decisions that drive

Paul is faced with pending doom… and what will he do?

Acts 21 recounts the final leg of Paul’s third missionary journey. He is on his way back to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, and along the way he has said many final farewells to the various church leaders. He knows that he is going on a different kind of journey when he arrives back to Jerusalem, and it’s quite probable that he is saying “farewell” in relation to his strong desire to progress further west than he has yet gone. In Romans 15 he talks about the desire to take a trip to Spain by way of Rome, two places that he has not yet reached in his travels.

Upon his arrival in Caesarea, he enjoys the hospitality of Philip the Evangelist and his four virgin daughters who are uniquely gifted. They prophesy and in so doing, the days spent in Caesarea are filled with the Word of God and the edification of God’s people, specifically the great Apostle himself and his team. They will soon be joined by Agabus the Prophet from Judea who will bring a troubling message, but ahead of his arrival, the scene is quite exquisite with remarkable wonder. Even Paul needs building up and consolation at times (words that he uses to define the gift of prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14). On top of that, it’s not Philip who prophesies on his behalf, but Philip’s four daughters.

As often happens in the book of Acts, the surprising and the supernatural are commonplace in the advancement the Gospel.

Philip is one of The Seven, men chosen back in Acts 6, servants willing to serve. Having fulfilled the expectations of the Hellenistic widows apparently, he begins to travel abroad at the urging of the Holy Spirit, finding his way to a roadside and in a chariot of an Ethiopian explaining the Gospel through Isaiah 53. After the eunuch’s conversion, he takes up residence in the port city of Caesarea (Acts 8) where Paul now visits him nearly 15 years later.

Philip’s daughters are mentioned in church history as being gifted prophetesses. Eusebius of the Fourth Century references historians such as Papias and Polycrates of the Second Century as honoring these women for their giftedness in the early church. It doesn’t open any doors for women serving as pastors in local churches for today, necessarily, as that is an altogether different conversation; however, it does give credence to women ministering in churches that goes far beyond that of nursery rotations or kitchen duty for potlucks! Also, their prophesying in Paul’s presence is significant as well and brings a challenge to the idea that many assume Paul forbade women to speak in church at all, yet here he is — the Apostle himself, being edified through the prophesies of women, four to be exact!

Agabus arrives and predicts: “…the man who owns this belt!” Paul will be arrested in Jerusalem, and all chime in to assuage his desire for returning to the Holy City.

What will Paul decide to do?

Earlier in the text, he has expressed his conviction, convinced that he must go to Jerusalem, being “constrained by the Spirit” (Acts 20:22). Recklessness is not his reasoning, obedience to the leading of the Lord is. How many of us hear the words of wisdom of others and yet must still lean upon our own personal convictions innate to the indwelling Holy Spirit? Paul is in that same place; he hears their cries, but he must adhere to the Spirit’s voice leading him from within.

He responds with heartache, saying, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?” He acknowledges their pleas and the reasonable nature of their counsel. And yet, his heart is settled, for he says, “I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). I’m sure there is more said than what is written here in Acts 21; in fact, Luke adds, “he would not be persuaded,” implying at the very least that there was a conversation, a dialogue of some substance to account for the word choice of “persuaded” (meaning, to convince or to win over to a particular point of view). This persuading thing doesn’t sound like it can be done by a single sentence as is given in the text. Yet Luke writes:

“And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.'” –Acts 21:14

Resolution! Contentment for the Lord to lead… this is the arrival to that wonderful place of PEACE that passes all human logic and reasoning and finite understanding! When life is laid at the feet of Jesus, come what may! …peace in the heart and faithful task-fruition follow. And that is what Paul and his team and all those gathered in that remarkable scene experience. “Let the will of the Lord be done!”

I would suggest to you that this is the meaning of peace in the Christian life. It’s coming to the realization that we belong to the Lord and are His, carried along by His gracious hand of providence. Nothing can befall us that is outside of God’s plan for us. As Paul writes to the Romans, “whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8)… we belong to Him, and that is a great reality to comprehend, for it enables believers to live fully devoted lives for the Lord and His glory alone. This is what Paul demonstrated so faithfully throughout his ministry.

May we also grow and learn to reside and abide by the same Spirit-led conviction with an equally resolved hope borne of an eternal perspective!