of Figra and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
When they came to the border of Maida, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus
would not allow them to. So they passed by Maida and went down to Troas. During the night,
Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us.
After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
From Troas, we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrath and next on to Neapolis.
From there, we travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony and leading city of that district of Macedonia,
and we stayed there for several days. On the Sabbath, we went out to the city gate to the river,
where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.
One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Pyrotera,
who was a worshipper of God.
The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to our home.
If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my house.
And she persuaded us.
Once we were going to the place of prayer,
we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.
She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.
The girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting,
These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.
She kept this up for many days.
Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned round and said to the spirit,
In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her.
At that moment, the spirit left her.
When the owners of the slave girl realised that their hope of making money was gone,
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.
They brought them before the magistrates and said,
These men are Jews and are throwing our city in an uproar
by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practise.
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison,
and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake, and the foundations of the prison were shaken.
At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains became loose.
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted,
Don't harm yourself! We are all here!
The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
He then brought them out and asked,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
They replied,
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, and all the others in his house.
At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds.
Then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them.
He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole family.
When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order,
Release those men!
The jailer told Paul,
The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released.
Now you can leave. Go in peace.
But Paul said to the officers,
They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison.
And now, do they want us to get rid of us quietly?
No, let them come themselves and escort us out.
The officers reported this to the magistrates,
And when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.
They came to appease them and escorted them out from the prison,
Requesting them to leave the city.
After Paul and Silas came out of the prison,
They went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them.
Then they left.
Well, thanks Alex and Louise for reading.
Please have your Bibles open there.
Follow along.
Take notes.
And if you have questions afterwards, or anything you'd like to discuss or think through about this passage,
Or indeed anything else,
Please do that with me afterwards.
Well, we're going to ask for God's help,
As we try and see how these incredible stories,
True stories,
Shape our lives today.
Let's pray.
Father,
We ask that you would open our minds to understand your word.
Open up our hearts,
That we might receive from you all that you have to say.
And we pray for the help of your Holy Spirit,
That he would breathe life into these words.
So that they change us individually,
And change us together as a church family.
So we ask for your help in this.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, how great is God?
70% of the world's population,
That's 4.9 billion people,
Live in areas of the world,
Where their governments and their leaders,
Restrict and oppose,
The moving out of the gospel.
So for example,
If you lived in North Korea today,
And you were caught by the authorities,
With a Bible in your possession,
Or even within your home,
You and three generations of your family,
So that's you and possibly your children,
And your parents,
Would all be sent to a concentration camp.
It's estimated that there are 70,000 Christians,
In that country alone,
Living in such conditions.
Or if you lived in Pakistan,
Or in parts of India,
And you were to share,
Jesus with your neighbour,
You could be run out,
Or burnt out of your home,
And you would almost certainly lose your job.
But let's bring it a little bit closer to home.
Ireland,
Which doesn't restrict religious freedom,
We have liberty to talk about Jesus.
Well, Ireland still remains one of the most unreached countries in Europe.
So here is my question for us all this morning.
How great is God to break down these barriers and obstacles,
So that the good news of Christ reaches the 70% enclosed countries,
And the country of Ireland.
But let me make it more personal than that.
Who do you know,
And picture them now in your minds,
Who do you know within the circle of your friends and family,
That has not yet turned to Christ?
How great is God to open their hearts,
So that they come to faith in Christ?
Or maybe you're not yet a believer yourself,
And you're always wondering and questions,
Well, how great is God to open your hearts,
To come to faith?
You see, it's very easy for us to become cynical and discouraged.
We don't hear too much of people coming to faith in Christ,
Certainly not in big numbers.
And so we begin to question and we doubt God's ability to save.
Well, Acts 16 is a tonic of encouragement,
Because it reminds us that God is great,
And that God continues to open doors in amazing and incredible ways,
So that his mission and the name of Christ goes on.
So we're going to look at a few things here that shows us that.
First of all, God directs his mission.
Verse 6,
Chapter 16.
Paul and his companions,
At this stage it's a team,
Which includes Silas,
A young guy called Timothy,
Who they've picked up,
And Luke,
Who is the author of Acts.
So these four together in a team.
They've travelled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
Well, why did they decide to go to those places?
Well, we're told, read on.
They've been kept by the Holy Spirit
From preaching the word in the province of Asia.
Now a map will help us here.
There we are, on the screen.
Paul has been travelling from Antioch.
That's been his local church.
He's been sent out from there.
And in Phrygia and Galatia,
He's seen lots of new churches planted.
People have come to faith.
They've joined together and churches have started.
And as he's moved on from there,
He's thinking, right, where to next?
And they try to go to Asia.
But they've been stopped from bringing the good news.
The Spirit won't allow them.
Now it would make sense if we read something like this,
That the local authorities wouldn't allow them to go through.
Or if the river had flooded and the road wasn't accessible.
We could kind of understand that.
But when it says so clearly that the Holy Spirit
Wouldn't allow them to go into Asia,
We're kind of boggled by that.
Verse 7.
So when they came to the border of Mycenae,
They tried to enter Bithynia,
Which was kind of up in the northeast.
But the Spirit of Jesus
Would not allow them to.
So they passed by Mycenae,
And they went on down to Troas.
It really is quite strange, isn't it?
Because at the beginning of Acts,
We read about Jesus who promised the Holy Spirit to come,
Who would enable them to bring the good news of people
To new people,
And to new places,
And he was going to open up doors to do that.
But now it seems he's blocking
And frustrating their every move.
So why is this happening?
Well we're told,
Verse 9.
During the night,
Paul had a vision
Of a man of Macedonia,
Which is,
As we know as Greece today,
Standing and begging him,
Come over to Macedonia
And help us.
After Paul had seen the vision,
We got ready at once
To leave for Macedonia,
Concluding,
Obviously they'd prayed about it
And talked about it,
But they concluded
That God had called us
To preach the gospel
To them.
Now for us to try and figure out
What did the Spirit say?
Or how did the Spirit lead them?
Or what was the vision like?
Is to miss the point.
That's not what the text is about.
It's simply to reassure us
That God,
By his Spirit,
Directs his mission
In all kinds of ways
All of the time.
It's God who closes one door,
But then he opens up another door.
And in this case,
It was a door into mainland Europe.
The promise that the good news
Would go into the ends of the earth
From Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria
To the ends of the earth
Is beginning to be worked out.
God has a plan,
He's sticking to it,
And it's happening.
Now later on,
In Acts chapter 19,
We do read that Paul did get to Asia.
And in verse 10 of chapter 19,
We read,
So that all the Jews and Greeks
Who lived in the province of Asia
Heard the word of the Lord.
So God was not ignoring these people
In these other places.
It was simply
That it was not God's time.
And we might not always understand God's ways,
But we can always trust that God is at work.
God is in supreme control over my life,
Over your life,
Over every single event in your life,
And over his mission.
And he will order everything in such a way
That his will is done.
So we may long and we may pray
For the people of North Korea
And long that they are reached.
We may be praying for somebody in our family
Or a friend,
That they would become a Christian.
We've maybe sought opportunity
After opportunity
To witness to a colleague,
But it just seems the door is closed
And we're not getting anywhere.
Well, all of those desires are not wrong.
They're wonderfully healthy and good
And they're God-promoted.
But sometimes
Sometimes
It's just not God's timing.
Sometimes
It's just not God's priority.
The fact that things don't always work out
The way we want or imagine.
The reality that our efforts
Sometimes just seem to come to nothing.
We try something,
We do something,
And, well, it doesn't work.
It's not because we're doing something wrong.
It's not because our desires
Are not strong enough.
No, it's simply
That God is directing
His mission
According to His timing
And His plans.
But second,
He not only directs his mission,
He also opens people's hearts.
So Paul has gone down to Troas
And they make their way across
Eventually to a city called Philippi.
They're not given any further direction
About where to go
Or who they might meet.
They just simply go.
Look at verse 13.
On the Sabbath, he says,
We went outside the city gate
To the river
Where we expected to find a place of prayer.
There's no church in this city.
There's no gathering of believers.
Because the gospel hasn't yet reached there.
But God does have His plan
As we will see.
The rest of verse 13.
We sat down
And we began to speak
To the women
Who had gathered there.
One of those listening
Was a woman named Lydia.
A dealer in purple cloth
From the city of Thyatira.
Now here's a very wealthy
Business woman.
She sells very expensive
Designer labels.
That's what it is
To have purple cloth then
Is the equivalent of Armani
Or Gucci
Or whatever else they have today.
Designer labels
A busy, wealthy woman.
And what happens to this woman?
Well, she's a worshipper of God.
She's not a believer
But she's interested in God.
And the Lord opened her heart
To respond to Paul's message.
Now this has God's fingerprints
All over it.
A wealthy saleswoman
Happens to come down to Philippi.
And happens to meet Paul
Who happens to go outside the city
Down to this particular river.
You see
Not only is the meeting
Orchestrated by God
But the salvation of this woman
Is orchestrated by God too.
Look at what it says
At the end of verse 14
The Lord opened her heart
To respond to Paul's message.
I read a remarkable story this week
About a woman living in Tunisia.
Tunisia is a country
That is closed to the gospel.
And she had an extraordinary encounter.
She was in her house
And she heard a knock on her door.
And as she went to open it
She asked, who is it?
The response was clear.
Open up the door
I want to come in and eat.
She opened the door
There was nobody there.
This happened a couple of times.
Open up the door
I want to come in and eat.
Nobody there.
Later
She was completely amazed
When she met a Tunisian Christian
She had never ever met before.
And she read these words
From the Bible
Quoting Jesus from Revelation.
Here I am
I stand at the door and knock
If anyone hears my voice
And opens the door
I will come in and eat with them
And they with me.
And this woman who had never met before
Explained to her
Who Jesus was
What that invitation is all about
And she became a follower of Jesus.
Extraordinary!
Now these things do happen
I am not saying they happen every single day
And God generally works
Through very ordinary means.
Let me tell you another story.
A Christian friend of mine
Told me
They were waiting to board a flight
And they started talking to this lady.
Friendly conversation
Chit chat as it happens.
They boarded the plane
And the lady specifically asked
Could they sit next to my friend?
The lady was open
Full of questions
And during the flight
They talked about Christ
And the gospel.
You see God not only ordains
The people that we meet
He is the one who opens people's hearts
To believe our message.
Look at verse 14
The Lord opened her heart
To respond to Paul's message.
We like Paul
May tell the gospel
But it is God
Who opens the way for salvation.
God in his plan
Will use our words
He'll use our conversations
He'll use our various personalities
And character
He'll hear our prayers
But it is God alone
Who causes a person to believe.
God is the one who opens closed hearts.
He's the one who opens up blind eyes.
He's the one who opens deaf ears
To respond to the good news of Jesus.
In fact the opening into Lydia's heart
Led to an opening to her whole family.
Look at verse 15
When she and the members of her
When she and the members of her household
Were baptized
She invited us to her home.
If you consider me a believer in the Lord
She said come and stay at my house.
Her whole family
Had become followers.
And that was the start
Of the opening of a church.
Look at the very end of chapter 16 verse 40.
It was as if Lydia's house
Became the meeting place
For this new church.
After Paul and Silas
Had come out of prison
They went to Lydia's house
Where they met with the brothers
And encouraged them.
And they left.
The spirit closed one door
He opened up another door
He opens up a heart
He opens up the way
For the gospel to come into a family
And he opens up the way
For a church to start.
But third
God rules
Over Satan's efforts
Look at verse 16
Once when we were going
To the place of prayer
Looking
I guess
For other interested people
To speak to
They say
We were met
By a slave girl
Who had a spirit
That's an evil spirit
By which she predicted
The future
Now the contrast
Could not be greater
Lydia
Who we just read about
Was the owner
Of a high street
Designer store
Independent
Very wealthy
This young girl
Is at the bottom
Of the pile
She's a slave
We might say today
She's a victim
Of human trafficking
She's got no money
Herself
But
We read in the rest
Of verse 16
She earned a great deal
Of money
For her owners
By fortune telling
But not only
Is this girl
Enslaved
By her owners
She is enslaved
By this spirit
Verse 17
This girl
Followed Paul
And the rest of us
Shouting
These men are servants
Of the most high God
Who are telling you
And it's literally
Our way
To be saved
She was disrupting
Their message
And let's be clear
On this
Behind this girl
Stands
I believe
The work of Satan
He will use
Who he can
And what he can
To disrupt
And frustrate
God's work
Not only
Is he out
To ruin
People's lives
He is out
To stop
The liberating
Mission
Of King Jesus
And how does
Paul respond
Well verse 18
She kept this up
For many days
Disrupting
Frustrating
Annoying
Finally
Paul became
So troubled
That he turned round
And he said
To the spirit
In the name of
Jesus Christ
I command you
To come out
Of her
At that moment
The spirit
Left
Satan's
Attempts
To hinder
God's mission
Are quickly
Diverted
And stopped
God's
But not only
That
The girl
He used
And enslaved
Has now been
Set free
From her
Owners
She's set
Free to
Return home
And she's been
Set free
To live
The life
That God
Has intended
Her to live
God's power
Is supreme
It was in the
Name of
Jesus Christ
That the spirit
Goes from her
Christ who
Had defeated
And disarmed
Satan at the
Cross
Rules over
His every
Sinister move
And of course
Satan continues
In his activity
Today
And let's be
Very clear
Those attempts
Can be very
Real
And sometimes
We are very
Aware of them
And we must
Never underestimate
His activity
But let's also
Be clear on
This
God is not
Second guessing
His every
Move
He has
Supreme authority
Over all
He does
And he
Rules over
His every
Effort
God opens
The door
To those
Who are
Enslaved
And he
Sets them
Free
He breaks
Those chains
And those
Padlocks
He unbolts
The door
And he
Sets
People
Free
Nothing
Can stand
In God's
Way
Or does
It
Because of
What's
Happened
Paul and
Silas
Find themselves
In terrible
Trouble with
The authorities
Verse 23
After they
Had been
Severely
Flogged
That's
Whipped
They were
Thrown
Into prison
And the
Jailer was
Commanded to
Guard them
Carefully
Upon receiving
Such orders
He put them
In the
Inner cell
And fastened
Their feet
In the
Stocks
It
Seems
Things
Are
Going
From
Bad
To
Worse
But in
This
Final
Account
Of
The
Story
We
See
For
That
God
Works
All
Things
For
His
Mission
We
Sang
Earlier
About
God
Working
All
Things
Together
For
Good
And
Here's
A
Classic
Example
Look
At
Verse
25
About
Midnight
Paul
And
Silas
Were
Praying
And
Singing
Hymns
To
God
You
See
You
Don't
Have
To
Be
Kind
Of
Excited
And
Everything
To
Be
Going
Well
To
Be
Singing
Hymns
To
God
They
Were
Singing
That
The
Other
Prisoners
Were
Listening
To
Them
Even
Though
They
Were
In
The
Prison
Stuck
Literally
Between
A
Rock
And
A
Hard
Place
Through
Their
Songs
They're
Exercising
Their
Trust
And
Their
Dependence
In
God
That
No
Matter
What
Situation
They
Are
In
They
Can
Trust
That
God
Is
In
Control
Of
His
Mission
He's
In
Charge
Verse
26
Suddenly
There
Was
Such
A
Violent
Earthquake
That
The
Foundations
Of
The
Prison
Were
Shaken
Now
When
We
Hear
News
Of
An
Earthquake
Things
Go
Wrong
Bad
Things
Happen
People
Die
You
Don't
Survive
An
Earthquake
Especially
If
You're
In
The
Inner
Cell
As
They
Were
With
Your
Feet
Chained
And
No
Way
Of
Getting
Out
And
Not
Much
Energy
Because
You've
Been
Beaten
And
Flogged
The
Night
Before
But
Look
At
Once
All
The
Prison
Doors
Flew
Open
And
Everybody's
Chains
Came
Loose
The
Jailer
Woke
Up
And
When
He
Saw
The
Prison
Doors
Open
He
Drew
His
Sword
And
He
Was
About
To
Kill
Himself
Because
He
Thought
The
Prisoners
Had
Escaped
And
If
His
Boss
Knew
They
Had
Escaped
Well
He
Would
Be
Killed
Anyway
So
I
Might
Well
Kill
Myself
Now
But
Paul
Shouted
Don't
Harm
Yourself
We
Are
All
Here
Now
I
Think
This
Is
A
Supernatural
Event
We
Sang
Earlier
About
God
Sending
Every
Lightning
Bolt
Where
It
Should
Go
Don't
You
Think
He's
In
Control
Of
Every
Earthquake
As
Well
And
When
The
Earthquake
Happens
Doors
Open
Chains
Fall
Off
Their
Feet
And
Not
A
Brick
Falls
On
Anybody's
Head
Quite
Remarkable
Every
Single
Life
Is
Saved
Even
The
Jailer
But
There's
A
Greater
Salvation
Yet
To
Be
Experienced
Verse
29
The
Jailer
Called
For
Lights
Rushed
In
And
He
Fell
Trembling
Before
Paul
And
Silas
He
Then
Brought
Them
Out
And
He
As
Sir
What
Must
I
Do
To
Be
Saved
I'm
Not
Quite
Sure
If
He
Knew
What
He
Was
Asking
At
That
Point
What
Must
I
Do
To
Be
Saved
From
Kind
Of
Another
Earthquake
Or
There's
Going
To
Be
Aftershocks
Or
What's
Going
To
Happen
Well
Paul
Just
Takes
It
As
It
Is
And
Takes
The
Opportunity
Verse
31
He
Replied
Believe
In
The
Lord
Jesus
And
You
Will
Be
Saved
You
And
Your
Whole
Family
You
See
Paul
Not
Only
Saved
This
Man's
Life
From
Suicide
Not
Only
Saved
Him
Physically
But
God
Intervenes
Through
An
Earthquake
And
Through
Paul
And
He
Saved
This
Man's
Life
For
Eternity
You
See
When
Paul
And
Silas
Were
Thrown
Into
Prison
By
The
Authorities
It's
Almost
Like
The
Gospel
Has
Been
Locked
Up
With
Them
Because
They
Were
The
Messengers
They
Had
The
Gospel
With
Them
And
The
Door
Has
Been
Bolted
Shut
It
Can't
Get
Out
It's
Stuck
In
The
Inner
Cell
And
It's
Almost
Symbolic
Of
The
World's
Powers
And
The
Authorities
To
Restrict
And
To
Restrain
The
Gospel
And
To
Keep
It
In
And
Not
To
Let
It
Out
But
God
In
His
Power
Literally
Opens
Up
The
Door
Because
His
Gospel
Will
Never
Ever
Be
Chained
The
Gospel
Escapes
And
It
Begins
To
Do
Its
Work
Immediately
In
The
Life
Of
An
Unsuspecting
Jailer
Who
Just
Turned
Up
To
Do
His
Duty
As
Do
Every
Single
Day
And
Then
He
Meets
Christ
The
Imprisonment
The
Earthquake
The
Attempted
Suicide
They're
All
Under
God's
Controlling
Hand
To
Bring
This
Man
And
His
Family
To
Christ
Look
At
The
Results
It's
Really
Quite
Spectacular
Verse
34
The
Jailer
Brought
Them
Into
His
House
And
He
Set
A
Meal
Before
Them
And
He
Was
Filled
With
Joy
Filled
With
Joy
Because
He
Had
Come
To
Believe
In
God
Not
Just
Him
But
His
Whole
Family
Had
Come
To
Christ
So
To
Go
To
Go
Back to
Our
God
Is
God
Is
Great
God
Is
Great
He
Is
Sovereign
There
Isn't
A
Hurdle
That
Can't
Be
Overcome
And
There
Isn't
One
Door
That
Can't
Be
Opened
Let
Me
Ask
That
Question
That
I
Asked
At
The
Beginning
The
Person
That
You
Might
Have
In
Your
Own
Mind
Who
Is
Not
Yet
A
Believer
A
Friend
People
Within
Your
Family
A
Colleague
Do
We
Doubt
Do
We
Become
Cynical
Or
Do
We
Read
This
And
Be
Encouraged
Afresh
That
God
Is
In
Control
Of
Our
Lives
He's
In
Control
Of
The
People
That
We
Meet
There's
No
Chance
Meetings
The
Circumstances
That
We
Find
Ourselves
In
The
Family
That
He
Has
Placed
Us
In
All
Under
God's
Control
It's
His
Mission
Things
Will
Work
Out
In
His
Timing
And
According
To
His
Plan
He
Calls
Us
To
Be
Faithful
To
Keep
Doing
What
We
Can
Do
To
Bring
As
Paul
Simply
Did
Where
He
Arrived
And
Just
Brought
The
Message
He
Had
No
Idea
What
God
Was
Going
To
Do
But
God
Did
His
Work
And
God
Will
Do
His
Work
Through
You
And
Through
Me
And
Through
This
Church
Because
It's
His
Mission
And
He
Will
See
It
Through
To
The
End
Let's
Just
Pause
For
A
Moment
Let's
Just
Take
Time
Quietly
And
Privately
To
Pray
Right
Now
For
That
Person
For
The
Friend
Or
Somebody
In
Your
Family
That
God
Wherever
They
Are
God
Would
Organize
Events
In
Such
A
Way
That
He
Would
See
Them
Open
Up
Their
Lives
And
Come
To
Faith
And
Help
Us
To
Entrust
Those
People
Into
God's
Good
Hands
To
Do
It
Let's
Just
Take
A
Moment's
Quietness
To
Pray
For
That
Now
Day
Cons
Come
воды
far
One
Shadow
Lot
Cons
Light
End
N
Look
them
So, let's go.
If you are the only believer in your family, that's not a mistake.
God has placed you and he has you where he has you for his purposes.
If you are the only believer in your workplace or your college or your school,
the friends he has given you, that is not a mistake.
God has ordered things in such a way for his plan and his purpose.
Father, would you please open up people's hearts.
Jesus, would you please open up their eyes.
Open up their ears.
That they may hear you and respond to the wonderful liberating message of Jesus Christ.
For those we know who are enslaved in all kinds of different ways.
Would you free them through your gospel.
Bring them to Christ.
But not just them.
Would you save their whole families.
We thank you that this is your mission.
And help us to trust you to do your work.
As we follow you.
Amen.
We're going to sing.
We declare your majesty.
It's a short song.
But we want to declare that his name is exalted.
That he reigns magnificently.
He reigns magnificently.