Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

By Obeying the God's Will 07/19/09

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision

Title: By Obeying God's Will   Text: Acts 21:1-16

Introduction:

Narrator: Bruce Nolan is an average guy working as a reporter for a television station. Sadly, he is bored to death with his job. He thinks that happiness will be found in a promotion from reporter to news anchor! When Bruce is passed over for an on-air promotion, he cries out pleading for God to take his side and give him a break. When his self-centered prayers aren’t answered, he mocks God’s ability to answer prayer.

God: You’ve been doing a lot of complaining about me, Bruce. And quite frankly, I’m tired of it... You think you can do it better, here’s your chance. When you leave this building you will be endowed with all my powers.

Narrator: For a week Bruce fills in for God while He is on vacation. He thinks that by having the power of God he is going to get his promotion and his girlfriend back.

Bruce: You win. I’ m done. Please. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be God. (sighs) Please, help me. Am I...?

God: You can’t expect to kneel down in the middle of a highway and live to talk about it.

Bruce: But why? Why now? You knew it all along. You knew if I got everything I wanted, I would ruin my life.

Narrator: God doesn’t respond, just listens.

Bruce: So I’m dead... Okay. If this is what you want. Okay, okay...

God: Go ahead, pray!

Bruce: Alright... I’ve learned that I don’t know as much I thought I did...

God: Boy, you can say that again.

Bruce: Hey, I’m praying here.

God: Sorry, continue!

Bruce: If I could have just one thing in the world. It would be for Grace to live a happy, joyful life. And that she finds someone... (getting emotional as he realizes what he’s saying) ...that she finds someone that will treat her with the love and respect that she so deserves.

God: Now that is a prayer. Well, I better get on that one. See ya, Bruce.
Narrator: Bruce learns that receiving everything on our self-centered list leaves us lonely. There is no room for anyone else in our own self-absorbed little world.

Ever been there? Living your life a lot like Bruce Almighty at times! Concerned only about the way you want things to work out, the way you think is best.

All of us from time to time have taken the steering wheel of our lives away from God to chart our own course. Because somewhere deep inside, we want to sing: ‘I did it my way!’

But what happens when ‘my way’ ends up not being the best way? Who do we end up blaming? God...go figure.

ILL: One day a grandfather told his grandson, ‘I’m leaving to run some errands, do you wanna come with me so we can spend some time together?’ The boy asked ‘Where are you going?’ The grandfather replied ‘If you want to be with me, then it doesn’t matter!’

God says, ‘Will you surrender to my will?’ We say ‘Well, what is it?’ God says ‘It doesn’t matter!’ (Jerry Shirley)

Truth be told, it does matter to us, because

·       our will is strong,

·       what we want in life is important to us

·       and we demand the right to weigh the options before we decide.

Because like Bruce, we don’t always like God’s way...God’s will, and we think we know better...need I say it? We don’t!

Our text this morning has a lot to say about the need to submit to God’s will...no matter what.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 21:1 (pg. 849 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there we’ll discover we enlarge our vision of God, by obeying God’s will.

I. Acts 21:1-7              Seek Fellowship

Read: Acts 21:1-7

We ask ‘What’s God’s will for my life.?’ Am I right? Ever asked that? Luke tells us one thing that is God’s will and it’s no secrete...God wants us all to ...seek fellowship with other Christians.

With tears in his eyes, Paul and his companions tore themselves away from the elders of the church in Ephesus. They continued their journey to Jerusalem and make a few stops on the way. Perhaps to wait for the next ship that was heading to Jerusalem.

While they wait, the test says ‘Finding the disciples there..’ English does not do the Greek justice here. The idea is that after a long and thorough search, Paul found the disciples. After he found them, he spent a week enjoying their friendship and hospitality.

Paul understood just how important it was for Believers to gather together, so he was willing

·       to take the time,

·       to make the effort,

·       to put off other things

to find other Christians he could fellowship with.

People say ‘I can worship God and not go to church on Sunday.’ I say that’s not a Biblical concept. Hebrews 10:24-25 is

Read: Hebrews 10:24-25 ‘And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

You know, I don’t gather together with you on Sundays to hear myself talk. I gather together with you because as Christians,

none of us have arrived,

·       we all need encouragement,

·       we all need fellowship,

·       we all need prayer,

·       we all need to study God’s Word

·       and we all need to worship Jesus, our Savior and Lord. 

And when you stay away on Sunday mornings, you not only hurt yourselves, you hurt the rest of us...because we need each other. And you all know this...you’ve heard it many times before. But do you realize not doing God’s will is sin?

Each week, when you weight your options for what to do on Sunday morning, and you find yourself often choosing something else rather than being here, you are choosing to disregard God’s will for your will.

Paul didn’t do that, he sought fellowship with other Christians, even though he had other things to do. But even where there is  warm Christian fellowship, God’s will can be misunderstand ...as we see in the disciples in Tyre.  

The text says ‘Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.’

·       They were correct in understanding the Spirit’s leading that Paul was going to suffer persecution in Jerusalem.

·       They were wrong in how they interpreted what the Spirit revealed to them, so they told Paul he should not go.

They couldn’t understand that God’s will could be for Paul to suffer...but Paul understood it very well...both by personal experience and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Being convinced of God’s will, Paul didn’t take their advice and notice the disciples didn’t get mad at him for that...in fact they traveled with Paul to the ship to see him off...fellowship.

Transition: God’s will for each of us is to seek fellowship with other Christians...and, as we will see, to seek faithfulness to God.

II. Acts 21:8-16 Seek Faithfulness

Read: Acts 21:8-16

It seems Philip, one of the early evangelists, settled down and had a family in Caesarea. God was still with him and his family as his daughters were female prophets...that is they spoke God’s Word to the people.

Paul enjoyed Philips hospitality for a few days and then another prophet from Jerusalem came to Philips home. In the manner of the Old Testament prophets, Agabus uses Paul’s belt as an object lesson to show what would happen to Paul when he got to Jerusalem.

Again, notice that Agabus says ‘The Holy Spirit says...’ But as in Tyre, the disciples misunderstand the Spirits message through

Agabus, and pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

I believe their hearts were right...they loved Paul and didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. But their emotions clouded the Spirits true intent.

·       The Spirits intent wasn’t to warn Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

·       The Spirits intent was to prepare Paul, for what he would experience, when he got to Jerusalem.  

Yes...it was God’s will for Paul to suffer persecution at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders...and Paul was OK with that. How do I know? Because of what he said.

Read: Acts 21:13 ‘Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’’

And that’s the bottom line...for Paul and for each of us. Let me repeat an illustration I gave earlier.

ILL: One day a grandfather told his grandson, ‘I’m leaving to run some errands, do you wanna come with me so we can spend some time together?’ The boy asked ‘Where are you going?’ The grandfather replied ‘If you want to be with me, then it doesn’t matter!’

God says, ‘Will you surrender to my will?’ We say ‘Well, what is it?’ God says ‘It doesn’t matter!’ (Jerry Shirley)

The specifics of God’s will truly didn’t matter to Paul, because

·       he trusted completely in God,

·       he believed wholly in Jesus Christ

·       and we was sold out on doing whatever he was called to do, to bring honor to God...even if it meant suffering, even if it meant dying.

Paul would be faithful to God and His will.... regardless what God called him to do, and regardless of the circumstances.

Conclusion

What we read in our text is a battle we all face.

·       It is a battle between our flesh, with it’s desire for comfort and safety,

·       and our regenerated spirit with it’s desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and obey the will of God in our lives

While God does not call every Believer to suffer and die for Christ, he does call every Believer to be faithful and obedient to His will.

And while we know God will forgive us when we fail, we shouldn’t live with that as our constant ‘go to’ safe spot

·       when we want to do our own thing,

·       when we want to be disobedient to God’s will,

·       when we want to do it ‘my way.’

ILL: Sir Thomas Lipton, a famous yacht racer had won many trophies, except the one he really wanted: The America’s Cup.

One day he was showing some friends all his trophies in his home, and said, “I’d give them all away to get the one I didn’t get!”

 

Don’t wind up growing older and be found saying, I’ve done a lot, but not what was really important. (Jerry Shirley)

Many people in the church, perhaps even in this church, say they believe in God and trust Jesus as their Savior, but still choose to live their own lives and only include God when it’s convenient.

Life may be going OK for them, but in reality, they are walking aimlessly in disobedience to God’s will, missing out on God’s best, only to settle for life’s good.

Let’s make this our constant prayer.

Lord, I want to know and do your will

...nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.

We enlarge our vision of God

by obeying God’s will.