The reason we know the Holy Spirit didn't tell Paul why is because he keeps going in verse 7. When they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. You get the frustration here and the words here? They're trying to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. We don't know how? But can you see Paul kind of turning all the doorknobs in Asia Minor?
They're locked! He's confused and frustrated, but isn't it great to know that even the great apostle at some point in his life didn't know what the will of God was? Has God ever halted your plans?
Of course He has. We've all experienced situations where we had an idea or a dream or a plan, but God had another path in mind. Our plans were halted.
What should we do when that happens? It can be a painful time when doors close on us, especially when we're convinced about something. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Today, Stephen continues through his Vintage Wisdom series out of the book of Acts. You're going to be reminded that the same God who orders your steps also orders your stops.
Here's Stephen Davey with today's lesson. Acts chapter 16, everything, and I'll tell you ahead of time, is going along as you would think it would go along as you read the book of Acts and study the life of Paul. This is the great apostle. Every door before him would swing open. Every opportunity for ministry would be magnified and multiplied. This is the guy that we have come to know as the greatest apostle, as the greatest missionary certainly who ever lived.
And so it starts that way. Verse 1, and he came also to Derby. This is his second missionary journey here, by the way, into Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer. But his father was a Greek, the way this is constructed originally implies that his father was an unbeliever. And he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man, young man, to go with him. Now for the moment here, let's pause because there's a layover here in Lystra. And while Paul is here, he's reunited with believers who'd come to faith during his first missionary journey to Lystra.
You were with us in our study of a few chapters ago. This was the town, you may remember, where Paul and Barnabas were mistakenly identified as being Zeus and Hermes, two gods of the Greek pantheon. Rather than put on their tank tops and flax, they just admitted to the rather disappointed crowd that they were just ordinary men. They weren't gods.
The crowd was so disappointed that ultimately they turned against them and stoned Paul and left him for dead. It was in this same town where some had come to faith in Christ, including a woman named Eunice and her mother named Lois. Eunice and Lois had already been committed to Judaism because they had taught their young son the law. And when they came to faith, no doubt they taught him all that there was about the Gospel.
In fact, in 2 Timothy, Paul will refer to the fact that Timothy, as he said, you have known the sacred writings from the time of your youth. And that is a credit to his mother. Married to an unbeliever, there was evidently some point in her life when she violated her covenant as a Jewess and married a Greek. But somehow in her heart, turned to submission toward her god, she began to try to redeem that time by investing her life into her little boy and teaching him the sacred gramata, the sacred writings.
I say all of that to encourage anybody here as a single mother. I say that to encourage anybody here who's married to an unbeliever, especially women married to unbelieving men or married to a believer who doesn't act as a believer and provides no spiritual leadership whatsoever. You may wonder, does that automatically mean that your children are without hope or future value to the service of God?
Well, far from it. Maybe you could pray the prayer that Eunice probably prayed often, Lord, give my son eventually some spiritual leader, some godly man who will invest himself to pick up where I can only leave off. And God ultimately answers that prayer, although it is later in his life and to his late teens when he finally meets the Apostle Paul that God answers that prayer. So Timothy is invited to join the team, Timothy's unbelieving father had evidently allowed mom to teach the little boy Old Testament law. He had evidently dug in his heels and said, look, you can teach him that stuff, but he will not be circumcised. He will not bear the mark of the covenant of your people.
I'm stopping it at that point. And so when Paul invites Timothy to go along, we have this problem, he hasn't been circumcised, which means that the Jews will not give him an audience. He would never be allowed in the synagogue to teach, preach.
The Jews would never entrust their young ones to this young man to teach without having submitted to the covenant sign. You remember the church is still reeling from this divisive issue, right? What do you think Paul's solution would be? I guarantee you if we were Paul, we probably would have done exactly the opposite because you notice in the middle part of verse three what Paul does, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts for they all knew that his father was a Greek. Wait a second, we spent a couple of weeks, didn't we, plowing around that circumcision was not necessary for salvation and all of that? Well, there are many authors that criticize Paul here, considering him to have compromised that position that he took after standing up to the Jews by allowing the Gentiles to join the church without becoming physically Jews. Now he seems to compromise by circumcising Timothy.
In fact, the text implies that he personally performed that operation. Let me say this, Paul was not opposed to circumcision. He was opposed to the belief that circumcision was necessary for salvation. And while circumcision was not important for Timothy's salvation, it was important for Timothy's what?
Ministry. And so he followed this Old Testament ritual, which had nothing to do with his salvation, but it opened doors for his ministry. Now Timothy would be welcomed in synagogues.
They would recognize his bloodline through his mother, and they would now recognize his submission to the covenant. And even though it had nothing to do with the church, it opened doors of ministry. Now verse four, now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the dogmatah, the decrees or resolutions, which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem for them to observe. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily. Well this again is rather typical of Paul, this kind of ministry we'd expect to hear from him, right? New recruits for ministry, new people added to the churches, teaching, preaching, growth, development, the old church saying, you evangelize or fossilize.
Well he certainly isn't going to fossilize, he doesn't stand still long enough to gather dust. This is the apostle Paul we know and love. Lead the way.
It's about to change. Verse six, and they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. Now wait a second, what do you mean the Holy Spirit forbade Paul from speaking the word in Asia?
Don't they need to hear the word in Asia? Do you mean to tell me that Paul has been told to avoid the entire portion of the continent we know as Asia Minor? Paul, go ahead through this, five, six hundred miles of Asia Minor, and you cannot speak. This is what you could call the sovereignty of God in the process of evangelism.
We think little of it today. The sovereign strategy of a sovereign God in deciding who will hear and who will not. He avoids this continent, why? Because in the mind of God, we'll let you in on a little secret here, he didn't want Paul to go into Asia, he didn't want Paul to go east. He wants Paul to go west. He wants Paul to go to what we know as Europe, and I for one benefited from that decision by the grace of God, my forefathers heard. I would love to know how the Holy Spirit forbade Paul, but I bet it took iron on his mouth and locks not to speak.
Better yet, I would love to know why, all the reasons. For that matter, Paul, if we'd like to know, what do you think Paul would like to know? I'm on my second missionary journey, Lord, bags are packed, we've got all the pamphlets and everything we need. Well let's try this over here, maybe God would be pleased over here and they go over this direction and God cuts it short. We're not told how the Holy Spirit did this. We only know that the Holy Spirit did not allow any open doors in Asia Minor.
Now just let that settle in. The reason the Holy Spirit didn't is he is backing Paul into a frustrating corner where he will ultimately reveal to Paul, you're not to go east, you're to go west, there's another continent that needs to begin to hear the gospel of Christ, and it is Europe. So the reason we know the Holy Spirit didn't tell Paul why is because he keeps going in verse 7. When they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. You get the frustration here and the words used? They're trying to go into Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. We don't know how? By the way, there's a great passage for the deity of Christ, the Holy Spirit now is called the Spirit of Jesus. But can you see Paul kind of turning all the doorknobs in Asia Minor?
They're locked. He's confused and frustrated. This is different than anything he's ever experienced along with the other missionary party. But isn't it great, let's stop just a moment to know that even the great apostle at some point in his life didn't know what the will of God was?
That's comforting. Sorry, Paul, but I take great encouragement from that. Paul wanted to go east and God locked the doors even before Paul knew which door was open. One author writes it this way as he applies, in our lives God will sometimes shut down an exciting ministry or allow obstacles in our paths.
We can identify with this, can't we? We can't imagine why God would shut some of the doors that he does, so we try harder. But when Jesus Christ closes a door, he merely has his sights on something better.
Something around the bend we can't see yet. For Paul, that something was Europe. Paul had planned to evangelize Asia, but for now Asia was merely God's hallway for his men to pass through. And along the way they tried the doorknobs and tested the locks, but no doors opened until they reached the very end of the corridor.
Good word picture. At the end of that corridor was the westernmost tip of Asia Minor, a city called Troas. The place where Paul eventually reached, it was a difficult journey taking months, it was five to six hundred miles, and all the way down this corridor they're attempting different things and they're cut short, they're forbidden. The Spirit of Jesus won't allow the Gospel to come from their lips.
You can't imagine how frustrating that must have been for this eminent missionary whose life passion was the Gospel. Now they end up on this territory known as Troas, it's situated on the edge of the Aegean Sea, but that tells you geographically in your mind you just picture this dead end. Nothing but the water between them and another continent.
There's nowhere else to go, they've tried going north, south, and east, and now there's nothing to do but limp into Troas and find some shelter and get some sleep. Now notice verse eight. In passing by Mysia they came down to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. This is not a dream, ladies and gentlemen, this is a supernatural vision.
God designs the hologram, as it were. Paul awake and conscious, witnesses this apparition and it is a man, and the text tells us, from Macedonia. We're not told how Paul knew he was from Macedonia, maybe read letters behind the man and said Macedonia blinking on and off.
Very clear to him, though. And this man is appealing, this is a deep emotional word, come over and help us. You can kind of imagine that his arms would be outstretched as he pled, come over and help us. How do you think Paul would respond after that? Like you think he would. Verse ten, when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Now finally light breaks and it's clear. You know some things about this passage strike me as I tried to climb into Paul's sandals.
Let me give you three of them. Some of the observations related to God's timing. First of all, you notice here that God did not tell Paul, whenever Paul started on his journey where Paul was going to end up. Paul didn't know that. He didn't know when he started his journey where he was going to end up. Some of you never dreamed Carrie would be on your map of life, right?
You're here. Second Paul was repeatedly hindered from what he wanted to do without being told why. It's like Abraham in Hebrews 11 verse 8, he went out not knowing where he was going. How many of you would live like that? Maybe you're having to right now. Third Paul was subjected to physical and emotional challenges without knowing how long the ordeal would last. Boy, that's one of the tougher parts of the problem, isn't it? It'd be great if the Lord said, no, Stephen, we're going to put you through this particular issue that's going to take you three months.
I can do that. I can watch my calendar and hang on. But he doesn't tell us either, does he? Can I suggest some things to do while you wait where you find yourself at this dead end, no answers, frustration, closed doors, weariness? Let's apply this passage three ways. Number one, while you wait, begin by giving God the right to take his time. Now I say that tongue in cheek because God has the right whether you give it to him or not, right? But there's something to the fact that when you're in the corner and the lights are out, there's a dead end, you don't know what's next, that you consciously, maybe even verbally alone with God say, Lord, I know that you have the right over my life and the timing related to everything and I just want to afresh that commitment to you.
I submit to your right. Like the little legend of the guy who was given an audience with the Lord, he had a lot of questions. One of the questions he finally asked him was, Lord, how long is a million years to you? And the Lord said, oh, that's just a second.
That explains some things. He thought a little bit longer and he said, well, Lord, how much is a million dollars to you? The Lord said, oh, that's just a nickel. He thought a while and then with a little grin he said, well, Lord, how about giving me one of your nickels? The Lord said, sure, it'll be there in just a second.
Our values, our timing, our thoughts are not his. And I want to show you something here because had Paul stubbornly resisted the Holy Spirit and refused to continue journeying but to maintain ministry in Asia Minor, it's what I was called to do, I'm going to do it, I'm staying, Lord. Well, I want you to notice something in verse 10. Would you look there again, there's a little word that you ought to circle. It's a word that has a volume behind it. It's the little word we, W-E. Now this is a shift. This is the first time in the book of Acts that you have something personal from the author.
And you know what happens? The author of Acts has suddenly slipped into the story casually, humbly. He lets the readers know that he is now part of the drama before it's been they and them and Paul did this and the church and now all of a sudden it's we, oh, Luke is part of this. In fact, there are three times four, depending on how you outline the book, what they call we passages, where Luke is involved as a traveling companion of Paul. Now we know from other scripture that Luke was indeed this medical doctor and he was a traveling companion of Paul. In fact, in Paul's near the end of his life as he is waiting execution, he's in a Roman dungeon and he writes to his son in the faith, this young boy that he adopted and mentored. He said, Timothy, I'm alone, come to me, bring John Mark with you. I want you to know that only Luke is with me.
The implication is that Luke voluntarily incarcerated himself so that in that dungeon he could care for this person that had become, beginning at Troas, his dear friend. Well, I'd like to know, was Luke a believer when they met at the second trip? Was his practice in Troas or was he traveling through? How did he meet Paul and the only thing that you can do is guess and you paid me to do that all week so I've got some guesses here. Actually what I want to do from researching this is read you a wonderful guess from an expositor that lived 100 years ago named F.B. Meyer, one of my favorite authors.
He sort of pulls some clues together and then he makes his best guess a wonderful thought. Had Paul stayed months in the marketplaces of Asia, Europe might never have heard the Gospel. However, and this is most important, this difficult march of five to 600 miles over and through inhospitable territory would have exhausted the already physically frail Paul. The rugged terrain and high plateaus through which the missionary party traveled on their way to Troas would require some sort of medical attention once they arrived. Perhaps Timothy went in search of a doctor and he found Luke and when he did he made history. If the young doctor came to visit the needy traveler he would talk with a patient, possibly returning several times. It's not too much to believe that the impact of Paul's personality and the thrilling quality of his Gospel message brought that physician to faith in Christ. It wasn't long before he heard of Paul's instructions to continue his journey.
His new friend would most certainly be taxed to the limit. The inviting frontiers of Europe were both thrilling and menacing. There was a prison in Philippi and mobs in that city. What would this wonderful man do if his spirit and body were broken? The more Dr. Luke considered these frightening possibilities, perhaps the more insistent became a whisper within his soul. Could there be a place for a doctor in that brave little group of Christian warriors? Could he preach with his hands while Paul preached with his voice? Could he visit the sick and the aged in the churches while his famous companions stood in the synagogues to proclaim the master's message?
We have no way of knowing if these questions troubled the physician. We only know that when Paul and his companions went to the dock to board their ship bound for Europe, they were thrilled to see that doctor bag in hand, hurrying to join their party. What happened in Troas? Well, it was a dead end. But Paul, by patiently waiting and submitting to the frustrating will of God, made a lifelong friend by the name of Luke. Second, believe by faith that God desires for you to discover his will. When you were saved, God didn't brush off his hands and say, there, that does it. I'm finished with him or her. Now run along and I'll see you when you get home to heaven. That'd be like taking a young man who's just made a decision to be a pilot and immediately placing him in the cockpit of a 757 and saying, congratulations on your decision to be in a pilot. Have a nice flight.
Well, God didn't say congratulations on your decision to becoming my child. Now do the best you can. Paul himself will later encourage the Colossian church as we need encouraging that it is God's will for them to be filled up with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And one of those ways of wisdom operating in our lives is understanding that his will involves places like Troas, dead ends, and the journey that got you there without any answers provided. Third, be sure to look at your stops from three different angles. Number one, look up from your knees. This is the vantage point of prayer. More than anything, the best thing about kneeling and praying with your head resting on a closed door that just won't open is that God finally gets your attention. During those moments of desperation and dependency, we're told that if any man lacks wisdom, let him or her ask of God who, who what, who gives liberally and doesn't rebuke you for asking.
So ask. The trouble is we put God on a timetable. We turn the little hourglass and we say, okay, Lord, by the time that sand gets to the bottom, now answer it.
You have to throw those away. Be sure, secondly, to look carefully at the word. This is viewing it through the lens of scripture. Make sure that your dilemma is not violating the word of God. Maybe you're where you are because you have been violating his word. Make sure that you're not doing something that the word would not endorse. Make sure you're praying about and a door to be opened that would only allow you to further your commitment to Jesus Christ and his church and to your family.
Don't act as your intro as, as if you're some kind of exception. Get out the manual while you're waiting, try studying, try meditating. While your back is against the wall, is your Bible open? Third, look around for the wise. This allows you to view it through the lens of godly counsel.
They will help you interpret circumstances and frustrations. Solomon said that in a multitude of godly counselors implied there is safety. So make sure that when you're seeking counsel, you're not getting it from the guy down the hallway whose life is already shattered, who probably has an answer for you. Make sure that it isn't some relatives, you know, that you go seeking counsel from and their life is in total disarray, but they certainly have the answer to your situation. Seek it from godly counsel. And then remember that before the Lord can turn us around, sometimes he has to completely stop us.
And those potholes in the racetrack and those obstacles that cause you to swerve and sweat, they're all part of the process. And the process is as critical as the destination, whether it is Europe or Asia Minor, whether it is this door or that door. It is the process of going through the door that is just as important as walking through it. So now that God has your attention, fully give it to him.
Better yet, fully give yourself to him so that you will be prepared and ready to act whenever the answer is given. What a powerful reminder for today. You've been listening to Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. I hope today's lesson has blessed and encouraged you today. We publish a devotional magazine called Heart to Heart. Each month, Stephen tackles a different topic to help you understand what the Bible says and how it applies to your life. We offer this resource as a gift to our Wisdom partners, and we also send three issues as a gift to anyone who requests it. Sign up at wisdomonline.org, where you'll find a link on the homepage. Join us next time to discover more Wisdom for the Heart.
