Acts chapter 21, I'm taking the
title from what is said in verse 19. When Paul went to Jerusalem,
he declared unto them with great detail particularly what things
God had wrought, what God had worked. Among Gentiles that is
among sinners by the ministry that God had given unto him. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is a plain and clear declaration of the things that God has done
for us. It's not a declaration of what
we must do for Him. The gospel is about what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. That is that salvation is
all of the Lord. It's of His fullness that we
have received grace for grace. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand complete. We looked at this word in our
Bible study from 2 Corinthians 5, 5, this word here, wrought. We declared what God had worked
among the Gentiles. In 2 Corinthians 5, 5, this verse
goes this way, now he that had wrought for us The self-same
thing is God. It's God who had worked for us.
It's God who has performed all things for us, who also has given
unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Now, in this chapter, Acts 21, VERSE 15, DOWN THROUGH VERSE
40, WE SEE HOW THE APOSTLE PAUL ARRIVED AT JERUSALEM, MEETING
WITH THE CHURCH FAMILY THERE, DECLARING WHAT GOD HAD ACCOMPLISHED
THROUGH HIS MINISTRY, AND WE'VE SEEN HIM DO THIS BEFORE. IF YOU
TURN BACK TO ACTS CHAPTER 14, VERSE 27, WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM
HIS FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY THERE TO THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH,
IN ACTS 14, Verse 27, let's begin at verse 26. We sailed to Antioch
from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work
which they fulfilled. When they were come and had gathered
the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them.
HOW HE OPENED THE DOOR OF FAITH UNTO THE GENTILES, AND THERE
THEY ABODE A LONG, LONG TIME. IN ACTS CHAPTER 15, VERSE 4,
AGAIN WE SEE THE APOSTLE PAUL HERE AT JERUSALEM DECLARING THIS,
VERSE 4, ACTS 15, AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO JERUSALEM, THEY
WERE RECEIVED OF THE CHURCH, AND OF THE APOSTLES, AND ELDERS,
AND THEY DECLARED ALL THINGS THAT GOD HAD DONE WITH THEM. Again, in that same chapter,
Acts 15, look at verse 12. All the multitude kept silent
and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles
and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them through
the ministry, through the preached word that God had given to them. A very strange thing happens
when Paul goes to Jerusalem by the good and sovereign providence
of God, these religious Jews persuaded Paul to perform a religious
ceremony according to the law of Moses. Notice in Acts chapter
21, verse one, it says, and it came to pass. Now, it just didn't
happen. It came to pass by the good and
sovereign providence of God to the furtherance of the gospel.
We see the Apostle Paul when he's confronted with these Jews
to go about this religious ceremony. He went along with their plan
to appease them, the religious Jews, and what a terrible compromise
the Apostle Paul makes and what a terrible mistake that he makes
when he goes about to take those four men and start toward the
temple. Then, verse 26, Paul said, THE
FOUR MEN, THE NEXT DAY, PURIFYING HIMSELF WITH THEM, ENTERED INTO
THE TEMPLE TO SIGNIFY THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF DAYS OF PURIFICATION UNTIL
AN OFFERING SHOULD BE OFFERED FOR EVERY ONE OF THEM, A BLOOD
SACRIFICE." PAUL DOES HEAR IN THIS CHAPTER WHAT HE REBUKED
PETER FOR DOING SOME YEARS BEFORE. Remember when Peter was come
to Antioch before we read in Galatians chapter 2 When Peter
was come to Antioch Paul said I will stood him to the face
because he was to be blamed For not towing the line salvation
by the grace of God alone Now one of the things the Word of
God does the Bible the Holy Scripture it does not seek to hide the
failures of God's servants were all men of like passion. Abraham,
read his record. It wasn't one without sin, without
mistake. Moses, Moses also made terrible,
grievous mistakes. David, the king of Israel, SINS
AGAINST GOD. YOU SEE, GOD DOESN'T SEEK TO
HIDE THE FRAILTIES, THE SINFULNESS, AND FAILURES OF HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE. PETER, PETER SAID, LORD, I'LL
NEVER DENY YOU, AND YET HE DID THREE TIMES. PAUL, HERE WE SEE
IN THIS CHAPTER, HE WENT ABOUT TO APPROACH GOD WITH A BLOOD
SACRIFICE OF AN ANIMAL. They all made colossal mistakes,
but the Lord overruled their sin to bring good out of evil. And he always does so. You remember
the words spoken by Joseph. Joseph's brethren sold him into
Egyptian bondage. And later when he is exalted
to the throne of Egypt and they stand before him, he says this,
but as for you, you thought nothing but evil against me, but God
meant it for good to bring the path as it is this day to save
much people alive. Now the Lord can take the things
we mess up so bad, AND MAKE SO COLOSSAL MISTAKES, AND GOD CAN
TURN THAT AROUND TO WORK FOR OUR ETERNAL GOOD. WE KNOW ALL
THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM WHO LOVE GOD, TO THEM
WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. NOW, LET'S LOOK BACK
TO VERSE 16, ACTS 21, VERSE 16. When they took up carriages,
they headed toward Jerusalem. And there went up also with us
certain disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mason,"
that was his name, he was of the country of Cyprus, an old
disciple, WITH WHOM WE SHOULD LODGE. THE APOSTLE PAUL BRINGS
WITH HIM FROM CESAREA SEVERAL OTHER MEN, BUT HE TAKES GREAT
PAINS TO POINT OUT THIS ONE MAN WHO WAS OF CYPRUS, AND HE WAS
AN OLD BELIEVER WHO REMAINED FAITHFUL TO THE GOSPEL OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. WHAT A BLESSED THING IT IS TO
SEE THOSE WHO ARE OLD IN THE FAITH BEING FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH,
PERSEVERING IN THE FAITH, NOT LAYING IT DOWN. AND THIS OLD
DISCIPLE, REMEMBER WHEN PAUL LEFT ANTIOCH WITH BARNABAS? REMEMBER WHERE HE WENT FIRST?
HE WENT TO CYPRUS. AND HERE WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL
BELIEVERS OF PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY WHO WAS GIVEN FAITH IN
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND HE MAINTAINS. AND NOW HE'S WITH
PAUL BACK IN JERUSALEM. VERSE 17 OF ACTS 21 SAID, WHEN
WE WERE COME TO JERUSALEM, THE BRETHREN THERE RECEIVED US GLADLY. AND THEY DID SO. VERSE 18, THE
DAY FOLLOWING, With us unto James, we know James
is the apostle. We know that James, we have his
recorded letter, the book of James, and all the elders were
present with us. This is the same James in Acts
chapter 15, THAT DECLARED, KNOWN UNTO GOD ARE ALL HIS WORKS FROM
THE BEGINNING. NOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STRUCK
ME HERE, AND SEE IF IT DOESN'T RESONATE WITH YOU, PAUL WENT
INTO THE CHURCH THERE, AND JAMES WAS THE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH
THERE AT JERUSALEM, AND ALL THE ELDERS WERE PRESENT. WHERE WAS
PETER? WHERE WAS JOHN? WHERE WERE THE
REST OF THE APOSTLES? IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE GONE. Evidently they were off somewhere
preaching the gospel as the Lord commanded them to go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And when he
had saluted, verse 19, he greeted them, recognized them, Paul declared
what God had wrought among them by the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul rehearses and declares unto
them through the preaching of the gospel what God had done
for his elect, his church. And it's not what we must do.
That's not what we preach. We preach what Christ has done
for us. We call that salvation by the
grace of God. It's God who saved us. It's God
who called us and given us salvation in Christ. WHAT PART OF SALVATION,
THEN, IF WE SAY SALVATION IS ALL OF GOD'S GRACE, WHAT PART
OF SALVATION IS BY HIS GRACE? WELL, ALL OF IT, THE WHOLE OF
IT, FROM ELECTION AND ETERNITY PAST, TO FINAL AND FULL GLORY,
SALVATION IS ALL OF HIS DOING. THE WHOLE OF IT. GOD CHOSE A
PEOPLE IN ETERNITY IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE BOUND TO
GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR YOU, BRETHREN, BECAUSE GOD HATH FROM THE BEGINNING
CHOSEN YOU UNTO SALVATION. HAD HE NOT CHOSEN US IN THAT
ETERNAL COVENANT OF GRACE, WE NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED
FAITH TO BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. The whole part of salvation,
all of salvation is of grace. He redeemed us according to the
riches of His grace, right? And whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of
His grace. So he chose us by electing love,
electing grace. He redeemed us by the riches
of his grace. He obtained eternal redemption
for us with his own blood, and he raises us up together. He
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. You see, salvation is the declaration
how the Lord Jesus Christ has honored the law of God for us.
How he honored the law of God for us. We had that on the radio
this morning. How the Lord Jesus Christ honored
the law of God. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law and the prophets, I came to honor the law and prophets.
How the Lord, you see, the gospel is the declaration how he honored
and satisfied the law of God for us. Knowing, we read a moment
ago, Galatians 2.16, that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the
faith of Christ, not by the works of the law, for by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified before God. You see,
the gospel is a declaration of how Christ put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. How the Lord Jesus Christ has
set us free from the bondage of the law. Galatians chapter
3 verse 13 said, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us, for cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. And yet he has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
were justified freely by his grace to the redemption that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He set us free. Stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You see, the point I'm trying
to make here is the gospel is the declaration of what God has
done for us. from election to glorification
and everything in between. The law being honored, sin put
away, everlasting righteousness brought in, it's all of God's
grace, all of God's purpose, and all of God's grace. Now,
when the apostle Paul writes those things in the book of Galatians
where he says, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Those things
he writes in the book of Galatians that we read earlier were written
after this incident here in Jerusalem. And no doubt the Apostle Paul
was further instructed and taught through this experience and through
his failing. And when he sits in a Roman prison
there in Rome, he writes those prison epistles so clearly defining
that salvation is all of grace, grace alone. Now look at verse
20. And when they heard all that
Paul had said, HOW GOD CHOSE A PEOPLE, HOW CHRIST REDEEMED
A PEOPLE, HOW HE CALLS THEM BY HIS GRACE, SAVES THEM, CALLS
THEM OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. VERSE 20, WHEN
THEY HEARD THOSE THINGS, THEY GLORIFIED THE LORD, AND SAID,
THOU SEEST, BROTHER, HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF JEWS, AND THESE
WERE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF JEWS, THERE ARE WHICH BELIEVE yet they are zealous of the law
of God. They hadn't been completely set
free from the bondage of the law. They were still hanging
on to doing some part of the law for righteousness before
God rather than resting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and only. We see something else here in
verse 21. Not only were they zealous of the law,
verse 21 says, they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all
the Jews, which are among the Gentiles, to forsake the law,
to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise
their children, neither to walk after the customs of the law.
What is it therefore, verse 22, the multitude must needs come
together, for they will hear THAT YOU ARE COME. WHAT IS IT,
PAUL? ARE YOU PREACHING SALVATION BY
THE GRACE OF GOD ALONE? ARE YOU PREACHING SALVATION BY
THE LAW OF GOD ALONE, OR ARE YOU PREACHING A COMBINATION OF
BOTH? WHAT IS IT, THEREFORE? WELL, WE KNOW WHAT PAUL HAD PREACHED
IN THE PAST, DON'T WE? WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE HAD PREACHED
IN THE PAST. TURN BACK OVER HERE TO ACTS,
CHAPTER 13. Remember what he said before? In Acts chapter
13, and here's what he preached. Acts chapter 13 verse 38, Be
it known therefore, unto you, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin." Talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ. God raised him up from the dead.
He saw no corruption. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Now watch it, verse 39. And by
him all that believe are justified from all things which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. Now, turn back over to
Acts chapter 15 and notice this. When these men, verse 1, when
they came down from Judea and they taught the brethren and
said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you
cannot be saved. Look over here in the same chapter,
verse 5, but there rose up a certain sect of the Pharisee which believed,
saying that it was needful TO CIRCUMCISE THEM, AND TO COMMAND
THEM TO KEEP THE LAW OF MOSES. SO THERE WAS THAT ISSUE OF LAW
AND GRACE, GRACE OR THE LAW. NOW, YOU REMEMBER WHAT PETER
SAID IN ACTS 15? WHEN PETER STOOD UP AND HE SAID
THIS, NOTICE VERSE 10. God verse 9 said, God put no
difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Now therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the neck
of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we are able to
bear? But we believe. THROUGH THE GRACE OF THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST, WE SHALL BE SAVED EVEN AS THEY." SO, PETER, PAUL,
THEY BOTH DECLARED THAT SALVATION WAS ALL OF THE GRACE OF GOD ALONE. TURN TO ACTS, CHAPTER 20. LET
ME SHOW YOU ANOTHER PLACE HERE. WE HAD THIS A FEW WEEKS BACK IN ACTS, CHAPTER 20, VERSE 24. when they told Paul if he went
to Jerusalem that bonds and affliction waited for him, he says in Acts
20, 24, but none of these things moved me, neither count I my
life dearer to myself, so that I might finish my course with
joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to
testify the gospel of the grace of God. So there he went preaching. What did he preach? Salvation
in Christ. Accomplished by Christ. Salvation
by the grace of God alone. We believe that we shall be saved
by the grace of God alone, alone, alone. By grace are you saved,
through faith, and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. Now notice, if you will, starting
at verse 22 and verse 23. What is it therefore? The multitudes
must need come together. Which is it, Paul? Which way
is it? Grace? Grace alone? A combination of
grace and works? Or works alone? Which is it? The multitude must need come
together, for they will hear that thou art come. Here's what
we want you to do. Do this, therefore, that we say
to thee, we have four men who have 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 the things
whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing. But you walk
according to the law and that you keep the law. Wow. Why didn't Paul stand right here
and make a stand and say, it's grace and grace alone? Why did
he compromise? At touching the Gentile, verse
25, we believe, and this is what they wrote in Acts 15, we conclude
that they observed no such thing, save only that you keep yourselves
from idols, from blood, and from fornication. Then Paul, verse
26, took the men the next day, purifying himself with them,
entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days
of purification until an offering should be offered for every one
of them. And when the seven days were
almost ended, the Jews, which were of Asia, when they saw him
in the temple, here is a big uproar over Paul being in the
temple. James and the elders of the church
persuaded and compelled Paul to go to the temple and to make
this Nazarite vow, and to offer a blood animal sacrifice. And
sadly, Paul agreed to go along with their plan. It seemed like
a terrible great compromise of the gospel, right? It was. Why did he do such a thing? Why
did he do such a thing to submit to such a great compromise of
everything he believed and preached? You might be saying, you might
say this, you might be saying this in your heart, I'd never
do such a thing. Be careful what you say. I would
never do such a thing. Isn't this exactly what Peter
said to the Lord Jesus Christ? When the Lord told him that he
must go to Jerusalem, that he must die, that he must be raised
again, and that all the disciples would forsake him, Peter said,
uh-uh, not me. John, maybe. Andrew, yeah. Philip, maybe. Not me. Not me. What did the Lord say? You'll
deny me three times. And just exactly as the Lord
said, Peter failed, didn't he? And yet, we read what happened
in Antioch when Paul confronted Peter in his hypocrisy. He also failed again there, didn't
he? Now, it's one of those things
that we can't explain. And I can't tell you why Paul
did what he did, except God purposed it for our good. Maybe, Paul
thought, his compromise, by his compromise, he could reconcile
the Jews and Gentiles together, together under the gospel. But
compromise is never the right thing, is it? Should we compromise
the gospel to get along? Never. God help us never to do
that, especially when the truth of the gospel's involved. What
would the believing Gentiles think when they heard what Paul
had done? Here he's been preaching to us
all the time, salvation by the grace of God through the sacrifice
of Christ. We don't need any more blood.
By the blood of bulls and goats shall no sin be put away." And
yet they hear Paul down in the temple offering a blood offering. What would the Gentiles think?
Paul, what happened to you? Paul later says in the book of
Galatians after this Experience that he went through he said
though we were an angel preached any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached Let him be damned God was teaching
him how? Important it was to stand for
the gospel alone Paul took these four men and they headed to the
temple for cleansing at the end of seven days according to the
Nazarite vow a lamb was to be offered and Paul knew what they
were about to do, and he went with them, made this vow together
with them. And here's what this Nazarite
vow says in Numbers 6, verse 14. When he shall offer his offering
unto the Lord, one lamb for a first year without
blemish for a burnt offering, One ewe lamb of the first year
without blemish for a sin offering. One ram without blemish for a
peace offering. Three blood sacrifices. That's
what they were going to do. But something happened. What
happened? When seven days were almost ended,
when they were about to do the sacrifices, The people, the Jews,
which were of Asia, when they saw Paul in the temple, they
stirred up the people and they laid hands on him. God intervened
and stopped this whole thing. Crying out, men of Israel, this
is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people,
against the Jewish people, against the law of Moses, against this
place. And further, he brought these
Gentiles into the temple and polluted this place. All the
city was moved, verse 30, and they ran together and drew Paul
out of the temple, verse 31, as they went about to kill him.
Were these folks serious? Oh, absolutely so. They were
going to take Paul and beat him to death, beat the life out of
him. God graciously overruled this
terrible, sinful mistake that Paul made to accomplish his own
purpose in promoting the gospel further. Paul later writes from
a Roman prison cell when he writes that letter to the Philippians,
I would, you should understand, brethren, that all things which
happened unto me happened unto the furtherance of the gospel. You mean all this happened by
purpose? Absolutely. Paul learned a great
lesson from it, and I trust that we do as well. This is for the
good of Paul and for the good of God's elect. Now, consider
this in closing. Had Paul not gone to Jerusalem,
he was repeatedly warned not to go to Jerusalem. And then
he said, these things don't move me. I'm ready not only to be
bound, but to die at Jerusalem for the gospel. But had not Paul
gone to Jerusalem, he would not have been arrested. He would
not have had the opportunity to preach the gospel to many
people there in Jerusalem, as we'll see next week in chapter
22. He would not have had the opportunity to preach before
the governors, the kings, and the rulers, Festus, Agrippa,
and all those other people. He would not have been sent to
Rome as a prisoner, and he would not have written all those prison
epistles. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, 2 Timothy, Philemon. He wrote all those when he was
in Rome in prison. How'd he get there? Through this
thing that he did, going to the temple to offer a blood offering.
It was a terrible mistake, right? God overruled it for good. Isn't that amazing? Paul would not have been martyred
for the gospel there in Rome. You remember he said in Acts
23, he said, I must bear testimony in Rome. God always gets the
glory, even in our sinful weakness, God overrules all things to serve
his greater purpose. NOW I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERIES
OF GOD PROVIDENT, BUT I KNOW IT'S SO, THAT ALL THOSE THINGS
THAT COME TO PASS IN OUR LIFE OF HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO
HIM ARE ALL THINGS TO WHOM BE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER. GOD OVERRULES ALL THINGS AND
WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. Someone wrote to me recently
an email talking about this virus that we're all living through. And I wrote back to the person,
even this COVID bug, that too is working the purpose of God.
Now, we don't understand all that God is doing, but he does. He never makes a mistake. HIS
WISDOM IS ABSOLUTE AND PURE, AND ALL THINGS WORKING OUT FOR
THE GOOD OF GOD'S PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIM FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. GOD ALWAYS BRINGS GOOD OUT OF
EVIL. THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF THAT WE
READ ABOUT IN ACTS CHAPTER FOUR WHEN THEY ARRESTED THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST, WHEN THEY PERSECUTED HIM BEAT HIM AND CRUCIFIED HIM
AND DID ALL THOSE TERRIBLE THINGS THEY DID TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT GOD SAID ABOUT THAT? THEY DID WHAT GOD
DETERMINED BEFORE TO BE DONE. Knowing it's not the work that
wicked men did, it's what God was doing at the cross. That's
God's sacrifice for sin. We don't need an animal sacrifice
for our sin, do we? The blood of bulls and goats
never put away sin. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
us with his own blood. Therefore, my friend, look to
him. Look to him. AND REST IN THE
FACT THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAVED US BY HIS GRACE. GRACE
ALONE. AND DON'T BE SO CRITICAL AND
HARSH UPON OTHERS YOU SEE MAKING TERRIBLE MISTAKES BECAUSE YOU'RE
JUST LIKE THEM. AND APART FROM THE GRACE OF GOD
YOU DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING. WHO MAKES YOU TO DIFFER FROM
ANOTHER? What do you have that you didn't receive? I am what
I am by the grace of God, by the