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Acts 16 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Acts chapter 16 verse 1.
0:04Paul came also to Derby and to Lystra
0:08and a disciple was there named Timothy,
0:11the son of a Jewish woman who was a
0:13believer,
0:14but his father was a Greek.
0:17And he was well spoken of by the
0:19brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.
0:22Paul wanted this man to go with him
0:25and he took him and circumcised him
0:28because of the Jews who were in those
0:30parts, for they all knew that his father
0:33was a Greek.
0:35Now, while they were passing through the
0:37cities, they were delivering the decrees
0:40which had been decided upon by the
0:42apostles and the elders who were in
0:44Jerusalem for them to observe.
0:48So, this is an interesting thing
0:49already. This is Acts 16, the chapter
0:52after
0:54the
0:55Jerusalem Council where they decide not
0:58to impose circumcision.
1:00And they say, "We only require that you
1:03do these things." And these things are
1:06called decrees. They're not suggestions,
1:10they're requirements.
1:12And Paul is going to all these churches
1:14delivering these decrees to them.
1:17But while he's doing this, he meets a
1:19young man named Timothy
1:22whom he wants to be part of his ministry
1:24team. Paul wants this guy.
1:27And Paul circumcises him.
1:29Paul, the guy who preaches against
1:31circumcision. Paul, the the man who went
1:33to the Jerusalem Council and petitioned
1:37to not require circumcision.
1:39But he's not doing it because it's
1:41required for salvation, which is what
1:43they were saying, that they cannot be
1:46saved unless they are circumcised. He
1:48does not see it as that at all.
1:51But he's doing it because of the
1:52weakness of the faith of the Jews.
1:54He He to be able to bring Timothy into
1:57their midst. He wants to be able to
1:59bring Timothy into the temple.
2:01He wants to be able to
2:03um
2:04abide by the limits of their faith. So,
2:08it doesn't have anything to do with what
2:10Paul thinks circumcision is or isn't. He
2:13will later speak very forcefully against
2:16it. But, in terms of being a witness, in
2:19terms of
2:20humbling himself and his team to
2:22accommodate the weakness of others'
2:24faith, he's willing to do that. But,
2:27he's no way is he suggesting that this
2:29is somehow necessary for salvation. But,
2:32it shows that what he's doing is being
2:34done out of love.
2:35He He's not going to agree with their
2:37doctrine. He's not going to agree with
2:38their fears. But, he's also going to be
2:40patient and not act like he's holier
2:42than thou. Instead, he he did circumcise
2:45Timothy while carrying the letters that
2:47said, "You don't have to circumcise."
2:51They passed through the Phrygian and
2:52Galatian region, having been forbidden
2:54by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in
2:56Asia.
2:58And after they came to Mysia, they were
3:00trying to go into Bithynia,
3:02and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit
3:04them. And passing by Mysia,
3:07they came down to Troas.
3:11Okay, this is interesting.
3:14It tells us several things.
3:16It tells us that Paul
3:19is not operating by principle alone. He
3:23does not have this blanket mandate
3:27to preach the gospel everywhere because
3:30the Bible said so.
3:33He actually needs to feel and sense that
3:36the Spirit
3:38is sanctioning where he goes.
3:41As Jesus says in Luke 4,
3:43he says, "There were many widows in the
3:45days of Elijah,
3:47but he was sent only to one, and she
3:50wasn't part of Israel."
3:52And he likewise says there were many
3:54lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha,
3:57but he was only sent to one and that was
4:00the Syrian Naaman.
4:02And the idea is that yes, we have this
4:04broad mandate to do evangelism,
4:07but that mandate better be submitted
4:10to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
4:13Now,
4:14it says that
4:17they passed through the Phrygian and
4:19Galatian region
4:20having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit
4:24to speak the word in Asia.
4:27Now, forbidden means they were trying to
4:29do something and the spirit stopped
4:31them.
4:32Was Paul a carnal man
4:35to set out with an intent to go to Asia
4:38and then have to be stopped by the
4:40spirit?
4:42Did his team think, "Oh, Paul's carnal.
4:45We can't follow him."?
4:47No, they got up the next morning and
4:49were intending under Paul's leadership
4:53to go to
4:55Bithynia.
4:57So,
4:58Paul's forbidden by the spirit to go
5:00into Asia and then he determines, he
5:02intends, he says, "Guys, I want to do a
5:04work in Bithynia."
5:06But he's wrong a second time.
5:09That's being human.
5:11You're going to get a wrong inclination
5:13a time or two.
5:15And if you the only thing that you can
5:17refer to is your principles,
5:20you're going to keep pressing forward
5:22into Bithynia when the spirit is not
5:24letting you do it and you're going to
5:25get a mess.
5:27But the spirit is leading not just in
5:30the principles of the Bible, but in the
5:32day-to-day actions of the apostles.
5:35This is critical.
5:37So, his team could have said after the
5:39second time, "I don't think I'm going to
5:40follow Paul.
5:42He's gotten it wrong about going to Asia
5:45and the spirit of Jesus had to stop him.
5:47He's gotten it wrong about going to
5:48Bithynia.
5:50I'm not doing this anymore.
5:52But they didn't say that, did they?
5:54Paul was about to have a dream, a
5:55vision.
5:57And God was going to lead them, okay?
6:00What is also interesting is that Luke
6:02uses the spirit of Jesus and the Holy
6:05Spirit interchangeably because they're
6:07the same thing. After they came to
6:08Mysia,
6:10they were trying to go into Bithynia and
6:13the spirit of Jesus did not permit them.
6:16It wasn't a locked gate. It wasn't
6:18soldiers.
6:20It was an obedience to the spirit. I
6:21don't feel like God wants us to do this.
6:24And passing by Mysia, they came down to
6:27Troas.
6:29One strike. Two strike. Three.
6:33A vision appeared to Paul in the night.
6:37A man of Macedonia was standing and
6:40appealing to him and saying,
6:42"Come over to Macedonia and help us."
6:48When he had seen the vision, immediately
6:51we sought to go into Macedonia
6:55concluding that God had called us to
6:58preach the gospel to them.
7:01This is fascinating. This is the first
7:03time Luke uses the term we.
7:08He says,
7:10"Immediately
7:11we concluded." Was there some
7:14possibility that they were getting it
7:15wrong again?
7:17Of course there was.
7:18But they were not sitting around on
7:19their hands trying to play it safe.
7:22"Immediately we concluded." Luke's like,
7:25"I was with him. We agreed."
7:28So, putting out to sea from Troas, we
7:30ran a straight course to Samothrace.
7:34And on the day following to Neapolis.
7:37And from there to Philippi,
7:40which is a leading city of the district
7:43of Macedonia,
7:45a Roman colony,
7:47and we were staying in this city for
7:50some days.
7:52And on the Sabbath day, we went outside
7:55the gate to a riverside,
7:58where we were supposing that there would
8:00be a place of prayer.
8:03And we sat down and began speaking to
8:05the women who had assembled.
8:09A woman named Lydia from the city of
8:12Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a
8:15worshiper of God, was listening.
8:19And the Lord opened her heart to respond
8:22to the things spoken by Paul.
8:25And when she and her husband had been
8:27baptized, she urged us saying, "If you
8:31have judged me to be faithful to the
8:34Lord, come into my house and stay."
8:38And she prevailed upon us.
8:41It happened that as we were going to the
8:44place of prayer,
8:46a slave girl having a spirit of
8:48divination met us
8:50and was bringing her masters much profit
8:53by fortune-telling.
8:58Following after Paul and us, she kept
9:00crying out saying, "These men are
9:03bondservants of the most high God who
9:05are proclaiming to you the way of
9:08salvation."
9:10This is like the demons who used to
9:12testify that Jesus was the Messiah.
9:15Nobody wants to hear a confirmation of
9:17what God is doing through the mouth of
9:18the devil.
9:20She continued doing this for many days,
9:23but Paul was greatly annoyed
9:26and turned and said to the spirit, "I
9:29command you in the name of Jesus Christ
9:31to come out of her."
9:33And it came out at that very moment.
9:36But when her master saw that their hope
9:39of profit was gone,
9:42because they used to make money off of
9:43her demon,
9:44they seized Paul and Silas and dragged
9:48them into the marketplace before the
9:50authorities.
9:52And when they have brought them to the
9:54chief magistrates, they said, "These men
9:57are throwing our city into confusion,
10:00being Jews,
10:02and are proclaiming customs which is not
10:05lawful for us to accept or to observe,
10:08being Romans."
10:10This is uh ethnic problem. They're
10:13Jewish and we are Romans, and they're
10:15bringing customs that are too Jewish for
10:18our Roman
10:19society.
10:22And the real reason was they were afraid
10:24they were going to lose some money.
10:27The crowd rose up against them, and the
10:30chief magistrate tore their robes off of
10:33them and proceeded to order them to be
10:36beaten with rods.
10:39Strip them down and started beating
10:41them.
10:43Now, Luke has set this whole scene up
10:45for a reason.
10:46He wants us to know
10:49that Paul thought God was leading to
10:51Asia,
10:52and the spirit said no. Then Paul
10:54thought God was leading to Bithynia, and
10:56the spirit said no. Then Paul got a
10:59vision to go to Macedonia, and the whole
11:01team said, "Let's go." And then they get
11:04there, and this starts happening.
11:06And there's this question that we could
11:08ask, "Was it God after all?"
11:12Don't doubt what God is doing. Lydia has
11:14been converted.
11:16Her household has been baptized.
11:19The slave girl has been delivered of a
11:21demon.
11:23There is a great and effective door, but
11:26there are obstacles.
11:29The crowd rose up against them. They
11:31stripped their robes off, began to beat
11:33them with rods. When they had struck
11:35them with many blows, they threw them
11:38into prison, commanding the jailer to
11:41guard them securely. Now, what was the
11:43vision that Paul had
11:46about Macedonia?
11:47In it, he saw a man.
11:51But then the first convert wasn't a man,
11:52it was a woman named Lydia.
11:56Are we about to see the Macedonian man?
12:00We're certainly about to see a jailer.
12:02They commanded the jailer to guard them
12:04securely, and he, having received such a
12:07command, threw them into the inner
12:09prison
12:11and fastened their feet in the stocks.
12:16So, don't just throw them in prison, put
12:17them in the inner cell
12:20and lock them in their cell also in
12:23shackles on their feet.
12:27But, about midnight,
12:30Paul and Silas
12:32were praying
12:34and singing hymns of praise to God,
12:37and the prisoners were listening to
12:39them.
12:41Notice it does not say that about
12:43midnight an earthquake came.
12:46It says about midnight
12:49in the darkest hour of a horrible
12:52situation,
12:53feet in shackles, locked in a cell,
12:57hopes soaking wet,
13:00they decided this is a good time to
13:02pray.
13:03And then from their prayer to start
13:05singing.
13:06And then from their singing, other
13:08people started listening.
13:13And suddenly
13:15there came a great earthquake,
13:19so that the foundations
13:21of the prison house were shaken.
13:25And immediately all the doors were
13:27opened
13:28and everyone's chains
13:30were unfastened.
13:34Now, remember what happened to the
13:36guards
13:38after Peter was rescued by the angel. Do
13:40you remember what happened?
13:42They were slaughtered. They were killed.
13:45If you were the guard over a prisoner,
13:47the Roman rule was if they escaped, you
13:50would die. It was your life for their
13:53life.
13:55When the jailer awoke and saw the prison
13:58doors opened,
14:00he drew his sword and was about to kill
14:04himself,
14:06supposing that the prisoners had
14:08escaped.
14:10But Paul cried out with a loud voice,
14:15saying,
14:16"Do not harm yourself,
14:18for we are all here."
14:24It's amazing that they were so at rest
14:27in the work of God that they didn't
14:29scramble out of there as fast as they
14:31could.
14:32They knew they were in the will of God.
14:35And this guy who's about to pull his
14:37sword,
14:39this is the Macedonian man who asked
14:41Paul for help.
14:43And it's just coming in a very
14:44unexpected way.
14:48And he called for lights and rushed in,
14:52and trembling with fear, he fell down
14:55before Paul and Silas.
15:00Is this not a reverse of situations?
15:03The very guy who had thrown you in
15:05prison and turned the key on your feet
15:08shackles is now falling before you
15:11trembling.
15:13And you're trying to convince him he
15:15doesn't have to die.
15:18And after he brought them out, he said,
15:21"Sirs,
15:23what must I do to be saved?"
15:28They said,
15:30"Believe in the Lord Jesus,
15:33and you will be saved, you and your
15:35household."
15:39Well, that's a pretty simple command.
15:42Have complete faith in God,
15:45but how does belief come? It comes by
15:48hearing the word of God. So, Paul tells
15:50them to believe, but we don't know what
15:52belief looks like until we keep reading.
15:56And they spoke the word of the Lord to
16:00him, together with all who were in his
16:02house.
16:04That means his wife and sons and
16:06daughters and servants.
16:09And he took them that very hour of the
16:11night, that hour. This is what belief
16:13looks like. It looks like listening to a
16:16message after midnight.
16:19It looks like getting your whole
16:20household together to hear a preaching
16:22at 1:00 in the morning.
16:25He took them that very hour and washed
16:28their wounds. It looks like acting on
16:31the love you're professing. It looks
16:34like putting your faith into practice.
16:37This is what it looks like to believe on
16:38the Lord Jesus and be saved. Wash their
16:42wounds and immediately,
16:44still in the middle of the night, he was
16:46baptized, he and all his household.
16:51This is what it looks like to believe on
16:52the Lord Jesus and be saved.
16:55Did not Jesus say, "He who believes and
16:58is baptized shall be saved, but he who
17:00does not believe is condemned already?"
17:03Now, when the day came, the chief
17:05magistrates sent their policemen saying,
17:09"Release those men."
17:11Their house must have been shaken too in
17:13the night time.
17:15Please release those men.
17:17And the jailer reported these words to
17:20Paul saying, "The chief magistrates have
17:22sent to release you."
17:24So, Paul was still in custody.
17:28Paul hadn't run away.
17:30He'd gotten up and preached a message.
17:33He'd baptized a whole household.
17:36But, he hadn't left the prison.
17:39"Therefore, come out now and go in
17:42peace." The jailer tells Paul.
17:44But, Paul said to them,
17:46"They have beaten us in public without
17:50trial.
17:52Men who are Romans."
17:55Paul said, "We are Romans.
17:58And have thrown us into prison. And now
18:00they are sending us away secretly?
18:03No, indeed.
18:06But, let them come themselves and bring
18:09us out."
18:18Paul is not going to play their game.
18:21He's saying, "You humiliated us and beat
18:24us in front of the whole city. And now
18:26you want to save face and spirit us away
18:30where nobody knows what happened? You
18:31come own your mistake. You come get us
18:34out of prison yourself, big magistrate."
18:38The policemen reported these words to
18:40the chief magistrates.
18:42That means the judges of the city.
18:45They were afraid when they heard that
18:47they were Romans.
18:48Oh, no.
18:50And they came and appealed to them. And
18:53when they had brought them out, they
18:55kept begging them to leave the city. So,
18:58the magistrates came to the jail to
19:00appeal to Paul. Do you see the reverse
19:02of the order again? We got a judge
19:05begging Paul for something.
19:09And they begged them to leave the city.
19:11They went out of the prison and entered
19:13the house of Lydia.
19:16They're not in a hurry to leave
19:18anywhere. They're going right back to
19:19where they were staying.
19:21And when they saw the brethren,
19:24they encouraged them and departed.
19:26No, we're not going to flee. No, we're
19:28not going to run away. We're going to go
19:30see Lydia.
19:31And then we're going to encourage the
19:33new small church, and when that's been
19:35done,
19:36we'll head on our merry way.
19:40What a story of what it means to walk in
19:42the spirit,
19:44to allow yourself to be stopped by the
19:45spirit, to not lose faith when you miss
19:48it twice,
19:49to not lose faith when you find the will
19:52of God and it starts going really bad,
19:55to pray at midnight,
19:58to let your prayer turn into singing and
20:00your songs to spread to the other cells
20:03around you,
20:05and then to fulfill
20:07the whole plan of salvation, not as
20:09mental belief only, but an engagement
20:13that washes their wounds, that is
20:15baptized immediately, that brings your
20:18whole house into conformity to the word
20:21of God.

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