Let the Will of the Lord Be Done (Prophets and Evangelists)

[0:00] Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word. Heavenly Father, I stand here this morning on the basis of your mercy and grace.

[0:19] I'm just entrusted again with the task that I fall so short of, to exalt the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, to proclaim his precious gospel, to exhort and plead with your people that Jesus really is worthy of it all, that he is more precious than life itself.

[0:59] And God, I cannot do this apart from your help, and so we ask for your Spirit to work, that you would persuade our minds, enthrall our hearts with the inestimable, incomparable value of Jesus Christ and his gospel.

[1:27] That we might be effective, bold, winsome witnesses to Jesus all our lives, wherever we are.

[1:45] Address us as your people to that end. We are listening, Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Acts chapter 21, verses 1 through 16.

[2:00] And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Kos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara, and having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

[2:21] When we had come inside of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days.

[2:35] And through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.

[2:50] And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on aboard the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived in Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.

[3:07] On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip, the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

[3:20] While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

[3:41] When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?

[3:52] For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, we seized and said, Let the will of the Lord be done.

[4:09] After these days, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Nathan of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

[4:20] This is God's holy and authoritative word. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 tells us that God gives the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to the church so that we might be equipped as saints to do the work of ministry.

[4:37] And so that the body of Christ might be built up until we attain to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ. The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

[4:49] And I think it's safe to assume that we, as a church, have not yet attained to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Which means that we still need these ministries, these gifts to function within the church.

[5:03] Last week's passage, Acts chapter 20, 17 to 38, painted a picture of how apostles and shepherds and teachers functioned in the early church.

[5:14] An apostle or a missionary is someone who is sent out by the local church to fulfill, as an extension of the church, to fulfill a particular ministerial purpose.

[5:25] I prefer to use the term missionary to refer to modern day apostles because using the term apostle can cause confusion and erroneously imply that they carry the same authority as the twelve apostles.

[5:38] Or even the other capital A apostles like Paul, Barnabas, who are witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. Neither of those two categories of apostles exist today, but the gift of apostleship remains.

[5:53] He's traveling missionaries who serve as extensions of local churches in other geographic areas. Paul was such a missionary, and planting churches and supporting newly planted churches was his ministry wherever he went.

[6:09] And also in last week's passage, we saw how the elders of the church in Ephesus fulfilled the role of shepherds and teachers in the church. They were commanded to pay careful attention to the flock, which is shepherding language, and they were exhorted to follow Paul's example in declaring the whole counsel of God, teaching in public and from house to house.

[6:30] They're also charged with safeguarding sound doctrine and defending the church from wolves who speak twisted things to draw away disciples after them. So shepherding and teaching are the responsibilities of elders, among other things.

[6:43] And as a helpful follow-up to Acts chapter 20, here in our passage, we get a picture of how prophets and evangelists functioned in the early church. Earlier in Acts 8, we saw how Philip the evangelist traveled to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

[7:02] Philip is described as one of the seven, one of the seven kind of prototypical deacons who were appointed in Acts chapter 6 to minister to the needs of the widows, the Greek widows. And so he was one of the seven, but he's given the title, the evangelist.

[7:17] He traveled around and evangelized and sharing the gospel. The term evangelist is used in Ephesians 4.11, which I already quoted to you. And then in 2 Timothy 4.5, where Timothy is commanded to do the work of an evangelist.

[7:30] Those are the only times where that word occurs again in Scripture. And it means to go to a place to minister to people who had not heard the gospel of Jesus and to proclaim the good news.

[7:42] In Acts 8, Philip did this to the Samaritans. And gospel came first to the Samaritans through Philip's ministry there. And then hearing of the reception of the gospel among the Samaritans, the church in Jerusalem then sent their delegates, the apostles Peter and John, to give the Samaritan believers the right hand of fellowship and to recognize them as a spirit-indwelled church.

[8:05] So we see kind of different functions of the apostle and evangelists. The evangelists proclaim the gospel, and apostles go and constitute the church. And we also see the way the prophets functioned in the early church in this passage.

[8:18] Recall that Paul is currently hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible on the day of Pentecost. And he and his companions have a layover in Tyre where the ship is unloading its cargo.

[8:30] So he says in verse 4 that in the meanwhile that they sat out the disciples and stayed with them for seven days. And during that week it says that through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

[8:45] The phrase through the Spirit suggests some kind of prophetic utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit, some kind of prophetic guidance. We know that in verse 16 Paul goes to Jerusalem anyway.

[9:00] So this is kind of a fascinating detail. It would be inconsistent with what we know of Paul and what we've seen of Paul so far for him to just flatly disobey the Spirit of God.

[9:10] In fact, in chapter 20, verse 22, Paul explicitly said, I am going to Jerusalem constrained by the Spirit. So what is happening here?

[9:24] Paul thinks that the Holy Spirit is directing him to go to Jerusalem, even binding him and constraining him to go. But then what does it mean that the disciples in Tyre, through the Spirit, tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem?

[9:37] Surely God's not confused, and the Spirit of God cannot contradict himself. And Luke answers this question in the following verses.

[9:49] In verses 7 to 8, Paul travels through Ptolemais and arrives in Caesarea, where he stays at the house of Philip the Evangelist. And he says this. Read along with me as I read verses 10 to 11.

[10:01] While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

[10:20] I want you to try to imagine this scene for a little bit. You can imagine the rapt attention that the people had on Paul in this room as this is happening, on Agabus rather.

[10:30] Agabus stands up in the middle of a gathering not unlike this, and then he approaches Paul. He walks up to Paul. And then he takes Paul's belt, which is strange as it is. Like, okay, what are you doing?

[10:41] And then he uses it to bind his own hands and feet, which is not easy to do. I'm guessing he's using his mouth and teeth and whatever. And he's binding himself in this hog-tie position.

[10:54] So he probably can't even stand up. Binds himself and is on the ground. And then he is saying this with everyone's eyes fixed on him. Thus says the Holy Spirit, This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

[11:15] Sometimes prophets in Scripture use object lessons or dramatic illustrations of the prophecies that they are proclaiming. And that's what's happening here.

[11:25] He takes Paul's belt, binds himself to symbolize his imprisonment and how Paul is going to be handed over to the Gentiles for judgment. This is a foreboding prophecy because Jews didn't have the authority, the political authority, the legal authority to mete out capital punishment.

[11:47] So Jews did have some right to punish wrongdoers among them in their own community. But the fact that the prophecy says he'll be handed over by the Jews to the Gentiles is threatening because Gentiles are the only ones who have the power to execute someone.

[12:02] So there is a possibility here of even death and there's certainty here of imprisonment is what the prophecy is declaring. So in light of that, the believer's response to Agabus' prophecy is understandable.

[12:17] It says in verse 12, When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. The first person plural, we, refers to Luke, the author, and the rest of Paul's companions.

[12:30] And the people there refer to the believers of Caesarea, including Philip and his four unmarried daughters who prophesied, as well as other members of that local church. They all urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

[12:42] I think this story is included here to clarify the meaning of verse 4, where the disciples of Tyre, through the Spirit, were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. It's not that the Spirit of God himself had told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

[12:58] That's not what the Spirit was saying. We saw clearly earlier that the Spirit himself was constraining Paul to go to Jerusalem. However, the Spirit of God did warn Paul of his impending imprisonment in Jerusalem.

[13:10] And based on that revelation from the Spirit, some of the believers concluded that Paul should not go to Jerusalem. So that's what it means, that through the Spirit, they were telling him not to go to Jerusalem.

[13:23] This is a very interesting dialogue. And this passage teaches us several important things about prophecy that I'm just going to outline for you. First, we learn that prophecy is a spiritual gift for both man and woman.

[13:38] 1 Corinthians 12.10 tells us that it's the Holy Spirit who sovereignly distributes the gift of prophecy to various members of the church. And 1 Corinthians 14.1 commands us to pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

[13:56] So prophecy is a spiritual gift and therefore has its origin in the Spirit of God. And this gift is for both men and women believers in the church. Biblical narrative is usually very concise.

[14:10] So if it gives us what seems like an extraneous detail, it's probably not extraneous. It's probably there for a reason. And it says in verse 9 that Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

[14:20] This is not Luke doing his old friend Philip a favor and putting an advertisement for four marriageable daughters in his book. In the ancient world, having not one, not two, not three, but four unmarried daughters who are of marriageable age would have been a source of great shame and embarrassment for the father.

[14:49] It would have suggested that they were unwanted, that something about them was defective. But I don't think that's what Luke is implying because that was not the case for Christians.

[15:02] In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul tells singles that it is good for them to remain single. And the reason he gives is this. The unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit.

[15:16] But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. Because Christ has fulfilled what God had designed human marriage to point to, namely the spiritual marriage between Christ and the church, it is possible for unmarried Christians, men and women, to live fulfilling lives with singular devotion to Jesus, depicting their ultimate marriage, heavenly marriage, to Christ our bridegroom.

[15:44] So in light of that new reality, the fact that Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied is not a point of embarrassment, but it's a point of pride.

[15:56] Here is a faithful evangelist who has not neglected to evangelize his own children. Here are four chaste single daughters, saved by the grace of God, using their God-given gift of prophecy to build up their local church.

[16:11] If God would be gracious to let my three daughters grow up to be like them, I would not be embarrassed. I would be overjoyed.

[16:24] So that's the first thing. Second, prophecy is divine revelation. It's what God reveals to us. It's not something that originates in the human mind.

[16:35] That's why Agabus says in verse 11, thus says the Holy Spirit. And as John 17, 17 says, God's word is truth. And Hebrews 6, 18 says, it is impossible for God to lie.

[16:49] And that means prophecy proper, the revelation of God itself, what God himself reveals, is entirely true and reliable. That brings us to the third thing about prophecy.

[17:02] However, prophecy is different from Scripture in a couple different, couple important ways. Prophecy is circumstantial revelation. Let me explain what I mean by that.

[17:14] For example, we find two of Agabus' prophecy in the book of Acts. In Acts 11, 28, he prophesied of a coming famine. That prophecy is circumstantial in nature. It tells us about circumstances in the world that will change.

[17:27] And for this reason, it only applies to those believers who live during that particular time. It doesn't apply to us. We're not expecting a famine. Similarly, Agabus' prophecy here in Acts 21 applies only to Paul and then to his impending imprisonment in Jerusalem.

[17:45] It has no general application to all Christians. And for that reason, it's not normative and has no binding authority on us. Both of Agabus' prophecies were foretelling.

[17:58] It's revealing circumstantial content about the future. But prophecy can also involve foretelling, revealing circumstantial content about the present.

[18:09] For example, in 1 Corinthians 14, 24-25, Paul says that the prophecies in the context of congregational worship like this will disclose, quote, the secrets of an unbeliever's heart.

[18:21] And so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. So prophecy in such cases does not reveal something about the future. Rather, it reveals the secret of a person's heart in the present.

[18:35] For example, a prophecy might reveal God's specific exhortation or encouragement for a woman struggling with infertility or a man weighed down by the shame of hidden addictions. Some detail about the present that the prophet would not have otherwise known.

[18:50] So then we can say that prophecy is circumstantial revelation that involves foretelling, revealing something previously unknown about the future, and foretelling, revealing something previously unknown about the present.

[19:02] And this is why prophecy is not authoritative and normative like Scripture. The Bible, it says in 2 Timothy 3.15, is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[19:16] Scripture is intended to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. It reveals Christ to us and his gospel to us. And that's why Jesus says in John 5.39, the Scriptures bear witness about me.

[19:29] The entirety of the Old Testament and the New Testament point backward or forward to Jesus, to his person, and his work. And Scriptures also teach us about how to live.

[19:40] It teaches about life and doctrine. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[19:55] So here's the distinction then. Scripture has salvific and didactic content. It points us to Jesus and teaches us about the Christian life and doctrine in an authoritative and normative way, meaning it's binding on all Christians at all times in all places.

[20:12] Prophecy, however, does not include salvific or didactic content, but circumstantial content. No prophet today is prophesying Scripture, like Isaiah or Jeremiah.

[20:23] And we know this because 2 Peter 3.2 says, You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

[20:36] What the Old Testament prophets predicted is what the New Testament apostles have commanded. And those two things form the foundation of what we know about Jesus.

[20:47] It's not New Testament prophets, but New Testament apostles, capital A apostles, who are in line with, in the same authority as the prophets of the Old Testament, because they were the eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection and were commissioned directly by him to bear witness to Jesus and in so doing lay the foundation for the church, as Ephesians 2.20 says.

[21:07] He says that the household of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being a cornerstone. Because the foundation of the church has already been laid, and it does not need to be relayed.

[21:21] We now simply build on top of it. So prophecy in the New Covenant age that we're in doesn't disclose new salvific content. It doesn't add new teaching in addition to what we find in Scripture.

[21:35] And that's helpful for us because that means if someone like Muhammad or Joseph Smith or Sun Myung Moon comes along and says, I am a prophet, I am an apostle, and here is new Scripture that I've written that I'm revealing to you.

[21:59] Or here's a new way of salvation that makes the way of Christ obsolete. Here's a new way you should live as a Christian that's different and contradicts Scripture. Then you can safely assume that they are all false prophets.

[22:16] Because present-day prophecy is not like that. It's circumstantial in nature. Sorry, that was kind of long. It's a little bit technical. I hope it's helpful for you guys.

[22:27] I thought it would be a good opportunity to share it while we're here. Fourth, the prophecy is divine revelation that involves human interpretation. That's the last thing I'm going to say about it. While prophecy proper is divine revelation, and therefore entirely true and reliable, it never comes to us unmediated.

[22:47] The prophet receives the revelation from God and then interprets and applies that prophecy to the people that he or she speaks to. So in that sense, a prophecy is more akin to a sermon than Scripture.

[23:02] The Scripture is inerrant and infallible, but my sermons are not. Right? My sermons are true and authoritative only insofar as it is consistent with Scripture, which is authoritative and normative.

[23:16] That's why we all need to listen carefully and make sure that everything that a preacher says has basis in Scripture. Many preachers have preached things erroneously.

[23:28] And so similarly, while God's revelation itself is infallible, the prophet's interpretation and application of it is not. So every prophecy must be tested to see if it really is from the Lord.

[23:40] Is it consistent with Scripture and the revealed character of God? Is the prophet sober-minded, trustworthy, and self-restrained? And we must weigh the interpretation and application of prophecy.

[23:55] So in Acts 21, God revealed through his prophets that Paul would be imprisoned in Jerusalem, and the disciples at Tyre and in Caesarea, as well as Paul's companions, interpreted the prophecy to mean that Paul should not go to Jerusalem.

[24:11] However, that was an incorrect interpretation and application. The Holy Spirit was warning Paul of his impending imprisonment, but he was not telling him not to go to Jerusalem.

[24:24] He was telling Paul to go to Jerusalem. We know that from chapter 20, verse 22. So part of the training that we do through our prophecy team, the ministry in our church, is teaching church members exactly this, who are prophetically gifted, to distinguish between the prophetic revelation itself and their own interpretation of it.

[24:45] We actually had a great discussion about that even this morning, and Mariah and Dan are doing a great job leading the team and training, and our prophets are getting better and better in doing this. It's not always easy to do, which is why we encourage our prophets, you know, not to say things like, thus says the Lord, or thus says the Holy Spirit.

[25:06] It's technically not wrong to say those things, since prophecy is divine revelation, and there is biblical precedent for saying that. Agabus says it. However, unless you're an extraordinarily gifted prophet, and you're quite certain that what you're saying is a direct revelation from the Lord, and you haven't added or subtracted from it in any way, saying, thus says the Lord can lend undue authority and certainty to the prophecy.

[25:33] And also, because nowadays many Christians haven't been taught what prophecy is, they often associate the phrase, thus says the Lord, with Scripture-level revelation, with Old Testament prophets prophesying Scripture.

[25:47] And so that can mislead people into thinking that the prophecy is new revelation that has salvific or didactic content rather than circumstantial content, which is why we advise our prophets not to say, thus says the Holy Spirit, or thus says the Lord.

[26:02] In light of all this, we can understand why Paul insists on going to Jerusalem despite Agabus' prophecy and other believers attempt to dissuade him. It's not that Paul disputes Agabus' prophecy.

[26:16] In fact, Paul himself has already said, right, in chapter 20, verse 22 to 24, that the Holy Spirit testifies to him in every city, including Jerusalem, that imprisonment and afflictions await him.

[26:28] So Paul knew independently from the Spirit that he was going to be imprisoned already. Other people are just confirming that prophetically. And Luke tells us later in verses 27 to 33 that this prophecy was indeed fulfilled.

[26:42] He is, it says, seized and dragged out of the temple by the Jews, and then he's beaten, and then he is handed over to the Roman tribune and the soldiers who arrest him and order him to be bound with two chains.

[26:55] Again, hands and feet like the way Agabus was bound. So it becomes fulfilled quite literally, so it's all true. So Paul knows full well that he will be imprisoned in Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit has revealed that to him, and yet he goes there anyway because he knows that the Spirit of God is constraining him to go.

[27:18] In other words, Paul is headed to certain persecution and imprisonment. And what is his reason for doing that? Verse 13, what are you doing weeping and breaking my heart?

[27:32] For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. It's all for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus.

[27:46] Proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus was more important to Paul than preserving his own life. I think this is the main point that Luke is driving home in this passage, that even in the face of certain suffering, we must be surrendered to the will of the Lord.

[28:06] Doing something when there is a risk of suffering is one thing, but to do something when there is certainty of suffering is another. Paul willingly goes to Jerusalem where he knows he will be beaten and imprisoned because Jesus was more precious to him than his own life.

[28:25] Think about this for a moment. Even though Paul is at the tail end of his life, even though he has been doing missionary work for many years now, and even though his prodigious production in the service of the Lord would equal what most people would accomplish in three lifetimes, even though Paul has plenty of wear and tear on his body and have gone through plenty of pain and persecution, Paul is not here dreaming of retiring to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, spending the rest of his life in comfort and leisure.

[29:06] Instead, he wants to lay his life on the line again, risk it all to proclaim the name of the Lord in Jerusalem. He lived a life of purpose.

[29:20] His was a life on mission. His aim wasn't to earn enough money to purchase the life of comfort and leisure. No, he earned enough to finance his mission and then chose a life of suffering and persecution bearing witness for Jesus.

[29:36] Paul's ambition wasn't to make a name for himself. No, it was to proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus. And that's because Paul understood the surpassing value of Christ and his kingdom.

[29:54] In Matthew 13, Jesus tells his disciples a pair of parables to illustrate the value of the kingdom of heaven, Christ and his kingdom.

[30:05] He says this, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

[30:18] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. In order to claim that treasure hidden in a field, we must sell all that we have in order to buy it.

[30:38] In order to claim that pearl of great value, we must sell all that we have to afford it. Likewise, in order to follow Jesus, we must forsake the world.

[30:53] In order to pledge allegiance to Jesus, we must renounce our worldly allegiances. This is why Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

[31:08] The cross entails suffering. The cross involves submission to the will of our master. The cross entails death, death to self, to our selfish desires and dreams.

[31:24] And don't for a moment think that this is the call only for the fanatic few who have some screws loose in their heads. No, this is actually how people of sound mind who have done the math accurately live.

[31:45] The man who finds the treasure hidden in the field does not sell all that he has reluctantly or begrudgingly or dutifully because he has to.

[31:57] No, he says that in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Why? Because he has done the math. And it's to his benefit, it's to his profit, it's to his eternal heavenly joy and inheritance to forsake everything he has.

[32:24] And to live like that is to follow in the footsteps of our Savior and forerunner Jesus. Hebrews 12, 1 to 2 exhorts us this way, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

[32:49] How? Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[33:06] Jesus paid for our sins and bore and bore our shame on the cross because he knew that only by doing so he can save us and please God our Father.

[33:18] He knew that his path toward exhortation and glory at the right hand of the Father lay through his humiliation and his death on the cross.

[33:30] Jesus didn't lay his life down for us begrudgingly, dutifully, reluctantly. No, he did it willingly for the joy that was set before him.

[33:47] He delighted to save sinners like us who never deserve a chance so that we might be saved and united with him and become heirs of God our Father.

[34:01] And now we get to serve the Lord Jesus who gave his all for us. The Son of God who took on human flesh to identify with the sons of man.

[34:13] The sovereign Lord who lived and died like a slave. The righteous one who absorbed the just wrath of God against sinners. All for the joy that was set before him and it is our joy and privilege now to serve such a Lord.

[34:31] Lord. Luke 9.51 Luke says being fully aware of his impending death in Jerusalem he says that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.

[34:44] Jesus resolved to go to Jerusalem knowing fully well what waited him there and now Paul is following in his footsteps he's saying in effect my Lord Jesus died for me in Jerusalem and it will be my honor to die for him in Jerusalem.

[35:03] It's not like Paul is unmoved by his fellow believers entreaties they're tearful entreaties. He says to them what are you doing weeping and breaking my heart it breaks Paul's heart to see his fellow brothers and sisters weeping telling him not to go because they don't want him to die they don't want him to be in prison they don't want him to suffer.

[35:25] It breaks his heart to see that and yet he must tear himself away because of his allegiance to the Lord Jesus because of his love for the Lord Jesus so Paul reminds them I am a servant of the Lord and his spirit is constraining me to go to Jerusalem and I am prepared to suffer imprisonment even death for his sake so please don't detain me don't break my heart like this and the believers gather around Paul in Caesarea see that Paul cannot be dissuaded so they cease and say this in verse 14 let the will of the Lord be done they are echoing Paul's posture of surrender if it is indeed the will of the Lord for Paul to testify in Jerusalem and be imprisoned then there is nothing we can do to stop it from happening we cannot stand in the way of the Lord let the will of the Lord be done it's similar to how Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest and death when he said not my will father but yours be done and that's my closing exhortation to you this morning let us also surrender ourselves to the will of God come what may whether you have glory or humiliation in store for me

[36:54] Lord whether you have comfort or suffering in store for me whether you have a long life or a short life in store for me whether you have health or sickness in store for me whether you have marriage or singleness in store for me whether you have fame or obscurity in store for me whether you have wealth or poverty in store for me whether you have a white collar job or a blue collar job in store for me whether you have peace or persecution in store for me, I give myself unreservedly to Jesus who gave himself for me.

[37:29] Let the will of the Lord be done. Let's pray. God, that is our heart's cry.

[37:41] God, forgive us for our rebellion, for our sinful desire for autonomy, for not wanting anyone else to dictate what we do, tell us what to do.

[38:09] Oh God, we surrender to your will. Let your will, not ours, be done. In our lives, in the world, all for your glory, God.

[38:29] For that is also our ultimate joy and good, to worship, love, and serve you.

[38:41] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.