In the first part of Acts chapter 21, Paul is repeatedly warned that when he arrives in Jerusalem, he’ll face persecution, imprisonment, and hardship. Yet, Paul still goes. Why? What reasons does he give in Acts 20:24-5? What kind of character does Paul show in Acts 21:13? What is his attitude towards suffering? How do you tend to view the possibility of future suffering in your own life? Does it make you anxious? Does it point you towards Jesus? Have you ever felt ready to suffer for the sake of Jesus?
In Acts 21:4 and 21:11, the Holy Spirit tells Paul about what he’ll face in Jerusalem. How does Paul know to keep pushing ahead? What priority is it for Paul to stay safe? How does Paul view his life (Philippians 1:21)? What does it mean that ‘to die is gain’? What does it mean that ‘to live is Christ’?
Most people either view living as Christ or dieing as gain. In other words, some people have so much joy in this life, that they don’t have much concern for what happens to them in the life to come. Paul has this to say about the life to come, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing witht the glory that is to be revealed to us (Roms 8:18).” If that’s true with our sufferings, how much more true must it be in our pleasures! Other people know they are miserable in this life, so they have no hope except to die and go to heaven! Look at Paul’s attitude in Philippians 3:12. Is he just simply waiting for heaven?
Which is easier for you, to focus on the pleasures of this life to the exclusion of the joys of heaven, or to focus on the joys of heaven to the exclusion of the presence of Christ now?
In Philippians 3:12, Paul says that he strives to make Christ his own. How can we strive to make Christ our treasure now so that, for us, ’to live is Christ’? Some suggestions: Colossians 3:16-17; Ephesians 5:18-20
(note: notice the correlation between being ‘drunk in the spirit,’ and letting ‘the word of Christ dwell in you richly)
