Now, if you'll turn again in
your Bible to the book of Acts, called the Acts of the Apostles,
but we could rightly call it the Acts of God, the Acts of
God. In Acts chapter 21, the title
of my message is found in verse 14, the will of the Lord be done."
The will of the Lord be done. Now, notice if you will, verse
1, and we'll work our way down to verse 14. Verse 1 of Acts
21. And notice this phrase here,
and this is just not a passing phrase, or this is just not filling
up some space here with some words. These are God-given inspired,
inerrant, words on purpose that God speaks and it came to pass. And it came to pass. Not by chance, not by luck, we
ought not ever use that word in our vocabulary, just strike
it out. It came to pass not by luck,
not by chance, not by cruel fate. It came to pass because the Lord
brought it to pass. It came to pass by the sovereign
decree of God. You see, my friend, God rules
and reigns over all things. In the life of the believer,
nothing happens by chance, nothing, but by God's sovereign purpose. We read in scripture, of him
and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory both
now and forever. All things are of God. It came to pass. It came to pass. From this chapter through the
end of the book of Acts, we find the Apostle Paul is the prisoner
of somebody of somebody from this day in chapter 21 beginning
when he's arrested for the gospel to the end when he's taken to
Rome and dies there for the gospel sake. He's a prisoner of somebody.
But you know he never called himself the prisoner of Rome
or the prisoner of the Jews. He calls himself this. Turn to
Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1. He uses this phrase repeatedly
in his prison epistles, when he's actually writing these epistles
from Rome, and they're considered prison epistles, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, these others, he calls himself here in Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 1, for this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Again in chapter 4 of Ephesians,
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called." He never considered
himself a prisoner of anyone but God's captive, God's servant. Now notice if you look again
at verse 1, chapter 21, and it came to pass that after we were
gotten from them, we launched and came straight course unto
coast, the following day following unto road. and then to Patra
and finding ships sailing over Phoenicia. We went aboard and
set forth. Now, notice what it says here
in verse 1, after we were gotten from them. Now, it's an interesting
phrase there. It actually means, and he's talking
about being separated from these that we read about in chapter
20, these elders from Ephesus to whom he instructed them, his
final words of instruction, And then they kneeled down together
and prayed together, and they wept sore and hugged one another
and kissed one another, and literally it says, where we were gotten
from them, we were torn apart. Separated. Torn apart. You know, that was a painful
separation. They wept most of all because
Paul said, you are going to see my face no more. It was a painful separation. And there are many painful separations
that take place in our life. In our life. Our children, given
of God, they grow up, and one day they leave, and they go out
on their own. That's a painful, painful separation. And then we see this. Oftentimes,
Our dear loved ones are called away. Death. God has appointed
a day in which we all shall die and there's a separation. That's
painful. I would not talk lightly of it. It's a painful separation. There are many separations that
Paul went through as he went and preached the gospel and then
was moved to a different city, a different location. And there
was a painful separation. And we experience those in our
life. However, the Lord has promised us to never depart from us. To never separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus. Now that ought to encourage us.
Turn to Romans 8. There's never a separation from
the Lord God Almighty. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God. which is in Christ Jesus. Romans
8 verse 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, persecution, or famine, nakedness, peril,
or sword? As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Romans 8 verse 37, Nay, in all
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded This is my persuasion right here, that neither death
nor life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things
that come, height or depth, nor any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. No separation from this love
of God. Beloved, now are we sons of God.
And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall
appear we shall be like Him. Turn to Matthew chapter 28. Matthew
chapter 28. Our Lord said, I'll never leave
you, I'll never forsake you. We'll never be separated from
our blessed Savior. When the believer dies in this
life, we are separated from this body of clay. But to be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord. There's no separation
from Him. In Matthew 28, The risen Lord said to His disciples,
verse 18, all powers given unto me in heaven and earth, go ye
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always.
You say, well, I don't feel His presence. He didn't ask you to
feel His presence. He said, Believe my word, I'm
with you always, even to the end of the world. That ought
to comfort us. No separation. No separation. Now, back to the story. Finding
ship. And it came to pass. God sent
a ship. We sailed over. Went abroad. Went aboard and set forth. Now,
when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand,
he's sailing south, sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre, for
there the ship was to unlay her burden. Verse 4, And finding
disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through
the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. From Miletus, Paul took ship
and sailed south, And he found believers there and fellowshiped
with them seven days. These believers here, like those
in other places, warned Paul of the impending danger. Do you
remember back in chapter 20, verse 24? Verse 23 of chapter
20. Verse 22, Now behold, I go bound
in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the thing that shall
befall me there, save except that the Holy Spirit witness
in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me,
but none of those things move me, neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in
the ministry which I have received of the Lord, the Lord Jesus,
to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. These believers here warned Paul
of the impending danger in Jerusalem, but God graciously was preparing
Paul for the trouble that was to come. God sent him warning
after warning, and what was happening here, and it came to pass, God
was preparing him for the trouble that he would face. In this life
you shall have tribulation." God has sent us message after
message after message to warn us of the trouble that we will
have in this life. Just as He did Paul, preparing
us for the day of heartache, for the day of trouble. Turn
to John 16. We read in Acts chapter 14, in this, we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Man that's born
of woman's few days and full of trouble. You know anything
about it? John 16, 33. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome. God was preparing the Apostle
Paul for trouble, and God has sent warning after warning to
prepare us for the day of trouble and to tell us and to instruct
us that these trials come from the hand of our loving Father
and they're for our good. And he calls them precious. Turn
to 1 Peter chapter 1. Trials and heartache and trouble
come from the hand of our loving Father, whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 1 Peter
1, look at this here. Wherein, verse 6, you greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness
to manifold trials. that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than gold, that perisheth though it
be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ." Trials don't
produce faith, but I tell you what they do, they reveal whether
faith is genuine or phony, these trials at sin of God. If need
be, saving faith will be Tried. God had one Son without sin,
none without trials. Is that right? The Lord Jesus
was tried and tempted and tested in all points like as we are
yet without sin. Now back to the text. Notice
verse 5. Here He spent seven days with
these disciples here in this city. And when we had accomplished
those days, we departed and went our way, and they all brought
us on our way with their wives and children until we were out
of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And
when we had taken leave one of another, we took ship, and they
went home." Here's another separation. But here's a lovely sight, is
it not? Whole families gathered around
God's servant, and it says there, went through the city, till we
were out of the city, they walked Paul to the ship, not being ashamed
to identify with God's servant, not being ashamed to identify
with God's gospel, they walked publicly through the street identifying
with this man, and then they prayed together and parted company. What a lovely sight. God's people,
now listen to me friend, God's people when they hear the truth,
And when God gives them grace in their heart to believe the
truth, they're not going to be satisfied in their heart till
they find some place where the gospel of God's grace is preached
and then identify with that congregation and with that gospel of God's
grace. I've experienced that personally
and have talked to others who have experienced this in their
life. When God taught us the gospel, You know where we were
living? Right in the city in the midst
of a gospel preacher named Pastor Henry Mahan. And when God was
pleased to take that truth and teach us the gospel, we sought
out some place where this message of grace was preached, and it
came to pass! God had a servant right there
in that city. You see, it came to pass. How
does a little boy from way out in the Rocky Mountains, raised
up in heathen religion, get all the way to Ashland, Kentucky
to hear the message of God's grace? And it came to pass. My wife was born and raised in
Ashland, Kentucky, and God sent me a wife from that city so that
we might hear the gospel. It wasn't chance, luck, or fate. It came to pass. It came to pass. And we identified. Oftentimes
when we left the religion where we were, false religion, and
folks among my wife's family would ask us, well, where are
you going now? Why did you leave us now? Where
are you at now? Over there at 13th Street. the
next word out of their mouth, oh mayhem. Oh, I say thank God for his servants
called and sent to preach the gospel and it came to pass. And I sat there and listened
to that man and God taught me the gospel of God's grace in
Christ Jesus. Not a shame to identify with
that message, God's people God's servants. And that's what they
did here. We went on our way with the wives and the children.
They brought the whole family. And that's what we did. Bring
your children to worship service. Put them under the gospel. Demand
that they come. As long as they're living under
your roof, demand that they come. There's no option here. God will be pleased to use that.
to their salvation, the Lord willing. We kneeled down on the
shore and prayed. Look at verse 6. When we had
taken our leave one another, we took ship and returned home.
Verse 7. Paul traveling on, of course,
we came to Ptolemaeus, saluted the brethren there and abode
with them one day. Notice everywhere he goes he is seeking out believers.
He is seeking out disciples. And abode with them one day.
There is no more pleasant thing than to be in the company of
one another, believers, fellowshipping in and around the gospel of Jesus
Christ. We are fellows in the same ship.
Christ, He is the Master. He is our Lord. He is our salvation. And they stayed there one day
and then Paul moved on, verse 8, The next day we came, we that
were of Paul's company, and he had several that traveled with
him. You can see the reference there in chapter 20, verse 4,
where it names those who traveled with Paul. But Paul came the
next day to Caesarea, those who were with him, Timothy and Luke
and others, and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist,
which was one of the seven. and stayed with him many days,
it says in verse 10. And this man, Philip, the preacher
of the gospel, he was one of the seven, the seven deacons
that were chosen there in the early church. And they stayed
together, worshipped together around the gospel. Now we learn
from this that Paul didn't travel alone. God gave him faithful
faithful companions in the Gospel. He called them fellow laborers.
He called them workmen together. Workmen together. And certainly,
Philip was one of these workers. Paul stayed with them many days.
It says here that Philip was one of the seven. You remember,
they chose seven deacons to serve the widows and take care of those
who were in need, and Philip was one of those. But Philip
was also a preacher of the Gospel. Turn to Acts chapter 8. The book
of Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, when there was persecution,
verse 4 in Acts 8, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere
preaching the Word of God. They were persecuted there in
Jerusalem and God scattered them and they went everywhere preaching
the Word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. And then later, down in verse
26, of Acts chapter 8. And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, go toward the south unto the way
that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza. And he arose and went,
and he preached to this eunuch here in the desert. What did
he preach? Verse 35, Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at
the same scripture, and preached unto him the Savior, the Lord
Jesus. Now notice this, in verse 39
of Acts 8, when Philip baptized the eunuch, and he baptized him
because he believed the gospel, he went on his way rejoicing,
Philip saw him no more, but Philip was found at Azotus, and passing
through, he preached in all the cities until he came to..." Look
where he came. He came to Caesarea. Now, twenty
years later, turn back to Acts 21, we find Philip there at Caesarea,
still faithful to the gospel, preaching the gospel of God's
grace, and God gave him these four daughters, four daughters
who heard the gospel from Philip their dad, and God used this
gospel, this message to save them, to make them new creatures
in Christ Jesus, and God gave them the burden to witness the
gospel to others as fulfilling the Scripture. Turn to Acts chapter
2. You remember way back over here,
Joel said in his prophecy that your sons and daughters will
prophesy. And Peter said, this is that.
Acts chapter 2, verse 17, And it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, this is Acts 2, 17, I will pour out my
Spirit upon all flesh, And your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those days my Spirit, and they
shall have the spirit of prophecy." The spirit of prophecy. Now this
doesn't mean, And I know some would probably misuse this verse,
but this doesn't mean that these women were pastors over churches
or teaching men in a position of authority. But I believe it
does teach this, that these women heard the gospel, believed the
gospel, embraced the gospel, and became a witness and a testimony
to the gospel of God's grace. And I'm sure they witnessed to
others, other women. and others in their community
of the gospel of the grace of God. We've seen this through
the book of Acts. There was that lady named Dorcas.
Remember? She made coats for believers.
And I'm sure as she made coats for believers who were in need,
and she prepared that coat and presented it to them, you know
what she told them? She told them about the covering
of righteousness in Christ Jesus. I'm almost confident of it. And
God, by His grace, sent a trial, and this lady got sick and died,
and God sent Peter to her house and raised her up. Oh, what a
testimony she has now! She could tell somebody about
the grace of God, couldn't she? You see how God uses women, my
friend. Don't discount this ministry
that God uses. How about in Acts chapter 6,
verse 16, when Paul came to Philippi there? and was seeking a place
to worship. And they went down by the creek
side, and guess who was there? A bunch of women praying, worshiping,
and Paul went down there and preached the gospel to the one
named Lydia, and God opened her heart. And from that little ministry
on the creek bank, God raised up a church there, and we have
a letter written to those there at Philippi. I'll tell you another. This is interesting. You want
to turn and see this. Luke chapter 2. Some of you women
will be encouraged here to have a testimony and to bear witness
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus to others. And I know you do.
But this will encourage you. Luke chapter 2. Turn over there.
Now often when we turn to Luke chapter 2 and we see the Lord
Jesus coming to the temple there, And there's a man named Simeon,
remember? And it was revealed to him that
he would not die until he'd seen the Lord's Christ. And when they
brought in the Lord, the Lord Jesus, the babe, in Luke 2, 29,
Lord, He said, Now let us, thy servant, depart in peace according
to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. as a great
testimony which thou hast prepared before the face of all people
alike to like the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel."
And we talk about sinning all the time and we forget the rest
of the story. Look at verse 36, "...and there
was one Anna." There was one Anna. I remember years ago, Pastor
Tim James came to 13th Street and he preached the whole message
on one Anna. One Anna, one woman, a prophetess,
the daughter of Phanuel, the tribe of Asher. She was of great
age and lived with her husband seventy years from her virginity.
And she was a widow, about fourscore and four years old, which departed
not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers
night and day. And she, coming in that instant,
gave thanks likewise. She said the same thing Simeon
had said, Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. She gave thanks likewise unto
the Lord and spake of Him to all that look for redemption
in Jerusalem." What'd she do? She spake of Him. That's what
we ought to do. Male or female, we should speak
of Him and point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. I've often
heard Pastor Mahan talk about the work there in Lexington,
Kentucky, where Pastor Nybert has been there for 25 years or
more. And oftentimes those young ladies
there in that congregation from Ashland who grew up there, who
heard the gospel, God was pleased to save them, save those ladies
by His grace. And they would grow up, graduate
from high school, and they'd move to Lexington, go to college.
And as they went to college, they attended classes, but on
weekends they go worship. And by and by it came to pass
that a boy came in their life. And they started taking that
young man to worship services. And it came to pass God in His
grace saved many of those young men who were brought there by
the hand of a lady who believed the gospel. And now that ministry
down there has grown so much that right now they've enlarged
the building once and they're seeking to enlarge the building
again, they can't get folks in there. God has been pleased to
send this gospel out through the testimony of His people.
They went everywhere. Don't discount the personal testimony
that you bear to your family, to your neighbors. Invite them
to come. Invite them and pray the Lord
will be pleased to save them with the Word of Truth. Well, let's move on in the story
and I've spent too much time on that, but it needs to be said. Well, God sent another prophet
named Agabus. This is the same man who came
when Paul was at Antioch and told about a great drought that
would come in the land. And they sent relief to those
believers there in Jerusalem. Just as Agabus said it would
come to pass, it did come to pass. But when this man came
to the house of Philip, he took Paul's clothing, bound his own
hands and said, so shall the Jews do to the man who owns this
coat. bind in the hands of the Gentiles.
And you can read over in that later part of the chapter, verse
33. And when they heard these things,
both we and they of the place besought him not to go. They
said, Paul, don't go. Paul answered and said, what,
me need to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready not
only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name
of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded,
we ceased saying the will of the Lord, Now, out of love and
concern for Paul's safety, all who heard the prophet's message
begged Paul not to go. Sound familiar? Turn to Matthew
16. Matthew 16. Sometimes even faithful
believers demonstrate weakness and the sinfulness of unbelieving
flesh when God just said what He said is so and will come to
pass. I'll give you an example of that.
Turn to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. The Lord Jesus in
verse 21 of Matthew 16, from that time forth began Jesus to
show unto His disciples how that He must go to Jerusalem. suffered
many things of the elders and chief priests and the scribes
and be killed and be raised again the third day. And Peter took
him and began to rebuke him. Oh Lord, don't go! Saying, Be
it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned,
the Lord turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan, for thou
art on a fence unto me. Thou sabrest not the things that
be of God, but those that be of men. You see, this was God's
will and God's purpose for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Paul was
determined to preach the gospel. Notice in verse 13, he said,
I'm ready. I'm ready. God prepared him. How prepared are those whom the
Lord prepares? You remember his last words written
in 2 Timothy 4? He said, I'm ready. I'm ready
to be offered. I'm ready to depart. However
precious life is, yet the will of our God and the cause of Christ
is greater. I'm not only willing to be bound,
be arrested, but to die. Paul was determined to preach
Christ, determined to give his life if need be for the furtherance
of the gospel. God help us to have this same
determination, same determination to give what it takes to the
furtherance of the gospel of God's grace. Verse 14, he would
not be persuaded, and they ceased trying to. In spite of all their
attempts to change Paul's mind, he was fully persuaded to submit. They were to God's will, the
will of the Lord be done. Good example for us. Saying,
the will of the Lord be done. The will of the Lord be done. Seeing and knowing His firm resolve
and steadfastness in faith, we ceased opposition and submitted
to the will of the Lord." Wise thing to do, to bow to the will
of God. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. Nothing will justify the neglect
and disobedience of the known will of God. I'll give you an
example of that. You remember the story of young
Samuel. And he was given to the Lord in the temple. And Eli was
the priest. But Eli had two rebellious sons. You can read about it in 1 Samuel
chapter 3 and 4. And God revealed to Samuel that
he was going to kill the two boys of Eli the priest. They
were two rascals. They misused the ministry. And
God was going to kill them and He told young Samuel to tell
Eli and he wouldn't do it at first. And Eli said, you tell
me what the Lord's told you. And he said, okay, God's going
to kill your two boys. Wait a minute, that's not fair!
Wait a minute! No, you know what he said? It's
the Lord. Let him do what seems good in
his sight. It's the Lord. When Samuel told
Eli, he bowed to the will of God. See what he's saying here? The will of the Lord be done.
The will of the Lord be done. This is the essence of faith.
The will of the Lord be done. This is submission to the Lord's
will. You read the story of Job. Lost all of his animals, all
of his livestock, all of his goods, even his own children. They came and told him they're
all dead. Remember what he said? I came
naked. I'm going to go back to the Lord
naked. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the
name of the Lord. With all this he sinned not against
God." Wait a minute, my children are gone. The Lord gave, the
Lord hath taken away. Who are we to complain? These
are His children. Our Lord teaches us to pray this
way. Thy will be done. Turn to Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Just give
me a couple of minutes here. Matthew chapter 6. Our Lord taught
us to pray that way, didn't He? Matthew 6. Verse 10, Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself prayed that way. Turn to Matthew 26.39. Matthew
26.39. when he was in the garden, praying
to the Father on the eve of Calvary's crucifixion. In Matthew 26, verse
39, he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as Thou will. Submission. Submission. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. This is what faith is, and this
is what faith does. It doesn't buck, it bows to God,
to God's will, to God's Word. We receive the Word, not as the
Word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God. We bow
in submission to the Lordship of Christ, and we confess He
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is what faith is
and what faith does. It bows to God's Word. It receives it and bows to it
and obeys it and submits to it. To God's Word and to God's will
in salvation and in providence. In salvation, not of him who
willeth or of him who runneth, but it's God that will show mercy
to whom he will. We bow to God's sovereignty in
salvation. Do you have a problem with that?
He will have mercy on whom He will. And we bow to God's will
in providence. Remember in James chapter 3 when
he talked about, don't say, we're going to go here, we're going
to do this, we're going to come, we're going to go. Say, the Lord
willing will do this and do that. Well, that's a good thing for
us to remember. The will of the Lord. the will
of the Lord be done." True faith bows lovingly to the will of
the Lord in providence and in salvation and in all things.