We're here now in Acts 16. We're
in the third message here dealing with the same theme. We started
this a few weeks ago in Acts 16, looking at the account where
Paul comes to Lydia. That first message was titled,
How Lydia Came to the Doctrine of Christ. And what did we begin
to see? We began to see that Lydia didn't
come to the doctrine of Christ. Christ came to her and taught
her the Gospel. And then tonight we have the
second message which was titled, Christ filleth all in all. And
in that message we saw that Satan and his messengers are responsible
for all falsehood in this world. And we develop this point that
Christ, who is ascended, the same one who descended has ascended,
and it's Christ who filleth all. He's the one who's doing this
work in judgment and justice on the earth, just as He did
at Calvary. And He promised, I'll set up shepherds over them,
which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. So this time,
the title of our message is Christ Teaches Lydia the Gospel. Now,
I've been trying to drive this home to you that no matter where
we are in scripture, don't ever let what we see and what's being
portrayed for us in the carnal realm, in the physical realm,
don't ever let that hinder you from beholding Christ. That's
what we're being taught as we walk through this world. Whatever's
going on in this world, physically in front of us, Let it be continually
pointing us to Christ. Be looking for Christ in all
things. Be looking for Him. And that's
what, when you go to these scriptures, when you go to study these scriptures,
go to them and look and see, what is Christ doing here? Humanism,
the gospel of humanism goes to it and says, what is man doing
for God here? And if you go that route, you'll
be backwards in the whole interpretation of every scripture. Go to it
to see what Christ is doing. So that's what we're going to
see tonight. First of all, Christ begins teaching us before we
ever realize what He's doing. You remember what we observed
about the Macedonian man which Paul saw in the vision? He was
a common man of Macedonia. He didn't appear as an angel.
He appeared as a man. Nothing to commend him to Paul
or to make Paul want to go to him. He was a sinner just to
portray the man. And then he was standing, a sign
of respect. Scriptures teach us to stand
up before the hoary head, before a white-haired elderly person
and show respect to them. And it also teaches us to honor
those whom Christ has sent to teach the Gospel. This man of
Macedonia was standing. And then the third thing we saw
was this was an importunate man. This man was crying out for help. He prayed, Paul, come over and
help us. These are the characteristics
of someone whom the Lord Jesus Christ has made teachable. That's the characteristics portrayed
there. That's why Paul gathered assuredly that this is where
we're supposed to go preach the gospel. So, look here with me
now. Every detail given about Lydia
can help us to see how Christ was working to draw her to Himself. Verse 13. 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. And a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul." Now, first of all,
we see here that Lydia walked in what light the Lord had given
her. On the Sabbath, we read this
first of all, it was on the Sabbath. By mentioning that it was the
Sabbath. where prayer was wont to be made and then later in
verse 14 saying Lydia worshiped God there, we learned that Lydia
was a proselyte to Jewish religion. She was, it's indicated by the
fact that she was there on the Sabbath day, on the Jewish Sabbath. She had gone out to this place.
She didn't know Christ. But she was there seeking God
according to the law of Moses, according to what light she had.
She was there seeking God. Now it says, then she was out
of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made. No
synagogue in this city. Ten men had to be present to
constitute a synagogue, and there was no synagogue in this city. The area was some sort of open-air
enclosure by the river where they went out there to worship.
And it was outside the city. Paul had to abide certain days
to find this place. It wasn't just something you
spotted on your way in on Main Street. This was a sort of out-of-the-way
place. And there was only women there.
But here's the point concerning Lydia. As she walked in the light
God had given her, she wasn't turned aside because there was
no synagogue in that city. There was plenty of places in
that city. It's an idolatrous place. There
was plenty of places if she just wanted to settle and just worship
with everybody. She could have found plenty of
places in town to worship. She went outside of the city
and went out to this place. by the river with a group of
women to seek God. And it appears that the Lord
had given Lydia a concern for her soul. I say that judging
by the Macedonian man who prayed for help. Lydia was out here
praying. That's why she went to this place.
And remember that that's how the Macedonian man is portrayed
to us to show it was someone who had a dire need for the gospel
of Christ to be preached to him. And so Lydia appears to be standing
out there praying, saying, come over into Macedonia and help
us. If you could hear Lydia's prayer,
It probably went something like that. Lord, I pray that you would
teach me the gospel. Teach me the truth. Teach me.
She was lacking something. Lydia was lacking something.
Now, we'll see that here. Sometimes the Spirit of God,
who is recording these, is moving Luke to write what he's written
here. The Spirit of God will give us things in the meaning
of names. to reveal something about the
one that's being talked about in the passage. And that may
be the case here. It certainly has to do with what
we saw in the Macedonian man. But let me show you what I mean.
It says she was a certain woman named Lydia. The name Lydia means
travail. Trevail. It was that word Paul
used when he told the Galatians, My little children of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. Remember
the vision of the Macedonian man. He prayed. for help. That's when somebody's been brought
to a place where they're truly longing to know Christ. They're
travailing for Christ to be formed in them. That's what her name
means. It meant travail. The Spirit
of God had Luke record all of this information for us, and
if we look into these meanings of these names, it might help
us to understand something about what Lydia was going through,
where she was in spirit as she was out there. Well, then it
says she was a seller of purple. Purple was the color used by
God, ordained by God in the scriptures for a sanctified Adam and to
be worn by a person who was set apart for God's use. I'll give
you some examples. The ephod worn by the priest
was made of gold, of blue, of purple, of scarlet, and fine
twined linen with cunning work. The breastplate of judgment The
hem of the priest's garment, it had pomegranates of blue and
of purple and of scarlet round about the hem thereof. Just like where all false religion
is really just a copy of true religion. That's what it all
is, basically. And seeing the priest in their
purple and seeing these things, it had become popular with those
that didn't even believe God. The Romans, it was a color of
royalty. And it brought a costly price. It cost a lot to buy this purple. But this tells us that Lydia
was likely a wealthy woman. Lydia was likely a wealthy woman,
and we know she had a house. She had household servants. These
were people working for her. And there's no mention made of
a husband. She had obtained these things by selling purple. She
was a worker, and she sold a pricely item. But here's the point. First
of all, with regards to Lydia personally, though she was wealthy,
Christ had given her a desire. Perhaps she was in travail till
she have the peace of God within her heart. She's out in this
place, and though she was wealthy, it appears, as we see that vision
of the Macedonian man, that she was poor in spirit. She didn't
have that peace that comes with knowing Christ yet. And therefore,
she had a mind to set aside her business and to seek the riches
that only God can give. That's what she was out here
looking for. She was out here seeking the
riches that the Lord God gives. That's why she was in this place.
And then it says she was of the city of Thyatira. Now Lydia means
travail. The name Thyatira means odor
of affliction. Odor of affliction. It was in
Asia where Paul originally desired to go. That's where Paul intended
to go. And the Spirit forbid him to
go there and preach the Word. But here she is. She's there
in Philippi, in Macedonia, and so there's where Paul is brought
to. Now here's the second thing. Lydia doesn't know it yet. Paul
doesn't know it yet. None of the women there know
it yet. None of the men with Paul know it yet. But the Lord
Jesus is going to use Lydia. He's going to use Lydia and some
of these women that are sitting here with her to help Paul in
establishing a church there in Philippi. His church there in
Philippi. And so what did he do? He prepared
her to be a support for that work by making her a seller of
purple and providing her with some wealth and some means. And
he drew her to Philippi long before he ever taught her why
she was brought there. or anybody else. In Christ, He
uses those whom He has afflicted so that they see that no matter
what this world affords them, without Christ, without God's
truth in Christ, they're poor and in need. And when He's given
that affliction, that causes a person to travail, to know
Christ. They have to know Christ. And
there she is. And this is the example set here
before us. Do you see? What I want you to
see here is God's purpose in all this. I want you to see how
that everything that's taken place, Christ, from His throne
of glory in heaven, is ordering everything here and bringing
everything to pass. He's equipped Paul to preach
the gospel. He's brought Lydia to a place
where she's teachable and desiring to hear the gospel. The Lord
said this, no man can come to Me except the Father which is
in heaven draw him. You know that word, draw, right
there? Remember when they came to arrest the Lord and it said
Peter drew his sword? It's the same word. Just that
literal. As Peter drew that sword, Christ
said, no man can come to me unless God draws unto me. Just like
Peter drew that sword. And that's what we see here.
Lydia is being drawn to Christ. And then there's a word here
that we'll pass up if we're not careful. It says, and she heard
us. She heard us. It means, Just
a carnal ear is all it means. But what it does mean is this.
Because of the condition she was in, because she was seeking
the truth, she listened. She paid attention. She gave her ear to hear what
this man had to say when he sat down and listened and preached.
So the vision of this Macedonian man That's just common man. We see it here in Lydia. She
was a certain woman, chosen of God, elect and precious, bought
with the blood of Christ. But that's what made her to differ.
If you just saw Lydia, she was like everybody else. But she
was there just like that Macedonian man was standing. She was there
and she gave her full attention and respect to hear what Paul
had to say. And like that Macedonian man
prayed for Paul to come over unto us, she was there earnestly
seeking help from God. She's in travail, her name Lydia,
a travail from Thyatira, odor of affliction, cellar of purple,
rich but seeking God. She worshipped God. She was walking
in the light He gave her. And she was listening attentively.
One of the old writers said, the Macedonian man turned out
to be a group of women by the riverside. I pray that the Lord would make
you like Lydia. Is it going to take affliction
and travail? It is. We're going to have to know our
need of a Savior, our continual need of a Savior, by being made
to see what we are without a Savior. No matter what we have in this
world, we've got to be brought to see what we are without Christ
the Lord, to see Him as the pearl of great price before we'll go
by the field. We've got to behold that He's
the one thing needful before we'll come to His feet and sit
down and desire to be taught by Him. We'll be cumbered about
with much serving until He's brought us and drawn us to His
feet. And He uses much affliction to
do it. But He brings us there by His
grace and He seats us at His feet to hear a message from Him.
Do you listen to, this is about as practical as it gets, but
do you listen to messages? Do you listen to sermons and
CDs? You know, we've got every available
resource in this day and time from the internet to iPods, to
CDs, to where we can selectively go to faithful preachers of the
Gospel and men that are going to teach us the Scriptures faithfully
according to the Scriptures in truth that God's made manifest
that He sent. We ought to listen to them. They're
not just here just to be speaking. They're here to be teaching us.
And I know firsthand when we take these things and we all
in this area, I know you all have a commute. No doubt about
it. That's a good time to be listening
to Christ speak through one of His messengers. A great time.
And He'll bless her, He'll give you, the more you seek Him, the
more you'll walk in the light He's given you, He gives you
more light. That's what we see here with
her. He's drawing her, and because He's drawing her, irresistibly,
she's walking in the light. that he's given her and he just
continues to give her more light as we'll see here. If you won't
see these, if you won't, I've told you I'll send you the articles
every day. I've started trying to put one
a day on our website so you can go get it. I'll send it to you
directly if you want it. If you want, whatever you desire,
that's what I'm here for and I want you to, I want to see
you have an interest to be outside the city seated, not hindered
because there's no synagogue, out there where prayers want
to be made, seated and ready to hear and listen. And not just
when we're here, I mean every day, all the time, seeking His
face. Well, let's look here at the
second thing. Christ opens the heart and He
teaches us. Now, it says here in verse 14,
She was a certain woman named Lydia, and she heard us, and
it says, whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto
the things which were spoken of Paul." Now, Christ is going
to receive all the glory in the salvation of His people. That's
just how it is. He's going to receive all the
glory in the salvation of His people. It says here that the
Lord opened her heart. And this should surprise us.
Who receives the glory for forbidding Paul and the men to go to Asia
and come in here to Philippi? Who receives the glory for bringing
them there on a straight course to Philippi and bringing them
out there to this place outside the city? Who receives the glory
for giving Paul the gospel, the truth, so that he knew that Christ
is the end of the lawful righteousness to everyone that believes? So
he could go out there and declare the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Who receives the glory for bringing Lydia to that place right there
and giving her that desire to sit there? Christ receives the
glory. He receives the glory. So who's
going to receive the glory now for making this gospel effectual
in our heart? Christ is. Turn with me over
to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. In Revelation 3, verse 7, to
the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he
that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David,
he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. Look down at verse 20. Behold I stand at the door and
knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come
in to him and will suck with him and he with me. Do you see
that? How horribly that scripture has
been corrupted. Turn to Song of Solomon. Song
of Solomon Did you read this Paul Scott
song of Solomon chapter 5 you read this Sunday, I think you
did Song of Solomon But there in chapter 5 look at
verse 4 My beloved This is the Lord's Bride saying,
My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels
were moved for him. That's how, when He says, I stand
at the door and knock, it's not helpless Jesus standing there
knocking. She said he put his hand by the hole of the door
and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my
beloved and my hands dropped with my fingers with sweet smelling
myrrh upon the handles of the lock. You see there, the Lord
God hath opened my ear, Isaiah said, and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back. That's what the Lord opened her
heart. And He caused her to hear. Now look here at this next thing.
That she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Now
we just read she heard. What's different about this word
she attended? Well, the construction of the
sentence tells us that it has to do with a supernatural work
performed in her heart by Christ. She worshipped God and she heard
us, whose heart the Lord opened. That she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul. The word heard means she listened
with these ears, right here. She paid attention and she listened.
But this word attended means she cleaved with all her heart. She cleaved with all, everything
within her cleaved unto what Paul was teaching. Did you all
see a few weeks back, I haven't heard anything else about this,
so I don't know really what happened since then, but three men went
out in a boat off the coast of Florida. Was it four? Two of them were NFL football
players, I believe, and the boat capsized. But that one man, Did
you see that on the news? There was one man they found.
And when they found that man, he was sitting on the hull of
that boat. It was upside down. He was sitting
on the hull of that boat. And you couldn't have pried him
away from that motor. He was hanging on
to the shaft of that motor with everything he had. He was cleaving
under that motor. He wasn't going to let it go
because all around him was the sharks. and the waves, and the
ocean, and the depths. And Lydia heard this Gospel of
Christ, and she cleaved unto Christ, because all around her,
she beheld outside of Christ. If she had let go of Christ,
it was nothing but just the depths of the sea, and the waves, and
the sharks of sin, and rebellion, and Satan, and the enemies of
Russia. And she cleaved to Christ. She held on to Him when He opened
her heart. You know, the Lord said, All
things are delivered unto Me of My Father. And no man knoweth
the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And He to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. That's why she heard. But then
when He opened her heart, she cleaved. because he revealed
the Father to her. He revealed God. He revealed
Christ to her. That's why Job said, I've heard
of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes see it
thee. Well, her heart was open. He
makes us willing to believe when he opens the heart, when he opens
the door. You remember the two men on the
Emmaus Road. They didn't know Christ. They
didn't know Christ even though He was sitting there face to
face with them and talking to them. But Scripture says, then
opened He their understanding that they might understand the
Scriptures. And you know what they said after
that? They said unto one another, did not our heart burn within
us while He talked with us by the way, while He opened to us
the Scriptures? Christ opens the heart and He
teaches us and He makes us willing. The furniture in the room might
not look like it looks exactly like right here with Lydia and
Paul, but two things are always present. The truth of the Gospel
and Christ opening the heart and teaching the heart. That's
always going to be present if we hear a message from Him. It's
written, they shall all be taught of God. He's going to receive
the glory for teaching His people. How much truth does a man know
when God teaches him in the heart in the beginning? All of it. He knows every bit of it. Because
he knows Christ who is the truth. And this is what he knows. He knows that Christ is the way,
the truth, and the life. And he knows that trust in Christ has nothing to do with knowing
all the aspects of doctrine, but it has everything to do with
knowing Christ in truth. It doesn't have a thing in the
world with knowing all the aspects of doctrine. It has to do with
knowing Christ. If we're going to truly trust
Him, the essence of faith, what faith is, is committing everything
to Him. If we haven't committed everything
to Him, we haven't believed on Him. It's impossible to believe
on Him without trusting Him. The new convert may not know
all that doctrine teaches, but he knows that all doctrine teaches
only Christ. He knows it. How much truth does
he have to know? He has to know all of it. He
has to know Christ. Christ is all the truth. Well,
let me get down here. I want to show you this last
thing. I'll just go quickly through
this. We'll pick up here next time.
When she was baptized, verse 15, and her house sold, she besought
us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us. Now Christ is going to gain the
victory in each person, in time, for whom He gained the victory
at Calvary. What do you mean by that? I mean
that those that God gave Him, He laid down His life for. He
purged their sin. He put their sin completely away.
He brought in everlasting righteousness for them. And He clearly said
the truth when He told Nicodemus, unless a man's born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God. That tells me if you or me or
anybody else he died for is going to see Him and enter into the
Kingdom of God, they're going to have to be born again. and
to be born of the Holy Spirit. He will have all men come to
the knowledge of the truth. And so, two things here we see. The Lord Jesus Christ affectionately
produces these two things. A love for God, and it's manifest
in a willingness to confess Christ. It's the highest form of love
to God and to brethren is to confess Christ. And then he gives
us a love for brethren. It says, and when she was baptized,
that's the first act of willful obedience to Christ by the believer,
is baptism. I don't have to coerce you to
do it. I don't have to try to entice you into doing it. You
know why? Because when Christ rose and was seated at God's
right hand, God said, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. I'll say something to you about
that in a minute, but let me point out something to you here.
And her household was baptized. And we'll look more at this next
time when we get over, maybe not next time, but when we get
over to the Philippian jailer and we deal with what must I
do to be saved, we'll deal with this a little bit more in depth.
But let me make this statement on it. Most likely, it was these
very women who were with her at the riverside who were her
household. These were her servants. And
the Lord opened their heart like He did Lydia, so that they believed
Christ. They trusted Christ. Luke uses
this phrasing in other places when he's telling us that God
has given somebody life and repentance and faith in Christ. We saw it
with Cornelius. We'll see it with the Philippian
jailer. We see it here with Lydia. But turn over with me to Acts
16, verse 40. These servants in her household
that were baptized were baptized because they trusted Christ as
well. Acts 16, verse 40. It says, And they went out of
the prison, Paul, and entered into the house of Lydia. And
when they had seen... What's that next word? The brethren. The brethren. You know why that
word is used? Because they believed Christ.
They were brethren in Christ. They trusted Christ. These were
the folks in her household. Now if you turn over to Philippians
chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 1.
I'll show you why they believed on Christ and why they followed
Him willingly in baptism. We're told some of their names
right here. Philippians 4, verse 1. Therefore,
my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown,
so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech you,
Odius, and I beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind
in the Lord. And this is some of them that
were there. Entreat thee also, true yokefella,
help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and with other of my fellow laborers. Here's why they believed
Christ, and here's why they followed him in baptism. Here's why Christ
opened up their heart. Whose names are in the book of
life." That's how they got in the covenant. God wrote their
names in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the
world. Christ redeemed them. Christ sent His messenger. Christ
opened up their heart. Christ gave them faith and repentance.
They believed Christ and they cleaved unto Christ and they
did what everybody does in the day of His power. They were willing
and they followed Him in baptism. And then back in our text there,
that's the first thing the Lord always works, obedience. We follow
Him. We confess Him in baptism. And
then secondly, and she constrained us. Look there, Acts 16, verse
15. She besought us saying, if you
have judged me to be faithful unto the Lord, if you've judged
me to be truly a believer, come into my house and abide there.
And she constrained us. When Cornelius and his household,
when the Lord poured out Spirit on them, we read in Acts 10.48,
Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And
they were. And then prayed they him to tarry certain days. Stay
with us. Don't leave. The Philippian jailer
and his household. Look across the page there at
verse 33. And he took them the same hour
of the night and washed their stripes. That's Paul. He washed Paul's stripes. And
then the jailer was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before
them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." You
see that? This is the end that He's bringing
them to, to worship Him. to be a witness unto Him. And
that starts, first of all, with following Him in baptism and
by having a love for the brethren. And wherever Christ has opened
up the heart and revealed Himself, that's what will be there. That's
what will always be there. Now here's the main point. All
of this glory we've been talking about, we've been seeing, it
all belongs to Christ Jesus the Lord. You know, as our surety,
when God blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places, He blessed us in Christ, according as He had chosen us
in Him. He has all the glory in the doctrine
of election. He has all the glory in the doctrine
of predestination. He gets all the glory in being
our surety, the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the
world. And then, Everybody will confess. He gets all the glory
and the salvation of His people because He came to where we are.
And He went to the cross and was made sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. He purged our sin.
He put away our sin. He accomplished our salvation.
He cried out, It is finished. He made atonement for us. He
justified us. He sanctified us. And then He
comes through His messenger And he's going to receive all the
glory here too. He sends his gospel in truth through his messenger. He may use a liar to do it. He
used Balaam's ass to do it. And he may use a liar to do it.
But when that person is speaking, that person is going to one of
his saints that he's opening the heart to, They're going to
speak the Word Christ gave them to speak, and it's going to come
forth by Christ's grace, and He's going to open their heart,
and they're going to hear Him. And then you know what Christ
is going to do? If that person is a liar and goes on in his
lies, that preacher, Christ is going to take him right out of
that place. Because He said, I'll give you shepherds that
will feed you, and you won't be dismayed and confounded and
confused. I'm going to bring you out from among them, He said. But He's going to do that. And
look, now here's what I want you to see. We know that the
scripture says, the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved is the power
of God. We know Paul told the Romans, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, it's the power of God unto salvation, to everyone
that believe it. But brethren, the power in the
gospel, the power in it coming to you, the power in you being
able to hear it with spiritual ears and a heart made new by
Christ, the power that is revealed in that gospel is Christ. It is Christ. That's why it can't
ever be a lie. That's why it can't ever be another
Jesus. That's why it can't be... That's
why Paul said, these fellows that's come to you, Galatians,
are not going to help you. They're hindering you. They're
putting you out of the way because they're teaching you another
Jesus. But look here with me. In that verse, you might want
to look at this. Psalm 110.3. You might want to
look at this. When it says there, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Now, it says here,
this is what's going to make us willing. In the beauties,
they're plural, there is many beauties. In the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning, when the day star arises. That's where we're going to see
the beauties of holiness. What is this revelation of the
Gospel? What is this power of the Gospel
that makes us willing? Where are these beauties found?
Look at the next word, thou. It's a person. Thou has the due
of thy youth. We're made willing this way. We're made willing, as Paul said,
we preach Christ crucified. And to the Jews, that's a stumbling
block. And to the Greeks, it's foolishness. But unto them which
are called, unto them which Christ opens up their heart, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. Christ is that power. Christ is that wisdom. What did
Peter say? 2 Peter 1.16. We have not followed
cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. a person. This is the
revelation of the mystery. This is the revelation of the
mystery that's been hidden from the age. Is Christ in you, the
hope of glory? Paul told the Ephesians that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of Him. And so that's what we see here.
Lydia was able to say, we know that the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true. He's the power. He's the only
one that will make us let go of everything else and cleave
unto Him. And that's why He's going to
get all the glory in this thing. He's going to receive the glory
in sending His Gospel in truth and revealing it in the heart
of His people. He's going to receive that glory as surely
as He's going to receive the glory at the cross and the glory
before the foundation of the world, which was His. It's always
been His. God determined that in Him It
will be all fullness. And it's going to be in Him.
That's where we're brought to see Christ. By His Gospel. By His power. And He reveals
to us Himself. So, I pray that as we go through
these Scriptures and through this through this work that God's
given us, that we would, one, not be discouraged when we're
turned from going one direction, or hindered, or like Paul was. He wasn't discouraged. He wasn't
able to go. But when God makes it known where
you're supposed to go, what you're supposed to do, it's clear. It's
clear. It'll be clear to everybody.
It'll be clear to us all together. We'll know this is what we're
supposed to be doing without a doubt. And then the second
thing is, when He does make it clear, let's not make the sovereignty
of God an excuse for not actively giving, walking in the light
He's given us and pursuing with everything we have, every resource
we have, making a straight course to preach this gospel. And then
thirdly, let's do it from A to Z, telling everybody, Christ
is all. He receives all the glory in
it. Sinners have enough people out there, preachers out there,
world out there, things in the flesh, to turn them from Christ
to themselves, lest don't be another reason. When they ask
you your hope, start with Christ, continue with Christ, and end
with Christ. And when they walk away, they're
going to have to say, That man thinks all salvation is in Christ.
Yes, sir. You got it. That's what we do. That's what we do. That's what
Paul did. And that's what he's going, we're
going to see, that's what he used Lydia to do and those women
sitting right there in the church at Philippi.