I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Acts chapter 19, verse 21, Acts 19:21 is where we want to start today. Acts 19:21. We have been studying the book of Acts for a while now here at our church, and if you're if you've been here from the beginning of the book of Acts, that's great. And if you're just joining us, you've come to us now at the fourth quarter, basically is where we are. Crunch time. We're coming now to the end. And we have really, through our study, have seen that you could divide the book of Acts into four different quarters. Jesus started the book by saying you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And we've got a little chart we can put up here; this is a review of where we have been; we're going to be witnesses. Well, we saw it happen in the city of Jerusalem. Revival broke out there in that city where the church God started. And then, in Acts 6:7, there was this statement, and the Word is doing its work, and then in Judea and Samaria, Philip, maybe you remember him, the evangelists going out, the persecution spread them out into the cities and towns throughout the whole country of Israel. Gospel went to the Gentiles. And then we've been following Paul planting churches to the ends of the earth to the Gentiles. And really Paul's been planting those churches, Ephesus is kind of his last stop. And it said this in Acts 19:20 – Do you see that there, one verse before where I had to go? Acts 19:20. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. We've already had three sections, and each one ends with a verse giving an update that the Word of God is increasing, it's gaining victory, it's going out, it's being sent out. And then after we get that third kind of update of the third section, it says this. This is Acts 19:21. “Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” So, he says, and this is the key part. You might want to underline this, write this down, where it says Paul resolved, and then it says, in the spirit. So, these weren't man's plans. This wasn't just Paul's goals or what he was hoping to do next. This is something the Holy Spirit led the Apostle Paul to do, that he was going to go to Jerusalem, and then to Rome. And that is from that moment there. That is the rest of the book of Acts. Now it took them a long time to say goodbye here in Ephesus. And that's what we've been studying most recently, as he gives a goodbye speech to the leaders of the church there in Ephesus. But now he parts from those men. And we're going to get on a boat with him today in Acts 21, and we're going to sail with him all the way. Now just take a guess everybody, just think ahead. How do you think the book of Acts ends? What city do you think we're in when the book of Acts is over? Anybody want to take a guess? What it says right here. Now, this is really important for us to see that it was said in Acts 19:21. And we're going to see it happen all the way in Acts 20:30. Because as we study now, week after week, every week, it's going to be like another obstacle of why Paul should not go to Jerusalem. And then after he goes to Jerusalem, why he should not go to Rome. When Paul gets to Jerusalem, a mob is going to try to kill him in the temple. Doesn't seem like a great place to murder somebody, but that's what they're going to try to do. And then, guess he's going to get saved by the Romans, who are going to arrest him. And from that point on, he will be a prisoner. We're going to go through many trials, that he's going to have many times where he has to defend himself as people are accusing him. And he's going to defend himself by sharing his testimony, by sharing the gospel. And we're going to get to a point where over forty men take an oath that they will not eat or drink until Paul is dead. Can you imagine if forty people came together in a plot to kill you? Would you start rethinking your life choices at that point? Perhaps? Paul is not deterred by any of these things. When he eventually sails to Rome, the boat that he has on breaks to pieces in the middle of the sea, and he experiences a shipwreck where he barely survives with his life. He's washed up on an island. And what happens to him when he's on the island? A snake comes out of the fire and bites him. And all the locals are like, you're dead because that snake just bit you; nobody survives snake bite like that. Paul does, because Paul has resolved in the spirit that he's going to Jerusalem and Rome. And when the Spirit is leading you to do something, nothing in this world can stop you from doing it. That's what we're going to learn. So, let's get that down, if you're taking notes.
If you’ve got the handout there in our bulletin, and let's write this down for Acts 19:21 to 28:30: nothing can stop Paul from sailing to Rome. That's the big picture idea. We're going to get on the boat with him and begin our journey today. But you're going to see that the sea is not going to be kind to Paul. The storms, the tests, the trials are going to be intense. He is going to have a lot of bad weather, a lot of adversity, even his own friends are going to say, please don't go there. And so, he's sailing, but he is like a ship in a bottle, that nothing can really get to him because he is being led by the Spirit. And that's really going to be the question for all of us today. Are you being led by the Spirit of God? Do you have a resolve in your heart that you know you're living your life the way God wills you to, because you're living by the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life? This is something God's trying to get our attention with right now at Compass HB. Because not only are we following Paul's resolve in the Spirit to go all the way to Rome, but …
Everybody, grab your Bible and go to Daniel chapter 1. We've been reading through the book of Daniel last week. We're going to keep reading it this week. And he is another man of God who had a strong resolve. So, if you go to Daniel chapter 1, did anybody read the book of Daniel this week with us? Anybody out there? A few of us, I hope. I would invite everybody come and read Daniel with us, because he is an example of someone who … look at this resolve he has in Daniel chapter 1. We're all turned into Daniel chapter one. And you can see …let's start in verse Daniel 1:7, because he's been taken to Babylon. He's a young man from Jerusalem, taken to Babylon, and they're trying to brainwash him. They're trying to say, You're not an Israelite anymore. You're now a Babylonian, and they're even going to change his name. Look at what it says in Daniel 1:7: “And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.” So, these are four young guys, and they've got names that all have to do with something about the Lord. And now we're changing all their names. And all of those new names mean something about the idols of Babylon. So, this is a complete brainwashing like, yeah, you used to believe this, now we want you to believe this. We're even changing your identity and your name. So, you line up with what we believe in Babylon, and you forget about Yahweh from Israel. And Daniel, look at verse 8: “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank.” Now, if we were reading this in the original language of Hebrew, you would see there's a word being used here. And in fact, when they translate the Hebrew into Greek, it's the same exact word as Paul's resolve in Acts 19:21, because it's a word that tithémi is the Greek word it means to set, or it's shum in Hebrew. Like, if you look back at verse 7, it says, the chief of the eunuchs set their names, and Daniel, he sent Belteshazzar. But verse 8, Daniel said that he would not defile himself. It's like Babylon is trying to set him in a certain way. And Daniel sets himself: I'm not going to compromise; I'm going to keep on believing in God. I'm not going to start becoming a Babylonian. No, I'm resolved that I'm going to continue to live for Yahweh. And if you read Daniel with us, it's amazing because all of these kings and rulers of other nations end up worshipping the God of Daniel, the God of Israel, and giving him the glory as the God of heaven. See, today, I hear a lot of Christians, maybe you're one of them, and we talk about, well, we will, the Spirit will lead me and then we'll see if it works out, and then I'll know if it's the Spirit. That's not what we're learning in the Bible from these men. These men resolved in the spirit that they were going to live a certain way. Or Daniel made a resolve here that he was not going to compromise, and then everything works against him from the outside. They got so much pressure, but from the inside because of the power of God, they kept going. Is that how you live your life? Are you waiting for a good weather report, so you'll know where the Spirit is leading you, or are you going to sail through the midst of a storm because you're a ship in a bottle? And God's got you in his hand and the world is against you, but you're going to keep going. So right now, we're studying two men who have this resolve, this internal work of God that set them on course for their life.
So go back with me now to Acts 21. Let's all go to Acts 21, and let's get on the boat with Paul. And let's see what we can learn about being led by the Spirit here together this morning. And so, we are going to get on a boat. I hope everybody's ready for a nautical adventure. I hope those of you who get seasick took some Dramamine this morning or something like that, because right now in Acts 21:1 we're setting sail. And out of respect for God's word, I want to invite everybody to stand up for the public reading of Scripture. If you're watching this online, or you're watching out front, will you stand up with us? Today's text is Acts 21:1-16. And this is the word of God. This is what happened to Paul on the first leg of his journey to Jerusalem and Rome. Please follow along as I read:
“And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.’ After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Go ahead and have your seat. And you may have noticed there that at two different places, at two different times, people who were Spirit-filled, people came to Paul, and what did they say to him, everybody? Did they say, oh, we're so glad you're following … the Spirit is leading in your life, Paul, and that you're going to Jerusalem and Rome. Is that what they said to him? This is a really interesting passage that we're reading here today. And a lot of people, they're confused by this passage. Some people would even try to use this passage to say the Bible has a contradiction in it because the spirit is telling Paul to go to Jerusalem. How can the spirit now be leading people to tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem? It seems to us like a contradiction. Look at it again there in verse 4, where they sought out the disciples there and they stayed with them for seven days. And notice what it says through the Spirit. This is the same Spirit that helped Paul come to the resolve that he should go to Jerusalem. Well, now the Spirit is speaking through these believers, and they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. In fact, when they go to Caesarea, that's where Philip the Evangelist lives. This is a beautiful city. If you've ever been to Israel, you've probably been to Caesarea. It's right there on the Mediterranean Sea. Paul's going to end up here again in the book of Acts and give one of his defenses when he's on trial. And there are some beautiful ruins of an amphitheater there, of a king's palace. It's always a beautiful day it seems like on the sea there at Caesarea, this sparkling blue water, the Mediterranean there. And so, when they go to Philip’s house, maybe you remember Philip, the evangelist, he was one of the seven men along with Stephen. He was chosen to help the widows get their daily food, their daily bread back in Jerusalem. We followed Philip in Acts 8. I don't know if you remember a sermon that said, believing was easy when we followed Philip preaching the gospel in Samaria. And I remember he went to the Ethiopian eunuch on the chariot and was led by the Spirit to preach the gospel, the prophecy of Isaiah 53, to that man. So we know this guy Philip and then we're now at his house. And then this prophet in verse 10, Agabus, he comes and he takes Paul's belt, and he binds up his hands and feet, and he says, if you go to Jerusalem, this is what the Jews are going to do to you, and you're going to end up in the hands of the Gentiles, meaning the Romans. I don't know if you remember Agabus, but you may want to write down, if you're taking notes. Acts 11:28, Agabus gave a prophecy that there was going to be a famine in the whole world. And because of that, the believers actually sent Paul to Jerusalem. And now here, he's giving another prophecy in Acts 21:11, when he's saying, this is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. He gave a prophecy earlier in Acts and Paul went to Jerusalem. Now he's given a prophecy, if you go to Jerusalem, this is what's going to happen to you. And when Agabus, the prophet comes, and warns you what's going to happen if you go into a city, like everybody's like, well, that's a word from the Lord right there. I mean, this is a proven prophet of God. Like, if Agabus is saying that we know the Spirit is leading him to say that, and that's why all his friends now in verse 12, even Dr. Luke, who's on this adventure with Paul, who's writing the book of Acts, when we heard this, we the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Can you imagine if you told everybody, hey, I'm going to do this, I'm going to date this person, or I'm going to get this job, or me and my family, were going to move to this city, and like prophets came and said, this is what's going to happen to you if you go there. Thus saith the Lord, and all your friends gathered around you and said, don't go. Would you still go? See, that's the resolve in the Spirit that Paul had. That's what it really means to be led by the Spirit. A lot of people, they're like asking other people, what do you think I should do? And somebody says, I think you should do this. They're like, okay, I guess that's God's leading in my life. Here's an example. All kinds of people are telling him, don't go to Jerusalem, and he's convinced the Spirit is leading him right there. You know what happens when he goes to Jerusalem? He gets bound, and he gets handed over to the Gentiles – exactly what Agabus says. So, this is something that at first take, people are like, well, how could this all work out? How could it be that he's supposed to be led by the Spirit to go there? How could it be that the spirit is warning him about what is going to happen when he goes there? And here's the thing, we already knew that this was going to happen.
Go back to Acts 20:22. Look what Paul said. We studied this when he was saying goodbye to the Ephesians. He already said that this is how it was going to be. Maybe you remember; it was a few weeks ago. This is Acts 20:22. “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit.” So, he's telling them in Acts 19:21, I was resolved in the spirit to go to Jerusalem. I'm still going there. And he's saying in Acts 20:22, “not knowing what will happen to me there, except” verse 23, “except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” So, he already said, this is how it was in the chapter before. Now we're seeing it again in Acts 21. I know the Spirit wants me to go, but the same Spirit is also having people tell me how I'm going to get bound, and I'm going to get imprisoned, and I'm going to really suffer when I go to Jerusalem. So, everybody, we got to get this concept into our heads here today. The Spirit is telling Paul to do something that is not going to work out very well in his circumstances, but the Spirit, even though the Spirit is warning him how it's going to be, the Spirit wants him to do it anyways. Now, what we're going to say here as we study this passage might be different. How the Spirit works, leading people might be different than what you thought I walk it in here today.
So, let's just get this down as a note: When you study the Bible, look for what it says, not what you think makes sense. When you study the Bible, look for what it says, not what you think makes sense. I read a lot of commentaries about Acts 21, and some of the people the way they tried to explain this, they wanted it to make sense to us. How could the Spirit be leading someone into a place the Spirit is warning him about going? That's hard for us to compute. And so, we want to make it make sense. Know when God speaks so up to us from his Word, it doesn't matter if we think what his Word says. We need to change what we think to match what his Word says. Can I get an Amen from the congregation?
Okay, this is what happens. And I feel like it happens a lot, where people come in, and they hear a sermon, they hear the Word of God preached, we’re studying a passage, and they literally judge the sermon based on whether they agree with it or not. Sermons are not preached to agree with your thinking, okay, sermons are preached to tell you what God has said, and then you’re thinking needs to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, as you hear the Word of God. You need to take your thoughts captive to obeying Christ. And you need to learn to think how God tells you to think, not how you already think. And so, when you see something that you don't understand in the Scripture … Some things in here are hard to understand for us because they are the things of God, and God is beyond our comprehension. And God works in mysterious ways. But when it's revealing something to us, we might not go with what we think that means; our thinking needs to change. And you might have come in here today thinking, if the Spirit leads me to do something, he only wants me to sail on the seas, when the seas are calm, and the weather is beautiful, and the wind is blowing in the right direction. And so, if the Spirit leads me to do it, it's all going to work out. I guarantee you that some people here in this room will be led by the Holy Spirit into the worst storm you've ever experienced. And your friends might try to talk you out of going exactly where the Spirit is leading you to go. That's how it actually works. That's what happened here with Paul. Now, the Bible doesn't say that if you follow the Spirit, everything and your circumstances in this life are all going to work out. That's not what the Scripture says. Know, the Spirit says go to Jerusalem, and you're going to get arrested and you're going to suffer in Jerusalem. That's all from the same Spirit. And Paul, he knew this, and he was willing to go through with this.
Go back to Acts 20. Remember, he says, I'm by the Spirit going to Jerusalem. They're telling me by the Spirit, imprisonment and afflictions await me. Look at Acts 20:24. Do you remember this verse? “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” See, Paul says, hey, I'm not trying to make this life work out for me. I'm not trying to hang on to my own life and call my own life precious to me. No, I'm willing to lose my life. I'm willing to deny myself and take up my cross. No, all that I really want to do in my life is finish my race that Jesus has for me. I want to live by faith to the very end. I want to go wherever the Spirit takes me, even if it means suffering, because I’ve got to tell people about the gospel of the grace of God; I’ve got to do the ministry that I received from Jesus.
See, when do you realize that when you took up your cross to follow Jesus, like you're following him to death, not everything working out in life, that's not necessarily where we're headed. That's not a promise that everything's going to work out in this life. But the promise is when we follow him to the end, we have eternal life. See, I'm not sure we're all clear about this. I think we think if I'm really following God, I'm going to have a perfect weather forecast for my future and there will be no storms. And Paul said, I'm willing to go through the storms. I'm willing to go even to suffer and die because I'm here for Jesus and no longer here for myself. And he says it again in our text. Go back to Acts 21 and look at what he says in verse 13 when all of his friends when all of his traveling companions are urging him, don't go to Jerusalem. Paul answered in Acts 21:13: “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Don't try to talk me out of living for Jesus. See this and then you can understand that if you're somebody's friend, and they're saying, I think God wants me to go here, the Spirit is leading me here, and you think that's going to be hard for them because you love them. You don't want something bad to happen to someone you love, you would not wish bad weather upon somebody you care about. So, you see them walking into a storm. You might want to go say to them, hey, it's a storm, you should turn around. But see, Paul's like, no, I'm headed exactly where God wants me to go. And I'm going to keep going there because I'm not living for myself anymore. I'm not holding my life precious. I'm living for Jesus who lay down his life for me. I'm following him. And so, yeah, they could throw me in jail. They can even kill me, as long as it's in the name of Jesus Christ. Because I'm here to be a witness for him. So, we’ve got to make sure that that’s our understanding, that we want to go wherever the Spirit leads. And wherever the Spirit leads, it could be full of challenges. It could be leading us right into the storm.
So, let's get this down for point number one. This is our big takeaway today: You need to go where the Spirit leads. Go wherever the Spirit leads. And we need to make sure that we understand what that mean as best as we can from the Scripture. What does it mean to go where the Spirit leads, because that's what Paul's doing? And even though the Spirit is warning him, it's not going to work out in your personal best interest. Paul's like, I'm not living for my personal best interest. I'm living for Jesus Christ. And he's ready to do it. And they're like, well, let the will of the Lord be done. You know what happens in the rest of the book of Acts, the will of the Lord is done. He goes to Jerusalem, gets arrested, ends up in Rome, and he’s preaching the gospel could skip to the end of Acts, you will see that that's where he ends up, and that's what he does, even though people are warning him by the Spirit how intense it's going to be. Now we know, I can prove to you go to Acts 23:11. Everybody, let me prove to you that it was the right move for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Because some people have taken our passage today where the Spirit gives Agabus the prophecy and the warning about what's going to happen to him there, and they're like Paul shouldn't have gone to Jerusalem. No, Paul was right. He was led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. And in fact, Jesus shows up and speaks to him in Acts 23:11. And the following night, the Lord, this is Jesus now speaking to Paul. “The Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.’” So you must also testify in Rome. Okay. And the word there testify is kind of the theme word for the book of Acts. Martureó there, to witness. Jesus shows up and he said, yes, you witnessed for me in Jerusalem, and so also witness for me in Rome. Jesus does not show up and say, Paul, you really blew it by coming here to Jerusalem. But it's okay. I'm still going to get you there to Rome. No, he says, good job in Jerusalem. Check. You witnessed there, now we're going to get you to Rome so you can witness there.
So, the spirit was leading Paul to Jerusalem even though it worked out very bad for Paul; that’s still where the Spirit was leading him. And so, this is what I hear. And I hear people say it here at this church, maybe you've said it. People say things like, well, we're asking God to lead us, and we'll know if God's leading us if there's an open door. Have you heard people say that before? And yeah, there are open doors all over the Scripture. Open doors are a real thing. But it's almost like people are saying, we'll all know that it's really what God is leading me to do if there's an open door, which means when I get the weather report I’ll find out if I should keep sailing that direction or not. That's not what we're studying here. Paul knew he was supposed to go there before he ever saw what the weather was going to be. Turns out, it was terrible weather. It was the kind of storm you should not sail out into the ocean with the weather like this. But he knew that's where he was supposed to go before the circumstances opened up. I hear people say stuff like this all the time. Well, I'm not really sure if it's what God wants me to do, but we're going to start doing it. It seems like it could be good. It could be God's will. And we're just praying that if God doesn't want us to do it, he'll shut it down. Do you realize that Paul was praying something like that? He would have never gone to Jerusalem because prophets came and told him what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. The way I hear a lot of people talk about the Spirit leading is, it comes from the outside. Circumstances will show me what the Spirit wants me to do. That is not how the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit, from the inside, leads you to live a certain way on the outside, no matter what the circumstances. So, we’ve got to make sure we understand what it means to go where the Spirit leads.
So, let's just review some things we've already learned. Go back to Acts chapter 2. So, let's just go back to where the Holy Spirit showed up in the first place as a mighty rushing wind, with the tongues of all the different languages that the apostles were speaking. And Peter preaches the first sermon of the church right there on the streets of Jerusalem. Because of all these guys speaking in all these different languages, this crowd assembles there on the streets, and Peter starts preaching and the first text that he ever gives is Joel chapter 2. And he says, this prophecy has now been fulfilled, this is Acts 2:17-18. “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” So this is what we would call the new covenant where there has been prophecies that someday the way God is going to relate to his people is he's going to write his law on their heart. He's going to give them a new heart, and God is going to put his Holy Spirit inside us, all of us who believe in Jesus, all of us who repent of our sins. And we're like, yup, I'm in. I'm following Jesus at the moment. You believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection. And as you believe in the gospel, you receive the Holy Spirit. It started in Acts 2, and it's been going on till this very day. Three thousand souls that day believed and received the Holy Spirit. And so, this is an amazing thing that you have the Spirit of God inside of you. It began with the Spirit convicting you of your sin, and the Spirit opening your eyes. He was bearing witness about Jesus, the first place, the Holy Spirit leads anybody is he leads you to Jesus Christ, he shows you who Jesus is, and how you had sin, and you needed Jesus to die on the cross to pay for it. And once you become convicted of your sin, and then you hear the good news that Jesus already paid for it, wow, you want to turn from that sin, and you want to trust in Jesus, that's the Holy Spirit leading you to salvation. And when you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit now indwells you permanently; he is the guarantee of your future inheritance. There is no way that you could ever be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. As you received the Holy Spirit, he is now inside of you. It doesn't matter who you are. Anyone who believes in Jesus gets the Spirit. Look what it said there in verse 17. It said, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, you can receive the Holy Spirit, as long as it says, your young man shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Whether you go to club 56 and believe in Jesus, or you go to club 65 and believe in Jesus, you will receive the Holy Spirit. Doesn't matter what age you are, and then even the servants, even the male and female servants are receiving the Spirit. Doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, doesn't matter what your economic class is, it doesn't matter who you are, or where you came from, God is putting his Holy Spirit in you. That's the beautiful promise of the book of Acts. And that's what we started to see. We started to see, wow, these guys, who were disciples, and they were always O ye of little faith. Now they're turning the world upside down.
What's the difference between the disciples and the apostles? Why couldn't they believe when Jesus was beside them, but now they've got amazing faith? Oh, it's because the Holy Spirit is inside them. And now these guys, they’re witnesses of Jesus. They go before the same man who killed Jesus, and they boldly speak the name of Jesus Christ; they fill the city of Jerusalem with the name of Jesus, they spread it in the whole country. They're going to the ends of the earth in the name of Jesus. What's driving them? What is the wind in their sails? How do they keep on sailing with so much bad weather? How are they such a ship in a bottle? it's because the Holy Spirit is within them. That's what we learn in the book of Acts.
So, the first place is you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe in Jesus. Now, another thing we learned is how to be filled with the Spirit. You might want to write this down. Ephesians 5:18. You might want to put that down under point number one because we're not led by the Spirit, by our circumstances, we are led by the Spirit through Scripture. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Okay, the way that the Spirit works is he works through the Word that he inspired men to write. And the way that the Spirit is going to really show you the way to go, the way that you're going to live under his influence in your life is through this Word right here, these Spirit-inspired men to write it. He will speak to you through it. He will illuminate the thoughts and intents of your heart so that you will see things that God is speaking to you through the Scripture, and the Spirit will lead you as he has his Word on your heart. If you let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, according to Colossians 3:16, you're going to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; you're going to speak the truth to other people teaching and admonishing one another; you're going to have a melody in your heart towards the Lord; you're going to do everything you do in the name of the Lord Jesus. Well, Ephesians 5:18 says the same thing will happen. But instead of the word being in you, it says, be filled with Spirit. One of the things that we can understand is that when people drink too much alcohol, we would say that they are drunk, and they are under the influence of the alcohol. When you get the Scripture in your heart, when you're filled with the Spirit, it's you are under the influence of the Spirit. If you want to know what the Spirit wants you to do with your life, study the Bible, seek it out, search for what the Spirit is saying to you. And then it goes from chapter and verse, and then all of a sudden ends up on your calendar, and ends up really being clear to you, wow, the Spirit is speaking; I'm learning this. Now I can tell now he wants me to do this. This is how we are led by the Spirit is through the Scripture. These are things we've already studied. This is a review of what we've learned about the Spirit.
I want to take you to a couple of passages now that talk about what it means to be led by the Spirit. Turn with me to Romans 8:12-17. So, one of the things we have to understand about hermeneutics, about how we study the Bible, and this is important for everybody because we're reading stories in Daniel, we're reading stories in Acts; we would call these narrative texts. These are texts that describe to us what happened. Other texts, we would say they prescribed to us what we're supposed to do. So, some texts, they tell us what somebody else did, or what God did through somebody else. And then some passages of the Bible are telling us what God wants to do through you. They're telling you what to do. And one of the big mistakes that we can make when we study the Bible, I can make this mistake, all of us if we're not careful, when we study a story, we think, well, I think this story is teaching me this, I think based on this story, I should go do this. And we come to a wrong conclusion. Based on a story that is in the Bible. A lot of times it's good to compare the stories in the Scripture, the descriptions with the prescriptions, like what is okay. So, this passage is about being led by the Spirit. Paul is led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. They're led by the Spirit to warn him about what's going to happen when he goes to Jerusalem.
Okay, what does the Scripture teach me about being led by the Spirit? Well, Paul writes about it here in Romans chapter 8. And so, this is what I'm really excited to do. I hope you'll get excited about it too. We're going to go along on the boat with Paul to Jerusalem, and then to Rome. And then, as soon as we finish Acts, and he's preaching the gospel in Rome, we're going to go right into the book of Romans. We're going to go on the adventure with him and see what happened. And then we're going to read like his masterclass on the gospel, and we're going to see what he wrote, what he was thinking the entire time. And here's what he's thinking about, being led by the Spirit. You can see it there in Romans 8:14. Just jump right into Romans 8:14: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” So here he's now writing what he thinks it means to be led by the Spirit of God. Now let's get the full context. Verse 12. Let's go back up to Romans 8:12-17: “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
So if you study of being led by the Spirit, it's going to take you into the contrast of the flesh and the spirit, that you are either living in the flesh, which is your sinful nature of your own desires and temptations, and what you want to do, or you're living by the Spirit, which God has now put in you to cause you to walk in his ways, and be careful to obey his commandments, to do God's will with your life. So, see, the Spirit leads you away from your own desires, and into the will of God for your life. Andthis was really confusing for me for a long time, because of how people talked about it at church. I grew up going to church in Southern California, and I would hear people on a regular basis be like, well, yesterday, I was so in the flesh, and I was just so caught up in my sin, and then today, now, I'm walking in the Spirit. But I don't know if I'm going to be able to walk in the Spirit on Thursday because Thursday, I got invited to so and so's house. And every time I'm at so and so's house, we always end up doing this. And so, I'm afraid I'm going to get back into the flesh on Thursday. So will you pray for me on Friday that I'll be in the spirit, brother? That is the kind of stuff I used to hear all the time growing up. It was like people were some boat, just being tossed by the waves, one day in the flesh, and one day in the Spirit. Romans eight is saying the exact opposite of that everybody is saying, put to death the flesh and go and be led by the Spirit as a son of God is what it's saying. Call on God as your Father and live as one of his kids and stop living the way where you live for your own desires, in your own satisfaction, and to please yourself. And go and live now to please God as one of his sons and have this blessed assurance, have this confidence that, you know, you can call on him, his Father. And you're going to receive the inheritance that he's got for you in heaven, because you're one of his kids, because the Spirit is bearing witness with your spirit that you're a child of God, loved by the father, paid for by the blood of Jesus. And the Spirit is leading you into a whole new life. See, the Spirit primarily leads us into obedience. And he's not called the Holy Spirit, because he allows us to keep on sinning. He's called the Holy Spirit, because he sets us apart from sin, to do what God has told us to do with our life. And that's what you're going to see.
Go over to Galatians 5:18, and you'll see it there as well, when Paul's writing about being led by the Spirit in the book of Galatians 5:18. He's going to get to the same contrast here. This is Galatians 5:18. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” And he's going to now develop that thought, what is when I think how do I know the spirits leading me in my life? That's our big question of the day. Well, we can't go and look at our circumstances to determine if the Spirit is leading well as a spirit giving me a yes, because the seas are smooth. Is it a no because it's stormy? No, the spirit might lead you right into the middle of a storm because you're a ship in a bottle and the storm can't stop wherever the Spirit is leading you. That's what we're going to learn from Paul. And so, when we think well, how do I know the Spirit is leading me,? We’ve got to go internal rather than external. And we’ve got to say, hey, am I am I in the flesh? Or am I being led by the Spirit? Look at how it breaks it down here in Galatians 5:16-18: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Now let's get more specific. What do we mean by flesh? And what do we mean by Spirit? Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Let's just make sure we all understand what Galatians five is saying to us. It's saying this is a list of the works of the flesh, and those who do the works of the flesh are not going to heaven. Is everybody clear? That's what he just said, hey, here's a list of what the flesh looks like. And I warn you, as I warned you before, people who are living in the flesh, they're not inheriting the kingdom. So, the spirit is definitely leading us out away from our own sin, our own temptation. In fact, this is what it'll look like Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” There is no law against where the Spirit is leading you to, to really be able to love God and love people, to really have joy, joy that comes from your own soul, from the fact that you know the Father loves you, and Jesus died for you. And you've got joy, you've got peace with God, you've got peace in the midst of the storm. I mean, it gives this beautiful list that ends with self-control, you know, where the Spirit is leading you. The Spirit is leading you to tell yourself, no, the Spirit is leading you. That they're having a life that feels out of control, what can I even do? There's one thing you can control: yourself as the Spirit leads you. That's what it says. And those who belong to Christ Jesus, they have crucified the flesh; they have put the flesh to death with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. So, when we think about being led by the Spirit in our lives, are our primary conversation about that should not go to what are the external circumstances, confirming or denying that the Spirit wants me to do know being led by the Spirit is where am I at in my heart? Am I putting to death, the deeds of the flesh? And am I bearing the fruit of the Spirit? Am I walking in obedience as the Holy Spirit is leading me into God's commands? Because that's where the Spirit is going to lead you – into righteousness. So, let's make sure we're talking and thinking about the leading of the Spirit in the right way, that there's a real contrast. And he's going to be leading you away from sin.
Now, go back to Romans chapter 8, because it says a couple of things that we want to really zero in on, that we can see with Paul. And one thing the Spirit, it says very clearly, this is Romans 8:12-17. And it's going to say the Spirit is not taking us back into fear. Verse 14: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” The Holy Spirit is not leading you to go back to your old sins, which would cause you to question your salvation and have doubt instead of faith. And then you would be in this place of fear. Oh, no. Am I going to die in my sin? Am I going to be judged? See the Holy Spirit is not leading you backwards into fear? No, the Holy Spirit is leading you forward into blessed assurance of your salvation.
So, let's get this down. We’ve got a couple of dashes under our point here. First dash: We do not have a spirit of fear. We do not have a spirit of fear. And see 2 Timothy 1:7: “God has not given us a spirit of fear.” That is, if you're going back into fear, if you're afraid of the storm, if you're afraid of what's going to happen, if you afraid of all the circumstances of your life, and maybe those fears are even tempting you back into sin, or maybe you're falling back into sin, and that's causing you to fear what's going to happen? Is God really holding me in his hand? Am I really protected by God? Because now I'm afraid. Because I'm out here in sin that's not being led by the Spirit. No, if you're afraid, no, that's not the Spirit that God gave us, everybody. God did not give us a Spirit that would fall back into our old sins, that would fall back into our old fears. No, that's not the Spirit that we received there in verse 15. No, you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, or father. In fact, this Spirit is bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The Spirit is leading us into relationship with God. The Spirit is revealing to us how loved we are by the Father, and how we can now imitate our Father; we can be holy as he is holy. We can pass on the love to other people that he has given to us through His Son, Jesus. And as we see our love and our joy and our peace, we can know for sure I'm one of God's people. I've got the Holy Spirit in my life, and he's leading me, and nothing in this world can stop me. That's how we should be feeling. That's what it's supposed to be. I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm going to Rome, and there are over forty men that are going to try to kill him, and the sea is going to try to drown him, and a snake is going to jump up and bite him, and he's going to get to Rome because the Holy Spirit is leading him there. When you're doing what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do, nothing in this world can stop you. You don't want to move to some place where life is going to all work out. You don't want to have some place where everything's perfect financially, and with your family, and with your health. You want to be exactly where the Spirit is leading you to be because that's the safest place on planet Earth. You're a ship in a bottle, the world can't touch you. You're protected from the storm, because you have the Holy Spirit of the Living God inside of you. And God saved you. When you got created in Christ Jesus, when you became a new creation, the old you is gone. The new has come. God has prepared a beautiful path of good works for the rest of your life. God has something he wants you to do while you're still here on planet Earth. Every single one of us, not just people like Daniel and Paul, that are going to be in the Bible. No, all the sons and daughters, all the young men, all the old men, the male servants, the female servants, now God's got something he's given you, the Holy Spirit. You have gifts, you have a certain path, a certain plan of good works. Not your plan but God's plan. And God is going to lead you down that path. You just need to be led by the Spirit, be filled by the Spirit, and he will lead you down there and nothing, no bad weather report, no storm on the horizon can stop you from being led by the Spirit. And you can know, wow, look, I'm one of God's kids. Look, the spirit is in me, assuring me, showing me. Wow, look at the fruit that he's bearing in my life. This is not me doing this. This is God in me. I have now a power and ability that I never used to have. Because I have the Spirit of the Living God.
We're not supposed to be living in fear. We're supposed to be living in confidence. We're supposed to be thinking, oh, the longer I walk with God, the more I see how the Spirit works. Wait, did you just tell me it's a bad weather report? Oh, okay. Oh, you're telling me it's not going to work out? You're telling me we can't do it? Oh, wait a minute. That's the third time you canceled to meet with me. Oh, I can't wait to have that meeting. You know what I mean? Oh, wow. Oh, you're telling me the tech system died before the service? Sounds like it's going to be a great service to me, right? I mean, see, now you start to realize that, wait a minute, sometimes the Spirit is leading us right into the storms, right into the darkness. And that's where the light is going to shine brightest. That's where the faith is going to be the most clear. That's exactly where he wants me to go sometimes. Now, when the opposition is trying to stop us from getting somewhere, I'm starting to realize that's exactly where God wants us to go. See, because that assurance is coming from the Spirit working within, not what's happening without. And then it says this: And this is the part we really need to learn. Romans 8:17: if we're children, then we're heirs. This is talking about receiving an inheritance. This is talking about going to heaven. This is talking about all the spiritual riches of the heavenly places. All the grace that is in Christ Jesus is going to be given to you. You are fellow-heirs with Christ. And then notice this line right here. What does it say? Provided we suffer with him?
Let's get that down for our second dash: Suffering is included. Suffering is included. Like yes, I'm telling you here today, that if you believe in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. If you get in the Scripture, you get filled with the Holy Spirit. And if you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will be led by the Spirit. And he'll start leading you into love, joy, and peace all the way through self-control. He'll start leading you into holiness, into obedience, and to all the good works that God has planned for you. And when the Spirit is leading you, yes, he will lead you straight into suffering. He will lead you straight into the storm. That's what it's saying. We're following Jesus, we're following him to the cross. We're following him to death. If we're going to follow people like our Lord Jesus, or people like Daniel, and the Apostle Paul, well, they got thrown into a lion's den. They went on a boat, because they were a prisoner, and the boat shipwrecked, and it was like, is everybody going to die at sea? That's where the Spirit lead these men. That's exactly where God wanted them to be. So yeah, the Spirit is going to lead you, and suffering is going to come with it. And if you're suffering, that doesn't mean you're not exactly where the Spirit wants you to be. And I hear so many people talk about like, well, when that bad thing happened in my life, it's like it wasn't supposed to happen. That's how we think. Oh, why did this bad thing happen to me or to my loved one? Why are we in some kind of financial situation or health situation? Or we thought all the circumstances were going to align for this thing to happen. And now it's not going to happen. And it causes a lot of us to doubt and to be like, are we still on the right course? No, you're going to go, the Spirit is going to lead you, and the whole world, it seems, is going to come against you. And you're going in the right direction. And in fact, the place you might end up down here might look like death, and the place you're going to end up in eternity is going to be the best life you could imagine. So yeah, we're going to go right into the eye of the storm, we're going to go right into the storm. Oh, the bad weather report is here. Who wants to turn back now? Well, I've decided to follow Jesus and there is no turning back. What are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? He says, why are you trying to talk me out of doing what the Spirit is leading me to do? I'm not just willing to go to prison. I'm all in, I'm ready to die for Jesus. So, none go with me. Still, I'm going to follow Jesus Christ, I'm going to go wherever the Spirit leads me. The one place I want to be on the day that I die is exactly where the Spirit led me to be. No other place I want to be. I'm not trying to set up my own future. I want the Spirit to lead me through the Scripture, through the commands, to take me wherever you want me to go. And even if it's so hard, and the whole world is coming against me, even if the sea is so rough, and the storm is so intense, I believe that I'm going to be a ship in a bottle, because the Spirit is going to lead me, and nothing can stop it from happening. So yeah, we might suffer. But if the Spirit is leading us, bring it on, my friends. Let me pray for us here today.
Father in heaven, I pray that you would teach us from this example from Paul, what it really means to be led by the Spirit. And I'm concerned that we are we are confused about this father. So, we need your clarity, we need your spirit to even illuminate our minds, because what we just learned might be different than what some of us have heard, or some of us think. So, use Paul and what you're doing with him, how he resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem and Rome. We know that's your course for him, and now the Spirit is warning him how rough it's going to be. God, I pray that people will stop determining their future based on circumstances working out or not. And we will start determining our future based on the leading of your Holy Spirit. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit will lead some of us to die right here in Huntington Beach, serving Jesus Christ. Maybe he'll lead some of us to go to Long Beach and plant a church there. Maybe the Holy Spirit's going to move some of us to other states. Maybe some of us will go to other countries, other nations in the name of Jesus. Father, wherever you take us wherever we go, let it be where the Spirit leads. Please don't let us follow our own desires. Please don't let the storm scare us and intimidate us so we stop sailing and turn around. Father let us be the people today by the power of your Spirit indwelling us, let us be able to say, hey, I've decided to follow Jesus and there is no turning back for me. If I get thrown in jail, the forty people come against me, if there's a storm that's going to make a shipwreck, and the snakes come in to bite me, whatever is going to try to stand in my way. Father, let us go where your Spirit leads us. So, I pray that you will give us, every single person here, every man, every woman, every young person, old person, that you will give us a resolve of your Holy Spirit that you will lead us by the power of your Spirit and that we will do the will that you have for our lives. And we will do those good works you prepared for each one of us. Let us be led by the Spirit today, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.