Paul the Apostle ā Wayne Barber/Part 11
By: Dr. Wayne Barber; ©1992 |
Let me set the stage for what we are going to be talking about. As a Christian you are learning, as we all are learning, to walk in your journey with Him. How exciting and what an adventure it is. We must be willing to be led, though. God has a direction, a purpose for each of our lives. He has a direction and a purpose for churches, just like He has a direction and purpose for individualās lives. As we are willing to be led, as we are willing to surrender to Him, then God uses us. |
Ephesians 1:1; Acts 21:1-14
Paul: The Missionary ā Part 11
We have been looking now for several studies at Paul, the missionary. In this study we will see his Third Missionary Journey come to an end. Of course, a brand new adventure begins in Paulās life. We are going to be looking at Acts 21:1-14. I guess you could call this study, āWherever He Leads, Iāll Go.ā We often sing the song, but there is a lot more to it than just singing the song.
In verses 1-3, he is leaving Miletus. Look at your map. When you come to Asia Minor, down to the left on the western coast is Ephesus, and 36 miles below it is Miletus. That is where Paul has been now for the last couple of studies as weāve been looking at his life in Acts 20. Now he is leaving Miletus on his way to Jerusalem. Everything he does now is just simply going south.
Verse 1, āAnd when it came about that we had parted from them [at Miletus] and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos.ā Cos was an island between Miletus and the island of Rhodes. It says, āwe ran a straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes.ā I had the privilege of being there. It is just so interesting to be where these places are mentioned. āAnd from there to Patara.ā Patara was a seaport city in the province of Lycia in Asia Minor. Heās still on the coast of Turkey. Then verse 2 continues, āand having found a ship [they changed ships] crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.ā Phoenicia was on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We are getting closer now as he has made the curve. He is coming on down to Jerusalem.
āAnd when we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre,ā Tyre was a Phoenician city, a seaport city on the land which today we call Lebanon, āfor there the ship was to unload its cargo.ā While they were in Tyre, they stayed there seven days and ministered to the disciples who were in the area.
Before we go on through verse 14, we are going to look at that verse. Let me set the stage for what we are going to be talking about. As a Christian you are learning, as we all are learning, to walk in your journey with Him. How exciting and what an adventure it is. We must be willing to be led, though. God has a direction, a purpose for each of our lives. He has a direction and a purpose for churches, just like He has a direction and purpose for individualās lives. As we are willing to be led, as we are willing to surrender to Him, then God uses us. Our lives are like conduits. He does through us and in us what we could never have done for Him. He does it through our lives. However, in order to continue walking with Him, in order to continue the journey, weāve got to learn to accommodate ourselves to what God says to us. Those accommodations are where the challenge really comes. We have to bend to Him. God never bends to us in the sense of changing His mind. We bend to Him. As we bend to Him, then we begin to make sacrifices in our life. We begin to pay a price in our life. We find out who really wants to walk with Jesus when it comes down to having to make a choice, when it comes down to something that costs us. If we are going to accommodate ourselves to the Lord Jesus in His leading us, weāve got to come to the attitude, āLord, it doesnāt matter to me what may or may not happen to me. I just want to be a part of what You are up to.ā If you havenāt made that decision, then fear will literally paralyze your life.
You may want to go on with God. You love talking about Him. You love being around people who are going on with God, but God has laid something in front of you that now you donāt want to make the choice in order to proceed; something that has caused you to fear. You see, faith is not sight. When you step out on faith to do what God has said, you donāt get the luxury of all the feelings and all the joy of it happening the way you want it to happen.
I remember in a church which I served in another place, there was a lady there whose son was very surrendered to the Lord Jesus. As a matter of fact, he was one of the finest kids you would ever want to be around. Well, coming back one night from a meeting he was killed tragically in a car wreck. His younger brother saw that. His younger brother made a drastic turn in his life and began to live for his own self for years. He turned away from the Lord, just turned his back to Him. Come to find out what had happened to him was, he saw what happened to his brother and wrongly concluded that if he surrendered his life to Jesus, he would have to be killed tragically. He didnāt want to pay that kind of price, so he turned and went the other way. So often fear of what will happen to us, fear of what it will cost us, paralyzes us and freezes us in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
No wonder people say there is no specific will of God. You start getting specific and, folks, it takes you to the cross. You die to the flesh, and you have to do things you ordinarily would have never set as an agenda before yourself. This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where you find the people who really love the Lord Jesus. Are you willing to say, āLord, it doesnāt matter to me what happens. It doesnāt matter what it costs. I am going to follow You. Wherever You lead, I will goā?
Well, we have a man by the name of Paul who was single-mindedly a servant of the Lord Jesus. What he did was an absolute abandonment to the will of God in his life. The thing that impresses me about him, though, was that Paul did not have one single thing that I donāt have and that you donāt have. He was gifted differently, yes. Maybe he had some training, yes. But as far as what it took to walk this Christian life, he had the same package you and I got when we received the Lord Jesus Christ. Even Paulās buddy, Simon Peter, made the statement in his epistle, āYou who have received a like faith such as ours.ā There is no difference. The key is how we respond to that which God has given to us.
Well, three times Paul had been told by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem. We will see that later on in our text. Three times the Holy Spirit witnesses to his spirit through others and also privately that when he gets to Jerusalem, it is going to be bad. Bad things lay ahead in Jerusalem for Paul. Well, he already sensed that, because when Jesus went to Jerusalem it was bad. Thatās where law and grace will always conflict. Jesus went to the cross because of what went on in Jerusalem. Paul sensed in his spirit something bad was going to happen. The Holy Spirit affirmed, āYes, you are right. It is going to be bad.ā
This is difficult. When you know what God says and you want to know His will, then you begin to sense that what is going to happen is going to cost you if you do it. The Holy Spirit, through others and through His own witness to you, affirms, āYes, itās going to cost you if you obey what God has told you to do.ā Thatās where it becomes very difficult.
I hope we can learn from Paul as he passes the test. Every time he was witnessed to by the Spirit that things would be bad, he kept his face, like a flint, right towards Jerusalem. It reminds me of Jesus in Luke 9:51 when it says, āHe set his face towards Jerusalem.ā He knew what He had come to do. He knew the cost that was going to be His to pay.
Well, first of all weāve got to go back to chapter 20. We are going to see the first time that the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul. It said the Holy Spirit witnessed to his spirit. Thatās the first point. The Holy Spirit witnessed to his own individual spirit. Look at verses 22 and 23 of Acts 20. Remember, he is in Ephesus. Verse 22 says, āAnd now, behold, bound in spirit.ā The word ābound in spiritā means āI am compelled by the Spirit of God.ā Paul was being led. Paul was compelled. Paul was on a course that was charted by God Himself: ābound in the spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.ā He didnāt know everything, but he knew something. Look at verse 23, āexcept that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.ā
Now, I wondered as I studied this, why would he go to Jerusalem to begin with? I mean, anybody with any common sense,⦠Paul grew up in Jerusalem. Paul was trained under the Law. Paulās message was totally different, and now he was going back. He knew what was ahead of him. Now the Holy Spirit told him what was ahead of him. Why would he even want to go to Jerusalem?
Go back to Acts 19:21. If you read this very carelessly, you are going to come up with the idea that Paul planned his own agenda. But if you will take a little time and look at it, take other texts and put it together, you will realize that he was on Godās agenda. Verse 21 reads, āNow after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit.ā Now, that word āpurposedā caught my attention. It is not the word that I thought it would be which means ābeing determined and made up his mind.ā It is sort of synonymous. It is the word tithemi, which means āto set something in place, to appoint something.ā It is setting a direction. It is putting something deep down inside of yourself that God wants to be there.
Now look at the second phrase there, āin the spirit.ā You see, the Spirit of God is speaking to him. There are two places God wants Paul to go. He has very clearly told Paul this. First of all, it says, āgo to Jerusalem.ā Thatās number one, but thatās not the only place; āafter he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, āAfter I have been there, I must also see Rome.āā Now it sounds like Paul is sitting there thinking, āYou know, this is fun. I like this missionary stuff. I think Iāll plan me a good trip. Iāve never seen Rome. I think I want to see Rome. Iāve never seen it. I think Iāll put Jerusalem on the agenda, too. God, are you okay with that? Fine. Good. I am going to do it.ā He gets a travel agent and gets on the plane and goes and asks God to bless his efforts.
That is not what he was saying. He is saying he purposed in his spirit; God spoke to his heart. He took what God had said and put it deep down inside of him. That began to frame his direction and determination. He wanted to see the ministry God had begun completed in his life. That was the heart cry that Paul had. God willed for Paul to go to Jerusalem and Rome, so Paul put it deep in his heart and determined, āYes, I am going to do exactly what God has said.ā
The term āsolemnly testifiedā means āto witness or to affirm something.ā The Spirit solemnly testified to me in every city. He affirmed something in my spirit. Now, since it doesnāt say how, we donāt know if he used other people to do it, because he talks about that later on. I believe by implication he means, āhe bore witness in my spiritā.
You know, sometimes that happens. We canāt explain it to anybody. It is just the Holy Spirit bearing witness in your spirit that something is about to take place. How the world do you explain that to anybody? Somehow, Paul sensed in his inner spirit that God was speaking to him, not only to go to Jerusalem, but then when he got there, things would be bad.
Again, I bring up the situation. This is when the going gets tough. āWhat are you going to do, Paul? You know God has told you to go to Jerusalem. You say you are compelled by the Spirit. Now, to cast even more shadows on it, the Holy Spirit says when you get there, it is going to be bonds and afflictions.ā The word ābondsā in the plural means āimprisonment;ā the word āafflictionā means āto be squeezed to where itās very, very painful.ā
Paul talks in Galatians about a struggle of the flesh and the spirit. He says in Romans 7, āThe things I want to do, I canāt do. The things I want to say, I donāt say.ā When he tries it himself that Law just continues to hover over him. There has been a struggle in Paul. Weāve got to understand that. It doesnāt talk about it in Acts 20, but you know he went through one. You know good and well. He was a man, a person just like you and me. All of us wrestle with that.
What is God saying to you? What has God clearly spoken through His Word to you as regarding His will? What is it that has just literally caused you to be paralyzed with fear and stopped you from going on and doing what God has said? Well, we are in some good company because some pretty good folks have gone through the same battles.
Look back in John 11:7. This is my favorite text to talk about this. I have mentioned it many times. This is when Jesus has been in Judea. What are they doing to Him in Judea? John 10:39 says they were seeking to seize Him. He eludes their grasp because the time is not right. He goes to the other side of the Jordan River, a whole dayās journey away, and here He is with His disciples. He has gone a whole dayās journey, on the other side of the Jordan River, to a different Bethany, and He is there with His disciples. He gets the message that Lazarus, His friend, is sick. Of course, Martha and Mary are just absolutely about to have a spell. They canāt stand it. They canāt understand why Jesus is not there. They are upset with Him. Now you say, āYou donāt know that.ā Yes, I do. Because when He gets there, what does Martha say? āWhere have you been? If you had been here, he would not have died.ā What does Mary say? āWhere have you been? If you had been here he wouldnāt have died. You canāt do anything now. You canāt do anything here.ā They were very upset with Jesus because He had gone over to the other side of the Jordan.
Jesus knew that this miracle with Lazarus, his resurrection, was going to be the miracle that would pull the trigger on the plot to put Him on the cross. All through John He says, āThe time has not yet come.ā In chapter 12, after He is there and has raised Lazarus, He says, āThe time has now come for the Son of Man to be gloried.ā Now, what does He mean? He had to go to the cross to accomplish what He came to do. That is perfectly okay with Jesus, but it wasnāt with the disciples.
Look at verse 7. These guys remind me of me and you. āThen after this, He said to the disciples [Now watch carefully the words], āLet me go to Judea again.āā Is that what your Bible says? No, āLet us go to Judea again.ā Now, thatās fine for Jesus. He walks in perfect harmony with the Father. What He sees the Father do, He does. What He hears the Father say, He says. He walks in that divine reflex of whatever the Father wants. But thatās not too cool for the disciples. They are not excited about this at all. As a matter of fact, look at verse 8: āThe disciples said to Him, āRabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?āā They hadnāt even thought about going with Him. They are trying to figure out why He would want to go over there.
It is kind of like Tonto and the Lone Ranger. They came up to the edge of a cliff. There were a million Indians in front of them and a million Indians behind them. The Lone Ranger, the white man, looked at the Indian, Tonto, and said, āWell, Tonto, I guess thatās it for us.ā Tonto said, āWhat do you mean, pale face?ā
That is exactly what is going on. They are thinking, āWeāre not going! Are You going over there? Are you crazy? They were just seeking to stone you. Are you going there again?ā What was their problem? Fear, the same thing you and I have. The Lord Jesus puts His will in front of you and says, āI want you to start giving.ā Hey, isnāt that the one we donāt want me to get on? Why donāt we get on it for a minute? You say, āWell, Lord, I canāt give. I mean, come on, get off my case.ā Then all of a sudden one day you decide you are going to do it and what happens? Fear sets in. āIf I do that, then Iām acting irresponsibly, and I canāt pay my bills, and I canāt take care of other things. I canāt afford to give.ā Have you ever heard that before?
Now what was it that paralyzed you from doing what God said? Fear of what will happen to you if you did! You want to live by sight. Youāre saying, āLord, show me something, and Iāll believe you.ā Youāre acting just like the Jews all the way through the Old Testament. We as Christians donāt live that way. We walk by faith. When God says it, we stand on it, and thatās enough. The key is, are we willing to step out on what God has said in any area of your life?
What are you dealing with? What is challenging you? What is causing you to be afraid? Here is the situation. Youāve got to go to school and make a stand for Jesus Christ. The first thing that hits you is, āWhat are they going to say about me? I donāt want to be laughed at. I donāt want to be humiliated.ā All of a sudden, fear paralyzes you from going on and being what God wants you to be.
Well, Paul shows how he conquered the fear. Go back to Acts 20:24. He has just us that the Holy Spirit has borne witness to him. Look at verse 24: āBut I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.ā Let me paraphrase that for you. āI donāt care what happens to me. I only want God to accomplish His will and ministry in my life that it may be a testimony of the gospel of grace in me. I want it to be a testimony to others of what Godās grace can do in a manās life.ā Are you there right now? Are you willing to take a step out on what God has said and say, āGod, you just show others that the reason I am able to do this is because of your work of grace in my life.ā First John 4:18 says, āPerfect love casts out all fear.ā The word āperfectā means āthat which accomplishes its goal.ā When my love for Jesus is accomplishing its fullest goal, then that fullest goal is obeying Him. When I am fully obeying Him, surrendered to Him, that in itself casts aside all fear. How do you deal with fear? You turn towards Him, and you surrender yourself to Him. You step out on that which He has said. Then fear will fall away. You donāt know that yet because you havenāt made the step yet. What has God said? Where are we afraid?
Well, the Holy Spirit witnessed to his spirit, āThings are going to be bad, Paul.ā Paul kept right on going. That shows you his resolve to do what God had said.
Well, here he is at Tyre, the seaport city there north of Jerusalem. It says in 21:4, āAnd after looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days.ā Paul looks up the disciples, and they stay there for seven days. Look at what they do: āand they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.ā First of all, we see the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Paulās spirit. Secondly, we see that the disciples were worried about his safety.
You really need to see this. When it says, āthey kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalemā that could cause you to think the Holy Spirit told them to tell him not to go. They are just communicating that to him. That is not what it is saying. The Holy Spirit wouldnāt contradict Himself. The Holy Spirit has already told him to go to Jerusalem. What are they saying? Here is what I believe they are saying, by implication. The Holy Spirit has told them the same thing He has told Paul. āIt is going to be bad when you get to Jerusalem.ā They donāt really mean this to be bad, but they come to Paul and start begging him or telling him, āthrough the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.ā
Many times when God has used His Spirit to bear witness to us that it is going to be bad, the people closest to us, the people who around us who love us, try without realizing what they are doing to talk us out of doing that which God has put before us. āDonāt go to Jerusalem. The Spirit has told us the same thing.ā Without realizing it, they are throwing up a barrier. They should never do that.
I am going to encourage you. That is the barrel which God shot me out of. When you come to me and you say, āIām going to do this,ā I can look at it. You see it, and I see it, and we both realize it is going to be bad. Immediately, somehow I want to talk you out of it. I donāt want anything bad to happen to anybody. That is just the way I am. That is why I am a lousy counselor. If you come to me I am going to help you out. Maybe you donāt need to be helped out. Maybe you need to be nailed to the wall by somebody that will confront you. That is not me. I donāt like to confront anybody. Iād rather go around the block. I want everybody to be happy. I donāt want anybody to ever be upset. So, therefore, I may do the same thing these disciples did. You come to me and say, āOh, I believe God is calling me over here.ā I look at it and sense that God really is calling you there, but in my mind, I know just by common sense, itās going to be bad. Then the Holy Spirit begins to quicken my spirit, āYes, itās going to be bad.ā I say, āAre you sure youāve heard from God? There is a place over here that you can go that will be a lot more comfortable.ā I donāt want anything bad to happen to you.
It might be your wife. The Lord told us one time to tithe when we owed a bill of $188.55. I was committed to going ahead and tithing, even though I knew if I wrote a check for $12 it would bounce. I was going to go on and do it because God said it. My wife cried for three days. Now, look out ladies. Quit it. You may by good intentions be trying to save somebody from the price they may have to pay, but donāt ever get in the way of them doing what God has told them to do. The disciples did not mean bad, but by implication, they were saying, āDonāt do it.ā They were trying to talk him out of doing what God had said.
Years ago when I first came to this church, we outgrew everything. We are still doing it. Thatās wonderful. I donāt understand all that except that God keeps us on the edge trusting Him because of it. We got to the point that we had to do something about Sunday School and nursery space. We had none at all. Well, to do what we wanted to do, we had to get rid of adult Sunday School. What? Thatās a sacred cow! You canāt build a church without Sunday School! Itās written on every staunch Southern Baptist that was ever born. It is absolutely tattooed on their body when they become Southern Baptists. They believe if you donāt have Sunday School, you canāt build a church. Well, first of all, I am not trying to build a church. Jesus has done a fine job with His own Church for a long time. You just have to cooperate with Him. Sunday School works for some. It may not work the same with others.
Well, we had to get rid of the adult Sunday School. We had some adult Sunday School classes that were more loyal to their class than they were to Jesus. I mean, after all, they were not about to move out of that class! There were some real decisions we had to make.
Somebody called the āGestapo!ā The Associational Missionary came out and took me to lunch. Right there, in the middle of the meal, he looked over at me and said, āYoung man.ā I said, āSir.ā He said, āDonāt you understand what you are about to do?ā I said, āYes, sir.ā I told him how we had prayed about it, but I didnāt catch the drift of his question. He said, āYou are about to wreck that church.ā I said, āWell, first of all, it is not my church. We are trying to do what the Lord Jesus wants to do. It is His church. If He wants to wreck it, thatās His business. This is what we believe He has told us to do.ā He saw he couldnāt convince me that you donāt get rid of your adult Sunday School.
Well, we left the conversation, and I went back to my house. I thought, āYou know, I donāt want to wreck this church.ā This is the fear that gets in all of us. Well-meaning people will come alongside you. Youāve heard from God. Godās Spirit has born witness in your spirit. You know where you are headed, but there are well-meaning people who realize that it is not going to make you popular or it is going to cost you something. They come alongside and try to give you advice to cause you to pull away from what God has set before you.
We finally came to the conclusion that this wasnāt my idea. Many of us had prayed about it. This is what we believed God had told us to do, so we went ahead and did it. Boy, it really wrecked our Sunday School! We grew 300 stronger that summer than we had ever been before. It was like God smiled. You know, some people come to me now and say, āHow many do you all have in services?ā I donāt know. Iāve never counted them. āWell, how many do you have in Sunday School?ā I think we have reached 1,050. You donāt have any more than that in Sunday School. Well, we are using broom closets twice every Sunday. What else are we supposed to do? God knows all of that. You just have to go the way He guides and the way He provides. What makes us unique is just being those who follow Him. We donāt have some program pulling us down the road. Weāve got the Lord, and we are trying to be compelled by His spirit to be on His agenda. When folks come alongside and say, āOh, it is going to hurt things.ā Yeah, it does, but thatās alright. Be careful of that in your life.
Who is it right now that is trying to talk you out of doing what God has told you to do, because they are scared to death of what it is going to cost you or what it is going to make you look like, or the pain you may have to endure if you make that decision? Youāve got to make up your mind. Are you going to please the Lord, or are you going to please man?
After they said, āDonāt, donāt, donāt go to Jerusalem,ā verse 5 says, āAnd when it came about that our days there were ended, we departed.ā Well, Paul really let it bother him, didnāt he? He just got right on the boat and said, āSee you later.ā He had his face set toward Jerusalem: āand started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. And after kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.ā It didnāt hurt him a bit. He is right on the course God had set him on.
The third time that he is witnessed to that it is going to be bad in Jerusalem comes up in verses 7-14. Verse 7 says, āAnd when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais [that is right above Caesarea on the coast] and after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day. And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea.ā That is where he is going to lodge for a while, āand entering the house of Philip the evangelist;ā remember back in Acts 6:5 when they picked those men who were full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit to be helpers to the apostles? Philip was one of those men. In 8:5 we see him preaching and becoming the evangelist of that day. I donāt know if that blessed you or not, but it just kind of tickled me that Paul stopped at Philipās house.
Okay, I will move on. Well, look at verses 9-11. Now watch this: āNow this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.ā What is a prophetess? I donāt have the slightest idea. They had these people in the beginning of the church. The Bible was not even put together up until about AD 60. They didnāt have anything but letters that were written by Paul and some pieces of the Gospels. They did not have the Scripture. So these prophetesses and prophets were there in the New Testament. Very clearly, they did as the Old Testament prophets would do, up until a point. We donāt need them anymore because we have got the Word right here.
Verse 10 says, āAnd as we were staying there for some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.ā Now whatās this guy going to say? āAnd coming to us, he took Paulās belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, āThis is what the Holy Spirit says: āIn this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.āāā
You see, the Holy Spirit witnessed to his spirit, āIt is going to be bad.ā The disciples were worried about his safety, and they tried to talk him out of it. Thirdly, the prophet of God warned him about the seizure that was to take place when he got to Jerusalem. This was the third time the Spirit bore witness to Paul. This time it is a prophet coming to him by the name of Agabus.
Now watch, āAnd when we had heard this,ā who is the we? Luke is writing this. Are you kidding me? You mean Luke joined in on this? Well, that is what it says, āwhen we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.ā Now how much can a man take? He goes to Tyre, and the disciples get around him and say, āOh, the Spirit has told us that it is going to be bad in Jerusalem.ā Paul says, āYeah, I know. He told me too.ā āDonāt go. Donāt go.ā He gets on a boat and says, āSee you later.ā He gets over here to Caesarea. Here comes a prophet. āOh, no; letās all get in a corner because he has got a word from God.ā The prophet says, āPaul, they are going to bind you, and they are going to put you in prison.ā What is he supposed to do? Here is a man who was constantly warned about how bad it was going to be. He knew what Godās will was, but he also knew that it was not going to be good. What is this man going to say and what is he going to do?
Well, look at verse 13: āThen Paul answered, āWhat are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.āā Now you see his resolve. āQuit trying to talk me out of doing what I know God has put before me. I am going to do it if it costs me my life. Iām going to go where God has told me to go.ā That has got to be our resolve. If we are going to accommodate ourselves to God, we have got to get rid of the thought of what is going to happen to me or what it may cost me. Now you say, āI appreciate the message. Ho-hum. Itās time to eat. Letās go home.ā I hope you donāt say that because, folks, God has pushed us as a church into a situation that we are going to have to start accommodating ourselves to what He is saying.
You know, we have a missionary outreach. Thatās what we are. Missions is where we are. We have 20 mission boards that we help support. Weāve got to take care of these people who are out there. āWell, if you had asked me, I would have told you. Donāt do it. Do it the way we have always done it. Then you can take a percentage of the budget. You donāt ever have to worry about it. It is all somebody elseās problem. You shouldnāt have started it.ā
Then I hear people say, āThis church is just too big.ā You know what they are really saying? āIt is going to cost me if I stay here.ā āI like little churches. In little churches, you can help them out more.ā Thatās right, and you donāt need as much money to run them. I remember back when we were small, it was great. Everybody loved us. Man, it was crowded. āLetās pray that God will grow us.ā Well, we started growing, then certain people got a little edgy. āUh-oh. We are out of space. That means we will have to build a building. Letās check out for five years until they build the building. Then we will come back and say God led us away and now He has led us back. It was fun. For five years, we will let them pay for it, then we will come back and be part of it.ā Thatās just the mentality. That is where itās at. Iāve had it. A lot of us have gone through that. Itās going to cost us. Youāve got to start accommodating.
Why do we have our missions outreach like it is? Because we have people who have the same doctrines we have. I donāt believe when we get to heaven God is going to honor Southern Baptists; I believe God is going to honor His Word and the people who were responsive to it. If people agree doctrinally with us, we are going to join hands with them, and we are going to reach the world for Christ. What does that mean? That means if you are here to stay with us and not just a spectator, God has got you up against the wall. Are you going to accommodate yourself to what He has led us as a church to do? Well, you see, you canāt do that if you are not doing it individually day by day. If you are not walking that way right now, no wonder it scares you to death when we talk about something bigger than that.
Things are happening right now that has been a dream of mine for over 12 years. Now God is working it out. Are we going to accommodate ourselves to it? Or are we going to say, āThese elders donāt know what they are doing. They are just a bunch of men who sit in there and they try to tax us all with our money. We donāt believe God is in that whatsoeverā? You see, you have to make a choice somewhere. Iāve got to make one. Youāve got to make one. Is God in it? If He is in it, if we trust His system, if God gives wisdom to the people He has appointed to lead, then letās do what He says. Letās accommodate ourselves to it. In the name of the Lord Jesus, for His reputation, for His dignity and His character, we will do what He tells us to do regardless of what it costs us. Thatās the bottom line. What has paralyzed most of us, myself is included, is the fear of what will happen to us.
Paul said, āWhat in the world are you guys doing, weeping and breaking my heart?ā He says, āMan, Iāll die if need be, and I am going to Jerusalem. God has told me to go, and I will pay whatever price.ā
Look at verse 14 and we will stop: āAnd since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent.ā The word āsilentā there, doesnāt really mean it just got quiet. It means they gave up. They acquiesced. They said, āWell, alright.ā Then look what they said, āremarking, āThe will of the Lord be done!āā Now why did they say that last and not first? They came and said, āDonāt go. Donāt go. I beg you donāt go.ā Then when they saw that he was going, āWell, the will of the Lord be done!ā Well, what else could be done and God get any glory for it?
I donāt know where you are in this message. I just know where I am. I tell you what. Some of the direction which God has already put before me, I donāt like, but I have got to accommodate myself. I donāt like some of the decisions I have to make, nor do you like some of the decisions you have to make, but youāve got to do what God tells you to do. That is the key.
The first key is know for sure He has spoken. Now I understand there is a risk of irresponsibility. Some people will walk up and say, āWell, God told me to do it.ā Maybe He did, and maybe He didnāt. First of all, Paul had the credibility of living before others to the point that they realized thatās all that man was the will of God. His character spoke well. All he had in his life was the determination to do it. So, when he said that God told him to go to Jerusalem, they could understand it because they had watched him in every other area of his life. Just because you say God spoke doesnāt mean God spoke. We know that those that are willing to do the will of God can know what it is. John tells us that.
Here are some questions and then I am through. What has God put before you? A person came to me recently and blessed my heart. If for nobody else, it was worth it to me to hear his testimony. He said this is exactly where I am. Heās about to do something that God had put before him in the area of missions and already the in-laws have gotten involved because they are worried about what is going to happen to their children when they get over on the mission field. It has caused them great consternation. He said, āThank you. I needed that this morning. I know what God said, and I am going to do what God has told me to do.ā
What has God put before you? āWell, I canāt do what God has put before me. I canāt stop socially drinking with my business partners because if I do, I am going to lose my job. Do you know how much money I give to the church?ā Well, if that is the way you are getting it, keep it. Folks, listen, you have got to do what God tells you to do. Quit worrying about what is going to happen to you. Quit worrying about your house and your job. Just do it. Let God take care of the rest of it. The Holy Spirit has confirmed to your spirit that it wonāt satisfy men. They will speak evil of you, and theyāll seek to do you harm. The believers who love you are trying to keep you from going through with it because they are worried about your safety. Godās men and Godās Word, like the early prophets, have warned you that doing the will of God may not always mean that you are going to be well-liked. Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to obey? Are you going to back up?
One thing I like about Paul. He was a warrior, not a wimp. He was a warrior. He was not a wimp. You find out who the wimps are when the cost comes down to it. They wonāt go on and do what God is telling them to do. Youāll find out who the warriors are because they will obey God at any cost, at any time, when God speaks to them.
Let me share a verse with you. Galatians 1:10 so clearly says it. āFor am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.ā You canāt please both, folks.
Hebrews 11:6 says without what it is impossible to please God? Faith. You know what faith is? It is not believing that He can, it is hearing what He says and stepping out and obeying what He says. You canāt say you have faith, if there is no obedience. Without that, there is no way to please God. Are you pleasing self? Are you pleasing men or are you pleasing God? That is the key. If you are not pleasing God, what is it that is causing you to be paralyzed? Itās that fear. What casts out that fear? Turn and fully surrender afresh and say, āGod, I canāt understand it. You said it, and I am going to do it. Thank you.ā Then go on and do it. You will watch the fear just fall off of you. You donāt know that it can be cast away, because you havenāt done what He says yet. Go on and do it. Step out. Thatās when you are going to discover what you have not known before.
Well, glory. I wish I could point a finger, but I canāt. There are three more pointing right back at me. My kids are going to college this year. I have never in my life been as overwhelmed financially as I have been lately. Does that ever bother you? āNo, Wayne, the water is different at our house.ā I want to tell you. I had just recently got to the point that I just doubted God. I lost my joy. My countenance fell. My wife asked me one night, āGood grief, Wayne. You preach it. Arenāt you going to live it?ā Oh, donāt say that to me. I have had to regroup. I am so grateful that this is where we are in Acts because it just sort of kicked me right in the seat of the pants where I need to be kicked. If God said it, am I sure they are supposed to go where they are going. We have prayed this through many months ago. Then stand on it and go through with it, though I canāt see what it costs. I am just going to believe Him.
[ā¦] Read Part 12 [ā¦]