Divine Guidance
Acts 16:6 -->
I. Divine Leading
The Holy Spirit prevented them from going to Asia and Bithynia.
6. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia,
and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but
the Spirit suffered them not.
Perhaps it was not their time; they were not open. Or perhaps the Lord
had a more urgent assignment for them.
We must endeavor to find the Lord's timing as we seek to do his work.
He has a right time for everything - and sometimes timing is the key.
Then, Paul had a vision or a dream..
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of
Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
God has various ways of getting our attention - dreams, visions, angelic
visitations, prophets (be careful), circumstances (again, be careful),
His Word quickened in us, wise counsel . . .
We'd best be paying close attention to the leading of the Lord. He has
promised to lead us.
Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is
the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn
to the left.
Ps 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall
bring it to pass.
Pr 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Notice, now that Paul has the leading of the Lord, he wastes no time in
doing what God has led.
10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go
into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to
preach the gospel unto them.
At Philippi
So now God has gotten them to Philippi. He leads them to the right
people and places:
13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where
prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women
which resorted [thither].
Looking for a good place to pray, they meet up with some ladies and
begin to share the gospel with them. Paul and co. waste no time in
doing the Lord's work. He knew what he was sent there for and goes
about the work.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard [us]: whose heart the Lord opened,
that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
Lydia was immediately converted and baptized.
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought [us],
saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my
house, and abide [there]. And she constrained us.
Immediately, she makes herself and her provision available to the Lord
and his servants.
II. Demonic Interference
Sure enough, wherever the Lord's work is going on, you will find the
devil hindering it.
16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain
by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the
servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said
to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her. And he came out the same hour.
What I can't figure out is why Paul put up with this pest for so long.
Maybe he had not discerned that it was an evil spirit. But when he did,
he turned and ordered the spirit out of her.
Notice also that he did not labor for days, or even hours, in casting
this demon out. We have developed the theology somewhere along the line
that casting out demons is for 'demon experts' and that it takes a great
deal of struggle to do so. I'm not so sure that's true. We never see
that happening in scripture. The spirit came out that same hour - and
all Paul did was turn around and tell it to come out of her. (At least,
that's all that was recorded.)
Now, the trouble starts.
19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do
exceedingly trouble our city,
21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to
observe, being Romans.
What is this? They accused them of teaching strange things and causing
a public disturbance. The real issue is that Paul has robbed them of
their dishonest gain through the fortune telling servant they employed.
When the gospel begins to hit the purse, then the truth comes out.
Of course, they had to spiritualize the issue, or policiticize it - they
had to do something to make their complaint seem legitimate without
exposing their true motives. So they incited a riot - got the whole city
upset.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates
rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into
prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,
and made their feet fast in the stocks.
So now we have Paul and Silas & co. in jail for doing the Lord's work.
But again, this was the working and leading of the Lord. How else would
they have met the jailor who was ripe for salvation?
III. Jailhouse conversion
I want you to notice the attitude of Paul and Silas. They didn't whine
about their situation. They didn't question God. No! Instead, they
just continued to rejoice in the Lord, regardless of circumstances.
25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened,
and every one's bands were loosed.
We read in Psalms that God inhabits the praises of his people. Well,
it certainly was true that night. God came down and blew that jailhouse
apart. The walls shook, the doors flew open, and the chains fell off
the prisoners.
Just like Jesus, you can't keep God's workers down when God wants to set
them free. The jails can't hold them; The grave can't hold them; Nothing
can stop God's work when He wants it to go forward.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the
prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
This jailor panicked, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. His
punishment would have been worse than death. But Paul stopped him.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for
we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and
fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
When the jailor realized that these men cared more for his life than for
their own freedom, he was moved. He wanted whatever they had.
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were
in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their
stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
"What must I do to be saved?" That's the cry of the world today. Oh,
they may not admit it; they may not even realize it, but that's what
veryone wants - security, freedom from bondage, fulfillment, peace, etc.
What must I do to have these things? Believe on the Lord Jesus - put
your faith in him - trust him for salvation.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
All around you will see and believe when you come completely to Jesus.
People will see the change in the quality of your life, as the jailor did.
Now, notice this:
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them,
and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
The jailor was filled with joy. What you may not have thought about is
that this jailor was going to be called to give an account of what had
happened in his jail in the morning. He might be punished severely; he
may even lose his life. But that cannot compare with the joy of salvation.
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