The Pastor's Letter (March 1976)
Dear Friends,
One of the many great resolves that fell from the lips of the apostle Paul is found in the 21st chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and at verse 13. Paul has just been warned, in the most vivid fashion, by the Prophet Agabus, of the fate that awaits him if he continues in his plans to go up into the city of Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. The Jews at Jerusalem are going to "bind" Paul, Agabus warns him as he takes Paul's girdle and binds his own hands and feet to demonstrate that utterance. The believers, who are looking on during this display, are greatly moved at the thought of what lies in store for the great apostle, and they endeavour to turn him from that course with their entreaties and overtures. Then follows Paul's great resolve: "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."
That first part of that statement – where Paul announces his perfect willingness to suffer those things that Agabus has spoken of – itself sets out Acts 21 verse 13 as one of Paul's great resolves. But it's when Paul soars away and beyond the very worst that Agabus has spoken concerning him that we really get the full force of the determination that belongs to the Lord's apostle at this time. "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?" he says, "for, I am not only ready to be bound at Jerusalem, I am ready to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." And surely that is a word to be reckoned with? "I am ready to die," says Paul. A word that each and every one of us needs to be able to say within our heart; for even though we may never be called to die a martyr's death for the sake of the Lord Jesus, nevertheless (in the normal run of things) we will most assuredly die and need to know the comfort and the assurance of being "Ready to die."
Now, there are an awful lot of people in our own day who imagine and think that they are "ready to die" simply because they feel willing enough to say goodbye to this present mode of life they now find themselves in. "When your time comes you have to go," is an outlook that many adopt, and they settle themselves on that philosophy. But this was not the readiness of the apostle Paul. Indeed, it was part of it; he was ready in the sense of being willing to leave this present world through the gates of death. But that was only part of the story. The real readiness lay, not just in a willingness to turn his face from things that he had to leave in this world, but in an ability to turn his face towards the face of his God whom he had to meet in the next. Being "ready to die" in the way that the apostle Paul was ready to die, involves being able to die as well as being willing to die.
You may know something of the encounter between the Evangelist and the burdened Pilgrim in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Evangelist asks the Pilgrim why he is crying out, "What must I do to be saved?" "He answered, Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgement; and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second. Then said Evangelist, Why not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils? The man answered, Because I fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave ..."
That's it, my friends. There was the grave; but that man with the "burden" on his back – the knowledge and guilt of his sin before God – knew that that burden would sink him "lower than the grave," as he puts it. Not only was his body bound for the grave, but beyond the grave both body and soul would be cast into hell fire. He had a "book" in his hand, you remember – it was the Bible – and in that book he read two things: 1. He was condemned to die; 2. After that, to come to judgement. And says he "I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second." The one is dependant on the other you see. The reason that he is not willing to die is because he is not able to come to the judgement. He knows that he is not able to face the face of his God in heaven above, and for that precise reason he is not willing to turn his face from the things of this present existence that he now finds himself in.
Ready to die? Do you mean willing to leave this world? That was not Paul's readiness. Indeed he was ready in the sense of being willing to leave it; but only because he knew he was able to enter into that eternal world where he must stand before his God at last. What made him able? Only one thing: he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart, and through faith in Christ's name he had salvation through Christ's blood that was shed for all them that believe. The sight of the cross was the thing that lifted that burden from the Pilgrim's back at last; it did the same with Paul, and filled his mouth with that resolve that day, "I am ready to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."