Acts 21 Good and Bad Advice

TV personality Hugh Downs tells a story about the problem lawyers and doctors often encounter with people who seek to obtain free professional advice at parties and other social events.

 

It seems that a certain doctor and lawyer were having a conversation during a party.

 

While they were talking, a woman approached the doctor and complained about a sore leg.

 

The doctor listened, then told her about applying cold compresses and keeping the leg elevated and taking aspirin, etc.

 

After she had gone, the doctor turned to the lawyer and said, "I think I ought to send her a bill, don’t you?"

 

 The lawyer said, "Yes, I do think you ought to send her a bill."

 

 So the next day, the doctor sent the woman a bill…and the lawyer sent the doctor a bill."

 

You have to be careful who you take advice from sometimes in life.

 

I don’t know if you have friends like this but you may have friends that always have advice for you whether it is good or bad.

 

Whenever I think of folks giving advice I think of Job and the terrible advice that he got from his friends and wife when he was in need of good guidance.

 

The Bible is filled with people giving good advice and bad advice.

 

The Proverbs are filled with wonderful advice and great wisdom.

 

Moses’ father in Law Jethro gives Moses great advice about delegating some of his work to others that he trusted.

 

Paul was not immune to folks giving him advice.                 

 

Today we pick back up in the text of Acts after taking a week off last week.

 

Our last sermon on Acts we saw Paul meeting with the elders of Ephesus.

 

Now Paul is about to set out for Jerusalem.

 

In Acts he had folks give him advice about going to Jerusalem but it seems that he ignored their advice.

 

In our text Paul is given advice on two different occasions by people who had a considerable influence in his life.

 

 These were people who cared deeply about Paul and did not want to see him suffer therefore they urged him not to go to Jerusalem. 

Not everyone agrees on how to interpret Acts 21.

 

 Some see this as an example of Paul’s bravery while others see this as a grave mistake on the part of the apostle,

 

arguing that Paul went against the Holy Spirit’s clear directions not to go to Jerusalem.

 

 Paul was of course human and made mistakes but I do not see this as a mistake on the part of Paul.

Paul had just experienced a heartrending farewell with the Ephesian elders.

 

Two weeks ago we pointed out that Paul had the confidence to lay out to these elders his past, his current actions, and his future.

 

Paul had that type of confidence in Christ to be that way.

 

This farewell to the Ephesians was an intense farewell.

 

This experience was intensified by Paul’s statements to them that they would never see his face again (20:38).

 

The Holy Spirit had previously revealed to Paul that the road ahead held “chains and tribulations.” (20:23).

 

Knowing that danger lay ahead, he trusted in God and did not fear the consequences. 

 

Paul I believe fully understood what was going to happen but understood that some of his best opportunities to share the gospel was going to be through going right to the heart of the problem.

 

He had not backing down in his blood and he never quit.

 

A recent television documentary pointed out that the cheetah survives on the African plains by running down its prey.

 

The big cat can sprint seventy miles per hour.

But the cheetah cannot sustain that pace for long. Within its long, sleek body is a disproportionately small heart, which causes the cheetah to tire quickly.

 

Unless the cheetah catches its prey in the first flurry, it must abandon the chase. Sometimes Christians seem to have the cheetah’s approach to ministry.

 

We speed into projects with great energy.

 

But lacking the heart for sustained effort, we fizzle before we finish.

 

We vow to start faster and run harder, when what we need may be not more speed but more staying power--stamina that comes only from a bigger heart.

 

Motion and busyness, no matter how great, yield nothing unless we allow God to give us the heart. 

 

Paul didn’t have that type of finish quick attitude.  He was in it for the long haul.

Lets turn to the text today found in Acts 21

 

Acts 21: 1-4

1 When we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos and the nextday to Rhodes and from there to Patara ; 2 and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we keptsailing to Syria and landed at Tyre ; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 After looking upthe disciples, we stayed there seven days ; and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to setfoot in Jerusalem.

 

Verses 1-4 take us from Miletus, where Paul met with the Ephesian elders,

 

to Tyre, where Paul and his party look up the believers and stay with them for seven days.

 

 It is here that Paul gets his first advice and I would like for you to notice three things about advice.

1. Some Times Good People Can Give You The Wrong Advice.

When he landed in Tyre he went looking for some Christian companionship.

 

 We are told that these brethren warned Paul, “through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.”

(v. 4b). The word “through” (dia) is not the word used previously (13:4, hupo) to speak of the direct agency of the Holy Spirit.

 

 Here it is better understood as “in consequence of the spirit,” that is because of what the spirit said.

 

The Holy Spirit had not forbidden Paul to go to Jerusalem but according to Acts 20:22 had constrained Paul to go.

 

The Holy Spirit had revealed that Paul would undergo suffering for Christ.

 

The Holy Spirit did not tell them to inform Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

 

 The Holy Spirit predicted persecution for the apostle and their love for him caused them to beg him not to go.

Christian’s today are just as inclined to give advice today as they were in Paul’s day.

 

Unfortunately often the advice which is given today is well-intentioned, but wrong.

 

We cannot avoid the sad fact of life that even some Christians will not understand the path we are taking when we follow the Lord.

 

Some parents will be opposed to the decision their children take to follow the Lord if it is along a difficult path. 

Paul obviously did not heed the advice offered him, because when the ship was ready to sail, he was on it.

Just because advice can seem prudent it is not always the best.

Marquis de Lafayette was a French general and politician who helped George Washington in the American Revolution.

 

After the war was over, he returned to France and resumed his life as a farmer of many estates.

 

In 1783, the harvest was a terrible one, and there were many who suffered as a result.

 

However, Lafayettes farms were still able to fill their barns with wheat and were unaffected by the devastating harvest.

 

One of his workers, offered what seemed to be good advice to Lafayette, "The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat.

 

This is the time to sell."

 

After thinking about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages, Lafayette disagreed by saying,

 

"No, this is the time to give."

2. Sometimes the Advice We Offer Others Can Be Based More On What We Desire Than What The Will of God Is. 

Beginning in verse five we travel with Paul from Tyre to Caesarea, where Paul and the others will stay at the home of Philip the evangelist.

 

 

 

Acts 21: 5-11

5 When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, He said farewell to one another. 6 Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again. 7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived atPtolemais, and after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day. 8 On the next day weleft and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of theseven, we stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. 10As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is whatthe Holy Spirit says : 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt anddeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' " 

 

A man by the name of Agabus predicted Paul’s immediate future in a rather graphic way, he tied himself up with Paul’s belt.

 

What Agabus did not say may be as instructive as what he did say.

 

There is no evidence that Agabus interpreted this prophecy or gave Paul any instructions as to whether or not he should continue his journey to Jerusalem.

 

But Paul’s friends sure did.

 

The text says in verse twelve,

 

“Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.”

 

 It appears from the use of “we” that even Luke joined those who were pleading with Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 

Why has Paul received these warnings?

 

There are several possibilities.

 

 1.) These warnings are intended to convince him not to go to Jerusalem and in pressing on he is “out of God’s will.

 

2.) These warnings are to prepare him for what awaits him in Jerusalem.

 

 3.) These warnings are intended to test his resolve and his pressing on is a sign of his obedience and faith. 

It is my belief that these believers are right in their understanding that Paul would be imprisoned in Jerusalem but wrong in their conclusion that Paul should not go.

 

Please note that these saints were wrong, even though they seemed to be unanimous in their conclusion.

 

As Americans we even think democratically, you go with the majority. But the majority can be wrong. 

 

3. Some Times Our Advice Rather Than Encouraging People To Follow the Will of God, Discourages It.

The pressure on Paul must have been considerable.

 

For Paul acknowledged that they were tearing him apart by saying in verse thirteen,

 

“Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart?

 

“Breaking the heart was a phrase used to mean breaking the will, weakening the purpose or causing a person to ‘go to pieces’ so that he could accomplish nothing.”

 

Paul is saying, “Why are you doing this to me? I need your encouragement to follow the Spirit’s leading. Instead you are crippling me with your grief.” 

But Paul revealed his determination not to be deterred from following what God had revealed as His will for Paul’s life.

 

“For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus”(13b).

 

 He willing to suffer for the Lord and if necessary to give his life.

 

 He reveals in his heart in his letter to the  Philippians

 

Philippians 1: 20-25

 

20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better ; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,

 

Paul says, “For I am ready.”

 

In fact three times in scripture Paul says about himself that he is ready.

In Romans 1:15, he says he is ready to serve. In our text we see that he is ready to suffer.

 

 In 2 Tim 4:6 he states he is ready for sacrifice.

 

 But the question is, “Are your ready?”

How can Paul face eternity and death without fear?

 

Paul was not afraid of death because he knew that his sins had been forgiven.

 

I Corinthians 15: 54-57

54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOURVICTORY ? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING ?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power ofsin is the law ; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Paul understood that to be present with the Lord it was necessary to be absent from the body.

 

Paul knew that for him death held no terror, for his sins were forgiven.

 

 Paul understood that the safest place that a Christian can be is in the center of God’s will.

Paul did not argue or spend time discussing divine guidance he simply followed what he knew to be God’s will for his life.

 

It is only after Paul courageous statement of purpose that his friends were able to say what they should have been saying all along

 

Acts 21: 14-15

14 And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done !" After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. 

 

Paul was just a different type of person.

 

I admire him so much because he had the guts to face whatever was thrown in his way because he knew he was serving God.

 

A few years ago Thomas Hobbs of the Univ. of Wash. & some fellow sociologists published their research on Human Stress.

 

They listed many of the common experiences of life, evaluated their impact on our mental & emotional well being, & rated them according to the stress they produced in our lives. 

This stress rating was expressed in what they called "Life Change Units, or LCUs."

 

The worse the stress rating, the higher the LCUs.

For instance, getting a divorce is rated at 73 LCUs.

 

Being pregnant is 40 LCUs. Remodeling a home is 25 LCUs.

 

The stress of Christmas is rated as 13 LCUs.

 

 On & on went their list of life’s stresses, each one rated in LCUs.

 

 We are constantly being bombarded by LCUs, & the conclusion of the researchers was that if, within one year’s time,

 

we experience a cumulative total of more that 300 Life Change Units, most people will not be able to handle it. 

They concluded that if we experience that many LCUs in one year’s time that most of us will have either a physical or mental or emotional breakdown because,

 

humanly speaking, we just can’t cope with that much change. 

But notice that I said "humanly speaking,"

 

& I emphasize the word "humanly,"

 

because our trust in God can make all the difference in how we are able to handle the things that may happen to us in life

 

How many of these Life Change Units do you think the Apostle Paul felt?

 

I sure don’t see Paul as a stressed out person.

 

I see Paul as a no-regrets person

 

I think that is really the key to living the life God has called us to live.

 

To live no-regrets and follow God wherever He leads us- to have the guts to do what God wants us to do.

That is the tough part to let loose and obey God.

 

Application

While we may wonder about Paul’s friends and there advice we should take the time to reflect on how we should both give and receive advice. 

1. Paul’s friends demonstrated the common inclination of being quick to point out God’s will for someone else’s life.

 

I always take pause to give people advice for their life and tell them that it is God’s will.

 

What I can do is tell them what Scripture teaches clearly and then allow them to apply that to the situation.

 

Paul had the information revealed by the Holy Spirit through the prophet Agabus but he still had to act on that information.

 

The information was not telling him that it was right or wrong to go to Jerusalem but just that it would be difficult.

 

2. Although Paul’s friends no doubt meant well they were trying to make God’s will conform their preconceptions.

 

Oswald Chambers said:
“To choose to suffer means there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.”

 

The easy path is not necessarily the right path.

 

I love watching a sports show and you will see a college football coach take a new job.

 

That new job will pay about 2 million more than the job before and be a much better situation and they always say it is God’s will.

 

It never seems that God’s will is taking a pay cut or going to a tougher place.

 

It seems like people always want to make God’s will and God’s path the easy way.

 

That is really not a healthy spiritual thing to do.

 

Sometimes God calls us to the tough situation or tough job because he wants to grow us up and mature us.

 

3. Paul’s friends in urging him not to go to Jerusalem were actually being used by the enemy to discourage him in following the Lord.

 

We have no trouble following the guidance of the Lord, as long as it is leading through blessings and ease.

 

But we can not imagine that God’s will leading us or anyone we love through difficulties or trials.

 

The truth is that neither the present nor absence of trouble is an indicator of God’s will. 

 

Close – Would it not be wonderful to have the peace that Paul had in his life.

 

Elvis Pressley’s hay day was before my time

 

About the only taste I have ever had of Elvis Pressley was once when I headed up a fund raiser for our track and field program at school.

 

We hired an Elvis impersonator to come and do a concert.

 

We got one of the best in the country and he filled up the auditorium at our school.

 

I have never seen 50 and 60 year old women act like they did that night.

 

I read once that Elvis started out as a truck driver.

 

He started out making $14 a day as a truck driver. 

On a fluke he made a recording that caught the ear of a promoter.

 

The next thing you know he was the highest paid male entertainer in the world. 

When Elvis Presley died, the airlines were clogged with people trying to get to Memphis, TN.

 

Five tons of flowers were sent to his funeral.

People lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of his coffin. 

Elvis Presley once said, "I would give a million dollars for one week of peace."

 

He recorded a song that probably described his life, "All Shook Up." "I am all shook up," he sang. 

 

Some of our lives can be described as All shook up and directionless.

 

I want to propose to you today that to find true peace in your life is to surrender to God completely

 

To do His will and be willing to follow Him even if it leads to tough times and tough spots.