Notice -

I. THE DECIDED ADVANCE IN THE MINDS OF THE LEADING DISCIPLES AMONG THE JEWS.

1. They gladly welcomed Paul, and heard his narrative of missionary work, which included labor among the Gentiles. They glorified God for it.

2. They made no demand upon Paul as to renouncing his advanced position, but acquiesced in it.

3. They must have resisted the extreme Judaistic party in order to do so.

II. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE TIMID POLICY OF THE JAMES PARTY AND PAUL HIMSELF. They feared for him. He feared nothing for himself. Their advice was dictated by prudence, but it wrought more evil than good in result.

III. THE NOBLE EXAMPLE OF SELF-ABNEGATION AND CONCILIATION. Paul yielded to their advice, to show that the reports about him were false, and that his free position allowed him both to observe the Law and not to observe it, as expediency might dictate, because he regarded it as no longer necessary to salvation. He became a Jew to the Jews, to save the Jews. The true firmness is not obstinacy, prejudice, self-assertion, bigotry, but distinguishes between the essential and non-essential. Perhaps it was the wiser way to let the weaker brethren be convinced by the facts how hopeless it was to save Judaism.

IV. GREAT PURPOSES OF GOD ARE FULFILLLED THROUGH THE ERRORS AND INFIRMITIES OF HIS PEOPLE. Paul would meet Jewish accusations all the more firmly though his appearance in the temple put the torch to the pile. - R.

(Children's Sermon): — This would read like a scene at a railway station only for the fact that carriages are not taken up, but take up. But in the Bible, the word "carriage" means the act of carrying, and carriages what is carried (Judges 18:21; 1 Samuel 17:22; Isaiah 10:28); just as luggage means what has to be lugged about.

I. WE HAVE ALL GOT BUNDLES TO CARRY. You know how it is in travelling. A good many things can be packed away in trunks, but some must be carried in the hand. How many things we have to carry in life — as children our toys, when bigger our school books, when men things for family comforts, etc., and he is a poor creature who is ashamed to be seen carrying a bundle home to his Jerusalem. Then think how much ships have to carry, and armies. The word "impediment" comes from impedimenta, the baggage belonging to a Roman army. And what a lot of things have to be carried when we move from one house to another. But besides all these we have duties and responsibilities — big and little — which must be carried; and it seems as though some people had more than their share, while others dodge their duties, as "leaders" in a stage coach seem to do, leaving all the hard work to the "wheelers." But never shirk a duty when once it has been made plain.

II. EVERY MAN MUST CARRY HIS OWN BUNDLE. St. Paul says, "Bear ye one another's burdens,...for every man shall bear his own burden" — i.e., we ought to help others because when we have done our utmost in this way we shall have enough to do to answer for ourselves. When we are out on a large party each has his own umbrella, handbag, etc.; but there are packages containing things belonging to all. Now it would not be right to simply carry our own things and refuse a helping hand to the rest. Yet sometimes you see selfish people leaving everything, even their own bundles, to others; now Paul was not like this. He was too self-reliant, too generous, too courteous. When seemingly utterly overburdened with his own duties and troubles, he said, "Look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others," and himself set the example.

III. WE MUST CARRY OUR BUNDLES IN SPITE OF TEMPTATIONS TO LAY THEM DOWN. It is very easy to discourage and to be discouraged. When you have been on an errand and were carrying things home, have you never met with companions who said, "Wait a bit and have a game"? Or when you have had a hard lesson have you not heard a voice saying, "You will never learn it in time; why then trouble?" Bunyan tells us how much Christian was discouraged by the report of Timorous and Mistrust about lions in the path. So it was with Paul. On this journey to Jerusalem he was constantly meeting with people who said, "Don't go." And how many people there are who would have replied, "Perhaps you are right," and have laid down their bundles. Never do that, but persist in carrying your bundle to your journey's end, in doing your duty until it is completely done.

(Wilberforce Newton.)

Agabus, Israelites, James, Mnason, Paul, Philip, TrophimusAsia, Caesarea, Cilicia, Cos, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Judea, Patara, Phoenicia, Ptolemais, Rhodes, Syria, Tarsus, TyreAfterwards, Baggage, Baggage-cattle, Carriages, Continued, Effects, Furniture, Got, Jerusalem, Journey, Loaded, Ready, Started, Vessels1. Paul calls at the house of Philip, whose daughters prophesy.
10. Agabus, foretelling what should befall him at Jerusalem,
13. he will not be dissuaded from going thither.
17. He comes to Jerusalem;
27. where he is apprehended, and in great danger, but by the chief captain is rescued;
37. and requests, and is permitted to speak to the people.

Acts 21:15

     5108   Paul, life of

An Old Disciple
'... One Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.'--ACTS xxi. 16. There is something that stimulates the imagination in these mere shadows of men that we meet in the New Testament story. What a strange fate that is to be made immortal by a line in this book-- immortal and yet so unknown! We do not hear another word about this host of Paul's, but his name will be familiar to men's ears till the world's end. This figure is drawn in the slightest possible outline, with a couple …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Philip the Evangelist
'... We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.'--ACTS xxi. 8. The life of this Philip, as recorded, is a very remarkable one. It is divided into two unequal halves: one full of conspicuous service, one passed in absolute obscurity. Like the moon in its second quarter, part of the disc is shining silver and the rest is invisible. Let us put together the notices of him. He bears a name which makes it probable that he was not a Palestinian Jew, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Drawing Nearer to the Storm
'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: 2. And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. 3. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. 4. And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Paul in the Temple
'And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him. 28. Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Jerusalem to Rome
Acts 21:17-28:31 THIS JOURNEY Scripture, Acts 21:17-28:31 1. The speech before the Jewish mob in the temple (Acts 22:1-29) in which Paul tells the Jews how he was changed from a persecutor to a believer in Christ. He relates also the story of his conversion. 2. The speech before the Jewish council (Acts 22:30; 23:1-10) in which he creates confusion by raising the question of the resurrection. But the provocation was great for the high-priest had commanded that Paul be smitten …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

Parting.
"What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart!"--Acts 21:13 "Was macht ihr, dass ihr weinet." [32]Spitta. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1855 What mean ye by this wailing To break my bleeding heart? As if the love that binds us Could alter or depart! Our sweet and holy union Knows neither time nor place; The love that God has planted Is lasting as His grace. Ye clasp these hands at parting, As if no hope could be; While still we stand for ever In blessed unity! Ye gaze, as on a vision Ye never could …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

As Thou Wilt.
"The will of the Lord be done."--Acts 21:14. "Wie Gott will! also will ich sagen." [72]Neumeister. transl., Jane Borthwick, 1858 As Thou wilt, my God! I ever say; What Thou wilt is ever best for me; What have I to do with earthly care, Since to-morrow I may leave with Thee? Lord, Thou knowest, I am not my own, All my hope and help depend on Thee alone. As Thou wilt! still I can believe; Never did the word of promise fail. Faith can hold it fast, and feel it sure, Though temptations cloud and fears …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

The Way to the Kingdom
"The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15 These words naturally lead us to consider, First, the nature of true religion, here termed by our Lord, "the kingdom of God," which, saith he, "is at hand;" and, Secondly, the way thereto, which he points out in those words, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." I. 1. We are, First, to consider the nature of true religion, here termed by our Lord, "the kingdom of God." The same expression the great Apostle uses in his Epistle …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

India as Carey Found It
1793 Tahiti v. Bengal--Carey and Thomas appointed missionaries to Bengal--The farewell at Leicester--John Thomas, first medical missionary--Carey's letter to his father--The Company's "abominable monopoly"--The voyage--Carey's aspirations for world-wide missions--Lands at Calcutta--His description of Bengal in 1793--Contrast presented by Carey to Clive, Hastings, and Cornwallis--The spiritual founder of an Indian Empire of Christian Britain--Bengal and the famine of 1769-70--The Decennial Settlement …
George Smith—The Life of William Carey

Chel. The Court of the Women.
The Court of the Gentiles compassed the Temple and the courts on every side. The same also did Chel, or the Ante-murale. "That space was ten cubits broad, divided from the Court of the Gentiles by a fence, ten hand-breadths high; in which were thirteen breaches, which the kings of Greece had made: but the Jews had again repaired them, and had appointed thirteen adorations answering to them." Maimonides writes: "Inwards" (from the Court of the Gentiles) "was a fence, that encompassed on every side, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Matthew.
Critical. Bernh. Weiss: Das Matthäusevangelium und seine Lucas-Parallelen erklärt. Halle, 1876. Exceedingly elaborate. Edw. Byron Nicholson: The Gospel according to the Hebrews. Its Fragments translated and annotated. Lond., 1879. Exegetical Commentaries on Matthew by Origen, Jerome, Chrysostom, Melanchthon (1523), Fritzsche, De Wette, Alford, Wordsworth, Schegg (R. Cath., 1856-58, 3 vols.), J. A. Alexander, Lange (trsl. and enlarged by Schaff, N. Y., 1864, etc.), James Morison (of Glasgow, …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Knox in Scotland: Lethington: Mary of Guise: 1555-1556
Meanwhile the Reformer returned to Geneva (April 1555), where Calvin was now supreme. From Geneva, "the den of mine own ease, the rest of quiet study," Knox was dragged, "maist contrarious to mine own judgement," by a summons from Mrs. Bowes. He did not like leaving his "den" to rejoin his betrothed; the lover was not so fervent as the evangelist was cautious. Knox had at that time probably little correspondence with Scotland. He knew that there was no refuge for him in England under Mary Tudor, …
Andrew Lang—John Knox and the Reformation

Chrysostom Evades Election to a Bishopric, and Writes his Work on the Priesthood.
About this time several bishoprics were vacant in Syria, and frequent depositions took place with the changing fortunes of orthodoxy and Arianism, and the interference of the court. The attention of the clergy and the people turned to Chrysostom and his friend Basil as suitable candidates for the episcopal office, although they had not the canonical age of thirty. Chrysostom shrunk from the responsibilities and avoided an election by a pious fraud. He apparently assented to an agreement with Basil …
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

Whether Since Christ's Passion the Legal Ceremonies Can be Observed Without Committing Mortal Sin?
Objection 1: It would seem that since Christ's Passion the legal ceremonies can be observed without committing mortal sin. For we must not believe that the apostles committed mortal sin after receiving the Holy Ghost: since by His fulness they were "endued with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49). But the apostles observed the legal ceremonies after the coming of the Holy Ghost: for it is stated (Acts 16:3) that Paul circumcised Timothy: and (Acts 21:26) that Paul, at the advice of James, "took the men, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Grace of the Word of Wisdom and Knowledge is Becoming to Women?
Objection 1: It would seem that the grace of the word of wisdom and knowledge is becoming even to women. For teaching is pertinent to this grace, as stated in the foregoing Article. Now it is becoming to a woman to teach; for it is written (Prov. 4:3,4): "I was an only son in the sight of my mother, and she taught me [*Vulg.: 'I was my father's son, tender, and as an only son in the sight of my mother. And he taught me.']." Therefore this grace is becoming to women. Objection 2: Further, the grace …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

From Antioch to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Acts 13-28 and all the rest of the New Testament except the epistles of John and Revelation. The Changed Situation. We have now come to a turning point in the whole situation. The center of work has shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch, the capital of the Greek province of Syria, the residence of the Roman governor of the province. We change from the study of the struggles of Christianity in the Jewish world to those it made among heathen people. We no longer study many and various persons and their …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Letter of the Synod to the Emperor and Empress.
(Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VII., col. 577.) To our most religious and most serene princes, Constantine and Irene his mother. Tarasius, the unworthy bishop of your God-protected royal city, new Rome, and all the holy Council which met at the good pleasure of God and upon the command of your Christ-loving majesty in the renowned metropolis of Nice, the second council to assemble in this city. Christ our God (who is the head of the Church) was glorified, most noble princes, when your heart, …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Prov. 22:06 the Duties of Parents
"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."--Prov. 22:6. I SUPPOSE that most professing Christians are acquainted with the text at the head of this page. The sound of it is probably familiar to your ears, like an old tune. It is likely you have heard it, or read it, talked of it, or quoted it, many a time. Is it not so? But, after all, how little is the substance of this text regarded! The doctrine it contains appears scarcely known, the duty it puts …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

The Epistle to the Hebrews.
I. Commentaries on Hebrews by Chrysostom (d. 407, hermeneia, in 34 Homilies publ. after his death by an Antioch. presbyter, Constantinus); Theodoret (d. 457); Oecumenius (10th cent.); Theophylact (11th cent.); Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274); Erasmus (d. 1536, Annotationes in N. T., with his Greek Test., 1516 and often, and Paraphrasis in N. T., 1522 and often); Card. Cajetanus (Epistolae Pauli, etc., 1531); Calvin (d. 1564, Com. in omnes P. Ep. atque etiam in Ep. ad Hebraeos, 1539 and often, also Halle, …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Of the Prerogatives which the Elect Shall Enjoy in Heaven.
By reason of this communion with God, the elect in heaven shall have four superexcellent prerogatives:-- 1. They shall have the kingdom of heaven for their inheritance (Matt. xxv.; 1 Pet. i. 4), and they shall be free denizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Eph. ii. 19; Heb. xii. 22.) St. Paul, by being a free citizen of Rome (Acts xxi. 26), escaped whipping; but they who are once free citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, shall ever be freed from the whips of eternal torments. For this freedom was bought …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Positive Side
What is the relation of the Law (the Ten Commandments) to Christians? In our previous chapter we pointed out how that three radically different answers have been returned to this question. The first, that sinners become saints by obeying the Law. This is Legalism pure and simple. It is heresy of the most dangerous kind. All who really believe and act on it as the ground of their acceptance by God, will perish eternally. Second, others say that the Law is not binding on Christians because it has been …
Arthur W. Pink—The Law and the Saint

Paul's Journeys Acts 13:1-38:31
On this third journey he was already planning to go to Rome (Acts 19:21) and wrote an epistle to the Romans announcing his coming (Rom. 1:7, 15). +The Chief City+, in which Paul spent most of his time (Acts 19:1, 8, 10), between two and three years upon this journey, was Ephesus in Asia Minor. This city situated midway between the extreme points of his former missionary journeys was a place where Ephesus has been thus described: "It had been one of the early Greek colonies, later the capital …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

Acts 21:15 NIV
Acts 21:15 NLT
Acts 21:15 ESV
Acts 21:15 NASB
Acts 21:15 KJV

Acts 21:15 Bible Apps
Acts 21:15 Parallel
Acts 21:15 Biblia Paralela
Acts 21:15 Chinese Bible
Acts 21:15 French Bible
Acts 21:15 German Bible

Acts 21:15 Commentaries

Bible Hub