I want you to turn to the scripture reading that we have just read from God's Word, the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 19. We have been a long time in this particular chapter and we've seen quite a good deal from this chapter. In fact my pages are almost bedraggled because we have been studying this passage for so long and I've been studying it of course during the week. And so it seems to me that this is a well-used passage, but we haven't finished with it yet. I want to try, if I can, to speak to you from two verses. We may come back to the rest of the chapter at another time if the Lord leads us, but nevertheless, I want to bring to you two verses, which are verses 21 and 22. After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the Spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying after I have been there I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. I think it's true to say that very often I have dwelt on verses that perhaps you would have read and just read over and not really seen very much in them. And these two verses are particularly verses like that. And yet I want to try and show you that there's a richness in the Word of God if we are prepared to dig deeply. Now you'll notice how these verses actually begin after these things were ended and that of course refers us back to what we considered together and we left Paul the last time that we saw him in this particular chapter in the church in Ephesus and there were great miracles that had taken place and you will remember how we spoke about verse 11, God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul and we consider how these miracles were used by the Lord as a sign, as a witness to the authenticity of the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But it also was a great time of blessing, wasn't it? There was a public burning of the idolatrous letters and books and statues that they had in Ephesus. And I think that when you read that particular chapter, you have to say that revival had really broken out. And it finishes the passage in verse 20, so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed. That doesn't mean that the Word of God grew any bigger. No, of course, what it really means is that the Word of God was sown by the Apostle And then it was planted and watered and then after that it grew. And that is exactly what happened to the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. And may that be our experience as well. We know that we have the finished Word of God in our hands, but we want the work and Word of God to grow in our midst, in our day and in our generation. Now, after all of that happened and Christ had been so magnified in their midst, it seems to me that we find Paul in reflection. And so verse 21 simply says, and after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the Spirit. When he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there I must also see Rome. This is Paul in reflection and I'm sure that you will understand what I really mean by that. Somehow it seems to me that when you have a vision of the Apostle Paul he was never a man to keep still, he was always on the move. He had actually been in Ephesus at this time two and a half years. It was the longest stay that he ever had in any part or any place and so he now has what we might term as itchy feet. He wants to go elsewhere. He had a restless spirit, didn't he? And of course a restless spirit is good in one sense, we want to see better, we want to see greater, we don't want to be content with what we have, we want to see the Lord moving in a greater manner. But we also understand this, and this is what we must understand, it's not always good to have a restless spirit. If God has put you in a place, if God has given to you a work to do, then you mustn't go elsewhere unless God directs you very clearly. Now of course it's difficult to criticize the great apostle Paul, but he was a man and we have seen something of his weakness in the past. He made mistakes. We remember how he rejected John Mark and perhaps he should have been more gracious with that man. He had a wonderful ministry with Barnabas and then that of course was split simply and solely because of that rejection of John Mark. And then we considered together, didn't we, the strange vow that he had and his propensity to keep the feasts and want to go to Jerusalem to keep the feasts even though this was the new covenant and the new era. Now, I want to say this morning that I question the wisdom of his restless spirit at this particular time. It seems to me, and this is only my own opinion of course, but I want to try to show you what I mean here. It seems to me that the Apostle Paul was running before the Lord had directed him. We sometimes say, don't we, decide in haste, and repent in leisure. We all ought to remember that. We can easily decide in haste and after whatever we've done happens we may repent in leisure. Well that seems to me to be just what exactly happened here. I've often wondered over the years why was it that Paul came to that end that he did and why was it his ministry was curtailed when comparatively he was just a young man. Why was it? Well I wonder if I found the reason and I wonder if it's found here in this verse 21. We've all got to be careful of running before the Lord Director. So our subject this morning is simply this. Paul's foolish plans. Paul's foolish plans. We all make plans. And of course there's nothing wrong with that. But God always has the last say. Paul made plans, but God had the last say in Paul's life. So then let me, if I can, speak to you about first of all the forming of the plans. And you'll notice our verse begins by simply saying, after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the Spirit. Paul purposed in the Spirit. I want to say a word here which I hope that you'll agree with and will encourage us. And it's a word concerning the necessity of planning. The necessity of planning. There's lots of sayings and I'm sure you're well aware of them, we don't plan to fail, do we? But we fail to plan. And that's very often the case in our lives. We think that we can just go ahead and do whatever we like and looking back we hope that it's all worked together. Another saying that we have, aim at nothing and you're sure to hit it. And that's very true. If you haven't got plans, you haven't got an objective, your life is aimless and you will hit it and you'll feel that you are aimless. Paul was wise to plan direction in his ministry. Here was a man much used of God and no doubt it was on his mind what next should he do, where should he go, what should he perform and so on. And it seems to me quite a legitimate thing to make plans, we ought to make plans. you can accomplish much with plans and with goals and with aims in life. Many of us alas just hope for the best and so we go from one stepping stone to another stepping stone and we say well the Lord's in charge and of course he is because God is sovereign. But it seems to me sometimes we lack responsibility when we do that. And we ourselves must consider how we must plan what to do in our ordinary lives. Sometimes we must try to make things happen if we feel that it's the right thing and it's God's will for us to do that. We plan our worship, how we should run our services. I believe in order and I think it's correct and so even when I preach I have an orderly fashion of preaching. That really is a plan. We should plan our Christian service and how we should do it. We should make time for God in our lives. We have so much to do and you know what you have to do tomorrow. Well, don't miss God out of your plans because your plans should include God in every sense and every way in your own lives. And of course we know this, that if we have plans in the correct fashion it brings efficiency of the use of time and of effort and of resources that we might have. When I was a young man I came across a saying by a famous man of those days, his name was Howard Hunt. Howard Hunt was a multi-millionaire as it was in those days, no doubt a billionaire today, and he actually owned the hotel group which was the Howard Hotels, which were mainly in America. And he was asked, how should you go about life? And this is exactly what he answered, and I found it quite good. First of all, decide what you really want. The second thing is what you're prepared to give up. in order to obtain that. And then the third thing was to set your mind, in other words commit yourself to it. And the fourth thing he said was set about working towards that goal. There's much sense in that even in our Christian life as well. Lord Beaverbrook who started the Daily Express and was in the cabinet in the last war with Winston Churchill and was a great friend of Winston Churchill. He wrote a book I came across it in a second-hand bookshop some years ago, I've got it in my library today. I was intrigued by the title, I didn't know the author at that time, but I looked at it and I thought I must have a look at that, and I bought it for a few pennies, but it's a good book. It's just simply called Don't Trust to Luck. Don't Trust to Luck. Well, we don't trust the light, do we? We believe in a sovereign God. We believe God is in charge. And yet we still make our plans without God. And that seems to me to be something which is not right at all. Nevertheless, of course, in the purposes of God, in the will of God, we make our plans. So the necessity of planning Now the second thing I want you to notice here in the scriptures is the nature of Paul's planning. We notice again what it says, when he had passed through Macedonia in the Caia to go to Jerusalem saying after I have been there I must also see Rome. Now you'll notice the nature of his planning here. There's a threefold strategy. which he determines to do. First of all to go to Macedonia and Achaia. Let me remind you that Macedonia and Achaia were the provinces of Greece. Greece was divided into two provinces Macedonia and Achaia. There was a division imposed upon them by Rome. Now included in there were many of the churches that we thought about. Philippi was actually there, Thessalonica was there, Bera was there, where the Bereans came from, and also Corinth was there. So these are places that we have come across as we've studied the life of the Apostle. And so he wanted to go back on that then. And then after that he has a desire to go to Jerusalem and finally to go to Rome as well. Now we know this, that Paul believed in the ministry in strategic cities and his ministry was strategic going to Ephesus because the whole of Asia had heard the gospel while he was in Ephesus. No doubt, somehow it seems to me that the apostle had good purpose in doing this. And the purpose seems to be to go to Macedonia and to Achaia so that he could edify the saints. They needed built him up in their most holy faith. And then, of course, he would encourage the persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. They were going through not only persecution but also famine. And so that again would be a good place for him to go, it would seem. So he was edifying the saints, he was encouraging the suffering Christians and the third thing that he wanted to do was to go to Rome and that might be termed as evangelising the sinners. He had never been to Rome of course and he was no intention of going there as a sightseer but rather as a soul seeker. He wasn't a tourist, he would go there as a missionary. And I am sure in my mind that in every sense and everything that he says here, his purpose was correct, his motive was right and proper. There's no question in my mind about that. Now notice this as well, this little word must, the last part of verse 21, I must also see Rome. I don't know what that imperative really was. It was a personal imperative. Maybe it was a personal desire that he had. But he had this compulsion which seemed to be in his mind. So I hope you've followed me so far. I've spoken about the necessity of planning. I've spoken about the nature of planning. But now I want to speak to you about the neglect in the planning. And what I see here is very important it seems to me. I see a problem. There's no reference here to prayer. Now of course the apostle was a man of prayer. I'm not saying he didn't pray, but there is no reference to prayer. You would have thought that he would have prayed very much over this. Remember if we go back in our minds to times past when the apostle was set aside to go to different places and the church met together, they fasted and prayed, didn't they? But now there's no reference to that at all. In fact, there's no reference to God's will. And this is why I find a problem with this. This seems to be all about Paul's desire. However good that may be, it may not have been right. And I'm trying to be careful with the words that I use. What did God want Paul to do? Did God want Paul to remain in Ephesus a little longer? Did God want Paul maybe to go through Asia a little more? Or was it his desire for Paul to go back to Macedonia and Achaia, to Jerusalem and then to Rome? Was that really the will of God for him? Now we have seen this, and this is very important, we have seen previously that he was told to stay away from Jerusalem by the Christians. by those who knew the situation. In fact they warned him that it was dangerous for him to go to Jerusalem and it would be dangerous for the other Christians who actually lived in Jerusalem. But Paul ignores this. And another point here is that in Rome God had already began to plant a work. There were Christians who were there. And somehow it seems to me that any planning for the Christian, that whatever we feel that we must do, must be in accordance with God's will. And if it's not in God's will, it is dangerous. How many of us have thought that we should go ahead and we should do things in our own strength and in the flesh? And we found out how dangerous that can be. and how the others are affected by that because we are really out of the will of God and we ourselves miss the best which God desires for us. Now I've said to you I'm not condemning the Apostle, I'm just simply trying to point out to you what I seem to see in this particular verse. Christ taught his disciples to pray, didn't he? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And how we ought to understand that, as it is in heaven. What a standard that really is. Perfectly in the will of God. And we have a responsibility to be in the will of God. We are accountable for that in our own lives and in our own hearts. Tennyson was quite a remarkable poet. He wrote this, our wills are our own. We know not why. Our wills are ours, to make them thine. Well, we may agree with the last verse of that, to make them thine and for God. We often say DV, don't we? Lots of people use that, they don't perhaps know exactly what it means, but it's Deo Volenti, which is a Latin for God willing. And we believe in that. Whatever happens, God willing. will only be content with God willing, in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 17, he that doeth the will of God shall abide forever. My question this morning, and it is only a question, is was Paul really in the will of God when he desired to do this? I want to go one step further now. We have seen here the forming of plans. Now let me, if I can, to show you the fellowship of the plans. We now come to verse 22. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus. But he himself stayed in Asia for a season. I want you to notice that there are three people who are mentioned here. When I'm seeking to prepare a message I look at the verse and I read it many many times and I try to gain everything out of it. How would you speak on this particular verse? Well I want you to see that there are three people mentioned and there's a contrast in each of them and yet there is a message from each of them. First of all you will see that here is Timothy. I want to call him Timothy the Reliable. We have come across Timothy before and we know he was one of those who was very close to him. In fact, he was one of the most faithful men that the Apostle Paul had with him. It's very important in the ministry, very important as you seek to serve God that you have faithful people round about you. He was a replacement, you will recall, for John Monk. When John Mark went back and then they came back themselves to Antioch, that is Paul and Barnabas, John Mark of course wanted to go again but Paul rejected him and refused him. And so there was a division between Barnabas and Paul. and Barnabas took John Mark with him and Paul took Silas and then with Timothy as well. Silas was a minister and so Timothy came as the person to them or the servant to them. Now we know that he had a godly background. His grandmother was Lois, she was a Christian. He had a Christian mother Eunice who was converted from the Jewish religion. and as a child he was brought up in the Holy Scriptures. Paul in 1 Timothy and I think the first verse or second verse calls him my son and so therefore he must have perhaps led him to the Lord Jesus Christ. What we do know is for over 20 years here this man Timotheus or Timothy was a faithful companion And yet, what a contrast between him and the Apostle Paul. He was shy and he was nervous. He was easily depressed. He was often discouraged. Yet here's a man who was mightily blessed and used of God and probably ended up as a pastor in Ephesus even, but mightily used of the Lord in a remarkable manner. So here's Timothy the reliable. He's going to go beyond. He's going to go first. And then here is Erastus as well. I call Erastus the resolute. Now there are three references in the New Testament to this man. It's quite remarkable, isn't it, that when you consider some of these saints of long ago, what were they like? Who were they? What did they actually do? Very rarely do we hear anything about the lesser known saints. We know some of the more popular ones, but what about this Erastus? Who was he? What did he actually do? Let me refer you to the scriptures that we have. First of all in Romans, chapter 16 and we come to verse 23. I don't know if you'd like to read the whole chapter through, but if you do, you will find there's an awful lot of names here. And the names go on and on and on and on. But in verse 23, we come to this man. Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Irestes, the chamberlain of the city, saluteth you, and Cortes, a brother. So here's Erastus that's mentioned here and he's mentioned as a Chamberlain. We'll come back to that, but it's a very important verse. Now we turn over to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy and chapter 4 and this time to verse 20. That's the first part. Erastus abode at Corinth. You may say well that's not very significant. Well it is actually because what we read from these verses and understand the three, one verse here and the other two is simply this. Here was a very important man. He came from Corinth and he ended up in Corinth. He was the superintendent of the city's finances. That's who he was. That's what Chamberlain means. He was treasurer of the whole of the city of Corinth. Now you will remember and you will recall that the city of Corinth was a very large city, a very important city and probably a rich city as well. Here is a great man who was converted. The scene there was one of great blessing. Justice, whose house was next to the synagogue, was converted. He was an important man. And then Crispus, who was chief of the ruler of the synagogue, he was converted. It was here that the promise was given, which is our motto this year, concerning, I have much people in this city. And the promise was given to the Apostle Paul and he saw the fulfillment of that as well. When Paul actually goes to Jerusalem, he takes with him a collection from all the other churches that he's going to visit. The man who's put in charge of that is Erastus. So not only do we have Timothy, the reliable and the faithful man, but we have Erastus who is resolute in his work for God. He was a great man. It's wonderful when God makes this wonderful thing happen, that great people are converted and saved. Of course any conversion is just the same but it is a remarkable fact. Now the third that we have is the Apostle Paul himself. Now I've said that Timothy was the reliable one, Erastus was the resolute one. So who is Paul? What is Paul? I would suggest to you Paul is the reluctant one. Let me just read that part again so that we have a sense of what it is. The last part of the verse says, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. So it seems to me that the Apostle Paul stayed actually in Ephesus because that's where he really did. And we have to say this, why did he not go? He stayed there for another six months. Why didn't he go? Normally speaking, he wouldn't send people in front to go before him. He would go himself. He was bold, he was courageous. If he really believed that this was the right thing to do, then why didn't he go? Did he have doubts? Was he still pondering if this was the will of God? Did he have second thoughts? Somehow it seems to me that the but which is mentioned in this verse is significant. But He himself stayed in Asia for a season. It's significant, isn't it? And it somehow seems to me that God was still dealing with his heart. Isn't that how the Lord works? Isn't that how the Lord gives us space and time and patience? The Lord is very patient with us, isn't he? We decide to do this and and yet suddenly we feel should we do it and there's a moment maybe of time and maybe it's more than a moment. The Lord has patience with us to teach us and to speak to us and continually. Now the Apostle Paul still went ahead but nevertheless he stayed in Asia. So the third thing I want to say in the final thing we want to say this morning is simply this, the fulfillment of his plans. If you've followed me so far you'll know that I've spoken about the forming of his plans and the fellowship of the plans with these other two men and now the fulfillment of the plans. What happened? I want to try, if I can, to take you through this. We'll take on many years here, although in our studies on Lord's Day we will go back and we'll consider some of the verses that you have in these chapters. But I want to look ahead and see what actually took place, because there was a day when it is recorded that Paul purposed in his spirit. His purpose was to go to Macedonia and Achaia, go to Jerusalem and go to Rome. That was his desire. I've suggested to you that I don't think it was in the will of God that he should do that. So how did it plan out for him. What actually happened? Well, the first thing we see is that there was an interruption. An interruption. We've read this morning this particular chapter so you know exactly what we're talking about and the interruption actually took place in Ephesus. John Butler writing on this particular portion says it was pandemonium in Ephesus. It certainly was that, wasn't it? All of a sudden It seemed that there was a riot. A riot had erupted and the Apostle had to stay there for another six months. What is his purpose? To go immediately after the other two went? Probably. We know this, don't we? And we often say, and I think it's so true, man proposes but God disposes. We plan to do something but God steps in. Once again this is the patience of God working in the heart and the life of this particular man. He had to stay there another six months so that he was there for three years all together. Now I just briefly say this to you because we may come back to this. The cause of the riot, well the cause of the riot at least was twofold. First of all the wealth was threatened by the silversmiths of that area. Let me read you verse 24 and 25. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith which made silver shrines or idols for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsman, whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, you know that by this craft we had our wealth. So here it is, the wealth has been threatened. Here we are introduced to Demetrius and what his message was, listen the sales are down, these people are converting everybody, nobody wants to buy the idols anymore, nobody wants to buy these silver shrines and so on. Wouldn't it be wonderful? if the publicans of this area were to complain that because we're preaching the gospel and visiting and going around seeing people converted that their trade is tragically down. My, it wouldn't be tragic, would it? We would all rejoice and sing hallelujah all the way down the street. That's exactly what happened, you see. And here, this is a real sign that God is at work, isn't it? And then, not only do they complain that their wealth is threatened, but also their worship is threatened as well. Because we go on reading verse 26, moreover, you see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul had persuaded and turned away much people saying that they be no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed. To all Asia and the world worshipeth. My, the worship was threatened as well. These are wonderful verses, aren't they? To think that the gospel had done that. It wasn't by the intellect of man. It wasn't like anything to do with man, it was God who had done that and we long ourselves to see that. And so we know the story, how they seized the friends of Paul. They rushed them to the theater and that theater actually was a mighty place. It held 25,000 people. Gaius was from Derbe and Aristarchus was from Thessalonica and they put them in the theater and they were shouting for two hours. Great is Diana! Great is Diana! The whole crowd became hypnotized. It's almost like a sports occasion when a crowd gets so hypnotized they shout things they don't even understand and so on. How awful this must have been for these Christians to be in this particular place. But I want to say to you that this was an interruption to the plans of the Apostle Paul. And the Apostle Paul had to understand this. And I believe that it's God being patient, speaking to him once again. He couldn't move, he couldn't leave his friends in such a situation at that particular time. Now the second thing is that I see here, what happened was instruction. Paul travels to Macedonia and Achaia. And we see there how God blessed him. There's no question about that. Isn't it wonderful how even sometimes when we go against God and we go out of the will of God, still God blesses us. God is a merciful God. God's a gracious God. And God does bless us. And God blessed the Apostle Paul. It seems it was a time of rejoicing when he went to Philippi and Corinth and Thessalonica, these places which I've mentioned to you. It was a time of rejoicing and a time of blessing. More than that, the fellowship with God's people was sweet. These people were those who came to the Lord through his ministry and you can imagine the fellowship that he enjoyed. But what's interesting here and instructive is that after he's gone to Macedonia and Achaia, gone round these churches, he has to return to Ephesus. Now let me show you in chapter 20 and verse 16 for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend time in Asia for he hastened it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. So here he comes he wants to sail by but he's not allowed to sail by he has to stop. And so he does and he comes to Ephesus. It's another story which no doubt we will come to. But he wants to get away. But the Lord brings him back to this place once again. I wonder if I could again use my imagination here. Is God speaking to this man? Maybe God brings us back to the same place and he speaks to us and speaks to us concerning something in our lives and something that we ought to understand about the will of God which God desires for us. So we've seen the introduction, we've seen the instruction, which obviously the Apostle Paul is receiving. And then the final thing I want to mention, and remember we're looking ahead here at some little time, but the third thing you see is imprisonment. In Jerusalem, when he gets there, he causes a riot, doesn't he? And he's put under arrest. And the Apostle Paul from that moment He's never allowed again to preach to the crowds or even to any other cities. His ministry is over except by letter and by testimony in prison, of course with Agrippa and others which we I'm sure will come to. And that was a remarkable ministry, no question about that. Now who am I to question this? But I'm questioning it and saying, was this the perfect will of God? Here's this great man, this mighty man, this man so used of God. And yet here he is, because he's determined to go to Jerusalem, he's determined to go to Rome, ends up in prison behind bars. Of course he does see Rome, doesn't he? And you'll know that he sees Rome. Only it's through prison bars that he sees Rome. Was that the way that he really wanted to see Rome? Don't think so. Is this what God intended for this man or was it because of one day he purposed in the spirit and this was the beginning. Of course God blessed him, of course God used him, of course God mightily blessed him. How much more, how much more I ask myself would God have blessed this man and used him if that day when he purposed in his spirit He also planned before God and did the will of God. Let me tell you in my study I have lots and lots of books, a few thousand books in my study but I also have an awful lot of CDs. My wife will tell you that they occupy an awful lot of space and I have them there because I love music and I love Beethoven. I have one famous concerto which is Beethoven's concerto which is very interesting and it was suggested to him because one night while he was laying in bed someone came to a neighbor's door and kept on tapping at the door in fact the taps were this and then there will be silence and then there will be again and kept on and on. Beethoven of course was annoyed, you may know that he became deaf later on, but this was when he wasn't deaf, it was early in his life you see. Well, he could hear these and so this was in his mind and then the next day he began to write this concerto and as it begins you'll hear And then again and again throughout the concerto, there is all these beats, four beats continually throughout the whole of the wonderful music that it is. Why do I say that? You know, that's how God speaks to us. He speaks to us continually. And He speaks to us with knocks and knocks. If you're not saved this morning, you're in this service and you don't know Christ, how many times has God spoken to you? How many times has he shown you the way of salvation? And once again, God is patient, speaking to you this morning. And Christian, maybe God is speaking to you here and speaking again to do the will of God, to do the will of God, to do the will of God. Remember what the Word of God says, He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.