Study #65: Paul continued traveling to Jerusalem, in spite of opposition from the Holy Spirit through other believers (Acts 21:1

Study #65: Paul continued traveling to Jerusalem, in spite of opposition from the Holy Spirit through other believers (Acts 21:1 - 14)

All Bible quotations and the arrangement are found exclusively in the Kingdom Study Bible version, published by Jehovah Has Spoken Publishing Ministries.

It is published for free online at https://https://www.phibible.org/

Download a FREE PDF copy of the Kingdom Study Bible in English at this link:

https://www.phibible.org/files/English_PDF_Kingdom_Study_Bible.pdf

This PDF works best with Adobe Acrobat, which is free to download and use at this link:

https://get.adobe.com/reader/

It works well with your smartphone, but it also suitable for tablets or larger devices, such as your PC.

Use the hyperlinks to navigate quickly throughout the entire Bible and access the Table of Contents from almost every page.

Use the 300+ outlines to explore the themes of the Bible in ways that are impossible with other Bible versions.

Read the Preface to learn basic information about Golden Ratio design of the Bible.

Freely you have received; freely give! This PDF version has no copyright and is free to share and even print without limit. Please share with all of your friends, Christian or not Christian.

The Golden Ratio outline of Acts Chapter 2.4:

Acts, Chapter 2.4: Paul the free man traveled to Jerusalem to witness to the Jews (21:1 - 23:11)

§Unique Introduction: Paul continued traveling to Jerusalem, in spite of opposition from the Holy Spirit through other believers (21:1 - 14)

¶Opposite Paul and his missionary band sailed from Asia Minor to Tyre, where they stayed with a church for a week (21:1 - 6)

¶Opposite Paul refused to listen to the urgings of other Christians not to go up to Jerusalem (21:7 - 14)

§Complement Body: Paul demonstrated his faithfulness to the Law, but was attacked by unbelieving Jews in the Temple (21:15 - 22:21)

¶Unique Paul declared to the other Apostles at Jerusalem what God had done among the Gentiles by his ministry (21:15 - 19)

¶Complement The Apostles told Paul to demonstrate his fidelity to the Law of Moses before the zealous Jews in the church (21:20 - 26)

¶Complement The Roman Centurion rescued Paul from being killed by the zealous Jews in the Temple (21:27 - 39)

¶Opposite Paul testified that he was a zealous persecutor of Christians before he was met Jesus Christ (21:40 - 22:10)

¶Opposite Paul testified that the Lord Jesus sent Paul away from Jerusalem to preach to the Gentiles (22:11 - 21)

§Complement Conclusion: Paul used his citizenship against the Romans and his heritage as a Pharisee against the Sanhedrin (22:22 - 23:11)

¶Complement Paul frightened the Romans soldiers with the news that he was a natural-born Roman citizen (22:22 - 29)

¶Complement Paul caused great division among the Sanhedrin Council by identifying as a Pharisee (22:30 - 23:11)

If you are unfamiliar with the design of the golden ratio in the Bible, please visit this page of my website:

https://www.phibible.org/info/GoldenRatioBibleStudies/EnglishIntroduction.html

We begin our study of Acts Chapter 2.4 with a preview of the entire Chapter by looking at only the Section headings:

§Unique Introduction: Paul continued traveling to Jerusalem, in spite of opposition from other believers (21:1 - 14)

§Complement Body: Paul demonstrated his faithfulness to the Law, but was attacked by unbelieving Jews in the Temple (21:15 - 22:21)

§Complement Conclusion: Paul used his citizenship against the Romans and his heritage as a Pharisee against the Sanhedrin (22:22 - 23:11)

Notice that this Chapter has 3 Sections (same as all of the other Chapters in the Book of Acts). In this case, the unique section is the last one. The design in all Chapters in the Bible is either UCC or CCU, but never CUC, for the Sections.

This design shows that the first two sections complement each other in their themes, while the conclusion is unique by comparison with the first two sections.

In the first two sections, Paul is still a free man; but in the conclusion, he has become a prisoner of Rome.

In the Body Section, Paul made an oral defense of himself before all of the Jews in the area of the Temple in Jerusalem, who probably numbered in the thousands at least, perhaps tens of thousands.

In the Body Section of Chapter 2.5, Paul made an oral defense of himself before all of the Roman rulers in Judea. So in this way, you can see the opposite nature of the themes of these two Chapters in Acts.

Opposite Chapter 2.4: Paul the free man traveled to Jerusalem to witness to the Jews (21:1 - 23:11)

Opposite Chapter 2.5: Paul the prisoner witnessed to the Gentile Roman government in Caesarea before traveling to Rome (23:12 - 28:31)

Chapter 2.4: Paul the free man traveled to Jerusalem to witness to the Jews (21:1 - 23:11)

§Unique Introduction: Paul continued traveling to Jerusalem, in spite of opposition from other believers (21:1 - 14)

¶Opposite Paul and his missionary band sailed from Asia Minor to Tyre, where they stayed with a church for a week (21:1 - 6)

Unique “And it came to pass, that after we left them, and had launched, we came with a straight course to Coos; and the day following to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.”

Complement “And, finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.”

Complement “Now when we sighted Cyprus, we left it on the left hand; and we sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for the ship was to unload her cargo there.”

Opposite “And, finding disciples, we waited there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.”

Opposite “And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, until we were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. And when we had taken our leave one of another, we got on board the ship; and they returned home again.”

Comments: As soon as Paul and his missionary company arrived in Tyre, they began to hear from other disciples “through the Spirit” that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

¶Opposite Paul refused to listen to the urgings of other believers not to go up to Jerusalem (21:7 - 14)

Opposite “And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day.”

Opposite “And the next day we that were of Paul’s company left, and came to Caesarea; and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven; and stayed with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, who prophesied.”

Complement “And as we stayed there many days, a certain Prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judea. And when he came to us, he took Paul’s belt, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this belt, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’””

Complement “And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What do you mean to weep and break my heart? For I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus.””

Unique “And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.””

Comments: There have been many discussions over the centuries about whether Paul did the will of God, or not, by going up to Jerusalem. I believe that the scriptural evidence shows that Paul made a mistake in this situation, and the first will of God for Paul was not obeyed in this text. If you have a different viewpoint, please be patient while I explain.

“And, finding disciples, we waited there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit, that HE SHOULD NOT GO UP TO JERUSALEM.” Acts 21:4

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul through these disciples that “he should not go up to Jerusalem”. That being the case, it seems clear that Paul should not have gone up to Jerusalem! Otherwise, we have to deny the plain meaning of the words of this text, and I believe this is wrong. The Bible means what it says, and it says what it means.

It is possible for any Believer, no matter how mature or how educated in the Bible, to do things in our lives that destroy any possibility of going back to the original will of God for our lives. For example, if God has called a young man into the ministry; but then he does a very stupid thing and commits fornication and the girl has a baby out of wedlock.

Now he is in a very bad situation: if he is an honorable man, he will marry the girl so that he can take care of his child and the woman he has made pregnant. In this situation, the woman will probably not support his desire to serve the Lord; and so then he will be in a marriage that makes it impossible to follow the original will of God for his life.

Or, he can NOT marry the woman and then have an illegitimate child out of wedlock; and everyone knows what he did. So in that situation, he has lost his testimony for Christ and is not qualified to be a pastor or any kind of Christian leader in any church.

I personally saw this very situation occur while I was in Bible college: a fellow Bible student who felt called to the ministry fell into sin with a woman at the same church; and after it was revealed that she was pregnant, they married; but it was not a happy marriage. And afterward, he could not follow the will of God for his life, because his wife did not want him to preach the Gospel, so he was very unhappy. He had spoiled the calling of God on his life with his sin against God, and he could not go back. The same situation also applies for a pastor or a Christian leader who was called of God, but then sins against God with adultery or divorce. He has destroyed any possibility of ever being a pastor again, because he is not blameless any longer; and he no longer meets the scriptural qualifications to be a pastor in I Timothy 3:1-7.

Now the situation with the Apostle Paul is obviously different! He did not commit any immorality of any kind; however, it appears that he was so zealous to serve the Lord that his zeal overcame his good sense, and he went up to Jerusalem against the will of God; and afterward, he was not able to go back to his previous position in life as a free man. However, God being merciful and good, overruled the bad decision of Paul and “turned sour lemons into sweet lemonade” for the glory of God in his life. God chose not to perform a miracle to deliver Paul from prison in this case, although He could have. Perhaps He intended this to be a lesson to Paul and future Believers that bad decisions against his will can result in catastrophic results.

Even with Bible training and a zeal for God, it is very possible for any Believer to sin against God and make bad decisions against his will for their life. Look at what happened to king David and Bathsheba! I Samuel 11 - 18. David loved God and the Bible, but backslid on God and destroyed his life with a bad decision to commit adultery, which led to the murder of her husband, the death of their child, and the subsequent deaths of two of his sons. If David had continued to follow God, and refused to commit adultery, his life would have been far better for him and everyone in history who was affected by his decision.

The Apostle Paul rebuked even the Apostle Peter for being a hypocrite in Galatians 2:11-13. These examples simply show that the Apostles were flawed human beings in spite of their love for Christ and the great things that they did in their ministries for God. It does not mean that their writings were flawed, because their writings in the Bible were preserved from all error by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is amazing what God can do with flawed human beings, even poor sinners such as you and I.

I have observed that bad decisions are often made when we are in a hurry: “I have to marry this person, because I love her or him so much!” Do you really love that person? Or is it just infatuation, and you love what you see on the outside, but you don’t really know their heart?

Most bad marriages, I believe, are caused by the latter: one person only sees what they want to see in the other person, but they don’t really know that person; and they get in a hurry and get married quickly. But afterward, they discover that they didn’t really know that person, and now they hate them.

But now they have one or more children, and they get divorced; so the woman has a family to support, but cannot work and is poor and dependent on the government for money; and the man has a bad reputation and cannot be with his children as they grow up; which also results in children with discipline problems at home and in school, because they don’t have Dad in their home and in their lives to teach, to discipline, and to guide them as their father. Very sad situation. One bad decision resulted in destruction for both of their lives.

Moral of the story: Wait on the Lord! Don’t get in a hurry to be married to anyone. You are far better off being a single person than married to the wrong person! It is not worth it to make this mistake, because you will destroy your entire life with marriage to the wrong person. WAIT ON THE LORD! Take six months or a year to date without sex; get to know each other and your families first. Then, after long consideration and much prayer together and by yourself, go ahead and get married if that is truly the will of God for you.

Otherwise, shake hands and go your separate ways. Your heart may be broken, but your life will be much happier in the long run.

Psalm 27:14: “Wait on Jehovah; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on Jehovah.”

Yes, the will of God for a Believer can be changed by the foolish decisions made by that Believer that are against the first will of God.

Psalm 106:13-15: “But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. So he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

God used Paul in a mighty way, even after he stumbled, to witness to great crowds of Jews and Gentiles; however, what might have happened if Paul had not become a prisoner of Rome? We will never know on this side of Eternity, but I suspect that his ministry would have been far greater than it was.

I believe that while Paul was in prison after all these events in Chapter 2.4, he was getting his heart right with the Lord.

Acts 23:11 “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must you also bear witness at Rome.””

God turned “sour lemons into sweet lemonade” for the Apostle Paul in the following days; but he could not go back to his previous life ever again. May God help you and I, who are born again Christians, to continue following the Lord every day of our lives, and not to miss the best that God has for us by a bad decision.

Psalm 81:13-16: “Oh that my people had listened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I would soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of Jehovah should have submitted themselves to him, for then their time would have endured forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied you.”

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. If you want to go to Heaven when you di, you must go through Jesus Christ, or you won’t make it!

The Quran denies that Jesus is the Son of the one true God Jehovah, so you cannot go to Heaven through Islam.

Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism and all of the religions of the world deny that Jesus is the Son of the one true God Jehovah and the only Way to God, so you cannot go to Heaven through these religions.

Liberal churches deny that Jesus is the only Way to Heaven, so if you believe them, you cannot go to Heaven.

The Bible alone has the true message of Salvation through the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the cross 2,000 years ago: Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life.”

You cannot be a child of God until you have been born again; and you cannot be born again until you have repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to come into your life to become your Savior. This is done by your prayer of faith in the Finished Work of Christ on the cross, and not by the water of baptism or by church membership or by your good works.

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been permanently saved through faith; and that faith is not out of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of our own works, lest any man should boast”

Romans 10:8-13: “But what does it say? “The Word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is to say, the Word of faith (which we preach), that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes into righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made into salvation: for the Scripture says, “Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him: for [it is written], “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you want to be saved, and become free sin and Satan; and have a future in Heaven, here is how you do it: if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross for your sins, and that He rose from the dead on the third day, you may pray this prayer to receive Him as your Savior and be saved:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! You are my only hope for salvation! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, you were buried, and you rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.

Friend, if you would like to know the one true God, and you want to go to Heaven instead of Hell when you die, then you must first know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin.

If you know that you are a sinner; and you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and was crucified on a cross to pay for your sins; and that He was buried and rose again from the dead on the third day, victorious over sin, Hell, and the grave, here is a prayer that you can use to be born again and become a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ: