Lesson #26

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Acts

September 21, 2015

Lesson #01

January 14, 2010

Lesson #02

January 14, 2010

RETURN TO THE SYLLABUS

ACTS 21:1-36
LESSON #26
GOD’S PERFECT WILL OR GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL

• MEMORY VERSE: PHILIPPIANS 1:29

• READ ACT 21:1-7 PAUL ENDS HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY
• PAUL BOARDS A SHIP IN MILETUS AND SAILS DOWN THE COAST OF TURKEY TO PATARA WHERE HE CHANGES SHIPS. TO GET TO PATARA, HE HAD TO PASS RHODES.
• RHODES WAS AN IMPORTANT HARBOR THAT HAD ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. THIS ANCIENT WONDER WAS A COLOSSAL BRASS STATUE OF APOLLO THAT STOOD AT THE MOUTH OF THE HARBOR. IT WAS SO TALL THAT SHIPS IN FULL SAIL PASSED BETWEEN THE LEGS OF THE STATUE TO ENTER THE HARBOR.
• THE CHANGE OF SHIPS WAS PROBABLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT SOME SHIPS WERE NOT FULL OCEAN-GOING SHIPS. THEREFORE, THEY TOOK LONGER BECAUSE THEY HAD TO FOLLOW THE COASTLINE.
• PAUL CHANGES TO AN OCEAN-GOING SHIP THAT CROSSES THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA FOR TYRE ON THE COAST OF SYRIA. (ABOUT 350 MILES)
• PAUL IS ANXIOUS TO GET TO JERUSALEM TO DELIVER THE MONEY COLLECTED FOR THE POOR IN JERUSALEM. HOWEVER, HE WAITS 7 DAYS FOR THE SHIP TO UNLOAD IN TYRE BEFORE CONTINUING HIS JOURNEY
• THE SUPERNATURAL, PROPHETIC WARNING IN TYRE: (4)
• NOTICE THAT IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT WARNS PAUL NOT TO GO TO JERUSALEM.
• THE FIRST LETTER OF THE WORD, “SPIRIT” IS CAPITALIZED TO INDICATE THAT THIS IS NOT MAN’S SPIRIT, BUT GOD’S SPIRIT THAT IS THE SOURCE OF THIS WARNING.
• WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO PAUL’S LIFE AND MINISTRY?
• THERE ARE MANY WHO SAY THAT PAUL’S TRIP TO JERUSALEM IS IN GOD’S PERFECT WILL AND THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS SIMPLY PREPARING PAUL FOR THE PERSECUTION AHEAD.
• THE PRIMARY EVIDENCE FOR THIS VIEWPOINT IS THAT IN ALL PAUL’S WRITINGS HE NEVER GIVES ANY INDICATION THAT THIS WAS NOT GOD’S PERFECT WILL FOR HIS LIFE.
• THERE ARE MANY OTHERS WHO SAY THAT PAUL IS STEPPING OUT OF GOD’S PERFECT WILL INTO GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL, AND THAT THE WARNINGS ARE GIVEN TO DISSUADE PAUL FROM THIS WRONG STEP.
• HOW CAN WE DECIDE WHICH IS CORRECT?
• AS WE PROCEED IN OUR STUDY OF THIS CHAPTER WE WILL WANT TO LOOK FOR TWO CLUES:
• =1= GOD ALWAYS CONFIRMS HIS WILL FOR THE BELIEVER. WE WILL WANT TO SEE IF GOD CONFIRMS THIS WARNING.
• REMEMBER THAT THIS IS THE SECOND WARNING IN THIS REGARD. WE SAW A HINT OF THE FIRST WARNING IN ACT 20:23.
• =2= GOD’S DIRECTION AND GOD’S PERFECT WILL IN PAUL’S LIFE ALWAYS PRODUCED FRUIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. EVERYWHERE PAUL WENT, PEOPLE CAME TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR. WE WILL WANT TO LOOK FOR THIS KIND OF FRUIT IN JERUSALEM.
• PAUL CONTINUES ON TO PTOLEMAIS WHICH IS A SEAPORT ON THE COAST OF WHAT IS NOW CALLED LEBANON WHERE HE MEETS CHRISTIANS WHO HAD MIGRATED THERE AFTER THE STONING OF STEPHEN.

• READ ACT 21:8-14 PAUL IN CAESAREA
• PAUL IS ONCE AGAIN IN CAESAREA WITH PHILIP.
• YOU WILL RECALL THAT WE MET PHILIP PREVIOUSLY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. HOWEVER, ABOUT 20 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE ACT 8.
• PHILIP IS THE ONE WHO WAS CHOSEN WITH STEPHEN TO OVERSEE THE DISPENSING OF FOOD. (ACT 6:5)
• PHILIP WAS THE FIRST TO PREACH TO THE HATED SAMARITANS. (ACT 8:5)
• PHILIP WAS THE ONE WHO PREACHED TO THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. (ACT 8:26-40)
• WE LAST SAW PHILIP IN CAESAREA WHERE HE PROBABLY STAYED AND RAISED A FAMILY.
• PAUL PROBABLY VISITED PHILIP BEFORE AT THE END OF HIS FIRST AND SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEYS ON HIS WAY TO JERUSALEM, THOUGH ACTS DOES NOT GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF IT.
• PHILIP’S GODLY DAUGHTERS
• THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT PHILIP HAD 4 DAUGHTERS WHO WERE ALL GODLY WOMEN WITH THE SUPERNATURAL GIFT OF PROPHECY.
• WE HAVE SEEN THIS SUPERNATURAL GIFT OF PROPHECY OPERATE BEFORE IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, BUT WE HAVE NOT DISCUSSED IT.
• READ 1COR 12:1-11
• NOTICE THAT THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IS A GIFT GIVEN TO THE BELIEVER BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• READ 1COR 14:3, 22
• WORDS OF PROPHECY GIVEN IN A CHURCH SERVICE ARE WORDS FROM GOD TO THE BELIEVER FOR THE PURPOSE OF:
• EDIFICATION OR BUILDING UP THE FAITH OF THE BELIEVER.
• EXHORTATION, THAT IS TO CORRECT OR TO WARN THE BELIEVER OF SOMETHING THAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.
• GIVING COMFORT TO A BELIEVER IN NEED OF COMFORT.
• NOTICE THAT THESE ARE WOMEN WHO GIVE A PUBLIC MESSAGE OF PROPHECY IN THE CHURCH SERVICE.
• THE MESSAGES THEY GAVE PROBABLY CONFIRMED THE PREVIOUS WARNINGS CONCERNING PAUL’S TRIP TO JERUSALEM, THOUGH ACTS DOES NOT TELL US THEIR WORDS.
• A PROPHET BY THE NAME OF AGABUS COMES TO TOWN AND HIS MESSAGE IS A DEFINITE CONFIRMATION AGAINST GOING TO JERUSALEM, FOR PAUL WILL NOT BE FREE TO WITNESS AND PREACH. INSTEAD HE WILL BE BOUND. (11)
• WE HAVE SEEN AGABUS, THE PROPHET, BEFORE IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. HE IS THE SAME MAN WHO PREDICTED A GREAT FAMINE (ACT 11:28)
• NOTICE HOW THE WARNINGS HAVE CHANGED OVER THE NUMEROUS CONFIRMATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S MESSAGES. THEY BEGAN AS SIMPLE AND GENERAL WARNINGS NOT TO GO TO JERUSALEM. NOW HE IS TOLD WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HIM BECAUSE HE HAS DETERMINED IN HIS OWN SPIRIT TO GO.
• HE WILL BE BOUND BY JEWS AND DELIVERED TO THE GENTILES.
• WITH EACH WARNING THE DETAILS BECOME MORE SPECIFIC. THIS ASPECT IS COMMON IN THE ASPECT OF THE LORD’S GUIDANCE AND CONFIRMATION.
• PAUL’S PERSISTENT DETERMINATION:
• WHY WAS PAUL SO DETERMINED TO GO TO JERUSALEM, WHEN HE KNEW IT WAS GOD’S WILL THAT HE GO TO ROME?
• PAUL HAD A GREAT LOVE AND CONCERN FOR THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM. HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE JEWISH BRANCH AND THE GENTLE BRANCH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH REMAINED UNIFIED. HE SAW THAT THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS WAS BY DELIVERING TO THE JEWS THE MONEY COLLECTED FROM THE GENTILE CHURCHES. THE DELIVERANCE OF THIS MONEY WAS A PERSONAL TASK THAT HE PUT ON HIMSELF. OTHERS COULD HAVE DELIVERED IT, BUT TO PAUL, IT WAS VERY PERSONAL.
• THIS WAS A GOOD THING PAUL WANTED TO DO, BUT IT WAS NOT GOD’S BEST WORK FOR HIM.
• READ ROM 8:28-29
• EVEN THOUGH PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE STEPPED OUT OF GOD’S PERFECT WILL INTO GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL, GOD WILL STILL COMPLETE HIS PLAN FOR PAUL TO GO TO ROME. HOWEVER, IT WILL NOT BE IN THE WAY OF GOD’S PERFECT WILL.

• READ ACT 21:15-26 PAUL REPORTS TO JAMES IN JERUSALEM (THE DATE IS 58 OR 59 AD)
• THE GOOD NEWS:
• ON REACHING JERUSALEM, PAUL FIRST GOES TO THE JERUSALEM CHURCH WHERE JAMES IS THE PASTOR. BEFORE ALL THE ELDERS, PAUL GIVES HIS REPORT OF HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY. HE TELLS OF ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS GOD HAD DONE.
• THE BAD NEWS:
• JAMES AND THE ELDERS TELL PAUL OF THE GROWING JEWISH OPPOSITION TO PAUL AND HIS PREACHING. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF JEWS WHO ARE BELIEVERS, BUT THEY ARE ZEALOUS OF THE MOSAIC LAW. (20)
• THE JEWISH ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PAUL: (21)
• THEY ACCUSE PAUL OF TEACHING ALL THE JEWS TO FORSAKE MOSES AND THE MOSAIC LAW.
• THEY ACCUSE PAUL OF PERSUADING JEWS NOT TO CIRCUMCISE THEIR CHILDREN.
• THEY ACCUSE PAUL OF FORSAKING JEWISH CUSTOMS.
• THE ELDERS’ PROBLEM:
• AS SOON AS ALL THE JEWS HEAR THAT PAUL IS IN TOWN, THEY WILL COME TO THE JERUSALEM CHURCH TO HEAR FROM JAMES, THE PASTOR, AND ALL THE CHURCH ELDERS. THE ELDERS WANT TO KNOW HOW THEY ARE TO DEFEND PAUL.
• ALL THESE YEARS THE JUDAIZERS HAVE CONTINUED THEIR OPPOSITION TO PAUL AND HIS TEACHINGS THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST PERSUADING OTHERS JEWS AWAY FROM PAUL.

• HOW DID THE ELDERS ANSWER, AND WHAT WAS THE RECOMMENDATION? (20-24)
• FOUR JEWISH BELIEVERS HAD MADE A JEWISH NAZARITE VOW ACCORDING TO THE MOSAIC LAW. (NUM 6:1-21)
• THE ELDERS RECOMMENDED THAT PAUL SHOULD JOIN THEM IN THEIR VOW AS AN INDICATION TO THE JEWS THAT EVEN PAUL KEPT THE MOSAIC LAW.
• NOTICE THAT PAUL HAD BROUGHT MONEY FROM THE GENTILES TO PROMOTE AND SEAL THIS UNITY IN THE CHURCH. HOWEVER, THE ELDERS DO NOT EVEN MENTION IT AS A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.
• INSTEAD IT IS PAUL’S PRESENCE IN JERUSALEM THAT HAS BROUGHT GREATER PROBLEMS.

• WHY DID PAUL PARTICIPATE IN THE VOW? (23-26)
• PAUL AGREES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NAZARITE VOW. WHY?
• READ 1COR 9:20-23
• PAUL, KNOWING THAT THE LEGALISMS AND CUSTOMS OF THE JEWS HAD NO VALUE TO GOD, WAS WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN THEM IF IT PLEASED THE JEWS.
• WHAT EXACTLY MUST PAUL DO TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS VOW?
• THESE FOUR MEN HAD BEGUN THE VOW SOME TIME BEFORE PAUL ARRIVED. THE TIMING OF THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR VOW COINCIDED WITH PAUL’S VISIT.
• IF A JEW PARTICIPATED IN A NAZARITE VOW AND WAS POOR TO THE POINT THAT HE COULD NOT AFFORD THE REQUIRED ANIMALS FOR THE SACRIFICE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE VOW, ANOTHER JEW COULD OFFER TO PAY THE COSTS OF THE SACRIFICED ANIMALS.
• THIS WAS WHAT THEY ASKED PAUL TO DO…PAY THE COSTS OF THE VOW AND STAND WITH THESE MEN THROUGH SOME OF THE CEREMONIES.
• NOTICE THAT JAMES QUICKLY REMINDS PAUL THAT THE CHURCH HAD ALREADY PASSED ON THE ISSUE OF REQUIRING THE GENTILES TO KEEP THE LAW BACK IN ACT 15. PAUL’S PARTICIPATION IN THE VOW WOULD NOT RELATE IN ANY WAY TO THE GENTILES, NOR WOULD IT NULLIFY THE DECISION OF THE CHURCH COUNCIL.

• READ ACT 21:27-36 THE RESULTS OF PAUL’S PARTICIPATION IN THE VOW
• PAUL’S PARTICIPATION PUTS HIM IN THE TEMPLE. IF HE HAD NOT PARTICIPATED IN THE VOW, HE COULD HAVE AVOIDED GOING INTO THE TEMPLE.
• THE FORMATION OF A MOB RIOT: WHAT WERE THE CHARGES AGAINST PAUL? (27-29)
• A MOB FORMS BECAUSE THE JEWS THOUGHT PAUL TAUGHT AGAINST THE JEWS, AGAINST THE LAW, AND AGAINST THE TEMPLE.
• THEY ALSO THOUGHT HE HAD BROUGHT A GENTLE, TROPHIMUS, INTO AN AREA OF THE TEMPLE WHERE NO GENTILE WAS TOLERATED.
• TROPHIMUS WAS A WELL-KNOWN GENTILE FROM THE CITY OF EPHESUS. THE PEOPLE HAD SEEN PAUL AND TROPHIMUS TOGETHER ON THE CITY STREETS. THEY FALSELY ASSUMED PAUL HAD BROUGHT HIM INTO THE TEMPLE.
• THE RIOT IN THE TEMPLE:
• THE JEWS DRAG PAUL OUT OF THE TEMPLE SO PAUL’S BLOOD WILL NOT DEFILE THE TEMPLE.
• THE PRIESTS SHUT THE TEMPLE DOORS TO SEPARATE THE RIOT FROM THE TEMPLE.
• NOTICE THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THIS WAS A CITYWIDE RIOT. (31)
• THE ROMAN SOLDIERS IN JERUSALEM WERE ESPECIALLY ALERT DURING THE APPROACH OF THE JEWISH PASSOVER.
• THEY RESPOND QUICKLY TO THE RIOT.
• IF THE ROMAN SOLDIERS HAD NOT INTERVENED, PAUL WOULD HAVE BEEN BEATEN TO DEATH.
• HERE IS WHERE WE MUST REMEMBER THE PROPHECY OF AGABUS THAT SAID PAUL WOULD BE BOUND AND TURNED OVER TO THE GENTILES. THE PROPHECY IS BEING FULFILLED. GOD PROTECTS PAUL’S LIFE EVEN THOUGH HE SEEMS TO BE OUT OF GOD’S PERFECT WILL.
• THE ROMAN SOLDIERS PROCEED TO CARRY PAUL INTO THE CASTLE.
• THE CASTLE IS A ROMAN FORTRESS LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO THE TEMPLE AREA.
• APPLICATION:
• WITH REGARD TO THE QUESTION OF WHETHER PAUL IS IN GOD’S PERFECT WILL OR IN GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL WHEN HE WENT TO JERUSALEM, WE NEED TO CONSIDER THE SECOND CLUE.
• DID PAUL’S PRESENCE IN JERUSALEM ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING POSITIVE IN THE EXPANSION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
• THE ANSWER IS NO. PAUL’S INTENTION WAS TO BRING UNITY AND PEACE. INSTEAD HIS PRESENCE BROUGHT HATRED, VIOLENCE, AND RIOT.
• THE BOOK OF ACTS DOES NOT TELL US OF ANYONE GETTING SAVED BY PAUL’S PRESENCE THERE.
• THEREFORE, IT WOULD SEEM THAT PAUL WAS IN GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL GOING TO JERUSALEM.
• FROM THIS CHAPTER WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT:
• GOD’S WILL?
• GOD CONFIRMS HIS WILL.
• GOD’S PERFECT WILL PRODUCES GOOD FRUIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
• THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
• THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFIRMS GOD’S WILL AND GUIDANCE.
• THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS THROUGH WORDS OF PROPHECY.
• THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLS THE BELIEVER OF THINGS TO COME. (JOH 16:13)

HOMEWORK
ACTS 21:37-40 ACTS 22:1-30
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION FOR ACT 21:1-36
• HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED WALKING IN GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL? RELATE WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE.

• HOW HAVE YOU SEEN GOD CONFIRM HIS PERFECT WILL IN YOUR LIFE?

• PREPARATION FOR ACT 21:37-40 AND ACTS 22:1-30
• READ ACT 21:37-40 AND ACT 22:1-30
• WHAT WORDS CALMED THE CROWD SO THAT THEY LISTENED TO HIS SERMON?

• IN PAUL’S SERMON, HOW DOES HE RELATE HIS OWN EXPERIENCES WITH THE ATTITUDES OF THE JEWISH MOB? (19)

• WHY DID THE JEWISH CROWD STOP LISTENING TO PAUL’S SERMON AND BECOME AGITATED? (22)

• HOW DID PAUL’S CITIZENSHIP HELP HIM?

• WHAT IMPORTANT LESSONS DO YOU LEARN FROM THIS CHAPTER ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?

• MEMORY VERSE: COL 4:6