Discerning God’s Voice

August 20th 2023

Series: Courageous Faith

Sermon Title: Discerning God’s Voice

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages:Acts 21:1-16

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we will find Paul heading to Jerusalem, but many others will warn him not to go. What should Paul do, listen to God or listen to people? And, how can we discern God’s Voice in our own lives? Tune in to find out...

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

We have been walking through the book of Acts as a church for the better part of the last two years….

Walking through it line by line and verse by verse….

And we LOVE the book of Acts here at Family Church because it is all about how the first churches operated in their communities to reach people for Jesus.

And here at Family Church we LOVE to study the Bible and ask how can we apply what we learn to our lives today.

And that is simply what we will do today!

PAUSE

So, let’s jump into the Bible today…

Grab your Bibles….

I hope you all brought your Bible to church!

Either paper version or electronic!

Open it up to

Acts 21

PAUSE

As you are getting to Acts 21 in your Bibles….. let me just catch up with anyone who is new today.

Two weeks we saw a church leader named Paul traveling around and encouraging churches he has planted.

We also saw Paul preaching a sermon that was SO LONG that a guy fell out of a window!!!

And let me promise you…. I like to preach…. but I will not preach so LONG that you fall out of your chairs today 😊!

And last week we saw that Paul’s main goal in life was to tell as many people as possible about the Good News of Jesus.

That people can be saved from their sins and God’s judgment through the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ! That’s the goal!

PAUSE

Now this week, we start a new chapter.

Today we will find Paul dealing with a situation that we all deal with in our own lives.

It's the challenge of Discerning God’s voice in our lives.

In other words, how do we know God’s direction for our lives?

Have you ever been there?

Wondering what God wants you to do in life?

Maybe you sensed that God wanted you to pursue a certain career or job, but your parents didn’t agree….

Or maybe you felt like God wanted you to go on a mission’s trip, but your boss won’t give you the time off.....

Maybe you want to follow God but you have the reality of:

College. Work. House. Cars. Marriage. Kids. Finances.

ALL weighing you down so you don’t have margin…..

We all have SO MANY voices telling us what to do….

All these different perspectives...

So, what do you do?

Write this question down…..

How do you discern God’s voice?

How do you discern God’s voice among all of the others???

PAUSE

Well, today we are going to find Paul feeling led to go to Jerusalem, but multiple Christians are telling him NOT TO GO.

It even seems like God could be speaking through some of those people who are telling him NOT TO GO!

So today we will learn how a man of God handels that kind of situation…

What does Paul do when he feels God telling him to do one thing….

And EVERYONE else is saying something different.

Is God actually leading Paul to go to Jerusalem or is God using other believers to get him to stop!?!

Is Paul wrong and everyone else right or vice versa... or is there something else going on here?

We will also learn today, what do WE do when we seek to walk by faith, following what we feel like God is leading us to do and OTHERS try to stop us from following God.

So let’s jump in….

And learn how to discern God’s voice!!!!

Let’s get started in v.1...

Acts 21: 1-16 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.

2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia (Fa-Niece-Sha), went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.

So, Luke gives us their travel log here in the first few verses.

Let’s take a look at the map (3rd Journey) on the screen to get a visual of what this journey looked like...

First, they left the church in Ephesus and sailed on to Kos.

Then, they continued on to Rhodes and from there to Pat-a-Raaa.

Crossing over to Fa-Niece-Sha, then passing by Cyprus and on to Syria, landing in Tyre.

Let’s keep reading…verse 4…

4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

5 When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

So, they landed in Tyre and the first thing they did was what church?

They seek out other disciples of Jesus and stay with.

And here is a cool thing to note….

There is NO prior mention in the Bible of Christians in Tyre…

We don’t know how or through whom, but somehow people came to faith in Jesus and there was a church there!

This must have encouraged Paul and the team...

The fact that God was at work all around them, even if not through their work directly.

PAUSE

It is like today when you meet someone who you have never met…. Does not go to Family Church….

And they talk about all the great things they here about what God is doing at FC….

We should be encouraged too, that God is moving all around us...

PAUSE

Look back at verse 4... this is where our drama starts...

Here we find this group of believers bringing a message to Paul NOT TO GO on to Jerusalem!

Now, this is interesting, right?

Paul, and his crew, were on their way to Jerusalem.

Paul obviously felt led to go there.

BUT, Paul had also been receiving warning after warning about the troubles that were awaiting him there...

AND these warnings were FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

Let me show you on instance from last chapter…. this is Paul speaking,

Acts 20:22-23 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardship are facing me.”

So, Paul knew that trouble awaited him in Jerusalem...

He had been warned by the Holy Spirit in every city that hardships were coming.

But, he still felt compelled by the Spirit to go!

Now he is in Tyre, and the Spirit spoke a similar message through the believers there...

And we will see later that a prophet in Caesarea will also warn Paul about trouble to come in Jerusalem.

Church do not miss this….

OVER and OVER God’s Spirit is telling Paul…. BAD STUFF is coming….

OVER and OVER church people are telling Paul to NOT go to Jerusalem because BAD things will happen to him….

So church, what gives?

Is Paul rightly tuned into God and he should go even though thins will get hard for Paul?

Or is God speaking through all kinds of people to STOP Paul but Paul is too stubborn to listen?

Or is there something else going on here?

PAUSE

Now, you guys need to know that scholars and commentators disagree on this.

Some feel that Paul was in disobedience and God was trying to stop him.

Others feel that God was leading him and the others were wrong.

But I'd like to share my view with you, (which others also align with...the right ones 😊).

I think there is a third option that makes the most Biblical sense and matches up best with what Scripture is saying...

I think that although the Holy Spirit is warning Paul about what will happen to him in Jerusalem personally.

The Holy Spirit is also warning Paul through different people in different cities.

That is VERY clear in the Bible….

I think God is simply seeking to PREPARE PAUL for what’s to come, not PREVENT PAUL from going!

Did you catch that?

God was giving Paul confirmation that trouble was coming so he could be PREPARED,

God wasn’t trying to STOP Paul from going.

See I think these people wanted the BEST for Paul…

And when the Holy Spirit told them what was coming for Paul…

They could NOT imagine Paul being imprisoned and killed would be the BEST for Paul.

God’s warnings caused THEM to try to PREVENT Paul from actually going to Jerusalem, not God.

Do you see the difference?

It was their own spin on God’s revelation...

PAUSE

Maybe you’ve even experienced that in your own life.

Maybe you felt God leading you to change jobs but others around you warned you that it would be a pay cut so DON’T do it!!!!

Maybe you felt called to be BOLD for your faith at work or school and others around you warned NOT TO because it could mean you lose your job or friends.

Maybe you felt called by God to give a BIG gift to church and your spouse said NO WAY!!! We might need that money for something…..

PAUSE

Have you ever wondered... Is this God trying to stop me or is that just them not wanting me to follow God?

And maybe, like Paul, it was God wanting to PREPARE you for potential hardships to come, NOT God PREVENTING you from moving forward in faith.

(Share story from your own life):

I remember when I was the Missions Pastor at my previous church and I was getting ready to lead a short term team to a Muslim country in the Middle East which was a terrorist “hot bed”. This was right after the Detroit airport shoe bomber incident happened (remember that?). Well, a couple of the elders at our church came to the Lead Pastor and I to warn us that danger and possibly death awaited us and pleaded with me to not take the team. What do I do? Well, I felt so convinced about the mission and that we needed to move forward and such a peace that we were in God’s will that I smiled and said, “We are all very aware that we could die, but we need to follow God and do whatever He calls us to do regardless! We will GO until He says NO!”

In that situation, was the warning of potential trouble awaiting from the Lord?

Sure, we needed to be aware of the cost.

BUT those men chose to assume that because it was dangerous or risky that God must not want us to go... and that was NOT from the Spirit of God!

See how that works?

We can get a revelation from God about something and then put our human spin on the situation, which isn’t necessarily from God!

Again, God often warns us to PREPARE us, not always to PREVENT us.

PAUSE

But it is also true that sometimes God warns us in order to PREVENT US, not just PREPARE US.

In just a couple of chapters (Acts 23), we read of how Paul’s nephew overheard some of the Jews plotting to kill Paul,

so, Paul asked him to tell the commander who assembled a large military escort to take Paul safely out of the city!

How did Paul know what to do?

How did he know that insight from his nephew wasn’t just to prepare him for hardship?

How did he know that God wanted to prevent him from danger and escape?

Well, Acts 23:11 says that Jesus appeared to Paul one night at the foot of his bed and told Paul that he must testify of Jesus in Rome just like he had in Jerusalem.

So, Paul knew that in the same way the Holy Spirit was leading him to Jerusalem, God was now leading him to move on to Rome, so he needed to escape.

The same is true in our own lives...

There are times that God will lead us to move toward potential trouble, even in the midst of warnings.

And there are other times that God will lead us to avoid trouble... and we need to seek Him and follow His leading in each case.

(ADD an example from your life) There was another time when my wife and I felt led to move to the Middle East as full time missionaries. But, the Lord spoke to us through a group of people that we needed to stop. And as we sought the Lord we felt that God was using them to PREVENT US rather than PREPARE US.

Do you hear the key to discerning God’s Voice in each of those situations?

It’s not complicated.

It’s seeking God and listening for His Voice among the others.

Jesus said in

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Let’s not over complicate things... Jesus is saying that His sheep can hear his voice and will follow Him.

In order for sheep to hear the voice of their shepherd what must they do?

Stay close to the shepherd, listen for His voice, tune out all other voices, and then do what he says.

The same is true for us today!

PAUSE

Let’s see what happens next….verse 7

7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

Now, let’s look back at our map to see where they went next. You see they left the believers in Tyre and landed at Toe-Lay-May-us, where they again stayed with another group of believers.

And then they reached Caesarea where they stayed with Philip the evangelist.

One quick thing to point out here is that this is the same Philip we ran into way back in Acts 8.

He’s the one that God used to lead the Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Jesus... remember that?

Well, look at what he is called here in Acts 21... Philip the evangelist. Isn't that cool?

Not Philip the deacon, or Philip the elder, but Philip the evangelist... or Philip the one who shares the Good News of Jesus with people.

What a title!

Wouldn’t you like to be known that way?

PAUSE

Now, things are about to get interesting... verse 10…..

10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

Here we go again!

Paul’s got to be thinking….“Ok, I get it! It’s going to be hard for me in Jerusalem!”

And it doesn’t stop there!!!!

Verse 12…

12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

Did you guys catch that?

“When WE heard this, WE and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go...”

So, up until now, Luke, and Paul’s other ministry companions, were standing with Paul in his decision to go to Jerusalem.

No one tried to stop him.

But this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

After Ahhh-gaaa-Bus gave his warning, even Paul’s own guys joined in and tried to stop him from going!!!!!

Now EVERYONE is telling Paul he is wrong!!!

EVERYONE is telling Paul God is saying DON’T GO!!!!!

And again, I think this is confirmation of what was going on all along.

God brought warning of what was to come in Jerusalem SO THAT PAUL COULD BE PREPARED,

But others, out of love for Paul and a desire to keep him around longer, thought that God must be trying to PREVENT PAUL FROM GOING.

And again, there lies the rub.

But this goes to show that even those closest to us, even those who REALLY BELIEVE in the mission of God…….

Can sometimes interpret what God is saying to us to try to stop us from following God if it doesn’t fit THEIR agenda for OUR lives.

And this makes it hard, doesn’t it?

BUT, we learn from Paul what we need to do in times like this...

Verse 13…

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.”

Paul is saying, “Listen, I know you all love me and don’t want to see me hurt, imprisoned or killed... but I am ready to die for Jesus... so y’all gotta step off!”

Paul acknowledged his love and care for them, he didn’t allow himself to be dissuaded by their emotional response.

He knew what God was calling him to do, and he was going to do it... even if ends his life!

It says in verse 14…..

14 When he could not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

I love this!

Luke and Timothy, and the others, try to stop Paul from going to Jerusalem, but when they saw that Paul wasn’t going to be persuaded, they gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done!”

And this is the place that we all need to come to in our lives...

Where we can say of ourselves, where we can say of our families and loved ones... “The Lord’s will be done!”

Paul had already come to that place in his own life…..Back in Acts 20 Paul said this….

Acts 20:24, However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

In other words, Paul was saying, “I am surrendered to the Lord’s will in my life!”

I’m going to do what God wants, no matter the outcome!

Therefore, I will listen to God’s Voice over all of the other voices!!!!

Church here is the answer to the question we posed at the start of the message.

We discern God’s voice by knowing God’s plan for my life.

Repeat

That is what Paul said! I know what God created me to do.

I am going to do that…and I know then I am following God’s voice…God’s path for my life!

PAUSE

Church...have you come to that place of surrender in your life where you are willing to do whatever God wants you to do no matter the cost?

Parents or grandparents, have you surrendered your children or grandchildren to the Lord and whatever He calls them to do in their lives? So much so that you are resolved to NOT try and manipulate or hijack God’s will for your own life or His will in the lives of others?

My wife and I have walked by faith, we have had to say “goodbye” to friends and family on a number of occasions to follow God…. And some of those occasions have been really difficult and have not made an ounce of sense to them...

PAUSE

We all need to get to that place of absolute surrender where we hear God’s Voice and submit to His will for our lives.

We may not like it!

We may not prefer it!

It may not make sense to us!

We probably never would have chosen it for ourselves...

But because it seems to be the will of God we need to yield to it and step out in faith.

PAUSE

Let me share a story with you…STORY OF CORRIE TEN BOOM:

Corrie Ten Boom, the famous Dutch missionary, coined the phrase

Corrie Ten Boom “The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”

Have you all heard that phrase before?

As Americans we’ve hijacked this phrase to mean that the safe place is always the will of God for my life, so when risk or danger come, that would never be God’s will.

But, that is the furthest thing from the truth.

See, this realization didn’t come to Corrie from the comfort of an office chair... but rather out of a place of great suffering.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, During WW2, Corrie and her family were responsible for rescuing nearly 800 Jews through an underground network of safe houses.

But, just after midnight on February 28, 1944, the Gestapo burst into the Ten Boom house and arrested the whole family. Her father died soon after in prison and both she and her sister ended up in a concentration camp, where her sister was killed.

Yet, even in that dreadful situation, Corrie believed, “The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”

I think Paul would phrase it differently….

What we need to realize, like Paul did, is that the safest place, physically speaking, is not the center of God’s will.

The center of God’s will may be one of the most dangerous places you could imagine!

But, at the end of the day, being where God wants us to be is the safest place to be because God will be pleased and He will be there with us no matter what we face.

Facing her execution in a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie’s sister,

Betsie Ten Boom said these final words,

Betsie Ten Boom “There is no pit so deep that He (God) is not deeper still.”

This same truth that fueled the Apostle Paul and the others to continue on in faith...listen to how this section wraps up...

15 After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.

16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason (Nay-son), where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.

So, they press on in faith into the will of God for their lives, and so must we.

Let’s wrap up our time with our

Life Application: What did God create you to do? What is God telling you to do today? Write it down, commit to doing it, and don’t let anyone dissuade you. As a result of today’s message I will ________________________________________.

(Share possible examples)

Pray

Offering