12 FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT (Acts 16:6 – 17:15)

12 FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT (Acts 16:6 – 17:15)

God had appointments for Paul with individuals in Macedonia. The first was with Lydia at the river on a Saturday afternoon. The second was with a slave girl who earned money for her owner by telling the future, and the third was with a jailor and his family at Philippi. Getting him to those appointments was not easy, but the Holy Spirit got them there. To do this, he closed some doors of opportunity and opened others. Paul overcame human barriers when he took the gospel to these individuals. There now was no difference between Jew and Greek, male and female, slave or free – when it came to the gospel of Christ.

We do not have to beg the Holy Spirit to guide us. But like Paul, we need to seek that guidance as we are faithful to what we already know to be God’s will and as we trust God even when we cannot explain what he is doing.

The most notable feature of Paul’s second missionary expedition, which Luke narrates in these chapters, is that during it the good seed of the gospel was now for the first time planted in European soil. It was from Europe that in due course the gospel fanned out to the great continents of Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America and Oceania and so reached the ends of the earth.

In The Acts of the Holy Spirit A. T. Pierson gave some examples from the history of missions of this same kind of guidance: Livingstone tried to go to China, but God sent him to Africa instead. Before him, Carey planned to go to Polynesia in the South Seas, but God guided him to India. Judson went to India first, but was driven on to Burma. We too in our day, Pierson concludes, “need to trust him for guidance and rejoice equally in his restraints and constraints” ([Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1895], pp. 120-22).

Summary: It was inevitable in Jewish evangelism that the Old Testament Scriptures should be both the textbook and the court of appeal. What is impressive is that neither speaker nor hearers used Scripture in a superficial way. On the contrary, Paul “argues” out of the Scripture and the Bereans “examined” them to see if his arguments were cogent. And we may be sure that Paul welcomed and encouraged this thoughtful response. He believed in doctrine (his message had theological content), but not in indoctrination (tyrannical instruction demanding uncritical acceptance). Thus Paul’s arguments and his hearers’ studies went hand in hand. I do not doubt that he also bathed both in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit of truth to open his mouth to explain, and his hearers’ minds to grasp, the good news of salvation in Christ.

Open

What are your greatest fears about being guided by God?

1. Read Acts 16:6-15. What specific instructions and direction did Paul and his companions receive from the Holy Spirit?

2. How do you see the Holy Spirit honor and work through their obedience throughout this passage?

3. What principles of guidance do you see in the experience of Paul and his companions?

4. When have you experienced guidance in the way that Paul and Silas did?

5. Read Acts 16:16-40. What opposition was there to Paul and his message?

6. What was the motivation behind the owners of the slave girl dragging Paul and Silas to the authorities (vv. 19-21)?

7. Describe Paul and Silas’s response to being flogged and thrown into prison (vv. 25-28).

8. Why do you think the jailer asked the question “What must I do to be saved?”

9. How does the response of the jailer (vv. 31-34) compare to Lydia’s response to the gospel (vv. 14-15, 40)? What does this tell you about the nature of the gospel?

10. Think of the three individuals (Lydia, a businesswoman; the slave girl and the jail keeper) who probably became Christians and were the core of the new Philippians church. How does this new church demonstrate the unifying power of the gospel?

11. The book of Acts demonstrates God’s desire to reach individuals as well as the world. What would have been the consequence if Paul had not responded to the Macedonia call?

12. Read Acts 17:1-15. What verbs describe Paul’s approach to the Thessalonians and their response (vv. 1-4)? What verbs describe the response of the Bereans to Paul’s teaching (vv. 11-12)?

13. Compare and contrast the response of the Thessalonians and the Bereans to the gospel.

Apply

How have you witnessed the power of the gospel to change lives? How might God be guiding you to serve him?

Pray

Quietly reflect on how God has led you in the past. Thank him for his faithfulness. Commit your present and future to him now. Talk to him about your fears, desires and commitment to following him.