Recently I’ve been reading through the book of Acts. It’s almost peculiar how I’ve had a desire to study the book recently, yet I have missed the opportunity to study it in a group setting twice recently. I arrived in a new Sunday school class shortly after they concluded a long study of Acts; and another Bible study group that I was a part of last year, but cannot be part this year, is about to do a 9-month study of Acts. So apparently, God desires that I study it on my own for the time being. Reading through Acts, there is no shortage of amazing stories…stories of faith, stories of persecution, and stories of God moving supernaturally and decisively in order to establish and grow the church body. Additionally, Acts is a study on communication between God and His servants. There is so much there—ways that God spoke to different people or the same people in different ways at different times. Ways that different people responded to God or the same people responded differently in different situations (Peter is a good example). There are a lot of circumstances to consider…insurmountable circumstances from which God saved Paul and others countless times…and other times when circumstances were fully avoidable, yet God willed Paul and others to go through them and the saints obeyed at their own physical expense (even to death). The lattermost example is the one that caught my eye today. It is the story of Paul willingly and knowingly walking towards His death, first by shear faith in a sovereign God and secondly to achieve a purpose that would be later revealed to Him. This is an uncommon faith that I’m afraid I don’t yet possess and is therefore worth examining in great detail.
Starting in chapter 19, we see Paul’s sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to know that he would go to Rome to preach the Gospel at some point:
Acts 19:21 – “Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem." And after that," he said, "I must go on to Rome!”
At this point, Paul was receiving direction. His direction from the Lord was clear: 1. Go to Jerusalem. 2. On the way there, go to Macedonia and Achaia. 3. After Jerusalem, go to Rome. To say much more is speculation, because I do not find much more specific detail in the book of Acts. One could hypothesize that Paul knew where he was to go and in what order only, knowing that his purpose was to continually spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet not knowing many other specifics or purposes, as well as not fully knowing the timing—knowing order only—nor knowing his final fate in each place, especially Rome. On the entire opposite end of the spectrum, one could hypothesize that Paul, through the Spirit, knew all of these things, including his fate in Rome at this time. I tend to lean towards the first hypothesis, but I think the degree to which Paul knew God’s specific, detailed will for him, ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other, as noted above, is less important. I say this because if it was of utmost importance, it would certainly be contained in the Bible.
Nevertheless, Paul certainly had received direction from God and was obeying to the fullest, regardless of any other foreknowledge. We can take one of many lessons right here. It is a luxury to know what God might have you do two steps ahead, but obedience only requires direction for the next immediate step—we must discipline ourselves to have the kind of faith and obedience that stops asking for an entire roadmap, but can instead trust our Creator, Counselor, Savior, and God with one direction at a time.
Part of the reason I lean towards the hypothesis that Paul’s foreknowledge of God’s will to go to Asia, Jerusalem, then Rome was limited…though with clear direction…is that it appears that more and more is revealed to Paul as we progress through Acts. This wouldn’t be noteworthy if it had already been revealed to him sooner. And in fact, in chapter 20 Paul confesses that he goes to Jerusalem “not knowing the things that will happen to me there.” The use of the phrase “happen to me there” indicates to me at least a consideration of personal harm, for otherwise he might have said “happen there” instead of “happen to me there.” Furthermore, Paul senses danger in Jerusalem, yet look at his attitude (speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus):
Acts 20:22-25 – “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.”
In response, the elders wept, signifying a sincere belief that they would never see Paul again.
In chapter 21, we see an even clearer proclamation of what awaits Paul. It turns out that the Holy Spirit had been preparing his heart all along, and Paul was so sensitive to the Spirit to discern it so early, as seen in chapter 19. This time in chapter 21, the message was much clearer:
Acts 21:10-15 – “And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”15 And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem.”
Think about the news that Paul had just received. I’m afraid that my response would in all likelihood be as Luke and the other apostles and saints who accompanied Paul—“Don’t go!” I would probably cite the prophecy as a providential warning from God and justify a change in plans, saying, “we’ll go another time when this threat is dissolved.” But this wasn’t Paul’s response at all. Why?
“Why?” is a very loaded question because it speaks to the very character of Paul and the extent of his relationship with God. In that situation, faced with that “bad news,” only two kinds of men would continue towards Jerusalem: those who are complete and utter fools, and those who are completely abandoned to God’s purpose, such that Paul’s words are true: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Those of worldly mindset cannot discern between those two types of men, the fool vs. the servant of God, but the Spirit of God testifies to truth such that we can discern godly submission and abandonment. Additionally, such a man would have to be more than abandoned to God’s purpose—he would have to hear from the Lord and be absolutely in tune with the Spirit to know and follow God’s will. Abandonment without communication is haphazard, directionless wondering. Communication without abandonment is stubbornness and heard-heartedness that “quenches the Spirit,” leading to no fruitful work. We must have both, and I hope that we can draw on Paul’s example and at least set our faces towards God with that goal…regardless of how far we are from it in this moment…knowing that we desire such utter abandonment for God’s glory, purpose, and pleasure with such sensitivity and intimate relationship with our beautiful, perfect, powerful, loving Father that we would know and discern His good and pleasing will in every such situation. What an amazing richness of life for Paul and for us with such faith.
Finally, we see in chapters 21-24 that the prophecy comes true and Paul is bound in chains, arrested, and even beaten. How merciful that God allowed him to have a warning. But God trusted Paul with that warning because he was trustworthy. A man such as myself may not show themselves to be so trustworthy…any man who would respond by avoiding Jerusalem when hearing the “bad news” would not be allowed to know such information. Make no mistake, God’s will gets accomplished every single time in all things. We get to choose 1. Which side we’re on, and 2. How willingly we will cooperate and obey the Lord. Consider Jonah. He was to go to Ninevah. He didn’t want to go and fled from God. God captured him in the stomach of a whale for 3 days! Jonah repented and went to Ninevah afterall. Now, he could have just gone there when God told him to. Either way, he was going (though he didn’t realize that yet). Things are much easier in life if we’ll just obey the Lord. In Paul’s example, I think it was merciful for God to give him such foreknowledge, such that he would not be utterly surprised and could have such sweet goodbyes with the Ephesians. And those blessings were only available through obedience in the face of such "bad news."
Notice the first time we see God actually speaking to Paul and revealing his will for Paul to go to Rome happens only AFTER Paul was already captured and had to obey in faith through the Spirit, not before:
Acts 23:11 (while captive) – “But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’”
If you have a “red-letter” edition of the Bible, you will see these words in red, as they are the spoken words of Jesus. This direct communication could have taken place back in chapter 19, but I find it very instructional that God waited until chapter 24 (these chapters are written in chronological order, so keeping track of time by chapter is appropriate). You see, sometimes we seek the Lord with ears that are only tuned into His voice to the extent that an audible voice alone would be discernable. However, it can be clearly seen that Paul was receiving communication from God the entire time prior to Jesus' words to him, through the Holy Spirit. We can take a lesson here. How is God communicating to you this very day? And if you heard Him, how would you respond? Would you respond in self-interest and preservation? Or would you present yourself as a living sacrifice?
Rom 12:1-2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
We marvel at how Paul discerned God’s will so early on, but Rom 12:1-2 ties these concepts together. You see, by presenting himself as a living sacrifice, he was “transformed by the renewing of [his] mind,” such that he was granted the discernment of God’s good and pleasing will through the Holy Spirit. We usually get it backwards: “If I could discern His will, I would know how and where and with what extent to sacrifice. If I knew details, I could obey them.” Ah, but the converse actually is true: only when we present ourselves as living sacrifices, in worship to our God, then we begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds such that we receive knowledge of His will.
It’s also interesting that such a verse is contained in the book of Romans. Do you know that it is one of the most influential books of the Bible, a roadmap of pure theology, and is the fruit of an obedient servant of the Lord in the face of “bad news?” Paul went to Rome to die, as most scholars agree he died there in captivity. And in preparation for going there—part of the “clear direction” discussed previously—he wrote the book of Romans…glorious fruit of the obedience and faith described in Acts 19-28.
A close friend of mine recently conveyed the following astute observation to me, after considering 1 Peter 4:12ff, which addresses “fiery trials” experienced by Christians, their necessity and normality, and their great purpose: “You know, we don’t tell Christians what the Bible says often. We try to be sympathetic, which is Biblical too, but how often do we follow it with reminding each other to rejoice to the extent that we partake in His suffering? If my ability to rejoice is based upon the extent to which I have shared in His suffering, then I’m not a very joyful person.” Wow, that convicts me. Being robbed of suffering is to be robbed of the joy of God that manifests itself in obedient, abandoned souls with an intimate relationship with God such that His will is in our hearts and we see as He sees…we see and feel as God sees and feels! What joy as a pure fruit of the Spirit when we partake in such trials for the sake of God’s name. Are you so willing to follow God anywhere? If so, what might God do with your smallest of sacrifices? He has brought billions of souls to Heaven through Paul, and He can and desires to do the same with your life. I pray that we would both accept the challenge and responsibility of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God, and may the full pleasure of living God’s will in a beautiful, intimate faith in our Creator and Savior be ours forever. Amen.
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