems like no matter how difficult the road might be for them, just the sweetness of Jesus continues to drip from their life. And then there’s others that when they walk the the challenges of life, it changes them. But not, not in a better way, but, but in a more difficult way. Sometimes it has the tendency of, of hardening our hearts. And no doubt when you look at the Apostle Paul’s life, I mean, if anyone was given the excuse to, to, to react and respond in a negative way, it would has certainly been the apostle Paul.
It seemed that no matter where that man went, he faced adversity. He faced the challenges of a difficult road and. And yet Paul continued to remain faithful to the Lord and be a blessing to those around him and. And he could have certainly reacted as as a man of of anger, he could have become a man of, of despair, he could have become a man of passivity and just said, you know what, never mind, forget it. And just walked away. But but Paul continued to to endure. And looking at that kind of life, it leaves it leaves us with the question of how does one find that knowing that they’re going to we’re going to experience challenges in life as well. Like, how can we live the kind of life that the Apostle Paul lived, that that faithfulness in adversity? You know, when we, we, we walk in a challenging road. And if we don’t learn how to transform our pain, we’re certainly going to transmit it. And the experiences that we’ve gone through, we’ll just let that just spew out of us in a negative way onto other people. And so how do I avoid that kind of path in life? And how do I live in light of what it means to, to honor God with what he’s called me to in this world? And as we look at this section today, this is exactly what we’re going to talk about. You’ll note that in your notes, you’ll find that the top of your notes, there’s just kind of a breakdown of what we’re going to look at.
And we’re actually going to look at a couple of verses in Acts chapter 20, verse 22 to 24. And then we’re going to skip to Acts chapter 21. And we’re going to primarily focus on those, those first 14 verses. And I’m going to leave a couple verses for us in the end in Acts chapter 21. But I want you to see there’s a sandwich here and the sandwich is in Acts chapter 20, verse 22 to 24. Paul explains to the church in Ephesus, if you remember, this is the last place that he stops in his in his third missionary journey. And he tells them what’s awaiting for him in Jerusalem. And he explains to the church, you’re not going to see me again. And this is what I’m going to face. And, and he, in the midst of that, talks about how he’s going to be able to endure and more than just endure, experience the joy of the Lord and the path that he’s following. And then it tells us it shares with us the story of Paul’s journeys. And as he journeys to Jerusalem, he encounters some more Christians along the way. And the Christians want to stop him from going to Jerusalem because they know what’s awaiting him. But then Paul takes some time again to explain in verse 13 and 14 how he’s able to move forward in such a difficult circumstance.
So we’re going to really read all of this section. I’m going to read a good chunk of verses here. There’s going to be four slides that come up on the screen. And I’m going to share with us just this story. But I want you to know we’re going to primarily focus on the beginning of this story and the end of the story to help us see how Paul explains to the church how he’s able to move forward through this difficult time. And then from that, glean, glean from the apostle Paul how we as individuals can, can discover how we’re to move forward and be determined in God’s will in the midst of adversity. Like, what does that look like for us? So Paul’s determined, despite his difficulty, and the story starts like this. Acts chapter 20, verse 22. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. In chapter 21 it starts off. And when we had parted from them. And notice the word we hear because Luke, who is the author of the book of Acts, is a part of this journey with the Apostle Paul.
So he’s including himself as going with Paul on this journey. And as we had departed from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Kos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went a board and set sail, and when we had come inside of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed at tire, for there the ship was to unload its cargo, and having sought out the disciples. We stayed there for seven days, and through the spirit they were telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey. And they all with wives and children accompanying us. And we were outside the city and kneeling down on the beach. We prayed and said farewell to one another. And then we went on the board, on board the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from tire, we arrived at Ptolemais and we greeted the brothers and stayed there for for one day. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. You remember Philip the Evangelist we were introduced to in Acts chapter six, seven, and eight as he explained the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch.
And it told us he. He went up into this region. And here again. Now in Acts 21, we still see him in this particular region where we left him early in the in the book of Acts. And so very interesting, by the way, as I pronounced, all of those cities, believe me, all of it was correct. Okay. So we had four unmarried. And also I have some land on the moon to sell you. We had four, four unmarried daughters who prophesied while we were staying for many days. A prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and coming to us, we we took Paul’s. He took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, thus says the Holy Spirit. This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who. Man whose own. Who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. When we heard this, we. And the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Let me stop there and say this before I read the next verse. This happens a couple of times in this passage, as you’ve seen together, verse four and verse 12, where that this prophecy is declared about the apostle Paul, and then the people respond by telling him not to go. And some people look at this and are bewildered by this. We’ll talk about it in a moment.
But they’re bewildered by this because they’re like, well, if God gave this prophetically that this was going to happen to Paul, and they’re telling him not to go, like, who’s being disobedient here? Because they obviously they have this prophecy telling Paul not to go and there and he’s telling him all the bad things going to happen. They tell him not to go. And Paul goes anyway. Right. And, and I would just say there’s, there’s a, there’s a mixture here of prophecy and then how people want to interpret the prophecy. There’s, there’s a mixture here of what God said and how they feel about what God said. Right. And Paul knows he’s been told multiple times in Scripture. He tells us in Acts chapter 14, there’s going to be much suffering for the kingdom. Acts chapter nine, verse 16. When his life was transformed in Christ, he was to endure much suffering. We’ll look at that verse in a moment. But but there’s certainly given this prophecy and in this passage, it calls it a prophecy. But I read this and I’m like, this is like the, the, the easiest prophecy on the planet. Like they’re saying to Paul what they know is going to happen to Paul. But any one of us could have said this. Like, you think like, it’s like me saying today, guys, I’m going to give you prophecy. When we all leave this place, most of us are going to leave by a vehicle, right? It’s like, you’ll be like, no, Donnie.
They’re like, is there a need to really call that a prophecy? Like that’s how we get here. That’s how we’re living here. That’s, that’s the typical way people arrive unless you walk. And for the Apostle Paul, like if you took any amount of time to look at his life at all, it’s like everywhere that Paul went, he faced persecution that was spurred on by the Jewish people. And now he’s about to go to their home turf. Like, what do you think is going to happen here? Right. This is this is this is easy to to understand. Like Paul is going to face some adversity when he does this. And they’ve no doubt been to Jerusalem. They’ve heard the hatred towards the apostle Paul, and they’re coming back and reporting that to him. And in fear for Paul. He’s he’s choosing to move forward with this. And we’ll talk about the importance of that in a moment. But verse 13, it says, Then Paul answered, what are you doing? Weeping and breaking my heart, for I am ready not only to be in prison, but but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since we. We would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, let the will of the Lord be done. Now, in looking at this particular passage, one of the things I think is important as we get ready to to dive into this is just to take a moment to distinguish between abuse and suffering.
Right. And I want you to know, as we talk about this, I want to tread lightly in throwing those kind of words out abuse and suffering because there’s a way we can approach abuse in this world. That’s not healthy or helpful. And, and I think it’s important for you to understand biblically, there’s, there’s not a verse in the Bible where God says, and you as a believer must follow after abuse. You should be abused, right? Like you live in a country that has laws to protect the integrity of who you are as a human being, as an image bearer of the Lord. Right? And it’s important that you understand the importance of those laws for your well-being. Even when you look at the Apostle Paul’s life and Paul as he traveled, he he certainly faced suffering. And maybe in some cases, we can even call it abuse. But but Paul also leveraged the laws when it was advantageous for him. Like in Philippi, for example, he used his Roman citizenship to get out of out of jail. The Apostle Paul would even avoid certain circumstances where he would back away from where riots were being caused. And so he wasn’t walking into abuse. But what Paul did walk into was suffering. And the Bible certainly says to believers that the life of a Christian can be a life of sacrifice and suffering. In fact, I would say it like this, that in recognition of Jesus, Jesus willingly gave his life to suffer and to be a sacrifice for us.
Jesus was always in control of his destiny, and he chose to surrender himself and take on the the suffering and ultimately offer his life as a sacrifice for your benefit and mine. And that’s what distinguishes the difference between what God calls us to as believers and willing to lay our life down for the benefit of others to the glory of God and abuse. Abuse carries the idea, at least in a in a very particular sense, that that that abuse is seen when someone is manipulated, dominated, and controlled. Right. And I want you to know in a situation like that, that there’s laws of the land. If someone comes to you and says they’ve been a victim of abuse, it’s important to believe them. It’s important to encourage them. And as much as as you know how to, to help them take steps to get out of that situation. Right. But then in the life of the believer, just like, just like Jesus, here’s, here’s the apostle Paul, and he knows what’s awaiting him. And he willingly steps into this for the glory of God to the benefit of others. I would even say for, for the church in the 21st century, and even specifically for us, when we think about what God has, has given us the opportunity to do to represent him in this valley.
The way that the gospel message has moved forward in this world is by God’s people willing to lay their lives down to serve others for the glory of God. Because in your willingness to sacrifice, it amplifies the beauty of who the Lord is. Like, why would you lay your life down? Why would you let go of creature comforts in this world in order to walk a more challenging path, less Jesus? Be worth that. So our willingness to lay our lives down is a demonstration not only of the worth of Christ, but it also becomes the very foundation for which other people are able to discover Jesus too. So, so we would even in a practical sense, say it like this as a church, like, you know, we’ve been moving forward to a building project together. And in order to see that become a reality, it requires for us as God’s people to say, you know what? I have lots of creature comforts in this world, And I could, you know, take my next pay increase and, and continue to, to throw that at my creature comforts, you know, up my game at whatever my car wash offers and, and whatever, you know, platforms I want to download to make my life more convenient with different apps and things like you could do those things. I mean, you could creature comfort yourself to death to where your budget goes negative because of that. But there becomes a place where God’s people say, out of all the things that my life could be be living for, the thing that ultimately determines who I am is Jesus.
And it is a privilege to honor him with my life. And so therefore, I’m going to sacrifice. I’m going to let go of the creature comforts, which puts me first in order to honor the one who should truly be first in my life. You know, we’re going to take our next our last steps in order to go through this building project together. We met with the architects just a few days ago. I know some of you were like, can you quit leaving us in anticipation here? Can we just finally get these final details? I’m like, I will give it to you as soon as I can. Right? We’re getting very close. But, but for us to see that become a reality, like I know what it’s going to take to do that. It’s, it’s a willingness to step in, to sacrifice for the glory of God to the benefit of others because Jesus is worth it. And so knowing that life has challenges for us, knowing that there’s difficulty rather than rather than let, let the challenges of life be transmitted through me and making me a hard hearted, toxic individual. How do I how do I walk through those things and see my life transformed? Well, the Apostle Paul’s life becomes that example for us. How how do you, as the question says in your notes, how do you remain determined when God’s will seems difficult? Let me just give you one more verse and I’ll jump into this text.
We’ll move through this quickly because there are six points that we have to to save time. But you know, there’s a verse in in Matthew chapter five where Jesus tells you to turn the other cheek. And some people may look at that and be like, well, obviously this person’s been smacked across the face, right? Like that’s Jesus telling us to be abused. And I want you to know that’s not what Jesus is saying. That’s a cultural idiom for, for, for saying to us, like, people are going to insult you. It’s like a backhanded insult. And what it’s, what it’s encouraging you to do is like, let me say this. If someone comes to literally backhand, you just step backwards, okay? The Bible’s not telling you to, to just lean in and be like, okay, do the other cheek. Right. That’s not that’s not what that passage is saying. It’s saying, because you follow Jesus, the world may not like that. The world may not be comfortable with that. In fact, the world may insult you because of that. But don’t roll in the mud with them. Just turn the other cheek and don’t let that dictate who you are as a follower of Christ. Keep living for the Lord, because you have a greater purpose in Jesus than what this world tries to get you to wallow in, right? So.
So when we think about what does that look like then for our lives to live this way, for the for the glory of God. And we’re going to look at the verses that Paul gave us in the beginning of the verses that Paul gives us at the end to help us understand, like as how Paul did this, to relate it to our own lives. What does it look like for me? So number one in your notes, anchor your life in a greater purpose. Anchor your life in a greater purpose. I mean, this becomes the, the foundation of, of, of everything that we do. I mean, when, when your goal is faithfulness, not ease. Difficulty doesn’t derail you, right? When, if, if, if your aim in life is, is comfort, difficulty to you will look like failure. But if your your aim in life is faithfulness. Difficulty becomes a part of your assignment. And you see this with the Apostle Paul and. And verse 24, as he’s with the church of Ephesus, explaining the next steps for him. But he says, I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. I mean, here’s literally what Paul’s saying. If you want to know my purpose in life before Jesus, it was all about me.
The creature comforts of me. This is what he’s saying, saying at the beginning, I don’t count my life of any value, nor precious in and of myself, because the value of who I am. Paul is saying, I’ve learned, isn’t really determined by me, but the one who created me and recreates me at the cross. And Paul is saying, I’ve really learned to live in light of my identity, not in myself, in and of myself, but rather in in Christ, through me. Everything that Jesus has done for me and the promises that God gives to me in him. This shapes who I am, the foundation of everything I do. I anchor my life in a greater purpose. Now this becomes important for all of us to consider, because what it’s saying is the truthfulness of Jesus is the foundation of your life. This is why Paul told us in First Corinthians 15, if Christ isn’t raised from the dead, we are to be pitied most of all because the the core of why we do what we do is centered on Jesus and everything that he is and what he ultimately accomplished through his death, burial, and resurrection. So I would say for us to move forward in any sort of healthy way, it’s got to be rooted in the promise of of God based on the truthfulness of who Christ is. Like, if you want to find great meaning in everything that you do in life, it is worth solidifying yourself in the identity of Jesus and particularly in his death, burial, and resurrection.
That is the core of our community and the basis for our faith that gives us hope even in the darkest of days. Because Jesus overcame. Anchor your life in a greater purpose. Number two settle the issue of surrender ahead of time. Settle the issue of surrender ahead of time. Sometimes we say it like this. Pre decide the path you’re going to take. It’s much easier to determine now the person that you’re going to be, regardless of the circumstance that when the moment arises. Because when the moment arises, you come back to this basis of then helping you think through how you might live your life in light of it. Here, here comes the storm. But I’m starting from this foundation because I know who I am in the Lord, so that regardless of any circumstance that I might go through, I’m walking with Jesus in it. You know, even the Apostle James, when he wrote James chapter one, he’s writing to a persecuted church and he tells us this if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to you liberally. And here’s what’s important with that early church. When James tells you we’re going to go through various trials, that’s how he opens the book. But consider it all joy, my brothers, when you go through various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect work.
And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives liberally to you. And so here’s what James is telling the church. When the church is asking God, they’re not asking God what’s true. They already know what’s true, and they’ve rested in the foundation of that. But here’s what they’re trying to learn. They’re saying to the Lord, okay, God, I have your truth. This is my anchor point. This is who I know I am. But I see the storm and it’s coming. God help me understand. How do I take the truth of who you are and live it wisely through the season of life? And so he’s, he’s, he’s helping the church recognize, look, there’s this foundation to your life. But then there’s a way that we learn to take the truth of who we are, and we move in, in a, in a way of wisdom and how we live it out, because we’re not going to let the circumstance dictate who we are. Our life has already been determined by Christ because we we’ve found our foundation in him, and we’ve pre-decided. This is the way we’re going to live, regardless of what life may bring. Number three. Expect difficulty as normal, not exceptional. Expect difficulty as normal, not exceptional. Let me say it like this, because if we’re not careful with the idea of abuse, I feel like there is there is true abuse in this world.
People taking advantage of manipulated, dominated. There is true abuse. But sometimes we can get overly sensitive to that idea that we call everything abuse. And when you call everything abuse, nothing is abuse. I find sometimes, like people will get in an argument with someone else and they’ll just walk away and they’ll say, I’ve been abused, I’ve been abused. And look, if you live with someone long enough, you’re going to get in an argument, right? Like if you have friends, you’re going to get an argument. If you’re around people, you’re going to get an argument. Just because you’ve been in an argument doesn’t make it abuse. It certainly means that that someone’s immature, if not both people, right? But it doesn’t make it abuse. It’s a part of the difficulty of life. And get this like the Bible tells you all sorts of things in Scripture related to that. Don’t argue with the fool. And especially when they’re in the heat of the moment, because they’re not going to listen at all. They’re just trying to win an argument or don’t put your pearls before swine. It’s like the Bible telling you there’s a time and a place to be able to move through things productively. But just because you have conflict in an argument doesn’t make it abuse, but there’s a there’s an importance to to recognize in our life. We’re going to face difficulty and we’re going to face challenges.
In fact, we might expect it because Jesus said in John 16, verse 33, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, because I’ve overcome. And so, Lord, helps us recognize that yes, there’s. There is a struggle to life. But you as God’s people, have a greater hope. And that ultimately defines who you are. Because no matter what you go through in this world, it’s temporal. In light of what you receive in Jesus. Even in the book of first and second Peter, Peter writes his letters in the midst of persecution, and he peppers this theme throughout the book where, where he says to us, look, I’m going to add a little bit here, but he writes the church and summarize it like this. Look, you’re going to suffer. That’s impossible. In a broken world, everyone’s going to suffer. But if you’re going to suffer, why not suffer for what matters most? Like, why would you want to suffer for doing stupid things? Why? If you’re going to face challenges in life, why not face challenges? Walking with integrity? And he encourages the church in that way. Like just because you might run from a difficult circumstance because it made things harder, because you’re a follower of Jesus, whatever path that you might follow different than that doesn’t mean now you’re going to follow a path where there isn’t challenges. So why not walk it with Jesus rather than without Jesus? And so he encourages the church in light of that, that we expect difficulty as as normal, not exceptional because of the world that we we live in.
In Acts chapter nine, verse, verse 16, it says of the Apostle Paul, when he came to know Christ, It says, I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Could you imagine that your day one of being a believer. Like day one, you’re a Christian and that’s what God says to you. I want to show you how much you will suffer for my name’s sake. Like, how challenging would that be? You know what that says to all of us? Like, I really need to solidify not only who God is, but who I am in light of him. Like, is there a hope for me in him? And when you see the grace of God poured out for for you, you certainly recognize all that Jesus has done for you, all that Jesus promises you in him. And this is this is how Paul was able to move forward in. This is because he’s rooted himself in in that identity. Number four. Fix your eyes on Christ, not the cost. Fix your eyes on Christ, not the cost. This is exactly what Jesus did for us. In Hebrews chapter 12, it says, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Hebrews chapter 12, verse two. It’s telling us Jesus didn’t ignore the cross, but rather he looked through the cross for a greater hope and joy.
And guys, it’s the same for us. I think about the circumstances of this world. It’s not that we ignore it. It’s not that we can’t. We don’t pretend like it’s not there. But but we realize in the middle of it there’s something greater for God’s people. There’s something more to who we are in Christ and the hope that we have in him. That no matter what I face in this world, the thing that I remember is it’s temporal. It’s temporal. In light of the opportunity that I have to honor God with my life. It’s saying to you, don’t. Don’t let the cost of obedience outweigh the reward of obedience. Don’t take your eyes off the beauty of who Christ is, because the moment you take your eyes off of Christ and all that you have in him, you despair in the circumstances and it will dictate how you respond. Number five let conviction outweigh emotion. Let conviction outweigh emotion. I should I should be sharing some of these verses with you as we go through. But, but I want you to see the pause as he comes in. In verse 13 and 14, he says, Then Paul answered, why are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since we would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, let the will of the Lord be done.
And here’s Paul in the the emotion of this circumstance. And he’s recognizing there’s certainly some weight to this. And emotions can be a wonderful thing. God gave you emotions for a reason, but also emotions can be misleading, and you can even hold to something passionately and be absolutely wrong. Emotions can be misleading and emotions are easily fleeting. But truth. Truth endures. Emotions come and go, but truth sustains. Now Paul is saying, here is. My life has been determined to live this way based on the truth of who God is. Pursuing his will for my life and Paul is using that opportunity to, to, to allow him to, to move forward in all that God has called him to in this world so that he can get to number six in your notes, to trust the Lord to carry you through. Trust the Lord to carry you through. Here’s what Paul has learned through the truth of God’s Word, and also experientially. Is that God knows what tomorrow holds, and God promises to walk with him in all things. And therefore, for Paul, rather than carry the worry of tomorrow. He walks mindfully of the God who is with him today, and that God who will bear that burden for him tomorrow. And the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter four, verse 13 says it like this I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
You know, that’s one of those verses in the Bible that athletes love above all else. You know, it’s like they they often wear that verse when they want to hit a home run or score a touchdown. I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I want you to know it’s one of the most grossly abused verses, especially in the United States. We do some spectacular things and we like to quote this verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And it just makes you think, but what about the difficult times, right? Like what does Christ will strengthen you in that? Because when you look in Philippians chapter four, what the apostle Paul is doing is he’s writing in prison. And just before these verses, he says to us, I’ve learned in all things in abundance and in a moment of lack, that Christ will sustain him through all things that he. He finds his joy in who the Lord is not in the. The things that he has in life. Because Paul’s learn that sometimes in life he’s got a lot, and sometimes in life he’s got a little. But in all those things there is a God who walks with him, who carries the. The struggles of tomorrow. And no matter what Paul might have or doesn’t have, that God sustains him by his strength to carry him through. And so Paul’s teaching us through his through his own life, what, what that looks like for, for us to, to trust in the Lord in the midst of difficult circumstances.
And guys, here’s what you see. And I got to click a little further through this. But when the the apostle Paul shares this with us in verse 15 and 16, it kind of brings us to this, this, these last couple verses. I want you to see what Paul experiences here. It says after these days, we we got ready and we went up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea went, went with us, bringing us to the house of the nation of Cyprus, and early disciples with whom we should lodge. And in verse 17 it tells them the. The church in Jerusalem receives him with joy. Not everyone’s going to receive him with joy, but the church in Jerusalem does. You know, it’s interesting when you look at this story. Here’s Paul walking faithfully in the midst of suffering and the struggle, right? And we might ask the question, what’s it for? Like ultimately, definitely for God’s glory. But even in the immediate, you see some reward in that because these these first or these last two points at the very top of your notes, if you look at that, if we just consider what’s unfolded here, some incredible things have taken place, right. As as Paul’s traveling with Luke. Luke’s writing down all these towns and he’s saying as as Paul’s gone from town to town, he’s encountering believer after believer.
And the church was birthed in the midst of persecution. Yet even in light of that persecution, the God’s people continue to multiply to the point when, when Luke is saying, yeah, Paul’s walking to this difficult path in life, he’s still acknowledging from city to city, No matter where we’re stopping, there’s believers. There’s people that have come to know Christ through every town. The gospel has gone forth, and even in the midst of struggle, the glory of God’s made known and the peace of God reigns in the hearts of his people. And in this moment, it tells us in verse four and verse 12 that as as the Apostle Paul is interacting with, with people, they’re trying to tell him, well, Paul, you’re you’re going to face this, this persecution. If you move forward, there’s going to be suffering. And please don’t go do this. And we look at that and we might ask the question, why would they do that? If if this is what Paul knew that he was supposed to do, and this is what Paul was determined to do, why are they trying to talk Paul out of that? And I want you to know that the text doesn’t really tell us why. So I’m going to be a little bit speculative here. And I’m sure there’s more than one reason why the people are doing this. But one, one of the thoughts that just comes to mind for me as I’m seeing the different groups trying to deter Paul from going to Jerusalem as what Paul represents to them.
And you can imagine if Paul’s visiting your town, this man is a giant of the faith. I mean, he’s faced the the mouths of the proverbial lions and he’s endured. And, and when Paul comes to town, there’s this certain level of comfort by seeing the confidence that he has in Christ that you just kind of wear because that’s who this guy is. And to think about what awaits for him in Jerusalem. They they’re not even sure if it’s going to lead to the demise of the Apostle Paul. And for them, the thought of losing Paul. Could you imagine in such a difficult circumstance of facing persecution and challenges, they try to imagine life without Paul. You might even have that in your own life where there’s, there’s been people that have been such pillars of your life and maybe you’ve lost them. Maybe, you know, the, the times that you have with them are numbered. Maybe you’ve even thought about what would it be like without this person in my life? You’d start to imagine you’re like, I don’t even want to imagine that. I don’t even want to bear the thought of what that would be like. And I can’t help but think that the the believer in this moment might be wrestling with this. But but here’s the reality.
When Paul goes to Jerusalem and he. He boldly faces that moment and he continues to honor God. Do you know what this does for the church? It emboldens them and their own relationship with the Lord because they see as God sustains the Apostle Paul. That same God walks with them in the last couple of years. Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer Church in New York City, passed away, and when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I paid particular attention to a lot more of his writings and things he was saying. And it’s one of the most incredible things happened with Tim Keller, because when you get that kind of diagnosis, prognosis, you know, sometimes it’s that road you’re about to walk is not going to be easy. And in pancreatic cancer, especially. And so it was likely his days were numbered. So I was just paying attention. This guy’s a pastor. Like, what are you going to do now that you’ve proclaimed this? Jesus, what are the end of your days is going to look like? And what was incredible is like for, for me, in watching the things that he was saying, the things he was writing, his relationship with Jesus not only sustained, it grew sweeter, I think. How incredible. Here’s a guy facing the end of his life and the richness of Christ just pouring out of him. And like when you as a believer, face the challenges of life that way, what it does for the church, like, yes, there’s lamenting and that challenge, but as, as you face Christ that way, it becomes inspiring to the people around you.
And the church continues to thrive in light of that. And here’s maybe one last thing I’ll just say to this is God restores the broken. I mean, if you remember Paul’s story, he was a persecutor of the church as it was birthed in Jerusalem. He killed Christians, and now he’s coming back to Jerusalem to serve them. If you read Romans chapter 15, verse 23, 23 to 33, Paul writes the letter of Romans as he’s going back to Jerusalem, and he records in verse 23 to 33 of chapter 15, what he hopes to see happen there. And he’s longing to give support to the Church of Jerusalem because they’re suffering. And here’s a man whose life has been completely redeemed, a man whose past before Jesus was certainly difficult because he killed Christians. He persecuted them. And yet he continued to walk the path of of Christ in his life. And the sweetness of who Jesus is not only gave him an opportunity to serve the world. It gave him an opportunity to to serve the very people that he hated on not so long ago. The beauty of Christ made known in our life. I need to close with this. But there was a man not too long ago who passed away in 2017. Nabeel Qureshi and he. He was a strong apologist for Islam.
He was raised in the Islamic faith. He defended the Islamic faith and he. He made a friend named David Cook or no. Excuse me, David Wood and David Wood was a faithful follower of Jesus. And he and David would have conversations back and forth about their faith and they would make their defense arguments. And, and one day this led Nabeel to just continue to investigate who Jesus was in Scripture and, and the validity of the resurrection. And slowly Nabeel’s heart began to soften to the truthfulness of who Christ was. And he ultimately gave his life to Jesus. And he talks about the sacrifice with that coming to his strong Islamic family, sharing now his faith in Christ, and the cost that would come in light of that. And he writes about it in this book. But one of the things Nabeel says here is, after loving us with the most humble life and the most horrific death, Jesus told us, as I have loved you. Go and love one another. How could I consider myself a follower of Jesus if I’m not willing to live as he lived, to die as he died, and to love the unloved and give hope to the hopeless? And that’s the beauty of a life in Christ. It is a gift to lay my life down for the glory of God. As Jesus has laid his life down for me, that we could see his glory made known.
This message has been brought to you by Alpine Bible Church in Lehi, Utah. If you’d like more information, please visit us online at Alpine bible.com.