TEXT: Acts 16:1-40

SUBJECT: Acts 19

Today, with the Lord's blessing, we'll continue our study of Acts with a look at one of it's most exciting chapters. Jesus Christ is doing amazing things in the world. God give us the eyes to see them!

TIMOTHY

The story begins in Derbe and Lystra, two towns in Southeast Asia Minor. Paul and Silas have come to visit the young churches and to encourage them in Christ. While there, they meet a man named Timothy. Though he's quite young, he is highly respected by everyone who knows him. Timothy's mother is a believing Jew; she brought up her son on the Bible, and in God's good time, he was converted to Christ.

Paul and Silas are so impressed by the young man that they ask him to join them on the missionary tour. Which he agrees to do.

But there's a problem: Because his father is a Gentile, Timothy is not circumcised. This will limit his effectiveness among the Jews and cause many unnecessary problems.

To avoid the headaches, Paul circumcises the young man and Timothy becomes a Jew. As soon as he is back on his feet, he, Silas, and Paul to all the churches round around and say "Circumcision is not necessary".

What? If it's not necessary; if one doesn't come to Christ through Judaism, why subject Timothy to its pain and inconvenience?

Here's why: Because circumcision is not wrong. And, as much as possible, we ought to accommodate ourselves to the wishes and prejudices of other people in order to win them to Christ.

As long as Timothy was half-Jewish, but not circumcised, he would be unacceptable to the Jews--and very offensive. So what's the big deal? Why not give up some liberty for the good of others?

Paul himself did that. He was the most Jewish man in the world--"A Hebrew of the Hebrews" he called himself--"A Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee". Nobody was stricter than he. Yet the man who loved his heritage and customs became "All things to all men that by all means [he] might save some".

Can you imagine Paul sitting in the home of a Gentile, eating pork chops, and complimenting his fine polyester coat?

Yet he did just that--and a whole lot more. In I Corinthians 9:23, he explains why,

With this act of loving accommodation, Paul embarks on his second missionary tour.

MACEDONIAN CALL

He intends to go to the western part of Asia Minor. But the Lord says "No". Well, how about Bithynia? "No, you can't go there either".

Well, where does the Lord want them to go? He wants them to go into Europe--Macedonia in particular. He lets them know through a vision. Paul dreams of a man pleading with him,

Which he does without delay. Luke joins them in Troas, and from there, they sail north to Philippi.

On the first Sabbath there, they go to the Synagogue, only to find--there isn't one! But they do find some women praying to God by the river. They preach to the ladies and the Lord does a wonderful thing. He

In other words, Lydia is saved. Immediately baptized, she begs the men to accept her hospitality and make her home the first church in Philippi. They do just that.

THE FORTUNE TELLER

It's not long before they meet a fortune teller. She's a slave girl possessed by "a spirit of divination". Her work makes serious money for her masters.

Many of these people are phonies, of course. But she isn't; she's in touch with real spirits. And they keep telling her something about Paul and his friends,

She's doing this day after day. Paul lets it go for a while, but finally, he's had a belly full!

The evil spirits obey and the girl is set free. She's overjoyed, no doubt...but her masters are not so happy. To their way of thinking, Paul and Silas have just killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

They grab the men and haul them off to court. They charge them with being troublemakers who bring foreign ideas to the city.

The judges agree and have the men stripped, beaten with a cane, and locked up for the night.

THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER

The jailer is told to keep the men under maximum security. He does just that, putting them in the inner cell of the prison and shackling their hands and feet.

You'd think the men would be crying for justice or even mercy. But they're not. They're singing of praise to God--"And the prisoners heard them".

At midnight, a big earthquake hits, opening the prison doors and causing the chains to come loose. The jailer is so horrified that he draws a sword to kill himself. But just before he does, he hears a voice--the same voice that was singing just minutes before.

The jailer calls for a light, and shaking with fear, he falls down before Paul and Silas, saying,

They reply,

That night the jailer, his wife, and kids all believe in the Lord Jesus and are saved from their sin and the wrath to come.

Like Lydia, they want to serve the Lord immediately! They clean the prisoners' wounds; they take them into their home; they feed them; they rejoice together in the great goodness of the Lord.

THE MORNING AFTER

The next morning, the judges command the jailer to let Paul and Silas go. But the preachers aren't so eager to leave. Unknown to the judges they are Roman citizens. And Roman citizens can't be treated as they were; they have special rights.

When the judges learn of this, they're scared. They were sloppy in their work, weren't they? They didn't inquire into the men's citizenship, did they? Now they might lose their jobs--or worse.

The judges go to the prison and officially release the men (implying they had done no wrong). Very politely, they ask them to leave town. Which they don't do until they're good and ready. They go back to Lydia's for a while, encourage the believers, and go on their way.

THE MESSAGE

That's the story. Now, why is it there? What are we to learn from it? Many things, of course. But what's the big idea? What theme unites the stories of the Macedonian call and Lydia and the slave girl and the Philippian jailer?

It's this: Jesus Christ Personally advances His cause in the world--through His servants.

At the close of our Lord's work on earth, there were only 120 saved people in the whole world--and they all lived in one town! But now, just a few years later, disciples of Christ can be found all over the known world. The Kingdom of God is on the move!

It is moving forward by the direct work of Jesus Christ. If anything is clear from this chapter it's this: It is not Paul or Silas or Timothy or Luke building the Church! No, it is Christ doing that Himself.

Why was the Gospel brought to the Macedonians? V.10 explains: "The Lord had called us to preach the Gospel to them". It was not Paul who made the decision, but Jesus Christ Himself.

How was Lydia converted? V.14 says, "The Lord opened her heart".

How was Satan cast out of the slave girl? V.18 has it, "I command you--in the Name of Jesus Christ--to come out of her!"

How was the jailer saved? And how were Paul and Silas set free? V.26--"There was a great earthquake"--an act of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is not sitting up in heaven watching us do His work on earth. It is He who is doing His work on earth. As much now as when He walked among us.

The Gospels are but Chapter One in the Great Work of Christ. Acts is Chapter two. The story is still be written. Jesus Christ is advancing His cause in the world--Personally.

Through His servants. Christ called them to Macedonia--but they went. Christ saved Lydia and the jailer--but they preached. Christ cast out the devil--but Paul pronounced the word.

The saving work of Christ is sovereign and certain. All God's people will be saved. Not one will fall short of glory. Yet, somehow or other, His Almighty and infallible work depends on what we do.

In Romans 9-11 Paul affirms the absolute sovereignty of God over salvation. "He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy; He hardens whom He will harden" (9:18).

Yet, in that very same section, he argues that the Sovereign God fulfills His eternal purpose through His weak and flawed people,

Robert Lewis Dabney was an outspoken defender of the Reformed Faith. In 1858, he preached his most famous sermon; it's title:

Divine sovereignty and human responsibility seem to contradict each other. "How do you reconcile the two?" a man asked Charles Spurgeon. He replied, "They're old friends; I don't have to reconcile them!"

God doesn't call us to reconcile everything in the Bible. He tells us to believe and obey. Believing "salvation is of the Lord", we still do our part to see sinners saved. And that means witnessing to them, setting a good example, and praying fervently for their salvation.

That's the message of Acts 16. May God teach it to us. For Christ's sake. Amen.