The Soverignty of the Holy Spirit in Missions: How Jesus's Spirit establishes His church by guiding His people to those He is preparing for salvation
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How will God’s kingdom advance among the nations?
The Holy Spirit sovereignly establishes His church by guiding His missionaries to unbelievers He is preparing for salvation.
The Holy Spirit sovereignly establishes His church by guiding His missionaries to unbelievers He is preparing for salvation.
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Guides His Missionaries (Acts 16:6-10)
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Guides His Missionaries (Acts 16:6-10)
In December of 2005, my first job out of college came to an end. It was based on a federal grant and the grant did not get renewed. By January of 2006, I had already put out globs of resumes within a forty mile region of Winona. Thank God we had unemployment because no one was hiring. After the first month without a hit I began to expand to jobs outside of our region, even in other states. Stacy and I were praying for god to reveal His plans for our ministry and vocation.
Seminary had been on my heart for at least two years before I graduated college. I had my heart set on going to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Stacy was agreeable to seminary, but was not sure about living in Louisville. February breezed by with no call backs, interviews, or eve rejection letters. Just crickets.
That March I suggested to Stacy that we should schedule a visit to SBTS. We can get a look at the campus and get a feel for what life is like in Louisville. Stacy agreed and we made arrangements to visit the campus in mid-march. I told myself that if Stacy likes SBTS and feels comfortable in Louisville, we will move here and begin seminary.
We visited SBTS and its everything I thought it would be. Stacy loved the campus and felt good about living in the city. Sh walked away from the visit ready to move to Louisville.
As I drove out of the city of Louisville, something in my heart, my gut, didn’t sit right. I knew I was supposed to be at Southern. It was definitely the right place, but it was not the right time. We still had a house to sell and no money in the bank. We accrued some debt being unemployed that needed to be paid off.
I was convinced we were heading to seminary when we left for Louisville. God had other plans. He stopped us dead in our tracks and moved us a completely different direction.
Paul, Timothy, Silas, and Luke experience the same thing in Acts 16:6-40. Paul has his heart set on going to Asia, But Jesus forbids him from going there (Acts 16:6). Then Paul decides he will go to Bithynia (Acts 16:7), but the Spirit of Jesus put the breaks on that idea as well. What is going on with Paul’s ministry? What was going on with my ministry? All Paul and I wanted to do was God’s work. He wanted to share the gospel with unreached people in Asia and Bithynia. I wanted to learn how to preach the gospel better, serve God’s church with excellence, and joyfully advance His kingdom by making much of Jesus. Seminary was going to train me how to do that. Those are good things, right. What’s with the hold up? Why the change of direction?
The point is this: God has the sovereign right to move you where He wants to use you how He wants.
Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were God’s instruments of grace. They wanted to share the gospel to any and all unreached people. They were wiling to go to Asia and Bithynia. But that is not where God would have them go at that time.
In Acts 16:6-10, The Holy Spirit is exercising His sovereign authority to guide believers toward unbelievers where he wants to use them.
In Acts 16:8, The missionaries make their way to Troas. At this point,
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
Macedonia is part of Alexander the Great’s empire until Rome took over. In Paul’s day it was a Roman province north of Greece approximatley 150 miles across the Aegean Sea from Paul’s current location in Troas. Eventually, the missionary group lands in Philippi, which is named after King Philip the II, who is Alexander the Great’s father. Luke does not say who the man in the dream is, but some believe the man in the dream is Alexander the Great, to which I think is a bit fantastical. The fun irony would be that Alexander the Great wanted to unite the whole world under Greek rule, which is what the gospel will accomplish, not under Greek rule, but under Christ’s kingdom.
After the vision, Paul and company are convinced God is calling them to preach the gospel in Macedonia. They immediately get up and move that direction in obedience.
God did not give Paul and company any reason for why He did not want them to preach in Asia (Modern Day Turkey-home to Ephesus) or Bithynia. Eventually, God gets the gospel to Asia because we know Paul plants a church in Ephesus. But at this point, it was the wrong time to bring the gospel. The work God was doing was westward in Philippi.
We are not privy to God’s plans. He is not obligated to tell us what he is doing or when he is doing it. We live by faith and obedience. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, immediately obeyed God’s direction and trusted that He will work it out.
That same week Stacy and I went to Louisville, Dave Futral called me and said that the church he was pastoring was looking for a bi-vocational youth pastor. He asked me to consider coming for an interview. It paid $400 a month, but h said Texas is desperate for teachers, especially males. I could get my alternative certificate an likely land a job making decent money. Th church also provided a parsonage rent free.
We made the trip, accepted the position and moved to Texas unsure of God’s plans, but trusting he would work things out. I earned my teacher certification but did not land a job for a year. I had to substitute teach during the day and work at Blockbuster at night. We also had to pay our mortgage for that year because our house would not sell. As God would have it, I signed my first teacher contract on Stacy’s birthday,July 12, 2007. We sold our house, breaking even, on July 25. It was a long and tough year, but God provided.
Stacy and I look back on Texas as God’s preparation work for our ministry. I needed to mature as a man, a father, and a pastor. We needed to clear our debt and make ourselves financially ready for school. Teaching and coaching opened doors for work during seminary and gave me tools I use to this day for ministry. For us, God’s work was in Texas at that time. SBTS was the right place, eventually. It was not the right time.
FBCL is where God is using our family to do His work right now. This is where we are ministering to His church and the lost. Here is where the waterfall of His grace is pouring over us. FBCL i where the Holy Spirit sovereignly guided us to be for His purpose. He is doing the same for you.
What was the work that God was doing that he wanted Paul and company to be a part of? God was doing a salvation work in Philippi. Lydia and her household, as well as the Philippian jailer and his household, needed to hear the gospel because Jesus was preparing their heart to hear it.
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Prepares The Unbelievers Heart (Acts 16:11-15)
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Prepares The Unbelievers Heart (Acts 16:11-15)
Paul and company land in Philippi (Acts 16:11-12). Philippi was a leading city in Macedonia, but not the primary city. Thessalonica was the capitol. Philippi was a wealthy retirement community for Roman soldiers. The people born their would enjoy the benefits of Roman citizenship.
The Jewish community was small. Luke notes this reality since there is no mention of an official synagogue, which required at least 10 Jewish men, and only women are present. The place of prayer spoken of in verse 13, was likely a place Jews and proselytes gathered to worship. Paul and his fellow missionaries, keeping with their pattern, met with the women on the Sabbath to share the gospel.
In verse 14, Luke introduces the readers to Lydia, a woman who is wealthy and a worshiper of God. We know she is wealthy because she sells purple cloth with was a lucrative business at the time. Only wealthy people could afford purple cloth. She also had a home which was big enough to hold church later on.
She is described as a worship of God. Lydia was a gentile who converted to Judaism. She knew Yahweh was the one true God. She followed Jewish customs and practices, which explains why she is gathered with the other women to pray on the Sabbath.
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
What does Luke mean when he says, “The Lord opened he heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul”?
The Greek conveys the idea of enabling someone to perceive or understand what is being said. Some translations, like the CEV, says “he made her willing to accept what Paul was saying.”
Jesus did something similar with his discloses before he ascended.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
And then
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Jesus prepares the heart to hear the gospel by opening the heart to understand what is being said. Keep in mind, you cannot understand the gospel rightly unless Jesus opens your heart to it.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, is the one who give spiritual discernment. We understand the gospel and God’s truth because he resides in us, giving us “the mind of Christ.” In our text, the Holy Spirit is sovereignly opening the heart of Lydia to understand spiritual truths about Jesus.
What you see in Acts 16:14 is an example of what theologians call effectual calling. There are two types of calling found on the bible. You have the general call of the gospel. That is, we preach the gospel to everyone.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
We know, however, that unless the Spirit does an effectual work, people will reject the gospel. Jesus must open the heart to understand His truth. Only His work is effective on the heart.
Wayne Grudem defines effectual calling as such
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine A. Effective Calling
Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.
This is why we pray for God to work in the lives of unbelievers
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
Lydia is being drawn to the Son by the Father. Her heart is paying attention to the gospel Paul is preaching. The other women are hearing words about Jesus. Lydia is hearing the truth of Jesus. And sh is feeling compelled to respond.
Faith is being stirred up and she accepts the truth about Christ.
And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
We know she believes because she is baptized. The bible teaches that baptism is a response of obedience to your faith. She confesses Christ as Lord, and Paul baptizes her and everyone in her house who confesses Christ. We also know she believes because she tells Paul, “If you believe I am a true believer, come stay at my house.” Paul accepts her invitation and stays with her and her household. Paul is sure Lydia is truly converted.
Don’t miss the cooperation between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Jesus sovereignly opened her heart. Of all the women who were listening, only Lydia truly heard the gospel. That was God’s sovereign grace. Lydia, responded with faith. She found the grace of God irresistible (as John Calvin would say) and believed and was baptized and became the first believer in Macedonia.
Putting the first two point together, we see
The Holy Spirit is sovereignly establishing His church by guiding His missionaries to unbelievers He is preparing for salvation.
The Holy Spirit is sovereignly establishing His church by guiding His missionaries to unbelievers He is preparing for salvation.
He directed Paul and his companions to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel to Lydia, a woman he was preparing to hear the truth and believe. Using her and her household, God would establish the first church in Macedonia, the church at Philippi. From here he would begin advancing his kingdom in this region by setting captives free from the bondage o Satan and sin.
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Sets the Captives Free (Acts 16:16-34)
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Sets the Captives Free (Acts 16:16-34)
Paul continued sharing the gospel with the people who attended the prayer service on the Sabbath. As he was doing this, a young slave girl who had a “python spirit” kept harassing him. The text literally reads a “spirit of a pythoness.” It was a powerful demonic spirit connected to the Delphic oracle of Apollo. It was connected with soothsaying and fortune telling.
The demonic spirit recognizes that Paul, Luke, Timothy and Silas are all servants of the Most High God. However, anyone listening to her in the community could have just assumed she was speaking of Zeus.
Paul is greatly agitated by the demonic spirit’s heckling. It could be that Paul saw that the crowd was confused and that the demonic spirit was hindering the gospel from being preached. By the authority of Jesus’s name, he casts out the demon from the girl. He sets her free from the dominion of darkness, from the slavery of sin and of her human masters.
That is the power of Christ. The kingdom of God conquers the kingdom of darkness by setting the captives free. She is no longer a slave to python.
Her owners are not happy about her new freedom. They have Paul and Silas arrested for cutting off their revenue. It is interesting to note that they try to turn this into an ethnic issue by saying Paul and Silas are Jews promoting customs that are unlawful (Acts 16:20-21).
Practicing religion different from Rome was not an issue, but inciting civil unrest was not tolerated. Jews were not well liked and could be used to unravel a community quickly. It is such nonsense and deceit it has Satan’s hand prints all over it. Satan will use ethnicity, racism, and anything of that sort to keep the truth from being heard.
The magistrates acted rashly and had Paul and Silas beaten and imprisoned (Acts 16:22-24). Once again, the gospel appears locked up and shut down.
Notice how Paul and Silas do not play the victim. They do not pout, nor do they given in to depression or anxiety. They know the sovereignty of God. They believe the Holy Spirit sovereignly puts people where he wants them to use them how he wants to use them. So, they respond with prayer and singing hymns.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
They worship God with songs and prayers as they suffer, bringing the whole prison into fellowship with God. I am convinced that is what understanding the sovereignty of God does for your heart in times of trouble. Knowing that God is absolutely sovereign, that is- in control of everything, moving you where you need to be for him to work out his will, even if it is in prison, helps you maintain a vibrant faith an ministry over time. The more you see God’s hand in salvation, the more you share the gospel. The more you see God’s hand in establish His church, the more you go to the nations and preach the gospel, even if it cost your life. Do you know why? Because the sovereignty of God convinces you that all things truly work for the good of those who love God and are called to his purpose.
God responds to their worship
and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
The earth shakes at God’s presence. Paul and Silas know this is God’s doing because their shackles are broken free and the door is opened. if the earthquake caused that to happen on its own, the roof would have caved on all of them killing everyone. God freed the prisoners and the Philippian Jailer knew it.
He drew his sword to kill himself because he thought surely of God let them go, all the prisoners would be gone. In Romans culture, the guard was responsible for the prisoners. if they escaped he would have to either serve out their sentence or be put to death. He figured killing himself would be more merciful than being handed over to the Roman government.
Paul assured him that everyone was accounted for in the prison. At this point, the Roman Jailer understand the earthquake was truly supernatural, and knowing about Paul and his message, he asks the most important question anyone ion this world can ask,
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
We know why he is asking this question. God is drawing the jailer to his son. Paul answers him
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
The Philippian Jailer believes the gospel and is saved, even those in his household who could exercise faith. Paul continues explaining the truth
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
They believe and then share a meal together. See how God turns things around, right? The Philippian Jailer was really the one imprisoned. God imprisoned His missionaries so he can set the Philippian Jailer free.
Do you see the sovereignty of God?
God directs Paul and company to Macedonia. He opens Lydia’s heart to understand the gospel and establish the first church in Philippi. As they were preaching the gospel, God is moving Paul toward prison by freeing a slave girl of a demonic spirit. prison is where God is working and going to use Paul and Silas to add to His church in Philippi. As they are worshiping, God sends an earthquake which ready’s the heart of the Philippian Jailer to hear the gospel and believe. Had Paul and Silas not been in prison, the jailer would not have heard the truth int he way God knew he needed to hear it, or was at least working in his heart to hear it.
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Establishes His Church (Acts 16:35-40)
The Holy Spirit Sovereignly Establishes His Church (Acts 16:35-40)
The magistrates try to get rid of Paul quietly, Paul rejects this ad demands they deal with them up front. A possible reason for this is for the future of the church in Philippi. The community needed to see that Paul and Silas and company did not break any laws and were unjustly beaten and imprisoned.
Paul demands a public apology. Paul accepts it and moves on, which is better for the church. They visit Lydia to strengthen the new church before they leave the city. with Lydia’s household and the Philippians Jailers household, God established is His church in Philippi, which later becomes a major player in the early church.