There are times in our lives when we are acting on the word of the Lord to us and everything seems to go wrong, opposition comes or it is just taking too long for it to eventuate. The Lord may have spoken to you in many ways and you received prophetic confirmation, yet it still looks like it will not happen, or everything seems to be going wrong.
The Apostle Paul had reached such a position in his life. Many things had been happening in his life and the Lord had spoken, giving instructions that He wanted Paul in Rome, but it took considerable time before it happened.
Before we go any further, please understand that things do not always happen automatically. A time element is often involved before the promise you wait on is fulfilled. Often times there is a purpose and what seems to be a delay might not really be a delay. It could in fact be a time to benefit you in some way. When God told Noah that He would never destroy the earth like that again, He said, While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22.
Look at it this way- Seed…Time…Harvest.
Paul had received direction and had set his heart and mind on fulfilling the directives of the Lord yet it seemed that nothing but problems emerged. His faith confession however remained unaltered.I do not know of any crop or fruit that has an instant harvest after planting the seed. There is always a gestation period—a time for the life within the seed to grow and develop before maturity.
He said and kept saying, I’m going to Rome; I’m going to Rome. He did get to Rome! We shall look at this story.
Ephesus
Acts chapter nineteen gives the account of Paul’s visit to Ephesus.
He was there for about two years and God was doing great things. And God did unusual and extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, Acts 19:11.
This is to be the pattern for the church, but the Gospel message has been watered down over 2000 years that it is nowhere like the original pattern. Thankfully God is restoring all these things to us in an increasing measure as a prelude to the return of Jesus Christ.
Something extraordinary happened in verses eighteen and nineteen.
All the Jews and Greeks living in the city of Ephesus heard about this. All of them were filled with awe for the name of the Lord Jesus and began to speak very highly about it. Many believers openly admitted their involvement with magical spells and told all the details. Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins. Acts 19:17-19.
The Jews and Greeks represent the intellectual, the philosophy and religious expressions of men. Segments of the church focus so much on tradition, history and ceremony and essentially deny the presence and power of God to the extent that there is little life and release in people’s lives. As a result, people still seeking for answers and solutions turn elsewhere, often leading to the enemy camp where the occult is prevalent, even in some mainline churches. I’ve seen it often. People have a dualistic religion, or one foot in each camp and I have spoken with a woman who was a professing reverend in a spiritualist church—helping out in a Presbyterian church! A local church hall owned by the Anglican (Church of England) community was regularly hired out for meetings to new age practitioners, yoga and meditation meetings. These are not isolated incidences.
Great reverence and fear of God was evident in those days, but is sorely lacking now. Signs, wonders and miracles were the order of the day, but lacking now whilst wonderful people are going to hell and dying of sickness unnecessarily.
Magical incantations and spells were commonplace in the Greco-Roman world in those days. These things were often collected into books and other objects that were sold for large sums of money, becoming a roaring trade that is not unlike what exists today.
A psychic convention was recently held in a nearby convention centre, advertising all sorts of demonic junk on the media in prime time. A local community newspaper where I live regularly advertises past life readings, re-connection with your body, re-acquaint your spirit and rejuvenate your mind, reiki, tuning fork/sound and colour therapy, spiritual healing, dream interpretation and massage clinics that promote all kinds of similar therapies.
The amazing thing is that most of them function in harmony with each other, but the Christian Church (in my vicinity) is divided in all sorts of ways and is functions more like a social club than the glorious Church Jesus is building.
When God moved, the new believers in Ephesus brought these relics of their pagan past and held a massive book-burning meeting. It is likely that the pieces of silver mentioned in these verses were the Greek drachma, often amounting to a full day’s wage for ones labours. One commentary I read said that at US$15 per hour, or $120 per day, 50,000 drachmas would equal approximately $6 million.
That was an expensive bonfire, but it shows that the manifestation of God’s power was so great whole communities responded.
It is this manifestation of God’s power that we need and I am so glad that it is evident in my ministry and in the ministry of others I know around the world. God is indeed moving on the earth in our day and it is a wonderful thing.
Thus the Word of the Lord [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] grew and spread and intensified, prevailing mightily. Acts 19:20.
I'm Going to Rome!
Now after these events Paul determined in the [Holy] Spirit that he would travel through Macedonia and Achaia (most of Greece) and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must visit Rome also. Acts 19:21.
The Holy Spirit had already spoken to Paul about this and he was already committed in his heart to going there. I want you to see something important before we continue.
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts 13:1-2. These men were ministering to the Lord!
You can minister to the Lord you know. Many times we do not stop to think that God wants something out of the relationship also. Instead of thinking of what is in it for me, perhaps we should stop sometimes and think what s in it for the Lord! Why not ask Him?
They were also fasting and during this time of worship and fellowship with the Lord—the Holy Spirit spoke and gave precise instructions. Notice that the Spirit of Godleads us, guides us, teaches us and... instructs us.
We cannot afford to take the Holy Spirit out of the equation. He is the one Jesus sent to guide and teach us. He is the duly appointed representative of Christ on the earth who came as an answer to Jesus’ prayer for the Father to send Him to us. Denying the Holy Spirit is denying everything Jesus wants. Refusing to allow the Spirit of God to act and move in our lives is disobedience to the will of the Father! He is the manifest promise of the Father! He is a distinct person and also has the wish, the desire, the ability and the authority to give an assignment to us! Rest assured that it would always be in perfect harmony with the will of the Father and what Jesus wishes.
Later, in Acts 23:11, Jesus spoke to Paul saying that He wanted him in Rome.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit were not in conflict, but in full unity, harmony and co-operation to bear witness to Jesus!
Later in Acts 16:6-7, Paul wanted to go Asia and to Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit forbade him.
Dear friend, please never insult the Holy Spirit or ignore Him. He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity, the activating agent and legally appointed representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn now to Acts 21, when Paul started his return to Jerusalem. He arrived in Tyre where certain disciples prophesied about his return to Jerusalem. They warned him of danger and they were right, but Paul had to go and wanted to go. When at Caesaria, Philip’s daughters prophesied and another prophet called Agabus arrived with a word for Paul.
Agabus took Paul’s belt and tied him up with it, prophesying that he would finish up in bonds if he went there. Paul had already heard from the Lord about this, so was not concerned. It was a prophetic confirmation as far as he was concerned. My friend, if you do receive a prophetic word, make sure that you do not jump in boots and all merely on the basis of that prophecy. Many of the hurts and failures I have seen have occurred when people act only on the basis of such matters. Sometimes it may be false, because we can hear from three sources. One is from ourself, other timesit is from the enemy and the other source is from the Holy Spirit. We can learn to distinguish who is speaking.
Sometimes a well meaning person may share purely from the intellect or heartfelt desire but not from the spirit. It must be Holy Spirit motivated and it must line up with the word of the Lord on the matter. It must also confirm what you already know in your own heart and it will be very unlikely that, if it is of God, the message will tell you to do something stupid!
What Agabus said was correct, so it met the criteria, remembering that such prophecies are open to assessment by those who prophesy!
See 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 22, 24-25, 30-33.
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