Our king is still on the throne Chapter 16 we'll pick up where we left off last week And before we get started, I'd just like to mention that this week it was really neat. There were some people who were having some difficulties, some problems, and other people in the church coming alongside. And sometimes they don't have cell phones, so they kind of call me, and then the person who doesn't have the cell phone calls me, and they go back and forth. But it was just amazing to just sit around in my house the last few days and just see people in our church helping one another and visiting those who are sick and helping those who have car trouble and giving people rides and things of that sort. And it's my hope and my prayer that we'll begin to do that even more and more. as the times get more difficult in this country in which we live. But it is just a blessing and a half. We're going to be starting at Acts 16. As you know, we're going through a survey through the whole Bible. And we left off in Acts. And we're going to be talking about the start of Paul's second missionary journey. I just want to pray one more time that God would anoint me to preach His Word. And we pray so much for that because we need that. This is God's perfect word, and when imperfect men try to proclaim God's perfect truth, we don't want our own sinfulness or Satan and his demons to get in the way. We want God's truth to be proclaimed. Father, in Jesus' precious name, we just thank you, Lord, that we still have the freedom to gather together. and to praise you and to worship you in this country. But we pray, Lord, that you would give us the courage so that even if the day comes when that's against the law, we would still figure out ways to gather in secret and proclaim your truth. I pray, Lord, that you would anoint me with your spirit to proclaim your truth so that I would not lead anyone astray. You know, Lord, that I led numerous people astray before I was saved and probably even after being saved. And so the last thing I want to do is misinterpret your perfect word and lead people astray. So anoint me and empower me with your spirit to proclaim your truth. I pray that you open hearts and minds to receive truth from your word. Convict us where we need to be convicted. Encourage us where we need to be encouraged. And I pray, Lord, that your Spirit would empower us to apply the truths that we learn so that we could leave this place changed and more like your Son, Jesus. I pray, Lord, that as we see the Apostle Paul and the way he gave every ounce of strength that he had to proclaiming your truth and to sharing the gospel message, I pray, Lord, that you would convict us that we would never think that we're doing enough. That we could always do more. But we want to do what You call us to do, Lord. We want to go where You call us to go. We want to say what You call us to say. And so may we be led by Your Spirit. We pray, Lord, that You receive all the glory in this sermon, and all the glory in our lives, and that You be glorified in the potluck in our time of fellowship after the service as well. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. But one other announcement too is they are working on getting the heat and the administration here is really getting on the company to come in and finish the work so I'm hoping by next week or the week after we have heat but as of right now I guess we're the chosen frozen and but if I had to If I had to pick somebody to shiver with, it wouldn't be anybody other than the people that are here today, you guys. So, maybe the Lord's just getting us ready for suffering and tribulation, I don't know. But, okay, now where we left off, I'm going to read the last three verses of Acts 15. It was after the Jerusalem Council. The Jerusalem Council said, you know what? The Gentiles do not have to become Jews to get saved. They can just trust in Jesus for salvation. However, if we're going to be one church, if we're going to fellowship with them, there's a few gross things that we would not like you to do. There's certain things that the pagans do that we Jews want nothing to do with, and so they gave some few restrictions, and the Gentiles rejoiced in that they could just trust in Jesus and not be second-class Christians, Jew and Gentile, both worshiping Jesus in one church. But in Acts 15, starting at verse 39, then the contention, the strife, the conflict between Paul and Barnabas about whether or not they should take John Mark on a second missionary journey, because he bailed out on them in the first one, then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark, he took John Mark, the author of Mark's gospel, and it was his nephew, and sailed to Cyprus. OK, so we have this little map here. and you could see because they wanted to go back to their first missionary journey and revisit people. Now here's Jerusalem down here but Paul and Barnabas are back in Antioch to the north, Antioch of Syria, okay? There's another Antioch up there in Pisidia but Antioch of Syria is here and so they wanted to go back and revisit the people that they visited on their first missionary journey. Well Barnabas went with John Mark they split from Paul from the Antioch so they went to the island of Cyprus and so so they sailed there but Paul chose Silas and departed being commanded by the brethren commended by the brethren to the grace of God and he went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches so they stayed on land and went went through Syria, which is the region of Antioch, and Cilicia, okay. Paul's originally from Tarsus, so they're somewhere up in this region here, okay. And then it says in Acts 16 verse 1, then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and so Derbe and Lystra are right here, so now you're moving from here to there. Now this is The amount of distance that they're covering, we're going to end up in this chapter in Philippi, way up there. So, I mean, you're talking serious stuff. How many of us, and I'm not saying, I don't want you to feel guilty, okay? I do not want you to feel guilty by me saying this, but I do want you to feel convicted if you think that, you know, oh yeah, I'm really serving the Lord, I'm giving enough. But how many of us would switch churches if we were too far away? Now, we've got one guy coming from Edmonds, but most of us, you know, if it's more than a 25, 30 minute drive, it's like, okay, I've got to look for a church in my area. And I'm not saying that's bad in today's society, but just keep in mind how far the Apostle Paul was willing to travel to preach Jesus. You know, it wasn't like somebody would say, well, could you come and preach out to us? And it's like, oh, that's too far away. Okay? So just keep in mind, and I'm not saying that God's calling you to go preach the gospel to Africa. Maybe He is. But all I'm saying is be prepared to go where God calls you to go. And I think we Americans complain too much. But whatever the case, now you got two missionary teams to the Gentiles instead of one. And so God brought good out of the evil of pretty much a split there, almost like a church split. Here in chapter 16, Paul begins his second missionary journey. And if I had to title this chapter here, it's probably a title you could use for almost every chapter of Acts from here on in. In fact, even from the beginning of the book, but I would title it, No Power Can Stop the Preaching of God's Word. No Power Can Stop the Preaching of God's Word. Okay? Not church splits. Even Paul and Barnabas splitting, and now God's doubled. the missionary work to the Gentiles. We're going to find out even demons cannot stop the preaching of God's Word. Even persecution and imprisonment, we're going to find out in this passage, cannot stop the preaching of God's Word. And not even death itself can stop the preaching of God's Word. Now Paul eventually is going to die, but he dies after the book of Acts has been written But the fact of the matter, Stephen was preaching God's Word, and Paul was Saul, and approved of it, and held the cloaks while they stoned Stephen to death. And Stephen prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And one of the guys that God forgave was Saul. And so even the death of Stephen, I would argue that much of Paul's preaching is based upon what he heard from Stephen's sermon. So even death cannot stop the preaching of God's Word. If I were to have a heart attack right now and just drop dead, it would not stop the preaching of God's Word. Now obviously there's other preachers and other churches all throughout. You know, and for all I know, would Trinity Bible Fellowship continue? I would think that it would. I think Pastor John would take, you know, but maybe others would say, well, we feel led to go to this church, we feel led to go to that church. My old pastor was Bremerton Bible Church. That church is no longer in existence. They merged with Keyport. But Pastor Darrell Belleville, there's me and probably about 20 other guys that are preaching the word all over the place, not just in Washington State. One guy heads a motorcycle ministry, another guy teaches an adult Bible study to over 100 people. There's other guys that have planted churches and stuff. But Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church, and His Church is built upon the preaching of God's Word. And so no power can stop the preaching of God's Word. So let's take a look at Acts 16, verse 1, Then He came to Derbe and Lystra, I pointed that out on the map already, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. Okay, who is this Timothy? Okay? I want us to look at a couple passages real quick, so hold this page and turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul's writing 2 Timothy somewhere between 65 and 67 AD, right before he gets put to death. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 5. Starting in verse 3, he tells Timothy, I remember you in my prayers day and night, night and day, greatly desiring to see you. And verse 5, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Here, back in Acts 16, but hold that page in 2 Timothy, Timothy's mom was a Jewish woman who believed, a Jewish woman who came to Christ. Her name was Eunice, but even his grandmother, Lois, was a believer. And they raised this little guy in the preaching of God's Word. He was brought up on the Scriptures. Look at 2 Timothy 3.15. 2 Timothy 3, verse 15, he's talking about Timothy and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. From childhood he was trained in the Scriptures. So when Paul came across this guy Timothy, he was like, wow, this kid knows the Scriptures. How do I know he was a kid? Well, just look at 1 Timothy 4, verse 12. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 12. Now Paul wrote 1 Timothy probably around 62 A.D. Back in Acts 16 it's approximately 50 A.D. or a little bit before. So around 50 A.D. So 12 years later he's writing to Timothy, okay, and in 1 Timothy 4.12 he says, let no one despise your youth. But be an example to the believers in word and conduct and love and spirit and faith and in purity." So in 62 AD, some people might have looked down on Timothy when he was preaching the Word because he was so young. Yet, Paul takes him on his missionary journey 12 years earlier. So what is young minus 12? Okay? So a lot of teenagers like that verse from 1 Timothy. Timothy wasn't a teenager 12 years later. Okay? So he might have been 25, 26, 27 years old, whereas when Paul took him, he might have been from age 13 to age 15. And that's consistent with the Jews. You know, the Jews to this day, when a boy is 13, he makes his bar mitzvah. And it's like they say, hey, you're a man now. And then the kid's like, oh, good. Then I can get married. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no. You're a man. So you're mature enough to know you need to be trained to get a job. Then you need to prove yourself, make some money, invest, build a house when you're around 30. You could start asking some Jewish guys if you could court their daughters. Okay? But they expected you to be a man and to be mature by age 13. So Timothy may have been about 13 years old. Now let me ask you this. Where's Paul coming from? Paul's coming from saying, no, look, the accomplishment of the mission is so important that we can't take John Mark with us. he's a soap opera he's gonna drag us down he's gonna prevent us from accomplishing the mission and Barnabas is saying Barnabas the son of encouragement no he just needs a second chance and Paul's saying well he can prove himself some other time but we're not going with him so they split and then he sees this young guy Timothy it doesn't say it in the text but I would be surprised if this were not the case if he looked in young Timothy's eyes and thought you know what It kind of reminds me a little bit of that other teenager, John Mark. And, you know, Saul was a rabbi. He was a preacher of the word, a teacher of the word, okay? And sometimes preachers make the worst counselors. Because it's just like, you know, you sit down and you tell people, what's with it? The Bible says don't steal. Why are you stealing? Just keep with God's program here. It's all black and white in there. And so sometimes preachers, if you're looking for a little bit of compassion, sometimes they're the last ones to go to. We've got rough edges that need to be smoothed out. But I think when you read Paul's letters to Timothy and the way he dealt with Timothy, Paul was learning to be a little bit more like Barnabas. And he could tell Timothy, even when he was going to die, when Paul's going to die about 67 AD, at this point, Timothy's probably getting close to 30 years old. God's not giving you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline. Hey look, Paul, you've been working with this guy for like 15 to 17 years and you still gotta tell him to be courageous? That's a lot more patience than you had with John Mark. You see, as Paul's preaching the word, Paul's still growing too. And I hope as your pastor, I'm supposed to set a good example for you, I hope as your pastor that you're not going to see me blowing up or doing something stupid someday, okay? But if that day does come, just remember God's still working on me as well. And here Paul is like, man, that Paul is in the know, man. Yeah, but he's still got some rough edges that need to be smoothed out. And I think deep down inside there's part of him saying that maybe I should have given John Mark a second try. let me start working with Timothy of course later on we saw when Paul's about to die he says send me John Mark he's useful to me okay and praise God that our God is a God of a second chance but Timothy was this young disciple in Lystra and he was half Jewish His mother was a Jewish believer But his father was a Greek and it doesn't say that he believes so he probably did not believe okay, so So then it says in verse 2 he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium so in that region People are saying, man, this kid really loves the Lord. He's a very mature Christian for his age, though he's only about probably 12, 13, 14, probably between 12 and 15 years old at the tops. Paul wanted to have him go on with them. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. Now, stop and think for a minute. Carl and I had a discussion about this a couple weeks ago. Doesn't that sound like a contradiction where they just went through the Jerusalem Council, all the big guns, all the big leaders, the apostles gathered in Jerusalem and decided Gentiles don't have to be circumcised, We're no longer under the law, now we're under grace, yet the first thing that Paul does when he begins his second missionary journey, he has Timothy circumcised. Is that a contradiction? Now, look at Galatians 2, 1-5. Galatians 2, 1-5. Paul says that after 14 years, after 14 years of coming, after getting saved, 14 years after getting saved, so that's about 15 years after Jesus was crucified, so that takes you to about 45 to 47 AD. He went to Jerusalem. This is when in the Book of Acts he went there to bring a donation, him and Barnabas. It was his second trip to Jerusalem after being saved. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who are of reputation, lest by any means I might run or had run in vain." So what he's basically saying was, I shared notes with the apostles just in case that I was preaching a false gospel. And they confirmed, no, the gospel that you got from Jesus, that's the same gospel we got from Jesus, okay? Verse 3, yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." So here we have Paul, just a few years before this, refused to have Titus circumcised, because that would compromise the gospel. The gospel, the good news, is salvation by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Jesus alone. It's not of works. It's not by obeying the law. Okay? You don't have to get circumcised and convert to Judaism to get saved. Paul said, if I would have had Titus, a Greek, circumcised, it would have contradicted the gospel message and preached a false gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus plus obeying the law. Yet, just a couple years later, he gets little Timothy with him and he says, we need to get this kid circumcised. And this is right after the Jerusalem Council. Is that a contradiction? No, it is not a contradiction, and this is one of the reasons why if you want to preach the Word, 2 Timothy 2.15, if you want to preach the Word, you need to be diligent in your study of the Word, because you are going to have to split theological hairs whether you like it or not. Okay? God could have given us a business card with John 3.16 on it if he wanted to. He could have written a little tract or a little ten-page book. Constitution of the United States is very small. Declaration of Independence is very small. Last I looked, the Bible is pretty big, a collection of sixty-six books. Okay? But any time you think the Apostle Paul is contradicting himself, You know, obviously he doesn't contradict himself ever when he's writing God's inspired word, but if you read about something he did and you think he might have been a little bit off, like I think he was a little bit off not forgiving John Mark, but God still worked it for good. But anytime you think he might be a little bit off in the book of Acts, you better do your homework. because you're locking horns with the greatest theological giant in the history of Christianity, other than the Lord Jesus himself. And here's the key, okay? When Paul goes on his missionary journeys, the first place he goes is to the Jews, to the synagogues, out of respect, even though he's the apostle to the Gentiles, out of respect for the Jews, because Jesus was Jewish, the apostles were Jewish, the Bible is Jewish, salvation first came to the Jews. He's going to preach in the synagogues first. If he's got a guy who's half Jewish, You just, you just destroyed that. You know, but he's going to, look, we're going to preach the gospel when the Jews reject it, then we'll go to the marketplace and preach to the Gentiles. Timothy was half Jewish. And so Paul understood we need to get this guy circumcised. Titus, on the other hand, was Greek. we don't need to get... if we start having Gentiles, full-blooded Gentiles, circumcised, it makes it look like you have to become a Jew and then accept Jesus to be saved when salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone. But with Timothy, it's like he's half Jewish. The Jews will never listen to us. If we get a guy who's with us, he's half Jewish and he's not circumcised. And believe me, this was no little decision. Deciding to circumcise an eight-day-old baby, that's one thing. But when that 8-year-old baby grows up and is about 13 or 14, you know, and you tell him, hey, we need a surrogate, and he's like, uh-uh. Nah, no. Nah, I don't, you know. So they had to sit down with this little guy. Say, do you really, really, really, really love Jesus? Yeah. Are you willing to suffer for Him? I think so. Okay, we're going to find out, young man. And whereas with Titus, he's fully Greek, and so he did not, if they had circumcised him, it would have brought confusion to the gospel message. Here's Paul's policy, and why Paul does not contradict himself. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. starting at verse 19. And Paul writes this letter to the Corinthians about 55 AD. So this was his consistent strategy throughout, once he got saved and he realized that God saves apart from the law. He says, for though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews. And to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law. So he's saying, when I'm around the Jews, I become like a Jew. I take part in their sacrifices, their feast days, I show them that I can be just as serious of a Jew as them, because I want to lead some of them to Christ. Jews are not going to come to Christ if you've got a guy who's got Jewish blood running through his veins and he's not practicing the Jewish laws. So Paul says, I choose. I have freedom of Christ. I don't have to do this. But I am willing to lay aside my freedom in Christ, place myself under the law for the sake of those who are under the law, that I might lead some of the Jews to Christ. Verse 21, to those who are without law, the Gentiles, as without law, not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ. In other words, we Christians, we do not have a license to sin. we still have to submit to God's moral laws, but that's not the same as submitting to the Old Testament ceremonial laws. And then he says that I might win those without law. So Paul's saying, when I'm among the Gentiles, I switch to a Gentile diet, and I don't place myself under the law, under the ceremonial law, because I want to lead Gentiles to Christ. Verse 22, to the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak. And the weak are true believers who trust in Jesus for salvation, but then they think that they still have to obey the Old Testament laws to grow in their walk with the Lord. And they don't recognize their freedom in Christ. So the weaker brother is not sinful, the weaker brother is a lot stricter than the stronger brother who recognizes his freedom in Christ. But Paul says, when I'm around the weaker brother, I know I'm allowed to eat pork, but now I'm around the weaker brother, I'm not going to eat pork. I don't want to cause a stumbling block to them. And so to the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake that I may be partaker of it with you." So basically Paul's saying, look, since I'm Jewish and I'm the apostle to the Gentiles, when I'm around the Jews, I become as a Jew. When I'm around the Greeks, I become as a Gentile. Okay? So that I might win as many people as possible to Christ. You know, I think James, the half-brother of Jesus, probably had the same policy. The only difference was James, the half-brother of Jesus, he was never around Gentiles. He was just right there in Jerusalem. So he had to obey the law better than the Pharisees were obeying the law. That's why they nicknamed him James the Just. But when you read in the book of Acts, the dialogues that he had with Paul, they were always in agreement. Even some of the apostles, some of the original apostles like Peter and John, they could be as the Jews, because even when they preached the gospel to all nations, they went to the synagogues of all nations. A lot of them never really had the marketplace type thing, although we do see that some of the apostles did go to non-Jews. But with Paul, Paul says, look, I'm as Jewish as Jewish can get. But I also recognize my freedom in Christ and I'm the apostle to the Gentiles. And I think what Paul was saying with Timothy, with Titus, you have no Jewish blood, you're not getting circumcised. That would confuse people on the answer to the question, what must I do to be saved? For Timothy, Timothy is like me. he's half Jewish so he can preach the gospel, he can preach to the Jews and the Gentiles and he needs to get circumcised otherwise the Jews will not take him seriously or anybody who's associated with him. Okay? And if on an earlier visit to Jerusalem, if Paul had Titus circumcised, it would have given the impression that you have to become a Jew first, a Gentile has to become a Jew first to be saved by Jesus. And Paul says, we're not going there. Okay? So Paul would do whatever it took, without sinning and without compromising the gospel message, to try to lead people to Christ. Okay? And so he said he becomes all things to all men. So Timothy, this young disciple, teenager, who's half Jewish, Paul had him circumcised, whereas he would never have Titus circumcised. And so now back in Acts 16, verses four and five, and as they went through the cities they delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So now he's revisiting some of the churches that he preached at, that he planted, and now he's bringing them the Jerusalem decree. So getting Timothy circumcised does not contradict in any way the Jerusalem decree. And then verse five, so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. So Paul, Silas, and Timothy preached the gospel in the region, and they delivered to them the Jerusalem decree so that they could see, okay, look, we Gentiles are one church with the Jews, but we got to stay away from drinking blood and eating food sacrificed to idols and the sexually immoral pagan feast, we got to make a clean break from that, okay? And, you know, again, an example I gave, that would be like if the, if Jesus had come in our lifetime The Jews might say, well, yeah, we'll accept you as brothers in the Lord, but you can't go to rock concerts where people smoke dope and commit sexual immorality. Okay? We've got to be really sure that you're one of us. Other than that, we're not going to place the burden of the Old Testament ceremonial laws on you. Now, verses 6 to 10, Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. So let's get back to our handy-dandy map up here. So they had gone through Okay, up here, Lystra. They had gone through Phrygia and so they're now moving in this direction and then it says there and the region of Galatia, so this is the region of Galatia here, so they're coming up through here, and then it says that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. This region here is Asia, okay? So it's not what we call Asia today, but this right here is Asia, okay? This is all what we would call like Turkey today, I believe. So, they're forbidden by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia. And so, where is Bithynia? I found all these on another map. Whatever the case, so they're all in this region around here, and they're forbidden, oh, Bithynia is this big region up here. They're forbidden from going there. So they're forbidden to preach the word here and there by the Holy Spirit. Now, Paul doesn't tell us why he forbids us, or how the Holy Spirit forbids it. For all I know, it's just their circumstances. that everywhere they're going, they're prevented by people, things just don't get off the ground. Then again, it could be in prayer and God prophetically is telling them, no, don't preach in these places, okay? And they came, had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them, so passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas, And so they come down from there. There's Troas right there. And they came down to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. So they're all over here, but then it's in Macedonia. which is in fact, you can't see it, it's a little off the map, but up there it just says Macedonia. So it's here, kind of, this is right around the area of Greece, Corinth is down here, Athens and Greece is over here, that's in the region of Achaia, and so it's Macedonia over here. So they're forbidden from going to the north, and they have to go way over to the west, just above where ancient Greece was. And so a man calling out in Macedonia, and so verse 10, now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. So they Then in verse 11, therefore sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of the part of Macedonia colony, and we stayed in that city for some days. That's where the rest of this chapter is going to be dealing with, is Philippi. So they're coming up here, right there is Philippi in Macedonia, okay? And so, now you're covering an awful lot of ground here, and just don't preach the gospel in Bithynia? Why not, Lord? Don't preach it in Asia? Why not, Lord? They get a vision, Paul gets a vision of a guy in Macedonia, and so they go to Philippi. Okay? What is going on here? See, we have to be led by the Spirit. I catch a lot of flack in my ministry from Christians that believe you're just supposed to shout at people and constantly just preach at people all the time. And sometimes these brothers and sisters push people away. The same night when Downing Thomas asked Jesus, show us the way, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. That same night Pontius Pilate asked, what is truth? And Jesus remained silent. when the same answer would have been great. So apparently one guy was ready for the answer and the other guy wasn't and the only way Jesus knew was the Holy Spirit was leading him. Okay? There's some times when I'll walk up to people who are total strangers and start talking to them about Jesus and I don't think there's anything weird about that to be honest with you. I think that's the way, that's the normal way it should be but there are other times when I just feel that the Holy Spirit is telling me don't even just say hello to this guy or say God bless you to him and then just keep walking by. Okay? And we've got to understand, see the Holy Spirit tells Paul not to go north or south but to go west. He has a vision of a man in Macedonia seeking God. You see, missionaries are sent by God. God is sovereign. How many people bumped into somebody in this last month where you got to talk a little bit about Jesus, too? Show of hands, okay? Okay, let me tell you something, that wasn't your... You might feel like, well, I decided to go to such and such a place, and by the way, I've had that, you know? I go to... I try to go to one place for a cup of coffee and I find out the place isn't even open yet. So then I'm going to go to another place but then I realize, wait, I don't like that coffee as much as McDonald's coffee. I'll just go through the McDonald's drive-thru and get a cup of coffee and it might just be that the little God bless you that I told that person going through, that's the divine encounter that God wanted. But we often think, man, we're just, you know, we're just going about it, just all our own decision. Well, yeah, that's true if you're not in the Word and you're not a person of prayer. But if you're in God's Word and you're a person of prayer, even when you think you're just wandering around, if you're seeking to do God's will, God will set up those divine encounters. Look at Romans 4. Paul's letter to the Romans, I mean Romans 10 Romans chapter 10 verses 14 and 15 Romans 10 verses 14 and 15 Paul says this, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? And as it is written," then he quotes from Isaiah 52.7, "...how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things." You see, in ancient times, you know, I mean, nowadays we don't even wait for the mail anymore. Used to be you'd wait for the mail to find out if there's good news or bad news. And sometimes no mail would show up. Now with the internet, with, you know, Facebook and email and all this Instagram, all this other kind of stuff, we get our news so quickly. Well, in ancient times, you had to wait for a messenger. And these were like marathon runners. The greatest distance runners, they delivered the mail because these guys would have to run for 20, 30 miles. And so if you got your watchman in the tower and he wants to find out, gee, I wonder if we won that last battle or not. you're waiting for the messenger to come from the troops sent from the king to tell you if you won the battle or not they could tell from the tower when they see this little dot running they could tell by the way the guy was running whether or not they won the battle or not You kind of, you have a lot more energy when things are going your way. I can remember, I felt no pain in a boxing match. I battered an Irish kid, Danny McInerney, later turned pro. For three rounds I battered him, probably outlanded him 7 to 1. I didn't feel a thing. Until they announced the decision and they gave it to him. then I felt fatigue, I felt my side hurt from where he hit me, and winners feel no pain, you know? And when a guy's coming with good news, man, he's got happy feet. All right? But Paul tells us here in Romans 10, how shall they hear without a preacher? Let me tell you, If nobody's preaching to them, they're not going to hear about Jesus. But how shall they preach unless they are sent? Let me tell you, people here, you know, and you might think, man, Pastor Phil, if you saw my feet, you'd cringe. Maybe if you saw my feet, you'd cringe, you know? We're not the biggest church in the world. I mean, we don't meet in the most beautiful place. There's not a whole lot of us. We don't even have heat. Okay? Let me tell you something. I've been pastoring this church now for 27 years. Let me tell you something that we got. Not every church has. Some churches aren't preaching the word. We got beautiful feet, brothers and sisters. We got beautiful feet. And we might even have Christian friends who mean well, but they say, oh, you go to that church? Man, you guys don't even have your own building. You don't even have a church bus. You don't even have this. You don't even have that. Well, you just tell them. You say, you know what though? We got beautiful feet. We got beautiful feet. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. Let me tell you, when you're sharing your faith with somebody, okay, and you're trusting in the Lord, and you're walking with the Lord and you're in your devotional study of God's Word, you read the Bible every day, you pray every day, you go into church, you're in fellowship with other Christians, by the Spirit of God and by the grace of God, you're obeying God's moral commands. When you're sharing your faith with somebody, it's because you were sent. You know, you tell a psychologist, a secular psychologist, who doesn't believe in the Bible, You tell a secular psychologist, I'm on a mission from God, he's probably going to lock you up. Okay? But you tell a preacher, if you're a Christian and you tell a preacher who preaches the word of God because he believes the word of God, you tell him that you're on a mission from God and his response will be, well, what else is new? because we got beautiful feet, because God sends us to preach His Word. And so, missionaries are sent by God, God is sovereign, He's in control, He knows how to find those who seek Him. And we'll close with this. Look at Psalm 145. Psalm 145. Psalm 145 verses 18 and 19. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and save them. Okay? God, you know, God God is transcendent. He is far away. He is far above us. He is separate from us. He's transcendent, but He's also imminent. He's a faraway God, but He's a close God. And God is close, He is near to all who call upon Him, to those who call upon Him in truth. If there's a man in a faraway land that is crying out to God, seeking God, maybe people in a tribal village in Africa or South America, if there's someone who's really crying out to the true God, God right now is probably moving within the hearts of a few missionaries to go and preach the gospel to a small tribal people that probably most people on the planet never even heard of. Okay? God is sovereign. He knows how to get the gospel message to those who seek him. So in conclusion, now you got two Gentile missions instead of one. God knows how to bring good, even out of a bad situation, like a split between Saul and Barnabas. Number two, we have freedom in Christ, but do not allow this freedom to become a stumbling block to others. Do you know that Timothy had the freedom to not get circumcised? But then it would have been a stumbling block to the Jews, and so Paul would die to defend the Gentiles' freedom in Christ, but he's willing to lay aside that freedom so as not to be a stumbling block to the Jews. And then number three, the Holy Spirit sends us, his people, to build his kingdom. In fact, we'll close with one other verse, Romans 8, 14. Romans chapter 8 and verse 14. And Paul says there, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Okay? If you're a son of God or a daughter of God, if you're a child of God, you are led by the Holy Spirit. Now, we don't always follow that leading. But today, tomorrow, and the rest of our lives, God wants to send us. to preach the gospel to people, to share Jesus, to speak Jesus into the lives of people, and he's been preparing our hearts to tell them, and he's been preparing their hearts to receive it. But if we are the sons of God and the daughters of God, then we are led by the Spirit. And so as we go throughout Romans 16, we'll probably finish it up next week. We're going to see that no power can stop the preaching of God's Word. Let's close with a word of prayer. Our king is still on the throne.