Today we begin the last series of our studies together in the book of Acts. We will pick up the story at the beginning of Chapter 21 and move on into the last section of this great book, where Luke recounts for us Paul's imprisonment in Jerusalem and his voyage to Rome. The book closes with Paul a prisoner of Caesar, living in his own hired house there at Rome. And so we will call this last series The Prisoner of the Lord, for here we find Paul in the new and unaccustomed role of prisoner -- unaccustomed, that is, for any length of time -- Paul in chains, languishing two years in the prison at Caesarea and some three years, most scholars feel, as a prisoner in Rome.

As I have studied this passage, and worked with it through the years, I have come to the very deep conviction that it was not necessary for Paul to have been a prisoner. I know that the Lord Jesus, when he first called Paul on the Damascus road, said that he was to suffer great things -- but not necessarily as a prisoner. Paul had already suffered many things by this time. That prediction had been amply fulfilled in the hardships he had undergone in his journeys around the Roman Empire. And Paul had been thrown in jail from time to time, but never for very long -- usually no more than a day or two at a time.

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I know that the Lord Jesus said that Paul would stand before kings and give his testimony, and that it was the fact that he was a prisoner which finally brought him before kings. But, again, it was not necessary that he come before kings in chains. A little later in this very account, the apostle himself, standing before King Agrippa, says, 'I would that everyone in this room might be like me -- except for these chains..' (Acts 26:29). That seems to be recognition on Paul's part that the chains indeed were not a necessary part of the process.

I know also that it was from this prison experience that Paul wrote some of the finest letters we have. And yet the greatest letter from his pen, the letter to the Romans, was not written in prison at all. The prison letters -- Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and others -- are evidence of the salvaging grace of God, which takes even a man's mistakes and uses them for blessing and to advance God's cause. One of the most helpful sections we have in the entire book of Acts is the one now before us, introduced by Luke's account of Paul's mistake. It opens with the story of Paul's last journey to Jerusalem. The apostle and his friends left the Ephesian elders on the beach at Miletus and boarded ship:

And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set sail. When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. And when our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey; and they all, with wives and children, brought us on our way till we were outside the city; and kneeling down on the beach we prayed and bade one another farewell. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. (Acts 21:1-6 RSV)

As you can see, that is largely an itinerary of the progress of the vessel down the coast of Asia Minor and then across a reach of the Mediterranean toward Jerusalem. It is obviously an eyewitness account. Luke was aboard and was recording where they stopped, and for how long, and how they spent their time. During the voyage they came to the ancient city of Tyre, north of Palestine. There they looked up certain disciples who, through the Spirit, Luke records, told Paul that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

Many commentators have struggled with this passage. I suppose we are all reluctant to attribute any wrongful action to the Apostle Paul. These studies in Acts have endeared him to us. We recognize the strength of his character, the fervor of his spirit, the love and compassion that always was near the surface in this great-hearted man, and we have come to love him. It is hard to believe that Paul would ever deliberately disobey the Holy Spirit. And yet, taken at its face value, this sentence indicates a command of the Holy Spirit which the apostle, for motives we shall examine, chose to ignore.

Many people soften the implications of this sentence and say that it was only another warning of trouble ahead. But the apostle hardly needed any such warning. He well knew that trouble lay ahead of him. Back in Chapter 20, Verse 22, in his address to the Ephesian elders, he said,

'And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there; except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.' (Acts 20:22-23 RSV)

So Paul already understood this. He knew he was heading into trouble if he went to Jerusalem and it seems unlikely that he needed any further warning about it. Others say that Paul was right and that it was the disciples who were wrong, that they should not have tried to stop him, because Paul was following an inner leading of the Spirit which they should have acknowledged. But that is to ignore three crucial words -- it was 'through the Spirit' that they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

We must face the full implications of those words. They were recorded by Luke, who was Paul's friend. He wrote this account several years after these events, and with the advantage of hindsight, he looked back over the whole circumstance that followed. And yet, led by the Holy Spirit in recording this inspired book, he wrote down at this juncture that it was 'through the Holy Spirit' that these disciples told Paul he was not to go up to Jerusalem. The Greek is very strong here -- much stronger than our English text. Literally they said, 'Stop going up to Jerusalem!' And Verse 5, which in our version begins with 'And' should really begin with 'But,' for Luke is recording a contrast here. He says,

Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But when our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey; (Acts 21:4b-5a RSV Modified)

Well, there is Paul's mistake. He did not observe what the Holy Spirit said plainly and clearly. If we are to understand his action, and derive any meaning or benefit from it, we must see where it began. Back in Chapter 19, we have a word about the apostle's thoughts when he was still in Ephesus. In Verse 21 Luke tells us,

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, 'After I have been there, I must also see Rome.' (Acts 19:21 RSV)

That was the beginning of Paul's resolve to go to Jerusalem. There was nothing wrong with that at all. Here also Luke records that this was done in the Spirit, that it was perfectly proper for Paul to have decided to go up to Jerusalem at this point. As we have learned from various other passages in Scripture, God does not always guide us with messages sent before we make a decision. He expects us to make decisions, and to step out on the basis of faith to do what looks like the right thing, and to change our minds only if we are impressed by the Spirit or by the Lord that a decision is wrong. So there is nothing wrong with Paul at this point.

A little later on, at

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