Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 21, verses 8-14

⁴ Paul will not by any means be dissuaded from going to Jerusalem, ⁹ Philip's daughters prophetesses

⁸And 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.

⁹And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

¹⁰And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

¹¹And 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.

¹²And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then 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.

¹⁴And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

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21:8 We came to Cesarea - So called from a stately temple which Herod the Great dedicated there to Augustus Cesar. It was the place where the Roman governor of Judea generally resided and kept his court. The evangelist, who was one of the seven deacons - An evangelist is a preacher of the Gospel to those who had never heard it, as Philip had done to the Samaritans, to the Ethiopian eunuch, and to all the towns from Azotus to Cesarea, Act 8:5, Act 8:26, Act 8:40. It is not unlikely he spent the followingyears preaching in Tyre and Sidon, and the other heathen cities in the neighbourhood of Galilee, his house being at Cesarea, a convenient situation for that purpose. We abode with him - We lodged at his house during our stay at Cesarea.

21:10 A certain prophet came - The nearer the event was, the more express were the predictions which prepared Paul for it.

21:11 Binding his own feet and hands - In the manner that malefactors were wont to be bound when apprehended. So shall the Jews bind the man whose girdle this is - St. Paul's bonds were first particularly foretold at Cesarea, to which he afterward came in bonds, Act 23:33.

21:12 Both we, (his fellow travellers,) and they of the place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem - St. Paul knew that this prediction had the force of a command. They did not know this.

21:13 Breaking my heart - For the apostles themselves were not void of human affections. I am ready not only to be bound, but to die - And to him that is ready for it, the burden is light.

21:14 And when he would not be persuaded - This was not obstinacy, but true Christian resolution. We should never be persuaded, either to do evil, or to omit doing any good which is in our power; saying, the will of the Lord be done - Which they were satisfied Paul knew.

John, Chapter 14, verses 27-31

²⁷ and leaveth his peace with them

²⁷Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

²⁸Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

²⁹And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

³⁰Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

³¹But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

John, Chapter 15, verses 1-7

¹ The consolation and mutual love between Christ and his members, under the parable of the vine

¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Read more:John, Chapter 15

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14:27 Peace I leave with you - Peace in general; peace with God and with your own consciences. My peace - In particular; that peace which I enjoy, and which I create, I give - At this instant.Not as the world giveth - Unsatisfying unsettled, transient; but filling the soul with constant, even tranquillity. Lord, evermore give us this peace! How serenely may we pass through the most turbulent scenes of life, when all is quiet and harmonious within! Thou hast made peace through the blood of thy cross. May we give all diligence to preserve the inestimable gift inviolate, till it issue in everlasting peace!

14:28 God the Father is greater than I - As he was man. As God, neither is greater nor less than the other.

14:29 I have told you - Of my going and return.

14:30 The prince of this world is coming - To make his grand assault.But he hath nothing in me - No right, no claim, or power. There is no guilt in me, to give him power over me; no corruption to take part with his temptation.

14:31 But I suffer him thus to assault me,

Because it is the Father's commission to me, Joh 10:18.
To convince the world of my love to the Father, in being obedient unto death, Php 2:8.

Arise, let us go hence - Into the city, to the passover. All thathas been related from Joh 12:31, was done and said on Thursday, without the city. But what follows in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters, was said in the city, on the very evening of the passover just before he went over the brook Kedron.

15:1 I am the true vine - So the true bread, Joh 6:32; that is, the most excellent.

15:2 Every one that beareth fruit, he purifieth - by obeying the truth, Pe1 1:22; and by inward or outward sufferings, Heb 12:10-11. So purity and fruitfulness help each other.That it may bear more fruit - For this is one of the noblest rewards God can bestow on former acts of obedience, to make us yet more holy, and fit for farther and more eminent service.

15:3 Ye are clean - All of you, to whom I now speak, are purged from the guilt and power of sin; by the word - Which, applied by the Spirit, is the grand instrument of purifying the soul.

15:4 Abide in me - Ye who are now pure by living faith, producing all holiness; by which alone ye can be in me.

15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches - Our Lord in this whole passage speaks of no branches but such as are, or at least were once, united to him by living faith.

15:6 If any one abide not in me - By living faith; not by Church communion only. He may thus abide in Christ, and be withered all the time, and cast into the fire at last. He is cast out - Of the vineyard, the invisible Church. Therefore he was in it once.

15:7 If ye abide in me, ye shall ask - Prayers themselves are a fruit of faith, and they produce more fruit.

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Orthodox readings for 9 June 2008

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 21, verses 8-14

John, Chapter 14, verses 27-31

John, Chapter 15, verses 1-7