Come Over and Help Us
Acts Series
Chuck Sligh
October 9, 2016
TEXT: Acts 16:9-10 – “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. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”
INTRODUCTION
“Praying Hyde,” a missionary in India, prayed, “Father, give me these souls, or I die.” Hyde had an insatiable desire to reach people for the kingdom of God.
Once we find Christ in salvation, too many of us lose our zeal to share Christ with others. We get comfortable hanging around with the brethren instead of looking for ways to share Christ to those without Him.
Church family, we must always have a vision of the harvest fields. We need to regularly rekindle in our hearts a burden for those who are not in God’s family; who have not experienced God’s grace; who do not have eternal life and “life more abundantly”; who have not tasted of forgiveness and acceptance from God. We must say, like Praying Hyde, “Father, give us souls, or we die.”
Now, when you look at the life of Paul, you see a man who, like Praying Hyde, was consumed with shining the light of the Gospel in this dark world. We see it over and over again in the book of Acts, and it is in clear focus in today’s text.
I would like for us to look at four things in our text that I hope will stir our hearts about those who need the saving story of the Savior.
I. FIRST, IN OUR TEXT, WE SEE THE VISION – Acts 16:9a – “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night…”
Paul had a supernatural vision of a man beckoning, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” We don’t need a vision today in the sense of a supernatural experience like Paul had here. But we do need a vision in the sense of having a mission, a goal, a direction for our church and for our lives.
Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
God’s people move when they get a vision—but they languish in flowery beds of ease when they don’t have a vision—when they don’t clearly see God’s mission and their part in it.
Why is this church here? Why are we here as a people of God? Why are you here individually? What is your mission? Why did God leave you here on this earth?
If we as a church and as individuals believers cannot answer those questions, then we lack vision and are destined to wander aimlessly in this life.
Here’s what God wants you to do on this earth, and here’s the mission of this church: In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus commanded, “Go ye therefore, and teach [lit. “make disciples of”] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” – God has called you and me, and this church collectively, to share the Gospel of Christ and send the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the earth, so that people can come to faith in Christ and then are baptized and discipled and brought to spiritual maturity so that they too can carry on the mission of the church.
God help each of us, and our church as a whole, to have a vision to go forth and accomplish the mission of the church—to win, baptize and teach.
II. SECOND, OUR TEXT TELLS US OF A PLEADING VOICE – Acts 16:9b – “…There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
Notice that it was the voice of a man. Why a man, a person, a human being? Why wasn’t it the voice of an angel or the voice of God Himself?
I believe it was a man in Paul’s vision because God wants to impress upon us that our focus ought to be on PEOPLE.…
• Not primarily on the pursuit of fun and entertainment. – Someone once said, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
• Not primarily on making and accumulating money. – Why pour all your investments only in things that will not last?
• Not primarily on material things either.
Illus. – I’ve shared many times the story of Missionary James Rodehorst who dropped by my office when I pastored in Wiesbaden. When I entered, I asked, “What’s up, Brother?”
And he said, “Just looking over your impressive library.”
I was very proud of my library and as a young preacher, I thought it projected erudition and seriousness. Beaming, I asked, “Well, what do you think?”
He said, “Too bad it’s all going to burn up some day.”
You know what, the same can be said of your car, furniture, stereo, computer and house and all the money you have in the bank. It’s all going to burn up someday, so why invest too much in that which is temporal?
I’m not saying that God does not want us to have fun, have some downtime, save for our future or have some good things. The question is, Is that your primarily focus and do you pursue temporal things at the expense of the most important things? Our primary focus should be on God and His kingdom, and if THAT is our focus, we will hear the voice of PEOPLE; we will reach out to PEOPLE; we will give and sacrifice to tell people the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Why?
• Because we can take people to heaven when we go.
Matthew 6:19-21 – “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
You never see a hearse towing a boat to the funeral, or a bag of cash or a computer or a house. It’s true: “You can’t take it with you when you go”, but you can make deposits in heaven now by investing your life and your time and your talents and resources to reach PEOPLE who will be in heaven forever.
• Second, our focus should be on people because GOD’S focus is on people.
God created everything in this world. He created sheep and dolphins and koala bears and all kinds of animals both fierce and cuddly; furry or reptilian. But God’s unique care and concern is for PEOPLE! If God’s concern is people, OUR concern should be people.
• Third, we should focus on people because people are who Jesus died for.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…”
Sinners are people. Jesus didn’t die for mountain lions or ants or elephants; He died for PEOPLE! His blood was shed for those created in His image; whom He created to love and serve Him, whom He has loved from the beginning of time. Jesus died for people because He loves people—so we ought to love people. And the best way to show love to people is to tell them about Jesus and how He can forgive them their sins and give them abundant life.
III. THIRD, CONSIDER WITH ME THE VINEYARD – Acts 16:10a – “And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia,…”
When the Holy Spirit pointed Paul to where their vineyard was to be—the place where He wanted them to serve—Paul’s ministry team immediately endeavored to go there.
That was Paul’s heartbeat—to be in the Lord’s vineyard, to be working, to be laboring to see a great ingathering of people into Christ’s kingdom.
Did you know that you too have a vineyard? God has a place where the lost are calling out to you to tell them the Good News. You think the Army cut your orders to come to Germany, but in reality, GOD did! God used the U.S. Army to call you to Grafenwoehr to witness for Christ!
Whenever you feel like you don’t want to be in Germany, think to yourself, GOD cut my orders! He put me here so my neighbor can find God’s forgivenes; so my co-workers can see a believer who walks the talk; so my friends can hear the Gospel. Grafenwoehr and Vilseck is your vineyard.
Okay, you’re called to be a witness in your vineyard; the place God has called you to serve. Do you have the same urgency to serve in the vineyard God has called you to that Paul did? When Paul got his Macedonian call, Luke records this in our text: “IMMEDIATELY we endeavoured to go into Macedonia…” Many Christians are too busy with earthy pursuits and the things of this world to see any kind of urgency about their neighbors going into eternity without Christ.
Many of you get along great with your friends and neighbors and co-workers. You men talk sports with them, or the women talk about home or kids. You argue politics barbecue together, and play video games with them.
But have you ever shared your faith with them to them? Have you ever even invited them to church? Have you ever told them how they can find forgiveness and peace and purpose in Jesus Christ? Listen—in the light of eternity, it doesn’t matter who’s going to win the Super Bowl, or how nice your house is, or which scoundrel gets elected in the next election. But it does matter where they will spend eternity! God help you to know that God has given you a vineyard, and He wants you to work in it for God’s glory.
IV. FINALLY, CONSIDER WITH ME THE VESSELS – Acts 16:10b – “…immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”
They recognized that God wanted to use them as vessels to take the Gospel to Macedonia. Luke said, “…assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”
Folks, we can say exactly the same thing about ourselves. We can assuredly gather that the Lord has called every single one of us to be VESSELS for the Lord’s use to spread the Gospel in Grafenwoehr and in Germany and in Europe and throughout the world.
The vision Paul had here is often referred to the “Macedonian call.” Well folks, we have a “Grafenwoehrian call” or a “Vilseckian call.” It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but God help us to answer that call.
Everyone here is either a mission field or a missionary:
• If you have never wholly placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you’re a mission field.
You need to turn from whatever it is that is keeping you from coming to Christ, and put your trust in Him to give you eternal life.
• If you’ve already a believer, well…you are a missionary.
Five times in his remaining days on earth, Jesus gave some form of the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…”
Mark 16:15 – “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Luke 24:46-47 – “And [Jesus] said unto them,…that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
John 20:21 – “Then said Jesus to them…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
Acts 1:8 – “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The differences in wording in each of these verses in 5 separate books of the New Testament indicate that in His days between His resurrection and His ascension into heaven, on at least 5 separate occasions, Jesus gave the same commandment, but in different words. In other words, these are not the different Bible writers recording the same command given only once. They’re too varied from one another. This is 5 DIFFERENT occasions Jesus gave the Great Commission with each one having a slightly different emphasis and focus. This was so important to Jesus that He stressed it over and over again.
But the Great Commission was not just for the apostles. It’s directed to US as well. It’s the marching orders of our Great Commander-in-Chief for His troops.
And He said the same thing 5 DIFFERENT TIMES. Now, whenever God speaks once, we should listen. But if He repeats the same command FIVE times in FIVE different ways, we’d better sit up and REALLY take notice! Brethren, God is trying to get our attention! He’s saying EVERY Christian is called to be a missionary.
A missionary may be defined as “one who shares the Good News of salvation with others.” Some are called to share the Good News AT HOME. Some are called to share the Good News ABROAD.
Christian, listen—God has called you to the mission field! It may be here in Grafenwoehr, or it may be to go to Thailand, or Kenya or Guatemala, but we’re ALL called to go bring others into the kingdom and to discipleship.
Let me share with you some very specific ways you can labor in the Lord’s vineyard in the great task of evangelism:
First, how can you labor here in Grafenwoehr?
• One way is simply to invite friends and acquaintances to church.
• Another way is to drop church fliers in mailboxes in the housing areas. – We’ll be asking people to do that next month.
• Third, develop relationships with your neighbors that can open doors of evangelism.
• Learn how to take the Bible and lead someone to Christ.
Every believer should know how to do that. We start a DVD series titled “Share Jesus Without Fear” in the Sunday School hour, starting October 30th. You should be there!
God wants you also to help get the Gospel to the rest of the world. – In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Did you know there is a way YOU can be a partner in supporting a missionary on a foreign mission field? We’ll explain about how you can do that in the next couple of weeks during our Missions Emphasis week. I hope you will plan to be there every service.
May God help us to answer the call to the vineyard God has given us.
CONCLUSION
Illus. – I am stirred by the words of a young pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa which he delivered before his martyrdom for his faith in Jesus Christ. He said:
I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made—I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and I labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach with my all now and work till He stops me. And, when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me...my banner will be clear!
My heart’s prayer is that each one of us would take up the banner of that martyred saint! May those words burn in our hearts! May we become gripped with the mission of getting the message of Christ to those without Him and without hope. May the winning and discipleship of people for whom Christ died be our heartthrob. May we, like Praying Hyde cry out to God, “Father, give me souls, or I die.”
