Was Paul in God’s Will?
February 12, 2026
happens if you would turn to Acts chapter number 21. Acts chapter number 21, and we’re just going through the book of Acts, and we want to talk for just a bit about knowing the will of God. That seems like a familiar subject, but I don’t know that we ever talk about it enough. It seems like it’s always pertinent on people’s minds and hearts: knowing the will of God. And it’s going to be a little different. We’re going to use Paul, one of our heroes of the faith, but we’re going to use him as something not to do. There are some things about Paul’s life we don’t want to do, and we’re going to look at that for just a bit tonight.
To Acts 21. We’ll read just a couple verses as a way just kind of getting us going here. I hope God just speaks to your heart tonight about knowing the will of God. A couple of things about it.
We’re going to look at a couple of verses. I’m going to show you biblically—this isn’t just Pastor Paul’s opinion—but biblically, that it was not God’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Now, I’m going to show you. There will be debate over that, whatnot, but I’m going to show you from the Word of God. And then we’ll kind of talk about it, knowing the will of God. Of course, he’s a 10,000 times better Christian than I, but he was, like you and I, far from perfect. And we’re going to use him as a bad example. My wife’s already yawning. Oh, my goodness, I saw that. Haven’t you started preaching yet? She’s going to get me tonight now, you know, I’ll tell you.
Acts 21. Look at this. Look at this. Verse number four. Acts 21:4. “And finding disciples”—these are good Christians, disciples. By the way, there are strict qualifications in the Bible to be a disciple. I often kind of shorten it: one that disciplines himself to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible here calls them disciples, so these are good, godly people. Look what it says here: “And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul…”
What’s the next three words? By the way, that’s capital S. New Testament typically, you can hang on to that. Translators, I understand, it’s not maybe inspired, but I think they have a pretty good idea: “through the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, that He should not go up to Jerusalem. The Bible says, “through the Spirit.” She’s been up nursing. Amen. Our daughter, of course, that most of you know, she’s had the car accident, whatnot. She has been busy.
But notice that. These good, godly folk, through the Holy Spirit, through the Spirit, they didn’t just come up with us off the top of their head or their opinion formed. Through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. Do you see that, folk, or not? Am I making that up or not? Help me out. Was it the will of God for him to go to Jerusalem or not? No, through the Spirit. Very clear. Very clear.
Jump down, if you would, in verse number 10. Verse number 10. They’re at Philip the evangelist’s house. There are daughters there, whatnot. Verse number 10: “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus.” That man worked at the bus ministry, Brother Josh. That’s what that means, Agabus. I was trying to think how you can put that—Aegabus or something. I don’t know how we could. But Brother Josh tried to get a bus rider already tonight, and that’s a good deal. But his name was Agabus.
“And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle.” Now, that’s not a lady’s girdle; that’s a belt. Many times in the Bible, it was a leather belt, but there’s a girdle. Sometimes it could be a material belt, if you will, that they would have. But he took Paul’s girdle and bound his own hands and feet and said, “Thus saith the Holy Ghost.” Now, this is a prophet, and he’s a good, godly man. And he said, “This isn’t what I think or say; that’s what the Holy Ghost says.” All right. “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”
And when we—now, that “we” there, that’s, of course, the missionary team, including—remember I think it was around chapter 10, it changed to “them” to “we” or “us”—and that means Luke, Dr. Luke is with them on the missionary team. So this prophet says this, and then this missionary team, including Luke, agrees with it. “And when we heard these things, both we”—that’s the missionary team—“and they of that place”—that’s Philip and his household, all right? So you’ve got the prophet, you’ve got the missionary team, including Luke, and you’ve got evangelist Philip and his household, his family—“both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.”
That’s the Holy Ghost working through these folks. You’ve got all kinds of good, godly people, and they say the Holy Ghost is the lattice to tell you this. And, of course, most of you know, Paul goes to Jerusalem. He’s determined. He goes there. It actually happens pretty much the way the prophet said, Agabus, you know. And remember he about got killed, and then the soldiers rescued him and brought him up on the stairs. And he gave that little speech there until he ended up with the word Gentile. And then the Jews said, “Ah,” you know. And then they were going to get him. Remember that? And his nephew, his nephew heard about it, went and the president told him about it. And then they sent him off to another city, and then before he can you grip and all that, and eventually down to Rome. And how many years, we’re not sure, but probably got executed in Rome. And Sheprek took on his way over there on and on and on. But it really wasn’t a good move. It didn’t turn out very good for him to go to Jerusalem. But God clearly led him on this, and he didn’t follow. So just a bit. We’re going to try to learn some lessons from that tonight about knowing and doing the will of God for your life.
Number one, if you want to know God’s will, be pliable. Just, just, in this instance, Paul was not pliable. He had his mindset; he was determined; there was no changing him. Look over, if you will, in chapter number 18. Chapter number 18. We just want to see where Paul’s mindset is about going to Jerusalem. Chapter 18, verse number 21: “And notice what he says, ‘But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem. But I will return again unto you, if God will,’ in Ephesus.” Now, did you notice that? He said, “But by all means, I’m going to do this thing.”
Look over, if you will, in chapter number 19. Chapter number 19, verse number 21: “19:21. After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit”—now, that’s not capitalized, not talking about the Holy Spirit, but in his own spirit, in his mind, in his heart, in his spirit—“when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
Look in chapter 20. Chapter 20, and look in verse number 16: “20:16. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia; for he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.”
How in the world, how in the world could this great Christian, Paul—you’re a great Christian. I mean, God usually mainly penned 13, probably 14 books in the New Testament, started 20-something churches. I mean, just used so mightily by God. If you had asked someone to give me the top 10 Christians in the Bible, I almost guarantee every time Paul’s going to be somewhere in the top 10. How did he miss the will of God? Because he was just determined to do what he was going to do. He’s just going to do it. Doesn’t matter who says what, and doesn’t matter how they say it, what they say. This, I’m determined to do that. And you’re not going to know the will of God like that.
Be pliable. Be yielded to the Holy Spirit. Probably the most used verse in all the Bible about knowing the will of God is Romans 12. And you know how it starts off? “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.” You yield. I want to do Your will.
Sometimes we start off, we say, “Well, God, you show me what you want, but show me Your will, and I’ll decide if I’m going to do it.” And God said, “No, no, no. You yield to me, then I’ll show you your will.” Yield it; be pliable. I don’t get the, “I’ve got to do this, and I’ve got him.” No, no, no. I’ve got to do what God wants me to do. That’s what I’ve got to do.
And a good thing to go to Jerusalem, but he missed the will of God. And don’t get so stuck on, “I’m going to do this thing no matter what.” No, you may do that thing, and you may regret it. And, oh, what a sad thing.
Number two, we’ve got to hurry along. Number two: Get godly counsel. We’ve read it already, but go back over there, if you would, to 21, verse number four. 21:4. “For finding disciples”—plural, disciples—“we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.”
We won’t take time to read it, verse number 10 through about 12, 13. It was Agabus, the prophet. It was Philip and his household. And all these Christians there, it was the missionary team. “Hey, Paul, don’t do this.” But he wouldn’t listen to godly counsel. Get good, godly counsel.
I was talking to a man recently about a decision. And he said, he said, “Well, I thought about calling or texting you, but I don’t want to always be asking, you know.” And there are other godly counselors; you don’t have to go just to me. But he said, “I don’t want every time I see or talk to you to get advice.” And he said, “My wife said I should, and she’s probably right.” I said, “Well, first of all, don’t admit to your wife that she’s right and you’re wrong,” you know. That’s godly advice right there. But I just joke with him, but, man, hey, get godly advice. And his wife was right. He admitted it. Get good, godly advice.
We won’t take time, but “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.” Get counsel. Now, let me say this: Don’t go—this is what, in our day and time, with all the counselors that are out there—don’t go to get the advice you want to hear. By that, I’m saying there’s so much advice out there, you can pick what you want to hear. No, no, don’t get non-biased godly counsel. Not somebody that’s in the mix; they got a certain advantage on that point. No, you go get some godly, non-biased counsel on that thing. And don’t go looking for, “Well, I know what they’re going to say; they’re going to tell me what I want to hear.” No, no, no, no. You might not even go because you know what they’re going to say. Go get you some good, godly, non-biased counsel.
Paul missed it. He wouldn’t listen to these folks. And a very sad thing: he missed the will of God because he just would not listen to the godly counsel that God had all around him.
Now, look back in verse number 21. Look at verse number 11, chapter 21 and verse number 11. This is interesting, this point here. Verse number 11: “And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle”—this is the prophet—“and bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus saith the Holy Ghost; So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
“And when we heard these sayings, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.” Then Paul answered, “What mean ye to weep and to break my heart? I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
We’ll look at a couple other places; we’re not going to do it. But just because your stance is strong and may be convincing doesn’t mean it’s the will of God. Paul’s response was strong, manly. Boy, you’re breaking my heart. I’m ready to die for the… But you’re dying for the wrong reason because you’re out of the will of God.
Just because you can be convincing—and you know nowadays all you got to be is convincing. And you know it’s amazing how convincing a lot of wrong people are. Politicians are good at that, Brother Robinson could tell you that, man. Some of them, man, they’re good at it. I mean, they sound eloquent, they sound just right on, and they’re so far off. And no, just because you can be convincing in saying this is the will of God, a friend, you better hang on. You better find out if you’re trying to convince yourself of something or that’s God. We sure can’t convince ourselves of a whole lot of things.
And Paul was very convincing, very wrong, but very convincing.
I want to get down to this for just a bit here tonight if we can: Be careful when you’re seeking for the will of God. Be careful of following a burden instead of a call.
Look, if you will, over in Acts chapter number nine. Acts chapter number nine. And I think you’ll know this for the most part, but we’ll just confirm it biblically here real quick. Acts 9, and look in verse number 15. This is Paul just got saved, and Ananias. And look what God says to Ananias about Paul there. Verse number 15: “But the Lord said unto him, ‘Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the…’” What’s the next word? “…Gentiles.” Just got saved. And God’s telling this man right there, he’s going to be an apostle to the Gentiles. God’s kind of putting His mark on him, His calling on him.
Look over, if you will, in chapter 13. Acts chapter 13 and verse number 46. Acts 13:46: “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to you to the Gentiles.’” For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, “I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” And when the Gentiles heard this saying, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
And just one more place here. Well, it’s over in Second Timothy. Let’s not take the time to go over there, but I think most of you know that Paul was called to be an apostle specifically to the Gentiles. Did you get there with the verses? So that was his calling.
But Paul had a great burden. Look, if you will, look, if you will, over in the—you’ll know the verse. Look over if I can find it. I’ll tell you what, turn to it if I can find it. Oh, look over in Romans chapter number nine. Romans chapter number nine. He was called very specifically in many, many places; we didn’t look at them all. He was called to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. It’s called the Gentiles; we know that. But he had a burden. Look at this. Romans chapter 9 and look in verse number three: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Wow. And so strong.
Paul had a great burden for the Jewish people. But friend, there’s a difference between a burden and a call. God had called him very specifically, very clearly, in many places in Scripture: He was called to the Gentiles. That’s his main thrust, and God made it clear in his life when he was a young Christian, he did to Ananias and in other places, and he knew that. But he had that burden, and now sometimes a burden’s a good thing, but if you’re not careful, a burden can get you away from the calling of God in your life.
And it’s just burdened: “I’m going to get over to Jerusalem before Pentecost, and the Jewish people will be all over from all these nations gathered there, and I want to be there and give the gospel to the Jewish people there at Jerusalem.” He had a burden for them, but that burden led him out of the will of God. My friend, I’m not saying a burden’s a bad thing. I’m not saying that, but a burden is different than a call. Two different things. A burden does not equal a call.
Pretty much wherever we go on vacation. We went a couple years ago to Boston. We wanted to get a little history in there, and then in New Hampshire and the White Mountains and all that. And my goodness, just driving. We went up to Maine, I think. We got snowed in. Oh, our flight got delayed. Yeah, we got stuck there for a while. And so we rode up Maine, whatnot. And boy, it’s just a shame. You’ll see so many churches—well, I don’t know; I’m using that very broad—I don’t know if it’s not a true church, but a quote-unquote church, and have pride flags and all this. And I’ll be honest, man, I got a burden. I got a burden. Of course, I was born in Tennessee, grew up in Florida for the most part, and we didn’t know where God wanted us to go to start a church, whatnot. And, of course, don’t tell anybody, but my wife, she’s a Yankee. I’m on her tonight, yeah. She’s from New Jersey. And I have a burden for the Northeast. And I thought, “Oh, no, I’m marrying someone from New Jersey; God’s going to call me to New Jersey.” I have a burden. I don’t want to go. There’s too cold there, folk. I tell you what, now, you know. The Lord called us here. I was, praise the Lord, we’re going to Tennessee, you know.
And, you know, we went recently. We went out to the Grand Canyon and all around there, Utah and the Mormon country and all that. Not a lot of good churches out west. And I got a burden for out there. And I’m saying pretty much mostly wherever we go, my wife said, “Yeah, you’re going to get a burden for this area,” you know. And I do. I do. And that’s not bad, but that doesn’t equal the call of God.
And some people will bounce from here to here to here to here because of a burden, burden, and burden is a great thing, but a burden does not equal a call. Let’s keep going. Point number next, amen. Whatever it is. Burdens can change quickly.
Praise the Lord for the bus ministry. It’s awesome. It’s awesome. And man, you go on the bus ministry, you get a burden. But if all it is is a burden, hey, one week when those bus kids aren’t listening to a word you say and they’re swinging from your tie—and, you know, your tie was right where it ought to be by the time you got done, your tie’s down to your knees, you know—and they spilled all that stuff when you come off the bus, sticky, you know, and it’s not human pignana day or anything like that; you just come off there sticking. If you’re not careful, you’ll lose your burden real quick. And if that’s the only thing keeping you there, not following God’s leadership in your life, you’ll change. Burdens can change. Burdens are fickle. Up one day, down the next day. Next time, you can’t even follow them. You know, where’s that? And, no, no. By the way, dealing with people, ministering to people, is a roller coaster ride. That’s just part of it. So if you’re just going off a burden, I like a burden, but burden doesn’t equal a call.
If God calls you and you go out of obedience, and then often after obedience to the call, that’s often when the burden comes. Look over real quickly. Look over real quickly. You’ll know it, Psalm 126. We’ve got to hurry along here. Psalm 126. We’ve talked about this before, but this is just a good illustration. You obey God, what He wants you, the call of God, and then God sends the burden. Psalm 126, in verse number six, right there: “He that goeth forth and what?” And the first—I think maybe the first soul-winning campaign we had, the storefront, the second building we were in, and it wasn’t the first thing, but anyway—we had a soul-winning campaign, and a lady came to an old lady—good lady; my wife will know who I’m talking about—good lady. But she came and she said, “Well, Pastor, I like to do that, but I don’t have a burden.” You talk about winning souls, winning the lost. And she said, “I don’t have a burden for that.” I said, “No, no, I’m sorry, but you’ve got the order wrong. You go out of obedience. ‘He that goeth forth’—you go out of obedience—‘and weepeth.’ Then your burden comes.”
Me and Brother Trey had the privilege of going soul-winning, oh, last Friday or something like that. And it’s been a while; ice storms and everything else, you know. You try to witness wherever you can, but just flat out trying to go out and try to get somebody to say… We’ve got to do that in a while. And so we went. It was a warm day. And me and him both said, man, him both said, “Man, it kind of got our soul-winning juices flowing again, got our desire for it.” See, “He that goeth forth”—you obey the call of God, and then the burden, God brings a burden. I like burdens, but I don’t want to follow burdens because burdens are up or down all over the place. Burden nothing needs to call.
And so very—I thought about Brother Marlin on this, and I think I’m right. Brother Marlin can correct me if I need to be, and Miss Stacey will correct him if you know I’m joking about all that, but I think this is true. I really do. Brother Marlin, when I asked him to teach the older singles class, maybe at first he was like, “Whoa, who, what?” And he just, as a great member of her church, you know, it’s kind of like, “All right, Pastor, you feel like God’s leading, I’ll do it,” you know. But if you will, he just followed because they thought that’s why God wanted. Now, he’s been teaching that class for a while. That man’s got a burden for that class, all those people. He’s got a burden. He loves them. He’s concerned about it. He’s keeping track of them and how they do, what’s going on. You follow the call, you obey God, and He gives a burden. He can have a burden part, but you follow the Lord and His call, not necessarily the burden follows that.
It’s interesting. Some people, they won’t necessarily visit the people that need to be visited. They’ll visit the people they like, whatnot. I’m like, “All right, that’s good, but this person needs a visit,” you know. But it’s all about to follow the burden instead of following the call, if you will.
Now, we’ve got to end this saying: Follow what God has called you to do. Doing the will of God, knowing the will of God. And when God wants to call you elsewhere, He knows your phone number. You can’t say He’s going to call a certain way; He’s got about a thousand ways to call. He won’t, “Oh, I forgot to call them.” No, He’ll call you. He’ll call you. But don’t get, “I got to do this.” No, no. Paul, that great Christian, missed the will of God because he just—and he wouldn’t listen to God’s advice, and he followed his burden instead of his call.
Original File: 2026-02-12 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Was Paul in Gods will＂ - Wednesday PM 2⧸11⧸2026