The Holy Spirit in Acts
Day 31 — When Other's Warnings in the Spirit Don't Match Your Hearing
Acts 20:22-24; Acts 21:4-14
Paul explains what the Spirit is telling him:
1. He desires to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost
2. He says he is “bound by the Spirit” to go
3. He doesn’t know what awaits him, but the Holy Spirit says bonds and affliction
4. In Tyre, the disciples kept telling Paul “by the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem.
a. This section doesn’t address his answer
b. It does say that as they left the city, the disciples, including the wives and kids,
joined them on the beach, kneeling and praying. Friendly disagreement
5. In Ceasearea he stayed with Philip the evangelist and his daughters (prophetesses)
a. Agabus a prophet from Judea came to visit them
b. Agabus declared the Holy Spirit said that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem and deliver him to the Gentiles.
c. This caused us to beg Paul not to go
6. Paul’s response to this was
a. “You are breaking my heart by your weeping.”
b. “I am ready not only to be bound or even die…for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
c. We became silent remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”
7. Paul went to Jerusalem.
Questions:
1. Was Paul wrong to ignore the warnings from the other believers?
Did he ignore them?
2. What would it take for you to have a desire that you believed was from God and then reconsider
and not follow through after talking to other believers?
3. What was the motivation of the disciples and Agabus?
4. What was the motivation of Paul?
Was there a moral imperative that he be in Jerusalem for Penecost?
Had he missed a few (3 years in Ephesus)?
Was this a want or a desire or the voice of the Lord?
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5. Is it possible that compassion can be against God’s will?
6. This gets at the root issue of how we listen to the Holy Spirit and trust His leading us.
7. List some passages that you know help you sort this out when you are in conflict with other
believers about God’s will for you.
Day 32 Evidence of the Holy Spirit Functioning
Reflection, Notes and Prayer