We're continuing our sermon series in the New Testament book of Acts and today looking at Acts chapter 21 starting at verse 17 and reading through verse 36. Paul has just returned to Jerusalem. This is the conclusion of what is often regarded as his third missionary journey. We'll reflect a little bit about what why he has come at this particular time and what it means. But this is a great anticipation. We wonder what's going to happen. How will this great apostle who's been sharing and traveling, planting churches, how is he going to be received and what will happen next? So let's give attention to God's holy and inerrant word from Acts chapter 21, starting at verse 17. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law. And they have been told about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our custom. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads. Thus, all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment. that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them, and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled, and the offering presented for each one of them. When the seven days were almost complete, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help. This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all the Jerusalem was in confusion. He had once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. And the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd. For the mob of the people followed, crying out, away with him. And may the living God impress on our hearts today the truth of his word. Amen. Away with him. Do those words sound familiar? They should. That is the same reaction that people in Jerusalem had to Jesus at the time of his arrest and trial. Paul is walking in a similar path as he too is rejected and attacked, Paul will show in this passage and in the chapters to come, a remarkable courage and commitment to stay the course. And we'll see that, but we'll also see not quite as visibly, but just as clearly and maybe even more importantly, something else about Paul. In fact, we'll see his kingdom calling his kingdom identity, and his kingdom vision. So there's a calling, an identity, and a vision that Paul has all related to the kingdom and his sense, his understanding of being part of now the kingdom of God through faith in Christ. And this is the very thing that's gonna sustain him. So let's not just be struck by the great courage of a man and the boldness, but let's be struck by the foundation that actually sustains him, this kingdom calling, kingdom identity, kingdom vision. First, we start with the homecoming. It's a heartwarming homecoming. Again, the opening verses 17 and 18, Acts 21. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present. So Paul is returning back to Jerusalem. This is, again, the ending of his third missionary journey. He had said previously, was recorded previously, he wanted to come to Jerusalem by Pentecost. And that's probably what is happening. We're going to hear about Jews from Ephesus who had come probably for Pentecost. Pentecost, you may recall, is a Jewish festival. Before we might think of it as a Christian event, it was a Jewish festival. The word Pentecost is related to the word 50, and it is 50 days after a Jewish feast called the Feast of First Fruits. And the Feast of First Fruits was the conclusion of So, this is very critical and essential to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus was crucified during Passover and he fulfilled the Passover lamb that was part of that meal. It was symbolically reenacted through the years, but Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover. Jesus rose from the dead. on the day of the first fruits. So as people were celebrating that festival of first fruits, Jesus rose from the dead. And of course he is the first fruit for those who believe in him in our resurrection. And then 50 days later, the Holy Spirit was poured out on that Jewish festival called Pentecost. So Paul is respecting these still traditions and he has come to Jerusalem with a specific purpose. In his letter to the Romans, which was written just a short while before this, Paul said what he's doing and why this timing is important. So Romans 15, 24 to 26. It says, Paul writes, I hope to see you, writing to the Romans, in passing as I go to Spain. Paul had this vision to go even further beyond Rome, but he wanted to go through Rome. And to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem. Why? He says, bringing aid to the saints. Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contributions for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. So what's going on? Paul's been collecting money, he is revisiting again churches that he has planted, money is being collected, actually individuals are going to go along personally with that gift that's going to be presented in Jerusalem. And this is touching, isn't it, to think now that the daughter churches are helping the mother church. Did you see that? So the church that was planted in these various Gentile regions outside of Israel, they were built upon the people of God of the Old Testament. And Jerusalem was the place where Jesus ministered and where the church began, where Pentecost, that first Pentecost took place. But now these individual churches are helping that mother church. And the response is following. The passage continues, verses 19 and 20. After greeting them, he, Paul, related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God." There's great rejoicing. This echoes the response of grateful joy that Jewish believers have given in earlier reports of Paul in Acts 15 and in other places where Jewish Christians see The work of God, the mission of Jesus going forth, they rejoice, and that happens again here. They know the goal of Jesus building his church is being realized. This is a significant time. It's a new time. We'll see, this is a confusing time, but don't miss the goal. Remember, the whole movement of the book of Acts is Jesus is lifted up, ascended at the right hand of the Father. And in that role, as this earthly ministry is complete through the spirit and the acts of the apostles, a church that is broader than any one nationality, a church that is bigger than any one ethnic group is being formed. And so there's great joy. The grace of God and the mission of Jesus and the world is bringing together people from many different backgrounds. And as Paul will say in Romans, there's one tree, there's one people of God. And now Gentiles are being grafted into that one tree. This is enormous and of great significance. Jews and Gentiles are together the church, they are together the one body of Jesus. Actually, I think there's an understanding that Christians became called Christians because they didn't know what else to call them. They were too diverse. They were beyond any ethnicity or nationality. The only thing that identified them is they were the ones that followed Christ. Praise God, isn't that wonderful and beautiful? And a great hope that needs to be pursued today. But there are challenges, and this great vision, not to be missed, not to be compromised, but this great vision is going to come with confusion and challenges. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem are aware that false information has been spreading concerning the ministry of Paul among the Gentiles. So we continue in verses 20 and 21. They, the leaders, said to Paul, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed. So these would be Jewish Christians. They are all zealous for the law. And they have been told about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. Now this is, This is disturbing and troubling. The description of Jewish Christians being zealous for the law and then this need for a plan, we'll get into, for Paul to publicly follow a Jewish custom to appease them shows they are holding onto the law in an unhealthy way. These Jewish Christians who have heard things about Paul and unfortunately have believed those things about Paul, they're missing the true understanding of the law from start to finish. And in missing the law, they're also missing grace. So there is a lot of work that needs to be done. And by the way, when people say, hey, we want to be a New Testament church, you know what? Hopefully by now, you walk with us through Acts, you realize, yikes, there's still a lot of problems. So we want to pray and see the Lord working through that. And the Lord is faithful and does that. So anyway. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 had already provided some clarity about this very issue. Again, how does the Old Testament relate to the New Testament? Sounds like the Thursday night program, right? How do we understand the law and its relation now to Christ and what he is doing? And at that time, the leadership of the church in Jerusalem said that Gentile Christians didn't have to follow all of the law. And likewise, Jewish Christians didn't have to abandon all of the law. But there was a proper understanding of seeing Christ as the fulfillment of all of the law. And those traditions that were observed had to be understood as being fulfilled in Jesus. So that's troubling. But then also this, that people are believing lies about Paul. What is said is definitely false. Paul did not undermine the law and Jewish tradition. I've tried to belabor a little bit the whole time frame. You know, Paul wanted to get to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. He actually wanted to get there for Passover. wasn't able to get there in time, so he now had been aiming to get to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. Paul, you might recall, had Timothy circumcised. And earlier in Acts, we heard about Paul fulfilling a Jewish ceremonial vow already himself. So this just wasn't true. And the question is, why didn't the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem know this? And why? Why did this falsehood take root? This is gossip, isn't it? The phrase back in the verse that says they were being told is literally the word catechesis. We get catechism from it. So they weren't just being told once. They were being told and told and told. So someone was talking and talking and talking And you know, you've been there, you can't always stop someone from talking. But someone was listening. And listening and listening. And that you can stop. And that must stop. Friends, this is a warning to us. Again, you can't stop bad information from coming to you. You can't stop people maybe saying something that doesn't need to be said. but you don't have to dwell on it. You don't have to keep listening and listening. You don't have to be catechized in either things that are false or are unhelpful. So here we are, the health of the early church, it's in danger, and the logic of the leaders of the church is questionable, right? Just because it's in the Bible doesn't mean it's It's authorized or that this was exactly what the will of God should have been. God worked through this, but they have a plan and they want Paul to make a public vow tied to an Old Testament law. It's going to include four other Jews and it's going to be done publicly to show that Paul is indeed respectful of that Jewish tradition. And Paul, get this, Paul agrees to go along with the plan. And in case this action by Paul causes confusion now for Gentile Christians, remember, what is the plan going to do? What's it intended to do? It's meant to appease Jewish Christians. But in doing that now, they already know this is gonna create another problem, confusing, confusion for the non-Jewish Christians, the Gentile Christians. So in verse 25, it says, The leader speaking, but as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. Well, been there, done that. That's basically the same exact counsel that was given in Acts 15 to the Gentile Christians. So the plan is going to go forward, and I think at this point we might want to pause and think, why? You know, why would Paul do this thing? And this is where we start to scratch the surface a little bit. And Paul helps us because he's going to tell us about himself. He's even going to tell us about this very event, or at least this time frame. And the first thing to note here is a kingdom calling. Why would Paul go along with a plan like this? because he sees himself as having a calling to serve and advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 9, chapter 9, verses 19 to 21, Paul says, for though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew. Isn't that what we just read here, right? What's going on? To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law. though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law." What incredible wisdom. It would be a good couple of verses to focus on this week, how Paul lives and He's not being random, he's not being just blown in the wind. What he's saying is he has a higher calling, like we're gonna get to in just a moment, a higher identity, a kingdom identity. And in that calling, he's referred to as the apostle to the Gentiles, he does not lose or diminish his love and commitment for his own people, reaching them. Reaching the Jews with the good news of Jesus is also part of his calling. Notice what he says in Romans 9, verses 2 and 3. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. And isn't that why he's in Jerusalem? Isn't that why he's going to go along with this plan? He has a kingdom calling to reach all. Now, friend, you might not be called to preach like Paul, but you are called to share in that same mission. You, whoever you are, have a kingdom calling if you belong to Jesus Christ. And your kingdom calling is to live and to regard your life and the things that happen to your life in kingdom categories. We'll see even more of that as the passage continues. It begins where we are, wherever our influence might be to have a kingdom calling. Well, this is one of those stories where it was so close. This plan almost worked. It ultimately probably wouldn't have done everything they had hoped. But when the vow was almost done, we read 27, verses 27, 29, what happens? When the seven days were almost completed, you can just see, oh my gosh, it's almost done. The Jews from Asia, where Paul had ministered in Ephesus there for three years. Seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help. This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere, get this, against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the city, and they supposed Paul had brought him into the temple." Again, false accusations against Paul regarding his teaching. Similar to what was already being spread in Jerusalem, he undermines the law, doesn't appreciate traditions of the Jews. And then there's this mistaken accusation that Paul brought a Greek into the temple, which if he had, would be really serious business. It was actually a capital offense. There was a four-foot wall that kept Gentiles out of the next court of the temple where Jews could go and on that four foot wall was a sign. If you enter and you're a Gentile, you will die. There will be death. And you just, you think about that and you just, you see the fears and that what these, what these statements are playing on, these accusations against Paul. They're just building on a threat to their identity. Here's this Paul and what he's saying, it's going to take you down. Your nation, your wonderful nation won't be as great of a nation because of this guy. This place where you worship. where you meet God and God is with you and you understand God is with you. He's gonna threaten that. He's gonna tear that down. Well, Paul is innocent, but you see this threat. And what happens next even builds on it more. It says all the, verse 30 and 31, all the city was stirred up and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. And at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. Paul was removed and the gates were shut because they wanted to kill him. If they killed him in the temple, the temple would be defiled. So they didn't want his blood there. But just picture those gates being shut. Just picture all these fears that are being played on. Humanly speaking, as best as possible, trying to preserve the traditions, the identity, that nationhood. And they thought they could do it by closing the doors. But here's the thing. Their identity was based on doors that wouldn't last. And who knows, maybe a decade or two, those doors are gonna be torn down. There was a better security. There was a better identity. There was a kingdom identity. Not by shutting doors, but through the one who opened doors. Jesus not only opened the door from the court of the Gentiles to the court of the Jews, you know Jesus opened the way into that holy of holies. And what does that tell us? That there's a better identity. There's a stronger identity. There is this kingdom identity. And that's what Paul had in Jesus Christ. And that is what you and I need today. Whatever traditions you cherish of nationhood, of even religious traditions, the stronger identity, the lasting identity is your kingdom identity in Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way in Galatians 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me in the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's his kingdom identity. That's your kingdom identity if you belong to Jesus. You know, you think about being crucified with Christ, and what Paul is talking about here is, yeah, it's endurance, and yeah, it's kind of like, you know, hold on. Hold on to the end. It's that, but it's much more. This idea of being crucified with Christ is to be one with the very individual who gave himself for you. You know, if you were just to endure to the end, till death, yeah, that's kind of commendable, but that's not what Paul is saying. What Paul is saying is, I've been crucified with Christ. Christ was crucified for me. And now by His grace, I am united to Him, yoked to Him, one with Him. And that is who I am. And that can never be taken away. Couldn't be taken away from Paul. can't be taken away from you. Paul endured to the end, not just because he had stronger willpower than you have, but because he had a kingdom calling and a kingdom identity. And then finally, he had this kingdom vision. So the authorities come in, and interesting, the way that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, now he's gonna be rescued by a Gentile. They literally carry him out is the mob is shouting and the question is, what is Paul going to do at this point? And what would you do? I'd be getting a good attorney. I'd be, you know, trying to think, okay, is there a loophole in the law? How do I get out of this? You know what Paul wanted to do? We'll have to get into it next week. Paul wanted to talk to the crowd. And he is, he'll talk, and again, we'll look at this next week, and he's gonna tell them about his story, not to justify himself, not to save his skin, but once again, to lift up Christ, because here is a kingdom vision. Paul sees every situation in life in light of the work of Jesus, that Jesus lifted up on the throne, that Jesus sending his spirit into the world, that Jesus who's building one body, his church of Jew and Gentile together, this is Paul's kingdom vision. And he tells us in his letter to the Philippians, believe it or not, Paul describes what happens next. So Philippians 1, verses 12 and 14. Paul's in prison at this point. He says, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me, And when he says what's happened to me, he's talking about everything from Acts 21 on, right? All those arrests, all those accusations, all these kind of curious plans and things he's gone through. I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to make me feel so much better. It has given me such comfort. That's not what he says. I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it might become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ and most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear. You just think of what this meant. Think of all those Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Maybe they had started to believe these accusations about Paul. Maybe they had gotten back into the customs and traditions and they didn't see grace and they didn't live in grace. What Paul is going through is lifting up Christ in the gospel, the good news of God's grace. There is a holy God who has a holy law, but the hope is not in obeying and keeping the law to be saved, it is in trusting in Christ. And you wonder, as miserable and hard as this was for Paul, could there have been hardly any other way? Paul went through this horrific circumstance so that the gospel would go forth, not just further out, but further in to transform people from within, that they would be rooted in grace and grow in grace. Paul will never be free from this point on. That's the history. His remaining years recorded in the remaining chapters in the book of Acts are this. One city after another, going to one courtroom after another, being confined in one prison after another. And what is Paul's kingdom vision? What is it? Paul sees This is one kingdom opportunity after another. Isn't that great? This is one kingdom opportunity after another. And this is how he handles the difficulties, right? That foundation, when those lies were being spread about him, he is still loving because he has a kingdom identity and a kingdom vision. Is that true of you? When people misrepresent you, Right? What they say, what they post is a true view that you have a kingdom identity and a kingdom vision that you can endure misrepresentation and falsehoods. When Paul was in danger, he was still pressing on. He had a kingdom calling and a kingdom vision. Is that true of you? when he was facing the loss of his plans. You remember what Paul wanted to do? His plan? Go to Rome, hang out with the Christians there, be launched on my way to Spain. Paul didn't lack planning. He had dreams and plans. But when he was facing the loss of his plans, the loss of his dreams, the loss of his life, what did he do? He continued on with strength and with joy. He had a kingdom vision and a kingdom goal. Is that true of you? Is that true of us? And we pray that by God's grace and by the work of his spirit, indeed, it may be so. And may it be so for his glory. Amen.