Passing the Torch, Part 2

more of the outline and the scripture
references kind of on where we are. For those of you who work
with us, basically what we’re doing is is looking at kind of
a preliminary view of the Philippian church in preparation to consider
the book of Philippians more completely as we seek to preach
through that here in the weeks to come. We will work through these few chapters
probably today and even the next Lord’s Day and then begin to
take up the book of Philippians. But I wanted to show you, I did
this for the purpose of showing you how the book or how the church
in Philippi even came into existence. And it did so under the sermon
title of Passing the Torch, that in a very real way, both the
ministry itself and the gospel and those that Our servants of the
gospel are passed on from generation to generation. A simpler title
might even be just Church Planting 101. And that’s kind of the tact
that I approached last week. I called it components of a church
planting ministry. And I characterize these chapters
as being very important or crucial to me over the years, both in
coming to Fort Collins to plant the church and in considering
as we went what lessons are presented here in Acts 15 and 16 for the
planting of churches. And so perhaps a subtitle there,
as I offered up, is Ministry Lessons Observed from the Founding
of the Church in Philippi. And I think I provided you five
last Sunday and I’ll give you as many as I can this Sunday
and then we’ll take the rest up next Lord’s Day. So we’re
looking at components of a church planting ministry and just by
way of a very brief review, We saw that first of all, establishing
churches is a ministry that is born out of a heart of shepherding
the flock on hand. Now, you know, I’ve said it many
times, I don’t read unsigned mail, but the mail that I got
last week wasn’t completely unsigned. I know who left it. a rather
ungracious note that was designed for me to read. And I’ve got
thick skin. I can live with it. But the thought
was that I was somehow telling you not to evangelize by this
first point. I made the point that Paul’s
whole intent there in those later verses of chapter 15, when he
says, let us return and visit the brethren in every city in
which we proclaim the Word of the Lord and see how they are. That is the heart of shepherding
from which churches are planted. I never told you not to evangelize. I never said that proclaiming
the Gospel is not a biblical thing. My point was, and I’ll
repeat slowly so that the tape gets it. My point was that the
word evangelism, the Greek word euangelizo, is never used in
the New Testament in the imperative. We are never told, go, you evangelize. My point was that scripture and
God seems to assume and takes the point that it assumes that
we will, having found food, take food to the hungry. We will take
the gospel axiomatically if we are saved. I never denied the
Great Commission. I never said that evangelism
is wrong or unbiblical. My point was simply that Paul’s
focus here as he started out this mission was believers first. Believers were in Paul’s focus. And if you will only walk through
Acts chapter 16, you will see that even the Apostle Paul didn’t
set aside evangelism just so that he could focus on believers.
It’s just that his intent on this particular ministry, as
he started out, was to go and to minister to believers. That was his original intent,
and that will change in time. By the way, I mean, not only
would I be denying the Great Commission if I said, Thou shalt
not evangelize. I would be denying the very mission
of our church. Which says, and I mean, it’s
been said so many different ways, it’s beyond creativeness. Our
mission statement for our church is to glorify, edify, and testify. glorify God, edify the saints,
and testify to the lost about our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Secondly,
the second point we looked at last week, the second component,
if you will, of a church planning ministry, is that establishing
churches is a ministry born out of the heart of shepherding the
flock of God. And secondly, it is advanced by a pluralized effort.
Now, we’ve talked about plurality so much, I’m not going to do
anything more than just remind you where we got this. Paul said,
let us. And initially, he was talking
about Paul and Barnabas, but he formed another team in time. I believe God has plurality at
the core of church planting. I told you last week, I’d never
go out again without an elder next to me. I’d never send out
another elder alone. Thirdly, the third component
that we looked at last week in the church planning ministry
is that it is legitimized. Establishing churches is a ministry
legitimized by the commissioning of the local church. We saw repeatedly
that Paul was sent out. Paul was commended. Paul was
commissioned. Paul was deeply needful of the
local church to stand behind his ministry, that there was
a certain sentness to what Paul did. In verse 33 of chapter 15,
we see that after they had spent time there, they were sent away
from the brethren in peace. Just in case you might get the
idea that they were sent away harshly, it says they were sent
away in peace. They didn’t offend anybody there.
They weren’t sent away because they had overstayed their welcome. They were sent away for a specific
purpose, in peace, and they were sent to those who had sent them
out. I get the sense that Paul was
humbly submitted to the local church and that he didn’t do
anything without the commissioning and the blessing of it. Look
at verse 40. Paul chose Silas and left, being
committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. I told
you before, the longer I’m in ministry, the less I believe
in this quote-unquote general ordination where a guy goes before
the elder board and he’s kind of commissioned out to who knows
what, to anything that he wants. Ordination with a capital O,
if you will. I don’t find much support for
that. Certainly not from these passages.
I get the sense here that Paul was constantly resubmitting himself
for a new ordination, a new commissioning. It doesn’t mean that he’s ever
stopped being an elder or a pastor or an apostle. But this general ordination that
just kind of sets young men free, fresh out of seminary, is really
rather a foreign concept. at least to the New Testament. Fourthly, establishing churches
is a ministry, fourthly, that is characterized by serving with
a constant view to discipleship. Look at chapter 16, verse 1. Paul came also to Derbe and to
Lystra. Remember, his whole purpose is
to go out and minister to the brethren, to believers. And I
don’t doubt at all that he had Timothy in mind as one of those.
Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, and a disciple was there named
Timothy. It doesn’t come as a surprise
to Paul, I don’t believe. I think Paul went looking for
him. And what he found, he was pleasantly surprised with. Timothy
had become the very man that God had designed him to be. It
was only natural that Paul would have his eye out for young men
in ministry to pass on the great calling of ministry. And Timothy, which we know more
about than almost anybody else in the New Testament, just from
what Paul mentions of him. 2 Timothy 1.5, 1 Timothy 4.12,
many passages where Paul, almost in passing, that he wants us
to know this man. He wants us to know young Timothy.
He wants us to know his character and his heart. This is his true
child in the faith, as he calls him. One pastor characterized him
in these terms. He said, Timothy was somewhat
timid, insecure, and emotional, but affectionate, sincere, and
devoted. He became Paul’s closest friend
and most constant companion and as dear to the great apostle
as a beloved child. The whole story is a beautiful
commentary on the value of friendships and companionships in Christian
service. Paul knew that if the ministry
was going to advance beyond his own years, he needed to pass
these things on to faithful men. That’s what he says in 2 Timothy.
These things pass on to faithful men who will be able to teach
others also. It never stops. It shouldn’t. Number five, and this is where
we left off last week, and so just briefly again. The fifth
component of a church planning ministry is that establishing
churches is a ministry, fifthly, that is conducted by actively
waiting on God’s direction. There are those And there are
probably too many of them who will sit and wait as if they’re
waiting for a bolt out of the blue, a direct and audible divine
voice to tell them what to do. That was not Paul’s approach. Paul didn’t sit around waiting. for God to direct him. Paul was
actively engaged in ministry. He had gone out to the commissioning
of the church. He had a purpose, a goal. But
he wasn’t going to just wait. Look at v. 4 of chapter 16. It
says, while they were passing through the cities, they were
delivering the decrees. That was his whole intent. To
go and minister to the brethren. To pass on this letter about
the church council. But he was actively engaged in
ministry even while waiting for God’s direction. You’ve heard
it said, it’s much easier to steer a moving vehicle. That’s
exactly what Paul was. He was a conduit for the Lord.
He was in motion. He was available to God. All
God needed to do was steer him briefly. People, I would just tell you
with regards to this fifth point, from time to time I get these
people that, you know, I want to do something. I want to serve. Do something. Do something. Get
in motion. Reach out to someone. Notice
the needs around you. They’re so abundant, as our brother
Trey said today, that we’re just absolutely overwhelmed. And by
way of just trailering on that thought, Pray for the church. Pray for the people in the church.
I told Trey, I’ve never seen a time in our church when so
many people are being attacked in so many different ways by
the evil one that we talked about even just weeks ago. That part
shouldn’t surprise us. Pray for your church. Pray for
the brothers and sisters in the church. But do something. It may be that
you come to us with an idea for ministry and we say, well, that’s
good. Why don’t we try it in this particular
way? Or we may steer you and we may
say, you know what, we’ve got someone else working on that
particular thing. And what about this? Very rarely
will I assign someone ministry, because if it isn’t on your heart,
usually you’re not willing or able to even get the sense of
what needs to be done. I remember years ago hearing
MacArthur say that from time to time that when people would
come to him and say, you know what, Pastor, I really this church
really needs a bus ministry. He’d say, you know what, I’m
glad you brought that up. By the way, you’re now in charge
of the bus ministry, because if the Lord has laid it on your
heart, the Lord likely has graced you with the means of fulfilling
that particular ministry. Paul didn’t sit around waiting
for a new directive from the Lord. Paul didn’t sit around
idle, twiddling his thumbs, worrying and saying, you know, I’m praying
for God’s will on this ministry. Paul went out. He was sent out
by the church. He was actively engaged in ministry
and available to God for his use. Number six, new stuff here. Church planning 101. We’re looking
at the components of a church planning ministry and we come
to number six, which says that establishing churches is ministry
that is guided by God’s sovereign redirection. This obviously follows
naturally on the previous. Paul was available. He’s actively
engaged in work. God doesn’t chide his efforts. God doesn’t rebuke his efforts.
God doesn’t say what he was doing was wrong. God merely and sovereignly
and clearly redirects Paul to a greater good. Look at verse
6 of Acts chapter 16. In Acts 16, we read, they pass
through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden
by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. Now, that’s astounding
stuff. You say, what’s wrong with Asia?
What does God have against the people in Asia Minor? Why don’t
they need the Gospel? Isn’t God a God of love? God wasn’t against it. In fact,
in later times, Paul would go again and minister there and
spread the Gospel there. likely called the region of Galatia. Paul mentions churches of Galatia
in Galatians 1-2. In 1 Corinthians 16-1, concerning
the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of
Galatia, God wasn’t against Galatia. God wasn’t against Asia Minor. He just told Paul on this occasion,
not now, I will direct you I am going to direct you where I would
have you to go. And right now, I don’t want you
to go to Galatia.” Okay? And Paul, the willing servant
of God, didn’t just park there and pout with his arms crossed
and his lip extended waiting for God. Alright then, if it
isn’t here, then you tell me where I’m going to go. You tell
me what I’m supposed to do. That’s what’s so often sad in
the church. That if someone is denied a particular
ministry. If they’re not allowed to preach,
or they can’t do this, or such and such a ministry, they pout.
They sit with their arms folded and crossed and they just sit
and wait. Not Paul. Having been forbidden
by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in Asia, and after they
came to Mycenae, he kept moving. I can’t go into Asia Minor, but
I’m going to keep moving. They came to Mycenae. They were
trying to go to Bithynia. And the Spirit of Jesus did not
permit them. You say, how? I’ll tell you, I have no idea.
I don’t know whether it was a dream that Paul had, maybe an audible
voice from the Lord, maybe just an impression that was so strong
and clear, he knew that he could not go. Maybe just circumstances
prevented them. Maybe they ran out of money.
God uses all of those things to steer us and guide us. One
of the most absurd things that I heard on contemporary Christian
radio was the little ditty that says, when God closes a door,
look for a window. You know, when God wants to steer
and guide, He has the means to do so. We don’t need to look
for ways to circumvent God. God likes perseverance, and I
know the thought behind that song is perseverance. But John
chapter 10 tells me that you should go through the gate. Anyway, they were forbidden to go through
the province of Asia. Now they come to another fork
in the road and God directs them again. And that is all, I think, designed
people to remind us that, as one pastor said, the stops and
the steps of a man are ordered by the Lord. God is going to
direct our ministry. God is going to tell us where
He wants us and how He wants us to serve. We don’t know exactly,
and I counted a blessing that the Spirit in the writing of
the book of Acts kept that specifics hidden from us. We don’t know
exactly how Paul was directed. We just know that it was absolutely
conclusive to Paul that he was. One writer characterized that
guidance in these terms. He said, Paul’s missionary journeys
display an extraordinary combination of both strategic planning and
a keen sensitiveness to the guidance of the Spirit. We don’t know
how. A keen sensitiveness to the guidance of the Spirit of
God. However, that guidance was conveyed by prophetic utterance,
by inward prompting, by the overruling of external circumstances. I
even read one with a detailed explanation of how he really
believed that Paul was forbidden or prevented because of health
reasons, which is entirely possible. We have all of those things,
all of those external circumstances as tools in God’s hands to direct
us. On this particular occasion,
his intention was, after visiting churches planted in South Galatia
by Barnabas and himself, to continue along the westward road to Ephesus. If the province of Asia was not
to be the field of their immediate evangelistic activity, then it
was natural for them to cast their eyes further north and
think of the highly civilized province of Bithynia and the
Jewish settlements there. So instead of continuing west
to Ephesus, They turned north, but God wouldn’t have any of
that either. How was Paul guided? I love the way one pastor described
it. He said it’s not necessary for
us to imagine that Paul heard the voice of the Holy Spirit
forbidden him, although that certainly was a means open to
God. He’d already used that on Paul once, right? The divine
voice that brought him to repentance. The bright light. Those phenomena,
those spiritual phenomena that seized Paul in his tracks. Spirit guides. He said, one,
not always by flaming visions, not always by words articulate
in human ears, but by circumstances, commonplace things, by difficult
things, dark things, disappointing things, the spirit guides and
molds and fashions the pathway. The problem is, are we sensitive
to it? Are we perceptive of it? Evangelicals have become so fearful
of talking about the Spirit and the Spirit’s guidance for fear
that we’d be labeled charismatic. Here in this brief passage of
two different occasions, it is clearly recorded for all time
that the Spirit directed this ministry and we shouldn’t be
any more fearful than Paul and Luke. to acknowledge God’s direction
in our own midst as being Spirit-guided. One pastor said it this way,
it is when a man is in fellowship with the Lord that he sees the
disappointment and the difficulty are also under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit. It is the watcher for the Lord
who sees the Lord. If we make up our minds that
the way of guidance is the way of a flaming vision and a rolling
thunder and an articulate voice and a lifting to a height of
ecstasy, then we may never be guided. Did you get that? If
that’s all you’re looking for, to hang the tag on the guidance
of the Holy Spirit, then you may sit around idle, twiddling
your thumbs until the Lord returns.” I remember kind of playfully
challenging a brother of mine during my first seminary journey.
You know, Paul had his missionary journeys. I had my seminary journeys.
During my first seminary journey, I ended up out there in California
and I had a charismatic roommate who we were looking for an apartment
and He was describing kind of his background to the person
who was interviewing us. And he said, I’m spirit filled.
And I let him go on and talk. And she asked what that meant.
And she said, so how is what you believe? And what do you
believe? She turned to me and asked. And
I said, well, I’m spirit filled. And that caused my charismatic
friend to recoil. I’m no less spirit filled than
he. I refuse to let them take that moniker, to take that title. The pastor goes on. As he says, if that’s all we’re
looking for, we may never be guided, but if we are watching
for him, we will find him guiding us in the day of difficulty and
the day of disappointment and the day of darkness when it seems
as though through the rhythmic and majestic flow of the river
has ceased and we are cross currents and our tempest tossed. What
we need then is this confidence, the guidance of the Spirit in
the hours when no voice is heard and no vision is seen. If we will follow then, the hour
of vindication will come. There will come the vision. There
will come the man of Macedonia. His voice will be distinctly
heard and then we shall conclude that God would have us to go
into our own Macedonia. I love it that God left it completely
blank. We have no idea exactly what
God used there to steer Paul, but he steered him. As we saw, he steered him quite
distinctly. Proverbs says it this way, right?
The mind of man plans his way. There’s no sin in planning. No
sin in having a retirement plan or a plan for your life. There’s
no sin in that at all. But the Lord directs his steps.
The Lord’s going to guide you. The Lord owns that right and
privilege. First time that the Holy Spirit
is expressly spoken of as determining the course that they were going
to take. But it isn’t the only time. If
you look through the book of Acts repeatedly, the spirit guided,
the spirit directed, the spirit, the spirit, the spirit. This is a ministry that was characterized
and guided by God’s sovereign redirection. Number seven. Number
seven. The seventh component of a church
planting ministry is that Establishing churches is a ministry that is
begun by watching for the spiritually sensitive. A ministry begun by
watching for the spiritually sensitive. And here is where
that element of evangelism comes in. Remember, we didn’t set it
aside. We didn’t throw evangelism out. We didn’t say that evangelism
was unnecessary or unimportant. Look at verse 10. When he had
seen the vision, the vision of the man of Macedonia begging
them to come and help, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia,
concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
So, putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Semetros
and on the day following to Neapolis. From there to Philippi, which
is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony.
And we were staying in the city for some days. And on the Sabbath
day, we went outside the gates to a riverside where we were
supposing that there would be a place of prayer. We sat down
and began speaking to the women who had assembled. Philippi was a military colony,
literally a miniature Rome And the persons that lived there
essentially mirrored the attitudes, the morals, even the spiritual
needs of the Romans themselves. The word colony here is used
for three different purposes in the course of Roman history. It was used as a fortified outpost
in a conquered country. And so in that sense, a city
could be called a colony. It was used as a means of providing
for the poor of Rome. And so you would go to a colony
city for those particular needs. And it was used as a settlement
for veterans who would serve time. And so oftentimes they
would retire to one of these colonies. In these colonies,
the Romans divided the citizens there into two different camps,
into formal citizens and strangers. An inhabitant of Italy or Rome
or a one time inhabitant was a citizen. An inhabitant of any
other part of the empire was a stranger. The colonial policy, said one,
abolished this distinction so far as privileges were concerned.
And the idea of a colony was another Rome that was transferred
to the soil of another country. You say, why am I telling you
all this? I’m telling you this because why didn’t Paul, like
he always did, go to the synagogue on the Sabbath to preach the
gospel? The bottom line was that there was no synagogue in Philippi. There was only this rudimentary
pile of stones, open air, called a place of prayer near a river.
That was the extent of spirituality there in the colony of Philippi. You might even call it dead or
near dead. There was almost nothing going
on there from a standpoint of spiritual life. But Paul found some life. It
was very basic. And he went to the place of prayer. The place of prayer, those little
stone circles were erected where there was an absence of enough
Jews to constitute a synagogue. You needed 10. Ten men to constitute
a synagogue. And if there wasn’t, then essentially
those that were desirous of following God in some way would meet in
these places of prayer. We know from Paul that when he
visited a new city, he always went into the synagogue. That’s
where he always went. And so with the absence of a
synagogue, Paul went to this place. This very rude hut. with benches and places near
a river so that they could do their ceremonial washings. There
were not even 10 Jewish men in the city, a sizable city. But there were these women. But
it didn’t matter how many women they had, enough women didn’t
constitute the need for a synagogue. So they had to go to what they
could do. The only place they could is to the place of prayer.
And the scripture there, if you look at it again, mentions the
lady named Lydia. Look at verse 14. Jump back to
13. 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 women who had assembled. There weren’t even any men. You’ll
see what the men are doing soon. There weren’t any men that were
spiritually sensitive, but there was a particular woman and others. Verse 14, a 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. Here’s an interesting thing. There weren’t enough Jews to
constitute a synagogue, so these people had to meet in a place
of prayer And here comes Lydia, a woman likely of wealth, intelligence. She had her own business, broad
experience. She was called the seller of
purple cloth. The purple dye was extremely
expensive. It had to be gathered drop by
drop from a particular shellfish. It was so costly that it was
said that a pound of wool dyed in it would literally cost hundreds
and hundreds of dollars. Extremely expensive. And obviously,
as being a seller of it, she was a wealthy woman. But the
Scripture also records of her that she was a God-fearer. It denotes a Gentile who had become,
to a degree, a proselyte to the Jewish religion. And it’s Lydia
and her friends that Paul found there in the place of prayer.
Which is an interesting thing when you consider it or contrast
it with our modern day of approach to evangelism. The modern approach
to evangelism is to keep the gospel and to keep God things
far from them. To kind of fellowship around
things and fun and light-hearted kinds of thoughts. I remember,
I think I’ve shared this before with you, that we sat next to
a woman on a plane that attended one of these great big mega churches,
and she explained to us that they purposely don’t worship
on Sunday. Well, this is quite a contrast
then, because Paul planted in the context of worship, he found
some who were spiritually sensitive, those that were God fearing and
that knew only the basics. of who God was, but were willing.
They loved what they knew. And God seized upon that. Contrast that with the church
growth approach that hides its worship from unbelievers in an
attempt to establish a church apart from the context of worship. And you have to note Lydia’s
immediate response. We’re going to look at another
element next week. But look at her immediate response. She immediately
offered the hospitality of her house. And the reason that I
point you out, that hospitality, that magnanimity, that generosity
of heart and spirit would characterize the Philippian church its entire
day. Paul constantly looks at the
churches of Macedonia and of Philippi particularly, and he
calls them generous. Could it be? Could it be that
Lydia’s example influenced that church for all time? I’m offering
it to you. Not only could it be, I believe
it did. I believe Lydia here in her response
set the tone. for what proper behavior was.
It was one of the chief characteristics of the Philippian church. I’ll introduce the last one and
we’ll close in prayer. And when I say last, it’s the
last one we’ll look at today because there are several others
that we’ll close next week. Establishing church is number
eight, is ministry that is limited by the sovereign work of God
in the response to ministry. You’re absolutely limited. Paul
could do nothing unless God did it first. But look, look at it. Look at verse 14. A woman named
Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabric, a
worshipper of God, was listening. And the Lord opened her heart
to respond to the things spoken of by Paul. It wasn’t people
just that Lydia had a closed heart. That Lydia was hard-hearted. All of humanity has a closed
heart to God. And all of humanity must have
God as the predecessor to any ministry. God must go first. God must open that heart. Those are some of the lessons
that we learn from the planting of the church at Philippi. Let’s
pray. Our merciful God, we thank You
for these simple and humble and profound words penned by Luke
in seeking to describe the events leading up to the establishing
of a church there in Philippi. Lord, we thank You and we’re
humbled by the observations gleaned from this passage from the great
saint laying before us the simple means of faith in advancing the
cause of Christ. Lord, we thank You and praise
You for Your Word to us. We pray these things in Jesus’
name, Amen.