Which Way Do We Go?

The Word

Acts 20:17–38 ESV

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

The Spiral

Are we wanting the will of God? SURRENDER

Are we waiting for Word of God? TRUTH

Are we working for the heart of God? LOVE

This is not a linear movement, but more of a spiral

Like a Slinky....

We see this in Paul’s life…especially in this moment

Where is Paul now?

The map of Paul’s THIRD missionary journey on his way back base

Paul was is about 30 miles of from Ephesus in a coastal trading town of Miletus, working his way back to Jerusalem

This is the end of “planned” missionary travels

Won’t be too long before he arrives in Jerusalem, is arrested, and transported to Rome to be imprisoned

Living in the Spiral

Working

Acts 20:20–21 ESV

20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Keeping the main thing the main thing

Waiting

Acts 20:22–23 ESV

22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

He has a LIMITED vision of what lies ahead

Not many details or specifics

He KNOWS that it is of the Holy Spirit, it is of God

He chooses to FOLLOW, in spite of the known dangers that lie ahead.

Wanting and Working

Acts 20:24 ESV

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Our life is not our own

I am all about self-care

I am all about putting yourself in situations where you can thrive and succeed

But at the end of the day, the freedom I have with Christ, is only truly experienced when we give our life completely to Him

Our life becomes more complete, when we love as Christ loved…for the sake of others.

Selfishness leads to sin, sin leads to death

Surrender leads to life, life is given by Love (JESUS)

Back to Working

Acts 20:27 ESV

27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Read Acts…look at the opposition…look at the consequences...

When Paul says he didn’t shrink, this isn’t an arrogant declaration

Back to Waiting

Acts 20:31–32 ESV

31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Paul leaves them to a period of waiting…as is does he. And in the waiting he NEEDS them to listen to The Voice.

Acts 20:29–31 ESV

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

It had to be hard to leave these communities that you had invested so much time in, and seen so many crazy cool things…just to head to a story that is going to lead to more struggle and pain.

WHY?- the surrender....the the wanting.

Then they prayed:

Acts 20:36 ESV

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

All that story to tell you this one

Acts 21:4 ESV

4 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.

Would the Holy Spirit give conflicting messages?

The short answer is NO

The same Voice that is guiding Paul, is speaking to the people in Tyre

I believe the same message is being given to both, but each has a different lens that they are looking through

The lens of the observer

The lens of the participant

Though they have different lens, they have they act with the same love

The people of Tyre with a love to protect and guard Paul

Paul with a sacrificial love and obedience to Christ

Some of the Scriptures we lean on the most as believers were written during his imprisonment

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon

When the Rubber meets the Road

God loves to speak through individuals, AND he loves to speak through communities of surrendered individuals

But in our day to day walk, in our wanting, waiting, and working:

We have a simple mission, to live our lives to proclaim the Good news of Christ

If we spend time time asking ARE WE DOING IT?…the HOW, WHAT, AND WHEN will come....that’s the wanting....surrendering to the will of God

That’s when we are most in tune to hearing his voice in our life

As we navigate the SPIRAL we realize there are moments when we HEAR, and moments when we just need to act

Then there are moments we are at a crossroads. We are given a direction that may be: dangerous, challenging, counter cultural, risky, without a lot of specifics

AND people with good intentions, surrendered hearts, and being guided by the Spirit may try to warn you…maybe even convince you to take another course of action

Not because they are the enemy (though that happens), but because the love they have for you

AND your responsibility is to surrender, to walk in the truth, and to respond in love

Paul knew his trajectory....Paul knew what he was going to encounter…Paul knew that because of the love of Christ, his sacrifice would lead to other people’s freedom.

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