E-mail your questions
Master List of Articles
Ask the Pastor Readers:
I've been away for awhile, busy with some other things, and will be gone from the site for a time while I take a trip to Israel. So I have left you with a sermon about God's leading. His leading isn't so linear as we might wish for, and it isn't so severe as we expect it to be.
No need to wring our hands at every turn with concern that we'll miss his leading. If we are sincere about knowing God's will, we can be sure that he is sincere about revealing his will...in time...and sometimes in ways we could not have imagined.
The following is a sermon I preached on Sunday. And once again as a reminder, these are my notes to preach from. That means that this wasn't written to be "read" but spoken. I don't read my sermon notes from the pulpit, but have found that writing things out helps me do a better job.
My hope is that the sermon notes below, typos and all, will be helpful to you in your walk with the Lord, or in the process of coming to know him if you aren't there already.
See you in a couple of weeks with some highlights from the Holy Land.
Gordon
The Philippian Church is Born: Acts 15-16
Introduction
Did you ever go through a bafflingly difficult time in life when you were trying to do something good, and have some well intentioned person ask you, "I wonder what God is trying to teach you through this?"
Or maybe it wasn’t someone else asking, but you were asking the question: "Lord, what are you trying to show me here? What is the purpose for what I am going through?"
Well I have some good news for you if you are going through some tough times or thinking through tough times of the past:
Experiencing trouble in our lives doesn’t have to mean that we have done something wrong and deserve the trouble, and it doesn’t it have to mean that God is trying to teach us anything.
God does take us through tough times to teach us and sometimes to discipline us, but it ain’t necessarily so that that the reason that each piece of trouble that coming our way has anything to do with us.
Having trouble in our lives might mean that we are right in the middle of God’s will and that God is using what we are facing and how we handle it, as a vehicle to speak to some one else.
My hope is that as we continue our study this morning about the church of Philippi, we’ll be encouraged to know that some of the bumps in the road we face may be because we are doing exactly what God wants us to do.
Review
We will be in Acts 16 again today, looking at the events surrounding the planting of the church at Philippi. When we left off 3 weeks ago, Paul had just met and led to the Lord, a woman named Lydia from the town of Thyatira who was in Philippi on business.
Paul’s trip to get to Philippi for that divine appointment with Lydia had a rather rocky start as you may remember.
It began with a fight between Paul and Barnabas about whether John Mark should come along. Mark had quit on them during the first missionary trip a few years earlier, and Paul was not about to risk taking him along again.
So strong was the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul about this, that they parted company on the spot and there is no evidence in the book of Acts that they ever work together again.
There are other comments in the New Testament that indicate that they still thought highly of each other, but their missionary partnership in terms of travel, was over.
So they part company, each going off in a different direction, Barnabas with John Mark and Paul taking Silas.
That was Trouble Item Number 1.
No sooner do Paul and Silas hit the road than they run into Trouble Item Number 2: God won’t let them preach where they want to. In fact three times they get stop signs.
They want to preach in Galatia and then in Phyrgia and then in Bithynia, but each time they try, the Holy Spirit says, "No."
About that time Trouble Item Number 3 shows up: They do get a green light to do ministry in the town of Troas, but now Paul is uncomfortable doing so because his friend Titus wasn’t there and Paul is concerned about him.
Conflict with a friend, God closing doors, and now inner anxiety that stops Paul in his tracks from doing ministry that he has the opportunity to do.
Humanly a person would have to feel a bit confused. But not Paul.
Even with the fight, the stops signs and the anxiety, he takes it all as the leading of the Lord, late explaining it to the Corinthians by saying,
2 Cor. 2:14:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
What Paul saw was that God had led him to Philippi where Lydia and her family became believers starting the Philippian church. And if we were to stop here, you could almost see the credits rolling at the end of the movie, with the violins playing in the background.
Trouble Item Number 4: Being Beaten "around the head and shoulders!"
But Trouble Item Number 4 in Philippi is about to rear its even uglier head. And that is where we pick up the reading today, in Acts 16:16-23.
Acts 16:16-23 (NASB)
16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.
18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."
22 And the crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
Church Planting 101
I’ve seen the jail in ancient Philippi that they suggest was the jail that Paul was kept in. It’s not a pretty place. It’s little more a hole in the ground. Not a cozy place to spend the night.
If you are Paul and Silas in Philippi planting a church, and the final story hasn’t yet unfolded to you, you might begin wonder as they are tearing off your robes so they can beat you with a stick on your bare back, whether you made a mistake by not staying in Troas where the wide open door for ministry was! I know I’d be thinking that way!
"Lord, are you trying to teach me to pay attention when you open a door of ministry? Did I take a left turn when you wanted me to go right?"
"Lord, if you let me get by without this beating, I’ll pay better attention in the future, I promise!"
And certainly you can imagine that well intentioned Christian friend coming along about this time, saying,
"You know, I thought you should have stayed in Troas. I cautioned you that when there is an open door for something you are supposed to go through it. You always have been a bit unstable."
Man I can hear the logic now. And some one else would probably say:
"It is no wonder you are always getting yourself in hot water the way you treated John Mark and Barnabas! I think brought this on yourselves because of the fight you had with Barnabas over John Mark!"
Paul clearly didn’t think that way, but let’s come back to that in a minute. I want you to notice some things here first that will be helpful.
It is normal to have conflict when God is storming the Gates of Hell
It is normal to have conflict when God is storming the Gates of Hell.
Do remember what Jesus said about the building of his church?
He said, "I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it."
I suspect that you had the same problem with that verse that I always had over the years, and that is, thinking of the verse in a way exactly the opposite of its meaning.
I always thought the verse described Satan attacking the work of God and that certainly happens, but a Gate is not an attacking device! Did you ever think about that? A gate is something used to keep people in or to keep people out or as an entrance to go through.
Jesus was saying that he would break through the Gates of Hell into enemy territory and that the Gates of Hell would not be able to stop him! Paul is in the process of being used by the Lord to break through the Gates of Hell that are holding lost people captive in Philippi.
When Paul came to Philippi there were no Christians there. None. As the Bible records it, Lydia was the first believer converted in all of Europe.
All at once with Lydia and her family becoming believers the Gates of Hell have opened a crack. There is a leak in the dike. From Hell’s standpoint, there is danger that a stampede to freedom might begin!
Just like today, when people find out the truth about God’s plan of salvation, they want to get out from behind the Gates of Hell and on the road to life with God.
Hell doesn’t like that.
This is particularly relevant, by the way, for Eaglebrook as a new church.
We haven’t had this that we know of, but spiritual conflict and resistance is normal when a new church starts. The Gates of Hell are being stormed. When we share our faith like Paul did, when we start a new witness for the Lord, we are pressing on the Gates.
We’re pushing to see if we can get the doors open and by God’s grace, set the prisoners free. We shouldn’t be surprised if we see some resistance along the way.
So the trouble that happened to Paul and Silas wasn’t from not hearing the leading of the Lord. It was from pushing on the Gates of Hell it seems to me.
It had nothing to do with Paul and Silas deserving the beatings they got, and it had nothing to do with them needing to learn something. God was planting a Church. The Devil didn’t like it. Case closed.
At the Agora: Everybody Sees
Notice how God is working things out for good.
Verse 19: But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.
The Greek word there for marketplace is "agora." The agora was in effect the center of town. It was a place where people gathered not only to buy things they needed each day, but also to converse.
There would also have been what was called a "bema" there, a judgment seat. A "bema" would have been an open air platform so to speak, where cases were heard publicly and judgments rendered by the authorities exactly as is happening here.
And there are two ways to look at Paul and Silas being dragged before the magistrate:
1. Paul and Silas, you guys blew it!
You confronted a situation you could just as well have left alone. The entire town will think that you are a trouble maker.
Or,
2. God is up to something.
God has a plan to send a message to this entire town and to publicize the existence of this newly founded church that few would have known about.
You can imagine a church meeting today to talk over these two points of view can’t you? People would be divided about what Paul had done. There would be debates about how to handle things and whether it is a good idea to be so confrontive and open.
But there is no division in reality as to what was happening. God was working things together for good.
The Level of Attacks: Lies, Race Card, "Law Breakers"
Before we make that point further, notice the level of attacks that come in verses 20 and 21:
"and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, 'These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or observe being Romans.'"
The race card is played, lies are told that Paul and Silas have stirred up confusion in the city. The only thing confusing so far is that the owners of the demon possessed slave girl are now confused about how they are going to make a living!...and Paul and Silas are accused of being rule breakers, law breakers.
Doesn’t sound like anything good could come of this mess.
In fact humanly speaking you would have to say that Paul and Silas aren’t too bright!
Paul has a fight with Barnabas, God doesn’t allow him to preach in three different places, and then when a door does open up he refuses to go through it. Now he gets annoyed at a demonic girl because she is in a sense making fun of them. If he had only exercised a little more patience and care, he wouldn’t be in this mess.
And now he is standing before a tribunal and charged with being a trouble maker and the entire community can see it. Surely Paul is outside the will of God. There can be no mistaking about that.
Paul is so dense that God is going to take the extra ordinary step of allowing Paul to be flogged and then thrown into prison. And not only into prison, in verse 24 it says:
"and he (the jailer) having received such a command, threw them into the INNER prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Some people are just denser than others aren’t they? Maybe, just maybe Paul will figure out that he has fouled up here.
It’s about now that we discover how really clueless Paul and Silas are.
Take a look at verse 25:
"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God...
Guys, you are unbelievable. How in the world can you be praising God at a time like this when clearly it is your own foolishness, disobedience and divisive spirit that has brought you to this moment!"
Oh wait a minute…what does the last half of verse 25 say that we haven’t read yet?
And the prisoners were listening to them.
That little transition phrase tips the direction of the story. God was about to do something very significant.
Verses 26 through 34:
And suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 And when the jailer had been roused out of sleep and had seen the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 And he called for the lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas 30 and after he brought them out he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
(Wait a minute, where did that question come from? How did he know anything about being "saved" so to speak? I wonder hymns Paul and Silas were singing and what praises they were proclaiming so that this man would even know to ask such a question?)
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
Do you remember 3 weeks ago when we talked about divine appointments? God set up a divine appointment between Paul and Lydia.
God didn’t let Paul preach in some places and allowed him to be uneasy about preaching in other places where it would have been ok to preach, so that Paul could meet Lydia and leader her and her family to the Lord.
And now there has been another divine appointment. A jailer and his family were ready to hear the Word of the Lord, but God had to shake things up a bit to make the connection between the jailer and Paul and Silas.
We can look at Paul’s annoyance with the mocking of the slave girl and say he should have been more patient and not reacted...because his actions created a stir that wasn’t necessary.
But when we get to heaven we are going to meet a jailer who met Paul in a prison in Philippi and we are going to meet his family and their children and children’s children who got saved in the years that follow this story, and they are going to have quite a different spin than any suggestiong that Paul was outside the will of God.
God was shaking things up through Paul and Silas. God led them in their actions so they could bring a jailer and his family to Christ and to loose the chains of the prisoners who also heard the message of salvation that day no doubt.
But there is more.
Verse 35-40:
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release these men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Now therefore, come out and go in peace."
37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out."
38 And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.
40 And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
I wonder how safe it would have been to be a member of the Philippian church if Paul and Silas had not been wrongfully thrown into prison and the magistrates the next day discovered that they were Romans?
Some one suggested in the reading that I did, that this incident may have given the church legitimacy in Philippi. The magistrates would not be likely to attack other members of the church, for fear that their treatment of Paul and Silas who were Roman citizens would come back to haunt them.
More than that, who in Philippi would now not have heard the story of what happened? A public trial, the wrongful beating of Roman citizens, an earthquake opening the jail cells, but no one choosing to escape, and the magistrates apologizing publicly for what they had done.
Surely there was word on the street that would have made people curious. A prominent businesswoman Lydia, who traveled regularly enough to Philippi on business to have her own house there, and the town’s main jailer had come to Christ. What is this teaching that they are following?
God had been up to something, had he not? Yes he was. Yes he was.
In doing this study it has become clear to me that far too often we are anxious about making perfect choices and second guessing ourselves when the decisions we make lead to unpleasant situations.
Surely we ought to pay attention and seek to do God’s will at every step. But the reality is that the resistance and conflict we meet along the way, as we endeavor to walk with God, may well be God giving us divine appointments. It may well be that it is God providing an example to others of how to rejoice even when we are in a prison. It may well be God shaking the foundations of authority figures who need to have their own chains rattled. It may well be God restraining authority figures from interfering with the work God wants to do through a church.
It may well be that the conflict and resistance and even beatings and imprisonment we face are evidences not of God’s discipline for things in the past, but are rather indicators that we are right in the middle of God’s will at the very moment of that conflict.
Pursue God’s leading. Pay attention to his direction. But walk with him in confidence, no second guessing ourselves at every turn.
Whether the struggles are conflict with others, closed doors we can’t get through, open doors we feel anxious about, or lies being told about us and conflict with authorities...even in these things, we need not fear that it must be true we have stepped outside of God’s will.
It may in fact be that we are doing God’s will and that churches will be planted and souls saved as a result. Oddly enough a chunk of this sounds like the genesis of a place called, not just the church at Philippi, but Eaglebrook, right here in northern Wisconsin.
Right in the center of God’s will. What a great place to be.
Prayer
No comments:
Post a Comment