At Caesarea the missionaries were entertained by Philip, the evangelist, one of the seven chosen deacons. [Sidenote: A Prophecy.] While they were there, Agabus, a prophet came down from Jerusalem and after greeting them all, took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, saying, "Thus sayeth 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." Hearing this prophecy, Luke and all Paul's company pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul answered, [Sidenote: Ready to Die.] "What mean ye to weep and to break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." "All right," said his friends, "The will of the Lord be done." From Caesarea, they traveled by carriage to Jerusalem, where the brethren received them gladly. Footnotes: 1. II Cor. 2:13. 2. II Cor. 7:6. 3. II Cor. 8. 4. See Acts 20:17-35. LESSON 35 EXCITING EXPERIENCES IN JERUSALEM "In the huge mass of evil as it rolls and swells, there is ever some good working toward deliverance and triumph." [Sidenote: At Headquarters.] At Jerusalem, Paul and his companions met with the Church and undoubtedly gave the money that had been given by the Gentile churches for the benefit of the poor in Judea. At the advice of James, the brother of the Lord, who was then presiding over the Church in Jerusalem, Paul shaved his head, and did certain other things to show the Jews that he was willing to observe the Jewish laws. [Sidenote: Falsely Accused.] When he had been in Jerusalem about a week, he went to the temple to worship. There happened to be also in the temple, some men who had seen Paul in Asia with the Gentiles. Thinking that he had brought some of these Gentiles into the temple, they stirred up the people, seized Paul, and cried out, "Men of Israel, help; this is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place; and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this place." Of course, this was not true, but it served to arouse the crowd, who dragged Paul out of the temple and shut the doors. In their rage they were about to kill Paul, which they would have done but for the timely interference of a Roman officer. Stationed in the castle north of the temple was a guard of soldiers under command of an officer called the "Chief Captain." [Sidenote: Rescued From Death.] When somebody told the captain, whose name was Claudius Lysius, that there was trouble in the outer court of the temple, he hurried the soldiers down there just as the mob began to beat and trample Paul to death. The soldiers rescued Paul; but the captain thinking he was a desperate man, commanded him to be bound with chains. "Who is this man, and what has he done?" Claudius asked of the angry Jews.