The Plan
Notes
Transcript
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Introduction:
In his book titled American Buffalo, Steven Rinella says that hunting a buffalo in an enclosed pen isn’t hunting. Neither can a video game player call himself a car thief because he plays the popular game Grand Theft Auto.
In a similar way, the Christian life is not authentic until it is practiced outside the church.
Failure to plan is knowingly planning to fail.
Unknown
The first thing is God reveals his plan. The second thing is he tells us what the plan is. The third thing is he shows us how he works his plan out through his sovereignty.
Timothy Keller
Plan—Acts 1:4
4 As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me.
Wait for the promise of Luke 24:49
49 What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”
THE PLAN
Acts 1:8 “… After the Holy Ghost is come upon you.…”
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Faith is no substitute for planning. We aren’t more spiritual for failing to plan and for shooting from the hip. There may be sometimes when we simply can’t plan, but we should never reject planning.
David Guzik
Promise—Acts 1:5. Christ promises that they would receive the Holy Spirit within a few days.
Planned Purpose of the Holy Spirit
1. Convicts of sin—John 16:8
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin, that man is sinful. The Holy Spirit convicts a man that he …
• misses the mark, that is, comes short of the glory of God.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Ro. 3:23).
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• trespasses, that is, wanders off the right path.
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ep. 2:1).
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
• transgresses, that is, breaks the law of God.
“For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (He. 2:2–3
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,
3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
2 If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything,
3 do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him.
The problem lies in what they did not do. They did extensive planning, but in the course of their planning, they totally ignored God; God was not part of their agenda.
John F. MacArthur
The gospel is not a human plan for reaching up to God, but a divine plan for reaching down to man.
John Blanchard
2. Confirms salvation—Rom. 8:16
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Do we realize that our salvation was planned before the world was planned or created?
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are the children of God. Very simply stated, the Holy Spirit quickens our hearts with the perfect knowledge and the complete confidence that we are children of God.
Note how clearly Scripture proclaims this glorious truth, the truth which every believer longs for the world to know.
1) The Spirit sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. He spreads the knowledge that God loves us and spreads it all through our being.
“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Ro. 5:5).
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
2) The Spirit is the earnest or the guarantee that we are children of God.
“Who hath also sealed us, and give the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Co. 1:22).
22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
“Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Co. 5:5).
5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
3) The Spirit is the seal or the guarantee that we are children of God.
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ep. 1:13).
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ep. 4:30).
30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
God’s plan will continue on God’s schedule.
A. W. Tozer
3. Controls Christian—Gal. 5:16
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Every person knows what it is to have his flesh lusting after something, to have it yearning and yearning to lay hold of something. The flesh is very strong and difficult to control. This is the first reason why a believer’s only hope to control the flesh is the Spirit of God.
“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Ro. 7:23).
“Because the carnal [fleshly] mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Ro. 8:7).
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not” (Js. 4:1–2).
The Great Commission is a spiritual battle plan.
Michael S. Heiser
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed. The Lord has made everything for his own purposes.
Anonymous
When we accept God’s plan, we invite God’s presence; and that guarantees victory.
Warren W. Wiersbe
Power—Power to do God’s work. Paul had this power when he spoke of doing all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Proverbs 19:21 (NKJV)
21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.