Let the Will of the Lord be Done

Introduction:

Submitting to God’s will can be difficult at times. As Christians, we walk a very fine line of two mentalities. The first mentality is “God is sovereign and ultimately He will do as He pleases.” If we take that mentality, we become fatalistic and eventually we become ineffective Christians. Those that take this mentality see life as every step you take is directed by God and every thing that happens be it good or bad is because God caused it. Those that dwell in this mentality see that no matter what we do, God willed it and eventually we just go through the motions of life waiting for God to act because he is in control of everything and we stop performing ministry because we assume God will do as he pleases.

The other mentality is God is completely hands off, and it is up to us to decide what God’s will is and try to do what we think is in the best interest of God. With this mentality, we take God completely out of the equation and rely solely on ourselves to see that God’s plan is accomplished. Some of us sitting here this morning, have often posed the question, “What are we doing wrong that our community is not being reached?”

I submit to you this morning, that it is nothing that we are are aren’t doing. Whether it be right or wrong. I submit that in spite of opposition from either within or outside of the church walls, we can be confident in the knowledge that we can move forward as a body knowing that if we willing submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ that we can be confident He will lead us in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 21.

Acts 21:4–16 ESV

And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Events leading to this point:

Pul is on his third, and final, missionary journey. He has been used by God in tremendous ways.

Background:

The last we saw Paul, he was at Ephesus. He stayed there for a bit, and then starts his way back to Jerusalem. Paul has done many miraculous things during this time. He healed people just by them touching his garments. He even raised a young man that fell asleep during one of his late night sermons that had fallen from the balcony. He avoided a riot, and he sets sail for Jerusalem. He stops by Miletus and calls the pastors of Ephesus to come meet with him where he shares a very touching farewell with them and warns them to take care of themselves and their church because “fierce wolves” will be following after not sparing any in the flock (20.28). I believe at this point Paul knew that he would not be seeing many of these people ever again. As we read through these chapters, we can definitely see a change in the mood. It becomes more somber as the scenes progress. A slow reading of the rest of the book of Acts gives us the sense of foreboding, and we know that Paul will eventually end up in Rome in prison facing execution for his faith.

Our text:

Determent by the believers in Tyre (21.4-6)

Summary:

Paul and his entourage finally land in Syria, and land at Tyre. When they landed, the looked for the other believers and met up with them and they “stayed there for seven days” (v. 4). It would appear that this was a layover for the ship, and it took seven days for the ship to offload its cargo, so Paul took this time to catch up with the believers there. Notice that the believers here tried to discourage Paul from going on to Jerusalem, and in verse 5, Luke writes, they departed and went on their journey. In spite of the discouragement, everyone followed them to see them off and bid farewell to them.

Explanation:

Notice in the last part of verse 4 that it says, “through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.” This can become problematic because it would seem that Paul had received instructions to go to Jerusalem, and this can be seen in 20.22-23 where Paul says, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” Paul had no clue what he was headed to, and I am sure the believers understood what was going on, but now here we have the believers speaking to Paul “through the Spirit” not to go. So here we have a conflict in the appearance of God’s will. Luke is known for using this phrase in reference to God’s will. Ultimately what this boils down to, is that we have Paul who was prompted by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, and more than likely the believers saw the same persecution that Paul saw, yet they responded differently to the moving of the Spirit for selfish reasons. Paul gave their warning the attention it deserved, yet he continued in what he knew he was called to do, and he continued on his journey.

Examine your call and opinions in light of scripture.

Paul gave their warning the attention it deserved, yet he continued in what he knew he was called to do, and he continued on his journey.

Application:

Scripture is clear when is says in , “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” There is much truth in that statement, yet we have to take into consideration what others say, especially in a church body. There will be differences of opinions. One of the keys to deciding what is right, is to check our perceived calling against scripture. Then the question becomes, are the differences in opinion preference-driven? God calls us to certain ministries, and we must heed that calling or risk living in disobedience to the call. When we check our promptings against scripture, we must then take care to seek the advice of others to make sure we are not misinterpreting what we feel is God’s direction. That requires us to be completely open with what we think and feel. Opinions must be shared with others to make sure we are not reading into scripture what we are feeling. Scripture is scripture and the truth remains. You can have different people read the same passage of scripture, and more often than not, they should come up with the same things just possibly worded differently. One of the most difficult things for us to do is set aside our personal opinions, feelings, thoughts, and even biases in order to interpret scripture, but if we don’t set those aside, we run the risk of grossly misinterpreting scripture.

A prophecy and further determent (17.7-12)

Summary:

Paul and his group leave Tyre and arrive at Ptolemais and spent the night with the believers there before they moved on. The next morning, they got up and headed to Caesarea and the met up with Phillip the evangelist. Luke makes it a point to tell us that he was one of the seven that were picked to serve the Hellenistic widows in chapter 6. Phillip had four daughters that were single and prophesied. Luke tells us they stayed for several days, and in comes a prophet named Agabus who was from Judea. When Agabus gets there, he begins to prophesy. He takes Paul’s belt off of him, binds his own hands and feet and says in verse 11, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, the his how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man that owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” And of course, when the rest of the group heard that, they practically begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

Explanation:

Phillip’s daughters more than likely gave Paul more of the same warnings to not head off to Jerusalem, and then comes Agabus. Agabus is the same person that predicted the famine that you read about in 11.28 during the reign of Claudius so he was probably well aware of the political climate in Jerusalem. He was probably well aware of the persecution that was happening in that area. The belt that was used was more than likely a long sash of sorts that wrapped around a person’s midsection numerous times and tied in a knot in order to hold the outer garment in place, and he ties himself up with it as a dramatic gesture, and then he prefaces his statement with the often heard words by a prophet, “Thus says the Holy Spirit.” This leaves no room for misinterpretation.

Maintain obedience above everything else.

Application:

Paul could have very well said, “Ok, you win, I give. I’m not going to Jerusalem.” He could have admitted that it was out of pure selfishness that he needed to go to Jerusalem, but I believe at some point (not written by Luke) that Paul knew this would be his final journey to the places that meant so much to him. Examine scripture to see if what you are doing aligns with scripture, consult others regarding your mission, and stay the course. There are people that disagree with others simply because they are afraid to take risks. In the work of God, we can never be afraid to take risks, especially if we know that we are in the will of God. If we act on God’s will, it will be blessed.

Paul’s response and his subsequent departure (21.13-16)

Summary:

Paul gets very stern with the group. He asks them, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?” He wasn’t about the let their personal desires get in the way of him being obedient to the path that he was called to. Paul was ready to face whatever God was about to put in his way. After all, he knew that God had called him to Jerusalem, and he will find that God promises him to get to Rome in chapter 23. The believers understood where Paul was coming from, so they stopped their persuasion and finally conceded to “let the will of the Lord be done.” Finally, everyone gets in sync with God’s plan, and some of the believers from Caesarea even went with him.

Explanation:

Paul was probably feeling hurt and misunderstood, and probably a bit isolated because he wasn’t receiving any support for what he was about to do from any of those that were close to him. Paul felt that he was right in the middle of God’s will. If we look back to 19.21, Luke writes, “Now after these events, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’” The way it is worded, is very similar to how Luke writes regarding Jesus in 9.51: When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Paul had basically “set his face” toward Rome via Jerusalem through the calling of the Holy Spirit, Paul understood probably better than anyone how God can use even the seemingly worst of situations to get the message out. We have seen this same type of action play over and over again throughout the book of Acts. God will accomplish His mission through us using the power of the Holy Spirit regardless of what kind of opposition we face.

Do not let fear of the unknown stand in the way of ministering to others.

Application:

Paul had no clue what awaited him at Jerusalem. He had been warned by the Holy Spirit, and others, that prison was possibly waiting, but look how he replies to all of that in verse 13: “for I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” It was his passion for the gospel that fueled his drive. How many of us let fear stand in the way?

There is a song by Zach Williams that says, “Fear is lair. He will steal your breath, stop you in your step. Fear he is a liar. He will rob your rest, steal your happiness.” Many times we don’t do what we should be doing out of fear. Fear can be paralyzing for us. We can turn away from what is right all because we are afraid of the unknown. Many times our biggest fear when being faced with sharing the gospels is that we are afraid. Whether it be afraid of talking to a stranger, we don’t know enough about scripture, or just flat out being rejected. Jesus was afraid. He was afraid of what he was facing at the cross. In fact, he was so afraid of it he prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Jesus could have stopped right there and walked away, but he goes on to say, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus was so afraid of what He was about to face, he went back a second time and prayed, “My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (cf. ). Jesus is our example of submission to God’s will. Jesus submitted wholly to God’s will in order for it to be done through Him.

Conclusion:

Submitting to the will of God can be difficult at times, Especially when we all have different opinions of how we think ministry should be done. Some of us want to stick to the “old ways” of doing things and expect them to yield the same results as they did 20, 30, or eve 50 years ago. Things don’t always works that way. We must be ready and willing to actively seek God’s will with intention and determination that no matter what the cost, we will act in obedience regardless of the consequences.

The Challenge:

This morning, I am presenting a challenge to this congregation. School is right around the corner, and there are children in this community in need of school supplies badly. My challenge to you is this: 50 backpacks of school supplies for children in this community by August 26. That 50 is a drop in the bucket compared to the need that truly exists. But if you want to see what a difference just a few school supplies can make in the life of a child, I am asking each of you here to step up and make it happen. It is my prayer that as I go out into the community in the next couple of weeks spreading the word that I can guarantee to this community, at least 50 children will go home after church on August 26 with a new backpack of school supplies to start the year off. This is a step of faith, and we don’t know the outcome, but i believe it is an act of obedience on out part to reach out to this community to share the message of the Gospel. This is what God has laid on my heart, and now I stand before you today saying, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”