Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19980426.htm

ACTS: THE LOCAL CHURCH AS GOD'S AGENCY FOR DISCIPLING MEN
Part XXXVIII: Finding God's Leading AFTER The "Clear" Signals From God End
(Acts 16:11-40)
  1. Introduction
    1. Understanding the leading of God in one's life often seems to be a challenge for us believers. At times we tend to expect God to offer a sign or spoken word from on high so we can know for sure what God wants.
    2. Acts 16:11-40, in light of God's clear circumstantial leading of Acts 16:6-10, gives us practical insight into how Paul discovered and fulfilled God's directives after God stopped giving the Macedonian vision:
  2. Finding God's Leading AFTER The "Clear" Signals From God End, Acts 16:11-40.
    1. As we learned last time, God strongly indicated by circumstantial evidences and a vision that He wanted Paul's missionary team to cross the Aegean Sea in order to minister in Macedonia, Acts 16:6-10.
    2. Significant in the vision signal was that a man of Macedonia requested Paul to come help us, A. 16:10.
    3. In actually entering Macedonia, it is interesting to see how much Paul depended on common sense when he got into the everyday process of making the trip, and how God went with that "common sense" to fulfill His will as represented in t hat very vision. We study that common sense approach of Paul's as follows:
      1. Step One - Paul's group took a boat to Macedonia, the most logical way to get there from Troas, 16:11.
      2. Step Two - The nearest and most significant town of Macedonia was Philippi, and since reaching significant population centers are most effective in reaching a region, Paul moved from the less significant seacoast town of Neapolis to Philippi to see about opening a ministry there, Acts 16:12a.
      3. Step Three - Paul spent a couple of days surveying the town to arrive at a sensible plan of action, 12b.
      4. Step Four - On the Sabbath the team went to the riverside 1 1/2 miles out of town where they assumed prayer would be made, 16:13a. This move came about from Paul's cultural insight as follows:
        1. In Paul's era, if Jews had no synagogue in a town, they would meet by a nearby river, harking back to the practice of the Babylonian Captivity, cf. Ps. 137:1, G. Campbell Morgan, Luke, p. 380-381.
        2. As Paul had noticed that there was no synagogue in Philippi, a Roman colony of mainly Roman citizens, he naturally went to the nearby river to find its Jews, Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 398-399.
        3. The reason Paul tried to minister to Jews or Gentile proselytes was due to Scripture's teaching that the Gospel went to the Jew first, then to Gentiles, cf. Rom. 1:16b; Acts 1:4 in light of Joel 2:32.
        4. Thus, Scripture's teaching and cultural understanding, together with God's leading so far, indicated that Paul visit the river on the Sabbath to see if there was a group meeting for prayer to Israel's God.
      5. Step Five - Though finding just a few women there, due to God's leading and the signals of Scripture knowledge, cultural insight and common sense so far, Paul spoke, leading Lydia to Christ, 16:13-15.
      6. Step Six - While continuing to travel to meet at this place, sensibly doing follow-up, Paul was met by a demon-possessed girl whose activities around him deeply countered his ministry, Acts 16:16-18a.
        1. The girl had a spirit of "puthown" in the Greek, a lying spirit that could predict future events, but in the opposite manner of the truth according to Phil Williams, a former prof at Dallas Seminary.
        2. Well, this girl told the truth about Paul's team to all, leaving the false impression that they were thus NOT serving God and were not giving the true gospel of salvation, Ibid., Williams (Acts 16:17).
      7. Step Seven - Since this girl's actions of many days misrepresented the Gospel, it blocked Paul's ministry, so he exorcised the demon, leading to his arrest, beating and imprisonment, Acts 16:18-24.
      8. Step Eight - God intervened with a prison-releasing earthquake, leading the prison keeper to near suicide as he dreaded the execution penalty for his allowing the prisoners to escape, Acts 16:25-27.
      9. Step Nine - Paul intercepted the man, evangelized him, leading him and his household to Christ, 28-34.
      10. Step Ten - Thus, a notable Macedonian man was saved and helped with his family in fulfillment of the initial Acts 16:9 vision re: the Macedonian man's request. The Macedonian goal completed, Acts 16:35-40 then record God's release of tension so that Paul could leave town and continue his work.
Lesson: Once God has supplied us information OUTSIDE of ourselves on what we must do NEXT, He wants us to proceed on the DETAILS by using our own knowledge, background and common sense!

Application: God gave us eyes and ears to USE acc. to Prov. 20:12. Thus, our background and MIND are useful TOOLS in finding God's direction BEYOND God's signals in Scripture and circumstances!