Acts 21:13

Act_21:13-14

Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break my heart?

Pauls resolution

I. The bravery with which he persisted in it.

1. He reproves his friends for dissuading him.

2. Not withstanding their entreaties he repeats his resolution.

(1) How far it extends.

(2) What it is that carries him out thus.

II. The patient acquiescence of his friends in his decision. They submitted to--

1. The wisdom of a good man.

2. The will of a good God. (Matthew Henry.)

Pauls resolution

I. The occasion.

1. Paul was now at Caesarea, in Philips house (Act_21:8). Philip, that was injured by Paul (Act_8:4-5) a persecutor, is easily reconciled with Paul a convert. We should not be strange to those whom Christ has accepted.

2. There Agabus prophesieth of Pauls bonds. Agabus was ever a prophet of evil tidings (Act_11:28). God will be glorified by all manner of dispositions. Some, like Agabus, come always with a sad message in their mouths; and yet these have their use (1Ki_22:8). That may be true which is not pleasing. But what needs Paul so often to be warned of his bonds? (Act_20:22-23). That he might be thoroughly prepared. God doth not love to take His children unprovided. If a sudden and unexpected flood of miseries break in upon us, it is not because we want warning, but because we will not take warning.

II. The carriage of the saints upon this occasion.

1. Their entire affection to Paul (Act_21:12). This entreaty did not proceed from self-love, for they were resolved to go with him (Act_21:15), but zeal for Gods glory. The lives and liberties of those that are eminent instruments of Gods glory are very dear and precious to Gods faithful people. But was this well done to persuade him? Yes; for we know of no command they had to the contrary. All desires against Gods secret will are not unlawful, when we afterwards submit to His revealed will (1Ki_8:18). Satan often laboureth to take us off from our duty by the persuasion of our loving friends, who mean us well in what they say to us (Mat_16:22-23).

2. Pauls firm resolution: He would not be persuaded. Did Paul do well in this? How doth this agree with Jam_3:17? I answer--In our duty it is praiseworthy to be easy to be entreated, but not from our duty. Paul went bound in the spirit to Jerusalem.

(1) No persuasions should turn us out of the way wherein God commands us to walk. So Christ, when he was desired to avoid suffering, which was the end of His coming into the world, rejected the motion.

(2) No dangers. So when the king of Babylon threatened the three children, they resolutely answered (Dan_3:18).

3. Their discretion, when he would not be persuaded, they ceased. It is the disposition of humble spirits not to be peremptory of their own conceits, but to submit to those that are wiser than themselves (Mat_3:15; Act_11:18).

4. Their piety, the ground of their discretion: The will of the Lord be done.

Submission is required--

1. To Gods intended will, while it is yet kept secret. In every business we should ask--

(1) His leave (Jdg_1:1), By this means we acknowledge God, our dependence upon Him, and His dominion over us. It is robbery to use any goods without the owners leave. We and all ours are the goods of God.

(2) His blessing. When the event is uncertain, beg the Lords concurrence, and the blessing of His providence (Jer_10:23; Gen_24:12).

2. To His determination. Submitting all things to Gods will after the event is patience, and before the event is a notable piece of faith (Jam_4:15; 1Co_4:19). This was a truth evident to the heathens. Plato brings in Alcibiades asking Socrates how he should speak of future events, and in what manner he should express himself; and Socrates answers, Even as God will.

3. Our purposes and desires must be so moderated that we may be forearmed for all events (2Sa_15:25-26). Such a holy indifferency should there be upon our spirits, that we should be like a die in the hand of Providence, to be cast high or low according as it falls.

4. When the event depends upon a duty, we must do the duty, and refer the event to God (1Co_9:16). It is a base principle to say we must be sure of success before we will engage for God.

5. In a dubious case observe the leading of Providence. The Israelites were not to remove but as they saw the pillar of cloud before them (chap. 16:10). But when the event is declared in Gods providence, then we have nothing to do but plainly to submit, and that very quietly and contentedly, with hope and encouragement in the Lord. (T. Manton, D. D.)

The sacrifices which Paul was willing to make in the cause of Christ

I. His ease and comfort.

1. Had Paul travelled in the fashion of modern tourists many might have envied him the pleasure of visiting some of the loveliest regions. But when we hear him saying of himself, we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, etc.; and when we hear him enumerate the catalogue of his sufferings, In labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft; and still farther when we contemplate his strenuous efforts to save souls, we feel that we live in the age of little men.

2. What are the sacrifices of ease and comfort, and what the exertions which we ought to make for the honour of Christs name? Some can give their labour, some their time, some their talents, some their wealth, some their influence, some their example, some their prayers; some may give all of these, some two or more of them; and there is not one of you but who may at least live and suffer, and pray for the honour of Christs name.

II. Earthly friendships.

1. Could the endearments of the tenderest friendship have restrained Paul from the performance of his duty, such were not wanting. He was loved with no common affection. Our text is one proof of it, and so is chap. 20:36-38. What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? is not the language of cold unfeeling rebuke? His own heart was wrung by this proof of affection Here, then, is the nobleness of Pauls sacrifice. He loved his friends well, but he loved his Saviour better.

2. Beware lest earthly friendships wean your hearts from Jesus, and rob Him of His due. An excessive attachment is very apt to cool the ardour of Christian zeal. The love of a husband, of a father, have often proved serious obstacles to an avowal and defence of the gospel. Was not Samson shorn of his strength through a blind love for Delilah? and was it not from the wife of his bosom that Job received the dreadful counsel to curse God and die? Said Christ, He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me, etc. It was a noble display of heroism made by the daughter of Knox, and the wife of John Welch, in an interview with King James. When she humbly craved permission for her husband, who was far gone with consumption, to return to Scotland for the benefit of his native air, she was rudely denied it by the tyrant. At last, however, he told her that if she would persuade her husband to submit to the bishops, he would allow him to return. Mrs. Welch, lifting her apron and holding it towards the king, replied in the true spirit of her father, Please your Majesty, Id rather keep his head there.

III. His liberty. I am ready not to be bound only, etc.

1. In every place to which Paul had lately come, the testimony was repeated, that bonds and imprisonments awaited him; and he knew well what imprisonment was, for he had already, for the sake of his religion, been a prisoner. What then? Did Paul undervalue liberty? No! His history warrants me to say, that the love of freedom burned as ardently in Pauls bosom as ever it did in that of a Brutus or a Tell, and might in other circumstances have bled to defend it. What then is the solution of this enigma? It was for the honour of Him, who, in the form of a slave, was led to prison, to judgment, that men might be no longer the oppressed thralls of sins, of Satan, and of hell.

2. At this stage of our subject, we would glance at the benefit which accrued from the imprisonment of Paul.

(1) The gospel was carried at once to the very heart of the Roman Empire, from which, as a radiating centre, it more readily found its way to distant provinces and colonies.

(2) The gospel found access to the palace of Caesar.

(3) But to it in a more especial manner are we indebted for many of those epistles which bear his name.

3. Every Bible reader is well aware what benefits flowed to Gods Church from Josephs imprisonment in Egypt; from Esthers exile in Persia; from the confinement of Jeremiah; from Daniels captivity; from Peters imprisonment; and from Johns banishment. Nor is modern history wanting in illustrations. For ten months Luther was shut up in the castle of Wartzburg; but there he translated great part of the New Testament, wrote his notes on the Evangelists, composed many treatises which were eminently useful to the work of the Reformation. It was in a lonely monastery on the Rhine that John Huss wrote several useful works for the benefit of the Church. It was in prison that Buchanan wrote his beautiful version of the Psalms of David; that Grotius produced his treatise On the Truth of the Christian Religion; that Bunyan wrote his allegory. And if God is blessing us with the sweets of liberty, let them only be the more gratefully improved to the honour of the Giver.

IV. His life. Paul lived exclusively for Christ. If the glory of Jesus could be best promoted by living, then, though hardships unutterable should be his lot, he was willing to live; but if, by dying, he could honour Jesus the more, then to die was he willing (Act_20:24). (J. French.)

Love for Christ

1. Pauls immediate object in going to Jerusalem was to come to some understanding with those Christian Jews who were zealous for the law, and so to put an end to controversies which impaired the development of some of the nobler forms of the Christian life; and impeded the progress of Christian missions. To put an end to these troubles, Paul was willing not to be a prisoner only, but also to die.

2. But the way in which the apostle speaks of his readiness to meet the dangers which menaced him is characteristic of his temper and spirit. It was Christ who was chiefly concerned in the evils of the schism. The Churches which were being divided by it were Christs Churches: He had died for them. The work among the heathen which was being impeded was Christs work: Paul was only His slave. And so the apostle says that he is ready to become a prisoner and even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

3. Paul was on fire with love for Christ, and the passion became more fervent as his life went on. That cooling in the ardour of our first love which some imagine to be inevitable, is not found in the life of Paul. Our question then is--How is a great love for Christ created in a Christian heart?

I. Perhaps the first answer will be by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The answer is profoundly true; but it may be suggested by indolence. We may say that therefore there is nothing for us to do, and let things take their course. If this is our temper, this noble devotion will never be kindled in our souls. It is not by any magical process that the Divine Spirit achieves His great work; without our concurrence He will do nothing.

II. Perhaps the second answer will be that we must learn from the four gospels all that can be known of Christ. This answer falls in with one of the strongest tendencies of modern religious thought. The Church has become weary of the problems of theology, and has turned to the earthly life of Christ. And the story contained in the four Gospels is the enduring wonder and glory of the history of our race. But how many have come to love Christ like Paul through simply reading the four Gospels? It is quite possible to read them and to feel their infinite charm; for the heart to be drawn strongly to Christ by what they tell us about Him, and to recognise Him as God manifest in the flesh, and yet not to love Him like Paul did. Has it ever occurred to you to ask whether, for you, the interest of Christs history, like the interest of the history of ordinary men, closes with His death? If so, the kind of devotion which He inspired in Paul is impossible. Christ may be to us the grandest, the fairest, the most glorious of historic characters. We may believe that in Him the very life of God was expressed in a human character and history. But if the ties which during Christs earthly life united the Divine and the human were dissolved at His death, then God was nearer to man while Christ was visibly present in the world than He has been since; and the awful, the infinite distance between God and ourselves remains what it was before Christ became man. The resurrection of Christ is for the Church as great a fact as the incarnation. But for the resurrection the incarnation would have been a mere passing wonder. I think that there are some of us who forget that Christ is living still. He is a memory with which we would not part for a thousand worlds, but still a memory, and nothing more. He was more than this to Paul. Paul declared that Christ was alive. If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain.

III. We must know that Christ has not merely a glorious place in the history of mankind, but that he is still alive, that He is still the same Christ that delivered the Sermon on the Mount, etc., the same yesterday, today, and forever. But we may believe and know that Christ is alive and yet think of Him with only wonder and reverence, or with only a faint affection, without any depth and energy in it. We may be so hot and eager to make sure of the blessings which Christ has revealed, that we hurry past Christ in order to grasp them; we think of Him a little, but we think most of them; just as a starving man might think of the bread and meat which a friend has brought, and forget the friend who brought them; just as a drowning man might think of his safety when lifted into the lifeboat, and forget the gallant men whose daring and skill have saved him from the wreck; or as an ardent student, excited by the teaching of some great master, might forget the master by whose genius End labour all his joy has been inspired. I also mean that we may be so zealous in good works as to forget who it is for whom we are working. And if we do not think much of Christ, it is certain that we shall not love Him much.

IV. It was to the death of Christ that the apostles most frequently recurred to deepen the intensity of their devotion to him, and it is generally of His death that they are speaking when their love for Him flames out into expressions of vehement passion. There are comparatively few persons who, at the beginning of their Christian life, have any keen sense of sin; and apart from this, there can be no deep impression of the unique power of the death of Christ, through which we have remission of sin. This development of conscience is, however, certain to come if we persist in the endeavour to obey the law of Christ faithfully. And then the Divine forgiveness will not seem a matter of course, but something surprising and almost incredible, and we shall begin to see, as we never saw before, the infinite love and mercy of Christ in becoming a sacrifice for our sins. After this discovery has been made, every confession of sin and every prayer for pardon recalls to us afresh the infinite love of Christ in dying for us. The supreme proof of Christs love takes possession of the soul, and we begin to think more of Him than even of the blessings which He promises in this world, or in the world to come. We love Christ. We find a keener interest and a deeper joy in learning and keeping His commandments. Then we receive--at first with great hesitation, then with increasing courage--those assurances, The Father Himself loveth you because ye have loved Me. If a man love Me he will keep My words, etc. Gods great love for us is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. There is a blessedness in being forgiven for Christs sake. There is a deeper blessedness in knowing that the Divine love for us is so generous that it finds in us something to approve as well as much to pardon.

V. We have not yet mastered Pauls secret. While we are thinking of Christs love for all men, we may know nothing of His love for us as individuals. The world is very large and we are lost in the crowd. But Paul was not merely one of a crowd that Christ loved. He knew of Christs love for himself individually, and a similar knowledge is necessary to us if we are to be inspired with a similar devotion. We must leave it to Him to manifest Himself to us when He sees fit, and in the ways which seem to Him wisest and best. These manifestations vary with the different circumstances of men, with their different temperaments, and with their different characters.

1. Some men as they look back upon their personal history, can recall decisive proofs that Christ has answered their prayers. And just as a man might sit down over a packet of letters which he had received at intervals during many years from his father or mother, and as he turned them over and recalled the circumstances in which they were written, might come to realise more vividly than he had ever realised before the warmth, the intensity, the endurance of his fathers or his mothers love for him--so the remembrance of the special proofs that Christ has heard and answered our prayers produces sometimes what may be described as a revolution in our thoughts about Him.

2. The discovery may come to us in other ways. I suppose that there are times when to some of us it is a great surprise that we are still doing the will of God. Christs personal, individual care for us is the only explanation of the continued existence of our higher life. In Him, not in ourselves, we see the root of whatever constancy we have shown in Gods service; and so we learn that there is in Christ not only a love for the world for which He died--not only a love for all who keep His commandments, but a love for ourselves individually--a love which must have bad a depth, an energy, a tenderness in it--which fill us first with wonder, and then with an affection for Him, such as His love for all mankind and His love for all who are loyal to Him could not have inspired.

3. There is still another way in which our sense of the personal love of Christ is deepened as the years go on. We know that He is one with us in our endeavours to overcome sin and live righteously; that He is our closest and most constant ally; that in our severest conflicts He stands by us. We know that He has a large stake in the issue of every struggle. He does not merely stand by us; He is our comrade, and it is in His strength, not in our own, that we win all our real victories. Conclusion: When this supreme discovery of Christs love for us is once made, it remains. There may be times when the sky is clouded, but we know that the splendour of the sun has not been extinguished. Christ has made, not our house, but our very selves His home. (R. W. Dale, D. D.)

Christian courage

A Hindoo woman applied to the Rev. Mr. Sutton (Baptist missionary) for Christian baptism. He set before her the sufferings which must necessarily follow a renunciation of her heathenish creed; but she replied, I am willing to bear it all; I am ready to sacrifice all to my Lord. Surely, sir, I cannot endure anything in comparison to what He suffered for me.

Devotion to Christ

When Richard Cameron, a noble Scotch martyr, had fallen mortally wounded on Airdsmoss, he said, I am dying, happy--happy; and if I had a thousand lives, I would willingly lay them all down one after another for Christ. Oh! He is near me; I think I see Him! I am just coming, Lord Jesus. And he added, Tell my parents not to weep, but continue steadfast in the faith, and not to fear a suffering lot for Christ.

Courage and submission

I. Courage is, in some senses, a natural gift. No timid man by any effort of will can make himself physically brave. Men differ in their sensibility to pain. Great men--men whose career was singularly bold as politicians--have been found incapable of bearing an operation: they bare died with a wound unprobed. It was not cowardice: it was nervous temperament. There have been soldiers who lacked physical courage; they have had to lash themselves to a battle by the bare sense of duty or by the less noble dread of disgrace. We ought to respect tenfold a man who has triumphed over such obstacles. I respect even more the man who recanted his true creed to avoid the fire, and then in the death which at last he faced held his right hand separately in the flame as though to punish its weakness, than the readier and more instant resolution of his brave fellow martyrs, who rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for truth. Paul said, I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And yet when did Paul ever shrink from danger? What a catalogue is that in 2Co_11:1-33. If Paul was not made for courage, at least he had learned it. And how learned it? The secret is told in a few words of the text. We have all heard of the strength which a weak woman will put forth in saving a loved child from flood or fire; of the bravery with which a wife will encounter perils for a husband, when his life or his honour is jeopardised. Such examples are not instances of changes of character: but they show the force of circumstances in raising character above its common level. Yet suppose now that this transforming cause were constant in its operation: would that love which has wrought wonders under sudden impulse be less powerful, if the demand upon it were perpetual? Love is stronger than death, than the fear of death, than the present sense of any pain however depressing or however agonising. Just such was that motive which St. Paul here indicates--that motive of which his life was the result--when he speaks of being ready to be bound and to die for the name of the Lord Jesus. The love of Christ constrained him. We are not called, in these calm easy days, to feats of bodily courage, but to moral courage. And where is it? Where, amongst us, is that ability to stand alone, to face an adverse world for the love of the Lord Jesus? Alas! in this aspect the brave are cowards, the strong weak, and the great little. We had rather follow a multitude to do evil, than bear a taunting reproach or a disdainful smile.

II. The apostle was brave, and therefore the disciples were submissive. The will of the Lord be done. The words might be read either as a prayer or as an acquiescence. And it is only they who can use them as the one, who can rightly utter them as the other. It is a very common ejaculation, when all efforts are vain, Gods will be done. So speaks the mourner, when all hope of restoration has fled; the bankrupt, when his last card is played; the convicted criminal, when sin is found out. But in these cases it is not a prayer at all It means only, Woe is me! for I am undone. Therefore let us try to pray the words. We have them in the Lords Prayer. But who honestly wishes that Gods will should be entirely done in him and by him? The same is a perfect man. What? No place left for that crooked practice, for that perverse temper, that pastime which I so much enjoyed, for that sin which I so much loved? No; I did not mean that: I did not quite wish that! Therefore out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thine own prayer--that prayer which thou hast said ten times this one day--condemns thee and finds thee out. Resignation is no virtue except so far as it is the product of obedience. (Dean Vaughan.)

Readiness to die

If a man is not ready to die, he is not ready to live. He who is unready to lay down his life at the call of duty, will not use his life to advantage while it is spared to him. It is a great mistake to suppose that it is a mans first duty to take care of his life, or to preserve his health, or to look out for his own interests, or to protect or support his family. His first duty is to do right. His second duty is to do right. His last duty is to do right. If the responsibility is upon him for the hour to risk his health, or his life, in behalf of his family, or of a stranger or of any trust committed to him, he ought to take the risk, and push ahead at any cost. Living is a good business for a man only when a man is as ready to die as to live. But it was for the name of the Lord Jesus that Paul was ready to be bound or to die. There is no true discipleship of Jesus which does not reach thus far. He who would not die for his Saviour does not live for his Saviour. Unless the disciple gives his Saviour the first place in his affections, his discipleship is only an empty name. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Preparedness for death

I. Death detaches a man from depending on what is material. He who is dependent on business, home, pleasures, etc., is not ready to die. For if these are all to him, all will go from him. Jesus delivers us from the spell of materialism.

1. He makes matter itself a parable of the spiritual.

2. He gives us spiritual views and attachments that are more to us than any matter yields. Love, duty, heaven.

II. Death involves an experience of utter loneliness. Can we endure that? Can we in bearing our sorrows, holding our convictions, spending many epochs of our life, stand alone. If not, we are not ready to die. Jesus, by His example and spirit, teaches us to say, I am alone, yet not alone. Learning that, we are ready to die.

III. Death brings us into the most vivid realisation of Gods presence. Do we dread that? or has Jesus taught us to say, Our Father? If so we can say, I am ready to die. (Homiletic Monthly.)

Faith, hope, and love, the attending angels of the Christian in his journey to the heavenly Jerusalem

I. Childlike faith, which on dark paths resigns itself to the will of God in doing and suffering (verses 13-15).

II. Brotherly love, which communicates and receives comfort in cordial fellowship amid the toils of the journey (verses 4-6, 12 13).

III. Victorious hope, which, unmoved in joy and suffering, looks forward to the heavenly termination (verses 13-15). (K. Gerok.)

The power of Christianity

Pauls conflict of feeling suggestive of very noble and comprehensive character. Some have strength and no tenderness; others tenderness and no strength. Paul had both; notwithstanding he felt the kindness shown, he felt it his duty to be steadfast.

I. Its absorbing power.

1. As to its evidences.

2. Sense of adaptation.

3. Great personal influence made to bear. Love of Christ.

II. Its impelling power. Paul was to go to Jerusalem in fulfilment of his mission, so in--

1. A profession of discipleship.

2. Consecrations of a life of godliness.

3. Active efforts on behalf of the truth. Luther would go to Worms though as many devils there as tiles on houses.

III. Its assuring power. The apostles calm and confidence striking. In view of all possibilities, prison, death, he was composed.

1. We can never go wrong with God as our Guide.

2. No trial too great if resting on Him.

3. In view of death the Christian has the loftiest hopes.

Polycarp, Latimer, and Ridley at Oxford. Application: What Christianity enables us to do for it is the measure of its hold upon us. In serving God we have a resource and confidence most sustaining and sublime. Christ is Christianity, admit Him to your soul. (G. McMichael, B. A.)

And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Submission to the will of God

I. The revealed will of God lies upon two pages--the page of Scripture and the page of providence. There were three trials pressing upon the men of Caesarea when they meekly folded their hands and said, The will of the Lord be done.

1. There was defeat, for they were beaten in an argument into which they had evidently thrown all their power; consequently there was--

2. Disappointment, everything went contrary to their hopes and expectations; and--

3. There was grief, the bitter grief of a painful bereavement. What is the secret of rest in all these things? I see nothing but a profound and adoring sense of God--to look away till we see only Him, His counsel ordaining, His love presiding, His hand guiding, His Spirit sanctifying, His glory crowning. The will of the Lord be done.

II. But I turn to the unrevealed will. After all this was the main thought of the company of Caesarea. We cannot tell which is right, Paul or we. The Lord will show in His own time. What He decides must be best. The will of the Lord be done. It is a hard thing to sit and watch one I love, and to school my heart to receive, I do not know what, and I am afraid to ask what. But all the while, far above all this, over the perplexity, and over the mystery, and over the dread, there is reigning the high will of God, and that will is bearing on to its own destined purpose, and it must prevail. And here is faiths large field--the unrevealed will of God. Unite yourself with it, throw yourself upon it absolutely. Let it bear you where it will; it can only bear you home. The will of the Lord be done. (J. Vaughan.)

Acquiescence in the Divine will

A rare spirit of acquiescence in the Divine will was recently displayed by a poor woman in Atlanta, Georgia. She was supported entirely by charity, she had scarcely any education, but had learned a lesson many highly-cultured people have failed to learn. Having endured great bodily affliction for many years, her disease reached its last stage, and she lay apparently at the point of death for four or five weeks. Every day, and almost every hour, was thought to be the last, but to the astonishment of all she continued to breathe. Her sufferings were very severe, and knowing her to be ready for the great change, her friends were almost hoping for the moment of her release. One of them said to her, Well M--, are you ready to go? Yes, said she, ready to go but willing to wait!

Submission to the Divine will

Payson was asked, when under great bodily affliction, if he could see any particular reason for this dispensation. No, replied he, but I am as well satisfied as if I could see ten thousand; Gods will is the very perfection of all reason. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Gods way the best

Driven by an instinct which neither we nor they can comprehend, the swallows pass with the changing seasons from clime to clime. Over miles of weary plain, over lofty mountain walls, across leagues of sea, into lands unknown before, they follow with gladness and trust the Hand that guides them. We, too, have a journey to make into lands unknown to us: we, too, have a Hand to guide us in that long journey. Shame is it for us if we follow the leadings of that Hand with less of gladness and of trust than the unreasoning birds of heaven. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Resolution in service

Henry Townley, a fashionable and sceptical lawyer, whose conversion, followed by that of his brother and mother, was spoken of by a missionary, just returned from Africa, as one of the two most startling pieces of news he heard on his arrival in England, the other being the downfall of Buonaparte, determined to become a missionary to India at his own expense. All his friends, including his pastor, sought to dissuade him, as his health was extremely delicate. His mother came up to London to remonstrate with him, and with the directors of the London Missionary Society. Having used with her son all possible argument and persuasion, she left him for the night, and the next morning finding him unmoved, she said, It is as certainly the will of God that you should go to Calcutta as if an angel came from heaven to tell you so, for had it been otherwise you had never endured the test of yesterday, but would have given up the design. Now go, and the Lord be with you. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 21:13. Συνθρύπτοντες, breaking, afflicting) The apostles were not altogether void of human affections (feelings).—δεθῆναι) to be bound: Act 21:11.—ἑτοίμως ἔχω, I am ready, I am in a state of readiness) The burden is light to him who is ready.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 21:13 . τί ποιεῖτε κλαί .: what do ye, weeping? (as we might say “what are you about?” etc.), cf. Mar 11:5 (Act 14:15 ). συνθ .: in Attic Greek, to break, to break in pieces, and so ἀποθρύπτω is used of (1) breaking in pieces, (2) breaking in spirit, enervating τὰς ψυχάς , cf. Plat., Rep. , 495 E.; here συνθ . means to weaken the Apostle’s purpose rather than to break his heart in sorrow. ἐγὼ , emphatic, I for my part. οὐ μόνον in N.T., rather than μὴ μόνον with the infinitive, Burton, p. 183. ἑτοίμως ἔχω : the exact phrase only once elsewhere in N.T., and there used by St. Paul, 2Co 12:14 ( cf. 1Pe 4:5 ): “qui paratus est, ei leve onus est,” Bengel. Ewald compares this firm determination and courage of St. Paul with our Lord’s last journey to Jerusalem, cf. Luk 9:51 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart--Beautiful union of manly resoluteness and womanly tenderness, alike removed from mawkishness and stoicism!

I am ready not to be bound only--"If that is all, let it come."

but to die, &c.--It was well he could add this, for he had that also to do.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. I am ready, not to be bound only] He was resolute and determined; but was under no constraining necessity. See Clarke on Ac 21:4.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?—Better, What mean ye weeping and breaking . . .? The intense sensitiveness of St. Paul’s nature shows itself in every syllable. It was with no Stoic hardness that he resisted their entreaties. They were positively crushing to him. He adhered to his purpose, but it was as with a broken heart. In spite of this, however, his martyr-like, Luther-like nature carried him forward. Bonds and imprisonment!—these he had heard of when he was yet at Corinth and Ephesus, before he had started on his journey; but what were they to one who was ready to face death? The pronouns are throughout emphatic. “You are breaking my heart. I, for my part, am ready . . .”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. Then Paul answered. What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart] Better (with Rev. Ver.), “What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart?” The sentence is little more than an emphatic question, “Why do ye weep?” implying, of course, the exhortation, “Don’t weep, &c.” The verb for “break” is found only here in N. T., and signifies the weakening of purpose in any one. So the Apostle intimates not that they intended, as we should say “to break his heart” by adding to his sorrow, but to weaken his determination, and deter him from his journey.

for … Jesus] The pronoun “I” stands emphatically in the Greek, and shews that the Apostle had long ago counted the cost of Christ’s service, and found the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory that was to be revealed.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Paul answered, what mean ye to weep,.... For they were crying about him, both his companions and the disciples of Caesarea; which affected him, and gave him great uneasiness, even more than the prophecies of Agabus did:

and to break my heart? for though he was resolved to go to Jerusalem, and nothing could move him from it, his heart was firm as a rock; there was no shaking him, or making impressions upon him that way; yet their tears and importunity greatly afflicted him, and the more because he could by no means comply with their request:

for I am ready not to be bound only, but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus; for as yet, he knew not but he should die there; it was revealed to him that he should be bound there, but it was not yet suggested to him where he should suffer death, whether there or elsewhere; and since he knew not but it might be there, he was ready for it; bonds were so far from distressing his mind, and deterring him from his intended journey, that death itself could not do it; which showed great intrepidity, courage, and firmness of mind.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

13 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.

Ver. 13. What mean you to weep?] Ecclesiastical history mentioneth one Phileas, a nobleman and a martyr, who going to execution, seemed as one deaf at the persuasions and blind at the tears of his friends; Nam quomodo potest terrenis lachrymis flecti cuius oculi coelestem gloriam contuentur? said one Philoramus defending him, and was therefore beheaded with him.

I am ready, not to be bound] This was a brave Roman resolution. Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam, said Pompey. The Lacedaemonians were wont to say, It is a shame for any man to flee in time of danger; but for a Lacedaemonian, it is a shame for him to deliberate. How much more for a Christian, when called by God to suffer! Go (said Luther), I will surely go (since I am sent for) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, yea, though I knew there were so many devils to resist me as there are tiles to cover the houses in Worms. Spalatinus had sent to Luther, to inquire whether or no he would go to Worms, and appear in the gospel’s cause, if Csesar summoned him; Omnia de me praesumas (said he) praeter fugam, et palinodiam. Fugere nolo, multo minus recantare. Ita me confortet Dominus. Socrates would not hearken to his friend Criton, persuading him to shift for himself by a dishonourable flight. And when some friends dealt with Dr Taylor, martyr, not to appear before Stephen Winchester, but to flee; Flee you (said he), and do as your conscience leads you; I am fully determined, with God’s grace, to go to the bishop, and to his beard to tell him that he doth naught. True zeal is of a most masculine, disengaged, courageous nature, and ready to say, Shall I change mine opinion, because Hoc Ithacus velit? does Ithacus wish this? remit of my diligence for fear of death? Oh, that I might enjoy those wild beasts prepared for my torments, said blessed Ignatius. {a} And oh, that it might be so with me, said Basil, threatened with death by Valens the Arian emperor. {b} So we read of another holy bishop, who when his hand was threatened to be cut off, cried out, Seca ambas, nay, cut off both.

{a} Οναιμην των θηριων των εμοι ητοιμασμενων.

{b} Ειθε γενοιτο μοι.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

What mean ye - Greek: What do ye. A tender and affectionate, but firm reproach.

To weep and to break mine heart? - To afflict me, and distract my mind by alarms, and by the expressions of tenderness. His mind was fixed on going to Jerusalem; and he felt that he was prepared for whatever awaited him. Expressions of tenderness among friends are proper. Tears may be inevitable at parting from those whom we love. But such expressions of love ought not to be allowed to interfere with the convictions of duty in their minds. If they have made up their minds that a certain course is proper, and have resolved to pursue it, we ought neither to attempt to divert them from it, nor to distract their minds by our remonstrances or our tears. We should resign them to their convictions of what is demanded of them with affection and prayer, but with cheerfulness. We should lend them all the aid in our power, and then commend them to the blessing and protection of God. These remarks apply especially to those who are engaged in the missionary enterprise.

It is trying to part with a son, a daughter, or a beloved friend, in order that they may go to proclaim the gospel to the benighted and dying pagan. The act of parting - for life, and the apprehension of the perils which they may encounter on the ocean, and in pagan lands, may be painful; but if they, like Paul, have looked at it calmly, candidly, and with much prayer; if they have come to the deliberate conclusion that it is the will of God that they should devote their lives to this service, we ought not to weep and to break their hearts. We should cheerfully and confidently commit them to the protection of the God whom they serve, and remember that the parting of Christians, though for life, will be short. Soon, in a better world, they will be united again, to part no more; and the blessedness of that future meeting will be greatly heightened by all the sorrows and self-denials of separation here, and by all the benefits which such a separation may be the means of conveying to a dying world. That mother will meet, with joy, in heaven, the son from whom, with many tears, she was sundered when he entered on a missionary life; and, surrounded with many ransomed pagan, heaven will be made more blessed and eternity more happy.

But also to die - This was the true spirit of a martyr. This spirit reigned in the hearts of all the early Christians.

For the name of the Lord Jesus - For his sake; in making his name known.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? a strange strife, who should overcome by loving most, as in that betwixt David and Jonathan, 1Sa 20:41,42. This undaunted champion, who did not seem to feel any of his own afflictions and miseries, yet grieves for the grief and sympathy of others, and bears a double weight in his burdens; one directly and immediately from them, as lying upon himself; the other mediately, as recoiling from others (who suffered with him) unto him again.

But also to die; as Christ’s love for us was stronger than death, Son 8:6, so must our love be to him again, or it is not of the same nature with his, nor begotten by it.

For the name of the Lord Jesus; his truth, and glory.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. What mean ye?—What do ye? or, What are you doing? A question of surprise, yet tenderness.

Break my heart—In all their agony he could share; but not for a moment in their readiness to shrink from the duty and the suffering.

Die… for… Jesus—They saw the danger and the death; he saw also the duty. Had they seen, even for themselves, the same duty and the same cause, doubtless they too, like him, would have moved on to danger and death: for it is a company of rare spirits who are here clustered by affinity around this holy apostle.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? A.V. (the same sense only a more modern idiom). Breaking. Sunqruptontev occurs only here in the New Testament, or indeed in any Greek writer, though the simple form, qruptw, is common in medical writers, and ajpoqruptw occurs in Plato. It has the force of the Latin frangere animum, to crush and weaken the spirit. I am ready. Paul"s answer reminds us of Peter"s saying to our Lord, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison, and to death". (Luk_22:33) But Peter"s resolve was made in his own strength, Paul"s in the strength of the Holy Ghost; and so the one was broken, and the other was kept.

A tender heart to a strong conscience.

It might be thought that Paul had already sufficiently run the gauntlet of warnings touching the consequences of going to Jerusalem. (Act_19:21 Act_20:16, Act_20:22, 23 21:4, 11) If his resolution could have been altered, or his conscience stilled an hour, this was the hour. But, instead of showing any symptom of being "in a strait betwixt two," even in an hour of such tenderness, it is now that "his heart is fixed." The needle points unerringly and without a quivering deflection, and moral resolution touches the point of moral sublimity. And we may justly sound here the praise of conscience; for in advancing degrees, we see

I THE PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE IN THE PRESENCE OF DANGER.

II THE GREATER PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE IN THE PRESENCE OF AFFECTION.

III THE GREATEST PRAISE OF CONSCIENCE, IN ITS ATTITUDE OF COMPLETE SURRENDER TO THE SPIRIT OF PERFECT TRUTH AND PERFECT GUIDANCE.

IV THE PERFECTION OF THE CONSCIENCE IN ITSELF, WHEN IT OWNS TO NO TREMBLING, NO WAVERING. There was no coldness, no hardness, no unrelentingness of heart, in that grand hour, when Paul"s heart was ready to break for human affection"s sake, but was a very tower of strength toward Christ as in him. B.

St. Peter and St. Paul compared in boasting.

This strong declaration, "I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus," sounds very much like the language of St. Peter to his Master. "Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake." And yet there is the most vital distinction between the spirit and tone and temper of the two sayings, and the difference comes fully out in the actions that followed. Self-trusting Peter failed in the testing hour. Christ trusting Paul went on to win the martyr"s crown. This is the subject before us; but in introducing it there should be some estimate of the blended strength and weakness of Peter"s character before his fall. The boldness and forwardness were valuable qualities for one who was to be a leading gospel witness and missionary; but before the humbling experience of his fall, Peter"s forwardness meant undue self-reliance. So our Lord had on one occasion to speak more sternly to him than to any other of his disciples, even saying, "Get thee behind me, Satan." There should be also a due estimate of the highly wrought condition of Paul"s feeling when he uttered the seemingly boastful words of our text. "The intense sensitiveness of St. Paul"s nature shows itself in every syllable. It was with no Stoic hardness that he resisted their entreaties. They were positively crushing to him. He adhered to his purpose, but it was as with a broken heart. In spite of this, however, his martyr-like, Luther-like nature carried him forward. Bonds and imprisonment! these he had heard of when he was yet at Corinth and Ephesus, before he had started on his journey; hut what were they to one who was ready to face death?" The comparison may take three forms.

I ST. PETER"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF INEXPERIENCE, He talked about dying with Jesus, but he did not know what dying was. He had not suffered much in his discipleship. Persecutions nor shame had yet touched him. He talked about dying as we all do until God has taken us and set us down at the very edge of the borderland. Many of us feel very confident that we can master temptation, endure affliction, and face death; while the truth may be that we know nothing of the force or the subtlety of either, and may well be humble, and look on to untried scenes saying, "Lead thou me on.

II ST. PAUL"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF EXPERIENCE. He had fully proved what he could do, and what he could bear, for Christ"s sake. He had been sick and ill; he had faced death by shipwreck; he had been stoned by the mob, and left for dead. He was always bearing about in the body the "dying of the Lord Jesus." He might speak strongly and confidently; for there could be nothing in his coming lot that had not been represented in his past experiences. He knew well that he labored day by day with his life, as it were, in his hands. There is all the difference between his words and St. Peter"s that we find between the confident utterance of a youth and the calm expressions Of the aged. And St. Paul"s has really no boastfulness in it. It is but the fixed and settled purpose of his life pressed out into intense language.

III ST. PETER"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF PASSIONATE FEELING. He did love the Master, and was sincere in expressing his love; but he did not think about his words before speaking, so they bear the character of the impulsive man that St. Peter was. Under excitement we may easily promise too much. Under self-restraint we shall find that what we would and what we can seriously differ from each other. When feeling is calmed, judgment will not always support what feeling has said.

IV ST. PAUL"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF SETTLED CONVICTION. The result, not of resolve alone, but of resolve tested, renewed, and established. Sober, settled conviction breathes in that first chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians. It is quiet, calm writing. And it reads thus: "With all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The same tone of settled conviction is on his glowing words so simply written in his letter to Timothy: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Such expressions can never be mistaken for boasting; they are only signs of a soul that is sublimely uplifted in the strength of its faith, and in the fullness of its experience.

V ST, PETER"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. This being the more familiar view taken of St. Peter"s words, the mode of treating it may be left. The point to impress is that he spoke relying in himself, and with no question of his own ability to carry out what he said. He that leaneth on himself leaneth on a reed that will too surely bend beneath his weight. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." And St. Peter"s own Master thus solemnly warned both him and his fellow-disciples: "Without me ye can do nothing." Then and now, self-confidence is only vain confidence.

VI ST. PAUL"S BOASTING WAS THAT OF FULL SUBMISSION. St. Peter thought of "dying with Christ" as something to do. St. Paul thought of it as something to bear. Christ did not ask St. Peter to die with him. He pushed himself into the place. Christ did ask St. Paul to suffer and to die for him, and the tender grace of his seeming boasting lies in its being his full acceptance of God"s will for him, and his assurance that, however hard to flesh and blood, his will is love. St. Paul"s spirit took his confidence altogether away from self, and made it rest altogether on Christ. St. Peter said, "I can do all things." St. Paul said, "I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me." After his humiliation, St. Peter was converted to the better mind; and illustration of his humble and trustful spirit may be taken from his Epistles. Especially notice 1Pe_5:6, 1Pe_5:7, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Breaking my heart - For the apostles themselves were not void of human affections. I am ready not only to be bound, but to die - And to him that is ready for it, the burden is light.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

See notes on verse 10

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. τότε before ἀπεκρίθη with אABC. Vulg. ‘tunc respondit.’

13. τί ποιεῖτε κλαίοντες καὶ συνθρύπτοντές μον τὴν καρδίαν; what do yet weeping and breaking my heart? i.e. what are you seeking to effect thereby?

συνθρύπτειν is a very rare word; its sense is to weaken the purpose of any one. The Apostle does not mean ‘break my heart’ in the ordinary sense of adding to his load of sorrow so as to overpower him. The deterring from his journey by weakening his determination is what his words indicate.

ἐγὼ γὰρ κ.τ.λ., for I, &c. The pronoun stands emphatically, though we cannot express its force in English. St Paul had long ago counted the cost of Christ’s service, and had found the sufferings of the present time not worthy to he compared with the future glory.

ἀποθανεῖν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, to die at Jerusalem. For εἰς following a verb indicating rest, but implying previous motion, cf. Act 8:40, Φιλιππος δὲ εὑρέθη εἰς Ἄζωτον.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13.] The τότε, which has been changed in the rec. for the ordinary copula, gives solemnity to the answer about to be related: q. d. It was then that Paul said.

συνθρύπτοντες] The present part. does not imply the endeavour merely, here or any where else, but as Meyer quotes from Schaefer, Eurip. Phœn. 79, ‘Vere incipit actus, sed ob impedimenta caret eventu.’

γάρ] Either, ‘your proceeding is in vain, for …’—or ‘cease to do so, for.…’

εἰς Ἱερ] on my arrival at: the motion to, which was the subject in question, is combined with that which might result on it: see reff. and ch. 2:39.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am ready [ετοιμως εχω] . Lit., 1 hold myself in readiness.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.