Acts chapter 16 and we're going
to read from verse 1. And I have particularly some
of the younger people in mind here as we speak about these
things. I think we all enjoy the narrative and the story here
about the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys. And that's
where we're finding ourselves this morning in chapter 16. He's
just recently with Silas, Paul having embarked upon their second
missionary journey to go back and visit the churches that had
been established during that first missionary journey that
he made with Barnabas. So Acts chapter 16 verse 1 says,
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple
was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which
was a Jewess, and believed. But his father was a Greek. which
was well reported, that is, the young man Timothy, or Timotheus,
which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra
and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth
with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which
were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was
a Greek. And as they went through the
cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep that were
ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established
in the faith and increased in number daily. Well, that's all
I want to read at the moment from this 16th chapter of Acts,
but I want us to just notice that Paul and Silas here are
hastening on in their journey. They had gone up through Syria,
they had gone into Cilicia, they had travelled through the countryside,
and they had arrived back at these cities where the apostle
had established some churches on their previous occasion, their
previous journey. They had both established churches
and preached and created quite a stir in these cities. And the fact that they arrive
back at these little towns, Derby, Lystra, Iconium, And the fact
that they find the churches there, still in existence after this
period of time that they have been away, I think tells us several
things that I want just to point out here. The first one is this.
These were brave men. Paul and Silas were brave men. Paul had been severely beaten
and he had been stoned to the point of death in Lystra. Yet here he was returning to
the very same town and probably many of the same people that
had stoned him first time he made a gospel presentation there. He was returning there to Lystra
because he loved the Lord. and he felt the burden of the
Lord's message to these people. And he was returning to Lystra
because he loved the Lord's people and he did not want to leave
them alone. He was concerned for the well-being
of these little churches, these young fellowships and the converts
that were there. And there's a point of note there. Being a Christian can be a frightening
experience sometimes, especially for younger people, but really
for everyone. We were down at the rescue mission
last night, and I don't doubt for a moment that whoever it
is that is preaching at the rescue mission from the church here,
feels both the responsibility and the obligation that is laid
upon them, but they feel also the flutters in their tummy,
the butterflies, if you like, the anxiety, the pressure, the
stress that builds up of being in a relatively strange situation
amongst all these people and having to stand up and minister
for the Lord. It takes boldness to be a Christian
in a sinful world. And we all ought to remember
that. We need help. We need the encouragement
of the Lord and of one another. And Paul is a fine example. I wonder what Silas thought.
Well, here we're coming to Lystra. Was this where they stoned you,
Paul? Yeah, they're just there. I wonder what Silas thought. So here they are. Remember, The
Lord says to his people, I will never leave you nor forsake you. The second thing which is interesting
is that Paul was delighted to find these churches active and
well. And I think that that is a cause
for praise to God. Here were little churches formed,
established in the midst of persecution, and yet there they existed. As far as we know, without a
preacher amongst them, or at least no one that we recognize,
just a little group of believers coming together and being provided
for by God the Holy Spirit. There was no New Testament scriptures. There was no widespread communication
opportunities. There was just those few folk
who had trusted the Lord when a man came through the town two
years ago. And here he's come back and what
does he find? That little cluster are still
there worshipping the Lord. Praise be to Jesus. You know,
the big crusades that roll in and out, they always want to
have plenty of backup groups and places to slot the people
into and connections and support groups. When a person gets saved,
the Lord Jesus Christ looks after them. The Holy Spirit ministers
to them. And in all the false religion
that surrounded these people, all the persecutors that were
there, the Lord preserved his own. Maybe just a little handful,
maybe just a family or two, but the Lord preserved his people
and the true gospel could not be destroyed. And here Paul and
Silas, they meet a young man called Timothy. And we discover
that he's a believer, he and his mother both, and we later
discover that his grandmother also. And I always think it's
lovely to see that young people get saved too. You know, young
people get saved too. And Timothy was just a youngster.
He was just a young man. His mother was a Jew. His father
was a Greek. And it's very possible that he
was converted there the last time that Paul had preached. And here he was, having seen
the apostles stoned. He nevertheless was remaining
faithful because the churches spoke well of him, not only in
his own town but in several other churches. They saw the evident
hand of the Lord in this young man's life. The Apostle Paul
recognised something special about him too, and he felt that
it would be helpful to take Timothy with them on their missionary
journeys, perhaps to introduce him to the sort of ministry that
Paul was preaching. It seems strange to me in some
respects, given all that had transpired in the previous chapter
at the Council of Jerusalem, and the trouble that there had
been at Antioch with the Judaizers, that Paul should take and circumcise
Timothy. I don't really understand why
that happened. I can imagine that perhaps the
Apostle looked upon this pragmatically, as a practical thing, thinking
to himself that, well, we're going to be moving amongst Jews,
we're going to be preaching in synagogues. If Timothy is going
to be with us and a part of our party, then he's going to have
to be circumcised in order to be accepted into the synagogue. Well, that was his logic, and
who's to second guess the apostle? But it's hard to know exactly
the circumstances here. As they travelled, Paul informed
the churches of the rulings that had been made at Jerusalem. And I think that's good to remember
too. He obviously had a burden that these Judaizers were going
to be continually a problem to these young Gentile churches.
And in order to make sure that that message had been conveyed
and was understood, he was telling all the churches, wherever it
was that he preached, that only the question about idol worship
was to be recognised and accepted. There was no other worship than
the one true God. And if you abided by that, then
all of these other ceremonial or legal obligations had no burden
for you. The churches had been established
in faith. They had been brought together
under gospel truth and upon New Testament principles of worship
and obedience. Now they were being established
by the apostle. There was no need, there was
no place for looking over their shoulder to the old ceremonial
religious sacrificial systems of the past. They had to look
forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, and this gospel message was going
forth into their society. The faith that they had shows
that the just shall live by faith, not by the works of our hand
or of our deeds. This emphasises the freedom that
the Lord's people have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think
it's amazing for us to just note here that God preserves his people. He leads and he guides his church. He looks after his little ones
against all the odds. And the Lord raises up faithful
men like Paul and Silas, and he raises up the next generation
of Timothys and Tituses as well. And sometimes we become a little
bit anxious about what's the future of the church. The Lord
knows exactly what he is doing. It's a great blessing and it
is a great peace upon the hearts of his people to commit our cares
to the Lord, knowing that he cares for us. Thank you.