Paul leaves the Ephesian elders in Miletus and heads for Jerusalem, which requires a few stops along the way. In this message, we'll witness the special bond between genuine believers and delve into some issues related to the gift of prophecy.
Transcription (automatically-generated):
Our brother Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, after which he plans to sail to Rome. He hopes to use Rome as a new home base from which to evangelize Western Europe, including countries like Spain. However, hanging over Paul's travels are repeated warnings from the Holy Spirit that persecution and imprisonment await him in Jerusalem. As we open Acts chapter 21, Paul has just said his goodbyes to the elders from Ephesus after sharing with them some final words of encouragement and warning. So let's jump into Acts 21.
We'll begin in verse one, where we read, after we tore ourselves away from them, that is, the Ephesian elders, we set sail straight for Cos the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara. It was unsafe to sail at night because of the many small islands in the area. The risk of running aground was significant. Additionally, the wind in those parts didn't really blow at night, so they leapfrogged from island to island, close to the mainland coastline, sailing by the light of day and staying safely in port at night. Verse two.
Finding a ship, crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail. Phoenicia, you may recall, is the coastal region that spans present-day northern Israel, Lebanon, and southern Syria, pretty much the middle 70% of the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean. Paul and his party now undertook a longer, likely five-day sailing to Phoenicia. And this was doable because it was a straight shot through island-free waters accompanied by favorable winds as they sailed pretty much southeast across the Mediterranean. After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, so they sailed under the island of Cyprus.
We sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre. Since the ship was to unload its cargo there, we sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Tyre was a major port, and so the ship stayed there for a full week to unload its cargo, generate new business, load new cargo on the ship before continuing south down the coast, likely picking up more cargo on the way before making its final return trip northwest. And Paul and his crew were going to travel with this ship further south down the coast, but they had to wait a week for the ship to take care of its business. Paul would have likely never met the Christians in Tyre.
The church there had almost certainly been planted by believers fleeing the persecution that broke out in Jerusalem after Stephen's martyrdom. We read about that at the end of Acts chapter seven and the beginning of chapter eight. That persecution was ironically spearheaded by Paul before his conversion. Paul's love for the church was seemingly inexhaustible. You know, it strikes me that he could have said to himself, oh, the Lord is so gracious, giving me a week in this beautiful seaside town to rest and recharge my batteries and refresh my.
Would he could have kicked back on the beach, enjoyed some good food, done a little bit of writing, caught up on some sleep, and easily justified it to himself. I mean, after all, who was doing more for the church than Paul? But that wasn't his heart. His heart gas is. Must find the brothers and sisters in Christ in this city.
I must encourage them, fellowship with them, and be encouraged by them. That's why it says he sought them out. This is a mark of Christian maturity that is sadly lacking in many Christians today. It is the immature saint who says, I'm tired, so I'll just skip church. I'm tired.
I'll cut back on fellowshipping with my brothers and sisters. You know, it's been a busy season. I could use a break. So I'll just take a break from serving Christ. The mature saint understands that these are some of the very things that energize our faith.
These things are gifts from God and commands from God that do not have a little asterisk next to them that leads to a footnote that reads, unless you don't feel like it or unless you're tired, or unless there's been a lot going on recently. Paul was mature. Therefore, he recognized his need for fellowship. He recognized his need to build up his brethren and be built up by his brethren. And if Paul needed that, I don't know who the heck we are to think that we don't.
Mature Christians. Write this down. Mature Christians recognize their need to worship with, fellowship with, and serve their church family. I'll say it again. Mature Christians recognize their need to worship with, fellowship with, and serve their church family.
Then we read that through the Spirit, they, the believers entire, told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Now, at first reading, this can sound like Paul is disobeying the Holy Spirit, but he's not. I'll give you the punchline up front, and then I'll explain in greater detail. Here's what's going on in this verse. The Holy Spirit is giving the brethren in Tyre the same prophetic warning he has given through other believers at earlier stops on Paul's journey, the warning that persecution and imprisonment await him in Jerusalem.
The Holy Spirit has also filled the brethren in Tyre with love for Paul, the love of God. And so when they receive word from the Holy Spirit about what's waiting for Paul in Jerusalem, they do the logical thing out of their love for him and plead with him not to go. They love Paul and they don't want to see any harm befall him. When you read all the places in Acts where the Holy Spirit gives this kind of prophetic warning to Paul about Jerusalem, it's just that it's a warning, not a prohibition. The Holy Spirit is warning Paul, not forbidding Paul.
The idea that he would disregard an explicit command from the Holy Spirit delivered multiple times runs against everything documented in scripture regarding Paul's character, behavior, and motivations. In just the previous chapter, Paul had told the Ephesian elders, I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. The Holy Spirit was leading Paul to Jerusalem and graciously warning him to prepare for suffering and trials. The will of God does not always follow the path of least resistance. Sometimes it leads us directly into suffering and trials for God's glory and purposes and our sanctification.
Such was the case here, and Paul was fully prepared to follow the will of God to death. In Acts 20:24, he told the Ephesian elders, I consider my life of no value to myself. My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of God's grace. Paul considered his journey to Jerusalem to be part of the ministry he received from the Lord Jesus. It makes little sense to suggest that the spirit was forbidding Paul from doing what Jesus had commanded him to do.
No scripture implies that Paul in any way disobeyed God when he traveled to Jerusalem. And later on in Acts 23, verse one, Paul will testify before the Sanhedrin, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day. Paul's attitude was, I know Jerusalem is going to be bad, but Jesus is sending me there, and I'm ready to pay whatever price it costs. And after I endure whatever awaits me in Jerusalem, I'll head west to preach the gospel in places like Rome and Spain. Paul talks about those plans in Romans 15:20-29, if you're interested.
Now, as I shared a few studies ago, I believe the spirit gave Paul these repeated prophetic warnings to number one, allow him to say his goodbyes and share some last words with those he loved. And number two, let Paul know that no miraculous deliverance was coming this time. This would allow Paul to fix all his hope on Heaven and avoid unnecessary discouragement brought about by hoping for an earthly resolution to his trials. While difficult, this knowledge was a kindness given by God to Paul. In verse is, we read, when our time had come to an end in Tyre, we left to continue our journey while all of them, all the brethren in Tyre with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city.
This scene is so moving. After kneeling down on the beach to pray, we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home. Paul seeks out fellowship with believers in a church that was started by those fleeing the persecution Paul himself was leading against the church. In a matter of days, these believers fall in love with Paul as a brother to such a degree that when he departs the whole church, all of them come to see him off with their entire families, kneeling down on the beach and praying together. Paul must have been an absolutely incredible man.
And those who loved the Lord were just drawn to him. They were drawn to Christ in him. And such is the immediate bond and love that is possible between all genuine disciples of Christ, who love Jesus deeply and will therefore love his people deeply wherever they find them. I love that these dads and moms felt compelled to bring their children to say goodbye to Paul. They knew of his reputation, and they had experienced Paul's heart and character personally over those few days.
And it moved them to say, we have to bring our children to be part of this, because Paul is a great man, and our kids will remember for the rest of their lives the days when he came to visit our church. Verse seven. When we completed our voyage from Tire, we reached Ptolemy, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. Like the church in Tire, this church would have been planted by those fleeing Paul's persecution in Jerusalem following Stephen's martyrdom. And even though Paul stops with this boat for only one day, he uses that one day to seek out the brethren in Ptolemy.
It didn't matter to Paul whether he had planted the church. He loved the church of Jesus because he loved Jesus. Paul truly had, as he would later write, concern for all the churches. Verse eight. The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
This is not the Philip who was one of the twelve disciples. This is the Philip who is a hellenistic jew who was one of the seven men chosen in Acts chapter six to oversee the distribution of bread to widows in the Jerusalem church. In Acts chapter eight, this Philip journeyed from Jerusalem into Samaria, where he performed miracles and preached the gospel, sparking a revival among the Samaritans. In that same chapter, we read about his miraculous encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. In Acts, chapter eight, verse 40, we were told that Philip preached the gospel all the way up to Caesarea, and when we check in on him years later, he's moved there.
This is notable because Caesarea was a seaside town favored by the ruling Roman class and was the center of worship for a pagan God named Pan. Therefore, despite being geographically in Israel, Jews did not willingly live in Caesarea. During the first century, it was a pagan town. Pan was half man, half goat. And in Caesarea Philippi, there was and is a huge rock with a cave in it.
A stream flowed behind the rock and into a nearby hill through a small opening. And because of gasses and the wind and such, this opening would sometimes make strange and spooky noises. And the locals decided that these were spirits passing in and out of the underworld through this little entrance where the river behind this rock entered the mountain. And so they referred to that spot as the gate of Hades, the gates of the underworld. They turned the cave in, that giant rock into a shrine to Pan and likely had a statue to him set up there.
And those who worshiped him would do so through bizarre sexual rituals that, let's just say, involved people and animals in various combinations. It was the last place a good Jewish boy would ever go. And yet Jesus took his disciples there for a day trip, where he famously told Peter, on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Jesus declared that the gospel would have the power to penetrate even the darkest places. And a couple of decades later, we learn that one of the great evangelists of the early church has moved there with his family.
I love that. I imagine this scene where they're going to the house of Philip as though it were a sitcom. It's just the way my brain works. And Philip is making a callback cameo appearance. I sort of imagine Paul knocking on the door without us knowing who's about to answer.
And then when it opens, we see it's Philip, and he says hello. And the studio audience goes, woo. And it's a great little callback moment, verse nine. This man, Philip, had four virgin daughters who prophesied. Now, we got to unpack this a little bit.
First, let's define what prophecy is. Now, I could do a whole message on prophecy, but I got to keep this message moving. So I'm just going to share a summary on this. And if you want the verses to back up these points, just shoot me an email and I'd be glad to share them with you. But make a note of this prophecy is speaking on God's behalf at the prompting of his spirit.
Prophecy is speaking on God's behalf at the prompting of his spirit. In other words, prophecy is saying something God tells you to say when and where he tells you to say it. Prophecy generally includes one or more of five aspects. Prophecy can include predicting the future. It can include revealing secret information the one prophesying could not have known.
In other words, it must be revealed by God. Prophecy can include a message from God related to the present, something he wants people to know right now and to do right now. Prophecy can include a reminder of what God has spoken previously, for example, through his word. And prophecy can also be praise inspired by the Holy Spirit. In other words, a person speaking words or sharing verses is the Holy Spirit praying through a person glorifying God.
Now, under the old covenant, predominantly in the Old Testament, the spirit of God would come upon men and women momentarily to tell them what to say and when and where to say it. The standard of a prophet in the Old Testament was perfect accuracy. You had to bat a thousand. If a prophet in Israel made a prediction saying, this is what the Lord says, and he turned out to be wrong, that prophet was to be executed according to the law of God for falsely claiming to be speaking on God's behalf. In other words, it's not a light thing to say, thus saith the Lord, and be wrong.
Suffice it to say, during the seasons of history when Israel was following the Lord, there were not a lot of false prophets around. Under the old covenant, prophets would generally deal with issues relating to God's people, the nation of Israel. And God would speak through them to give direction to his people as a nation, collectively or through the king. Under the new covenant in the New Testament, every believer has the Holy Spirit in them. And in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul clarifies that the spirit can empower and enable any believer to prophesy at any time.
I do not mean that we can prophesy whenever we want. I mean to say that the Holy Spirit, at his discretion, can enable, empower, and prompt any believer to prophesy. Paul teaches in Ephesians four that prophets are a gift given to the body of Christ, the church by Jesus for this purpose, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ. That tells us there exists in the church not only the gift of prophecy, but people who are prophets, but not everyone who prophesies is a prophet, just as not everyone who teaches is a teacher in the sense that scripture is speaking about it. Not everyone who cares for another believer is a pastor.
It seems reasonable to assume that one of the differences between a believer who has, on occasion, prophesied and a prophet is that a prophet demonstrates the gift of prophecy with notable regularity. Additionally, it would seem reasonable to assume that a prophet would likely prophesy in each of the five ways I mentioned earlier with varying degrees of frequency. Now, in the next verse, we're going to meet a man named Agabus, who is referred to as a prophet. Yet verse is verse nine. Philip's daughters are not referred to as prophetesses, but Pax Romana, who prophesied.
Philip's daughters were prophesying with integrity and regularity. Otherwise, it wouldn't be notable enough for Luke to mention it. And this raises a logical question. What is the difference between someone who is called a prophet and someone who is known for prophesying? Now, when I went through commentaries, most of them didn't want to touch it, and that sometimes happens with difficult issues in the Bible.
You'll go through a commentary and they'll just skip over the issue, and it drives me crazy. Now, if I don't have any thoughts, then I'll share nothing. But I have some thoughts to share on this. I wish the Bible gave us a clear answer to this, but it doesn't. And so I'm going to speculate.
I'm going to share some of my thoughts. These are not emphatic. These are my thoughts and suspicions. And if you have a better answer, please let me know, and we can both add to our knowledge and grow in that together. But because I hate it when commentaries say nothing, I thought I would just share my thoughts on this.
And then if I get more information, I'll change my views, add to my views, as the Lord reveals that. But it's interesting because Luke, who is writing the Book of Acts, has the word prophetess in his vocabulary. He refers to Anna in Luke chapter two as a prophetess. Anna is still under the old covenant. Remember, the new covenant only began in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the 120 in the upper room.
But the point remains that Luke has the word prophetess in his vocabulary, and yet he chooses not to use it in back-to-back verses. It doesn't refer to Philip's daughters as being prophetesses or being four prophetesses, even though he has the word in his vocabulary. And yet one verse later, he refers to Agabus not as a man who prophesied, but as a prophet. And so this raises some really logical questions. Why does Luke do that?
He's clearly doing it intentionally. Now, in Ephesians four, as I mentioned earlier, Paul writes, he himself, that's Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ. Now, the more I look at Ephesians four, the more it seems to me that Paul is likely referring to specific men raised up by Jesus in his church for the purpose of building up and leading the church. These would be biblically qualified elders. And the reason I just say that is because these are men who lead the church, apostles, pastors, teachers.
And then we also obviously have prophets and evangelists. But the purpose they are given, it says, is to equip the saints. And that seems to me to be a leadership type function. It's speaking about more than just the mutual building up and edification that is shared between all the brethren in a church. We know that apostles and pastors and teachers are specific men, and we know that those roles, apostle, pastor and teacher, are male-only roles.
According to what Paul shares in the scripture, apostles appoint elders. So if it's the desire of God in scripture that elders only be male, it doesn't make sense that a woman could appoint elders. So apostles have to be men, elders have to be men, pastors have to be men, because elder and pastor is a synonym, and teachers have to be men because Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach a man or have authority over him. So we already have three of the five there. And it's for the purpose of equipping the church, which would seem to be a leadership function.
And so I note that. And what it seems to me is that there may be a distinction in the church age, in the new covenant between those who prophesy and prophets based around this issue of leadership in the church. My suspicion is that the term prophet under the new covenant in the church age refers to a man raised up by God in a church who is going to be using that gift of prophecy to also help give direction to the church. And this makes sense to me because I can't imagine a situation in which the Lord has said, I want elders to be men and I want them to lead the church, and I want them to give direction to the church. But then I'm going to have a female prophet potentially share a word of prophecy that would overrule them.
That would seem to be inconsistent. And God's a God of order. He's not inconsistent. And so here's what I suspect. I suspect that men and women under the new covenant can prophesy; are called to prophesy in the church.
Paul encourages that. He doesn't forbid women from prophesying. He makes it clear that this was happening regularly in the church. Women were prophesying and building up the church, blessing the church, as were men. Men were prophesying, building up the church, encouraging the church, strengthening the church.
And the daughters of Philip were known for doing this with a degree of regularity. But that doesn't make someone a prophet. It seems likely that that term prophet in the new covenant is used specifically for the man that God raises up to be an elder in the church and prophesy in ways that give direction to the church in the way that the Lord has called men as elders to do. And so that might sound a little bit convoluted, but that's kind of where I lean. And this would explain why there are no women called prophetesses in any of the New Covenant writings.
As I said, Anna in Luke chapter two is under the Old Covenant, but there are no women in the New Testament under the New Covenant in the Church Age referred to as "prophetesses." The only time the word comes up is in the Book of Revelation, and it's not good, because it's used to refer to that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess but is not. So. There are many, many ways that a person can use the gifts of the spirit and the gift God gives them to build up the church. And one of those is prophecy.
But it may be that there's this one specific area of prophecy where it's to give direction to the church that the Lord has reserved specifically for those he calls prophets, who are also elders, and help give direction and leadership to the church. That is why I suspect that Philip's daughters are referred to as being women who prophesied rather than prophetesses. And this leads to another logical question. Perhaps you're thinking like I did when I was studying this. Okay, Jeff, then where are they?
Where are the prophets in the modern church? Let me share a few observations on that. Much of the church does not approach prophecy with appropriate reverence. I can't think of a more serious statement a professing Christian could make than to tell someone, what I am telling you comes from God. Now, perhaps, like me, you grew up in a Pentecostal church that had some odd practices where someone would sometimes stand up and even interrupt the service and say, thus saith the Lord before sharing what they believed was a prophecy.
And I always find it really suspicious when someone randomly switches to speaking in King James English when they prophesy. Like, what's up with that? Like Jesus speaks King James English. He was a jew in Israel speaking Hebrew, Aramaic. And then when King James English came around, that's what God switched to.
And he's like, this is it. I'm locked in. I'm speaking in King James English. When I share a word of prophecy by the spirit, it's always got to be in King James English. Doesn't make any sense at all.
Christians will not be executed today for making that claim falsely. But Christians should still treat prophecy as though they would be executed if they name-dropped God wrongly, because it's still just as serious. We shouldn't treat God with any less reverence simply because we're living in the age of grace. Getting prophecy wrong and saying this is what God says means you're misrepresenting God to people. It's name-dropping God to give your own words more weight.
This is why BJ and I pretty much only ever say God says when we're reading what God has literally said in his word. Beyond that, even if we feel like the Holy Spirit is prompting us to share something with a person or group, we will say something like, I feel like the Lord might be saying this, but you take it, you test it, you meditate on it and consider it, and you see if the Lord confirms it to you. And we do that because we are rightly terrified of misrepresenting God as you should be as well. I think there may be some legitimate prophets in the church today who have not been correctly trained and pointed to the scriptures. And so sometimes they're making legitimate prophecies, but it's also mixed up with lots of illegitimate prophesying which undermines the power of their gift and causes it to not be recognized.
Anyone prophesying must know the scriptures, because if they don't know the scriptures, how in the world will they discern whether they're speaking biblically? Scripture says to test the spirits, including prophecy. And so the person speaking the prophecy should be the first person to test it. And you can only do that if you know the word of God. On that note, I observe that today most churches that do faithfully teach the Bible don't make room for the gifts of the spirit like prophecy, because they just don't want to deal with the potential awkwardness and weirdness.
And I so get that. As a pastor, I so understand that. At the same time, the churches that do make room for prophecy generally don't faithfully teach the Bible. Do you see the problem? The churches who do know what the word says about prophecy don't want anything to do with prophecy, while the churches that want to embrace prophecy don't know what the word says about it and so don't move in it in a biblical way.
Paul told the church, be eager to prophesy and don't despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good in the church today. Generally, we have churches that either despise prophecies or embrace them without testing them. Therefore, I suspect there are prophets in churches that have not been recognized because there's no room, there's no opportunities for them to be recognized. When I think about what biblical prophecy is, the five aspects I mentioned earlier, I would say that I have encountered some genuine prophets over the course of my life, and I might know some now we know with certainty that the purpose of the prophet in the church is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.
And here's what we also know about the purpose of prophecy for anyone who prophesies in the church. It's this. Paul wrote that the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening encouragement and consolation. That's what Philip's daughters were doing. They were speaking to people, to the brethren for their strengthening encouragement and consolation, but they weren't giving direction to the church.
We also know that a genuine prophet or someone with the genuine gift of prophecy, speaks when prompted by God and only when prompted by God. So here's what that means. You're not a genuine prophet if you've scheduled a tv show or webcast or radio show to run Monday through Friday at the same time every day. You're not a genuine prophet because you can't plan when you're going to prophesy. You can't prophesy on command.
You can't just say, okay, God, give me something now and I'll say it. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit determines when a believer prophesies, not a tv, radio or Internet production schedule. Now hopefully that gives us some idea of what biblical new covenant prophecy looks like and possibly what the differences may be between a prophet in the church age and one who prophesies. And this also might explain, hopefully, why we have a hard time identifying genuine prophets in the church today, I believe they're out there. There may be some among us here at Gospel City.
So if the Lord leads you to prophesy, if the Holy Spirit prompts you when and where and what to say, obey the Lord. Nothing more, nothing less. Obey the Lord. Be bold, have faith, and bless the church through you. Which is what the Lord is trying to do.
Do not editorialize what God tells you to say. Don't add to it. Don't take away from it. Don't stand there and wait for a person's reaction. If it's a word for one person, don't ask them what they think.
That's between them and God. It's none of your business. We have one task, to move in effective, faithful, and genuine prophecy, and that's to obey God. To say only what he tells us to say, only when he tells us to say it, only where he tells us to say it, to whom he tells us to say it. We don't need to try and help God out.
Beyond that. We simply obey him and leave the rest in his hands. There's much more I could share about prophecy, but we got to keep moving. As always, if you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask me or BJ anytime. Philip had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
Scholars suggest that the use of the term virgin implies that these women had felt called to a life of singleness and devotion to God and prayer. They had likely set apart their lives exclusively for the Lord, determining not to marry. As Paul observed regarding such woman, the unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of God so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. The Bible is clear that such a decision should only be made by those who are gifted by God in that way. And I really believe that it makes sense that if the Lord is calling you to a life of singleness, then he's going to make that fulfilling for you.
He's going to give you desires in alignment with that. God's not going to call you to a life of singleness and then make you long to be married every day of your life, he's going to align your desires with your calling. If you're submitted to him. Suffice it to say, Philip's four daughters would have been a tremendous blessing to their church family real quick. I also observe in scripture that a prophet does not self-identify.
The accuracy, power, and effect of their prophesying causes them to be recognized by others as a prophet. There's no record of any prophet in the Bible introducing themselves with the title of prophet. There's no, how you doing? I'm Prophet Elijah. I'm Prophet John.
So, yeah, I wouldn't take anybody seriously who self-identifies as a prophet or uses the word prophet in front of their name, as many do. Philip was a devoted father. He raised his children to love the Lord. He didn't give himself to ministry at the expense of his family. And the Lord blessed his family with four daughters who loved the Lord and were used by him to prophesy.
The next verse tells us that Paul and company stayed with Philip for at least several days. And that's notable because Philip would have been a deacon in the Jerusalem church when Paul led that vicious persecution against it before his conversion to Christianity. In fact, it was Paul's persecution that led Philip to flee and go up into Samaria and up to Caesarea the first time where he preached the gospel and sparked that revival we mentioned earlier. But this is what the gospel can do. The gospel can turn sworn enemies into brothers.
Verse ten says, after we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Judea is to the south and likely refers to Jerusalem. Remember, because Jerusalem is the holy city. The Bible and the Hebrews refer to any travel from Jerusalem as coming down from Jerusalem regardless of compass direction. And any travel to Jerusalem as going up to Jerusalem regardless of compass direction.
The Holy Spirit tells this prophet Agabus to travel from Jerusalem up the coast to Caesarea to deliver a message to Paul. This is the second cameo in this chapter as we met Agabus for the first time back in chapter eleven, verse 28, where he accurately prophesied the severe famine that would soon affect the Jerusalem church. That was the famine that Paul had raised funds for, that he was now traveling to deliver. Verse eleven, he, that's Agabus, came to us, took Paul's belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, this is what the Holy Spirit says. This is what a genuine prophet does.
They speak on God's behalf as his mouthpiece. This is what the Holy Spirit says. In this way, the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles. Again, we see not a prohibition from God, but a warning from God, telling Paul what awaited him in Jerusalem. When we heard this, both we, Luke, and the men traveling with Paul and the local people from the church in Caesarea pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
Then Paul replied, what are you doing? Weeping and breaking my heart. In other words, it pains me to see my destiny causing you grief and heartache. For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except the Lord's will be done.
Paul wasn't in sin, but the other believers couldn't understand his decision. They just didn't want to lose him. But despite his refusal to heed their advice, they didn't abandon Paul. They continued to love him, fellowship with him, pray for him, and do all they could to support him and help him succeed in his ministry endeavors. And that's how it ought to be.
Christians are not to give each other grace to sin and disobey God. That must be confronted and rebuked. There must be a call to repent. But where something is not a sin issue, there must be grace for different perspectives. We must continue to love, pray for, support, and care for each other, even if we think, well, that's not how I would do that.
The brethren in Caesarea were deeply moved by Paul's resolve and willingness to suffer and even die for Christ. This witness still exists today wherever men and women who belong to Jesus stare suffering and death in the face without fear, having grasped the reality of heaven and the glory of God so firmly that their hearts and minds are covered by the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Courage is contagious, and Paul embodied the same courage Christ displayed when he journeyed to Jerusalem, setting his face like flint, knowing full well what awaited him there. And we're going to end there. For today, let me share just a couple of things, highlight a couple of things for us to consider from today's study.
For some of you, I need to give a clear exhortation to grow up into maturity in Christ and recognize your need for fellowship. Not only do you need it, but Christ has commanded it. He has commanded us to gather, serve, love and encourage one another. Therefore, I must call us all to settle this issue in our minds. It must no longer be an option in our thinking to disobey Christ simply because we are tired.
It's been a long week or we got a lot going on. We need to remove that as an option. We must mature and recognize that these things are gifts and commands from Christ that actually refresh and encourage us. So if you need to repent and change your thinking, grow up and become mature in Christ. In this area, if you're a believer and you're following Christ as Lord, I want to encourage you to be open to the spirit prophesying through you to your church, to your small group, or to an individual.
Let the Lord know that you're available and that if he desires to use you to build up your brothers and sisters, you would love to be used in that way, and I hope you would. And if he prompts you, just obey. It really is that simple. Last, let's pray and desire that the Lord give us his heart and his love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, that he would bind us together as he did the men and women of the early church, that there would be that uncommon and instant love between those who love the Lord. Would you bow your head and close your eyes?
Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for your word. And thank you for our brother Paul and his example, his example of love for your church and love for the brethren. And Lord, we just want to be like that, as he embodied your love for your people. Lord, we want to do the same.
We want to embody your love for our brothers and sisters. So help us not to grow weary in serving and in loving. Lord, help us to not even consider it an option to not gather as you have commanded us to please. Grow us in love, Lord, grow us in love for one another so that, as you said it would be, love would be the defining characteristic of your people. We love you.
May we experience your love and be filled with your love, that it might flow out of us. To those you've called us to love in your precious name we pray. Amen.