Determined To Follow God, Acts 21:1-16

• Main Point ◦ When we are convinced of a way we can serve God we should not let anything deter us from it. • Icebreaker ◦ Who is more determined. ◦ Guys: Finger War. Have two students face each other with their right foot forward touching the the other students foot and hold hands in "handshake" fashion. While holding hands each guy should point out his index finger, and then the first person to touch the other one without letting go wins. ◦ Girls: Thumb War. This is traditional thumb war where each person holds the other's hand with their thumbs up and then tries to pin the other's thumb down. The girls are more than welcome try the finger war, but usually it becomes a little too physical for their comfort level. • Paul is under conviction (convinced something is right) that he must go to ◦ Paul is trying to get to Jerusalem (19:21) ◦ He has been collecting money for years in order to give it to the church in Jerusalem. ■ In 24:11-17 We are able to see why he was trying to get to Jerusalem. In these verses Paul is in Jerusalem and he is explaining to the governor why he has come. ■ 24:12 - Paul explains that he has not come: "they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd" ■ 24:17 - Paul explains why he did come to Jerusalem: "Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings." ◦ In our passage 21:1-16 Paul is at the last two stops before going to Jerusalem. This is the last opportunity for him to decide whether or not to go on into Jerusalem. ◦ At this stop he is confronted with two reasons for why he shouldn't go to Jerusalem. • Conviction is not swallowed up by danger (21:4, 11) ◦ 21:4 - Paul is on his way to Jerusalem when he stops at Tyre, and the people there knew from the Holy Spirit that Paul would face persecution if he went to Jerusalem. ◦ 21:11 - A man in Ptolemais (Paul's final stop before Jerusalem) came to Paul and tied him up with his own belt, to dramatically show how dangerous the trip would be. ◦ Paul is not deterred by danger. ◦ Many of the things in life that we become convinced to do because it will honor God have some risk involved. ■ We might get hurt. ■ It may cost us money. ■ We may have to give up something else in order to do what God is leading us to. • Conviction is not swayed by others (21:12) ◦ The people who heard were urging Paul not to go. ◦ Paul could have said, well I am not afraid of dying for the ' name but since you all want me to stay I will stay for you. ◦ Many times we don't hold onto what were convinced we should do because of the people around us. I want to look cool or I don't want to hurt your feelings. ■ Many people have tried things like drugs or alcohol for these two reasons. ■ They wanted to look cool or they didn't want to tell their friend no. ■ Many people have gone too far with their boyfriend or girlfriend for these two reasons. ■ They felt like that was what people do when they are dating. ■ Even though they were convinced it was ◦ Some of you may know you need to go on a mission trip but you have an aunt who has heard it was dangerous and she says don't go for me. • Conviction is driven by the Holy Spirit (21:13, 20:22-23) ◦ Paul responds to the people and to the threat of danger in (21:13) ◦ Notice that Paul is not led so that he will seem brave or in order to ■ Paul is led to go to Jerusalem by the Holy Spirit (20:22-23) • Application ◦ When we realize an opportunity to honor God we need to step out and take it. ■ It might be that you start reading your every night before bed. Are you willing to do what it takes to make that happen? Maybe your parents tell you that is fine as long as you have the lights out by a certain time. So you have to make yourself go to bed 10 min earlier. Or maybe you have to choose to bring your Bible to a friends house because that is where you are staying the night. ■ Others, might tell you that you don't have to read it every night. But you have become convinced that is right for you to do. ■ There may be something you know you need to stand up for, but you also know that it is risky to stand up for them. ■ You might loose a friend. Or you might get made fun of. • Additional Comments on the passage: • 21:4 ◦ "through the Spirit" ■ this seems to be a referent to the warning of binding presented by Agabus in v. 9. • 21:11 ◦ "Thus says the Holy Spirit…deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles" ■ Notice that courageously following Jesus doesn't mean that if you just try everything will work out nice in the end. ■ For Paul this is the first step toward imprisonment, deportation, and probably his death. • 21:13 ◦ "then Paul answered" ■ Paul wants to give them the money he had collected. ■ "His conviction was this: for several years he had been collecting money to give to the poor saints in Jerusalem church. He had collected it from all the Gentile churches. It was a two-fold project: one: to show the Gentile churches loved the Jewish church, and to unite the church into one and two: to meet the needs . . . practical money needs of the poor saints." -- John MacArthur, "The Courage of Conviction; Part 1", sermon ■ :11-17 ■ In the passage Paul is defending why he came to Jerusalem, and he first demonstrates that he had not come "disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd" (24:12). Instead, "Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings" (24:17). ■ One might ask, why doesn't Paul just let somebody else take the money since there is danger this time. ■ Paul is no stranger to the Holy Spirit warning him of apparent danger. " And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me." :22 ■ First, the Holy Spirit was compelling Paul to go. Secondly, since there have been warnings many times Paul is going to continue on in to Jerusalem. ■ So when we get to this passage we see that the warnings Paul had been receiving by the Holy Spirit were now being given to the disciples and Agabus. ■ Paul's desire to travel to Jerusalem is found in 19:21 " Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see .”" And his haste to get there instead of waiting for everything to die down first is so that he might be there on the day of . (Acts 20:16) ■ After being warned twice by the Holy Spirit (vv. 4, 11) Paul still decides to go to travel to Jerusalem. ◦ "breaking my heart" ■ "Paul's response contains a picturesque image, 'Why are you pounding away at my heart?'. The verb '' was often used of washing clots and referred to pounding them with stones in order to whiten them." -- John Polhill, Acts; NAC, pg 436 ■ "The verb for "breaking" the heart is vivid, as it is often used of beating clothes to clean them: they are pounding on Paul's emotions." -- Darrel Bock, Acts; BECNT, pg 639 ◦ The warning of the Holy Spirit was apparently not a denunciation of the trip to Jerusalem but instead a prediction of what Paul would face. The prediction led the disciples, Agabus, and even Luke himself to conclude that Paul should not go to Jerusalem.