- In fact, already in Sunday I knew what I would talk about today, but I never had the occasion to go through the texts again so if you want you can sing a song until I find them again and get on the right track.
- We'll wait.
...
- Okay. So. Well, last Sunday I read ten chapters of the Acts of the Apostles - the last ten - and I must tell you that they hit me pretty hard. What an action! What characters! Felix, Festus, King Agrippa - these clear figures, so alive, these sophisticated bureaucrats, absolutely real in their lines and actions, opportunistic and alive! And Paul? So Pauline! How great is also Luke, what an author, what a storyteller! It's as if I saw all these faces with my own eyes. I was grabbed and carried away in their moment and in their world.
I will read you some bits about things that relate to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, how we hear it and how we interpret it. Here we go, Acts 19:21:
After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
"Paul, purposed in the Spirit..." - now, the language is a bit confusing and foreign here; we don't usually say "purposed in", but simply "decided" - "Paul decided in the Spirit." But even if we wrap it in the purest Bulgarian it is still unusual as an expression, highly unusual. It's not like in other instances where we are told that "the Spirit said to him," "he had a dream", "he got a prophecy," "a vision", "an angel appeared to him and told him" - there is plenty of these in the Bible. But here we have something else - Paul decided in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem ... OK, but how? ... I will not read what follows but will only ask you to imagine a bit the map of the Middle East and Greece. Paul is located in Asia (modern Turkey), he decides (in the Spirit) to go to Jerusalem (South), but he will first pass through Macedonia (West) and from there in Achaia (Southern Greece today). Which means he is not in a hurry, there is no urgency. His decision (in the Spirit) does not force him to hurry, but it will not be forgotten because of some more immediate tasks. It's there, it lingers in the heart of Paul, as a firm commitment, an unchanging direction, regardless of the circuitous route. Until the end of chapter 19 we read about the hysterical manifestation of the silversmiths of Ephesus against Paul, and chapter 20 begins with this -
And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
Luke describes also the story of the boy who fell from the third floor and Paul raised him from the dead. And then "we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot..." Again I say - I have not looked on the map, but going afoot somewhere while the others take a ship to reach the same spot - Paul had quite a hike, I think. Why? It was not for "ministry" because we don't read about him going to somebody. He was just walking. And thinking. About what?
Then we read how he joined the group of accompanying Greeks, Macedonians and Asians and they arrived by sea in Mitylene, which was apparently not far from Ephesus. Paul does not want to go through Ephesus to avoid delays, and he calls the elders to come and meet there with him. On the beach he speaks at length and openly on how "pure from the blood of all men" he was (now that's a Jewish expression) because he says "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." He describes to them how selflessly he served them day and night, without relying on some material assistance from them. He tells them that none of them will see his face again which means they see each other for the last time. This greatly upsets them and some even fell on his neck with tears and kissed him. But wait a minute! When and where did Paul learn that he sees the Ephesians for the last time? The text says nothing about him having a revelation from God. When did you learn that, Paul? When you walked afoot between Troas and Assos? Who knows!? Anyway, he tells them that. And chapter 21 starts thus:
And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we same with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara. And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
They said to Paul, through the Spirit, not to go up to Jerusalem. Here again this phrase - "through the Spirit." Who speaks? The Spirit or the brothers from Tyre? Obviously, they hear the voice of God. It doesn't say what they heard, but apparently it had something to do with what would happen to Paul in Jerusalem. I.e. something dangerous. The question immediately arises how come that through the same Spirit Paul "decided to go to Jerusalem" and also through the same Spirit someone tells Paul not to go to Jerusalem!? Who is speaking here? What is the Spirit really saying?
Look, this is important. It is important, because here we have a recorded case of discrepancy between the guidance of the Spirit, and the interpretation given by people who were all undoubtfully, devoted to God.
Let's read further however - they arrive at Caesarea and stay with the deacon Philip, who had four daughters who "prophesied", but there's no sign these children prophesied anything to Paul. I think they were still children, because at that time, all 15-16 years old girls were already gone from home :) I mean, if they still lived in their father's house, they were still not marriageable. It doesn't matter. Interestingly, the four had the gift of prophesy, but in them the Spirit is silent on the topic (Paul's journey to Jerusalem). That's interesting. But there is another one who prophesies -
And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."
Agabus. On the model of the Old Testament prophets he uses objects to express the revelation he had received. The reaction of those present is to unanimously ask Paul not to go to Jerusalem. What's happening? "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" - already twice Paul clearly hears about some great danger in Jerusalem. Brothers beg him not to go. Wasn't he good at revelations? Wasn't he good at guidance? Who speaks? Is it not the Holy Spirit? Is it not the One about Whom we've read that "in Him" Paul purposed to go to Jerusalem. Is He capable of putting once in the heart Paul to go and then to send him every 500 kilometers other people who tell him not to go? What exactly is going on (in the Spirit)? Paul's answer is surprising and of course accurate and inspiring, but before being inspiring it is exactly this - very surprising. "Come on! Why do you weep, don't do it because I will start weeping too. Is this what we've gathered for? Is this what I taught you for years, what are you doing? Not only am I ready to go to Jerusalem (as if there were no warnings for Paul, as if there was no way for him to change his plans!), but I am also ready to go and die there, if I must, because of my faith in Yeshua as Lord. I think that you at least should be clear on what I do and why I do it! ". The irony is that they react with "Be God's will!" - well, yes!! It is exactly this will that was made manifest in all those revelations, but they failed to grasp it because they were not of the mind of that will, despite the revelations. Here I want to quote something that I missed - the conversation of Paul with the elders from Ephesus:
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
He says he does not know, and then he goes on saying that he knows. I.e. he does not know what exactly will happen to him, but in general the Spirit tells him that in every city he should expect chains, beating and pain. How does one live like this? Why is he then going to Jerusalem (such are the thoughts of the prophets in Tyre, of Agabus, Luke and the rest of the brothers)?! The answer is so simple and Paulinian - "I am bound in the spirit!" i.e. I am forced, I am irresistibly attracted to Jerusalem, it is irrepressible, I have an inner call, which is unrelenting. Who of us speaks that way? I mean - our spiritual motives range between our reasonable conjectures and direct revelations. It is either "I think so, because...", or it's "God told me," but "I am bound in the spirit" is not among the phrases we would use to describe the reason to go somewhere to an almost certain death. And we would certainly not say it as implacably as to silence all brothers and prophets.
What caused the diversity of opinions? What Spirit spoke on both sides? Well it was the same Spirit, only the interpretation was different. The reaction was different. The Spirit said through the Tyrians that a great danger was lurking in Jerusalem and the Tyrians said to Paul through the Spirit not to go there. The Spirit said through Agabus what awaited Paul in Jerusalem and Agabus and the brothers said to Paul through the Spirit not to go there. May God give us more and more accurate prophetic words to hear. Hopefully, however, may we have more of the spirit of Paul, of that "bounding spirit" who grants the correct understanding of what we hear from the Spirit. What was it in the spirit of Paul, which eventually compelled him to go forward? What made him going forward not as a fanatic or in some kamikaze style (later on he deliberately prevented an attempt on his own life - he was not committing suicide so to speak with this going to Jerusalem, and he was wise and prudent in navigating and finding his way through all circumstances, chasing maximum glory for his beloved Christ)?! Paul, the Tyrians and Agabus hear virtually the same thing - the Tyrians and Agabus did not say the Spirit told them to warn Paul not to go to Jerusalem. They just related the vision they had on what would happen to Paul and interpreted it as a warning for him not to go! Paul on the other hand tells the elders of Ephesus that in principle he knows what awaits him in Jerusalem, and says that for him this is NOT a warning against going. They had one identical revelation from the Spirit which lead Paul to feel "bound by the Spirit" and to "purpose in the Spirit" to go to Jerusalem, and the others to "beg him not to go."
It seems that it all comes down to our understanding of the sacrifice of Christ, which Paul accurately describes in his speech before the elders of Ephesus on that beach - "it is more blessed to give than to receive." So what do we have according to that principle? Well, the weeping ones who exhort Paul not to go to Jerusalem were not as happy in their faith, as was Paul. Christ's sacrifice - and our apprehension of it - seems to also enable us understand what is God actually saying to us. If you are not in the Spirit of this sacrifice, you can not understand the revelations of the Spirit.
There is a fine-tuning in the apostolic spirit that makes it indistinguishable from the Spirit of God. When we read that Paul "purposed in the Spirit", and when he says, "I feel bound in the spirit to go" it's as if we read "the Spirit told him to go to Jerusalem." It is recorded as it is so we might think the initiative came probably(?) from Paul, but in fact there is no difference.
The greatest thing here is that there was no need for the Spirit to tell him to go.
Talk about guidance!
* Illustration: The Piri Reis Map, detail, 1513
