The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 18, verses 19 through 23.

Tony Clark: Lord, make my life count for eternity. I dare you to pray that. If you have the nerve and the courage to make such a request of God, I will say strap in and get ready. Just like in the city of Berea in Acts 17:10-12, the Jews in Ephesus received Paul so well that, according to verse 20, they asked him to stay longer with them.

People enjoyed being around Paul. They enjoyed his company, not because he had such an incredible personality or because he was a friendly person, but because he showed them the things of the kingdom of God. I am convinced that this is still true today. I love to be around those who are rich in the things of God. I love to sit at the feet of those who have eternity in view and see everything from a biblical perspective. I love to be around them.

This is how the Jews in Ephesus felt about Paul. I wonder if this is how people feel about you. Do they want you to stick around a little longer? Why do they want you around? Is it because you are a class clown? People want you around because they just want to laugh. That is one thing. Do they want to be around you because you are generous and they know they can let their need be known and you will throw them some money? Or do they want you around because you are a good time?

You have to question and look into your own heart of why people want you around them. Paul, they wanted to stay longer because he shared with them about eternal things. He shared with them about the kingdom of God and the word of God. He shared it in such a way that people wanted to hear more about it. You have to ask yourself if people want you to be around a little longer or if they cannot wait for you to leave. When you are around, do you notice people checking their watches and making excuses that it is getting late? You have to ask yourself that question.

Something else I want you to see before I leave this section: Paul had wanted to preach in this same area two years earlier, but the Holy Spirit did not allow him to, according to Acts 16:6. This shows us that God has a perfect timing for everything in our lives. What God was saying to Paul in Acts 16:6, when He did not allow for him to go to Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey, was, "No, not right now."

So often we discern God's "no" as in "no, never," when He is actually saying, "No, not right now," or the word we hate to hear, which is "wait." I have a perfect timing by which I will allow for you to go to this area, Paul. It is just not right now. The same is true for us. When God tells us "no," it is only in those things that we pray about that are sinful, unethical, and unbiblical. God is saying, "No, never. Do not even ask me about it again because it is still going to be no, never."

However, when they asked Paul to stay a little longer with them, he did not consent but left them because he said that he had to keep the coming feast in Jerusalem. Please do not think that Paul and the early believers felt obligated to keep the Jewish feast. This is a new thing that is going around now that many Christians are all of a sudden saying that the church needs to keep the Jewish feast. They use scriptures in Acts to say that Paul and those early believers kept those Jewish feasts.

We have to pump the brakes before we start putting that sort of thing on the church. There is a reason why Paul wanted to keep the coming feast. He had a greater audience by which to preach the gospel to. He always had a heart to reach his own people, the Jewish people. When did he have a complete audience with the Jewish people? During the Jewish feasts. They all came together and he said, "This is my time to reach my people."

Do not think that the early church kept the Jewish feasts because that was to be a practice throughout Christianity. No, they had a greater audience. The Christians who were coming home needed some encouragement. Paul saw that he had Christians who needed encouragement and Jews that needed Christ. He had to go. They wanted him to stay a little longer, but he had to go because there was going to be a tremendous audience for him to reach for Jesus Christ. Paul went on to say that he would return again to them, God willing. He said to those believers in Ephesus, "Deuces, I am out of here."

What does it mean to say, "God willing"? It means that we are looking at things from God's perspective and not ours, unless your perspective is in line with God's perspective. It means that you are acknowledging that God is in control of your life and God can change your plans if He wants to. James 4:13-15 says to be careful that you do not say, "I am going to do this thing on such and such a day." Instead say, "If God wills, I am going to do this thing."

God could have other plans for your life. Have you ever thought about that? He could see danger on the road you are presently traveling on, and He can change things to keep you from being hurt. Also, by saying "God's will," you are acknowledging that God is all-knowing and you are not. It is a good practice to start off each day by saying, "Lord, what is Your will for my life today?" Then go and saturate yourself in God's word because that is where His will is contained, and watch and see how your day will be filled with a God-awareness.

How can we know God's will for our lives specifically? How can we know whether it is God's will to marry them, to move there, to take this job, or to take this position? Is it just some crazy idea I came up with? We have already established that a daily time in prayer and asking Him to reveal His will and a daily time in God's word is required. That is a prerequisite. However, there are three ways we can know God's will for our lives. Number one, do you have a desire? Whatever it is you want to do, do you have a strong desire? Number two, do you have a peace? Number three, do you have an open or closed door?

Let's look at these one at a time. I am about to help a whole bunch of people here. Number one, do you have a desire? Whatever it is you want to do, do you have a strong desire? Philippians 2:13 says it is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. I am into words. Words mean something; that is how we communicate. One of the things about the English language is that it can be a little limited. We have one word for love, but there are several loves. The love you have for your wife is different from the love you have for your children and the love I have for cheesecake is different from both of them.

The Greeks had five different Greek words for love. Their language was a little more expansive. The New Testament was written in Greek. This is why I give you Greek words because those languages are a little more expressive than the English language. When I give you Greek words, it expands your understanding of that particular word in English and gives you a little more depth into that particular word and what the author was saying.

Once again, Philippians 2:13 says it is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. Let's unpack that a little bit more. The Greek word for "works" is *energeō*. You can see it is where we get our English word "energized" from, and it means to energize or to activate. The Greek word for "will" is *thelō*, and it means to strengthen, to delight in, or it can be translated as "desire." God will energize us to delight in or desire His good pleasure for our lives.

The word "good pleasure" is *eudokia*, and it means satisfaction. It can be translated as "good pleasure" or "purpose." Let's put this all together. It is God who energizes us both to delight in and to do what is His good pleasure or purpose for our lives. Let's remove the confusion. People say, "Is it God's will for my life or is it my will?" God will work in us both to will, that is desire, and to do, the power to carry out, His good pleasure for our lives.

Let me give you a personal example. Why am I a pastor today? Because God put it in my heart to become one. In 1 Timothy 3:1, it says if a man desires the office of pastor, he desires a good work. God gave me the desire. If you notice in that verse, there are two words for "desire." But in the Greek, they are two different Greek words. The first Greek word for "desire" speaks of an inward desire, that which is on the inside. The second word for "desire" means to reach out after, that which is external.

You put that together and you see God gave me the desire to be a pastor internally, and then I reached out for it externally. That is what that means. I bring this up because it is very critical. I hear people all the time say, "God called me to be a pastor but I ran from that calling for years. God was chasing me, but He chased me down." I do not understand such things. God put the desire in me and I ran toward it, not against it. It is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. God will work internally in us and start putting those desires in there, and then we reach out after that which we are inwardly drawn towards.

Do you have a strong desire? Number two, do you have a peace? Colossians 3:15 says, "And let the peace of God rule in your heart." The Greek word for "rule" is *brabeuō*, and it means to arbitrate or to govern. It speaks of acting as a referee of an athletic contest. God will give us a peace or lack of peace with everything we want to do. The peace of God will act as a referee in our lives, either saying that decision that you are about to make is safe, or that decision that you are about to make or you just made is out of here.

The Holy Spirit in us is guiding our lives by the word of God. If we are making the right decisions based upon the word of God, the Holy Spirit will give us a peace and will say that decision is safe to make. Or if we are making decisions that are not based upon the word of God, the Holy Spirit in us will say that decision you are about to make or you just made was out to lunch. Do you have a peace?

Number three, do you have an open or closed door? Revelation 3:7 and 8 says God is the one who opens doors that no one could close and close doors no one could open. With this in mind, whatever you want to do, is the door open or closed for you to do it? Let's put all three of these together. To know God's will, you must be able to say yes to all three. People come up to me and say, "Well, Pastor Tony, I have two out of the three." I do not care. I said you need all three. Those may be good odds in the world or in Las Vegas somewhere, but those are not good odds in knowing God's will for your life.

Let me give you some examples. Whatever it is you want to do, move, or take a position, let's say you have a strong desire and you have a peace, but the door of opportunity is closed. Do not go trying to kick it open. This is a "no, not right now." It is a matter of timing. It is not the right time. Yes, you have a desire. Yes, you have a peace about it, but the door is not open, so it is a timing issue. Stop calling about the job and leave those folks alone. It is not the right time.

Let's say you have a desire and the door is open for you, but you do not have a peace. Something inside of you is saying, "Do not you do it. Do not you take that door. Do not you marry them. Do not you take that position." Ladies, you guys are a little more in tune with this than we as men are. You just know something in you is saying no. Something is not right. Yes, you had a desire. Yes, the door was open, but something on the inside is saying you better not do that. Then don't do it.

Let's say for example the door is open and you do not sense anything on the inside saying don't do it, but you really do not have a desire to do it. Everybody else is saying, "Put in for the job, put in for the position, you should move there." But you really do not have a desire to do it. Then don't do it. There have been some well-meaning people that were told by some mother in the church or some relative, "You ought to be in the ministry." The door was open for ministry and they didn't sense anything on the inside, but they really didn't have a desire.

Because somebody told them they looked like a preacher, they went into ministry and burned out. They crashed and burned because they really did not have a desire to be in the ministry. I have seen this with a lot of people who have a little charisma and they got a couple of verses in their back pocket. Because it is so rare to see folks who have a little charisma and the word of God, people automatically say they ought to be in the ministry. They go into the ministry and crash and burn because they should not have been there from the start. I have seen many of them who said they used to be a preacher. It must be all three. You have to have all three.

Acts 18:22 and 23: "And when they had landed at Caesarea and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples." When Paul left the city of Ephesus, verse 22 said that he landed in Caesarea and went up to Jerusalem to greet the church. Then he went down to Antioch of Syria, which is Paul's home church. After he spent some time there, which marked the end of his second missionary journey, verse 23 says that he left there and traveled to Galatia and Phrygia for the purpose of strengthening the churches he established in those cities earlier. This marked the beginning of his third missionary journey that lasted from AD 53 until AD 57.

Luke, the author of Acts, records Paul's travels that covered over 1,500 miles in verses 18 to 23 alone. This is incredible. I look at these things and I am blown away because I wonder where the Pauls are today. Where are the Pauls today who have such a heart for God and live for eternity? My heart is for the American church, and I want God to use us in a mighty way. I do not want us to only have to read about what God did through church history or what God did in the past. I want to see God move in the present. I want to see God move now.

Where are the Pauls today that are going to live for eternity? I am amazed that Paul was tired and weary. He was stoned, beat up, and chased out of every city. My heart breaks because for the smallest things, we would just stay home. We only come to church maybe one hour on Sunday and maybe another hour on Wednesday. The rest of the time we are in the world. We will allow ourselves a pass on staying away from church for the dumbest things. "My favorite show comes on during church, so I am not going to go." I am baffled. Paul had such a heart for God. If Paul could look at Christianity today here in America, he probably would say, "What on earth is that?" May God help us both to will and to do His good pleasure.

In this message, we saw how to know God's will for our lives in three ways. Do you have a desire? Do you have a peace? Do you have an open or closed door? It must be yes to all three. Finally, you must spend daily time in God's word and prayer because it is there where God's will is revealed.

Father, thank You for this time You have given us in Your word. I pray Your Holy Spirit will come upon Your people, draw them to You, and draw them to know Your heart and Your will. Lord, I pray God that You would move today. I pray, Lord, if there is anyone here who has not repented of their sin and accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, may today be the day of salvation for them. Move by Your Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.

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