37 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 1 - Foiling the Plot (Acts 23:11-35)

* History can be aptly broken into "His Story." It is the account of what God has done in the world and amongst the nations. As we have been studying the book which is titled "The Acts of the Apostles" we can as well state that it could be more aptly called, "The Acts of God." Throughout the account written by Luke regarding the beginning of the church, we have seen the power and personal engagement of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - displayed in wonderful ways both in the lives of individuals, and multitudes, as He has overseen and interceded in affairs at the personal, local, and national levels. * We have seen how Jesus specifically called Saul of Tarsus to stop persecuting His church and to begin promoting His church, and then how He orchestrated Ananias to come and heal Saul - preparing each of them for the moment. Jesus told Ananias, "Go, for he [Saul] is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." (Acts 9:15-16) * Over the past two weeks, we have considered the preliminary phase of the final stage of the fulfillment of this proclamation by Jesus. Through Paul's compelling desire to be at Jerusalem for this feast, God was allowing tribulation to come into the life of Paul for a greater purpose. It was through this disturbance - this troublesome situation - that God was going to fulfill His plan through the life of Paul. * However, even this final phase wouldn't be without it's obstacles and trials. We are in the midst of a Spiritual War. Those who are serving the King will experience the attack of the enemy. Satan desires to foil the plan of God; he doesn't want the Gospel message to be proclaimed and will do whatever he can to dissuade and deter the servants of the King from making it known. * Lord willing, we will spend the final six weeks of this series considering the "Fulfilling of God's Plan" for, and through, the life of Paul. * This message was presented on July 9, 2023 by Bob Corbin.