WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.020 We're in Acts chapter 15, the end. 00:00:04.179 --> 00:00:05.799 And we're going to try and keep going with big chunks. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.320 And we're going to do the whole of chapter 16. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:13.519 I love, and I'm sure you do adventure stories. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:15.339 ! 00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:21.039 And chapters 15 to 20 are full of adventure stories for the gospel. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.780 Adventure stories for the gospel. 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:25.000 What does the gospel mean? 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:31.719 The gospel is the good news of what Jesus has come to do. 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:39.159 The gospel is that Jesus came into this world to die on the cross for sin. 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:42.400 And those early followers of the Lord Jesus, 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:47.740 they believed and they saw that Jesus had not only died, but he'd risen from the dead. 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:52.820 It transformed their lives so much that they were willing to give up everything. 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:57.520 And to go out and to proclaim this message of good news. 00:00:57.619 --> 00:00:58.259 That there was hope. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.840 There was hope in the face of guilt. 00:01:01.480 --> 00:01:03.259 There was hope in the face of death. 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:06.439 There was the hope of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.500 And on the journey that we're going to trace over these next few weeks, 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:11.579 through these chapters, 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.340 we're going to see that these early followers of Jesus 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:19.719 are reaching out to people who believed many, many different things. 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:25.879 Christians came from various diverse socioeconomic groups. 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:31.079 These city centers, people who were educated and non-educated, 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.400 they reached diverse people. 00:01:34.900 --> 00:01:35.739 There were philosophers. 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:37.359 There were those who had nothing. 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.299 And we see that as Christians were reaching out to these cities and these cultures, 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:44.960 time and again, people opposed them. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:52.179 Today we're going to see Romans who were really concerned that these preachers of the good news 00:01:52.179 --> 00:01:54.500 were damaging Roman values. 00:01:55.759 --> 00:02:01.379 The Apostle Paul, he had this relentless passion to share the gospel with others. 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:08.519 And yet we'll also see alongside that relentless passion is the hand of God at work as well. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:15.360 We'll see how the gospel expands and moves outwards in this amazing way. 00:02:15.480 --> 00:02:19.360 It will remind us that God is at work in his world. 00:02:20.140 --> 00:02:22.820 And he was doing that then and he's doing that today. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:25.260 Through struggling people. 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:28.300 Fragile, frail people. 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:30.160 Like you and I. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.180 And so this is the second missionary journey. 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:35.140 I'm going to divide the section into three. 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:37.500 We're going to see the new journey. 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:42.139 Chapter 15, verse 36 to 16, verse 5. 00:02:42.279 --> 00:02:48.739 And then we're going to see the new journey expands from verses 6 to 12. 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:51.799 And then we're going to see at the end of chapter 16, 00:02:52.279 --> 00:02:54.579 the new journey meets fruitfulness and hardship. 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.359 Beautiful poetic points for you. 00:02:57.519 --> 00:02:57.779 All right? 00:02:58.279 --> 00:03:00.439 So first of all, the new journey. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:06.319 The theme of the section in many ways is summarized in Acts 16, verse 9. 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:07.680 If you want a summary verse. 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:09.539 Sorry, not Acts 16, verse 9. 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:11.159 Proverbs 16, verse 9. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:13.379 Do you know what that verse says? 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:14.740 It says this. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:20.099 Humans plan their course, but the Lord directs their steps. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.159 That in many ways is the summary of Acts, I think, 15, 16 to 20. 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:29.060 Humans plan their course, but the Lord directs their steps. 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:39.840 We plan, we take initiative, and yet we submit to the fact that it's God is the one who opens doors and closes doors. 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:42.219 So first of all, the new journey begins. 00:03:42.300 --> 00:03:43.420 Chapter 15, verse 36. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:44.840 It'll really help you to have a Bible open. 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:51.740 And it begins with Paul's desire to go back and travel again. 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.280 To go back to the towns where he preached the word of the Lord. 00:03:56.099 --> 00:03:57.099 To see how they're doing. 00:03:57.099 --> 00:04:03.919 And Paul is referring to the towns and cities that he and Barnabas visited in that first missionary journey. 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:08.240 In chapters 13 and 14, Antioch, Cyprus. 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:09.039 What's today? 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:10.359 Southern Turkey. 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:13.599 Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derby. 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:14.560 And then back home. 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:18.639 And Paul says, I want to go back around again. 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:20.639 And to see how they're doing. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.519 Verse 37. 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.959 His sidekick, Barnabas, wants to take this young guy, John Mark. 00:04:28.599 --> 00:04:30.159 But Paul doesn't think it's a good idea. 00:04:31.599 --> 00:04:33.680 Because he says, John Mark is not reliable. 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:36.139 He'd abandoned them. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.439 He'd left the first missionary journey in Pamphylia. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:41.120 We read about it in Acts 13. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:45.540 Maybe John thought this was too much. 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:50.199 There's lots of speculation as to why John left that first missionary journey. 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:50.860 We don't know. 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:53.500 But Paul saw it as desertion. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:57.759 He thought John Mark is too unreliable to take with us. 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:00.660 And so there's a difference of opinion. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.019 Can you see the word used? 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:04.560 There's a sharp disagreement. 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:05.279 Ouch. 00:05:07.099 --> 00:05:09.099 It leads to a parting of ways. 00:05:10.719 --> 00:05:12.479 Paul and Barnabas cannot agree. 00:05:12.599 --> 00:05:13.620 So they agree to disagree. 00:05:14.099 --> 00:05:15.500 And they go their separate ways. 00:05:17.299 --> 00:05:18.839 This kind of thing happens today, doesn't it? 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:22.319 It's strong-minded, determined Christians. 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:25.459 Who are working together. 00:05:25.799 --> 00:05:27.379 And a matter of opinion comes up. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:28.019 And they clash. 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:29.740 There's a sharp disagreement. 00:05:30.299 --> 00:05:31.740 On what is the best course. 00:05:32.019 --> 00:05:35.620 If you ask any missionary. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.099 Who's worked outside their own culture. 00:05:39.339 --> 00:05:41.519 What is the most difficult thing about being in missions. 00:05:42.359 --> 00:05:44.479 I can guarantee you what they'll say. 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:47.339 They will say. 00:05:48.060 --> 00:05:49.060 Other missionaries. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.759 They will not say the people that they're trying to reach. 00:05:54.659 --> 00:05:56.959 They will not say adapting to another culture. 00:05:57.039 --> 00:05:58.259 They will say it's the problem. 00:05:58.339 --> 00:05:59.319 I'm going to work with these people. 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:06.079 And when these clashes are handled in a godly and an honest way. 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:10.719 And amicable solutions for the good of the gospel can be found. 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:11.859 And they must be found. 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:16.199 I think that's helpful to us, isn't it? 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:18.199 In Christian work. 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:18.759 In Christian work. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:19.839 As churches. 00:06:20.719 --> 00:06:21.519 Like ours. 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:22.420 Full of diverse people. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:23.759 There will be clashes. 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.199 There may well be sharp disagreements. 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:27.800 That's okay. 00:06:29.039 --> 00:06:31.219 If Paul and Barnabas had them. 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:33.779 You and I are not as godly as they were. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:35.099 And we can expect them. 00:06:35.419 --> 00:06:36.519 And so how do we handle them? 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:37.539 We handle them honestly. 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:38.620 Amicably. 00:06:39.359 --> 00:06:39.839 Generously. 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:41.299 Recognising that sometimes. 00:06:41.479 --> 00:06:42.579 Christians can't work together. 00:06:44.159 --> 00:06:45.579 And so what we find here. 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:47.599 Is that this disagreement. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:49.579 Ends up being really strategic. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.759 Barnabas and John Mark go to Cyprus. 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:54.639 Paul and Silas go the other way. 00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:58.539 We read that Paul and Silas are commended by the church. 00:06:58.599 --> 00:07:00.259 We don't read that about Barnabas and John Mark. 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:03.939 But the writer doesn't really pass any judgement at all. 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:04.839 He just states it. 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:08.560 And these clashes happen in ministries. 00:07:08.719 --> 00:07:09.800 It happens in elderships. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.579 And we address them in real honest direct ways. 00:07:13.719 --> 00:07:15.740 Sometimes we need to agree to disagree. 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:17.620 But the wonderful thing is this. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:18.399 God. 00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:21.740 Can bring good out of these clashes. 00:07:23.219 --> 00:07:25.339 And God can bring good. 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:27.639 Out of strong personalities disagreeing. 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.500 And so here instead of one mission team. 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:33.000 Going out you've two. 00:07:34.479 --> 00:07:35.779 It's a more efficient work. 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:39.039 The narrative moves on in verse 6. 00:07:39.159 --> 00:07:41.019 We see that Paul and his companions travel on. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.099 To the region of Phrygia and Galatia. 00:07:46.539 --> 00:07:49.659 This week I discovered a really interesting. 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:53.159 Piece of research that's been done by. 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:54.860 Stanford University. 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.800 You can look on the internet. 00:07:57.900 --> 00:08:00.900 And you can find the Stanford geospatial map. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.360 Of the Roman world. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.120 Honestly it's really fascinating. 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:06.780 I wasted about three hours on it this week. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.720 And they have worked out a way. 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:10.319 How you can trace journeys. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:11.920 In the Roman world. 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:14.020 About 200 AD. 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:16.480 It's like a kind of ancient race across the world. 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:18.500 You can stick. 00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:20.080 The places in. 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:20.920 In this chapter. 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:24.140 And they will tell you the distances. 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:25.140 And the main routes. 00:08:25.460 --> 00:08:26.500 The time it would have taken. 00:08:26.960 --> 00:08:28.860 And it will tell you the cost of travel. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:32.500 The cost of travel at that point. 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:35.139 Was about a day's wages. 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:37.080 A day's wages would have been about a denarius. 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.980 And so these people. 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:42.200 The Stanford geospatial map of the Roman world. 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:42.940 They've worked out. 00:08:43.060 --> 00:08:44.580 This second journey. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.060 Would have been in total. 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:47.759 3,050 miles. 00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:49.480 It would have taken about 100 days. 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:51.220 Just to get from one location to the other. 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:52.120 Just travelling time. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:52.840 Straight travelling. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:56.460 The cost in denarii per person. 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:59.720 Would have been 314 denarii. 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:01.280 314 days wages. 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:05.139 You can do all sorts of interesting calculations with this. 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:07.420 So let me give you the price. 00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:09.639 Based on today's UK salary. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.639 Of £94 a day. 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:13.460 The first missionary journey cost. 00:09:14.300 --> 00:09:15.720 About £22,000. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:19.280 The second missionary journey cost. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:21.060 Around about £29,000. 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:24.639 The third missionary journey cost. 00:09:25.239 --> 00:09:26.859 About £38,000. 00:09:30.359 --> 00:09:31.339 Church planting. 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:33.359 Church work. 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:34.839 Is expensive. 00:09:35.779 --> 00:09:36.279 Isn't it? 00:09:37.099 --> 00:09:38.099 It is expensive. 00:09:39.459 --> 00:09:40.619 How is that money raised? 00:09:40.699 --> 00:09:41.279 I'd love to know. 00:09:42.819 --> 00:09:46.719 I'd love to know what was the combination of them working alongside of generosity. 00:09:46.839 --> 00:09:48.419 I'd love to know the debates. 00:09:48.579 --> 00:09:50.739 Couldn't you go on the off-peak travel, Paul? 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:53.559 Why are you travelling on a Friday? 00:09:53.739 --> 00:09:55.139 Surely it's cheaper on a Thursday. 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:56.919 Have you tried a Vanty West? 00:09:59.119 --> 00:10:00.159 It's expensive. 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:01.919 And church ministry. 00:10:02.199 --> 00:10:02.839 Gospel work. 00:10:02.959 --> 00:10:05.099 The expansion of the work. 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:06.319 Will always be expensive. 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:09.279 And it calls for gospel generosity from us. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.500 It costs to send planters. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:18.019 The full story in verses 1 to 5 follows Paul and Silas as they move through these churches. 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.000 They visited on their first missionary journey. 00:10:22.339 --> 00:10:23.519 Come to Derby in Lystra. 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:24.839 They meet a young guy called Timothy. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:25.740 He's a young lad. 00:10:25.819 --> 00:10:27.439 He's been brought up in a Christian home. 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:31.639 We don't know about his dad, but his mum and his grandmother did family worship with him daily. 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:31.759 Timothy. 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:34.500 He's from a mixed marriage. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.159 His mother is a Jew, but his father is a Greek. 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.819 All the believers in Lystra and Iconium, they speak really well of him. 00:10:41.939 --> 00:10:44.179 And Paul wants to take young Timothy with him. 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:46.519 But he sees there's a problem. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.599 His parents are in a mixed marriage. 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:56.699 Timothy would have been viewed as a Jew, but as an apostate Jew, not a real Jew. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:57.199 Why? 00:10:57.479 --> 00:10:59.079 Because he wasn't circumcised. 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:04.199 His dad would have forbidden it, perhaps, when he was young. 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:08.019 But all the Jews knew he was a Greek. 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:10.479 They knew his father was a Greek. 00:11:10.599 --> 00:11:12.799 He was from a mixed parenting relationship. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:17.500 But Timothy, through his mother's descent, would have been considered Jewish. 00:11:19.079 --> 00:11:26.319 But the fact that he was an uncircumcised Jew would have made him an apostate Jew, an unacceptable Jew to the other Jews. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.199 They would have closed the synagogue doors to him. 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.839 It would have raised a series of cultural barriers to the gospel. 00:11:36.219 --> 00:11:39.079 And so Paul here shows amazing flexibility. 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:45.320 And he circumcises Timothy to make a true Jew of him. 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:48.280 There's no ambiguity. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.840 The reasoning would have been, Timothy, this will save a lot of confusion and hassle. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:59.940 It will allow people to hear you and accept the gospel more easily. 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:03.960 And so it's a really important thing, isn't it? 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:12.360 Chapter 15, Paul says, when it comes to salvation, he is opposed to people being circumcised. 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:18.360 When it comes to people being saved, he says circumcision is of no value. 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:24.659 But here in chapter 16, the very next chapter, it's not an issue of salvation, but it's an issue of mission. 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:26.100 It's an issue of church planting. 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.300 And he seems to show this amazing flexibility. 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:36.460 Paul wants to remove anything that's trivial that could cause people to close their hearts to the gospel. 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:39.840 Even before they'd ever had a chance to hear it. 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:52.360 This is the kind of heart, doesn't it, that's led people to go across the world and learn languages so that they can tell the gospel in people's mother tongues. 00:12:53.280 --> 00:13:00.820 To learn cultures so that they don't make a barrier of not knowing the culture so that people can speak the gospel. 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:09.379 It led Hudson Taylor, didn't it, in the 19th century to dress like the Chinese people so that the Chinese people would hear him more readily. 00:13:11.900 --> 00:13:18.460 To do anything that he can within limits to present the gospel in a way that is culturally appropriate to those around him. 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:28.820 And so we must think as a church, what are we doing that is an unneeded stumbling block to the gospel in our culture? 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:40.460 I can imagine it was pretty painful for Timothy to be circumcised by Paul's hand without anaesthetic. 00:13:42.060 --> 00:13:45.420 I think it is always painful, isn't it? 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:57.899 It is always painful to realise actually the way that I'm acting, the way that I'm speaking, the way that I'm behaving is an unnecessary stumbling block to people hearing the gospel. 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.159 It's always painful, to have that pointed out. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.099 It's always painful to remove it. 00:14:05.439 --> 00:14:09.279 And yet Paul says the issue of people hearing the gospel is so important. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:09.939 Do it. 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:11.059 Get rid of it. 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:13.519 Let's move on to the expansion of the journey. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:17.339 We see from verse 6 to 12, the little church planting group moves forward. 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.899 The ministry expands, they take Timothy with them. 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:26.459 And in verse 5 of chapter 6, we're told that God is at work through this little band of people. 00:14:27.479 --> 00:14:31.239 The churches are being strengthened in faith and growing daily. 00:14:31.979 --> 00:14:34.299 But now the work expands from verse 6. 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:36.759 They break into new territory. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:41.219 And it's a really interesting little section from verse 6 forward. 00:14:41.339 --> 00:14:45.819 We're told that Paul and his team travel throughout Phrygia and Galatia. 00:14:47.079 --> 00:14:52.479 But they're kept, aren't they, by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 00:14:53.859 --> 00:14:56.779 They want to go west into Asia. 00:14:57.319 --> 00:15:00.099 But somehow the Holy Spirit stops them from going there. 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:02.980 They got north to Bithynia. 00:15:03.060 --> 00:15:09.200 But this time we read that the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to enter there. 00:15:10.420 --> 00:15:11.899 So they pass by Mycenae. 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:14.960 And they go down to a port to a town called Troas on the coast. 00:15:15.300 --> 00:15:16.980 And it's here in Troas in verse 9. 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:17.560 Can you see it? 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:19.300 A vision appears to Paul in the night. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.860 A man of Macedonia is standing there, urging him and saying, 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:24.860 Come over to Macedonia and help us. 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:29.340 And the team concludes, this is the way that God has called them to preach. 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:32.800 The Spirit has blocked them going west. 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:35.139 The Spirit of Jesus has blocked them going north. 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:38.060 And so they come to Europe. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.180 How are we to understand what's going on here? 00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:46.360 This is where we see, isn't it? 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:53.200 Can you see the interplay between human initiative and divine guidance? 00:15:53.900 --> 00:15:54.840 See both those things? 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.000 Let's take those things in turn. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.519 On the human initiative side, I want us to think about this. 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:02.279 Paul is not just sitting back. 00:16:02.379 --> 00:16:04.519 Is he saying, where do you want us to go next? 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:07.659 He's not sitting there not moving. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.179 He's not saying, I'm not going anywhere until the Lord gives me clear guidance from the Lord. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.460 There's no sitting back. 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:16.600 With no initiative. 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:18.759 He is pressing on, isn't he? 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.600 With sanctified common sense. 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:22.820 He does what seems right. 00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:28.940 He's strategic about going into new areas that he feels would be a good place to move into. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:35.720 And as he presses on, the Lord closes two doors and opens up a third one. 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:52.980 Sometimes when it comes to seeking God's will and guidance, we need to realise that we don't just sit there and expect the kind of clear mapping out of the next weeks, months, years. 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:56.759 God can do that, can't he? 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:58.379 God can reveal to us. 00:16:58.519 --> 00:16:59.680 This is the way to go. 00:17:00.920 --> 00:17:02.279 But that's very unusual. 00:17:04.099 --> 00:17:09.039 Usually it means guidance that God directs us using common sense. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.819 Input from people older than us with wisdom. 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:28.419 And as we try to move forward in our lives, thinking and considering about what God wants us to do, what God would have us to do, we seek to be discerning, don't we? 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:29.720 We seek to be wise. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.740 But there's limits, aren't there? 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:33.740 There's limits to your wisdom. 00:17:33.879 --> 00:17:35.059 There's limits to your discernment. 00:17:36.859 --> 00:17:39.019 And at times like this, we're really thankful, aren't we? 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:40.759 We are thankful to a sovereign God. 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:47.619 For whom it's the easiest thing in all the world to close a door when I'm not going in the right direction. 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:55.180 And God closes certain doors and he will open other doors. 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:02.500 We can be, can't we, enormously disappointed when our plans don't work out. 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:08.279 Things which seem really great to us and the Lord just closes that door. 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:14.819 But we need to recognise that God guides and God leads and God opens doors. 00:18:16.879 --> 00:18:19.099 I'm about 23, 24 years ago. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:22.519 I preached here and I hadn't preached here very well. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:31.339 And I met with the ministerial search committee here and that wasn't a very good meeting either. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:35.779 And I came out of it thinking they're not going to want me and I'm not sure I want them. 00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:37.679 And I'm pretty sure they were thinking the same thing. 00:18:38.199 --> 00:18:41.139 I was quite confident at that point that I'd come here. 00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:44.619 But that meeting made me think, oh, I'm just not sure. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.519 About two weeks later, I went to preach in a town called Abergavenny. 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:49.720 Do you know Abergavenny? 00:18:49.859 --> 00:18:50.539 It's a beautiful place. 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:51.879 It's where George Whitefield was. 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:56.120 In this beautiful old Welsh building, Presbyterian building, beautiful organ. 00:18:56.860 --> 00:18:59.080 I preached two blinding sermons. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:01.240 They were absolutely great. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:05.340 We went to this people's house and the most wonderful Welsh lamb for lunch. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.520 I just thought, this is amazing. 00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:10.980 At the end of the Sunday, this old elder came up to me and he said, 00:19:11.060 --> 00:19:13.160 would you consider coming here as the minister? 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:18.580 And it was all, I said, well, yeah, yeah, yeah, I would consider it. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:20.400 The following day, they had a church meeting. 00:19:21.580 --> 00:19:22.920 They voted and called someone else. 00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:26.680 The Lord very clearly closed the door. 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:29.060 So you're stuck with me, all right? 00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:33.040 But actually, that's what happens, isn't it? 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:35.640 We think, well, would this be good? 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:36.440 Would this be right? 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:37.200 This seems right. 00:19:37.300 --> 00:19:38.440 This seems the path to go. 00:19:38.620 --> 00:19:39.500 And it doesn't work out. 00:19:39.580 --> 00:19:41.960 And the Lord goes, we can be so disappointed, can't we? 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:44.279 And yet, the Lord can open a door for you. 00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:45.700 Like, we're stealing. 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:49.039 Well, it can be an enormous blessing. 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:55.240 Some of you today will be enormously disappointed that the Lord has closed certain doors. 00:19:57.019 --> 00:19:58.759 Recognize that God is sovereign. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.460 He's the sovereign Lord who knows what he's doing. 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:07.240 I love how Luke uses the language really carefully here. 00:20:07.340 --> 00:20:10.880 Can you see he says, he uses the language of the Spirit of Jesus. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.400 Notice at one point he says, the Holy Spirit stopped me moving west. 00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:21.700 Then he says, the Spirit of Jesus stopped me moving north. 00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:29.160 And what Luke is basically wanting you and I to remember is that Jesus is the one who is still on the throne. 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:33.120 He is the one who directs and builds his church. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:37.179 I wonder how this communication came. 00:20:38.239 --> 00:20:40.179 How did the Holy Spirit stop them going west? 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:40.959 I've got no idea. 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:42.139 And neither of the commentators. 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:45.399 How did the Spirit of Jesus stop them coming north? 00:20:45.479 --> 00:20:46.259 We just don't know. 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:51.459 But we see, don't we, human initiative as Paul presses forward and divine guidance. 00:20:51.460 --> 00:20:54.200 The Lord closes certain doors. 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:55.460 He opens other doors. 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:02.519 And the norm that's suggested in Acts is of churches taking initiatives for the gospel. 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:07.000 With wise planning and loving concern for those they're seeking to reach. 00:21:07.340 --> 00:21:09.380 Trusting God to open or close doors. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:14.360 There's strategic planning and there's sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:21.319 And so this dream or vision comes and the team set off to Philippi. 00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:26.259 And notice in chapter 16 and verse 11 there's a change, isn't there? 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.019 There's a change in how the narrator is speaking about this journey. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.799 He's not saying Paul and Silas went and they did this. 00:21:36.879 --> 00:21:39.519 He's not saying the team did this and went. 00:21:39.959 --> 00:21:40.859 No, look verse 11. 00:21:40.859 --> 00:21:45.959 So setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace. 00:21:46.179 --> 00:21:47.519 And the following day to Neapolis. 00:21:47.879 --> 00:21:52.639 And there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:53.559 Can you see what it says? 00:21:53.899 --> 00:21:54.159 We. 00:21:55.899 --> 00:21:56.339 We. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:57.959 There's a change in the narrative. 00:22:00.159 --> 00:22:04.939 You should smile at this point because suddenly the narrator enters the narration. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.879 Luke, it seems, probably lived in Troas. 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:16.100 And here he joins Paul and Silas and Timothy and now Luke joins the group, the gang. 00:22:17.320 --> 00:22:19.780 And it starts to be an eyewitness account. 00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:23.380 And it lifts the narrative to a whole new level. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:30.100 He's not just, he's just recording in his journal what is happening. 00:22:30.099 --> 00:22:37.179 And so now the team arrives in Philippi and the new journey meets fruitfulness and hardship. 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:46.120 And so verse 13 to 40, we see this movement, this church planting movement, go into Philippi. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:54.500 There's three cases we're given where the gospel impacts very different people and their families. 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:59.740 Look at the first one, verses 13 to 15. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.000 Lydia, she's a businesswoman. 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:06.940 And this little group she's part of on the Sabbath goes by the river to pray. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:08.579 She was a God-fearer. 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:11.539 She was Jewish but a God-fearer. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:12.460 And they assembled. 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:14.839 Why were they not in a synagogue? 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:18.220 There's probably too few Jewish men for there to be a synagogue. 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:25.140 And so you can see and imagine these little groups of women and others meeting to pray together. 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:32.319 And so Paul goes up to them and you can imagine them starting to engage with the gospel. 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:33.220 And we read verse 14. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.100 One of them who was listening was a woman named Lydia from Thyatira. 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:39.880 She was a dealer in purple cloth. 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:45.360 She was a worshipper of God and an entrepreneur and a businesswoman. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.119 Only wealthy people bought purple cloth. 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:56.079 And she listens to Paul explaining the gospel about the one God who created everything. 00:23:56.779 --> 00:24:01.059 About the one God who sent the Lord Jesus into the world to deal with our biggest problem. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:02.740 And bring us back to him. 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:05.859 And then we read this amazing statement, don't we? 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:08.899 The Lord opened her heart. 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:15.980 The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 00:24:18.300 --> 00:24:22.980 It's a wonderful way of describing what happens when somebody becomes a Christian. 00:24:24.259 --> 00:24:30.380 When somebody is impacted by the gospel and transformed by it. 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:35.880 The Lord, through Paul's message, is opening her heart. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.480 What do you pray for the unconverted people in your family? 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:46.380 What do you pray for your colleagues who you're trying to reach with the gospel? 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:49.420 What do you pray for your school friends who don't know the Lord Jesus? 00:24:49.580 --> 00:24:50.280 What do we pray? 00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.880 We pray that the Lord would open their hearts. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:59.440 John Stott says, although the message was Paul's, the saving initiative was God's. 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:04.160 And Paul's preaching was not effective in itself. 00:25:04.280 --> 00:25:05.380 The Lord worked through it. 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:10.680 And the Lord's work was not in itself direct, was it? 00:25:11.620 --> 00:25:13.600 That is not how God chooses to work. 00:25:13.760 --> 00:25:16.220 God chooses to work through Paul's preaching. 00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:17.680 It's always the same. 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:19.760 God is at work in this way today. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:25.440 God is the one who works through the telling of his word. 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:29.480 To throw open hearts to respond to the gospel. 00:25:32.579 --> 00:25:33.920 We tell the people. 00:25:35.140 --> 00:25:36.240 God will do the rest. 00:25:38.859 --> 00:25:40.420 Is there a Lydia in your family? 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:44.039 Lydia in your workplace? 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:50.559 That if you might speak the gospel or you bring them under the sound of the preaching of the gospel, 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:52.000 God might open their hearts. 00:25:54.139 --> 00:25:55.440 So a businesswoman is saved. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:59.079 Second place we meet is a slave girl, verses 16 to 18. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:02.519 It's a girl who's got an unclean spirit. 00:26:02.619 --> 00:26:03.519 She can predict the future. 00:26:04.879 --> 00:26:09.359 And the men who have her have set up this kind of lucrative, fortune-telling business. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:13.919 And she is nothing to them other than a means of making money. 00:26:15.659 --> 00:26:19.879 And when Paul and his friends are trying to communicate the gospel at the place of prayer, 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:23.179 she follows them and she shouts out at these men. 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:28.000 She says, they're servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved. 00:26:28.399 --> 00:26:30.259 In some ways, her message is dead right. 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:34.920 It seems harmless enough, but you can imagine the confusion. 00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:38.839 A girl who's known as having an unclean spirit, 00:26:39.299 --> 00:26:42.779 authenticating this team's gospel ministry. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:44.980 Before the pagans. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:47.559 It would have led, wouldn't it? 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:49.000 People hearing her thinking, 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:52.740 actually, these men are just controlled by the same spirit she is. 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:57.259 Maybe their ministry is motivated by unclean spirits. 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:00.019 But besides that, you can imagine just how annoying it was. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:04.099 Every time you try to communicate winsomely 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:07.180 to a group of people 00:27:07.180 --> 00:27:09.720 who are nice and peaceful, 00:27:09.879 --> 00:27:12.200 this girl starts shouting out this mantra. 00:27:13.879 --> 00:27:16.420 So Paul turns around and says he's annoyed. 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:17.680 He's actually disturbed. 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:20.859 He's frustrated by the whole situation. 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:23.920 And he calls the spirit out in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:27:24.019 --> 00:27:25.000 And the girl is set free. 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:28.900 We don't hear what happened to the girl next. 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:31.920 But we can only assume, can't we, 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:35.220 that she became part of this little fledgling church in Philippi. 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:38.539 It seems that Luke is putting these accounts here 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:39.240 to show us 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:42.440 the building of the church in Philippi. 00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:43.420 What happened 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:46.119 to this girl 00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:47.119 caused an uproar? 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:50.839 The owners are furious. 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:53.339 They've lost this source of income. 00:27:53.679 --> 00:27:54.979 They grab Paul and Silas, 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:56.219 take them to the magistrate, 00:27:56.439 --> 00:27:59.000 and they say these people are upsetting Roman values. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:02.599 The powerful power of the gospel 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:05.319 has impacted their sinful business. 00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.440 And their response is anger. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.220 And again, this is an alien to us. 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:15.980 When the gospel takes root, 00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:19.140 and when it impacts people's sinful behavior, 00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:21.519 we should expect people to get very angry. 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:24.200 So Paul and Silas, 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:25.960 they are severely beaten with rods. 00:28:26.299 --> 00:28:27.319 They are thrown into prison. 00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:29.079 They are placed in the inner cell. 00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:31.359 And that leads us to the third snapshot 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.019 of the Philippian church. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:35.799 Verse 25 to 36. 00:28:35.900 --> 00:28:37.519 Verse 25 is stunning, isn't it? 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:40.420 It stops us in our track 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:41.339 that at midnight, 00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:43.299 Paul and Silas are praying 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:45.240 and singing hymns to God. 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:49.059 The other prisoners are listening to them. 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:50.819 They've just been beaten with rods, 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:52.000 severely flogged, 00:28:52.120 --> 00:28:53.559 and at midnight they're sitting there. 00:28:54.940 --> 00:28:56.740 You can imagine their wounds 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:59.120 pressed against the cold stone, 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.160 and yet they are exulting in God. 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:03.460 Worshipping, 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:04.839 and this little phrase, 00:29:04.980 --> 00:29:06.519 the other prisoners are listening to them, 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:08.319 is meant to draw attention 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.440 to the impact they're making. 00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:12.740 The other prisoners look at these guys 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:14.140 and think, good grief, 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:16.180 what is wrong with these people? 00:29:16.280 --> 00:29:17.180 What has happened to them? 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:22.600 So Paul in his prison and the others, 00:29:22.780 --> 00:29:25.040 they experience this amazing deliverance. 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:26.200 There's a sudden earthquake. 00:29:26.420 --> 00:29:27.660 The prison doors open. 00:29:27.780 --> 00:29:28.880 The chains come loose. 00:29:30.080 --> 00:29:31.500 The jailer wakes up thinking, 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:32.820 all the prisoners have escaped. 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:34.480 He's about to take his life. 00:29:34.560 --> 00:29:35.020 And Paul says, 00:29:35.080 --> 00:29:36.300 don't do it, we're all here. 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:39.960 And in this moment, 00:29:40.080 --> 00:29:42.080 the jailer has been so impacted, 00:29:42.220 --> 00:29:42.920 so powerfully, 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:44.240 that he's come to fear this God. 00:29:48.100 --> 00:29:50.759 Somehow Paul is communicating to the people. 00:29:51.019 --> 00:29:51.640 There he says, 00:29:51.800 --> 00:29:53.300 what must I do to be saved? 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:54.640 And Paul simply responds, 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:55.759 doesn't he, verse 31, 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.680 believe in the Lord Jesus 00:29:58.680 --> 00:29:59.680 and you will be saved. 00:30:01.120 --> 00:30:02.620 You and your household. 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:07.039 Then we're told that Paul and Silas 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:08.339 and the team spoke the word of the Lord 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:09.259 to the Philippian jailer 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:11.420 and his family 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:14.200 were baptized. 00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:16.519 His household 00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:18.759 say, 00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:19.920 as for me and my house, 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:21.139 we will serve the Lord. 00:30:24.139 --> 00:30:25.579 And so we have the first members 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:26.559 of the church in Philippi, 00:30:26.659 --> 00:30:27.319 a businesswoman, 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.420 a slave girl, 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:29.460 a Philippian jailer. 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:32.420 It's hard to imagine, 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:32.720 isn't it, 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:33.600 a more disparate group. 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:37.000 The businesswoman, 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:39.019 the slave girl, 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:40.380 the jailer. 00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:42.360 Racially, 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:43.360 socially, 00:30:44.140 --> 00:30:44.740 psychologically, 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:46.500 they are worlds apart. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:49.440 And yet all three 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:50.740 changed by the same gospel. 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:53.319 There is one gospel. 00:30:53.319 --> 00:30:57.039 All three welcomed 00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:58.399 into one church. 00:31:00.399 --> 00:31:01.579 Isn't it a beautiful picture 00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:02.480 of what God is doing 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:02.960 in the world? 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:06.319 And so here we are 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:06.839 this morning 00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:08.259 in 2025 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:10.559 from all our different 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.059 backgrounds, 00:31:11.299 --> 00:31:11.919 with all our different 00:31:11.919 --> 00:31:12.379 hang-ups 00:31:12.379 --> 00:31:13.639 and all our different quirks 00:31:13.639 --> 00:31:14.559 gathered together 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:15.819 having been transformed 00:31:15.819 --> 00:31:17.039 by the same gospel. 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:20.679 And notice 00:31:20.679 --> 00:31:22.460 in these three characters 00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:23.900 there is the clear power 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:24.519 of God 00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:25.039 at work 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:26.039 changing their lives. 00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:28.880 God opens 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:29.759 the heart of Lydia. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:31.960 God delivers 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:32.840 the slave girl 00:31:32.840 --> 00:31:33.840 by the power of Jesus 00:31:33.840 --> 00:31:35.360 and he shakes 00:31:35.360 --> 00:31:36.039 the prison 00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:36.819 and he shakes 00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:37.900 the Philippian jailer 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:38.779 causing him 00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:39.519 to fear the Lord. 00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:43.920 And so it's a beautiful picture 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:44.700 of what the gospel 00:31:44.700 --> 00:31:45.200 can do. 00:31:48.600 --> 00:31:49.740 And so as I finish 00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:50.840 here this morning 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:51.660 and as we come 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:52.440 to the Lord's table 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.000 let me ask 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:54.620 is there 00:31:54.620 --> 00:31:56.620 a Lydia here 00:31:56.620 --> 00:31:57.160 this morning? 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:00.840 Or is there 00:32:00.840 --> 00:32:01.539 someone who is 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:02.259 oppressed 00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:04.779 and feeling 00:32:04.779 --> 00:32:05.500 beaten down? 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:08.100 Or is there 00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:08.600 someone like 00:32:08.600 --> 00:32:09.559 the Philippian jailer? 00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:12.960 It may be 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:13.380 this morning 00:32:13.380 --> 00:32:14.500 that as God's word 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:15.180 is spoken 00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:16.200 and seen 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:18.299 good news 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:19.320 of a saviour 00:32:19.320 --> 00:32:20.160 who has come 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:21.400 down from heaven 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:23.560 to deal with 00:32:23.560 --> 00:32:24.180 your greatest 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:25.220 and biggest problem 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:25.900 your sin 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:27.580 and has died 00:32:27.580 --> 00:32:28.380 and is risen 00:32:28.380 --> 00:32:29.240 from the dead 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:32.980 as God's word 00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:33.460 is spoken 00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:34.060 and you see 00:32:34.060 --> 00:32:34.480 your need 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:35.440 may it be today 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:36.940 that God might 00:32:36.940 --> 00:32:37.720 open your heart 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:40.200 that God might 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:40.740 change you 00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:42.920 that God might 00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:43.759 deliver you 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:44.320 from what is 00:32:44.320 --> 00:32:45.140 oppressing you 00:32:45.140 --> 00:32:45.660 this morning 00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:47.840 that God 00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:49.240 might set you 00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:49.800 free 00:32:49.800 --> 00:32:52.620 and that God 00:32:52.620 --> 00:32:53.040 might change 00:32:53.040 --> 00:32:53.500 your life 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:56.120 because what he 00:32:56.120 --> 00:32:57.000 did in Philippi 00:32:57.000 --> 00:32:58.519 he is doing 00:32:58.519 --> 00:32:59.380 in Ealing IPC 00:32:59.380 --> 00:33:02.560 the Lord 00:33:02.560 --> 00:33:04.000 opened the heart 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.840 of Lydia 00:33:05.840 --> 00:33:06.560 so she might 00:33:06.560 --> 00:33:07.340 receive Paul's 00:33:07.340 --> 00:33:07.660 teaching 00:33:07.660 --> 00:33:09.920 believe on the 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:10.720 Lord Jesus Christ 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.540 and you will be 00:33:12.540 --> 00:33:12.880 saved 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:13.560 let's pray 00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:14.139 Amen 00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:44.120 Thank you.