 Good morning and welcome to all our students. Thank you for connecting. We will keep journeying through the Book of Acts. We are now learning about the missionary journeys of Paul and I really want to encourage all our students on the three platforms here on campus online as well as eLearn to read through the Book of Acts and if possible I think I had recommended a movie which is based on the NKJV version of Acts. They've attempted to go by scripture and depict what scripture shares. So the movie is very simply called the Acts of the Apostles. So if you would like to just watch that as well it will really help you with your imagination of you know all the things that are going on. So to give you know we have come to Acts chapter 16. We've seen earlier in Acts 15 the Jerusalem Council and that special decision that was taken in order to help Gentiles those who were saved born again you know the leaders felt that it's not right to tell them that circumcision is an essential for salvation. So that's the decision that they made and they communicated it clearly remember we saw how good the early church and the early church leaders are in governance. So Paul and Barnabas when they had an issue with this particular circumcision matter they did not just jump into a conclusion but beautifully they took the matter to the elders in Jerusalem because it was serious and this was a matter which was spread across the region some parts of Judea and thereby they gave the matter to the elders in Jerusalem and then you know we saw how it was not a one-man show. So it was brought up to the people and even Peter shared his experience of how God touched the lives of Gentiles through his ministry to Cornelius. So once Peter discussed all this then the people were willing and they said okay fine you know let's go ahead with it and there was an agreement. So that again is wonderful otherwise imagine if Peter was just very dictatorial and he said no you know I'm telling you you have to do this that would have given us a sort of standard for leadership of that kind but it was not like that. It was definitely discussed with all the leaders and then you know the matter was decided. So again you know it takes discernment regarding the particular matter to recognize whether that's something that one leader, a leader can make a decision about or a set of leaders make a decision about. So then finally they made a decree and they went ahead and they wrote it out and told Pauline Barnabas to go ahead go back to Antioch and share this in a very clear-cut way. It was written out the exact things that need to be done. So we saw how they said that yes circumcision is not a requirement for salvation for the Gentiles but there were a couple of other things such as abstaining from food offered to idols, from blood, from things that are strangled and from sexual immorality and we also discussed why. So culturally and worship-wise maybe the Gentiles were used to these practices but once they came into the fold or the kingdom of God the right lifestyle was necessary for the Gentiles. So maybe there were believers who were continuing in these practices and at some point the leaders had to tell them that for us as believers such a lifestyle is not fitting and thereby they addressed matters connected to behavior and lifestyle and not change the doctrine, isn't it? So they kept with the truth of God's word and that is so beautiful. Now following that we saw the ministry that continued in Syria in the Church of Antioch. Remember we saw the Sidian Antioch or Presidian Antioch however you want to call it and what happened over there when Paul and Barnabas went. Now they're back to the Antioch of Syria which is the one which is mentioned in Acts chapter 11 and over here there is a church, a wonderful church so they continue to minister and we saw how this time around they had prophets with them. They had people like Judas, Silas, they were prophets and so we can understand that the Church of Antioch was moving in the gifts of the Spirit and or rather they were being equipped in the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. So they were strengthened. Remember we said 1 Corinthians 14-3, what is prophecy all about? Exhortation, edification, comfort, same thing. So as these prophets minister to the people they were strengthened and you know then we see that they continued ministry in this way and Silas decided to stay back. Now Paul and Barnabas they were thinking of setting out on the next missionary journey so verse 36 is where the second missionary journey of Paul actually begins. So the whole planning and you know what they really intended to do they were kind of getting those things in order. I will once again show you the picture of how this journey will go. Yes so the first one was fairly simple we just saw that you know they went in a certain route and they just came back along the same route strengthening the churches but here the second missionary journey of again Apostle Paul remember from 36 we also saw that whole issue about John Mark and the personality clashes of Paul and Barnabas and so here only Paul's journey is marked out for whatever reason Luke does not mention Barnabas's journey okay but of course they were in communication we read later on in Paul's episodes how they you know like John Mark was somebody who came back to be a supporter to Paul's ministry. So now let's look at the map here and try to register I'm showing you the maps a little more often just so you know it's easier when we read the passages for you to recognize these places so I'm hoping can you see clearly everyone are you able to yeah okay fine so Antioch of Syria right this is where we are at right now now the journey will have to start off and so look at the arrows the arrows are pointing in this direction where Paul goes to the Silesia region and remember there were people along this place whom they had ministered to Derby, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch we are familiar with all these places now we'll see as we read today that it was Paul's desire to go you know into Asia okay so he wanted probably to go somewhere like this this way he wanted to make his journey right but what happened is the Holy Spirit led him and he went on in a different route okay he went on via Mycia, Bithynia to Troas and in Troas we will see that the way Luke is writing suddenly he'll start using V okay till that time it'll be and they did this and they went and you know it'll be like that but after after at Troas you'll suddenly notice that he'll say and V so then it gives us the understanding Luke joined them here now from here okay Paul is really wondering where should I go because his desire was to go into Asia and ministered in Asia but God will lead him all along in the Book of Acts we have seen the direction of the Holy Spirit at the vein which Paul was led to go and wait in Damascus and Ananias God spoke to him and said okay go to Paul's house meet him pray for him and everything was clear cut we saw how the angel came and rescued Peter in Acts chapter 12 directed by the power of God then you know there are so many instances we we continue to see you know the way in which God leads them the way you know Paul gets Peter gets called to go minister to the paralyzed to you know the the man who's lame so there are many things that happen we even look at Philip remember how the Holy Spirit speaks to him and says okay overtake the chariot so it's full of the direction of the Holy Spirit so that's something for us to learn when we think about life we think about ministry being led by the Holy Spirit the next steps must be guided by the Holy Spirit and Paul's planning Paul's mission-driven planning is really based on what the Holy Spirit is showing to him now why do we think that you know it's important to listen to the Holy Spirit before we make our plans even for ministry anyone yeah please unmute and speak so we can hear you okay okay John I couldn't hear you very clearly could you please come again okay all right yeah again wasn't very clear is that only me or even you couldn't hear okay maybe some I'll just say it again pastor yeah yeah yeah now we can hear you John yeah but I was saying Holy Spirit knows and from the beginning and he also knows what is best for us that's true yeah yeah that that that is how we understand the leading of the Holy Spirit because maybe the hearts of the people were not ready by then imagine you know Paul goes into Asia because he wants to do that and then his ministry is not that fruitful there or he encounters some major opposition anything could have happened maybe for God as John pointed out the God knows the end from the beginning and the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and that's why God shared with Paul at the right timing okay or the kairos moment as we talk about was to go into this region called as Macedonia so let's quickly look at the region so from here he is led and we will also see the way in which God speaks to him so you know he will he will see it in a dream dream of vision okay he'll see it in a vision so from here he'll go on to these cities and notice that all these cities are kind of port cities Kenyapolis and Philippi very close to the agency and some ministry will happen in all of these places and he will come to a very important city like post Philippi I think an important city would be Thessalonica where he will come and do the ministry now both of these are you know like port cities in Thessalonica we'll notice that there'll be a very strong opposition for Paul's work and he'll need to be rushed out of Thessalonica and in Thessalonica he'll stay for a short period of time just for about you know four weeks or so and then move on to Beria so any idea like how long it's been since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit anyone just roughly like in terms of the years how many years has it been so far you know we've been talking for us it's a few weeks but some years have passed by in the book of Acts so where are we right now as far as timeline is concerned I think pastor it has the the Holy Spirit was powered around 30 AD when Christ went so when I get to 20 23 minus that I get 9 100 1,997 years okay 93 years okay oh you calculated that way uh okay who is this sorry I didn't look at the slobbega yeah it was oh yeah yeah yeah yes slobbega so what I meant to ask was from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit let's say as you said 30 AD okay 30 or 33 AD from that time now we are at we are into the second missionary journey so my question is how many years has it been from Acts 2 to Acts 16 that's the question it is roughly between 15 to 17 years around there okay good yeah that's true thank you Lubega you seem to be very good at you know understanding dates and timelines that's correct so we are Lubega said about 17 years or so 15 to 17 it could be it could be about 19 years okay 19 years or around there so what we have seen is from about you know 30 AD for nearly eight years or up to a decade was all about the church of Jerusalem was all about the church of Jerusalem because Acts 2 to Acts 8 is that first uh you know rough decade that we we witnessed so we just saw the church grow we just saw the strength of the leaders we just saw the stepping out of volunteers and the church governance and you know all these matters we we saw beautiful it was we saw people like Philip stepping out and Peter and John going you know and giving them that apostolic support and so many things happen but from Acts 9 we are moving into the next decade till Acts 15 okay so what did we see Acts 9 to 15 anyone if you can summarize one or two points some key points just key points required Acts 9 to 15 we see in Acts 9 around I think it is the conversion of Paul we see in 10 I think in 10 we see that Peter is preaching to Koran for Marius yeah correct and I think and I think in 15 it is all about the the council in Jerusalem great lovely so it's like putting some pieces pieces of the puzzle together so Lubica has given some pieces of the puzzle what about Acts 11 12 13 14 anyone share one line maybe that that's sufficient okay not able to remember too much information okay let me tell you so we saw the conversion of Cornelius Acts chapter 10 then we went on to see the church of Antioch so Acts 11 is all about the church of Antioch how Paul goes and brings sorry I'm saying it the other way Barnabas goes and he brings Paul and for one year they are strengthening the church in Antioch okay then after that we saw that in Jerusalem Herod he kills he puts the knife what do you say knife sword to his head meaning James was killed James the brother of John was killed and then he wanted to kill Peter so Acts 12 is all about Peter in the prison the church praying for him Peter coming out and you remember that very grand march of Herod and how he dies you know struck by God so these are all things we see in Acts 12 and Acts 13 the picture changes goes back to what's happening in the church of Antioch where the leaders of the church they are praying they are ministering to God and then God says set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work for which I have called them so they are set apart then after they are set apart Acts 13 you know we we read on you know they prepare to go and then the missionary journey starts do you recall this place called was it yeah Paphos right so they go there once again where is that barred Jesus this Elimus destination it is Paphos so where they go and they minister to Sergius Paulus an intelligent man correct Paphos there's a sorcerer right and then they have to they have to overcome the powers of darkness in order for that man of influence to know God and so they deal with him deal with the powers of darkness from there they move on so the missionary journey basically from 13 it's the missionary journey one important place that they go to is of course Antioch of Sidia and we saw how initially people are believing there and you know the Jews then later on they suddenly turn against Paul so Paul is quite open to ministry to the Gentiles so he says okay if y'all don't want let me go to the Gentiles I'll start preaching to the Gentiles so the minister over there and then you know the other places that we looked at Iconium but remember Listera Listera is a very special place because in Listera what happened anyone let's look at acts like a story okay so it's like a movie so tell me what happened in Listera something very special happened Timothy okay correct Timothy is there but Timothy comes a little later but a miracle happened in Listera in acts 14 correct so there was a man who was lame from does yeah from birth from his mother's womb and similar to acts 3 this man was able to rise up and move around and the people of Listera tried to worship you recall that they said thought that some Greek gods have come Hermes and Zeus and you know they tried to worship them and then Paul and Barnabas they got so upset and angry and then they said hey you shouldn't be worshiping us you should be worshiping God who is the creator so it's a very similar story to what we see in acts chapter 3 the beautiful gates incident and then you know would be the in Listera another key thing that happened is Paul got stoned remember we saw that it was so different because in our understanding Paul may have even died because he was thrown out of the city but all the believers came around him and then you know he he just stood up and he went the next day you recall that so that happened in Listera and then we saw you know the ministry keeps going on they don't stop they go to Derby or Derb and then they preach there and they're going on building the people of God they're going on you know strengthening the work of the ministry so a ministry continues and then what they do is they carry on they carry on back the journey goes back to Syria okay back to Antioch now acts 15 we are all aware again that same thing of there were certain men who were teaching wrong doctrine in yeah regarding that circumcision matter and so acts 15 is full of discussions and conclusion and a decision so I hope we are clear now good so we are clear then acts 8 to act 16 again a decade has passed okay so roughly about you know 18 19 years have gone by so we can imagine you know you can imagine the ages of the people who are part of that baptism in the Holy Spirit now they must be older there must be more leaders in the church the church has grown big we have what else we have ministry in a lot of different places Antioch is also another prominent church right now and Paul has gained you know people's trust finally so all these things have actually taken place now what we must recognize is that the second missionary journey okay in which only Paul is is going about ministering and Barnabas is not with him and we'll also see that this would be the longest missionary journey okay so about three years we would find Paul makes the entire journey in about three years so we were at Thessalonica right we said there were some issues of persecution then quickly they send him off to a place called Beria we'll see Beria there were people who are so committed to the word of God we'll read about them then we'll come back to the Akhen region Akhen region is famous firstly they go to Athens the Athens is an intellectual city so you know very philosophical very well you know well read learned people conversations discussions so Athens is like that Greece and and from there you know they'll move on to Corinth Corinth is more of a city known for its immorality okay so we'll come to that and how Paul does ministry over there what kind of ministry and from there we will see that he'll go on to Ephesus okay Ephesus is more of a we'll we'll find again there'll be worship worship is very important in in Ephesus so goddess Diana she's worshipped in Ephesus and Ephesus was known for a lot of like you know black magic and sorcerers and people like that so we'll see how something supernatural takes place in Ephesus and then people start to believe and people were even ready to let go of their sorcery and their practices of involving in the occult so that is Ephesus and Ephesus and Corinth will be among the most important cities of our second missionary journey then of course you know he'll move on the thing is when we look at the missionary journey and we say okay it is so many years it is so many years usually it starts at Antioch and then it ends at Antioch okay this time around Paul would feel that he would like to go through Jerusalem so he'll come to Jerusalem and then close the loop go back to Antioch so this is our second missionary journey and I'm hoping that you know you'd be quite clear about you know how this actually unfolds so now let us read about the different things that happened so we are here at Antioch and you know we are starting our journey he's going to those older churches and at this point at act 16 is what John shed he mentioned about Timothy Paul took Timothy along and we saw how he had such a heart of a spiritual father to care for Timothy not just at a time when you know like in that moment but beyond so he thought about Timothy how will Timothy do ministry his father is Greek sorry Jewish his mother is Greek so maybe what we can do is we can get him circumcised that way nobody will question him whether he's a Jew or not so he'll have a better opportunity to minister to the Jews there'll be more accepting of Timothy so that's how he treated Timothy so we were here right Lister so let's now move on quickly and we'll come to Trouse and see how he will go further to Macedonia okay so sometimes you know we talk about these places in terms of the region so we would say the Judean region then Galatia or Galatia or Galatian region or we we may say like Asia Asian region or Macedonia or Akaya so it all those terms are more encompassing the region so don't get confused okay come on let's go now go back to act chapter 16 here we finished talking about Timothy so I'll move on from verse 6 so this is where we will read about the direction of the Holy Spirit to Paul would someone like to pick up from 6 and read till 10 please Acts chapter 16 verse 6 to 10 yes now when they had gone through Pergea and the region of Galatia they had they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia after they had come to Malaysia they tried to go into Lithuania but the spirit did not permit them so passing by Asia they came down to Thoros 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 has seen the region immediately he sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord has called us to preach the gospel to them faster when you are on mute okay okay so sorry Zellie yeah thank you for reading Zellie what I was saying is you know I just un-corrected I had shown the direction of Paul's his desire to go into Asia but then you know we see that he wanted to go into so sorry for that now instead of that place he is directed into Macedonia but what is the way in which the Holy Spirit actually guided him he guided him through a vision a vision appeared to him in the night and it's somewhat special you see there was a Macedonian man so when Paul is asking the question Lord who should I minister to when God showed him a Macedonian man he interpreted that as God is asking me to go into the region of Macedonia okay so this man in the vision he says come over to Macedonia and help us and so you know Paul now wants to go into Macedonia and preach the gospel to them so in Macedonia okay never remember we we saw those places Neapolis, Philippi and you know Apollonia and yeah Atlatia or something so in that region now Paul is going to preach but firstly let's look at his ministry in this very important key place known as Philippi so Philippi is a city where you know we find that there was a lot of trading going on and usually in Philippi we would see that people would come wealthy people would come up to by the river body they would come by the river body and they would do their trading they would do their talking their socializing and all that so Paul found it easier to find people you know near the water body and so he would go there also and he would start to preach so when he was preaching in Philippi he impacts a whole bunch of people but we come to know of the name of a lady known as Lydia okay and Lydia is a very wealthy business woman and we'll see what business she had but she is the main person that we must remember as far as Philippi is concerned so what somebody like to read for us from verse 11 to verse 15 it's about Philippi it's about Lydia verse 11 to 15 therefore okay okay so maybe Lubega you could read is that okay silly we'll give Lubega an opportunity from chapter 16 verse 11 to 15 right that's right that's right therefore sliding from Trouse when they ran a straight course to San Mothras and the next day came to Neopolis and from there to Philippi which is the foremost city that that part of that part of Macedonia a colony and we were staying in that city for some days and on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside where praying was customary done or customary made and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there now a certain woman named Lydia Hadas she was a sailor of Papua from the city of Thaitila who worshipped God the Lord opened her heart to hear the things spoken by Paul and when she and her household were baptized she begged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come to my house and stay she so she persuaded them amen yes thank you thank you so much Lubega so as we've seen here couple of highlights remember I said sailing from Troas we ran a straight course who's the V who's the V we have Paul Silas Timothy and the language changed till till now it was you know and Paul and day and all of that but now it's we so who is we Luke because he is the writer so when he says we he's including himself even Luke was there at Troas that's the point okay so Luke is also on the team now so it's a full team that has gone to Philippi so they go to this place and why Philippi why Corinth why Ephesus you see the the places that are along the seat was easier to get to those places and it those are like business centers people would come easily and be there so also think about this Paul could have picked any city isn't it he could have gone to any city but he mainly went to key cities because when we impact a key city okay first of all we should be called to that but here's the point like when we impact a key city generally the word goes out people who come there will hear about Jesus their lives will be transferred again they'll go back so as they travel back to their places they are all carrying the gospel with them and they're all you know they all end up being witnesses for God so that way there is some strategy okay that the Holy Spirit has so Paul is usually going to these key cities so we said that a lot of trade happens so on the Sabbath day the riverside was the place where people would meet of course there was prayer there and you know socializing and whatever other things that they used to do but women who met there that also shows us that in Philippi women had some you know prominence and they had some respect okay like of course other places they did but then they wouldn't be treated with with that sort of how do you say that like you know given some positions or elevated positions but in Philippi it is so so there were women who met there so that would have been easy for Paul to go and use as a platform to preach the gospel so he went and preached so notice there is no bias about a poor man a rich man you know Sergius Paul is or later we'll see they'll minister to a slave girl so how much money people have doesn't matter they still need the gospel which gender they are it doesn't matter they still need the gospel which city they are doesn't matter they still need the gospel right or which sect of the society Jew, Gentile everyone needs the gospel and that's the kind of ministry that Paul is actually doing so they minister to the women and they're this woman Lydia I said that she was a recognized business woman what was her business about seller of purple so in those days being somebody who is a seller of purple or it's like you know purple is it's got to do with royalty so you can imagine she was she was a very rich lady very very rich lady back in those days and from the city of Tahitira but another nice thing about Lydia was she was a worshipper of God so she's a rich she's a business woman she's devoted to God and she gets saved her whole family is baptized then what else about Lydia she is very you know gracious maybe that's the word we can use for her because she wants to host this team of ministers of God and she asks them you know if you judge me faithful come to my house and stay so she persuaded so you notice how when God is guiding Paul into Macedonia Paul may have wondered Lord will my will our ministry be successful and how will we minister here will we have some place where there is an opening but God made an opening isn't it through this woman called us Lydia and she herself was willing in this case to host them so it was really good that you know they were able to watch this person's life now let's continue to see what other ministry will happen here in Philippi so one person Lydia now let's see who's the next person here so maybe I'll just share this quickly we have a little bit of time so the next person is they find a slave girl okay and she's possessed by a spirit of divination and because she had a spirit of divination and fortune telling there was a person who was utilizing that by you know making money out of her but this girl went around telling about you know Paul and the team notice again Luke writes this girl followed Paul in us in verse 7 so he's also there and she kept sort of giving free publicity for them because she said these men are the servants of the most high God who proclaimed to us the way of salvation and she did this for many days okay we'll discuss more about this later but when she kept doing it at some point Paul got very annoyed and then he recognized or he discerned that it's not just this girl but the spirit inside her who's doing this so he casts out that spirit of divination but unfortunately it affects the income of the master of that slave girl okay so that man is so upset that you know he sort of complains yeah there's a complaint against Paul and his team and they are seized they are dragged and you know they are finally put into the prison so that's what happens so remember we read the Philippines rejoice and the Lord always and again I say rejoice so you know Paul is actually having this experience of a prison in Philippi okay and so when he writes to the Philippines he's writing with with all these experiences in mind so you can just imagine how wonderful for him to still speak about the greatness of God despite all these challenges so he's in the prison and then there is a description regarding how he was treated in the prison it says they were beaten with rods right and then when they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely having received such a charge he put them into the inner prison and fasten their feet in the stalks so they are beaten one they are put in the inner prison too and their feet in the stalks so feet in the stalks is for you know very tough criminals when you suspect that they will run away or they'll do something you kind of secure their feet that you can't even move so that's what it means so that was the position of Paul and Silas in the jail so then we'll go ahead after the break and see how exactly they respond to this and what happens okay so thank you everyone it's nice to have an interactive class so let's come back in 10 minutes and we will continue thank you