Well this morning I want to invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Acts 21. And in Acts chapter 21 we're going to continue looking and studying in our series Authentic Christianity as we're going through the book of Acts. A week before last, I preached the first message from this portion of scripture in Acts 21, one through 16, and this morning we're gonna pick back up and look at the remainder of this passage of scripture as Paul is transitioning. There's one portion of this. the story of the first century church in the book of Acts being kind of completed in the ministry of the apostle Paul. And from Acts 21, there's a transition back to Jerusalem with a very end of the book having a brief time back in dealing with Paul being in Rome in prison. So, even though Philemon just had you sit down, let's stand for the reading of God's Word, Acts chapter 21, and then you can be seated after that. Acts 21, and I'm going to begin reading in verse number 1. The Scripture says, And it came to pass that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Cuz, and the day following into Rhodes. And from thence to Patara, And finding a ship sailing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard and set forth. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unladen her burden. And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. And when he had 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 and kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And 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 Purolemas. and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day. And the next day, we that were of Paul's company departed and came unto 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. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus. And when he was come unto 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 this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, the will of the Lord be done. And after those days we took up our carriages and went up to Jerusalem. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea and brought with them Manson and Cyprus and an old disciple with whom we should lodge. Father, I pray that you'd bless this morning the reading of thy word. I pray that you'd help me as I am, as every time I stand to preach, I am in desperate need of your spirit to guide and direct my words and my thoughts, to take all of the weightiness and the blessings both of this past week and to allow them to be dissipated from my mind and have the present importance of the preaching of the word to be at the forefront. I pray that you'd help me to be able to speak clearly, to proclaim the wonderful words of life. And even this morning, as I wade into some things that often cause confusion amongst believers, especially in the 21st century. And I pray that you would help me to have boldness and courage to be able to explain the things that are found in the scripture and to do it unapologetically. I pray that you would help each and every one of us in our own lives today whether like Jacob and Joy who are missionaries to a foreign land or to the man and the woman who live in a neighborhood in a part of Bremerton or throughout the peninsula that go to different places of work or raise a family. I pray that you would give us a heart to do the will of God. Be with each and every individual, no matter their circumstances, no matter what place they're in, if they know you, that they would have a heart to do God's will. each day. I pray for those who do not know you as Lord and Savior, that today, this very day, may be the day where they bow the knee with a heart of repentance for their sin toward God and a heart of faith and belief towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and they might be saved today. They will be saved today. I pray that they would know that for sure and certain today. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. I want to just briefly refresh our memories of the overarching perspective of Acts 21 verses one through 16. It reveals some things that we, as we looked at this passage of scripture, can be seen as rather mundane, kind of Paul's travel itinerary, and I mentioned that this was no holiday, this was no Holland America tour up to Alaska or something with all these great destinations, this was just being on board ships that were stopping every day until one finally stopped in a city for seven days to unload their cargo. They were there amongst people that were bringing trade and things to the different cities, the port cities along the way. But there were things in this story, in this arc of Paul's missionary journey, in this third and final missionary journey that reveal the working of God in and through other people along the way, many of whom were trying to convince him to not go up to Jerusalem because of the threat on his life that was going to be there. And I believe they did it with compassion, they did it with care, and they did it with a heart of love for the Apostle Paul, wanting him to be spared, wanting him to be preserved, and yet his mission was to fulfill what he knew God wanted him to do, and that was to go back to Jerusalem. For one reason, he was carrying an offering that we read about being collected in places like 1 Corinthians 16 for the poor and the necessities of the struggling church used of Jesus. He set his face like a flint towards Jerusalem. He wasn't going there to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world, but he was going there with a definitive purpose, and he knew that he must go and fulfill what God had for him to do. And in the same way, all of us need to have a heart to say what Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and we should desire to do the will of God. of the Lord. But as you go through this passage of Scripture, you see that there were many different people that warned him. There were Christians that said the Spirit of God is impressing upon us to tell you not to go. And I think it would be wise for us to understand if there are people that are seeking to encourage us or help us to consider not going somewhere because they feel like the Spirit of God is bearing witness with their spirit, Paul didn't take that lightly. At the same time, even having a prophet named Agabus, as we'll look at a little bit more this morning, tell him in a vivid display, through a dramatic presentation, as prophets have been known to do throughout history, of his coming persecution that he's going to face. But in the end, and the language is really strong here, when Paul says, why do you weep and break my heart in verse 13? For I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a willingness to pay whatever cost was necessary. And I took some time a couple of weeks ago to talk about the fact that I think the Bible is very clear There's nothing in the scripture that teaches us to run to be martyrs, to run into the fray, to try to become martyrs. At the same time, there needs to be a fearlessness to say, if I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, whatever the difficulties that may be there in, or maybe surrounding that circumstance, maybe even as this morning could be testified by our missionaries that are visiting with us today, living in a country with 160 million people, and less than 1% of them profess to know Jesus Christ. That is a pretty stacked deck, and I can tell you that there are a lot of those people that it's not like somebody who has a different religious preference in the United States. It sometimes means everything. It's possibly your life being at risk, and so there are people that are in harm's way, but they know that they're there because they're doing the will of the Lord. They're not trying to become Martyrs, and we didn't talk about this before, but I'm just using you. You're here in my illustration, all right? God ordained. You're not trying, they're not trying to become in harm, in a martyr complex or something, but they're there where God wants them to be, and God is protecting them. God is providing for them. And so as we look at this passage of scripture, we see these various warnings that Paul has, and Paul is not casting them aside. He's not saying that these words from these other Christians aren't important, but he knew He knew what he must do, so much so that even if it meant all the things that they're prophesying come to pass, meaning he's going to be bound up and he's going to be persecuted and possibly give his life in Jerusalem, that recognizing all of that, with a full disclosure of understanding, he says, I need to go to Jerusalem. He said, I'm ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 14, it says, and when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, the will of the Lord be done. Their conscience was clear. They did what they believed the Spirit of God was leading them to do. And you might think, well, was the Spirit of God sending mixed signals? I don't think so. I don't think there's an incongruity here because a lot of the things that they said were going to come to pass did come to pass. But it was just that Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was supposed to continue down that path. But beyond the journey, beyond the overarching theme, that kind of central theme of doing the will of the Lord, I thought it was something that kind of struck out at me as I was studying this passage of Scripture really for several weeks over the summer when I didn't preach in the book of Acts. in the series taking a break from it, and I just kept coming back to it and reading it and reading it and reading it, and seeing things kind of bubble to the surface, and I thought, these are things that, even though they're not the central truth or the main thing of this passage, which is to do the will of the Lord, they are the revelation of how different people along the path were doing the will of the Lord, even helping Paul along the way. some practical things, and this is something that I think is important to us, because as Christians, we don't just need to know kind of a philosophical, have a philosophical understanding of all things Christian. We need to know where the rubber meets the road, as J. Vernon McGee would say. We need to know where the shoe leather comes about. We need to know where it's gonna really affect our lives. So, as we looked at verses four through seven, and really through different portions, even in verse 10 and verse number 16, we see the brethren of God, the Christians, being courageous in the work of the ministry, and we see the blessed fruit of years now of gospel ministry throughout the Mediterranean region where every place Paul lands, even for a day, he finds brethren there and they offer hospitality, they offer encouragement and help along the way. And I think this is a practical application that needs to be a reality in the life of West Side Baptist Church. We need to be a people as we seek to do the will of God and as we help others who are seeking to do the will of God, that we would be a people that are given to hospitality. This is not only a requirement for those who shepherd the flock, which it is, as we looked at several verses in the previous message from 1 Timothy and Titus and Romans, it's also an encouragement for all of the believers to be lovers of hospitality and to give it without grudging one another, as 1 Peter 4 says. So how we do the will of God here at West Side Baptist Church, how the congregation can do the will of God, these are some of the things. We can be families or individuals that are given to hospitality to care for the needs of the brethren. And I believe that that, as I have encouraged many times, that also needs to be extended to our neighbors and to people that don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. But there needs to be this mutual care, one for another, in the church, and we see this in verse number four, where it says, in finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. But the context is they're staying with them, and they do this repeatedly down throughout this passage in verse four. Verse seven speaks again, they saluted the brethren, and they stayed with them, or they abode with them one day, and then when they got to Philip's house, they stayed with him for many days. and they're cared by this spirit of hospitality. They also revealed they were families of the word. They were families of faith desiring to be nourished and encouraged by the ministry of the word. In verse number four, in the second part, where it says, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go to Jerusalem, it says, and when they had accomplished those days, verse 5, we departed and went our way, and they all brought us on our way with wives and children, and we were out of the city, meaning on the outside of the city, we knelt down on the shore and prayed. Here they had been spending the time with Paul and his company, being encouraged by the word and sharing the word one with another, being mutually built up in the most holy faith. And then we see finally that they were families of prayer. I love the beautiful picture at the end of verse number five when they're getting ready to have him set sail with his company. It says, they knelt down on the shore and prayed. You can pray anywhere. You can pray walking. You can pray talking. You can pray driving, but you should do it with your eyes open. You can pray in all circumstances. You can pray without ceasing, but there is a time when it is profitable to be even in a posture of prayer like these disciples who humbled themselves, who knelt down and prayed with the Apostle Paul and his company before they left. And it says they were with their wives and their children. And I love the beauty of this whole family ministering together and being in the presence of the Apostle. He didn't have a complex. He wasn't too important for them. He had learned from Jesus who said, suffer not the little children to come unto me, for of such is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. That's just... practical things that I saw bubbling up from this text, and I don't believe that I read them into the text, I believe that they're there, that we can look at, and they're just simple things that are mentioned, but practically how that manifests itself is that we need to be the kind of people who say, in helping others do the will of God, and in doing the will of God ourselves, let us be families of hospitality, families of the word, and deep abiding faith, that's not just something that happens on Sunday morning, or Wednesday night, or Sunday night, but it's something that is ingrained into our family. We are actually Christian families doing, seeking to do the will of God from the heart and that we are not, that prayer would not be something foreign to our families. That's where we ended in the last message. But it all is interwoven here because the next story really has to do with a man that did effectively equip his family and his daughters faithfully served in the work of the Lord. That's found in verse number eight and nine. It says, in the next day, we that were on 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. That means they stayed with him. They opened their home. They were given to hospitality. And it says, and the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. While they were in his house, we're going to see a man named Agabus. It says, and we were there, many days there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus, and when he was come unto 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 this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Here's this prophecy that's gonna take place and we'll get to that, God willing, in a few minutes. But I wanna spend some time on a passage of scripture about a man named Philip the Evangelist and his daughters who prophesied and talk about some of the things that, as I said, maybe kinda get into the weeds, into the tall weeds. In the culture that we live in, we live in a culture that is very egalitarian, meaning that not only is there a desire to make no distinction between men and women, and I don't mean on matters of being equal in worth and value, but in the sense that if there's anything a man can do, a woman can do it, no exceptions whatsoever. I would say that that is contrary to human nature because not only are there things that women aren't called to do that men are called to do, there are also things that men can't do that women can exclusively do. So though there is, and I'll make this very clear at the onset, There is very clearly in the scriptures a equality between men and women and that we are both created in the imago Dei. We're both created in the image and the likeness of God. In Genesis chapter number one, God made them male and female, created he them. and he blessed them and he said, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. He's given to us an equality in our worth and value, both image bearers of God, but he has given us distinction in our roles and responsibility that we have, including in the family and in the culture and in the church. Now before anybody shuts me down, just listen to some of the things that I believe that this passage of scripture reveals. Some things that I wanna say we can go overboard in a wrong direction to make it an unhealthy situation where basically if you're a woman, just be quiet and sit in the corner. That's not what this message is about. So if I got your attention now with saying something like that, I hope you'll give me a good listening. Because this passage of scripture talks about four daughters who prophesy, meaning they gave prophetic words for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, not necessarily in the church, but they gave prophetic words, they were used of the Lord to prophesy. But we'll look at that momentarily. I want you to see some things that to me, and maybe only to me, I don't know, are just encouraging. They're fascinating and they're encouraging even that they're included in scripture because you have here a mention of the Apostle Paul coming to a man's house whose name is Philip and he's called Philip the Evangelist. And it defines who this Philip is so that we don't just think this is like saying, you know, John. Or today, give me the most popular name in America, whatever that name is, and say, well, let's talk about Dave. Well, which Dave? Right? Here, it's talking about Philip, but not just any Philip that would have been maybe converted and come to know Christ. This is Philip who's referred to as the evangelist, and it takes it back even further, and it says, this is Philip, which was one of the seven, and abode with him. That's referring back to Acts chapter number six, and in Acts chapter number six, it speaks of seven men that were chosen to serve in the church. It says, in those days when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in their daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. There's a need, it needs to be met, and it's an important need, it's a spiritual need, but it's not the ministry of the word, it's something about the care, the mutual care for the body of Christ, specifically the widows. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men. This is where the seven comes in from in Acts chapter 21. Look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, spirit-filled, filled with wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. So the apostles that were leading in the church, shepherding the church, they said we need to choose seven men who can be appointed over this business and the care of the widows. We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. So this is really where the first deacons, I believe, are chosen and set aside for the work of the ministry. And you can think about it this way. Elders or pastors in the Bible serve by leading and deacons lead by serving. And think about that. Elders or pastors in the Bible serve by leading through the word and prayer, and deacons lead by serving. They set an example in their service. Here's these seven that are chosen out. These are not just like second-rate guys. These are faithful men who can serve the body in a significant way. It says they're Holy Spirit filled and they're men who are wise that they can appoint this business. It includes a list. It says saying please the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. By the way, Stephen is the same one who is recorded later in the book of Acts as the very first martyr proclaiming the word of God with great boldness. He was one of these seven. This was a significant group of believers. It says, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Procurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. Here's Philip included as one of the seven. Later in the book of Acts, we see Philip fulfilling the work of the evangelist, and he's called an evangelist. It says in verse number four of chapter eight, after the church has been scattered abroad because of persecution, there's people that are gonna spread about serving and ministering, and at this point in time, get the connection who we are talking about in Acts chapter 21 as Paul the Apostle, is in Acts 8, Saul, the persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ. So you see Philip, who is long before Saul becomes Paul, long before he becomes a believer, he is serving the church of Christ, first as a deacon, then as an evangelist. And Saul was consenting unto his death, at the time there was great persecution, speaking of Stephen's death and stoning, against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As Saul, he had made havoc on the church, entering into every house and hailing or arresting men and women, committing them to prison. with the authority of the Sanhedrin Council. This Saul here is Paul who's the preacher in Acts 21. Is that not something that should encourage us when we have sometimes people that are hard against the faith and we think these are our greatest enemies and sometimes God turns them into the greatest messengers of the gospel? But here it speaks in verse number four and five, it says, therefore they were scattered abroad and went everywhere hiding in caves and things. No, it says they went everywhere preaching the word. I love that. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people, with one accord, gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did, and casting out unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out. Many were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies. And that were lame, they were healed, and there was great joy in the city. Later, in this same passage of Scripture, Philip, the evangelist, goes and is ministering, and God has him come across an Ethiopian. A man from Ethiopia. I met two men from Ethiopia last night when I was in Seattle picking up Rachel from the train station. And I got to talk to them for a little while. Here, Philip, the evangelist, met a man from Ethiopia who came to know Jesus Christ from his reading and Philip's explanation of the book of Isaiah. Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, preached unto him, Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water, and the eunuch said, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He made a public declaration, or in this case, a declaration to Philip of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down, both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Aztos, and passing through, he preached in all the cities till or until he came to, what's the name of that city? Are you there? Verse 40, Caesarea. Now I know that there's an idea, and this is not a discouragement for those who might travel and preach and minister, but here's Philip, who's called the evangelist in the scriptures, and he, in Acts chapter eight, lands in Caesarea, and now in Acts 21, some 20 years later, he's there ministering faithfully opening his home to the man that at one point in time was the cause of him being scattered from his home. And here's Philip welcoming him into his home. And I want you to see in this that there is a courageous example of ministry from the life of Philip the evangelist and his daughters. doing the will of God faithfully, Philip, now for well over 20 years. Now why this is significant to me is because, well, for a lot of reasons, but one is this, is that Philip was a faithful evangelist and continued in the work. He didn't give up, he didn't quit, even though there was great persecution and great difficulty at times in his life. He maintained being faithful to the call in a time where it was no easy walk to be a Christian minister. But beyond that, he did that at the same time raising a godly family. So I was reading some commentary, some of them commented on the fact about Philip raising a godly family. And how there has been at times a season where maybe ministers of the gospel have counted the work that they do for God to be so important that they sometimes sacrifice their families on the altar of ministry. So much so that we could say in our culture that being a preacher's kid has connotations that usually they're gonna be pretty rotten. disrespectful, not following their parents, rejecting Christ. that's sometimes so prevalent, it's almost a shock when sometimes children who are from a pastor's family or an evangelist's family have a love for the Lord and a love for their family and a love for the things of God. And I wanna say, I think that's something that we see as an example from Philip, the evangelist, is he is revealed, and 20 years later plus, and in his household, He has four daughters. And his four daughters reveal the work of a faithful, and you could anticipate the mother was involved in this, but a faithful, as a faithful father, and his wife along with him, raising daughters of great virtue. I just wanna say, 20 years in this year, December, I was ordained 20 years ago. 20 years in, more than anything, I want to be known as a Christian man who's a faithful dad and husband. But if God gives me another 20 years, I hope after 40 years, the greatest legacy of any ministry that I might be involved in is not just the ministry and a family that is in shambles, but that is a testimony of a faithful father. And you know what, Christians? You too should desire to have that same heart. I wanna be like a Philip who has faithful children serving the Lord. It says that he has four daughters, and it defines them with two particular things. One, they were virgins, and I believe that there's a picture there, not only biblically just as far as identifying something, it means more than just the fact they were not married. He's identifying their purity, their set-apartness for the cause of Christ. and that they did prophesy. They were engaged in spiritual ministry. And even though I think there's a great likelihood that this fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel that their young women would prophesy, that we'll look at here momentarily, that this prophetic gift, in the same way as far as prophesying, has ended, with the apostolic era, but that there is nonetheless still a testimony of daughters who are faithfully engaged in the work of the ministry, witnessing the goodness of God in their life and testifying of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to everyone that they might come across. I pray this for my family, for your family, that we would raise up daughters and sons who are pure and who are set apart for the cause of Christ. Yes, in 2017. And yes, I said that on purpose. Because we are living in the fulfillment of sinful degradation of the sexual revolution that is now burying children and children's children. And I don't just mean biologically, I mean culturally. We are dealing with the ramifications in every way as I taught on Wednesday night. I pray that we would have a heart to keep the purity of our children as an important thing, seeking to raise maidens of virtue, seeking to raise young men of virtue and honor, and that would treat the young ladies in their life as sisters, as the scripture tells us, and that they would be honorable with them. There's also a unique kind of perspective in the scripture with regards to the potential set apart ministry for these unmarried women. This is something that's important. There is a season in life that you should not put on hold everything that is important because one day you hope to be a wife or a husband for that matter. But I think that we have lost focus on a few things. Today there is great emphasis on, well, until you're married, you should pursue everything that the world does with regards to just gaining the best career advantage, getting the most money, and all those kinds of things, because I want you to be well prepared. And I think that there is sometimes a right motive in that, and sometimes it's just not thinking, and it's a worldly mindset and motive of, of the fact that we're raising sons the same way we're raising daughters, and I want to say there should be a distinction and a difference. It has nothing to do with educating them well, or giving them opportunities, or having opportunities for them to serve, but that their mindset would be one of, I want to first serve the Lord, and I want to serve my family. I want to prepare to be in the future, if God allows me, I'm gonna prepare to be a faithful wife and a faithful mother. I wanna be well-equipped in those things because that's what the scripture says is very important. Titus 2, by the way, is still in the Bible, and it says we're to teach the young women, the older women are to teach the young women to be chaste, pure, keepers at home, right? These are good things. Thank you for those two whispered amens. I really appreciate it. and we shouldn't apologize for it. But what is a young woman supposed to do if she's not married? I have that question asked to me frequently. Let me give you an example of some things that the Bible says that a young woman who is unmarried can give herself to fulfill. in 1 Corinthians chapter seven and verse number 34. It says there is a difference also between the wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both to body and in spirit, but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Now, let me give you a little more context, just a little bit. So this is 1 Corinthians chapter seven, okay? Says, but I would have you without carefulness, without concern. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belongeth to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. This is both for men and women, but I'm bringing up the women because this passage of scripture in Acts 21 is revealing for daughters, okay? You understand this is not just. just picking on the girls, this is not picking, this is just helping to understand. If you are a single young man, even you have vocational pursuits, you have all those things, if you are single, don't think that your life is so busy and so much more, you know, unable to serve the Lord than the married man that is here. And if you're a single woman, unmarried, with no children, no husband to take care of, don't think, well, I'm just so busy and pursuing my career and I'm pursuing this and I'm pursuing that, pursuing my education. All those things may be well and good, but you need to not keep telling yourself you don't have the time to serve the Lord. This is actually the time where you have more time to be dedicated to the things of the Lord, if you think about it wisely. And to the young men, I say, that means maybe you won't have time for 40 hours of video games every week. If you, oh, I'm sorry, those are important things to you. I just touched on a touchy subject. Maybe you could parent back to 20 and give 20 hours of service to helping the things of the Lord, serving in the church, caring for the needs of others. Yes and amen. Okay, now that I've spoke truth to the young men, now I can talk about the ladies in good conscience, okay? It says, but he that is married cares for the things of the world. This doesn't mean when you get married, you no longer care for the things of God. It's talking about the fact you have new responsibility, new burden that you have to take care of because you have multiplied burdens with a wife and then when you have children to care for. And even though you may be doing the work of the ministry and trying to serve the Lord, you realize things get squeezed a little more. And some of you men can say, amen. Thank you, Brother Bill. I'm feeling like you guys need to participate today. So that he may please his wife. There is a difference also between, here's a wife and a virgin, the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit, but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. That means there's a shift to say, when you are an unmarried young woman and you are, I love the expectation, and you're a virgin, and if you're not that, Repent, confess your sin, live a new day, live pure from this day forward. But here's this heart that we should have to say our daughters are being raised to be pure and they're having an opportunity to serve the Lord in both body and spirit, meaning they're available to do the work of the ministry. They're available to care for the needs of the church. They're available to go sit with and minister to a new mom who has who has now two babies or possibly twins. And no, I was not asked to say that. And I know that the Ba'almas are doing a wonderful job, but what would it be like? And I know that this is happening, but what would it be like if young women said, how can I orient my thinking to say I'm single? I don't have a husband to care for. I don't have my own children to care for. And I may be going to school and I may be having a job, but I have other time on my hand. I could use it to serve others. to care for other people's needs. And when I get married, I'm gonna have a new focus. And all of a sudden, I have to pull back on some of those things because I have a new shift of responsibility to say, I need to make sure that I'm a faithful helpmate to my husband. He says, in this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, meaning beautiful, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. When you are a single individual, please hear me. When you're a single individual, even when you are working 36 hours a week and you think you're maxed out at your limit, just understand, you have a lot more bandwidth than you realize, but you're frittering it away frequently in things that just have no eternal consequence. You say, is entertainment wrong? No, but it can be. I use the title of a book, it's not a Christian book, but the title of the book by Neil Postman was Entertaining Ourselves to Death. And we have that capability just sitting in our pockets now. Just filling hours and hours just with senseless stuff. When we could be serving the Lord. Amen? They were spirit filled. I have seven minutes. They were spirit filled and faithful. What was it they did? It says they prophesied. And I know some of you, we're from a Baptist tradition and you just got uncomfortable. Women prophesying. I've always tried to ignore that passage of scripture. Let's be honest. There are some things, and I could point out a few kinds of things, that when we see something that seems to contradict something else that we feel like about something else, then we just kind of ignore that something that we saw, even if it was in the pages of Scripture. Amen. Thank you, amen. First, I want to say that this passage is one that some may choose not to deal with. In fact, I read numerous commentaries and it just kind of said Philip and the evangelist and his daughters who prophesied, dude. That means nothing was said. And I just had to say, hmm, it seems like if it's there and you're commenting, and it's something that you know probably is something that needs to be commented on because it may be something that in some circles becomes controversial because we have extremes on either direction, possibly we're avoiding something we need to. So I'm gonna go about waist high in the swamp water of confusion for that reason to hopefully dispel some of the confusion and maybe I'll just make it more confusing. But to the best of my ability, I want to give you understanding of this passage to help us not sink down and get stuck either by ignoring or causing people to lose confidence in the scripture or their preacher's faithfulness to the same or to misrepresent or misinterpret this passage to mean something it doesn't. Here's what I believe. I believe that when you don't deal with things that are hard in the Bible, you reduce people's confidence in the Scriptures. Parents, if you don't give honest answers to hard Bible questions, even if your answer is, I don't know, but this is what it seems like, let's study that out more. I think if you ignore them or try to pretend like they don't exist, you will cause there to be a distrust for the truth of Scripture. Let me say it clearly, these daughters of Philip prophesied. Now in the original language, the way it's used, it doesn't call them prophetesses, it just says they prophesied. It's not referred to as an office in this case, it's saying that they did this action, they gave prophecy. Now we in our culture today use the term prophecy differently and we talk about people who proclaim the word of God boldly, and they call that prophesying. And in one sense, that could be a right manifestation, but in the early church, they were prophesying, meaning they were giving prophetic words of blessing that came from the Lord, or warning, or encouragement, and that's what these daughters of Philip did. Interestingly enough, in Acts chapter 21, verses one through 16, where there's multiple people prophesying, or saying the spirit of God told me to tell you this, Paul, It's interesting that those who are said to have prophesy, to prophesy, these four daughters, they say not a word to Saul or Paul. Kind of interesting. We must acknowledge this is a reality that's here. We cannot be faithful to scripture and deny it. But that does not mean that we all of a sudden believe that women should be preachers in the church. In fact, to land at that conclusion, we would have to deny other teaching of scripture that is very clear to the point that women are not supposed to be elders or the preachers in the church. Very clearly spoken about. But the prophet Joel, spoke of the time that would come when the sons and daughters shall both prophesy. Look what it says in Joel chapter two. If you wanna just listen, I'll read it to you. In Joel two, verses 28 through 32, it says, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters. daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens, in those days I will pour out My Spirit and I will show wonders in the heavens and the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the Lord shall come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. I love that. Doesn't that sound familiar? Doesn't that ring true with the words of the Apostle Paul recorded in Romans chapter 10, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, delivered. This prophetic passage began to be fulfilled, listen to this very carefully, began to be fulfilled when the Spirit was sent to the church at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, this part of the powerful work of the Spirit that would be fulfilled in the church age with great power during the apostolic era. Acts chapter two, verse 14. It says, but Peter, standing up with the 11, lifted up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, hearken to my words. For these, spirit-filled people, these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. Meaning, at that time of day, that would not be common to have drunk too much. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in these last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. He's saying there's a time, there's a season in those days that they shall prophesy, they shall fulfill this task. And it was given as something that was going to be fulfilled by both men, young men and young women, both sons and daughters. And Peter says this is being fulfilled right now. Prophecy of Joel. 400 years later, give or take some years, being fulfilled right now as the spirit of God in Acts chapter two descends upon the church like as a fire and a dove filling the people with his spirit. Now, there is a lot to say. about women and their distinct and beautiful role in the church. And I feel like I need to say a few things rather than just closing right here to give us some context. We know some things that prophesying is not, okay? We know that prophesying is not serving as a pastor or elder or bishop in the church. Because one, in all of the history of Israel, the nation of Israel, the elders were men. That was the pattern. In the New Testament, when the same model of elders being chose to lead the church of God, pastors or bishops or overseers all use synonymously one passage, you can look at that as 1 Peter 5. to talk of one and the same office with different shades of meaning as far as what their role is. But it's specifically in 1 Timothy chapter three, the qualification to serve as an elder is to be the husband of one wife. 1 Timothy chapter three, it says, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop or an overseer, he desireth a good work. A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife. This is very important. This was written long before redefinition of marriage, where somebody might try to squeeze in that that definition is applicable for a woman who's taken a wife. In this mirage that is called marriage today, But we know biblically, this was the qualification. This is also spoken about in Titus chapter one. They're to be the husband of one wife. They're to rule their own house as well. So those who lead in the church, and this is something that you have to understand, when I talked about egalitarian culture, we have a culture where even amongst many Christians, they'll say every passage in the Bible about women not being able to be pastors or preachers in the church is just cultural, and therefore it has no purpose. But I wanna tell you what happens when we do that, and I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but I'm prone to do that. When you have a culture that says that everything that we don't like is cultural, women in our day are allowed to do everything that men can do, and I'll just say many of them can do it better in a lot of ways, right? Do any of us deny that? That our wives can do some things better than we can? Absolutely not, you better not, you'll be in trouble. All right. But we live in a culture where in Christianity, or what is called Christianity in the broad spectrum, where women are being ordained as pastors and preachers to lead the church when the Bible explicitly says they must be the husband of one wife and they must lead their houses well. They don't qualify in that regard. And the reasoning for saying it doesn't matter is because culturally the times have changed. By the way, that is the same way that homosexuality is being embraced by many who profess to be Christian as completely acceptable and normal now because our culture has changed, not because the scripture has changed. And by the way, a lot of the same churches throughout the last 100 years who today are embracing full-on homosexuality and homosexual marriages are also the ones who led the way in saying women can serve as pastors even though the Bible says they can't. When it speaks of deacons, it also speaks of the qualifications for the wives. Interestingly enough, and I'm not gonna deal with this today, but I'm gonna talk about this hopefully in the fall. about the uniqueness of the difference of the deacons. There are women in the Bible referred to with the same word that uses to describe deacons, they're servants. And we know in our church, without exception, that the wives of our deacons are regularly involved in the deaconing work of our church. Unequivocally, they're supporting their husbands, they're walking with them, they're serving with them, they're helping to organize a lot of different things and caring for the body, life of the church. We'll come back to that in the future as to the distinction there, but specifically for those who are the preaching, have the preaching and teaching role in the church, they're unequivocally supposed to be men. No such qualification. is set out for women pastors because scripturally they do not exist. 1 Timothy 2, 9-15 says, In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but that which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Right, we know what this passage is speaking about. It's saying that godly women should be modest, should be sober, they should be, with shame-facedness doesn't mean ashamed, it just means they should have a kind of a spirit of godly modesty and purity and femininity about them, not the kind of bold, brash, I'm better than everyone else kind of spirit. And it says even how they bring their apparel. It should not be with broided hair or gold or apparels or costly array. It doesn't mean they're not supposed to wear clothes. It just means that it's not supposed to be the one that they're trying to get the most attention. You see this today in our culture that's happening with kind of the braided hair, the gold, the pearls, the costly, the extravagance. We're seeing it today in people with rainbow colored hair. Like that's not gonna draw attention to yourself in a way that isn't probably really fitting with this passage of scripture. Now you might just say, well, I don't see anything wrong with coloring your hair. Okay, what's the spirit? This is not the point, I just happened to say it. What is the spirit you're trying to emanate? Is there a difference between a woman that's putting coloring in her hair because she doesn't like the fact that it's going gray and so she tries to change that fact and somebody that has rainbow bright or color in their hair saying, look at me everyone. That's kind of where this is at. I'm very popular today, this is good. But which becometh women professing godliness with good works? So let the woman learn in silence and in all subjection. Now please understand, this is a context. The specific context of this passage right here is speaking about when the ministry of the word is taking place. This is not talking about in a small group Bible study or when you're hanging out fellowshipping afterwards or talking amongst men and women in groups and things of that nature. This is talking specifically in this role here. You'll see the fulfillment of that. He says, but I suffer, means I don't allow, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Now, somebody that wants to be dishonest with scripture or with Christianity would have this idea that that just sounds like, woman, you just keep quiet and stay over there in the corner. That's not what the scripture's talking about. It's talking specifically, remember, the context of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy is that they are pastoral epistles about how they ought to behave themselves in the church of God, which is the pillar and the ground of the truth. It says, for Adam was first formed, then Eve. For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved and childbearing if there continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. This is really important to understand. Say, you just talked about women prophesying. I know, I'm getting there. And I can't stop. Just, I will stop, but just let me get to a point where it makes sense. 1 Corinthians 14 said, let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law that's under submission. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Again, the context of the assembly of worship, where there may be somebody that stands up to say, I wanna know what's going on here. there's a pattern that God gives that we could say this seems arcane because our culture has gone so far removed from any kind of biblical order and complementarian kind of roles. The role of women is clear. They are not to serve as elders in the church. It's resolutely clear. They are not to preach or to teach usurp authority over the men. But let me just say, that doesn't mean that the men of this church don't on a regular basis learn from the women of this church, or that there's not a context for that to take place. It's just not from the pulpit, if you could use those terms. It's just not in this context. And that's why we're careful with that. It doesn't mean that a woman doesn't stand up and give a testimony when we have testimony times or when we're having a prayer meeting on Wednesday night, women pray, men pray, women give requests, men give requests. There's that mutual, they ask questions because it's in a different context. It's in a context that most throughout history would have happened oftentimes in homes, not in the same place where we gather on the Lord's Day. But nonetheless, that's a beautiful thing. What do these virgin women who prophesy do? I think it's fair to say that outside the church, in the world, many women have been used of God to prophesy or proclaim, and I'm using this in what we would say the modern day understanding. I think the prophetic prophecies have ceased. But I think the kinds of prophecies or encouragements through the word happen with all kinds of people. This has been true in many mission contexts. Some of our favorite missionary biographies, I think of Darlene Dibler-Rose, Evidence Not Seen. Powerful, moving, all about a woman missionary, and it's one of my favorite books of all times. And I weep when we read that book. And her bold witness and testimony. But she wasn't there as a pastor planting churches. She was there with her husband and she was taken captive and thrown into a horrible prison and was tortured and withheld food and things of that nature. And she faithfully witnessed throughout her time. Women have a responsibility that's very clearly seen in scripture. Like the ladies, I failed to mention our prison ministry is going on today. We have a group of ladies going today to share the truth of God and to witness to women at the prison in Purdy. And by the way, they've asked us to pray as there's a great need for that ministry and some of the things that are transitioning there. So pray for them as they minister. Women have a responsibility to teach women, very clearly taught in the New Testament. Titus chapter two and verse number three, it says the aged women likewise that they be in behavior as become of holiness, not false accusers, not given to want much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good and obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. That's pretty strong language. That the word of God be not blasphemed by following after the ways of the world when it comes to what womanhood is supposed to be like. You have a responsibility to teach the younger women in the church, you who are older women, and I will let you self-define. because I've learned throughout the time that it did not go well when I said basically when you've raised kids and that would put you oftentimes in this culture by about 40 that you would be amongst those, but I won't give you a time frame. I'll just say we need more women above 40 that are sharing truth with young women. There's a way in which you can do that and investing in women's lives that comes across way differently than if men do it, right? Women also have, throughout history and at present, a huge responsibility for the teaching and instruction of children, not only their own, but others also, in supportive ways. In 2 Timothy chapter one and verse number five, in 2 Timothy one, verse five, it says, when I call to remember, this is Paul talking to Timothy, the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also, he says, I know your amazing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that came from your mother and your grandmother. And by the way, I always try to say this because there is no mention of Timothy having his father involved in his life at all to encourage you if you're in that place of being a single mom or even a single dad to know you have great responsibilities and the church wants to be here to support you and to help you and to come alongside of you. And we want to invest in you. But don't give up. Believing God can help you to raise faithfully a child or children in the ways of the Lord. And again in 2 Timothy 3 verse 15 it says, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. And it was Lois and Eunice that was teaching them. Men and women in private settings can teach and admonish one another. Listen to what happened. Remember a man by the name of Apollos? He was that silver-tongued orator. In chapter 18 of the book of Acts and verse number 24, it says, in a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. So he was an eloquent preacher. He was mighty in the word, but he didn't have the full story. But guess what happened? Think about this. This mighty in the word preacher was brought into the home of Aquila and Priscilla, verse 26, it says, and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. So you have Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and a wife, taking this mighty preacher of the word and saying, listen, You're amazing and you're gifted with what you have. And the Lord is using that. But there is more to the story that we need to teach you. Come into our home, let us instruct you. And they, it says, expounded unto them the way of God more perfectly, or that word being used is completely. There's a husband and a wife, both of them helping to teach and instruct. Because the context was different. And I am, landing the plane. Women like Anna, found in Luke chapter two, verse 36, who was also called the prophetess, whom after she had been married seven years from her virginity, served in the temple, praying and worshiping night and day. She was widowed and she prayed in the temple night and day. She gave herself to the work God says and there was one Anna a prophetess the daughter of Peniel and the tribe of Asser She was a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day, and she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She was a prophetess. She prophesied and proclaimed that even the Lord was going to come. And this is the same time where Simeon says, mine eyes have seen thy salvation when he saw Jesus as a baby boy being brought into the temple. The role of women as prophetesses, I believe, in the early church was to encourage from all that we, the little that we have, the little we have knowledge to encourage the men and women of Christ and to speak into the lives of others who needed to hear the truth of Jesus Christ that was all new. They didn't carry around Bibles that they were handing out. The New Testament didn't exist, it was being brought into being. And they would proclaim the word of the Lord so that many people would hear the message of Christ. And I have gone very, very long, but I want you to know this with Undoubtedly, there's things that have been brought up this morning that probably maybe struck a chord with someone. I want you to know this. I want you to know as a woman at Westside Baptist Church, you are highly esteemed and valued and your purpose and worth in the work of the ministry is absolutely, vitally important in a vast array of ways. And just like I have been in years past, I pray in years future that I will be encouraged and strengthened and helped by many of the women in this church in the context like my wife and I have been throughout the years, even through sometimes things that you've said that you didn't even know you were encouraging or challenging or helping us to grow. But I also want to say, call it old-fashioned, because that's not really what it is. It's just being biblical to say, as a church, we're unequivocally going to be uncompromising, that the leaders of our church are going to be qualified men who serve the body of Christ, because that's what the scripture clearly lays out. And the women of our church are gonna know, though that is a role they don't fulfill, it would be impossible for any man to fulfill that role without you first bringing them into the world. That's pretty important. And beyond that, the influence and the help that you give is unquestioned, and the ability that you have to minister to people that is hard oftentimes for a man, you have a particular way of ministering in a powerful way. There's more to talk about, there's more to teach about, but I don't have any more time. So let's pray. Father, thank you for this opportunity Help us to remember, most importantly, that in light of the truth of the gospel, that Jesus said there is neither male nor female, neither bond nor free, but all are made, the word of God says that all are made one in Christ Jesus. And today, just as we are made in the image and likeness of God, male and female, we are created in equality, we are created in the same oneness and unity with our creator, we are created with the same value and worth, and yet we are given very distinct and unique roles. that affect really every area of life to some degree or another, even though there are things that we do that are the same. Just because how you have made us as men and women, we oftentimes do them slightly different. We do them with a different perspective and view. And that's what brings beautiful balance and strength to a congregation. Lord, I'm thankful that there are so many faithful, servant-hearted women who speak into the young women's lives in this church, who speak into the lives of not only their own children, but the children of our church, and who frequently, in various contexts, speak into the lives of the men of the congregation in an encouraging and helpful way. And I'm grateful for that. I'm thankful, Lord, that you fulfilled your prophecy of Joel 2, as was revealed in Acts 2, and how young men and young women, daughters and sons, were brought to prophesy in the early church to encourage and to minister to the saints. and how though the roles change over the course of time, that the role of women in the church is still significant, made possible through the gospel of the grace of God. I pray for the young men and the young ladies that are here as I took time to admonish them that in their singleness, in their unmarried state, I pray that they would remain pure. I pray that they would remain virgins as the scripture says, even though that is mocked in our day. in every way, may that not be so in the church. And may they recognize they have a season of life, that they have time to devote themselves to the ministry of Christ, to the ministry of serving others. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.