Can we show our appreciation to the praise team for leading us?
Thank you. If you were at our conference
last year, then you would have hopefully remembered that we
spent our time that weekend exploring the life and the
ministry of the Apostle Paul. And you might have also
remembered that by the end of that conference.
I acknowledge that whatever we learned in those sessions just
really scratched the surface of what this man's legacy has to
offer us as followers of Jesus Christ.
While that truth is something that I was reminded of in my
personal time reading God's Word this week, as I've recently been
in the book of Acts. And something stood out to me in
a particular passage that moved me so deeply.
It was instructive, reassuring, and convicting all at the same
time. And it did such a work in my
heart that I couldn't help but share it with my wife that same
night before I went to bed. And when I woke up, it was still
with me. So I was prompted to share it
with others. And as I have been meditating
and praying on what to speak on today, I could not shake off
that passage. So I decided to look more deeply
into it. And when I did, I discovered
that there was much more to learn from it than I initially
thought. But before we look at these
verses, I must give you the context of the passage.
In the book of Acts, Paul's testimony is granted to us on
three separate occasions. The first time it is narrated by
Luke in Acts Chapter 9, and two other times Paul himself
recounts his experience with the resurrected Lord, once in Acts
chapter 22 and the other in Acts chapter 26.
However, when you look at it more carefully, you'll realize
that there are distinct details and that does not imply
contradiction. Far from it.
It just shows that Paul tailored his account, and when he sought
to emphasize a certain thing, it was because he was dealing with
a particular audience and so he would include some truths while
omitting other events related to his conversion.
He's very strategic in how he shared his story, and it's in
the second account where we find something that Paul adds that
you can't see in the other two. It's found in Acts chapter 22,
and I would encourage you to turn there.
And here's the background to why Paul is sharing his testimony in
Acts chapter 22. The apostle arrived in Jerusalem
in Acts chapter 21, and when he got there, he was sharing all
that God had done with the leaders among the Gentiles.
And they were so moved and they praised God for it.
But the leaders were concerned because rumors were spreading
about the apostle Paul. And here were the rumors.
He is teaching others to reject, to to overlook, to almost
despise the law of Moses. And so these leaders encouraged
Paul in order to dispel these false, slanderous things.
Paul, why don't you go to the temple, honor certain customs to
show the Jews that this is not what you're about, that you're
not against the law necessarily, that you're not against certain
customs from the law. And so Paul agreed.
But things did not go according to plan, because once he arrived
at the temple, the Jews recognized him, and they stirred
up the crowd to apprehend him, ultimately to have him killed,
to get rid of him once and for all.
And Paul is mauled by this crowd.
And though beaten near to death, the Romans learn of it.
They intervene and they rescue this man from this riot.
And the Romans, they're, they're confused themselves.
And So what do they do? They arrest Paul, and they are
ready to put him into custody. And as they are about to enter
into the barracks, Paul asks, may I say something to this
crowd? And he is permitted to do so.
And so Paul now is ready to make an opportunity out of this, and
he's not looking to defend his innocence necessarily.
More than that, he wants to share what Christ has done in
his life, and he wants to show how his ministry is rooted in a
heavenly call. And So what does he do?
Well, he shares about what happened on the road to
Damascus. And more than that, he talks
about how Ananias was sent by the Lord to pray for him and to
instruct him further of how he had to go to the Gentiles to
preach this truth. And how is the God of our
fathers who is the one who commissioned me?
But Paul doesn't say much before this same crowd that erupted in
fury at his sight would explode once again.
And we'll get to that point later.
But it's after he shares about his Damascus Rd. experience and
after he talks about Ananias that we see something again that
you don't see elsewhere. Acts 22, verse 17, Paul speaking
to this crowd and he says, when I had returned to Jerusalem and
was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him
saying to me, make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly,
because they will not accept your testimony about me.
And I said, Lord, they themselves know that in one
synagogue after another, I imprisoned and beat those who
believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen,
your witness, was being shed, I myself was standing by and
approving and watching over the garments of those who killed
him. And he said to me, go, for I
will send you far away to the Gentiles.
Again. This snapshot is not found
anywhere else, only here in Acts 22.
Why? Well, it's because of the
audience. And the main reason is that Paul
is trying to convince this group when he retells his first visit
to Jerusalem after his conversion.
That's what he's talking about here.
The first time he goes to Jerusalem, asked after he is
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, he wants to let him know I did
not dishonor my Jewish heritage. I didn't spurn my roots, I
didn't reject it. And and how does he convince him
of that? We'll look again at verse 17.
He says, when I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying where
in the temple, in the temple. I honor this holy place from the
beginning. And more than that, he he does
this throughout his testimony in Acts 22.
But more than that, he also wants to try to persuade them
that his ministry to the Gentiles is something that came
from God. Remember, the Jews didn't feel
too great about the Gentiles, right?
And so Paul mentions again here, look at verse 21 that the Lord
sent him to the Gentiles. And before he could continue,
before you can elaborate, they again interrupted him.
And they would not tolerate this.
Now, as helpful as this observation may be in
solidifying the integrity of this man of God, the inspiration
of this passage is beyond that. There's something that runs
deeper here, and it deals with the conversation that Paul has
with Jesus Christ. If you really look carefully,
then this is what you're seeing. The essence of this exchange is
Paul's ambition and desire is redirected by God's perfect
will. Do you see that?
Moreover, it reveals how even the apostle Paul initially
struggled to grasp God's leading at this point in his life.
That's what moved me so much. I have to read again.
Is this really Paul objecting to what the Lord Jesus Christ is
telling him to do? Is this Paul really hesitant to
understand God's purposes in his life, at least in this chapter
of his life? The answer is yes, but when you
consider even more what this passage has to offer, you
realize that the theme of God's will is so prevalent, but there
are more truths attached to it for our benefit.
In other words, I want to take this time, this afternoon to
unfold for us 3 truths about God's unique will that's
applicable to every believer in Jesus Christ. 3 truths about his
will. Here's Paul who has this
ambition, and here's God who has his will for his life.
And Paul made a choice to go with what God said.
So here's three things that I want us to take from this
passage. The first thing is this.
The will of God is illuminated when we are prayerful.
It's not by chance that the Lord's warning to Paul to flee
from Jerusalem happened while he was in prayer.
And he's very specific in his experience because what does he
say? He says that he fell into a
trance. Now the word trance is
interesting. In the Greek, it's the word
exorcist where we get the word what ecstasy from and it's used
a few times in the New Testament.
When you find it in the Gospels, it's generally used to describe
the reaction of some of the people after they witnessed a
miracle, a miracle that Jesus performed.
It's almost as though they were outside of themselves while they
were beholding this supernatural occurrence.
So they're like in a state of mind of of great ecstasy.
However, when you'd see it in the book of Acts, it's more so
used to describe a personal supernatural experience, the
depth of one's encounter of a different realm, and that's what
we see here with Paul. Paul here is talking about a
perception that seems to be transported elsewhere, though he
is physically in one place. It's a state of mind that is
surreal, but it's very real. And it didn't just happen to
Paul as he's retelling his story of how Christ visits him while
he's in the temple praying. It happened to another man named
Peter. So go to Acts chapter 10, and I
want you to see it with me because I'm going somewhere with
this and Acts 10, verse 9. Here's how Luke tells us of
Peters, a great turning point in his walk with the Lord says here
in Acts 10-9. The next day as they were on
their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the
housetop about the 6th hour to pray, and he became hungry and
wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he
fell into a trance. Now he has this vision right of
this blanket that's being dropped from heaven with all
these creatures in it. We won't get into that.
I want you to see what happens though at verse 13 while in a
trance, verse 13 says, and there came a voice, them rise, Peter
kill and eat. Peter said by no means Lord, for
I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
And the voice came to him again a second time.
What God has made clean do not call common.
It's interesting how Peter himself falls into this trance
through which Lord Jesus gives him instructions that would
revolutionize the church's gospel mission.
Peter and Paul had this experience, and the main reason
why I'm bringing this up is when these divine orders came to them
while they were in prayer, what happened to Peter?
He went up to the house, stop at the 6th hour to pray, and while
he was praying, the Lord meets him in that place.
Now, it would be very irresponsible for me to use
Peter and Paul as examples to teach that if you pray,
eventually you'll tap into trances.
That'll be wrong. However, it's not wrong to say
that Peter and Paul were granted guidance when they prayed,
because that's something that you and I can expect as well.
That's a truth that is woven throughout the Scriptures.
Listen carefully. God honors a praying man.
The Lord blesses a praying woman.
God solves things When we come to Him in supplication.
He intervenes when we intercede. He comes through when you take
time to commune. And one of my favorite examples
of this is in the life of David. Oh, there's so many places you
go with David's prayer life, but there is one place that's often
overlooked. We study this when we were
looking at Second Samuel. It was when he was forced out of
Jerusalem into the wilderness because his son Absalom raised
up a rebellion against him. And while David is on foot with
some of his loyal friends, he learns of even greater tragedy,
that one of his greatest and most trusted advisors,
Ahithophel, joined the rebellion against him.
And I want you to turn to the Old Testament to see David's
words with me in Second Samuel chapter 15 and verse 31, Second
Samuel 1531. And it was told David Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom.
And David said, oh, Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness. That's all his prayer was.
It was a sigh. It was brief.
You know, people think that it's the length of our prayers that
gets God's attention. It's not the length, it's the
depth. And this man, from the anguish
of his soul, from the depths of his being, says, Oh Lord, please
turn this man's counsel into foolishness.
How does God answer that prayer? Does he give David this vision
of the future and step by Nothing of the sort.
The answer to what the answer to David's prayer is is found in
the very next verse. While David was coming to the
summit where God was worshipped, Behold who shy?
The archive came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on
his head. Where's the answer?
Do you notice the word behold there?
That's an important word because it highlights the significance
of who Shy's entry into the scene.
And more than that, the close secret of events suggests that
the behold is meant to connect what David just prayed to what
is happening right here, right now.
I suggest to you that David's answer to his prayer is found in
hoshai coming to him. And if there's any doubt about
this, I want you to consider what the scripture says after
David and hoshai. Yes, they meet and he sends him
back as a spy. Go be a counselor in Absalom's
court who Shy agrees. He makes his way back and in two
chapters later the Holy Spirit gives us commentary of who shy's
activity in the courts of Absalom.
Look at second Samuel 17, verse 14.
Absalom at this point is asking, are he thoughtful and really his
advisors, advisors in general, What should we do at this point?
Now we occupied the throne. What do we do with David?
He's on the run. Ahithophel gives his piece of
advice, and then who? Shy says something.
And notice what's said here in verse 14 of chapter 17.
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said the council of Who
Shy? The archive is better than the
council of Ahithophel. Here it is.
For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of
Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
Do you see it? How did the Lord determine to
foil Ahithophel's wisdom through Hushai, providing greater and
more persuasive advice. Why do I bring that to your
attention? To show how one God honors a
praying man. He commends and blesses a
praying woman, and His answers don't always look like how we
think they should look. He can intervene supernaturally,
but how does he intervene in this case?
He uses the heart of a loyal friend to be the means, the
instrument of seeing this problem solved.
Just a small reminder that often times we overlook how
friendships and relationships are God's answers to us.
This is Hushai. He came through for this man
because God came through for David in prayer, and it would be
very irresponsible on our end to think that David only prayed in
emergencies. You can't study that man's life
carefully and come to that conclusion.
He had a pattern of opening his heart before the Lord in the
good and the bad. And if you go back to Peter and
Paul's example, where the Lord spoke to them and provided the
next step in an amazing way, they also share in David's
pattern. It's hard to not see it.
What was Peter doing when the Lord spoke to him?
You say he prayed. Yeah, but how did he pray?
They were preparing lunch. He separates himself from people
and activity to be in solitude with the Lord.
What did Paul do? He separates himself from
ministry and busyness. And he goes to the temple.
To do what? To pray.
Yes, we're called to pray without ceasing.
And yes, sometimes we're only left with the option to pray
while on foot, but there is a special blessing that is
reserved for those who take time to commune with God.
There is, and we see it in this example in the New Testament.
So I want to ask you this, if you are somebody who wants to
know the will of God, I'm not. I'm not limiting that to knowing
how to serve in the ministry, just the will of God for your
life over all. Do you habitually pray?
Do you seek Him? Does it regularly cross your
mind with surprises or plans or events, tragedies, even rewards,
Potential promotion? Whatever the case means, does it
regularly cross your mind? I have to pray about this.
I need to seek the Lord. Be honest.
Be honest down deep inside. Do you really believe that
prayer can change things? Do you really believe that if I
bring this before the Lord it can alter things?
Or is this idea of prayer, is the practice of prayer, even the
thought of prayer, even the conviction to praise it,
virtually non existent? And there might be some here
saying I pray, but I'm not getting the answers that I'm
looking for. In fact, it seems like the
Lord's ignoring me or. Maybe you've had this
experience. The more I pray about it, the
more He seems to be putting me in the opposite direction.
And if that's you, then be encouraged with the second point
when we consider this passage and discerning the will of God,
The 1st is that it's illuminated.
When you pray, when you pause, when you seek Him, God will
bless you. And his answers vary.
He's not going to give you a trance, but he might send
somebody, He might send a phone call.
Things might just begin to move. Here's a second point.
If you are somebody who is seeking, who regularly seeks,
who is even frustrated because it's not working well, then
consider this. The will of God #2 may not fully
align with our righteous desires.
Notice I didn't say selfish desires.
Notice I didn't say fleshly desires, righteous desires.
When Paul is telling this group in the temple about the past,
how he was at Jerusalem at one point to pray, and it was in
that place of prayer that God gave him this mission.
Why was he in Jerusalem to begin with?
To minister to the Jews? And you can't blame him.
Can you think of a better place? This is the hub of the
religionist of his day. Moreover, Jerusalem was the
beginning point of his evil campaign against the Christian
movement. So think about how Paul is
thinking here. I just met this Jesus who who I
was persecuting in his body. He saves me, transforms me.
I'm going to go back to Jerusalem and I'm going to show
everybody that I'm changed by this man.
The very man that I fought and resisted rescued me and renewed
me. What kind of impact would that
make on his colleagues who who praised his zeal against the
Christian movement? What would it do for the general
population who knew of his incredible mind and devotion to
the law to now find him, to find him now promoting the very
message that got Stephen killed, the very message that he
approved to disintegrate through his martyrdom?
Paul is not thinking emotionally here.
He's being very strategic. And so This is why he's in
Jerusalem as he retells it. And this is precisely what Paul
uses to protest Christ's initial command to leave Jerusalem.
Paul, get out of here. They're not going to accept your
testimony. And this is one of those moments
in the Bible where we can truly identify with the humanity of
these heroes of the faith. Can you see it?
Paul is attempting to convince the Lord how his plan is the way
to go. I I couldn't help but smile when
I learned this about Paul. To think that he is trying to
persuade the Lord of the effectiveness of his idea.
You know why I smile? Because most, if not all
Christians have done something similar.
We give the Lord our proposal, and we try to pressure Him to
buy it, to act on it, to sign off, and we give Him reasons
too. Right.
Again, I can't help but chuckle when I read Paul telling the
Lord about his testimony and his history.
And I want to share a few insights under the second point
that can save you your breath and trying to object to God's
leading in your life. Here's the obvious 1.
He always knows better than you. Always.
So Paul seems so certain that his testimony would win the Jews
in Jerusalem. And he's not again being
emotional. He's actually being rational.
He's being logical. But like Paul, please pay
attention to this point. But like Paul, be prepared for
your rational, well thought out plans to be delayed or rerouted
altogether. It seems good.
In fact, you actually told other Christians about it and they're
like, that's amazing. Then you bring it to the Lord
and guess what? He doesn't think it's so
amazing. Be prepared for that.
We're dealing with a man. Why is he in Jerusalem?
Is he looking for an estate? Is he looking for a vacation
home? Nothing wrong with vacation
homes. That's not why he's in
Jerusalem. That's not why he's wrestling in
prayer. He wants to win souls.
What can be wrong with this? And yet the Lord says, no, not
here. The Lord said, I don't want you
to preach here. I don't want you to witness
here. Now, if we heard the Lord saying
that, we were thinking, was that really the Lord?
Yeah, it's the Lord. Why?
Because he knows better than you and he knows better than me.
And see, this roadblock would not only be confirmed by this
vision, Paul would experience it periodically whenever he tried
to engage the Jews. You read throughout Acts, we
touched on this at the conference.
Paul had some success in winning the Jews over to the gospel, but
more than that, he experienced persistent rejection and
resistance from them. And in those providential
nudges, he would always go back to the Gentiles and he would see
greater fruit there. Why?
Because he was primarily called to the Gentiles.
And so it wasn't just in this vision.
Paul had this burning passion for the Jews.
He couldn't help it. So wherever he would go, he
would find a synagogue. And yes, there was some some
fruit in that, but then there would be enough rejection for
him to say enough, I'm going to the Gentiles.
So the Lord even used experience closed doors to say this is not
my will for you. So again, another hint that the
Lord doesn't have to give you a trance to lead you.
He did it for this mighty man of God who would lay the foundation
of the church. But even in this man's life, God
would do it through Providence. The second thing I want to
observe under the second point is that God's will for our lives
will not unfold the same way as it does for others.
You know, when you read Paul's experience here in the temple,
it matches closely with another man of God's experience, not
Peters. Isaiah's turn to Isaiah chapter
6 in a very known passage, and I want you to see it with your own
eyes. We'll begin in verse one.
In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his robe
filled the temple. Where did this happen?
Where did this vision lead him to seeing the Lord in his
temple? Skip over to verse 8.
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?
Who, and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am, send me
verse 9. And he said, go and say to this
people, keep on hearing but do not understand.
Keep on seeing but do not perceive.
So when you compare Isaiah and Paul's experience, here's what
you find. Both had a vision of the Lord in
the temple. In that vision both receive a
Commission from the Lord. And with that both were told and
both were prepared to face a stubborn people who would oppose
their message. So parallels.
Here's the main difference. Isaiah was told to stay and
preach to the stubborn people. Paul was called to leave.
Now, I'm not suggesting that Paul is using Isaiah's ministry
to protest God's strategy for his life.
Here is what I am saying though. We often look at how God works
with others and wonder why He can't do the same for us.
Lord, I'm looking over there and I see how you provided for so
and so. I'm in the same situation.
Can you? Can You do the same here?
God Almighty, I with my own eyes, my own ears, have
experienced how You have healed this very same sickness.
Can't you do it again? Lord, if you can use Brother so
and so and open all these doors for the ministry, what am I
going to do with all this pent up zeal and no outlet?
In fact, I think I have something really to offer.
Sometimes the reason for our protest in God's leading in our
lives is when we compare and look over and see what He's
doing for others, earlier, more bountifully, more obviously, And
we think, why for them and not for me.
Can I tell you at least one reason why?
Because God is an amazing author.
There are some amazing authors who have written many books,
some up to 100. Some hymn writers have written
thousands of hymns. God is writing billions of
stories at the same time, and every single one is unique.
Though there might be some comparisons to make.
Which leads me to this final point.
Under the second point, God does not owe us any explanation for
why he leads the way he leads. There's a clear contrast between
the words of Jesus and Paul in this regard.
Paul was elaborate in his explanation, was he not?
Jesus was very brief. So Paul is explaining things and
the Lord doesn't go back and forth with him, does he?
How does he end the conversation?
He simply says, go, I'm sending you to the Gentiles and we can
applaud Paul here. Do you know why we can applaud
Paul here? Because he doesn't demand
further clarification. He just submits.
OK, you want me to go to the Gentiles?
I will go to the Gentiles. Paul simply trusted in God's
leading even though his bosom was burning to be in Jerusalem.
These are righteous desires, but they were not God's will.
And my question was how do I arrive at that level of faith?
Or even though what I am seeking God for is good, sacrificial,
holy, consecrated God glorifying, but He doesn't
approve it, at least for the time being or at all.
The way you can trust God in His leading in your life is to know
God more. In other words, the more you
know who God is, the less you will question why he does what
he does. Because you know his nature.
You're convinced of His goodness.
You see that he is so attentive and personal.
And so he's not ignoring you. He's not tricking you, He's not
torturing you. He's good.
And so I have. I have less questions.
Questions are not sinful in themselves, but you can come to
a place where your walk with a God is with God is more
Worshipful than it is about interrogation.
Let me bring you to the third and final point of God's will
and discerning it. The first is that it's
illuminated when we pray. The second is that it does not
always align with our righteous desires.
And lastly, the will of God will not always be understood or
praised by others. The will of God will not always
be understood or praised by others.
The point here is not found in the one passage that we read,
but it's in the following verse after verse 21.
Look at verse 22 of Acts 22 and see how the Jews reacted to
Paul's testimony. Up to this word they listened to
him. Then they raised their voices
and said away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should
not be allowed to live up to what word?
Gentiles moment. Paul brought up the Gentiles.
That was it. These Jews could not fathom that
the Gentiles would share in the same spiritual privileges.
They could not eat. It was unthinkable that they
could have good standing before God apart from the law.
And here's this Paul saying that the God of our fathers
commissioned him to go to these heathens.
So all it took for this crowd to you want to talk about getting
triggered? Gentiles triggered them.
That's it. Sermons over, you're a dead man.
Here's another illustration of how mankind utterly rejects
God's good and perfect will for humanity.
What are they objecting to? God saving more people.
Goes to show how vile we can be, especially in our spiritual
pride. But on a personal level, it also
reminds us that serving God in the way that He has called us to
will not always be understood, and more than that, can even be
vehemently opposed. Paul's trying to tell him about
his ministry. They want nothing to do with it.
And it's not unique to Paul. My mind went to another man of
God that is testified of in Acts Chapter 7.
We're still in Acts. Scroll back to Chapter 7 and
notice how Stephen recounts the life and ministry of Moses.
And I want you to see something with me that's quite amazing.
Most people think that Moses knew he was called when he was
80. That's not what Acts 7/23 shows.
When he was 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his
brothers, the children of Israel, and seeing one of them
being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged them
by striking down the Egyptian. Look at this.
He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was
giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not
understand. So Moses at 40, mighty and word
indeed, educated in the schools of Egypt, high up in government
position, had it in his heart to visit his brothers because
something happened there where it was revealed to him that
maybe God brought me here and promoted me to this place so
that I can deliver the Jewish people.
And when he tries to rescue 1, he kills an Egyptian man.
You read later on that they reject him, even the Jews.
And I, I can't help but smile at this as well.
You know why? Because you have Moses here who,
who is in tune with the will of God, but he's trying to do it in
his own timing, in his own way. It would take Moses a very long
time to kill one Egyptian at a time, wouldn't it?
How would God do it? He would just use the Red Sea.
Timing is important in God's will.
Timing is very important. So 40 he thinks, yes, this is
it. I see it now.
And Moses was a strong man. So he puts it all together.
He attempts to bring about the salvation and it's rejected.
What are we told? They did not understand.
And listen, you're saying why is Steven bring this up?
I need to mention this. Steven is bringing this up again
to his persecutors. We're ready to kill him, the
Jewish leaders, because he wants to remind the Jewish leaders
that Jesus is not the only Redeemer that they have
rejected, that they have a pattern in their history of
overlooking and failing to see. God sent rescuers.
So you rejected Christ. Let me tell you that this is
deep in your bones. You did it with Moses.
He came to deliver. You didn't see it then, and you
can't see the greater Moses now. But let's put ourselves in Moses
sandals when we realized that God has called us to something
to serve Him, to love Him and people around us don't get it.
Be prepared that if you seek God, that if you're going to
comply with His wishes, that you would be misunderstood in that
pursuit, both by unbelievers and fellow believers.
And that misunderstanding should never discourage you from that
path. Never.
As long as you are in accordance with God's Word, as long as
you've done your part to receive illumination in prayer, you are
in the safest place. You are in the best place.
I heard someone once say that the hardest thing about God's
will is not knowing it. It's doing it when you know it.
There's some truth to that. And for you and I to be reminded
of this may provide a little bit more fuel to our faithfulness.
That's true for all of us as believers.
I'm sure most of us in here have paid some kind of a price for
following Jesus Christ. But even within Christendom, to
serve the Lord, the way He's called you to will not always be
recognized and appreciated. But you do it for the Lord.
You do it for the Lord. Imagine how much this must have
hurt Paul to see the Jews reject God's purpose for his life, God
using him to be the means to bring about the gospel, and they
didn't want anything to do with it.
Knowing God's will is one thing, doing it and stay doing it is
another. And so this really covers many
bases. One, if you're looking for God's
will, you can't do it without seeking God's face.
And be open to how he answers that.
Be open to His timing, no matter what's in your heart.
Like Paul, he had it for the Jews, but he was meant for the
Gentiles. Moses had it at 40, but it was
meant for another time. Be pliable to how God leads you.
And so be ready that even your righteous wishes and and desires
and dreams may not always come to fruition the way you thought,
but it's always because God has something better and He's
equipped you for a greater fruit, a greater harvest, a
greater future. And lastly, when you're there,
maybe you are there, keep going. Don't give in, don't listen to
the lies. You know, there are people you'd
be amazed who are even convinced or being convinced that it was
better to just be in the world. It was better to be lukewarm.
It's better to be nominal. It's better to do it your way.
So all these things that would try to capture your
consecration, cut it off and realize that these men of God,
they knew temptation, they knew struggle, but oh, they stuck
with it until the end, and they're not regretting it now.
They're not regretting it now, though.
We thank you for this word, a brief reminder of how we can
discern your will. And solo, we think about what
we've prayed about in years past.
Help us believe that you honor a man, a woman of prayer, and help
us wait if we don't get answers right away.
And Lord, if answers seem to be going another way, help us trust
you. Help us not compare.
Help us always believe that you are offering something wonderful
for your glory. And help us, O Lord, to use the
energy that we would have to argue, maybe to worship instead,
to go when you tell us to go to state when you tell us to say.
Lastly, help us do it for you and you alone.
Help us to do it for your smile alone.
Lord, we give ourselves a fresh to you, thanking you for how you
can even speak to us through somebody else's story.
We honor you today in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Let's stand and worship the
Lord. Walking with the Lord Jesus,
I've learned so much. One of the things that I've
learned about myself and about the Lord is that I am so
grateful he never took my advice.
I'm so happy and I'm glad that he didn't take Paul's advice
either. Hypothetically, what would have
happened if Paul spent all his energy and efforts in Jerusalem?
What kind of letters would we be left with in the Bible?
How far would the gospel have gone?
Speculating. Sometimes, A lot of the times,
no is the best answer. You know, we could have kept
going. I think of Philip.
So Paul is told to leave Jerusalem.
He really wanted to stay. Philip and Samaria was the means
to see revival. The most unlikely place, at
least one of the most unlikely places.
And in the middle of the revival, the Lord says, I need
you to go into the wilderness. To do what?
To talk to one guy. What if Philip objected?
Well, these are brand new babes in Christ.
Look, there's some awesome move of the Spirit.
Nobody saw this coming. You're asking me to leave now.
I got to fasten Primo. I don't know if that was the
Lord who told me to go. He didn't object.
He goes, He interrupts this man's personal devotion time in
the book of Isaiah and look at the history of Ethiopia and
you'll see what came about of that one, one-on-one experience.
And so whether he tells us to go, tells us to stay, we have to
trust Him. Can we ask them to help us trust
them? Whether it's for ministry,
whether it's for work, whether it's with our bodies, whether
it's with relationships, whether it's with our plans, no matter
how unique they may be. Lord, we want your will.
We want your will. Help us to know that when we
pray about it, we have no reason to be fearful.
We've done our part or help us Lord, when doors aren't opening,
though we want them to be opened to trust in your story writing
and your shepherding and Lord, no matter what we're doing now,
knowing that we are in the will of God, but we're not seeing the
fruit. Perhaps we're not seeing the
full reward of it or it's it's difficult, especially because
people don't understand or maybe even people don't receive it.
Help us just serve you no matter what, Lord, we love you.
Thank you for this church, thank you for every brother and sister
here. Help us all have this in common
that we want to be in your will and we trust that you'll guide
us there. In Jesus name Amen and Amen.