How God Guides

I want to start in Acts 15:36, if you’ll follow with me in the Scriptures. Luke says,

“And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. 37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39 And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.”

This past weekend my wife and I flew up to an area of Washington known as the Tri-Cities, and I forgot the three cities. I was there all weekend, and I don’t even remember the three cities. There’s a Calvary Chapel there called Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities. They hosted a pastors and church leaders conference, and I was one of the invited speakers. Whenever I travel (as we traveled this weekend we took off on Thursday, a long day Thursday in the conference and a long day Friday, a long day Saturday, and a long day Sunday getting back) and the older I get, the harder it gets and the more I complain and gripe and the more difficult it is for me to get on an airplane, go through airports, travel, all the time, the food, the sleep, the bed, the noise, and all this stuff that you have to deal with (kind of a confession in opening my study tonight); I was kind of a griper and a complainer over the weekend. I went to teach pastors, but I needed someone to teach me, really. The ministry was fruitful, and it was well received. I taught on the importance of expositional preaching and teaching, but it made me think about our text tonight as we begin Paul’s second missionary journey.

When Paul traveled, he had it really hard. He didn’t have a comfortable airplane. He didn’t have an airport. He didn’t have a restaurant to go to. I was complaining Thursday night. We didn’t get to eat all afternoon because of the travel, and then we checked into our hotel at 10 pm. At 11 pm, I was at a Carl’s Jr. eating a hamburger. For me, that’s just a disaster. I’m not going to sleep for hours if I eat that late at night, but we hadn’t eaten all afternoon. I thought, Paul the apostle didn’t have a Carl’s Jr. or an In-N-Out. I was actually praying in the Spirit that God would create an In-N-Out in Washington there. You know, “Can You move one up here, Lord, for me right now?” Paul didn’t have a Stop-N-Go. He didn’t have a Costco. He didn’t have a hotel. He had nowhere to stay, and I think about the rigors, the hassles, the hardships, and the difficulties; but Paul makes a statement. He says, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” When I get to heaven, I want to shake Paul’s hand and just commend him for his attitude and commitment to taking the gospel in the ancient world, the travel, the difficulty, and how hard it must have been.

What we have in Acts 15 is actually the beginning of the second missionary journey, verse 36. After many days back in Antioch of Syria, Paul says to his traveling companion, Barnabas, “Hey, let’s go back to the cities where we have founded churches, and let’s visit the brethren and see how they’re doing.” The motive for the missionary trip was not primarily, at this time, evangelism but confirmation—to go back and confirm, mentor, encourage, and to build them up. They planted these churches. They wondered how the believers were doing, so “Let’s go back and follow up on them and strengthen them in their walk with the Lord.” Barnabas actually said, “Yeah. I’d like to do that. That’s a great idea. Let’s take John (verse 37) whose surname was Mark.” This is known as John Mark. He is nephew to Barnabas, but if you remember, he was the one taken on the first missionary journey, got cold feet, and returned halfway through the trip. Paul is not very excited, to say the least, about the prospect of taking this young man because he failed on the first trip. Paul said, “I’m not going to give him an opportunity to try again on this second trip.” So Paul said, “No, I don’t want to do that. That’s not a good idea.” “Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.”

What happened was (verse 39) there was a contention, and it was sharp between them. That word “contention” actually means, modern vernacular, “they got in an hairy argument.” They got in a full-blown, in-your-face argument. Now, I know that this can be disappointing to think that these two great men of God would argue, but in one way it encourages me to realize that they were human. They were no different than you and I. In the book of James, it tells us that the prophet Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. One translation, a modern free paraphrase, said that Elijah is a man just like us. I would say that Paul and Barnabas, though they were spiritual giants, were people just like us.

You know, one of the things that has been happening in Christianity from the time of its beginning and in Christian ministry is that Christian workers don’t always see eye to eye, and Christian workers don’t always get along. Christian workers don’t always have the same philosophy and commitment to ministry, and sometimes they don’t always gel together and work together. Sometimes they kind of rub each other the wrong way and there’s conflict and even division. This is what happens in this situation. This is a pivotal point in the book of Acts where Paul and Barnabas decide to disagree and go different ways. Barnabas takes with him John Mark and went to the island of Cyprus, and Paul (verse 40) chose Silas, “and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.”

What a lot of people like to do is try to speculate as to who was right and who was wrong. Was Paul the right one or was Barnabas? I don’t think that we could really say who was right and who was wrong, but what we can do is learn some lessons from it. It wasn’t a doctrinal difference. It was just kind of a difference of opinion due to the fact that Paul was a real man of mission. He was focused on the job. He was focused on getting the job done, and his focus was not on the worker but on the work. That was his personality. Barnabas, naturally, he’s the “son of consolation,” the “son of encouragement,” what do you expect him to do? Take John Mark who had flaked out and try to encourage him, “Come on, Mark, you can do it! We’re gonna give you a second chance, and you can redeem yourself. You’ve learned your lesson, let’s do it again.” He was trying to encourage his young man, John Mark. By the way, John Mark did make good in the end of his life. He wrote the gospel of Mark, and when Paul was writing his last epistle to Timothy in 2 Timothy, he said, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he,” who was once unprofitable, “is profitable to me for the ministry.” He is the God of the second chance, amen?

Even though you try to do ministry, and maybe you failed. Maybe you’re here tonight and you say, “Well, I tried to teach a Sunday school class. I tried to teach a Bible study. I tried to witness to somebody and fell flat on my face and it didn’t work, so I’m never going to do that again.” Well, try again and try again. Learn from your mistakes and realize that God will open the door again. God will give you another opportunity again and we grow and we learn.

Neither one were right or wrong, but I believe that God actually would use this split, this disagreement. Instead of one missionary team, you have two missionary teams. Instead of going into one area, now you’re going into two areas. Instead of two men going off, there are now four men going off. God will actually guide us even as the result of our failures and conflict. That’s my first point on how God guides us. Many times God guides us by our mistakes. Many times God guides us by our failures. It’s like the old saying: If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Right? So many times God will teach us by our mistakes and our failures, but we have to get up, dust ourselves off, trust God, and keep moving forward.

There was no mention of prayer. There was no mention of the Holy Spirit. Remember when the first missionary journey took place? They were praying. They were worshiping God. They were waiting on God, and the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” There’s no reference like that. It’s interesting, too, that they got in this contention (verse 39). It’s a very strong word in the Greek. It actually means that they really got provoked. They really got hot. They really got angry with each other. There’s no mention of the fact that Paul said, “Well, let’s pray about this. Let’s seek the Lord about this.” No. They just got all upset with each other and went different directions. They went different ways, but again, the lesson is that God can use even our mistakes. God can use even our failures, even our shortcomings.

Sometimes God even uses Christians who disagree. You know, a lesson we need to learn is that God can use people that you disagree with and God can actually use people that you don’t even like, which is weird because we need to love one another as Christ loved the church—we should love the church and love the believers in the church. There’s this argument that starts off this second journey, so in a way it’s not the best beginning for a missionary journey. You’ve got these missionaries arguing, fighting, and quibbling over who goes on the trip, splitting company and going different ways, but God redeems it. The Bible says He is able to restore the years the cankerworm has eaten. I believe God is able to redeem all of our mistakes and failures and use them for His glory.

Barnabas takes John Mark and goes straight out to the island of Cyprus, which is his home. Paul takes Silas, who now becomes his traveling companion, and goes northwest toward the area of Galatia. We’re going to look at a map in just a moment, and I’ll point out this area to you. It goes right into chapter 16. “Then came he to Derbe,” this is Paul and Silas, “and Lystra,” in Derbe and Lystra he was opposed and persecuted. As a matter of fact, in Lystra is where he was stoned, drug out of the city, and they thought he was dead. He stood up, dusted himself off, and went right back in and began to witness once again. He comes to Lystra, “and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek,” or a Gentile. “Which was well reported of by the brethren that were Lystra and Iconium. 3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took,” Timothy, “and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. 4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

Now, we have another episode. First, God leads us by conflicts and even failures; and now God leads them to add a new individual to their travel, and he becomes a very prominent and important character in the New Testament. They come to Lystra and discover a young man by the name of Timotheus or Timothy. We know that Paul wrote two epistles to him, 1 and 2 Timothy. They are what is known as pastoral epistles. They were written to a pastor, the young man Timothy. The other pastoral epistle is known as Titus or the book of Titus.

The name Timothy means “one who honors God.” We do know some information about this young man. He’s actually one of my favorite characters in the Bible, and let me tell you why. One of the reasons is because he is a pastor, and I like pastors. The second reason is because he was a young pastor. It’s been a long time since I was young, and I am still a pastor, but I was a young pastor. I actually started when I was 19 years of age. That’s pretty much my whole life. That’s all I’ve known is pastoral ministry, and being young in the pastorate, I really identified with Timothy because Paul had to encourage him saying, “Let no man despise thy youth…be thou an example of the believers,” and not to be timid, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” so I identify with Timothy and his timidity and some of his apprehensiveness to do the work of the Lord. I just love this young man, and Paul writing about him in Philippians 2 said, “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.” The word “likeminded” means of a kindred spirit, so Paul and Timothy were one in heart and mission. They really saw eye-to-eye. What happened in Paul’s life was God substituted John Mark with the young man by the name of Timothy. Timothy would fulfill his name, he would be one who would honor God.

It says, “…Timotheus, the son of a certain woman,” her name was Eunice. It doesn’t tell us in this passage, but we know that from 2 Timothy 1. We also know the name of his grandmother. This is kind of fitting for Mother’s Day coming up. We know that he had a mother named Eunice, and his grandmother’s name was Lois, so grandmother and mother influencing this young man by the name of Timothy. Turn with me real quickly, I’ll show you the passage, to 2 Timothy 1:5. Paul says, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith,” or the genuine and sincere faith, “that is in thee,” he’s talking about Timothy, “which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice,” his grandmother was the first Christian, then his mom became a Christian, and then he became a Christian. Timothy was third generation, so never underestimate the power of a praying grandmother or a godly grandmother, the influence on a daughter, and then this daughter and the influence upon her son Timothy. “…and I am persuaded that in thee also.” Later on, in the same book, flip over to 2 Timothy 3:14, he says, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (Go back with me to the book of Acts.) Timothy was raised by a Christian grandmother and mother. Here’s the thing: we don’t know for sure whether Timothy’s dad was a Christian. It doesn’t say he was or wasn’t, but what we do know is his dad was a Greek. He wasn’t a Jew. He had a Jewish mother and a Gentile father.

The interesting thing is Paul picks Timothy up, takes him on this next journey, and he decides to have Timothy circumcised. Why? Well, not because it was necessary for salvation. In chapter 15 we saw that they met together and determined that the Gentiles did not have to become Jews and fulfill the rite of circumcision and keep the Mosaic law in order to be saved. Paul wasn’t doing it for those reasons. Paul was doing it because he didn’t want to create an offense or a stumbling amongst the Jewish people he was going to minister to. It was the liberty that Paul had to just say, “Well, just do this so when we go in the Jewish areas it won’t be a hindrance or a stumbling block, and it won’t be something that would get in the way.” I think that when we’re doing ministry we ought to ask ourselves, “Is there something that I’m doing that would hinder my effectiveness in ministry?” I want to be able to deal with that so that I won’t stumble anybody in my ministry. So, this young man is circumcised and takes off on this trip and this journey from Lystra where, of course, Paul had been stoned and, no doubt, made an impression on this young man Timothy; and he follows with him.

“And as they went through the cities,” verse 4, “they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.” What’s he referring to? He’s referring to Acts 15, when they got together and decided that the Gentiles did not have to become Jews in order to be saved. They just had to abstain from idols, from things strangled, from blood, and from fornication. If they did that, they would do well. That was the decree that they delivered to them. “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

Let me just say something that I find interesting. I believe that Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy represent three relationships that all Christians should have in their lives. You say, “Well, what do you mean?” I mean that everyone should have a Paul the Apostle they look up to, a model, a mentor—somebody that you can have pray for and encourage you, that you can look to for knowledge of the Word, be discipled and mentored, and have a pattern and an example of how to live. Every young Christian needs to attach themselves to an older Christian and follow their godly example. I thank God for the men in my life that have influenced me. There have been men in my life that have impacted and influenced me, shaped the way I think, and the way I do ministry. Everyone needs to have a Paul, a mentor.

Secondly, everyone needs to have a Barnabas, an encourager—someone that just walks alongside of you to say, “You can do it. Don’t be discouraged,” to pray for and be your friend. You know, a lot of times when people come to me for counseling before and after services or during the week I’ll ask them, “Do you have a Christian friend? Do you have someone that you know, another believer, that you can get to pray with you, encourage you, that you can talk to and share with? Someone that you can share your problems.” The Bible says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” That second relationship that we need in our life, we all need a Barnabas. We all need a “son of consolation.” Again, God has brought those kinds of people into my life over the years. There’s one in particular that’s gone to be with the Lord, and I miss him so dearly. He used to come into my office and be able to tell my mood and where I was at. He would just read me like a book. He would come to pray for me, encourage me, and just speak wisdom into my life. I thank God for people like that in my life.

The third relationship we need, we all need a Timothy. You say, “Well, what is that?” That is someone we mentor—we encourage, we bring along with us, we pour into, we teach—someone that we pass the baton to. Too many Christians are just trying to blast through their Christian life, and they don’t have a Paul, a Barnabas, a Timothy—they’re not pouring into anyone. Find yourself someone to teach you, someone to encourage you, and someone that you can mentor, disciple, and minister to. Those three individuals represent that.

Now traveling in this missionary journey is Paul, Silas, and Timotheus or Timothy, the one who would honor God. Let me outline this for you at this point. In verses 6-8, we have what I call the voice of the Spirit—how God leads us. It says, “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,” now isn’t that an amazing statement in the Bible? The Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the gospel. Wow! That’s amazing that the Holy Spirit actually stopped or prevented or blocked them from going into a certain area and preaching the gospel. We’re going to look at that. “After they were come to Mysia, they assayed,” or tried, “to go into Bithynia,” which is in the north, “but the Spirit suffered them not.” Again, the Holy Spirit stopped them. “And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.” When it says that they tried to go to Phrygia and the region of Galatia, I’m going to show you that on a map. (Can I have my map up on the screen for just a moment?)

This is Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul’s second missionary journey here at Antioch to the far right, this is Antioch of Syria. This is where the second missionary journey begins. Paul and Silas left Antioch. They travel up to Derbe, Lystra, Iconium. In Lystra, they pick up Timothy and travel to Iconium and Antioch. The Spirit forbade them from going south. The Spirit forbade them from going north, and the Spirit actually drove them naturally to go west. They couldn’t go southwest. They couldn’t go northwest. They actually went west. They just kept going. I want you to follow me on the map for just a moment. They landed in Troas. This is where, in just a few moments in our text, they’re going to receive what’s called the Macedonian call. They’re going to see in a night vision a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over and help us.” Then, they’re going to sail across the Aegean Sea to Neapolis, into Philippi, then to Berea, then down through Thessalonica down to Athens, to Corinth, then sail to Ephesus and back to Caesarea, and then hightail it back up to Antioch. You all got that down? I’m going to test you on this next week. You gotta remember that.

They went through these different regions, and the Holy Spirit was forbidding them, so they end (verse 8) in Troas looking westward out over the Aegean Sea. The question that is often asked is: How did the Holy Spirit forbid them? Here’s the answer: We don’t know. Aren’t you glad I asked that? We don’t really know. It could be just an inner witness of the Spirit. It could be that circumstances were not favorable. That’s a real good possibility, that God just shut doors, that circumstances did not allow them to go. Another common view, and I think it’s interesting, is that Paul was suffering from sickness. Paul’s infirmity in his flesh was keeping him from traveling, so he just went west. Now, what happens at this point, and I’ll show it to you in just a minute, is that Dr. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, joins their journey. On one of those locations that they stopped before they got to Troas, they pick up another individual on their journey. It’s Dr. Luke. We know that from seeing the sections that are called “we” sections—where he uses plural personal pronouns “we” and “us”— that Luke is now traveling with them; but how the Spirit forbade them, we don’t know.

Let me say this about God’s guidance. Many times God guides us through our failures by shutting a door or something happening, and then we learn and grow and step out again in faith. Other times God guides us by shutting a door, and I’ve seen God do this so many times. When God shuts one door, He opens another door. Whenever God shuts one door, He always opens another door. The cool thing is that Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke didn’t get discouraged. They didn’t throw up their hands in despair and say, “What are we supposed to do? The Spirit keeps saying no, don’t go this way, don’t go that way,” so they just kept going.

Many times we’ll get discouraged and want to give up if we don’t have a clear direction from God. You know, so many people today want God to kind of lay out their whole life for them, “You’re going to go here; you’re gonna go there. You’re gonna get married. You’re gonna have this many kids. This is what you’re going to name them. This is what they’re gonna do. This is what you’re gonna do. This is how I’m gonna work, and you’re gonna retire and live happily ever after.” You know what? God doesn’t lead us like that. Have you ever found out that God doesn’t lead you like that? If you would’ve asked Paul in the middle of this journey in Galatia, “Where’s God leading you?” Do you know what he would’ve said? He’d say, “I don’t have a clue!” If you ask me sometimes, “Where’s God leading you?” Do you know what I will say? I don’t have a clue. I walk by faith not by sight. I just have to trust the Lord and put one foot in front of the other and trust that God will shut one door and will open another door, or God will work out a situation, or God will take this person and bring them here, move that person, bring them back here.

I wasn’t here Sunday when Pastor Brian announced that he’s going to Alaska, but I’ve known for a couple of months that was going to happen, and we’re praying for him. We don’t want to see him go, but you know what? God has a plan. God has a purpose. God has a design. God takes one out, God brings another in. God raises up one, God takes one down; God brings someone else and moves somebody and a church starts in Alaska. We’re going to pray for them, support them, encourage them, and see God do an awesome work. What is God doing? I don’t know. Where’s God leading? I don’t know, but God’s leading and we trust Him no matter what the circumstances. I love the fact that the Holy Spirit is shutting doors. This is the principle: Not only are the steps of a good man ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his ways; but the stops of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his ways. Sometimes God leads us in our steps, sometimes God leads us in our stops; and we need to learn to be patient and wait on God to guide and direct us.

In verses 6-8 we have the voice of the Spirit saying, “No.” God’s Spirit saying, “No,” is just as important as God’s Spirit saying, “Go.” If God doesn’t say, “Go,” then we need to take it as a no and let God guide us in patience. Beginning in verses 9-12, we have the vision of the sinner. This is how God often leads us, too, by speaking to us by special revelation. Notice it in verse 9. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night,” they’re in Troas, the area where the ancient city of Troy once existed. It seems as though it was a vision that came to him by dream or in the night while he was sleeping. “There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we,” now notice that “we” there in verse 10. That is an indication that Luke, the author of the book of Acts, is now traveling with Paul, Silas, and Timothy. “…endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us,” Luke is with them, “for to preach the gospel unto them. 11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course,” and that’s amazing that in that ancient sailing vessel that the wind was blowing them exactly the direction they needed to go, “to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.”

They got in a boat the next day, but that night they saw a vision. In this vision, there’s a man of Macedonia. The question, again, is: Who is this man of Macedonia? The answer: We don’t know. You’re kind of getting used to that by now, right? The Bible doesn’t say who he is. Some people think it was the Lord Jesus Himself. I, personally, just believe (and this is really deep. This is profound. I studied all day to figure this out) that he was just a man from Macedonia. Isn’t that profound? That he was a man from Macedonia—that’s what the Bible says, that’s who he was. Some say he was Alexander the Great. I don’t know where they get that or why they want to use that. I don’t know why they would think that, but there was a man from Macedonia. The interesting thing is that this is—listen to me very carefully—for the first time in the history of the expanding and growing church, the gospel is going to be going to the continent of Europe. The gospel is going to leave the then-called Asian continent, across the Aegean Sea, and they’re going to land for the first time on the European continent, so this trip changed the world. The gospel eventually came to you and me in the western world, and we’re going to see the first convert in Europe was a woman by the name of Lydia.

This man of Macedonia, “Come…and help us…” The Europeans were cultured. They had religion and education, but they were lost. They had to hear the good news of salvation (an indication that we go in missions, share the good news, and there’s a need). “Come over…and help us,” so the vision of the sinner, understanding that God had certainly called them, so they pack their bags, booked a ship, sail west across the Aegean Sea (the wind was favorable) only a couple of days, and they landed in the port there. They made their way into the city of Philippi.

We have a letter in our Bible known as Philippians. That’s the church that was founded in Philippi. This city is named after Philip the Great, and Philip was the founder of this city, which was a Roman colony. This Roman colony meant that it was like a Rome away from Rome—they had Roman laws, they were Roman citizens, they had Roman culture, Roman rules—and they go into this city. Notice, verses 13-34, that we have the victory of the Saviour. You first have the voice of the Spirit, then the vision of the sinner, and then the victory of the Saviour—the work that took place. “And on the sabbath,” Paul says or Luke records, “we,” again, “went out of the city,” that is, Philippi, “by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.”

They’re in the city of Philippi, and when the sabbath day arrived, where did they go? Not to the synagogue. Why? Because there wasn’t a synagogue. You say, “Well, how do you know there wasn’t a synagogue? Well, first it doesn’t say there was a synagogue. They didn’t go to a synagogue, which they normally went. They went to the riverside. This is significant because under Jewish law, wherever there were 10 male Jews they would build a synagogue. If there were 10 Jewish men, they would construct a synagogue; so it’s an indication that there were not even 10 Jewish men to be able to build a synagogue, so the text naturally says that there was this group of women. Now, think about that. Paul saw a vision of who? A man, not a woman. It was a man from Macedonia. Now, they get over there and he could’ve been disappointed, “Where’s the men?” They go down by the riverside. Now, why by the riverside? Because, again, under Jewish law, their worship involved rites of purification—they would have the Jewish baths, Jewish cleansing, Jewish washing—they had to have the living water to be able to wash and bathe themselves, so the women would gather by the river. That would be the traditional spot that the Jews would gather and worship God. They go down by the river, there’s this group of women, and instead of saying, “Aw, man, why did we come all this way to speak to a bunch of women? This is ridiculous! Let’s go back,” they shared the gospel and the Lord opened Lydia’s heart. This is that classic passage in the Bible where it speaks of the fact that God opened a person’s heart, and she believed and was baptized and those of her household.

Lydia was a very wealthy woman, no doubt. She was a seller of purple, which was made from the dyes in Thyatira. She was a businesswoman. She was probably a good businesswoman, too, because you get a little flavor of her tactics when she says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.” She was probably a good saleswoman, too. She said, “If you judge me worthy, come to my house,” and if you don’t go to her house then you don’t judge her worthy, so she probably sold a lot of purple garments. They were very costly, very expensive, and only the wealthy could afford them. She was the first convert on the continent of Europe; so you, Ladies, ought to be encouraged. The first person to believe in Jesus Christ in the western hemisphere was this woman by the name of Lydia.

Notice that God opens her heart. God is the One who opens hearts. What a blessing that is, how God opens hearts, and opens eyes, and opens ears. As a matter of fact, the first thing you see is that she had an open heart, and I believe that God opened her ears, “that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” Then, she had an open confession, verse 15, for “she was baptized, and her household,” and then she had an open home. She said, “…come into my house, and abide there.” I like that. She had an open heart, open ears, open confession—she was baptized publicly—and she had an open home, indicating that she’d been converted. She asked them to, “Come to my house. Stay with me,” and ministered to them there. Lydia, as I said, was the first convert on the continent of Europe, and what an awesome thing to see how God opened this woman’s heart and she was receptive to the gospel.

Notice verse 16. It says, “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying,” or by fortune telling, “The same followed Paul and us,” again, Luke is with them, “and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”

They’re cruising through Philippi preaching the gospel and what happens is this slave girl, owned by these men, who was demon-possessed and fortune telling for these men, and they were getting money from it. They were profiting by her. You know, a lot of people today in our culture will use men and women to sell them and to make them slaves, and to use them for profit. So, Paul allowed her for a few days to travel around saying, “These men are the servants of the most high God, and they show us the way of salvation.” Now, was there anything wrong with what she was saying? No, but Paul didn’t want satan advertising for their ministry. You might think, Paul, this is great, free advertisement. She’s proclaiming that you’re the servants of God, showing the way of salvation, but she was of the wrong spirit. We don’t want satan advertising our ministry. We want to be identified with the work of the Lord. So, after several days, Paul stopped and said to the demon in this girl, “I command you in the name of Jesus to come out,” and she was delivered. This is a case of exorcism. She was demon-possessed—demons, being fallen angels, had entered into her—and now she was free. She becomes the second convert. Here’s the church at Philippi starting off. The first convert, a wealthy woman, she was of high stature socially. The second convert, of very low stature, she was a slave who was demon-possessed. She’s the second convert, but what happened was now her masters couldn’t profit by her anymore. They couldn’t benefit by using her to tell fortunes and getting money and gain.

Do you know what? If you hit someone in their pocketbook they’re gonna oppose you. Do you know today if you go out witnessing and you shutdown porno theaters and abortion clinics and people come to Christ and they stop buying alcohol, drugs, and stop gambling and doing those things, those people who make the money off them aren’t going to be happy about that. So many times they’re opposing the spread of Christianity because of the evil influence that they have in the world.

In verse 19, they get a riot started up. “And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.” Where Timothy and Luke are, we don’t know. They weren’t involved in this, but Paul and Silas are arrested. Their clothes are ripped off, and they started to beat them, verse 22. “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into the prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.”

I don’t suppose you’ll not believe me if I say that we’re approaching one of my favorite texts in all of Scripture and we’ve run out of time, so I’m going to do a cliffhanger tonight. I want so much to get to this text, but I don’t want to rush through it. Paul and Silas are thrown in prison. At midnight, they begin to sing praises. The Lord sends an earthquake, and the prison doors are opened. The jailor gets saved and becomes the third convert in Philippi. So, you have Lydia, then you have the slave girl, and then you have the blue-collar worker right in the middle of them socially, the Philippian jailor, who comes to Christ and is converted; but Paul and Silas were arrested and beaten. The truth is, we’re going to find out that they were Roman citizens, and it was unlawful for a Roman city, like Philippi, for this to happen. They were really violating the law in what they did to Paul and Silas. You know, I think that whenever Paul came to a city or a town, the first thing he did was ask them where the jail was because he said, “I want to know where I’m going to spend the night tonight.” He didn’t say, “Where’s your hotel?” I have to confess, I was griping about our hotel and I think, Why would I complain when Paul spent the night in prison, fast in stocks, and what did they do? Sulk and complain? No. They sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. God sent an earthquake and the prison doors were opened, and the jailor was saved. We’ll look at that next week.

I wanted to remind you that God leads us many times by conflict and failure. God leads us by our stops—the stops of a good man are ordained of the Lord just as the steps—and then God leads us by His Word, by direct revelation. God speaks through what He spoke in His Word and we open the Bible. Now, God can lead you by a dream. God can lead you by a vision. The Bible says that we walk by faith and not by sight, so we need to make sure that everything we do we confirm, align, and is consistent with the Scriptures; but we still need God to open doors, shut doors, close doors, guide, and direct us. When we’re in step with the Spirit—even though we might be persecuted, thrown in prison, or we might face opposition—we can rejoice that God is in control. God is going to redeem this imprisonment, and we’ll pick up right where we left off next Wednesday night.