Acts 16:5

Then came he to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain woman who was a Jew and believed. But his father was a Greek. This man was well-reported of by the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium, and Paul wanted him to go forth with him. He took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those quarters, for they knew that his father was a Greek.

As they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep that were ordained by the apostles and the elders which were at Jerusalem. So the churches were established in the faith and increased in number daily.

Let's pray. Father, as we look into Your Word, I ask that You would continue to speak to us, Lord. As we study and read Your Word, would You cause Your Word to read us? Reveal to us the thoughts and the intents of our hearts. Show us the areas of our lives where perhaps we have not been trusting You, the areas where we have been leaning upon our own understanding. I ask, Lord, that by Your Spirit, You would give us insight into this passage of Scripture before us today.

As we step into 2010, we give it into Your hands and ask that You would do a greater work this year than we have ever seen before. Blow our minds, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated.

Back at the beginning of October was the last time that we were in the book of Acts. We took a detour and went to the book of Galatians, as Paul wrote it just before his second missionary journey and just before he went into that region once again. You may remember when we were in Acts chapter 15 that we looked at seven different ways that God leads us and guides us as we follow Him.

One way that God leads us is through the unity of the body, also through the quality of the leaders, the activity of the Spirit, the consistency of the teaching of the Word, a desire that He places within us personally, a concern that He puts upon our hearts, a burden. Sometimes God leads us through differing visions that He places upon our hearts. You may remember at the end of Acts chapter 15, there was a split vision.

That Paul wanted to go up into the area of Galatia, and his partner Barnabas had wanted to bring his nephew John Mark with him, but Paul wouldn't have it. He didn't want John Mark to travel. As a result, the two of them split ways; Barnabas went towards Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and went up into Galatia once again.

As we look at the first several verses of the Book of Acts, chapter 16 today, we're going to see five more ways that God leads us as we follow Him. You may want to put one through five down on the back of your bulletin and keep note of these today as we go through this passage. We read in verse one that they came to Derbe and to Lystra. In Acts chapter 14, this was the same city where Paul and Barnabas saw great ministry.

In these two cities, it was in that region that, when they came in, they were confronted with a lame man, and Paul, by the power of God, healed this lame man. The people of that city, when they saw this miracle performed, were so excited that they believed two of the Greek gods had come down to them. They were about to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, saying, "This is Jupiter and Mars that have come to our city." Paul and Barnabas, of course, stopped them from doing that and preached a great message of repentance to them.

It was right after that period of time, just a few days later, that one of these guys, Paul, was dragged outside of the city of Lystra. The Jews of that city sought to kill him; they stoned him and left him for dead. Of course, he didn't die, and he would return to the city of Lystra. Now, once again, he comes back to that place with Silas, his new partner in the ministry.

When they got there, they were met by a certain disciple whose name was Timothy. This is the first time we meet Timothy in the New Testament, but we will get to know him quite a bit as we continue through the Book of Acts and on into the epistles of the New Testament. He would become a great partner in the ministry of Paul, a co-laborer in the ministry. In fact, on a number of occasions, Paul would call him his son in the faith, his dearly beloved son in the faith, as seen in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 2.

Directly to Timothy, Paul would say, "You are useful to me in the ministry." He would also boast about Timothy to other believers at that time. In Philippians chapter 2, he says of Timothy that he was one who was a co-laborer and one who was like-minded in the ministry. Paul stated, "I have nobody else in the ministry like Timothy. He's the only one who has the same heart that I do," and he has served in the gospel faithfully, as Paul told the church at Philippi.

Timothy is going to become a key player in the New Testament. At this point, Paul was just being introduced to this young man, probably in his late teens or early 20s. Timothy had a mother who was Jewish, while his father was a Greek. When Paul meets him, he finds that Timothy knows the Scriptures. It is very likely that Timothy came to faith under the ministry of Paul when he first visited that region and city. Paul wants to take him along in the work of the ministry.

Notice it in verse 3. Paul desired to have Timothy go forth with him. This young man was well reported by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium, as mentioned in verse 2. Just as John Mark had been with Paul and Barnabas at the beginning of their first missionary journey, Paul was seeking to have another young man follow along in the ministry. It is so important in the ministry of God that the older teach the younger.

It is a firm conviction of mine that at every stage of our Christian life, we should have Timothys and Pauls in our lives. What do I mean by that? It doesn't matter if you're an elder, a pastor, or a leader within the church; every single one of us should be investing what has been invested in us into those who are younger in the faith. We each should have a Timothy, someone to whom we are seeking to impart the Word of God. Freely we have received; freely we ought to give.

We read that this young man was a disciple. There are many different terms used to identify the followers of Jesus in the New Testament, but the term "disciple" is used more than any other. A disciple is a learner, a student of God. Jesus called his own followers disciples and commissioned them to go into all the world and make disciples. The word "disciple" appears 272 times in the New Testament to identify the followers of Jesus.

When Paul returned to that region of Galatia, to the city of Lystra—a city where he had only spent a very brief period of time—he didn't just find believers or followers; he found true disciples of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them was this young man who was well reported. Paul said, "I want this guy to come with us in the work of the ministry." If older, mature Christians do not adopt younger believers, then who will fill the ranks when God calls the veterans home?

It's very important that we are pouring into those who are under us in the Lord and that we are discipling others. Yes, we have a school of discipleship here at Calvary Chapel. Josh was just talking about it during the announcements. It is our goal and our aim that every single follower of Jesus, every single believer here at Calvary Chapel Escondido, would become a disciple. We want them to be fully equipped for every good work that God has prepared for them.

Paul told the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 4 that God has given some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ. The pastors, elders, and leaders of this church have been called by God to equip the body of Christ so that we can all together do the work of the ministry, whether it's right here in Escondido, Southern California, the United States, or the uttermost parts of the world, as we have missionaries all over. It is our desire to send more out into the uttermost parts, but it begins first with being discipled.

Just as Paul would tell Titus and Timothy, we need to set up in the churches that the older men teach the younger men and the older women teach the younger women so that each of them would be fully equipped. This was Paul's instruction and teaching, but it was also the example of his life. As you follow Paul in the book of Acts and through his epistles, you see that there were several different young men that Paul brought in to train, whether it was Titus, Gaius, or Timothy.

Now, for all the favorable qualities we see in Timothy—his good reputation among the brethren, his discipleship in the church, and his training in the Scriptures by his grandmother and mother—there was something that Paul saw as a problem. We read in verse 4, in the middle of the verse, that Paul took Timothy and circumcised him. This is extremely odd and almost seems like a contradiction to Paul's previous stance in the New Testament, particularly in the book of Acts.

You may remember that in Acts chapter 15, there was a great contention in the church at Antioch because a group of teachers came from Jerusalem and said, "Unless you're circumcised, you can't be saved." Paul was so upset about this and steadfast against this false teaching that he and a group went from Antioch down to Jerusalem. There, in Acts chapter 15, was the council at Jerusalem, where they determined that circumcision was not necessary for salvation.

Part of the reason that Paul and Silas are now in Lystra, in Derby, and in the region of Galatia was to share with the churches there that circumcision was not a requirement for salvation. Yet, while he was teaching this, he took a young man, Timothy, and said, "You've got to be circumcised and come along with me in the ministry." This seems like a contradiction. However, when we consider what the whole verse says, we begin to understand why. It states that he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those quarters, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

Under Jewish law, a man was considered Jewish through his mother's line. If you go today to Jerusalem and visit the Western Wall, where many devout Jews pray day in and day out, you will find that they want to share with you about their heritage and Judaism. Oftentimes, one of the questions you will hear when you get there is, "Is your mother Jewish?" They ask this because they want to share with you your roots in Judaism.

When I visited in 2001, I had to say no, but Timothy would have said yes. However, the Jews of his day would have viewed him as an apostate Jew because he was not circumcised. He was not fulfilling the covenant that God had given to Abraham. Paul knew that they would be visiting synagogues and ministering among Jews, so he said they had to take care of this issue, even though it would be painful. I imagine that Timothy, in his late teens or early twenties, was not entirely excited about this prospect.

For there to be effective ministry among the people they were going to, this had to be addressed. It was an issue of love, not legalism. While it was not necessary for salvation, in this instance, it was important for the ministry they were undertaking.

The question must be raised: Are we willing to give up our rights so that we do not unnecessarily cause someone else to stumble? Are we like Timothy in this passage, willing to give up our liberty for the sake of love in effective ministry? I wonder what sorts of things in our lives we have to lay aside.

We have to crucify, give up, or cut off certain things so that we might effectively minister to those who are outside. These may be things that could stumble others because of the way we act, look, or talk. Perhaps they may even be trivial things. You might look at them and say, "Well, it's no big deal," but they can be a stumbling block to someone else. Out of love, Timothy takes a step that, while painful, is necessary for him to minister among the group of people they were reaching out to. So, Timothy was circumcised and began to go with Paul into the ministry.

In verse four, we read that the very decree that Paul, Barnabas, and Silas had received while they were in Jerusalem regarding circumcision was now being carried by Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the churches of Galatia. As they delivered the decrees, the doctrine of the apostles, we see that the churches were established in the faith and increased in number daily.

It amazes me every single year just how many church growth programs and seminars there are—hundreds, probably thousands of different seminars that come about each year on how to grow a church and how to make it a "sticky" church, which was a big topic at a recent event in San Diego County aimed at getting people to stay in your church. What really blows my mind is how few of these mailers have anything to do with what took place in the Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts talks a lot about the church growing and increasing. In Acts chapter two, verse 42, we read that the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, the breaking of bread, fellowship, and prayer. A few verses later, in verse 47, it says, "The Lord added to the church daily those who should be saved." In Acts chapter four, verse one, it states that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead. In verse four, it says that many of those who heard believed, and the church grew to a number of above 5,000 at that point. In Acts chapter five, verse 14, it notes that more believers were added to the Lord, and multitudes of men and women believed.

In Acts chapter six, verse seven, it says, "The word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of priests were obedient to the faith." In Acts chapter two, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, and chapter nine, it states in verse 31 of Acts chapter nine that the churches had rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. They were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. They were multiplied over and over again.

We see in the book of Acts that the church grew as they simply did what God had called them to do: to make disciples and preach the gospel. As they exercised the gifts of the Holy Spirit, God multiplied the church. In Acts chapter 11, Peter spoke about preaching the Lord Jesus to those in Cornelius's house. In verse 21, it says a great number believed and turned to the Lord. In Acts chapter 12, the word of God grew and multiplied. In Acts chapter 13, the Gentiles who heard were glad, and the church grew and was multiplied. As they preached the word, exercised the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and made disciples as Jesus had commissioned, the church grew and was multiplied.

Throughout church history, we have seen that when the church of God is built upon the foundation of God's word, the church grows. This is evident in the testimony of Calvary Chapel. When Calvary Chapel first started back in the mid-1960s, Pastor Chuck Smith simply taught the word of God, and the church began to grow. Now, many years later, we have fourth-generation pastors who weren't even a part of that movement at the time, yet they continue to teach the word of God simply.

In Acts chapter 16, we read that the church was established in the faith. They weren't established in programs or campaigns; they were established in the faith. Here at Calvary Chapel of Escondido, we don't have a lot of programs. We don't have any sort of campaigns. All we do is teach the word of God simply because we really are not capable of doing anything else. We don't have any programs; we're not smart enough to have programs. We just simply teach the word of God, and God adds to the church in an awesome way. It is a great way to see God move, as He has for two millennia now.

We read in verse 6 of Acts chapter 16, "Now, when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mycenae, they essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not." The Spirit suffered them not. It's a very interesting thing, the way that the Lord leads in this passage.

At the beginning, in verse 3, we see that God led through an apostolic request, as Paul asked Timothy to come along with him and help in the ministry. However, when we come down to verses 6 and 7, we see how God moves Paul, Silas, and Timothy through a spiritual check. This is rather intriguing. In the book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit move the church. In fact, the book of Acts could probably be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit instead of the Acts of the Apostles.

It was in Acts chapter 2 that God poured out His Holy Spirit upon the church, and the church began to grow. In Acts chapter 10, the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and told him to go with the men that came to Joppa from Cornelius' house. In Acts chapter 13, the Holy Spirit said to the church at Antioch, "Separate unto me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I've called them to." So we see the Holy Spirit moving.

But here, the Holy Spirit forbade Paul, Silas, and Timothy from going into Asia and did not allow them to go into Bithynia. I wonder, when I read this, what it looks like to have the Holy Spirit forbid you from doing something, especially when it's a good thing. Paul wanted to go into that region to preach the gospel, yet the Holy Spirit forbade them from doing it. The Holy Spirit withheld them from going into Asia and into Bithynia.

Now, the Scriptures are silent on exactly what this looked like. There has been much speculation over the years from many different Bible teachers. Some people believe that Paul became ill as they were moving from Galatia up into the higher elevations and sought to move into Asia, which was even at a higher elevation, and into Bithynia. Others think that he became ill and had to move down to the lower, cooler elevations near the coast in Troas. There are also those who believe that Paul simply did not have peace as he sought to go into Asia, that there were many closed doors, and there was no real opportunity to move up into that region. It's possible that the weather was not that great.

It's possible that there just wasn't an open door. We don't really know. The people may not have been receptive. Whatever the case, Paul recognized that the Spirit of God was saying no when he wanted to go into Asia. He was coming from the south, from the region of Galatia, and moving up into the north. He wanted to move east towards Asia, but there was a closed door. God said no.

As Paul continued to move north into Bithynia, he encountered another closed door. The only other direction he could go, moving from the south and unable to go east or north, was west. God was not allowing him to move where he wanted to go. Perhaps you've experienced this before, where it seems every direction you want to go in your service to the Lord is met with closed doors and dead ends. You don't have any peace about it.

We may not know the exact details of why Paul couldn't go into Asia or Bithynia, but we can learn a lot from how he responded when he was not allowed to proceed. First, he was receptive to the Lord's no. He was listening to the Lord and seeking Him, open to what the Lord was saying. Secondly, Paul was sensitive to the Lord's no. When the Lord made it clear that this was not the direction He wanted Paul to take, Paul recognized it.

Third, Paul was not discouraged by the Lord's no. Have you ever felt discouraged when the Lord has made it very clear that He doesn't want you to do something? Fourth, he did not argue when the Lord said no. I have a hard time with this one, and perhaps you can relate. I tend to try to explain to God why my idea is a good one, even when He is saying no. However, in this passage, we do not see Paul arguing with the Lord when He said no.

Fifth, Paul was willing to change his plan in accordance with God's will. He was willing to do what God wanted him to do over what he wanted to do. That is truly what it means to call Jesus Lord. As Pastor Richard was reading out of Acts chapter 9 this morning, Paul asks Jesus, "Who are You?"

Are we willing to change our plans in accordance with God's will when we recognize that He desires for us to move in a different direction? When Paul heard the "no" from God, he kept moving as the Lord seemed to be directing. I've met a number of people in the body of Christ over the last eleven years of ministry who, when the Lord said "no" to a certain area of ministry, stopped serving completely. They felt that God told them they couldn't serve in that area or do that thing, so they decided not to serve at all.

Yet, Paul, when God said "no," kept moving. Perhaps you've heard the statement that it's difficult to turn a car that's not moving. The same is true in our walk with the Lord; He cannot direct us and turn us where He wants us to go if we're not actively serving Him and following Him. Paul kept moving as the Lord was directing. God desires to be the leader of our lives. He wants us to follow His direction.

Just as with the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, when they came out of Egypt, the Lord led them with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. God desires to do the same in our lives as we follow Him, seeking Him in His Word, through prayer, and through the wisdom of other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, as well as through the consistency of teaching that we receive.

Sometimes God moves us, as we saw in verse three, through a request from a leader—an apostolic request, as Paul was calling Timothy and saying, "Come follow me." Other times, God leads us when there is not peace or an open door, a spiritual check where it seems as though the Lord is saying, "No, I don't want you to go in that direction."

In verse eight, we read that they passed by Mycenae and came down to Troas. After our service today, if you look at the map in the back of your Bible for the second missionary journey of Paul, you'll see that as Paul was going away from Galatia into the north, he wanted to go into Asia in the east, but the Lord said "no." He wanted to go into Bithynia in the north, and God said "no" again. The only place he could go was to the west. The furthest point west before he fell off into the Aegean Sea was the city.

Paul had traveled as far as he could go and arrived in the city of Troas. In verse nine, we read that a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, pleading with him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us."

God can lead us through an apostolic request. He can also guide us through a spiritual check. Third, in your notes, God can lead us through a spiritual vision—a heavenly vision. The prophet Joel foretold in Joel chapter two that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In the night, Paul sees a vision of a man of Macedonia saying, "Come and help us." Thus, God can lead through that supernatural vision.

Fourth, He can also lead through a prophetic call, where someone asks, "Would you come here and help in the work?" Paul didn't know who this man was; perhaps he would never meet the man from his vision, or maybe he would encounter him in the city of Philippi. We don't know. Whatever the case, in the middle of the night, Paul received a vision from a man of Macedonia, which was across the Aegean Sea in a region we would now call Greece. This was the first time that the gospel would move into Europe, and most of us sitting here today are the recipients of this move of the gospel by Paul, Silas, and Timothy from the area of Asia Minor into Europe.

Notice Paul's response in verse ten. God can lead us as He led Timothy with that apostolic request. He can lead us as He led Paul, Silas, and Timothy with that spiritual check, that unopened door, or that lack of peace. God sometimes leads by a supernatural vision or a prophetic call.

Finally, God leads by an open opportunity. After they had seen the vision, they immediately endeavored to go into Macedonia, to get on a boat in Troas and head west across the Aegean Sea. Therefore, loosing from Troas, they came with a straight course to Samartheis.

And the next day, they traveled to Neapolis and from there to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony. They were in that city for several days. On the Sabbath, they went out to the riverside where prayer was usually made. They sat down and spoke to a woman who resorted there. They moved through that open door and brought the gospel into Europe as God had called them to do.

Before wrapping up, I want you to notice one more thing in verse 10. It says, "And after he, Paul, had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go to Macedonia." Circle the word "we" in your neighbor's Bible. We endeavored to go into Macedonia.

As we began the book of Acts, we studied who the author of the book is: the doctor Luke, the physician. Here, for the first time in the book of Acts, we see that the author is speaking in the first person. We endeavored to go into Macedonia. At this point, we see that a fourth person was added to the group. Paul and Silas had left from Antioch and went up into Galatia. There in Lystra, they met Timothy and called him to come along with them. Now, in Troas, they meet Luke, the physician, and step out into the ministry together to bring the gospel into a new part of the world that had not yet received it.

This is the call that God has given to us as well here in 2010: to hear the call, to stand up and go, to arise and go. As I mentioned several weeks ago in Micah 2:10, "Arise and go, for this is no place to rest." This is not our place to rest. As believers and disciples of Christ, we know the Scriptures reveal that we shall be with the Lord eternally. In John 14:1, He has promised to one day return and bring us to that place, and we will ever be with Him. That will be, as far as we can see in the Scriptures, the place of rest. For the Christian, this is not our home. Amen?

And until the Lord calls us home, He has called us to go. Arise and go, for this is not our rest. Just as we see with these four men now leaving from Troas and heading into Macedonia, where in 2010 would the Lord call you to go? Perhaps He will partner you with somebody else in the ministry here at Calvary Chapel Escondido, equip you, develop you, and ready you to step out and go. But where is He calling you to go?

He may just call you to serve in the children's ministry here at Calvary Chapel of Escondido. He might call you to go out into the ministry here in Escondido with Dave Retell. He may call you to go with us to Africa or to China, stepping out a little bit further than Grand Avenue. But God is calling. When we gather together on a Sunday morning, God is equipping and readying us for that call. The question is, will we hear when that request comes or when that door is opened? Will we recognize the vision, a supernatural vision? And will we have the faith to step out?

I am thankful that the faith we have is increased by the reading of the Word. We read in Romans chapter 10 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. May the Lord increase our faith to step out as we step into a new year. Amen?

Let's stand together and pray. Father, we do thank You for Your Word. We thank You, Jesus, that You stepped out. You stepped into humanity. You stepped into our world to bring us salvation. Lord, You have given us a commission to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. I pray that You would stir our hearts, prepare us by Your Word, and inspire us to go wherever You would call us, to be willing to do whatever You ask us to do.

Help us to have that willingness, like Richard shared that Paul did in Acts chapter 9: "Lord, what would You have me to do?" Thank You for reminding me, as we step into 2010, to even ask that question. Lord, would You stir all of our hearts to do the same? Allow us in this year to see Your kingdom grow in a powerful way.

For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen.