INTRO.- Luke said, "We put out to sea."
ILL.- Recently, we heard that Edward Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor, a cancer, but he’s not giving up. You have to give him credit for this. He’s continuing to do, to go about his business. And over Memorial Day weekend he even put out to sea and was involved in a sailboat race.
You got to give him some credit. There is something to be said about someone who doesn’t give up, who keeps on, keeping on regardless of opposition or hindrances of any kind. I respect that in him whether I believe what he believes or not.
ILL.- He’s like another fellow that I recently read about. At the age of 60, Saoul Mamby Fights on Because That Is What He Does. That was the title of the news story. Who is Saoul Mamby? He’s a professional boxer who hasn’t quit.
Most boxers believe their prime days are over in their mid-30’s or at best, 40 years of age but not Saoul Mamby at age 60. Here’s his story by TIM DAHLBERG. He wrote: "I guess I should be outraged, but somehow I’m not. Saoul Mamby probably shouldn’t be fighting, but he’s been doing it for so long I’m not going to be the one to tell him to stop.
"The grandfather of 11 first fought for money in 1969, a year he remembers well even if a lot of others don’t. He was once a world champion who fought on the same card as Muhammad Ali, he’s fought around the world in places you’d be hard pressed to find on a map, but where he could always find a payday.
"The other night he went 10 rounds with a man half his age down in the Cayman Islands. He took the fight on a few days notice, figuring that even a few months shy of 61 he could beat a guy who had lost 13 of his last 14 fights. He couldn’t, but at his age one more loss isn’t going to deter him.
Mamby said, "I didn’t get hurt or beat down. It’s just that my tools weren’t sharp. Now that I’ve got 10 good rounds under me I’m ready to go again."
Brothers and sisters, you’ve just got to admire that guy for not giving in, not giving up or quitting. Many people quit important things in life when they shouldn’t.
Personally, I think many people quit work before they should. I feel that way mainly because I can’t retire yet and I’m envious.
No, I believe in my work. I believe in it more now than ever before! I believe that every person on planet earth needs Jesus as their savior!
And I may not influence millions but I’ll influence a few people for Christ. And that’s all any of us can hope for. Few of us will influence people for Christ like Billy Graham has.
However, this doesn’t mean that our influence isn’t important. It is. You and I can influence some people that Billy Graham can’t. We are important to the work of God. WE MUST NOT QUIT. We must keep on, keeping on. We must set sail and go to work!
In our text, Paul (along with others) set sail to accomplish God’s will for his life. And we all must put out to sea in regard to our faith in Christ.
PROP.- From this text, let’s get some ideas about setting sail in life in order to accomplish God’s will.
1- We must set sail for our mission
2- We must set sail in regard to the Lord’s will
I. WE MUST SET SAIL FOR OUR MISSION
1After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.
Notice the words of our text: We put out to sea. We went. We found. We sailed. And verse 15, "After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem." Paul set sail straight to Jerusalem to fulfill His mission for the Lord! Nothing would deter him!
ILL.- Many years ago there was, in one of the great Chicago stores, a boy working for only two dollars per week. (obviously this was LONG time ago!)
One Saturday night this boy went to his employer and asked for an increase in salary. “What are you receiving now?” asked the employer. The boy told him.
“Why, that is twice as much as I was getting at your age,” said the employer. “Well,” said the boy, “I am not you, and besides, that was perhaps all you were worth to the firm you were working for.”
The boy made his point. He not only received an increase in pay, but he rose steadily step-by-step, and became head of the largest single store in the United States. That boy was Marshall Field of Chicago, and he could eventually write a check for a million dollars. What’s the lesson? AIM HIGH. That’s what Marshall Field apparently did.
Marshall Field set sail for his mission in life. He went from farmer to founder of a large department store! He was not going to be deterred from his mission.
What’s your mission? Do you even have one? And have you set sail? Do you have any high and lofty goals in life?
ILL.- In Yorkshire, England, during the early 1800s, two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for himself by entering Parliament and gaining public prestige. But the younger son chose to give his life to Christ.
He later recalled, “Well do I remember, as in unreserved consecration I put myself, my life, my friends, my all, upon the altar. I felt I was in the presence of God, entering into covenant with the Almighty.”
With that commitment, Hudson Taylor turned his face toward China and obscurity. As a result, he is known and honored on every continent as a faithful missionary and the founder of the China Inland Mission (now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
For the other son, however, there is no lasting monument. When you look in the encyclopedia to see what the other son has done, you find these words, “the brother of Hudson Taylor.”
This reminds me of the saying, "Only one life. Twill soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last."
All our earthly goals and accomplishments will mean little in the light of eternity.
ILL.- I ran 14 marathons, including Boston, but so what? The important thing is this: did I influence anyone for Christ through my running days? Even in our secular pursuits we must always point people to Christ.
ILL.- My friend Truman Brady from Seneca, MO, is 50 years old and he just started preaching about two years ago. He’d been in the grocery business most of his life and now he’s preaching the Word of God every Sunday at the Fairland Christian Church, Fairland, OK. And God is blessing his ministry. The church is growing. People are coming to Christ and being baptized. There is excitement in the air in that church. I advised him, "God has opened a door. Don’t shut it."
Obviously, not everyone can quit what they are doing in life and become preachers of the gospel, but we all can do things for Christ. And some people can do more in the pew than they ever could in the pulpit.
I’m just saying, HAVE YOU SET SAIL? HAVE YOU DISCOVERED YOUR GOD-ORDAINED MISSION IN LIFE? Have you figured out what God wants you to do to serve Him and influence people for Christ?
ILL.- Charlton Heston, who passed away April 5, 2008 at the age of 84, may have won accolades galore, but he was not a man to rest on his laurels.
Heston said, “One of the things about acting or painting or writing or composing music, is you never get it right. You can spend a lifetime and, if you’re honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect. People say to me,‘You’ve got the awards and the parts and the money. What are your goals now?’ I say, ‘To get it right one time.’"
Brothers and sisters, we all need to get it right. And that’ "right" is serving the Lord in some form. It’s a matter of fulfilling His mission for our lives!
II. WE MUST SET SAIL IN REGARD TO THE LORD’S WILL
12When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord’s will be done."
When the people saw that they couldn’t stop Paul from his mission of going to Jerusalem they finally gave up and just said, "The Lord’s will be done."
Were they fighting against the Lord’s will? Were they fighting against the Lord’s will by trying stop Paul from going to Jerusalem? Could be.
ILL.- How many of you remember the famous heavyweight boxing champ, Rocky Marciano? He was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1952 to 1956. In 1969, on the eve of his 46th birthday, Marciano was killed as a passenger in a small private plane headed to Des Moines, Iowa.
NOW GET THIS: Marciano, had 49 fights with 49 wins with 43 knockouts to his credit (87.8% knockout rate). He remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career.
It was like Marciano was UNBEATABLE!
Brothers and sisters, in reality there is only one person who is unbeatable and that is our God! No one can stand against Him. No one.
ILL.- Billionaire ($9.4 billion) Silvio Berlusconi, prime minsiter of Italy, said, "There is no one on the world stage who can compete with me." SORRY, YOU’RE WRONG!
The truth is no one can stand against our God!
Psalm 2:1-5 "1Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 "Let us break their chains,"they say, "and throw off their fetters." 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath..."
The Lord scoffs and laughs at those in this world who think they are greater than God! Or those who think there is no God! They may fight against the will of God but their fighting is useless! The will of God shall be done!
ILL.- Remember Pharaoh of old when he was trying to chase the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea? Bad move on his part.
The scripture says that God made the wheels of the chariots belonging to Pharaoh’s army to come off. The Egyptians said, "Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them." Boy, did He ever fight against them! And that wasn’t the end of the story. The whole army of Pharaoh was gulped up by the sea and the scripture says, "not one of them survived."
It’s a not a very smart thing to fight against God!
Have you ever fought against the will of God? More than likely you have! When did you do that? When you sinned and you knew you sinned! All sin is against God and when we obviously and blatantly sin we are fighting against God! But we’ll lose!
Likewise, sometimes in life we fight against God even when it comes to doing something positive in regard to His will. What are we talking about?
Have you even been asked to do something good but you said "no"? Or have you been given an opportunity to serve in some form and you had the time and the talent, but you turned the opportunity down? That could be fighting against God, because God wants us all to serve Him.
Sometimes our greatest sin is not the sin of commission but the sin of omission, that is, when we fail to do the good that we know we should.
James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins."
ILL.- I remember when I was a student at Ozark Bible College back in the 1960’s. There was a fellow student named Ron Dunwoody. I’m not sure why Ron went to Bible College because he didn’t seem to be very serious about life. I think he was raised in the Christian Church and it may be that he just thought he’d try out Bible college. Of course, that was during the Vietnam era as well and that may have given him some motivation. But Ron started doing some preaching while he was a student and I believe, when he was just a freshman student.
I went to hear him one Sunday at a small church and wow! He was good! He had a good sermon and a very good delivery! And I told him so. I thought, "He will go far in the preaching ministry. He’s talented." But as far as I know, he never entered the ministry. WAS HE FIGHTING AGAINST GOD? Could be. He may well have missed his calling and a great blessing by serving the Lord in preaching.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Can you serve in some particular way and yet, you don’t? Have you refused? Have you said "no" to God? You may have and didn’t even realize it.
ILL.- Someone wrote:
You ask: “What is the will of God?”
Well, here’s the answer true;
“The nearest thing, that should be done,
That he can do—through you!”
There is always something to be done near you. And if it’s something good then it’s the will of God for you to do it!
CONCLUSION-------------------------
ILL.- Missionary, David Livingstone said, "I had rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God than on the throne of England out of the will of God."
Doing the will of God wherever you are is the place to be. ARE YOU THERE?
