Knowing God’s Plan
1. Acts: 9: 1-6
2. Isaiah 55:8
Plans are important!
Look at this building. This is a beautiful place. Somewhere before every stone and wire and window and wall, there was a plan. Everything here reflects the plans that someone thoughtfully worked through and laid out. Others took those plans and constructed this place. It took time and money and energy. I required foresight and dedication and persistence. We gather here today and enjoy the benefit of all that went into planning and implementing that plan. When we worship and share in the Word of God and in fellowship with the Lord and one another here we are honoring the plan for this place in part.
Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD”.
Saul or Paul was of strictly Jewish parentage, but was born, a few years after Christ in the renowned Grecian commercial and literary city of Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia, and inherited the rights of a Roman citizen. He received a learned Jewish education at Jerusalem in the school of the Pharisean Rabbi, Gamaliel.
Saul was present for the trial of Stephen a trial that resulted in Stephen becoming the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:54–60). The historian Luke tells us that Stephen’s executioners laid their garments at the feet of Saul (Acts 7:58), who was in full approval of the mob’s murderous actions (Acts 8:1). Saul later ravaged the church, entering the homes of believers and committing them to prison. Saul’s anti-Christian zeal motivated him not only to arrest and imprison male Christians (the “ringleaders”) but to lock up female believers as well (Acts 8:3).
Soul was on his way to Damascus to arrest and extradite Christians back to Jerusalem, Saul was confronted by the very One whom he was persecuting (Acts 9:3–9; 22:6–11; 26:12–18). What followed was one of the most dramatic conversions in church history.
Illustration
One lady was interested in knowing God’s will sat by a window with her Bible open and allowed the breeze to open the pages and she chose a verse a random by allowing her finger to fall on a verse. She read the words, "Judas went and hanged himself." Horrified, she closed the Bible and tried again. This time her finger found these words, "Go and do thou likewise." Even more dismayed, she quickly tried a third time and the wind-and-finger method led her to a verse that said, "Whatsoever thou doest, do quickl
How to Know God’s Plan?
If God wants to reveal His plans to you.
1. He will Stops you. ( Acts 9: 3).
God shines around soul like a lightening and stopped him.
? Sometimes God will send his angles to stop you.
? Sometimes God many send his anointed people to stop you.
Illustration
A man lived in a very low-lying area near a river. A man in a jeep drove up one day and said, “This area is about to be flooded. You need to get out of here!” The man replied, “I’ll just stay here and trust the Lord to take care of me.” And very soon the water was swirling around his front porch as he sat in his rocking chair.
Soon after that, a man came by in a boat, saying, “You need to get out of here. The water is getting higher and higher.” The man replied, “I’ll be okay. I’m just going to trust the Lord.”
Finally, the man ended up on his roof because of the rising water. It had already flooded his house. Suddenly, a helicopter appeared overhead and lowered a chair so he could be taken to safety. He shouted back, “It’s okay. I’ll stay here. I’m trusting the Lord to take care of me.”
Well, the man drowned and in heaven, he complained to the Lord that He hadn’t take care of him. And the Lord said, “Hey! I sent you a jeep, a boat and a helicopter. WHAT ELSE DID YOU WANT ME TO DO?”
Many a time God sends people to stop you from getting hurt or from being harmed.
2. He will interact with you. (Acts 9:4)
“And he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
How do God speaks with you ?
? God speaks through His word
? He speaks through his servants
? He speaks through vision and dreams
3. He will show you the right path for you: (Acts 9:6)
God said to soul go in to city and everything will be told to you.
When God opens a door be ready to go into it without any hesitation
Illustration
• When God opened a path in Noah’s life he did not hesitation enter in to the stinky ark
• When God opened a path for Abraham he left his home, country and walk towards the path that was opened for him.
Conclusion:
If God wants to reveal His plans to you.
1. He will stop you
2. He will interact with you
3. He will show you the right path
Acts 9:17
“ And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit”.
When Anania layed his hands on soul not only he received his sight, or not only he was filled with the Holy Spirit. But he also received the plans and the Vision form God.
The way to know the will of God for the rest of your life is to do the will of God right now — obey what you already know. If you're interested in knowing the will of God in your life, say what the apostle Paul said, "Lord, Who are You, and what do You want me to do?"
