October 22, 2026 - Acts 21

Paul left Ephesus, stopping at numerous places on his way to Jerusalem.  At Caesarea, where he stayed with Philip the evangelist, “a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  And coming to us, [Luke writes], he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’” (21:10-12).  Paul’s companions and those who were there in Caesarea urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  Paul answered, “Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?  For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’” (21:13).  Well, trouble certainly awaited Paul in Jerusalem:  “[The people] seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.  And . . . they were seeking to kill him” (21:30-31).  But if they thought they could derail the work of the Spirit and bring to a halt the preaching of the gospel, well . . . how best to say this?  They were badly mistaken!  Paul knew this and, so, he would have been very comfortable singing these words:

Thy way, not mine, O Lord,

however dark it be;

lead me by thine own hand,

choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough,

it will be still the best;

winding or straight, it leads

right onward to thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot;

I would not if I might:

choose thou for me, my God,

so shall I walk aright.   --Horatius Bonar (1857)