Paul’s 2^nd Missionary Journey – When our plans don’t go as planned

Jason:

• He opened up his Bible not knowing where to read.
• Proverbs 16:9 “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
• He realized that he was making the plan and determining what the steps were going to be.

For us we make plans:

• Our American culture like to detail all the steps to accomplish this plan.
• But the steps we choose may not be the steps that God has for us
• GOD DOES NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH US MAKING PLANS, BUT HE WANTS US TO LEAN ON THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DIRECT OUR PATH TO GET THEIR.

The Apostle Paul finds this out in his second missionary journey

Hime and Barnabas went on a 18 month trip preaching the Gospel and starting up churches in several cities.

In the late spring of 44AD Paul and Barnabas started churches in:

• Cyprus
• Pisidian Antioch
• Iconium
• Lystra and Derbe
• Then returned back through each of them

A year after this missionary journey through modern day Turkey Paul has a plan

Acts 15:36 “Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”

Paul wants to go back and visit the towns and people from their first missionary journey:

• See how they are doing
• Try to encourage them.
• Correct any wrong beliefs or actions
• Maybe revisit some folks he shared Jesus with but did not accept the Gospel message
• SO, PAUL GOES TO BARNABAS WITH HIS IDEA

When things don’t go according to plan #1 :

• Spring of 49AD (four years after beginning of last trip)
• Barnabas liked the idea but wanted to take John Mark with them again (Give second chance)
• Paul did not want to give John Mark a second chance and an huge argument between two friends began

Acts 15:37-41 “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

What was Paul’s original plan?

• Go back and encourage the churches they started a few years earlier

So Paul started a different route:

• Instead of going from Antioch to Cyprus and up into Asia Minor
• He went north of Antioch and west to Lystra and Derbe
• THESE TWO WERE TOWNS THAT PAUL ORIGINALLY VISITED WITH BARNABAS
• All is going to plan

Paul meets Timothy:

• Still a boy when he meets him the first time around
• But four years later he is a teenager and showing lots of promise.
• Timothy fits the mold of what he is looking for and Paul takes him into their group

In elementary school and middle school we would choose teams for sporting events during recess and PE:

As adults we still pick teams:

• Hire people for work
• Raise up volunteers for church
• Pick who we are going to hang out with and spend time with.

I have the three C’s to determine who to pick:

• Character
• Competence
• Chemistry

If there are only 1 or 2 of the three c’s it usually comes back to be a poor selection and not work out.

Timothy fit the bill of all three C’s for Paul and Silas

So:

• They have reached the start of their planned destination
• But, they have taken on a new apprentice

They continued their travels through the region

Acts 16:6-7 “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”

They are determined to move up into Asia:

• But the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let them
• Second time they tried and the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them.
• THEN PAUL HAD A DREAM OF A GUY IN MACEDONIA (GREECE AREA)
• Paul was trying to go farther away from the Roman center and influence towards current day Russia (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan)
• Instead God wanted them to move towards Greece and Italy

Back to the story:

• Paul had a plan
• But God is directing his path on how to accomplish it

Paul has a dream of a guy in Macedonia (Greek area)

Acts 16:10 “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

Who is “we got ready”?

• Paul and Silas
• Intern Timothy
• Luke the author of Acts
• He comes in and out of the second and third missionary journey of Paul

So:

• Change of teammates
• Change of location and direction
• Change of plans

Was Paul’s original plan bad? NO

Was Paul able to see the entire BIG picture? NO

YOU SEE – God rarely shows us the whole big picture

Why?

He wants us to lean on and be led by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

Great God has a wonderful plan for us over in Macedonia (Greece):

• We are going to preach the message of Christ and everyone is going to love us.
• They get to Philippi (Book of Philippians) and get arrested because people weren’t making as much money as before
• In Thessalonica (Thessalonians) Riot started in protest of their message. Paul and companions escape in the night, but house they were staying at got arrested.
• As he escaped in the night he went alone to Athens waiting for people to catch up with him
• Athens is the intellectual capital of the world (Center of Greek philosophy) Visits the Parthenon
• He leaves Athens and goes to Corinth (Considered the center of sexual perversion of the world)

How does he do all this:

• It is expensive traveling and living on the road

Acts 18:1-4 “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. ⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

But it all changes in Corinth

Acts 18:5-6 “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

So here comes a change in Paul’s ministry…

How did it work out?

Acts 18:9-11 “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”

I am not saying that Paul was doing things wrong

In Galatians Paul talks about him, Barnabas and Titus going up to Jerusalem after his first missionary journey (Acts 15)

 Galatians 2:7 “On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.”

Paul agreed that his calling was to go to the Gentiles.

I am not saying Paul was doing wrong by preaching to the Jews:

• But it is amazing how he found peace for a year and a half when he stopped preaching the Gospel to the Jews.

Remember the verse we read earlier:

Proverbs 16:9 “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

We get an idea in our head as to a direction in life we want to go:

• It is okay to plan
• It is okay to pursue
• But it is essential that we listen to the direction of the Holy Spirit?
• Paul would have ended up in a place where God did not want him to go.

My story:

• EACH STEP OF OUR JOURNEY WE FELT THE PEACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Just like Apostle Paul:

• He had plans
• He prayed and sought the heart of Holy Spirit
• Made best choices he could with the options in front of him.
• And God led him to a place that we would agree the best possible outcome
• FOR HIM IT WASN’T EASY, BUT HE JOYFULLY TOOK ON THE WORK OF GOD.

For us:

• God had a plan
• He didn’t come out at the beginning and say I want you pastoring a Foursquare church in Veneta (Junie’s hone town)
• But twenty twists and turns later God’s plan was hard and good

How do you know you are hearing the Holy Spirit:

• Ask God questions
• Know the Bible (Holy Spirit oftentimes speaks through Scripture)
• Hang out at church and with other believers
• Stop the sin (Like eating ice cream before dinner (Kid no longer hungry)
• Sin messes up our ability to listen well
• Desensitizes us so we don’t feel his leading as well

Pray!