In This Sermon:
Prophecy: In the New Testament & Today | Acts 21:1-14
When the Holy Spirit repeatedly warned Paul that imprisonment awaited him in Jerusalem — why did he go anyway? Was he disobeying God? In this sermon, Pastor Jacob Van Sickle works through Acts 21:1-14 and tackles one of the most fascinating and contested questions in the church today: What is the gift of prophecy, and is it still active?
From the Dead Sea Scrolls and Isaiah's stunning predictive prophecies, to Philip's daughters who prophesied, to Agabus binding himself with Paul's belt — this passage sits at the center of the historic debate between cessationism and continuationism. Pastor Jacob traces the conversation through church history, from Jan Hus to John Knox to the Westminster Puritans to Wayne Grudem, and offers a pastoral and honest assessment of where the evidence leads.
📖Scripture: Acts 21:1-14
🎙️Speaker: Pastor Jacob Van Sickle
⛪Church: Sacred City Church | Providence, Rhode Island
In this sermon you'll discover:
- Why Paul went to Jerusalem even after the Spirit warned him not to
- What the gift of prophecy is — and the three biblical definitions
- The cessationism vs. continuationism debate explained clearly and fairly
- What church history says about prophetic gifts after the apostles
- The prophecies of Jan Hus, John Knox, and what they mean for us today
- Why both camps are trying to protect something important
- How to worship God anchored in both Spirit and truth
Resources for further study and fun
- The Great Isaiah Scroll Video
- The Cessationist and Continuationist Spectrum (see below)
- Books on the Spectrum:
- Strange Fire by John MacArthur (Cessationist)
- The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation by Garnet Howard Milne (Cessationist)
- Showing the Spirit By D.A. Carson (Continuationist)
- The Gift of Prophecy by Wayne Grudem (Continuationist)
- Jan Hus: The Goosefather
- "The Prophecies of John Knox" by Aaron Running
Resource Info
