SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2018 9:58 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Courage of Conviction Pays Any Price”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 21:7-14
Message of the
verses: “7 When we had finished the
voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brethren, we
stayed with them for a day. 8 On the
next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the
evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. 9 Now this man had
four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. 10 As we were staying there for
some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, 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.’" 12 When we had heard this, we as
well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13
Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?
For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name
of the Lord Jesus." 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we fell
silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done!"”
We begin by looking at Judges 1:13 which will give us the OT name for Ptolemais: “Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob.” The highlighted word “Acco” is the name of the city now named Ptolemais, and it was about 25 miles south of Tyre. We see that Paul never wastes an opportunity to minister as he greets the brethren in Ptolemais and stays with them for one day. I am not sure how he found them, but at any rate he did and since there were few inns he stayed with the brethren for a day. Once again this church like Tyre was probably started when the believers fled Jerusalem with the gospel message because of the persecution that was going on found in Acts 11:19 which happened after the death of Stephen. Paul’s care for this church was in no matter less for this church even though he was not the one who founded it for Paul’s concern was “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28).”
After one day the ship continued on down the coast and
covered 40 miles to Caesarea, which was the port city of Jerusalem, for we know
that Jerusalem was on top of a hill, and that is why we always read that you
had to go “up” to Jerusalem in the Scriptures.
Caesarea was located some 65 miles northwest of Jerusalem, so it was a
rather long journey to get to Jerusalem from there. Caesarea was the seat of the Roman government
in Judea and it was the official residence of its governors (mostly for
Pilate). There was a mix of Jews and
Gentiles there and it was as we read the home of “Philip the evangelist who was
one of the seven.” When we read “one of
the seven” we know that he was one of the seven “deacons” chosen as seen in
Acts 6:5-6. John MacArthur writes
“Philip also was the pioneer in preaching the gospel to non Jews, first to the
half-breed Samaritans, then to the Gentile Ethiopian eunuch (8:26 ff). He richly deserved the appellation
“evangelist”—a title given to no one else in Acts (though Timothy was told to
do the work of an evangelist [2 Tim. 4:5]).”
Accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Savior changes
everything as Paul was once a bitter enemy of Philip and now because of the
gospel he is a brother in the Lord with Philip and stays at his house as he is
welcomed there.
We see that Philip had “four virgin daughters who were
prophetesses.” Perhaps we can conclude
because Luke describes his daughters as virgins that God had set them aside for
a special ministry. MacArthur writes
“Prophets, like apostles, were specially appointed by God in the church. They must be distinguished from individual
believers with the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 12:10). They complemented the ministry of the
apostles (Eph. 4:11), functioning exclusively within a particular local
congregation, while the apostles had a broader ministry. In contrast to the apostles, whose doctrinal
revelation was foundational to the church (Acts 2:42; Eph. 2:20), the message
of the prophets was more personal and practical. They sometimes received new revelation from
God concerning matters that would later be covered in Scripture. The main thrust of their ministry, however,
was the reiteration or exposition of existing divine revelation (1 Cor. 14:3),
much like today’s preachers and teachers of the Word.
“The revelatory aspect of the gift of prophecy ceased at
the close of the apostolic era with the completing of Scripture. The nonrevelatory, reiterative aspect of the
prophets’ ministry of doctrinal and practical exhortation has been taken over
by the evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
In fact, in the last letters he wrote, the pastoral epistles, Paul does
no refer to prophets at all; instead, teaching is to be done by the elders (1
Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:9). This lack of
references to prophets is especially significant in epistles devoted largely to
church structure, officers, and service (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).
“Luke records no details regarding Philip’s daughters’
prophetic ministry. It is therefore
impossible to know how often they prophesied or even if they did so more than
once. However the New Testament does not
permit women to assume the role of preachers or teachers in the church (1 Cor.
14:34-36; 1 Tim. 2:11-12). It is likely,
therefore, that they prophesied by receiving divine revelation, rather than
preaching sermons. It is also possible
that they spoke instructively to individuals rather than congregations.
“It has been recorded that early believers regarded these
women as valuable sources of information on the early history of the
church. The historian Eusebius notes
that the church Father Papias received information from them (Ecclesiastical History, III.XXXIX; [Grand
Rapids; Baker, 1973], 126. Perhaps Luke
used them as a source of information in writing his gospel and Acts. He would have had many opportunities to talk
with them, not only during this visit, but also during Paul’s two-year
imprisonment at Caesarea (Acts 24a:27).”
We can see that there was no evidence of any prophesying or
their prophetic ministry from these four women on this section that we have
been looking at today. We will continue
with this section in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It takes courage
to continue on in the Christian life, especially when things are difficult, and
when one is being tempted by the enemies of the believers.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to trust the Lord to give me victory
over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “When she had no more vessels”
( 2 Kings 4:6).
Today’s Bible
question: “What religious sect said
there was no resurrection, no angels, nor spirit?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/27/2018 10:46 AM
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