All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 16.
1 Corinthians chapter 16. I'd like to just take up where
we left off last time we considered Paul dealing with the collection
and the distribution of the gifts to be given to the saints expressing
that we come together on the first day of the week, take the
money that has been laid in store, set aside, particularly to be
given, consistently given, and he dealt with who should give,
and he said, verse 2, on the first day of the week, Every
one of you, every one of God's people are exhorted by the Lord
to give. And how our gifts should be determined. How do we give? How? As the Lord has prospered Him. How is it determined? As the
Lord prospers. And so now, the Apostle Paul
is going to deal with a subject, and I'm going to tell you this,
When I first read this, verses 5 to 9, 1 Corinthians, chapter
16, verses 5 to 9. And when I first read this passage
of scripture, my first inclination was, I know that the gospel is
here. I know that. Now, that I don't
immediately see it, doesn't change anything. That just means I just
haven't seen it yet. And if the Lord's pleased to
reveal the gospel in that passage of scripture, then I will then
behold the true message of that passage of scripture. So as I
wondered about seeing the gospel in that passage, praying that
the Lord would give me some understanding. on this passage of scripture,
and I think that the Lord has given me some light on this and
I'd like for us to look at it. Now, from the language, and we'll
see this as we go through these verses for a few minutes, from
the language of the Apostle Paul, it appears that because of former
opposition that Paul has encountered in dealing with the church, or
the churches of Corinth, I think one in particular, but that there
were some, there's always some in the midst, there's always
tares among the wheat. Always. They're always there. The scripture says that those
which are approved may be made manifest. So the Lord always
allows the tares to be among the weed. Remember the parable
when the workers of the field said, you want us to go in there
and tear the tares out? And he said, no, no, no, no. You just
let them grow. Let them grow. And in the harvest,
the Lord said, I'll separate them. I'll separate them. Don't
worry. The weed will be gathered out. I'll gather the tares. I'll
bundle them up and burn them. But you leave them alone. You
leave them alone. I'll take care of them. And that's
what we do. You just pray for them. pray
that God give light, and so from former language it appears as
though that there were some among the church at Corinth that were
trying to tarnish not only the reputation of the Apostle Paul,
but also cast a dispersion on the gospel that he was preaching. And so he's defending something
that he had to do when he was going to come to the church at
Corinth. And as we look at these, you're
going to find out what Paul, he was defending a change of
plans. That's what he was doing. He
had planned to come at a certain time, and he couldn't come. And so he just told him, he said,
look, you know, you know, you'll see how it falls out. But the
thing is, is that the Apostle Paul is going to set forth the
truth of the gospel in his defense of explaining to these people
why he had to make a change. So Paul's original plan was to
go through, and I'm going to show you this, we're going to
go back and forth from right here into the first chapter of
2nd Corinthians because he continues telling the story and I'll just
jump ahead and I'll show you what I'm talking about. His original
plan was to go come to Corinth first and then from Corinth he
was going to go up to Macedonia and spend a little time in Macedonia
then he was going to come back to Corinth after leaving Macedonia
but there had to be a change. That being his plan, I want to
read verses 5 and 6 after I read 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
15 and 16. He's explaining to them now,
this is the explanation for what I'm getting ready to read in
our passage tonight. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter
1, verse 15 and 16, he said, and in this confidence, I was
minded to come unto you before that you might have a second
benefit. He said, I was minded to come to you before I went
to Macedonia and then come back to you and spend some time with
you in Corinth so that you might have a second benefit that we
might be able to meet together. in the grace of God, in fellowship
together, and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again
out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way
toward Judea." Paul said, that was my plans. There had been
some, obviously, that had said, you can't put any confidence
in him. He'll tell you anything. And
not only can you put no confidence in Him, you can't put no confidence
in His gospel either. If they could discredit Paul,
then they'll try to discredit the gospel. That's what they
were trying to do. So this is the foundation of what's going
on. So let's look at verses 5 and
6 first. Paul says, Now I will come unto
you when I shall pass through Macedonia. For I do pass through
Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide,
yea, and winter with you, that you may bring me on my journey,
whethersoever I go." Now from that declaration concerning having
to change his plans, he said, I'm coming. I am going to come.
I know. I said that next chapter, 2 Corinthians
chapter 1, he said, I do know that originally I told you. I'd
come to Corinth, I'll go to Macedonia, I'll come back, and obviously
he had to change his plans. So he's telling them right here
in our passage, he said, listen, I will come to you. I am going
to come after I go to Macedonia. He says, because I'm going to
go. Now, I've got three points tonight. Here's my first point.
God's people are faithful. but they are fallible. Here's
my second point. The Lord directs the paths, the
steps of his people. And thirdly, God Almighty orders
all things for his glory and for the eternal salvation and
security of his people. Now let's just look at these
three points in this and see the gospel here. Here's my first
point. God's people are faithful, but they are men and women and
they are fallible. Faithful people but fallible
people. Paul purposed to come. We just read that in 2 Corinthians
1. But Paul ended up having to go and preach
in Macedonia. Paul was called to be a preacher. That's what he was called to
do. When Paul was stopped on the road to Damascus, the Lord
stopped him, knocked him off his high horse, sent him into
Damascus and told him where to go and told a preacher there,
Ananias, he said, you go over there and you talk to one Saul.
He said, well, we've heard about him and the Lord told him in
Acts chapter 9 and verse 15, he said, you go thy way for he,
that is Saul of Tarsus, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name
before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. You
go, he's my vessel. I've called him, I'm gonna send
him where I want him to go. So Paul was doing what the Lord
had called him to do. Paul was called to be a preacher. That's what he's called to do.
I'm a preacher of the gospel, not a moderator, not anything. God has called me to be a preacher. That's what I've been called
to do. And so Paul was being faithful to what the Lord had
called him to do. The Lord said concerning his
people, John 10.27, hear my voice, I know them, they follow me. The sheep hear the voice of the
Lord. They hear it as we assemble ourselves
together, and the gospel is preached, and you're listening to every
word that I'm saying, and every word that I'm saying, what you
want to hear is I want to hear the glory, tell me the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As long as Christ is being glorified,
you're fine, you'll settle down. You're okay, you're okay. The
moment something would be said that you knew in your heart was
contrary to these scriptures, and the Lord was not exalted,
man was exalted, and all of a sudden, you'll sit there for just half
a second in unbelief trying to figure out, now am I hearing
this right? But I'm telling you, when you hear the voice of the
Master, He is always exalted, high and lifted up. He is the
Lord. The Lord said, my sheep. Well, you know, he's got a sheep.
Hear my voice. That's the only voice they're
going to hear. And I know them. You know that. You know that.
And they follow me. You know that. That's consistent.
You'll settle down. They hear that which the world
can't hear. The Lord has given them spiritual
ears and they perceive the voice of the shepherd and they understand
His language. They understand His speech. He
speaks through His Word to their heart. He knows who they are. The Father has given them to
Him in electing grace. He bought them, He redeemed them
with His shed blood. The Spirit of God called them
out, gave them a willing heart, and they came to Him, cast themselves
upon Him. They follow Him. That is, they
believe Him. They believe Him. And they love
Him. When the Lord arrested Saul of
Tarsus on the road to Damascus, turn to Acts. Hold your finger
there. Turn to Acts 22. Acts 22. Now listen to Paul relate
this. Now remember, Remember what I
just read my sheep Hear my voice I Know them and They follow me
now remember. I just there's three points.
That's a that's a three-point message my sheep They hear my
voice I Know them They follow. All right, now knowing those
three points, listen to Acts 22, verses six to 11, and tell
me when you can, in your mind, you can pick out these points.
Acts 22, six. It came to pass that as I made
my journey, I was come nigh to Damascus. About noon, suddenly
there shone from heaven a great light round about me. I fell
into the ground. I heard a voice saying unto me,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, who art thou,
Lord? He said unto me, I'm Jesus of
Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw
indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice
of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do,
Lord? And the Lord said unto me, arise
and go unto Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all
things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could
not see for the glory of that light being led by the hand that
were with me, I came to Damascus. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and they follow me. was known to the Lord, called
to the Lord. He heard his voice. What do you
want me to do? I want you to go to Damascus.
And that's where he went. God's people are faithful. They're faithful people. But
they're depraved and fallible creatures, creatures of the dust. A believer is one made willing
in the day of God's power, willing to come, willing to bow, willing
to love. But there's an old man that's
within, and it don't change. I have just as much resentment
in my flesh, turn to Romans chapter 7 verse 18, I have just as much,
before I ever heard, Romans 7, before I ever heard, before I
ever heard the gospel, before I ever cared, I have just, I
have the same resentment toward God In that flesh, that old man,
as I ever did, it hasn't changed. What is flesh is flesh. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. And they don't mix. That old
man don't change. Look at Romans 7, 18. Paul says,
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me.
But how to perform that which is good, I find not. I got two natures, and they don't
agree. I got a new man in me, the scripture
says that does not sin. I know that by faith, because
I believe God. And there's some things that
the Lord reveals about His people that they just don't see in themselves.
I can see that old man. Buddy, I can pick him out right
now. Ain't no problem me seeing him. I know, I am convinced,
I am still right now in my flesh. I'm a depraved sinner. I have
a desire to will is present with me. out of a new man, a new man,
but how to perform at which I would. Job says, for we are but of yesterday
and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow. Paul had planned to be with people
in Corinth first, and then I planned to go to Macedonia, and things
didn't work out that way. His plans got changed. It didn't
fall out the way Paul thought. I'm going to make out my schedule.
This is the way. I'll work out schedules for these
Bible conferences. I've told you this before. I'll
give one to Gary and I'll tell him there's a 60% chance that
I'm going to stay with this schedule. That's about as close as I can
call it. And I usually try to hit pretty close to that. You
plan, and you try to order things, and you try to make things, but
things don't always work out the way you want to follow the
Lord. You do. But the Lord, here's
my second point, the Lord orders our steps. We plan. Look back at 1 Corinthians 16
verse 7. Paul says, for I will not see
you now by the way. I meant to, but I'm not going
to. I'm not going to see you now.
But I trust to tarry a while with you, and look at these last
few words, if the Lord permit. I'm not coming now. I can't come
now. But I will be with you if it's
the will of the Lord. That ought to be the attitude
of every believer's action. That's what a believer wants.
That's what He desires. It's agreeable to the sovereignty
of God. It's agreeable to the foundation
and the surety of all that comes to pass. Listen, turn over to
2 Corinthians 1 page, 2 Corinthians 1 verse 17. Paul says, when I
therefore was thus minded, did I use likeness? Or the things
that I purpose? Do I purpose according to the
flesh? that with me there should be
yay, yay and nay, nay. What do you mean, Paul? He said,
listen, I didn't make that commitment to come to you lightly, but I
felt that it was right, a change was necessary in my original
plans. It doesn't mean that I was behaving
or acting in an unstable or careless way with no regard. for your
feelings or for the Lord's will or for your benefit, he said,
when I plan, this is paraphrasing what he said, when I plan, do
I plan according to the flesh as earthly men, worldly men do,
always ready to say yes, yes, when the answer may be no, no?
That's what he said. He said, how can I tell you yes? It's not going to change. when
it might. Faithful but fallible, there
are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, Proverbs 19.21,
the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. That shall stand. Look at James chapter 4. I'll
read this. James 4 verses 13 to 15. Go to now ye that say today or
tomorrow we'll go into such a city, we're going to continue there
a year, buy and sell, get gain, whereas you know not what shall
be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is
even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes
away. For that you ought to say, if
the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. Isn't that
right? If God wills, we're going to
do that. Man, I just, I hate, I hate hearing somebody say,
you know what, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. This is
exactly what I'm going to do. And I'm thinking to myself, no,
no, you may not. You best be careful. You might
not. Say if the Lord wills. Somebody
told me something one day, but it's not one that professes the
Lord. He said, I tell you this, you write this down. Come the
first of the year, this is the way it's going to be. Told me
that last year. This is the way it's going to
be. And you know what? It ain't. It didn't come out
like that. It didn't happen like that. I
remember thinking to myself, no, that's arrogance talking.
If the Lord wills, we'll do this or we'll do that. So yes, the
Lord had given Paul instruction in a vision. In Acts chapter
16, he saw in a vision a man from Macedonia come over and
help us. So Paul knew that he was going to Macedonia. He made
his plans, and he made his plans to go this way. I'll go to Corinth,
then I'll go to Macedonia, then I'm going to come back to Corinth, The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. God's people desire
only to do that which the Lord wills, the Lord desires, the
Lord ordains. Psalm 40 verse 8, I delight to
do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. Let me
ask you this, don't you delight to do the will of the Lord? That's
what I want. Now His will may not be what
I will. It may go contrary to what I
want, but I can tell you this, when things don't work out my
way, this I know. The counsel of the Lord, if you
want to know what the Lord's will is, well just whatever happened
today, that was the Lord's will. because all things work together
for good to them that love God. One who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. That's how the Lord taught His
disciples to pray, wasn't it? He said, when you pray, He said,
you say, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done. As in heaven, so in earth. So we're always reminded, the
lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. Doesn't matter how desirous,
how desirous we make our plans, we resolve our plans to if the
Lord wills. May the Lord's will be done.
If he permit everything that happens, he orders. So Paul says
to the church, I planned to come It didn't work out that way now. Then he tells him, he said, I
will come and maybe winter with you if the Lord permits. And then thirdly and lastly,
the Lord orders all things for his glory and the eternal salvation
of his people. The apostle Paul knew that God's
pleasure was for him to not go the way he had originally planned.
He knew, truly, having written in Romans 8, he said, you know,
all things work together for good to them. It didn't come
out the first way he thought, but all things work together
for good. So back in 2 Corinthians, our
last two verses for tonight, he says, but I will tarry at
Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door, an effectual,
is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." The Lord
had directed Paul's steps in order that the Lord's will might
be done. Pentecost, or the Feast of Harvest,
was soon to be observed by the Jews. Now Paul, a former Pharisee,
he wasn't there to celebrate that that feast. It was not celebrated
anymore after the Lord came. The Lord fulfilled all of those
promises and those feasts that pictured His coming. So He wasn't
going to be there in Ephesus in order to celebrate the feast,
but He was there not to regard it, but He knew that there was
going to be an abundance of people in Ephesus that were going to
be there to celebrate and there was going to be an opportunity
to be able to preach to a lot of people. That's what he's saying.
He said, I'm going to tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost because,
for, a great door and effectual is opened unto me. Paul didn't
know who or if The Lord might be pleased to show mercy to anybody
in Ephesus. But he knew that God had a people.
And he knew that the people were scattered throughout all the
world. And he knew that the Holy Spirit was going to surely call
out his people through the preaching of the gospel. And therefore,
he purposed in his heart to take this opportunity. to see if the
Lord would be pleased to bless His Word in calling out some
of His people during that feast right there. There may be some
sheep in that place that in their mind they came because they were
coming to worship and celebrate the Pentecost. The Feast of the
Harvest, that's what they're there for. How many times have
I seen somebody tell me a story about, you know, I came over
here, I was dating this person, or I came over here because my
mama wanted me to come here. In my case, my mother was attending
Kitchens Creek Baptist Church in Ball, Louisiana. Darwin Pruitt
was a pastor, and I was pastor in the Southern Baptist Church.
A Southern Baptist Church. And Darwin had asked Henry Mahan,
I remember Henry Mahan, Scott Richardson, and Jack Shanks are
the three people I remember. Three preachers. And she said,
why don't you come over and you know, and you know, I said, OK. So I came over. I just came over
there to please my mother, you know. God had other plans. Paul said, I'm going to stay
in Ephesus because there is a great door and effectual is opened
unto me. Paul declared, he said, I know
the Lord has ordered my steps to be in this place because I'm
here. He thought, you know, he didn't know what the outcome
would be, but he knew if the Lord was going to be pleased,
there's going to be some sheep there at this feast, and their
steps would be ordered too, for them to be there. And Almighty
God would put His sheep and a preacher together, and that's the only
hope that a sheep's got. is to hear the gospel preached.
That's God's means. That's the God-ordained means. Paul didn't open that opportunity.
Almighty God did. Almighty God alone has the key
that opens and no man shuts or shuts and no man opens. So Paul,
like every God-called preacher, knew that the Lord called him
to preach. The Lord had put him where he
was. The Lord had stopped him from going one place first and
put him somewhere else. And now here he is in Ephesus. And this was his commission.
He knew this. Go into all the world and you
preach the gospel to every creature. I don't know who God's people
are. I don't know who they are. But I'm going to preach to everybody.
And I'm going to tell everybody, come to Christ. If God Almighty
gives a heart to hear that, I tell you what they'll do. In their
heart, they'll come to Christ. They'll call upon the Lord. It's
amazing when you see, like Lydia, when the Lord just opened her
heart and she attended to the words that Paul was preaching.
Wow! That never happens. Yes, it does. I've seen it. You have too. So
here was a great door, Paul said, and effectual. Effectual. I looked that word up. Effectual.
Here it is. Abundant opportunity. Great encouragement to labor. A great encouragement. There's
a lot of people here. I'm going to preach to these
people. And who knows? God Almighty might call them
out. Paul knew that Gospel was the power of God and salvation. If anybody's going to have any
hope, they're going to have to have the gospel preached to them.
And Paul said, lastly, oh, and there are many adversaries. Many,
many adversaries. There's always opposers and resistors
to the gospel. Opposition to the gospel was
something that Paul didn't regard as a reason to leave. Ephesus. He'd been beaten and stoned and,
you know, been in the deep, you know, just on and on and on. He said there's a lot of adversaries,
but it was his calling, it was his heart, it was his life to
stay right there and preach to God's people. Preach to them,
preach to anybody that would listen to him. A preacher of
the gospel never desires to look for trouble. I really don't. I hate, I hate confrontation. I hate it. I will walk three
miles around to avoid confrontation. I just don't want it. But I can
tell you this, if confrontation comes, I'm not going to shut
up because preaching the gospel because of confrontation. You
know, God's people realize that opposition to the truth is going
to be there because the Lord's going to allow it to be there.
He's going to allow it, as I said at the beginning of this message,
to reveal those that are approved of God. And when you find opposition
to the gospel, you realize it's Satan's desperate effort to preserve
the kingdom of Satan. that Almighty God is already
conquered. You know that. And God's going
to allow there to be opposition. But when you see opposition to
the gospel, take heart. The gospel's there. And Paul
says, I'm not, this is a great door. I couldn't come. I'm telling
you, I'm not shunning you. I'm meant to come. But God ordered
my steps to put me in this place in Ephesus. because there's a
feast going on right here, and I'm going to preach to these
people, and who knows? This great door in effectual
is opened unto me, and God Almighty may call out some sheep. I pray
that the Lord does so. I pray that He bless the message
to the salvation of the people. Call them out. Who knows? It's worth all the opposition
that we'll ever encounter. Preach the truth. Comfort God's
people. This is my call. I have to keep
telling myself all the time, Marvin, this is what you've been
called to do. You honor God and you comfort
God's people. That's what you do. And if somebody
steps up and they want to fuss and fight and stuff like that,
well, just fuss and fight all you want to. I don't have time.
I don't have time. Preach, honor the Lord, and God Almighty is
going to bless His Word when He's pleased to the calling out
of His people. I pray so tonight for Christ's
sake and our good. Amen.