Lord, we draw near to you.
You've promised us that if we draw near
to you, you will draw near to us.
We pray that you will be with us.
Work in a wonderful way in our hearts.
That we won't go out here like we
came in.
But that each one will leave this place
with something having happened inside.
Amen.
And they passed through the Nigerian and Galatian
region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit
to speak the word in Asia.
And when they had come to Messiah, they
were trying to go into Bithynia, and the
Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.
And passing
by
Messiah, they came down to Troas, and a
vision appeared to Paul in the night.
A certain man of Macedonia was standing and
appealing to him and saying, Come over to
Macedonia and help us.
And when he had seen the vision, immediately
we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that
God had called us to preach the gospel
to them.
Therefore putting out to sea from Troas, we
ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on
the day following to Neapolis.
And from there to Philippi, which is a
leading city in the district of Macedonia, a
Roman colony, and we were staying in this
city for some days.
And on the Sabbath day, we went outside
the gate to a riverside, where we were
supposing that there would be a place of
prayer, and we sat down and began speaking
to the woman who had assembled.
And a certain woman named Lydia, from the
city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics
a worshipper of God, was listening.
And the Lord opened her heart to respond
to the things spoken by Paul.
And when she and her household had been
baptized, she urged us, saying, If you have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come into my house and stay.
And she prevailed upon us.
Now the crux of this message we find
in verse 8.
And passing by Messiah, they came down to
Troas, and in verse 9.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the
night, a certain man of Macedonia was standing
and appealing to him, and saying, Come over
to Macedonia and help us.
We'll stop reading there.
Paul was on a journey from Antioch,
which lies to the north of Jerusalem, and
on the west is the Mediterranean.
And while there, he was planning to go
to the countries north and northwest of there.
He was actually planning to go to Asia
to preach there.
All these cities and towns you've heard about
lay in Asia.
And while in Asia, he was planning then
from there to go in a northeasterly direction.
But the Spirit of the Lord prohibited him
from doing that.
So they continued.
And then they said, Well, let us go
on then and preach the gospel to the
people in Asia.
But again, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, stopped
them and said, No, don't preach to these
people.
So again, Paul set out to go into
these countries, into this area, visiting these churches.
And one can ask and say, Why did
the Holy Spirit stop him and prohibit him
from going to these people to preach to
them?
We don't know.
Maybe the Holy Spirit stopped him because the
Holy Spirit saw that it was a waste
of time to preach to them.
Because shortly before his death, Paul said that
all the churches in Asia have forsaken me.
God knows the end from the beginning.
And maybe he said, Paul, you don't go
there.
You're wasting your time.
In the end, these people will turn their
back on you.
And the Spirit of God said, No, you
don't go there.
Paul wanted to go there, but the Holy
Spirit stopped him.
And then Paul and Silas and the team
made a second attempt, but the Holy Spirit
stopped him again.
And so they passed and were going down
towards Troyes.
Troyes, where there was a harbor, and it
was there where Asia and Macedonia, or Europe,
was split.
So Paul was on a journey similar to
Abraham's journey, where he was going to a
place that was unknown to him.
He had his goal, but then God would
forbid him and say, No, not there.
And he'd send him in another direction, but
he didn't really know where it was taking
him.
And I take my hat off to Paul.
And I can honor him.
Many people are busy with many things, but
Paul was busy with one thing, and that
was that he was led and guided by
the Holy Spirit.
People have their goals.
People have their goals in life.
For some people, their goal is just to
get married, or whatever else it is.
But with Paul, he had one goal, and
that was to serve God, to live for
Him with a perfect heart.
After Paul had worked out his plan perfectly,
and when he was about to implement it,
God's Spirit came across it and said, No,
not this way.
And he left the plan there.
He continued.
And he drew up
another
plan.
And when he had drawn it up all
complete and perfect, God again cut across his
plans.
And immediately he dropped his plans there and
then, without an argument.
Perhaps he wondered what was going to happen
next.
When he had a certain direction that he
was going in, God put a stop to
it.
Immediately he left that.
And we see a man here who knew
what it was like to be led by
God and His Spirit.
There are many people, many Christians, who don't
know what that means.
They just go their own way.
They follow their own direction, and maybe Gauteng's
direction.
Led by the world.
The world
and
its fashions is what drives them, not God's
Spirit.
That's all that gives direction to their lives,
and not what God says.
In fact, it intoxicates them.
But that's not Paul's gospel, where you are
led by God's Spirit in all things.
Where I say, not my plan, not my
will, not what I want, but God's will.
Old and young here in our midst, is
that the life that you know, or are
you chaffed that's just going to be thrown
out and be burnt in the fire?
Or are
you perhaps like reject grain?
The maize, the cobs that aren't healthy but
have been rejected, and that cannot be used
in God's kingdom.
Then you get the seed that is rotten.
It got wet.
Something got in that shouldn't have got in.
Then it rots.
So we've got many rotten Christians in this
world.
Look at them.
They're not edible.
Throw it away.
Maybe the pigs won't even eat it.
But Paul was one with the Lord.
He was united in the Holy Spirit, and
so the Lord could lead and guide him.
Not like some Christians today.
They do their thing, they fall into sin,
and one wonders whether they don't hear the
voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to them
and warning them about what they're doing.
You can't just fall into sin.
You can't make the wrong decision.
If you listen to the Holy Spirit, He
must have warned you, but you're out of
contact with Him.
That's why you can do wrong things.
And afterwards, when you've done it, and your
eyes open, then you say, what a fool
I've been.
This is extremely
important.
Ask yourself, what is it that guides your
life?
Is it your own wishes, or the opinions
of people, or is it God's Holy Spirit?
I read in Revelation this morning where the
Lord spoke to the different churches, and at
the end of His letter to the church,
He'd say, He has an ear to hear.
Let Him hear what the Spirit is saying.
I took the second letter, read through that,
and at the end again, let Him, who
has an ear to hear, hear what the
Spirit is saying to the churches.
And then the third letter, and read it,
and at the end again it says, He
has an ear to hear.
Let Him hear what the Holy Spirit is
saying to the churches.
The fourth letter, and the fifth, and the
sixth, and the seventh.
Every letter to the church, all seven churches,
it says, He that has an ear to
hear, let Him hear what the Holy Spirit
says to the churches.
Not one church is excluded.
And now I ask you, why is it
a strange thing to you?
Maybe you say, I'm led, but every fool
can see that you're led by the wrong
spirit, and not the right spirit.
Some by their own desires, some by their
own lusts, some by their own past, their
own experiences.
When will you get to the place where
you kill and break down all idols in
your life, and let God rule supreme?
When will you get to the place where
you kill and break down all idols in
your life,
and
let God rule supreme?
And there are idols which need to have
their necks broken in our lives.
We've become a wicked and crooked generation.
And that's why the world looks like it
does.
But Paul had an ear to hear.
When he was in Troas, at night, here
this man stood before him, pleading with him,
saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us.
Come over here.
Come across here to us.
Macedonia was part of Greece, and in the
north there was Philippi.
So it was in the land of the
Greeks, but there were many Romans living there.
And when they heard what Paul said, immediately
they sought to go to Macedonia.
They said, Let us go immediately and go
to these people.
And that's how the gospel came to Europe.
So immediately they got a ship and they
sailed across to Macedonia.
Because of this man who had appealed to
Paul, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help
us.
And then they realized why God had forbidden
them to go to the other places in
Asia, why he had stopped that journey.
They realized now that God wanted the gospel
to get to Europe.
And so from there, when they got there,
they immediately aimed for Philippi, which was the
leading city in that province.
The capital city.
When they got to the gates of Philippi,
they read there on the walls, The
Bible doesn't say that.
I say this, but I'm sure that Paul
and them didn't go there with their eyes
closed.
And I'm sure when Paul and them got
there, on the gates they could read in
bold letters that this city allows no other
religion except for the religion which is practiced
here.
And they probably wondered how they were going
to preach the gospel of Christ in this
city where no other religion was allowed.
They entered the city, stayed a few days.
I don't know what they did.
And then the Sabbath arrived.
And a lady is mentioned here, a woman
who feared God and she was also a
business woman.
She was
a seller
of purple fabrics, very expensive fabrics that she
traded with.
So she must have been a well-to
-do woman.
So every Sabbath day, she would go outside
the city down to the riverside.
And then Lydia and a group of other
women would gather outside the gates, for inside
they weren't allowed to.
And they would gather outside there near the
river to pray there.
You can never stop a true worshipper of
the Lord serving Him and worshipping Him.
Can you stop someone?
Can you stop someone who is a true
worshipper of the Lord?
Even if you had to stop him in
the city, he'll go outside the city and
worship Him there.
Some men say, how can we worship the
Lord when I have a wife like I
have?
Or the wife says, how can I if
my husband is the way he is?
Those people are crooked.
Nothing in this world, my wife or my
enemy, no one can stand in your way
and stop you from living for the Lord.
And Paul said, well, if we're not allowed
to do it here in the city, let's
go outside the city and go and look
for a place of prayer there.
And that's where they met these women.
Paul was not concerned whether it was old
or young or male or female.
They went and they sat down there together
with these women.
Not to woo them and flirt with them.
Not to speak of worldly things with them.
He was following the appeal of this man
who had said, come across here to help
us.
And he was looking for that person who
was seeking help.
These days we were in Durban.
We had to go and meet with some
people there.
And Shell was outside in the car looking
after the car because many cars get stolen
there.
And as Shell was waiting in the car,
a prostitute was walking up and down in
her mini showing off her body.
Shell obviously showed no interest.
I just later thought, well I wish I
could have got hold of her.
I would have made it red hot for
her and preached at her.
Without shame or anything.
She even did this, opened her dairy product.
Afterwards I wished I could have been there.
Just to give her a few slaps in
her face with this.
Maybe even they are like that man who
says, come over, help us.
These people need to be helped.
Don't go alone if you want to help
those people.
You men, you wouldn't sin if you wouldn't
go alone.
But your stupidity says that you go alone.
And then that prostitute is too strong for
you.
You men, you wouldn't sin if you wouldn't
go alone.
But your stupidity says that you go alone.
And then that prostitute is too strong for
you.
But it's too strong for you.
So we are thankful that Wishell was alone.
But he could speak to her until she
left him.
Many men they fail.
They even fall into sin, adultery and prostitution
and not just worldly men even some Christians.
If you've got a wife go with your
wife if you haven't got a wife go
with your brother.
It's fools that err, it's fools that fall,
not men.
With the brain in the head, those that
are sober-minded, they can't be trusted.
So while they were there, Paul and the
others talking to them, the Lord opened Lydia's
heart and when Lydia heard
the message she said, this is what I've
been looking for, this is the gospel I
need, there's nothing as wonderful
and as uplifted as the gospel.
The fashions of this world are cheap and
worthless, they can be likened to the food
of the pigs.
The Christian life is the highest
life that you can attain to and that
sets the standard for the rest of the
world in every way where you can be
an example in the way you live, in
the way you are, in every aspect
and
you
people who live in the world, follow the
fashions of the world, you're not setting the
trend, you're not an example to us, no
never, you're not showing us the way, not
at all.
The problem is you don't see behind you,
maybe if you go to a pigsty, look
at the pigs and then you'll get an
idea of what you look like.
The Christian life, the life the Lord teaches
us to live is the highest and that
is what brings life to the world, it's
like salt in the world but your life
maybe makes the world rotten.
The Christian life is the highest and that
is what brings life to the world, it's
like salt in the world but your life
maybe makes the world rotten.
Quite some years ago I was with my
mother and we were in a tent and
outside a lady walked past and one couldn't
see her, one just saw her from here
down, just the dress and when my mother
saw that she said my boy that is
a virgin, that girl and that's all she
could see but she could recognize it.
At first she said who is that girl
that walks on the other side of the
tent?
I couldn't see her face because the tent
is only so high and was still higher
on that side, the ground, so she just
saw her from here down and she says
my boy I want to tell you that's
a virgin, a person who walks like that
is pure, is clean, is a virgin, she's
not a cheap woman.
I was taught by my mother some things
about you girls, she says when a girl
walks like that then you know it's a
virgin.
Why she taught me that I don't know.
I was 37 before I married, maybe she
thought well if I should get married she
wouldn't like me to get married to a
cheap girl and to a prostitute.
It's good for you mothers to teach your
boys and your daughters and don't allow them
to sin before your noses, it's to your
disgrace.
I was taught by my mother some things
about you girls, she said when a girl
walks like that then you know it's a
virgin.
Why she taught me that I don't know.
I was taught by my mother some things
about you girls, she says when a girl
walks like that then you know it's a
virgin.
It's good for you mothers to teach your
boys and your daughters and don't allow them
to sin before your noses, it's to your
disgrace.
It's good for you mothers to teach your
boys and your daughters and don't allow them
to sin before your noses, it's good for
you mothers to teach your boys and your
daughters and don't allow them to sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughters and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for you mothers to
teach your boys and your daughter and don't
allow them sin before your noses, it's good
for you mothers to teach your boys and
your daughters and don't allow them sin before
your noses, it's good for Now, let me
just tell you what happened after that, perhaps
just mentioning three people being the result of
the gospel coming to this place that had
been hardened and close to the gospel.
Lydia was the first person.
Shortly
after that, there was this slave girl who
had a spirit of divination who came up
to them and started calling out, saying, these
men are bondservants of the Most High God
who are proclaiming to you the way of
salvation.
And Paul didn't like it.
Paul didn't want to be introduced to the
others by a demon.
He didn't want to share his gospel with
a demon.
And he turned and said to the spirit,
I command you in the name of Christ
to come out of her.
Now this girl had been a servant of
some people in the city who made a
business by her divination.
And so that's how they made money.
And so when the spirit left her, this
evil spirit, she could no longer divine for
them.
Her boss was terribly angry.
They started, and he started a riot in
the city, saying these people have come in
here with a gospel that is foreign and
we don't know anything about this and don't
want to know anything about it, and went
about like that.
Even the leaders of the city, the magistrates,
they were totally foolish, and so a person
is who doesn't have the spirit of God
in him.
So they had them arrested and thrown into
prison and put into stocks where the worst
criminals were normally put.
Now, what did Paul do?
Did he become totally despondent and depressed and
said, now look at where all this is
ending?
And about midnight, Paul and Silas started praying
and singing, and singing more than you were
singing this morning.
They sang better than what you, on the
whole, as an average, sang.
In the stocks, they sang and they praised
God in prison.
And then there was that great earthquake, and
the chains broke.
The prison doors flew open.
When the jailer noticed that the prison was
open, he drew a sword to commit suicide.
He knew that if those prisoners escaped, he
would be executed anyway, so he thought he'd
rather commit suicide.
That's how strict it was in those days,
not nowadays where people just break out of
prison and the jailer gets away scot-free.
So you Christians who don't want to be
legalistic, you are like South Africa today.
Look at South Africa.
That's what you like in your spiritual life.
When Paul saw that the jailer wanted to
kill himself, he called out in a loud
voice and stopped him and said, don't do
it.
I don't know what's going on.
I don't know
what's going on.
I don't know what's going on.
Never be a fool like those and judge
a thing when you've heard only one side.
You Christian, you understand?
If you've been a fool in the past,
don't be a fool again.
And Paul said, but now you want to
let us go secretly, but we've been beaten
publicly.
You can't just let us go secretly when
all this has happened.
They've put us in public without trial, we
who are Romans, and thrown us into prison,
and now they want to send us away
secretly.
And he said to the jailer, no, indeed,
go and tell them.
If they want us to go, they must
come themselves and bring us out, that everybody
in the city can see that they are
releasing us.
They judged us with having heard only one
side of this coin, the story, not the
other.
Anyway, they've got to lead us out in
honor before the whole city.
So Paul was acting in this way to
make it easier for Lydia and the others
that had got converted later when they had
left.
And by the way he was going about
things, he was also showing them how to
go about it.
And one historian writes that at the end
of the century, this was in the year
about 50-51, after Christ, after 100 years,
the whole places were full of Christians.
That's how Christianity multiplied.
That's how people were constantly added on.
And the whole place was known as a
Christian place, Christian city.
And day after day, people were added to
their number.
People got converted.
Tell me, do you bring people to the
Lord?
Not just that you preach to people, but
that people actually find the Lord through your
life.
Because of one man who had a living
relationship, who knew the fellowship of the Holy
Ghost, of the Holy Spirit, the whole history
of mankind was changed.
And Europe became a so-called Christian nation
because of one man who had a living
relationship with Jesus Christ.
And to him that was worth more than
anything else.
Asia went down, eventually turned
into Muslims.
Well, I'm not surprised because during Paul's life,
they had turned his back already on him.
People that turn their back on men and
women, that follow God wholeheartedly, have got a
dark future, a curse rests upon them.
But those that accept them are blessed.
And Europe, that it is Europe today, is
because of one man who listened to the
Holy Spirit, who had a relationship with the
Holy Spirit, who saw one man, not an
angel, one man, and he said, Come, help
us.
And they crossed the seas.
They went there and set Europe aflame.
La Sebenza.
Where is one man amongst us who can
listen to the Holy Spirit?
To what are you listening?
Whom are you following?
And what are you following?
I hope that these words will make sense
to you.
If they don't, you're a senseless man in
this world and the world to come.
Let us pray.
Lord, wake up the sleeper.
Wake up the Christians that are dead.
Raise those up who claim to be Christians,
but wears just the name.
Raise up Pauls in our midst.
Those who can see the man who is
in need, who is saying, please come over
and help us.
Amen.