Acts Chapter Twenty One
Paul and his group made their way back to Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. This ended his third missionary journey. On a visit to the house of Philip the evangelist, once again people prophetically spoke to Paul about future persecution and bondage if he completed his plans go to Jerusalem. Paul understood this and responded that his life wasn’t that important. He was ready to die for Jesus if that is what it took. Agabus specifically said he would be bound and arrested. When they couldn’t persuade Paul to change his plans, they had to let him go. Paul believed it was the will of God for him to go.
In Jerusalem Paul joined with some Jewish believers in following some of the customs of the Jews. He did this, not to simply participate in them, but to show his love for God. It was in the process of this that some Jews from other areas of the world stirred up the crowd to arrest and persecute Paul, just as had been prophesied many times.
Chapter twenty one is another place in the Bible where the story is cut off right in the middle. Paul is about to make his defense against the mob at the chapter break.
We are now well in to the Book of Acts and the story of the life of Paul. We are seeing that he was fully committed to the cause of Jesus. His life wasn’t the issue, his comfort wasn’t the issue, material things weren’t the issue. In one of his letters Paul expressed the thought that he, more than anything, wanted to know Christ. (Read Philippians). He wanted to know Christ in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. The many prophecies about his future persecution didn’t dissuade him and they came true. Paul believed it was more important for him to keep proclaiming the gospel than to hide for his protection. This shows his commitment, his love for the Lord, and his love for the souls of people who haven’t yet made their commitment to Jesus. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that preaching the gospel was a heavy calling on his life. He said it would be a terrible thing for him if he didn’t preach the gospel.
Our first question in the list of three we are looking at as we read this book is "What can we learn from the church in Acts?" Think about Paul’s commitment.
