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And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Let's pray. We thank you, Father, for your precious words, dear God, for this wonderful church, for dear brothers and sisters, and we ask that you please bless the pastor tonight as he preaches your word. In Jesus' name we pray. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. So we look to Jerusalem, and it tells us here that he does it through, they do it through the Spirit. Now turnover if you work to Acts Chapter 16 you hold your place there in 21 and Acts Chapter 16, I believe that anytime we see in the Book of Acts where the Spirit is forbidding Paul or moving Paul, really is just another way of saying that God is sending an individual to forbid Paul through the Spirit. Okay. You know, obviously this can mean that well look what it says in verse 5 It says and so were the churches established in the faith and increase in number daily Now when they had gone through Phrygian the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia After they were come to Missia they assayed to go into Bithynia But the spirits suffered them not and they passing by Missia came down to Troas now Obviously we understand that Paul he's an apostle So it could very well mean that the Spirit literally came to him gave him these audible instructions to say Hey, don't go to Asia. Don't go to through these areas You need to make sure you don't do that that could very well be a possibility But what I believe this is actually referring to is an individual coming to Paul Okay, someone who is spirit-led just like we see in Acts chapter 21 Through the Spirit telling the Apostle Paul don't go right don't go to Missia I'm excuse me. Don't go to Bithynia. Don't go to Asia. Don't go to Jerusalem Okay, so he has someone who's actually preaching to him saying hey the Spirit told me to tell you don't do this now in previous chapters We see just like here when someone told Paul that over in the Spirit tells him Paul obey right Doesn't go to Asia. You know, he's forbidden to go to Phrygian the region of Galatia. He doesn't go to those areas He obeys the Spirit in this area, so why doesn't he do it in Acts chapter 21? Why is it that it's so easy for him to? Incline to obey the Spirit when it comes to Asia and Bithynia, but when it comes to Jerusalem He just directly disobeyed that command. Why is that? Well, it could be that the Apostle Paul just has his own agenda Okay, doesn't mean he's a bad guy doesn't mean he's wicked It just means that he's bound in his own spirit to reach his own people in Spite of the fact that the Spirit is telling them don't do that. Okay Now we know We'll see later on that, you know the Apostle Paul. He has a burden for the Jews You know whether people like it or not He had a heart for the Israelites according to the flesh and you know We see that continuously in Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter 10 that he has a great burden even to the point that he would he Would desire to count himself a curse from Christ that they might be saved I mean, that's a strong love that he has for the Jews But you know what God did not share that same burden with him, you know, God was not saying hey, that's a good idea Why don't you just stick to the Jews, you know, forget the Gentiles just go reach those Israelites That's not the same vision that he had. He wanted him to go into all the regions You know the the Gentile regions into Greece into Asia later on and preach the Word of God there But he had another agenda. We'll get into that just a bit. So we see the first person telling him don't go Okay, he disobeys look at verse number five So, by the way, I believe that this is still happening today, right where Obviously, you know an individual is not gonna be enlightened with new revelation to give you know to someone else an instruction But you know what I by the Spirit Which is the Word of God can come to you and give you an instruction and say hey the Bible says you shouldn't do That God says you should not do this. God says you should not partake of this God says you shouldn't do that And if I have biblical grounds for it I threw the spirit in the sense of speaking right because the words that I speaking to you They are spirit in their life and it's referring to the Word of God And so this is a good principle that we can learn that hey, we need to be able to take advice Biblical advice right now, obviously, there's certain things in life that are just black and white Or in the Word of God that are black and white some areas are gray and in that case when something is not 100% clear We need to go to a spiritual leader who is more mature than you are Who knows biblical principles in order to give you those guidelines of principles that the Bible lays out to make that decision? Right and we don't want to be the kind of Christians that we just need to make Get advice for every single decision. We need to make in life, right? Like what kind of tie should I wear today or something? You know, what kind of shoes should I buy or whatever? You know, it's just like good night Just live your own life when it comes to those decisions you make those decisions But when it comes to major decisions you have to make yeah, it's good to get advice for that You know what kind of spouse you're looking for. It's good to get advice, you know Whether you're gonna move your family and just uproot your entire family to go somewhere else It's good to get advice from a spiritual leader in that regard Okay, so that a spiritual leader can by the Spirit by the Word of God tell you what the Bible says about that Now look at verse number five it says when he accomplished those days we departed and went our way and They all brought us on our way with wives and children Till we were out of the city when kneeled down on the shore and prayed So often when we think about Paul's missionary journeys, we can often think well He's just by himself or he's just with Timothy and Titus, but we see here that there's a group of people with him I mean, there's wives. There's children. There are families there There's a lot of people who are traveling with the Apostle Paul on these journeys Look what it says in verse number six And when he had taken our leave 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 Ptolemies and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day and the next day we that were of Paul's company Departed and came into Caesarea and we entered into the house of Philip the Evangelist Which was one of the seven and abode with him and the same man had four daughters Virgins which did prophesy now I want to talk about this for just a minute and it doesn't really have anything to do with Paul's compromise But this is just a good point to make That Paul is you know, he's abiding with Philip the Evangelist, which I believe to be the evangelist in Acts chapter 8 But we see that Philip the Evangelist has has four daughters who are virgins which are prophesying. Okay? Now lest you should think otherwise this doesn't mean that his daughters are like You know pastors or pastorettes or whatever it is. You want to call them? You know that they're these are the the catalyst to the Pentecostal churches and you know They're prophesying because look folks. I've known people who try to use this verse to teach. Oh, yeah, I mean women could be pastors Now look women can be preachers. Amen But what's important to clarify is where that preaching is done Women cannot be pastors Because the very essence of first Timothy chapter 3 is the fact that it's talking to men and Did there to be the husband of one wife? Well that can't be done with a woman unless she's some sort of dyke and at that point obviously she she's not even saved. Amen She's a reprobate But the Bible does not forbid a woman to preach to prophesize what the Bible says right there. It's they're synonymously used The Bible obviously says that a woman can preach but that's outside of these walls outside of the pulpit in a different arena whether that's soul winning or just teaching her children the Word of God, okay, and We have a man here who has four daughters who are doing just that now they try to use this verse to teach Oh, yeah, they can become pastors, but nowhere to hear. Does it say that they prophesied in church? Doesn't say they prophesied in the Sunday school class Doesn't say they prophesied anywhere else. Where do they do this? Well, obviously we understand according to Acts chapter 2 that they're prophesying in different regions They're preaching the Gospels what they're doing go to Acts chapter 2 if you would Acts chapter number 2 Now if this is your only text verse to prove that women can become pastors Then you're obviously ignoring of the vast majority of clear scriptures in the New Testament. They completely forbid it, right? Look at Acts 2 16 It says but this is that which was spoken about the Prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last day saith God I will pour out my spirits upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see Visions and your old men shall dream dreams and all my servants and all my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy So look what this is referring to is the fact that there are young men and young women who are going out into the cities into the neighborhoods highways and hedges Preaching the gospel. Okay, so we never want to get this attitude that women can't preach at all We obviously understand that they have a responsibility to preach the gospel They also have the responsibility to teach the Word of God to their children I mean think about Proverbs 31, which is a great chapter to teach a woman how to be a virtuous young lady, right? Well doubt those were actual teachings that a man received from his mother Right the prophesying that he received from his mom and you know what Deuteronomy chapter 6 teaches us that a man a Mother and a father had a responsibility to teach the Word of God to their children. They shouldn't you know Relinquish that responsibility to a Sunday school class, right? And that's why we don't have some in school class here Okay, you know Sunday school class though I know many people who teach in a Sunday school class may have good intentions others of course do not It's it's a waste of time you know Sunday school class is typically about 50 minutes long and you know, 15 to 20 minutes of that or 30 minutes of that is singing songs and taking blessings and eating candy and just doing nonsense and then they Allocate about 10 minutes to preaching God's Word, but even then they're not even doing that Sometimes they're just giving them a shallow summary summary of what they're supposed to be teaching. Okay, they're not really getting doctrine They're not really getting taught in those Sunday school classes. And then aside from that sometimes it's a lady who's actually doing that Okay, and you say oh man, that's kind of mean you shouldn't get on people. They're sincere Look, my wife was a study school teacher at one time. Okay? It's bad. I know She knows that We know that now, you know as we grew as we learn we're like man, this isn't biblical This isn't right to do and look whether we're talking about Sunday school class whether it's for children or even adults Why not just have a service? Where a man is preaching for an hour and they get all the doctrine that they need Why cut down the service to 30 minutes because you had Sunday school prior to that Okay, by the way Sunday school class was made by Dio Moody, okay, who was a congregationalist who baptized babies So he's the one who came up with the concept of Sunday school classes, and we should not pattern ourselves after Congregationalist who you know baptized babies were Baptist. Amen The Bible says in first Timothy chapter 2 verse 11 let the woman Learn in silence with all subjection go to first Timothy chapter 2 so you can see it It says Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection Now look, this isn't saying that a woman can't talk in church I've been accused of you saying well, they can't even talk and they can shut their mouths by the time they come in You know until they leave that's not what we're saying. That's not what the Bible is saying Bible says for them to learn in silence. Well, when is the learning taking place? Well when the pastor's preaching So when the pastor is expounding the Word of God and Instructing the congregation that means the woman ought to keep silence during that time That means they shouldn't pipe up and say amen They're not to raise holy hands, which that's not even what the Bible is talking about This isn't a Pentecostal service But it's it's interesting that a lot of these Pentecostals want to just just blatantly ignore this passage of the scriptures It says for them to keep silent Okay, look what I was gonna say, but I suffer Not a woman to teach Nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. I mean, he's just throwing it by just different ways here He's saying look keep silence in the church. Don't teach don't usurp the authority of a man be in silence He just repeats himself over and over again saying don't say anything during the preaching of God's Word Now if that's what it says Where in this passage of scripture does it say unless you're a pastoret It doesn't doesn't exist and you know, you have these people who want to bring up these examples like Deborah Well, Deborah who you preached the Word of God Deborah first and foremost wasn't even necessarily a judge It was Barak who was the judge and if you really want to use Deborah as an example That was that was during the time when every man did that which was right in their own eyes like you're doing Right Because that's the time of the judges whenever man is doing that which is right in their own eyes The vast majority of the judges during that time were men The only reason Deborah got up and judged the people was because men were lacking in during that time So there was a vacuum of male leadership even though Barak was there But if you remember Barak was the one who said oh, you know Deborah if you don't go I'm not gonna go either You weenie. What's wrong with you? But he was a representation of male authority during that period of time And look it doesn't say she was a pastor Doesn't say she was preaching in the temple It wasn't saying she was opening the scriptures and just get you know Gathering a group of people together to teach the Word of God. She was judging the people What does that mean to judge? It means people came to her and said what does God say about this and she said this is what God says about it Okay And look if Deborah was so, you know Powerful and such a great example of a prophetess or of a pastorate. Why isn't she mentioned in Hebrew chapter 11? Why is it that Barak's mentioned in Hebrew chapter 11? You know that Titles relinquished to Barak even though he was a weak leader So Deborah is not a good example of you know, you trying to prove that women can be pastors. It's false The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 14 8 But if there be no interpreter Let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself into God verse 34 Let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak But they are commanded to be under their obedience as also saith the law and I believe what it's referring to is referring to the spirit of the law Basically says that they should keep silence within the congregation Now people can take this overboard too though, okay and just say well women are not supposed to even laugh in church There's just like what are you talking about? I've literally had times where people in the comments section They're like that lady's laughing too loud or she's laughing. She needs to keep silence in the church folks Silence is synonymous with not teaching That's what that's referring to Doesn't mean they can't laugh in church or during the sermon because sometimes my jokes are funny They just they can't help themselves You know, I Don't blame them. Okay, but they're not getting up and saying amen. That's right I'm in agreement what they're doing is just laughing at a joke. Okay, so don't take it to the extreme Don't become this virtue signaling Christian or it's just like no they we need to put duct tape over their mouths They can't say they can't do anything Don't even let them breathe, you know Nonsense Silence means is in tandem with not teaching God's Word. Okay, and they shouldn't be getting up and giving a testimony Like manly Perry allows his congregants to do right? They get up and give testimonies and all these things, you know They shouldn't be getting up and teaching the Word of God. They obviously shouldn't be saying amen because amen means I agree or I believe Okay, you know the men in our church are obviously they're interacting with their pastor as I preach and when they say amen They're saying I agree. Amen. That is true. Okay The woman ought not to do those things because it says the woman should keep silence in the churches So we never want to go to each extreme One extreme says well, they should be able to get up and preach the Word of God because you know The Spirit of God is with them. We have Deborah. We have Philip's daughters as an example, not the right examples None of them are pastors. None of them were ordained to be a pastor an evangelist themselves. Okay, I Notice that it says his dog Called him the evangelist even though they're evangelizing the one ordained to be the evangelist was Philip Okay, there were the daughters of Philip the evangelist Just like my wife is not you know, she's not the pastorate she's the wife of the pastor She's not the pastorate. Okay, I But we also don't want to take it to the extreme where it's just like well They can't just even they can't even fellowship before and after church You know, there's people who have that ideology folks. We don't have that here, but I've known people who Specifically say hey They should not talk even before after service because they are to keep silence in the churches that is in tandem with with teaching God's Word. Okay, go back to Acts chapter 21 So Hey, we see here that Philip is actually doing a really good job Raising his kids, right? Because he's the evangelist and what are the daughters doing? They are prophesying there are they are also Evangelizing themselves and they're preaching God's Word. They're out there soul winning, etc. Okay Look at verse number 10. It says as we tarry their many days there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus So this is Paul's second warning Because Agabus is about to prophesy into Paul in a very You know fancy way to tell him don't go to Jerusalem says in verse 11 when he was coming to 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 his girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles So he's not only preaching to him He's giving them a physical illustration to show this is what's gonna happen to you And when we heard these things both we and they of that place Beside him not to go up to Jerusalem Then Paul answered what me need to weep and to break mine heart for I am for I am now ready Excuse me for I am ready not to be bound only but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Yeah, but here's the problem Paul. God doesn't want you to do that Okay, yeah, it's noble that you want to go do then you're willing to do it, but God doesn't want you to do it and When he would not be persuaded we see saying the will of the Lord be done That's kind of like them just throwing up their hands saying well, you know all things work together for good, you know Because obviously you're gonna mess it up and we see that this takes them on a different journey That ultimately ends up ends up being in prison for two years You know, this is not God's original intent, but God still worked it out together for good because Paul did love God He loved the Lord. He loved people and God was able to kind of you know Move the situation there where he can still win more people to Christ But I want you to notice that this guy Agabus comes at pretty Interesting times go to Acts chapter 11 if you would actually after 11 This guy has a reputation with the Apostles and the prophets are the the disciples of that day Because he just comes out of nowhere kind of like a Samuel It just delivers that message and then everyone's just like he's right Look what it says in Acts 11 verse 27 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 a great dearth throughout all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar so this guy obviously has some credibility, right? He's preaching the Word of God But he's prophesying the future events that are gonna take place and because they actually take place he gains credibility with the people So when he preaches to Paul not to go to Jerusalem, he gives them that illustration people are like he's right We need to listen to to Agabus. He knows what he's talking about now What is the principles that we can learn from? This particular story with with the Apostle Paul and Agabus and these men who are trying to impede him from going What we can learn is this is that we need to be able to take correction We need to be able to take, you know, reprovement or instruction or just any type of wisdom from an older brother in Christ Don't be the type of Christian that just thinks you just think you know everything there is to know about the Christian life There's nothing more Honestly disgusting than an individual who is so prideful. They just cannot take instruction from another brother in Christ We should be able to be humble enough to be able to take reproof. Amen Take correction take reproof when we're when we're wrong, you know and be able to be rebuked even if we need it an Individual who you know just kind of resist that type of wisdom or resist that type of reproof is a proud arrogant individual Doesn't have wisdom. Okay now obviously Paul has wisdom But there is an older prophet Agabus who's coming to him through the spirit Who's telling him these things and he's just like no, I'm still gonna go we obviously can say that the Paul stubborn here He's being stubborn and look folks. Don't be the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 21 Be the Apostle Paul anywhere else But just not the 21 the Apostle Paul because the 21 Apostle Paul is stubborn. He's arrogant He's not willing to listen even though multiple people are saying the same thing Okay, and let me just say this, okay you Know if someone approaches you regarding a specific character flaw for example, and you've had about five people approach you about that character flaw Don't think the whole church is against you Just know this huh? Maybe I do have a character flaw in that area, right? you know, I spoke to a pastor a while back and you know, we're we had some disagreements and And and I and I approached him with some some of the my concerns about him, okay and And you know, he basically told me well, you know what so-and-so told me the same thing. It was another pastor. I Said well, you know if so-and-so is saying it So-and-so saying it and I'm saying it then that probably means that it's true and Before I could even finish that sentence. He's just like no don't try that with me Someone's already tried that card with me not gonna work I don't have that problem just arrogant prideful resistant of wisdom and instruction and reproof It's nonsense That's a proud pastor folks Proud pastor who just cannot take correction and look I've taken correction from other pastors Before becoming a pastor and while while I was a pastor or even an evangelist and you know what? I when I took it I took it humbly because of the fact that I want to grow You understand So I'm not saying oh, yeah I'm just the most humble person in the world but you don't when they corrected me I try to receive it humbly because of the fact that if I don't I know it's gonna impede my growth in the Christian life and There's always some truth to criticisms folks Just remember that when someone criticizes you or gets on you or trying to correct some some character flaw in you Just know this there's often even some truth to that even when it comes from bad people sometimes It's always some truth in each criticism And what we need to do is take those criticisms and allow those to mold us into what God wants us to be right To help us to do what we need to do. Don't be this like this pastor was just like no No, I already know what you're saying Other pastors are already told me that I'm not falling for that. Well that shows you that you have that character flaw How can a pastor have that type of attitude and still pastor a church where he's correcting people right I'm constantly correcting people here. That means I should be also open to correction by my pastor friends as well Okay, and I've been wrong. Obviously. I've been wrong because I'm a fallible man and I'm gonna make mistakes I'm gonna make doctrinal mistakes sometimes and you know when that comes and someone approaches me and says hey that was wrong Then I'm saying well, I messed up. Sorry, I'll correct it in the future Yeah, I didn't know that. Sorry. I made a mistake and look I've known other pastor friends I have pastor friends who made mistakes and then when they were approached about it, they correct them They're like, well, I was wrong about that. You know what? I admire them so much more because of that Because it shows that they are sincere that they love the truth Okay Whereas others are just like no. No, I'm not me Don't be that kind of Christian The Bible tells us where no counsel is the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety folks And look you have a multitude of counselors here You know someone comes to you and says hey, I'm concerned about this specific thing in your life I'm just approaching as a brother in Christ Just want to let you know, you know X Y & Z and then someone else comes to you and tells you the same thing You know allow that to show you that God cares about you that he's sending people to come and talk to you so you can change Okay, don't resist that Proverbs 24 verse 6 says for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war and in multitude of counselors there is safety I already read that sorry Now brother Ulysses, where's brother Ulysses? Can you turn off the AC? I think the ladies are really cold in here. Is that true? Okay, don't speak up keep silence in the church. I Was testing you Now Here's the thing in Acts chapter 19 you have to turn there It says the verse 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've been there. I must also see Rome So we see that he wasn't purposed in the spirit Holy Spirit. He was purposed in his own spirit So this is what what what could be happening with the Apostle Paul and this is something that I think has happened to all of us You ever just determined to do something and you've already spoken about it You've told other people about it and then after like the fifth or sixth person you talk to you They're like, that's not a good idea. You're like why I got to do I got I got to do it now though Because I've already told too many people You understand what I'm saying? It's called stubbornness It's just like well, I'm wrong, but I'm still gonna do it Because I've already told a bunch of people now that could work for good, but it also could work for bad, too It could work for good in the sense that it creates accountability Whereas it's like well now I have to do cuz I already told a bunch of people so I have to do it But it's an in a negative way It works in a sense of you know when it's just a bad idea and you should not go through with it But you go through with it anyways because you've already told a bunch of people Okay, and I think that's what's happening to the Apostle Paul here. He's told so many people I'm pressed in the spirit You know I'm just God is leading me. I have to go to Jerusalem He's paid his fare to go on the boats, and they're going to different places throughout Asia I mean he's taking this trip for him to say you know what you guys are right. I'm going back to Greece It's just like he goes back and eats crow And everyone's like hey, I thought you're going to Jerusalem. It's like well. You know I changed my mind. I made a mistake But you know what that would have been a lot better Than him going to Jerusalem understand So I think that's what's taking place There is is the fact that he has spoken so much about purposing in a spirit to go to Jerusalem You know he's just like I got to do it Now we'll say this when it comes to advice okay My pastor used to say this pastor's position is to say unsought advice is seldom heeded and often resented So basically like when you are not asking for advice and someone gives you advice Often people will not listen to that advice or they'll resent that advice Okay, so they'll not only not take heed to that advice They'll actually resent the fact that you're coming to tell them about that right now That's stupid obviously right because the spiritual person should take heed to it and not resent that Because here's the thing is that someone who is wise will love the open rebuke. They'll love the reproof But typically individuals do not okay, and that's why sometimes I don't really go out of my way to give advice to people if they don't ask for it You know unless I see that it's just gonna drastically affect their life And they're just gonna destroy themselves and their family their spouse and their children I'm like You know I kind of just leave them alone at that You know the family who moved from here and thank God that they did but when they moved Before that I was trying to like plead with that person. Hey, this is not a good idea And here's the thing I was pressed in the spirit to tell that person that Right cuz God wanted that person to leave our church. He wanted him in his own family to get out of first-words Baptist Church But here's the thing when I would give that advice to that individual it was not heated, and it was resenting So this is a good principle for you to learn that you know before you dish out advice You know a word spoken in due season. How sweet it is And we need to often look for a specific time to give advice When a person's heart is tender when they're ready to receive it because sometimes a Brother offended it is it's harder to be one than a strong city and it's contentions are like the bars of a castle Okay, so sometimes you can give good advice, but if the person is not ready to hear it They'll get offended, and then they don't want to listen to you thereafter even though you have good intentions and good advice Okay, now. I don't have the luxury when I'm behind the pulpit to look for good timing I Just need to let it fly sometimes, and if you get offended you get offended That's that's on you You know cuz I'm sanctioned by God to preach the Word of God whether they're give you that advice whether you get offended or not But on a one-on-one Basis on a one-on-one case I need to be careful sometimes when I give advice to Individuals because maybe they're not ready to receive it okay Unless they're seeking it out now Don't be the kind of person that seeks advice You get the advice, and you know what I'm not gonna do. I'm still gonna do it my way That's unwise That's foolish. It's unwise. It's ungrateful, and you know you do that to me. I probably won't advise you thereafter because often when people search out advice and They don't take heed to it. It's because they're hoping you would tell them what they wanted you to say They're hoping that you what you're gonna say was an agreement with what they wanted and because it's not They're just not gonna listen to it. So they're not really sincerely looking for the truth They're looking for someone to basically give their approval of what they want to do you understand So Don't do that Proverbs 20 verse 18 says every purpose is established by counsel and with good advice make war It would've been good for the Apostle Paul to have read the book of Proverbs, right? Because he purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem if you would have gotten some counsel He could establish his purpose and say well You know what I'm gonna let James and John and Peter you let them stick stick over there in Jerusalem do that work over there I'm gonna keep doing what God wants me to do which has reached the Gentiles But he didn't do that and ultimately he paid the price for that now Don't let this impede you from asking asking me for advice Okay But just know this if you're asking me for advice Be sure that that's exactly what you want and now want me to say what you want to hear Don't make me repeat that because I don't think I can restate it. You know what I mean? Okay, if you want advice come to me and say look clean slate. This is my situation What do you think I should do now again if it's a if it's a situation where it's really gray I'll give you advice and then leave it in your court to make that decision But if I feel like it's something where it's black and white where it's like, hey, I think I should divorce my spouse What do you think and I say no because the Bible says you should not divorce. It's not biblical You know at that point it's pretty clear At that point you're like well God's leading me To get divorced, right You know, they're pressed in the spirit to do so and the reason I even give that example is because that's a very common example In churches it happens all the time. Okay We need to make sure that when we go to a spiritual leader or just the older brother in Christ And by the way, I'm not the only one who can give it advice here There's other individuals who can give advice, but you better choose wisely Choose wisely don't don't ask advice from someone who's only been saved for like six months or a year Hey don't get dating advice From another single individual Because obviously they're not succeeding in that realm right Don't get advice from an individual who is not an expert in that area Or who has not succeeded in that area to a certain extent you obviously want to go to someone who is much wiser than you In that area. Okay, and just observe the church. There's many people in our church We have a lot of people in our church many with older children some with teenagers Look at the ones who have been successful in the area that you're looking for and ask them for that advice, okay All right, let me get off that Ask me for advice afterwards. Okay, I won't stop you So why is it that Paul kept wanting to go back to Jerusalem? Well for two reasons I think obviously because he wanted to get Jews saved. He had a burden for Jews We see that according to Romans 9 says I say the truth in Christ I lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart For I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ from my brethren. My kin's been according to the flesh now I want to make this point just get this off my chest real quick is That you know Paul wants to be a missionary to the Jews Even though God doesn't want him to but he's pressed in his spirit. Like he's burdened in his heart to do that But God doesn't want him to and you know what this reminds me of it reminds me of old IFB missionary missionaries Who are like, you know, I want to go I'm burdened to go to China Communist China is just like I see I get you got I understand you got that burden But that's not what God wants you to do No, I think God wants me to go to Iraq Afghanistan Afghanistan We got to go to the 1040 window I Get that well, actually I don't get that but I get what you're saying, but that's not what God wants you to do Now, how can I say with certainty that that's not what God wants him to do? Well with Paul He doesn't want him to go to Jerusalem because in his life will be at stake and then he will no longer be useful for the work of God So it's actually gonna impede him from doing more work From being able to see more people saved Paul is a valuable servant of the Lord. He's obviously very fruitful He's doing a lot of work going to Jerusalem is gonna stop him from doing that That's why the Spirit is telling him don't go. Oh, but he's got that burden here am I I will go I reach that you oh That's what he wants to do and look there's there's old IFP missionaries who want to go reach the Jews to What's that guy named vineyard? I don't know if he died already, but this guy was so burdened for the Jews This guy like he literally would go to Israel he believed like the Israeli army was like 144,000 He would go there and bring them Bibles and pizza and just like oh he's doing such a great work it's a waste of time I Guarantee you those Israeli soldiers were wicked I'm pretty sure they got blood on their hands of innocent people. Okay It's a waste of time. And yeah, it looks noble on the missionary video presentation Looks very touching when you talk about how God burden your heart and how you have this burden for this for these lost people of Who speak a language that you don't speak? But at the end of the day, let's be realistic here Realistically speaking. That's not where God wants you to go. You know where he wants you to go First and foremost is right across the street You know and there's that's another thing it's like missionaries who want to go to a country where they don't even speak the language Under the guise of oh, I have a burden so many lost and dying in this world today and Then they go there. They're wasting all types of money Over there. They're not learning the language. They bring back a prayer or they send a prayer letter pray for us We're working with this one guy. We've been working on him for nine months. He's almost there He's so close to getting saved Nine months for like one person that's not a good stewardship of the mysteries of God folks So this teaches us that sometimes we can be burdened with something that God does not is not burdened with We can be pressed in the spirit over something that God is not pressed in the spirit about Okay, so we need we need to be able to distinguish the two now what we want is to be pressed in the spirit With the things that God wants us to be pressed about right to have those things in alignment to walk together Because we want to be excited and emotional about the things that God wants us to be pressed about Because we want to be excited and emotional emotional about the work that God has for us But not so overly emotional that it overrides what the bible's principles are teaching us and we go somewhere. We're just completely unfruitful You know, we're not winning anybody to christ. We're getting our heads chopped off because we're in afghanistan where they hate christians not wise Now look at verse 15 It says and after those days we took our care up our carriages and went up to jerusalem And there went with us also certain of the disciples of ciceria and brought with them one of menasen of cyprus An old disciple with whom we should lodge It says and when we were come to jerusalem the brother received us gladly by the way, I like that it says an old disciple I always thought that was a cool cool little phrase there Why because this is someone who's been in the lord for a long time? And it shows that they're in it for the long haul You know, I hope that it can be said of me later on in my 80s or whatever However long the lord allows me to live that I would be an old disciple Yeah, i've been around the spiritual block for a long time, you know, and that's great that it says the old disciple Maybe we all Aspire to be that old disciple one day, man And I I rejoice when I see old disciples when I see people who are still serving the lord because it can't be said of everyone Right, you know, not everyone sticks it out. Not everyone is in it for the long haul people fizzle out They go off doctrinally or they go back to the world, you know, they or they're just wolves in sheep's clothing or whatever, you know But you know some people actually stick it out for the long haul and they become an old disciple Now look at verse 18 of the day following paul went in and 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 He's kind of boasting a little bit. He's like look look at all these people are getting saved Look at all these churches all these churches all these people getting saved or getting baptized or following the lord Verse 20 when they heard it, they glorify the lord and sentence him thou seest brother How many thousands of jews there are which believe and they are all zealous of the law. So what is james doing? He's oh, you think that's good? Look at all these jews Reaching all kinds of jews here. They're zealous of the law Thou seest and they believe You know because because he kind of it looks bad on them because paul's actually fulfilling the great commission right He's actually getting a bunch of other people saved Okay verse 21 And look look what james says here and they are informed of thee brother or i'm sorry informed of thee That thou teaches all the jews which are among the gentiles to forsake moses So when you see all these jews getting saved by the way, hey they know you're you're teaching like weird stuff these jews They know that you're teaching that the people need to forsake moses. What are you talking about james? Saying that they ought not to circumcise their children neither to walk after their customs. Oh, yeah Because we're in the new covenant james What is it therefore The multitude is just like Yeah, you're fruitful but you're teaching replacement theology Sounds a little familiar, right? Yeah, you guys are getting a bunch of people saying but you guys are teaching the jews and I got chosen people No, no, no What is it therefore the multitude must needs come together for they will hear that thou art come what What is this a deacon run ministry or something? He's like, hey you better come up with an answer because the multitude is going to come they want to know what's up I thought you're the leader james Why are you scared of the multitude? And then two this is what you get for reaching a bunch of jews Verse 23 do therefore this that we say to thee Oh, man, so he's just like look but I got you though. I'll teach you to compromise just like me 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 were if they were informed concerning thee are nothing But that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keep us along He's like I got a great plan There's a couple guys here. They have a vow you just go with them You fulfill the week of purification You keep the law you offer the sacrifice at the end of those seven days and then they'll see that you roll with us That you're doing it with us He says touching the gentiles which believe we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing Save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from strangle and from fornication So again, he's reiterating this this extra teaching that he's giving the gentiles now look obviously it's not bad to abstain from fornication and idols And things uh from blood and things strangled that's not bad The bad thing is this is that he's given that commandment in order to make a distinction between jew and gentile That's what's bad There is no difference between the jew and the greek, okay But he's making that distinction So then Paul took the men and the next day purifying himself With them entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification Until then an offering should be offered for every one of them shame on james So this kind of shows you what kind of leader james is at this time Yeah, he's in charge. Yeah. He he's the lord's brother, which this is probably why They regard him as being just an important individual. He's like, well, he's the lord's brother He's there but you know what this guy's a compromiser And he's afraid of the jews and he's making paul afraid of the jews Okay An equivalent to this would be like, you know an old ifb pastor, you know coming to me and saying hey Yeah, we know you guys see a lot of people saved and you guys went to south central and all that It's crazy. You guys are seeing all these all these black people saved That's good, you know It's good that you've seen all these minorities saved Man, you guys you guys say some pretty offensive stuff about the jews, man You know, what you need to do is just come and give a testimony And say that there's still god shows of people Nonsense This is nonsense But paul is carried away with this stuff and what happens he compromises with james, right? Now look why does he compromise and allow himself to be carried away with this Foolishness and nonsense because he thinks it's going to work He thinks that if he just goes along with what james says the jews are going to be like oh, hey Oh, you're okay, here's a shekel or whatever, you know, he's like Is that what happens no In fact, they still turn on him So what happens when you compromise the people you're trying to placate they end up turning on you anyways, right? So guess what? So what's the lesson there? Don't compromise So better to not compromise retain your integrity And still receive the hatred from the people you're trying to placate or that you would you would have placated or tried to have placated Rather than give in to their wishes Have them still hate you and attack you but now you look like a weenie Right Because all you do when you compromise is like look look at this foolish person this pastor who's just trying to placate the sodomites And they're still burning his church down They're still punking him He thought compromising and trying to placate the faggots Was going to help To protect him from the sodomites doesn't even work They still went after them, right So what what should we do? Well, what we should do is just Preach against the sodomites Don't back down don't compromise and let them attack you and at least other people will respect you because you didn't move Well, maybe you know, hey I like your preaching it's great, but just kind of hard on the sodomites, you know Call them all these dirty names and stuff like fag Maybe if you just switch to gay No Faggot dog sodomite filthy animal beast These are all appropriate And look if I went your way They're still going to attack me and even more because now they smell weakness At least when I say the way god wants me to say it and just preach hard I scare them off And it's just scared to come confront me to the face This is the price of compromise folks And look not only did he just violate the scriptures here by by offering a sacrifice Which the bible clearly says that they should not now that they're in a new testament But he's displeasing god. So he's he's getting it from the jews and you know what? He's he's living a life That's not pleasing unto the lord Okay So i'm pretty much out of time but let me let me say a couple things here You know, we're going we're in the christmas season amen, right And if you work in the secular realm and your job offers you to come to the you know, the christmas party But there's going to be alcohol Don't be a compromiser I'm like, well i'll go I just I you know if I was just not to look upon it So maybe I just won't look at it when i'm there But you know what if you're if you have the the the propensity to drink in times past If you have the inclination to give yourself over to those things, you know, don't compromise just don't go at all, right? Better to just not go because sometimes compromise precedes the sin Often compromise precedes the sin folks So don't compromise and say well i'll just go there I won't enjoy the environment i'll just go and just have some eggnog Yeah, but but here's the thing the eggnog is spiked And then you're going to regret it right and here's the thing Now you're like a trouble fountain Right because now you're a christian That you're That you're you know, your your co-workers know you're a christian, but you're a christian that drinks now So now now you're a bad testimony before your co-workers and you're displeasing god So compromise never works it never works you know these pastors who want to compromise and just Make their church as liberal as the day is long bring in the rock music and the hoochie mamas Because they want to reach in a new group of people but then what happens in the long run? They reach a bunch of unsafe people and the church just completely goes apostate The price that that pastor pays for compromise is just a church full of unsafe people apostasy It's not worth it Just do it god's way Suffer the consequences of doing god's way and recognize that there's a greater reward. So the reward far outweighs The consequences that the world will punish you with for not compromising You understand hey if you're dating don't compromise amen Well, you know a little a little naked and petty never hurt anybody Yeah, but you know what it could lead to something else It can lead to fornication It can lead to a bastard baby It can lead to heartache and ruin in the long run And you know what it could lead you to be parents to have to tell your children that you didn't abstain from touching before marriage That can happen folks so rather than just you know compromise Well, you know a little naked and petty a little kissing a little holding a little folding of the hands to sleep So Why don't I got a better idea why don't you just get married Then you could just do all those things with just a clear conscience, right And it's like god's will for you to do those things Right Am I am I making sense here or just am I crazy? Instead of compromising and cheating during your your courtship Why don't you just get married and then you have god's blessing Whereas when you compromise because you can't abstain you actually damage your relationship in the long run And folks I know people who did just that and their relationship has been damaged I mean obviously they have the grace of god. They have the bible, but you know what? There's certain wounds that don't heal because of things like that And I'm not talking to those of you who maybe were in that boat i'm talking about i'm talking to those who are not yet in that boat Okay Don't compromise compromise destroys your integrity, okay? And that's what happened to paul so i'm gonna conclude it right there the latter end of the chapter 21 Actually kind of has a little overlap with chapter 22 because he gives his testimony and he starts preaching the word of god there He gets an audience there, but we'll stop right there. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much for your word Lord, thank you for paul's example. Of course He has far more positive examples in the bible than negative, but we see one here that is negative and uh lord may we get take heed to this that This this should teach us that we should not compromise in the smallest of areas Because we want to placate someone or because we want immediate pleasure Lord there's consequences to that. We know that help us to to Keep those consequences on the forefront of our mind when we're tempted to do those things And I pray god that you'd help us lord to retain our integrity like job did during his trial He didn't compromise and and blame the lord He blessed the lord and during his temptation he came forth as gold And I pray god that you'd help us to have that same testimony. We love you so much And we thank you pray these things in jesus name. Amen So