The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Acts 21:1-14the main passage preached, covering Paul's journey to Jerusalem and the warnings from disciples and Agabus
1 When we had departed from them and had set sail, we came with a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 Having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set sail.
3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand, we sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload her cargo.
4 Having found disciples, we stayed there seven days. These said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
5 When those days were over, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, brought us on our way until we were out of the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed.
6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.
7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers, and stayed with them one day.
8 On the next day, we, who were Paul’s companions, departed, and came to Caesarea. We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
10 As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 Coming to us, and taking Paul’s belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘So will the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard these things, both we and they of that place begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Paul says he is bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem and must also see Rome, and does not consider his life dear to himself
22 Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;
23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.
24 But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
wait in Jerusalem for power from on high, then be witnesses to the uttermost parts, cited as the commission being fulfilled through Paul's journeys
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
the Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman whose demon-possessed daughter was healed, used to illustrate the gospel reaching beyond Israel
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?
4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
5 But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,”
6 he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
8 ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”
10 He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand.
11 That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?”
13 But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.
14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand?
17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?
18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.
20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
21 Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”
23 But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.”
24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27 But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
29 Jesus departed from there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.
30 Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them,
31 so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
36 and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
37 They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 Then he sent away the multitudes, got into the boat, and came into the borders of Magdala.
disciples on the road to Emmaus who did not yet understand the significance of the crucifixion until Jesus walked alongside and explained the scriptures
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.
2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.
4 While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.
5 Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,
7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”
8 They remembered his words,
9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.
10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles.
11 These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.
12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.
13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem.
14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened.
15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them.
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb;
23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”
27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.
30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them.
31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.
32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,
34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43 He took them, and ate in front of them.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
51 While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
52 They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor preached from Acts 21:1-14, the final leg of Paul's third missionary journey, using Paul's determined walk toward Jerusalem as a lens for thinking about the will of God, the voice of the community, and the unpleasant changes that come with following Christ. He closed with the Lord's Supper, asking the congregation to come to the table in humility and unity as First B navigates its own season of transition.
What was said
The word "vicissitudes" set the tone for the whole message. It means changes, but as the pastor noted, we most often use it for the unpleasant kind. Anyone who has lived in Jackson long enough has watched hundreds of people they loved move away, and that pattern of loss and movement is the very texture of Acts 21, where Paul tears himself away from people he loves and keeps pressing forward.
Before landing in Tyre, the ship passed through waters near the region of Tyre and Sidon, and the pastor paused there to tell the story of the Syrophoenician woman from Matthew 15. His reading of that passage was that Jesus was stretching his disciples' understanding. Jesus called her a dog, using the common slur for Gentiles, but she held onto the analogy and called him Master, and her faith was answered immediately. The point was the heart of God: the gospel is not a small thing for a small group, but for anyone who will reach out to Him.
When they arrived in Tyre, Paul and his companions found disciples already there and stayed a week. Those disciples, moved by the Spirit, kept urging Paul not to go to Jerusalem. This is the crux of the passage and the honest tension the pastor put before the congregation. In Acts 20, Paul had said he was "bound by the Spirit" to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. Now the same Spirit was showing those around him what awaited him there, and they were drawing the opposite conclusion: stay away. The pastor named the debate plainly - commentators he respects disagree about whether Paul was obedient or disobedient here - and he did not force a tidy resolution.
The scene at Philip's house in Caesarea sharpened the tension further. Philip the evangelist, one of the original seven deacons, had four daughters who were prophetesses, and then the prophet Agabus arrived from Judea, took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet with it, and declared that this is what the Holy Spirit says will happen to the man who owns this belt in Jerusalem. Everyone, including Luke himself writing in the first person, began begging Paul not to go. Paul's answer was that they were doing to his heart what launderers do to clothes on the rocks: beating it. But he was ready not only to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Since Paul would not be persuaded, the group went quiet and said, "The will of the Lord be done." The pastor read that moment carefully. He compared Paul's resolve to Jesus setting His face toward Jerusalem in Luke 9, and he compared the community's warning to a parent telling a child that a log is slippery, not necessarily telling them to stop, just naming what is coming. The people were not wrong about what the Spirit had shown them. Paul was not ignoring them. He simply knew what he was called to do, and he trusted that God had more for him beyond Jerusalem.
The pastor then brought that same frame directly into the life of First B. Carl's departure and the search for his successor is the congregation's own version of this passage, a moment where individuals may have strong feelings, where the collective voice matters, and where the only right destination is the same quiet place those disciples arrived at: "The will of the Lord be done." He asked the church to seek God individually and collectively, in humility, so that whatever direction emerges, it comes from that place rather than from preference or fear.
The Lord's Supper followed as the natural landing point. The pastor drew a brief parallel to the road to Emmaus, where two disciples walked through their own confusion about unpleasant changes until Jesus opened the Scriptures and then broke bread and was recognized. He asked the congregation to come to the table having examined their own hearts, to lay down pride and selfishness, and to receive the bread and cup as a unified body, proclaiming Christ's death until He comes again.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor described the vicissitudes of life, the unpleasant changes, as something the body of Christ in Jackson Hole faces constantly as people come and go. How have you personally experienced that kind of loss, and what has helped you hold onto a sense of gratitude rather than grief in the middle of it?
The Syrophoenician woman called Jesus 'Lord' and 'son of David,' bowed before Him, and persisted even when He seemed to be ignoring her. The pastor said God always answers the cry of faith. What does her persistence tell you about what genuine faith looks like in practice, and where do you find that kind of persistence hardest to sustain?
Have to wait for that thing to get to zero. We We will just go ahead and start now. Would you stand up? I think Blake was gonna come looking for me in just a minute. But at Calvary, almost all the songs in the song service there pointing towards the cross and pointing towards salvation, gospel of salvation, and sanctification available in Christ.
And we have here before us the table, Lord's Supper. We practice an open table. I'll say that at the beginning because I might forget later on. But at Calvary, we're gonna sing. Emily, would you come up and sing with?
There should be a mic somewhere. If not, you can probably Sorry. And now the old rugged cross, emblem of suffering and shame. On a hill far away Amen. Y'all can have a seat.
It's good to see you this morning. I had a had a whirlwind of a week. I can say that pretty much every week, but last time that we met was at the fair over here under the big top. We had a couple folks that came to the breakfast this morning and came to church this morning who came there last week for the first time. So glad to see that, but I left and took off for the Southland.
I drove after the service down to Alabama, visited Carl for a moment, dropped off a bunch of his daughter stuff. She was moving down and she has now moved. Addie's down there with him. And I dropped off some of Pascal's stuff for her dorm and Tanya and Pascal are there setting up her room at Auburn. Again, going in as a sophomore there, but a different dorm.
And so it was a whirlwind, driving down, flying back, and here I am. And we're going through acts in the Bible, and so the movings of the people of that time and the movings of the people. I'm looking out this morning, but for first service, I saw folks that I haven't seen in ten years that were from here when I got here. I'm seeing visitors back right now all over the room and I'm just I'm I'm just saying welcome. I'm glad you're back.
Glad to see you. Yeah. Praise God. So if you would, y'all can kinda we'll announce and visit for just a minute, but please feel free to hang around and chat for a little while afterwards. The announcements are these, Seeking Truth in Your Twenties.
Seeking Truth in Your Twenties is a college group. Called Seeking Truth in Your Twenties is for college age folks from 18 or graduated high school all the way up to your into your twenties. So that's a pretty wide range and they're meeting Sunday nights out at Casey and Brian McCooey's place off of Zenith Drive out behind the airport. It's a beautiful place to meet. The weather has been fantastic.
The turnout has been great. They're studying the Bible together. They're listening to testimonies and giving testimonies together. Games, bonfires, good food. It's a good time.
So if you're in your twenties or you know somebody who is, send them out there. It's pretty fun. Seeking truth in your twenties. There's also the engine room they're calling it, is the Sunday morning prayer group. We have a Wednesday morning prayer group that I've always said is sort of the heartbeat of this church.
It just keeps going. Every Wednesday morning, they get together at 07:30, but this engine room gets together between eight and 08:30 or so and they just pray for the Sunday morning services and we had several elders down there this morning. It's really good to just be praying about what God might want to do in our midst on a Sunday. This coming Wednesday is the Jackson Hole Men's Alliance. Men's Alliance is not just First B, it's all churches in the Valley that are sending their people.
So Wednesday morning at 06:30 for breakfast. August 6, The speaker this week is gonna be Scotty Schneider. Scotty is one of our volunteers who helps out a lot, and he has a very interesting story. His testimony will be what's happening. So pray for Scotty as Wednesday approaches because it's not a normal thing for him to be speaking in front of a bunch of guys for breakfast, but he's willing and so we're we've asked him to do it.
Breakfast will be provided 06:30, Wednesday morning, Scotty Schneider. JH Women's Community Bible Study will be coming in the fall on Wednesdays. Sometimes we have it here. Last semester, they had it at Gateway down in Raptor J, but this time it's gonna be at the Presbyterian Church in Jackson Hole. So PCJH from ten to noon.
They'll be covered in the book of Genesis. So jhwomensbiblestudy.com is the place to sign up ahead of time if you want to. With that, we'll be ten to noon on Wednesdays from September 10 to October 29. It is upon us. Y'all know what old Bills is?
Old Bills Fun Run? Most everybody in the room knows that if you're visiting from out of town, it's a little bit like United Way. It is a way to amplify giving. There are old Bill and missus old Bill and several of their people have gotten together and they funded this so that whatever the community wants to fund through the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, whatever the community wants to fund, they will amplify that giving. Usually, a dollar in is about a dollar and 0.5 out.
So it's pretty good return on investment, I'd say. If you wanted to help out with what we do here at the church, our benevolence fund is what we collect through the Community Foundation. There are other people who give all the time to the benevolence fund, but this time of year from August 15 to September 12, if you give through Community Foundation, it'll amplify your giving. Now, what we do with that benevolence fund is we help out when somebody's broken down here. We'll help buy car parts or pay a mechanic.
Sometimes I end up fixing it with car parts you all pay for. We get hotel rooms for people. We put people on buses to get them somewhere that fits better than here because this is a very difficult place to be around. And so we do what we can to help people with the Benevolence Fund and that fund has grown. And the the scope of it has grown partially or entirely because of what God is doing through y'all, through the community.
So that's happened in August 15 through September 12. First BBQ is what you walked through this morning to get here. We're having another one of those on September 7 between services and it's fun. And what a great weather year we've had for those things. Every time it's just been perfect out there.
If there's anything else that I've forgotten, what was the one I forgot in the first service? To clean up the barbecue. Yeah. Okay. That's a that's a We don't have to worry about that.
Okay. Good. So that, if there's anything else you wanna know about, things that we need to do or things that you wanna know about, then our church website, firstbjackson.org is the place to find that. That little QR code would just get you to our website, which Nick maintains and he does a great job of it. I'm glad to see you.
I'm gonna ask you if you would stand and y'all can greet each other for a minute and we'll bring you back together with a song. Worthy of worship. Lord, you are worthy of worship. Amen. Amen.
Thank you, Emily. Thank you, Judy. Y'all can have a seat. We have the worship through giving time. Actually, when I first got here, we were calling it the worship of giving time and somehow that seemed weird to me.
The worship of giving. No. It's the worship through giving. It's the operatory time and I know that there are some of y'all who are just here on vacation and you're junkies for Jesus. Thank you for coming.
You're not obligated here. But in the in the body of Christ, we get the chance to be thankful. Lord God almighty, thank you that we are here gathered in your name from all across the world. The from everywhere. Lord, we love you and we're thankful that your gospel is a good gospel from one end of the globe to the other.
All the way around the world, Lord. In Jesus name, we're here this morning gathered and we wanna see you lifted up and we wanna see you drawing all people to yourself. Lord, what we're praying for this morning is that your will would be done in your way, in our lives and through our lives. I pray that you'd receive the praise and the honor that you're due and that you Lord would also continue to glorify yourself in the way that we walk out our lives. Would you show us your direction?
I pray that in the mornings when we take our first conscious breath, Lord, what we breathe out is, oh Lord, I long to do your will. Show me your way and I'll walk in it. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Lord God Almighty, we wanna be a part of the wave that is going forward, the good gospel that Christ is the way. In Jesus name, I ask that you'd bless this offering, that you would bless the gift and the giver and that you would amplify it to do your kingdom's work to the very uttermost parts.
Amen. Beautiful. Thank you, Judy. Lamb of God. The lamb of God.
So here we are gathered for a continuation of this study that we've been involved in in Acts for several months now. So, we're up to Acts 21. The last time that I preached was over at the fair and I kind of took an excursus for Psalm one forty five last week and then this morning, Psalm Acts 21, the vicissitudes of life. Vicissitudes of life. Vicissitudes means changes, but it typically the way that we most often use it means unpleasant changes.
And so, are some things about life that are they are changed and if you live here full time, you have seen hundreds of people come and go. And that's a difficult that's an unpleasant in a lot of ways time to have friends. Carl used to say, Carl moved too by the way, if you don't know him. But Carl used to say, I've had I have 300 names in my phone of people that I knew well enough to have them in my phone. It wasn't just because I had a data list, I knew them well enough to have them in my phone and they've moved away.
And he always said that was the hardest thing about ministry here. I try to look at it in a in a moment of gratitude. I can look at it this way where I go, can you believe the influence that this little place has on the world? Where we've had 300 people that came through here that were close enough to a pastor to hand off their phone number to him and still stay in touch to some degree and they're elsewhere in the world ministering and serving and that's when I own my best days, that's the way I think of it but on my normal days, I think of it as the vicissitudes of life and they just continue. They keep coming at us and so there are changes and we're going to look at today a section that from here forward in Acts.
It to me from last week's message or two weeks ago's message in Acts 20. Acts 20 for me in Paul's life is a lot like Luke nine in Jesus' life. In Luke nine fifty one, it says, and Jesus set his face like flint toward Jerusalem and he was walking towards Jerusalem with intent and he had been going there since the cradle and all of the prophets had been forecasting it but it looks like in chapter nine, it's just like it's a steady progression towards the cross. Well, in Acts 20, we see Paul say that he is bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem and after that, he must go to Rome. And so he knew that in his heart and today, in these 14 verses, we see something that's sort of a difficult passage for the collective, for the body of Christ all over this region and we're just gonna let the word speak for itself, but if you think of it, in my in my mind, it parallels a lot of what's going on in my own personal life and in the collective life of this little representation of the body of Christ and we're gonna close with the table.
We're gonna close with the Lord's supper. Hopefully, in great humble unity. That's what we want. So, here we go forward. God, would you bless the reading and the exposition of your word?
Amen. Now, when he had parted from them, the verb there for when he had parted, remember last time I preached in this building, it was the elders from the Ephesians Church on the beach at Miletus. So, the elders from the Ephesians church on the beach at Miletus. Paul had been there in Ephesus for three years ministering. He had made really good, really close friends and he taught daily with these disciples in the Hall Of Tyranus, Philosophy Hall and he got to be very very close such that when he was coming back through Greece, Macedonia, all up there, he sailed past Ephesus and went to Miletus and when they stopped there, he said, alright, send for them.
He it seems that he didn't even wanna go through Ephesus because he knew how hard it was gonna see him and then pull back away from him again. So he stops at Miletus and sent for him. The people made a 30 mile trip. Some of y'all are on vacation and you came to church anyway. Y'all really love this stuff.
And so y'all made the trip. You sort of self selected to be a part of this little body here today. So when Paul had extricated himself or ripped himself away with some difficulty, the verb implies. When he had finally parted himself from them and he had set and we had set sail, we had parted, Luke is with him at this point, and he set sail. We ran a straight course to Cas.
Now my maps are not as good as they usually are, I'm ashamed to say. Kas is the little pin up at the top up there and Kas to Rhodes and on the next day down to Rhodes. Rhodes is the place where the Colossus of Rhodes was in antiquity. It's a port city at the very top of this island, and then fairly smooth sailing, it sounds like. One day, saw Rhodes, and from there to Patara, another day probably across this little bit of the Northern Eastern End of the Mediterranean.
And then it says from Patara, having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, they did not get on the computer, they did not get on their phone, they did not go to delta.com, they did not go to a place, a kayak site where it just told them all the available routes, but they had to look around and they found a ship that was going to Phoenicia. We went aboard and we set sail. Now Phoenicia is over here. It's north of this right here is the Sea Of Galilee. This is something you're used to seeing from your maps in your New Testament, but Phoenicia is up around here.
It is the coastal region of Syria and when we came in sight of Cyprus, Cyprus is this island out here. Remember, Barnabas is from Cyprus, but had been living in Antioch Of Syria. Cyprus. So they go from Petara, they come across and it says, seeing Cyprus on our left. So they didn't have to go through the long way around and go up over the tip and come down because weather, they actually saw it on their left and it gives very detailed travelogue and I love that.
I appreciate it. Probably journaled it as he was going, but from Petara to where they ended up towards Syria, Phoenicia is the coast, coastal part of Syria. We kept sailing to Syria from Petara all the way across up under Cyprus over, and we landed at Tyre. Tyre and Sidon are mentioned in the gospels. We see that multiple times in the gospels.
Tyre is right here, the orange yellowish orange star. It's North Of Galilee. It's north of the normal stomping ground for the disciples and for Jesus and his three years of earthly ministry. That Tyre or Tyre in Sidon is a place where we remember the Syrophoenician or sometimes translated Canaanite woman. The Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15.
Now, I'm gonna take just a second away from Acts just to go through this. I believe that what Jesus was doing was stretching his disciples understanding at this point. If you take this literally and you read it without any emotion, without any kind of an inclination towards what Jesus was doing, you will be very confused because it does not sound like Jesus. This is a teachable moment. So the Syrophoenician woman, it says, Jesus went away from there.
He went away from the normal place of normal activity where they had been up against the Pharisees and the Pharisees resistance to Jesus. So he and his Galilees went away from there and then with withdrew up into the region of Tyre and Sidon. That's the same place where we are now in Acts 21. And a Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman from that very region came out and she began to cry out saying, have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely demon possessed.
Now, what does that tell you about this woman? It does not matter where she's from. She's calling him Lord. She's she recognizes son of David as something that is prophetic pointing towards Messiah, and she knows that if you got a demon possessed daughter, there's only one place that you can go with that request, and she found him. So it says, but Jesus did not answer her with even a word.
Does that sound like Jesus? Sounds like he's ignoring her. And that doesn't sound like Jesus. And his disciples came up and urged him saying, send her away because she keeps on shouting at us. She was shouting to try to get to him and they were holding people back from getting to Jesus.
I'll say, church, are we holding people back from getting to Jesus? Send her away. She keeps shouting at us But he answered and said, oh, yeah. I was just sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Can you hear that note in there?
I was just sent to help the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's why God sent me. It's not for the Syrophoenicians. It's not for the Canaanites. He kind of implies that in that line, but she came and she began to bow down before him.
Now, she's called him Lord and she's called him son of David and she came to him with a demon possessed child and now she's literally bowing down before him saying, Lord, help me. That shows this woman's faith. It it also shows her desperation but it shows her faith and what does God do with the cry of faith? Every time he answers. And yet, Jesus answered and said, well, it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
He's teaching the disciples a lesson. A common epithet, sort of a slur for anyone outside of the household of the Jewish nation was to call the Gentiles dogs. I'm surrounded by dogs. Right? And it's not good to take children's bread.
These good little things. These are the good things for the chosen people of God. Too bad you're a dog. It's not good to take the children's bread, throw it to the dogs. And she said, yes, Lord.
But please help for even the dogs feed on the crumb from that fall from their master's table. She's picked up the analogy and she calls him master and Jesus says to her, oh woman, I'm just messing with you. I'm trying to teach them a lesson. Oh, woman, your faith is great. It shall be done for you just as you desire.
Amen. And her daughter was healed at once. What a beautiful little story about the heart of God. That it's not just for the little group, it's for the people who will reach out to him. So, after looking up the disciples, they looked up the disciples where?
Where were they? They were in Tyre. Now, I reached reached back to the lady from that region, Tyre and Sidon to say, where are all these disciples coming from? It's been twenty two ish years, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four years maybe ish since the day of Pentecost when acts one eight is fulfilled. Wait here in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high.
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts. Now Paul has proven that over and over. He's on his third missionary journey and he has seen the gospel expand all the way over into Europe. And now that they're back, 100 miles, 115, 120 miles north of Jerusalem, maybe a little further. We're looking up the disciples.
It's grown. There has been a witness and anywhere where there's a Jewish outpost and in a lot of Gentile areas, we have seen the gospel take root and there are disciples now all over this region and so when they get to Tyre, they went to church. Hey, welcome visitors. That's what y'all did. We stayed there.
We hung out with them for a week, for seven days and that's Tyre, which is the third of these pins up. I forgot to hit save on my big stars that make this so easy to see. So Tyre up here is where they are, hanging out with disciples for a week, resting from the 400 mile journey, I'm sure, and they the disciples there kept on telling Paul through the spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. Now, this leads to a question. We have Paul in chapter 20 verse 22 through 24.
It says that I am bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem and after that see Rome. So, he knows in his heart what he is supposed to do. And then, he says, not knowing what will happen to me in Jerusalem, just that in every city I visit, I have people prophesied to me and say, I'm gonna end up in chains and imprisoned. So he recognized that the spirit was saying that to them and I'm sure he recognized that the spirit was telling them too. But this says, not to set foot in Jerusalem.
Now, the question here, the debate is whether Paul was obedient to the spirit or disobedient to the spirit. He had had it shown to him what he was to do. He had the risen Jesus speak to him directly and say, you are gonna be my witness to the Gentiles. You're gonna stand before governors and kings. You are going to do this and intimately conversing with him in prayer all of the time, determining the next place and the next course of action and he's bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem and yet, these people are receiving the same message but they're interpreting it differently.
So if you look at Paul's life and travels, it says in one place that he was over here, I think it was in Ikea and near Corinth and he was gonna go over to Syria, basically to this same place but he found out about a plot on his life and so he decided to walk home through Macedonia, right, to go back up to Macedonia and come around And that was to avoid a plot on his life. So he does avoid trouble at times, we see that. He's also gone through trouble and been beaten and been lowered down over a wall and had all kinds of vicissitudes, unpleasant changes in his plans. The consensus is that the spirit says you're gonna end up in chains in Jerusalem. There's no doubt from anybody about that.
It is a risk when you go there that is almost a certainty that you're gonna end up being in an unpleasant situation. So they're urging him, I think, and I'll admit my bias here. I have commentaries. I have about 11 books on acts that I read most weeks. Two of them are my favorite.
One of them is Tanya's best friend, Daryl Bach. I tend to agree with Daryl Bach most all the time. And James Montgomery Boice and their commentaries could not be more different on this point. Bock says, Saul meets Jesus. He's Paul and as he goes forward, he is in tune with what God is warning and he is walking it out just like I presented it like Jesus in Luke nine fifty one.
Paul in 20 is walking towards what he knows will be awful calamity and chains. And Boyce says, he did not listen to the people of God who are listening to God's spirit saying, don't do it. So the debate is, which one of these things is it? Well, as the body of Christ, individually, we need to be paying attention to what the spirit is saying. If we have trouble ascertaining what it is that the spirit is saying and we bring others into it and collectively we're seeking God's will for our lives, then he will give that humble presence of God, humble believers.
Individually, if he's given us something to do, it might not always be popular. When Carl broke the news that he was moving to Alabama, I heard a lot of people saying, don't do it anything but Alabama. Do you know how hot it is down there? Please don't do it but Carl, even though he did not have a ministry job when they bought the house there, even though they did not know if he would still be, he knew that he had to do that. So, I didn't argue with him over it.
I was like, we'll get to that in a minute. The text will say it. Alright? It was hard though. It's unpleasant.
It's a vicissitude. When our days were ended there, when our days there were ended, entire, we left and we started on our journey. While they all, the disciples there that we've gotten to know over the last week, you can make friends quick in the body of Christ. Some of y'all just rode this morning. I already feel kinship with you.
They were all there with their wives and children. They escorted us until we're out of their city and after kneeling down on the beach with on the beach, which is very reminiscent of that scene at Miletus where he gives the long speech about not ever seeing their faces again. And Paul will not pass this way again. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. And then, boarded the ship and they went back to their houses.
Boy, we had a room full this morning as I looked around of missionaries and ministers and counselors and chaplains and I was thinking of how many of us have been called away from the place where we grew up. I'm 1,975 miles away from my front door, you know, I where I grew up And I'm glad to be here and I don't have plans for going anywhere else. Okay. Every time I start preaching the will of God stuff, people come up to me afterwards and say, what are you doing? So we boarded the ship and they returned back to their homes and here we go.
So when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais. That's not very far either. That's the second little pen right here. Ptolemais is only it's less than a day, just a few hours probably to get to Ptolemais and it spent the night there. And we stayed with them for a day and on the next day, we left and we came to Caesarea and Caesarea is right here.
Now, this is Jerusalem. We're getting close. Galilee is right here. Caesarea is not too terribly far away and if you've been on a tour of Israel, you most likely have been to Maritime Caesarea. It is not the Vegas kind, but Caesar's Palace.
One of Caesar's palaces was there. Herod, the great had a place constructed. Actually, had the whole town of Caesarea Maratama created and it's one of the best preserved first century. It was created between forty four and ten BC. So it is of that time period, Caesarea Maritama is a very interesting place to go nowadays.
And it connects us to the story and it's mentioned, I don't know, fifteen, seventeen, 18 times in Acts, something like that. It's a hotbed of activity. It's a government center and it's a military base where there are at least 5,000 soldiers there all of the time. So, it's a fortress. Now, in Caesarea, we entered the house of Philip, the evangelist.
Philip, the evangelist, who was one of the seven. He was one of the original deacons. The ones that the apostles in Acts four when they had some people come into and complainants of the Greek widows, the Hellenistic widows are being omitted and left out of the distribution of food and that should not be the case and they're complaining to the apostles and the apostles prayed about it, thought about it, considered the merits of the murmuring of the people and said, you know what? Should we be paying attention to waiting tables or should we be ministering the word? We're gonna minister the word but we trust you to come up with seven faithful guys.
All of them turned out have Greek names by the way and those deacons, the ones who are kicking up dust and getting things done, Philip was one of those guys. Now, he's known as Philip the evangelist because he, like, I'd say, Gary Geek, just can't help it. It's who he is in Jesus where he knows the gospel and he is always scanning the room to see if other people understand it and have signed on to it and he tries to persuade people to believe the gospel. So, at the house of Philip the evangelist, he was one of the seven. We stayed with him when we got to Caesarea, catching up.
We're getting closer and closer on that trip to Jerusalem. Now, this man, Philip, had four virgin daughters by this time who were prophetesses and what has Paul heard everywhere he's gone? Prophets that have said, you are going to be in chains. If you go to Jerusalem, this is what's gonna happen to you and now he's in a house with four young daughters who are, I'm sure prophesying the very same thing and that mentioned immediately after it is not the daughters but a guy from Judea named Agabas. As we were staying there for some days in Caesarea with Philip and his daughters, a prophet named Agabas came down from Judea.
So Jerusalem's right in the center of Judea, bigger land of the Jews. He knows the climate right now in Jerusalem and he comes to Caesarea and he comes and he says to Paul, he took Paul's belt, this cloth belt that would be wrapped around it, cloth or leather, was wrapped around his waist and he bound Agabus bound his own feet in his hands and said, this is what the Holy Spirit says. Thus said the Lord. Have no doubt about it. In this way, the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and they'll hand him over to the Gentiles.
Now, when we heard this, we, Luke, the eyewitness, when we heard this, we, including me, Luke says, as well as the local residents, we all began begging him, don't go to Jerusalem. Please, just stay here. You can minister here. Everything's fine here. You don't have to go towards the danger.
What what does it profit you to go towards the danger? Come on, stay with us. You're welcome here. We begin the verb there is like it's a continuous thing. Then Paul replied, what are you all doing?
Crying. You're breaking my heart. Actually, the verb here, breaking We'd say break You're breaking my heart, you know. But what this verb is is usually used about laundry. You're slapping the clothes against the rocks in the water.
You're sudsing them up and just beating the clothes on the rocks. That's what you're doing to my heart right now. You're crying and you're breaking my heart. What are you doing? For I'm ready.
I'm ready. I I believe you that I'm going to end up in chains. I got that. I'm ready not just to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, I can say this is he's saying, don't worry about me.
I'm ready for this. Boy says, they were right. He was wrong. But what he's saying and consider this, he he knew that he was bound, but he was bound by the spirit according to Acts twenty twenty two. And let me read it.
And now behold, this is last chapter. And now behold, bound by the spirit, I'm on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what'll happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies and I'm taking him seriously to me in every city saying that chains and afflictions await me but I don't consider my life of any account as dear to myself. What good does it do for me if I don't share the gospel? If I don't do what it is that he has for me to do. I don't consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course, the one that he has set for me and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of God's grace.
That's what I'm supposed to do and I know that I'm going to a place that they believe in merit and I know that I'm going into a place where they believe that they can keep the old covenant but I'm here to proclaim the new covenant. Woe be unto me if I don't preach the gospel. So, for I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem. It's interesting that he says die in Jerusalem because he has been told by the Lord Jesus that he will see Rome and that he will testify to the gospel in Rome. And when he mentions that he's going to drop Jerusalem, he says, and after that, I must see Rome.
So for him to say, I'm going forward to Jerusalem even if it means I die there. He knew that Jesus had more for him than than that. Now, didn't believe that. They didn't believe that. They just knew that he faced trouble.
I mentioned this to Tanya. I hadn't seen Tanya in a couple weeks. Mentioned it to her on the phone this morning. She says, sometimes when a kid, when there's a parent and there's a kid and the kid's walking on a slippery log and the parent needs to say, hey, that's a slippery log. When you fall, it's going to hurt.
But they didn't say don't do it because it's developmental. You're standing on a log. It's 18 inches off the ground. You fall off that log. What's the big deal if you fell off the log?
They're urging him not to but that's their opinion. In my opinion, that's their opinion. They they know what the spirit has said and they're saying, please don't go. Please don't put yourself through that. Well, how many of y'all have ever had to do something that you knew you had to do from the Lord and it was unpopular with your folks.
It was unpopular with your your church. It was unpopular with perhaps your spouse. It's really really hard. So here, Paul is in this situation. I'm ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord and since he would not be persuaded.
How does that sound just like Paul? He's pretty stubborn. Since he would not be persuaded, we all became quiet. Okay. And it says, we became quiet remarking, well then, the will of the Lord be done.
So, today, right here in the next month, the next little while, this little representation of the body of Christ is going through a time where we need a successor to Carl. Say successor not replacement because we're not going to replace the guy. He's irreplaceable. But we are going to set somebody up for success in his stead and we're going through a time where we in humility must get to the place of saying the Lord's will must be done, not just my opinion be done. We have three good candidates.
We have one of them that will probably start as a staff member and we have a couple of those that we're going to need to decide who the Lord is saying is called here and so, I am asking y'all that in light of this text right here, individually, I want for us to be convinced of what it is that God has for us in this time and collectively, I want for us to be able to come together in humility and say, Lord, your will be done. Would you show us your way and allow us to walk in it? Now, we come to this time right here. Actually, I will say this. Next time we get together, we'll talk about Jerusalem.
So this is the end of this third missionary journey. It doesn't end in Antioch where the other two started and began. It says, after these days, we got ready and we started on our way up to Jerusalem. Up, in this case, is uphill. 3,500 feet.
Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us and we're they were taking us to Manasen of Cyprus, a guy who had a house in Jerusalem or along the way. He's a disciple of long standing with whom we were supposed to stay and thus ends the third missionary journey but I wanna go back to the the will of the Lord be done. As we consider the table right here, put yourself in the shoes of the disciples on the road to Emmaus at the end of Luke's gospel. Your understanding of what just happened was your master, your lord had been crucified and you did not know the significance of what that was yet and then Jesus walks alongside and he began to show all the ways that the vicissitudes of life, the unpleasant changes were the way that God had for him. Don't the prophecy say this?
Don't the prophecy say that? Didn't it say that he must suffer? And that's not the way they had been thinking of it, but man, when they recognized Jesus in the mix, then when he broke the bread, they recognized him. That's a beautiful thing. I'm asking y'all now and I'll ask the ushers to come forward and Judy to play something pretty.
Would you pray with me? Lord, what I'm asking for us is that we in humility consider this table and we consider this time and we consider our own walk and our own sin and Lord that we lay that before you. We agree with you about our sins. If we are confessing, saying the same thing as you about our sin, Lord, you're already forgiving it and so I I wanna give a little time right now for us to think of the things you lay on our heart that we could turn those over to you lord. We ask you to search our hearts and know them and show us if there's any wickedness or any evil or any pride or any selfishness that's in there and lord, if there is, we ask you to cleanse us from it and take it away and that we can walk forward from this table knowing that we are unified in Christ and looking for what you would have in the life of this church in the changes whether they'd be pleasant or unpleasant, that you would be glorified.
We recognize that the easy way is not always the way. So Lord, thank you for the Via Dolorosa, the painful way of suffering that you took. In Jesus name, I ask you to bless this little representation of the body of Christ as an oyster cracker or a gluten free cracker that is representative of the the body of Christ where he literally walked out in complete submission of your spirit, the will of father God as a man. Would you bless this? Amen.
So on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples there that this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it, do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, we do indeed remember you and the way that you walked out and fulfilled the law that we in no way had fulfilled, that we in no way could have. While we were yet sinners, you died for us, Lord. Thank you for that.
Lord God, for this little plastic cup that we're about to distribute. It's a little plastic cup of grape juice, representative of the blood that was voluntarily and sacrificially spilled on behalf of all who would come to believe. Lord Jesus, the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. We pray, Lord, that you would bless this cup, that anyone who would partake of it would sense your presence. Lord, I pray in a new way this morning and also for anyone who lets it pass, Lord, I pray that you would be working on their hearts through the other members right here this morning of the body of Christ that it would pursue them and that they would come to see who you are and that they would accept the sacrificial provision that you've made in your blood.
Would you bless this little representation of the blood? In Jesus name, amen. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup. He said to his disciples there, this is the new covenant in my blood. Oh, for long, long, long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Right? Looking for the time when the light of Christ was shined and he says, this is it. This is the new covenant that is available in my blood. Take this, drink it in, do so as often as you will in remembrance of me. And Paul says that as often as we will do this, we proclaim his death, that is his sacrificial death which is good for salvation but also for sanctification until he comes again.
So would you stand with me? I'm gonna read a benediction after the doxology, but I'd like to close with the doxology if Judy will give us a g. Amen. And in this manner, therefore, be praying. Oh father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, would you show us your way and allow us the strength, grace, and power, and provision to walk in it. Amen. Amen.
