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You may be seated, I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the 16th chapter of the book of Acts. We're going to be in Acts 16, verses 6 -10 today, which we'll read in just a moment.
In 1785, Robert Burns authored a poem which contained a line which would become part of the popular vernacular for the ages that followed. He wrote of a plowman who was working in his field. In the midst of his plowing, the plowman, unbeknown to him, overturned a mouse nest, which the mouse had prepared for the winter.
Without the nest, the scurrying mouse, mice rather, would now be left to the elements and likely would not survive. It was in that scene that Burns drew the phrase, The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
The meaning of Burns' poem was simple. We can plan, and we can plot, but in all of our scheming, we cannot control the future. The best a man can do is plan, but he cannot control what tomorrow will bring.
Well, for the unbeliever, such a thing can be too much to bear. In fact, the unbeliever often goes to great lengths to control his reality, when all of that control is often just an illusion. Do we realize that no human being can know for sure what will happen next?
Not in the world, not in the economy, not in politics, not in our relationships, not while we drive down the road, and not even in our own bodies. As much as the world might try to convince us that we are masters of our fate and captains of our destiny, we know that we are not.
And that lack of control often causes fear and trepidation for those who do not have God as their Lord and Savior. They look to anything they can. Think about it. If you go to cities and you go walking down the streets, you go across psychics, mediums, palm readers, and those who sit in front of a crystal ball.
Why do those people, even in 2016, continue to make money? Why is there still a psychic hotline that continues to make money? Because in our desperation for tomorrow, and knowing what will be, we still seek them out.
Believers also have an issue. We know that we are not in control, and yet we want to fight for control. We know that we can't micromanage our own existence, and yet we try. All the while forgetting that we are not the ones truly in charge.
As the writer of Proverbs understood, and he wrote, the mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. I often wonder how those who deny the sovereignty of God understand a verse like that.
Proverbs 19 .21 says, Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Years ago, we changed our church name. Many of you were here when we did that, and we decided to call our church Sovereign Grace Family Church.
And in doing so, we were declaring our confidence. We were declaring our confidence in God's sovereignty over all things. This is our way of saying that we are sure, with all confidence, that God is in control, and we know that while we have plans, God's plan is ultimately the one that will stand.
He has a plan that He is working out in our lives, and in the world around us, and in the end, He will be glorified when it is accomplished. Well, today we are continuing in the book of Acts, and we're going to see that the Apostle Paul had a plan.
He had a direction. He was going a direction, and God said, No, you are not going there. You're not going to do that. In fact, you're going elsewhere. And of course, it was the will of the Lord that prevailed.
We're going to see that Paul, rather than being disobedient or fighting the will of God, was an example of obedience to us all. So let's stand together and read. Acts 16, beginning in verse 6. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go down into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.
A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him, and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Father in heaven, I pray this morning that you would, by your Spirit, use the word of God to comfort and convict hearts. Where comfort is needed, I pray that comfort would come. And where conviction is needed, I pray that that would come.
And ultimately, Lord, I pray that you would keep me from error. For I am certainly capable of preaching error. I pray, Lord, for protection from that, not only for my sake, but for the sake of your people.
And I do pray that as we tackle, in a sense, the weighty matter of the will of God, that, Lord, you would open our eyes. Open our hearts. Help us to understand what it is you have for us in your word today.
In Jesus' name, Amen. We have been studying the book of Acts together for quite a while, and we find ourselves this morning in the middle, or in the midst, rather, of Paul's second missionary journey.
In his first journey, he was accompanied by Barnabas, you will remember. But now, because of a disagreement with Barnabas regarding the person of John Mark, he is no longer with Barnabas, but rather now is accompanied by Silas and Timothy.
Timothy was a young man Paul had met during his journey, and he decided to take him and train him for ministry. And last week we saw that Timothy himself was an obedient person, willing to be circumcised, not for his salvation, but so that that would never be a stumbling block for his ministry to the Jews.
His father, you will remember, was a Greek. His mother was a Jew. And because of that, he had not been circumcised and not readily accepted in the Jewish community, but now he was. Now he was circumcised and could be accepted in the community, and that would not be a stumbling block for him preaching the gospel in these communities as they went about preaching together.
So Paul, Silas, and Timothy have set out on their journey. And in verses 4 and 5, we see what God is doing with them. It says, As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.
So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily. You see, this is a result of what happened in chapter 15. In chapter 15, there were men who came in and said, For you to be a Christian, you must first be a Jew.
For you to be saved, you must first be circumcised. The Jerusalem council said, No, that is not true. You do not have to be circumcised. Those men are preaching a false gospel. They're preaching a gospel of works, and the gospel is salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
And so they sent Paul out, and he went out, and now he is explaining the result of this situation to these churches. This area that they are in is the area of Galatia. Later, Paul would write a letter to them, and you are all familiar that there is a book in your Bible called the letter to the Galatians.
Well, that is the result of this situation. Paul writes to the Galatians later because this heresy, what we call Judaizing, had not yet been abandoned by some people, and it was still making inroads into the church even there in Galatia.
So Paul writes a very scathing letter to the Judaizers in Galatia, or to the churches rather, to watch out for the Judaizers. So this is what brings us now to the passage that we're studying. We come to verse 6, and it says,.
And they, and the they that's mentioned here, again, is Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
Now, this is a little hard. I was actually, in my preparation for this week's sermon, I got to thinking I really wish I had a map. I really wish I just had a big map that I could sort of walk you through what's happening here because without a map, it's kind of difficult.
And even our televisions, our screens are a little small. Even if I put a map up, you'd have a hard time seeing it. At least I would. My eyes are getting a little weathered as I get older. I would have a hard time seeing it.
But ultimately, Paul is going up from Antioch. He's going northwest. This puts him in direct course of a place called Asia. Now, this is not the Asia that we are familiar with today. The Asia that we're familiar with today includes China and India and many other places.
But the place it's being spoken of here is between Israel and Europe. And between Israel and Europe, there was a place called Asia which we call Asia Minor. So it's not the same as if you think Paul was prevented from going to speak to the Chinese people or to the Indian people.
That's not the same Asia that's being spoken of here. This would have been the natural course for him to take as he went north, up and away from Antioch. It would have been his natural course to go right into Asia Minor and begin to preach the gospel to these cities and bring churches into these cities.
And we do know that that eventually happens. Because if you go to the book of Revelation and you open the book of Revelation, the seven churches that are mentioned in Revelation, Sardis, Pergamum, Smyrna, Laodicea, Philadelphia, you know these churches that are mentioned in Revelation, they're all in Asia Minor.
So eventually the gospel will get there. We know that it's going to happen. But it's not going to happen now. Paul is headed that way. Paul is planning to preach in that area. In fact, he's planning to do what he always does.
Preach the gospel and plant churches. Preach the gospel and raise up leaders. Preach the gospel and see men and women come to Christ and build churches in these cities. That's Paul's mission. That's his goal.
It's always his goal. But the text says here, he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word. That word in the Greek, forbidden, means he was prevented. He was hindered. Now it doesn't say how.
It could be that Paul received a direct revelation from God. It could be that God, the Holy Spirit, came to him in direct revelation and said, Nope, you're not going there. But it could also be that something else prevented him.
Something occurred which kept him from going, and he interpreted that as a work of the Spirit keeping him from going there. The text is not entirely clear, but we do know this. Their plans were interrupted.
I'm going this way and God's preventing me from going that way. God's telling me no. And in verse 7, the same thing. It says in verse 7,. And when they had come to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia.
These are the same places. This is in Asia Minor. We're planning to go there. Interestingly enough, he's already been told no, but he's still heading that way. That couldn't be like us, could it? We've never been told no and continue to go, right?
Well, he's continuing on. And it says,. But the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Now, this is interesting. This is the only time in the Bible where the term the Spirit of Jesus is used. Now, what does that mean?
Well, there are times when the phrase Spirit of Christ is used. We see this in Romans 8. It says, however, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. So the term is used in regard to the Holy Spirit.
But this particular, usually we see Hagias Panouma. That's the Greek word for Holy Spirit. But in this, it is not Hagias Panouma. In this, it is Panouma Iesu, the Spirit of Jesus. And I think F .F. Bruce makes a good point in regard to this.
He says, It was the same Spirit who forbade them to speak the word in Asia, but the fact that on this occasion He is called the Spirit of Jesus may indicate that His guidance was now given through a prophecy uttered expressly in the name of Jesus.
By Jesus' name, don't go. Because He's already been told not to go. But He's still heading that direction. I tell you in Jesus' name, do not go there. This is your Lord and Savior. Listen up. Stop. You ever had to have something get through your thick skull?
Well, maybe so. Well, maybe that's what it is. In any sense, we know that the command is now compounded twice. You men are not to preach the word in Asia. So it says in verse 8, So passing by Mysia, they went on down to Troas.
Now, again, not having a map is a little difficult, but if I could give you an illustration. I've tried this before with my hand. That didn't work. So let me give you a better illustration. He's starting in Antioch.
And if you can imagine between me and where Brother Jim usually stands, we'll call that over there Macedonia, Europe. He's starting here in Antioch, and everything in between is Asia Minor. So He begins to go.
God says, don't preach here. Don't preach where you're going. So He bypasses all that to Troas. Troas is on the coast across the Aegean Sea from Macedonia. He's bypassed all of that to get to here. Okay?
Does that help some? Maybe? Just trying to make a visual. Just trying to help you understand. Hopefully putting a little bit. Because, again, in all this, Troas is far northwest. It's way out there. That's no short trip, by the way.
But you saw me take it in a couple of steps. It's 200 miles approximately. 200 miles from where He started to where He goes to Troas. It says it here. He said, well, passing by Mystia, He went on to Troas.
Like, that's no small thing. Imagine if you had to cover 200 miles by foot. How many days would that take us? How long would that be? Now, He's commanded not to preach. And I had a question in my own heart.
And I like to sometimes when I'm preaching, or when I'm studying to preach, rather, I think about the questions that I have. Because I think, well, maybe somebody else might have this question. Maybe you've had this question.
Maybe you haven't. But the question that I said, you know what? I wonder if He still stopped along the way and shared the Gospel. Because the Spirit is telling Him not to preach the Gospel in Asia. But I think the command is the command about not stopping and planting churches.
Because, you know, when Paul would go into a city and plant a church, he'd stay there for a long time. He'd stay there months to get the church started, to get the leadership built up. I don't think, and again, if you want to challenge me, call me to repentance, whatever.
I don't think that the Spirit is saying you can't share the Gospel as you go where you go. I think that He's saying don't stop. And don't go preach and stay in Asia for months. I think that as He's going, He's still preaching the Gospel.
But it's not, and the reason why I believe this, in a minute we're going to see He picks somebody up. Look at it very quickly. I'll jump ahead just for a second. Look down at verse 10. Verse 10, He says,.
And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia. Notice that we change from the third person plural to the first person plural. When it begins back up in verse 6, they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
That's third person plural. But at verse 10, He says,. But we... Who's the we? Guess what? They pick Luke up on the trip. Luke is the rider, and he now, in a very subtle way, indicates that he's joined the group.
And in just a few verses, he goes out again. And he starts talking in the third person plural again. So Luke is picked up along the way. So I don't think, and again, I can't prove it, and if you want to call me to repentance, you may.
But I don't think Paul was absolutely forbidden from sharing his faith as he went. Sharing the gospel as he went. Calling people to repentance as he went. But he was saying, don't go there and stop there.
We've got something for you, keep going. You've got something to get to. So don't stop. Does that make sense? Does everybody kind of understand what I'm saying here? And the reason why I say that, because oftentimes we wonder why God does what He does.
And we've often wondered about, you know, well, God, what are you doing? What are you doing in this? Why are you doing it this way? And if Paul would have stopped and said, you know what, God, I know you want me to go that way, but I really think I could plant a church right here.
I mean, I'm seeing converts, and Luke is following after me. I could plant a church right here. Why keep going if I see fruit here? Paul didn't do that, though. He was faithful. And even though he might not have understood why or what God was doing, he was faithful to continue going the way God had called him to go.
And in verse 9, as I said, we already jumped over this, but I want to go back now to verse 9. In verse 9, God gives him an answer that he probably had wanted to know. Why am I going this direction? Why am I doing this?
And in this verse 9, he gets that answer. It says,. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing there urging him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now again, as I said before, he's in Troas, which is a coast city on the Aegean Sea.
Well, right across the Aegean Sea is Macedonia. Now this, according to the way I read the text, Paul didn't get this vision until he got to Troas. So Paul went that 200 mile trip, not planning churches, not doing what he usually did, but he made that 200 mile trip in faith that God was doing something here.
And when he arrived at Troas, God honored his faith and said, Look, this is why you've come this far. Because now you're right across the sea from where you're going. You're right there. All you've got to do is get on a boat.
All you've got to do is sail across the sea. And it's just a short trip. And you'll be right where I had you planned the whole time. Macedonia, by the way, was the dominant power in the Greek world under Alexander the Great.
But at this point, it was a Roman province. And I say this for this one reason. Paul is about to do something which will have impact on all of us. Because Paul is about to take the gospel into the first steps of Europe.
And guess what will happen from there? It will spread throughout Europe. And it will continue to this very day. Most of you, I look out and I can assume, based on the hue of your flesh, most of you are probably of European descent.
This is God providentially bringing the gospel to our ancestors. How did he know he was a man of Macedonia? Well, they look different. In the vision, he said a man from Macedonia. The guy didn't say, Hey, I'm from Macedonia.
Come here. He said a man from Macedonia spoke to me. How does he know? Because they look different. This is God bringing the gospel to the West in a providential way. You know what's interesting? The West has had the gospel for a long time.
The Far East has not. There are still places in the Far East, I mean the Tao tribe for instance, that have not been reached. I think about it sometimes. Have you ever considered the providence of God in your own salvation?
I hope you have. I hope we've taught on it enough. But have you ever thanked God that you were born where you were born so that you could hear the gospel? Knowing that there are people who are born in different places who do not?
Have you ever considered that there are still places, tribes, people around the world who will go to their death not hearing of Christ and yet you have heard of Christ since your birth? Isn't that amazing?
God's providence in putting you here. I just think it's amazing. To me, it's overwhelming. So all of this again brings us to verse 10. It says, when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we, that him being Luke included there, sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
He saw this vision of a man from Macedonia. He's saying, help us! Help us! It's an interesting request. We are desperate for what you have. And God sends Paul and his brethren to go and preach the gospel to them.
Now based on this situation, I want to make application today. And I want to do so by giving a short discussion, a short little applicable lesson on the will of God. Because quite frankly, I think that it's something that's often misunderstood.
And I think that this particular passage addresses it directly. And here's how God works providentially. Wednesday night, I'm in Rome. I'm sorry, I'm in James. I've been teaching through the book of James.
Wednesday night, James 4 .13 to the end of the chapter. And it's the place where James says, you should not say next year we're going to go here and there and do this or that. But you should say, if what?
If the Lord wills. So Wednesday night is going to be very similar. It's going to be the follow up to today. Because Wednesday night we're going to continue on with the subject of the will of God. Because James tells us, we can say we're going to do this.
You think Paul left Antioch without a plan? I don't. I don't think Paul left Antioch without a plan. But I think God's plans were bigger than Paul's. And I think God's purposes were bigger and more expansive than Paul's.
And that's the point in all this. So let's just very quickly talk about the will of God. The will of God has been the subject of countless sermons, countless books, countless lessons over the years. It has been beaten to death.
Often times theologians will make a distinction between what is called the prescriptive will of God and the permissive will of God. In that this, God prescribes that we don't murder. He prescribes that we don't steal.
He prescribes that we don't commit adultery. But He permits that men in their evil hearts murder and steal and commit adultery. But I take issue with that term. And if that's a term you're used to using, and I'm not necessarily here trying to kick you in the teeth today, but I do want to help you out with something.
Because the word permissive, to me, lacks an understanding. Because here's the thing. If God permits something, the Bible says He has a purpose for it. God does not simply sit back, wringing His hands, wondering what's going to happen.
His word is clear that He could restrain all evil. But He doesn't. So I choose to use a different term, and if this is helpful to you, great. It's helpful to me. When I think of God's will, I talk in terms of that which He has revealed and that which He has not.
Or what we call the revealed will of God and the hidden will of God. The revealed will, like His prescriptive will, as we mentioned earlier, is what's found in His word. So if a man comes to me and he says, Hey, I'm going to leave my wife and go commit adultery and have an affair and be with another woman.
Is that God's will? I can say no. I can say absolutely not. Because God has prescribed in His word that that is not His will. And when I say something is not God's will, I'm always speaking from the perspective of the revealed will.
He's revealed adultery is sin, so don't commit adultery. He's revealed murder is sin, so don't murder. Right? Do we understand that? But the hidden will is that by which He decrees all things and works all things together for the good of His people.
That's the will that James is talking about. Because guess what? People say, well, today or tomorrow we'll go to such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make profit. And what does James say in James 4?
He says, but you don't know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will go and do this or that.
You see, the reality is James is trying to point out to us that it is God's will that's governing this world. And as soon as we forget that, as soon as we start thinking we're the governors, that is when the problems arise.
The Bible doesn't tell us what to do in every situation. If we have two things that we can do, both of them are good, both of them are righteous, neither one of them would cause us to sin or to violate any of God's revealed will.
The Bible doesn't say, okay, what to do always. But we know this. God has a will which He will work out in whatever we do. And it is compatible with His will what we do. And that's what we call His hidden will.
It's not given to us in writing. It is given to us as we experience it. Now, that's tough. This is heavy. I'm pouring it out upon you today. This is heavy stuff. Because here's the reality. This is God's perfect will.
Based on this, I want to give you a few things for you to understand. Hopefully, these will be helpful. Maybe, hopefully, encourage you. I put it in your bulletin. And I think I even provided blanks for you to fill in if you're interested.
Number one, God is not under any obligation to make sense to us. God is under no obligation to make sense to us. You might say, well, that's not very comforting. Well, let me say this. Do you always make sense to your children?
Are you obligated to? But isn't everything you do because you love them and you have a purpose for what you're doing even if they don't understand it? Do you have to make sense to your children? And what do you do when they come to you and want you to?
What would you do if your kid said, explain it to me, dad? You'd say, no, I'm the daddy and you ain't. Now, there's times where we might give an explanation. But we're not obligated to. Neither is God obligated to give us an explanation.
God is under no obligation to make sense to us. I don't say that to bring anyone down or to discourage. I just want to start out by saying, God is a parent to us. He is a father to us. And there is a sense in which we have to understand.
In the same way as an earthly parent, we don't have to make sense to our children. God is under no obligation to make sense to us. Number two, God's will can run contrary to what we think it should be.
God's will can run contrary to what we think it should be. Paul walked over 200 miles without planting a church. And that was the whole reason he left home. Was to go and minister and to plant churches.
We may have moments where we look at something and we say, God, this is good. This is what I should do. This is what I should be doing. This is good. Why not plant this church? Why not do this ministry?
Why not do this thing? And God restrains us for reasons we do not know. And it runs contrary to what we think it should be. But that is where trusting in God's sovereignty is put to the test. When something runs contrary to the way we think it should be.
And yet we still trust God. That's the example Paul gives us. Third and finally, God's will is ultimately what governs the world. And I want to stop that half of the sentence and say this. R .C. Sproul made a good point years ago.
And a lot of people have used it since then. But I think it was R .C. who made it first. He said, if there were one rogue molecule in the whole universe, God would not be sovereign. If there was one thing outside of his control, that one thing could be what undid everything else.
God is either sovereign over all or he's not sovereign at all. It's the missing nail that causes the shoe to come off the horse, that causes the horse to lose the battle, that causes the battle to lose the war, that causes the nation to lose the land.
God is either in all control or he's not in control at all. So God's will is ultimately what governs the world. And here's the beauty. It will lead his people to their place of ultimate good. And that's where I've been trying to get to through this whole sermon.
Paul thought it's best to take the gospel to Asia. God said, no, don't preach the gospel in Asia. I've got something better. Plan for you. I hate it when people ascribe too much power to the devil. And you've heard it all the time.
People say, the devil did this or the devil did that. You need to understand. The devil has a very small realm of power in which he operates. And the Bible teaches that he can do nothing outside of God's will.
Do you understand that? The book of Job proves that. That he could not touch a hair on Job's head without the decree of Almighty God. The devil can't thwart God's plan for you. God has promised that he will work all things together for the good of those who love him.
That doesn't mean it's going to feel good all the time. Neither does that mean everything that happens is going to be good at the time. But he has promised that he will work all things together like a tapestry to glorify his name.
And to bring about the good of those whom he loved who are called according to his purpose. And I know we've already read it once today, but I'm going to read it again. Because I wanted to finish today from Romans 8.
And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Guess what? And I'll make a small commentary here. If you're in Christ today, God is for you. That does not mean, as health and wealth people might say, that everything that we do honors God.
And everything that we do, he approves of. Because we still fight a battle with sin. But God is working all things together for the good of his people. And if you're his people, he is for you. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? If you're in Christ, that's you. No one can bring a charge against you. It is God who justified you. Not your works, not your baptism, not your participation in communion.
God justifies you through the work of his Son. Who is it to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised. Who is at the right hand of God. Who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.
We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. You see, at this point, Paul is quoting a verse. And he says, see, this is the way the world sees us. The world sees us as victims, not victors. The world sees us as worthy to be persecuted.
And they persecute us. And it's like we're sheep ready to go to the slaughter. But then in verse 37, no. Even in all these things. Even in the persecution. Even in the pain. Even in the suffering. Even in the loss.
Even in the trials of life. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Why? Because I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor angels, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can separate us from that. And it's in that, throughout all the turmoil of life, we find our peace. Father in heaven, I thank you. I thank you for your word. I pray that you would use this to comfort and to convict.
I pray that you would use it to draw, first, Father, unbelievers to yourself. But also to draw in your people to a more comforting understanding of your presence with them. God, that you would love us.
God, that you would comfort us. God, that you would draw near to us. Show us, oh Lord, that you're not out of control. And that you have promised to cause everything, the good and the bad, to work together for the good of those who love you.
Help us to love you. Help us to trust you. In Jesus' name, amen.