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For those who can't make it to church today, here is my today's sermon. A reminder that this is formatted for me to speak from and isn't written to be "read" either by me or others. So ignore the typos and the style...these are just speakers notes.
Thanks!
The Philippian Church is Born: Acts 15-16
Introduction
Over the weeks ahead on the Sundays that I will be preaching, I want to take us through the book of Philippians, the book that Pete read from at the beginning of the service today. The book of Philippians is a remarkable book for a variety of reasons and is one of the most personal letters Paul wrote. Of all the churches in the New Testament, this church was perhaps the closest to Paul.
Paul refused to take financial support from newly planted churches so there wouldn’t be any confusion about why he had reached out to them, but his relationship with the Philippian church was so close that he was willing to accept their financial support over the years because he knew they knew his heart and there would be no questioning of his motives.
But before we get into the book of Philippians itself, I want us to know how the Philippian church got started.
Have you ever wondered how to discern the will of God in your life or how to measure the will of God when trials and tribulations have come your way?
You feel like you are going in the direction that God wants you to go in, but doors keep closing left and right. You wonder where God is leading or whether he is leading at all. You wonder if you are up a creek you should never have been paddling on.
If you have ever been up that creek looking for the current of the Spirit to take over again, I think you will find what we are going to see today from the book of Acts very helpful and encouraging, because the church at Philippi was not born in an ordinary way. God closed some doors to Paul and made him feel uneasy about other open doors, all as God divinely directed Paul to a specific place at a specific time.
The Second Missionary Journey” Acts 15: 36
If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me over to Acts chapter 15 beginning with verse 36.
Just a couple of years before the journey Paul took to Philippi that this passage describes, he and Barnabas had been on another missions trip; a trip that has been labeled Paul’s First Missionary Journey.
In time Paul decides that he and Barnabas should go back to those churches to see how they were doing. That decision spurs a bit of controversy between them about John Mark, a young man who had gone with them the first time. We pick up the reading in verse 36 where Paul and Barnabas have a little head butting session.
Acts 15:36-41 (NIV)
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
1. Born of a Brothers going in different directions
One of the fascinating things about the church plant in Philippi is that the journey that started it all began with a fight about who was going to be on the bus trip.
John Mark had been on the first trip. He is the person names Mark who would later write the book of Mark. So clearly the fact that Barnabas stuck with him turned out to be a good thing for you and me and for millions of people over the centuries.
But in his original try at ministry on that first mission’s trip, John Mark gave up and went home. So when mission’s trip number 2 comes along, Paul decides that there is no way that John Mark is coming with them.
Funny isn’t it that this early on with such mature believers as Barnabas and Paul, there would be a fight. Barnabas was the man who had spoken up for Paul when no one would believe that he was really converted. And here he is, speaking up for Mark too. So is Paul the one that is wrong?
What is fascinating about this rift over whether or not Mark should travel with them, is that neither Paul nor Barnabas is ever corrected in the Scriptures. There is no reference that either was mistaken.
As I thought about this a few years ago, it seemed to me that the reason for this is likely because both Barnabas and Paul were right. Each was demonstrating an aspect of God’s character that needed to be displayed. Neither is told that they were wrong because neither was wrong.
Barnabas was displaying the part of God’s character that says:
"Even when you fail, I will not give up on you. Even when you are weak, I will be there for you. Even when you fall flat on your face, I am going to stick by you and build you up and use you in due time."
Paul was demonstrating the part of God’s character that says:
"There is work to be done. There is an urgency about what we are doing that should not be watered down with half effort or fear. There are things to be done that are going to be difficult, and in order for God’s work to be accomplished, I need to move on and be at it. Yes Mark is important, but so are the people we are going to be reaching."
So neither Barnabas nor Paul has to be viewed as having been in error. Not all of God’s servants have to be doing the same thing. Both did what it appeared that God was leading them to do and both it seems, were right.
The point about the events that led up to the founding of the Philippian church is this: Even the process of brothers going in different directions, can be the will of God and can accomplish the will of God in each case.
The Philippian Church, it will turn out, was born out of a strong disagreement between Barnabas and Paul, each rightly pursuing differing aspects of the will and character of God. That pursuit eventually led Paul to Philippi and to a river bank near Philippi where he met a woman named Lydia.
2. Born of the "negative" and "positive" leading of the Lord
Verse 4 of chapter 16:
Acts 16:4-8 (NIV)
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
Have you ever been in a situation where everything you tried to do in following the Lord seemed to take you up a dead end street? You go off in one direction only to find a road block. So after prayer you adjust and head off in another direction, and that road is blocked. You head off in a third direction and that road is blocked as well.
By now you are thoroughly confused, wondering where in the world God is in all of this. You’ve been praying about things and you are seeking God’s will but you keep hitting dead ends. For the life of you, you can’t figure out what God is up to or where he is leading.
Been there before? I know that I have.
Finally you do arrive at your "Troas" like Paul did. Troas was a coastal town.
When you find yourself at a Troas you feel like you must either turn around and go back to see where you took a wrong turn or you jump on a ship into uncharted waters. The problem is that you aren’t too sure that either one of these options is the right way to go.
That is right where is appears that Paul was: Stuck. And life was going to get more complicated. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 2:12 for a minute. We are going to see some things about Paul’s experience at Troas.
2 Corinthians 2:12-14 (NIV)
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there.
So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
So Paul is on this journey with Silas.
The Spirit of God doesn’t let him preach in the region of Galatia, kind of off to the right as he is traveling. Then God keeps him from preaching in Phyrgia, which is kind of off to the left and south.
So Paul tries to go into Bithynia to preach which is further up the road to the right, and the Lord blocks that direction as well. He finally swings completely west over to Troas on the coast and at last he finds a wide open door for ministry. God isn’t blocking him this time. But although it isn’t God who is blocking him he has a blocking problem of a different kind: He is unsettled in his spirit.
Call it anxiety. He was anxious to learn about Titus, to be sure that Titus was ok. And since Titus isn’t at Troas as Paul had expected that he would be, Paul is uncomfortable doing ministry there, even though there was a wide open door to do so.
Now about this time, a person might wonder if Paul had any way of ever determining the will of God.
He had had a "No," "No," "No," and now that he was getting a "Yes" from the Lord with a wide open door for ministry in Troas, PAUL was saying no, not being at peace until he learned about Titus.
Sound like a place any of us have ever been in? Wondering, confused, uncertain? Wondering what the will of God after so many doors have been closed, and then when a door is open you don’t feel at peace about that decision either, so now you are thoroughly at wits end.
Man I know I’ve been there. Many times. Many times.
What is interesting is that with all the "no’s" and now the uneasiness about the open door in Troas, we find that Paul is right in the center of God’s will for him.
He is right in the town he needs to be in when a vision comes. A vision of a man from across the water further to the northwest, calling him for help. Through all the "no’s" and now with the uneasiness about the "yes," God led Paul right to the dock so he could get on the boat. Verse 9
Acts 16:9-12 (NIV)
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 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. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
Here is the completion of God’s direction: all the lights are green and they are making a bee-line for God’s appointed location.
In John Stott’s commentary on the book of Acts, he points out that God’s leading here at this point has been both negative and now finally, positive. God restrained Paul from going in several other directions…but that did not fully determine God’s will. Only now does Paul get the positive direction to go to Macedonia, that is, Greece, to help some one who is wanting to hear the Gospel.
God was steering Paul and Silas, moving them where he needed them to be by "negative" direction, with "no, no, and not here either." And now finally God says, "Yes, this is the way, walk ye in it."
Paul is so confident that this has all been direction from the Lord, that in our passage in 2 Corinthians 3 he said:
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
Paul took even his uneasy feelings that kept him back from the open door at Troas, as God’s leading. He didn’t wring his hands as we so often do and as I know I so often have done. He was confident that if he was pursuing God’s will, that God would reveal the proper application of that will, and that all the "no’s" coming along the way, were just as valuable as the "yes’s" and would in time bring Paul the divine "yes" that he was looking for.
I have to tell you that as I read this yesterday morning it gave me great peace.
Over the past 3 years as we have sought the Lord’s will for ministry situations, I have had numerous opportunities come my way to pastor churches. One of those I consider a privilege to have been considered for as people here at Eaglebrook have asked me, is this one. I’ve been approached by churches in the Twin Cities, in Illinois, in California in Ontario and in other places.
But for some reason God has not given me freedom internally to say yes. I feel a bit like Paul did when he was not allowed to preach in the region of Galatia at that time, or in Phyrgia or in Bithynia. And then when a wide open door was there for him, he didn’t feel at peace about it. Something internally was telling him no.
And I have wondered over time what the Lord was up to. It has been hard to figure out.
I know that my situation is not unique. You have had similar kinds of decisions to make in your own life as God has closed doors, or not allowed you the internal peace to walk through open doors. It can become confusing as we wait and as we wait and as we wait and wonder.
But Paul’s perspective on just such situations is to praise the Lord! To praise the Lord that the Lord is always leading, spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
3. Born of a Divine Appointment: A Thyatira Business Woman in Philippi
That God was involved in all of this couldn’t be more clearly seen than in the vision that Paul received. We’ll talk about that another time, but since you and I are not likely to have such visions come our way as Paul did, I want to show you something else that marked the leading of God in the planting of the Philippian church.
Verses 13-15:
Acts 16:13-15 (NIV)
13 On the Sabbath we went outside 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. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
15 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." And she persuaded us.
Paul lands in Neapolis on the coast of the Aegean Sea, and heads about 10 miles inland to the town of Philippi. Philippi was the capital city of Macedonia and was on the Egnatian Way. The Egnatian Way was like Route 66 years ago. It was THE way you got somewhere. It went from the Adriatic Sea coast on the west, and traveled roughly due east to Byzantium, today’s Istanbul. It was the road people traveled when going from Rome to Byzantium.
And what happens when Paul gets to Philippi?
He goes to a small creek on the edge of town looking for a place to pray. A place away from the busy-ness of town. Its still a quiet place. I have been there. He figures that on the Sabbath he might find worshippers of God there. Turns out that he is right. Lydia is there with some other women.
Lydia hears the word, is saved and invites Paul to her home there in Philippi.
(Lydia is from Thyatira? Yes, Thyatira)
Funny thing that. Lydia was from Thyatira. Do you know where Thyatira was? It was back across the Aegean Sea, back across in the direction Paul had come from! It was back there in the area that Paul was not allowed to preach in!
Lydia, this seller of purple who invited Paul to her house, was in Philippi on business. The house she invited Paul to stay in was no doubt her second home, the one she stayed in while on business out of town.
Why in the world didn’t God just have Paul hang out near Thyatira back on the eastern side of the Aegean, until she came back through? Only God knows, but part of his reasoning no doubt was timing. She was where God wanted Paul to be. God had set up a divine appointment. If she had been at Thyatira and if God had sent Paul there, today we might have a book in the New Testament called Thyatirains instead of Philippians!
Paul and Lydia met at just the right time and in just the right place. And when they did God opened Lydia’s heart to say yes to the Gospel.
I wonder what happened when Lydia went back home to Thyatira. Is it possible that it was better for some one from Thyatira to preach the Gospel there, and better for a respected business woman like Lydia to do so, than for Paul, a stranger?
We’ll never know if that was God’s motivation for not allowing Paul to go there; we’ll never know if the reason for not letting Paul go there was because the hearers in Thyatira needed to hear the message from Lydia and her family rather than from Paul.
But what we do know is that a church was established there.
How do we know that? Well the church in Thyatira is one of the 7 churches listed in the book of Revelation. It is the church of whom it was said, I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
They were a church that grew and continued to grow. They had some problems with those who followed a woman called Jezebel, not the Old Testament Jezebel, but another one; a false teacher who misled with false teaching. But the church had much to commend it. And the Lord’s instruction was to not follow this woman’s teaching and to not tolerate it. Beyond the issue of not tolerating this false teachers message he said, "I will impose no other burden on you."
Apart from this flaw, the church at Thyatira was apparently a good church.
Yet there is no record that Paul traveled there on his missionary journeys. So who planted the church?
It is likely, as John McArthur points out, that it was Lydia and her family. Locals. A woman and her family who had been on a business trip to exactly the place where God led Paul with a no, no, no, and yes, but not right now. It was planted perhaps by people whose path intersected Paul’s and did so because Paul was confident that God was leading each step of the way.
If you have ever been confused about God’s leading and the "No, not here," and "No not there’s" that come along, take heart. I think we have all been there.
Keep on keeping on. Keep on seeking. Keep on moving. Keep on pressing to do God’s will.
This sequence of what happened to Paul has been a personal encouragement to me this week. God didn’t let Paul preach here, or there, or over there, or over there…and then when a door was open, Paul wasn’t ready because of his own feelings about Titus not being there.
Coincidental with that ill at ease feeling came a vision for Paul to go to Philippi. And who did he meet there? A business woman who was ready to hear the Gospel.
Funny to now be in business, meeting people who ask from time to time how long I have been at Drs. Foster & Smith and what I did before coming there. "Pastor?" they say. "That’s an odd career path to lead you to be the head of an Internet Marketing Department."
It is an odd path. But I suspect there are some divine appointments coming along. Some already have. Appointments with business people; with Lydia’s that are ready to hear about Christ.
What a comfort to know that God is leading. And he is leading in your situation as well. Keep on pressing forward. God has come appointments coming your way and some people who need to hear about Christ from you.
One day you may just run into that divine appointment along side a river bank. And a church might spring up. One that you couldn’t have planted yourself because you weren’t the right person for it. But you were the right person for the moment to help the person who is the right person come to know Christ.
Born of brothers going in different directions; Born of negative and positive leading; and Born of Divine appointments…not one birth, but two: a church in Philippi and likely a church in Thyatira.
Amazing how God works out his will.
We’ll talk some more about the birth of the church at Philippi in two weeks and then later on get into the book of Philippians itself.
Prayer.
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