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The Vision of the United Baptist Church is to be a praying, growing church that glorifies God and actively meets the spiritual and physical needs of our church members, the people of Ellsworth, Hancock County and beyond.
You are in the Book of Acts. Actst Chapter 21 in the homestretch really, of this New Testament book that we've been studying now for some time, where our passage for today informs us of the different modes and routes of travel taken by the Apostle Paul on his trip to Jerusalem. Exactly why Paul had to go to Jerusalem is unclear. Beyond what the Scripture makes clear that he was compelled by the Holy Spirit to go there.
Acts 19:21 Paul said that he was resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and acquire and go to Jerusalem. And after I've been there, he said, I must also see Rome. That's 20 verse 22. Paul declared, Behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit. Paul's on his way to Jerusalem at the prompting, at the direction of the strong impulse of the Holy Spirit.
And as he makes his way to the Holy city, three realities emerge from this narrative. One is the depth of Paul's relationships. A second is the strength of his resolve to obey the Holy Spirit. And a third, the cost of His obedience. Our Father. You have given us your word. We pray now that you would help us to understand it as you intend it, and not only to understand it, Lord, as if to add to our knowledge, but to heat it, to follow it in the ways that will bring honor to your name.
Amen. The depth of Paul's Relationship. Some of you may perceive Paul to be a gruff character. He is perceived by many to be a gruff character in the New Testament. And yet Luke's account in EActs shows us just how much Paul was loved, how he was received, how he was cared for, and he makes his farewell tour. Paul leaves so many people in tears there crying over his departure.
Tony Campolo famously shared, and I believe he may even have shared this story with me when he was in this church, on this platform behind this pulpit many, many years ago about an annual tradition at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church, an African-American congregation in West Philadelphia. Once a year at my church, we have student recognition day. I remember one of those Sundays when more than 20 college and university students sat in the first two pews.
The pastor looked at them and with pride and great affection, called them one by one to come forward and tell the congregation what they were studying and what they hope to become. One young man said, I'm studying at Harvard University. I'm going to be a lawyer. Elderly grandmothers and grandfathers responded with delight. My, my. Oh, yes. Thank you, Jesus.
Another student said, I'm studying engineering at MIT. Again, there were cries of approval, of the clapping of hands. A young woman announced, I'm studying music at Juilliard, and I heard grandmothers and grandfathers all over that congregation saying, Wonderful, wonderful, good, good. Thank you, Jesus. He says, You may think you've heard great music, but you haven't heard the greatest music until you hear about 40 or 50 grandmothers and grandfathers moaning and groaning the moans and groans of joy because their grandchildren are becoming what slavery never let them be.
Every year, after all, the students have finished their brief presentation, are sitting there bright eyed and bushy tailed. The pastor gets up, looks right at them in a stern, loud voice, declares, Children, you're going to die someday. And that's right. You're going to die. You can't even imagine dying right now. But one of these days they're going to take you out to the cemetery, drop you in a hole, throw some dirt on your face, and go back to the church and eat potato salad.
And so I want you to think about something. When you were born, you were the only one who cried. Everybody else was happy. But that's not what's important. Here's what's important. When you die, will you be the only one who's happy? And will everybody else cry? Well, that depends on what you're living for. Are you trying to get titles?
Bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctorate degrees? Is that what your life is all about, collecting titles or is it about collecting testimonies when it's all over for you and they lay you in your grave, what will you have? Do you want a tombstone with all your titles, or do you want people standing around your grave given testimonies about how you loved them, how you cared for them in the name of Jesus Christ, and how you made a difference in their lives?
I wish for both titles and testimonies, but if you have to make a choice, he said, go for the testimonies. Well, by his own admission, the Apostle Paul had long ago abandoned his pursuit of titles. He had every right to be proud and satisfied when it came to earthly accomplishments, recognition, power. And yet, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul said he counted these worldly markets and success as rubbish, and he gladly counted them as lost in order to gain Christ.
Those were parts of his past and forgetting what was behind, he strained forward to what lay ahead. It's obvious as he wraps up his missionary journey here that he leaves many who will testify to how he loved them, how he cared for them in the name of Jesus Christ, how he made a difference in their lives. Forget the titles.
Go for the testimonies. That is what Paul has done. And we know this by how his friends react to what he's telling them about where he's going. If we look back a little at the passage from last week that Justin preached in Acts 20, we read about the encounter of the Ephesians elders. They care about Paul because Paul so tenderly cared for them.
For three years. Paul spent himself in that city of Ephesus, nurturing these people, loving these people. They love him because he loved them. And that is a key to true friendship, don't you think? Loving and giving ourselves away. If you think of the people you care for the most and those who have passed on that you miss the most.
A common theme will probably be how much those people gave of themselves to you, not in some kind of a transactional way. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, not in some kind of self-serving way that I will maintain this relationship as long as there's a benefit to me, but in a selfless, others focused way. Maybe that can be an encouragement to us today, a challenge even that we should emulate.
The love of those who over the years have loved us so well.
This is what Paul has done and this is how Jesus has loved supremely. The scene at the close of Act 20 is a display of affection and strong emotion. The elders of emphasis are grieved and they are crying. The Scripture says that there is much weeping because they would not see Paul's face again on this earth. Duty beckons and he has to go.
His heartsick friends accompany him to the ship that he's leaving on. They kneel with him in the sand and they pray. They embrace and they kiss and they say farewell. And that's where our passage from day to day picks up in neActst chapter 21, verse one. And when we had parted, our English translation says Parted. But a more descriptive rendering is something along the lines of when they had torn themselves apart, when they had torn themselves away, and when we had parted from them.
We set sail. And from here Luke gives us sort of a play by play, a stop by stop accounting of Paul's journey to Jerusalem and testifying again to the strength of his relationship. Just about everywhere Paul goes, we notice he finds friends in Christ, He finds disciples. Now, some of these were no doubt acquaintances that he had made friends, that he had made, some people that he had probably had a hand in helping to get saved and others were likely brothers and sisters that he had not yet met.
But they were followers of Jesus. And this is a wonderful truth friend. When one becomes a Christian, one enters into not only a new relationship with God, but into a new family as well. The family of all believers everywhere. And these brothers and sisters in our story do what family should they provide homes for their family members? Everybody needs a home.
Everyone ought to have a home. Robert Frost said Home is a place where when you go there, they have to let you in. We need places like that. The Apostle Paul had them. He travels to Tire and Ptolemy and Kesari and Jerusalem and every place is graciously welcomed into the homes of fellow believers. Some of you understand that you've got friends probably up and down the Eastern seaboard.
Maybe all across the country, maybe even in different parts of the world. And you know full well that as you're traveling, you can just pull in and stop with them at any time and they invite you come and stay at my house. That's the sort of hospitality that the scripture eActspects from us, that this is one way that the Christian discipleship is eActspressed first through hospitality and also a way that it should be eActsperienced.
As we look at these early Christians, we find they don't really have that sense that we have today of their home being a refuge or the home being a sanctuary. If I could just be candid, a home being a place where you can actually go to avoid people, that is not what you're seeing here from the early times in Jerusalem.
The scripture tells us back to chapter two. These Christians had all things in common. They saw that their possessions and their gifts were from God and that they were to be used for ministry. They were to be used to bless the lives of others. We do well to re-envision our inventory of assets along this light. How can we bless others with what God has entrusted to us?
How can we steward what we have for the good of other people? Paul is blessed by the relationships that he's formed over the years and the reputation that he has built as a sacrificial, selfless servant of God. His friends, old and new, opened their homes to him along his way, and they help him in his ministry. But not only do they help him by opening up their homes, we see they actually feel close enough and comfortable with him to offer him some advice.
On two occasions in this brief journey, Paul is warned not to go to Jerusalem. And what's intriguing about these warnings, we find them in chapter 21, verse four versus 11 and 12 is that they are connected somehow by the author Luke connects them somehow to the work of the Spirit. So at first glance, and upon a quick read, one would almost seem that the Holy Spirit is sending miActsed messages with you already.
Establish this earlier. Paul is journeying to Jerusalem because he is constrained by the Spirit, bound by the Spirit to do so. He is compelled by the Spirit in following this spirit. But the disciples at Tire Luke says, Through the Spirit, we're telling him not to go and then it says Syria Agaba his prophesies about Paul being bound and delivered over to the Gentiles by the Jews, which prompts a chorus of opposition from the people that surrounded him there, including the book's author, Luke, evidenced by the inclusive language We Luke joins in as well.
Chapter 21, verse 12. When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go to Jerusalem. How do we understand this possible discrepancy in the scripture? Well, we got to remember that Paul knew of the afflictions that were waiting for him first Acts 2022 and 23. He said this and now behold, I'm going to Jerusalem.
Constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, eActscept that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await. So the idea that he was walking into a danger zone was not news to the Apostle Paul and entire. It appears the Holy Spirit revealed something similar to the disciples that Paul was staying with there in Syria.
The prophecy of Edgar was confirmed and perhaps even added some detail to what Paul already knew. But here is the important distinction, especially in agribusiness prophecy. It didn't forbid Paul's going. The latter part seems to be the addition of well-wishers. John starred in his act. Commentary does not call into question the inspiration received by these different people, but suggests this.
He says the better solution is to draw a distinction between the prediction and a prohibition. Certainly, Agaba is only predicted that Paul would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. The pleadings with Paul, which followed, were not attributed to the spirit and may have been the fallible, indeed mistaken human deduction from the Spirit's prophecies. Paul's friends naturally don't want him to come into any harm any more than you would want any of your true friends to come into any harm.
So when the Spirit reveals to them the danger that Paul is heading into the conclusion that his companions draw and the advice they offer is for him to avoid it, don't go there. They mean well. And so did Peter. I'm sure when Jesus revealed to him that he had to go to Jerusalem and there he would suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes.
And there he would be killed. And on the third day he would be raised and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Far be it from you all, Lord, this should never happen to you. You meant well. I think we all know how it ended. In this famous eActschange. Jesus rebukes Peter, and he calls him one Satan.
Why? Because he had set his mind on the things of man and not the things of God. Sometimes the people who love us give us bad advice. Let's lay it right out. There sometimes are people who love us because they intend well for us. Give us bad advice. They're afraid for us. In a message titled A Mission only the church can stop, David Platt shared the following stories.
Jim Elliott, who decided to give his life to serve the Indians in Ecuador, even though people told him he was too gifted to consider such a thing, said Consider the call from the throne above. Go ye and from around about. Come over and help us. And even the call from damned souls below. Send Lazarus to my brothers that they come not to this place impelled then by these voices.
I dare not stay home while these Indians perish. David Livingstone, who went into the heart of Africa, wrote a letter to the London Missionary Society so powerfully convinced him. I mean, it is the will of the Lord that I should go to Africa. I will go no matter who opposes me. William Carey, the father of modern missions, Rose up in Europe and said to a group of ministers, I'm going to go to India and make the gospel known there.
A minister in the audience rebuke him. Sit down, young man, You're an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen in India, he will do it with or without consulting you or me. But Kerry would not be persuaded and praise God, he would not. Adeniran Judson, a Baptist missionary who had a desire to go to Burma in present day Myanmar, a closed country, is a place where, Paula, when he died, spent a lot of their time.
Some of you would remember that name against the pleas of others, took his new wife into the heart of Burma. He labored for 38 years, suffering through cholera, malaria, dysentery and unknown miseries that would claim the lives of his first wife, the life of his second wife, as well as seven of his 13 children and numerous colleagues. As a result of his resolve.
Today, there are close to 4000 Baptist congregations in the middle of Buddhist Burma. Over half a million believers are represented in those congregations. C.T. starred a wealthy Englishman, came to faith in Christ, and soon thereafter, sense God's call to go to China. His family brought a Christian worker to dissuade him, Stern said. Well, let's ask God. I don't want to be pig headed and go out there on my own accord.
I just want to do God's will. He saw God's will and decided he should indeed go. Then later, when he was 50 years old, he resolved that he should spend the rest of his life in Sudan when others again urged him to do otherwise. In the neActst 20 years, he founded the worldwide Evangelization Crusade through his work in Africa, which has planted gospel seeds all over Africa, Asia and South America.
City starred who wrote only One Life will Soon be Passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Sometimes the people who love us have good intentions, but they give us bad advice, especially when it comes to obeying the radical call of God into the unknown, into danger, even unsaved friends may urge you not to be saved. They believe it will be the end of your fun.
People who value money too highly will tell you to keep that high paying job when you are drawn to something that's going to free you up from ministry even though it doesn't pay well. Those who cherish your presence will try to dissuade you from moving away from doing ministry in another part of the country, even another part of the world.
Very often we would rather send a check than send ourselves or our children that such objections come from dear ones. Make them all the more difficult. Verse 13 Paul answered, What are you doing? Weeping and breaking my heart. We get an emotional scene there. You're breaking my heart, but also a practical thing. You're weakening my resolve. You're weeping and pleading with me not to go.
What are you doing? I I've got to do this. This is what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. It can be hard enough to do the right thing. But how much harder without support or how much harder in the face of opposition from those who love you? So how much harder when people you love are egging you on to take the easy road or are eager to justify your disobedience?
But the Apostle Paul would not be moved. And so we have to admire here his unwavering resolve. Like his Lord before him, who set his face resolutely to Jerusalem, knowing all that awaited him, the Apostle Paul would not be dissuaded. We see that Paul, like Jesus, had his mind made up in advance. And you and I can learn from this if we are willing and wanting to, because we are guaranteed that temptations to disobedience, which is sin, are bound to come.
Jesus promised us that in this world you will have trouble. So these temptations to disobedience are going to come to us. When do you think the time to decide to do the right thing is? Is it in the absence of such a test as in, now is the time to decide that I will obey and I will be faithful?
Or do you think that you're going to muster up enough faith and resolve in the midst of a temptation to put it off? Now is the time to plan in advance, to be faithful, to plan in advance, to be obedient to whatever it is that God is going to call, not to hope, to muster up enough in the moment, because it is so very easy for you and I for humans to set or to allow our minds and hearts to dwell on the things of man, on the values of our world.
All that would keep us from living for Jesus. Think about what you hear every day. Just think about the the air that you breathe, the water that you swim in here in this country. You've got to protect yourself at all costs. You deserve the best or at least better than what you got. Look out for yourself. Stay safe.
Be safe. All that sounds reasonable. If life is about you and if you're the master of your destiny. But that's not the case for us as Christians, is it? We are not only not in charge of our lives, we don't even own them. We don't even own them. Charles SPURGEON wrote Rich Reader, Are you mindful of your obligations and rendering to the Lord according to the benefit received?
Jesus gave his blood for us. What shall we give to him? We are His and all that we have for He has purchased us unto himself. Can we act as if we were our own? Can we act as if we were our own? For for Christians and believers, we know the answer to that is no. No. We can act as if we are.
Or at least we ought not to act as if we are our own. But maybe a more poignant question is this Do we act as if we are his?
Do we act as if we are blood bonds? His is the Lord setting the course for our lives? Or are we just making the plans and dialing in once in a while for a blessing? Oh, Lord, could you approve this? I think. Is this a great idea? Just checking in, making sure. What do you think? Yes, I've decided already, but I is.
He's setting the itinerary. Is he charting the course? Is he planning it for us? Are we are we when we think of the Apostle Paul heeding the Holy Spirit the way that he did. Brothers and sisters, when do we even ask the Holy Spirit for guidance? For direction? When do we even take 2 seconds to listen to what he wants for our lives?
The God of the universe is willing to direct your steps. Are you willing to ask? Are you willing to listen to what he has to say? What is the evidence in your life today? If you answer in the affirmative that yes, he's he's leading me. Yes, I know I'm purchased and I belong to him. What evidence is there in your life that that is true?
The Apostle Paul was willing to obey the spirit because he knew and trusted completely who owned him, whose he was, and that's why he can genuinely say Acts 21, verse 13 four. I'm ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And that letter qualifier to me is quite significant because Paul is not blind to the trouble that he faces for his faithfulness.
He's not denying the risks that are out there. He's not making some sort of reckless personal decision just to jump into harm's way. What he does, he does for Jesus, for the name of the Lord Jesus, and in his mind, if faithfulness to Jesus leads to being bound and even killed, which eventually it did, he was willing and determined to do it.
And here we come to a third and final point in this morning's passage. That is the cost of obedience. I believe it is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who who is known to have said salvation is free. Discipleship will cost you your life. And Paul is clearly willing to pay the price of obedience to spread the gospel and bring glory to God.
And you know, in this way, and having that mindset, that posture before the Lord, he was responding the only way he knew how to the price that had already been paid for him in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It was Paul's deep awareness of what Jesus had done in saving Him, how Jesus had given his life for Paul.
That was his inspiration then to pay whatever price he was called to pay in order to live for Jesus. If we're looking for a little more resolve, if we're looking for a little more inspiration in obedience, we probably should spend more time at the cross. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my riches gain, I count them poor contempt on all my pride.
See, this is where Paul spends time at the foot of this cross, knowing what Christ has done for me. The question then is what can I do for him? He has given me life. He has given me this life. He has given me eternal life. What can I do for him? If you and I can come to terms with what that means to be purchased by the blood of Jesus, then we can like Paul, come to terms with whatever it means to serve him the way he's calling us to serve him.
We won't be intimidated by that. We won't. We won't be saddened by that. We will do it. In his book, What's So Spiritual about Your Gifts? Henry Black, he wrote, I was leading a conference in Taiwan when scores of people began responding to the message on revival. Before I finished speaking, people began screaming Forward. When appropriate, I came alongside a young man who was kneeling at the front, for it was obvious the Holy Spirit was dealing with him.
His eyes were swollen with tears and he was visibly shaking. It seems to me that God has spoken to you, I said. He quietly answered, Yes, sir. Do you mind telling me what he has said? He looked directly into my eyes. God has told me to go to mainland China and preach the Gospel. I asked if he realized this could cost him his life.
As he looked back at me. It seemed as though I could see right into his soul. After a moment, he said through tears, Sir, that is the issue. I just settled with God. A few minutes ago, that young man had a profound encounter with God, and the Holy Spirit was guiding him in understanding it. The Lord was leading him to a new level of obedience that would be costly.
But He surrendered his life to be used of God no matter what the cost. How about you, friend? Is your life surrendered? Is your life in the hands of God? Is God free to do with you what He will? Tony Merida, in his commentary on Acts, writes, If you seek to follow Jesus, you too will come to various crossroads in your life.
You will have to make many difficult decisions. Some that may even make your loved ones question your sanity, whether to mission work in a hostile environment or steadfastly being salt and light in your school or faithfully witnessing to your unsaved family members or committing to your difficult spouse or maintaining integrity in a corrupt workplace, or holding the line with your kids on issues of biblical values.
There will be a price to be paid for your obedience, for your faithfulness. Discipleship is costly. There will be a price to be paid. Are you willing to pay it because it's worth it To pay it because you will never regret complying with the directions of God. Theologian Albert Burns has said it. When we are strongly urged by the convictions of duty, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, we should not shrink from danger or from death.
Duty is to be done at all hazards. It is ours to follow the direction of God. Results We may safely and confidently leave with Him.