1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,569 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,697 --> 00:00:06,593 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,689 --> 00:00:09,657 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,681 --> 00:00:10,685 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,985 --> 00:00:14,625 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,665 --> 00:00:16,245 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,745 --> 00:00:20,145 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,185 --> 00:00:21,765 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,545 --> 00:00:24,153 Amen. 10 00:00:24,209 --> 00:00:26,737 All right, well, let's go ahead and get right into our Bible 11 00:00:26,801 --> 00:00:28,325 study here this evening. 12 00:00:28,665 --> 00:00:30,025 Acts, chapter 16. 13 00:00:30,105 --> 00:00:32,313 We're going to pick up where we left off last week. 14 00:00:32,449 --> 00:00:35,969 Last week we saw the relationship between Paul and Timothy 15 00:00:36,017 --> 00:00:36,605 begin. 16 00:00:36,905 --> 00:00:42,049 And Timothy, a young man born of a Jewish mother and a Gentile 17 00:00:42,097 --> 00:00:42,633 father. 18 00:00:42,769 --> 00:00:45,937 And we see that Paul invests into his life and there's that wonderful 19 00:00:46,001 --> 00:00:47,601 dynamic of discipleship. 20 00:00:47,753 --> 00:00:53,369 And the challenge was for us to find Timothy to disciple and also 21 00:00:53,457 --> 00:00:56,193 to be a Paul to somebody. 22 00:00:56,289 --> 00:01:00,241 And that would be a challenge for all of us, but also to be a Timothy 23 00:01:00,273 --> 00:01:02,129 to somebody else, learn from other people. 24 00:01:02,297 --> 00:01:06,393 And we see that at the end of verse five, they went out and they 25 00:01:06,409 --> 00:01:09,961 were establishing churches, establishing in the faith, increasing 26 00:01:10,033 --> 00:01:11,121 in number daily. 27 00:01:11,273 --> 00:01:14,565 And so this is Paul's second missionary journey. 28 00:01:14,985 --> 00:01:17,033 And we're going to see something very interesting here in 29 00:01:17,049 --> 00:01:17,921 this passage tonight. 30 00:01:17,953 --> 00:01:21,547 We're going to start in verse number six, Acts 16, verse six. 31 00:01:21,721 --> 00:01:23,847 And we're going to see something that we don't always talk 32 00:01:23,871 --> 00:01:24,079 about. 33 00:01:24,127 --> 00:01:27,975 And that is when a door is closed in our life, a lot of times 34 00:01:28,015 --> 00:01:32,167 we talk about doors opening and God working and making new paths 35 00:01:32,191 --> 00:01:32,535 for us. 36 00:01:32,575 --> 00:01:35,903 And a lot of times we forget that God does open doors. 37 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,935 Yes, but just as much as he opened doors, he closes doors. 38 00:01:38,975 --> 00:01:40,071 He redirects. 39 00:01:40,223 --> 00:01:43,311 A lot of times when we pray or when we ask God to give us something 40 00:01:43,343 --> 00:01:46,111 in our lives, we always assume that it's going to be a yes. 41 00:01:46,303 --> 00:01:49,069 But we know that God's answer sometimes is no. 42 00:01:49,207 --> 00:01:51,185 Now, certainly sometimes it's wait. 43 00:01:51,305 --> 00:01:52,713 And it might be a yes later. 44 00:01:52,769 --> 00:01:54,161 And we have to have patience. 45 00:01:54,353 --> 00:01:57,857 But there are going to be some times in our life that a loving father 46 00:01:57,921 --> 00:02:02,285 will say no to us or at least direct our path a different route. 47 00:02:02,585 --> 00:02:05,961 And all of us that have been parents have realized the loving 48 00:02:06,073 --> 00:02:08,921 care in saying no to certain situations. 49 00:02:09,073 --> 00:02:13,097 And so when God tells us no, sometimes the challenge is to get 50 00:02:13,121 --> 00:02:16,333 upset, to get hard hearted, maybe even to give up. 51 00:02:16,429 --> 00:02:19,101 But we're gonna see here on Paul's second missionary journey 52 00:02:19,133 --> 00:02:23,317 that he had a desire to go somewhere, but yet God said no. 53 00:02:23,461 --> 00:02:26,621 And then Paul had a desire to go somewhere else and God said no. 54 00:02:26,733 --> 00:02:27,797 And There's a purpose for that. 55 00:02:27,821 --> 00:02:30,533 Now, we're not gonna get too much into the purpose of God saying 56 00:02:30,589 --> 00:02:34,205 no here tonight, but we are gonna get through that understanding 57 00:02:34,245 --> 00:02:36,349 of what it means when God closes the door. 58 00:02:36,517 --> 00:02:37,613 So look at it there with me. 59 00:02:37,629 --> 00:02:41,397 In verse number six, it says now when they had gone throughout 60 00:02:41,541 --> 00:02:46,757 Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the 61 00:02:46,821 --> 00:02:50,221 Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, now that kind of baffles 62 00:02:50,253 --> 00:02:52,341 our mind because we think, hey, well, if he's going to go preach 63 00:02:52,373 --> 00:02:54,077 the gospel, wouldn't God want that? 64 00:02:54,221 --> 00:02:56,597 Well, certainly God wants us to preach the gospel, but it might 65 00:02:56,621 --> 00:02:58,545 be preach the gospel to a different place. 66 00:02:58,845 --> 00:03:01,069 In that case, he said, no, not right now. 67 00:03:01,117 --> 00:03:03,557 We don't want you to go to this place that you want to go to. 68 00:03:03,741 --> 00:03:06,585 And we see that phrase there forbidden of the Holy Ghost. 69 00:03:06,885 --> 00:03:11,011 And what we can see there is that God closed that door divinely, 70 00:03:11,083 --> 00:03:12,531 said no, that's not going to happen. 71 00:03:12,563 --> 00:03:15,095 Now, we don't know exactly how he said no there. 72 00:03:15,475 --> 00:03:19,335 Sometimes with us in our life, no is coming through a circumstance 73 00:03:19,835 --> 00:03:21,923 or lack of circumstance. 74 00:03:22,019 --> 00:03:24,051 Maybe no comes through a lack of peace. 75 00:03:24,123 --> 00:03:26,995 Maybe no comes through something in our lives that hinders 76 00:03:27,035 --> 00:03:27,859 us from doing something. 77 00:03:27,907 --> 00:03:32,035 But we see nonetheless that the Holy Spirit forbade them to go 78 00:03:32,075 --> 00:03:33,523 further in the way that they wanted to go. 79 00:03:33,539 --> 00:03:38,295 And then it said, verse 7, and after they come to Mysia, they essayed 80 00:03:38,335 --> 00:03:42,743 to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered or allowed them not. 81 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:46,399 So we see a second way in which God doesn't allow them to go 82 00:03:46,447 --> 00:03:48,475 where they were intending to go. 83 00:03:49,015 --> 00:03:50,455 And so we go on further. 84 00:03:50,495 --> 00:03:53,951 In verse eight, it says, and they passing by Mysia, came down 85 00:03:53,983 --> 00:03:54,955 to Troas. 86 00:03:55,295 --> 00:03:58,095 And so God said no to two different places. 87 00:03:58,215 --> 00:04:02,083 They wanted to go here, God said no, they wanted to go here. 88 00:04:02,199 --> 00:04:03,419 God didn't allow that. 89 00:04:03,547 --> 00:04:05,459 And God led them to a place called Troas. 90 00:04:05,507 --> 00:04:07,339 And we're going to talk about the significance of that, because 91 00:04:07,387 --> 00:04:11,415 here at Troas, God leads them to go to a place called Macedonia. 92 00:04:11,795 --> 00:04:14,899 And we see it actually happening through a vision to Paul. 93 00:04:14,947 --> 00:04:18,115 Now, I don't believe that God works in that way with us today. 94 00:04:18,155 --> 00:04:20,027 I think God speaks through his word. 95 00:04:20,171 --> 00:04:22,571 But I do know that there are going to be times in our lives that 96 00:04:22,603 --> 00:04:25,571 God is going to close the door for a reason and he's going to open 97 00:04:25,603 --> 00:04:26,771 a door in another place. 98 00:04:26,883 --> 00:04:29,243 He's going to lead us to a place in our life that maybe we didn't 99 00:04:29,299 --> 00:04:32,681 expect to go, but ultimately it's where he would have us to Go. 100 00:04:32,713 --> 00:04:34,129 And you've heard this before. 101 00:04:34,257 --> 00:04:36,617 The safest place to be, the best place to be, is in the will 102 00:04:36,641 --> 00:04:38,153 of God, not in our own will. 103 00:04:38,289 --> 00:04:41,241 And so what we can see here in verse 8 is he leads them to Troas. 104 00:04:41,313 --> 00:04:45,097 And so after strengthening the churches in the region that they 105 00:04:45,121 --> 00:04:48,761 were in, Paul sought to go to the next understandable place, southwest 106 00:04:48,793 --> 00:04:51,345 of where they were, to a very important place. 107 00:04:51,465 --> 00:04:54,617 Yet we see that Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go 108 00:04:54,641 --> 00:04:55,205 there. 109 00:04:56,425 --> 00:04:58,945 And we know that it's very interesting that this would happen 110 00:04:58,985 --> 00:05:02,215 because we would assume that, hey, God doesn't care where we preach, 111 00:05:02,255 --> 00:05:03,495 God doesn't care where we serve. 112 00:05:03,535 --> 00:05:07,599 No, God has a specific purpose for specific people at specific times. 113 00:05:07,727 --> 00:05:09,975 And so there was certainly nothing wrong with Paul's desire 114 00:05:10,015 --> 00:05:14,155 to preach to those people in Asia, but it wasn't God's timing. 115 00:05:14,535 --> 00:05:16,895 So this was forbidden by the Holy Spirit. 116 00:05:17,055 --> 00:05:19,807 And so, like I said before, it's difficult to say exactly how 117 00:05:19,831 --> 00:05:24,327 the Holy Spirit stopped him, but it may have been through a multitude 118 00:05:24,351 --> 00:05:25,711 of different things that could have happened. 119 00:05:25,743 --> 00:05:28,143 But one way or another, we know that Paul listens. 120 00:05:28,199 --> 00:05:31,223 We know that he heeds God's closed door here. 121 00:05:31,359 --> 00:05:34,039 And one of the challenges that I would have for you is this. 122 00:05:34,167 --> 00:05:37,951 If you feel like God has something for you, and yet you step 123 00:05:37,983 --> 00:05:40,719 into that path and God closes the door, there's no shame in that. 124 00:05:40,847 --> 00:05:42,115 You're not a failure. 125 00:05:42,615 --> 00:05:45,079 We see Paul having the door shut, and he says, you know what? 126 00:05:45,087 --> 00:05:46,183 I'm gonna go a different direction. 127 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:47,647 I'm gonna go a different path. 128 00:05:47,791 --> 00:05:50,135 He might not have known the reason for that at that very moment, 129 00:05:50,175 --> 00:05:52,555 but we do know that God had a plan for him. 130 00:05:53,225 --> 00:05:56,969 And so after their attempt to go to Asia, Paul sought to go north 131 00:05:57,017 --> 00:06:00,645 to a new place, but again was prevented by the Holy Spirit. 132 00:06:01,065 --> 00:06:04,249 And so Paul didn't originally set out to go to Troas. 133 00:06:04,337 --> 00:06:06,125 That was not his original plan. 134 00:06:06,545 --> 00:06:09,925 But God changed his plans for a purpose. 135 00:06:10,225 --> 00:06:13,001 And so it was the third choice, at least in this case, for 136 00:06:13,033 --> 00:06:13,225 him. 137 00:06:13,265 --> 00:06:16,737 But it was the Holy Spirit's plan to lead him there. 138 00:06:16,881 --> 00:06:20,497 And so Paul, in his responsiveness, in his openness to 139 00:06:20,521 --> 00:06:24,339 God's plan in his life, was willing to lay down his own will, 140 00:06:24,467 --> 00:06:28,771 his own plan for the plans of the Holy Spirit's direction in his 141 00:06:28,803 --> 00:06:29,379 life. 142 00:06:29,547 --> 00:06:32,771 So the true test for us is, are we moving forward in our Christian 143 00:06:32,803 --> 00:06:38,035 life with our own whims, our own desires, our own plans? 144 00:06:38,155 --> 00:06:42,603 Or are we willing to allow God to change our direction, to change 145 00:06:42,699 --> 00:06:45,347 our life, to change where we're serving? 146 00:06:45,411 --> 00:06:47,803 How we're serving what we're doing for him. 147 00:06:47,979 --> 00:06:51,139 And I'm gonna tell you, that's a hard pill to swallow, because a 148 00:06:51,147 --> 00:06:54,525 lot of us, most of us get comfortable with what we know. 149 00:06:54,565 --> 00:06:57,149 We get comfortable with what we expect in our lives. 150 00:06:57,277 --> 00:06:58,869 But sometimes God does change that. 151 00:06:58,917 --> 00:07:01,061 Sometimes God does direct us other places. 152 00:07:01,093 --> 00:07:02,665 Sometimes God closes doors. 153 00:07:03,085 --> 00:07:06,621 And so we see that Paul wanted to go to Asia, then he wanted to 154 00:07:06,653 --> 00:07:07,853 go to Bithynia. 155 00:07:07,949 --> 00:07:10,701 But then we see God said, no, you're going to Troas. 156 00:07:10,893 --> 00:07:16,237 And so Paul was guided, but he was guided by a closed door. 157 00:07:16,341 --> 00:07:17,741 He was guided by a hindrance. 158 00:07:17,773 --> 00:07:21,313 And a lot of times we think closed doors and hindrances are negative 159 00:07:21,369 --> 00:07:21,825 things. 160 00:07:21,945 --> 00:07:24,713 I don't know about you, but there's been times in my life where 161 00:07:24,729 --> 00:07:27,937 I see something not working and I go, wow, this is a failure. 162 00:07:28,081 --> 00:07:29,001 But what happened here? 163 00:07:29,033 --> 00:07:31,497 Paul says, no, this is just an opportunity for me to follow the 164 00:07:31,521 --> 00:07:32,233 Spirit over here. 165 00:07:32,289 --> 00:07:33,537 God's leading me here. 166 00:07:33,641 --> 00:07:35,073 God's changing me here. 167 00:07:35,209 --> 00:07:38,065 And what was right here in this case might be different later 168 00:07:38,105 --> 00:07:38,685 on. 169 00:07:39,225 --> 00:07:40,641 And so what I would tell you is this. 170 00:07:40,713 --> 00:07:41,929 It's about God's timing. 171 00:07:41,977 --> 00:07:43,705 It's about God's plans. 172 00:07:43,785 --> 00:07:45,045 And I would say it's this. 173 00:07:45,995 --> 00:07:48,771 The Holy Spirit does work by open doors. 174 00:07:48,923 --> 00:07:52,819 But just as much as the Holy Spirit opens doors, he closes doors, 175 00:07:52,907 --> 00:07:54,443 and he works the same way. 176 00:07:54,619 --> 00:07:57,171 And I know that many of you in this room, if you were to go back, 177 00:07:57,203 --> 00:08:00,867 let's say, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, you would say, I would 178 00:08:00,891 --> 00:08:03,163 have never guessed that I would gone down the path that I'm 179 00:08:03,179 --> 00:08:03,667 in right now. 180 00:08:03,691 --> 00:08:06,267 Or I would have never guessed that this was a trial that I would 181 00:08:06,291 --> 00:08:06,739 be facing. 182 00:08:06,787 --> 00:08:09,571 Or I would never guess that I would be serving in this type of 183 00:08:09,603 --> 00:08:12,575 ministry or be in this church or live in this state. 184 00:08:12,695 --> 00:08:13,719 That's my testimony. 185 00:08:13,807 --> 00:08:15,975 Would have never thought I would ever be living in Delaware, 186 00:08:16,055 --> 00:08:16,247 Right. 187 00:08:16,271 --> 00:08:18,047 That would just never cross my mind. 188 00:08:18,231 --> 00:08:21,199 But God works, yes, through circumstances. 189 00:08:21,327 --> 00:08:22,823 He leads through conviction. 190 00:08:22,919 --> 00:08:24,475 He leads through comfort. 191 00:08:24,895 --> 00:08:27,175 He leads through difficulties. 192 00:08:27,295 --> 00:08:28,871 He leads through hindrances. 193 00:08:29,023 --> 00:08:30,715 He leads through trials. 194 00:08:31,175 --> 00:08:34,087 And so what we're seeing here is that God has a divine plan for 195 00:08:34,111 --> 00:08:36,351 Paul to go to Troas for a purpose. 196 00:08:36,543 --> 00:08:39,811 I was reading up on some missionaries, right? 197 00:08:39,963 --> 00:08:43,171 And I'm like, I was always interested in, like, how a missionary 198 00:08:43,243 --> 00:08:45,295 decides to go to a foreign land. 199 00:08:45,635 --> 00:08:48,627 And, you know, you think about these classic missionaries. 200 00:08:48,651 --> 00:08:51,779 I don't know if, you know, guys like David Livingston and William 201 00:08:51,827 --> 00:08:54,611 Carey and Adoniram Judson. 202 00:08:54,803 --> 00:08:56,835 I saw a common theme with many of them. 203 00:08:56,915 --> 00:08:59,571 They had A desire early on for missions, but they had a desire for 204 00:08:59,603 --> 00:09:00,555 another place. 205 00:09:00,715 --> 00:09:03,667 And then through certain circumstances, God called them to 206 00:09:03,691 --> 00:09:06,297 go to another country on the other side of the earth, right? 207 00:09:06,411 --> 00:09:09,901 Maybe one wanted to go to China and God brought them to Africa. 208 00:09:10,093 --> 00:09:12,349 And we would think, like, why would God want me to go to somewhere 209 00:09:12,397 --> 00:09:13,109 totally opposite? 210 00:09:13,157 --> 00:09:16,469 Well, we know, like in David Livingston's case, God had a wonderful 211 00:09:16,517 --> 00:09:19,645 plan for him, for the people there in Africa, but he didn't necessarily 212 00:09:19,685 --> 00:09:21,093 know that that was going to be the case. 213 00:09:21,229 --> 00:09:23,621 And for you, you might not know what God has planned for you, 214 00:09:23,653 --> 00:09:27,029 but what we do know is that ultimately we have to submit to him 215 00:09:27,077 --> 00:09:28,221 in every which way. 216 00:09:28,253 --> 00:09:31,389 And so going on, verse nine, this gives us the reason why he was 217 00:09:31,397 --> 00:09:31,933 in troas. 218 00:09:31,989 --> 00:09:33,499 And what was the next step? 219 00:09:33,627 --> 00:09:34,131 Verse 9. 220 00:09:34,163 --> 00:09:36,535 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. 221 00:09:37,115 --> 00:09:41,171 There stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him or asked him saying, 222 00:09:41,243 --> 00:09:43,615 come over into Macedonia and help us. 223 00:09:43,995 --> 00:09:48,259 So, so Paul now has an opportunity to hear a need in Macedonia. 224 00:09:48,307 --> 00:09:50,603 Now, I don't believe that this is the typical. 225 00:09:50,739 --> 00:09:53,867 I don't believe that the exception to the rule is how we should 226 00:09:53,891 --> 00:09:54,379 live our lives. 227 00:09:54,427 --> 00:09:56,571 We shouldn't always be going to sleep every night going, okay, 228 00:09:56,603 --> 00:09:59,199 God, are you going to tell me where I should go next in this dream? 229 00:09:59,307 --> 00:10:00,647 But what we see is that God works. 230 00:10:00,711 --> 00:10:03,047 And we know that the revealed word of God was not there at this 231 00:10:03,071 --> 00:10:04,183 time in the book of Acts. 232 00:10:04,279 --> 00:10:08,135 So God did use miraculous ways, supernatural ways, to communicate 233 00:10:08,175 --> 00:10:10,247 to these individuals, specifically the apostles. 234 00:10:10,391 --> 00:10:14,527 But we see here that there is a plea for help in Macedonia. 235 00:10:14,591 --> 00:10:17,983 Now, if Paul would have gone another path and focused on another 236 00:10:18,039 --> 00:10:20,631 route, maybe he would not help there in Macedonia. 237 00:10:20,743 --> 00:10:23,327 But what we see is that there is a great need and there is a plea 238 00:10:23,351 --> 00:10:23,735 for help. 239 00:10:23,775 --> 00:10:25,585 Now, what does Paul do for help? 240 00:10:25,695 --> 00:10:27,285 Well, Paul knows what to do for help. 241 00:10:27,365 --> 00:10:28,925 Bring the gospel, right? 242 00:10:28,965 --> 00:10:31,813 The gospel is always what's going to help a culture, what's going 243 00:10:31,829 --> 00:10:34,429 to help civilization, what's going to help the need for people 244 00:10:34,477 --> 00:10:35,045 in a land. 245 00:10:35,085 --> 00:10:38,781 And I'm going to tell you, the answer to our problems is the gospel. 246 00:10:38,933 --> 00:10:42,677 The answer to our broken world is the gospel. 247 00:10:42,821 --> 00:10:45,309 You know, a lot of times we think like, well, if, you know, yes, 248 00:10:45,357 --> 00:10:48,061 the Bible does say that we should clothe people, that we should 249 00:10:48,093 --> 00:10:48,629 feed them. 250 00:10:48,717 --> 00:10:52,659 But in the name of the gospel of Jesus Christ, okay, if I. 251 00:10:52,707 --> 00:10:55,203 If someone comes to me and says, hey, I'm hungry, and I give 252 00:10:55,219 --> 00:10:58,507 them food and I leave it at that, have I done my job completely 253 00:10:58,571 --> 00:11:00,611 in the gospel message of Jesus Christ? 254 00:11:00,763 --> 00:11:01,659 I don't think so. 255 00:11:01,747 --> 00:11:04,139 I think we should feed them, and I think we should feed them physically, 256 00:11:04,187 --> 00:11:05,955 but we also should feed them spiritually. 257 00:11:06,075 --> 00:11:07,975 Because what's going to help them temporarily? 258 00:11:08,435 --> 00:11:09,699 A burger from Burger King. 259 00:11:09,747 --> 00:11:11,555 Okay, that's going to help them for a day, maybe. 260 00:11:11,635 --> 00:11:12,987 Okay, if they're really hungry. 261 00:11:13,171 --> 00:11:16,107 The truth is, though, what's going to satisfy them for eternity? 262 00:11:16,291 --> 00:11:17,895 The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 263 00:11:18,235 --> 00:11:21,323 Now, the Bible does say in the Book of James, don't just say, I've 264 00:11:21,339 --> 00:11:23,091 got love for you in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 265 00:11:23,123 --> 00:11:25,779 And you see him hungry and go, well, all I got is the gospel. 266 00:11:25,827 --> 00:11:26,611 I can't give you any food. 267 00:11:26,643 --> 00:11:29,123 Hey, if you got money in your pocket, feed them, right? 268 00:11:29,219 --> 00:11:31,219 If they need clothing, give them clothing. 269 00:11:31,347 --> 00:11:35,227 But sometimes we see in our culture today a disconnect between 270 00:11:35,411 --> 00:11:37,003 helping people and the gospel. 271 00:11:37,059 --> 00:11:39,347 Folks, helping people is the gospel. 272 00:11:39,451 --> 00:11:41,067 That is the element of the gospel. 273 00:11:41,171 --> 00:11:44,475 But we can't help them completely without bringing the gospel 274 00:11:44,515 --> 00:11:44,991 to them. 275 00:11:45,083 --> 00:11:48,031 And so what Paul does, of course, is that he says, okay, we're 276 00:11:48,063 --> 00:11:49,575 going to go verse 10. 277 00:11:49,735 --> 00:11:53,595 And after he had seen the vision, this next word is so important. 278 00:11:53,975 --> 00:11:55,151 He didn't wait. 279 00:11:55,303 --> 00:11:56,063 Okay. 280 00:11:56,239 --> 00:11:59,663 He didn't say, well, let me figure out what I'm doing here. 281 00:11:59,719 --> 00:12:00,999 Let me get my ducks in a row. 282 00:12:01,087 --> 00:12:02,847 Let me make sure all my guys are on board with this. 283 00:12:02,871 --> 00:12:03,383 No, what does he do? 284 00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:04,567 It says immediately. 285 00:12:04,711 --> 00:12:06,535 And then this is so interesting here, because I believe 286 00:12:06,575 --> 00:12:09,207 this is where Luke comes into the picture with Paul. 287 00:12:09,351 --> 00:12:13,493 Because we see from the early stages of this passage, it's like 288 00:12:13,549 --> 00:12:15,693 they, they, they. 289 00:12:15,749 --> 00:12:17,565 And then all of a sudden, verse 10, we see. 290 00:12:17,685 --> 00:12:20,869 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored 291 00:12:20,917 --> 00:12:22,621 to go into Macedonia. 292 00:12:22,813 --> 00:12:23,765 Who was the author? 293 00:12:23,845 --> 00:12:27,317 Well, we know God's the author, but God inspired different 294 00:12:27,381 --> 00:12:28,109 human authors. 295 00:12:28,157 --> 00:12:29,357 And Luke is the author of Acts. 296 00:12:29,381 --> 00:12:32,501 I believe this is where Luke joins in with Paul in the missionary 297 00:12:32,533 --> 00:12:34,565 journey, because he says here we. 298 00:12:34,725 --> 00:12:39,383 So immediately they endeavored to go into Macedonia. 299 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,079 And it says here, assuredly gathering, that the Lord had called 300 00:12:43,127 --> 00:12:45,591 us for to preach the gospel unto them. 301 00:12:45,623 --> 00:12:46,895 So they said, hey, there's a need. 302 00:12:46,975 --> 00:12:47,647 What are we going to do? 303 00:12:47,671 --> 00:12:49,075 We're going to bring them the gospel. 304 00:12:49,375 --> 00:12:52,799 So if we want to help Middletown, we want to help Delaware, 305 00:12:52,927 --> 00:12:55,519 we want to help the United States, we want to help the world. 306 00:12:55,607 --> 00:12:56,151 What do we do? 307 00:12:56,183 --> 00:12:57,743 We bring them the gospel. 308 00:12:57,919 --> 00:12:59,959 And with the gospel comes the love of Christ. 309 00:13:00,087 --> 00:13:01,503 With the gospel comes the truth. 310 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:03,315 With the gospel comes sacrifice. 311 00:13:03,705 --> 00:13:06,425 And so Intro asks, God made Paul's direction clear. 312 00:13:06,465 --> 00:13:07,169 He says, okay. 313 00:13:07,257 --> 00:13:08,985 It didn't seem like this was working. 314 00:13:09,025 --> 00:13:11,033 It didn't seem like this is working, but this is what's going 315 00:13:11,049 --> 00:13:11,513 to work. 316 00:13:11,609 --> 00:13:14,433 And so Paul was invited to Macedonia. 317 00:13:14,569 --> 00:13:18,497 And this moved Paul and his missionary team from one place to 318 00:13:18,521 --> 00:13:18,705 another. 319 00:13:18,745 --> 00:13:21,805 And it was really the first missionary endeavor into Europe. 320 00:13:22,265 --> 00:13:26,881 And so the wisdom of God, the power of God begins to unfold in 321 00:13:26,913 --> 00:13:27,513 Paul's life. 322 00:13:27,569 --> 00:13:30,815 And in Paul's mind, he wanted to reach a few regions. 323 00:13:30,935 --> 00:13:33,255 Okay, he wanted to go to these couple places. 324 00:13:33,295 --> 00:13:36,495 But now God has opened up a bigger door to a whole continent 325 00:13:36,535 --> 00:13:38,159 for the gospel of Jesus Christ. 326 00:13:38,327 --> 00:13:40,287 And so the Macedonian man wanted help. 327 00:13:40,351 --> 00:13:41,175 What did Paul say? 328 00:13:41,215 --> 00:13:44,055 Do let's bring him the gospel, the best possible help we could ever 329 00:13:44,095 --> 00:13:44,631 have. 330 00:13:44,783 --> 00:13:47,719 And so the greatest help that anyone can bring anybody is the life 331 00:13:47,767 --> 00:13:49,555 changing gospel of Jesus Christ. 332 00:13:50,495 --> 00:13:54,039 So Paul didn't hesitate, the group didn't hesitate. 333 00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:55,743 They answered the call in obedience. 334 00:13:55,799 --> 00:14:01,981 And so this was an example of godly direction, submission, and 335 00:14:02,013 --> 00:14:05,225 ultimately God using them in a great way for the gospel. 336 00:14:05,525 --> 00:14:08,421 And I believe God still calls people to the mission field. 337 00:14:08,613 --> 00:14:10,061 He may call people in different ways. 338 00:14:10,093 --> 00:14:12,949 I believe God calls people for certain ministries within the church. 339 00:14:13,117 --> 00:14:16,661 I believe God calls certain people to stop doing something and 340 00:14:16,693 --> 00:14:18,265 moving on to something else. 341 00:14:18,565 --> 00:14:20,549 And so we don't necessarily know what God's doing. 342 00:14:20,597 --> 00:14:22,821 And we might not know all the ins and outs of the plan that God 343 00:14:22,853 --> 00:14:25,533 has for us in our life, but ultimately what we can do is say, 344 00:14:25,549 --> 00:14:27,437 lord, whatever you say, I'm going to do it. 345 00:14:27,621 --> 00:14:29,349 I remember, I'll never forget. 346 00:14:29,477 --> 00:14:31,413 And I always share this as an example because it's the only time 347 00:14:31,429 --> 00:14:33,157 I made a really big move in my life. 348 00:14:33,301 --> 00:14:38,637 I lived in Florida from before I was born all the way up to when 349 00:14:38,661 --> 00:14:39,825 I moved to Delaware. 350 00:14:40,445 --> 00:14:43,365 And we were praying about where God would have us ultimately. 351 00:14:43,445 --> 00:14:46,045 I'll tell you, I'll be so real with you guys tonight. 352 00:14:46,085 --> 00:14:49,141 My prayer was that I could serve at my home church in Riverview, 353 00:14:49,213 --> 00:14:49,589 Florida. 354 00:14:49,637 --> 00:14:52,421 I was like, man, I want to serve at Providence Baptist Church. 355 00:14:52,573 --> 00:14:54,549 And I'd go to the pastor and I'd say, hey, Pastor. 356 00:14:54,597 --> 00:14:57,141 He was my mentor, Pastor Goforth. 357 00:14:57,213 --> 00:14:58,245 You know, he knows the story. 358 00:14:58,325 --> 00:15:00,997 I would go to him, I'd say, hey, brother, I want to work here. 359 00:15:01,021 --> 00:15:02,981 And he's like, hey, I would love for you to have a place. 360 00:15:03,053 --> 00:15:04,893 I worked there as a Christian school teacher, but I wanted to be 361 00:15:04,909 --> 00:15:05,717 a pastor there. 362 00:15:05,821 --> 00:15:07,813 And he said, hey, that would be great, but we just don't have 363 00:15:07,829 --> 00:15:08,797 an opening right now. 364 00:15:08,901 --> 00:15:11,565 He's like, I can't just make an opening. 365 00:15:11,725 --> 00:15:12,893 We can't afford to do that right now. 366 00:15:12,909 --> 00:15:13,893 And I was like, okay, okay. 367 00:15:13,989 --> 00:15:15,645 And so you know where my next step was. 368 00:15:15,725 --> 00:15:16,717 I really wanted to branch out. 369 00:15:16,741 --> 00:15:19,565 I was like, I'm willing to look for churches in my county. 370 00:15:19,685 --> 00:15:21,749 I was like, so I could still live in the same place. 371 00:15:21,877 --> 00:15:23,261 I'll go everywhere for you, Jesus. 372 00:15:23,293 --> 00:15:25,877 I'll even go across town across the railroad tracks and serve 373 00:15:25,901 --> 00:15:27,413 over there in that side of town. 374 00:15:27,589 --> 00:15:30,757 And there were opportunities, but God just closed those doors. 375 00:15:30,821 --> 00:15:31,837 Nothing worked. 376 00:15:32,021 --> 00:15:35,301 Then I said, okay, if I'm gonna move anywhere, anywhere. 377 00:15:35,493 --> 00:15:36,669 What's similar to Florida? 378 00:15:36,717 --> 00:15:38,357 Well, there's a place called Texas, right? 379 00:15:38,381 --> 00:15:39,221 It's in the South. 380 00:15:39,293 --> 00:15:40,645 You get right around the parallel. 381 00:15:40,685 --> 00:15:42,557 You just go across the Gulf of Mexico. 382 00:15:42,581 --> 00:15:44,213 And I was like, I'll go to Texas, right? 383 00:15:44,309 --> 00:15:44,909 So there's a. 384 00:15:44,957 --> 00:15:47,117 And believe it or not, there was a church in Texas that was talking 385 00:15:47,141 --> 00:15:48,537 to me, and it was like, this all works. 386 00:15:48,561 --> 00:15:49,753 And God closed that door. 387 00:15:49,849 --> 00:15:52,057 You know, one area of the country I didn't say, like, that's 388 00:15:52,081 --> 00:15:53,337 where I want to go. 389 00:15:53,481 --> 00:15:54,633 It was not the Northeast. 390 00:15:54,689 --> 00:15:55,681 It was not the mid Atlantic. 391 00:15:55,713 --> 00:15:57,673 That was never in the forefront of my mind. 392 00:15:57,849 --> 00:16:01,393 But through circumstances and through God's miraculous plan and 393 00:16:01,409 --> 00:16:04,041 through his power, I, you know, saw the doors opening. 394 00:16:04,153 --> 00:16:06,945 And I can tell you it wasn't like, I'm Paul, going immediately. 395 00:16:06,985 --> 00:16:08,089 I'm going to jump right through this. 396 00:16:08,137 --> 00:16:08,913 This is great. 397 00:16:09,049 --> 00:16:10,721 There was a lot of prayer and a lot of struggles. 398 00:16:10,753 --> 00:16:13,201 And I'll never forget the day what. 399 00:16:13,233 --> 00:16:16,835 My parents drove up with us here to Delaware. 400 00:16:17,215 --> 00:16:22,511 And from the moment that I told my dad that we're considering 401 00:16:22,543 --> 00:16:26,183 Delaware, he was like, okay, I support you, and I'm going, like, 402 00:16:26,199 --> 00:16:26,751 what does that mean? 403 00:16:26,783 --> 00:16:27,063 He's not. 404 00:16:27,079 --> 00:16:27,583 He's not. 405 00:16:27,679 --> 00:16:29,943 He seems like he's supporting me, but maybe he's not. 406 00:16:30,079 --> 00:16:35,303 And so then I'll never forget, we were leaving and they were leaving. 407 00:16:35,359 --> 00:16:36,591 They came up here, they drove us up here. 408 00:16:36,623 --> 00:16:38,527 They were going to fly out of Philadelphia Airport. 409 00:16:38,631 --> 00:16:41,055 We were in the parking lot of the hotel there because their flight 410 00:16:41,095 --> 00:16:41,607 got canceled. 411 00:16:41,631 --> 00:16:42,993 They had to stay there at night in the hotel. 412 00:16:43,079 --> 00:16:45,669 I'll never forget, I'm walking away, and that's the moment that, 413 00:16:45,717 --> 00:16:47,117 you know, all the emotions came out. 414 00:16:47,141 --> 00:16:50,317 And my dad, you know, he embraced me, and that was the moment 415 00:16:50,341 --> 00:16:50,949 that was real. 416 00:16:50,997 --> 00:16:53,597 He's like, okay, because we were best friends, right? 417 00:16:53,621 --> 00:16:55,185 We hung out every single day. 418 00:16:56,125 --> 00:16:57,621 And I remember my dad saying something to me. 419 00:16:57,653 --> 00:16:58,397 It meant a lot to me. 420 00:16:58,421 --> 00:16:59,293 He said, you know what? 421 00:16:59,309 --> 00:17:01,933 I never wanted you to go, but I wanted you to be in God's will. 422 00:17:02,029 --> 00:17:03,701 He's like, that's Why I never wanted to hinder you. 423 00:17:03,733 --> 00:17:06,285 He's like, if this was God's will, we wanted you to do this. 424 00:17:06,445 --> 00:17:07,765 But he's like, this isn't easy. 425 00:17:07,805 --> 00:17:10,267 He's like, I don't want this to happen, but if it's God's will, 426 00:17:10,421 --> 00:17:11,755 we're going to support you. 427 00:17:12,135 --> 00:17:15,855 And that showed me a lot about sometimes in our life, it's not always 428 00:17:15,895 --> 00:17:18,439 what we want, but we know that if that's God's plan, we're going 429 00:17:18,447 --> 00:17:18,591 to. 430 00:17:18,623 --> 00:17:20,671 We're going to submit to it, and it's going to be the best plan 431 00:17:20,703 --> 00:17:21,743 that we could ever have. 432 00:17:21,879 --> 00:17:24,119 And folks, I'm going to tell you, there's no regrets in that choice. 433 00:17:24,167 --> 00:17:25,839 There's no regrets in what's going on. 434 00:17:25,927 --> 00:17:27,823 And so what I would tell you here in your life is that there's 435 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:30,127 going to be times where God might pull you to a place that you're 436 00:17:30,151 --> 00:17:31,475 like, I'm not sure. 437 00:17:31,775 --> 00:17:33,807 I'm not sure about Macedonia. 438 00:17:33,831 --> 00:17:35,327 I had a plan to go this way. 439 00:17:35,391 --> 00:17:37,551 I had an expectation to do this for the rest of my life. 440 00:17:37,583 --> 00:17:39,059 God might close that door. 441 00:17:39,207 --> 00:17:40,683 He might take something away. 442 00:17:40,819 --> 00:17:42,907 He might add something to your life that you never expected. 443 00:17:42,971 --> 00:17:44,307 Maybe it's a physical ailment. 444 00:17:44,411 --> 00:17:46,819 Maybe he said, I would have never guessed that I would have to 445 00:17:46,827 --> 00:17:48,211 deal with this in my life. 446 00:17:48,403 --> 00:17:51,955 But yet God has given you that, or at least allowed that to 447 00:17:51,995 --> 00:17:55,051 happen so that you can learn more about him, so that you can be 448 00:17:55,083 --> 00:17:58,015 made weak, so that he can be strong. 449 00:17:58,475 --> 00:17:59,955 And so that's what happened here with Paul. 450 00:17:59,995 --> 00:18:01,295 Paul says, I'm going to go. 451 00:18:01,635 --> 00:18:04,643 And so there was this chance for them to go. 452 00:18:04,699 --> 00:18:08,063 And so now we see another reason why they were forbidden by 453 00:18:08,079 --> 00:18:10,247 the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. 454 00:18:10,431 --> 00:18:14,759 We see a reason why God did not permit them to go to the north. 455 00:18:14,807 --> 00:18:19,111 God wanted Paul and his team to go to Troas to pick up a guy named 456 00:18:19,143 --> 00:18:22,383 Luke, and then for them to receive the vision, for them to go 457 00:18:22,399 --> 00:18:23,519 to Macedonia. 458 00:18:23,687 --> 00:18:26,943 And so Paul probably had no idea of the greatness of God's purpose 459 00:18:26,999 --> 00:18:28,047 in his obedience. 460 00:18:28,191 --> 00:18:32,415 But God wanted to give him the opportunity to obey. 461 00:18:32,495 --> 00:18:34,405 And therefore, what we know is this. 462 00:18:34,535 --> 00:18:37,393 God knows what he's doing when he says no. 463 00:18:37,529 --> 00:18:38,489 He knows it. 464 00:18:38,617 --> 00:18:39,617 He knows what's best for us. 465 00:18:39,641 --> 00:18:42,125 So when God says no, it's the best plan in our life. 466 00:18:42,945 --> 00:18:45,257 Sometimes when we say no, it's not always the best plan. 467 00:18:45,361 --> 00:18:48,817 But when he says no, it's the best plan because it's within his 468 00:18:48,841 --> 00:18:49,313 will. 469 00:18:49,449 --> 00:18:52,049 And I would encourage you to pray about God's plan for your life, 470 00:18:52,097 --> 00:18:55,393 not just here's what I used to do, okay, I'll throw myself in the 471 00:18:55,409 --> 00:18:59,521 ring here so that you guys can use me as a punching bag in the mistakes 472 00:18:59,553 --> 00:19:00,211 that I've made. 473 00:19:00,313 --> 00:19:02,991 I used to say, okay, and I still do struggle with this, Lord, 474 00:19:03,023 --> 00:19:04,231 I'm going to do this. 475 00:19:04,343 --> 00:19:05,639 And then just bless me. 476 00:19:05,767 --> 00:19:07,775 Like, I feel like this is a good thing. 477 00:19:07,855 --> 00:19:09,311 So I'm not going to seek after you. 478 00:19:09,343 --> 00:19:10,639 I'm just going to do this thing. 479 00:19:10,727 --> 00:19:12,999 And then, Lord, because you love me, just bless me. 480 00:19:13,167 --> 00:19:15,855 And yes, does he bless us in spite of our flaws? 481 00:19:15,895 --> 00:19:16,375 Yes. 482 00:19:16,495 --> 00:19:18,911 But that's not really the way to seek after God's will. 483 00:19:19,103 --> 00:19:19,767 What should we do? 484 00:19:19,791 --> 00:19:21,223 We should prayerfully consider things. 485 00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:22,847 We should listen. 486 00:19:23,031 --> 00:19:26,481 Sometimes I've prayed about something and, and then God's very, 487 00:19:26,553 --> 00:19:28,481 made it very evident in my life the answer. 488 00:19:28,513 --> 00:19:31,137 And I've kind of like stiff armed that I've kind of pushed that 489 00:19:31,161 --> 00:19:31,489 away. 490 00:19:31,577 --> 00:19:33,873 Lord, give me a sign, give me a reason, give me a. 491 00:19:33,969 --> 00:19:36,025 And then something very clearly pops up in my life. 492 00:19:36,065 --> 00:19:37,049 Like, okay, there it is. 493 00:19:37,137 --> 00:19:39,297 And then I go, yeah, but like give me another one. 494 00:19:39,401 --> 00:19:40,649 Kind of felt like Gideon, right? 495 00:19:40,737 --> 00:19:41,457 Okay, you see this? 496 00:19:41,481 --> 00:19:41,769 Wonderful. 497 00:19:41,817 --> 00:19:42,329 The fleece. 498 00:19:42,417 --> 00:19:44,001 Now give me it another way. 499 00:19:44,033 --> 00:19:44,297 Right? 500 00:19:44,361 --> 00:19:47,385 And so many times we're looking for something more than what 501 00:19:47,425 --> 00:19:48,425 we really need. 502 00:19:48,545 --> 00:19:51,565 All we need is the word of God in our life to give us that truth. 503 00:19:52,155 --> 00:19:54,787 And so many times I think that we struggle with just, hey, Lord, 504 00:19:54,811 --> 00:19:55,427 this is what you said. 505 00:19:55,451 --> 00:19:56,131 You've closed the door. 506 00:19:56,163 --> 00:19:57,347 Instead of, you know what I do. 507 00:19:57,371 --> 00:20:00,131 I sometimes live in regret or sometimes I live in like, what if, 508 00:20:00,243 --> 00:20:01,451 what if I didn't do this? 509 00:20:01,483 --> 00:20:03,627 Well, the truth is that we'll never know what if. 510 00:20:03,691 --> 00:20:06,347 Truly the truth is that I'm dealing with what I'm dealing with 511 00:20:06,371 --> 00:20:06,507 now. 512 00:20:06,531 --> 00:20:09,491 And God has given me what I've gotten and he's taken away what he's 513 00:20:09,523 --> 00:20:11,715 taken away or he's either allowed this to happen in my life, 514 00:20:11,795 --> 00:20:13,715 therefore I'm going to use this for the best of my ability, 515 00:20:13,755 --> 00:20:15,135 for the cause of the gospel. 516 00:20:16,035 --> 00:20:18,251 So not necessarily always an encouraging thing. 517 00:20:18,283 --> 00:20:20,335 Hey, you're going to get closed doors in your life. 518 00:20:21,785 --> 00:20:24,325 You know, God might say no to you. 519 00:20:24,625 --> 00:20:27,489 God might reject your agenda, but you know what? 520 00:20:27,577 --> 00:20:28,825 His agenda is better. 521 00:20:28,985 --> 00:20:30,785 He's got a bigger plan for your life. 522 00:20:30,945 --> 00:20:35,385 You don't know who is going to be affected for the gospel of Jesus 523 00:20:35,425 --> 00:20:38,845 Christ when you feel rejection, when you have a hindrance. 524 00:20:39,225 --> 00:20:42,441 And so instead of seeing it as a roadblock, see it as a detour to 525 00:20:42,473 --> 00:20:43,885 God's path in your life. 526 00:20:44,265 --> 00:20:47,579 You ever had GPS out and the GPS was telling you. 527 00:20:47,667 --> 00:20:49,083 Some of you might say, I don't use a gps. 528 00:20:49,139 --> 00:20:49,891 I don't trust the thing. 529 00:20:49,923 --> 00:20:51,203 Like, I understand, okay? 530 00:20:51,339 --> 00:20:53,139 But some of us rely on that in life. 531 00:20:53,267 --> 00:20:56,539 So you get to get to a place and you know, it says, turn here, 532 00:20:56,587 --> 00:20:58,787 but you know enough to say like, that that's not right. 533 00:20:58,891 --> 00:21:00,411 And so you go, I'm gonna go to another way. 534 00:21:00,483 --> 00:21:01,123 And you go another way. 535 00:21:01,139 --> 00:21:02,939 And he goes, recalculating, recalculating. 536 00:21:02,987 --> 00:21:03,571 It's freaking out. 537 00:21:03,603 --> 00:21:04,475 It's like, turn around. 538 00:21:04,515 --> 00:21:05,187 You turn right. 539 00:21:05,251 --> 00:21:06,675 That's sometimes how God works in our life. 540 00:21:06,715 --> 00:21:08,363 Like, he's telling us, let's go right? 541 00:21:08,499 --> 00:21:10,323 And you go, no, but I got a better plan over here. 542 00:21:10,339 --> 00:21:12,101 And he says, you know, wake up. 543 00:21:12,173 --> 00:21:13,069 You're going the wrong way. 544 00:21:13,117 --> 00:21:13,781 Do a U turn. 545 00:21:13,853 --> 00:21:15,421 And that's God's working in our life. 546 00:21:15,453 --> 00:21:16,565 And sometimes that's what's gonna happen. 547 00:21:16,605 --> 00:21:17,781 Sometimes it's conviction. 548 00:21:17,893 --> 00:21:19,221 Sometimes he's changing our direction. 549 00:21:19,253 --> 00:21:20,421 Sometimes he's saying, hey, you know what? 550 00:21:20,453 --> 00:21:21,109 That's not right. 551 00:21:21,197 --> 00:21:24,229 Maybe sometimes God does allow a struggle in our life to get us 552 00:21:24,317 --> 00:21:27,333 awake for what's going on, what we need to change in our life. 553 00:21:27,469 --> 00:21:31,733 And so Paul was obedient in the first rejection, in the second 554 00:21:31,789 --> 00:21:34,981 rejection, and he was obedient in the third direction to go to Macedonia. 555 00:21:35,013 --> 00:21:37,773 And we see God do wonderful things to the life of Paul through 556 00:21:37,789 --> 00:21:41,255 the life of Luke, through the life of Silas, through the life of 557 00:21:41,295 --> 00:21:42,687 this whole missionary journey. 558 00:21:42,791 --> 00:21:46,599 And we know that ultimately the Macedonian Christians are a blessing 559 00:21:46,647 --> 00:21:47,103 to Paul. 560 00:21:47,159 --> 00:21:49,631 And we're going to actually learn about them in Second Corinthians, 561 00:21:49,823 --> 00:21:51,415 when we get to Second Corinthians, chapter 8. 562 00:21:51,455 --> 00:21:55,047 Paul uses the Macedonians as an example for grace givers, people 563 00:21:55,071 --> 00:21:57,055 that are giving out the graciousness of their heart. 564 00:21:57,215 --> 00:21:59,279 And so you see how it all ties together. 565 00:21:59,327 --> 00:22:02,783 It's a wonderful thing that God had a plan for Paul, even if 566 00:22:02,799 --> 00:22:04,915 he didn't understand that at that moment. 567 00:22:05,305 --> 00:22:06,993 So we're going to see a lady. 568 00:22:07,089 --> 00:22:09,401 We'll come back next week, and we're going to see a lady named Lydia 569 00:22:09,553 --> 00:22:14,729 who there in Macedonia is converted and is baptized. 570 00:22:14,857 --> 00:22:17,537 And we're going to see eventually, hey, everything's going 571 00:22:17,561 --> 00:22:17,769 well. 572 00:22:17,817 --> 00:22:18,001 No. 573 00:22:18,033 --> 00:22:20,121 Paul and Silas are beaten and jailed. 574 00:22:20,313 --> 00:22:23,057 But then we see that while they're in jail, they don't just 575 00:22:23,081 --> 00:22:23,801 sit there and pout. 576 00:22:23,873 --> 00:22:25,809 The prison keeper is converted. 577 00:22:25,977 --> 00:22:28,977 And then we see that ultimately there's more and more 578 00:22:29,001 --> 00:22:31,025 of God's hand working through them in their life. 579 00:22:31,065 --> 00:22:33,105 And so I encourage you to see this story. 580 00:22:33,225 --> 00:22:37,953 Not just as a story, not just as a fictional, you know, story that 581 00:22:37,969 --> 00:22:41,297 you can read and enjoy, but really an example for how we should 582 00:22:41,321 --> 00:22:44,485 live our lives as Christians to follow in the spirit of God. 583 00:22:45,385 --> 00:22:47,969 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 584 00:22:48,017 --> 00:22:48,761 podcast. 585 00:22:48,913 --> 00:22:50,273 I hope that this sermon has been. 586 00:22:50,289 --> 00:22:51,485 A blessing for you. 587 00:22:51,825 --> 00:22:52,961 If you would like to find out. 588 00:22:52,993 --> 00:22:55,273 More information about our church or this sermon, you can find 589 00:22:55,289 --> 00:22:57,821 us at middletownbaptistchurch.org. 590 00:22:57,993 --> 00:23:00,705 Or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 591 00:23:01,165 --> 00:23:05,629 You can also email me directly at joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch 592 00:23:05,677 --> 00:23:08,397 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast. 593 00:23:08,541 --> 00:23:13,185 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates. 594 00:23:13,565 --> 00:23:14,677 Thank you so much. 595 00:23:14,821 --> 00:23:15,653 God Bless. 596 00:23:15,789 --> 00:23:16,805 Have a wonderful day.