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God Guidance for His Glory - Blueprint Series
51 Plays2 months ago
In this sermon, Ridley Barron preached about the divine providence and transformative power of God's guidance as demonstrated in the lives of Paul and Silas. He explored their missionary journey, redirected by the Holy Spirit away from Asia towards Europe following Paul's vision of a Macedonian man pleading for help. Barron highlighted the importance of seeking and understanding God's will through Scripture, communal counsel, and logical reasoning. Utilizing biblical anecdotes and personal reflections, he emphasized that God's guidance can be gradual and unpredictable, yet it always leads to His glory. Through the lives of characters like Paul, Timothy, Lydia, and the Philippian jailer, Barron illustrated that God can use anyone willing to say "yes" to His call, no matter their background. He encouraged listeners to deepen their relationship with Jesus and prioritize seeking God's will in their daily lives, reminding them that every obstacle can be turned for good according to God's plan.
Timestamps:
00:00 Conflict created two missions, showing divine providence.
05:31 Paul mentored Timothy, emphasizing gospel outreach adaptability.
07:36 Misunderstanding local cuisine created international incident.
12:48 Seek godly counsel for important life decisions.
16:19 Make time for God's word, prioritize it.
17:50 Continuously listen to and follow the spirit.
22:27 God's plans exceed human expectations and understanding.
26:22 Worldly people lie; cling to the truth.
29:30 Boys celebrate, sing, and are freed miraculously.
33:15 Paul proves church no threat, secures Roman peace.
37:28 Ensure decisions glorify God, not humans.
38:46 Have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
43:49 Physical actions solidify spiritual commitments, ensuring sincerity.
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Transcript
Paul's Missionary Journeys and Conflict
00:00:00
Speaker
We're in Acts chapter 15, 16, and 17 today as we continue the journey through Acts. I wanna catch you up, especially for those of you who are new to where we are. Paul has finished his first missionary journey, come back home, and now he's decided it's time to go back out. Let's revisit these churches, let's encourage those churches, check on them, see how they're doing. And so he and Barnabas sit down and have a conversation. At the end of chapter 15, we see this disagreement that develops between them, because on the earlier mission journey,
00:00:31
Speaker
um Paul and and Barnabas said had a guy by the name of John Mark, the guy who eventually would write the book of Mark, who was on the journey with him, but he left them prematurely. Most scholars believe because he was homesick. So he takes off, he goes home, Paul didn't like that. And when they got ready to take the second missionary journey to go out and check on those churches, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along and Paul said, no, he can't be trusted. I don't i don't want him with us.
00:00:58
Speaker
And so it became such a severe disturbance between the two of them, the conflict, it became so divisive that actually Barnabas would eventually take John Mark and he would go to Cyprus while Paul grabbed a guy by the name of Silas and they went out on their own missionary journey.
00:01:13
Speaker
And so, um I think this is interesting for two reasons. Number one, it proves that there's absolutely no circumstance in your life that is accidental, that God can use things to make His glory known regardless of what happens. For instance, in this situation, what looked like a conflict on the surface,
00:01:32
Speaker
turned out to be the fact that one mission journey became two. And so they were able to cover more land. The second thing I think that shows us is proof that even some of the greatest saints in the scripture had their problems. This was a relational issue. These two guys were not getting along at that point and so there were some differences between them.
00:01:52
Speaker
Some of you this morning relate to that because as you got in the car to come to school to church this morning You and your spouse weren't on the same page and you're like do we take that child with us or not? And and you're going no I don't want that child to go right now that child needs to stay home So go home today look at your spouse and go you are my Barnabas okay um No, seriously, we have relational issues and it's even true in Scripture. And to me that's evidence that the Scripture is very, very real and genuine. Because the Scripture never hides even the bad parts of the story where two of the heroes of the faith don't even get along. So it's it's evidence that the Bible tells us the full story, complete transparency about everything that's going on.
Paul and Timothy: Overcoming Barriers
00:02:32
Speaker
So let's start in ex Acts chapter 16 verse 1 and we'll pick up reading there I'm not gonna read all of the passages today, but these stories connect so well I do want to go through them and I'll retell the stories for you in the interest of time Verse 1 it says Paul went on to Derby in Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy the son of a believing Jewish woman But his father was a Greek The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him Paul wanted Timothy to go with him So he took him and circumscised circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and they grew daily in number.
00:03:20
Speaker
So if you remember a couple of weeks ago when we were Acts chapter 14, Paul's first visit to the town of Lystra turned into a real bad situation. There was a lot of opposition from the existing Jewish synagogue as well as some other people there. So they stoned Paul, drug him outside the city and left him for debt.
00:03:39
Speaker
Many scholars believe that at this point in the story was where Lois in Eunice, Timothy's mother and grandmother, as well as Timothy were invited into the Gospel and most likely were in that crowd that day as Paul lay there, presumably dead.
00:03:55
Speaker
Now we see Paul and Silas coming back around to Lystra and they encounter Timothy again. And in this instance, Timothy's being recommended to them because of his maturity already demonstrating that he has great leadership qualities. These would come in very handy later on as Paul would designate Timothy to be the pastor of the young church at Ephesus, the church of Ephesians.
00:04:16
Speaker
so Paul and Timothy, Silas, they all gather together. Paul and Silas invite Timothy to come with him. Now, if you're paying close attention, you'll notice that in verse 3, it notes for us that Paul went to the trouble of circumcising Timothy.
00:04:34
Speaker
If you were here a few weeks ago, you remember that became a disturbance in the church because the church was pushing for circumcision. The Jewish believers were saying, this has to be done. He has to fulfill the law of Moses moses before someone can become a Christian. And Paul himself was one of those who argued against it.
00:04:51
Speaker
So much so that they had the Council of Jerusalem and the Council of Jerusalem said, guys, this isn't part of the whole gospel plan. That's not a necessary step. So you might ask, okay, well, if that was agreed upon and even Paul was in support of that, why in the world does he go into the trouble of having Timothy circumcised now? And the reason he did this is because Paul did not want a small matter like that to stand between him and the opportunity to share the gospel with these people.
00:05:19
Speaker
He said this isn't a big deal, now it might have been to Timothy, but it wasn't a big deal, and he didn't want to create such a barrier that the gospel wouldn't go forth. And so Paul asked Timothy to do that. Timothy, because he was spiritually mature, agreed, and their relationship grew from that point to later on when Paul was writing in his letters, he would refer to Timothy not only as just a co-worker, but also would call him a son in the faith.
00:05:45
Speaker
This is proof that Paul understood the importance of the gospel going forth at all costs. He was willing to do whatever it took. Later in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul would write in chapter nine, verse 22, these words. He would say, I have become weak so that the weak may hear the gospel going forward. I have become all things to all people so that I might be may be, by every possible means, save some.
00:06:15
Speaker
As we are sharing the gospel, as we are living sent lives, let us be reminded that sometimes there are ah cultural things, ritualistic things, traditions that are put up as barriers between people receiving the gospel and the message we're trying to give to them, and we cannot allow those things to become an issue because they're distractions. They're actually things that Satan throws in the way of the gospel being shared.
00:06:40
Speaker
ah Five years ago, our church took a mission journey to Belize. About, I don't remember, 20, 30 people went down to Belize to be a part of that. None of us had ever been in Belize before, but while we were there, they told us a story that I thought kind of demonstrated this for you today. The Queen of England had come to visit Belize, because Belize at that time was still a province of the United Kingdom. And so she goes to visit, and because the people of Belize wanted to honor her, they pulled out their best delicacy of a meal. they We're goingnna but're only only the finest we'll do for the Queen of England. Well, she shows up, and for those of you who don't know about Belize, their finest dish is the gibnut. It's a rat. Okay? Picture a smaller version of the rats from the Princess Bride.
00:07:33
Speaker
basically what they look like very furry big long teeth biggest mistake in the world was showing my wife the picture before they asked us to eat those oh so that we did not have an international incident. Most of us on the trip tried it, and it actually tastes really good. It tastes like stew beef. But in that instance, the people of England were offended because they thought they're serving the Queen rats over there. And so it actually created a little bit of international intrigue for a few weeks as they resolved the issue to say, okay, this is a traditional dish we serve to all of our guests of honor.
00:08:07
Speaker
And in that instance, it didn't have anything to do with the gospel, but it's the similar kind of thing. Sometimes if we don't ask questions, if we don't listen to the people we're trying to share the gospel with, barriers can be created that don't honor God and actually don't have anything to do with the sharing of the gospel. So I would say to you that we want to get the gospel to people by all possible means without compromising, without lending ourselves to sin, but we should be willing to do whatever it takes for the gospel to go forward with people.
00:08:39
Speaker
Let's continue to read verses six through
Vision and Guidance to Macedonia
00:08:43
Speaker
10. It says, they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. They had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they came to Myjah, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Passing by Myjah, they went down to Troas. During the night, Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, cross over to Macedonia and help us.
00:09:09
Speaker
After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Now, I i want to jump into the rest of the story here. We're going to cover all the the rest of 16 here this morning. But I want to take a second here just to talk about this moment because it was a pivotal moment. And it's one of those instances that serves as a great demonstration for us in seeking God's guidance for us.
00:09:34
Speaker
Paul, Silas, the two of them, wanted to go on and continue to visit the churches that were there in Asia that they had planted. That's not a bad thing, right? Absolutely would have brought honor to God. It was a good thing for them to want to, a good desire for them to have. But God said to them, not once, not twice, but three times, I've got something else I want you to do. And because of Paul and Silas' willingness to listen to the Spirit of God, the gospel was presented for the first time on the continent of Europe.
00:10:05
Speaker
You see, Paul and Silas had Asia in mind, and being in Asia was a good thing. God had the world in mind. And he knew the next step was to open up the continent of Europe by speaking to these guys. So I want to take just a second, a few seconds actually, to to take a detour and talk a little bit about seeking God's guidance for our lives. First of all, God's guidance isn't circumstant isn't just circumstantial, it's rational.
00:10:30
Speaker
It's not just circumstantial, it's rational. What do I mean by that? Well, many of us, when we are praying for God's will, will seek those signs that tell us what God wants to do, right? We've all had that conversation where we're going, ah well, the door was open, so I went through it, or the door was closed, and so the window was open, or sometimes the door was closed, the window was open, but we're sure the attic was open, and we're just trying our very best to find it. And I think many times God is saying to us, it's not about the door.
00:10:56
Speaker
It's not about the door. The door wasn't even a part of the conversation. I've got something else I want you to do. And so in this instance, it wasn't just about the circumstances that lent themselves to going where they were. It was about the logical rational ability to think through what God was up to. Notice that in the verse 10, it says, after he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel. And that word concluding literally gives the picture of puzzle pieces being put into place so the whole picture comes together. So as these guys are thinking through what has happened, oh Jesus told us no twice, now he sent us a vision, he must have something else in mind. And so they logically, rationally dealt with all the signs that had been given to them, the information that was being given to them, and they put it together to come up with an answer of this is where God wants to take us.
00:11:53
Speaker
The second thing we know about God's guidance is it's both personal and communal. It's personal and communal. It revolves the research that we just talked about, looking at all the evidence, and then God comes and He wants to speak to us as individuals, but we don't speak He doesn't speak to us as individuals in silos, rather He speaks to us as individuals with connections inside the Christian community.
00:12:17
Speaker
Now, why is that important? Because many times as we're praying, we're not getting getting the whole picture just by ourselves. And so what we need is the wisdom or advice of godly people in our lives who can speak to that truth. A perfect example that comes to my mind is when you're in love. You know what I'm talking about? People in love have no brain.
00:12:39
Speaker
And so all they see is what's right in front of them, right? yeah that's That's all they think about is, oh, her words, or oh, his thoughts, or all those kinds of things. Well, in those seasons when you're praying about a relationship, that's when you need the voice of a third or a fourth person who is objective and godly who can speak to you and say, hey, here's what we see in your relationship, or here's what we don't see in your relationship.
00:13:03
Speaker
It's not just about relationships, though. It can be about business decisions, career decisions, decisions to move. Many times, because of our own desires, we can be a little off in our thinking, and what we need is the voice of a sound, logical person speaking in our ear to say, here's what I think God would want you to do. My encouragement to you is do not seek God's will apart from listening to the counsel of other godly Christians.
00:13:30
Speaker
In fact, Proverbs says this first, plans fail for lack of counsel. So many times we can launch out on our own thinking we know the best answer, and sometimes that's true.
00:13:42
Speaker
But I think it's always good to have that sounding board of people in your life. Now, here's a 30-second commercial for life groups and discipleship groups. That's why you need those in your life. Because when you get to that place where you're needing it some kind of direction for a monumental decision in your life, you don't want to go ask somebody who is basically a stranger or at best just an acquaintance in your life.
00:14:05
Speaker
You wanna go invite that person who's already engaged with you, who's interacting with you, who understands your personality, your weaknesses, your strengths, somebody who's been a part of your life to that point so that you're literally hearing the voice of someone who is a companion to you in this journey. And that's a place where you get lots of good counsel, lots of good wisdom. Third thing I wanna say here is that God's guidance often comes gradually and unpredictably. Anybody ever had that?
00:14:34
Speaker
You're wanting the answer yesterday and God's saying, give me a few days or a few weeks or a few months. This trip that Paul and Silas had planned out, I'm sure they had sat down and said, here, this is the path we're gonna take. We'll go back around this circle. We'll visit these particular churches. We're just gonna revisit some churches. And as we said, that's not a bad thing. God probably would have been honored by that.
00:14:58
Speaker
But once it started, the Lord completely rearranged its purpose. These men were led on a se circuitous route that went all over different places. And like we said, it went into went into the continent of Europe. So here's some encouragement I wanna share for you regarding the the nature of pulling God's will in God's time. First of all, start first by obeying the will that's already been revealed to you. This book right here.
00:15:26
Speaker
this book right here. 95% of everything you need to know about the life you're trying to live is right here for you in this book. Now I want you to hear something. It's not about time, it's about love. What do I mean by that? Inevitably, if I ask somebody who's sitting in my office for counsel, so what are you reading in God's word right now? Well, I just don't have time. Just don't have time.
00:15:54
Speaker
Well, the first thing that's gonna come out of your sassy pastor's mouth is this. You got the same 168 hours that I do every single week. In fact, here's the surprise. You and all eight billion people on the planet. Nobody has more time or less time. It's what you love and what you choose to do with your time. I guarantee you there are men in this room who have a favorite football team who spent three hours watching a game this week. Don't tell me you don't have time for God's word.
00:16:22
Speaker
I guarantee you that most of you, if not all of you in this room, spend at least 30 minutes a day on social media. Don't tell me you don't have time. I guarantee you that at some point you watch the TV show, or you listen to a long podcast, and even though it might be a Christian podcast, it's not God's will written out for you like this book. Now here's the thing. I said about 95% of what you want to know is right here.
00:16:51
Speaker
I would suggest to you that you will never hear the other 5% until you commit to obeying the other 95%. And so if you're never reading this book, you can't very well look at God and go, well, I promise you I'll obey. And He's going, what are you going to obey? You don't even know what's in there. You haven't even consulted with me this morning, this week, or the last month, in fact. So get into this book. It's not about time. It's about what you love. And if you love it, you will find time for it.
00:17:24
Speaker
Secondly, remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit. What do I mean by this? Well Paul later would write a book called Galatians to the Church of Galatia and he would kind of encourage him about this very thing. He would say to them, you started out so well talking about faith and receiving salvation by faith, but now you've turned your attention to other things that are a distraction, including trying to perform works to earn God's love.
00:17:50
Speaker
So Paul here would probably say to you, if you listen to the spirit's prompting to start out your journey with him, why did you stop? Why did you stop? Always listen to the Spirit. Keep on listening to the Spirit. In fact, that's what the Bible says literally in those passages where it says to listen to the Spirit or consult the Spirit. It's not talking about doing it once in your life or once even when you have situations that you need to hear from God. It's talking about daily, constantly, continually living under the direction of the Holy Spirit. So let me say to you again, your relationship with God is not a once on Sunday morning so the pastor can fill you up for the week.
00:18:32
Speaker
It's not a when I find time kind of thing. The direction of the Holy Spirit is a constant invitation to have fellowship with the living God. And he wants to give you direction to live by, power to live by. And so what you have to do is not only start out with the Spirit, but stay constantly, consistently under the influence of the Holy Spirit with every choice you make. Thirdly,
00:19:00
Speaker
Again, seek godly counsel. I won't spend a whole lot of time there because we just talked about that, but this is an important part of your decision-making process. Fourthly, think carefully before deciding. I want to let you know that you have at your disposal one of the most amazing resources in the history of mankind. It's called a brain. Every single one of us have it. Use it. You'll be amazed what it'll do for you.
00:19:29
Speaker
you'll be really amazed what God can do just by speaking to the logical side of you in a lot of ways. It's like we sometimes think, oh God is the spirit, so we have to deal with all the spirit stuff, but God gave you a brain for a reason. And if we just used our brain many times, we wouldn't wind up in the mess that we're in. In fact, I told the eight o'clock crowd, if I had a billion dollars, I think I would make billboards to go all over the country that said, you have a brain, use it.
00:20:00
Speaker
You have a brain, use it.
Faith, Logic, and Salvation Stories
00:20:02
Speaker
And it sounds comical to say that, but guys, if we had a brain, would we really be having a conversation about whether or not there are two sexes or more in our country? Come on now. If we really had a brain, would we really have to discuss whether or not it's good to give an eight-year-old chemicals that were meant for an adult body? If we really had a brain, would we even have a discussion about whether or not what's inside a woman's stomach is a human being being formed?
00:20:29
Speaker
but we've we've We've lost our minds. We've lost our brains. We set them on the shelf. I would tell you that most of what we do as human beings actually dumbs us down. All those incessant hours looking at your feed, dumber. All that time binge-watching TV, more dumber.
00:20:52
Speaker
come along Listen to some of the stuff we listen to on podcasts, most dumber.
00:21:02
Speaker
I are not a graduate, but I am one of the, listen, logic logic is an incredible weapon against the enemy. But we just, we think when it comes to our faith, we just check our brains at the door.
00:21:16
Speaker
And what's sad, what's really sad is this book gives us so much information not to argue with the world, you're never gonna win the world by arguing, but to reason with the world. you Remember just a few weeks ago we talked about Paul walking into a Greek city and reasoning with the people of other faiths. Paul had a brain and he used it. Let's be like Paul, okay?
00:21:40
Speaker
Does that sound like a run, spot, run, book? Okay. Lastly, don't get discouraged. Don't get discouraged. You see, sometimes situations do work out. Circumstances do come together. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes that proverbial door shuts, but let me remind you, it's not always about the door. um You have to stay humble, and you have to stay open. You have to be willing to say to God, here's my plan, now what do you want to do with it?
00:22:06
Speaker
Take it and throw it away if you need to. Start from scratch if it's your desire, whatever brings you the greatest glory. Paul and Silas wanted to go to Asia and the Holy Spirit kept saying, no, no, no. Let that be an encouragement to you. God may be working to prevent you from something good because he's got something better.
00:22:27
Speaker
God may be telling you today that what you are up against, though the decision you've got going in front of you, is that option A is really, really good on the surface, but option B is bigger than what you can imagine with your human brain. Think about this. Paul and Silas thought, man, we're doing a good thing. We're going to go encourage these Christians wherever they are. And God's saying, that's sweet, but I want the whole world to know about me.
00:22:52
Speaker
There is no way that Paul and Silas sitting in Antioch planning the second trip could have ever pictured that what they were about to do was to launch the gospel into Europe.
00:23:04
Speaker
Some of you know the missionary David Livingston. David Livingston's deep desire growing up after he decided he was going to follow God into missions was to go to China. God promptly sent him to Africa.
00:23:16
Speaker
William Carey grew up wanting to go to Polynesia and introduce the Polynesian islands to the gospel. He wound up in India. And Adoniram Judson, the great missionary, Baptist missionary, had the desire to go to India and God kindly let him go to India long enough to get his feet wet and then he sent him to Burma where he would spend the rest of his life.
00:23:37
Speaker
And I love the words of David Livingston, and I wish it would become a motto for all of us, including me. Without Christ, not one step. With him, I'll go anywhere. So let's talk about the rest of the stories.
00:23:52
Speaker
Paul gets to Philippi with Silas and his team, and they run into a lady by the name of Lydia. Now, when Paul first got there, you remember that he would go into these towns and he would instantly seek out the synagogue because that was where he would begin to relate to people on the level they were on. But in this instance, Philippi was not a Jewish-based city, so there was no synagogue. He went down by the river to meet with a group of people who were praying by the river. And this is where he first met Lydia and introduced her to the gospel.
00:24:22
Speaker
Here's what we know about Lydia. Lydia was a wealthy woman. She was a seller of purple cloth. When I first heard that as a kid, I thought, well, that's interesting. Purple cloth, big deal. But in that day and age, purple cloth was the premium. It was reserved for very high officials and royalty. And so the fact that she was not only from Thyatira, but now was running business in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia, Philippi, let us know. I don't know, she might've been in Philadelphia, who knows? But she was in Philippi, let us know that she had tremendous wealth.
00:24:54
Speaker
And something else we see is that not only did she accept Christ, she immediately went and got her household. They accepted Christ. The next thing they did was they got baptized. And then she opened up her home and her home would become the center of the Philippi Church because of her hospitality. These are the first seeds planted in Europe.
00:25:20
Speaker
And it's an amazing testimony to the power of God. Even more so, the next story. Paul and Silas hang around Philippi for a while and they come across a young slave girl. This girl is in two types of bondage. Number one, she is owned and possessed by some men who have bought her as a slave, but she's also possessed by a demon until the day she meets Paul.
00:25:44
Speaker
And Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, sets her free from this demon that had used her and abused her for years. Well, that creates a problem with the local businessmen who own her because ownership has now changed. She no longer is owned by a demon. She's owned by Jesus Christ.
00:26:02
Speaker
And because of that, things begin to change. The guys are upset because they're going, wait a minute, you've messed up our little honeypot here now. We don't have any cash coming in. And so they arrest Paul and Silas. They drag him to the magistrates and they say to them, these guys have created a problem. They're doing things that cause riots here in town. Are you hearing that? Paul and Silas weren't the ones creating the riot. Who created the riot?
00:26:27
Speaker
the guys that arrested them. Let that be a reminder to you, people who live in the world, by the world, and have a worldly perspective have no problem lying to advance their cause. They will lie straight to your face in order to get what they want. So you and I have to do what Paul and Silas did, and that's cling to the truth in all things. Okay? Be reminded of that.
00:26:50
Speaker
So this woman is delivered, they're arrested, they throw her into prison. Now I wanna talk about what happened next, but I wanna contrast the the salvation experience of Lydia versus this little girl for a second, because I think Luke purposely put these two side by side so we could see how Jesus worked in diverse situations. You see, Lydia was wealthy, the little girl was poor. Lydia was a community member of high standing. This little girl had been exploited and abused her entire life.
00:27:20
Speaker
Lydia was a religious and moral person before she came to know Jesus. The little girl was broken and tormented. Lydia came to faith through a Bible study with other believers. This girl is transformed by a dramatic encounter with Paul. For Lydia, Jesus is the Messiah that has been promised and is now fulfilled. For the slave girl, Jesus is her deliverer, the one who set her free. These two were both saved by Jesus.
00:27:51
Speaker
These two are both saved by the gospel and it's proof that the gospel can transform any life no matter what their background is. I want you to hear that today because the same power that freed Lydia is the same power that freed this slave girl and it is the same power that is here and present for you today.
00:28:12
Speaker
i don't and I don't care what your situation is, but what you need to understand, what you need to know is that where you are, morally, spiritually, physically, financially, wherever you are in your situation right now, God is not surprised by it. He knew it before you ever stepped into it. But his grace is still available for you.
00:28:36
Speaker
There's nobody here who's gonna, if we had the opportunity to bring everybody on the stage to share their testimony, there's not one person who would walk up here and we would go, oh, sorry, that's just too big for the cross. The cross covers it all for all of us. As I said, they take Paul and Silas, they throw him into a prison. Now, I love this. This is a beautiful image. Paul and Silas are in prison. If you and I are in prison, we're in there going, whoa, it's me. Nobody loves the donkey, right?
00:29:06
Speaker
You know, Eeyore, nobody likes the donkey. Okay, so they're in there feeling sorry for themselves. No, no, no, no. Paul and Silas decide to have a concert. They are breaking out in music and they are singing. You remember the story of Peter? What did Peter do when he was in prison? He slept. These guys are singing. Both of those are proof of how your life can be different when you have confidence in Christ Jesus.
00:29:31
Speaker
They're not awake, fretting and worrying and having anxiety. These boys are singing. They're busting out some tunes. They are having a great time and celebrating. Why? I believe it's because they knew God was going to deliver. I don't think they had one second thought about, oh, what's going to happen tomorrow? So they're singing along. And the Bible says that by the time they got to the third verse,
00:29:53
Speaker
which no Baptist ever knows, because nobody ever sings the third verse in the hymnal, right? But by the time they got to the third verse, they're singing so loud, the ground begins to shake, the chains fall off of every prisoner in the jail, and the doors swing open.
00:30:08
Speaker
Now, if you and I are in there, we're jetting for the front door. We're out of here. God set us free. The Bible says that Paul and Silas stayed and remained right where they were and told the other prisoners to do the same. And because of that, the jailer comes running in with a torch. He falls on his knees before Paul and Silas and he says, what must I do to be saved?
00:30:33
Speaker
Can I tell you there are eight billion people on this planet asking the same question?
00:30:40
Speaker
They may not be using those words. They may not be asking the right people, but everybody in this life is looking for what it takes to find purpose and meaning. And I love the beautiful answer that Paul gives to him. Just believe.
00:31:04
Speaker
Just believe. There is nothing you can do to earn this. There's nothing you can do to be worthy of this. Now, the Bible doesn't record it, but I imagine that Paul and Silas both shared their testimonies of grace. And I imagine that Paul's saying, I was the worst among all sinners. I was putting believers to death when Jesus came and found me. And all I had to do was believe.
00:31:33
Speaker
The Bible goes on and records that the jailer not only received their gift of grace, it says that he immediately took them home, cleaned up their wounds, fed them, and then let his entire household to know Jesus Christ.
00:31:47
Speaker
Now I want you to understand something. Lydia leads her household to Christ. The jailer leads his household to Christ. Back in that day, households weren't ah you know a wife, two kids, and a dog. okay First of all, they didn't like dogs, so dogs weren't in the house. But when they're talking about the household, they're talking about servants.
00:32:04
Speaker
They're talking about extended family because most of the family live close to each other. So these guys aren't just leading their wife and two kids to Christ. They're leading the entire household to Christ. And just like every other story in Acts, their first act is to head to the baptismal pool because they want to start right from the very beginning with being obedient.
00:32:26
Speaker
Well, the Bible says that they were there overnight. We don't know at what point, but at some point we have to believe the jailer took them back to prison because that's where they were supposed to be or he would be put to death. And then the magistrates come to them to say, hey, we need to talk to you. We need to have a conversation with you. We found out you're Roman citizens. And Paul says, you're right, we are. And they say, well, you can go free because you're Roman citizens. And Paul says, not so fast, big boy.
00:32:56
Speaker
I'm a Roman citizen, which means I'm supposed to have a trial. You didn't give me a trial and you threw me in jail. You're in trouble. You're in big trouble. Now, a lot of people might ask, why would Paul and Silas stay there and do that instead of going free? They had been set loose.
00:33:15
Speaker
I believe it's because Paul knew that the infant church that he was building in Philippi would rub up against the Roman authorities for the rest of their days. And so the best thing, the smartest thing Paul's using his brain is to establish his innocence and establish the fact that the church was not a threat to the Roman government. So that now the Roman authorities would leave the little Philippian church alone while it started to grow.
00:33:43
Speaker
So it says that Paul waited in jail patiently and the magistrates had to come and apologize to him and escort him out of the jail. I don't know if Paul's sassy like I am. But I think if I was walking out that jail cell, I'd been walking real, real slow. And I've been saying, hey guys, what you gonna do the rest of the day? Me, I'm going free. you You're gonna have to answer to your bosses because you threw Roman citizens in jail without a court trial. That's the Ridley Baron version of the story.
00:34:20
Speaker
So, let me give you three quick takeaways from these stories. Three quick takeaways. We've touched on all of them just a little bit, but I think they're important just to have them in your head, because I like to make sure that sermons give you some kind of practical steps to walk away with, okay? Number one, God can turn any bad in your life and make it good for his glory.
00:34:42
Speaker
God can take any bad in your life and turn it to good for his glory. A reminder, two guys, two key figures in the early church are going at it. They are so mad at each other, they don't even wanna go in the same direction with one another. God takes it and turns it into two missionary journeys where churches are encouraged by one group and churches are launched by another. God pulls his magic out. Romans 8, 28.
00:35:07
Speaker
Not literal magic, by the way, God doesn't use magic. Romans 8, 28, it says, for we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love the Lord, who are called according to his purpose. I don't know what your situation may be, but it can be used for God's glory. You just have to keep seeking him all the way through it and not give up in the midst of the journey. Number two, no matter what your past, you can be saved and used by God.
00:35:33
Speaker
You can be saved and used by God. Let's talk about the characters in the story. Paul, mass murderer, put Christians to death for years when Jesus found him. Now he's turned into a mass evangelist. Pretty cool story. Timothy, Timothy is a young man raised by a Greek non-believing father. He turns out to be another great missionary and a great pastor for the church at Ephesus.
00:36:01
Speaker
Lydia, businesswoman, her house becomes the central focus of the church in Philippi. Demon possessed slave girl, she comes to know Jesus and is set free from her bondage. And finally, a jailer, a former em and enemy of the church, who not only receives Christ for himself, but immediately goes to have gospel conversations with this household that leads to every single one of them coming to know Jesus.
00:36:33
Speaker
Don't imagine, do not fall prey to the trap of believing that you cannot be used by God. In fact, I would tell you that this book tells us very clearly that God will use every single one of us if we will just say yes.
00:36:55
Speaker
Grocery store clerk, God can use you. Stay at home mom, God can use you. Law enforcement officer, God can use you. It doesn't make any difference where you've come from. It's a matter of where He's taking you, if you will just trust Him. Last takeaway is this, God's will always points people to His glory, not ours.
00:37:25
Speaker
God's will always points people to His glory, not ours. I want you to be very careful as you're praying around about decisions, about things that you think God wants you to make a choice between option A, B, or C. And one of the logical things you need to think is, who's gonna get glory when this is done? Who's gonna get the glory when this is finished?
00:37:45
Speaker
If you trace Genesis all the way through Revelation, I can't remember one single story shared in scripture where the characters in the story got the glory instead of God.
00:37:57
Speaker
Think about the cool stories of the Bible. We need to wipe out sin. It's gotten too bad here on the earth. God says, let's go build an ark in the middle of the desert. No human comes up with that idea.
00:38:11
Speaker
God says, I'm gonna create a people for myself and they're gonna be my people and I will be their God and we're gonna have a great journey together. We'll start by putting them in slavery for 400 years.
00:38:25
Speaker
My people are in trouble because the Philistines are messing with them and they have now sent a giant to take on anybody who will come. I'll pick a 14 year old shepherd boy to send out in the middle of the valley. And oh, by the way,
00:38:39
Speaker
The world's so desperately bad again, they've got to have salvation, grace, and mercy. I'll give a virgin woman a baby child, and it'll be my son.
00:38:53
Speaker
Every single story of the Bible points to His glory alone. So this morning what you might be struggling with is not that God doesn't want you in the story, it might be that God wants you to be a subplot to the story so that he gets the glory. That's the way God works. Two things I wanna ask you this morning to think about. Number one, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?
Prioritizing a Genuine Relationship with Jesus
00:39:21
Speaker
Do you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ?
00:39:25
Speaker
If you're, for one second, doubting whether or not that's the description of your life, we would love to have a conversation with you today. Talk about what it might mean for you to give your life to Christ today, what that looks like, how you go about that, any other questions you may have, because the last thing you have to do is live with one more day of doubt.
00:39:46
Speaker
Later on, one of the other apostles, a guy by the name of John, would write a book where he would literally say, these things I'm writing unto you are so that you may not have to doubt anymore what you have. So this morning could be today that you put all those doubts aside and begin to rest in the peace and the faith that allow Paul and Silas to sing in prison.
00:40:10
Speaker
There also may be some of you here this morning that the only thing you heard me say is this, If you love something, you make time for it. And the reason I know that is because all of us, all of us have the ability as Americans to squeeze Jesus out and lots of other stuff in. Before you know it, you look up and it's been five days since you read your Bible. It's been six days since you prayed to God. It's been 10 days since you held your wife's hand, looked her in the eye and said, let's pray together about this decision.
00:40:43
Speaker
And because of that, your love is receding, and the world is increasing in its influence in you. If you love something, you make time for it. When I met my wife 17 years ago, I was 30,
00:41:02
Speaker
no, 40 years old. I was gonna say 39, but I was 40 years old, okay? I didn't wanna be dating again, but she knocked me off my feet. And I did what a 17-year-old does.
00:41:13
Speaker
I would take her out on dates. I would take her to the door. I would say goodbye. I lived a mile and a half from her house now, at most. I would go home and pick up the phone and call her. I haven't talked to you in five minutes.
00:41:26
Speaker
Are you okay? You miss me? Sometimes I would even wake up the next morning and text her first thing. Hope you slept good. How's your, good you know, what's on your day schedule? 17 years later, we're still checking on each other.
00:41:41
Speaker
And even in the worst ah worst of times, she's the one I want by my side.
00:41:53
Speaker
Imagine if you and I felt that way about Jesus. Because when those bad times come, you know what we do? I got this, Jesus, I got it all figured out. I got it under control, Jesus.
00:42:09
Speaker
There's never been one moment in 17 years of marriage when I've done that. When I'm in a bad situation, I'm like, baby, come help. I can't find what you told me was on the refrigerator shelf. It's not there.
00:42:22
Speaker
I know you said my shoes were right there by the door, but I don't see them. Baby, I've had a bad day. but that I have a bad day. I want the one I love next to me.
00:42:39
Speaker
man if that's the way we approach life if that's the way we embrace this relationship with God and I promise you it's what he wants that's what he wants because he would love it if every time you had a problem you immediately turn to him and say God I know you said I know you said this I read it somewhere I'm claiming it right now God said I'm here I'm here I was just waiting for you to call but for many of us That's not our relationship with God. It's a one day a week thing. It's a five minute in the morning read through a devotional book kind of relationship. That's not what God wants from us. So this morning, maybe this morning you need to come to have a little conversation with him here at this altar.
00:43:33
Speaker
Now, I'm going to say this to you because, meantime, people ask me this question. People go, why do I have to come to the altar? Can I pray to Jesus back there? You can pray to Jesus anywhere. You can pray to Jesus in the back of a truck. You can pray to Jesus sitting in the bleachers at a ballgame. You can pray just laying on your couch at home. But there's something about a physical expression of what God is saying to you that adds credibility to it so that when you walk out of here this afternoon, Satan can't whisper in your ear, you didn't really mean what you were doing.
00:44:04
Speaker
But because you get up physically and move to this place, there's something that just kind of solidifies it in your heart and says, you know what, that but was real. You stood up in front of a bunch of people who love you and you made that decision. So we're gonna pray. Jesus is gonna come lead us in a great song. I hope you'll listen to the words as you sing it. But more than that, I hope you'll listen to the Holy Spirit this morning as we respond to truth.
00:44:31
Speaker
Father God, I thank you for this day, for this word, for the timely message of the book of Acts and the timely lifestyle of guys like Paul. Thank you that above all else, Paul wanted to love you well. And because of that, Paul was willing to do whatever it took to go wherever you asked him to go, to do whatever you asked him to do. Oh, that our faith was that way, Father.
00:45:02
Speaker
Oh, that our relationship meant that much to us. This morning, if you're speaking to our hearts, I pray that we would be just like Paul, that we would rearrange our life right now in this moment around the word of God and around the will of God so that we might be obedient followers. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.