Acts 21:17-26
~17 min read
SERMON OUTLINE
TRANSCRIPT
Remember all these past weeks we have been considering how the Apostle Paul was burdened with the financial needs of the poor brethren in the Jerusalem church. He had collected a substantial amount of love gifts from the Gentile churches and he wanted to bring the love gifts so that the poor brethren at the Jerusalem church, their needs may be met as soon as possible. And as well as to let them know that the money was actually given by the Gentile churches so that the bond between the Jews and Gentiles could be strengthened.
Along the way, he had been repeatedly told that there would be persecution awaiting him at Jerusalem. The brethren tried to stop him from going to Jerusalem, but Paul said, "What? I'm not only willing to be arrested, but I am willing to die at Jerusalem if it is God's will." Now, at last, Paul had arrived at Jerusalem. It was his long-awaited and anticipated trip. His arrival at Jerusalem would mark an end to his missionary journeys. So the missionary journeys had come to an end. As prophesied, soon Paul will be arrested and be a prisoner of Christ, which will be covered in the remaining chapters of this book. I have titled our message as "Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem."
I. The Fellowship
The first thing Paul encountered on his arrival was “The Fellowship”, so let us begin with verse 17, "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly." Paul's arrival in Jerusalem was in time for the Pentecost, as he had planned. The brethren were so happy to see him, although there was no mention of him presenting the love gifts to them. But we all know that Paul had given those gifts to them because he mentioned that in Acts 24:17. Maybe you can briefly turn to that verse. Acts 24:17, let me read for you: "Now after many years I came to give alms to my nation, and offerings." He was referring to the love gifts he brought to Jerusalem, his nation. The brethren were not only happy to see and hear that the gifts were given by the Gentiles, more importantly, to see the Gentile converts accompanying Paul to visit the Jerusalem church. It is one thing when you give gifts, it is another thing altogether when you are able to visit the people personally.
Verse 18: "And the day following Paul went in with us unto James” — this is James the elder, the half-brother of Jesus, the leader of the Jerusalem church — “and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.” The Bible only mentioned the elders, James the elder, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. Notice there was no mention of the apostles. It tells us that there was a significant change in the leadership. As the churches were being established, elders were ordained, deacons were elected to help the elders. The New Testament church was now governed by the elders, the Presbyterians. Though the apostles were still around at this point in time, but they were slowly fading away from the scene. By this time, at least one of the apostles was already killed, James the brother of John. Eventually, all the apostles would be killed except John, who would be exiled to Patmos Island.
Throughout the book of Acts, you will see that the biblical form of church government in the New Testament was Presbyterian. It was the elders that ruled the church, not episcopal, not congregational. Amongst the elders, there would be one leader or the chairperson. Apparently, it was James who was the leader of the Jerusalem church. Even though Paul himself was an apostle, nonetheless, he saluted, which means he greeted all the elders. Here we see the respect he gave to the office. It was not so much about the people, who they were, how many years they had served, how rich or prominent they were. It was about their office. They were the elders of the church.
It is so sad how some people can be so disrespectful to pastors and elders of the church, despising the way they speak, looking down on some of the pastors' elders when they do not have certain worldly credentials or they were not as eloquent as the other pastors and elders. Even if they do not respect the person, at least they should respect the office. The office as an elder. Have you ever encountered someone who says to you, "I don't care who is in church, I'm not under anyone, I'm only under the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one I am accountable to." My friends, while it is true that ultimately we are all accountable to the Lord Jesus, but if we are accountable to Christ, then we are accountable to whatever form of government or offices He had ordained for the church, right? Christ had ordained for the elders to rule the church, so we must respect the office. That was the reason why the Apostle Paul not only greeted the elders, he went on to report to them about his missionary journeys. The word "particularly" means accordingly, one by one. In other words, he made sure that he did not miss out on anything that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Notice he did not just report what he had done. "Oh, I've done this, I've done that." No, but what God had done through his ministry.
What can we learn from here? Firstly, Paul acknowledged that it was a spiritual work. The salvation of the Gentiles was not something that any man could ever wrought. Only God Himself could save. Some years back, when I was in Sydney BP Church, a young man came up to me and said, "How do you feel as a preacher that you are dealing with the souls of men? Is it not an awesome responsibility?" Indeed, it is an awesome responsibility. But it is not just the pastor who is dealing with the souls of men. Every one of us, believers, whether you are a preacher, Sunday school teacher, a musician playing the piano, an usher welcoming the visitor, or a member giving your tithes and offerings, we are all directly or indirectly involved in the souls of men. We must learn to see our services and ministry as spiritual work rendered to God. It is not something you and I can do based on our own strength. It is what God had wrought among us.
A word of encouragement to all of you. Last Monday, we had our Monash Gardens worship service. If you remember, several months back, I reported to you that we had lost some of the members who had passed away during the lockdown. It is so sad that month after month, we will lose some. In the next month, we come back, one or two pass away. We will not see them again. But praise be to God. The worship service on Monday, the attendees had increased. It was not our doing. We did not go around to canvass for people to come. It was God who had wrought His work among us. We are just instruments. We can see God's hand working in our midst. If it was a spiritual work, God was the one who had wrought this spiritual work through us, through our ministry, through our fellowship groups. Then the glory must go to Him, right? That was why verse 20 says this: "And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord." They did not glorify the Apostle Paul that so many Gentiles were saved. They glorified the Lord. At the end of the day, we want the people to glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, not ourselves. We are just finite creatures. We are here today; tomorrow we perish. If the Lord will take us home, we will go home. Our names will be forgotten, but the name of the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified forever and ever. That is the heart of every believer who loves the Lord. So Paul reported, and when the people heard his report, it was a report that glorified the Lord. They indeed glorified the Lord.
II. The Warning
Our second point is the warning. Jerusalem elders were so happy to see him. At the same time, they were also worried and concerned. They reminded Paul of something that he would already know. The second part of verse 20 says, "Thou seest," —which means you already know— “brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law”. These were the Jewish Christians who had remained devoted to the ceremonial observation of the law. Although they did not keep these ceremonial requirements as a means of salvation, nonetheless, they still observed those required feasts, Sabbath regulations, rituals, dietary requirements, and so forth. You may ask, why did they still cling on to those customs and rituals in the Old Covenant? Firstly, these Jewish believers, they believed that those customs and rituals have been established by God. And when they came to faith in Jesus Christ, their love and obedience to God increased. And when their love and obedience to God increased, they also, at the same time, became even more zealous of the law.
Secondly, if you noticed, the apostles and the elders at the Jerusalem church, they did not oppose the continuation of those practices. They were very patient with the Jewish Christians, allowed them time to slowly grow in their understanding of their Christian freedom. Although they did not prohibit the Jewish Christians from continuing in those practices, there was one thing they prohibited them from doing. And that was, they must not force the Gentiles to practice their Jewish customs and rituals. Many theologians believe that God Himself was patient with the Jewish Christians in this period of transition to break away from the past because God knew that very soon, in a few years' time, all this would not be an issue anymore. If you remember, in AD 70, Jerusalem would be destroyed, the temple would be destroyed. When that happened, these practices would no longer be a dominant problem. And due to the fact that subsequently, the majority of the believers were Gentiles, it was the Gentiles primarily that embraced Christianity, not the Jews. So it was not a dominant problem later on.
At this point in time, the apostles, the elders, including Paul himself, were very tolerant, patient with these Jewish Christians. Look at verse 21: "And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs." So what happened was that the Judaizers or the false teachers who had been persecuting Paul throughout his missionary journeys, they had been spreading lies about Paul in order to discredit him with the Jewish Christians who were still respectful of the Mosaic law. The words "they are informed" is very interesting. Notice the three words, "they are informed." It actually comes from the English word "catechism." Catechism means to learn by repeating or to learn by memorising. In other words, the false teachers, they were repeating lies about the Apostle Paul so many times, catechism, so much so that the Jewish believers were affected. Sometimes you repeat lies so often that people tend to believe that it is true, right? So these false teachers were doing such a thing. They were repeating these lies about Paul, and the Jewish believers were affected. Those accusations were completely false because nowhere in the Scriptures did Paul ever teach that the Jewish Christians had to abandon their Jewish heritage. He never did that. Like the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church, the only thing he ever did was to insist that the Jews must not force the Gentiles to practice their Jewish customs and rituals.
If Paul had opposed circumcision, think about this: why did he circumcise Timothy? If you can turn with me to Acts 16:3. Acts 16:3, which we have considered in our past messages. Let me read for you: "Him” — referring to Timothy — “would Paul have to go forth with him” —Paul wanted to bring Timothy with him— “and took [him] and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters." There were Jews living in those regions. They would not have accepted Timothy, why? “for they knew all that his father was a Greek.” Timothy's father was a Greek, but his mother was a Jew. So Paul was able to circumcise him based on his mother's Jewish heritage. If Paul had taught others not to observe the Jewish custom, why did he himself take a Nazarite vow? Acts 18:18, let me read for you Acts 18:18. "And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow." Referring to the Nazarite vow.
The devil is the father of lies, and the children of the devil, the enemies of the gospel, would always follow his ways to attack God's people with lies, especially those who are in the ministry. Last week, when I was attending the Gethsemane Family Camp, one of the ministers in his preaching, he mentioned about being attacked by lies and false accusations. It was so bad that he said, "I almost gave up my ministry." It is so sad. The elders at the Jerusalem church knew that although those accusations were false, but they were very serious and had to be dealt with. Therefore, they said in verse 22: "What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come." Something had to be done because the news of Paul's arrival in Jerusalem could not be kept a secret. Very soon, everyone would come together, and they would know of his arrival.
III. The Compromise
Our final point is the compromise. Whenever we use the word compromise, we almost always think of it in a negative sense. But compromise simply means to settle a dispute or to come to an agreement by making concessions, and it can be used in a positive sense depending on the context. As long as it is not contrary to the truth, there is nothing wrong. For example, Brother Richard and Sister Audrey live in Gippsland. If I were to meet them, they have to travel all the way to Oakleigh, or I have to travel all the way to Gippsland. But if I were to say to them, "Can we compromise? You travel halfway, and I travel halfway, so we meet in between, so both of us will not need to travel the full distance." That is a good compromise, right? So here I'm using the word compromise in a positive sense, okay? Not in a negative sense.
Verse 23: "Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them". At that point in time, there were four men who had taken the Nazarite vow. The Nazarite vow symbolises a total separation to God, which involves total abstinence from alcoholic drinks, including anything that comes from the grapes. So not just the drinks itself, but anything that comes from the grapes, they must abstain, and they must have the hair of the head to grow long and avoid contact with dead bodies. Most of the time, the vow will take about 30 days, although some of the people like Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist were Nazarites for life. The Nazarite vow was the highest level of spiritual devotion. You can read about the Nazarite vow in Numbers chapter 6.
So there were four men who had taken the Nazarite vow. Verse 24: "Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law." The four men who had taken the Nazarite vows had to go through the purification rites since the Apostle Paul had just returned to Israel from Gentile lands. Remember, he traveled from places to places, Gentile places, in his missionary journeys. He was considered unclean in a ceremonial sense, so it would be good for him to go through these purification rites with these four men. His willingness to do so would show that as a Jew, he did not object to their Jewish customs and tradition.
On top of that, the elders suggested that Paul, it is good for him to pay for the expenses for the four men so that they may shave their heads. That is what "be at charges with them" means. Apparently, the hair-cutting ceremony would cost quite a bit of money. That would be a stronger proof that the Judaizers' accusations against him were false. Verse 25: "As touching” — or as concerning— “the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication." The elders made it very clear that the only reason why they were willing to do these things was because Paul was a Jew. But for the Gentiles, they were not required to observe the Jewish customs and tradition. The Gentiles were only required to keep the commandments given in Acts chapter 15, which we have learned in our previous message, to abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.
Although some of those things had to do with the dietary laws, but those requirements were given to the Gentiles for the unity of the church. The Gentiles' freedom in Christ would cause them to be willing to keep those requirements so that they will not stumble their Jewish brethren. You love your brethren; you do not want to stumble them. So these requirements were given for the unity of the church, especially between the Gentiles and the Jews. So they were only required to keep these commandments. Verse 26: "Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the” —completion or— “accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them."
Some people have accused Paul of being a compromiser, that he had violated his own conscience. Most certainly, Paul was not a compromiser, and he had not violated his own conscience. Firstly, Paul knew the Scriptures, he knew the Scriptures very well. He would not have agreed to do so if it was contrary to God's Word. Not the Apostle Paul. Secondly, Paul himself previously had taken the Nazarite vow. We have just read Acts 18:18. Why then would it be wrong for him to participate in this ceremony? It was not wrong. Thirdly, if it was wrong, surely the Holy Spirit would make it clear in this text. Paul's participation did not compromise any biblical truth. Maybe we should use the word sacrifice instead of compromise. It was not a sacrifice at the expense of the truth but rather a sacrifice for the sake of unity and understanding.
Why was Paul willing to do these things? For the sake of the gospel, for the salvation of lost souls, so that he might be able to reach out to the Jews. That was in Paul's heart and mind always—for the gospel, for the salvation of his own people. If you want to see a glimpse of Paul's heart, let us turn to 1 Corinthians 9:20-22. We'll end as we read this passage. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, let me read: "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without [the] law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.” — referring to the Gentiles — “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." That was the heart and soul of the Apostle Paul.
Why was he willing to go through all that? For the salvation of men. I remember the testimony of Hudson Taylor, the missionary to China. Hudson Taylor went to China, and he kept a pigtail. In those days, during the Manchu government, the Chinese were required to keep a pigtail. Hudson Taylor was a foreigner; he was not required to keep that law, but he kept a pigtail. Why? Why was he willing to do that? For the sake of the gospel, for the salvation of the Chinese, so that he would be able to reach out to the Chinese, so that he would be able to identify himself with the Chinese, that they may hear his gospel, and by the grace of God, embrace it and have salvation in Jesus Christ. The same as Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, to the Jew, I'm a Jew; to the Gentile, I'm like a Gentile; to the weak, I'm just like them—weak. I am made all things to all men so that I might by all means save some by the grace of God. My friends, what are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel? It might cost you some things; it might cause you certain inconveniences; it might cause you discomfort; it might cost you your money, your freedom, your time, your resources, or even your life. What are you willing to give up for the love of Jesus Christ and for the salvation of sinners? This is a question I leave to all of us that we might take home and ask ourselves as we serve the Lord, as we live our days on this earth. What am I willing to sacrifice for the love of Christ and for the sake of the gospel?
Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scriptures. O Lord, help us to continuously draw spiritual lessons from Thy precious Word. Indeed, o Lord, there are many valuable lessons we can learn from Thy beloved servant, the Apostle Paul. Help us to learn even from tonight's message—the fellowship, the warning, the compromise. It is not a compromise at the expense of Thy truth, God forbids. Rather, it is a compromise, a sacrifice for the sake of unity and understanding, for the sake of the gospel, that we may be able to reach out to those who are outside Thy kingdom. O Lord, there are many out there who are still lingering in the kingdom of darkness. Some of them are our friends, others our loved ones—parents, grandparents, children. We want to reach out to them, so help us to learn. We must never compromise Thy truth, but there are things that we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, for the salvation of sins, that we may be able to reach out to our loved ones, and by Thy grace and mercy, they may come to believe in Thee, just as the Apostle Paul loved his own people, the Jews, that he might reach out to them, and by Thy grace and mercy, they come to know Thee as well. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyThe Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyActs 19:1-7
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The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)Acts 21:7-16
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Paul's Arrest at JerusalemPaul's Arrest at JerusalemActs 21:27-39
Paul's Response to His ArrestPaul's Response to His ArrestActs 21:40-22:21
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