Acts 21

Acts 21:1-40

PAUL AND THE SACRED NUMBER SEVEN Acts 21:1-40. “AND it came to pass”. That is a phrase with which the credulous have conjured. The sentimental make wishes and then open the Bible at random to see whether they can find this sentence, “And it came to pass”, that they may accept the same in buttressing their hopes.But it is only an introductory phrase; it always demands more. In itself it is not a finished sentence. It must be either preceded or succeeded by intelligent statement.“And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara: “And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth” (Acts 21:1-2). There is logic in events. The man who went through the trying experiences of the twentieth chapter needs the restfulness of motion, the quiet of a sail and the healing touch of a little time that he may be recovered from the bruises and bitterness of the same, and become himself again.There are experiences in life when God wants us to stop; there are moments when His command is, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”; but there are others in which He wants us to move. Travel has been the restoration to health for many a man. New scenes, unknown faces, quiet monotonous sails —these are sometimes the Divine will and order. The worst thing the nervous, over-wrought man or woman can do at times is to sit down, bar themselves behind doors, and engage in introspection. The doctors have learned this lesson and they often prescribe the open air, the train, the ship, the motor car; and experience proves the wisdom of the prescription.Paul is one of those men who comes back quickly.

He has marvelous recuperating resources. You may count him finished at the close of one day, and two days later find yourself amazed that he is in the thick of the Master’s service again.

When they had passed Coos, and Rhodes, and Patara, and Cyprus, they came to Syria and landed at Tyre, “for there the ship was to unlade her burden”. Mark, now, your humbled, broken man will be about the Master’s business again.SEVEN DAYS AT TYREThe record is, “And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days”. It is claimed that a better translation is, “And searching out disciples”. They were not stumbled upon accidentally; they were not at the wharf, waiting the Apostles’ arrival. They had to be “searched out”, for discipleship as yet was not safe. However, there are some very valuable suggestions associated with this stay at Tyre.

Let us consider them!Tyre was an objective and an opportunity. “And finding disciples”. Doubtless that was expected by Paul; doubtless he knew that some Christians dwelt there; doubtless he hailed with delight the necessity of unloading the ship.

It would give him an opportunity; he could enjoy the disciples’ fellowship. The normal man cannot well live without fellowship, and the truly Christian man hungers for the fellowship of disciples and the true teacher hails such fellowship as an opportunity. It is an opportunity for instruction, for strengthening in the faith, for inspiring to other endeavors.The present visitor to Tyre is commonly a sightseer. He wants to look on the place of which Christ spoke when He uttered His meaningful words against Chorazin and Bethsaida,“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21). We have a jesting phrase, “You can’t see the city for the houses.” Paul could scarcely see the city for the citizens. He was more interested in them than in it. To him the city was not a commercial mart; not a maritime port of pleasure; it was a Christian opportunity. He was not there in the interest of big business from a financial standpoint, but in the interest of a bigger business—the souls of men.Taken all in all, I doubt if there is any more industrious class in all society than what is known as the men of the road—the traveling men. Paul was a good Gideon. I have been at hotels all over this continent and in other lands.

I have seen the traveling men come in late at night and seek their beds in weariness, and I have known them to rise long before the break of day that they might catch an early train and be in a distant town by the time the store to which they expected to sell was open. They are a class who move with objective and who redeem time, and who seldom spare themselves.

This Apostle moves like them, only his ware is the Gospel, his objective the soul’s redemption, and no grass grow under his feet. He believes that the King’s business requires haste.At Tyre he prolonged his stay. He “tarried there seven days”. Doubtless the time was determined, not by Paul but by the masters of the ship. But the time is significant none the less. Seven is the Divine favorite among numbers; its only competitors are ten and twelve. God has His numerals. Seven is one of the sacred numbers of Scripture; it has been so from the beginning.

Seven days God employed to finish creation. Whether they were solar or geological days, no matter. That was the numerical period, and from the first chapter of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, where Christ moves in the midst of the “seven golden candle-sticks”, holds in His right hand “the seven stars”, sends His letter to the “seven churches”, seals His book with the “seven seals”, presents his beast with the “seven horns and seven eyes”, reveals the “seven angels which stood before the throne and the seven trumpets held in their hands”, voices himself in the “seven thunders”, pours out the “seven last plagues”, overthrows the “seven kings”, makes His revelation through “one of the seven angels”, and visits His judgment through the outpouring of the “seven vials”. The number is employed so often that it takes five full columns of Young’s Analytical Concordance to publish the single lines in which the number appears.To this hour, seven days play an important part in evangelistic work. We go to a city for one week or two weeks, or three weeks, or more, but it is commonly a multiple of seven. God’s creative period marks our preaching opportunities.

Evangelism is a matter of message and of weeks. The minister counts time by Sundays; marks up his calendar and makes his appointments in accordance with the same.

Seven days—that is the circle in which the minister moves, and that is the time in which his message must be delivered.When Paul went from Tyre he left there a church. We know not whether these disciples were wont to meet before Paul came. We know that they did meet shortly after his arrival. He assembled them. We are not told whether he added to their numbers. Doubtless he did, for when did Paul ever preach without accomplishing the conversion of some?

When he left, there were men with wives and children who were members of that church. They attended him for some distance and they only bade him good-bye to return to their homes again after they had knelt on the shore and prayed.What constitutes a church? “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

That is a church—a local body of believers exercising spiritual powers and doubtless recognizing those Christian ceremonials that were ordained in connection with the origin of the church itself, namely baptism, the breaking of bread and the taking of the cup.The sentence that follows is significant, “And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day”. That was a brief stop, but who can tell what a single day with Paul would mean, and who can measure the possibilities of a day with brethren in the Lord counselled and inspired by such a leader?How marvelous the spread of this Christian faith! Pentecost is but a few weeks away, and yet, in every town “believers” appear, brethren assemble, little churches are sprung up. From the first the Gospel, like its Lord, was able to make to live every man it touched. No wonder the Apostle could say to the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).But the next day brings further revelation. The departure was to an essential center in Caesarea.

It was not only a city of importance, but the importance was emphasized by an additional fact, namely, that there livedPHILIP, ONE OF THE SEVENHere, again, is God’s sacred number. We are not told why he wanted seven deacons, but we do know that when the Spirit of God determined the conduct of the church, seven men were chosen to the diaconate—no more, no less.

We are not sticklers for mere formalities; we are not superstitious and consequently in terror lest we overstep some divinely fixed bounds, or fall short of some inexorable demand. We do not believe that God is a petulant God treating petty details in an exacting manner, but we are convinced that He has a reason, superb and infinite, for everything that He does, and we suspect that the Church of God has never improved her condition one particle by departing from her Divine appointment.What we mean to say is that doubtless the seven deacons of the New Testament church were its financiers. Their office was to look after questions of money and need. To have less than seven might not be sufficiently representative; to have more than that many men, giving attention to finance, is commonly confusion. Time, and State interference in religion have changed the name of the deacon into a trustee with most denominations, and the name of the elder into a deacon.So far as we recall, there has never been a Biblical limitation on the number of elders. It was theirs to have the spiritual oversight of the church, and as it grew in numbers their company would of necessity be increased.

But there has never been a church so big, nor yet whose finances were so extensive or complicated, that seven men were not quite sufficient to care for the whole. When we remember, then, that Philip was one of the seven, we are dealing again with the Divine numeral.But pursuing the text, we learn several facts from it.In Caesarea Philip had established a residence. “We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him”.

There are two classes of evangelists, and perhaps there ought to be two classes. The Pauline sort, who like the Master, are peripatetics—single men, unencumbered, constantly in travel, having no place that they can call home. Such men have played conspicuous part in the progress of the church, and to this good hour such men are in sore need.To be sure, the Gospel has been preached for two thousand years. It has been proclaimed in every land and converts exist in every country, and yet, so overwhelming is the majority of men and women who sit in darkness, who know not God, who belong either in heathen nations or in so-called Christian ones where heathendom still reigns, that this traveling agent of redemption, like another voice in the wilderness, crying to all within its sound, “Repent!” is essential. Marching through country and city, delivering the sentence of approaching judgment, as Jonah crossed Nineveh; aye, that is still a sore need! There are some such evangelists.

In a lifetime we have met a few, and an occasional one who reminded us of a Paul, or even of Christ Himself, that had not where to lay his head. The only home such know is the over-night entertainment of some disciple.

Peripatetics they are. Doubtless in the last day men and angels will be amazed to learn what was the marvelous result of this traveling agent of the Gospel.The second class of evangelists is the Philip kind—men who marry and settle down and bring up a family. They have permanent residence; they do work in and around home, but they get back often enough and stay long enough to be called “father” by the children, and known as a resident-minister by the people in the neighborhood.In our judgment it is not best for this man to become a peripatetic. There have been tragedies, not a few, when parental evangelists have turned peripatetics, and leaving wife behind, have taken some good-looking pianist, or some high soprano, or rich alto, or woman Bible teacher along, to aid in the work. So often has this procedure produced whispers that were better not, and eventuated in scandals that shocked the Church of God, that we commend Philip’s conduct to those evangelists who are husbands and fathers. Better settle down, and when you go preaching, go alone or wait until your four daughters are old enough to go with you, and then have a family quartette and impress the visited city with the beauty of a household faith and the spiritual power of a united family, for in the last analysis there is no organization on earth that, in divine appointment and spiritual purpose, comes so nearly being a type of God’s intent in the church as a Christian family, against the members of which no breath of suspicion can be honestly spoken.Let me remark again,Philip’s children chose the father’s profession.

That is a great tribute to Philip. Beyond all question, there is a degree of reflection upon every minister or his wife whose children deliberately choose other than the Gospel profession.

It is with suffering we write this sentence! That doctor whose son chooses to follow in the father’s footsteps, and on graduation shares the father’s office, is to be congratulated. That lawyer whose firm includes his own name, together with that of one or more of his children, should be happy in consequence; but no man ever occupied any office that should bring to him the same amount of gratitude the minister should know when his son or daughter deliberately decides to share his profession. Oh Philip, we congratulate you; aye, we envy you! Your reward is not adjourned to another world; it has begun in this!We will not enter in this discussion upon the question of women preachers. We pass this whole controverted subject with but a single remark: “In Christ there is neither male nor female”, and that individual is a prophet and that woman a prophetess whom God hath appointed, and beside them there are no others.In Philip’s house a prophet warned Paul of coming opposition.“And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. “And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. “And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus. “And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:10-14). Sometimes the preacher is compelled to become the auditor. Sometimes the man who has been standing up and telling other people what not to do, has to sit down and rest while somebody else speaks to him and tells him what to do and what not to do. It is a hard experience; it is humbling in the last degree. It is extremely difficult for the giant to take counsel from the pigmy; but just the same, there is no giant who does not need counsel, and there is no man so small that he cannot speak it to him if God elect that man as His mouthpiece.Agabus plays inconspicuous part in history! All we know about him is that he came from Judea and that he was a prophet, and that he brought from God a word of warning to this Apostle. But that is enough!

It is a great honor to be the mouthpiece for the Lord if it be but for a moment, and the place of Agabus in history is established. Speak one word for God; do one deed that is divinely appointed, even if it be but the giving of a cup of cold water, and you shall not lose your reward.

But know this that a warning is not always intended to change the trend of life or even the intention of conduct. Agabus did not tell Paul he must not go up to Jerusalem. He only revealed to him what would happen when he did go. He would be bound and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.That was enough for the disciples there. Fear takes quick hold upon weak hearts. They rushed at once to the conclusion that “safety first” was the only sound philosophy, and begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Mark his answer, “What mean ye to weep and to break mine he art? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus”.Ah, what differences in men! The majority always cowardly, always timid, always fearful, always politic.

The great outstanding exceptions always courageous, self-abandoning and sacrificial.“He would not be persuaded”. Decision has the effect of quieting upon unsettled and cowardly souls. When they saw that Paul was determined, they said, “The will of the Lord be done”. That is an easy way out for many people. It gives the appearance of sanctimoniousness and covers a vast amount of skepticism; and yet, produces an impression of submissive surrender. It is a phrase that ought to be introduced into every prayer; it is a phrase that ought to express the guiding principle of life; and yet, our observation is that it is a phrase that voices skepticism more often than confidence, and a polite retirement from controversy more often than it does a mind convinced.The remaining part of the chapter has to do withSEVEN DAYS OF Here, again, we deal with the divine numeral.

God’s seven is intimately linked with the whole subject of purification.Jerusalem was the city of Jewish pomp and ceremony. “After those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem”. It was the Jewish capitol and there Judaism reigned supreme.

Of all the conceivable centers in which to introduce any question that related to Judaistic ceremonials, this was the most difficult and dangerous. If Ephesus was the city of Diana, and if one endangered his head by declaring that since she was made with human hands, she was not divine, a thousand fold more did one endanger that same head, if, at Jerusalem he called into question anything that Jehovah was supposed to have spoken.We will not stop, in passing, to discuss who Mnason of Cyprus was—whether a long-time disciple of Jesus, or an aged man lately converted and anxious now to redeem the remaining time by showing every hospitality to Christians, for the more important point is Jerusalem and ceremonialism.Gentiles had accepted the Gospel at Paul’s lips, and some of them had been saved, apart from Jewish ceremonies; and that was the approaching danger-point. It was to that fact that Agabus had addressed himself, and concerning that prejudice of religious customs that he had prophesied persecution for the Apostle.Verse seventeen to the end of the chapter will record the fulfilment of his prophecy. We twentieth-century Christians marvel at the conduct of these our Jewish brothers; and yet, how much better is our own? There are preachers now and prominent ecclesiastical leaders who doubt if it is possible for any man to enter heaven without having had water sprinkled or poured upon his head—a ceremony that never had a divine sanction—an ecclesiastical substitute for baptism itself—an appointment of human tradition that never knew a divine command. And yet, such is the power of ceremonialism that many people hold to that conviction!How much better are we than the Jews who thought that “without circumcision” salvation was impossible, and who implored Paul in the interest of public safety and Christian popularity not to ignore the much practised and divinely appointed ordinance?There are ceremonies that have a spiritual significance, and on that account God has approved and employed them. But, from the first, ceremonialism has had an eternal tendency to degeneration and the recognition “of Sabbaths and new moons” easily degenerated into substitutes for sanctity, while the very ordinances of the New Testament church have more than once been employed with the mistaken notion that they would be accepted in lieu of regeneration.In Jerusalem even Paul yielded to unnecessary compromise.“Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the Temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should he offered for every one of them” (Acts 21:26). The strongest man will break some time, and if he doesn’t break, he will bend. Here Paul bends! He does a thing he doesn’t believe in; he succumbs to the suggestion of others, which is contrary to his conviction. Now don’t express your disgust with him; it is an occasion of admiration instead. The unbending man is not always the most desirable one; the unbending man is not always the one that God can best employ.I have intimate friends in the ministry who are good men and great preachers and yet comparative failures because they can’t bend. Their imperious heads refuse to bow in order to get through difficult and non-ample doors.

They won’t let down on anything; they won’t compromise about any matter! Everybody must come to their conviction, measure up to their standard, meet their demand or step aside, or be walked over.

It is not the proof of greatness; it is the proof of littleness instead. The pastor who can’t yield to his board in little matters that he may carry them with him in great, will never get accomplished the possibilities of united endeavor. The minister who must have his way in everything will discover eventually that he gets his way on nothing, for when you will not carry to conclusion an enterprise, every particle of which is not perfectly acceptable to you, you will fail with the enterprise itself.I have intimate friends into whose ears I have wanted to shout a thousand times, “Oh, man, bend a bit; bend! Lower your exalted head! Do not compromise the great fundamentals, but do not keep an eternal controversy going about non-essentials. If you can perform a ceremony that will satisfy the conscience of another, and that is not in violation of the Lord’s own will, do it.”I went a while ago to preach in a church that was supposed to be evangelical.

When I got there I found the very form of the church itself an aping, and its ceremonials were largely papistic. I looked at the gown offered me and said, “I never wore one in my life, and I would prefer not to appear in the pulpit in it.” But the pastor, with pained face, said, “Oh, doctor; do, for the sake of uniformity!

Join us to-day!” I said, “Will you, then, take the risk of my ripping the thing when I get going?” He said, “I will,” and I slipped into it without further controversy. Why shouldn’t I? That gown didn’t keep me from preaching the Gospel, and so far as I know it was not in violation of the Divine will, for, thank God, a minister’s dress is not divinely prescribed. Let’s be done with bickerings about little things that our time and strength may go to the big ones.His painstaking did not silence and satisfy the prejudiced. Verse twenty-seven to the end records the vociferousness of their objection, the intensity of their hatred, and the futility of their opposition. It is a fine illustration of the dual fact that a compromise will never satisfy men who exalt ceremony above truth and who lay more emphasis upon the way of doing things than upon the deeds themselves.

And yet, the other fact is just as patent in this text, namely, that men may rage and threaten and lay violent hands upon you and demand your death, but the God who is over all will check them at His own will, and possibly, as in Paul’s case, make some word that has passed your lips to fling them into confusion and effect for them defeat in the very moment when they are ready to mete out the dire judgment.The ending of this chapter involves a joke. The Word of God contains a vast deal of quiet humor.

The chief captain was amazed that Paul could speak Greek and supposed he was that Egyptian which had once made an uproar and aided a bandit crowd of four thousand.How little a man of the world knows of church history! We need not be abashed when we meet some high politician and he inquires a second time after our name and says, with a look of utter ignorance, “What church, sir; and what denomination did you say?”It is humiliating, I grant you, to face the fact that after you have supposed yourself an international figure, your name had never been heard by this high-up politician; and yet, that is not a criticism of you; it is a criticism of him. It is not a reflection on the position of the preacher; it is a revelation of the ignorance of the politician. Don’t be chagrined because the world knows you not. In truth, that same world “knows not God!”