Sermon 011203am

Jim Huskey, Walking Through Acts # 22

As we ended our study last time, we had gotten Silas in the right place

so he could leave with Paul on a journey. We remember that, because

Paul did not want to take John Mark because he had not finished his

first journey with them, Barnabas wanted to take him, Paul chose Silas

and made a journey. Barnabas chose Mark and made another journey.

We pick up now in Acts 16. There are several interesting things that

are recorded in this chapter and a number of very powerful lessons. I

don't know how much time it will take us to get very far, but I want us

to look notice at least three things that are there.

"Then came he (that's Paul and Silas) to Derbe and Lystra; and behold,

a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain

woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek;

which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and

Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and

circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters; for

they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through

the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were

ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so

were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number

daily." Acts 16:1-5. I want to look just for a moment at this inci-

dent about which we have read here. Now remember, Paul had been at

Lystra earlier. In fact, he'd been there twice. The first time he was

there he was stoned. On his return journey, he went back through there

and now he has gone again to Lystra. Now there is a disciples there,

one whom we have become to know, who was Paul's child in the faith.

Evidently Paul had converted him on one of those prior so-journs

through Lystra. He had an interesting situation. His mother was

Jewish, his father was a Greek. Now we have already gone through the

situation that was made necessary by those who came out of Judaea

telling brethren that men needed to be circumcised, that is, these

Gentiles, in order to be christians. We have read that when the

apostles and elders came together to consider the matter, they said

that was NOT SO, that it was not right to lay on these people a burden

which neither they, the Jews then living, nor their forefathers, were

able to keep, that is the law of Moses. When Paul determines, however,

to take Timothy with them on this journey, he has Timothy circumcised.

Now, WHY? Was it a matter of faith? NO. Remember what they're going

to be doing. They're going to be teaching and preaching the gospel.

There were a lot of folks in that area, and remember, we read that

Timothy was well reported of not only in Lystra but also in Iconium,

by the brethren. A lot of these folks were Jews, a lot of these folks

knew the family situation of Timothy. Now Paul could have said 'It's

not a matter of faith, we're not going to do it.' But he didn't!!!!

There was a reason for that. They're intention was to OPEN DOORS, not

CLOSE DOORS!!!!!! Spiritually did it matter whether or not Timothy was

circumcised??? NO!!!! Not at all!!! Was there anything wrong with

him being circumcised???? NO!!!! As a matter of fact, today more

Gentiles are circumcised than Jews, because there are more Gentiles

than there are Jews; it's a common custom medically speaking. Paul

wanted to OPEN DOORS, not CLOSE THEM. So it was a matter of expediency.

It didn't violate any principle of faith. Notice how this is broken to

us. "Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circum-

cised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters; for they

knew all that his father was a Greek." verse 3. See, Timothy wasn't

going to be working with JUST Greeks. Therefore, in order to open more

doors, he did that which was expedient. There are a number of things

we can notice.

I remember, living in Alabama years ago, we were going to have a gospel

meeting at the church with which I was working. You know, if you've

been a member of the church very long, in most quarters throughout the

brotherhood, the "scriptural" time for a service of a gospel meeting

in the evening is 7:30. You do know that, don't you!!!!! Well if you

didn't know it, you do now. If you don't believe it, you try to break

that mold and see what happens. We were having a gospel meeting over

there and we had an interesting situation. We had a high school

football team that was state champions. They were good. The coach was

a member of the church and so were several of the player on the team

as a result of his influence. It just so happened that the last night

of our gospel meeting fell on Friday night. You know what happens on

Friday night during the fall! That's football night. So several of

us made a suggestion. On Friday night let's have our service at 6:00.

There were a couple folks who just about took the roof off. 'That's

unscriptural!!!' Well I have yet to be able to find the scriptural

time for assembling for a gospel meeting. 'Well, that's putting something

else before it.' No, I don't think so. What is the purpose of a

gospel meeting? It's to get people there so they can hear the gospel

and become christians. Now, remember, the people we're trying to reach

are NOT christians. That's the purpose of a gospel meeting, isn't it?

It at one time was; now it's to soothe our own consciences so we can

say 'we're doing something', 'we've still got something going on.'

About the only people attending are those who are member of the church

most of the time. But, we have the meeting. But the REAL purpose of a

gospel meeting is to get folks there to hear the gospel who don't know

it. Now, where do you suppose most of those folks are going to be in

a small town in Alabama who have a state champion football team who is

playing football on Friday night?????? I tell you where they're going

to be - the same place I was going to be - at the ballgame. That's at

least where I wanted to be. Now, I had another reason for being where

I was suppose to be; they didn't. So we had the service at 6:00 pm.

Now we about had a church fight over it with a couple folks. But guess

what? We had a house full on Friday night at 6:00 and then folks went

to the ball game and after the ballgame, we came back and baptized a

couple of the players. Now you see what Paul did. He was trying to

OPEN DOORS. He was doing a single thing that would violate a matter of

faith; but it was an expedient thing. You know, if you set something

at a time, and I'm speaking specifically now when you're trying to

reach those who are not christians, and it's a time when you know they

are not going to come, why do it???? We do a lot of things because of

expediency and don't think a thing in the world about it. Why do we

have air conditioning in the church building? It's an expediency. We

don't have to have it. We don't even have to have a building. We can

meet out in a bush arbor like folks did many decades ago. It's an

expedient thing that aids and facilitates what we are trying to

accomplish.

So Paul took Timothy and had him circumcised, trying to OPEN DOORS

rather than CLOSING DOORS. It was the same thing Paul would later do

on Mars Hill, when he saw all the idolatry and was stirred. He could

have gotten up there and said 'you folks are a bunch of atheists and

idiots; you can't even make up your mind which god you're going to

worship, or who god is.' But Paul didn't do that. He chose an

expedient approach which said 'I perceive that in all things you are

very superstitious.' Open doors rather than close them. That's what

Paul was doing with Timothy. Now we'll find out a little later, when

he's going to take Titus with him, that he does not have Titus circum-

cised, because the situation and the circumstances were different.

Again, it's not a matter of faith, it was a matter of expediency.

Remember, Titus would be working an awful with the Greeks, with those

Cretians that Paul described as liars and slowbellies - they weren't

Jews. All this is the first thing we notice in Acts 16.

"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, after

they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; but the

Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to

Troas. 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. 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. Therefore loosing from Troas, we

came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to

Neapolis; and from then to Philippi, which is the chief city of that

part of Macedonia, and a colony; and we were in that city abiding

certain days." Acts 16:6-12.

Now, you know it's a good thing that Paul was not like a lot of

brethren whom I've met over the years. Now Paul has been assigned the

job by God to preach the gospel to the lost, in particular he's going

to be the apostle to the Gentile world. He's wanting to go into some of

these areas to preach the gospel, but God says "NO". Now God had his

own reasons. I know a lot of brethren whom, if they can't do what

THEY want to do the way THEY want to do it when THEY want to do it,

they'll say 'forget the whole thing'. But God had a reason. It's not

ALWAYS such a bad thing to be told 'you can't do something'. It's not

ALWAYS such a bad thing to have to deal with alternate choices. Now

after that refusal, the Spirit forbade them not to go into Bithynia,

Paul had a vision. A man of Macedonia prayed him 'come over into

Macedonia and help us.' Philippi, the place to which they went, was

the chief city in that part of the colony. Now we're going to be

hearing about the Philippian brethren for a long time. Would there have

been a church at Philippi had Paul gone ahead back into the region of

Mysia or Bithynia? Well, we don't know. However, the Philippian

congregation would stand by Paul for years to come in supporting the

preaching of the gospel. But that's not all. We're going to be

introduced in a moment to a lady who is in the city of Philippi, but

she is from a place called Thyatira. Ever hear of the church in

Thyatira????? 'And to the angel of the church at Thyatira, write...'

Wonder from where did the church at Thyatira come? Is it possible that

there is a connection between the birth of the church in Thyatira and

the conversion of a business woman from that city? I don't now. I'm

just asking questions!!!!! I know she was from there. I know she

evidently was a successful business woman. Do you suppose she would

have influence in her own home? Sure!!!! Would we have opportunity

to read of a woman by the name of Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city

of Thyatira being converted and her household, had Paul gone ahead with

his initial plans and overridden what God wanted him to do? We don't

know. But I DO know that when people do what God wants them to do, it

may take a while for them to see the full benefit of it, but eventually

they will. Of all the letters Paul wrote, he would write to the church

at Philippi, the most positive of all the letters he wrote. There is

only one line of instruction regarding a problem there. " I beseech

Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the

Lord." Phil. 4:2. So we have Paul in Philippi now.

"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. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of

purpose, 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. 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."

Acts 16:13-15. Now, she's from Thyatira but she has a house in

Philippi. Evidently, she not only as a business women, she was a

successful business woman. Evidently she was an influencial person

over her household. It doesn't mean these were members of her family.

Being a buisness woman, she may have had an entourage which travelled

with here to these various cities into which she would go to do

business. There are several things to notice just briefly.

The first thing we notice is, she attended to the words which were

spoken by Paul. The second thing we notice is, she was baptized, and

here household as well. The third thing we notice is, she extended

hospitality to those who had taught her the truth. The gospel plan

was not changed just because she was a successful business woman. She

was required to do the SAME things who on Pentecost had done. She was

baptized just like they were. It was necessary that she hear the word

of God. God has a way of doing things. With respect to the preaching of

the gospel, God's way is that the gospel is presented in a human

vessel. We cannot find exception to that in the New Testament once

the day of Pentecost arrived. Everyone who would learn what they must

do in order to be saved had to hear it from a gospel preacher. No

heavenly vision would tell them what to do to be saved. It might tell

them what to do in order to come into contact with one who would tell

them what to do to be saved, as in the case of Cornelius, Acts 10; in

the case of Paul, Acts 9. God didn't tell Paul what to do in order

to be saved. 'Go into the city and it will be told you what you must

do.' So by being where she was, Lydia came into contact with one who

preached the word of the Lord to her and her household, and they were

baptized. Well, that's what the Lord said would take place during

the great commission. 'Go into all the world, preach the gospel to

every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he

that believeth not shall be condemned.' Mark 16.

As far as we know that is the beginning of the church in Philippi -

and a wonderful congregation it would become!!! It would stand by

Paul in support of the gospel for years to come, even sending to him

when he would be in prison, helping there.

So we find some powerful lessons in Acts 16. We'll close here and pick

up this evening with some events that occurred that would land Paul in

jail, and what happened thereafter.