Look at Acts 9:6, we read, “And he trembling and astonished said, LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
Paul asked WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE HIM TO DO, and the Lord told him, “…Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
WHY DIDN’T GOD TELL HIM ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD WHAT TO DO? God reveals His will to us in portions for two reasons:
(1) BECAUSE SOMETIMES WE ARE NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE TRUTH WHEN IT IS DUMPED ON US ALL AT ONCE.
If God had told Paul:
• You are going be rejected by your own people
• You are going to be beaten
• You are going to be jailed
• You are going to be called a madman
… it could have been more than he could have handled.
Illus: In one of Tom Cruise’s movies, he is acting as a military lawyer. He has a military man on the witness stand, grilling him hard.
• The military man says very loudly, “What do you want from me?”
• Tom Cruise said very loudly, “I want the truth!”
• The military man said very loudly, “You can not handle the truth!”
This is true, sometimes some things are best left unsaid because some people can not handle the whole truth.
Illus: At school, little Johnny was told by a classmate that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, and that this makes it very easy to blackmail them by saying, "I know the whole truth."
• Little Johnny decides to go home and try it out. He goes home, and as he is greeted by his mother, he says, "I know the whole truth." His mother quickly hands him $20 and says, "Just don't tell your father."
• Quite pleased, the boy waits for his father to get home from work, and greets him with, "I know the whole truth." The father promptly hands him $40 and says, "Please don't say a word to your mother."
When we speak as Christians, we should always tell the truth, but sometimes it is best if some things are not said.
Illus: They say George Herbert Bush had hard feelings when he lost the presidency to Bill Clinton. Those hard feelings were expressed not in words, but on a train when Bill Clinton, George Herbert Bush, Janet Reno and Bo Derek were together. The train came to a dark tunnel and you could not see your hand in front of your face. When they went through the tunnel it was obvious someone had gotten slapped.
• Janet Reno, when she heard the slap, thought, “Bill tried to kiss Bo Derek and she slapped him.”
• Bill Clinton thought, “George Herbert Bush tried to kiss Bo Derek and she thought it was me and slapped me.”
• Bo Derek heard the slap and thought, “Bill Clinton tried to kiss me and made a mistake and kissed Janet Reno and she slapped him.”
• George Herbert Bush thought, “If we come to another dark tunnel, I am going to slap the devil out of Bill Clinton again!”
Sometimes some things do not need to be said, but when we do speak, we should always tell the truth.
Illus: When it comes to telling the whole truth, I think about the man on the witness stand.
• The judge said to him, “You seem to be in some distress, is anything the matter?'
• “Well, your Honor, I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but every time I try, some lawyer objects.”
The Lord knows that some people can not handle the WHOLE TRUTH about what He has planned for them, so he reveals His will for them a little each day!
For example, the first thing He told Paul to do after his conversion was to, “…Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
If Paul had not obeyed this small command, it would have been a complete waste of time to tell him the next thing He wanted him to do!
If we are not willing to obey the small things that God asks us to do, it certainly would be a waste of God’s time to tell us to do something BIG!
If Paul had not been willing to “Arise” and go into the city, he never would have known what God’s will for him was. God reveals His will for our life from day to day, because many times we could not handle it if we were told what we had to face.
Another reason God reveals His will to us from day to day is-
(2) BECAUSE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A WALK OF FAITH
God wants us to trust Him day by day, and to walk according to His will. We do not have to concern ourselves with NEXT WEEK, JUST TODAY!
Let me share with you some of the things that will help us find the perfect will of God for our lives. We can learn a great deal from this business man in our text. We need to consider:
I. OUR FUTURE
Look at verse 13, we read, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain.”
None of us knows what the future holds! NONE OF US! I know some that claim they know, but the Bible makes it clear that no one knows the future.
Verse 14 says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.”
Illus: A doctor called one of his patients into his office to deliver some very important news. "I have received the results of your tests and I have some bad news and some good news", said the doctor.
The patient was quiet for a moment, sensing the severity of the announcement.
• "Let me have the good news first, Doc", said the patient. The doctor took a deep breath and said, "You only have 24 hours to live."
• "Oh my goodness", shouted the patient, "If that’s the good news what could the bad news possibly be?"
• The doctor replied, "I was supposed to tell you yesterday."
No one knows the future. Many of us know people who have been told they had six months to live, and they lived another 20 or 30 years.
A doctor might be able to examine a person and compare that patient to someone else that had a similar condition, and make a prediction based on what happened to the other person. BUT EVEN THAT IS NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE!
We do not know what the future holds for any of us.
James 4:13-14 says, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
WHAT IS JAMES SAYING IN THESE VERSES OF SCRIPTURE?
He is simply saying, “Come on now, you who are strutting around like you own the place. It may be that soon the place will still be here but you won’t!”
Notice, the sin of this merchant was not that he was actively engaged in his business and making plans for what would happen a year from that time. The problem was he had it all figured out within himself and left God out of the picture.
• When: “today or tomorrow”
• Where: “this or that city”
• How: “spend a year”
• What: “do business”
• Why: “to make money”
In all his planning, he left out the most important thing. He never considered the WILL OF GOD!
It is a big mistake in life when we DEPEND ON OUR PLANS INSTEAD OF DEPENDING ON GOD EACH DAY!
We see OUR FUTURE and -
II. OUR FRAILTY
Look at verse 14, we read, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
We are given two very significant reasons why we should never presume upon the future:
A. LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE
Prov. 27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
We don’t even know what will happen tonight, much less next week or next year. The truth is that no one can predict the future.
• No one can predict which horse will win a horse race
• No one can predict which car will win a car race
• No one can predict what football team will win a game
And listen, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR ANY ONE OF US!
Most of the time LIFE IS FILLED WITH SURPRISES!
Count on it! Life is just one big “IF”. Right in the middle of LIFE is “IF”.
B. LIFE IS IMMEASURABLE
Our life is like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Look at James 4:14, we read, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
A lot of things can be measured in life, but LIFE CAN NOT BE MEASURED BY MAN.
Think about this…
• A lightening bolt lasts 45 to 55 microseconds.
• The average running shoe worn by the average runner on an average surface will last 350 to 500 miles.
• A hard pencil can write up to 30,000 words or draw a line more than 30 miles long.
• Most ballpoint pens will draw a line 4,000 to 7,500 feet long.
• Leather combat boots have a wartime life span of six months, a peacetime life span of eight months.
• A one-dollar bill lasts approximately 18 months in circulation.
• A lot of things can be measured in life, but LIFE CAN NOT BE MEASURED BY US HUMANS.
We have a way of measuring everything, but when it comes to life, there is no one on this earth that can tell you how much longer you will be here! NO ONE!
We all know people who went to a doctor and received a clean bill of health, and they died a few days later!
Because life is UNPREDICTABLE and IMMEASURABLE, instead of saying:
•“I’m going to do this and that, and make this much money here and there,”
• We should say, “If God wills it for my life and provides the opportunity, I will go there and make this much money.”
He holds the entire universe together by His Word, and it is foolish on the part of any man to think he can take the controls from God.
He can take our lives at any moment and He would still be a good God.
• He is God and we are not
• He is in charge, not us
So, we see OUR FUTURE, OUR FRAILTY and -
III. OUR FAITHFULNESS
Look at verse 17, we read, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
Did you know that you can sin by doing nothing?
Someone has put it this way…
Procrastination is my sin,
It brings me nothing but sorrow,
I know that I should stop it
So I will…tomorrow.
Most Christians sin, not by what they are DOING that is wrong, but by what they are NOT DOING that is right.
Many Christians know what the Bible teaches, but they don’t act on their knowledge.
• Some need to be baptized
• Some need to put the Lord first in their finances
• Some need to establish a daily quiet time with the Lord
• Some need to start attending Sunday School
• Some need to seriously start praying for lost loved ones and friends
• Some need to be faithful to the house of God
Christians know they should do these things because the Bible teaches that they should.
Conclusion:
We can choose to live our lives in one of three ways:
• Spend our lives
• Waste our lives
• Invest our lives
Life is short … let’s make the best of life by investing our life in the work of God.
We have looked at:
I. OUR FUTURE
II. OUR FRAILTY
III. OUR FAITHFULNESS
