Acts 16, we'll continue our study of the book of Acts in Acts 16, beginning at verse six, down to the end of verse 10. Acts 16, beginning at verse six, down to the end of verse 10. Friends, I have entitled this morning's sermon, Heeding the Call. Heeding the Call. Friends, these are the words of the living God. God says, and they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. And when they had come up to Mycenae, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Mycenae, they went down to Troas. 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. And when Paul had seen the vision immediately, he sought to go on into Macedonia. God, we thank you that, Lord, you do not leave us in the dark. You have given to us your word, out of which we may know your will before us. Lord, how to love Christ, to enjoy him, and to serve him in the world of spirit, as you guide your church in all ages, as you continue to lead Paul and Timothy in their missionary journey. Help us, Lord, and direct us as we seek to ever be thankful to you in our families, in our church, community to be into the earth. Father, thank you for your perfect wisdom. Thank you for loving us. Lord Jesus, help us be perfect. We ask these things in your name. Amen. Well, friends, I love adventure. I love to travel, and I love to eat foods from different cultures. And for me, friends, sitting down to eat a dish that I've never had before is something of an adventure, right? You get to try it. Arminian pizza, or you get to try the shawarma. You know, friends, there's so much in this world to enjoy. And friends, that's the point of my life. I like to have an adventure. I also love to read adventure stories. And friends, the Christian life is an adventure. Oh, it isn't. There's difficulties. There are hardships and challenges. But friends, it isn't. On the one hand, one grand adventure. And you know that that whole idea of the adventure there is delight in the journey and in the destination. Friends, the Christian life is an adventure, and we can know that because the Bible reminds us again and again that our God, who redeemed us, the Triune God, is so perfect in wisdom that every step that we take, every path that He leads us on, is coming together ultimately So friends, you can be reminded that your Father in Heaven, who is perfect in wisdom, your Lord Jesus, who loved and redeemed you, is still walking with you. Two steps ahead. So friends, we're seeing this morning the role of particularly God and the Holy Spirit and heeding that Gospel call, that call to be and make disciples, and really, friends, in times where we're not exactly sure what we ought to be doing. When there's some mystery to the providential purposes of God, how do we walk, day by day, heeding, trusting, loving? For Paul gives us a good example, friends. It begins, as we see, in the first Paul and Silas, and now Timothy, remember Timothy's in the mix too, the missionary band has fulfilled really what they had set out to do, which is Paul set out from Antioch in order to visit the churches of Galatia. So those churches that he planned with Barnabas on his first missionary journey, those churches that are in today, Turkey, Southern part of Turkey, Central Turkey, they visited those churches, the churches of Lydia, Derby and Leicester, they've been there, and now they press on. They keep going. Friends, this reminds us that as the Church, we must continue to advance. By God's grace, we must not be content with the progress that we've made so far. Progress in our own godliness, progress in the growth of the Church in love and holiness and joy and faithfulness, friends. those who have been called by Christ to say, Lord, how can we continue to advance your kingdom? Friends, we must beware of that spirit of indifference, that spirit of apathy toward our own love for Christ and seeing our church and our families come to know the Lord and enjoy and worship him. Remember one of the prayers that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. but into the visible church, may they come to worship Him, and may that kingdom continue to increase until it comes to its full, until the kingdom of Jesus returns. Friends, we are advancing. In fact, one of my dear friends, that's what he would always say to me. I would call him on the phone, and I'd ask him how he's doing, and he would always say, I'm advancing. What a good admission it is for us. Paul is advancing, he's continuing to bring the Gospel to places that don't yet know of Christ, have not heard the message. And he attempts to go to Persia and Galatia, or he attempts to go to Asia, but we're told, verse 6, that the Holy Spirit forbids it. First of all, friends, this reminds us that God the Holy Spirit is in person. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is not an object. He is not force. He is not gravity. And we know this because in the scriptures we see personal language. You know, the wind can't forbid me to do anything. Gravity can't command me to do anything. It's impersonal. It's just a force. God the Holy Spirit is a person. And He works. And He acts. And He relates to you. Friends, notice first of all that God the Holy Spirit is active in our being faithful to Christ as His disciples. He's working. Now friends, you and I need to be careful if we're trying to understand the will of God and how to serve Him. We're not going to look for Because here the Holy Spirit will begin to direct our steps. As we pray about our circumstances and opportunities, God the Holy Spirit will take His Word, and He will take His Church, and by His Word and through those people that He will use to speak to us, He will begin to direct our steps. Holy Spirit is at work in his people. So friends, when there's opportunities before you, maybe ministry opportunities, or perhaps it's other kinds of opportunities. Maybe today, friends, you're wrestling with decisions about a job to take, or what to do in your retirement years, or maybe you're thinking about, what should I do with these opportunities in front of me? And we all have these opportunities, friends. And we do, as Christians, want to please the Lord with our lives. You have to immerse yourself in the scriptures and depend on God the Holy Spirit to help you as you take these principles out and you look at your life and you begin to see, okay, this is a way that I can please He gets to us the clear, no, this is not what I would have you do. My friends, I have been thankful for those clear signs. In my own family, certain things come clear. And so friends, here we're saying that God the Holy Spirit is giving clarity to Paul, directing his steps as he seeks to be faithful. So friends, do you depend on the Holy Spirit when you make decisions? Do you pray for His guidance from the Word? Do you go to the Fellowship of the Saints? Do you call up your brothers and sisters here in the church and other godly men and women that you know and say, I have this opportunity, I have this problem, I have these things going on in my life. How can I be faithful to the Lord in this? to see how to be most pleasing to Him. So God shuts the door there. He can't go to Asia. Well, what does Paul do? He continues to advance. He continues to press forward. He continues to say, well, if the Lord will not allow me to preach in Asia, perhaps I can go to Bithynia. Bithynia is to the north. It's that northern part of what is today Turkey that borders the Black Sea and comes down kind of to the Go to Asia. Maybe I can go to Bithynia. And Bithynia is to Bithynia what we're told. We're told that the Spirit of Jesus is not alive. Well, who is the Spirit of Jesus? I'm sure most of you know right away. It's the same Holy Spirit. Why is he here called the Spirit of Jesus, my friends? Remember that when God, the Holy Spirit, is with you, you have to try to know God. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth will be given to me. of all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age. Jesus Christ promised to be with you, friend. Yes, he is in heaven, touching his humanity. That body of the Lord Jesus, his humanity is localized and is at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, touching his divine nature, friends. He is present with you. person of the Holy Spirit. And not only the Son, but also the Father. Friends, you like nothing! The whole of the triumph of God in His glory and Christ's love for you is yours. He's given Himself to you. And this same Spirit of Jesus is at work directing you to discern what is pleasing to God. You know, friends, when we talk about these things, you know, Deuteronomy 29, 29, this is a great way to kind of see that. Moses says, the secret things belong to the Lord your God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever. That we may do all the words of this law. Moses tells us that there is a hidden dimension to the Lord God. There are things And He is working all things together for good, for His glory, for the good of those who love Him. He has purpose and meaning in everything that He does. He is not a capricious, whimsical God. He is sovereign in everything, beginning to end and all the meanings in between. But He is saying, please, not to give you all that He knows or all that He's decreed. The secret things belong to God. And that means, friends, there is a great deal of humility when we think about how do I be faithful to the Lord with the future? God has closed the future to me, friends. How are you gonna know what tomorrow is when you wait till the day after? Then you'll know what God's will was for you yesterday, right? That is to say, friends, there are things that are keeping from us. God has said that's not for you. So you trust God. with what he's hidden. And don't try to look for it in other ways. That's one of the reasons, friends, why God forbids us from seances and all these ways to describe the future and to get other information outside of this world. He says, don't think that. Those things belong to the Lord. Trust Him. Trust He knows what He's doing. Again, friends, that's part of what it means to believe God. Biblical faith, friends, is not just not just affirming in our minds that God exists somewhere out there. Biblical faith, for instance, trusts you. This God of infinite wisdom and power has seen fit to give you a lot. Those things which are revealed. And what has He revealed to you, friend? Why? He's given you his word. He's given you the scriptures. They're the mind of God. He has condescended as a father speaking with his baby daughter to speak baby talk to you. That's what the scriptures are, friends. The infinite, all-wise God is love for you. He said, I want to disclose my mind. I want to show you my purposes for you. I want to catch you up into something of what I that reveal things to you. And that's the wonder, friends, of the Gospel trajectory, right? Thinking about what God has said, how we were dead in trespasses and sins, and estranged from God by our iniquities. Yet how God, in His grace, put Jesus first. And He lived and He died and He rose again, and this same Lord Jesus called us by His word unto faith and unto salvation, and He's brought us into these glorious purposes. And, friends, God has revealed so many things to us. Paul will say in 1 Thessalonians, he says, this is the will of God, your sanctification. All right, that's something revealed to me. What's God's will for my life? That I be holy. That you be holy. That's what sanctification means, the process of being made holy. If you're a Christian, friends, you've been united to Jesus by faith. You are, in one respect, holy. Your position before God is that of a holy child. His holy son. You are as blameless, you are as righteous, you are as innocent and holy as Jesus himself. Because God is welcome to his son. You're one with Jesus and everything that Jesus has is yours, and all that you have is his, and he paid the debt for that sin. You are perfect forever on this side of God. I have made you my holy son. You are a co-heir of the Christ. And now, because of who you are, God is wanting to transform your practice. He wants to shape and mold your character, positionally your holy people, all of you, friends. Our practice, our conduct, our everyday living with our Father in heaven and following after Christ. So sure, because God calls us to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we haven't done that perfectly for one moment. Why are there so much sin that remains? And yet God is so gracious, and God is so good, and so by His word, He reveals to us, this is what I'm doing in your life. I am working, I am sanctifying, I am equipping, I'm using you, friends, so we know wonderful things about the contours of God's will for our life. He sanctified me, using me. He promised me His word doesn't come back void forever. So I have confidence. It is the will of God that we should preach. It is the will of God that we should proclaim. It is the will of God that we should share and know, knowing that He has promised to take His word. keep us busy for all of eternity. Just getting our minds around what God has given to us each day. And the purpose is so that we would know Him, and love Him, and follow Him. So friends, all of us say, God the Holy Spirit is at work in you and in our church as much as He is in Paul and Silas and Timothy in this mission. prayerfully asking the Lord, Lord, show us from your word how to be faithful to you here. And Lord, we pray that if this is not an opportunity that you wish us to take, we pray that you would close that door. But if this is an opportunity that we should take, we pray, Lord, open that door. Make it clear. Show us the way. God is faithful to God. And so he does. Go on to the next town, and go down to Mycenae, and finally down to Troas. And Troas is a port on the western side, and it's overlooking Greece. So, you know, it's, the Greek islands are right out there from where Paul is. And so, that, those Greek islands are part of what's Macedonia, that's the province there. So Paul's there, he's looking out at the ocean, and him and the companions are there, and in verse nine, he receives a vision of the nine. Now again, play this. This is God speaking to Paul. This is God the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Paul of this unique calling. This is not something that we should seek for, right? We should seek that God would give to us a direct vision like this. Again, friends, we have everything we need in the Word. But, friends, as the Word is being God is pleased to give these appearances and give these special revelations to his people. So Paul is at night, and there's a man of Macedonia. It's someone that Paul recognizes, or recognizes as a resident of Macedonia. So he asserts right away, okay, this is somebody from Macedonia, and the band even said, come over to Macedonia. What is God showing to him here? He says, I have my people there in Macedonia. There are some of my sheep there in Macedonia that I desire to call and to save and to redeem. And so, here this one is saying, come, Lord, come. You know, friends, the Gospel is a message of salvation. divine assistance into the message of God doing for you, God doing for sinners that we could not do for ourselves. And that's the greatest help that we can give to this world. You know, friends, the Church can do a lot of great things, and the Church needs to be concerned with the plight of the poor and the destitute. We can give much glory to God caring for the physical needs of those around us and those around the world. And friends, we want to do those things. We see Jesus did those things. Jesus fed the body with the food and manna and bread, and then he also fed their sin. The church doesn't want to do that. Paul will do the same things, ministering to people's needs both physically and spiritually. That's why there's two offices in the church, by the way. That's why you have elders and deacons, because God's concerned about Friends, the primary mission, the primary blessing that the Church gives to the world is the Gospel. This is how we do it. This is where we do the most good, the most good that we could ever do for our unbelieving friends and neighbors in this community, in our companies, in our businesses, at that point, when we give a shoebox, it's not just so that there can be toys for children to play with, as great as that is, or to have socks to keep them warm, as wonderful a blessing as that is. We know the main thing, the main help they need is Christ, and they need the gospel to be proclaimed, that they need to hear that God is good and holy, that by nature we are sinners estranged from Him, and that it is only and resurrection that life and salvation comes to, then my friends, that message is how we as the Church help truly, eternally help those around us. You want a couple of these things together, but you want to serve and share. That's the biblical pattern over and over that we see in the scriptures. So friends, again, we need to keep the main thing at the main point. And then coupling this faithful gospel with this, with acts of service and mercy and love, that will reinforce the primary objective. By God's grace, grace alone, that we have been saved and sent to speak words of life to those around us. Well, Paul responds to the vision. He's been advancing the gospel. He's had doors closed here, doors closed here. Finally gets down to Troas and now it's clear. We need to go to Macedonia. The Lord brings conviction. The Spirit gives to Paul and to the missionary band true conviction about what the will of God is for them God does bring clarity and conviction within His Church. Remember the same Holy Spirit who is leading Paul into us, and is with us, and by His Word is shaping and molding us into the likeness of Christ. So when we as a Church have opportunities before us, or when we as a Church are choosing And trust that we are not in the dark. That as we pray for these things, as we seek the Lord together, He will make those paths straight. And so He did with Paul. And you notice the change in the pronouns here. We see that now in verse 10, Luke now refers to himself. We sought to go on into Macedonia. Luke is drawing to, apparently in Troas he has joined the missionary band, and from now on, this is, in part, a lot of Luke's own account of accompanying Paul on the second missionary journey, so. What a wonderful thing for this. Look, look how sovereign he is. Look how wise and faithful he is. To direct Paul and the missionaries exactly where they need to be, and to do exactly the work he called them to do. Now they're ready. preach the gospel to the masses. You know, friends, sometimes we really struggle with God's problems for us. What will tomorrow be? Maybe some of us sit here and we think, how will I be in 10 years, 20 years? Will I have a health? Will I have my mind? What will become of my kids? What will become of my grandchildren? Friends, these things swirl in our minds and we are often so anxious about the future, so concerned about the things that we have no control over. What do we do? What does that elsewhere mean? Paul, in another place, in Philippians, gives us the antidote. In Philippians chapter 4, remember, be anxious about It doesn't mean we don't concern ourselves with the future, provision for the future. We do those things, but we don't brood on it. That understanding of anxiety is brood. Let something fester in our heart and in our mind to where we're paralyzed with that circumstance and unable to trust the Lord with what may come. And so Paul says, we reject that. Yet the remedy, the antidote to the anxious heart, is in everything. With fear and supplication and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. As we sing with Paul, as we sing with Mishael, we're seeking the Lord in his will. These prayers that we are offering with humility and thanksgiving, when we come to the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know what the future will be, I don't know what you have in store for me, but I will trust you with those things. I will put those things in my head. I know that you have charted this course for me, that you have appointed my days and everything that I'm filled with. Father, help me to trust, help me to depend, help me to rejoice that you have the future in your hands. Thank God promises that he sends his peace. Father's great peace frame before the throne of God. There is such rest for the anxious heart before the feet of Jesus. There is such calm when we come to our Father and say, Lord, I don't know what the future brings, but you do. we seek to be faithful to the call that He has given to us to be in faith to stop us. May the Lord help us in the days of anxiety, in the days of worry and fear. May we trust that He always leads us to triumph over sin. My friends, if we close this morning, maybe your heart is still in the stomach. Maybe you're anxious this morning about your standing before God. Maybe today the Lord is awaiting He calls to you to repent, to believe, and to be saved. Friends, I pray that if it's that you've been spoiled, that you come to the Lord and cry out to him for mercy. God has never turned away one sinner who truly repents. Jesus has not refused one penitent heart. He's come to thank you for mercy. So friends, let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have given to us so much of your will for us your word. We ask, Lord, that you would continue to help us as fathers and mothers, as church members, as leaders, to know how best to please you in certain stances and opportunities that are before us. Our Father, we pray that you would continue to help us to keep your word, your gospel, a primordial. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to augment that faithful service care for our neighbors and friends, those around us. Lord, we pray that you would cause us to rest in your faithfulness. Father, we pray, please have mercy on our church, please have mercy on our families. Lord, we thank you that you are good and we can trust you. We have mercy in Jesus' name.