My text this evening is in Acts
21 and verse 14. Acts chapter 21 and verse 14. Paul was on his way to Jerusalem. In his journey he stopped off
at Caesarea to spend a few days with Philip the evangelist. Now
if you think about it, this is a charming picture of God's grace. Not too long before this, Philip
had been driven away from his home and forced to flee for his
life by the raging persecution of a man who despised the gospel
of God's grace, a man who despised the name of Christ and would
rid the world of the gospel. That persecutor was Saul of Tarsus,
the very same man who is now a guest in Philip's home. Perhaps
the reason Philip settled at Caesarea was because Saul of
Tarsus had driven him out of Jerusalem. But once Saul was
reconciled to God, all past offenses were forgotten. All past differences
were done away. Christ had received Paul into
his house, and so Philip received him into his house. He received
him as a brother and as a friend. Christ had forgotten the past,
so Philip forgot the past. Christ had forgiven all of Saul's
crimes, and so Philip forgave all of Saul's crimes. That's
what grace does for people. It makes them gracious, kind,
forgiving. It unites hearts that otherwise
have nothing in common. It unites hearts that otherwise
are opposed to one another. It makes men to dwell at peace
While Paul was in this man's home, a prophet by the name of
Agabus came down to Caesarea and he spoke of Paul's afflictions
and bonds that he would meet with at Jerusalem. Symbolically,
he took Paul's girdle and he bound his own hands and feet
and he said, thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem
bind the man that owneth this girdle. and shall deliver him
into the hands of the Gentiles." Now Paul and all of those around
heard this prophecy, and Paul's companions, those disciples at
Caesarea, and Philip and his daughters tenderly urged Paul
not to go to Jerusalem. They pleaded with him, don't
go to Jerusalem. This is obvious. You've heard
it over and over again. You're going to meet with terrible
affliction at Jerusalem. But Paul knew what he had to
do. He knew that his life was in peril and he knew what the
will of God was. And he was determined to obey
God's will even if his obedience should cost him his life. He
had said to the Ephesians, Behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto
Jerusalem, not knowing what things shall befall me there. And now
he has been plainly told by the Spirit of God what things will
surely befall him. But he is still determined to
go. The will of God had not changed.
And so he said to his friends in verse 13, What mean ye to
weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not only to be
bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
And I like the next scene, when these men and women at Caesarea
realized that Paul could not be persuaded to follow the course
of safety. When they realized that this
man was determined according to the Spirit of God and by the
will of God to go to Jerusalem, they followed the example of
Thomas. Do you remember when the disciples tried to get our
Lord not to go up to Bethany into Judea? They said the Jews
of late had sought thee to kill thee. And Thomas, when the Lord
was determined to go, he said to the rest of the fellows, let's
go with him that we may die with him. Remember that? Now look
here in verse 15. After these people saw that they
could not dissuade Paul, after those days we took up our carriages
and went up to Jerusalem. They packed their bags and they
said, well, if you won't stay here, we'll go there. And they
followed him to Jerusalem. Now, the apostle Paul spoke to
them as he did, let them know what he was certain God would
have him to do. And then in verse 14, When he
would not be persuaded, we ceased. We stopped pleading with him.
We stopped reasoning with him. We realized that we were out
of order. Not that their concern was out
of order. Not even that their words were out of order, but
they were pleading with Paul not to go because of danger.
They knew that God had said, danger awaits. And they pleaded
with him not to go. Paul said, I've got to go. And
so we ceased reasoning with him and we said, The will of the
Lord be done. The will of the Lord be done. Now that's my subject for this
evening. It is our responsibility and
it is in our own soul's best interest to submit all things
to the will of God. We should trust God absolutely
in all things. And in all things in our hearts,
not that we should necessarily go around saying with our mouths,
though perhaps we say it too little, but in our hearts we
must in all things give this acknowledgement and make this
confession, the will of the Lord be done. Let him do what he will
with me. I know that he is a good God
and he will do nothing but that which is good for me and best
for the cause of his own glory. It is an act of faith for us
to submit all things regarding our plans to the will of God
and say, as Jane told us, if the Lord will, we will live and
do this or that. That is, we make our plans. I'm
planning, Lord willing, to go to Beckley, West Virginia next
Monday afternoon. I'll be preaching there Monday
through Thursday. Now, that's my plan. I have made
agreement to go. But in making those plans, I
fully recognize If the Lord will, I'll live until then, and I will
travel there and I will preach the gospel and return to you,
but it's all dependent upon God's will. Not only is it an act of
faith to submit our plans to the will of God, but it's an
act of patience to meekly endure the trials and afflictions of
life in submission to God's will, saying, as Eli of old, it is
the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. That is, once something has come
upon us, whether it's some trial of sickness or domestic trouble
or financial difficulty or whether it's persecution from men or
slander or reproach, whatever it is, we might say with Eli
in all things, it is the Lord. This is God's hand. Let him do
what seemeth him good. That's patience. That's an act
of faith as well. Whenever we study and seek the
will of God as it's revealed in the scriptures, we must recognize
that the word of God clearly describes and defines God's will
in three distinct ways. There is the secret will of God,
the revealed will of God, and the providential will of God.
Let me refresh your minds a little bit. First, the secret will of
God. The secret will of God is God's
eternal purpose and decree. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 46.
We'll just look at a few scriptures. Isaiah chapter 46. Everything
in this universe is ordered and arranged by God's eternal decree. Everything that comes to pass,
comes to pass exactly as God from eternity purposed that it
must. Nothing happens by chance. Nothing
happens by some stroke of luck. Nothing happens by blind fate. God is the first cause of all
things. Now listen to me. Some things
are permitted by God, and some things are directly caused by
God. But all things were decreed,
ordained, and predestined of God. Do you understand that?
God permits some things. That is, He does not force men
to do the things they do. They do them of their own free
will, but God permits them to do those things. Other things
are directly caused by God, but all things were predestined,
ordained, and decreed of God in eternity. Look here in Isaiah
46 and verse 9. Remember the former things of
old. For I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me. I am the only one, he says, who
declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. That is, my eternal decree, my
eternal purpose, my eternal will, my eternal pleasure shall be
done. Look at verse 13. I'm sorry,
verse 11. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country,
that is, God calls the raven to come and feed his prophet.
And God calls the pagan warrior to come and to deliver his people.
Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have
purposed it, I will also do it. In verse 13 he says, I bring
near my righteousness, it shall not be far off. My salvation
shall not tarry, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel
my glory. Now what God is telling us is
just this, everything that comes to pass, is called in to be and
brought to pass because God from eternity said it must be. God
from eternity said it must be. I said that God permits some
things while he causes others but that all were decreed of
God. Let me illustrate it for you.
God did not cause Judas to betray his son. Judas betrayed the Son
of God because he loved money. He wanted that 30 pieces of silver.
Judas betrayed the Son of God because his heart was greedy,
because his free will was let run in its own course. He did
exactly what he wanted to do without any impulse, without
any compulsion exercised upon him by God. Satan entered into
Judas' heart and Judas did what he wanted to do. But he did exactly
what God in Psalm 69 said was going to be done. Exactly what
he said. Judas betrayed the Son of God. Our Savior said, the
Son of Man goeth as it is written of him or as it is decreed of
him. But woe unto the man by whom
the Son of Man is betrayed. Better for him if he had never
been born. Another example is the death of our Lord. God did
not call the Jews to crucify Christ. He in no way forced them
to do anything contrary to their will. He in no way placed any
compulsion upon them. But the Jews themselves, out
of their envy, malice, and self-righteous hatred of Christ, took the Son
of God and gave Him to the Romans and they cried, Crucify Him!
Crucify Him! His blood be on us and on our
children. And they walked around the cross
and they did things, as you read the history of the crucifixion,
You could almost think that those Jews looked at the scriptures
and read where it said, well, they plucked off my hair so I
went and grabbed a handful of beard and jerked it off of his
face. Or they mocked me and I become the song of the drunkard. So
the drunks got together and they sang a mocking song of the Son
of God. They did exactly what was written
in the scriptures. And the scripture tells us that
the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered into their hands and was crucified
and slain by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Now, I don't pretend to understand
all that I tell you, but I know it's taught in the Scriptures.
God does not force men to do evil things. God does not cause
men to do evil things. But nothing takes God by surprise.
God predestined, God ordained, God decreed all that ever comes
to pass. Everything that comes to pass
in time was purposed by God in eternity, for of Him are all
things. Then secondly, the revealed will
of God is that for which we are responsible to perform. Our responsibility
is not determined by the decree of God. Our responsibility is
determined by the revelation of God. God revealed to Paul
that he must go to Jerusalem. Therefore, it became his responsibility
to go to Jerusalem. God told Paul that he must be
his witness unto all men. Therefore, it became Paul's responsibility
to be an obedient messenger of the gospel. So that he said,
necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. That man, you see, who knows
the will of God, but refuses to obey it, stands before God
as a rebel, and he will perish as a rebel. We will either bow
to Christ and obey his will, or we will be crushed with the
rod of his wrath. I'll give you a couple of illustrations.
We know from the revelation of God in Scripture That it is not
God's purpose. It is not God's decree to save
all men. It is not His decree to save
all men. He's going to save His elect.
But God commands all men everywhere to repent. Therefore, all men
are responsible to repent before God. And all who do repent, God
promises them life on the condition of their repentance. If they
refuse, they will perish. If men refuse to believe, they
will perish. I received a letter from a fellow
this week who got a hold of something I had written, and he wanted
to get me straightened out. I suppose he thought I hadn't
really studied what I wrote down before I wrote it, so he was
going to kindly instruct me and let me know that salvation comes
to men before they believe. I know that. I know. I'm not
a dummy. I know that a dead man can't
believe. I know men must be regenerate in order to have faith. But I
know that God never speaks of regeneration where He doesn't
speak of faith. The Word of God never speaks
of a regenerate unbeliever. Those who are born of God believe,
and by that faith they receive God's salvation. And if they
do not believe, they shall perish in their sins. All believers
are responsible to be baptized because God commands us in his
word to follow Christ in baptism. Now that which he has revealed
becomes our responsibility. Somebody says, well, does a man
have to be saved to be baptized? No, he isn't. Or does a man have
to be baptized if he's going to be saved? The answer is no. He's not saved by his baptism,
but yes, because he's not saved without his baptism. You understand
that? Does that make sense, Lindsay?
You've got to obey Christ. If you do not obey Christ, He's
not your Lord and your faith is a phony. Your faith is a farce. Your faith is a mockery. God's
people obey Him at the point of His revelation. We seek to know God's will and
the way He reveals His will is in His Word, the Scriptures,
by the witness of His Spirit within, by our seeking Him in
prayer, and by the work of his good providence, so that all
of these things together make us to know what the will of God
is in various given circumstances. And whatsoever he saith unto
you, that is, whatever God reveals to you and to me with regard
to his will, do it. Whatever it is, do it. Do it.
You see, once we know God's will, We must perform it regardless
of cost or consequence. Our obedience must not be determined
by the cost of that obedience or even by the likelihood of
our success in that obedience. Our obedience is determined by
one thing only. Has God said do it? Has God said
do it? If God says do it, do it. Do it. That's how the believer
walks before God. But then there is also the providential
will of God. The providential will of God,
simply put, is whatever happens. Whatever happens. Whatever comes
to pass in time is the providential will of God. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything
give thanks. Everything. In everything. Paul, do you understand what
you're saying? Yes, he understands. In everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Whatever it is you experience,
whatever the trial, whatever the difficulty, whatever the
heartache, whatever the pleasure, whatever the joy, whatever the
prosperity, whatever it is that you presently experience, this
is God's will concerning you. Right now it is. Whatever comes
to pass, be it good or evil, is brought to pass by the will
of God in providence. Providence is simply the rule
of God over all things for the accomplishment of His eternal
decree. It is God bringing to pass in
time what He purposed in eternity. Now, it's our responsibility
to willingly submit to God's providential will in all things
with quietness, contentment, patience, and hope, trusting
Him. In these three things, it is
our responsibility to trust God's will of purpose. It is our responsibility
to obey God's will of revelation, and it is our responsibility
to submit to God's will of providence. Now, I don't know what the future
holds for us. I don't know what's going to
come to pass. I don't have a crystal ball sitting
on my desk by which I can divine the future, nor do I have the
gift of prophecy by which I may know through revelation the future
which God has in store in his own purpose. I do not know what
God in providence may bring to pass for you or for me, for this
congregation or for the Church of God as a whole. But I do know
this. I do know this. I know that whatever
befalls us, be it good or Whatever befalls us, it is our responsibility
to submit to our God and to say as these disciples, the will
of the Lord be done. Whatever befalls us, it is our
responsibility to submit to the will of God and to say as these
disciples, the will of the Lord be done. Now tonight I want,
if the Spirit of God will enable me, to set before you four plain,
simple lessons, which I trust we will learn by the grace of
God. Turn first to that passage I
quoted earlier in 1 Thessalonians 5, and I want you to learn this
lesson. It is a lesson which God taught
me in the earliest stages of my experience as a believer,
but I haven't learned it yet. You understand? I know it. I know it. But I'm still learning
it. I pray that God will make me
to learn it truly in my heart. Whatever comes to pass in time
is God's will for me. Whatever it is. Look here in
1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18. In everything give thanks. For this is, this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever comes to pass is
God's will for you and it is God's will that you in all things
give thanks to Him. Now this is the plain statement
of Scripture. All things are of God and all
things are yours because ye are Christ and Christ is God. Do you believe that? If I am
a believer, if I am called of God, if I do by the grace of
God love the Lord Jesus Christ, all that comes to pass is brought
to pass by the hand of God's providence for my spiritual good. There is nothing so high or lofty
but that God does it. the angels of heaven, and the
events of the heavens. We're living in what they call
the nuclear space age. And the kids at school are studying
things we never dreamed about when we were kids. Whatever there
is in the heavens, whatever takes place in the heavens, there is
nothing so high but that God by His hand is performing it. Do you see that? Daniel said,
or Nebuchadnezzar said, he doeth according to his will in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and
none can stay his hand, or saying to him, what doest thou? The
sun above does not shine, but as God by his hand needs it light. The rains of the heavens do not
descend, but as God by his hand brings the rain upon the earth,
the early and the latter rain. There is nothing so small and
common that it escapes God's providential rule. Turn over
to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. There's nothing
so high and lofty, but what the hand of God does it. And there's
nothing so low, so small, and so common that it escapes God's
providential rule. Now if you don't understand what
I'm saying, that is a great God. I'm talking about God Almighty.
I'm talking about God who knows everything without learning anything. I'm talking about God who knows
everything and never forgets anything. I'm talking about God
who has all power and yet nothing strains Him. I'm talking about
God who is in infinite control of everything and directs everything
by the will of His own heart. Everything comes to pass by the
hand of His power. What's so slouch? I saw it shake. God did that. God did that. Preacher, you really believe
that? With all my heart I believe that. particles of dust in the
atmosphere. If there were one floating around
outside God's control, I'd be running for cover. My father
rules this world. Look here in Matthew 10 and verse
29. Are not two sparrows sold for
a penny? And one of them shall not fall
to the ground without your father. I used to be a right ornery fella.
When I was a boy, we had lots of English sparrows around the
city where I lived. And I got a sling shot first
and got pretty good with it. I don't know how many of them
I knocked out of trees. But I never knocked one out of a tree but
what the dog called the sparrow. Not one. I watched the sparrows
out here and these blackbirds and others out here in the parking
lot here in the day sometimes. They'll be sitting on that wire.
They'll fall to the ground, get a little slip of the feet, fly
back up on that wire, directed by the hand of God's prophetess.
Now, does God care for sparrows? No, but he's telling you that
he who watches over the sparrow is your father. Look in verse
30. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. For some of us, that's no great
feat. Shirley Gardner could probably
tell you how many hairs I've got on my head, especially toward
the top of the back. God, our Father, before the world
was, before the world was, calculated and ordained, He ordained from
eternity the very number of the hairs on your head and mine. And it didn't even strain his
mind to do it. Do you follow me? Nothing is so small that
it escapes the hand of God's providence. I pick up my hairbrush,
brush my hair, and out comes a handful of hair. It was ordained
of God. Everything. God takes notice
of and rules with infinite wisdom the most trivial, insignificant
things. And that's a mighty comfort to
the believing heart.