Jesus was the one paul would die for

JESUS WAS THE ONE PAUL WOULD DIE FOR
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Acts 21:13 13Then Paul answered, "Why are you
weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only
to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalemfor the name
of the LORD Jesus."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
A Tender Heart To A Strong Conscience
Acts 21:13
P.C. Barker
It might be thought that Paul had already sufficiently run the gauntlet of
warnings touching the consequencesofgoing to Jerusalem(Acts 19:21; Acts
20:16, 22, 23;Acts 21:4, 11). If his resolutioncould have been altered, or his
consciencestilledan hour, this was the hour. But, instead of showing any
symptom of being "in a strait betwixt two," even in an hour of such
tenderness, it is now that "his heart is fixed." The needle points unerringly
and without a quivering deflection, and moral resolution touches the point of
moral sublimity. And we may justly sound here the praise of conscience;for
in advancing degrees, we see -

I. THE PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE IN THE
PRESENCE OF DANGER.
II. THE GREATER PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE IN
THE PRESENCE OF AFFECTION.
III. THE GREATEST PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE OF
COMPLETE SURRENDER TO THE SPIRIT OF PERFECT TRUTHAND
PERFECTGUIDANCE.
IV. THE PERFECTION OF THE CONSCIENCE IN ITSELF, WHEN IT
OWNS TO NO TREMBLING, NO WAVERING. There was no coldness, no
hardness, no unrelentingness of heart, in that grand hour, when Paul's heart
was ready to break for human affection's sake,but was a very tower of
strength toward Christ as in him. - B.

Biblical Illustrator
Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weepand to break my heart?
Acts 21:13, 14
Paul's resolution
Matthew Henry.
I. THE BRAVERY WITH WHICH HE PERSISTED IN IT.
1. He reproves his friends for dissuading him.
2. Notwithstanding their entreaties he repeats his resolution.
(1)How far it extends.
(2)What it is that carries him out thus.
II. THE PATIENT ACQUIESCENCEOF HIS FRIENDS IN HIS DECISION.
They submitted to —
1. The wisdom of a goodman.
2. The will of a good God.
(Matthew Henry.)

Paul's resolution
T. Manton, D. D.
I. THE OCCASION.
1. Paul was now at Caesarea, in Philip's house (ver. 8). Philip, that was
injured by Paul (Acts 8:4, 5) a persecutor, is easily reconciledwith Paul a
convert. We should not be strange to those whom Christ has accepted.
2. There Agabus prophesieth of Paul's bonds. Agabus was evera prophet of
evil tidings (Acts 11:28). God will be glorified by all manner of dispositions.
Some, like Agabus, come always with a sad messagein their mouths; and yet
these have their use (1 Kings 22:8). That may be true which is not pleasing.
But what needs Paul so often to be warned of his bonds? (Acts 20:22, 23). That
he might be thoroughly prepared. God doth not love to take His children
unprovided. If a sudden and unexpected flood of miseries break in upon us, it
is not because we wantwarning, but because we will not take warning.
II. THE CARRIAGE OF THE SAINTS UPON THIS OCCASION.
1. Their entire affectionto Paul (ver. 12). This entreaty did not proceedfrom
self-love, for they were resolvedto go with him (ver. 15), but zeal for God's
glory. The lives and liberties of those that are eminent instruments of God's
glory are very dear and precious to God's faithful people. But was this well
done to persuade him? Yes; for we know of no command they had to the
contrary. All desires againstGod's secretwill are not unlawful, when we
afterwards submit to His revealedwill (1 Kings 8:18). Satanoften laboureth to
take us off from our duty by the persuasionof our loving friends, who mean
us well in what they say to us (Matthew 16:22, 23).

2. Paul's firm resolution: "He would not be persuaded." Did Paul do well in
this? How doth this agree with James 3:17? I answer — In our duty it is
praiseworthyto be easyto be entreated, but not from our duty. Paul went
bound in the spirit to Jerusalem.(1)No persuasions shouldturn us out of the
way wherein God commands us to walk. So Christ, when he was desiredto
avoid suffering, which was the end of His coming into the world, rejectedthe
motion.(2) No dangers. So when the king of Babylon threatened the three
children, they resolutelyanswered(Daniel3:18).
3. Their discretion, "when he would not be persuaded, they ceased." Itis the
disposition of humble spirits not to be peremptory of their own conceits, but
to submit to those that are wiserthan themselves (Matthew 3:15; Acts 11:18).
4. Their piety, the ground of their discretion: "The will of the Lord be
done."Submissionis required —
1. To God's intended will, while it is yet kept secret. In every business we
should ask —(1)His leave (Judges 1:1), By this means we acknowledgeGod,
our dependence upon Him, and His dominion over us. It is robbery to use any
goods without the owner's leave. We and all ours are the goods of God.(2)His
blessing. When the event is uncertain, beg the Lord's concurrence, and the
blessing of His providence (Jeremiah10:23; Genesis 24:12).
2. To His determination. Submitting all things to God's will after the event is
patience, and before the event is a notable piece of faith (James 4:15; 1
Corinthians 4:19). This was a truth evident to the heathens. Plato brings in
Alcibiades asking Socrates how he should speak of future events, and in what
manner he should express himself; and Socrates answers, Evenas God will.

3. Our purposes and desires must be so moderated that we may be forearmed
for all events (2 Samuel15:25, 26). Such a holy indifferency should there be
upon our spirits, that we should be like a die in the hand of Providence, to be
casthigh or low according as it falls.
4. When the event depends upon a duty, we must do the duty, and refer the
event to God (1 Corinthians 9:16). It is a base principle to say we must be sure
of successbefore we will engage forGod.
5. In a dubious case observe the leading of Providence. The Israelites were not
to remove but as they saw the pillar of cloud before them (chap. Acts 16:10).
But when the event is declaredin God's providence, then we have nothing to
do but plainly to submit, and that very quietly and contentedly, with hope and
encouragementin the Lord.
(T. Manton, D. D.)
The sacrificeswhich Paulwas willing to make in the cause of Christ
J. French.
I. HIS EASE AND COMFORT.
1. Had Paul travelled in the fashionof modern tourists many might have
envied him the pleasure of visiting some of the loveliestregions. But when we
hear him saying of himself, "we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and
are buffeted, and have no certaindwelling place," etc.;and when we hear him
enumerate the catalogue ofhis sufferings, "In labours more abundant, in
stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft"; and still
farther when we contemplate his strenuous efforts to save souls, we feel that
we live in the age of little men.

2. What are the sacrifices ofease andcomfort, and what the exertions which
we ought to make for the honour of Christ's name? Some can give their
labour, some their time, some their talents, some their wealth, some their
influence, some their example, some their prayers; some may give all of these,
some two or more of them; and there is not one of you but who may at least
live and suffer, and pray for the honour of Christ's name.
II. EARTHLY FRIENDSHIPS.
1. Could the endearments of the tenderestfriendship have restrainedPaul
from the performance of his duty, such were not wanting. He was loved with
no common affection. Our text is one proof of it, and so is chap. Acts 20:36-38.
"What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?" is not the language of cold
unfeeling rebuke? His own heart was wrung by this proof of affectionHere,
then, is the nobleness of Paul's sacrifice. He loved his friends well, but he loved
his Saviourbetter.
2. Beware lestearthly friendships weanyour hearts from Jesus, and rob Him
of His due. An excessiveattachmentis very apt to coolthe ardour of Christian
zeal. The love of a husband, of a father, have often proved serious obstacles to
an avowaland defence of the gospel. Was not Samsonshorn of his strength
through a blind love for Delilah? and was it not from the wife of his bosom
that Job receivedthe dreadful counselto curse Godand die? Said Christ, "He
that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me," etc. It was a
noble display of heroism made by the daughter of Knox, and the wife of John
Welch, in an interview with King James. When she humbly craved permission
for her husband, who was far gone with consumption, to return to Scotland
for the benefit of his native air, she was rudely denied it by the tyrant. At last,
however, he told her that if she would persuade her husband to submit to the
bishops, he would allow him to return. Mrs. Welch, lifting her apron and

holding it towards the king, replied in the true spirit of her father, "Please
your Majesty, I'd rather keephis head there."
III. HIS LIBERTY. "I am ready not to be bound only," etc.
1. In every place to which Paul had lately come, the testimony was repeated,
that bonds and imprisonments awaitedhim; and he knew well what
imprisonment was, for he had already, for the sake of his religion, been a
prisoner. What then? Did Paul undervalue liberty? No! His history warrants
me to say, that the love of freedom burned as ardently in Paul's bosom as ever
it did in that of a Brutus or a Tell, and might in other circumstances have bled
to defend it. What then is the solution of this enigma? It was for the honour of
Him, who, in the form of a slave, was led to prison, to judgment, that men
might be no longer the oppressedthralls of sins, of Satan, and of hell.
2. At this stage ofour subject, we would glance at the benefit which accrued
from the imprisonment of Paul.(1)The gospelwas carriedat once to the very
heart of the Roman Empire, from which, as a radiating centre, it more readily
found its way to distant provinces and colonies.(2)The gospelfound accessto
the palace ofCaesar.(3)Butto it in a more especialmanner are we indebted
for many of those epistles which bear his name.
3. Every Bible reader is well aware whatbenefits flowed to God's Church
from Joseph's imprisonment in Egypt; from Esther's exile in Persia;from the
confinement of Jeremiah; from Daniel's captivity; from Peter's
imprisonment; and from John's banishment. Nor is modern history wanting
in illustrations. For ten months Luther was shut up in the castle of
Wartzburg; but there he translated greatpart of the New Testament, wrote
his notes on the Evangelists, composedmany treatises which were eminently
useful to the work of the Reformation. It was in a lonely monasteryon the

Rhine that John Huss wrote severaluseful works for the benefit of the
Church. It was in prison that Buchanan wrote his beautiful version of the
Psalms of David; that Grotius produced his treatise "On the Truth of the
Christian Religion";that Bunyan wrote his allegory. And if God is blessing us
with the sweetsofliberty, let them only be the more gratefully improved to the
honour of the Giver.
IV. HIS LIFE. Paul lived exclusively for Christ. If the glory of Jesus could be
best promoted by living, then, though hardships unutterable should be his lot,
he was willing to live; but if, by dying, he could honour Jesus the more, then to
die was he willing (Acts 20:24).
(J. French.)
Love for Christ
R. W. Dale, D. D.
1. Paul's immediate objectin going to Jerusalemwas to come to some
understanding with those Christian Jews who were "zealous for the law," and
so to put an end to controversieswhichimpaired the development of some of
the nobler forms of the Christian life; and impeded the progress ofChristian
missions. To put an end to these troubles, Paul was willing "not to be a
prisoner only, but also to die."
2. But the way in which the apostle speaks ofhis readiness to meet the dangers
which menaced him is characteristicofhis temper and spirit. It was Christ
who was chiefly concernedin the evils of the schism. The Churches which
were being divided by it were Christ's Churches:He had died for them. The
work among the heathen which was being impeded was Christ's work:Paul
was only His "slave." And so the apostle says that he is ready to become a
prisoner and even to die "forthe name of the Lord Jesus."

3. Paul was on fire with love for Christ, and the passionbecame more fervent
as his life went on. That cooling in the ardour of our "first love" which some
imagine to be inevitable, is not found in the life of Paul. Our question then is
— How is a great love for Christ createdin a Christian heart?
I. Perhaps the first answerwill be BY THE INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT. The answeris profoundly true; but it may be suggestedby indolence.
We may saythat therefore there is nothing for us to do, and let things take
their course. If this is our temper, this noble devotion will never be kindled in
our souls. It is not by any magicalprocess that the Divine Spirit achieves His
greatwork; without our concurrence He will do nothing.
II. Perhaps the secondanswerwill be that WE MUST LEARN FROM THE
FOUR GOSPELS ALL THAT CAN BE KNOWN OF CHRIST. This answer
falls in with one of the strongesttendencies ofmodern religious thought. The
Church has become wearyof the problems of theology, and has turned to the
earthly life of Christ. And the story contained in the four Gospels is the
enduring wonder and glory of the history of our race. But how many have
come to love Christ like Paul through simply reading the four Gospels? It is
quite possible to read them and to feel their infinite charm; for the heart to be
drawn strongly to Christ by what they tell us about Him, and to recognise
Him as God manifest in the flesh, and yet not to love Him like Paul did. Has it
ever occurredto you to ask whether, for you, the interest of Christ's history,
like the interest of the history of ordinary men, closeswith His death? If so,
the kind of devotion which He inspired in Paul is impossible. Christ may be to
us the grandest, the fairest, the most glorious of historic characters. We may
believe that in Him the very life of God was expressedin a human character
and history. But if the ties which during Christ's earthly life united the Divine
and the human were dissolvedat His death, then God was nearerto man
while Christ was visibly present in the world than He has been since;and the
awful, the infinite distance betweenGod and ourselves remains what it was

before Christ became man. The resurrectionof Christ is for the Church as
greata fact as the incarnation. But for the resurrectionthe incarnation would
have been a mere passing wonder. I think that there are some of us who forget
that Christ is living still. He is a memory with which we would not part for a
thousand worlds, but still a memory, and nothing more. He was more than
this to Paul. Paul declaredthat Christ was "alive." If Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain.
III. WE MUST KNOW THAT CHRIST HAS NOT MERELYA GLORIOUS
PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, BUT THAT HE IS STILL
"ALIVE," that He is still the same Christ that delivered the Sermon on the
Mount, etc., "the same yesterday, today, and forever." But we may believe
and know that Christ is alive and yet think of Him with only wonder and
reverence, orwith only a faint affection, without any depth and energyin it.
We may be so hot and eagerto make sure of the blessings which Christ has
revealed, that we hurry past Christ in order to graspthem; we think of Him a
little, but we think most of them; just as a starving man might think of the
bread and meat which a friend has brought, and forget the friend who
brought them; just as a drowning man might think of his safetywhen lifted
into the lifeboat, and forgetthe gallantmen whose daring and skill have saved
him from the wreck;or as an ardent student, excited by the teaching of some
greatmaster, might forgetthe masterby whose genius End labour all his joy
has been inspired. I also mean that we may be so zealous in goodworks as to
forgetwho it is for whom we are working. And if we do not think much of
Christ, it is certain that we shall not love Him much.
IV. IT WAS TO THE DEATH OF CHRIST THAT THE APOSTLES MOST
FREQUENTLYRECURREDTO DEEPENTHE INTENSITYOF THEIR
DEVOTION TO HIM, and it is generallyof His death that they are speaking
when their love for Him flames out into expressions of vehement passion.
There are comparatively few persons who, at the beginning of their Christian
life, have any keensense ofsin; and apart from this, there canbe no deep

impression of the unique power of the death of Christ, through which we have
remissionof sin. This development of conscienceis, however, certainto come
if we persistin the endeavour to obey the law of Christ faithfully. And then
the Divine forgiveness will not seema matter of course, but something
surprising and almost incredible, and we shall begin to see, as we never saw
before, the infinite love and mercy of Christ in becoming a sacrifice forour
sins. After this discovery has been made, every confessionofsin and every
prayer for pardon recalls to us afreshthe infinite love of Christ in dying for
us. The supreme proof of Christ's love takes possessionofthe soul, and we
begin to think more of Him than even of the blessings whichHe promises in
this world, or in the world to come. We love Christ. We find a keenerinterest
and a deeperjoy in learning and keeping His commandments. Then we
receive — at first with greathesitation, then with increasing courage — those
assurances, "The FatherHimself loveth you because ye have loved Me." "If a
man love Me he will keepMy words," etc. God's greatlove for us is "shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." There is a blessednessin being
forgiven for Christ's sake.There is a deeperblessedness inknowing that the
Divine love for us is so generous that it finds in us something to approve as
well as much to pardon.
V. We have not yet masteredPaul's secret. While we are thinking of Christ's
love for all men, we may know nothing of His love for us as individuals. The
world is very large and we are lost in the crowd. But Paul was not merely one
of a crowd that Christ loved. HE KNEW OF CHRIST'S LOVE FOR
HIMSELF INDIVIDUALLY, and a similar knowledge is necessaryto us if we
are to be inspired with a similar devotion. We must leave it to Him to manifest
Himself to us when He sees fit, and in the ways which seemto Him wisestand
best. These manifestations vary with the different circumstances ofmen, with
their different temperaments, and with their different characters.
1. Some men as they look back upon their personalhistory, canrecall decisive
proofs that Christ has answeredtheir prayers. And just as a man might sit

down over a packetof letters which he had receivedat intervals during many
years from his father or mother, and as he turned them over and recalledthe
circumstances in which they were written, might come to realise more vividly
than he had ever realisedbefore the warmth, the intensity, the endurance of
his father's or his mother's love for him — so the remembrance of the special
proofs that Christ has heard and answeredour prayers produces sometimes
what may be described as a revolution in our thoughts about Him.
2. The discovery may come to us in other ways. I suppose that there are times
when to some of us it is a greatsurprise that we are still doing the will of God.
Christ's personal, individual care for us is the only explanation of the
continued existence ofour higher life. In Him, not in ourselves, we see the root
of whatever constancywe have shownin God's service;and so we learn that
there is in Christ not only a love for the world for which He died — not only a
love for all who keepHis commandments, but a love for ourselves individually
— a love which must have bad a depth, an energy, a tenderness in it — which
fill us first with wonder, and then with an affectionfor Him, such as His love
for all mankind and His love for all who are loyal to Him could not have
inspired.
3. There is still another way in which our sense ofthe personallove of Christ
is deepenedas the years go on. We know that He is one with us in our
endeavours to overcome sin and live righteously; that He is our closestand
most constantally; that in our severestconflicts He stands by us. We know
that He has a large stake in the issue of every struggle. He does not merely
stand by us; He is our comrade, and it is in His strength, not in our own, that
we win all our real victories. Conclusion:When this supreme discovery of
Christ's love for us is once made, it remains. There may be times when the sky
is clouded, but we know that the splendour of the sun has not been
extinguished. Christ has made, not our house, but our very selves His home.

(R. W. Dale, D. D.)
Christian courage
A Hindoo woman applied to the Rev. Mr. Sutton (Baptist missionary) for
Christian baptism. He setbefore her the sufferings which must necessarily
follow a renunciation of her heathenishcreed; but she replied, "I am willing
to bear it all; I am ready to sacrifice allto my Lord. Surely, sir, I cannot
endure anything in comparisonto what He suffered for me."
Devotionto Christ
When Richard Cameron, a noble Scotchmartyr, had fallen mortally wounded
on Airdsmoss, he said, "I am dying, happy — happy; and if I had a thousand
lives, I would willingly lay them all down one after another for Christ. Oh! He
is near me; I think I see Him! I am just coming, Lord Jesus." And he added,
"Tellmy parents not to weep, but continue steadfastin the faith, and not to
fear a suffering lot for Christ."
Courage and submission
DeanVaughan.
I. COURAGE is, in some senses,a natural gift. No timid man by any effort of
will canmake himself physically brave. Men differ in their sensibility to pain.
Greatmen — men whose careerwas singularly bold as politicians — have
been found incapable of bearing an operation: they bare died with a wound
unprobed. It was not cowardice:it was nervous temperament. There have
been soldiers who lackedphysicalcourage;they have had to lash themselves
to a battle by the bare sense of duty or by the less noble dread of disgrace. We
ought to respecttenfold a man who has triumphed over such obstacles.I
respecteven more the man who recantedhis true creedto avoid the fire, and
then in the death which at lasthe facedheld his right hand separatelyin the
flame as though to punish its weakness, than the readier and more instant
resolution of his brave fellow martyrs, who "rejoicedthat they were counted
worthy to suffer shame" for truth. Paul said, "I was with you in weakness,

and in fear, and in much trembling." And yet when did Paul ever shrink from
danger? What a catalogue is that in 2 Corinthians 11. If Paul was not made
for courage,atleasthe had learned it. And how learned it? The secretis told
in a few words of the text. We have all heard of the strength which a weak
woman will put forth in saving a loved child from flood or fire; of the bravery
with which a wife will encounterperils for a husband, when his life or his
honour is jeopardised. Such examples are not instances of changes of
character:but they show the force of circumstances in raising characterabove
its common level. Yet suppose now that this transforming cause were constant
in its operation:would that love which has wrought wonders under sudden
impulse be less powerful, if the demand upon it were perpetual? Love is
strongerthan death, than the fearof death, than the present sense ofany pain
howeverdepressing or howeveragonising. Justsuch was that motive which St.
Paul here indicates — that motive of which his life was the result — when he
speaks ofbeing ready to be bound and to die "for the name of the Lord
Jesus." "The love ofChrist constrainedhim." We are not called, in these calm
easydays, to feats of bodily courage,but to moral courage. And where is it?
Where, amongstus, is that ability to stand alone, to face an adverse world for
the love of the Lord Jesus? Alas!in this aspectthe brave are cowards, the
strong weak, andthe greatlittle. We had rather "follow a multitude to do
evil," than bear a taunting reproachor a disdainful smile.
II. The apostle was brave, and therefore the disciples were SUBMISSIVE.
"The will of the Lord be done." The words might be read either as a prayer or
as an acquiescence. And it is only they who canuse them as the one, who can
rightly utter them as the other. It is a very common ejaculation, when all
efforts are vain, "God's will be done." So speaks the mourner, when all hope
of restorationhas fled; the bankrupt, when his last card is played; the
convictedcriminal, when sin is found out. But in these casesit is not a prayer
at all It means only, "Woe is me! for I am undone." Therefore let us try to
pray the words. We have them in the Lord's Prayer. But who honestly wishes
that God's will should be entirely done in him and by him? The same is a
perfect man. What? No place left for that crookedpractice, for that perverse
temper, that pastime which I so much enjoyed, for that sin which I so much
loved? No;I did not mean that: I did not quite wish that! Therefore out of

thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wickedservant. Thine ownprayer —
that prayer which thou hast said ten times this one day — condemns thee and
finds thee out. Resignationis no virtue except so far as it is the product of
obedience.
(DeanVaughan.)
Readiness to die
H. C. Trumbull, D. D.
If a man is not ready to die, he is not ready to live. He who is unready to lay
down his life at the call of duty, will not use his life to advantage while it is
spared to him. It is a greatmistake to suppose that it is a man's first duty to
take care of his life, or to preserve his health, or to look out for his own
interests, or to protect or support his family. His first duty is to do right. His
secondduty is to do right. His lastduty is to do right. If the responsibility is
upon him for the hour to risk his health, or his life, in behalf of his family, or
of a strangeror of any trust committed to him, he ought to take the risk, and
push ahead at any cost. Living is a goodbusiness for a man only when a man
is as ready to die as to live. But it was "for the name of the Lord Jesus" that
Paul was ready to be bound or to die. There is no true discipleship of Jesus
which does not reachthus far. He who would not die for his Saviour does not
live for his Saviour. Unless the disciple gives his Saviour the first place in his
affections, his discipleship is only an empty name.
(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)
Preparedness fordeath
Homiletic Monthly.
I. DEATH DETACHES A MAN FROM DEPENDINGON WHAT IS
MATERIAL. He who is dependent on business, home, pleasures, etc., is not

ready to die. Forif these are all to him, all will go from him. Jesus delivers us
from the spell of materialism.
1. He makes matter itself a parable of the spiritual.
2. He gives us spiritual views and attachments that are more to us than any
matter yields. Love, duty, heaven.
II. DEATH INVOLVES AN EXPERIENCEOF UTTER LONELINESS. Can
we endure that? Can we in bearing our sorrows, holding our convictions,
spending many epochs ofour life, stand alone. If not, we are not ready to die.
Jesus, by His example and spirit, teaches us to say, "I am alone, yet not
alone." Learning that, we are ready to die.
III. DEATH BRINGS US INTO THE MOST VIVID REALISATION OF
GOD'S PRESENCE. Do we dread that? or has Jesus taught us to say, "Our
Father"? If so we can say, I am ready to die.
(Homiletic Monthly.)
Faith
K. Gerok.
I. CHILDLIKE FAITH, which on dark paths resigns itself to the will of God
in doing and suffering (vers. 13-15).
II. BROTHERLYLOVE, which communicates and receives comfortin
cordial fellowshipamid the toils of the journey (vers. 4-6, 12 13).

III. VICTORIOUS HOPE, which, unmoved in joy and suffering, looks
forward to the heavenly termination (vers. 13-15).
(K. Gerok.)
The powerof Christianity
G. McMichael, B. A.
Paul's conflict of feeling suggestive ofvery noble and comprehensive
character. Some have strength and no tenderness;others tenderness and no
strength. Paul had both; notwithstanding he felt the kindness shown, he felt it
his duty to be steadfast.
I. ITS ABSORBING POWER.
1. As to its evidences.
2. Sense ofadaptation.
3. Greatpersonalinfluence made to bear. Love of Christ.
II. ITS IMPELLING POWER. Paulwas to go to Jerusalemin fulfilment of
his mission, so in —
1. A professionof discipleship.

2. Consecrations ofa life of godliness.
3. Active efforts on behalf of the truth. Luther would go to Worms though as
many devils there as tiles on houses.
III. ITS ASSURING POWER. The apostle's calmand confidence striking. In
view of all possibilities, prison, death, he was composed.
1. We can never go wrong with God as our Guide.
2. No trial too greatif resting on Him.
3. In view of death the Christian has the loftiesthopes., Latimer, and Ridley at
Oxford. Application: What Christianity enables us to do for it is the measure
of its hold upon us. In serving God we have a resource and confidence most
sustaining and sublime. Christ is Christianity, admit Him to your soul.
(G. McMichael, B. A.)
And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord
be done.
Submission to the will of God
J. Vaughan.
I. The revealedwill of God lies upon two pages — THE PAGE OF
SCRIPTURE AND THE PAGE OF PROVIDENCE.There were three trials

pressing upon the men of Caesarea whenthey meekly folded their hands and
said, "The will of the Lord be done."
1. There was defeat, for they were beaten in an argument into which they had
evidently thrown all their power; consequently there was —
2. Disappointment, everything went contrary to their hopes and expectations;
and —
3. There was grief, the bitter grief of a painful bereavement. What is the secret
of rest in all these things? I see nothing but a profound and adoring sense of
God — to look away till we see only Him, His counselordaining, His love
presiding, His hand guiding, His Spirit sanctifying, His glory crowning. "The
will of the Lord be done."
II. But I turn to THE UNREVEALED WILL. After all this was the main
thought of the company of Caesarea. "We cannottellwhich is right, Paul or
we. The Lord will show in His own time. What He decides must be best. The
will of the Lord be done." It is a hard thing to sit and watchone I love, and to
schoolmy heart to receive, I do not know what, and I am afraid to ask what.
But all the while, far above all this, over the perplexity, and over the mystery,
and over the dread, there is reigning the high will of God, and that will is
bearing on to its own destined purpose, and it must prevail. And here is faith's
large field — the unrevealed will of God. Unite yourself with it, throw yourself
upon it absolutely. Let it bear you where it will; it can only bear you home.
"The will of the Lord be done."
(J. Vaughan.)
Acquiescence in the Divine will

A rare spirit of acquiescencein the Divine will was recently displayed by a
poor woman in Atlanta, Georgia. She was supportedentirely by charity, she
had scarcelyanyeducation, but had learned a lessonmany highly-cultured
people have failed to learn. Having endured greatbodily affliction for many
years, her disease reachedits last stage, and she lay apparently at the point of
death for four or five weeks. Everyday, and almost every hour, was thought
to be the last, but to the astonishmentof all she continued to breathe. Her
sufferings were very severe, and knowing her to be ready for the greatchange,
her friends were almost hoping for the moment of her release.One of them
said to her, "Well M — , are you ready to go?" "Yes,"saidshe, "ready to go
but willing to wait!"
Submission to the Divine will
C. H. Spurgeon.
Paysonwas asked, whenunder greatbodily affliction, if he could see any
particular reasonfor this dispensation. "No," replied he, "but I am as well
satisfiedas if I could see ten thousand; God's will is the very perfection of all
reason."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
God's way the best
H. C. Trumbull, D. D.
Driven by an instinct which neither we nor they can comprehend, the
swallows passwith the changing seasons from clime to clime. Over miles of
wearyplain, over lofty mountain walls, acrossleaguesofsea, into lands
unknown before, they follow with gladness and trust the Hand that guides
them. We, too, have a journey to make into lands unknown to us: we, too,
have a Hand to guide us in that long journey. Shame is it for us if we follow
the leadings of that Hand with less of gladness and of trust than the
unreasoning birds of heaven.
(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Resolutionin service
J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.
Henry Townley, a fashionable and scepticallawyer, whose conversion,
followedby that of his brother and mother, was spokenof by a missionary,
just returned from Africa, as one of the two most startling pieces ofnews he
heard on his arrival in England, the other being the downfall of Buonaparte,
determined to become a missionary to India at his own expense. All his
friends, including his pastor, sought to dissuade him, as his health was
extremely delicate. His mother came up to London to remonstrate with him,
and with the directors of the London MissionarySociety. Having used with
her sonall possible argument and persuasion, she left him for the night, and
the next morning finding him unmoved, she said, "It is as certainly the will of
God that you should go to Calcutta as if an angelcame from heaven to tell you
so, for had it been otherwise you had never endured the test of yesterday, but
would have given up the design. Now go, and the Lord be with you."
(J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(13) What mean ye to weepand to break mine heart?—Better, Whatmean ye
weeping and breaking . . .? The intense sensitiveness ofSt. Paul’s nature
shows itselfin every syllable. It was with no Stoic hardness that he resisted
their entreaties. Theywere positively crushing to him. He adhered to his
purpose, but it was as with a broken heart. In spite of this, however, his
martyr-like, Luther-like nature carried him forward. Bonds and

imprisonment!—these he had heard of when he was yet at Corinth and
Ephesus, before he had started on his journey; but what were they to one who
was ready to face death? The pronouns are throughout emphatic. “You are
breaking my heart. I, for my part, am ready . . .”
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
21:8-18 Paul had express warning of his troubles, that when they came, they
might be no surprise or terror to him. The generalnotice given us, that
through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God, should be
of the same use to us. Their weeping beganto weakenand slackenhis
resolution Has not our Mastertold us to take up our cross? Itwas a trouble to
him, that they should so earnestlypress him to do that in which he could not
gratify them without wronging his conscience.Whenwe see trouble coming, it
becomes us to say, not only, The will of the Lord must be done, and there is no
remedy; but, Let the will of the Lord be done; for his will is his wisdom, and
he doeth all according to the counselof it. When a trouble is come, this must
allay our griefs, that the will of the Lord is done; when we see it coming, this
must silence our fears, that the will of the Lord shall be done; and we ought to
say, Amen, let it be done. It is honourable to be an old disciple of Jesus Christ,
to have been enabled by the grace of God to continue long in a course of duty,
stedfastin the faith, growing more and more experienced, to a good old age.
And with these old disciples one would choose to lodge;for the multitude of
their years shall teachwisdom. Many brethren at JerusalemreceivedPaul
gladly. We think, perhaps, that if we had him among us, we should gladly
receive him; but we should not, if, having his doctrine, we do not gladly
receive that.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
What mean ye - Greek:What do ye. A tender and affectionate, but firm
reproach.
To weep and to break mine heart? - To afflict me, and distract my mind by
alarms, and by the expressions oftenderness. His mind was fixed on going to

Jerusalem;and he felt that he was prepared for whatever awaitedhim.
Expressions oftenderness among friends are proper. Tears may be inevitable
at parting from those whom we love. But such expressions of love ought not to
be allowedto interfere with the convictions of duty in their minds. If they have
made up their minds that a certain course is proper, and have resolved to
pursue it, we ought neither to attempt to divert them from it, nor to distract
their minds by our remonstrances orour tears. We should resign them to
their convictions of what is demanded of them with affection and prayer, but
with cheerfulness. We should lend them all the aid in our power, and then
commend them to the blessing and protection of God. These remarks apply
especiallyto those who are engagedin the missionary enterprise.
It is trying to part with a son, a daughter, or a beloved friend, in order that
they may go to proclaim the gospelto the benighted and dying pagan. The act
of parting - for life, and the apprehension of the perils which they may
encounter on the ocean, and in paganlands, may be painful; but if they, like
Paul, have lookedat it calmly, candidly, and with much prayer; if they have
come to the deliberate conclusionthat it is the will of God that they should
devote their lives to this service, we ought not to weep and to break their
hearts. We should cheerfully and confidently commit them to the protection of
the Godwhom they serve, and remember that the parting of Christians,
though for life, will be short. Soon, in a better world, they will be united again,
to part no more; and the blessedness ofthat future meeting will be greatly
heightened by all the sorrows and self-denials of separationhere, and by all
the benefits which such a separationmay be the means of conveying to a dying
world. That mother will meet, with joy, in heaven, the sonfrom whom, with
many tears, she was sundered when he entered on a missionarylife; and,
surrounded with many ransomed pagan, heaven will be made more blessed
and eternity more happy.
But also to die - This was the true spirit of a martyr. This spirit reigned in the
hearts of all the early Christians.

For the name of the Lord Jesus - Forhis sake;in making his name known.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
13. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weepand to break mine heart—
Beautiful union of manly resoluteness andwomanly tenderness, alike removed
from mawkishness andstoicism!
I am ready not to be bound only—"If that is all, let it come."
but to die, &c.—Itwas well he could add this, for he had that also to do.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? a strange strife, who should
overcome by loving most, as in that betwixt David and Jonathan, 1 Samuel
20:41,42. This undaunted champion, who did not seemto feelany of his own
afflictions and miseries, yet grieves for the grief and sympathy of others, and
bears a double weightin his burdens; one directly and immediately from
them, as lying upon himself; the other mediately, as recoiling from others
(who suffered with him) unto him again.
But also to die; as Christ’s love for us was strongerthan death, Song of
Solomon8:6, so must our love be to him again, or it is not of the same nature
with his, nor begottenby it.
For the name of the Lord Jesus;his truth, and glory.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then Paul answered, whatmean ye to weep,.... Forthey were crying about
him, both his companions and the disciples of Caesarea;which affectedhim,
and gave him greatuneasiness,evenmore than the prophecies of Agabus did:
and to break my heart? for though he was resolvedto go to Jerusalem, and
nothing could move him from it, his heart was firm as a rock;there was no
shaking him, or making impressions upon him that way; yet their tears and
importunity greatly afflicted him, and the more because he could by no means
comply with their request:
for I am ready not to be bound only, but to die at Jerusalemfor the name of
the Lord Jesus;for as yet, he knew not but he should die there; it was revealed
to him that he should be bound there, but it was not yet suggestedto him
where he should suffer death, whether there or elsewhere;and since he knew
not but it might be there, he was ready for it; bonds were so far from
distressing his mind, and deterring him from his intended journey, that death
itself could not do it; which showedgreatintrepidity, courage, and firmness of
mind.
Geneva Study Bible
Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weepand to break mine heart? for I
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalemfor the name of
the Lord Jesus.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
Acts 21:13. τί ποιεῖτε κλαί.: what do ye, weeping? (as we might say“what are
you about?” etc.), cf. Mark 11:5 (Acts 14:15).—συνθ.:in Attic Greek, to
break, to break in pieces, and so ἀποθρύπτω is used of (1) breaking in pieces,
(2) breaking in spirit, enervating τὰς ψυχάς, cf. Plat., Rep., 495 E.; here συνθ.
means to weakenthe Apostle’s purpose rather than to break his heart in
sorrow.—ἐγὼ,emphatic, I for my part.—οὐ μόνον in N.T., rather than μὴ

μόνον with the infinitive, Burton, p. 183.—ἑτοίμωςἔχω:the exactphrase only
once elsewhere in N.T., and there used by St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:14 (cf. 1
Peter4:5): “qui paratus est, ei leve onus est,” Bengel. Ewaldcompares this
firm determination and courage of St. Paul with our Lord’s lastjourney to
Jerusalem, cf. Luke 9:51.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
13. Then Paul answered. What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart]
Better(with Rev. Ver.), “What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart?” The
sentence is little more than an emphatic question, “Why do ye weep?”
implying, of course, the exhortation, “Don’tweep, &c.” The verb for “break”
is found only here in N. T., and signifies the weakening ofpurpose in any one.
So the Apostle intimates not that they intended, as we should say“to break his
heart” by adding to his sorrow, but to weakenhis determination, and deter
him from his journey.
for … Jesus]The pronoun “I” stands emphatically in the Greek, and shews
that the Apostle had long ago counted the costof Christ’s service, and found
the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be comparedwith the glory
that was to be revealed.
Bengel's Gnomen
Acts 21:13. Συνθρύπτοντες, breaking, afflicting) The apostles were not
altogethervoid of human affections (feelings).—δεθῆναι)to be bound: Acts
21:11.—ἑτοίμως ἔχω, I am ready, I am in a state of readiness)The burden is
light to him who is ready.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 13. - What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for what mean ye to
weepand to break mine heart? A.V. (the same sense only a more modern
idiom). Breaking. Συνθρύπτοντες occurs only here in the New Testament, or
indeed in any Greek writer, though the simple form, θρύπτω, is common in
medical writers, and ἀποθρύπτω occurs in Plato. It has the force of the Latin

frangere animum, to crush and weakenthe spirit. I am ready. Paul's answer
reminds us of Peter's saying to our Lord, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee
both into prison, and to death" (Luke 22:33). But Peter's resolve was made in
his ownstrength, Paul's in the strength of the Holy Ghost; and so the one was
broken, and the other was kept.
Vincent's Word Studies
l am ready (ἑτοίμως ἔχω)
Lit., I hold myself in readiness.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Chuck Smith
Sermon Notes for Acts 21:10-14
Intro: These are the days of the bowl games. We have been watching
dedicatedmen. Months of training; well conditioned bodies; the extra effort.
They endure all the hardship and suffering for a corruptible crown. Since we
labor for an incorruptible crowngreater...
I. GOD IS SEEKING FOR DEDICATED MEN.
A. Men who cannotbe dissuadedfrom their call.
1. We see Paul's friends begging and weeping.
2. "Break my heart."
a. Weakenby decision.

3. Quite often when someone comes to me to seek advise on some new great
service for the Lord, I deliberately speak discouragingly.
a. I desire to test the depth of the dedication.
4. People oftensay, I don't know what God is calling me to do.
a. He's calling you to an all out effort.
b. Be 100%in the game.
c. He's calling you into closerfellowship.
1. This comes through prayer and study of the Word.
2. It is here he reveals His plan.
B. Men who will if necessarydie for the cause.
1. If you are looking for a job 8-5 don't apply to the Lord.
a. He has no jobs.
b. It is a life of dedication.
2. Paul did not fear the promised bonds.
a. He was ready for death for the name of Jesus.
b. To be absentfrom this body and present with the Lord.
1. He was close to this already.
c. A man is no fool.
II. WHAT CAUSES THIS KIND OF DEDICATION?
A. An honest look at life.
1. What is the most worthwhile thing in the world?
a. To be rich?
1. Howard Hughes.

2. Alcoholics.
b. To be famous?
c. Serving Jesus Christ.
2. What is the most enduring thing in the world?
a. Notour riches or fame.
b. Our labor for Jesus Christ "Only one life."
1. Lay not up treasures onearth.
3. What is the most secure thing in the world?
a. Notour possessionsorbank accounts.
b. Our life in Jesus Christ.
4. Where lies the greatestfulfillment?
a. In winning the championship?
b. In owning a new home or car?
c. People sacrifice andgive far more for these things than they do for Jesus
Christ.
d. Doing the will of our Lord.
III. THE RESULT OF THIS KIND OF DEDICATION.
A. Sometimes bonds and death.
1. "Be thou faithful unto death..."crownoflife."
2. "I have fought a goodfight..."crownoflife"
3. The glorious commendation of our Lord. "welldone goodand faithful
servant...
4. Notto be full-on dedicatedto lead to death anyhow.

a. We all are to die sometime.
1. Man yesterdaywith fifth of whiskey.
5. Step out boldly for Christ, the worse they can do is kill you.
B. It's infectious.
1. Others around you start getting turned on.
2. They ceasedweeping and started saying "the will of the Lord be done."
C. Things start to happen for the Lord.
CHARLES SIMEON
PAUL’S READINESS TO SUFFER FOR CHRIST’S SAKE
Acts 21:13. Then Paul answered, whatmean ye to weepand to break mine
heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalemfor
the name of the Lord Jesus.
INNUMERABLE are the devices of our greatadversary, to blind our eyes,
and to keepus in a course ofsin; and, when we have been enabled to burst the
chains in which he once led us captive, he labours still to tempt and beguile us
in every possible way, if so be he may prevail at lastto turn us aside from
God. None, whilst they continue in the flesh, are out of the reach of his
assaults. Evenour blessedLord, when he condescendedto assume our nature,
“was in all things tempted as we are, though without sin.” And such is the
subtlety of Satan, that he will instigate even the best of men to become
tempters to their brethren. He stirred up Peterto dissuade his Lord from
submitting to those sufferings which he had covenantedto endure: and in like

manner he moved the saints at Cesareato dissuade Paul from going up to
Jerusalem, whither he was proceeding for the furtherance of his Master’s
cause. There was at Cesarea a prophet named Agabus, who took Paul’s girdle,
and bound with it his own hands and feet, and then declaredthat the ownerof
that girdle should so be bound by the Jews atJerusalem, and be delivered into
the hands of the Romans. Immediately all the saints at that place besought
Paul with tears to desist from his purpose, that by staying awayfrom
Jerusalemhe might avoid the predicted evils. This advice, though well meant
on their parts, proceededin reality from Satanhimself; who knew, that if he
could intimidate the Apostle Paul, he should gain a material advantage over
the whole Church of God. But Paul was aware of Satan’s device, and saw his
agency, though under the semblance of an angel of light: and his answerto his
weeping friends shews how every Christian should act, when tempted to turn
from the path of duty; “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I
am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalemfor the name of
the Lord Jesus.”
From these words we shall take occasionto shew,
I. That the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all that we can do or suffer for
him—
Were Christians as well acquainted with their Lord as they ought to be, there
would be no occasionto insist upon so obvious a truth. But that none may
continue ignorant of it, we entreatyou to consider,
1. Who he is—

[He is no other than God’s co-equal, co-eternalSon;“Godof God, Light of
light, very God of very God;” even “Godover all, blessedfor evermore.”
Every perfection of the Deity is his — — — He is “the brightness of his
Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.”
Now we are told, that “for a goodman some would even dare to die:” shall
less regardthen be shewnfor him who is God, as well as man? If our
admiration of a creature’s excellence be such as to make us voluntarily
surrender up our life for him, shall any thing be deemedtoo much to do or
suffer for the Creator, in whom all excellence is combined, and from whom all
excellence proceeds?Shalla star be so admired, and the sun itself not be
glorious in our eyes?]
2. What he has done and suffered for us—
[From all eternity, before we or even the worlds were made, did he sethis love
upon us, and enter into a covenantwith the Fatherto redeem us from the
miseries, which he foresaw we should bring upon ourselves. In the fulness of
time he took upon him our nature for this very end: yes “though he was in the
form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, he emptied
himself of all his glory, and took upon him the form of a servant.” During his
whole stay upon earth he was a man of sorrows, andacquainted with grief:
and, when the appointed hour was come, he surrendered himself into the
hands of his enemies, and “became obedientunto death, even the death of the
cross.”
What shall we sayto these things? Did he actthus towards us when enemies;
and shall we accountany thing too much to do or suffer for Him, who has
shewnhimself so greata. friend?]

3. What he is yet doing for us—
[Day and night is he interceding for us, that the wrath of God, which we have
merited, may be averted from us. Whence is it that such barren fig-trees as we
are, are yet permitted to cumber the ground? If he had not so often pleaded,
“Spare them, O my Father, yet another year!” should we not have long since
been cut down, and castinto the fire?
Behold how, notwithstanding all our obstinacyin sin. he is yet sending his
word to instruct us, his ministers to invite us, yea more, his goodSpirit also to
strive with us, if by any means he may save our souls alive. Know ye, that
every goodpurpose or desire that has ever existed in your bosoms, has been
inspired by him, with a view to bring you home to the fold of God.
Above all, see whathe is doing for his believing people; bow he watches over
them for good, supplies their every want, carries on his goodwork in their
souls, and makes them more than conquerors over all their enemies!
Think of these things; and then say, Whether such love should not constrain
you to live to him, and, if need be, to surrender up your life for him?]
Verily, if we feelno weightin such considerations as these, we canhave no
interest in Christ; for it is certain,
II. That the true Christian has learned duly to appreciate his worth—

We saynot that every Christian has the attainments of the Apostle Paul: but
every one resembles him in this, that he entertains worthy thoughts of Christ,
1. In the convictions of his mind—
[Merely nominal Christians are content to compliment Christ with the name
of Saviour: but the true believer has a practicalsense of his excellency:he
views Christ as the one foundation of all his hopes: he sees that nothing but his
atoning blood could ever have obtained reconciliationfor him with his
offended God — — — Except as redeemed by the blood of Christ, the believer
has no more hope than the fallen angels:he is convinced that with them he
must take his portion to all eternity, if he be not interestedin that great
Sacrifice which was made for the sins of the whole world.
As bought with the precious blood of Christ, the believer sees that he is the
Lord’s property, and that to devote himself wholly to him is not only an
acceptable, but a highly “reasonable, service.”In the deliberate conviction of
his mind “he thus judges, that if one died for all, then should all live, not unto
themselves, but unto Him that died for them and rose again.” And this we say
is the universal sentiment of all true Christians: for the Apostle says, “None of
us (of us Christians) liveth to himself, and no man dieth unto himself; but
whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the
Lord; so that, whether living or dying, we are the Lord’s.”]
2. In the purposes of his heart—
[This is not a speculative sentiment in the believer’s mind, but a rooted
principle, that operates in the whole of his behaviour. In his eyes, Christ “is
exalted, and extolled, and is very high.” No words can express how “precious

He is to him.” Hence he gladly gives himself up to Christ; and seeksto have,
not his actions only, but his very “thoughts also, brought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ.” As for the oppositionof an ungodly world, he cares not
for it: whatevercrosseslie in his way, he takes them up; and “rejoices thathe
is counted worthy to bear them” for his Redeemer’s sake.It he be calledto
sacrifice friends, or interests, or liberty, or even life itself, he draws not back:
he has counted the cost, and is ready to pay it; desirous only that “Christ may
be magnified in his body, whether by life or death.” Like Moses,he “esteems
the reproachof Christ greater riches than all the treasures ofEgypt;” and,
like Paul, “counts all things but dung, that he may win Christ.” In a word, he
is “ready, not to he bound only, but also to die, at any time and in any
manner, for his name’s sake.”]
Address—
1. Those whose views ofChrist are imperfect—
[Doubtless there is no man that knows him fully, or can “searchhim out unto
perfection.” The Apostles themselves “knew him but in part,” and “saw him
only as through a glass, darkly:” but the generality of Christians behold “no
form or comeliness in him” at all, or at leastnot such as to stir up in their
hearts any ardent “desire after him.” Now in our text we have a criterion
whereby to judge of our views of Christ: do we find our hearts so knit to him
with love and gratitude, as to render his “yoke easyto us, and his burthen
light?” Is liberty or life itself of no accountwith us, if by the sacrifice ofit we
may glorify his name? Then indeed we may be said to know him; then have
we that “knowledge ofhim which is life eternal.” But, O, how rare is this!
Belovedbrethren, searchand try your own hearts in relation to it; and if, as is
to be fearedof too many amongstus, you have never yet been transported
with love to his name, beg of God to “revealhim in your hearts” by his Holy

Spirit, and to “shine into your hearts, to give you the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”]
2. Those whose attachmentto him is wavering—
[Many desire to follow Christ, but are afraid to bear his cross. But, brethren,
you must have a cross to bear. Though I am no prophet, like Agabus, yet I can
tell you, by the Spirit of God, that “all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must
suffer persecution.” You may not be calledto suffer imprisonment and death;
but you must be prepared to welcome them, if they should be allotted to you
for the sake ofChrist. You must expect that your friends will dissuade you
from exposing yourselves to the contempt of some, and the hostility of others:
and, if your dangers should be great and imminent, they will even try to
prevail upon you by their entreaties and tears. But beware how you listen to
any advice which may divert you from the path of duty. Even goodpeople will
sometimes be crying, “Spare thyself,” when they see you “abounding” with
more than ordinary zeal “in the work of the Lord.” But, whilst you tenderly
reprove their weakness (as Pauldid,) be firm and steadfastto your purpose:
for “if once you put your hand to the plough, and then look back, you are not
fit for the kingdom of God.” “Be faithful unto death, and God will give you a
crownof life.”]
3. Those who are practicallymanifesting their zeal for his glory—
[Blessedbe God, there are some who have already begun the employment of
heaven, and are singing, “Unto Him that loved us, and washedus from our
sins in his ownblood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” And, as in
heaven there are multitudes who “loved not their lives unto the death,” so
amongstus, I trust, there are some who would willingly die for the name of
the Lord Jesus. Happy, happy they who feel this readiness ofmind to do and

suffer whatever they may be calledto; for greatis their reward in heaven. Go
on, beloved, steadfastin the faith, and never giving way to terror on account
of any adversaries. Are you advised to shrink from trials? reply with
Nehemiah, “Shall such a man as I flee?” But remember, that your sufficiency
for this proceeds from Godalone: if not upheld by him, you will, “as soonas
tribulation and persecutionarise because ofthe word,” be turned aside, and
make shipwreck of your faith. Live nigh to the Saviourthen, and maintain
sweetfellowshipwith him: then you will find his service a delight; and
whateversufferings you are calledto endure for him, you will easilysustain.
But, if once you decline from Christ in your heart, his commandments will
become grievous to you, and every cross a burthen. The true way to meet even
the most formidable death with joy, is to “die daily,” and to be continually
“looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of Christ.”]
A. T. ROBERTSON
Verse 13
What are you doing weeping? (Τι ποιειτε κλαιοντεσ — Ti poieite klaionteṡ)
Strong protestas in Mark 11:5.
Breaking my heart (συντρυπτοντες μου την καρδιαν — sunthruptontes mou
tēn kardian). The verb συντρυπτω — sunthruptō to crush together, is late
Koiné{[28928]}š for αποτρυπτω — apothruptō to break off, both vivid and
expressive words. So to enervate and unman one, weakening Paul‘s
determination to go on with his duty.
I am ready (Εγω ετοιμως εχω — Egō hetoimōs echō). I hold (myself) in
readiness (adverb, ετοιμως — hetoimōs). Same idiom in 2 Corinthians 12:14.

Not only to be bound (ου μονονδετηναι — ou monon dethēnai). First aorist
passive infinitive of δεω — deō and note ου μονον— ou monon rather than μη
μονον — mē monon the usual negative of the infinitive because ofthe sharp
contrast(Robertson, Grammar, p. 1095). Paul‘s readiness to die, if need be, at
Jerusalemis like that of Jesus onthe way to Jerusalemthe last time. Even
before that Luke (Luke 9:51) said that “he set his face to go on to Jerusalem.”
Later the disciples will sayto Jesus, “Master, the Jews were but now seeking
to stone thee; and goestthou thither?” (John 11:8). The stature of Paul rises
here to heroic proportions “for the name of the Lord Jesus” (υπερ του
ονοματος του κυριου Ιησου — huper tou onomatos tou kuriou Iēsou).
RON RITCHIE
Peacein the midst of tears, Acts 21:7-16
And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais;
and after greeting the brethren, we stayedwith them for a day. And on the
next day we departed and came to Caesarea;and entering the house of Philip
the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. Now this man
had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. And as we were staying
there for some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and
said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews atJerusalem
will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.'" And when we had heard this, we as well as the localresidents
beganbegging him not to go up to Jerusalem. ThenPaul answered, "Whatare
you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be
bound, but even to die at Jerusalemfor the name of the Lord Jesus."And
since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the
Lord be done." And after these days we got ready and startedon our wayup
to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesareaalso came with us,

taking us to Mnasonof Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we
were to lodge.
When they reachedCaesarea, Pauland his band of disciples stayed at the
home of Philip the evangelist, whom Luke refers to as "one of the seven."
Earlier, Philip had penetratedthe Samariancommunity with the gospel.
Following many signs and miracles in Samaria, the evangelistwas directed to
travel from Jerusalemto Gaza, a desertroad. On that journey he met with the
Ethiopian eunuch, a court official, who came to faith in Christ and was
baptized when Philip opened up the Scriptures to him. Afterwards, the Spirit
of the Lord took Philip up to Caesarea,where Pauland his group stayed with
him on their journey to Jerusalem.
Philip had since married and become the father of four daughters, all whom
had the gift of prophecy. After severaldays, a prophet named Agabus joined
the group. Earlier, Paul and Barnabas had met this man in Antioch. There he
indicated by the Spirit that there would be a great famine all over the world.
This actually happened during the reign of Claudius (42-54 A.D.). Paul and
Barnabas were chargedwith taking an offering from the saints of Antioch to
the saints in Judea. Here is what this prophet did on seeing Paul: "And
coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said,
'This is what the Holy Spirit says:"In this way the Jews at Jerusalemwill
bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.'" Once againwe see that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the church of
Jesus Christ. Regardless ofour hopes and dreams, our plans and programs,
the Holy Spirit has the final word concerning the activities of the church of
Jesus Christ.
Luke then adds the keystatement, "And when we had heard this, we as well
as the localresidents began begging him not to go to Jerusalem." There was
nothing evil in Paul's desire to go to Jerusalem. What was wrong was that his

plan spoke louder then the voice of the Holy Spirit, which was given him by
three different groups of disciples, those in Tyre, the prophet Agabus, and by
Luke, Timothy, Philip and his four daughters.
But here is Paul's response to their pleas:"What are you doing, weeping and
breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at
Jerusalemfor the name of the Lord Jesus."Thatwonderful answerconfirmed
his totalcommitment to the Lord, but the factremains that the Holy Spirit
had said no to his plans to visit Jerusalem. The disciples could only fall silent:
"And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking "The will of
the Lord be done!" In other words, "What can we do with a man who cannot
discern the voice of the Holy Spirit?"
Why did the apostle Paul so resistthe counselof his fellow-believers with
regard to his return to Jerusalem? There are many suggestions as to why he
did so. Some saythat Paul, anticipating that the Lord was returning at any
moment, wantedto give the Jews one more opportunity to hear the gospel.
Some even say that, like the Lord, he sethis face to go to Jerusalemto die. But
that does not correspondwith the plan he shared in Romans to the effectthat
he would attempt to visit Rome and Spain following his return to Jerusalem
(Rom.15). Others have suggestedthatthis was one wayin which the apostle
would have opportunity to fulfill his job description of being a witness to kings
(Acts 9:15). But God could have arrangedthis without Paul's being bound in
chains. Finally, some commentators feelthat without the apostle's Roman
prison experience we would not have the prison letters of Philipians,
Ephesians, and Colossians. But, of course, Paulcould have written those
letters in freedom, just as all the others that were written outside of prison.
The bottom line in all of this appears to be the fact that in the midst of the
spiritual warfare of life on earth, despite the fact that he had "girded his loins
with truth; put on the breastplate of righteousness;and shod his feet with the

gospelof peace,"the apostle disobeyedthe leading of the Holy Spirit as it was
revealedthrough the disciples. In this passage once againPaul's humanity is
revealed, warts and all. But God would use the apostle's poor judgment callto
his honor and glory, just as he did with Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Moses,David,
Peter--and just as he is doing with you and me.
I have a dear friend who is a spiritual leader in the worldwide Christian
community. This man has surrounded his life and ministry with a board of
elders who love him, pray for him and help him find the Holy Spirit's
direction for his life and spiritual influence. At this moment, this man is
convinced that the Holy Spirit is calling him to minister in a certain direction
while his spiritual family are suggesting thathe should go in a different
direction. They, like the disciples of old, are saying, "since he will not be
persuaded, the will of the Lord be done!"
Ever since the day of Pentecost, Christians have been engagedin a spiritual
battle, one in which the Lord is using them to deliver men and women from
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's SonJesus Christ. The key
to surviving in this battle, as the apostle himself points out in Ephesians, is to
"be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of
God [we should clothe ourselves with the life of Christ], that you may be able
to stand firm againstthe schemes ofthe devil...having girded your loins with
truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, andhaving shod
your feet with the preparation of the gospelof peace..." [so that we have
courage and calmness in the midst of the battle].
The next step is for Christians to surround themselves with a community of
believers who will pray for, encourage, andhelp them discern the will of the
Lord for their life and ministry.

But understand that, even when you have done everything to the best of your
spiritual ability, and even while you are experiencing the peace of Christ, your
own hopes and dreams will on occasiondrown out the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The battle is spiritual. The stakes are high: the eternallives of men and
women, boys and girls. But be encouraged. In spite of all the struggles, "The
will of the Lord be done." Whatever must be overruled, our sovereignGod
will overrule it.
I did not go to Alaska afterseminary. Following almost twenty years here in
this church, however, I canlook back and thank God, as I am confident his
will was done. The enemy has many ways to drown out the voice of the Spirit.
We must pray for eachother and encourage eachother, remembering that, in
the end, "The will of the Lord be done."
ROBERT RAYBURN
“ForI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalemfor
the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Indeed, Paul’s “Thy will be done,” in 20:24 and 21:13 is very like the Lord’s
“Thy will be done” in Gethsemane, the night before his crucifixion. Both men
knew what awaitedthem; both men went anywaybecause they had a calling
to fulfill.
Now, it has sometimes been thought a problem that these communications to
Paul by his Christian friends in Tyre and Caesarea were by the Spirit.
Shouldn’t Paul have obeyedtheir urgings since they were the result of
prophecies that the Holy Spirit had given to them. These texts have even

recently been used by advocates ofa continuing gift of prophecy in the church
to surmount the problem that modern prophets are not always right in their
predictions. The argument goes this way. True enough, in the Old Testament,
if a prophet said something was going to happen and it didn’t, he was to be
executedas a false prophet. But we don’t have to do that any longerbecause
in the New Testamentno one is obligedto obey a prophet; his or her word
doesn’t carry the same authority it did in the ancientepoch. Even Paul
ignored prophesies that were made by Christian prophets.
It’s a bad argument and for these reasons. Whatthe Spirit had prophesied,
first to Paul and then to the believers in Tyre and Caesarea, proved perfectly
true. Paul went to Jerusalemand there he was arrested by the Romans.
Indeed, he would spend two years in Caesareaawaiting his trial. What is
more, Paul did not ignore these prophesies. He acceptedthem as absolutely
true. No one was less surprised by what happened to him in Jerusalemthan
was the Apostle Paul! But, and this is the material point, the Lord by his
Spirit never told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. In the same way the Lord Jesus
knew what would happen to him Paul was given to know ahead of time what
would happen to him. But in neither case was that information given for the
purpose of dissuading either man from the course on which he was set. The
Lord told Paul what was going to happen to him. But it was not the Lord who
told him to break off his journey but his caring friends who did not realize
that Paul had to go to Jerusalemin the same way Jesus had to go to
Jerusalem!Agabus never told Paul that the Spirit had forbidden him to go to
Jerusalem!There was no command in his prophecy, only a forecast.
And why did Paul have to go? Paul’s firmness resulted from his sense that he
was supposedto go to Jerusalem, that the Gospelneededhim to go to
Jerusalem. He had been working towardthis end for some years now. The
number of people involved in the various churches that had contributed to the
collection, the importance of that gift both to the Jerusalemchurch and to the
churches who had sent it, the benefit it would provide for Jewish-Gentile

Christian relations all meant that Paul needed to be there in person to see that
all went well and accomplishedthe purpose for which it had been so long
planned and brought about with such greatsacrifice by the Gentile brothers.
It was essentialto the long-term fortunes of the gospelthat the relationship
betweenthe Gentile believers and the Jewishbelievers be establishedin love
and mutual confidence. It was essentialforthe Jewishmother church to know
firsthand how dramatically the gospelwas advancing through the Gentile
world. It was essentialthat Paul put to restsome of the rumors that were
circulating among JewishChristians that Paul was undermining Jewish
identity by his ministry among the Gentiles. All of this will become obvious as
the chapterproceeds.
Those considerations were more than enough to convince Paul that he
couldn’t abandon his plan at this late date. But, I’m sure Paul himself didn’t
realize how much else would happen that would advance the welfare of the
Christian church forever because he went to Jerusalemand was arrested
there. It was because Luke found himself in the Holy Land for two years while
waiting for his mentor to stand trial that he had the opportunity to write two
of the most important and most influential books everwritten, the Gospelof
Luke and the book of Acts, the two books that form the heart of the New
Testament. Think about it, if Paul hadn’t gone to Jerusalem, atleasthumanly
speaking, we would never had known how it happened that Jesus was born in
Bethlehem. I’m not entirely sure we would celebrate Christmas in anything
like the way we celebrate it today. We would never have known of
Zechariah’s Benedictus or Mary’s Magnificat. We would never have known
that Jesus taught the parables of the GoodSamaritan or the ProdigalSon, the
rich man and Lazarus or the tax collectorand the Pharisee, and we would
have never learned of the Lord’s ascensionto heaven, of the Spirit’s descentat
Pentecost, ofthe early progress ofthe gospelin Jerusalem, the martyrdom of
Stephen, the office of deacon, and so much more.

Don’t tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. He absolutely had to go to Jerusalem,
no matter what was to happen to him there. This is history, absolutely. Luke is
the most reliable historian of all the historians of the ancient world. Downto
the very details he told the story as it happened.
But this is also theology – the sovereigntyof God over human history, God’s
omniscience and his providential plan – and ethics – Paul’s duty to his calling
– and instruction in the Christian life – how Christians are born againto obey
and to serve the Lord come wind, come weather, therefore they must be
willing to embrace sacrifices ofwhateverkind in order to fulfill their
Christian calling.
Over my vacationI read Andrew Roberts’magisterialnew biography of
NapoleonBonaparte. The book is a triumph both of historical scholarshipand
English prose. If you are up to 800 large pages oflate 18th and early 19th
century Europeanhistory, you can’t do better than this! I confess to having
my impressions of Napoleonprofoundly transformed by reading Roberts’
account, all the more interesting a fact since Andrew Roberts is himself an
Englishman. By nature and upbringing disposedto think more highly of the
British than the French, associating as we will the British with Protestant
Christianity and the Frenchwith Roman Catholic superstition, knowing
enough of Napoleon’s skepticalview of Christianity, I had always seen
Bonaparte as a villain.
He was years ahead of the British in recognizing the evils of the socialclass
system; he was the first European leadergenuinely to advance commoners,
even able peasants into positions of power and influence simply because of
their ability. Indeed, he convincedmany of his people that they were part of
something greatand that they too, lowly as their beginnings might have been,
could make history. And many of them did; something that was years awayin
GreatBritain. He was no more a war-mongerthan the British were and

perhaps less, the British as determined if not more so to be Europe’s great
imperial power. Many of Napoleon’s social, political, and military reforms
were years ahead of their time and nowadays, in retrospect, we would all
commend. French societyand government were in utter disarray when
Napoleonarrived on the scene and it was he who singlehandedly rescued them
from the mess in which the French revolution had landed them. He was loved
by his troops – at leastuntil his misadventure in Russia – because he so
obviously loved and cared for them, constantly talking with his soldiers,
making jokes, bantering back and forth, asking them if they were being
properly caredfor. He was a brilliant military tactician, fought sixty major
battles and lost only sevenof them. There was a flowering of high culture, art,
and architecture during the Napoleonic period, even though it was a period of
almost constantwar, for which the British were certainly as much if not more
to blame than the French, determined as they were to defend Europeanroyal
prerogatives. The British wanted the Bourbons back on the French throne, no
matter the fact that that royal house had ground its people into the dust.
All of that to saythat I finished the book with a far higher view of Napoleon,
as a thinker, as a political leader, and as a military genius than I had
entertained before. His contemporaries, including the British, found him to be
a remarkable man in many different ways. To be sure, there remains much to
dislike. He was vain, was sexually unfaithful to his two wives (though loved
them both and was devastatedby their own sexualinfidelities), could be cruel
– though he was often generous to a fault, often to the poor and needy; he had
a natural affinity for the underdog – and, over time, exhibited the truth of the
adage that “powercorrupts and absolute powercorrupts absolutely.” Still he
was a remarkable man!
Napoleonwas a human dynamo. He wrote letters every day at an astonishing
pace. Even when campaigning far from home letters floodedfrom his pen. He
would write 20 or 40 or 60 letters a day. He would write to the politicians back
in Paris, to the military commanders in other theaters, to his wives, brothers,

and children, and so on. Nothing was too small for him to take an interest in.
He was a micro-managerof the first order. He would write from a tent
camped with the Grande Armée, about the curriculum to be followedin a
schoolhe had founded for the children of military widows, about disputes
among the leadership of the Paris opera, about whether dancing should be
allowednear churches, or to a commander about one of his decorated
corporals who drank more than was goodfor him, and a thousand more
subjects greatand small, but none too small to be of interest to him.
But what strikes the reader on every page of Roberts’ biography was
Bonaparte’s drive! He came to France – he wasn’t French you know – a
penniless refugee from Corsica. Sixyears later, he was the most powerful man
in France and, indeed, in Europe. The man, we would say, was on a mission.
Why did he change the face of Europe? Because he was determined to! And so
it is in human life; so it has always been and so it will always be.
And againand againin the Bible you find it so with the saints of God, both the
small and the great. True enough, the Bible is candid about their faults and
failings and, true enough, we are everywhere given to know that it is God’s
grace in them and God’s plan for them and through them by which great
things are accomplishedby them, but the Bible never skimps on describing
the commitment, the consecration, the spiritual drive with which they lived
their lives. From Abraham to Moses, from Hannah to Mary, from Jeremiahto
the Apostle Paul, these were all people who embraced their calling to serve the
Lord in this world, no matter the sacrificesrequired, no matter the personal
loss that would have to be endured, no matter the uncertainty with which they
were forced to live.
The Christian, Jesus said, was someone readyto give up a greatdeal in this
world. He would be, she must be a risk-taker, a person acquainted with
hardship, but a personwho had a crystal clearview of the meaning of his or

her life, its purpose, and kept an open eye on the prize. In Luke’s narrative,
Paul is not simply the greatapostle to the Gentiles, the founder of European
Christianity and the prototype of the Christian evangelistand church-planter,
he is the representative Christian. And in nothing is he so much the
representative Christian as in his determination to serve the Lord,
consequencesnotwithstanding.
Believe me, brothers and sisters, there will be times, more than enough times
in any Christian’s life, when you will be tempted to take the foot off the
accelerator;indeed there will be times aplenty when others will encourage
you, if not implore you, to take it easier, notto take such risks in serving the
Lord, not to be so determined. And Luke is teaching you in all such times and
circumstances to say as Isaiahteaches us to say:
“Because the SovereignLord helps me, I will not be disgraced. ThereforeI
have setmy face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame.” [50:7]
That is the drive that changedthe world and that will change it againtoday!
You younger Christians, whether or not you understood this at the time, you
signed on for high adventure and hardship, and you must not let hell, high
water, or the example of Christians who have growntoo comfortable with an
easy, risk-free Christian life, deter you. Jesus Christ is worth everything you
have and he asks for nothing less!
And you parents, be teaching your children the words “must” and “cannot.”
They are the words a Christian soldier lives by. There are things we must do
and tempting things we cannot do, things that amount to a betrayal of our
calling as the servants of the Lord Christ. People who fully understand that
will be people God uses!

PHIL NEWTON
READY TO DIE!
ACTS 21:1-14
MARCH 1, 1998
I. Walking in the will of God
Ephesians 5:17
How do we understand God's will?
1. Scripture to obey
Never a question about this (do not pray to determine; only for grace, etc)

2. Holy Spirit giving direction:
a. Impressions
b. Through circumstances
c. Through counsel
d. Through friends
Acts 19:21-22: Paul receiving direction; knew that suffering and opposition
awaited him at each stop.
3. Reasonand use of mind

Ephesians 5:15-17
4. Church and spiritual leadership
Acts 13:1-3; Acts 15:1-2
II. Encouragement in doing God's will
1. A clear comprehension of understanding (v. 13)
a. Test by Scripture
b. Evaluate by sound reason
c. Give a test of time

2. Go forward in obedience (vv. 1-3, 7-8)
3. Fellowship, encouragement and love of the brethren (vv. 4-5)
Quote verse 7; Prayer and exhortation
4. Steadfast example of Christ
Close parallel between Paul and Christ going up to Jerusalem; obvious that
Luke drew encouragement:
a. Both headed to Jerusalem, Paul for Pentecost, Jesus for Passover

b. Spirit warned Paul 3 times; Jesus spoke of His passion3 times (Luke 9:22;
44:18; 18:31-33)
c. Paul bound by Roman soldiers; Jesus bound by soldiers
d. Paul knelt down and prayed (20:36, 21:5); Jesus knelt down and prayed (Luke
22:41)
e. "Let the Lord's will be done" (21:14); "Let your will be done" (Luke 22:42)
5. Persist in the face of obstacles (vv. 4, 10-11)
Learn from them, as Paul did.
III. A posture for doing God's will
1. Attentiveness to the Holy Spirit

Be able to distinguish - Go, Stop, Caution.
2. Determine that you will obey the Lord
3. Attach no conditions to your obedience
Be resolute... "ready to die"
4. Realize in Whosehands you rest (v. 14)
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A. MACLAREN
DRAWING NEARER TO THE STORM
‘And it came to pass, that, after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we
came with a straight courseunto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and
from thence unto Patara: 2. And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went
aboard, and set forth. 3. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left
hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her
burden. 4. And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul
through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. 5. 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, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled
down on the shore, and prayed. 6. And when we had taken our leave one of
another, we took ship; and they returned home again. 7. And when we had finished
our coursefrom Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode
with them one day. 8. And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed,
and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist,
which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9. And the same man had four
daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 10. And as we tarried there many days,
there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11. And when he
was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and
said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that
owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12. And
when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to
go up to Jerusalem. 13. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break

mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the
name of the Lord Jesus. 14. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased,
saying, The will of the Lord be done. 15. And after those days we took up our
carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.’—ACTS xxi. 1-15.
Paul’s heroic persistency in disregarding the warnings of ‘bonds and afflictions’
which were pealed into his ears in every city, is the main point of interest in this
section. But the vivid narrative abounds with details which fill it with life and
colour. We may gather it all round three points—the voyage, Tyre, and Caesarea.
I. The log of the voyage, as given in verses 1-3, shows the leisurely way of
navigation in those days and in that sea. Obviously the coaster tied up or anchored
in port at night. Running down the coast from Miletus, they stayed overnight, first
at the small island of Coos, then stretched across the next day to Rhodes, and on
the third struck back to the mainland at Patara, from which, according to one
reading, they ran along the coasta little further east to Myra, the usual port of
departure for Syria. Ramsay explains that the prevalent favourable wind for a
vessel bound for Syria blows steadily in early morning, and dies down towards
nightfall, so that there would have been no use in keeping at sea after sundown.
At Patara (or Myra) Paul and his party had to tranship, for their vessel was
probably of small tonnage, and only fit to run along the coast. In either port they
would have no difficulty in finding some merchantman to take them across to
Syria. Accordingly they shifted into one bound for Tyre, and apparently ready to
sail. The second part of their voyage took them right out to sea, and their course
lay to the west, and then to the south of Cyprus, which Luke mentions as if to
remind us of Paul’s visit there when he was beginning his missionary work. How
much had passed since that day at Paphos (which they might have sighted from the
deck)! He had left Paphos with Barnabas and John Mark—where were they? He
had sailed away from Cyprus to carry the Gospelamong Gentiles; he sails pastit,
accompanied by a group of these whom he had won for Christ. There he had begun

his career; now the omens indicated that possibly its end was near. Many a thought
would be in his mind as he looked out over the blue waters and saw the glittering
roofs and groves of Paphos.
Tyre was the first port of call, and there the cargo was to be landed. The travellers
had to wait till that was done, and probably another one shipped. The seven days’
stay is best understood as due to that cause; for we find that Paul re-embarked in
the same ship, and went in her as far as Ptolemais, at all events, perhaps to
Caesarea.
We note that no brethren are mentioned as having been met at any of the ports of
call, and no evangelistic work as having been done in them. The party were simple
passengers, who had to shape their movements to suit the convenience of the
master of the vessel, and were only in port at night, and off again next morning
early. No doubtthe leisure at sea was as restorative to them as it often is to jaded
workers now.
II. Tyre was a busy seaport then, and in its large population the few disciples
would make but little show. They had to be sought out before they were ‘found.’
One can feel how eagerly the travellers would search, and how thankfully they
would find themselves again among congenial souls. Since Miletus they had had
no Christian communion, and the sailors in such a ship as theirs would not be
exactly kindred spirits. So that week in Tyre would be a blessed break in the
voyage. We hear nothing of visiting the synagogue, nor of preaching to the non-
Christian population, nor of instruction to the little Church.
The whole interest of the stay at Tyre is, for Luke, centred on the fact that here too
the same message which had met Paul everywhere was repeated to him. It was
‘through the Spirit.’ Then was Paul flying in the face of divine prohibitions when
he held on his way in spite of all that could be said? Certainly not. We have to

bring common sense to bear on the interpretation of the words in verse 4, and must
supposethat what came from ‘the Spirit’ was the prediction of persecutions
waiting Paul, and that the exhortation to avoid these by keeping clear of Jerusalem
was the voice of human affection only. Such a blending of clear insight and of
mistaken deductions from it is no strange experience.
No word is said as to the effect of the Tyrian Christians’ dissuasion. It had none.
Luke mentions it in order to show how continuous was the repetition of the same
note, and his silence as to the manner of its reception is eloquent. The parting scene
at Tyre is like, and yet very unlike, that at Miletus. In both the Christians
accompany Paul to the beach, in both they kneel down and pray. It would scarcely
have been a Christian parting without that. In both loving farewells are said, and
perhaps waved when words could no longer be heard. But at Tyre, where there
were no bonds of old comradeship nor of affection to a spiritual father, there was
none of the yearning, clinging love that could not bear to part, none of the hanging
on Paul’s neck, none of the deep sorrowof final separation. The delicate shades of
difference in two scenes so similar tell of the hand of an eye-witness. The touch
that ‘all’ the Tyrian Christians went down to the beach, and took their wives and
children with them, suggests that they can have been but a small community, and
so confirms the hint given by the use of the word ‘found’ in verse 4.
III. The vessel ran down the coastto Ptolemais where one day’s stop was made,
probably to land and ship cargo, if, as is possible, the further journey to Caesarea
was by sea. But it may have been by land; the narrative is silent on that point. At
Ptolemais, as at Tyre, there was a little company of disciples, the brevity of the
stay with whom, contrasted with the long halt in Caesarea, rather favours the
supposition that the ship’s convenience ruled the Apostle’s movements till he
reached the latter place. There he found a haven of rest, and, surrounded by loving
friends, no wonder that the burdened Apostle lingered there before plunging into
the storm of which he had had so many warnings.

The eager haste of the earlier part of the journey, contrasted with the delay in
Caesarea at the threshold of his goal, is explained by supposingthat at the
beginning Paul’s one wish had been to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast, and
that at Caesarea he found that, thanks to his earlier haste and his good passages, he
had a margin to spare. He did not wish to get to the Holy City much before the
Feast.
Two things only are told as occurring in Caesarea—the intercourse with Philip and
the renewed warnings about going to Jerusalem. Apparently Philip had been in
Caesarea ever since we last heard of him (chap. viii.). He had brought his family
there, and settled down in the headquarters of Roman government. He had been
used by Christ to carry the Gospelto men outside the Covenant, and for a time it
seemed as if he was to be the messenger to the Gentiles; but that mission soon
ended, and the honour and toil fell to another. But neither did Philip envy Paul, nor
did Paul avoid Philip. The Master has the right to settle what each slave has to do,
and whether He sets him to high or low office, it matters not.
Philip might have been contemptuous and jealous of the younger man, who had
been nobodywhen he was chosenas one of the Seven, but had so far outrun him
now. But no paltry personal feeling marred the Christian intercourse of the two,
and we can imagine how much each had to tell the other, with perhaps Cornelius
for a third in company, during the considerably extended stay in Caesarea. No
doubtLuke too made good use of the opportunity of increasing his knowledge of
the first days, and probably derived much of the material for the first chapters of
Acts from Philip, either then or at his subsequentlonger residence in the same city.
We have heard of the prophet Agabus before (chap. xi. 28). Why he is introduced
here, as if a stranger, we cannot tell, and it is useless to guess, and absurd to sniff
suspicion of genuineness in the peculiarity. His prophecyis more definite than any
that preceded it. That is God’s way. He makes things clearer as we go on, and
warnings more emphatic as danger approaches. The sourceof the ‘afflictions’ was

now for the first time declared, and the shape which they would take. Jews would
deliver Paul to Gentiles, as they had delivered Paul’s Master.
But there the curtain falls. What would the Gentiles do with him? That remained
unrevealed. Half the tragedy was shown, and then darkness covered the rest. That
was more trying to nerves and courage than full disclosure to the very end would
have been. Imagination had just enough to work on, and was stimulated to shape
out all sorts of horrors. Similarly incomplete and testing to faith are the glimpses of
the future which we get in our own lives. We see but a little way ahead, and then
the road takes a sharp turn, and we fancy dreadful shapes hiding round the corner.
Paul’s courage was unmoved both by Agabus’s incomplete prophecyand by the
tearful implorings of his companions and of the Caesarean Christians. His pathetic
words to them are misunderstood if we take ‘break my heart’ in the modern sense
of that phrase, for it really means ‘to melt away my resolution,’ and shows that
Paul felt that the passionate grief of his brethren was beginning to do what no fear
for himself could do—shake even his steadfast purpose. No more lovely blending
of melting tenderness and iron determination has ever been put into words than that
cry of his, followed by the great utterance which proclaimed his readiness to bear
all things, even death itself, for ‘the name of the Lord Jesus.’ What kindled and fed
that noble flame of self-devotion? The love of Jesus Christ, built on the sense that
He had redeemed the soul of His servant, and had thereby bought him for His own.
If we feel that we have been ‘bought with a price,’ we too, in our small spheres,
shall be filled with that ennobling passion of devoted love which will not count life
dear if He calls us to give it up. Let us learn from Paul how to blend the utmost
gentleness and tender responsiveness to all love with fixed determination to glorify
the Name. A strong will and a loving heart make a marvellously beautiful
combination, and should both abide in every Christian.

Acts 21:13
Stonewall Jackson
The courage of Civil War leader Stonewall Jackson in the midst of conflict can be
a lesson for the believer. Historian Mark Brimsley wrote,
“A battlefield is a deadly place, even for generals; and it would be naive to suppose
Jackson never felt the animal fear of all beings exposed to wounds and death. but
invariably he displayed extraordinary calm under fire, a calm too deep and
masterful to be mere pretense. His apparent obliviousness to danger attracted
notice, and after the First Manassas battle someone asked him how he managed it.
“My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed,”Jackson
explained. ‘God knows the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that,
but to be always ready, no matter where it may overtake me.’ He added pointedly,
‘That is the way all men should live, and than all would be equally brave.’“
Daily Bread
PETER PETT
Verse 13
‘Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? ForI
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus.” ’

But Paul rebuked them. He knew that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and told
them that their pleas were just making it harder for him. Indeed that their weeping
was breaking his heart. But he wanted them to know that it was the Lord’s will,
and that he was ready, not only to be bound at Jerusalem (which was what was
prophesied), but also if necessary to die there. Neither he nor they realised the
opportunities that his being bound would give him to testify before rulers, and to
proclaim the word freely in Rome. Indeed in view of the hatred for Paul among the
Jews, who were out to kill him, it may be that being in a kind of gentle captivity
was the safest place from which to carry on his ministry.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Acts 21:1-15
1-14-79 7:30 p.m.
It is a gladness for us that we share this hour with the unknown and unseen and
uncounted thousands and thousands who on the radio of the great Southwest voice
of KRLD, listen to this hour; and on KCBI, the stereo Sonshine Station of our
Bible Institute. You are listening to the services of the First Baptist Church in

Dallas. You have just heard our glorious choir and their orchestra in their song of
praise to the blessed Jesus. And now you listen to the pastorof the church as he
delivers the message from the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Acts. This
morning we completed the last message in chapter 20, and now tonight, we begin
with chapter 21 [Acts 21:1]. And the title of the message is The Beginning of the
End.
In this chapter Paul is arrested [Acts 21:33], and the rest of the story in the Book of
Acts, he is a prisoner of the Roman government. Now, the message will be on the
entire chapter, all forty verses. But we are going to read just a part—beginning at
verse 10 through verse 15. Acts 21, verses 10 through 15, and with us, you who
listen on radio, open your Bible if you have opportunity and read out loud with us
this passagein the twenty-first chapter of Acts, verses 10 through 15. Now
together:
And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet,
named Agabus.
And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands
and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind
the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.
And when we heard these things, bothwe, and they of that place, besought him not
to go up to Jerusalem.
Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am
ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus.

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