Acts 21:1-14

Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll go from Acts to Philemon. I'm so happy to be with you this morning.
I'm sorry. I wasn't able to jump on on Friday. We had Olivia go to a women's conference. And so I was playing Mr. Dad for for two days with four kids. So a little bit nuts around the house. So sermon got done. Homeschool got done. But this didn't get done. So that's OK. Well, why don't we have some coffee?
We'll pray. We'll get into the Lord's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a great way to start the work week to be in your word. Lord, we pray that as we read your word this morning, you might bless us. We pray that we would be led by your spirit in Jesus's name. Amen. All right, here we go. Acts chapter 21. We got 14 verses this morning. Let's go ahead and go there. Sorry, I didn't mean to hit the microphone. Acts chapter 21, the first 14 verses.
Now it came to pass when we had departed from them and set sail. So they're leaving Ephesus now. And remember, he's trying to get to Jerusalem. He's got to get there before the feast of Pentecost. We set sail running a straight course we came to cause the following day to Rhodes and Then from there to Patara and finding a sip a ship sailing over to Phoenicia We went aboard and set sail When we had sighted Cyprus we passed it on the left sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre From there. The ship was unloaded of her cargo In finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul, through the Spirit, not to go up to Jerusalem.
When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way. And they all accompanied us with wives and children till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. And when we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship and they returned home.
And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre and came to Ptolemais, greeting the brethren, and stayed with them one day, on the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with them.
Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hand and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit. So shall the Jews of Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Now, when he heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. Well, what an interesting passage we have in front of us.
We have Paul and he's leaving Miletus. He's leaving the elders at Ephesus and he starts heading south and he goes to Kos and then he makes a couple port calls and then he ends up at a pretty major port city. right on the southwest part of what's now Asia, then Turkey, pretty major cargo area. And he sets sail from there. And so Patara is a port city.
And he sets sail from there and he's making his way to Syria or Phoenicia. So Syria is the province, Phoenicia is within that, Tyre is the capital port city of that. So my My phone keeps dinging because text messages for letting me know we're alive for coffee and devotions. Obviously, I know we're alive for coffee and devotions.
Anyway, so they've made their way across the Mediterranean Sea. They've passed Cyprus on the port side and they get there And what do they find? They find some disciples there. And so they stay. They stay there seven days and they're talking to them and such. And they're led in the spirit to know that Paul's going to suffer at Jerusalem. And Paul's Not unfamiliar with this.
Remember what we had read in the previous chapter, verse 22 through 24. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not having the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself. So I may finish my race with joy. and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul knew the spirit had already told him that he was going to be going and that chains and tribulations awaited him. He had accepted it. This was the Lord's will for him. He was going to go. Remember, this is the call that Jesus had given to Paul. At the very beginning of his time as a disciple, he said that he had many things to suffer for him. And so in Paul's mind, his ministry wasn't done.
And so they stay there for a while and eventually they come to Caesarea. And when they come down to Caesarea, they stay Philip. Now we haven't seen Philip for a long time in the book of Acts. Remember he was one of those seven men that they had put hands on in Acts chapter 6 to kind of differentiate and help with this mediation between the Hellenistic widows and the Jewish widows. And then Philip was the one who was taken down to the desert and had baptized the Ethiopian man. And then he was taken up to Caesarea and that's the last time we heard of him.
And now he's still there. And so they go to his house and he's got four young daughters and they all are prophesying. So this man's an evangelist. He's continued this work of telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ and his daughters are also evangelists. This is a special time in this dispensation in the church's history.
And while they're there in verse 10, and as we stayed many days a certain prophet named Agabus And Agabus, this prophet, he's from Judea. He comes down from the hill country of Judea and he comes to Caesarea. And there he finds Paul and he takes his belt and he wraps his belt around his hands and around his feet. And he says, whoever's belt this is is also going to be bound.
And so the people are getting this imagery right in front of their eyes. Paul, you're gonna go to Jerusalem. Do you know what waits for you there? You're gonna be arrested. You're gonna be bound, you're gonna be chained. And they beg him, they implore him, please don't go, please don't go, please don't go. Paul says, what are you doing with all these tears? You're weeping and you're weeping and you're weeping, you're breaking my heart. He says they're doing these things to him. It's not like he's callous towards them. But his eyes are resolutely set on the ministry that the Lord has given him. And so they, after they realized he's not going to be persuaded against this, what did they do? They resigned themselves as well to the Lord's will. That's the last verse, verse 14, the will of the Lord be done.
Well in my Bible I have three verses underlined. I have verse 4, verse 11, the second half of verse 11, and verse 14 underlined as the best verses that summarize this. And finding disciples we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem.
The second part of verse 11, thus says the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And in the last part of verse 14, the will of the Lord be done. See, they had these visions. Or somehow knew by the spirit that Paul was going to be arrested at Jerusalem, that he was going to suffer in Jerusalem. And so they try to tell him not to go there. But that's not the Lord's will.
Paul knew that he was supposed to go there. See, this is this is the the interesting thing that's going on here. It's similar to what happens in Jesus's own life. Jesus knows he has to go to the cross. He knows he has to suffer. And he sets his eyes towards Jerusalem. He's got to get there because he knows that there's work to be done there. The people around him don't understand it and this is similar to what's happening in Paul's life. He was bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. And the Spirit is letting other people know what's going to happen. It's not going to be a great time. But what's the result of this? Why is the spirit doing this? I can't wait to get into the rest of the story. Paul is going to have incredible opportunities to share the gospel, to testify to some of the highest echelons of society and even to Roman centurions. Paul's going to get new and different types of pastoral ministry because of his suffering.
He's going to get to testify and eventually be a martyr For the one he loves How does this apply to our lives well I've got a question for you Is it easy to do what the Spirit wants us to do I'm gonna suggest you that's not There are many times in which we know that the Spirit has told us in his word that there's things we ought to do, and they're not going to be comfortable. Maybe you know that sharing your faith with someone can be uncomfortable, maybe even dangerous to your job, put your family at odds. We do what the Spirit is prompting you to. Even when you know there might come with persecution or troubles. Maybe you know that feeling before when you've been meeting with someone or talking with someone and you just think, I just need to, I need to tell them about Christ. You feel the Holy Spirit, nudge you, push you, press down on you.
Let me encourage you. Don't be afraid. Have courage. Maybe I shouldn't say don't be afraid. Just have courage. I was talking, I teach the four year olds at Sunday school and I was talking to them about courage yesterday. And courage is doing what is good even though you might be afraid. So don't be afraid, I guess. Move past your fear. Move by the spirit.
Let's pray. Father, We pray that we would not be ruled by fear, but that your spirit would be working in us. We pray that we would acknowledge the truth of how scary things can be. But Father, I pray for those listening tonight or this morning and for my own heart, my own family, Lord, that we would walk according to your spirit. Lord, please work in our hearts that we would follow in your ways. That we would go in your paths.
Lord, I don't know if that means one of these people listening today is going to go and go on a missionary journey. Maybe you're working in someone's heart that they would go to a closed Muslim country. Or be a Bible smuggler in a closed communist country. Lord, I don't know what you have in store for those who are listening, but Father, I pray that your spirit would press upon them and that they would walk by your spirit, even though other Christians might not understand it.
Please give them wisdom. Please give all of us wisdom. that we might follow after you in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you walk by his spirit, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.