I please God to bless us together
this evening as we continue our meditation on the Acts of the
Apostles in chapter 21. And this evening we'll make some
comments from verse 8 until verse 14. We just read those verses. That's Acts 21 from verse 8. And the next day we that were
of Paul's company departed and came unto Caesarea And we entered
into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of
the seven, and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters,
virgins, which did prophesy. And we tarried there many days. And as we tarried there many
days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus. And when he was come unto us,
he took Paul's girdle, and bowed his hands and feet and said,
thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind
the man that owneth this girdle and shall deliver him into the
hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things,
both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to
Jerusalem. 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. And when he would not be persuaded,
we ceased saying, the will of the Lord be done. We continue. with Paul's journeys. As we are aware he was journeying
on his way to Jerusalem, and of course it was a long journey
and there were many stops on that way. And so we read the
next day, we that were of Paul's company, and obviously there
was a little company of believers, they were travelling together,
departed and came unto Caesarea. And when they got to Caesarea
they entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which
was one of the seven, and abode with him. And as we've noted,
on these travels of the Apostle, he's always managed to find somewhere
where he can gather, he can go and be with like-minded believers. And clearly his concern was to
be found that way. He didn't just want to end up
in a stranger's place, he wanted to be found in that place where
God's people were. Here he comes in Caesarea, and
he comes into the house of Philip the Evangelist, which was one
of the seven, and abode with him. And it was seen this is
the same Philip that, of course, went down to the eunuch and was
really greatly blessed. And although that was, no doubt,
many years previously. But we see he continues, and
he has a godly house. It's good to recognize that We
have these situations where we have people in the godly house
and that was very clearly evidenced by what we read. And the same
man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And we may
perhaps on the surface think, well, that's difficult to understand
because really it's for women to keep silent. Well, it's right
for women to keep silent or to be quiet in assemblies and not
to usurp the authority of a man. But there's nothing to stop a
woman prophesying perhaps in her own house or amongst her
own people. She's not then usurping any authority
over a man. And quite clearly this was a
situation here of four daughters who were blessed and were all
amongst those who testified of the Lord Jesus and spoken and
prophesied about it. We read together in that chapter
in Joel and we read it really because well that's a very beautiful
chapter the 28th verse tells us and it shall come to pass
afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall
dream dreams and your young men shall see visions so this was
really coming to pass. We have the evidence here of
these four daughters of Philip and they prophesied and clearly
their prophesying was acknowledged as being of the Lord and was
right and correct. So we should not therefore discount
those women the Lord sees fit to bless and to give understanding
and give that wisdom to be able to speak a word in due season.
I believe it comes into the category really of those who are mothers
in Israel, those who truly pray and care for the flock and are
able to speak a very suitable word in season. In my own life
I've been blessed by word sometimes from women who have spoken to
me, instructing me, encouraging me and therefore we should not
discount gracious women in this respect and so we have this statement
and the same man had four daughters virgins which did prophesy and
as we tarried there many days we're not told how many the many
days were but it wouldn't have been very many because of course
we know that Paul was very keen to get to Jerusalem before the
Passover. So we're told he tarried there
many days and came down from Judea, a certain prophet named
Agabus. Well we've met Agabus before
in this Acts of the Apostles. And clearly he was also a prophet
ordained by God. And therefore he comes and he
came unto us, that was Luke of course speaking, and took Paul's
girdle and bowed his own hands and feet and said, thus saith
the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man
that owneth his girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of
the Gentiles. Well, it was seen very clear
that the apostle and those with him believed that which Agabus
was prophesying. They didn't ignore it, and they
didn't say, well, it won't come to pass, because they acknowledged
in these words, and when we heard these things, both we and they
at that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. They recognized
the words that had been spoken were true, and therefore their
dear friend and brother and apostle and God's servant would go up
to Jerusalem and would suffer there, of course they didn't
want that to occur and therefore they besought him, they tried
to stop him in his desire to go up to Jerusalem. But the apostle
had the blessed influence of the Holy Spirit of God to go
to Jerusalem. The Lord had led him and the
Lord had instructed him and the Lord had encouraged him in this
way and therefore he was desires to do the will of his master,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore he comes and 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. Now we have here surely a wonderful
example example of the amazing grace of God that gave to the
Apostle here that willingness to do all that was needful and
if he was called upon to give up his life for the Lord Jesus
then he was willing for that to come to pass. You know it's
a good testimony isn't it? It's a wonderful testimony of
the grace of God because He recognised that he was a servant of the
Lord and whatever God had ordained for him, whatever that might
be, even to death, he was willing to walk that way. And therefore
he speaks and he says to these people, what mean you to weep
and to break my heart? It was difficult for him to see
these people crying and trying to stop him. They didn't really
quite understand. what the direction of the Spirit
was. They looked on it perhaps more as a natural person, and
yet here was the divine Spirit of God, the way that was ordained
for the Apostle Paul. And therefore the Apostle Paul
was so willing to do God's bidding and to do God's will. There was
every reason for him to make an excuse to say, well, what
you're saying is true, I'd be very foolish to go to Jerusalem
because I've had this prophecy by Agabus and I think now I'll
stop where I am. No. He desired to do the will
of his God. And therefore, when we read the
words then of the people, when they saw what spirit he had,
they saw the clear leading of the Spirit of God upon him, And
what was the result? And when he would not be persuaded,
we ceased, saying, the will of the Lord be done. Now that surely
should be the concern of all of us in our lives. To seek,
even if things appear to be difficult, even if things appear to be in
opposition, and even perhaps if we've been warned of a difficult
situation which is before us, not to try and avoid it, and
not to try and stop people walking a difficult path. Surely our
concern should be, just like these godly people here at Caesarea,
to come and to say, the will of the Lord be done. Now you
know, it's very easy, isn't it, to say words. But here, these
words came from the heart. And it would be a wonderful blessing
for us in all our lives, in every situation that we enter into,
for ourselves and for others, to not rely on our own wisdom,
to not rely on what appears to be the best solution, but to
rely upon the gracious direction and power the Spirit of God. And so therefore these people
came down to this wonderful statement and were able to, as it were,
bow down and say, the will of the Lord be done. Well may all
of us in our lives have that humble submission. You think
of those words, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon him,
believing he cares for us. That was the case of the apostle,
wasn't it? His trust, his hope was in the Lord. His confidence
was in his God. And he was willing and happy
to suffer for his sake and to die for his sake, if it was the
Lord's will, the will of the Lord be done. Amen.