- The speaker wishes the audience a happy New Year in doing the will of the Lord
- The passage from Acts chapter 21 is read and discussed, focusing on Paul's journey to Jerusalem
- The speaker relates the concern expressed by people for Paul's safety to the instinct for self-preservation
- The message emphasizes the willingness to face danger in pursuit of God's will

- Paul is heading towards danger despite being warned by others to turn back
- He is driven by a strong conviction to do the will of God, even at the cost of his own safety
- People express concern and care for Paul, praying for him and opening their homes to him
- Paul reciprocates this concern by caring for the churches and individuals he meets
- He is dedicated to his life mission of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ
- The message is that everyone has their own mission and calling to fulfill, whether high profile or behind the scenes

- Believers are called to show love and concern for others
- Every believer has a calling to care for and love others
- If every believer could reach out to at least 1 person, the world would be different
- Jesus exemplified obedience and concern for all mankind
- Believers are called to deny themselves and follow Jesus
- Jesus ministered to both small and big needs, personifying excellence

- The speaker reflects on his regrets and wishes he could express the essence of Jesus more effectively
- Jesus is portrayed as caring, dedicated, and obedient to his calling
- The importance of following in the steps of Jesus is emphasized
- The inevitability of suffering in the Christian experience is discussed
- God's concern for mankind is highlighted from the beginning of Scripture

The speaker wishes the audience a happy New Year and discusses Paul's journey to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 21. The message emphasizes the willingness to face danger in pursuit of God's will and the importance of caring for others. Believers are called to follow in the steps of Jesus, who exemplified obedience and concern for all mankind.

On to Jerusalem Acts 21:1-15 - John Marcogliese

Is Johnny Marco Gliese, aka John, if the second part is too difficult.

And I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of best wishes.

But happy New Year in doing the will of the Lord in your life.

I'm going to be doing some reading from Scripture and it's all tied together and I'm going to ask you to be patient as I try to tie up all of the loose ends and before we start and before we start a reading let's commit the service in prayer.

Father I thank you for all of these people for every man woman and child in this place and everyone within earshot and that your Holy Spirit would speak to each and every 1 of us and address us personally, individually so that we would hear so that we would hear what we need to be instructed in, disciplined, encouraged and as a whole to be built up for your honor and glory May this be a year when we learn to submit and surrender to you more and more.

We pray this in the name of the most excellent and the beloved Lord Jesus Christ and all his people said, Amen.

Our passage is from Acts chapter 21 verses 1 to 15 inclusively, but for purposes of context in order that we can understand the thrust of my message this morning I'll be reading some passages in the book of Acts that proceed and notably I want to begin with Paul's calling in Acts chapter 9.

Acts chapter 9, and I don't know if you can see that.

And this refers to Paul's or Saul's introduction and calling.

But the Lord said to Ananias, go, this man, referring to Saul, is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

I will show him how much he must suffer and the key word is suffer for my name.

Let's follow that up with Acts chapter 20 verses 22 to 24.

And now compelled by the spirit I am going to Jerusalem Not knowing what will happen to me there.

I Only know that in every city the Holy Spirit is Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me.

My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.

The task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

And finally, the passage that precedes our passage this morning are these 2 verses.

These are the elders of the church of Ephesus in Miletus.

And they refers to the elders of the church of Ephesus in Miletus and they refers to the elders of the church of Ephesus.

They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.

What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.

And that brings us to our passage this morning.

15 verses of Acts chapter 21 that I'd like to read for you and asking for you to follow along attentively.

And we had torn ourselves away from them.

We put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos.

The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.

We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.

After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed out to Syria.

We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.

Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them for 7 days.

Through the Spirit, they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way.

All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us to the city and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

After saying goodbye to each other we went aboard the ship and they returned home.

We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemus, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the Evangelist, 1 of the 7.

He had 4 unmarried daughters who prophesied.

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, The Holy Spirit says, in this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand them over to the Gentiles.

When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, what are you weeping and breaking my heart?

I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, let the will of the Lord be done.

After these days, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem." Now, growing up as a young man, I grew up in a certain part of the island of Montreal, and many of you would understand what I'm about to say.

The James Falkos, the Nick Aswollos, the Urbano Ciccarellis, the Charlie Caruanas, would understand the language that I'm about to employ.

When I was embarking in a trajectory in my life that was not good, When I was headed in the wrong direction, and this is long before the notion of intervention, people in my inner circle, my closest friends, family members and others, would approach me and they would start off with the address of we are concerned and if I was really heading off in the wrong direction they would add the adjective we are very concerned.

So when people in my part of the city approached you and said, we are concerned, and even if they said, we are very concerned, it's not because they wanted to make sure that you had your winter tires on.

It's not because your attire was mismatched in terms of color coding.

It's because out of sincere and genuine concern, because they had a stake in my welfare and my well-being, they wanted to make sure that I corrected course.

So why am I bringing this up this morning and what does it have to do with the passage?

There are numerous encounters that Paul has previous to him getting on that ship and during the time he gets on that ship and stops from 1 place to another place and to another place.

The common thread is that people who love Paul, people who have a stake and an interest in his well-being and welfare, keep coming up and they tell Paul, we are concerned.

We are concerned about you going to Jerusalem.

We don't want you to go there Because from our understanding bad things are going to happen to you there The strongest instinct that a human has is the instinct for self-preservation.

Many of our fears drive us away from danger.

We are constructed in a way not to head to a house that's on fire, or for anyone who's pointing a gun at us, but rather to do a 180 and head in the opposite direction.

So I want to ask you this morning, why is it?

How can it be that Paul is headed towards danger?

The Holy Spirit has made it abundantly clear to him that he needs to go to Jerusalem and eventually he will head to Rome.

But first he needs to go to Jerusalem and when he does go to Jerusalem, the same pattern from the moment in time that he's called in Acts chapter 9, where God is speaking and says, you will suffer much for me.

I have called this man and he will suffer much for me.

And we will notice a recurring theme and response by Paul, his willingness to surrender, to submit.

He is driven by such a strong conviction that he must do the will of God that he behaves in a way which is counter to human instinct of self-preservation and survival.

Whereas all the people who are concerned and who are very concerned and who love him and care for him are telling him in no uncertain terms to stop, to turn around and to head in the opposite direction.

We come across expressions that the elders were the elders and Ephesus were so attached to him that ultimately they had to be torn away from him.

In as much as Paul had many enemies and adversaries and jealous people about the work and ministry that he was conducted, there were as many people in the local church who love them dearly and didn't want to see any harm come to him.

And in the next slide you will see an itinerary of the places that Paul goes and he has encounters.

And when you're concerned for someone, really concerned, What do you do?

And in all of these destinations, As Paul is getting off his ship and continuing to his ultimate destination which is Jerusalem, he's meeting people.

If you look at the notes, I've briefly surmised for you the encounters and the interactions that he's having with people.

And the commonality and the common denominator over and over again is that people are praying for him, people are weeping for him, people are expressing their care, People are expressing their concern and their care and when Paul is with them, over and over people open up their homes and their houses to Paul, and they practice hospitality.

If your concern is genuine and sincere for the welfare and the well-being of someone, the rubber will hit the road.

And it's much more than just empty words.

There will be concrete gestures of care, of love, of affection, of esteem, of prayer, of self-sacrifice for someone that we care for.

And you'll see that I'm going somewhere with this with regards to our eventual application.

Care is concrete, it's sincere, it's gentle, it's loving.

We are very concerned for your well-being, Paul.

The first 3 arrows show the concern, the care, and the conviction that people have as it is being poured into the life of Paul.

People are concerned, they express care, and their care is sincere, concrete, and it costs them something.

In his exchanges and his interactions with the saints, Paul himself reciprocates and expresses concern for the churches, the local churches.

He expresses concern for the individuals that are coming to meet him.

As a matter of fact, when they're weeping for him, he says, stop, you're breaking my heart.

So Paul is concerned for the churches in the previous chapter he warns the leaders that there will be wolves amongst them and that the enemies that have been tailing him throughout his 3 missionary journeys as we come to the tail end of the third missionary journey.

That those same people will follow him and will be in their midst and they will seek to undermine the church.

A lot has changed and a lot remains the same.

We ourselves need to be vigilant and on guard amongst anyone who would try to drive us away from the truth as Scripture teaches and as the Holy Spirit leads us.

So we too must be on guard to make sure that our local church, the bigger church, is not undermined.

As there are from time to time influences who would try to take us away from what Scripture teaches from what the Spirit of Jesus teaches so Paul himself expresses concern for individuals with whom he's meeting, interacting with.

He's expressing his concern about all of the churches in which he's poured out his life.

Never forget that in any venture that you have, any venture, any project, When you invest from your pocket, and I'm not speaking only about money, of your time, your resources, your efforts, your pain, your sweat, your tears, when you pour yourself out in that venture, you have a vested interest, You have a stake in its success.

Paul has dedicated his life to his life mission as It was dictated to him in his revelation.

That is, spreading the good news of Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews.

So he cares intimately for all the people and it's borne out in his writings as he knows individuals by name.

Paul in turn as people are pouring out into him, he pours out his concern, his care, and ultimately Paul recognizes his calling.

It's the mission of his life as a believer, as a preacher, as an evangelist, as a teacher.

The Spirit has made it abundantly clear to him that he needs to go to Jerusalem even if bad things are going to happen to him.

He does not shy away, he doesn't withdraw, but he's responding to his calling.

How does that speak to us this morning at the beginning of 2024?

Because Paul is not the only 1 who has concerns and cares and is executing his calling as dictated by God.

But Each and every 1 of you here is called to carry out their own mission.

It may be something that you're called to do that people don't even take a note of.

But do not be deceived, brothers and sisters.

You're not only called into the family, you're called to work for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be it by being a testimony in deed or in word, be it by expressing concern and love to another believer or to a stranger, Be it to express concrete care, gestures of love that are helpful and bring honor and glory to God.

Each and every 1 of you I wish and I want to reaffirm this morning, has a calling.

Has a calling to care and to love and to be concerned about someone else.

And I know that each, that any 1 person cannot save the world and solve all of its problems.

If every believer could take care of 1 person, 1, 1, and have a positive impact on another life in that you express the concern and care and love of 1 other individual some of you have been gifted richly by God and you can do more than 1 you can do 2345 Because we serve the God of the exponent.

We serve the God who's able to multiply above and beyond our wildest expectations.

Who has God called me to express care and love?

And I'm asking you to draw on your imagination.

How different would the world be if every single believer could reach out to at least 1 other person and show them the love of Jesus through the help of the Holy Spirit.

And if you don't know who that person is, If you ask God through His Holy Spirit to give you the conviction and the revelation of who that should be, I challenge you that God will show you and bring you to that individual.

And more often than not, the question is, are you willing?

Which is to love your fellow man and share with him or her the good news.

I don't need the answer and you don't need to answer to me.

Because 1 day and the day will come And the day will come where every knee shall bow and where every tongue confess as to who God is and who Jesus is.

Moreover, we will have to render account.

I'm not trying to instill fear in you, but I'm trying to remind you of what your calling is.

And I'm trying, by the help of the Holy Spirit, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to stir that conviction in you.

I love him and I wish you would be a bit more like him.

I'm up here and when I hear him say amen and hallelujah it pumps me up.

Now it may very well be that he and I share the same heritage, the same cultural ethnic heritage when we're concerned for someone and when we're very concerned.

But I can sense some of you are not as audible and that's fine Excuse me Yeah, we're Italian brethren.

At least some of us are At least some of us are but it's all good.

I don't want anyone to take offense to this So thank you, brother.

I appreciate it and I you know who you are even though I'm not looking at you right now.

Any message where Jesus is not preeminent is a weak and faulty message.

And I want you to hold your teachers accountable.

If Jesus is not lifted up on a Sunday morning or during your Bible study, There's something wrong, terribly wrong.

But why am I bringing up Jesus right now?

If we look at the pattern of the life of Paul, we notice that he is walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

Jesus himself had to go to Jerusalem where he would accomplish his life mission.

Jesus himself would encounter false accusations, persecutions, trials, suffering.

The Lord Jesus Christ embraced it even more.

Do you know what the Lord Jesus Christ is exemplifying when he does all of these things that are not necessarily pleasant?

You know, in the Western culture, obedience is not a big thing.

Because we're all into, or at least the world is trying to teach us, you know, I need to be myself and My rights are really important and I need to be true to myself and I got to be who I am As believers were called to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and to follow who?

Jesus exemplifies perfect and excellent obedience.

Jesus exemplifies perfection in the relationship between a child and God the Father between Son and God the Father Jesus was concerned Jesus was concerned for all of mankind.

But every creature that was made into the likeness of God.

Because He left His rightful place at the right hand of God.

And He left the glory so that He could be obedient and carry out the work of redemption and the work of reconciliation between mankind and his Father.

And Jesus ministered to the small needs and to the big needs.

Jesus was busy going around being a good guy.

Healing, helping, encouraging, always being the best of the best.

I'm sorry that the English language doesn't have enough words for me to express how good Jesus is in everything that he says and does.

I feel frustrated at times, and my wife keeps telling me, John, you have too many words.

Because more often than not, I talk too much.

And I wish I could take some things back.

There's some of you who should talk more.

In my ability to express the essence, the core essence of Jesus and how our Jesus does everything well.

I don't know if you've ever heard this expression, C'est pas mon problème, arrange-toi avec tes troubles.

Okay, that's a colloquialism in Quebecois.

It means, you know what, this is really not my problem and let them deal with it.

I don't know if any of you understand that, probably not very many of you, but Jesus was not of that ilk.

And he did it with a massive conviction and he responded to his calling.

Let's look at a few verses that show how Paul himself walked into the steps of Jesus.

Where we individually are called to walk in the steps of Jesus as well.

Not in the steps of Paul, but in the steps of Jesus.

By the way, just for me to know in the future, do you see that well?

Because I can't see it in the back, so I need to read from my notes.

From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to where?

And suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

It doesn't sound as if it's something that I would head to.

Peter was concerned so he took him aside to express his concerns.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Have you ever wondered why is Peter saying this?

Or is he genuinely concerned about the welfare of Jesus?

I don't believe it's a 1 or the other answer.

Peter and a whole bunch of other guys had tied their destiny and their welfare and their future to that of Jesus.

But I do believe that Peter genuinely loved Jesus and did not want him to have this fate.

The man of conviction, by honoring his call, responds as follows.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan.

You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.

Jesus setting the record straight that He would not be deterred, that he would not be swayed, that he would not be discouraged from being obedient and accomplishing his life mission.

And Jesus tells him quite plainly, you're looking this and you see the small picture.

I see the big picture, The biggest picture, the picture in which every soul of every man, woman, and child rests upon.

I see the big picture, the picture from the widest lens possible.

I come to obey Him and to honor Him in achieving my life mission.

This was forecast and prophesied from time past.

In Isaiah chapter 50 verse 7 It speaks of the Lord Jesus and His determination and His resolve in carrying out His life's work.

Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Notwithstanding the circumstances of his death, the Lord Jesus prophetically is saying, I will not be put to shame.

And if you know what a flint is, It's pointy, it's sharp, and it directs you in 1 direction.

And then in Luke chapter 9 verse 51, Jesus is speaking again.

When the days drew near for Him to be taken up He set His face to go to Jerusalem to meet His destiny head-on and in Gethsemane the character of Jesus is revealed His excellence His submission and surrender comes to the surface.

And in total and absolute agony, the Lord Jesus is praying as He's shedding tears of blood.

And in his prayer he says, Father if you are willing remove this cup from me.

Nevertheless not my will but yours be done." Paul is walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

You and I are called to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

Anyone who tells you that your life, once you become a believer, will be smooth sailing, is deceiving you and lying to you.

More often than not, there will be moments of triumph and there will be countless times of joy.

But there will be times of hardship and suffering.

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