SERMON: OPPOSITION ARISES

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 16:16-24

 

Acts 16:16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

 

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

 

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 

            -- as I mentioned briefly last week, my time in Tennessee was a spiritual awakening in my life – I was a Christian – I had been saved years before – but my spiritual life was not where it needed to be

            -- when Kim and I moved to Tennessee, we didn’t find a church or attend worship services on a regular basis – we’d go from time to time and visit different churches, but we never found one that we went to more than once or twice

-- honestly, we were Christians in Name Only -- saved, but not living the life – saved, but not part of a community of faith – if anyone asked, we would tell them we were Christians, but we were not doing anything that would be considered normal for a Christian to do

-- that spiritual absence and lack of participation in faith activities weighed on me – I began visiting Christian bookstores and started reading Christian literature – both non-fiction and fiction – and I started to grow spiritually

-- I began reading the Bible and studying it on my own at lunch while at work – a coworker noticed, and she was the one who introduced me to Bible Study Fellowship – BSF – that I mentioned last week – after getting involved with BSF and studying the Bible in a systematic manner with other men in a small group setting, I really started to grow spiritually

-- another friend at work told me about this new group called Promise Keepers – Promise Keepers was an organization started by Coach Bill McCartney in Colorado in 1990 – and they put on events in stadiums across the country to try to call men back to true Christianity and to help them grow into leaders in their homes and their churches – he said that Promise Keepers was coming to Knoxville and a group from his church was going – he asked if I wanted to go – this was in the fall of 1997 – and the event would be on a Friday evening and then on Saturday morning through early afternoon

-- I wasn’t sure – I didn’t know anyone from his church – we had never attended there – and I had never heard of this group – so, I told him I’d get back with him

-- I went ahead and bought a ticket to the event on my own to make sure I had a ticket if I decided to go – but I didn’t commit, one way or the other

-- it wasn’t long after that that I started seeing a lot of negative information about Promise Keepers – local churches were putting out ads saying that Promise Keepers was not a real Christian organization – that it was not evangelical, but closely tied to the Catholic Church and had some questionable teachings – there were even negative ads in the Christian bookstore I frequented

-- I heard people on the radio condemning Coach McCartney and questioning his faith and what he was really doing in this movement – they made it sound like it was just a money grab and it wasn’t something that Christians should participate in

-- I had told Kim that I was going – but then my friend told me that he had decided to drop out – I certainly wasn’t going to go with his church, since I didn’t know anyone there – and when I heard all the negative information about Promise Keepers on the radio and in ads, I wavered on whether I should go or not

-- but I had a ticket in hand and that ticket was not cheap – it was a sacrifice to buy it – and if I didn’t go, I felt like I would be throwing our money away – so, I talked it over with Kim and I decided I would drive down to Knoxville for the Friday night session, just to see for myself if this was a good thing or not

-- Knoxville was a little over an hour from our house, so after work on that Friday, I headed down there all by myself – I found my way to the stadium at the University of Tennessee, and joined the thousands of other men heading inside

-- I found a seat and sat there all by myself – still not sure if I made the right decision or not – still not sure if this was put together by God or by Satan – I was trying to decide whether to stay or to go, and then the bottom dropped out – it began to rain – and I don’t mean just a little rain – this was a monsoon – I was soaked to the skin – my program guide was soaked – my Bible was soaked – I didn’t have a jacket – and then the conference started

-- that conference changed my life – that Promise Keepers’ event was what I needed to jumpstart my spiritual life and to get me moving in the right direction – the music was inspiring – the preaching and teaching were totally in keeping with the Scriptures and they moved my heart as the Spirit convicted me of my unfaithfulness and led me to see where I had been failing as a Christian

-- I drove back home that night, completely soaked to the bone and shivering with cold – but I got up the next morning, and drove back to be there when the doors opened again

 

            -- Ezekiel 12:1–2 states: "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.'"

 

            -- that experience at Promise Keepers taught me a great lesson about faith and opposition to the faith – anytime there is a movement of God – anytime God moves in your life or in the life of the church – whether that is an individual congregation or a larger move within the church of Christ – opposition will always arise

            -- we are warned in the Bible to guard ourselves against the devil’s schemes – and one of those schemes is when Satan stirs the hearts of rebellious people to cast doubt and raise aspersions and to make people question God and His righteousness when He begins to move in and through His church on earth

 

            -- that is what happened when Promise Keepers came to Tennessee – Satan schemed against it, stirring up people to speak out against Promise Keepers in an effort to keep men from coming and experiencing God in those events and in the small groups that rose out of that movement

            -- we saw the same scheme rear its ugly head again when Rick Warren released his mega-popular book, “The Purpose Driven Life” – article after article and story after story came out denouncing Rick Warren, his ministry, and the book in an effort to keep people from reading it – but Satan could not hold back that move of God, and Warren’s book touched many lives with the message of the gospel

            -- and we see that same scheme outlined for us here in the Book of Acts, as Paul and Silas continued to face opposition and persecution in every place they visited as they shared the gospel with both Jew and Gentile in Europe

 

            -- the Book of Acts contains example after example of Paul and his companions being harassed and persecuted in every town – previously, in Chapter 14, we read about Paul being stoned in the city of Lystra by Jews opposed to his message

            -- and here in Acts 16 and 17, we see Satan raising up opposition to Paul by having Paul and Silas thrown into prison and having crowds of people oppose them, forcing them to leave each city they have visited

            -- this morning, as we continue in our sermon series through the Book of Acts, I want us to look at two examples of what Satan’s opposition to the gospel looked like in the life of Paul – the first was direct spiritual harassment that led to Paul and Silas’ imprisonment – the second was opposition and derision by the learned people of Athens

            -- so, if you would, join me again here in Acts 16:16, and let’s begin our study of the devil’s schemes and how opposition always arises when the gospel is preached and God moves in and through His people

 

II.  Satan Sends a Slave Girl (Acts 16:16-24)

            -- verse 16 – “Once, when we were going to the place of prayer”

– just as a note, the place of prayer Luke talks about here is the gathering place for Jews and followers of God in the city of Philippi which was on the banks of the river just outside the city – this is where Paul met Lydia, the first convert to Christianity in the city who eventually hosted the church of Philippi in her home

-- the fact that this was where the Jews gathered for prayer in Philippi tells us that there wasn’t a synagogue there – the Jewish men had failed in their responsibility to build a place of worship – and the Jews were forced to gather near the river for worship on the Sabbath – that’s one reason we don’t see a combined group of Jews opposing the gospel in Philippi and why Satan used another resource to come against Paul and the message of God in that city

 

-- verse 16-18

 

Acts 16:16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

 

            -- Luke tells us here that as Paul and Silas and their companions were headed to the place of prayer on the Sabbath, they met this slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit – she started following them around and yelling at the top of her voice, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved”

-- apparently, Paul tolerated all this yelling as he made his way to the place of prayer – but then the slave girl found them the next day and did the same thing – everywhere they went, she followed them around, yelling at the top of her voice, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” -- and then she did the same thing the next day and the next and the next – Luke says this went on for many days, and finally Paul had enough

-- he became so annoyed at her and at this yelling which was coming from the unclean spirit within her that he turned around and cast the demon out of her in the name of Jesus

 

-- so, what was going on here and why did Paul eventually put a stop to it?

-- well, the first scheme of Satan here was to harass Paul – to keep people away from Paul because they didn’t want to be around this slave girl yelling – and to keep Paul from being able to preach and teach to the people who did come to listen – all they could hear was the girl yelling, and not what Paul was trying to tell them

-- there have been a couple of times in my life that I have come across a street preacher who would yell out to the passing crowd just like this slave girl in this passage – and even though I am a Christian, it was an uncomfortable situation for me – I can only imagine what it was like for the unbelievers who were passing them on the corner

-- I watched as people crossed the street and intentionally avoided these preachers, because the simple fact is most people don’t like to be around someone yelling at them in this way – no one likes to be around someone causing a disturbance – and even if they are preaching and teaching the word of God, they are not having a positive impact because of the way they are presenting the message

 -- that’s part of what was going on with this slave girl – she is yelling and causing a scene – and the people of Philippi were likely avoiding Paul and Silas because of her – no one wanted to be part of this scene – and Paul couldn’t get his message out

 

-- the second thing going on here is more subtle – we read here in verse 17 that the message that the slave girl was shouting was, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” --- nothing wrong with that, right? – that depends

-- some modern translators have proposed that the translation of this verse in the King James Version and the NIV here and in other Bibles is wrong – that the definitive article in this verse – the word “the” in our Bibles – should be translated as “a” – which is how the New American Standard Bible translates it

-- and here’s why this makes a difference – rather than shouting that Paul and Silas are telling people THE way to be saved, these scholars contend that what the slave girl actually shouted was, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you A way of salvation.” – and that changes everything

-- that means that this slave girl who was possessed by an unclean spirit was not confirming that Paul was telling the people the only way to be saved – that salvation was by grace through faith in Jesus alone – but that Paul was merely giving them “another” way of salvation

-- in other words, the unclean spirit was claiming through the slave girl that salvation through faith in Jesus was just one way to be saved and that there were many other ways to be saved

-- and you could see how this would cause a problem for Paul – because this phrase would be in direct conflict with the gospel message that he was preaching

 

-- so, regardless -- whether it was just because her shouting caused distractions and turned people away or whether it was because she was shouting out a heresy to the people – or whether it was because of both reasons – Paul became annoyed and commanded that the unclean spirit – the demon that possessed her – leave in the name of Jesus – and when he said that, the spirit left her

 

-- verse 19-24

 

Acts 16:19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

 

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 

-- Paul thwarted the devil’s schemes by casting the demon out of the slave girl, but Satan didn’t give up – when the owners of the slave girl realized that the unclean spirit was gone and she could no longer make them money by predicting the future – they seized Paul and Silas and carried them to the authorities

-- they didn’t tell the whole story – they didn’t say that Paul had cast the demon out and hurt their wallet – but instead, they said that Paul and Silas had caused an uproar in the city and were advocating customs unlawful for Romans to accept or practice – meaning that Paul and Silas were trying to get people to worship Jesus rather than Caesar and the Roman gods

-- the crowd joined in and finally the magistrates had Paul and Silas stripped and beaten with rods and thrown into prison

-- Satan’s plan here is obvious – if you can’t keep them from preaching and teaching by distracting the crowds, then isolate them by having them thrown into prison

-- Satan will always have a plan to try to keep the word of God from moving and reaching the people – whether that’s through distractions like the unclean spirit shouting through the slave girl or by persecuting the people of God

 

-- of course, we know the rest of this story – Paul and Silas find themselves in the Philippian jail – and at midnight, as they are singing hymns and worshiping God, God sends an earthquake to shake the jail – releasing Paul and Silas from their chains and opening the doors of the prison

-- the jailer realizes this is a sign from God and rushes in, asking what he must do to be saved – and Paul presents the gospel to the jailer – the jailer and his whole household become believers in Jesus and are baptized

-- Satan may come up with plans and schemes to stop the word of God from getting out, but God proclaims in Isaiah 55:11 that His word will not return empty, but will accomplish what He desires and will achieve the purpose for which He sent it

-- Satan tried to keep God’s word from going forth by first harassing Paul with the slave girl and then by sending him to prison, but God’s word continued to go forth and lead people to salvation, including the Philippian jailer

 

III.  Opposition by the Learned (Acts 17:16-34)

            -- in our time remaining, let’s turn over to Acts 17:16 and look at yet another of the devil’s schemes to oppose the word of God – this time, opposition by the learned men of Paul’s day

 

            -- verse 16-21

 

Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

           

-- John Wesley, the Anglican priest who founded the Methodist Church, was known for keeping detailed journals – reading them provides great insight into how his initial attempts at reformation in the Anglican Church was met:

 

-- From his journal for 1738:

Sunday a.m., May 7, preached in St. Lawrence’s, was asked not to come back anymore.

Sunday p.m., May 7, preached at St. Katherine Cree’s church, deacons said, “Get out and stay out.”

Sunday a.m., May 14, preached at St. Ann’s, can’t go back there either.

Sunday afternoon, May 21, preached at St. John’s, kicked out again.

Sunday evening, May 21, preached at St. somebody else’s, Bennet’s maybe, deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.

 

-- From his journal for 1739:

Tuesday, May 8, afternoon service, preached in a pasture in Bath, 1,000 people came to hear me.

Sunday, September 9, preached to 10,000 people three weeks in a row in Moorfields.

 

-- From his journal for 1742:

Friday, March 10, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services.

 

 

            -- we do not have a journal from the Apostle Paul, but if we did, it would look a lot like John Wesley’s – as Luke records for us in the Book of Acts, Paul would come into a town – speak at a synagogue – be rejected by the Jews there – go out and preach to the Gentiles – and eventually get chased out of town by the Jews who refused to believe his message

            -- we saw that in his first missionary journey with Barnabas – and the same thing continues here in Acts 16-18 in his second missionary journey with Silas

            -- after getting out of prison in Philippi, Paul made his way to Thessalonica and was promptly chased out of town by the Jews there

            -- he went to Berea, where he had a more favorable response in the synagogue, but the Jews from Thessalonica found out he was there – showed up – and caused a scene again – forcing Paul to leave the city and go somewhere else

            -- Paul left Berea by himself – leaving Silas and Timothy behind – and took a ship to Athens, where he was going to wait for Silas and Timothy to join him to continue their journey spreading the gospel

 

            -- while he was alone in Athens, Paul walked around town and became distressed at the number of graven images and idols that were on every street corner, because they showed just how far away from belief in the one true God the people of Athens were

            -- these idols are yet another of Satan’s schemes to keep people away from the word of God – just as he uses idols in our lives – money – power – sex – sports – work – family – even religion – to keep us from truly following God

            -- Paul followed his set routine – preaching in the synagogue and then on the street – where he shared the gospel with the people of Athens

            -- adherents of the two leading philosophies of the day – Epicureanism and Stoicism – were interested in Paul’s teaching – if for no other reason than it was something new

            -- they took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus – the Areopagus was originally the ruling council of Athens – it consisted of the leaders of Athens and it made up the courts, so people who were being tried of crimes were brought before the Areopagus

            -- in Paul’s day, the Areopagus primarily existed as a group of scholars and learned men – philosophers and teachers – who met to discuss philosophy and to teach their disciples in various areas of learning

            -- because Paul came with a new teaching, he was invited to share it with these learned and wise men to see what they thought of it

 

            -- verse 22-34

 

Acts 17:22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

 

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

 

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

 

32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

 

            -- so, Paul meets these men where they are – these are not Jews or Gentiles familiar with the Jewish scriptures – so, he begins to share with them the word of God based on the foundation of religious knowledge they had

            -- he talks to them about their idols and altars, especially the altar they had made to an unknown god – and proceeded to tell them that he knew who this unknown god was – that this was not just another god among many, but the one true God who created the heavens and the earth and through whom men might be saved for eternal life

            -- but when Paul shared about the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife – something which the Stoics and Epicureans did not believe in – some of the men closed their ears and began to mock him – sneering at him

            -- a few asked him to come back to share more with them later – and a very few became believers as God’s word penetrated their hearts and brought them to faith

 

            -- another of Satan’s schemes to keep people away from the word of God is to have the truth of God’s word questioned by our leaders, educators, scientists, and other learned people

– in America today, it is a fact that most campuses of higher learning do not accept the teaching of the Bible or the gospel message that Paul presented to the members of the Areopagus

            -- we hear the same thing from many of our elected officials – our leaders – and our scientists

 

– just this week, Kim told me about a segment from the Today show with Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned American astrophysicist and writer, where he was talking about the total solar eclipse that Europe experienced this past week

            -- he shared how Earth’s moon was unique in its size – how it was just the perfect size and the perfect distance from both earth and the sun to allow us to see eclipses the way we do

            -- but he was quick to point out that this was something that developed naturally – coincidentally – and was just an astronomical anomaly and nothing more

 

            -- Tyson certainly was not going to say that God designed it this way – that God created the heavens and the earth in just such a way that the size of the moon was what it was and that its location in the heavens was set by God for His own purposes – because Tyson will tell you that God and religion have no place in science

            -- I can tell you from personal experience that any scientist or student who believes in the Bible and the word of God faces derision and ridicule from most other scientists and teachers – proclaiming faith in God and proposing that God’s word is correct is a sure way to be discriminated against by academia

            -- and the same is true for a lot of our elected officials and leaders, too – they do not believe in God or they believe that God should not be part of the public conversation – so if people speak out for God in the public square, they are met with derision and ridicule just like Paul experienced in Athens

            -- but we can take heart in the response of some in the Areopagus that day – in verse 34 it says that some of the people became followers of Paul and believed – including Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus – a woman named Damaris – and others

            -- those with ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth of God’s word will respond in faith, despite Satan’s best attempts to keep God’s word from going forth

 

IV.  Closing

-- the take-home message for today is that spiritual attacks and opposition to God’s word are common – anytime there is a move of God, you are always going to see Satan do something to oppose it

-- sometimes, that will take the form of distractions and direct harassment, such as Paul experienced with the slave girl

-- sometimes, it will take the form of persecution, such as the owners of the slave girl who had Paul and Silas thrown into prison

-- and sometimes, it will take the form of public ridicule – or sneering or mockery or public embarrassment to try to keep you from standing up for your faith or sharing God’s word with others

-- there will always be opposition to the word of God and to the people of God standing up and trying to live for Him in this world today

-- it is a fact – and we need to be aware of this, because you are going to experience this in your life as you try to fulfill God’s calling and live out your faith on a daily basis

 

-- as I close, I want to leave you with two cautions to be careful of in your life:

 

-- the first is not believing that Satan and demons exist -- there’s a lot of people in our world today that dismiss spirituality and religion -- that don’t believe in God or Jesus -- and there’s just as many that don’t believe that Satan and his demons are real

-- even Christians, especially those in more progressive and liberal denominations, tend to dismiss the accounts in the Bible about Satan or demonic activity or any supernatural event

-- however, as we see in the Scriptures, Satan and his demons do exist and the Bible identifies them as our spiritual enemies who actively influence our lives to try to keep us from becoming mature in our faith

-- remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 – our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness behind them – when people oppose you – when systems oppose you – know that there is an underlying spiritual battle taking place

-- pray for the Holy Spirit’s help and trust in God and His word when you are harassed, distracted, or persecuted

 

-- the second caution is to not fall into the trap of making a mountain out of the demonic -- thinking there’s a demon under every bush and that the devil is behind every tree

-- some people go through life thinking that every bad thing that happens is because the devil did it

-- some of us are old enough to remember the comedian Flip Wilson’s tag line -- “The devil made me do it” -- and this type of thinking can be a trap for us to avert personal responsibility in our lives and to try to blame everything that goes wrong on the devil

-- so, while the Bible makes it clear that we have a spiritual enemy who tries to impact our lives, not everything that happens to us is because of demonic activity

-- some things happen because we are fallen humans living in a fallen world and some of the things that happen to us are the consequence of our own actions or the actions of those around us -- some things happen because this is the natural course of events

-- if I don’t pay attention and trip going down the stairs today, it’s not because a demon pushed me -- it’s my own fault -- and I need to take responsibility for that

-- bad things happen -- and sometimes, bad things happen to good people -- it’s a fact of life -- but that doesn’t mean the devil made it happen

-- keep this in mind:  spiritual attacks are primarily attacks on your faith and on your walk with Jesus -- so, things outside of this -- like falling down the stairs -- are probably because you weren’t paying attention or something was wrong with the stairs -- it is almost certain that falling down the stairs is not a demonic attack

 

-- so, be careful of falling into either of the two extremes -- thinking that demons don’t exist or that there is not another supernatural and spiritual reality around us -- or thinking that everything is the result of demons

-- the truth is somewhere in the middle -- and we need to be discerning in our evaluation of what is going on and not blame someone else, including Satan and his demons, for things that are our own fault

 

-- the thing I want you to leave here knowing this morning is that spiritual attacks and spiritual warfare is a reality – opposition to God’s word will happen -- it’s something that we need to be aware of -- but we can’t let it encompass our lives or our thinking

-- always remember that we have an advocate in the Holy Spirit who dwells within us -- who works in our lives to empower us to counter the devil’s schemes and his attacks when they come

-- and our response should be the same as that of the Apostle Paul – when opposition arises, continue to step out in faith in God and share God’s word and trust in His mighty power and strength to help us, no matter what occurs

-- with that, let us close in prayer

SERMON: NEVER FIGHT ALONE (Acts 15:36 to 16:15)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

9 August 2026

 

I.  INTRODUCTION

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 15:36-41

 

Acts 15:36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

 

-- one thing I have learned over the last several years is that you cannot do this Christian life alone – we were never intended to – Jesus meant for us to have someone to walk with us on His path, because we cannot walk it alone

-- we need others in our lives – we need people to help us get by – we need one another if we are to be who God has called us to be – and if we are to live the abundant and full lives that Jesus calls us to here on the earth today

-- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 makes this clear -- “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up -- But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. -- Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm -- But how can one keep warm alone? -- Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. -- A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

-- as we move forward in our study in the Book of Acts, this is going to be one of the two major themes in today’s message – the Bible tells us to never fight alone – to never travel alone – and in today’s passage we will see how the Holy Spirit moves in the life of His people to put alongside them the companions they need at that moment to live their lives to the full and to do what He is calling them to do

-- God continues to do the same in our lives today

 

-- a couple of years ago, the movie Jesus Revolution -- based on Greg Laurie’s autobiography – was released in theaters – it tells the story of Calvary Chapel in California and how the Holy Spirit moved to revive a dying church

-- in 1968, pastor Chuck Smith finally accepted the truth that his church, Calvary Chapel, was dying – it was filled with mostly older congregants – the younger generations were not coming – and they seldom had visitors – they were living in the past and the church was dropping in numbers every year

-- Chuck prayed about the situation – he prayed for revival – he prayed for a move of the Spirit – and God heard his prayers and answered them in the most unlikely manner – God sent Chuck someone to help – someone who could walk alongside him and help revive the church by reaching younger people and bringing new life to the dying congregation

-- Chuck’s daughter Janette was driving through south California when she saw a hitchhiker along the road – she felt led to pick him up – he got in the car and introduced himself as Lonnie Frisbee – and he told her he was traveling around to tell people about Jesus

-- Janette brought Lonnie home to introduce him to Chuck, who was not altogether excited to meet one of the younger, live-free hippies who were present in California at the time – but Lonnie impressed him with his earnestness – with his faith – with his excitement about Jesus – something that Chuck had lost over the years

-- Lonnie showed up at Calvary Chapel that next Sunday, with a handful of his friends – many in the church were not happy about their presence – and many left – but Lonnie and his friends continued coming – even forming a band to play modern praise music – which led to even more young people coming

-- soon, Calvary Chapel was overflowing with life and the pews were filled for the first time in years – many people came to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior – including Greg Laurie and his soon-to-be wife Cathe – so many people were coming, that Chuck began baptizing people in the ocean in mass services – and the church grew so large, that services eventually had to move outside under a large tent [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Revolution]

 

-- all of this happened because one person saw the need and prayed for help – and God sent a companion to join him in his ministry

-- that is what we see here in this section of the Book of Acts – as God moves Paul to various places and brings people into his life who will join him in continuing to take the good news of Jesus beyond Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth

 

II.  The Holy Spirit Sends Helpers

            -- let’s turn together now to this passage and see what message the Lord may have for us here in the example of Paul, as he begins his second missionary journey

 

            -- Acts 15:36-39

 

Acts 15:36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus

 

            -- just to remind you of where we are in this story of the Spirit creating and empowering the church of Christ on earth, the Jerusalem Council has just met and unanimously agreed that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus

-- nothing else is required – not circumcision – not works – not the Law – not converting to Judaism – Christianity is not Jesus plus anything – it is solely Jesus

-- the Council had sent Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with their decision, carrying a letter with the four directives for the Gentile believers that we looked at last week -- abstaining from food polluted by idols – abstaining from sexual immorality – not eating the meat of strangled animals – and not drinking or eating blood

-- these four things were not identified as requirements for salvation, but as concessions that the Gentiles were to make to avoid insulting the Jews in their community of faith – things that could be a stumbling block for Jewish believers and that could harm the unity in the church

 

-- Paul and Barnabas brought the message back from Jerusalem, along with Silas and some other believers from Jerusalem – and for a long period, they continued to teach and preach in Antioch and to participate in the life of the church there

-- but after some time, we read here that Paul went to Barnabas with the idea of going back to the towns that they had visited on their first missionary journey in order to see how the churches were doing – this passage occurs around 50-51 AD, so it’s been about five years since Paul and Barnabas had made their earlier trip

-- Barnabas liked the idea, but he insisted that his nephew John Mark go with them – and Paul could not agree – Mark had abandoned them on their first trip, and Paul didn’t want to take him with them for fear he would leave them again

-- they had a sharp disagreement about Mark – to the point where the pair split up and decided they would not travel together – Barnabas took Mark and left for Cyprus, following the original journey he and Paul had taken

-- but that left Paul alone – with no one to go with him on his journey to revisit the churches he and Barnabas had founded

 

-- verse 40-41

 

Acts 15:40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

 

-- Paul needed a companion – the Spirit knew that Paul could not do this alone, just like none of us can do this Christian life alone

-- so, the Spirit called Silas to Paul’s attention – Silas had been living in Antioch since the Jerusalem Council – and was obviously known to all there as a faithful man of God

-- we read here that Paul “chose” Silas and left – I think the better way of describing this is that the Spirit chose Silas and led Paul to receive him as a companion on his journey

-- the Spirit will always put in our path the person or the people that we need at that time – and, He will remove people from our lives if there is a reason – Paul and Barnabas split because of their disagreement about John Mark – and although the Spirit would not have supported division in the church, He allowed Barnabas and Paul to separate, for this would magnify their missionary efforts – and allow the gospel to spread at a greater pace than it would have if Paul and Barnabas remained together

 

-- Acts 16:1-5

 

Acts16:1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

 

-- evidently, since Barnabas and Mark sailed west out of Antioch to Cyprus, Paul decided that he should travel north by land to visit the churches he had previously founded

-- Paul and Silas left Antioch and traveled up to Tarsus in the Roman province of Cilicia, Paul’s hometown – Tarsus is where Paul had retreated to after his conversion experience on the Road to Damascus – and it was here that Barnabas first found him and brought him back to Antioch to become part of the church there

-- Paul and Silas left Tarsus and traveled on to Derbe and Lystra – it was there that the Spirit put another companion in Paul’s path – the disciple Timothy – who would become a major helper of Paul in growing and maturing the church throughout the Roman Empire

-- all the believers in the church in Lystra spoke well about Timothy – and Paul was evidently impressed by his faith and dedication to the Lord, even though he was a young man at the time – probably in his teens

-- the Spirit moved Paul to take Timothy along with him on the rest of his missionary journeys, and he would serve and help Paul throughout the rest of Paul’s ministry on earth

 

-- the main point I want you to see in this section of the Book of Acts is how the Holy Spirit calls and places people in our paths when we need their help or when they need our help

-- several years ago, Kim had to attend a veterinary conference in Orlando, and Brooke and I went along – we went down there in a little Toyota truck – it was the most dependable vehicle we had – but it broke down along the way

-- it was late at night – our lights kept getting dimmer – apparently, the alternator had gone out – we called my uncle who lived in central Florida to come and help us – there wasn’t much he could do that late at night, but he charged up our battery to the point we could make it into Orlando

-- we had to buy another battery at an all-night Walmart, but we made it into the town and were there in time for Kim’s conference

-- while she was at the conference, I went to an auto parts place and bought an alternator and tools to replace it – and in the parking lot of the motel, I started my project – it was easy to get to the alternator and remove the bolts – but I could not get the alternator out of that engine – the way they had built the truck around the engine, there was no way to get it out

-- I struggled with that alternator for hours, and could not get it to move out of its location so I could put the new one on – when you do a project like this in a public place, you attract attention – and several people stopped by to see what I was doing – each of them tried to help, but none of them could budge the alternator from its place

-- finally, one guy stopped by and talked with me for a while – we actually shared a little about Jesus while I was borderline cussing this alternator – he kept encouraging me and said I could do it – I went inside to grab a couple more tools, and when I walked back out, the alternator was sitting on top of the fender

-- I looked at the alternator – I looked at him – and he said, “I just figured it out” – and then he walked off

-- I put the new alternator on and we were back in business

-- I have no doubt that God sent that man to me at that very moment so that I could get the alternator replaced – he may have been an angel – I don’t know – but it’s proof of what we see here – God puts people in our path to help us when we need it – and for us to help when they need it

-- that’s why – if you think about your life – you’ll realize that many people have walked into and out of your life over the years – they have done so for a variety of reasons – there are many people that I have walked with in life that I never see or hear from today – but God has brought many others into my life during that same period

-- the lesson here is the same one that Chuck Smith discovered at Calvary Chapel – the same one we see explicitly given to us in this passage concerning Paul and Barnabas and Silas

-- we can’t hold on to the past or to past companions if they are not meant to be part of our life in the present – sometimes, holding onto the past keeps us from moving forward to where we are supposed to go – Chuck had to let past congregants go and receive Lonnie and his friends in their place in order to revive his church and have a lasting impact on California for Christ -- Paul and Barnabas had to split ways in order to do what God was calling them to do

-- similarly, we need to be open to the people that the Holy Spirit is sending our way – and we need to receive them into our lives as fellow companions on the road – just as Barnabas took John Mark and Paul took Silas and Timothy

-- God always puts in our paths the people we need at that very moment

 

III.  Oh, the Places You Will Go

-- there’s one more major companion that God is going to put in Paul’s path in this chapter, but we’re not going to focus on him – I’ll point him out when we get there, just as another example of how the Spirit leads us to join with others at specific moments and for specific purposes

-- that brings us to the other major theme in this chapter – the first major theme was what we’ve been talking about – how the Holy Spirit moves in the life of His people to put alongside them the companions they need at that moment to live their lives to the full and to do what He is calling them to do

-- the second major theme has to do with location – with geography – with the places that we are supposed to be at that moment

-- we’ll see in the next few sections how the Spirit leads Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the places He wants them to go, even though the missionaries have other ideas

 

-- verse 6-10

 

Acts 16: 6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

 

            -- Paul and his companions, including Timothy – who is now part of the missionary team – leave Lystra and continue on their journey – they visit the churches scattered throughout the Roman highland regions of Phrygia and Galatia – carrying with them the message of salvation and eternal life through Christ and sharing with them the letter from James and the Jerusalem Council

            -- after reaching Pisidian Antioch, the northernmost place that Paul and Barnabas had reached, Paul set his sights on Asia Minor and the populous and influential cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Ephesus – certainly, Paul thought, this was where God intended them to go with the gospel

            -- but even though it looked like a perfect place for ministry, the people there were not ready to receive the gospel yet – and so, we read that Paul and his companions were kept from preaching the word in the province of Asia

            -- no one knows what happened – how this move of the Spirit looked – but Paul and his companions were prevented from going into Asia and visiting the people in the cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Ephesus at this time

            -- when their plan to go to Asia failed, Paul became convinced he should go into the region of Bithynia, far to the north near the Black Sea – but, once again, the Spirit would not allow them to go there

            -- they couldn’t go southwest into Asia – they couldn’t go north into Bithynia – they concluded the only thing left for them to do was to continue to follow the road straight to its terminus in Troas, formally known as Troy

            -- it was there that Paul met up with another famous traveling companion – the good doctor Luke – if you’ll notice, the pronouns switch once we get to verses 9 and 10 – where before, it was written – “they came” – “they passed” – now it reads, “we” – for Luke has joined the missionaries as one of their group

            -- perhaps this was part of the reason why the Spirit kept Paul and Silas from going into Asia and Bithynia – perhaps they were sent to Troas at that moment to meet Luke and invite him along on their journey – we don’t know for sure, but this seems to be the pattern of the Spirit that we see in this passage so far

            -- while Paul and his companions were in Troas, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him to “come over to Macedonia and help us” – when Paul received this vision, there was no doubt – the Spirit wanted them to go to Macedonia – and so they got ready, and the group left for Macedonia to preach the gospel to them

 

-- Allen Ross points out an interesting parallel from history to what happens to Paul when he goes to Europe to spread the gospel – he notes that Troas was an extremely important city in the days of Paul -- it was a modern seaport city built just a little north of the probable site of ancient Troy

-- originally, Caesar had wanted to build the capital of the Roman Empire there, but he decided to remain in Rome because of an interesting fact of history – when Troy fell to the Achaeans, a man by the name of Aeneas escaped the city and traveled to Italy – where he founded the city of Rome -- for that reason, the Romans always believed that they were the descendants of Troy – living in the tradition and heritage of Troy

-- so, the belief that filled the hearts of the Romans was that from Troy one man went forth and founded their city, and began what turned out to be a vast empire that ruled the world

-- in a similar vein, we read in this passage that the Spirit gave Paul a vision that would lead him to Europe and eventually to the city of Rome itself – and this one man, coming from Troy, would be influential in spreading the good news of Jesus and building the kingdom of God in Rome and throughout the Roman Empire – a kingdom that would surpass the Roman Empire and that would last for all eternity

 

            -- verse 11-15

 

Acts 16:11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

 

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

 

            -- Paul was guided by hindrance as the Holy Spirit stopped him from entering Asia and Bithynia and instead lead him to Troas and from there to Europe – Dave Guzik notes that the Holy Spirit often guides us as much by the closing of doors as He does by the opening of doors

            -- when Kim and I were living in Tennessee, I felt strongly that we were being called to south Georgia to expand the mission of Bible Study Fellowship – BSF – BSF is an international ministry that walks people through the Bible in 5-7 years – and both of us had been part of a BSF group in Tennessee

            -- when I was offered the job at Moody Air Force Base, the first thing we did was try to find a BSF group here in south Georgia – and there wasn’t one – we talked with the director and he said that maybe God was calling us to go to Valdosta to start one – and we pressed on with that mission

            -- but door after door closed – we were blocked by everyone from BSF International to local realtors and churches who weren’t interested – I couldn’t understand what was going on – but in the process, God brought a friend back into my life – He put the right person in my life at the right moment – I don’t even remember how it happened

            -- but that led us to go to Morven United Methodist Church – where I received God’s call into the ministry and which led me to this very place today

            -- sometimes, God leads us by closing doors – David Livingstone originally wanted to go to China as a missionary, but God sent him to Africa – William Carey wanted to go to Polynesia, but God sent him to India – Adoniram Judson went to India, but doors began closing, and God led him on to Burma

            -- Paul wanted to go to Asia and Bithynia, but the Spirit closed those doors to him at that time – and led him to Troas and then on to Europe – where the gospel was preached for the first time through Paul and his companions – it was there in Macedonia that the evangelization of the Western World began

            -- God guides us along the way to the right place at the right time – our job is to hear His call and to respond in faith, even if it seems to make no sense

            -- which brings us to the man from Macedonia

 

IV.  Closing

            -- God gave Paul a vision of a man from Macedonia standing and begging him to come over to Macedonia and help us – as we have learned, this is one way the Spirit leads us in fulfilling the calling in our lives

            -- there is always a man from Macedonia in our lives – there is always someone, somewhere, who needs help – as Haddon Robinson wrote in Our Daily Bread, “That man or woman may be well-educated, or have no education at all. He may drive an expensive car, or he may be poor and eke out a living ransacking garbage cans. He may live next door, down the street, or across the sea. He may speak a different language. But wherever you find him, and whatever his situation, he has one pressing need -- to know Jesus Christ as his Savior.

 

-- “Sometimes that need is expressed as a cry for help. At other times it is veiled in bitter hostility to the Savior and the gospel. Many times his sins and errors and crimes announce this desperate condition. Yet despite the thousand different ways he voices that need, the plea is always the same: "Come over… and help us"

-- this is the ultimate movement from God in our lives – and this is what we see leading and guiding Paul throughout this passage – from placing in his path the companions and helpers Paul needed to fulfill the mission God had him on – to leading him to the very place where Paul was to carry the gospel – closing the doors to Asia and Bithynia so that Paul might go to Troas and carry the gospel to Macedonia

-- when God puts people in your path – or puts you in their path – and when He leads us down particular roads and directs us to specific places – it is all for His purpose and His will – it is to spread His message of salvation and eternal life through Jesus – it is to touch the life of someone in need – of someone who is crying out for help – even if they don’t speak this need with words

-- so, as we close in prayer, let us ask God to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to His call – let us ask Him to put in our lives the people He wants us to help – and when we see the need, we need to do what He has called us to do – and let us ask Him to lead us to the places where He wants us to go – so that His name will be lifted up and His kingdom advanced on earth

-- let us pray