Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts divided into 6 parts

each part an account of growth and spread of the church as the Apostles and disciples fulfilled the Great Commission by the enabling of the HS

Acts 1:1 - 6:7 - birth of church at Jerusalem with a focus on the preaching of Peter

Acts 6:8 - 9:31 - spread from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and Galilee

Acts 9:32 - 12:24 - conversion of Paul - explosion of church as it spreads to Gentiles

Acts 12:25 - 16:5 - church in Asia Minor and Galatia

Acts 16:6 - 19:20 - extension of church further west

Acts 19:21 to end - Paul’s final ministries and spread of gospel to Rome

Acts is a record of the relentless spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome, the capital city of the Roman Empire and the centre of Satan’s dominion.

accomplished through 12 ordinary men who had been trained by the Son of God who had been rejected and crucified by his own people

270 years later Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman Empire

how was this possible?

Paul’s declaration,

the Word of God is inspired by the HS (2 Tim 3:16), as such it is living and abiding (1 Pet 1:23) and it is powerful (Heb 4:12)

Acts a record of the triumph of the Word of God as it was carried by the Apostles and the disciples to the ends of the earth

it is continuing it’s victorious march through time and to the uttermost parts of the earth bringing into the Kingdom of God an innumerable host of people from every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation

it is why we are hear this morning

It is through the Word that we are saved, it is through the Word that we grow and it is through the Word that we are more than conquerors and over-comers as we continue to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

today we will witness how the HS directed his witnesses to a woman in whom he had been working

we will see the HS overcoming the hard and sinful heart of a successful business woman through the power of his Word

The Gospel Delayed

forbidden = prevented, held back, to stop, restrain

Paul and Silas wanted to preach the Gospel in these areas but the HS said “not here, not now”.

note v.7 where Luke gives more clarity saying, “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”

it was Jesus himself through his Holy Spirit who kept Paul and Silas back from preaching in these areas

it was not Jesus’ will that the Gospel be preached in that area at that time

this is hard for us to understand knowing that apart from hearing the gospel there is no salvation,

how do we reconcile this with 2 Pet 3:9?

in his letters Peter is writing to persecuted believers encouraging them to persevere to the end

3:1 - “I am writing to you, beloved”

3:8 - “do not overlook this one fact, beloved”

their enemies were scoffing at their belief the Lord would return

reminds them the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises

if he does appear to be slow it is so that everyone chosen for salvation should come to repentance

an encouragement to persecuted believers that the end will not come until all the elect are gathered into the Kingdom of God

Conclusion:

God is patient toward pre-believers, or the unsaved elect, not wanting any of them to perish, but that all whom he has chosen (the elect), come to repentance.

compare this to Acts 18:10

Though the Corinthians had not yet been saved they were God’s people because he had chosen them.

(Acts 18:10)

what about 1 Tim 2:3-6?

if God desires all people to be saved but Jesus withholds the gospel from some for a a time there appears to be a contradiction

if there are contradictions in the bible then it cannot be trusted and neither can we trust the one who wrote it and we might as well not be here but on the beach or cutting the grass

how then do we reconcile these two statements which appear to contradict each other?

general truth:

Since God is sovereign over all people (Lam 3:37-38) if he wanted all people to be saved they would be.

the question then is not about God’s ability to do as he pleases but over the meaning of “all people”

since “all people” cannot mean “every single individual” it must therefore mean all kinds of people

is this conclusion justified?

v.2 tells us who the “all people” are: kings and those in high positions

if we want to expand the “all people” it might include all who have an influence on our ability as believers to lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way

would include all who have the power to make our lives miserable: neighbours, co-workers, bosses, teachers

[also note passages like Jn 12:19 where “all the world” is used of a much smaller group of people]

so it is in v.6: where Paul says that Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all

if Jesus’ perfect and sinless life was indeed a ransom payment for every single individual, then every individual would be freed from their slavery to sin and death and we would not have to preach the gospel to them or warn them of hell

ransom for all = ransom for all kinds of people

No one is excluded from saving grace because of their race, social standing, gender or intellect .

(Gal 3:28)

negative way of putting it: John 14:6

another way of understanding whom “ransom for all” applies to

since Jesus’ life was a ransom we will know for whom by those who are freed from their slavery to sin and death

All those who are ransomed by Jesus confess him as their Saviour and serve him as their Lord.

Conclusion:

God is not willing that any whom he has chosen perish in their sins

God may withhold the gospel in judgment

God has demonstrated to us in the scriptures that his normal way of dealing with people who continually harden themselves against them is to give them over to their sinful desires thereby hardening them (cf.

Rom 1:21)

God may withhold the gospel from those who harden their hearts against him, in which case he gives them over to their sins so that they become darkened in their hearts and their thinking becomes futile and they become more and more wicked (Rom 1)

the lesson for us: God is patient and he is slow to anger but not indefinitely

there comes a time when God gives people over to the sin they love

what should we do?

if you are not saved, repent and believe in Jesus

if you are saved, rejoice and be glad, and keep pressing forward in your spiritual growth to maturity

Encouragement:

we do know that the gospel eventually penetrated these areas because Paul wrote a letter to the churches there called, “Galatians” and Jesus address churches there in Rev 2-3

The Gospel Call

having passed through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia Paul travelled further west into the province of Asia where they were again prevented by the HS from speaking the Gospel

an important region where the 7 churches of Revelation 2-3 were eventually established

with nowhere else to go they turned south to Troas where at last they received instruction from the HS as to where he wanted them to go and preach the gospel

they were instructed to go to Macedonia, the first entrance of the Gospel into Europe

“we” - Luke, the writer of Acts has joined the missionary team

like Timothy he would become Paul’s faithful companion and fellow labourer for the rest of his ministry

Summary:

Jesus, by his HS, prevented Paul and Silas and their team from preaching in certain areas

knowing they had been called and commissioned by the HS to preach the gospel they kept on travelling, trusting the Lord to open the right doors

The missionary team’s experience illustrates a basic principle of knowing God’s will: to move ahead and allow Him to close doors until the right opportunity is reached.

(John MacArthur, Commentary on Acts)

the missionary team of Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke kept pressing forward until they found the open door for ministry

if they had not been faithful to their call and persistent the opportunities for witness in the following verses might have been lost

Principle:

sometimes in our efforts to do the will of God it seems like we constantly face roadblocks

at such times it is important for us to embrace the will of God and keep doing it even though we have nothing to show for it

As we are obedient God will direct our steps and provide opportunities for ministry.

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The Gospel Call, Part 2

today we will consider God’s sovereign work of saving Lydia and Satan’s devious and malicious effort to derail the Paul’s church planting work through a demon possessed slave girl

we have already considered God sovereignty in determining where Paul preached Gospel and when

we will see in this account one of the reasons Paul was forbidden from preaching in certain areas:

God had been working in Lydia and the jailor and was drawing them to himself

he was directing Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke to Philippi where they would meet them and others he had prepared and plant a church there

Lessons: