We'll take your Bibles and turn
with me to Acts chapter 21. Acts, the 21st chapter. And for time's sake, we won't
be able to read this chapter, our text this morning, which
will be verses 1 through 31. Time alone, if you would, read
this chapter with these things that we are going to discuss
this morning. Keep them in mind as you read this chapter, and
you'll be able to more clearly see these things if you read
it in its entirety. But for time's sake, we'll have
to forego that. And so, the title of the message
this morning is, A Word of Fellowship, of warning and of compromise."
A word of fellowship, a word of warning, and a word of compromise. Beginning in verse 4, we're going
to read a word of fellowship. Look at this in verse 4. The
Apostle Paul, traveling from Cuz and Rhodes and Patera, has
now come down to Tyre, which is a province of Syria. And he says, "...in finding disciples,
he tarried there seven days. Paul, after leaving the church
of Ephesus, traveled to this place, and he found disciples
to fellowship with." He fellowshiped with them seven days. I tell you, there is nothing
greater, short of heaven itself, than to fellowship with God's
saints. There is nothing that we can
aspire to in this life that is closer to heaven than to be among
God's children. There is nothing greater. There's
nothing greater than for believers to dwell together with joy and
fellowship that we cannot find in this world. You can talk to
the people of this world, you can fellowship with them, you
can interact with them and converse with them, but there's one thing
that you will not find, is you will not find a certain joy that
you will find with other believers. The world, they love to talk
about politics and sports and the weather, and we could talk
to them about those things, and you know, believers talk about
these things, no doubt. But that's not our highest conversation,
is it? That's not our most joyful time
together. It's just pleasantries. We enjoy
the gospel message of Jesus Christ, and when we talk to each other
about this, it's a sense of heaven itself. I tell you, I went over
to Joanne's and Gil's this week, and it was the most enjoyable
thing next to worshiping with them on Wednesday and Sunday.
It's enjoyable to fellowship together, just to be together.
Now, the world can't understand this. They can't understand this. When you talk about Christ to
this world, they become either silent or philosophic. They become
silent or philosophic. I know I've experienced this
when I've witnessed to my lost friends and reasoned with them
out of the Scripture. It's my experience. And I know
it's yours when you try to witness of Christ. When we tell them
that God is just and must punish sin, they can't understand that. I rejoice in that, don't you?
I rejoice in a God who's just and righteous and holy. A God
that says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. I rejoice
in a God like that. And so does every believer. I
rejoice in a God who will by no means clear the guilty. I
rejoice in a God like that. And if God is gracious, if God
keeps mercy for thousands, how can He by no means clear the
guilty? They can't understand that. How can God be just and
justify the ungodly? To us, we know that the answer
is Jesus Christ. We know that. With that, He alone
is God's salvation. We know He's the answer to that
question. that God made Him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And so when we hear that, we
rejoice in that, we fellowship around that, but they don't understand
that. They won't like to talk about that. Friends, I rejoice in the fact
that God was not willing to impute my sins to me. I'm glad about
that. I'm glad He was willing to impute
them to His Son and charge them to His Son so that I might go
free. I rejoice in that. Every believer
does. A man by nature. They're looking
to religion to justify them before God. They're looking to their
church. They're looking to their priest, their sacraments, their
decision, their free will. But God will not accept any of
these. And when you tell them that,
You're going to rock their boat. And they don't like that. They
don't like it. When you rock their boat, you
better be ready, because when they find out that their foundation
on which they rest, their eternal soul, is nothing more than sinking
sand, they will hate you for it. They'll hate you for it. They'll try to change the subject.
They'll try to move out of that, just so they can maintain fellowship
with you. But if you won't move off that,
they won't hang around you much longer. Believers in Christ,
we love to hear the message of Jesus Christ. And we recognize
with David, when he said this in Psalm 133, he said, Behold,
how good and how pleasant it is for believers to dwell together
in unity. Now, I know that by experience. That is true. That is true. It's pleasant. I don't know if
you know this, but my favorite days of the week are Wednesday
evening and Sunday morning. They are my favorite. I study
the gospel all week. I meet people all week, but this
is my favorite time. To be with you and to talk about
Christ to you, to preach Christ to you. It's wonderful when believers
dwell together. And I know Paul was relieved to be with these
believers for seven days. He rejoiced and so do I. Number
two, a word of warning regarding suffering. A word of warning
regarding suffering. Look at this in verse 4. When
Paul came to these believers, In verse 4, he says, "...and
find the disciples, they tarried seven days, who said to Paul
through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem." It was here in Tyre that Paul
was warned by the people that he was going to suffer if he
continued on his course to Jerusalem. That's where he was headed. He
was headed to Jerusalem. In verse 10, And this happened
in every city. In verse 10 it says, And as we
tarried many days, there came down from Judah a certain prophet
named Agabus. Now if you remember Agabus, he
was a prophet that predicted the famine that was to come in
those days. And so he comes down now, and
they're in Philip's house in Caesarea. And he comes down and
he warns Paul. He says, You're going to be bound
and taken and given to the Gentiles. He did this by the sign of taking
His belt and wrapping it around His arms and His feet and He
said, whoever this belongs to, they're going to be bound in
Jerusalem. And so when He said that, when
they heard these things, Verse 11, it says, And when he
was come, he took Paul's girdle and bound it at his feet. And
he said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews bind
the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver it in the hands
of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we and
they in the one place besought him not to go to Jerusalem. These believers began to beg
the Apostle Paul not to go. They wept for Him. They longed
Him to avoid persecution and suffering. Imagine the sorrow
of this church here that Paul, their preacher, their apostle,
they had just learned by the Holy Spirit that he would suffer
persecution and even death. And yet, what is Paul's response
to this? He says, why are you breaking
my heart? Why do you break my heart? Why
do you do this to me? God has commanded me to go to
Jerusalem. I must go to Jerusalem. I must
suffer for the cause of Christ. And yet you're here and you're
opposing me and it's breaking my heart. Don't break my heart.
Don't break my heart. I've got to do what God calls
me to do. I tell you that when we as believers set out to do
what God has commanded us to do, know this, we will meet with
opposition. Always. Always. I know in our
study of the book of Acts, how many times has Paul met with
opposition. Every chapter, every city he
went into, there was some form of opposition by wicked men. Stephen was stoned. Peter was
rejected by those Jews and he had to explain himself because
he went to Cornelius. And Paul was beaten, left for
dead, imprisoned in every city. And Jesus said, remember what
I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they've persecuted Me, they'll persecute you. But I'll tell you what, there's
a greater suffering than at the hands of wicked men. You think
suffering at the hands of wicked men is bad. Suffering opposition
from those in the house of God is the worst. Suffering opposition
from those in the house of God, those who are believers in Christ,
is the worst. And Paul's heart was broken.
Paul's heart was broken. He didn't want to hurt them.
He didn't want to see them suffer in pain over him. He knew where
he had to go, and they were begging him not to go. And he said, why
do you break my heart? I've got to go. I've got to go. Don't stand in my way. Here's the warning to us. Let
us be careful not to hinder God's man or God's people from doing
what God has called them to do. I remember when I was called
to preach. I was called to leave my home. I was called to leave
my family. I was called to leave my job. I was called to leave
everything I know. And you know, it really didn't
matter how much the world told me I shouldn't go. That didn't
bother me. But it was when those people who I loved the most opposed
me. Those people who were supposed
to be believers in Christ were trying to get me to stay because
they loved me and they didn't want me to go. And that broke my heart. All those who believe in Christ
must suffer in this life, they must suffer persecution. But
I'll tell you this, if we spend our time avoiding persecution,
we are doing the exact opposite of what Christ has commanded
us to do. I heard this many times from
people. They say, well, it seems too hard. Seems too difficult. The way is too hard. Surely that's
not God's will for me if the way is so rough. Surely God wants
my way to be smooth and good and comfortable. Surely God doesn't
want me to offend people or to suffer rejection. Have you not heard that? I have.
I'll tell you the truth, I've heard it from my own nature. But what does God say about suffering? What does God tell us about suffering?
Philippians 1.29, For unto you is given in the behalf of Christ
not only to believe, but to suffer for His name's sake. You remember when the Lord Jesus
told of His suffering, what did Peter do? Oh Lord, be it far
from you. And the Lord said, "'Get thee
behind Me, Satan, for thou savest not the things that be of God.'"
Peter opposed the Lord's suffering. Jesus says in Matthew 16, 24,
"'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow Me.'" For whosoever will save
his life will lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited if
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" What if you avoid
suffering and lose your own soul? No! We are to take up our cross,
an instrument of suffering and death, not some gold thing you
put around your neck. It is an instrument of death
and we take that up, we bear that up. We bear the cross that
God has given us. It is a cross of suffering and
grief and pain. And if you will save your life
from a cross, you will lose it. Oh, but all of us who bear under
the cross through faith in Christ, we know this, that Christ is
our life. Our life is not here. Our life
is hid with Christ. This is not our life. Our life is somewhere else. And here, we're to expect suffering. And I'll tell you, physical death,
I believe physical death is an easier task than daily death. You only die physically once. I mean, that's a big one. But
if you die for the cause of Christ, if someone kills you for the
cause of Christ, that only ushers us into the presence of God. But friends suffering for Christ
daily, now that's difficult. Solomon said, take us foxes,
the little foxes spoil the vine. It's the little things, the little
crosses, the little suffering that we compromise the most,
isn't it? Believers are as to be tender
grapes. were to be tender grapes, humble
before their Lord. Were humble like Christ, as the
lamb before His shears were dumb, so He opened not His mouth. He
endured the cross, despising the shame for the glory that
was set before Him. And so when suffering comes,
that's how we're to do it, with our mouths closed. Our mouths
closed. And endure what God has given
us to suffer for His namesake. If we are disciples of Christ,
if we are His sheep, if we are His children, we must expect
suffering in this life in resisting of sin of the flesh. We must
not compromise the gospel of Christ. We must not give into
our flesh or compromise the gospel to escape suffering. Let every one of us count the
cost of following Christ. It will cost you everything. Oh, but the gain, the gain of
following Christ far outweighs the suffering. Paul said, these
are light things. These things are not worthy to
be counted with the glory which shall be revealed. Not worthy. Paul was set to follow Christ.
He was set to even give his life for the gospel. And Acts 21,
13 says, for I'm ready, not only to be bound in Jerusalem, but
I'm ready to die for the Lord Jesus Christ. And this should
be the determination of our hearts. This should be the desire of
our hearts. No matter what the circumstances bring, no matter
what troubles in our path, let us constantly, daily be ready
to be bound and die for our Lord Jesus Christ. If we're not willing
to let go of this world and its lust, is it not because we think
too highly of ourselves? Do we not think, well, I deserve
a good life. I work hard. I deserve it. I deserve a little peace, a little
comfort, a little rest from suffering. Is that what we think? What did
Jesus say about the servant? He said, if a man has a servant
and the servant goes out and plows in the field all day, is
the master going to say, oh, look at what you've done. You
plowed in the field all day. Surely come in and sit down and
I'll serve you. No. If you had a servant, he'd go
out working the field all day. He'd come in and fix your dinner
first. And then when he was finished with that, then he would eat. Jesus said in Luke 17, So likewise
ye, when ye have done all those things which are commanded you,
say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done only that which
is our duty. If you give your life, you have
only done that which is your duty. What do you mean, I deserve? I deserve hell. I get heaven,
but I deserve hell. And if I do all this, it's only
I'm still an unprofitable servant and have added nothing to Christ. Nothing. The problem is we think like
Naaman, I thought. I thought it should be this way.
Don't think. Look what God says. God says
we're to suffer. And so when we suffer, we're
not to avoid it, but we're to go in praising Christ for it. Paul determined. He says that
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Job said, though he
slay me, yet will I trust him. And lastly, a word of compromise. A word of compromise. Now Paul
here was confident. You can see that in his words.
He was determined. He was determined to go and to
be bound and even to suffer death. And I know he was sincere. He
was sincere. When he would talk to the church
of Ephesus, he says, none of these things move me. Neither
count my life dear, neither count my life dear unto myself. Paul
said, I have a course. And my course is death, and I'm
headed right for it, and nothing shall sway me." Nothing. And Paul was sincere about this,
and I'm sure of it. I'm sure his heart was willing
to die for Christ. And eventually, he did die for
Christ. Eventually, he did suffer death. But when he comes to Jerusalem,
it's not that he's confronted with prison or death. Here he is, he's expecting as
soon as he gets into Jerusalem, hey, everybody's going to be
against me. He's determined. But he's caught off guard by
something. Something hits the apostle Paul
here and throws him for a loop. And look at this. What was surprising
about this was the compromise was not at the hands of the enemy,
but at the hands of the apostles. Read in verse 18. He says, in
the day following, Paul went in with us unto James, and all
the elders were present. And when he had saluted them,
he declared particularly what things God had wrought among
the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they
glorified the Lord and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how
many thousands of Jews there were There are which believe,
and they are all zealous of the law." Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Don't you think that there
was some type of competition here? Paul spoke about all the
things that God had done, and James said, well, look at all
the things God done here. Look at all these Jews, thousands
of them, and they're all zealous for the law. And here it is, they are informed
of thee that thou teachest all the Jews that are among the Gentiles
to forsake Moses, saying they ought not to circumcise their
children, neither walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come
together. But they will hear that thou
art come. There's the compromise, friends,
and it's the compromise that has gotten the church into so
much trouble in this last century, and it is false unity. Let us
just come together. Let us try to just come together
over this gospel. Paul, you've been speaking too
harsh about the law, and you need to come down just a little
bit. You need to just bring it down a notch so that we can all
come together in unity. And he said, what say you? Do
you therefore, do therefore this? He said, you better tell us which
way you're going on this so we can be unified. He said, do this,
Paul, just so we can be unified. He said, there are four men who've
taken a vow on them. Take them and purify thyself
with them and be at charges with them that they may shave their
heads and all may know that those things whereof they were informed
concerning thee are nothing. but that thou mayest thou thyself
also walk orderly, and keepest the law." As touching the Gentiles,
we have written that they should keep themselves free from the
law. They shouldn't offer idols or
blood or strangle or fornication. And here it is, Paul took them
in. He gave in to the compromise. This was supposed to be settled
back in Acts chapter 15. You remember, we read that concerning
what they had written about the law in Acts 15 when they came
to Jerusalem. And Peter said this, he said,
why would we entangle them with a yoke that we ourselves could
not bear? It was settled before and now
it's reared its ugly head again. And I'll tell you, these apostles
no doubt were under great pressure. The temple was still standing.
The people were still performing these rituals. And so they were
tempted and drawn in by that. And here the apostle should have
withstood this, for he knew better. Paul knew better, didn't he?
Matter of fact, in Galatians 2 he said, remember, I withstood
Peter to the face about these things. In Romans, he says, in
Romans 7, verse 4, it says, you are become dead to the law and
married to Christ. In Galatians, he says, you can't
have the bondwoman and the free woman in the same house. In other
words, you can't serve the law and Christ. Matter of fact, he says, if you
even allow circumcision, Christ shall profit you nothing, but
you become a debtor to the whole law. Isn't that what he said?
And yet here he is. He's submitting to the ordinance
or the law of the Nazarite, mentioned in Numbers. Let us be warned, friend, concerning
compromise, that we are all subject to it because of the flesh. Friends,
Paul loved these Jews so much. I don't doubt he loved them so
much. I don't doubt he wanted them to believe in Christ. And
maybe this was even a gesture to them so that he would try
to bring them in. But isn't that the compromise
of the church today? To compromise the gospel so we
can get many people in? Oh, friends, what a horrid trap
and lie that is. He was like Peter who said, Lord,
I'll die with you. And Peter ended up because of
a maiden, a small maiden. She says, hey, I know you, you're
with Christ. Oh no, I'm not! I'm not with Him. And here Paul
says, I'll die with Christ. But yet, he brings in the law
and he embraces the law in this moment of weakness. James said
to Paul, Paul, you don't really believe. what you're doing, but
just make a show of it. I know you don't believe it.
I know, Paul, that you really don't believe we should be obeying
the law, but just make a show of it. Just tip your hat to it. Give in just a little bit so
we can all dwell in peace. Oh, the subtleness of compromise.
Many believers say, I'll give up my home, I'll give up my life.
But when they're asked to give up the small things for Christ,
they balk. I tell you, many of God's people
have been sold out to compromise. Many have convinced themselves
that the worship of Christ is optional." Isn't that right?
Isn't that a compromise? Well, I'm saved. Jesus understands. I'm sure He won't mind. He knows
I've got things to do. I've got a cable man coming by. You know how hard it is to get
a cable guy to come out? Surely! You know, He understands
if I miss worship, if I don't come all the time. What is that
but a compromise? Is that not such a subtle thing?
Of course it is. But many people believe that
worship is optional. Make no mistake about it, if
we compromise the gospel, there will be somebody watching us.
And I'll tell you this, when the Apostle Paul compromised
the Gospel here, it didn't turn out the way he thought. It didn't,
and it never does. You compromise the Gospel, it'll
never turn out the way you thought. It was because of his compromise
that he was bound. The Jews saw him in the temple.
They saw him worshiping in the temple. And they said, hey, help
us. Here's a man that we know is
an offender of the law. Grab him and we'll take him out
and beat him. And that's exactly what they
did. Had he not been in the temple, they never would have said anything.
But do you realize that his compromise brought on his punishment, him
being bound? Friends, our compromise never
will accomplish the unity that we think it will. Let us be warned
about compromise. I pray that God blesses to our
hearts.