Acts 16:11

Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. From thence, we traveled to Philippi, which is a chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony. We were there in that city for several days, and on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. We sat down and spoke to the women who resorted there. A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart, and she attended to the things which were spoken of by Paul.

Let's pray. Lord, as we sang just a few minutes ago, the whole earth is full of Your glory. You are holy, holy, holy. As we now look into Your Word, Lord, where we see the holy God move with great power, I ask that You would continue to teach and instruct us, moving in our lives and in our hearts. God, fully equip us and prepare us for the week ahead, the month ahead, and this whole year, Lord, to do the work that You've called us to.

As we see three different individuals in this passage this morning, their hearts changed and transformed, I pray, Lord, that You would speak to us and stir us to bring Your life-giving Word to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

Paul and Silas, on their second missionary journey, came into the region of Galatia and there picked up Timothy. They moved on down into the area of Troas, right on the Aegean Sea. Still in Asia Minor, the Lord spoke through a dream, through a vision to Paul, that they should move from there into Macedonia, into Europe, the northern portion of Greece. They picked up another traveler in Troas, the man Luke, who ultimately would author the Book of Acts. Now the team of four...

Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke came to the city of Philippi, which we are told in verse 12 is the chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony of Rome. It was not the largest city in that area; in fact, Thessalonica, the next city that Paul and his team would go to, is larger than Philippi. However, God had called them to this area, and He was going to do a great work.

Philippi was founded by King Philip II of Macedon in 356 BC. It was that very same year that Philip had a son, his firstborn son, named Alexander, who would become Alexander the Great—the great conqueror and leader who would elevate Greece to its highest point. Philippi was located in a very rich part of the world and was known for its gold mines for many years. Ultimately, when the Roman Empire emerged, it colonized that region and took over the city of Philippi, making it a key city on the trade routes into the eastern part of the Roman Empire. It was situated right on the Ignatian Way, the road that led into the eastern part of the empire all the way back to Rome. Many traders and sellers of various goods would come to Philippi, making it a very wealthy city.

We are told in verse 12 that it was a colony of Rome, which meant it had an autonomous government. It did not have Roman rule in the city, so to speak; there were no Roman soldiers like those in Judea and Jerusalem. Instead, they had their own magistrates and rulers. As a result, they wanted to keep the peace because they knew that if they did not, word would get back to the emperor in Rome, who would send Roman soldiers to take over the leadership of the city. The people of Philippi were very proud, wealthy, and eager to maintain their government intact, so they did not want any trouble.

This posed a problem because, as we follow the ministry of Paul, we see that many of the cities he visited experienced disturbances. In this passage, we find that on the Sabbath day, they went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made. It was the Jewish custom that in any city where more than ten Jewish males lived, they would have a place of prayer.

To gather together to build a synagogue for the Jews to meet in, it appears that there were not ten Jewish men in the city of Philippi. In fact, we don't even see any Jewish men mentioned in this passage. You may remember that it was Paul's manner, his custom, that when he would come into a new city, the first stop for him and his team would be to preach the gospel. When he first came to Philippi, he probably walked around the city looking for a synagogue and found nothing.

The very next place they would go, as was the custom of the Jews, was out to the nearest river on the Sabbath day to worship the Lord. We see this back during the time of the exile of the children of Israel in Babylon. In Ezekiel chapter 1, we read that the children of Israel would gather by the river Kibar on the Sabbath day to worship. It was often there by the river that God would reveal visions to Ezekiel. The same was true for Daniel when he was in the city of Shushan, as mentioned in Daniel chapter 7. It says that he would go out by the riverside every Sabbath day, and that is where he received his visions in Daniel chapters 7 and 8.

So, it was the custom of the Jews, the custom of those who would seek God. When Paul and his team went out to the riverside on the Sabbath day, they didn't find any Jewish men there, but they did find a group of women who resorted there to pray. This group seemed to be seekers of God, God-fearers. Among them was a certain woman named Lydia, who was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira.

That name, Thyatira, might ring a bell, especially if you've read through the book of Revelation. The first three chapters, particularly chapters 2 and 3, contain the letters of Jesus to the seven churches, and one of those churches was the church of Thyatira. Paul never traveled to Thyatira, at least not that we see in the book of Acts, and we don't read of any other people bringing the gospel to Thyatira. Therefore, it is very plausible that after Lydia was saved, she was the one who brought the gospel back to her own people in the city of Thyatira.

Thyatira was known for its dyes to make purple cloth, and we are told that Lydia was a seller of purple. This indicates that she was very wealthy, a well-to-do woman, and a good saleswoman, I believe. We will see later in this passage that she constrains Paul and his group to come and stay at her house. I think Paul was a rather stubborn guy, so she had to be a pretty good saleswoman to convince him to do anything.

Thus, she was worshiping God with a group of women by the river. We are told in verse 14 that her heart was opened by the Lord, and she attended.

To the things that Paul spoke, her heart was opened by the Lord. Would you underline that in your Bible this morning? Her heart was opened by the Lord. In the Gospel of John, in John chapter 6, verse 44, Jesus said, "No man comes to me except the Father which has sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on that last day." It is an important truth that evangelism begins with God. Missions begins with God.

When we look at the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we see that our God is the missionary God, and He is the one who reaches out to mankind. It was man who fell in the Garden of Eden. It was God who came searching for him, seeking him out, saying, "Adam, where are you?" Ever since that fall, we have seen that God reaches out, and He is the first mover. He is the instigator as it relates to evangelism and missions and bringing the gospel.

That being the case, I believe it is extremely important that our evangelism begins with prayer. Every single one of us here this morning has friends, family members, and co-workers who don't know the Lord, and the Scripture reveals that they are dead in trespasses and sins. We want them to come to the knowledge of the truth, and the only way for that to happen is by the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

However, you know very well that you've tried to share with people before, and they seem to be hardened to it. They don't want to hear it. They are skeptics. They want nothing to do with it. Sometimes we're discouraged by that, but might I encourage you this morning and say, pray. Ask that God would begin to move and break up that fallowed ground, the hard ground of the heart.

How many of you, before you received the gospel, had a hard heart and were a skeptic? Many of you, most of you, this morning. In the Gospel of Matthew, in Matthew chapter 13, we read the parable of the sower. There, Jesus tells a story about a farmer, a sower, who went out to sow seed. Some of the seed fell upon the wayside, that hard-packed ground, and it says that the birds of the air came and plucked away the seed and took it away.

Some of the seed fell among the thorns, the thistles, the weeds, and it sprang up, but those thorns grew up and choked out the growth of that fruitful vine. Jesus goes on to say that some fell on stony ground or shallow earth, and the seed sprang up very quickly. It looked like it was going to grow well, but then the sun came and burned it out, and it died. There was only one group mentioned that...

Fell among good ground that ultimately grew and produced some 30-fold, some 60-fold, and some 100-fold. Later in that chapter, Jesus' disciples came to Him and asked what that meant. They realized that He wasn't talking about farming, or at least they hoped He wasn't talking about farming.

He began to explain that the seed is the Word of God, the good Word of God. The sower sows the seed, the Word of God, but sometimes that seed falls upon a heart, upon ground that's hard, and the enemy, like the birds in the story, comes and takes it away. Some of the seed falls on ground that is amidst all the weeds, which He called the cares of the world, and those weeds grow up and choke it out. A little bit more of that seed will fall on shallow earth, and it grows up, but then trials come. The sun shines and burns it out.

However, there is that ground that was prepared and readied, that received the Word of God and produced fruit. We have all experienced in our lives, whether we're sharing with a family member or a friend, that there are those who have the cares of the world, which seem to hinder them from coming to the knowledge of the truth. There are also those with hard hearts who are unwilling to hear what it is that you have to say, or those who get burned out because things are hard and difficult. They don't want to follow the Lord.

We are always hoping for and anticipating ground that is ready, but to have that be the case, we need to seek the Lord and ask Him to move. We should ask Him to do just as He did in Acts chapter 16, verse 14, when God opened the heart of Lydia. In this first individual that we will look at in Acts chapter 16 this morning, we see, if you're taking notes, number one: the open heart. Lydia was ready and willing to receive the implanted Word.

As you follow through the book of Acts and the rest of the Bible, you will see that Lydia became a woman who was truly a follower of God, a good servant of the Lord, and a great support to the ministry of Paul. She received the Word of God willingly, and immediately there was fruit. Immediately there was a change.

Look at verse 15. After attending to the words that Paul spoke, we read, "When she was baptized, and her house, she besought us, saying, 'If you have judged me faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.'" She constrained us. Immediately after she received the Word of God, she received it gladly, was baptized, and there was the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of hospitality.

She steps up and says, "I want you to come and stay with me. I open up my house to you. I'll take care of your needs." Baptized and filled with hospitality, Lydia welcomed them.

Now it came to pass, as we went to prayer, that a certain damsel, as Paul or Luke tells us, was possessed with a spirit of divination. She met us and brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. As Paul and his team stayed in the city of Philippi, at the house of Lydia, it appears that daily they would go to a certain place in the city to pray. One day, as they began to go to that place, they were met by a woman who was possessed with a spirit of divination. She was possessed by a demon, and by this demon, she had the ability to gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that she would have no other way of obtaining.

It seems she was able to tell people something of their fortunes, something of their futures, and things that were going to come to pass in their lives. We have such people today—fortune tellers, soothsayers, horoscope readers, and seekers of the stars. Many people are tempted to turn to them, and a lot of people spend a significant amount of money on these services. In fact, I shared a couple of months back that I saw a news segment about how this is one of the fastest-growing industries during the economic downturn in our nation today. Many people are turning to soothsayers to see if 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

The Scriptures clearly forbid seeking after fortune tellers, soothsayers, and diviners in the Old Testament. It is against the law of God. Not every single one of those soothsayers or diviners is filled or possessed by a demon, but this woman in the passage was, and there may still be those today who are filled or possessed with a spirit of divination.

If you're taking notes, number two is the enslaved heart. We see in Lydia that she had an open heart, but in this woman, we see the enslaved heart. She was a slave both physically and, even worse, spiritually. Yes, she was a slave. She had masters, as we are told in verse 16, who brought great gain by her divination and her ability to tell people their fortunes. She followed Paul and his team, as noted in verse 17.

The same followed Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, crying out, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation." The interesting thing is that this woman, possessed with a spirit of divination—a demonic spirit—was telling the truth. What she said was exactly the case. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were indeed servants of the Most High God, and they came to bring the knowledge of the truth and the message of salvation.

However, sometimes, not all press is good press. This woman was known in the city of Philippi. People recognized her, and it was clear that she was not the kind of witness one would want. It’s like having a convicted felon say, "Listen, I'll stand up and testify in your trial." I don't know if I would want that person as my witness. Although what she said was true, it was not a good witness. In fact, her presence hindered the ministry that God was seeking to establish in the city of Philippi.

If this happened on one day, it might not have been a big deal as Paul and his group walked to pray. Here comes this demonically filled woman, proclaiming, "These are servants of the Most High God. They've come to show us the way of salvation." If it happened on one day, it might not have been significant. But after two, three, four, or five days, as we are told in verse 18, Paul became grieved. The King James Version states he was grieved, but I think he was probably pretty ticked off. He was tired of this.

After this had happened for many days, Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, "I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her." The spirit came out of her that same hour, or as another translation puts it, in that moment, in that instant. Paul spoke directly to the spirit of divination that was possessing the young girl. He commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus, invoking the authority and power of Jesus Christ.

Didn’t say in the authority given to me, Paul, the apostle, I command you to come out of her. He recognized that Jesus, in the Gospels, had the power and the authority to cast demons out of people, but he told his disciples to do so in His name and by His authority.

I always get very concerned when I hear stories of, or even see, people within certain branches of the church that may be more charismatic, saying, "I bind this. I cast this out," without really seeking the Lord to do that. We look in the Book of Jude, that small book just before the Book of Revelation. We're told the story about Michael, the archangel, who contended with Lucifer for the body of Moses. When he contended with Lucifer for the body of Moses, he did not bring a reviling accusation against Lucifer, against the enemy. Instead, he said, "The Lord rebuke you." He relied upon the power and the authority of God, the power and the authority of the Lord.

This is extremely important in any work that you and I are called to do or step out to do. We need to seek to rely upon the Lord and His power and His authority. We are going to come to another story in the Book of Acts, not too far from here, where there's a group of young men called the sons of Sceva. They are going about seeking to cast demons out of demon-possessed individuals. When they do, they decide to use this formula: "In the name of Jesus that Paul preaches, we command you to come out of them."

They came upon a certain spirit that was possessing an individual and said, "In the name of the Jesus that Paul preaches, we command you to come out of them." The spirit looked at them and said, "Paul, I know. Jesus, I know. But who are you?" Now, I don't know about you, but if I were in that situation at that moment, I would want to make sure that I could run faster than my other brothers.

"Paul, I know. Jesus, I know. But who are you?" This demonically possessed individual proceeded to beat the tar out of them. We need to recognize that spiritual entities are very, very real. Scripture speaks many times about these principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers and principalities, as we are told in Ephesians chapter 6. Therefore, we are to put on the whole armor of God. We need to rely upon His power and strength whenever we are confronted with any sort of spiritual entity, and there are times when we will be.

A lot of times, we don't recognize this here in the United States, but if you join us on some of our mission trips to other parts of the world, you will see it: spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places. Paul turned to this one and commanded in the name of Jesus Christ that it come out of her, and it came out of her at that hour, that moment. When her masters saw that their hope of gain was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers.

In Lydia, we saw the open heart, and there was an immediate change—immediate fruit. She was baptized and showed forth hospitality. In this enslaved heart, after she was delivered of the demon, there was also immediate fruit. She was set free and in her right mind, so much so that her masters were upset because they used to make a lot of money from her. People would come to get their fortunes told, to see what the stars had to say, and now she could no longer do that. She no longer had this demonic spirit abiding in her, and so they were upset; they were ticked off.

Perhaps you've seen this in your own life. People you used to associate with, friends or perhaps co-workers, may be upset because of the transformation that has taken place in your life. The apostle John put it like this in 1 John: they think it's strange that you no longer run with them. Do any of you have old friends or co-workers who think it's strange that you no longer associate with them now that you've begun to follow Christ? Perhaps they have even become angry. Old business partners liked the old you because you were willing to lie for them or do something unethical, but now you are a man or a woman of integrity. They are upset because you won't do what you used to do.

Well, these employers, the masters of this girl, were angry. They caught Paul and Silas and brought them before the rulers in the open marketplace of the city.

In Philippi, where everybody would see, they brought Paul and Silas to the magistrates, saying, "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city." It must have been very clear, by the way they looked, talked, and dressed, that Paul and Silas were Jews.

In AD 49, Claudius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, expelled all the Jews from Rome, telling them they had to leave. It is very possible that Philippi, being a colony of Rome and essentially a miniature Rome, also adopted Caesar's decree to expel the Jews from their own city. Paul and Silas arrived in Philippi around AD 50 or 51, just two years after Claudius Caesar's decree was issued. They came to a very Roman city, dressed like Jews, talked like Jews, and brought a message that was completely contrary to the worldview and the message that the Romans followed.

They were brought before the magistrates of the city, who stated, "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive or observe, being Romans." The leaders there, speaking before all the people in the marketplace, declared that Paul and Silas had brought a message contrary to that of Caesar.

Two thousand years ago, in the Roman Empire, when the Caesars ruled, they were seen by the people as divine and, in many ways, were worshiped. Paul and Silas were preaching that Caesar is not God; Caesar is not the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They were clearly bringing a message that contradicted the beliefs held by the Roman Empire.

The magistrates of Philippi wanted to maintain their authority and control. They did not want a riot or any problems, as word might get back to the emperor, who could impose strict Roman rule with soldiers overseeing the city. With this knowledge, they decided to deal with the situation.

The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded that they be beaten. After laying many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received such a charge, he thrust them into the inner prison, the depths of the prison, and made their feet fast in stocks.

In Second Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul describes the persecutions he endured as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He states that five times he received forty lashes minus one. According to Jewish law, the punishment often delivered to a criminal or someone accused of a crime was to be whipped with the cat of nine tails or a flagellum. The law stipulated that this whipping could not exceed forty lashes, and out of mercy, they would give thirty-nine lashes instead. This was considered very merciful.

Paul tells us in Second Corinthians that he was beaten at the hands of the Jews five different times, receiving thirty-nine lashes each time. This amounts to a total of one hundred ninety-five lashes. He also mentions that three times he was beaten with rods, indicating that he came under Roman punishment. This seems to be the first instance of such punishment here in Acts, chapter 16. The Romans did not adhere to a merciful code of conduct; they beat individuals until they decided they were done.

Paul and Silas were taken by the magistrates of the city of Philippi and were beaten with rods, receiving many stripes. They were then cast into prison, specifically the deepest part of the prison. Here, we meet the third individual in our story, the jailer, who has a hard heart and shows no mercy. He takes these men, who have just been beaten and are likely very bloodied and bruised—definitely not the kind of people you would expect to escape from prison—and brings them into the depths of the prison. He fastens their feet in stocks.

When we think of stocks, we generally envision the medieval stocks, which consist of two wooden planks with holes cut out for the feet, designed to secure the prisoner. However, the Roman stocks were different.

The Roman stock had multiple holes in the wood planks, designed to put prisoners in a very uncomfortable position, even in a split position. Paul and Barnabas were stuck in the depths of the prison, beaten, bruised, bloodied, and in stocks. What would be your response? How would you respond to that kind of adversity, that kind of persecution?

We have a very intriguing response from Paul and Silas in verse 25. At midnight, Paul and Silas did not rant and rave or yell for their lawyer. Instead, they prayed and sang praises unto God, and the other prisoners heard them. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately, all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed.

As they sang praises to God and prayed out loud so that all the other prisoners could hear them, they were in a place where joyful words were likely never heard, only the groaning of pain and the cries of people who felt innocent, even if they weren't. Here were Paul and Silas, two clearly innocent individuals, worshiping God and praying out loud. Then, a supernatural earthquake occurred. I believe that if we were able to find out, we would discover that the epicenter of this earthquake was probably right underneath the prison.

If you were in that situation, or if I were in that situation, praising God in the middle of the night, and an earthquake came, opening all the doors of the prison and freeing us from our stocks, I would think that was the answer to my prayer. Let's get out of here!

However, the keeper of the prison, in verse 27, awoke out of his sleep. Seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. A guard such as this, given charge to securely keep the prisoners, would be guilty of a crime punishable by death if his prisoners escaped.

The Philippian jailer, when he saw the prison doors open, figured that the prisoners had escaped. He thought to himself that he might as well save them time and take his own life. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." It is amazing to me that Paul and Silas, when their bonds were broken off and the doors were open, did not see it as an opportunity to escape. They chose to stay in the prison.

As the jailer was about to take his life, Paul reassured him, saying, "Do thyself no harm, we're all here." The jailer then called for a light, sprang in, and came trembling, falling down before Paul and Silas. He began to bow down before these two ambassadors of Christ and brought them out of the prison. He asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

We saw in Lydia an open heart, and immediately there was fruit; she was baptized and showed hospitality to Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Then, in the enslaved girl, we witnessed an enslaved heart that experienced immediate fruit as she sat in her right mind and was free. Here, in the case of the hard heart, we see immediate fruit as the jailer comes and bows down before these two ambassadors of God, crying out, "What must I do to be saved?"

They responded, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household." Some who look at this passage of Scripture say, "See? Paul, when he preached to Gentiles, did not preach repentance." However, Paul did not need to preach repentance in this case; the jailer was already repentant. He was on the ground before Paul, crying out for salvation. To the humble, grace is given. Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him. Put your confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."

They spoke unto him, as noted in verse 32, the word of the Lord, and to all who were in his house. Immediately, there was fruit. Not only was there repentance and a desire to be saved, but we read in verse 33 that he took them the same hour of the night, washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his household, immediately and straightway. When he brought them into his house, he set a meal before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. Like Lydia, he was baptized and now showed hospitality by bringing them into his home.

Kindness cleanses all wounds and rejoices with those who are hurting. The open heart, the enslaved heart, the hard heart—God is able, by His grace and by His Word, to break through. He is able to set people free and to give new life. He desires to do that, and we see this in the three individuals mentioned in Acts chapter 16.

Now, when it was day, we read in verse 35 that the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, "Let those men go." The keeper of the prison told this to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now, therefore, depart and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and they have cast us into prison. Now they want to thrust us out privately? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and fetch us out."

The next morning, word was brought that they were to be released. The magistrates knew that they were innocent and that there was nothing they could do. They just wanted to silence them and get them out of the city. So they said, "Let those guys go." However, Paul responded, "Listen, we are Roman citizens. You are not supposed to deal with us like this. You have beaten us uncondemned, and now you just want to secretly push us outside of the city. You cannot do this to us."

Paul had dual citizenship; he was born a Roman citizen but was from the city of Tarsus. It is amazing to me that when they were beating him, he did not say, "Hello, I am a Roman citizen." Roman citizens had certain rights that not everyone else in the empire had. One of these rights was the right to vote for the Roman Senate. Although they did not always use this right, as one had to be present in the city of Rome to vote, they also had the right to due process. They could not be punished in this way without a trial, without due process. If they had a problem with their due process, as Roman citizens, they had the right to appeal to the highest court in the land, which meant they could appeal to Caesar. We will see that Paul does this in the book of Acts.

Paul insisted, "I am a Roman citizen. You cannot treat me like this and just sweep it under the rug." The sergeants conveyed these words to the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that Paul and his companions were Roman citizens. They knew they had broken the law and that they could be in great trouble. In fact, they were concerned about losing their city and their leadership over it.

Now they thought so even more, and so they were afraid. They came like good politicians, and in verse 39, they besought them. They brought them outside of the city and desired them to depart from it. They wanted to deal with this situation as civilized individuals, so they brought Paul and Silas outside of the city to handle things secretly.

After leaving the prison, they entered the house of Lydia. When they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and then departed. It is interesting that after visiting the church gathered in Lydia's house, Paul, Silas, and Timothy left the city of Philippi as the leaders had asked them to do. This brings up a very important truth for us. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew chapter 10, when He sent them to preach the gospel, that if a city does not receive them or rejects them, they should dust themselves off and move on to the next city.

In this case, the leaders of the city said, "We want you to leave." Not everyone felt this way, but the leaders insisted they get out. So, they dusted themselves off and went on to the next city, as we will see in Acts chapter 17. This is an important lesson for us because we all encounter people in our lives who have hard hearts. They are filled with the cares of this world and are unwilling to endure the trials of following the Lord.

We want to bring the gospel to them, but when we do, they often respond with, "I don't want to hear it. Leave me alone." They may be skeptics or outright rejecters. We might feel tempted to insist, "No, you have to hear this." We may badger and pester them, but they continue to say, "I don't want to hear what you have to say."

It is important to take the truth that the Lord gave us and say, "All right," and let them be. Allow the Lord to deal with them through His word. It is okay to be rejected and to let the Lord work on them. However, I always leave that individual with this: I tell them, "Listen, you don't want to hear what I have to say. That's fine. But Hebrews chapter 10 says that because of your choice, the only thing you have to look forward to is a certain and fearful expectation of coming judgment." This means all they have to look forward to is death and damnation. I just thought I’d let you know.

I want to leave them with at least a sour taste in their mouth. What I have found is that if we badger and pester people, trying to force the gospel down their throats, they want nothing to do with us.

When people come to a crisis in their lives, you may not be the first person they turn to for help. However, if you bring the gospel to them and leave it with them, even if they initially reject it, I guarantee they will likely seek you out when they face a crisis.

Paul and Silas departed from the city of Philippi, but not before witnessing a church being planted and seeing hearts and lives changed. Paul had received a vision of a Macedonian man saying, "Come over and help us." The city of Philippi needed the help of God. Who knows if the man in the vision was the Philippian jailer? We don't know, but it may have been. The gospel was brought to that group, and they rose to become a great church in the early church—a church that provided significant support to Paul's mission work and encouragement to the body of Christ as a whole.

Before we close today, let’s look at Acts chapter 17, verse 1. It says, "Next week, as we continue through the book of Acts, we're going to look at the gospel going into the city of Thessalonica, Berea, and on into Athens." There is an interesting change in Acts 17, verse 1, which perhaps you caught. It states, "Now when they had passed through." Would you circle the word "they"?

Last week, at the beginning of Acts chapter 16, specifically in verse 11, we saw that we journeyed from Troas to Samothrace and then on to Neapolis. It was in the city of Troas that Paul met up with Luke, who began to follow the ministry. However, they only went to Philippi. Now, Luke is saying, "and they went on to Thessalonica." It is believed that Luke, after only traveling from Troas to Philippi, stayed on in Philippi when Paul, Silas, and Timothy continued on to Thessalonica.

There was a new church there, a fresh work, and it is likely that Luke was the pastor of that church. In fact, there is some other evidence that we will explore as we continue through the scriptures that supports the truth that Luke stayed on in Philippi. He was a Gentile and did not have an issue with the people in Philippi. It was Paul, Silas, and Timothy, who were Jews, that left, but Luke stayed. By God's divine providence, I believe he remained to ensure that church would grow in the knowledge of the truth.

And may we also grow. May we learn from what we see in this passage about how the Lord is able to work in the open heart, the enslaved heart, and the hard heart. He desires that we would be willing to endure hardship and difficulty to bring the gospel wherever He calls us to go. Amen. May He strengthen us to do so this week.

Let's stand together and pray. Father, I thank You for this passage of Scripture, and I ask that You would make application from it to our lives today. Lord, give us the strength and boldness to step out, step up, and share Your word. As we live in a dark day, in a dark nation—a nation that needs Your light—would You shine brightly through Your church? Would You bring people out of darkness into Your marvelous light through the message and the preaching of this body? For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen. Amen.