1. God LEADS… are we following?
Paul has chosen Silas as his partner for the 2nd missionary journey. He also took Timothy along this time.
• Something interesting happens in 16:6. They were in the region of PHRYGIA but they were ‘kept by the Holy Spirit’ from moving into the province of ASIA (SW).
• Luke did not tell us how it happened. It could be a sense of unrest or some form of obstacle.
So Paul and his companions went up North to MYSIA.
• And when they tried to move further North into BITHYNIA, again Luke said “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” (16:7) So they passed by MYSIA and went down to TROAS.
• This was the farthest Paul had travelled. On his FIRST journey with Barnabas, they had only reached Antioch in Pisidia and then headed back.
Now they were at TROAS, at the edge of AEGEAN SEA and Paul had a vision – a Macedonian man calling him to come.
• He was convinced that it was God directing them again, to move on further to the West.
• Acts 16:10 “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
God guides. God will guide. God wants to guide you.
• It is very obvious from Paul’s experience that God guides, and He can guide by closing doors.
• We do not know what exactly those road blocks were but obviously God did not open those routes they had originally planned.
It doesn’t matter, if you really trust that God leads. You can have your plan, but God can re-direct you.
• A closed route, a closed path, can be God’s way of telling you, that’s not the way I want you to go.
• Prov 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”
• Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…”
Remember Connie, Wendy’s friend, who came last Christmas’ party and eventually accepted Christ? She has been attending fellowship group at the workplace and a colleague is now helping her with bible study.
She wanted to get to a church on Sundays. Coming here will be too difficult for her. She texted me last Tue and said that she managed to get to a nearby church, Hebron Bible-Presbyterian Church. They use English Standard Version (ESV) and she asked me if this is alright, because she uses an NIV bible, which she prefers. She also asked if this church is fine.
I assured her they are alright, and thought I can take a look at where she stays and see what some nearby churches. I found Covenant EF church and said this is another church she can visit. That was Tuesday.
On Wed she had the bible study with her colleague in the office, and she told her that she is looking for a nearby church and may try out Covenant EF church. To her surprise, the friend said, “That’s my church!” What a coincidence, she texted me to tell me. She said God has been good to her.
God guides. God will guide, if you seek Him. God wants to guide you.
2. God Leads You to WHERE He Wants You to Be…
WHY? There is a greater purpose. There is a more rewarding reason. And we see that reading it today.
• God leads us to where we NEED to be, not where we want to be.
As a result of the vision, Paul and his team went further on to the West and reached Philippi.
• When the first got there, they met a group of women by the riverside, having a prayer meeting (an expected place of prayer, Luke says). Lydia was a worshipper of God (v.14)
• Although the group was small, it turned out to be history in the making. The church of Philippi was founded in Lydia’s house and that became the first church in Europe.
If you continue to read on this chapter (Acts 16), more lives were saved.
• First it was Lydia and her household – they heard Paul’s message by the riverside and were later baptised.
• Then we have a slave girl delivered from a fortune-telling spirit, in the name of Jesus (v.18).
• And finally we see the jailor and his entire family. He was probably the one that has the least chance of hearing the Gospel, yet he heard it - right where he was, in the prison itself.
Now you see why God leads us WHERE He wants us to be? He has a greater purpose, a more rewarding plan.
• We won’t see it until we first OBEY His call and go where He tells us to go.
• So a close door is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it is a good thing.
• If you have been seeking God, you prayed and prayed, and waited, and the door remained closed. Trust Him! There must be a better way!
• Forget that route. Take a new path. Go onto the road that is open, where the options are available.
• Don’t stand before a closed door and lament. God never leads us where He cannot keep us.
• He must have a greater purpose for you when He closes a door. He has something greater that He wants you to accomplish.
It was good that Paul came to TROAS because he met LUKE here.
• Luke was a Gentile physician who eventually became his lifelong and faithful comrade. Traditions say that Luke was with him till his death.
We knew LUKE joined Paul here and followed him to Macedonia from this passage:
• 16:6 started with Paul and his companions.
• In 16:10 after Paul had seen the vision, WE got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
• 16:11 - from Troas WE put out to sea. 16:12 – from there WE travelled to Philippi.
God blessed him with a great companion, who wrote down all their encounters.
• Luke became the writer of the Gospel of LUKE and the book of ACTS.
• They met because God led them. You see how wonderful it is to be led by God?
Are you seeking to know someone? Are you hoping to meet someone who can help you with the ministry, or an employer who is willing to you? Or are you hoping for find a lifetime partner, someone who you want to spend the rest of your life with?
• Then SEEK GOD. TELL Him. God can bring TWO LIVES together in ways that you cannot!
Charles Spurgeon, when he was a teenager he wanted to go to a certain college. He made an appointment to talk to the president of the school.
When he reached the place, an assistant let him in and directed him to the room. He sat and waited, but the president never came. After an hour of waiting, Spurgeon left, figuring it was not meant to be his day. He did not get into that college.
God eventually called him into ministry. Later, he found out that the man had been waiting for him in another room, all the while! It’s God’s plan, he said.
Man’s disappointments are often God’s appointments! God has a greater plan!
• If God leads, and He leads us where He wants us to be…
3. Therefore WATCH Where You Are
When you walk through an open door, watch where you are. God wants to do something through you.
• Paul and his team went to the riverside and found a small group of women.
• But that group became, not just the church of Philippi but the first church of Europe!
If God leads you where He wants you to be, then you can EXPECT to find people like Lydia, someone who is seeking and needs to know Jesus.
• You can the slave girl, someone suffering in pain and in need of deliverance. Someone who needs to know that there is power in Jesus’ Name.
• You will find the jailor, people seeking for hope in life. People who want to end their lives thinking that all is lost.
If we are LED by God to WHERE we are, then we must be there to tell them, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” (v31)
Today, we tend to have the mindset that people need to COME into a church to experience Christ.
• So we try to get them in, because that’s the only way for them to hear the Gospel and know Christ.
• But this was not the modus operandi (method of operation) of the first church.
• The commission given by Jesus is to GO - Go to where the people are – the river side, the market place, into the prison.
Every day, wherever we are, in whatever place that God has led us to, that’s the place of ministry.
• When Paul was imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28), he wrote a letter to the church in Philippi. He was locked up but this was what he said:
Phil 1:12-14 “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”
And he ended the letter with this greeting - Phil 4:21-22 “Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. 22All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household.”
You don’t have to really ‘plan’ for it sometimes, like trying to plan for an outreach moment. Most of the time, my experience is, we are led into one.
• Opportunities present themselves. I may be going through my usual routine and then a divine ‘appointment’ just pops up.
• You met someone who asked, “Which church you go to?” Or someone who tell you a need and you say, “Let’s pray and ask God for help!”
If we seek God and we are LED, then opportunities will come.
• The question is, “Are we taking them up?” Are we attentive to God’s prompting?
• Are we letting opportunities slip by, because we are too distracted and too preoccupied by other things?
If God LEADS, and if God leads us to WHERE He wants us to go, then we can EXPECT divine appointments. WATCH what God can do where He has put you.
• Spot an exceptional encounter this week and tell us…
