Pastor Matt and Pastor Chris recap Sunday's message and touch on a few things that were left untouched from the text in Sunday's message. Also: best concert band lineups!

***SHOW NOTES***

Is there a contradiction?

21:4 “…And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem”

The Gospel and the work of supporting and spreading it, is a “family affair”

21:5 “When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed…”

Philip “the Evangelist” (21:8)

Philip the evangelist was one of the seven men whom the Jerusalem church chose to administer its welfare program (Acts 6:1-6). After the killing of Stephen and the expulsion of Christians from Jerusalem, Philip went to Samaria, where many responded to his preaching (Acts 8:4-13). He then travelled south towards Gaza and led a God-fearing Ethiopian official to faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:26-39). From there he moved north along the Mediterranean coast, preaching in all the towns as far as Caesarea (Acts 8:40). The next mention of Philip is about twenty-five years later, when Paul’s party stayed with him in Caesarea for a few days. He had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21:8-9). -bibleportal.com

Agabus the Prophet

In Acts 11, Agabus predicted (by the Holy Spirit) that a great famine “would spread over the entire Roman world” (verse 28). The text further reports that Agabus was accurate (as we would expect) and that this famine happened during the reign of Emperor Claudius.

As a result of Agabus’s prophecy, the believers in Antioch began to gather money to send to the Christians living in Judea, and they sent the money by the hands of Barnabas and Saul (Paul). This monetary gift was a fitting response because in the ancient Roman Empire there was usually still food available for purchase during a famine, but at dramatically elevated prices. With adequate funds, the Christians in Judea would still have been able to purchase food. Furthermore, the Christians in Judea may well have been cut off from their families and from their normal means of support. The love gift from Antioch was all the more important as a sign of the unity of Jewish (in Judea) and Gentile (in Antioch) believers—a unity for which Paul was continually laboring.

In Acts 21:10–12 we see Agabus once again, this time in Caesarea. Although Luke does not explicitly state that this is the same Agabus as in Acts 11, there is no reason to assume he is a different person. -gotquestions.org

Paul’s Passionate Response to their requests…(21:13)

“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Verse 14 “Let the will of the Lord be done”

21:19 “Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles…”

We very much get the sense that they took their time to fully hear about how God had been working through much of the known world. Additionally, Paul would have had a collection for them to give as well, which they were no doubt grateful for (see 24:17 for proof of the gift, although it’s not mentioned here).

21:20-21 Thousands of believers! But, what did they miss?

“You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 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.

If they are in fact “believers” why are they so angry and desiring to have Paul locked up or killed?

ἔθος “Customs”-a usual or customary manner of behavior, habit, usage

-These are not biblical mandates! But clearly, the people are extremely angry that Paul is not teaching new Christians to follow the “customs”.