Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt November 7, 2010 Page 1

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1 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt November 7, 2010 Page 1 LED BY THE SPIRIT Acts 15:22 16:15 Usually the only time people speak about the Lord bringing them together with someone else is when they are talking about meeting their husband or wife. I have told you before about how I met Dr. Verna Wright. He and his son were standing on a street corner expecting to catch a bus. But the bus didn t stop there. It had come up that street when they got off of it, but it didn t come back down that street going in the opposite direction. I picked them up and took them to the house where they were living. From that meeting, led by the Spirit, I became acquainted with Dr. Wright. He counseled me, discipled me, taught me how to be a Christian, and even led me in preparing my first sermon. Six years later I was in the Army and I was ordered to a base in England about 40 miles from where Dr. Wright lived. When Lorraine came over to England several months later to join me, Dr. Wright found us an apartment in the home of a man who was his friend. Through Dr. Wright I became acquainted with Young Life Campaign and United Beach Missions and with Gerard and Phillippa Chrispin who are still friends with us and with whom I learned much more about Christ. In all of these events the Holy Spirit was leading me to people and leading people to me that together we might be yokefellows with Christ. In the text from Acts 15 and 16 I want us to see how God was moving people and using people to accomplish His will and work. The text is over forty verses long. Rather than read it in full, I ll try to condense it and detail the important facts.

2 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt November 7, 2010 Page 2 1) Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" --to whom we gave no such commandment-- it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts 15:22-29 NKJV) Why did the apostles and elders send other men back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas? Couldn t Paul and Barnabas have brought the letter back with them and read it to the church in Antioch? There were three reasons Paul and Barnabas were the ones who vigorously disputed with the Judaizers in Antioch and therefore were sent to Jerusalem to get a ruling on this by the apostles and elders. If Paul and Barnabas had been the only ones who returned, the suspicion would have been that they weren t telling the truth if they said, Yes, the Jerusalem Council agreed with what we had told you and against the Judaizers. Sending men from Jerusalem the apostles were authenticating the letter. Second, the men who came from Jerusalem were preachers: Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. (Acts 15:32 NKJV) Third, the Holy Spirit was moving Silas from Jerusalem to Antioch so that he would be where the Holy Spirit needed him to be later on. And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. (Acts 15:33-34)

3 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt November 7, 2010 Page 3 2.) Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. (Acts 15:35-40 NKJV) I have known a number of Christians who sincerely believe that Christians shouldn t argue; they shouldn t have disagreements. If that is true the Presbyterian system is all wrong. The Presbyterian system is that in Session, Presbytery, General Assembly the elders have an opportunity to express their opinion on a given issue. Everyone listens carefully to the various opinions, then they vote on the issue. We believe that the Holy Spirit guides the body as a whole in determining what is the correct decision. We argue, we listen, we pray, we vote. Paul and Barnabas argued over whether John Mark should accompany them. If they didn t get angry there was no sin in disagreeing. In this case they didn t reach agreement. Barnabas took John Mark and sailed for Cyprus. That left Paul alone, or did it? The Holy Spirit brought Silas to Antioch. Paul chose Silas to go with him. 3.) Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. (Acts 16:1-5 NKJV) The Holy Spirit many years ago led me to Dr. Wright. I drove him to many of the places where he preached. He disciple me and taught me

4 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt November 7, 2010 Page 4 on every occasion that we were together. I can still hear him say, Principles, Bro, principles! His principles have guided me for half a century. In the same way Paul was discipling Timothy. Many years later he sent Timothy to the Ephesian church as their pastor. 4.) Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. (Acts 16:6-12 NKJV) I don t think the Holy Spirit leads by visions very often. Usually we must rely on the Word of God, the advice of Christian friends, providence and prayer to guide us. What is the difference between being guided in prayer and guided by a vision? In our text we read that Paul, Silas, and Timothy tried to go into Bithynia but the Spirit did not permit them. That is providential guidance they couldn t join onto a caravan, they couldn t find a guide, one of them got sick. Then Paul had a vision. A man specifically said, Come over to Macedonia The way God guides us in prayer is that we ask for something in prayer. As we think and read the Bible we see that what we asked for is probably not what is best so we modify our prayer request. That process continues until what we ask for and God s will are the same. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, now in the Macedonian city of Philippi go to the riverside to worship and there they meet Lydia. She believed, was baptized, and then opened her home to them to have a place to stay.

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