When God Says No: Finding Blessings in Closed Doors
Pastor Josh Massaro emphasizes the importance of recognizing and being thankful for closed doors in our lives, illustrating how God's guidance often comes through these seemingly negative experiences. He recounts the story of Paul and his missionary journey in the Book of Acts, highlighting how God redirected Paul from Asia to Macedonia, ultimately leading to the first European convert, Lydia. This episode explores the profound impact of obedience to God's will, even when it leads to unexpected trials, such as Paul and Silas facing imprisonment after casting out a demon. Through their response of prayer and praise in the midst of suffering, they serve as a powerful testimony to those around them. Pastor Josh encourages listeners to embrace closed doors as opportunities for God's greater plans and to remain steadfast in faith, trusting that every circumstance serves a purpose in their spiritual journey.
Pastor Josh Massaro leads a profound discussion on the significance of closed doors in our spiritual journeys, drawing from the Book of Acts. He reflects on the Apostle Paul's experience as he was directed away from Asia and toward Macedonia, emphasizing how sometimes God's plans diverge from our expectations. The podcast delves into the concept of gratitude for divine conviction and the doors God closes, framing these experiences as blessings that often lead to greater opportunities. Through the story of Lydia, the first convert in Europe, Pastor Josh illustrates how God opens hearts and provides avenues for the gospel to spread, showcasing the transformative power of faith. The episode culminates in a reminder that through trials and tribulations, believers can maintain their faith and witness, as demonstrated by Paul and Silas while imprisoned. Their unwavering praise and prayer not only uplifted their spirits but also served as a testimony to the other prisoners around them, reinforcing the idea that even in dark times, our responses can reflect God's glory and lead others toward salvation.
Takeaways:
- The importance of being thankful for closed doors and divine direction in our lives.
- Paul's obedience to God's call led to significant outreach in Macedonia, changing lives.
- Prayer and praise can serve as powerful testimonies during trials and hardships in life.
- Witnessing Lydia's conversion highlights the necessity of open hearts for the gospel.
- Demon possession illustrates the reality of spiritual warfare and reliance on Jesus' authority.
- The response of Paul and Silas to persecution teaches us about faith in adversity.
Thank you for joining our podcast. Visit our website at https://middletownbaptistchurch.org/
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
00:00 - None
00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast
01:46 - The Call to Macedonia
10:12 - The Transformation of Lydia: From Conversion to Hospitality
17:41 - The Spirit of Python
24:39 - Understanding Demonic Influence
32:24 - The Test of Persecution
36:23 - The Power of Prayer and Praise in Trials
42:05 - The Power of Closed Doors
46:06 - The Great Commission and Our Role
Pastor Josh
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh
My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh
Now, come along.
Pastor Josh
Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Pastor Josh
Well, we're in the Book of Acts.
Pastor Josh
If you have your Bibles, turn there with me.
Pastor Josh
Last week, we looked at what happens when the Lord closes a door.
Pastor Josh
We talked this morning about how we can be thankful for conviction, not something that we're normally thankful for.
Pastor Josh
We don't usually go around the table and say, lord, I'm thankful for when you convicted me on that sin.
Pastor Josh
Well, maybe we should.
Pastor Josh
But one other thing that we don't normally give thanks for around the dinner table, around church is when God closes the door.
Pastor Josh
You haven't heard a lot of people stand up and say, well, I was thankful when God stopped me in my tracks when I was trying to do this for him, and he stopped me.
Pastor Josh
But I can tell you some of the most impactful blessings that God has had in my life is when he told me no, when he closed the door, when he changed my direction.
Pastor Josh
And if you go back, I know last week we had chili on our minds, but very quickly, before we went to our chili cook off, we did talk about that door that was closed for Paul and his missionary group.
Pastor Josh
So let's go back and review that very quickly.
Pastor Josh
It says that Paul had a desire to go to Asia to preach the word.
Pastor Josh
Something that we would say is, that's a good thing.
Pastor Josh
God, though, had other plans.
Pastor Josh
God closed the door for him to go to Asia at that point and then actually closed the door again when he wanted to go to a different place and directed him to a place called Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
Now, at the time, Paul probably had no idea why God closed those doors and moved him to a place of Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
But we're going to see in this passage of scripture the reason why that God wanted to open a bigger door to minister to the people of Europe.
Pastor Josh
Macedonia is in Europe.
Pastor Josh
And so Paul had a desire to go to Asia.
Pastor Josh
Now, in your mind, don't think about.
Pastor Josh
I mean, you can think about a world map, but their world was a lot smaller in their minds.
Pastor Josh
Okay, so we're talking roughly about Turkey and the area of Turkey and Greece and that region of the world.
Pastor Josh
And so Paul wanted to go to the Asia side to preach.
Pastor Josh
God had a plan for him to go to Macedonia the European side, to open that door.
Pastor Josh
Paul had no idea what God had in store, but he did know that God spoke to him by way of a vision.
Pastor Josh
And there was a man from Macedonia that called out for help.
Pastor Josh
And what does Paul do?
Pastor Josh
Even though he didn't understand, even though it wasn't his will, he obeyed God's plan.
Pastor Josh
He obeyed God's will and said, okay, we're going to go help the people in Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
And what did he do to help them?
Pastor Josh
Well, he brings them the Gospel.
Pastor Josh
That's the number one thing that we do when we need to help people.
Pastor Josh
We can help people financially, we can help people when it comes to their physical needs, but ultimately we must help them with the cause of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
So that's what Paul does.
Pastor Josh
It says there in verse number 10.
Pastor Josh
And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
So immediately Paul obeys.
Pastor Josh
Immediately Paul goes, and it says, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them.
Pastor Josh
So Paul says, God wants us to preach.
Pastor Josh
We're going to do that.
Pastor Josh
We're going to obey.
Pastor Josh
Now we're going to pick up a verse number 11 and we're going to see more about this door that is opened in Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to cover all of it here this evening, but what we are going to do is we're going to see that God has a better plan.
Pastor Josh
When we have a plan, sometimes God has a better plan.
Pastor Josh
So if I didn't say we're in Acts, chapter 16, verse number 11, it says, therefore loosening from Troas.
Pastor Josh
They were in Troas and we came with a straight course to Samothrassia and the next day to Neapolis.
Pastor Josh
Now he's describing real places and he's describing their, their path via ship to Macedonia, verse 12, and from thence to Philippi.
Pastor Josh
That's a place that you probably are familiar with, the Philippian Church.
Pastor Josh
He goes to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
So he obeys, he goes to Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
This is a trip Paul and his missionary team made.
Pastor Josh
They had crossed, if you know anything about world geography, they had crossed the Aegean Sea from the continent of Asia to the continent of Europe.
Pastor Josh
And this was a big step, and this probably a bigger step than Paul even really understood that he was opening a door to a whole new realm of people.
Pastor Josh
And so they sailed straightway to these places and the perfect winds would have directed them about 156 miles.
Pastor Josh
And the Bible says that that's you Know, obviously, the path that they took, it doesn't.
Pastor Josh
It says abiding certain days there.
Pastor Josh
They stayed there a certain amount of time there in Philippi.
Pastor Josh
And when they went there, verse 13.
Pastor Josh
And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made, and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
Pastor Josh
So immediately they begin to preach the gospel.
Pastor Josh
And this is verse number 13.
Pastor Josh
And so the fact that the Jewish believers there in Philippi were meeting by the riverside and not in the synagogue meant that there were not a lot of people that knew the truth of God at that point.
Pastor Josh
If they would have had at least 10 people, they would have had a synagogue, a meeting space.
Pastor Josh
They were meeting down by the river.
Pastor Josh
So this is a small group of people which we know eventually is going to multiply in exponentially.
Pastor Josh
So, so Paul goes and he goes to the small group of people specifically, he mentions the ladies, and he begins to preach the Gospel there in verse 14.
Pastor Josh
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
Pastor Josh
And so they're here on the Sabbath day worshiping, and they come across this lady named Lydia.
Pastor Josh
And anyone who was a seller of purple, that phrase there, you might say, why was that added there?
Pastor Josh
Because a seller of purple dealt in value, luxurious product.
Pastor Josh
Anything that was in purple was something luxurious because it was a very difficult process to make this dye.
Pastor Josh
Today we take for granted when we walk into a store, you can find any color of material and just walk in and it's there available to you.
Pastor Josh
But back then, they didn't just have artificial dyes.
Pastor Josh
They had to do a special process to get this purple.
Pastor Josh
And so only rich people could obtain this purple product.
Pastor Josh
And so the dyes that were used in making purple were expensive and they were highly regarded.
Pastor Josh
And so this woman was, as we see here, the first convert in Europe.
Pastor Josh
And one might say, you know, obviously the door that was open through that closed door in Asia, So the door was closed in Asia, now it's opened in Europe.
Pastor Josh
And now we see the first convert here in this lady named Lydia.
Pastor Josh
Now, she's from a place called Thyatira.
Pastor Josh
Now you.
Pastor Josh
That might not ring a bell to you.
Pastor Josh
You might say, never heard of Thyatira.
Pastor Josh
Well, if you've read the book of Revelation, there is eventually a church of Thyatira, which there's a lot mentioned about that church.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to get into that right now.
Pastor Josh
But we do know that that place, Thyatira, was a place where that purple dye and the purple fabric was used and sold very frequently.
Pastor Josh
And we know that that church at Thyatira was one of the seven churches that God addresses in Revelation, chapter two.
Pastor Josh
And he says, I know thy works and charity and service and faith, and thy patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first.
Pastor Josh
And then he talks about them having the spirit of Jezebel.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to get into that story.
Pastor Josh
But just so that you know, she was from the place that the church of Thyatira was from.
Pastor Josh
Most likely because she goes back to Thyatira and preaches the gospel, teaches the gospel, verse 15.
Pastor Josh
And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us, saying, if ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.
Pastor Josh
And she constrained us.
Pastor Josh
So what we can see here is that the Lord opens her heart.
Pastor Josh
If you go back to verse number 13, it says, they begin to go and preach.
Pastor Josh
And then Lydia hears this, and it says that she was already worshiping God there.
Pastor Josh
She heard them, and her heart was opened by the Lord.
Pastor Josh
The heart the Lord opened.
Pastor Josh
Now, I think that's important to notice when we are sharing our faith with people.
Pastor Josh
It is not our job to open someone's heart.
Pastor Josh
It is not our job to be the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Josh
It's not our job to make that person a convert.
Pastor Josh
It's our job to present the truth.
Pastor Josh
It's God's job to open their hearts.
Pastor Josh
And I think so many times we put too much pressure on ourselves to say the right thing or do the right thing.
Pastor Josh
And we miss the point that conversion, someone's salvation is a miracle that God works in their life.
Pastor Josh
It's not what we do.
Pastor Josh
All we do is present the truth of the gospel to them.
Pastor Josh
And so what I think that we need to see here is that even Paul, he didn't come in and force people to be saved.
Pastor Josh
All he did was preach the truth.
Pastor Josh
And those that were ready to hear the truth, they were open to the cause of the gospel, and they make a decision to follow.
Pastor Josh
And she made a decision to follow.
Pastor Josh
It says that her heart was open.
Pastor Josh
She attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul, and she was baptized.
Pastor Josh
She follows in obedience.
Pastor Josh
The baptism is not what saves her, but we know that she follows in obedience right away.
Pastor Josh
And so before Lydia was converted, the Lord opens her heart.
Pastor Josh
This was a work of God.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, what we know is that she gets saved.
Pastor Josh
And what we can pray for as evangelists, now all of us are evangelists to some degree, right?
Pastor Josh
We are all called for the Great Commission instead of praying for, hey, you know what, this or that.
Pastor Josh
When it comes to evangelism, what we need to pray for is open hearts.
Pastor Josh
Pray that the grace of God precedes us when we go to someone's life, you know, and so if you're dealing with somebody, maybe, maybe you have the opportunity to know that you're going to be dealing with someone very soon about the gospel.
Pastor Josh
Pray.
Pastor Josh
Pray that their heart is open to the truth.
Pastor Josh
And that's what happens here.
Pastor Josh
The heart is open and she follows in obedience.
Pastor Josh
And so she basically, after she follows in obedience and baptism, it says here that she immediately gets into her spiritual gift, which is kind of unique, right?
Pastor Josh
We think that sometimes it's going to take years for someone's spiritual gift to manifest itself and in their life.
Pastor Josh
But immediately she goes right into the gift of hospitality.
Pastor Josh
Do you see that happening there?
Pastor Josh
It happens right here in verse 15.
Pastor Josh
And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us.
Pastor Josh
Now, by the way, we do see that because she's converted her household converts.
Pastor Josh
Now that's not a prince.
Pastor Josh
A lot of people teach the principle that if you're saved, your whole house is saved.
Pastor Josh
Now, we don't believe that.
Pastor Josh
We don't believe that just because I'm saved now, my whole family is covered in salvation.
Pastor Josh
But what that does mean is that if I get saved, it's a lot higher probability for my family to get saved, right?
Pastor Josh
There's that familial legacy that happens when one person's converted.
Pastor Josh
You break the chain of that rebellion in your life and you say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I'm going to make a difference for the cause of the gospel by getting saved and by imparting this gospel message to my family.
Pastor Josh
I can tell you that I'm a third generation Christian.
Pastor Josh
I'm thankful for the fact that my grandfather trusted in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
And that story is an amazing story.
Pastor Josh
I've alluded to it sometimes in my preaching.
Pastor Josh
But my grandfather was a pretty rough guy.
Pastor Josh
He was running with the wrong crowds, doing the wrong thing.
Pastor Josh
And there was a guy who came and they were friends from before.
Pastor Josh
Actually, this guy used to run with my grandfather in the bad path.
Pastor Josh
And he comes back and he's talking to my grandfather and he's like, hey, I want you to come to my church.
Pastor Josh
He's like, your church?
Pastor Josh
What are you talking about?
Pastor Josh
I don't do things with church.
Pastor Josh
He goes, well, I'm actually a pastor now.
Pastor Josh
He goes, I went and got saved and went off to Bible college.
Pastor Josh
And I'm back and I got a church over here.
Pastor Josh
It's called Providence Baptist Church.
Pastor Josh
I'd love for you to come by.
Pastor Josh
And my grandfather was like, I don't know about that, but since this guy, we had a relationship before, we're going to come on out.
Pastor Josh
And he took his family.
Pastor Josh
I think my grandmother got saved first, and she was praying for my grandfather.
Pastor Josh
He got saved, and then in so doing, my dad and my aunt were born in the church.
Pastor Josh
Basically, they were babies and they got saved.
Pastor Josh
And ultimately that was the church that I was raised in.
Pastor Josh
And I was presented with the gospel there.
Pastor Josh
And ultimately then I was able to present that gospel to my family.
Pastor Josh
You see how that can happen?
Pastor Josh
That can affect a whole household, that can affect generations.
Pastor Josh
It's not to say that that's automatically going to happen, but we can see that there's influence there.
Pastor Josh
And we see that her house is baptized as well.
Pastor Josh
And so it says here that she was baptized in her household, and she besought us.
Pastor Josh
Basically, she begged us, if ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.
Pastor Josh
And she constrained us.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that immediately Lydia set about in doing a good work for the Lord.
Pastor Josh
Now, the good works are not what saved her, but the good works are not what kept her saved.
Pastor Josh
But we see immediately she had a desire to do good to those around her, specifically through this area of hospitality.
Pastor Josh
Her hospitality is an awesome example of how she could exercise that spiritual gift in her life.
Pastor Josh
She was probably already naturally hospitable, but now when she gets saved, there's an opportunity for God to indwell her in the spirit and allow her to do that work in the name of the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And that's what she says she does here.
Pastor Josh
She says, if you found me faithful to the Lord, come over to my house.
Pastor Josh
Now, not all of us are gifted in the area of hospitality.
Pastor Josh
Now all of us should strive to be more hospitable.
Pastor Josh
It's very interesting.
Pastor Josh
This isn't a passage necessarily on spiritual gifts, but I think that we should touch on that for a moment.
Pastor Josh
The passage of scripture in Romans that talks about our spiritual gifts list a bunch of different things that not all of us are supernaturally gifted with, right?
Pastor Josh
So the Bible says that there's the gift of prophecy, there's the gift of hospitality, there's the gift of mercy.
Pastor Josh
And it goes down the line.
Pastor Josh
There's the gift of teaching.
Pastor Josh
And you might say, well, I'm not gifted in hospitality, so that means I don't have to be hospitable.
Pastor Josh
It's not what that's saying.
Pastor Josh
I'm not gifted in mercy, so therefore, I don't need to be merciful.
Pastor Josh
No.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that there are things that we are supernaturally gifted in that come just to us naturally.
Pastor Josh
But there are other things in our life that we need to grow in in those areas of our spiritual gifts.
Pastor Josh
I'm gonna tell you, like, there are certain things that I struggle with in my life.
Pastor Josh
It doesn't naturally come to me.
Pastor Josh
I don't naturally think about being hospitable to someone.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
That's just not my natural inclination.
Pastor Josh
But God has touched my heart many times and said, you need to be more hospitable.
Pastor Josh
Now, I'm gonna tell you, there's nothing that anyone has to do to twist my arm to start teaching or preaching.
Pastor Josh
Like, I just love that.
Pastor Josh
I'm gonna come up and I'm gonna do that.
Pastor Josh
No matter what the case might be, whether someone wants to hear it or not, I'm willing to preach.
Pastor Josh
Some of you are like, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I'm naturally hospitable.
Pastor Josh
That's all I can think about.
Pastor Josh
I could never get up in front of someone and talk.
Pastor Josh
Well, you could.
Pastor Josh
I guarantee you, you could.
Pastor Josh
But the truth is that there's some things that naturally come to us.
Pastor Josh
And that's what we should immediately recognize in our spiritual life, is something that we need to go towards.
Pastor Josh
And that's what she does here.
Pastor Josh
She says, come into my home.
Pastor Josh
And so this is an awesome opportunity for her to exercise her obedience and her thankfulness to the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And so I would tell you one of the ways that you can display to the Lord your love for him and your thankfulness to him is just to act in what he has already gifted you in when it comes to those spiritual gifts.
Pastor Josh
Now, I would encourage you, that's a really interesting study, to go through your spiritual gifts.
Pastor Josh
And I have a spiritual gift assessment test that you could go through.
Pastor Josh
And very quickly you can see, if you're honest, what God has naturally gifted you in when it comes to your spiritual walk.
Pastor Josh
But I will say that there's an opportunity for all of us to grow in every one of those categories, and that is the way that we display our love for the Lord.
Pastor Josh
If you say you love God and you say you're thankful, what does the Bible say?
Pastor Josh
We obey Him.
Pastor Josh
We obey him by following his will in our life.
Pastor Josh
We obey him by exercising what he has gifted us with.
Pastor Josh
We don't hoard that for ourselves.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that spiritual gifts are for those around us to work into other people's lives, to edify them in the cause of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
So my spiritual gifts should be exercised this way to edify other believers and to evangelize the lost.
Pastor Josh
That's the whole point of our spiritual gifts.
Pastor Josh
Our spiritual gifts are not there for people to see us and to praise us.
Pastor Josh
Our spiritual gifts are not there for us to earn money.
Pastor Josh
Our spiritual gifts are not there for us to earn power or praise.
Pastor Josh
Our spiritual gifts are there for two reasons.
Pastor Josh
To edify the saints, for building them up and for evangelizing the lost.
Pastor Josh
And that's what Lydia does here.
Pastor Josh
She doesn't evangelize the lost necessarily.
Pastor Josh
What she does here is she edifies Paul and the missionary team.
Pastor Josh
Okay, so now immediately we see another story happening.
Pastor Josh
Right after the conversion of Lydia and her family.
Pastor Josh
We see in verse 16, something else happened.
Pastor Josh
This is actually a very interesting story.
Pastor Josh
And for some of you, you might perk up with this because it speaks of things that kind of perk our interest.
Pastor Josh
And verse 16, and it came to pass as they went to prayer.
Pastor Josh
So.
Pastor Josh
So they're praying, and we don't know exactly how long this took, but it says that a certain damsel, a young lady possessed with a spirit of divination, met us.
Pastor Josh
And so they move from Asia to Europe.
Pastor Josh
They begin to preach, and immediately they see a conversion with Lydia.
Pastor Josh
And they're like, okay, maybe this is.
Pastor Josh
Maybe this is where God wants us.
Pastor Josh
We see fruit, and immediately they face opposition.
Pastor Josh
Satan immediately opposes them.
Pastor Josh
That's what we'll see.
Pastor Josh
We will see throughout scripture and we will see throughout experience that when you present the gospel, there is pushback.
Pastor Josh
There always will be pushback.
Pastor Josh
And in this case, we see pushback through a demon possessed girl.
Pastor Josh
It says that she was possessed with a spirit of divination.
Pastor Josh
When you say, what is a spirit of divination?
Pastor Josh
Well, literally.
Pastor Josh
Literally in the Greek, it says spirit of.
Pastor Josh
And you will never guess what the Greek word is there.
Pastor Josh
It's P, Y, T, H, O, N, a spirit of python.
Pastor Josh
Now, what's a python?
Pastor Josh
A serpent snake.
Pastor Josh
So literally in the Greek, you would read it and you would say, it says the spirit of Python.
Pastor Josh
Literally.
Pastor Josh
And that would have been linked to the pagan ways of the Greek gods there.
Pastor Josh
They would have said that the spirit of Python was the spirit that was there in this region.
Pastor Josh
And so it's essentially the spirit of Satan is a spirit of evil.
Pastor Josh
And so there's this spirit of evil that has possessed this girl.
Pastor Josh
We know this is demon possession.
Pastor Josh
Now, again, this can be something that our culture has, you know, emphasized in Hollywood in a wrong way.
Pastor Josh
I'm going to tell you that this is a real thing.
Pastor Josh
Demon possession is a real thing, okay?
Pastor Josh
We cannot deny that.
Pastor Josh
Now, everybody that you come across is not demon possessed, okay?
Pastor Josh
Sometimes there's a lot of people that will turn to that.
Pastor Josh
Like, every single person that has an attitude is demon possessed.
Pastor Josh
There's a demon in everything.
Pastor Josh
I'm going to be very, very cautious with my teaching on this because there are some circles of Christians that believe that every single thing that's negative is a spirit of Satan, okay?
Pastor Josh
It's demonic.
Pastor Josh
Like, this is the demon of this.
Pastor Josh
This is the demon of this.
Pastor Josh
That's not the case.
Pastor Josh
But what I will say that most of our problems stem from our own flesh.
Pastor Josh
Most of the problems that we deal with in our life are from our own issues of our own sin and the worldly influence that comes from that.
Pastor Josh
But there are occasions where demons do possess human beings.
Pastor Josh
We see that in the time of Jesus.
Pastor Josh
Now, I would say that we wouldn't look at the exception as the norm.
Pastor Josh
Now, why do you think that there was so much demonic activity right around the life of Jesus?
Pastor Josh
I believe that certainly Satan was trying to thwart the plans of God.
Pastor Josh
So Jesus comes to this earth.
Pastor Josh
I believe that there was more demonic activity around the time of Christ and the early church than throughout all of history.
Pastor Josh
And so that's why we see so many occasions of that.
Pastor Josh
But we see this young girl and we see what she was doing, which brought her masters much gain by thus saying what was happening.
Pastor Josh
She was making money for her master.
Pastor Josh
She was a slave girl.
Pastor Josh
She was making money for her masters by basically fortune telling.
Pastor Josh
Now you would say, how could she fortune tell?
Pastor Josh
Do we believe?
Pastor Josh
Okay, this is.
Pastor Josh
This is a whole study in angels, okay?
Pastor Josh
Angels and demons, okay?
Pastor Josh
Because essentially a demon is just a fallen angel.
Pastor Josh
Does a demon know the future?
Pastor Josh
I don't think theologically a demon can know the future.
Pastor Josh
I don't think a demon can be omnipresent like God.
Pastor Josh
I don't think a demon can read your mind.
Pastor Josh
I really don't think that.
Pastor Josh
I don't think they have that power.
Pastor Josh
But what demons do have is an opportunity to observe things in secret, right?
Pastor Josh
They're able to travel, they're able to communicate.
Pastor Josh
And so I don't believe that she was seeing the future for these people and basically knowing their hearts.
Pastor Josh
But what we do know is that for some way she was getting demonic power to see people's private lives so that she could basically see their inclinations, know what they're doing in private, and therefore be able to fortune tell and she was making money for them.
Pastor Josh
Now, some people would say she wasn't doing anything, she was just playing tricks.
Pastor Josh
I do believe that there was some kind of supernatural thing that's happening here and she was making her master's money.
Pastor Josh
Verse 17.
Pastor Josh
And the same followed Paul and us.
Pastor Josh
And by the way, when you see us, this is Luke speaking.
Pastor Josh
Luke is now part of the missionary team.
Pastor Josh
So Luke is now speaking like, hey, it's us.
Pastor Josh
Now he's not.
Pastor Josh
Before he was talking about them, now he's talking about us.
Pastor Josh
So this is firsthand account of Luke.
Pastor Josh
So verse 16, it came to pass.
Pastor Josh
And when we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with the spirit of divination met us.
Pastor Josh
And then it says in verse 17, the same followed Paul and us and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the most high God which show unto us the way of salvation.
Pastor Josh
You say, what in the world?
Pastor Josh
She's the one that's possessed and she's the one speaking the truth.
Pastor Josh
She's basically preaching for Paul and the rest of the guys there.
Pastor Josh
Now you would say, what's happening there?
Pastor Josh
Well, essentially what's happening is that the demon possessed girl, though she was demon possessed, is giving a demonic testimony to the divine credentials of these preachers.
Pastor Josh
The demons must submit themselves to the power of God.
Pastor Josh
Even though they don't believe in God as their savior, they all recognize who Jesus is.
Pastor Josh
They all recognize those that preach the truth of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says in the book of James that all demons believe that God exists and they tremble.
Pastor Josh
We even know that when Jesus encounters those demons in that one individual, back in the gospels they basically said, jesus don't kill us, right?
Pastor Josh
Immediately they recognize Jesus power.
Pastor Josh
And then they have to ask Jesus permission to be even moved out of that.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
And so there's this interesting dynamic of the demons actually recognizing the role of Jesus and the role of the gospel, whether or not, you know.
Pastor Josh
Well, we know for sure they don't believe it.
Pastor Josh
But what we can see here in this case is that they recognize this and they basically say, this is the guys that are preaching Jesus.
Pastor Josh
These are the ones that are preaching salvation.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that's very interesting.
Pastor Josh
And so they're giving a testimony to the divine credentials and to the message that they are preaching.
Pastor Josh
And the Bible says that she didn't do it just once, she did it many times.
Pastor Josh
And this, did she many days.
Pastor Josh
But Paul being grieved, basically the original Greek is that he was annoyed.
Pastor Josh
He was annoyed that this girl was following them around and there was this demonic possession that was hindering what was going on.
Pastor Josh
So he's like, he's grieved.
Pastor Josh
This is bothering him.
Pastor Josh
This is vexing him.
Pastor Josh
He's like, we gotta get rid of this.
Pastor Josh
So what is Paul's response to this demonic influence, this demonic possession, this demonic interference to the gospel being presented?
Pastor Josh
Well, we see what he does here.
Pastor Josh
He says he turned and said to the spirit, not to the girl, to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
Pastor Josh
And immediately he came out of the same hour.
Pastor Josh
So we know that right away.
Pastor Josh
It comes out as the demon leaves.
Pastor Josh
Now, what did Paul do?
Pastor Josh
It was very clear what he did.
Pastor Josh
He proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
And what we have to do in our lives is anytime you're thinking about demonic influence or you're thinking about evil, you always have to present that with the truth of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done.
Pastor Josh
I can tell you that if we try to respond to evil, specifically demonic influence, with our own wisdom, we're going to fall short.
Pastor Josh
Okay?
Pastor Josh
And I don't want to scare anyone here this evening, but what I will say is this.
Pastor Josh
This is real stuff.
Pastor Josh
And demons have been around a lot longer than we have.
Pastor Josh
They have a lot more experience than we have.
Pastor Josh
They have a lot more access than we have.
Pastor Josh
So therefore, for us in our own power to try to fight, that would be.
Pastor Josh
Would be worthless because we cannot overcome them in our own strength.
Pastor Josh
But what we can do is we can say, you know what, Lord, I'm trusting in you and I'm trusting in my relationship with Jesus Christ, who, one who has authority over all evil, to come into my life and not allow that influence.
Pastor Josh
Now, I will say this.
Pastor Josh
I do not believe that a Christian, someone who's indwelled by the Holy Spirit, can be possessed by a demon.
Pastor Josh
I don't believe that that is the case, okay?
Pastor Josh
I believe that the Holy Spirit indwelling an individual and a demon cannot be possessed at the same time, okay?
Pastor Josh
Because essentially what happens as a Christian is you are indwelled by the Spirit.
Pastor Josh
The Spirit lives within you.
Pastor Josh
I don't believe a spirit.
Pastor Josh
The Spirit, the Holy Spirit can live within you and the demon.
Pastor Josh
So what I will say is that for a Christian I don't believe that there can be demon possession, but what I do believe in is demon oppression or demon influence in our life.
Pastor Josh
And so I'm not saying that every single case that we have in our life is from a demon.
Pastor Josh
But what I am saying is that there can be demonic activity, there can be evil influenced in our life because of the Gospel.
Pastor Josh
If we're living for Christ, we are going to face pushback.
Pastor Josh
And I'm being very cautious tonight because I don't want to over dramatize this.
Pastor Josh
But what I will say is the more you stand for the cause of the Gospel, the more you publicly profess the truth of Jesus Christ, the more you will be opposed by evil in this world.
Pastor Josh
If you want to live apathetically and you want to be a lukewarm Christian, don't expect any evil to come towards you because you're already living.
Pastor Josh
Satan has already got what he wants in our life if we're not living boldly for the cause of the Gospel, because he can't take your soul, he can't take your eternal value.
Pastor Josh
What does he want to take?
Pastor Josh
He wants to take your influence.
Pastor Josh
He wants to stop it.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't want any multiplication to happen.
Pastor Josh
He wants it to stop with you.
Pastor Josh
And if that's where you are in your life, if you're like, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I don't want to live boldly for Christ.
Pastor Josh
Satan has already gotten what he wants to have happening in your life just for you to stop.
Pastor Josh
And so what I would encourage you to do is that if you say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I've heard some people say, I don't want to live boldly for Christ because I don't want to face any evil in my life.
Pastor Josh
Folks, that's the wrong perception because you're essentially already playing into the evil.
Pastor Josh
You're already playing into what Satan wants for you.
Pastor Josh
And so what I would say to you is live boldly for Christ and trust in him.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that the power of God is far more powerful than the power of evil.
Pastor Josh
And so Paul cast out this demon.
Pastor Josh
Paul was annoyed, you know, he didn't appreciate this free advertising, so to speak, this free preaching from this demon.
Pastor Josh
He didn't appreciate the source.
Pastor Josh
And so Paul knew that if he identified with Christ, Paul knew that the demons tremble in the sight of Christ.
Pastor Josh
He presented that.
Pastor Josh
And so Jesus cast out demons in his own authority.
Pastor Josh
Paul was careful to speak to the demons only in the authority of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
And so he spoke beyond the girl and he spoke to the evil itself.
Pastor Josh
And so the demon comes out immediately and therefore they have victory here.
Pastor Josh
Verse 19.
Pastor Josh
Well, we think that it's victory until the girl's masters find out what happened.
Pastor Josh
Because what's happened is, is that there are people profiting off of evil.
Pastor Josh
You say that can happen?
Pastor Josh
Yes, all the time.
Pastor Josh
That's actually the norm in this world.
Pastor Josh
People will always attach themselves to evil and people will always profit from evil.
Pastor Josh
Look around at different things that are going on in our world today and I'll be careful because we have a mixed crowd.
Pastor Josh
But if you look into advertising, if you look into Hollywood, if you look into anything with the cause of getting people to throw money at things, there's always an appeal to sensuality, there's always appeal to evil.
Pastor Josh
There's a darker side to things.
Pastor Josh
And I will tell you that evil will always look for a profit.
Pastor Josh
And the Bible even says that the love, the love of money, not money itself, but the love of money is the root, literally the root of all types of evil.
Pastor Josh
So what I would tell you here today is that a lot of times when we, you know, sometimes people say follow the money, right?
Pastor Josh
Follow the money.
Pastor Josh
And a lot of times you will follow that money right to an evil source.
Pastor Josh
And that's what we see here in this case.
Pastor Josh
They were exploiting this young girl in the evil of the demon for money.
Pastor Josh
Let's see what happens here when that's taken away.
Pastor Josh
This is what will happen when truth is addressed to evil.
Pastor Josh
Verse 19.
Pastor Josh
And when her master saw that the hope of their gains was gone, so, so what we can see that, that God frees this young girl from the bondage of the demon, but he also frees her from the bondage of these masters, which that's what God always does.
Pastor Josh
God frees us from the bondage of evil.
Pastor Josh
He frees us from the bondage of sin.
Pastor Josh
He frees us from the bondage of having to go back to that well of evil.
Pastor Josh
And it says there that they had lost their hope.
Pastor Josh
What did they do?
Pastor Josh
They caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers.
Pastor Josh
And so these masters, whoever these masters, were very offensed by what Paul did.
Pastor Josh
And specifically Paul, but also Silas, because Paul and Silas are linked together, they have an issue with this.
Pastor Josh
And so what happens?
Pastor Josh
Verse 20.
Pastor Josh
And brought them to the magistrates saying, these men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble in our city.
Pastor Josh
So they're getting in trouble for doing the right thing.
Pastor Josh
They're getting in trouble for proclaiming the truth.
Pastor Josh
They're getting in trouble for freeing this young girl from this exploitation.
Pastor Josh
And it says, and what do they do?
Pastor Josh
They're accusing them.
Pastor Josh
They teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive.
Pastor Josh
Neither do observe being Romans.
Pastor Josh
And the multitude rose up together against them.
Pastor Josh
And the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them.
Pastor Josh
So it goes from verbal accusations now to physically harming them.
Pastor Josh
This is persecution.
Pastor Josh
Paul and Silas are being persecuted not for doing wrong, but for doing good, for preaching the gospel.
Pastor Josh
Now you would say, wait, I thought we were supposed to praise God and thank him for closed doors.
Pastor Josh
Because, like, God stopped Paul and Silas from going to Asia to preach and now moves them to Europe.
Pastor Josh
And now it's like, hey, great, Lydia's saved.
Pastor Josh
Now we're gonna.
Pastor Josh
And then all of a sudden, we're gonna be beaten for this.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes God leads us to a place that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Pastor Josh
But then we see more.
Pastor Josh
Verse 23.
Pastor Josh
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, meaning, hey, look now, gonna beat you.
Pastor Josh
Now we're going to imprison you.
Pastor Josh
And now we're gonna put someone over you so that you can't get out.
Pastor Josh
This looks pretty bleak.
Pastor Josh
This looks like, you know, Paul and Silas, maybe they had a chance to question whether or not God had the right thing in mind when he called them to Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
I don't know about you.
Pastor Josh
I mentioned this morning I'm thankful to be in Delaware.
Pastor Josh
I don't know about you, but if I was called somewhere, and immediately, almost immediately, they begin to put me before a court and try me and falsely accuse me and beat me and throw me in prison, I might start to think, well, maybe I wasn't supposed to come to this place.
Pastor Josh
And there is a test here.
Pastor Josh
There is the test of persecution.
Pastor Josh
There is a test for them to quit.
Pastor Josh
And it says, verse 24.
Pastor Josh
This is talking about the prison guard who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Pastor Josh
So there's multiple checks and balances that they're putting there so that Paul and Silas cannot get out.
Pastor Josh
So they beat them.
Pastor Josh
Well, they disrobed them first, then they beat them.
Pastor Josh
They throw them in jail.
Pastor Josh
They put a guard over them, and now they chained them down.
Pastor Josh
And what was their response?
Pastor Josh
What was Paul and Silas's response?
Pastor Josh
They could have responded with, I'm going to question you, God.
Pastor Josh
We quit.
Pastor Josh
That's enough.
Pastor Josh
They could have responded in many different ways.
Pastor Josh
They could have pouted.
Pastor Josh
They could have said, woe is Me.
Pastor Josh
We didn't deserve this.
Pastor Josh
We need to get out of here.
Pastor Josh
We need to recant our faith.
Pastor Josh
We need to go back to Asia.
Pastor Josh
What do they do?
Pastor Josh
It says, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed.
Pastor Josh
Their response to the opposition is they rely on the Lord.
Pastor Josh
They pray.
Pastor Josh
Prayer is not just something that we do.
Pastor Josh
It's who we are as Christians.
Pastor Josh
It should be our natural response to good, our natural response to bad.
Pastor Josh
It should be the way that we communicate with God.
Pastor Josh
It.
Pastor Josh
It should be the way that we ask him for things.
Pastor Josh
It should be the way that we help other people.
Pastor Josh
It's prayer.
Pastor Josh
Prayer is the immediate reaction to difficulty in our life.
Pastor Josh
And they prayed, but they didn't just pray.
Pastor Josh
Because here's what I would have done if I stayed true.
Pastor Josh
I would have prayed and said, lord, get me out of here.
Pastor Josh
Lord, strike all these people down.
Pastor Josh
Lord, I want you to, you know, put fire and brimstone on Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
I'm done with them.
Pastor Josh
No.
Pastor Josh
What do they do?
Pastor Josh
And they sang praises unto God.
Pastor Josh
Now, it's very hard to sing praises to God when you're living in a place of bitterness and anger towards him and towards others.
Pastor Josh
They're praising God, and through their prayers and their singing, what happens?
Pastor Josh
And the prisoners heard them.
Pastor Josh
They're a testimony to those around them.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can learn from this, we're going to stop here at this verse, because we're going to see next, not next week, but we're going to see in two weeks a miracle happen.
Pastor Josh
We're going to see something amazing happen.
Pastor Josh
We're going to see that God miraculously intervenes in their life for his purpose.
Pastor Josh
We're actually going to see that folks are converted, they're saved because of the testimony of Paul and Silas.
Pastor Josh
So what do they do here?
Pastor Josh
It says that they prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them.
Pastor Josh
They're a testimony in the midst of their trial.
Pastor Josh
You know, a lot of times we as Christians don't see the opportunity and the privilege it is to be a testimony to people when we're going through that trial.
Pastor Josh
This is a trial here.
Pastor Josh
This is a trial.
Pastor Josh
I'm looking around.
Pastor Josh
This is a trial that I don't think any of us have faced.
Pastor Josh
I'll be safe to say that I don't think any of us have gone and cast out a demon and then after casting out a demon, had people whip us, try us, and chain us up in prison.
Pastor Josh
Okay, so none of us have faced this, but most of us, if not all of us, including myself, have been tempted to not see a trial as an opportunity to bring people to Christ.
Pastor Josh
We see a trial as something that we need to get out of right now.
Pastor Josh
And that's not what they do.
Pastor Josh
Of course they want to be out of prison, but immediately they go to prayer and praise.
Pastor Josh
That's the.
Pastor Josh
That's the first response when we go through a difficulty, is prayer and praise.
Pastor Josh
And if we respond with prayer and praise, what happens is, is that we become a testimony to the prisoners around us.
Pastor Josh
Folks, you are living in a world.
Pastor Josh
You are living in a society, in a community that has prisoners all around you.
Pastor Josh
They're not in prison.
Pastor Josh
So to say, I'm not talking about the real prison down the road.
Pastor Josh
I'm not talking about that.
Pastor Josh
I'm talking about people that are unsaved.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that they are living in bondage to sin.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, you have prisoners all around you.
Pastor Josh
Every day that you walk into work, every day you go to Walmart, every day that you drive through your neighborhood, there are people that are in bondage all around you, whether they know it or not.
Pastor Josh
Most of the time, they don't know it.
Pastor Josh
All of the time, I would say, is they don't know it.
Pastor Josh
And so for me to be a testimony to the prisoners around me, what I have to show them is the difference.
Pastor Josh
Because all of us are going to face trials.
Pastor Josh
Your neighbor, let's say your unsaved neighbor, gets cancer.
Pastor Josh
Okay?
Pastor Josh
Let's say you go through a trial.
Pastor Josh
We're all going to go through trials whether we're saved or not.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says life is difficult.
Pastor Josh
So how we respond to the trials that we are in gives us the opportunity to be a testimony to the prisoners around us.
Pastor Josh
Paul and Silas were chained up, but they weren't prisoners.
Pastor Josh
They were free in the power of God because of what God had given them in their relationship with Christ.
Pastor Josh
And so they're acting, and the people, they're like, I would happen to think that the prisoners are like, how are these guys?
Pastor Josh
They just got tried and beaten, and now they're singing praises to their God.
Pastor Josh
What kind of God do they praise for being in jail?
Pastor Josh
Right.
Pastor Josh
There's a difference in their response to the bondage, right?
Pastor Josh
The physical bondage, because they are spiritually free.
Pastor Josh
And the way that we live our lives is a testimony to those around us, whether it be a good testimony or a bad testimony.
Pastor Josh
What have I done for Jesus?
Pastor Josh
And it's a question that I think all of us need to answer because we are going to face those times where we feel like we're in the prison and we're chained up and we've gotten beaten down.
Pastor Josh
And what we can do is we can say, you know, woe is me.
Pastor Josh
I quit.
Pastor Josh
This isn't worth it.
Pastor Josh
I shouldn't have stepped up for the faith.
Pastor Josh
I shouldn't have proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ to that person.
Pastor Josh
And we could even say that maybe.
Pastor Josh
Maybe Paul and Silas could have been tempted to say, maybe we shouldn't cast out that demon of that girl, right?
Pastor Josh
Look what happened to us now.
Pastor Josh
But instead, they praise him and they proclaim the truth of God.
Pastor Josh
They ask him for guidance.
Pastor Josh
They pray.
Pastor Josh
And I would encourage you to think about that same thing in your life, because I me, I think about in the concept of when am I thankful?
Pastor Josh
I'm thankful for when everything is going my way.
Pastor Josh
I'm thankful for when my family is all in order, and I should be.
Pastor Josh
But am I thankful for those moments when I'm in that dark prison?
Pastor Josh
Can I praise Him?
Pastor Josh
Can I sing those praises?
Pastor Josh
You know what?
Pastor Josh
There's been times where I've sat in a service and I'm singing, oh, how I love Jesus.
Pastor Josh
And I'm singing that just because I'm a pastor and I'm standing up here.
Pastor Josh
I'm singing that just because everyone.
Pastor Josh
But in my heart of hearts, I'm struggling.
Pastor Josh
I don't know if you guys have ever done that.
Pastor Josh
Maybe some of you said, well, I just don't sing.
Pastor Josh
Okay, when I feel that way, I understand that.
Pastor Josh
But for me, sometimes I'm more concerned with other people around me, so I have to keep my front up.
Pastor Josh
But there is a truth that many times when we sing those songs and when we say those prayers and when we sit in those Bible studies, we're not really there.
Pastor Josh
That's not really where our heart is.
Pastor Josh
And I would encourage you to be able to sing it as well.
Pastor Josh
With my soul in the midst of a difficulty and really have that as your testimony.
Pastor Josh
How great thou art and really mean that amazing grace how sweet the sound Victory in Jesus.
Pastor Josh
And it was so appropriate that we had that singing there, Ms.
Pastor Josh
Lorna, because we have an opportunity.
Pastor Josh
They're not in church.
Pastor Josh
They're singing praises.
Pastor Josh
In the middle of a prison cell.
Pastor Josh
We can sing praises no matter where we are.
Pastor Josh
We can give thanks to the Lord for wherever we are in our life.
Pastor Josh
And so we're gonna see that it's not in vain.
Pastor Josh
We're gonna see that in a couple weeks that the prison keeper sees Christ and trusts in Christ through this.
Pastor Josh
We're gonna see that there are more People that come to the faith and ultimately see the truth of God and that the closed door was not a mistake.
Pastor Josh
The closed door to Asia was not a mistake.
Pastor Josh
It was actually an open door for God to work in the life of Paul and Silas and God to work in the life of people like Lydia and the prison keeper and all of the people of Macedonia.
Pastor Josh
And I'm gonna tell you, folks, the Church of Macedonia plays a huge part in the New Testament.
Pastor Josh
And that would have not happened without Paul and his missionary team being open to that closed door, closed door vision of God and following in obedience.
Pastor Josh
Folks, what have we missed out on in our life because we pushed through that closed door?
Pastor Josh
God closed the door and we said, I don't care.
Pastor Josh
That's what I want to do, and I don't care.
Pastor Josh
God better bless it, folks.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes the closed door is the best thing God saved.
Pastor Josh
And I wish I could tell you all the stories of my life.
Pastor Josh
I don't have time, but God has saved me from a lot of pain and heartache and loss because of closed doors.
Pastor Josh
There was things that I wanted in my life that were not the right things.
Pastor Josh
But because God closed that door, I was able to look back and say, lord, you closed that door for a purpose.
Pastor Josh
I would not be able to do this because I would have been somewhere else.
Pastor Josh
So we usually celebrate when open doors happen.
Pastor Josh
When someone prays and says, lord, send me here, and God sends them there, and everything is great.
Pastor Josh
And those happen sometimes.
Pastor Josh
But I would actually challenge you to think about what happens when God closes that door.
Pastor Josh
Is he wise enough?
Pastor Josh
Is he powerful enough, Is he loving enough to close that door for our protection?
Pastor Josh
Or do we get upset with him and say, well, he doesn't know better than me.
Pastor Josh
I know exactly what I need in my life.
Pastor Josh
I would encourage you to embrace those closed doors.
Pastor Josh
So when we sit around the table and we thank God this week, thank him for the good, but also thank him for the conviction.
Pastor Josh
Thank him for the closed doors.
Pastor Josh
I think about all the doors that I could have taken when it came to my life.
Pastor Josh
And like, I say this a lot, but honestly, there were.
Pastor Josh
There were.
Pastor Josh
I do not want to be where I am today.
Pastor Josh
If you asked me 20 years ago, 10 years ago, where do you want to be?
Pastor Josh
It wouldn't be where I am today, but it's because.
Pastor Josh
And I'm not just talking physically, I'm talking about even spiritually, professionally, all of that.
Pastor Josh
But God changes our hearts.
Pastor Josh
And those closed doors are opportunities for us to be yielded to him and to see his power in our life.
Pastor Josh
And so as loving parents, we know the power of.
Pastor Josh
No, we know the power of a closed door.
Pastor Josh
And God is the most loving father.
Pastor Josh
He's the perfect father.
Pastor Josh
And sometimes he's going to close the door and it's not fun.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes it closes right on our foot, and we're like, whoa, that didn't happen the way I wanted it to happen.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes that door hits us right in the face.
Pastor Josh
But what I will tell you is that's the best thing.
Pastor Josh
And so the closed door of Asia for Paul at this point was the open door for Europe and the open door for this miracle to happen, and the open door for all of us when it comes to the gospel moving.
Pastor Josh
And that's exciting.
Pastor Josh
I don't know about you, but some of my favorite passages of scripture are the passages of scripture that explains the spread of the gospel and how we, as, wherever we're from, got to hear about the gospel because there were people who are willing to spread the gospel.
Pastor Josh
You understand that the gospel.
Pastor Josh
There was one point in time.
Pastor Josh
There was one point in time when, like, less than 20 people knew about the gospel, right?
Pastor Josh
Very quick, very early on, Very, very early on when Jesus resurrected, right?
Pastor Josh
There was only a few people.
Pastor Josh
It was the ladies that went to the tomb.
Pastor Josh
You could argue that the two guards knew about what happened, and you could argue that Peter, James and John knew.
Pastor Josh
And you see, that spread from just, let's say less than 100 people, then 500 people.
Pastor Josh
Jesus came and visited, and then we know that thousands of people.
Pastor Josh
And it started in one city.
Pastor Josh
Jerusalem is a small city, by the way.
Pastor Josh
Like, it's not very big.
Pastor Josh
Jerusalem is.
Pastor Josh
You can see across it.
Pastor Josh
You can get up on the Mount of Olives and see from one corner to the other.
Pastor Josh
It's not a big city.
Pastor Josh
But the gospel message started there in Jerusalem, and it spread to Judea.
Pastor Josh
Judea is not big.
Pastor Josh
All of Israel is the size of New Jersey.
Pastor Josh
Okay?
Pastor Josh
And so then, Amen, New Jersey.
Pastor Josh
Right.
Pastor Josh
And then Samaria to the uttermost part of the earth.
Pastor Josh
Folks, we still are on that path.
Pastor Josh
And the sad part is, and I don't want to get on my soapbox too long here, the sad part is there's people that live in the United States that don't know the truth of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
Whose fault is that?
Pastor Josh
I don't know.
Pastor Josh
You could argue, I would argue the only people responsible for proclaiming the gospel is the church, right?
Pastor Josh
We can't blame the unsaved for not knowing the truth of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
Like, you can't just like you can't blame the unsaved for acting like an unsaved person.
Pastor Josh
I just can't believe these people that don't have Jesus, don't honor him.
Pastor Josh
That's exactly.
Pastor Josh
Their nature is to live like the world.
Pastor Josh
To live like who?
Pastor Josh
We live like our master.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that before we come to Christ, who's our master?
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that our master is Satan.
Pastor Josh
We're children of this world.
Pastor Josh
Now where the problem comes is when Christians who have a master in Jesus Christ live like the world.
Pastor Josh
That's the travesty.
Pastor Josh
And so as a church, what do we do?
Pastor Josh
Well, you say, well, we rely on that church across town that has more resources.
Pastor Josh
No, no, no.
Pastor Josh
The Great Commission is for all individuals to proclaim the gospel message.
Pastor Josh
You say, well, I can't go to China.
Pastor Josh
I can't go to Europe.
Pastor Josh
Never says that you have to go everywhere.
Pastor Josh
It says that you have to start in your Jerusalem.
Pastor Josh
If everybody here shared the gospel with just a few people, we could see a spread of that.
Pastor Josh
I always say this.
Pastor Josh
Think of the power of this on a Sunday morning.
Pastor Josh
Let's say we have 200 people sitting here.
Pastor Josh
Think about if 200 people just impacted one person for the cause of the gospel, that's 200 more people that have been impacted by the cause of the gospel in that year.
Pastor Josh
Now, that's minimum.
Pastor Josh
That's minimum.
Pastor Josh
And I would encourage you to say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I want my one this year.
Pastor Josh
You say one.
Pastor Josh
I think pastors should ask for more.
Pastor Josh
I'm not asking for more than that.
Pastor Josh
If we can reach one for the cause of the Gospel, it is worth it.
Pastor Josh
So therefore, if all of us see that one, if all of us have that one that we are pursuing, hey, we can see that multiplication happen.
Pastor Josh
And that's what the goal is for us as Christians to see that Great Commission living out.
Pastor Josh
So thank you for your attention here this evening.
Pastor Josh
I did mention that I'm not going to be here next week.
Pastor Josh
Lord willing, we will be back on that Sunday.
Pastor Josh
But I don't know when that plane flight gets in.
Pastor Josh
I think.
Pastor Josh
I think we're flying out.
Pastor Josh
Yeah, it's going to be really tough for us to be back for the evening service.
Pastor Josh
So either way, Pastor John will be preaching on the evening service.
Pastor Josh
I may or may not be here, depending on travel and time.
Pastor Josh
But we definitely want to make sure that you are here because Pastor John, I know, has been preparing sermons for Sunday morning and Sunday night for a long time.
Pastor Josh
And it would be really, really encouraging for him to have you all out here.
Pastor Josh
He loves you all.
Pastor Josh
And I can tell you this, he is a true servant of the church.
Pastor Josh
And I will say this.
Pastor Josh
Pastor John doesn't get to preach as much as me, but we're looking for more opportunities for him to get involved.
Pastor Josh
Because you know what, you know, he.
Pastor Josh
He is somebody who desires to preach the word.
Pastor Josh
And as a pastor, I have to practice what I preach about discipleship.
Pastor Josh
And so he's got to.
Pastor Josh
He's got to use those opportunities.
Pastor Josh
And so come on out, support him.
Pastor Josh
I know that he would be thankful.
Pastor Josh
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh
If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Pastor Josh
You can also email me directly at joshmusaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.
Pastor Josh
Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh
God bless.
Pastor Josh
Have a wonderful day.
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