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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 The first things that came to the Lord were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Gratians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves within the church, and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dirt throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. All right, we're here in Acts 11, and I'm planning to start coming up here from time to time to preach, and also my wife's going to be giving birth in Marikina, so we're going to be staying up here for a month, coming up in about a month from now. And when I do come, I'm going to be starting this new series called The Alphabet of Bible Characters. And so I preached on characteristics and doctrines, but this is going to be about characters, so we're going to be starting with the letter A here tonight. And the purpose of this series is not to look at characters that everybody knows about. I'm not going to be preaching about Moses or King David. The point is to preach on characters that maybe we just kind of overlook in the Bible. Maybe there's one story about them, two stories, someone maybe we just don't fully pay attention to. And tonight I'm going to be preaching about a guy by the name of Agabus. A guy by the name of Agabus. And that might be a name you do recognize. Maybe it's not. And here's what I would say, that there's two stories of this man, and the most common story and the most famous story, the one that people know about a little bit, is the second story. And if all you read is the second story, you could have a very messed up understanding, I believe, of this character and even the purpose of the second story. So we're going to look at this character Agabus. Let's just start here at verse number 19. The Bible says, Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phinnis and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none, but unto the Jews only. Now this is the chapter where Peter is recounting the conversion of Cornelius, but of course during these days there was this over obsession with only giving the gospel to the Jews. And from my perspective, I just go to the most receptive people that there are. As I've said recently, a basic rule I have in the Philippines is if I see a white person, I don't approach them with the gospel. You say, why? They're not likely to get saved. I would much rather go up and talk to a Filipino because they're just far more likely, at least from the outward appearance, to end up getting saved. And so during these days, who was more receptive, the Jews or the Gentiles? The Gentiles. So why would you go to the Jews if the Gentiles are more receptive? I mean, when people go to a missions trip, this is a country they would consider. You say, why? Because it's more receptive than going to other countries, right? And so it just makes sense to go to the most receptive areas, but in the early days of the church, they were basically overly obsessed with the Jews and they didn't even spread out to start new churches until the persecution came. Verse 20, and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were coming to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned onto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch, who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. And it says here in verse 24, for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. The conversion of Saul is mentioned a couple chapters earlier, and of course at this time with Paul the Apostle, who was still known as Saul, people didn't really trust him. And you cannot especially blame them, because here's a guy that was persecuting Christians, and then all of a sudden he's going to be on our side. I mean, just imagine in your own mind, you know, people, let's say there's some radical Muslim that's trying to arrest and kill Christians, and then all of a sudden he does a 180 and believes on Christ. It's kind of like, I don't know whether I believe this. Maybe it's some devil that possessed him that's got a new mission for him, or whatever. It would be obviously hard to really trust that, and what you see in the early days is that Barnabas actually recommends Saul, and kind of helps boost his reputation a little bit, because Barnabas was respected. Barnabas was thought of very highly, right? Verse number 26, and when he found him, he brought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves at the church, and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians, first in Antioch. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem on Antioch, and there stood up one of them named Agabus. So here's the first introduction of this character Agabus, which I'm preaching on, and I would say that I had probably read through the Bible several times before I even knew the name Agabus, because he's not the most commonly guy preached on, and if you're like me, in my Bible reading sometimes I zone out, and I can kind of miss a lot of names, and just kind of overlook things, and so Agabus is a character that I don't even think I really paid attention to the first several times I read through the Bible. I just kind of missed it, but here he's mentioned here in verse 28, and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, so by the Holy Spirit of God, that there should be great dearth throughout all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. So here's a man Agabus that is basically prophesying, and he's predicting there's going to be a great famine. There's going to be a lack of food. There's going to be a desperation that is going to come, and he's predicting it. If you think back to the story of Genesis with Joseph, and Joseph knew that there's a famine coming, they're able to prepare. But here's the thing, if Agabus does not stand up and say this, they're not going to be aware of this. From this story that we're reading, does Agabus seem to be a good guy or a bad guy? Seems to be a good guy. I mean, he prophesies and predicts that there's going to be a great dearth or famine that is going to come, and this is exactly what takes place, and then notice what it says in verse 29. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief onto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. Now here's the thing about this, there's only two stories in Agabus about this man, but then Agabus, he stands up, he says this is going to take place. Obviously the man had a bit of a reputation because of the fact they trusted him so much that they said, you know what, we're going to prepare for this famine. So this is not just some random person that stands up at church and says, I've got a prediction, there's going to be this famine. This is a guy who's a prophet. This is a well-respected guy. Here's a guy that knows his Bible, he's a soul winner, he loves God, and he's prophesying and predicting the future, and they had so much trust and faith in this man that they said, you know what, we are going to basically give our own money and help prepare and send relief to the brethren of Judea. There's no question from reading in Acts 11, this is a great guy. Verse number 30, which also they did and sent it to the elders by the hands of, notice this, of Barnabas and Saul. Now of course at this time, Saul or Paul the Apostle did not have the same reputation that he would have later on. Quite honestly at this time, Barnabas has a very good reputation. Another place of scripture, I'm not preaching on Barnabas, but there's another place of scripture, he sells his land, so he gives a lot financially, and he's a soul winner, he's dedicating his life. Barnabas was one of the most highly thought of characters during this time, and he was for a while kind of the right-hand man of Paul the Apostle, and if I'm honest, it's more like Paul the Apostle was the right-hand man of Barnabas when Barnabas started. Barnabas was highly thought of, yet in this story, as a result of the instruction of Agabus and the prophecy of Agabus, Barnabas and Saul helped carry out this mission. So we see here from this story that this is a man we should know about, right? And quite honestly, there's probably not a lot of people that name their kids Agabus, that's a good possible name, right? Agabus is a great character in the Bible, and he's a guy that I can say is just not really preached on that much, he's kind of overlooked. And of course, I could talk to you a lot about this story, but I really want to focus on the second story on him. Before I do that though, go to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. And I'm not going to tell you what we're going to name our child, but it's not going to be Agabus, okay? So that name is still open, okay? But the Bible mentions this guy Agabus, and I believe that Agabus was actually an apostle. And there's a bit of a misunderstanding, because people think of the 12, and there were not only 12 apostles, there was kind of the inner circle. So if you look at the main 12 characters we think of, you've got Judas Iscariot that was a bad guy, right? Then you've got kind of the four that are the closest to Jesus, you think of the sets of brothers. Andrew and Peter, James and John, right? And those are kind of the four closest, and they make up what is known as the 12. Now the Bible gives the designation of the 12, but if you notice, it's not always all 12 of them together. Because even after Judas Iscariot is gone, they still refer to the 11 as the 12. That's kind of just the group of people, the 12. But those were not the only apostles. Now when it comes to being a disciple, we can be disciples of Christ today. Now we cannot be apostles, but there is a multitude of disciples. But notice what it says here in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1, the famous resurrection chapter. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. And so the Bible is showing that when it comes to the gospel, it's something that to receive it, it gets preached on to us. Everybody gets saved because somebody preaches them the gospel. And of course, when it comes to salvation, we are saved eternally. But if somebody says they're saved, and five years from now, they're a Muslim, it's like they're not saved. They were never saved. The only exception I can think of is if their whole family is Muslims and they're afraid their head's going to get cut off. But if you're saved, you believe the truth, and it's going to stick with you. So if you leave our church a year from now, and you say, you know what, I believe that there's multiple gods, right? I'm now a Hindu, right? Or I believe that you have to be baptized to go to heaven. Well, that's actually proof that you were never saved, because he's saying you're saved if you keep in memory. Not saying we've got to really walk the walk to keep our salvation, but the idea is if you're really saved, then you're going to believe the truth. That truth is in you forever. It's eternal life, but it's also that when you believe on Christ, you have the truth inside of you forever. Then it says here in verse 3, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas. Cephas is a reference to Peter. Then of the twelve. Now Cephas is obviously one of the twelve, and of course at this time it's referring to after the resurrection of Christ, and of course he didn't see Judas Iscariot, but it still refers to it as the twelve, because you still have that eleven of the twelve. Then of the twelve, then notice this, After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. Now it's like, well, wait a minute. It mentioned earlier that you were seen of the twelve, and now it's saying all the apostles. What is that saying? I thought that the twelve and the apostles were the same. That's actually not true, and so the twelve are apostles. Those were not actually the only apostles, though. Now what you see in this passage is the big point to think of is experiencing the resurrection of Jesus Christ, seeing the resurrection, because he talks about I was seen of them. I was seen of them, and so we cannot be apostles today because we have not seen the resurrected Christ. You say, well, pastor, I have seen the resurrected Christ. Quit doing drugs or quit getting possessed by devils. In Pentecostal churches there are people that will be like, I'm apostle, and it's like, apostle? No, because you have to actually have seen the resurrected Savior. Then it says, and last of all, he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. So Paul's saying I was the last one and I was chosen because, of course, when you think of the apostles, who chose them to be apostles? Jesus Christ. Now I believe in a similar sense in today's world that God chooses people to be pastors and spiritual leaders, but, of course, it's not done by I've never been on the road to Damascus and saw a shining light or anything like that. It's done as a result of a church that will specifically ordain people to be spiritual leaders. Then it says here in verse 9, For I am the least of the apostles that am not made to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. Now, if you were to ask me, do you think that Paul was kind of the replacement? Well, I would say yes, that he's of that 12. He's kind of the replacement, but I don't think that he's the 12th apostle and that's all the apostles because there was a lot of apostles, okay? And so, anyways, turn your Bible to Acts 11. My point is this. Agabus is a pretty significant character in the Bible, even though it doesn't mention him that much. He's a pretty great character. I mean, as a result of him prophesying, Barnabas and Saul and all these other big spiritual leaders are like, if Agabus is the 12th apostle, if Agabus said it, it's going to happen, right? Look, there's a lot of people that if they were to tell you something, you wouldn't really trust what they have to say. And, you know, obviously when it comes to being a prophet, you've either predicted things that did come to pass or they did not come to pass. And so I would presume that Agabus probably predicted a lot of things that came to pass. He was a prophet, which in the early days there were prophets and God spoke to people in different ways and then they realized, I can trust this guy. Because I can tell you that, you know what, on a Sunday morning here at church, you know, if certain people come up to me and say something, I will really respect their opinion and really think about it. There are some people that if they told me something, I probably just wouldn't trust it that much, especially if it's a spiritual thing I'm saying. It's like certain people are very spiritual. Certain people might not be. Agabus obviously was thought of as being very spiritual and very godly. And I do believe he's an apostle. And my reasoning would be because he was a prophet. He was predicting the future. And I do believe that he is one of the special ones chosen by God. Whether you agree or not, it really doesn't affect the sermon. What we do need to walk away with in this chapter, though, is to realize Agabus was a great man of God. Even if you've never heard of him before tonight, when you read Acts 11, he's prophesying the future and it was a great help to the early church. Otherwise, a lot of people would have been very in trouble financially and struggling for food. And God used this man, Agabus, to actually make that prediction. Acts 11, verse 28. And I'll just reread these verses we looked at. And there stood up one of them named Agabus and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. And so it's not just predicting a dearth in that part of the world, in that part of the world, but the entire world. So the one man God chose to give that message was Agabus, that there's going to be a dearth throughout the entire world that nobody else saw coming. Verse 29, then the disciples, every man according to his ability determined to send relief onto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Go to Hebrews 1. Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. I mean, wouldn't you have to have a lot of trust in a man to end up just taking money from your own wallet and just giving it? It's like, man, there is such a need that's coming. There's going to be such a famine that you're going to actually give of your own money. And people did this. Obviously they believed this because they trusted this guy. So I think we can understand from this that Agabus was a soul winner. I'm sure he was a preacher. He's a great man of God. He's a prophet. He's predicting the future. And no, he's not the most remembered character in the Bible, but during this time he was very, very respected from people that were the ones we look at as being the best Christians during that time period. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. By whom also he made the worlds. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 1 that in the past, God spake in different ways, different manners. Right? I mean, when you're reading throughout the Bible, I mean, God is speaking to Adam. And, you know, the Bible says that God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. So I believe that's a conversation one on one from an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God. Or you call it a Christophany, an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God. Well, I have never had a face-to-face conversation with Jesus Christ. This never happened. Right? But obviously in the Bible there are people that actually do talk to God face-to-face. And, you know, sometimes the Bible doesn't really tell us how the conversations go. And so maybe we have a different opinion on certain ones. Was God speaking face-to-face? Did they hear a voice in the sky? You know, in the book of Job, I mean, God spoke out of a whirlwind. I mean, imagine a tornado is happening and then you hear God's voice. I mean, that would strike fear in me. But that's what the Bible is saying, speaking out of a whirlwind. It's not just being metaphorical or symbolic. It's saying essentially there's like a tornado and then God is speaking out of it. It's like, whoa, God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. But I've never experienced anything like that. And unless you are insane, neither of you. Okay? But God did at one time speak in diverse manners. But in these last days He's spoken unto us by His Son. So what is the Bible trying to tell us? Well, here's the Bible saying that in our modern day when you think of the Son, another name for the Son of God is the Word. But why does God refer to Jesus Christ as the Word? Well, the Bible is saying that He's the Word. And here's the thing. If you want God to speak to you in 2025, because when you pray to God, you are speaking to God. You are giving your prayer requests to God. You are talking to God. But if you just sit there and wait for God to answer you back, you're not going to hear anything. Now, I do think when we pray, I think it makes a lot of sense to really take our time and sometimes just kind of stop and ponder and think. But I never hear God's voice when I do that. So when I pray to God, if I just sit there and wait and wait and wait and wait, I'm not going to hear a voice from God. Because God doesn't speak in that way. You say, well, how does God speak to you? How do you hear from God? I hear from God when I open up the Bible and read it. And one thing that's amazing to me is sometimes when I have something on my mind and I pray to God, then all of a sudden I open up my Bible and it's like, there's the answer in my daily Bible reading. I read for 10 minutes and I look at a verse and I'm just like, man. It's just like, if I believed in tattoos, just put Bobo on my forehead. How did I not realize that before? And so that's how God speaks to us. And of course, another way God speaks to us is via sermons. That is a big way that God speaks to us. And so I would say that if you're a member of a church, you'd probably say there's times where you felt like God was directly speaking to you. And I would say I don't write sermons individually for one person. But obviously when I preach sermons, they can sometimes apply to a lot of people. Right? And I write sermons, they sometimes apply to my life also. So God's even speaking to me through the sermon as well. And so those are the primary ways that God would speak to us in 2025. Obviously somebody could come up and talk to you and teach you something and things such as that. But you're not going to have these crazy experiences like they had throughout the Bible. But there's no doubt throughout the Bible that there are some unique experiences. He says diverse manners and diverse ways. You say, well, why is there not a need for it in 2025? Because we've got this. And what Peter talked about is that he trusted the Word of God, the Scriptures, more than what he was an eyewitness to. And of course Peter experienced pretty remarkable things, including the Mount of Transfiguration. But he said we have a more sure word of prophecy and it's found in the Word of God. And let me just say this, that I said that the two primary ways that God will speak to you is via the Word of God and via sermons in 2025. Let me say this, that your personal Bible reading trumps what I say in sermons. So if you read something in the Bible and you know this is what the Bible is saying and I said something else, you trust what the Bible says. And that's why you need to go home and search the Scriptures for yourself. Don't just rely on me for your Bible information because I make mistakes, I'm not perfect, I'm not always right about everything that comes up. And even if there's a topic I preach on, you ought to make sure you understand that topic and make decisions for yourself, right? Turn your Bible to Acts 21, Acts 21. Acts chapter 21. Now, you know, I think in this room everybody's in agreement. Yeah, God speaks to us through the Bible. But, you know, you go out in the world and people say, well, God was just... and they don't think that they literally heard a voice from God, but they'll just talk about how I think God was trying to speak to me via this and they'll say a lot of bizarre things will come out of people's mouths. And it's just like, you know, like, what are you talking about? Right? But people will just, I mean, just the crazy things that people say and I've done sowing before and people just say crazy stories to me about how... And they'll say literally that God spoke to them. Like, I was in a car accident. I didn't know if I was going to make it and I heard God speaking to me and ever since then I knew that I need to be a member of the Pentecostal church. It's like ever since then, I mean, I've heard this many times in the U.S. I have not heard this here, so maybe it's not as common, but many times in the U.S. I've heard people say that they got in a car accident. The reason they know they're saved is because they got into a car accident and they did not die. It's like we're talking about spiritual salvation, not physical. But literally I've had people that they have a personal experience and that personal experience is so emotional and so powerful to them that it does not matter what you show them, they are not going to believe it. And I'm not saying that they're a child of the devil. I don't believe that with the ones I'm thinking of, but they are just so obsessed with that personal experience and they just will not even look at what the Bible says. But God speaks to us via the Word of God. We read the Bible, we hear sermons, and of course the reason God speaks in sermons is because I'm giving you Bible, right? I'm not just telling stories, I'm actually giving you Bible. Acts 21, let's look at the second story of this man, Agabus. So I think we could all agree, Agabus is a great man and in the early days he was one of the most well respected men. Even Barnabas and Paul the Apostle, before he was called Paul, are basically following and helping out based on his prophecy. Acts 21, verse 1. And it came to pass after that we were gotten from them and launched, we came with a straight course on the Cus, and the day following on the Rhodes, and from thence on to Patara. And finding a ship sailing over on to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set forth. Now, when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand and called into Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload 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. So now, instead of being called Saul, we've got Paul, right? And the disciples, through the Holy Spirit of God, tell Paul, do not go to Jerusalem, right? It's not their own personal opinion. It's through the Holy Spirit of God. So, right here we see that what they're saying is correct. Now, Paul the Apostle is obviously the guy we look at as the greatest Christian during this time period. I would say the same thing, but he's wrong. He is told by the disciples, by the Holy Spirit of God, do not go up to Jerusalem. Now, you don't have to turn there, but there's a lot of verses in the Bible that speak about wise counsel. The Bible says where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. And I would say that even the greatest Christian living in the world at that time needs to be able and willing to take counsel from other godly people if necessary. No matter who we are, no matter how spiritual or how well we know the Bible, we're not always right. We don't always make the right decisions. And there are times that, look, I don't care who it is in this room, if ten very godly soul winners come up and they all say the same thing, this is a bad idea, most likely they're correct. Now, I'm not saying that that's always the case, but look, if like a multitude of people come up to me and say, Pastor, it's like I support you, I respect you, I love you, and like a bunch of people are like, but you know, Pastor, I think this is a bad idea. It's like I should stop and consider, okay, wait a minute, a lot of godly people are telling me this. Maybe I'm not making the right choice. Maybe I'm wrong about this, right? And it says here in verse 5, let's go on with the story. And when he had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way, and they all brought us on our way with wives and children until we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship and they returned home again. And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemus and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day. And the next day, we that were of Paul's company departed and came unto Caesarea, and we entered into the house of Philip the Evangelist, which was one of the seven, and abode with him. And so Paul's going to be staying at the house of Philip the Evangelist. It's like a who's who of Christianity in the early days, right? This is the days in social media, hey, Paul the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist are going to be here. You'd have 169 people come to church, right? And so you've got Paul and Philip, you know, some of the great characters. And Philip is also only mentioned a few times in the Bible, but he's got probably the most exciting soul winning story in the entire Bible. And then here in Acts 21, he was a very godly father and great evangelist. He's one of the great characters. I would look at Philip as being the number one guy of Bible characters I want to model my life after because I look at him as kind of being the ideal father and husband as well as zealously serving God. And it says here in verse nine, And the same man had four daughters, virgins which did prophesy. Of course, I preached a little bit about that recently this past weekend. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus. And so once again, we've got this character, Agabus. And, you know, essentially in this story, he is basically traveling to deliver a message to Paul the Apostle. He came down from Judea. He's basically traveling to bring this message to Paul the Apostle. Now remember, there was already a lot of disciples that the Bible tells us by the Holy Spirit of God. By the Spirit, meaning by the Holy Spirit of God, said, do not go to Jerusalem. Okay? And here we've got a prophet, and we know this is a good prophet. This is not a false prophet. This is not, you know, a Jehovah's Witness or anything like that. Okay? This guy is a great character in the Bible, a true man of God, and he comes from Judea to deliver a message. And this says here in verse 11, 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. So the way I imagine this is Agabus walks in, and they're like, hey, man, what are you doing here? Shakes hands, shakes hands, takes the belt off Paul and binds his hands and his feet, and it says this is going to be happening to the man that owns this belt, referring to who? Paul the Apostle. He's saying, Paul, you will be arrested if you go to Judea. I mean, literally, he came from Judea to give this message and said, Paul, you are going to be arrested if you actually go forward with what you want to do. Now, this story is interesting because I remember the first time I paid attention to this story, I didn't really notice Agabus the first time he's mentioned in the Bible. And so I kind of naturally assume, well, Paul the Apostle is probably right, because Paul is going to act really hardcore, and it's like if you actually carefully read this. So even from this section alone, it's like, no, Paul the Apostle is not right, and Agabus is making another prophecy, and everything that Agabus says comes to pass. I mean, God basically sent him from Judea to bring him this message. I mean, the disciples said, do not do this, but, you know, all of us can be just, you know, matigas, angulo, hard-headed sometimes, all of us, including me. And so, look, I'm preaching this sermon. Hopefully if this ever happens where a bunch of people say, hey, you're making a bad decision, I'll be like, okay, let me stop and think about this, okay? But as I said, you know, I don't know, my head's pretty hard, you never know, okay? And so Agabus delivers this message, and it says in verse 12, and remember, I mean, Agabus is a respected man. If Agabus travels to bring this message, people are going to be like, okay, we ought to listen to what he said. He traveled to bring this direct message to Paul the Apostle, and this is a prophet that we know is a great guy. Verse 12, and when we heard these things, both we, and notice this, and they of that place. Whose house are they at right now? Philip the Evangelist. And so that includes, they of that place also includes Philip. You know what that means? Philip said, Paul, you're making a mistake. These are a lot of great characters. I mean, the disciples are soul winners. They love God. That alone, I mean, a lot of disciples that love God. But then all of a sudden you've got Agabus, a great prophet, and they of that place. That includes Philip the Evangelist and the other soul winners and great Christians that are there. It's like Pastor Stuckey, a missionist trip to North Korea is not a good idea. It's like, I should be like, okay, you know, maybe you're right. Okay. And so they of that place includes, in my opinion, Philip the Evangelist, because it's his house. He's certainly of that place. He's specifically at that house, and they besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. So to beseech is, you know, another sense of that word is to not just ask or request, but very strongly say, do not do this. This is a horrible idea, Paul. 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 a Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we cease saying, The will of the Lord be done. Now, Paul's statement in verse 13 is a really cool statement. It's a really hardcore statement. It is really bold, and it sounds great, and it's completely wrong. It sounds cool, because when you're reading it, it's like, I'm willing to die for the name of Christ. Now, here's the thing. I can understand, you know, obviously, as a married person, I feel a little bit differently than when I was single. You know, I have a family that depends on me. But here's the thing. It's like if a great prophet traveled to bring you this message directly from God, it's kind of like, well, here's the thing. God doesn't want you to go. Even if you're willing to die, God says no. Now, obviously, in our lives today, God is not going to just directly speak to us. I mean, I doubt someone at church is going to rip off your belt and then tie up their hands and then say, God is saying, right? But here's the thing. Sometimes in life, we want something, we want to do something, we decide something, and then we see the Bible says directly, no. Right? We see what the Bible says, and we see right in the Word of God, this is not correct. I think all of us have run into that before, haven't you? There's something that maybe is already in your life or maybe something you're considering, and then all of a sudden you directly see the Bible and you realize, hey, you know what? God is speaking to me in just as real of a way as if Agabus were to just rip off my belt and tie up my hands. And you say, what do you do in those situations? You do what God says. You follow what the Bible says. And here's the thing. This is why it's so important for all of us to have that personal walk in Bible reading because of the fact you need God to speak to you. I want to be on the path that God has for my life, and what I know is that if I go on my own way, I'm going to fail. I'm going to mess up. And so we need to make sure because, you know, obviously when sermons are preached, I believe God leads me to preach sermons or to write sermons, and they can be edifying and helpful, but it's like, here's the thing. When I preach on Sunday, I'm preaching to a lot of people. Maybe God specifically has a message for you, and the way He's going to answer and talk to you is via you reading the Bible and saying, hey, you know what? It's not a good idea. Do not do this. You should do this rather than this. Now, I'm just being honest that when I first, you know, read this story when I was a lot younger, you know, I just am like, man, of course, you know, Paul the Apostle. What a great attitude. I'm willing to die for the cause of Christ. And, of course, that is a good attitude. But in this situation, Paul is completely wrong. And I think alone from that passage, we have enough verification that we're going to have to do this. I think alone from that passage, we have enough verification that disciples by the Spirit of God, Agabus comes to deliver this message. Agabus is a great man. They that were of that place, including Philip the Evangelist, are bringing this message. Do not go up to Jerusalem. I think that alone will tell us, but if we just read the rest of the story, and I'm going to read in Acts 21. I'm not going to look at other passages, but everything came to pass. I mean, everything that was said was correct. So it's not a false prophet delivering a message. It's a message that God specifically was giving to Paul. And Paul just was not willing to hear it. Right? Look, obviously I think Paul the Apostle is a better Christian than I'm ever going to be. This is not a matter of comparison or anything. All of us make a lot of bad decisions. But God gives us characters in the Bible that show flaws so we can learn from them. And even great characters and great people can be wrong sometimes. And Paul is wrong in this story. Verse 18, go to verse 18. And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James, and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. So Paul was basically kind of given like a recap of his missionary work. He's like, man, a lot of Gentiles have gotten saved. Notice the reaction in verse 20. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto them, thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe. And they are all zealous of the law. It's like there's this over obsession with the Jews getting saved. And, you know, of course, Paul even has a little bit of this because he's going to go up to Jerusalem. But it's like, man, look at all these people that got saved. And it's like, well, you know, there's these thousands of Jews. It's like there was nowhere near as many Jews as there were Gentiles. And, you know, most of the Jews that were zealous were already saved before Christ came. It's not like there's this other than in Acts 2, there's not really this mass conversion of Jews in comparison to the Gentiles. It was the Gentile world, which is really why Paul the apostles remembered so much because he dedicated his ministry to reach more of the unreached areas. And that is why he's remembered. Verse 21, And they are informed of thee that thou teacheth all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after their customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come. And they say, man, there's this multitude of Jews that got saved. And, man, they love God so much, but there's a problem. They're kind of upset with you, Paul, because they've heard that you said to forsake Moses. And, you know, obviously Paul never taught to forsake the Old Testament law, but there were cardinal ordinances and just things that symbolize Christ that are done away. My personal opinion in regards to circumcision is that is something that is not necessary. You know, it's not something that we do with our kids. I would give this recommendation, though, that if you choose to do that with your kids, do it the Bible way at a very young age. It is much safer. Do not wait until they are, you know, whatever age it is that they generally do it here, 10 or 12 or whatever it is. I mean, eight days is what God says. So if you're going to do it, do it right around that time period. It's going to be the safest. I mean, there's an increased level of vitamin K, from what I've read. I'm not an expert at that, but just do it the way that God says. For me, though, it's kind of like something that's just done away, okay? But right when he gives this message, they're saying, there's all these Jews that are zealous, but they're kind of worried about you because you're telling them not to do their customs and their traditions. And they said, you know, what is it, therefore, in verse 22? I mean, kind of explain yourself. It's like Paul just got up, all these Gentiles got saved, and right when he decides to start having a bit of a ministry to the Jews, it's like, hey, you know what? You know, you've got to explain yourself. It's like, what did I do, right? I'm just teaching the Word of God, right? Verse 23, do therefore this that we say to thee. We have four men which have a vow on them. Them take and purify thyself with them, and be it charges with them that they may shave their heads, and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. So they say, you know what? If you want to prove to the Jews that, you know, you're not telling them to forsake the law, you need to shave your head. Now, look, when Pastor Jimenez ordained me as an evangelist to the Philippines, one of the requirements was not to shave my head. Now, back then, in the early days, I really did actually just kind of shave my head. That wasn't a requirement from Pastor Jimenez, though, okay? It's just I just wanted to be low maintenance, is really quick, saves money, so I just shaved my head. Now, you know, my wife, you know, cuts my hair. But isn't that kind of a weird request? It's like, all right, brother, I'm going to ordain you. You can go there, but you got to shave your head first. It's like, okay? And I don't think it's a sin or wrong to shave your head, but it's kind of like you're already kind of asking some weird requests for him to go to Jerusalem. And it's like he never had that issue with the Gentiles. He just preached the word of God. I mean, you say these people are zealous for serving God, but they're not going to like Paul the Apostle unless he shaves his head. Isn't that kind of weird? Because I don't think that people in this room really care that much about how I look. As long as my hair's not long, I don't think you care, right? So it's kind of a weird request that he's giving here. And it says here in verse 25, As touching the Gentiles, which believe, we have written and concluded that they observed no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from strangle and from fornication. Then Paul took them in and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And what's interesting about this story is that Paul basically makes a bit of a compromise in order to have his ministry for the Jews. And I'm not going to say that he sins, but he's already kind of compromising who he is a little bit to do this. It's kind of like you didn't have to do that for the Gentiles. And what it should tell you is, Paul, maybe Agabus was correct. Maybe Philip the Evangelist was correct. Maybe all of those other soul winners that are saying that, maybe they're correct because they all have the same message. And even before you start, it's already kind of like you're running into situations. It's like, hey, you can go there, but make sure you shave your head first. And look, I think James is a great guy in the Bible. I'm just saying it's kind of odd, right? They had this over obsession with the Jews. But you know what's interesting about this? Paul the Apostle is incredibly hardcore in this story. Let me ask you a question. Did Agabus or Philip the Evangelist compromise who they were? No, they didn't. And sometimes in life, when you take extremely over the top positions, you're basically forcing yourself to eventually compromise because you are unlikely to actually keep that really strong position. I'm willing to die. It's like, well, it doesn't really seem like it because now you're afraid to go unless you shave your head. When you take incredibly strong and way too over the top positions, you're more likely to compromise because it's a very tough standard to actually keep. But Philip doesn't compromise in the story. Agabus does not compromise in the story. The one who compromises is actually probably the greatest Christian after John the Baptist outside of Jesus, Paul the Apostle. Verse 27. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help. This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and further brought Greeks also in the temple and hath polluted this holy place. So right when Paul goes, all of a sudden it's like people are crying out, This is the man that destroyed and defamed our temple. He brought Greeks in here. Right when he goes, it doesn't matter that he shaved his head. The hair length wasn't the issue. You know what was the issue? It's what he preached. It's what he said. And Paul didn't say anything wrong. Paul preached the word of God. But because the message was so strong, there was a bunch of rabid Jews that are immediately ready to kill him. This is the guy that is responsible. And what's interesting about Paul the Apostle is even in today's world, there are a lot of people that would even say they're Christians that hate Paul the Apostle. I mean, it's crazy. I didn't realize how big this movement was, but there are actually a lot of people that will say, I believe in the New Testament, but not the books of Paul. Paul went and taught something different than Jesus, right? And Paul the Apostle, I mean, he's kind of a hated guy in general because if you look throughout history, Muslims don't like him. So everybody loves Jesus, at least the Jesus they made up in their mind, but not Paul the Apostle. He's kind of hated by a lot of people. Now, I love Paul, but he's wrong. He's a great person to learn from, but we also should learn from his mistakes, not just assume that everything he says and everything he does is always correct because he's not correct here. Verse 29, For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus in Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was moved, and the people ran together. And they took Paul and drew him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came on the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. So they're going to kill him. He's going to be killed just like he said, I'm ready to die. Well, that's about to happen. And it says in verse 32, Who immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down onto them. And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating up Paul. Then the chief captain came near and took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains and demanded who he was and what he had done. And isn't he chained up just like Agabus said? And some cried one thing, some another among the multitude. And when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him be carried into the castle. Now, one thing that I will say that I'm very thankful for with God is that if you love God, and you may, because this is not really a sin, I mean, he should listen to the advice, but it's not like he got drunk. It's not like he killed someone. He just was being hard headed. And one thing that I appreciate about God is that if you were actually really trying to serve God, and you make some mistakes, maybe being a bit over the top, I do think that God is going to protect you. Because in the story, God protects Paul. Now, it certainly changes the course of his life. And, of course, God still used Paul in a big way after this. I mean, being in prison, he gets to have a lot of time to write books of the Bible. You have a lot of famous chapters preaching to Felix, preaching to Agrippa and everything. But, you know, one thing we can certainly learn from this story, though, is just the fact that, you know what? Even a great man like Paul can be wrong sometimes. Even Paul should have been willing to take counsel. He says, hey, I'm thinking about going to Jerusalem, and then everybody says that's not a good idea. It's not safe. It's not a good idea. It's like, you know what? You should probably take that advice. Right? It's not the exact same thing. But I remember in the early days here, I thought, you know, a really cool soul winning marathon would be in, like, Tondo in Manila. And then a lot of people said, you know, I don't think that's a good idea. It's probably there's better areas we can go. It's not safe for the kids. And, honestly, it's just like, because I really had that idea. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, maybe the wives can't come and the kids. Like, maybe this is a bad idea. Right? But, you know, being new here is kind of historic in a way. I thought, oh, this will be cool and everything. But in reality, it's like we have a lot of great soul winning marathons. That's probably not going to be the best place. Probably not what we're going to choose. Right? Obviously, anywhere is good to preach the gospel. But, you know, some areas are going to be better than others. And so in this story, Paul the Apostle is a great man. He's a great guy. He's probably outside of Jesus and John the Baptist, at least right up there with anyone who's ever lived. One of the greatest characters outside of Jesus. He's probably the number one character that men would look at as an example of saying, hey, I want to be like Paul the Apostle. And he's all of those things. And, yeah, I think he got more rewards in heaven than Philip. I think he's getting more rewards in heaven than Agabus. And there's other soul winners that told him that. But when there's that many of them that say this is a bad idea, it's like, you know, it's probably a bad idea. And in this story, we see it was a bad idea. He got arrested just like Agabus had said. And so, you know, Agabus is a great character in the Bible. You know, the purpose of the series is to kind of look at characters. Because maybe you already knew who Agabus was. Maybe you're familiar with the stories and this is nothing new to you. But I would say there's probably a lot of people that you're like, hey, I hadn't really paid attention to that guy. I didn't know how good he was. And I would say this, that Acts 21 is a lot more famous. If that's all you read, you might casually read and walk away and think, well, Agabus is some false prophet who came down and is trying to stop Paul. But everything he said came to pass. Right? And he's a great guy, as we saw earlier in the Bible. And so, you know, Agabus is a great character to think of. And so just to kind of remember him, Acts 11 and Acts 21 show us this great unsung hero. And it also kind of shows us there are a lot of characters the Bible really focuses on. There's also just a lot of great characters in the Bible that, you know, maybe there's just a little bit about them. Right? And, you know, what we should do is just kind of pay attention to those characters and try to learn from them. And Agabus is a man we can learn a lot from and we can just walk away and say, hey, you know, as great as you might be as a Christian, you still need to be ready to accept counsel and be open minded to realizing sometimes you're wrong. And in this situation, Paul the Apostle is clearly wrong in this situation. Let's go as a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. And thank you for this great character, Agabus, that we can learn from God and help us just to apply lessons from the life of Agabus and these stories in Acts 11 and Acts chapter 21, God, and help us just to really pay attention in our Bible reading to a lot of characters and stories that maybe we might overlook, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.