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Foretold By The Spirit - Acts 21
Foretold By The Spirit - Acts 21
An interesting situation develops here. Earlier in Acts 20:23, we read that Paul reveals: “… that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” Then here in Acts 21:4 we read that Paul and his companions, “After looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.”
THEN, having traveled on to Caesarea, the prophet Agabus came to Paul and “…he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" (Acts 21:11)
God knew what lay in store. God revealed this in a general sense to Paul. The disciples warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem because of such warnings. The prophet foretold in rather exact terms what would happen to Paul. YET, Paul went to Jerusalem and suffered.
If God KNEW what was going to happen, why did He not stop it? You can ask the same thing about ALL persecutions including the crucifixion of Jesus! God doesn’t stop men from making bad decisions, hence the persecutions of Christ and Christians. Hence, God doesn’t put an invisible force shield around Christians – the ungodly do persecute Paul, and extremely so (read again Paul’s summary in 2 Cor. 11:22-28). Hence all the warnings given about the resistance, reaction, and response to disciples: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)
In Paul’s writings he mentions suffering for Jesus almost 30 times! Such for most of US has been rejection by friends and family, ridicule, evil-speaking. Such is indeed mild compared to that of these 1st century disciples. The exhortation is still the same: remain faithful to Jesus. If they could stand up to such suffering, let us follow their example! Be FAITHFUL.
Hugh DeLong
