From
Acts to Revelation
Part
59 – Steadfast
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week we saw Paul, and his party reach
Tyre, where Paul was once again tested by believers in whether or not he should
continue to Jerusalem, to the Feast of the Passover.
Sometimes God will test us, not because He
doesn't know what we will choose or do, but so we know. Sometimes we do not
realize our own resolve, or devotion, and we need to, to make us stronger.
Testing edifies us, just as it was with
Abraham, who was instructed to sacrifice his son to God. At no point did God
want Abraham's son sacrificed to Him, but instructed Abraham to do so, and at
the last moment, an angel stopped Abraham, and gave him a ram instead...which
showed Abraham a few things.
a) Abraham realized his dedication, and
devotion to God was 100%
b) This was how God would save humankind,
with the sacrifice for sin.
c) We would not have to sacrifice
ourselves, but a sacrifice would be given in our place...Jesus.
Paul will face more tests as he travels
closer to Jerusalem, each one making him stronger.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 21:7-16
7 We continued our voyage
from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and
sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached
Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one
of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named
Agabus came down from Judea.11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands
and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish
leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him
over to the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not
to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my
heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for
the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said,
“The Lord’s will be done.”
15 After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some
of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of
Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the
early disciples.
I.
TRAVELING FROM TYRE
a. In
Tyre, Paul confirms his direction and calling by God
b. Paul
said goodbye to the Elders in Ephesus, and to the believer's in Tyre.
i. Who begged Paul not to go.
ii. They heard from the Holy Spirit that trouble and
hardship and prison awaited Paul in Jerusalem.
iii. Paul let them know that he too heard this same thing
from the Holy Spirit, however, he was called to do this, and must obey God.
c. Paul's
party (approximately 9) now traveled to Caesarea, where they meet up with
Philip the Evangelist.
d. This is
the same Philip from
i. Acts 8:26-40, where Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch
ii. Acts
6:5, where Philip was named one of the
Deacons
II.
PHILIP THE EVANGELIST
a. Philip
apparently had a large house in Caeserea
i. Large enough to house his family, as well as the 9
or so traveler's in Paul's party.
b. The
scriptures tell us Philip had 4 daughters
i. They were virgin's (in the Literal Greek text)
ii. Which insinuates to the reads, that they had no
intentions of getting married, and had given themselves over to totally serving
the Lord.
c. The
scriptures also say that they prophesy as their father did.
i. They were evangelists, exactly like their father
Philip.
ii. This strikes down the idea that women cannot preach.
III.
STEADFAST
a. While
staying with Philip, Brother Agabus came to visit.
i. If you remember, he was a prophet from the church in
Antioch, who prophesied of a coming famine; Acts 11:28
b. Agabus
took Paul's belt (sash/Paul's girdle), and tied his own hands and feet,
(presents what the Holy Spirit told him to do as an object lesson), saying,
“The Holy Spirit says the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this
belt, and deliver him to the gentiles.”
i. Sometimes knowing something, and seeing something
are two different things.
ii. Even today, many Preachers and Pastors use Object
lessons to help God's people understand what the scriptures are saying.
c. The
reality hit those who were traveling with Paul, and they began to beg and plead
to him not to go to Jerusalem.
i. Paul was once again being tested.
ii. However, the Holy Spirit is about to show Paul, and
those around him, his direction, his calling, and his steadfastness to the Lord
through his obedience to God rather than man.
d. Both
Paul and the others heard from the Holy Spirit about the tribulation, hardship
and imprisonment which awaited Paul in Jerusalem.
i. The difference between Paul and the others though,
is, the others took the information the Holy Spirit gave them, and decided for
themselves, Paul should not go to Jerusalem, where Paul heard instruction from
the Holy Spirit to GO to Jerusalem.
e. They
cried and pleaded to the point it was emotionally hurting to Paul.
f. However,
Paul obeyed God rather than men.
i. Paul says, “I am ready to not only be bound, but to
die for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
ii. In vs. 11,
we see that when Paul could not be persuaded, they stopped trying and said, the
Will of the Lord be done.
CONCLUSION
This means that all had now
realized what Paul was doing, and the direction he was going were indeed the
Will of God.
Paul was a chosen vessel to
offer the Kingdom to Israel, as well as proclaim it among the Gentiles.
The final offer he would
shortly give to Israel was a divine necessity, but we will see, they rejected
that offer and went to their doom.
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