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The Second Missionary Journey
By
Rev. Todd W. Allen
9/11/05 Villa Rica
Acts 16: 1-10
As Paul began his second missionary journey he started out with Silas.
When they got to Lystra he met a believer named Timothy. Timothy had a
Greek father and a Jewish mother. His mother was a Christian and Timothy
was well recommended by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. It is a fine
thing when a young person wins the respect and recommendation of other
people.
We who are older find
youth very attractive because we realize they have their lives before
them with so much promise. It is a grand thing when a young person turns
to Christ and sets his or her heart to serve the Lord. There is so much
promise in that, so much hope for a young life turned to God.
Paul must have seen in
Timothy a great future. Older ministers know that they must train
younger men to carry on the work. Each generation must pass on the torch
of Christ to the next generation. Here is a perfect example in scripture
of on-the-job training of a young minister by an older and more
experienced minister.
Paul wanted to take
Timothy with him in the work.
And because of the fact that his father was Greek
Pau1 circumcised Timothy.
This sounds like a
reversal of Paul’s position and a denial of the Jerusalem Council
decision that had just been rendered that had settled this issue at
Jerusalem. The Council declared that Gentiles who became believers did
not need to be circumcised. Paul had been explaining and instructing
about this decision to the church at Antioch. So why would Paul
circumcise Timothy? The answer is simple. Paul wanted Timothy to be able
to help him in the work with both Jews and Gentiles. Timothy was not a
full-blooded Jew. He was half Jewish and half Gentile. He would have had
no effective ministry to Jews unless he was circumcised. Only as a
circumcised Jew would he be acceptable to the Jewish believers. He had a
partial advantage in being born of a Jewish mother, which to the Jews
would qualify him to be a Jew, provided he were circumcised. But without
circumcision he was merely a half-breed, neither Jew nor Gentile in the
fullest sense of the term, but by being circumcised he could claim all
the rights and privileges of the noble race and he would not jeopardize
his credentials in the slightest with Gentile Christians. In fact being
a Jew in the early church must have been a distinct advantage. It would
mark a man off as being of the nation to whom Christ came and for which
he suffered and died. Paul was not compromising his theology by having
Timothy circumcised; It was simply wisdom to do it in Timothy's case.
I am not sure that this would be as
important today: I can only imagine the response of the average Jewish
person. As far as I can tell this case is unique in the New Testament. I
am not aware of any other case in the New Testament of a half Jewish
person such as Timothy being circumcised in order to further the cause
of the gospel.
Undoubtedly, this was a
unique situation. Judaism was destined to pass away. This was that
twilight period before God brought down the curtain on the Mosaic
economy and Jewish temple procedure.
In verses 4 and 5 we read
4Now while they were passing through the cities, they were
delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and
elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. 5So the
churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in
number daily.
The edict of the
Jerusalem Council was beneficial to the growth of the Gentile churches.
The gospel of grace is the means of establishing churches solidly in the
truth of God’s salvation. It was not legalistic rules but the word of
the Lord and the love and forgiveness of Christ that brought an increase
in Christianity.
We make Christianity
wither and wilt when we impose difficult and unpalatable rules and
regulations upon people. New converts need lots of Bible study and lots
of positive encouragement, but the yoke of legalism under whatever name
it comes, does not supply the dynamic for growth that is needed.
The more we understand the doctrines of
grace the more we prosper and the more joy we have. We want to share the
good news with others. Negative rules turn people off while a positive,
soul saving gospel turns people on.
We go on to read in
verses 6 and 7 that
They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7and
after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the
Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.
Jesus had told his
disciples to go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every
creature. Why then did the Spirit of God forbid them to go to Asia with
the Gospel? We are not told; yet God had a reason for fencing in Paul on
his second missionary journey. Perhaps we should not make more of this
than that Paul's particular ministry was not to go in that direction. It
may be that God sent other preachers instead of Paul to Asia. Perhaps
God chose Paul as the best man for the job in Europe and that it was not
possible for him to go to both Asia and Europe. But we could wonder
about why the Lord has deliberately told us of his mind in this
instance. He could have left his mind unknown to us and not let it be
recorded in scripture. But Luke records that the Holy Spirit blocked
Paul from going to Asia. God wanted the Church to know something,
namely, that at that particular moment in history Paul was forbidden to
go to Asia and directed to Europe instead.
Consider church history
-- that for many centuries Asia was almost entirely unevangelized. This
would include China, Japan, Korea, India and Pakistan. It would include
the Philippines and other islands of the pacific that were not given the
gospel for many centuries and it can be traced back to this most
significant directive of the Holy Spirit.
God makes his timetables
thousands of years in advance. The early church did not reach Asian
people or for that matter most parts of the earth right away. The
European nations were first among the gentiles to receive the gospel.
It may be improper to
speculate or make more of this incident in the life of the apostle Paul
than is stated in scripture. Nevertheless, it is a fact that in the
first century the Holy Spirit expressly forbade the missionary party to
go to Asia. And we can look at nearly 2,000 years of church history
since that time and see that not until comparatively recent times have
Asiatic people begun to be evangelized to any great extent. Japan is a
case in point. They have had missionaries for quite some time and still
only have a Christian population of ½ of 1%, if that much.
But now we see Africa and China having a
surge of Christian growth. The largest Presbyterian Church in the world
is in South Korea. On the other hand we see European nations on the
decline. We see Christianity gaining converts almost everywhere but in
Europe and near Eastern countries where the gospel first went forth.
There is persistent persecution against Christianity today, just as
there was in the first century beginning at Jerusalem and then in the
entire Roman Empire. But the church seems now as then to thrive in the
midst of persecution.
Please take note in this passage of
Scripture that God directs his servants by his providence. We are not
told how Paul and his mission team were forbidden to go to Asia. There
may have been any one of a number of factors that prevented their going.
But they recognized the Spirit's restraint. It is possible God may have
spoken in some verbal way, but usually God speaks to us through
providence and confirms it by His Spirit. Christ tells us to watch and
pray.
Bob Mumford, in
Take Another Look at Guidance, compares discovering God's will
with a sea captain's docking procedure:
A certain harbor in
Italy can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel between
dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have been
wrecked, and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into
port, three lights have been mounted on three huge poles in the harbor.
When the three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship
can safely proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three
lights, he knows he's off course and in danger.
God has also provided
three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply--the three
lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. The three
harbor lights of guidance are: 1. The Word of God (objective standard)
2. The Holy Spirit (subjective witness) 3. Circumstances (divine
providence). Together they assure us that the directions we've received
are from God and will lead us safely along his way.
-- Gregory Asimakoupoulos, Concord, California. Leadership, Vol. 6, no.
4.
We have a saying in
Presbyterian circles that I like very much. It is if the way be
clear. When a motion is made it may have attached to it that a
certain thing be done if the way be clear, that is, if
there are no obvious obstacles to the carrying out of the action.
And who is it that makes
the way clear or cloudy? God can open a way where there is no way. He
can open and close doors. He is the sovereign Ruler who directs and
manages his world according to his will and timetable. We ought to
always remember that when something doesn’t work out just say to
yourself: God overruled it for it for my good. It may be that he
has something much better in mind and all you need to do is trust him.
At other times we find
sudden, excellent opportunities that we hadn't even prayed for. We
should redeem the time making the best possible use of our time and
opportunities, trusting the Lord to lead, guide, direct and to rule and
overrule.
This Scripture also
impresses me with the fact that God has a definite timetable for each
and every life. Paul had freedom to choose his route of travel. He
apparently went whithersoever he wanted to go; yet we are taught here
that there is an overruling hand that directs us better than we know.
This is certainly true
for the dedicated believer. The scripture says,
The steps of a good man are ordered by the
Lord, And He delights in
his way. 31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide. 38 But the transgressors shall
be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off. Psa.
37:23, 31, 38 (NKJV)
As this scripture from the Psalm 37 says, the righteous
man is providentially led but the wicked man is on a downward road that
leads to hell. He may be choosing his steps but the end of his steps is
death and doom. How much better to be a Christian and rejoice that God
is directing your steps?
We may not know for
certain why the Lord did not permit Paul to go to Asia; but we can
certainly know that it was for a good and necessary reason. Our
instruction from this episode is to seek to be in God's will, asking him
to direct us by his providence into that place where he wants us to be.
Any Christian who is sincerely and conscientiously trying to do God’s
will will surely be directed of the Lord day by day to fulfill his
destiny.
But let me apply this
message to each of us today. There is a great need today to help the
hurting and hurricane displaced people of Louisiana, Alabama and
Mississippi. We can help with money, materials and possibly by our own
personal availability to go and help in some way. I am sure that all of
us want to help Katrina victims in some way if we can. The hurricane
that struck those states created a great need and I believe America is
rising to meet that need.
But above and beyond the
obvious need we all recognize of the Katrina victims there is the need
to be obedient to the Great Commission of Christ. Paul and his mission
team spent their time doing the greatest work of all. They spent their
lives spreading the saving message of the gospel wherever they were
permitted to go.
Every Christian should be
involved in the effort to spread the gospel. We may not all personally
go to a mission field but we all are called to be involved on the
mission enterprise by giving to and by praying for the success of the
mission enterprise of the Church.
Oswald Chambers once
said, If I am a Christian, I am not set on saving my own skin, but on
seeing that the salvation of God comes through me to others, and the
great way is by intercession.
This is excellent counsel to all
Christrians. Do we receive it today? You won’t receive it unless you
already belong to Christ. Is he your Savior today? Come to him and
receive his great salvation by repenting of your sins and trusting him
as your Lord and Savior. Then you will surely be willing to obey his
command to go into all the world with his saving gospel that saved you.
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The paper and sermon manuscripts from
Pastor
Todd W. Allen
are made freely available for review and
distribution. We only request that proper
web page attribution be provided if
distributed for any reason. Please be
gracious to forgive typos and errors of
expression. These notes are faithful
approximations of what has been preached.
May God be glorified in the preaching of
His Word. |