Sermon Tone Analysis

The will of God for my Life!

Man’s Word or God’s Word?

On April 14, 1521 Martin Luther was on his way to the Diet of Worms.

The emperor Charles the 5th had forbidden the sale of all the reformer’s books and ordered them to be seized.

Martin Luther’s life was in great danger.

His devoted friend and confidant, George Spalatin, had sent word through a special messenger not to come to Worms lest he suffer the same fate as John Hus.

Luther comforted his fearful friends, saying, “Though Hus was burned, the truth was not burned, and Christ still lives.”

Then he sent Spalatin the now famous message, “I shall go to Worms, though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs.”

On April 16 Luther entered Worms at the dinner hour, and 2,000 people were present to observe his entrance.

On the following day at four o’clock Luther stood before “Charles, heir of a long line of Catholic sovereigns were there.

He stood before all the mighty emperors when Most men of God would have been intimidated.

After an exchange between the Archbishop of Trier, Johann Eck, and Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk, overwhelmed by the immensity of what he was doing, requested and received the night for prayer and consideration.

We can be sure Luther really prayed that night.

On April 18 a larger hall was chosen but was so crowded that scarcely any save the emperor could sit down.

Finally came this famous dialogue:

ECK: Martin, how can you assume that you are the only one to understand the sense of Scripture?

Would you put your judgment above that of so many famous men and claim that you know more than they all?

You have no right to call into question the most holy orthodox faith, instituted by Christ the perfect lawgiver, proclaimed throughout the world by the apostles, sealed by the red blood of the martyrs, confirmed by the sacred councils, defined by the Church in which all our fathers believed until death and gave to us as an inheritance, and which now we are forbidden by the pope and emperor to discuss lest there be no end of debate.

I ask you, Martin—answer candidly and without horns—do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?

LUTHER: Since then Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth.

Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God.

I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.

God help me.

Amen.

It was the greatest moment in the modern history of the world!

How did Martin Luther come to such heroics—standing alone before the world, risking his life for the sake of God’s truth?

He knew God’s will.

He knew through the examination of God’s Word while a monk in Wittenberg and through his subsequent encounter with God on his knees in Pilate’s staircase in Rome that “The just shall live by faith.”

He knew that it was God’s will for him to go to Worms and declare the truth to the world regardless of the consequences.

Furthermore, Martin Luther did God’s will, and this is what set him apart from ordinary men.

The Apostle Paul too was a man who knew and did God’s will, which in this instance was to go to Jerusalem and minister to the church there even though such service would bring him into bonds and afflictions.

Not everyone agrees on how to interpret .

Some might title this section of Scripture “Paul’s Bravery,” while others call it “Paul’s Mistake,” arguing that Paul went against the Spirit’s direction when he went to Jerusalem.

Certainly Paul was human and made mistakes, but here I believe he is a great example for Christian believers today.

Some of us are wrestling with crucial or thorny decisions.

We may wonder what God’s will for us is, or we may think we know God’s will but are not sure we can do it.

The story of Paul’s struggle offers us helpful insights in how not to be derailed in following God’s directions for us.

Paul had just experienced a tearful farewell with the Ephesian elders—tearful because tough times lay ahead for the apostle.

“What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again” (20:38).

The Holy Spirit had told Paul that “prison and hardships” (20:23) were awaiting him in Jerusalem.

It was a wrenching good-bye.

“After we had torn ourselves away from them…” (21:1)—this was a traumatic, emotional experience.

And yet Paul did not proceed toward his difficult date with destiny reluctantly—he sprinted to meet it!

Like Luther, he gave God’s plan for him higher priority than anything or anyone else.

Such joyful abandon to the divine will would go neither unchallenged nor unrewarded.

But I want you to notice a few things and I will be finished!

Pressure to Turn from God’s Will

Verses 1–3 describe Paul’s hurried journey.

After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos.

The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.

We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.

After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria.

We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.

In summary, he endured a routine journey filled with time-consuming stops on the way to the port of Patara, then booked passage on a nonstop 400-mile voyage until he landed in the port of Tyre, Syria.

Danger lay ahead, but he wanted to be home for Passover when he could have the biggest effect.

Trusting God, he did not fear the consequences.

Once in Tyre, Paul came under some unexpected pressure to alter his plans.

Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days.

Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way.

All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

(vv.

4–6)

Tyre was a major port, and the trans-Mediterranean merchant ship laid over for seven days delivering and receiving cargo.

So Paul did the natural thing—he went looking for some Christian brothers and sisters—“disciples” to encourage.

And when he found them, there was immediate bonding relationship.

The apostle and these new acquaintances all spoke the language of the heart and immediately became part of each other’s lives.

We all have had this experience—hardly a word spoken, yet a spiritual oneness.

“I’m so glad to be a part of the family of God.”

There was only one wrinkle: “Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem” (v. 4b).

Did Paul sin by resisting their repeated warnings?

I think not.

For one thing, Tyre was not the first place in which he had heard such predictions.

He had heard them in “every city” (20:23).

Second, as Richard Longenecker and others point out, “through the Spirit” means that the Spirit told them that Paul would undergo suffering for Christ, a message that naturally gave the believers deep concern.

The Spirit did not tell them to inform Paul he was not to go to Jerusalem.

The Spirit predicted persecution against the apostle, and the people’s love for Paul caused them to beg him not to go.

This was rough on Paul!

He was in Tyre for only seven days, and yet when he left, they “all,” along with “their wives and children,” escorted him out of the city and knelt with him on the beach for prayer (v.

5b)!

They loved him!

I would not be surprised if some of those prayers were a bit aggressive.

“Lord, we thank you for bringing Paul to us.

He has ministered to us mightily.

We believe you want him to stay here a while longer.

Keep him safe as he goes his own way.

We all have our faults, Lord.

Overrule the apostle’s wrong decision.”

Paul must have experienced a confusing emotional mix—already missing his new friends in Christ, but also relieved to get away from their negative messages.

But that relief did not last long because he came under more pressure in Caesarea, as seen in verses 7–12.

We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.

He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’

” When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

After a day in Ptolemais, Paul arrived in Caesarea, the port city of Jerusalem.

He could now enter Jerusalem anytime he wished but wanted to wait until Pentecost.

Philip the evangelist, his gracious host, was the man who first took the gospel to Samaria and then baptized the Ethiopian eunuch.

God had blessed him with four gifted daughters, who may have further prophesied of Paul’s difficult future.