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D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
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STUD I ES IN THE NEW TE STAMENT
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FOR INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION
AND FAMILY WORSHIP
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By R A. TORREY
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Sunday, April I. Acts , 2 1 : 7 - 1 1 .
so their prophecies come to naught. We do well to be slow in accepting any man’s claim to Ee the mouthpiece' of the Holy Spirit, The history of the church tells of hosts of pretenders of that sort. One sin gle failure in the prophecies of any one who makes such a claim is enough to dis credit his claim, for the Holy Spirit never errs. Monday, April 2 . Acts 2 1 : 12 - 16 . The Holy Spirit speaking through Aga bus did not suggest that Paul should not go to Jerusalem. Paul’s friends sought with earnest importunities to dissuade Him from going where God was leading him. It was the Spirit who was leading Paul to Jerusalem, for Paul himself had plainly declared that fact (ch. 20:22). Yet these foolish friends sought to dissuade him from going as there was suffering on the way. How often this happens to Christ’s dis ciples : friends try to dissuade them from taking the path in which God is plainly leading them because that path is fraught with so many dangers and sufferings. Often times when the Spirit’s leading is clear, Satan comes through our friends and says, “Be it far from thee” (Matt. 16:24; 2 Tim. 2:12; 3:12). Paul’s last journey to Jeru salem was much like his Master’s : the same clear vision of affliction awaiting him,, the same dissuasion on the part of friends, the same steadfastness of purpose to obey God (Luke 9:51). While Paul was not in the least dissuaded from pur suing the path in which he knew God was leading him, nevertheless, he did not de spise the tears and entreaties of his friends; their weeping was breaking his heart, but not in the least dissuading him from his Spirit-formed purpose. Paul loved life, but he was ready to lay it down “for the name of the Lord Jesus.” There was no spirit of stubborn self-will in Paul’s resist-
These verses give us a glimpse of several gifted persons in the early church, Philip, his four daughters, all prophetesses, and Agabus. The church had made Philip a deacon (Acts 6:1-6), God had made Philip an evangelist. God only can make a true evangelist (Eph. 4:11). There are prob ably some in these days whom God intended for deacons who have made them selves evangelists. Philip had come to Caesarea in his tours from city to city some years before (ch. 8:26, 39, 40). He seems to have made it, from time to time, a base of .operations. He was greatly blessed in his domestic life: he not only had four daughters—which would of itself be a blessing (Ps. 127:3-5; 128:3)—-but these daughters were all spiritually gifted. Some might think that these . children being women ought to have kept silent in the church, but God evidently thought other wise. He made' them prophetesses (cf. 2:17). Paul in the very epistle in which he, under the inspiration of the Spirit, for bids women speaking under certain cir cumstances in the assembly (1 Cor. 14:34), also gives directions how women shall prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5), which makes it clear that it is proper for women, under •certain circumstances, to speak even in the public assembly. Agabus not only spake “through the Spirit,” as did those men tioned in v. 4, but he took pains to give the very words of the Spirit and so he got things exactly right. When a man can truly say what Agabus says here, “Thus saith the Holy Spirit,” we may depend upon the literal acuracy of his words, but many in our day presumptuously dare to say it when it is not true, that is, they say “Thus saith the Holy Spirit” when it is not the Holy Spirit at all that speaks, but they are speaking their own opinion and
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