Would You Have Gone? Series

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that God was asking you to do…

Something that DIDN’T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE to you?

Something that was COSTLY?

Something that all your friends URGE YOU NOT TO DO?

That was the situation the apostle Paul was in. Many years previously Jesus had met Paul on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus. Jesus told him ‘I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness’ [Acts 26:16].

Paul did what God had called him to do. He made three missionary journeys and planted churches in ‘Asia’ – modern-day Turkey – and in Greece. But now, Paul felt strongly that God was leading him to go to Jerusalem.

Let’s trace his journey. Paul sets off across the Aegean from Greece. Today, the Greek islands are an iconic holiday destination but I think Paul had other things on his mind than relaxing on the beach. His ship passes by Ephesus but stops in Miletus, just to the south. Paul calls the elders of the Ephesian church to come over. He tells them:

‘I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me’ [Acts 20:22-23].

Then he says: ‘None of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again’ [Acts 20:25].

Paul knew he wouldn’t be coming back to Ephesus. He didn’t just suspect that he wouldn’t be making any more mission trips. He was sure of it. But his mission trips had been so successful! Why stop? If I’d been in Paul’s position, I’d have been thinking, ‘GOD, THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO ME!’

Paul continues across the eastern Mediterranean and lands at Tyre. He meets Christians there – and Luke reports, ‘And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem’ [Acts 21:4]. Paul’s friends were URGING HIM NOT TO GO ON TO JERUSALEM. Notice the phrase, ‘And through the Spirit.’ It seems that the Holy Spirit was prompting them.

Paul then continues to Caesarea. A prophet named Agabus visits and prophesies that the Jews at Jerusalem would bind him and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles [Acts 21:11]. Going to Jerusalem would be COSTLY. Once again, believers in Caesarea urge him not to go.

What would you have done if you were in Paul’s position? It didn’t obviously make sense to go to Jerusalem. It would mean the end of his missionary work. Christian friends, apparently at the leading of the Holy Spirit, urge him not to go. Someone who was acknowledged as a prophet tells him that he will be bound and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.

What would you have done? Would you have gone to Jerusalem? What would you do if you’re ever in a similar situation?

I can’t think of a time I’ve been in a situation quite like this. In about 2008, I thought God might be calling me to be a minister. I asked my friends about it. I was the director of a finance company at the time. My friends couldn’t imagine me as a minister and weren’t at all encouraging. But I continued to explore the idea and God opened doors. But my situation wasn’t nearly as extreme as Paul’s.

What happened next? Paul went to Jerusalem. He was arrested. Then he was put in prison, and he remained in prison or in custody for the rest of his life. As he had anticipated, his ministry to the Gentiles came to an end.

The question I put to you was, what would you do if you’re ever in a similar situation to Paul? You feel God is leading you to do something – but it’s costly, you don’t understand the reason for it, and friends are discouraging. Would you change plan? Or would you, like Paul, go ahead anyway? That’s the question I’d like to focus on.

WHY DID GOD WANT PAUL TO GO TO JERUSALEM?

But it will help if we think about another question first. WHY did God want Paul to go to Jerusalem? The Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly why God led Paul to Jerusalem. But we can see one reason, and it’s enough to satisfy us that it DID make sense for Paul to go to Jerusalem.

In many ways, Paul was the early church’s star player. In our way of thinking, if a football manager has a star player in his team, he doesn’t make him sit on the bench. But God led Paul to Jerusalem, knowing he would end up in prison for the rest of his life. God must have had a powerful reason to do that.