Compelled by the Spirit

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[ 000 ] So, in Acts 20 Paul leaves Ephesus after being there 3 years, makes a big loop to see all the churches in Greece, gathering up the funds they had collected for the church in Jerusalem, and last week, Pastor Nate took us to the end of Chapter 20 where Paul calls the elders of the Ephesian church together and says goodbye to them all for the last time. It was a time of grief, tears, prayers, knowing that Paul would never be back that way again.

And in verses 22-23, Paul said, “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.” but Paul says in 20:24 – I don’t consider my life of any value to myself. I’m not going to stay out of the city just because I could die there. I’m not going to protect myself. I’m not taking a security team. I’m not packing heat. I’m going in knowing full well what I’m going to face, but finishing my course with joy and finishing the ministry Jesus gave me, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace, is more important than me staying alive.

Paul is living out the words of Jesus, who said, if you want to save your life, you’ll end up losing it. There’s is a kind of self-protection that ends up costing you your life. But Jesus also says, if you’re willing to unclench your grip on life for the sake of Christ, you will find that there is more joy, more grace, more peace, more comfort in letting go than there is in holding on. When we try to hold on and protect ourselves, we end up building our own prison cell and then wonder why our life is always dark and lonely. Oh sure, you never get your feelings hurt that way. No one ever makes you feel dumb, no one ever confronts your sins or weaknesses or your theology, but you never know love. You never know the true meaning of friendship. You never know the joy of emptying yourself out for the benefit of others. The joy of generosity, the joy of serving, the joy of seeing God meet your needs.

Paul has emptied himself out for the sake of Jesus, and knows the end is in view. He has a couple places he wants to check off the bucket list before he crosses the finish line.

So, in verse 1 of chapter 21, Paul takes off for Jerusalem. And after making some connections, they sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, where the ship was to unload it’s cargo. 4 We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. And here in Tyre, some of the other followers of Jesus came to Paul and said, hey we’ve been praying for you, and verse 4, the Holy Spirit told us you should not go to Jerusalem.

And then, this is crazy, verse 5 When our time had come to an end (when the guys were done unloading the cargo and refueling), we left TO CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY, while all of them (the Tyre disciples), with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray, 6 we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

Translation. The Holy Spirit told us, you shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. Next verse. Paul left for Jerusalem anyway. Completely ignores them. What is that?! Shouldn’t Paul cancel his trip immediately if the Holy Spirit said he shouldn’t go? What is happening here?

When you think of prophet or prophecy in the Bible, who do you normally think of? Maybe people like Moses or Elijah. Maybe you think of the prophetic books of the Bible, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Hosea, and so on. A prophet in the Old Testament was God’s mouthpiece. God would give that prophet a direct revelation, some insight or wisdom – sometimes a picture of something that would happen in the future, and sometimes just a rebuke or encouragement for the people of God. No one back then had a Bible in their living room, or in their backpack. Now you could speak to God anytime you wanted, but if you wanted God to answer, you had to locate a prophet and ask him to hear from God for you.

So when you think of a prophecy, it is a message, a revelation, an impression from God that is meant to be shared with someone or a group of people. Human words that communicate a message from God to people. That’s a prophecy, and a person who does that on a regular basis is a prophet. In the Old Testament, that experience was only for a select few people – people that God chose to appoint to that specific office. When a prophet communicated a message from God, it carried the authority of God. If you disobeyed that message, you were sinning against God. For that reason, if someone said “the Lord told me” or walks up to a group of people and says, “God told me to tell you…” and that wasn’t true, or the prophecy didn’t happen like they said, they should be stoned on the spot. Kill ‘em. They are false prophets, and you should not show them any mercy.

That’s what makes this scene in Acts 21 so bizarre. Because Paul is pretty confident that the Spirit said go. The disciples show up pretty confident saying the Spirit said “no!” So which is it? Are these disciples false prophets? Or Is Paul disobeying the Holy Spirit? Let’s keep going first, because another strange thing happens at their next stop.

7 When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached (Patole-ah-my-eese) Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. 9 This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 10 After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Now this isn’t the first time we’ve met Agabus. We met him before, back in Acts 11, where he predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine throughout the Roman world, and it happened. And he’s obviously heard that Paul has landed on the mainland again, and that he’s headed for Jerusalem. Apparently, this is another one of those times Agabus sees a vision or gets an insight from the Lord and sprints to Caesarea so he can pass on the message to Paul. And when he gets there, he does something similar to what the Old Testament prophets would do – he acts out something the Lord showed him.

11 He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says (So again, claiming direct revelation from the Spirit): ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’” But then watch what happens. Agabus never says, “don’t go to Jerusalem.” He just says, The Spirit told me that you’re going to come up against some rough stuff if you go to Jerusalem. That’s all he says.

Paul hears the prophecy, and probably nods along, going, yeah dude, I know, I know. I get that in every city I stop at. But each time, it’s just one more confirmation that I’m going to need the strength of the Lord, I’m going to need courage, etc. I’m still going. You’re not changing my mind.

The other people in the room, however, interpret the message from Agabus very differently. To them, this message means Paul shouldn’t go. Verse 12 When we (the people listening) heard this, both we and the local people (not Agabus) pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. They’re all getting emotional, and pleading with him, please, please, please don’t do this. We need you here. God says don’t do this. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” I consider my life to be of no value to me, the fact that I could be arrested or imprisoned or even tortured and killed is not motivation to stay away – I gotta finish the course here. 14 Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.” 15 After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

Once again – Paul ignores their prophetic words, and heads for Jerusalem anyway. So how do we start to make sense of this? Let’s look at three points from scripture, and then finish up with some practical application.

Prophecy is God’s gift to the Church…: In 1 Corinthians 12 “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.” What Paul is writing here is that when the Holy Spirit moves into you, He brings some housewarming gifts with him. It’s not a bottle of wine or a piece of art or a cutesy decoration – it’s a supernatural ability that He will use (watch this) for the common good. It’s not for you to make a name for yourself, or brag about or to be known for… it’s a gift the Spirit gave you, so that you can contribute to the body in the way and at the time HE chooses.

1 Corinthians 12 implies that not everyone gets the same welcome gift or gifts. Prophecy is just one spiritual gift, meaning, it’s something the Spirit gives to whomever he chooses. You don’t get the gift of serving first – loading trailers, washing floors, cooking dinners until you are more mature, and then God gives you something like speaking in tongues or teaching, and then when you level up even more, you might unlock prophecy. No. It’s a gift God gives when and where he wants to.

…for the building up of the Church: In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says the Church should be all be eager to see this gift practiced among us. Why? Because in his infinite wisdom, God has not made faith a solo project. We belong to each other. Even between denominations and congregations, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Anyone who has had God shine the light of the glory of Jesus into their hearts – we are adopted into the family of God. That’s why Christians sometimes call each other brothers or sisters. And since we belong to the family, sometimes the Father makes his glory known to us by giving someone else a message or an impression from him, or vice versa. 1 Corinthians 14:3 “…the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.” I want to give you two examples of this. In the mid 1800’s a preacher named Charles Spurgeon was preaching, and in the middle of his sermon, stopped in the middle of a point he was making, pointed to a general direction of the congregation and said, “young man, those gloves you’re wearing are not yours. You have stolen them from your boss.”

After the service, a young man looking very pale and uncomfortable came to find Spurgeon, dropped the gloves on the table and said through tears, I’ve never stolen anything before. This was the first time. You’re not going to expose me, are you? It would kill my mother to know I’ve become a thief. Spurgeon said that happened over a dozen times, where he would not know the person or the situation or even that what he was saying was true – only that the Spirit compelled him to say it. And most of the time, someone would come forward, confess their sin, and turn to Jesus. Spurgeon didn’t like to call those experiences prophecy, so he called them “impressions from the Spirit.” But it built up and strengthened the church.

Another one of these messages of encouragement came for me last year on the Sunday before the election. If you remember, I planned a sermon that week to talk about government and how to think biblically about the process and all of that. And to be honest, I went to bed Saturday night just frustrated with where the sermon was at. I wasn’t confident in the slightest. Sunday morning, I’m up early, and I finish it out, get my slides ready, and sort of with a sigh shove the computer and notes into my backpack, climb in the truck much later than I wanted to be, and head out the driveway to church. And I’m praying, Lord, I need you to comfort me right now. I need your peace, because I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing. I should have stayed in Acts. I’m not smart enough to talk about this, and on and on the thoughts continued as I pull out the driveway. And as I drove, I was recognizing my flesh in this – I want to be respected, I want to be seen as wise, I want people to say I’m awesome and all of that. I can’t blame that on the devil. That’s my sinful, selfish nature. But the devil no doubt was enjoying it, and was calling attention to my flesh with a spirit of fear. You’re not going to get it right, people will be disappointed, blah blah blah. And I’m praying against that in Jesus’ name, and saying I trust you God, I believe that when I prayed about this all week, you were there… and then my phone lights up. And I know you shouldn’t read texts while you drive, but I did it anyway. I picked up my phone, and it was a text message from a dear sister here in the room. And Kay’s text to me said, “I think I had a word for you. I had a short dream or vision. I was standing in front of a desk and the lady behind the desk gave me an envelope. I don’t know what was in the envelope, but immediately I saw two horses running swiftly, and I heard the words, “run with the message. I will just say this feels pretty risky for me to send this to you because I am not sure of myself, (or what your message is), but I felt compelled to do it anyway.” The second I read those words, that peace I had been praying for washed over me. I chucked the phone into my bag, a huge smile came on my face, I punched the gas and by the time I got to church, I was like, let’s skip the singing and get to it, I’m ready to go! According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, that’s the definition of New Testament prophecy. Strengthening. Encouragement. Consolation. I got all three in that text message. Do you see why Paul says, be eager to do this!? Do you see what a gift this is to the church? Now the message the disciples keep giving Paul here in Acts 21 is that he’s going to face hardship, and Paul knows that. But each time he hears it, it only strengthens his resolve. Paul, they’re going to hurt you. I know. And I’m ready. Bring it. It strengthens his understanding that God is preparing him mentally, spiritually, etc for this. And in each city, the people who warn him are also found praying with him and seeing his courage in the face of the persecution. What do you think that does for their faith when persecution shows up on their own doorstep? Paul didn’t run, I’m not running. But here’s where some guardrails can be helpful.

These impressions/prophecies are not the perfect inspired word of God: Remember, even though we are saved by grace, indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, as Paul writes in 1 Cor 13, we are still only seeing these spiritual realities like looking at a foggy mirror. Paul did not view what the disciples said in Tyre as the perfect word of God. He flat out did the opposite of what they said the Spirit was telling him to do. Paul didn’t view their words as the infallible, inerrant word of God, just because they said the Spirit told them to say it. He weighed their against God’s purpose for his life. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:20–21, that we should not: “…despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good.” If you’re looking for a message from God that has no errors, is perfect in every prediction, perfect in every application, perfect in every interpretation, a perfect view of what the end times will bring about, a perfect understanding of how you are to life your life, of who God is, of how you come to Jesus, of how you must be saved – we are not encouraged to look to prophecy or track down a prophet. There’s only one place to find it, and you’re holding in your hands. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. For that reason, if God gives you an impression, when you sense the Lord has something for you to share with someone else, it is wise and prudent for us to NOT start off with, “The Holy Spirit says…” or “The Lord wants me to tell you this..” or even saying something like, “This is not me speaking right now, it’s the Lord speaking to you.” If you’re going to start your sentence with that kind of language, what comes out of our mouths next needs to be scripture. That’s the only direct word from God we have that is perfect, and the only words we can be 100% confident are God’s. Everything outside of that must not be given that kind of weight. I felt like Kay modeled that well in her text. “I think I have word for you.” “I’m not sure.” “I felt compelled.” That gives me room to test it and hold it up to the light of God’s word. It’s only when I report back to her, YES! that was exactly what I needed to hear in that exact moment, that we can say, yeah, we believe God has intervened.

Paul is practicing what he preached. He heard what these disciples were saying, and when he tested it against what he believed God was calling him to do, and he was able to discern between what the Lord was saying, “You’re going to face chains and affliction,” and the emotional requests of his friends, “Please, please don’t go.”

So when it comes to prophecy or impressions from the Lord like this, we have to be discerning. Obviously not every picture that comes into your mind is going to be from the Lord. Don’t just blurt out everything that comes to your mind and say it’s the Spirit. That’s using the Lord’s name in vain.

So, let me wrap this up – if you’re thinking, wow, that sounds like an incredible gift to the church, I would enjoy trying that, or enjoy being able to get impressions that I would say to someone else to encourage and strengthen them.

Ask for it. If you want to walk in this gift, just ask for it. We’re told twice in 1 Cor 14 to eagerly desire this gift.

Walk in the gift you already have. 1 Cor 12 says you received at least one gift when the Spirit took up residence in you. So walk in faithfulness right there. I will be honest, I envy the gifts of others sometimes. I wish I had theirs. But whatever gift you have, walk it in faithfully.

Gifts begin with prayer. Exercising any gift of the Spirit – whether it’s prophecy, speaking in tongues, serving, teaching, administration, helping others, etc – must all begin with silent, listening prayer. Remember it’s a gift. But as 1 Cor 14:1 says, it’s a gift we should be eager to have. That’s an invitation to ask God for it. When you are heading into a meeting, Lord how can I encourage this person today? When you’re sitting down with your children for supper – Lord what would you have me say to them that would point them to you? When you’re getting out of the car to walk in here for a Sunday morning gathering, Lord I want to bring something to the table this morning – what would you have me say or do that could lift someone’s spirits this morning? And then be still. Listen.

Hold it loosely. I think, I sense, I feel are good words to use. The Lord told me to tell you. The Spirit said this. That’s not helpful unless you’re speaking direct scripture. That’s the only perfectly accurate message from God.

I don’t believe the New Testament instructs us to go chasing national or global prophecies. God may give them from time to time, but I don’t see any instruction in the New Testament for us to seek them out. What Paul seems to be much more interested in, when he says “I wish everyone was eager to prophesy,” is where the people in this room are praying for each other, praying for our community, praying for our schools, praying for our city, and listening for that impression in your mind or in your heart, and then 1 Corinthians 14:3 “… speaking to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.”

Prophecy is great, but the key part of this whole text is that Paul is following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem knowing what would happen when he got there. Paul has set his face to go to Jerusalem, knowing what he would face when he got there.

Jesus didn’t play the God-card when he could have, instead he emptied himself, while we were still sinners. Paul doesn’t look at his life as something he wants to save or protect. He has emptied himself speaking the gospel of the grace of God, and he’s willing to run right up to the finish line – even if it’s the death of a martyr.

Just like Jesus had people trying to keep him from suffering, Paul has people trying to keep him from suffering as well.

Just like Jesus anchored his life in the will and plan of his Father Paul anchored his life in the purposes of God as well.

The good news that Jesus is the Messiah, that he lived the life of obedience to God that we should have lived but didn’t; that Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross so that you and I wouldn’t have to face the wrath of God on our own; that Jesus was raised to life again to prove that his life and his death worked – that was Paul’s ministry. Spiritual gifts are part of the ongoing ministry of Jesus, as he sends the Holy Spirit.

Our job as a church isn’t to focus on the gifts. Our job is to focus on the Giver. Our primary job isn’t to traffick in prophecy or interpretation – it’s to grow fruit that looks like Jesus.