The Providence of God

Pastor Derek Wheeler

Acts • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

0 ratings

· 10 views

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Big Idea:

God has always worked through two ways:

Miracles

Providence

Narrative

Paul is brought before the council of Pharisees and Sadducees and brings up the resurrection

Pharisees - believed in the “concept” of the resurrection, as well as angels and spirits.

Found in the Pentateuch

Not Jesus’ resurrection

Sadducees - rejected the concepts of the resurrection, angels, and spirits....only accepted the books of the Law as Scripture…no reference to the resurrection

Basically, they interpreted the Pentateuch/Books of the Law differently

So what happens is, yet again, Paul is at the center of a riot that breaks out, and if not for the tribune…he would have been ripped to pieces as verse 10 says…so they take him to the barracks at the Fort Antonia (GET PICTURE FOR SCREEN)

And that night, while Paul is yet again in prison....verse 11 says, “The following night 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.”

Think about it

So think about this with me. You’re Paul, okay…the Holy Spirit has already testified to you that you are facing severe persecution and affliction ()

And here you are in prison.....right? #calledit

But then, the Lord shows up and says, basically…hey Paul, don’t worry, you’ll be persecuted in Rome too.

Again…thanks God, right?

But in all seriousness, Paul longed to go to Rome....to share the Gospel, so this was good news to him!

So how was going going to get Paul out of this?

But let me ask you, what do you think Paul was expecting to happen? A miracle?

Another jailhouse rock? ()

Another jailhouse door suddenly opening? ()

Narrative continues:

The next day, 40 Jews swore an oath together that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul......

They then went to the chief priest and elders of the council that met the previous day and convinced them to agree to their plan

Here’s how they wanted it to go down…the chief priest were going to go to the tribune, and tell him the council wanted to examine Paul again in court

Meanwhile, the 40 men would lie in ambush, somewhere along the route from the fort antopia and the temple

Now, here’s where it gets interesting and we start to see God come through for Paul AGAIN

Paul’s nephew hears of the ambush, how, we’re not sure, but he does

So he runs to Paul, tells Paul about the plan

And remember…Paul’s thinking…okay God, anytime now!

Paul then calls a centurion and tells the centurion to take the boy to the tribune…for he had important info

The tribune meets with the boy, and he relays the information to the tribune

And at this point, the tribune has a decision to make....listen to this boy, who happens to be the nephew of Paul....yeah, he’s got no reason to lie right?

But the tribune calls two centurions and tells them to get ready:

200 soldiers

Seventy horsemen

and 200 spearmen

That’s 470 soldiers for those of you who hate math

And the were to travel to Caesarea, with Paul under the cover of darkness leaving at 9 pm

And take Paul to Felix the governor in Caesarea…thus foiling the plan of the 40 Jewish men

Felix takes him in due to his again, Roman citizenship and birthplace of Cilicia

Another jailhouse rock? ()

So, was this a miracle, or was this something else?

Another jailhouse door suddenly opening? ()

There were two ways that God works throughout the entire storyline of Scripture:

Miracles & Providence

Miracles are when God breaks the natural strain and

Providence is when God uses natural circumstances to do His will

Have you ever thought about that? We tend to only ever focus on the miracles in the Bible, and we can get caught up in them, and we can focus just on miracles and ask questions like:

If God is really real, why doesn’t He work miracles anymore?

But if you do really stop and think about it, God works way more often through providence then he does through miracles

But, if you think even harder, isn’t that a miracle in itself?

I know he’s not breaking the natural strain, but He’s choosing to work through people, through natural disasters, through “coincidences” to complete His will…and to me it’s pretty miraculous that He can work through people and His plan comes out perfectly

Either way, God is always working to confirm the truth of the Gospel and His redemptive plan

And what we see God doing here in this instance in the latter part of Acts is working through providence

Knowing Paul’s nephew would be near wherever they held this secret meeting to hear the plot

Knowing that the centurion on guard when the boy told Paul would be willing to listen to Paul’s request

Knowing that the tribune would be willing to move Paul

Knowing that Paul’s work was not finished yet, that his race had not been run completely....God worked through providence to preserve Paul, at least for a little while longer

What’s This Do For Us?

I think there are two main things we can take from this brief overview of the narrative and looking at the two ways God works throughout Scripture:

1st - You are untouchable until God’s plan for your life is finished

There was this lady named Lottie Moon, she was born in 1840, anyone ever heard of her?

No? Good

She was born in Virginia, rebelled against Christianity, and then gave her life to Christ in college.

She actually was one of the first women in the South to receive a master’s degree

She ended up teaching school in the South

But then God began to impress on her the need to go to China to become a missionary, and so in 1873 she did....and for the next 39 years she taught in a girl’s school in the Shantung province

Turning down a marriage proposal

But don’t think it was all roses and gumdrops…she wasn’t very liked in China, and actually wrote home to the Foreign Mission Board this, “Please say to the new missionaries they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self-denial”

She’s a pretty incredible person if you ever want to check out her story…but she has a quote that has always stuck with me, and she says this:

“I have a firm conviction that I am immortal until my work is done.”

And it was the absolute truth for her, it was the absolute truth for Paul (even though he came so close to death so many times), and it’s the absolute truth for you.

2nd - Don’t miss God working in your life

God does not operate solely in the realm of miracles…as awesome as that would be…He never has and He never will

God is so incredibly powerful that He chooses to coordinate the 7 billion people on earth like a conductor of a massive orchestra so that His plan plays out so beautifully, and you are part of that plan

His purposes and plans are so far above us....we can’t even begin to fathom them

But whether we admit it or not, some of us, and many other people believe that because God isn’t visibly working through jailhouse rocks and healing the blind today…that He isn’t working.

He is working..and He will work through you

The question you need to ask yourself is this.....are you on His side?

If you are....look for Him…if you’re longing to further the Gospel....He is providentially, and sometimes miraculously working to give you opportunity to further that message

If you aren’t....well, you should be....because His plan will come to completion.

Lottie Moon, a female missionary to used to always say, “I have a firm conviction that I am immortal until my work is done.”

Miracles in the OT authenticated Moses and the prophets as men of God

Miracles in the New Testament authenticated Christ, his authority, and the authority he gave to the apostles

Miracles always served the greater purpose of confirming the truthfulness of the Gospel message and God’s redemptive plan

Related Media

Related Sermons