A World in Need
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Scripture
Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. 14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you[a] a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days.
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews 21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
Context
After Paul and Barnabas’ disagreement, they would separate ways to different mission fields. Now, Paul was on the road of his second missionary journey, with Timothy and Silas to go to the next place he had his eye on, which was Asia. Through the last few chapters, we have seen time and time again, and will continue to see in this chapter, a theme of difficulty, and persecution in the apostle’s life as he goes out to spread Jesus’ name everywhere he can.
Just as Paul did, you too should expect hardship, difficulty, and guess what, on top of discomfort, something else. You should expect that you would have to do something hanues that when you do, your natural flesh self and mind will scream against you in agony. What is it? What is it you ask? Don’t laugh, this is serious now…... You are going to have to do things that you don’t want to in ways that you wouldn’t want to or that you even thought were impossible. That’s right, you’re not going to get it your way. How are you going to get it? God’s way. It’s the only way that you will have any true, lasting, and God honoring success.
Make no mistake about it, all followers of Jesus you are called to some kind of ministry, while not all will be professionals that receive a pay check and thus greater emphasis with their time and talents, still all are called in some way. For example, we are called to be ambassadors (representatives) of Christ, we are all called to be Evangelists (though may be called in a bigger way), we are all called be involved with benevolence, we are all called to encourage and raise up the next generation of believers. While their may be other areas of ministry that require more of your life, they all have something in common. This is that you will serve others and not yourself. Just as Christ came to serve the world. Which is totally contrary to what your flesh desires. It means you will make sacrifices, weather it be with your time, talents, or pocketbook that benefit people other than you, who yes may selfishly benefit or turn on you, but that in the same coin flip, may be God’s next saint He calls. Doing this, as it is a sacrifice, will naturally mean that you will have hardships and setbacks, but none the less for the kingdom believer you are called to proceed for your King. What i’m saying and what i’m warning you about is that A believer who reaches out with the gospel will find that they meet others needs, but will have hardships and setbacks. So, let’s jump in and
From the text, I want you to understand these truths you will see play out as you reach A world in need.
Message
The first truth you will play out is that: God sends to places you wouldn’t expect. (6-10)
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
It’s clear here, that Paul and company had a plan. Now, of course having a plan and target is not a bad thing, we can all agree going into anything with a plan is a good thing, but when you put the plan above God’s calling and ordaining, it is then a bad thing. As Paul set out on his journey towards Asaia, that God had other plans for them, and they were not permit to go to those areas. You can be assured that the group knew this, but were perplexed on what their next move would be, until Paul received a vision of a man from Macedonia (modern day greece), that asked them for help. As soon as Paul had that vision, they all resolved and quickly went there because it was clear that God had called them to proclaim the gospel of grace, the gospel of Jesus to them.
Make no mistake about it believer, God calls you to places you wouldn’t expect in ways you wouldn’t expect or even think were possible. When you are doing the work of ministry, whatever it may be, rarely are you ministering to yourself in the way that you want, but much more often then not, you are ministering to others. What does that mean? It means you will go to places you wouldn’t expect to be called and that are probably not on your day to day radar. Now, everyone in this room can reasonably expect a few places they have to go during the week, maybe the doctors, school, work, your home, even the church house on Sunday Mornings and Wednesday evenings. But, what is the church? It is the called out ones, the ones that have placed their faith in Jesus. Though it unfortunately isn’t always true, church services are not for the unsaved, but for the saved. It’s for a few things, one to gather for worship, two so that you can participate in the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, but importantly 3 so that you can be equipped to go out into the world to do kingdom work in the world and be more confident and prepared in your faith!
Well, that’s all well and good. At least, until you leave out the front or the back doors of this church house. Then, it gets more difficult. Then, you enter into a world that disagrees or is indifferent towards your faith. A world that the enemy Satan has his clutches deep within. As dangerous and as frightening as it sounds, you are both a child of God and a soldier of God and you are called to fight the enemy with the truth of The Gospel that others can be saved and confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior. With God on your side, you cannot fail, that’s just thing though, you have to have God on your side. And often, Christ your royal captain has called you a place you don’t want to go to or never would expect and the means to get their is something that you wouldn’t want to do, but guess what you are called to it anyways. So, as you go out, remember the truth that God can and often does call you to places you woudldn’t expect and that A believer who reaches out with the gospel will find that they meet others needs, but will have hardships and setbacks. All of this is true as you reach out to A World in Need of Jesus.
Another truth you will see play out is that: God opens hearts that then respond.(11-15)
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. 14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
From Troas, they set forth towards Macedonia, finding themselves in one of it’s chief cities, Philippi. It’s worth noting, that a word pops up, it’s very subtle, but it implies something. In verse 11 while in Troas, the addition of the word “we” comes in, meaning that the author of this book of Acts, Luke, at some time joined them. So, now we understand that this trip to Macedonia included at least: Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. While in Philippi, Paul did what he was his custom, to go share the good news with the Jews first. It seems that this area had a very very small jewish population, as there was no synagogue to worship in, instead they met somewhere outside the city by the river where they would regularly gather to pray. Paul and company went there to share the good news of Jesus and met a woman named Lydia. While hearing the message, Lydia was convinced of Jesus, and responded yes. The text reads that The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. So, she was baptized (along with the rest of the household, showing that they were there and they become convinced as well) in the name of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. She then, being a wealthy woman, asked the team to come and stay in her house and so they did.
While reading this passage this week, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians where he said, “ 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one,[b] and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers.[c] You are God’s field, God’s building. Now, there is a lot to unpack their, but in short form, Paul is saying, Someone plants the seed of faith, some one tends to it, but God does the growing/building; we all you all believers have a part in God’s field, in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, each of your assignments will be and will look different, but you all have one. In Paul’s case, he once again was sowing the seed, but it seems here that God called for growth very quickly and Lydia and her household came to faith.
One thing that we all have to come to grips with, is that not all people will become believers of Jesus. Some may even say that they are, but are not. Some may even seem to be a good long time, but were not. You may recall last year as we went through John’s epistles that he wrote of some of the false teachers and false converts that, “They left us because they were never with us.” As many of you are parents in the room, I know the thought of that terrifies you and it should because we all want those closest to us to be saved. But, as we see time and time again throughout the biblical text, salvation requires a person saying “yes” to the gospel and putting away the old self. We call this believing In Jesus as the Son of God and confessing Him as our Savior and Lord and repenting (turning away from) sin. This means believer, we can’t make assumptions about a person’s salvation. A common falsehood in the Christian faith is that we cannot know if someone is saved right now, if that were true, then why did both the apostles Paul and John write on how we are identify if someone is or is not? Don’t fall for that false statement, it is a lie from the pit to trick you into not sharing The Gospel when you need to. It is however true, that we don’t know IF someone Will Be saved. Don’t be afraid child of God, if someone says they are a believer but they don’t show any fruit of the spirit, don’t be afraid to show them the fruit as the bible describes and ask them to show it to you. They will have fruit if God opened their heart to respond. When you do this, whether they see it or not, you are a believer that reaches out with gospel and meets their need, yes this will have the potential for hardships and setbacks for you, but that is true anywhere in our World in need.
The next truth you will play out is that: God is hated by the world. (16-24)
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you[a] a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days.
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews 21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
One day, as they were on their way to daily prayer, a slave girl that was possessed by spirit that told the future (which her owners used to their financial advantage), saw them and recognized who they were. While she stated truthful statements, that these men proclaim how you can be saved by the most high God, she did not do this in a way that was helpful for them. After enduring this for several days, Paul become annoyed and command the spirit away from her. Now, we can sit here and talk about why Paul did, and their are lots of good reasons or ideas, but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that Satan tried to mock God and His servants and the power of God sent that demon away. Once the slave girls owners realized what had happened, that their use and abuse of this poor girl was over and they would no longer make the riches that they were off her, they responded with a vengeance. Clearly, they loved the money they were making more then a common care for mankind, let alone God. So, they insisted a riot and had Paul and Silas taken the officials which then had them beaten, stripped, and thrown into the darkest dungeon in the jail with the feet in stocks a well. Things did not look for these two servants of the most high God.
Everywhere you look, God is hated. He is hated on the streets, in the news, at our homes, sometimes even in churches. He is especially hated when His will and commands are against our wants and desires. He is hated when following Him means loss of profit. He is hated when worshiping Him with others means we don’t get to do the fun thing on the weekend we wanted to do or we preferred to sleep in. He is hated when the conscience he built into each one of us says what you are doing is wrong. He is hated by the world because the world screams to us, and we buy into the lie, that life is all about getting what you want. Which, as anyone knows is an impossible task, as often even the most wealthy men and women in the world say they feel empty and hallow all the time.
Why is this? Because you miss the mark in life when you further the kingdom of self, flesh and sin. You were created to worship, honor, and glorify God; and you will never know true peace until you are reunited with God. For the believer, we KNOW we will be either upon our death or if Christ returns before them. For non believer, for the unsaved, they seek in vain and grasp lies from Satan. They are often so far deep in their world that Hates God that they don’t even see it or understand that they have a God sized whole in their heart. So believer, will you have compassion on that poor doomed soul? Will you go out and meet the need of a world in need? A World that is against God, but by one shared Gospel and one decision can totally change for a person. When you do this believer, when you reach out. Expect to be out of your comfort zone. Expect that you will give up some of the time you have or money you have accumulated, or even your own feeling of safety and security. Why? Because A believer who reaches out with the gospel will find that they meet others needs, but will have hardships and setbacks. Go. Go and meet a world in need.
Conclusion
Beloved, being a God loving, God fearing, God loving Christian is a very difficult thing. It’s not supposed to be easy. Don’t expect to, expect it to be hard, but as you seek the hard assignments that see your Father most glorified remember that God can and does send to places you wouldn’t expect. (6-10). As you go to those places that you may work and toil but God opens hearts that then respond.(11-15). At the same time remember that God is hated by the world. (16-24) and you will receive more “no’s” then “yes’s” and that’s ok, all you need to do is be faithful.
With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.
With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.