Acts 21: Make decisions based upon truth and not assumptions

 

Scripture: Acts 21: 29 They had made the assumption when they saw Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul, that he had also brought him into the temple.

Title: Make Decisions based on Truth and not Assumptions

 Acts 21:1 We sailed to Cos and then to Rhodes and on to Patara. 2 There we boarded a ship on its way to Phoenicia and continued our journey. 3 The ship sailed around the western side of Cyprus and then headed east, landing at the port of Tyre, where the ship unloaded its cargo. 4 We stayed in the city for seven days with some followers of Jesus. During that time, they regularly told Paul not to continue his journey to Jerusalem. 5 When our time came to leave the whole group along with their families walked with us until we were outside of the city. We all knelt down on the beach and spent some time in prayer before we said goodbye.

We get a city-by-city tour of Paul’s itinerary as he made the return trip to Antioch. Everywhere he went he received a caution about what he could expect if he were to proceed on to Jerusalem. All of the people Paul visited and even those who traveled with him wanted to keep him save and they felt if he were to go to Jerusalem, he would encounter people who wanted to do him harm.

It is always difficult to trust that God can take care of others. We often want to tell them how we think they should live their lives. Afterall, we trust our judgment far more than anyone else’s, so when we have an opinion about what they should do, we feel a need to express it. Whether we are talking about our adult children, our friends, or even strangers we see on the street, we are called, not to tell them what they should do, but to encourage them along their way and offer friendship. Every person has a need to make their own decisions and not feel pressure from others. It is their life to live. But most of us want at least one friend to walk along beside us.

When we have a feeling, a hunch, a rationalization, or even a “prophecy” about our life or someone else’s life, we need to make sure we do not jump to conclusions about what the information means. In almost every situation in life there are many outcomes in time. For us to assume that a particular outcome is the one that will happen leads us to attempt to control our own or even someone else’s destiny.

As we left the people of Tyre, we knelt down with them and prayed. We did not know the future for Paul or for the people of Tyre, so we put us all in the hands of God by asking Him to watch over us. What a great practice to have as a habit; to pray for people when we leave their presence. I encourage everyone of us to pray with and for others as often as we have the opportunity.

6 We boarded the ship again and set sail on our way home to Antioch. 7 We landed at Ptolemais and stay a day with some of Jesus' followers. 8 We then journeyed to Caesarea to the house of an evangelist friend named Philip.  9 He had four young daughters who were anointed by the Spirit as prophetesses.

If we look back to chapter 6, we will remember that Philip was one of the original Deacons, invited by the apostles to help with the serving of the people in Jerusalem. We see him again as he encountered the Ethiopian on the way back home and baptized him in the water beside the road. Tradition says he had a significant ministry in the area we call the middle east but not much has been written down about it.

His daughters were prophetesses. In the next part of the chapter, we will be introduced to Agabus who is also a prophet. There is a discrepancy related to the title, “prophet.” A prophet is someone who speaks forth for God, sometimes telling what we need to do and other times telling what God is going to do.

Because we have tried to domesticate the gifts of God, we often thing of “pastors” as filling the role in the modern-day church, however, the gift is distinctive, and I believe quite different than just the calling to be a preacher.

Like most of the spiritual gifts, the gift of prophecy is a supernatural ability to speak the truth to someone about their lives and the need for them to change their ways to the ways of God. It does not have to take a special form or be accompanied by some ecstatic experience but might. The prophet speaks to the church and brings a word from the Lord. It is important to screen the prophets and make sure that their message is true. I believe that many in the church today who have the gift of Prophecy never get to use it because of their personal fear or of the church’s restraint on spiritual things. Much more could be said about that, but here is not the place.

10 Over the next few days Agabus the prophet arrived from Judea. 11 He approached Paul and asked for his belt. He tied the belt around his feet and hands and said, "A word from the Spirit, 'The Jews in Jerusalem will take the owner of this belt and turn him over to the Romans.'" 12 We spent some time trying to get Paul to change his plans and avoid Jerusalem. 13 Paul said to us, "You are breaking my heart. I will not mind being bound if that is the will of the Lord. I do not even mind dying in Jerusalem for the name of my Lord Jesus." 14 We gave up trying to convince him and turned his life and ministry over to the Lord.

Paul was surrounded by people trying to keep him from going to Jerusalem. Those who did not want Paul to get hurt, really had some of their own best interest in mind. They desired to keep Paul around for a longer period of time and they felt that the prophecy meant that Paul was going to lose his life. Again, we need to be cautious of guessing what we think the outcome of a particular prophecy might be. In this case, since we know the rest of the story, Paul has an opportunity to witness to many people over the next few years because he gets arrested in Jerusalem. And if he did not get arrested, he would not have spent time in prison and without that time in prison he might never have written the letters that have formed so much of our understanding about Jesus and our faith.

A great lesson for us all to learn is that we can make plans, but God is the one who directs or path. We need to accept our lives as they unfold and trust that God knows what He is doing. The more we fight against the things we do not like in our life, the more we close ourselves out of the things God has for us. We cannot stop what God is going to do. We can only trust that in all that happens He has our best interest in mind.

Notice how Paul is ready for any outcome that God has planned, even death. He avoided death in Damascus by leaving through a window in the wall of the city at night. He left Thessalonica when the mob heated up against him and his teaching. And again, he found a way to be hustled out of the town of Berea when things got heated. He was not opposed to avoiding trouble, but this time, he is convinced he needs to face it head on and see what God has planned.

There are times in life where we think a friend is doing the wrong thing. We can talk with them about it. We might even mention it a few times. But in the end, we have to let them make the decision and trust that God will take care of them. When you cannot get others to “reason things out” the way you think is right, you much trust God to be at work in their life. We are not called to control other people but to bear witness to the love of Jesus by our words and actions.

15 A few days later we set out for Jerusalem. 16 We stayed in the house of Mnason, a follower who grew up in Cyprus and had walked with Jesus for some time. 17 We received a warm welcome from the many followers in Jerusalem. 18 The next day we accompanied Paul into a meeting with James and the other elders. 19 After a round of greetings, he started telling them about all of the things God had done through him among the various nations he had visited.

The leaders hear the good news of what God is doing around the world and they are genuinely happy, but they are caught up in their own circumstances and rationalizations. They have allowed the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem to speculate about what Paul is doing and they have encouraged these same followers to remain more Jewish in tradition than to find freedom in Christ. So, they have devised a plan to resolve the situation, however, the plan has a completely different outcome that anything they could have imagined. They want Paul to act Jewish while in town and hoped the people would see that their fears were not well founded.

Keep in mind, church leadership can rationalize their decisions into a wrong answer, we are dealing with humans after all. A key element in this story is the desire to do something “to be seen by others.” Rather than teaching the truth, sticking up for Paul and his ministry, these leaders devise a plan that will help things appear okay. Jesus reminded us about doing things to be seen by others and said that we gain what we set out to get, i.e., to be seen, and nothing more. There is no other benefit when we seek to do something just to be seen. So, it is in this situation as well.

20 They were filled with praise toward God and said to Paul, "We have thousands here who have become followers as well and all of them are zealous to follow the Law. 21 Now, they have heard you are coming to town and that you have been teaching the Jews in all the nations to leave behind the teachings of Moses related to circumcism and obedience to the law. 22 "We have been wondering what to do and now that you have come to town, we expect there will be some backlash. 23 "We want you to take these four men who are currently practicing a vow 24 "into the Temple for purification and pay their fees to have their heads shaved. This will help the naysayers trust that the rumors are not true. 25 "On the other hand, we already wrote to you about those who come to believe, that they do not have to become Jews and submit to the customs, we just think they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, the blood which comes from strangulation, and also avoid any kind of fornication." 26 So, Paul arranged to go with the four men into the temple and observe the old familiar ritual of purification sacrifices.

27 This ritual took seven days and just as it was ending some Jews from Turkey spotted Paul in the temple. They stirred up the crowd and had Paul brought into the midst of the mob. 28 They told the mob the lie that this man preached against the Jews and the Law wherever he went. Then they suggested that he had brought non-Jews into the temple and by doing so, made the temple unholy. 29 They had made the assumption when they saw Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul, that he had also brought him into the temple.

So often the things we assume to be true are not. People make false assumptions rather than seek out the truth. In this story, they see Greeks in town with Paul and they see people in the temple with Paul. They assume Paul has brought Greeks into the temple. They were wrong but they acted based upon there assumptions without trying to find the truth.

They stirred up a crowd by using extreme language to describe their assumptions. Paul has influenced “all men everywhere” by his teaching.

Assumptions and extreme language are almost always and causes for trouble.

In reality, we need to find out the truth before we speak. We need to avoid extremes in our conversations, words like always, never, and everyone. Our goal should always be to bring peace rather than excite and inflame others. We should seek to avoid gossip about and public accusations of others.

30 This caused the people of the city to be against Paul and so they expelled him from the temple and locked the doors. 31 Their plan was to kill Paul in the middle of the public street just outside the temple. When the word came to the Roman commander, he was told that all of Jerusalem was rioting. 32 He took some soldiers with him and ran down to the gathered mob who quickly stopped beating Paul. 33 The commander took Paul and had his soldiers bind him in chains. He then asked the people in the mob about Paul's identity and what he had done. 34 He received a wide variety of answers and was truly unable to learn the truth. They removed Paul and took him to the local prison. 35 The soldiers carried Paul to protect him from the mob 36 who continued to follow the Romans and demand they execute him.

37 Just before they went inside, Paul asked the commander if he could say something. The commander was surprised that Paul knew the Greek language. 38 He surmised that Paul was not the Egyptian who had instigated a revolt recently and led over four thousand assassins into the wilderness. 39 Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia and a citizen of that city. Would you allow me to speak to the crowd?" 40 Having received permission, Paul got the attention of the people and began speaking to them in the Hebrew dialect.

Once again, we find the dreaded assumption showing up in this story. The commander has already come to his conclusion about who Paul is and acts according to his thinking. The truth is, Paul is not related in any way to the Egyptian. When this comes out, the commander allows Paul to address the crowd.

Finally, Paul has a chance to speak on his own behalf, but the assumptions of the crowd keep the crowd from listening to what he has to say.

In our lives today, many people we desire to talk with have assumptions about Christianity. They have been hurt by church members, they have been taught that the teachings of the church are wrong, and they have heard all of the news reports of the bad things that people have done in the name of Jesus. We have a need, as followers of Jesus, to bear witness to the truth. But that is often difficult because of the many assumptions people have.

Bearing witness can be effective if our lives demonstrate the love and humility of Jesus. When people see our genuine concern for others, they will often be more open to hear about what motivates us. Then we can share with them about our faith and why we believe it is Jesus who has come into our lives and changed us for the better.

Let’s be people who avoid assumptions and gossip, people who seek for and love the truth, and people who trust that Jesus knows what He is doing as He leads us in the path of righteousness.

 

Bless you.

 

Edd Breeden