God's Plan will not and Cannot Fail
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Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning! For those of you who do not know me I am Danny Watton, one of the Chaplains here on station and I wanted you to say thank you for being here today. I want you to know that God has a plan for your life. You might have come here today broken, bruised or just fed up with how your life is going or the messiness of day to day living.
But even though life is unpredictable there is something that never changes....Gods love for you and that He is always right there next to you in the midst of the brokenness, messiness and day to day living. And that means He is there no matter if you are at your highest highs or lowest lows.
We know that about God through our study through Acts. We see that God is with us through our darkest hours and in our greatest moments.
We have seen Him baptize the church with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the celebration of the church growing and we saw Him as Stephen was being stoned to death stand up at the right hand of God welcoming him home.
The one consistent thing is that God was and is always there…guiding, helping and giving us what we need to fulfill His commission to us.......to Love God, love people and to spread the good news.
We are continuing through the book of Acts and we are going to spend most of our time in chapter 13. Last week we learned what true conversion means and what that looks like in our lives. We learned that true conversion happens only through Gods pursuit of us, being transformed through the Holy Spirit and hearing the Gospel and what Christ did on the cross.
Our take away from last week was
do not call anything unclean that God has made clean. As Christians we sometimes see ourselves as unclean.
But because of His life, death and resurrection we are a new creation. We are no longer unclean but righteous only because His plan never failed.
We know that His plan hasn’t failed and is still on going. We know this because we are sitting in this chapel right now hearing His Word.
We saw last week that the Gentiles had their own pentecost and recieved the Holy Spirit. God was saying that the Gospel....His Love is not exclusive to one culture or people.
The Gospel in Acts is exploding out of Jerusalem and being spread out to all nations.
If I was going to go through everything Acts had to offer and made sermons out of all that is to be heard and learned we would never leave Acts. But what I am going to do is give you the highlights of Chapter 11 & 12 and then we are going to park in .
But before we do that let’s pray!!
Acts Chapter 11
Acts Chapter 11
Word got out to the Apostles and fellow christians through Judea that the Gentiles recieved the Word of God. Now remember it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit anyone of another nation. So when Peter got back to Jerusalem he was brought under church discipline for meeting with the Gentiles. Paul explains to them that he was given a vision and was told that God said,
“What God has made clean do not call unclean”
He continued to tell them about sharing the Gospel and the Gentiles where baptized in the Holy Spirit. After hearing this they all glorified God.
The Gospel then explodes out of Jerusalem. This happened because the same Christian’s that scattered because of intense persecution that came from Stephen. They began speaking the Gospel. The Word of the Lord went out to, Phoenicia and Cyprus and Cyrene. The Word was spreading and the Gospel was making a huge impact in Antioch.
Antioch was
This city is important because it was the third largest city in Roman Empire. It was home to a large Jewish community. It was a vile city with gross immoral practices but Antioch would became the base of operations for Paul for his ministry.
But word got out that the Gospel was being recieved in Antioch that the Apostles sent Barnabas there. Barnabas arrived in Antioch and he could not deny that God was at work there. He rejoiced because the Gospel was spreading. But he realized that much work still needed to be done and he could not do it by himself. He could think of no one better then Saul of Tarsus to aid him in ministry. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to recruit Saul for ministry in Antioch. Saul agreed and he spent the next year in ministry with Barnabas. Prophets would come down from Jerusalem to Antioch and they foretold of a famine all over the Roman Empire and elders and disciples came together and sent aid to Barnabas and Saul.
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
We see in that the church was under severe persecution that came from the hand of King Herod. Herod was known for trying to gain favor from the Jews, so he found it politically expedient to arrest Christians and murder James who was brother of John.
The good news that we see is that the Gospel was spreading so much that the Christians were becoming an identifiable group which was making a big enough impact to cause Herod to persecute the church. Obviously, his intervention and involvement was not good because Christians were suffering. But Herod saw this pleased the Jews so after the murder of James he arrested Peter and placed him in jail.
Peter was heavily guarded and Herods intent was to execute Peter after passover. Again Herod trying to gain favor from the Jews, he wanted to kill Peter because it was going to help him politically. First,
Peter was known for being the leader of the church and second he had fraternized with the Gentiles. So this was Herods Justification.
But while Peter was imprisoned he was chained to two guards. And the night before his trail an Angel of the Lord appeared to Peter while he was asleep.
ASLEEP!!!! If you were about to be killed would you be sound asleep? The reason he was sleeping was because not only did he have the church praying for him he was told by Jesus that we would be live to an old age in . So he had confidence in Jesus because he knew that His plan for His life would not be stopped by King Herod.
The Angel of the Lord told him
“Get up Quickly”
And his chains fell off. He wrapped a cloak around himself and the Angel of the Lord directed him out of the city. When he realized that the Lord saved him from Herod he immediately went to the house of Mary were they were all gathered to pray. Peter knocked on the door and a servant girl answered the door.
She saw him and immediately ran back to tell the others that Peter was at the door. The very thing they were gathered for to pray about was answered by God. Peter told them that he was rescued by the Lord and told them to tell James and the other brothers.
We then see that Herod dies at the end of . Herod was giving a speech to the people of Tyre and Sidon and the people were worshiping Herod as a god and immediately the Angel of the Lord struck him down because Herod was not giving the glory to God.
The Word of the Lord increased and multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem with John.
Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
4 So, being sent out vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, andfrom there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, theyproclaimed the word of God win the synagogues of the Jews. And they hadxJohn to yassist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as faras Paphos, they came upon a certain zmagician, aa Jewish false prophetnamed Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man ofintelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the wordof God. 8 But Elymas the zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name)copposed them, seeking to turn dthe proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul,who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths ofthe Lord? 11 And now, behold, jthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will beblind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fellupon him, and he went about seeking kpeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Thenthe proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonishedat lthe teaching of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga inPamphylia. And mJohn left them and returned nto Jerusalem, 14 but they wenton from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And oon the Sabbath day ptheywent into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After qthe reading from rthe Lawand the Prophets, sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying,“Brothers, if you have any tword of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 SoPaul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. 17 wThe God of this peopleIsrael xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in theland of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for aboutbforty years che put up with2 them in the wilderness. 19 And dafter destroyingeseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as aninheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave themjudges until hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ithey asked for a king, and God gavethem Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.22 And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, ofwhom he testified and said, m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse na manafter my heart, owho will do all my will.’ 23 pOf this man's offspring God hasbrought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. 24 Before his coming,sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.25 And as John was finishing his course, uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that Iam? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whosefeet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you vwho fearGod, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. 27 For those who livein Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him norunderstand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath,afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And bthough they found in him no guiltworthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when dtheyhad carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthetree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and formany days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee toJerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you thegood news mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 nthis he has fulfilled tous their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
o“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return tocorruption, he has spoken in this way,
“‘I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,
s“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation,ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whomwGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore,brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,39 and by him zeveryone who believes is freed3 from everything afrom whichyou could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what issaid in the Prophets should come about:
41 b“‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told themthe next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, manyJews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, asthey spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of theLord. 45 gBut hwhen the Jews4 saw the crowds, they were filled withijealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, jreviling him.46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that theword of God kbe spoken first to you. lSince you thrust it aside and judgeyourselves munworthy of eternal life, behold, we nare turning to the Gentiles.47 oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
p“‘I have made you qa light for the Gentiles,
that you may rbring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and sglorifyingthe word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.50 tBut the Jews incited the devout uwomen of high standing and the leadingmen of the city, vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, andwdrove them out of their district. 51 But they xshook off the dust from theirfeet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ywithjoy and zwith the Holy Spirit.
13 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,
“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Gods Plan Never Fails
Gods Plan Never Fails
So what does Paul do for the majority of ? Preaching the Gospel!!!! But he does it in a really beautiful way. He starts with the history of when the Israelites are established in Egypt. He pointed out that it was God who established them in Egypt and even though they became slaves and were persecuted in Egypt as slaves it was God that brought them out of Egypt. Paul said it was God who put up with them in the wilderness.
Why did Paul say that? Because the Israelites were disobedient and had no faith. How could that be? They were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh but the miracle of the parting of the red sea. But that wasn’t enough for them to believe that Gods plan would not fail. They did not believe that God would come through. So when God told then to take the
“land of milk and honey”
again they did not believe God. They were frozen with fear! They would not enter into that land because the people there were strong, fierce and intimidating. Surely, they would not be able to over take them. Again, They did not have faith in the plan that God had for their lives
Because of their disobedience God did not give them the land. He forced them into the wilderness for the next 40 years. However, He continued to be with them in the wilderness for the next forty years and they complained the whole time. But God delivered on His promise. He gave them their inheritance in that land but not to that generation. Paul said from Egypt to giving the Israelites the land of milk and honey was 450 years.
God continued to be faithful as He worked in the life of Saul, David which then through Davids line came Jesus. And Jesus died on the cross living a sinless life. Rose three days later for the salvation of His people.
So we see that Pauls message was recieved by the leaders of the Synagogue and asked to hear more the following Sabbath. But the Jewish leaders spoke harshly against their message. And Paul spoke boldly and said the Lord told them
“I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
That you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Gods Plan will never fail
This should give you sooo much encouragement.
It is seen throughout the Bible that God has a plan for His church. His plan was that He was going to be with us. \
He was with Adam and Eve in the garden. He was with us when sin entered the world and He has been actively loving His people as Paul talked about.
He was with us when sin entered the world and He has been actively loving His people as Paul talked about. They are so many factors that could have stopped Gods plan from sending Jesus to die on the cross. But God is power…the author of everything. He can’t be stopped and His plan has already succeeded. Christ died on the cross and rose again. Satan knows he is defeated. So what does he do now. He has the church as we have seen over the last couple of weeks try and stop Peter, Paul and the Christian church from telling people about Jesus. He is actively working to throw them into prison. Paralize them with fear and anxiety as they are watching their fellow Christians being murdered and beaten.
They are so many factors that could have stopped Gods plan from sending Jesus to die on the cross.
But God is power…the author of everything. He can’t be stopped and His plan has already succeeded. Christ died on the cross and rose again. Satan knows he is defeated.
So what does Satan do now? He knows he is defeated but He torments the church as we have seen over the last couple of weeks. Satan has tried to stop the Gospel from going to all nations. Satan is actively working to stop them from fulfilling the great commission. He has activity worked to throw them into prison. He has tried to paralize the church with fear and anxiety as they are watching their fellow Christians being murdered and beaten.
But Satans efforts to stop the church is failing and will always fail because Christ is the head of the church. The Gospel still is being preached and people are given salvation through Jesus.
God is at the center of all of this. His plan is for the church to grow, for people to come to trust in Jesus. For His people to be with Him for eternity. His plan is not failing but has already succeeded. Jesus said on the cross.
“It is finished”
We see in Revelations that Christ will come back victorious on a white horse with His rob dipped in blood. He has already won.
Application
Application
You might be sitting here today saying that you have problems that are too big to deal with. You may not know what your life is suppose too look like.
You may be suffering from fear and anxiety that has you constantly paralyzed with indecision or coming to the God that loves you for help.
I want you to know that God has a plan for your life and its not to be plagued with fear. Its not to be consumed with exhaustion with the day to day grind. Gods plan for your life will be told to you if you go to Him in prayer and realize that your identity is not what this world can give you but what Christ already did on the cross.. He will reveal to you how to spread His Word to the people around you. How you can find joy despite the trails you are facing.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Military life is not easy. Moving around, being alone during deployments, being alone even when your family members are not deployed but in the field.
It won’t be this way forever.
God loves you and He said you are not alone. Even when you think you are alone and no one cares He is there with you.
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
He gave us hope in Jesus.....He gave us Salvation as a gift through faith......We have an Eternity with our God.
Gods plan will never fail and the fact that we are still sitting here listening to Gods Word, seeing lives being taken out of the darkness through the Holy Spirit and into the light.... tells us that after all this time....Since the foundations of the earth.....His plan has not and will never be stopped.
You can rest in Him and walk away knowing that you may be tired, you may want to give up....but only He can and will sustain you. He will always love you and will never forsake you.
And when we stand before Him we will hear
‘Well done, good and faithful servant”