 Please open in your Bible, if you will, to Acts chapter 16. As I was praying about what to share with you tonight, what God wanted us to study together in the Bible, he really strongly put on my heart to have us look at Acts chapter 16. And the title of our Bible study tonight is Looking for Divine Appointments. A few weeks ago, my wife and I were headed up to a meeting at Lake Arrowhead, and we got off the freeway, we started winding up the hill, and when we got past the Lake Gregory turnoff, we're on that rim of the world drive so many of you have been on, and the road got to a narrow place, and off to our right, of course, was the guardrail and the cliff that goes way, way down. And on the left, the mountains that go up. And as we rounded the bend, there was a silver SUV that was in the other lane that had stopped, and I wonder what in the world is going on, maybe they were having car problems or something, and so we slowed down and I rolled down my window, and when I got near the SUV, I could see why they had stopped because just behind them, there was a car that had flipped over and was in the ditch, and I rolled my window down this lady, she's in the SUV, and I said what happened, she said this car was right in front of me, and it just flipped and it's upside down, there's a man inside. And so the road's so narrow, you can't park anywhere, and I'm thinking people are going to come up and plow me from behind or come down the other way and plow her from behind. We went up the road just a little bit where there was a turn out, and I pulled over and I said wait here, Colleen, and I jumped out of the car and I ran down to where the overturned car was, and by the time I got there, some other cars had stopped, and there were two men that were trying to pull open what was the passenger side door, it was upside down, and they couldn't do it because it was wedged down in on the asphalt of the road, and they were working hard at it, and I thought you know, I could probably get around the other side and get in there, I'm a skinny guy, and so I went around the back of the car and crawled through the bushes, opened the back door, and crawled in the compartment, there was still the dust of the airbags that had gone off, and in that upside down car I stuck my head in between the two front seats, and here's this man hanging on his seat with his seatbelt on, and I got right up in his face and I said are you okay? And he said yeah I'm okay, he said but I can't get out, and I said we'll help you, I said we'll help you, you're going to be okay. And I got out, the car went around the other side, I told the guys I said you know what, we can get in on the other side and help this guy, and so we ran around the other side, we opened the driver's side door, we got up underneath him, unhooked the seatbelt, pulled him out and took him away from where the car was, and we sat him down on the rock, by then there were a lot of cars that were stopped, and I just began to talk to him, I said what's your name? And he said my name is Jim, and I said the police, the paramedics, they're on their way, you're going to be okay. Is there anyone that I can call for you? Can I call your wife or do you have any kids? And he said well, he said my wife is down in Belflour, he said we actually are from Texas, he said my son committed suicide two days ago, and that's why we're here in California, and I said to him Jim can I pray for you? And right there by the side of the road, along all those strangers I never knew, I just began to pray for this man. A few moments later, a fire truck came up, the paramedics came, there was a swarm of people, and I backed away, ran up the roadway and jumped in the car with Cole, and we started to drive away, praying for Jim. And we started talking, and I said that's amazing that we just happened to be right there, right then, at just the right time. If we would have left our house a few minutes later, we never would have been there. If we had taken a different route, we wouldn't have been there. And we begin talking about how that was a God thing, how that was what we call a divine appointment. It was something that was ordered by God, it was something that was orchestrated by God. Theologians used the big word providence, it was the providence of God. The God has plans and God has purposes, and He works all things after the counsel of His will, every single thing in your life and my life. Because each day and every day, all throughout the day, there are circumstances and situations that He has ordered for you, and only for you that we call divine appointments. In Psalm 37 of verse 23, the Bible says that the steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord, and He delights in their path. The steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord, and He delights in their path. In other words, in the ordinary events of life, there are extraordinary opportunities that God will put before you and He'll put before me. Indeed, the whole book of Acts is one series of things that God will put before you and He'll put before me. Indeed, the whole book of Acts is one series of divine appointments after another. Peter and John, they go up to the gate beautiful in Acts chapter 3, and there's a lame man there, divine appointment. Acts chapter 8, the Lord leaves Philip out into the wilderness road, and He just happens to meet with Ethiopian treasure. In Acts chapter 9, Ann and Isis told to go and meet this persecutor of the church Saul, another divine appointment. In Acts chapter 10, the apostle Peter sees a vision and goes to see Zaria and meets a man named Cornelius, and the gospel starts going to the Gentiles. As you read the book of Acts, you discover day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, God's people just kept walking into one divine appointment after another. But if there's any chapter in the book of Acts that shows how we ought to be looking for divine appointments, it's in Acts chapter 16. Because in one chapter, we see three amazing divine appointments. Paul, and those who are with him, they have a divine appointment with a wealthy fashion designer. They have a divine appointment with a demon-possessed fortune teller. They have a divine appointment with a hardened, unbelieving prisonkeeper. They have a divine appointment with someone who had a soft heart. They had a divine appointment with someone who had a bound heart. And they had a divine appointment with someone who had a hard heart. As we come into Acts chapter 16, the apostle Paul and Silas are just beginning the second missionary journey of Paul. You'll see a map on the screen of the missionary journey of Paul as it begins in Paul's trip to Philippi. In his first missionary journey, the apostle Paul took him in named Barnabas and they went into the area of Galatia, Pisidia, and Antioch. They came back to the city of Jerusalem. There was what was called the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15 where they had to decide are the Gentiles going to keep the law or not and so a decision was made. And then Paul and Barnabas, they go up to a place from Jerusalem. You see in the lower right to a city called Antioch which was the launching pad for all the missionary journeys of Paul in the book of Acts. And as they've been there for a little while, Paul tells Barnabas, let's go out and take another trip. And Barnabas wants to take a young man named John Mark who had deserted Paul and Barnabas on the first trip and Paul says, no way, no how. And Barnabas says, yes, sir. And Paul says, no way. And the Bible says that they had a disagreement about it. And so Barnabas takes John Mark and goes to his home island called Cyprus and Paul picks up a man named Silas and goes his own way. Through all these 30 years of teaching in Bible colleges, they didn't always ask me, Pastor Larry, who was right and who was wrong? Was Paul right and Barnabas wrong? Was Barnabas right and Paul wrong? My answer is doesn't make any difference. Before that, there was only one missionary team. After that, there were two. Is it possible God could even work through disagreements of people to accomplish his will and his purpose? Absolutely. God's math is always way different than ours. He has a way of working all things together for good, no matter what they are. And so Paul and Silas, he picks up Silas and heads out and Acts chapter 15, notice how it ends in verse 40. But Paul chose Silas and departed being committed by the brethren to the grace of God and they went throughout Syria and Silicia strengthening the churches. Silas, you can study about him later, was a prophet and a key leader in the church in Jerusalem. Silas was among those that were sent out from Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 to take the decrees of the apostles to all the Gentiles. Silas was also called Silvanus. He helped Paul write first and second Thessalonians and he helped Peter write the book of First Peter. He was a very key and important person and God was putting together a team to get at the right place at the right time for a divine appointment. And so Silas and Paul, they set out and in Acts 16 then he, Paul, came to Derby and to Lystra. You see these cities on the map. Behold, a certain disciple was there. His name was Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed but his father was a Greek. He was from a mixed family. His father was probably an unbeliever. His mother was a believer. There are many people who come from such families. Timothy was like that. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium and Paul wanted to have him go on with him and so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region for they all knew that his father was a Greek. Paul didn't have to do that. Timothy didn't have to do that. The Jerusalem Council said they didn't have to do that. That's what they were going to go and tell all the Gentiles but Paul didn't want to create a problem. He later would write, we become all things to all men. In other words, we give up our rights for the sake of reaching other people. And young Timothy was willing to submit to this because there was a higher calling on his life, the call of God. What might you need to give up so that you can fulfill the call of God on your life? What might the Lord be asking you to lay down for a greater cause, the sake of the gospel? So he takes Timothy and circumcises him and as they went through the cities he delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened and faith and increased in their numbers daily. Timothy in a sense was a divine appointment. Paul's going along with Silas and they come and there's Timothy. And Timothy would be huge in Paul's life. Huge. Timothy would become a son in the faith for Paul. Timothy would be Paul's favorite co-worker. Timothy would later become the pastor of the church at Ephesus. Timothy would be there when Paul died. Paul would save him. I don't have anyone else like him. He's like my son. Paul was going through life. Paul was following the Lord and all of a sudden Timothy now is added to the team. So you have Silas with Paul and now you have Timothy. Verse 6, now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. And after they had come to Misia they tried to go into Bethany but the Spirit did not permit them. Pause there for a moment. This is amazing. You see on the map as they're going along they wanted to go down into Asia Minor and the Holy Spirit said no. Then they wanted to go up into Bethany and the Holy Spirit said no. Now I find this remarkable because Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And yet the Holy Spirit is saying but I don't want you to do it over there. And I don't want you to do it in this other place. You ask how did they know that? How did the Holy Spirit tell them that? We don't know. It might have been through circumstances. It might have been through a prophecy. It might have been as they were in prayer. They just felt what we call a check in their spirit. They just knew no, this is not the right way to go. We're not supposed to go that way. And we're not supposed to go that way. And the Lord will often lead us in that way at Romans 8 and verse 14. It says as many are led by the Spirit of God. They are the children of God. They are the sons of God. And each day and every day God wants to lead you. If you listen, if you have the ears to hear that still small voice. So they wanted to go down and the Holy Spirit said no. They wanted to go up and the Holy Spirit said no. They can't go back. There's only one direction. Forward. Forward. And what was a disappointment to them was going to become the greatest blessing they could ever imagine. Some as well said that if you take the word disappointment and you change the first letter of that word from a D to an H. A disappointment becomes His appointment. Just change one letter then you see that obstacles can turn into opportunities. That God has a better way and a better path. You think well, why didn't I get that job or why didn't we get this house or why couldn't I go there or why couldn't I do this? Maybe God's in it. Because He has divine appointments waiting for you that will blow your mind that are far beyond your imagination. That's what's happened to God's people in so many times throughout church history. There was a great missionary named William Carey. He so wanted to go to Polynesia. He ended up in India. This is another missionary, great missionary. David Livingstone, China, China, China. Oh God sent me to China. I went to Africa. Had an iron judge and he wanted to go to India and God sent him to Burma. Why? Because God knows what's best. God knows what's best and the steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord. And He delights in their path and God was putting something together here that was going to be absolutely incredible. Now, let's go forward. After verse 7, after they had come to Missia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Missia, they came to Troas. You see it here on the map. They ran out of land. They just came to the ocean. And they're waiting there in Troas. And verse 9 says, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. The man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. Macedonia, as we'll be learning, was the northern part of Greece. And the most important town there was a town called, a city called Philippi. And as you're going to learn in a minute, the people there dressed in a very particular way. So anyone knew who was a Macedonian and Paul has a vision. There's a man of Macedonia saying, come over here and help us. You know, God can speak to people through visions. You read the book of Acts in Acts chapter 10, Peter had a vision. And God still does that kind of thing today. I remember when we were in Bible college, there was a missionary was telling about how his father went to Panama City. His father was a wealthy banker in San Jose, but he felt the call of God on his life. And so he began to take classes in a Bible college at night to prepare himself to go on the mission field. And one night God gave him a vision. He saw this man in Panama. He was out in the middle of a field with a plow. And the field was half plowed. And in his vision, this man said to him, come to Panama and help me. I thought, oh, this is amazing. He figured if he's going to go to Panama, he needed to know Spanish. And so he started taking Spanish classes. He eventually went down to Panama City, began to work there. God began to bless it. All kinds of churches and fruit. And God was blessing his ministry. One night he got a call on the phone. There was someone from a hospital that was nearby. And they said, there's this old man in the hospital room. And he doesn't have any family or friends. And he needs somebody to come and visit him. He said, would you be willing to come over and just talk to him and pray with him? And so the missionary went over and the moment he walked in the door, it was the man he had seen in the vision. The man was a Methodist missionary. He was in Panama and didn't know what to do. And he was crying out to God, saying, send us some help. Lord, we need some help. We need some help. Please send someone in the field. Paul has a vision. God, supernaturally, is ordering and directing his steps. Oh, look at it again. Verse 9 in the vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia stood and he pleaded with him saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. Now, after we had seen the vision immediately, we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. I've emphasized a couple of words, the word we and us. This is Capriciapuccino Valley. So you guys are careful students of the Bible. And those two words just jumped off that page because you know that Luke wrote the book of Acts and now all of a sudden Luke is including himself in this team. The team of three has now become a team of four. Luke the doctor, you study about his life, you discover that Luke was from a city called Philippi. He had a huge medical center in it and he trained there to become a doctor. He became a doctor to a wealthy person in Antioch. Later he moved to the city of Troas. In Antioch he would have met up with Paul and Silas. Now he lives in Troas and when Paul and Silas and Timothy come to Troas, all of a sudden they connect with Luke. Now he's working something out. The steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord and he delights in their path. So he says in verse 10, now after he had seen the vision immediately, we sought to go into Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore sailing from Troas we ran a straight course to Samothrace and the next day came to Neopolis. You see on the map Troas goes over to Neopolis, halfway in between about 150 miles from Troas to Neopolis. Halfway in between is an island about the size of Catalina Island. And one day there and one day the next. Got there in two days. Normally it took five days. The wind was behind them. When you're in the will of God. It's amazing how God blesses your life. The Lord was giving them favor. The Lord was sending them on their way. They had no idea that the first church in Europe was about to happen. They had no idea the unbelievable divine appointments that were waiting them. They were just trying to be obedient day by day to listen to the voice of God, to follow the spirit of God, to do what the Lord told them to do. To do what God was showing them to do. Verse 11, Therefore sailing from Troas we ran a straight course to Samothrace and the next day came to Neopolis and from there to circle this, Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony, and we were staying in that city some days. You'll see on the screen an artist's rendition of what the city of Philippi looked like when these four men, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, walked into it. Philippi was one of the largest, most strategic cities in Europe. It's an interesting history. It was called Crenities, which means the fountains, because originally there were fountains there. The Greeks started a city there that was named Philipi, because the father of Alexander the Great, his name was Philip. And Alexander the Great named that city an honor his father. And it over the years fell into decline, but then there was a very famous Roman battle that was fought there. All of you probably heard of Julius Caesar. He was assassinated by two Roman senators, Brutus and Cassius. They fled to the area of Philipi. The Romans sent two generals, two other senators after them, Anthony and Octavius. They surrounded the city of Philipi. They defeated their armies, and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide so they wouldn't be taken. And a lot of the veterans in the Roman army, they settled down there. And they started to build up the city and build up the city and build up the city. And it really grew when a main highway was connected to it, called the Ignatian Way. It linked the then known worlds. It was right next to a very important river called the Gangetus River. That's going to be very important in a moment. When you see right by the river was this city. There were gold mines nearby, so they had lots of money. And because they had all these Roman army officers that settled it, they decided they were going to make the city like a miniature Rome. It was a colony, Luke writes. Colony is place in another place where someone has citizenship from another place. We know it here in America because these used to be called the colonies. English citizens lived over here in the colonies. And every single person who was in the city of Philippi, they had Roman citizenship. Rome was in the country of Italy. Philippi was in the country of Greece. But every single person in the city of Philippi had Roman citizenship. That's why Paul will later write to this church in Philippians 3 and verse 20. Our citizenship is in heaven because they understood that more than anyone. And they prided themselves on being Roman citizens so much so that even though they were in Greece they spoke Latin like the Italians did. Even though they were in Greece, they ate Italian food, pasta, spaghetti and all that stuff. Even though they were in Greece, they even dressed like the Romans did so that when you went into that city you looked around and thought, this is like a miniature Rome. And it was a city of around 20,000 people which was huge in those days. It had, as I mentioned, a medical center, a large jail. And very important, it was mostly gentile people. There were not even 10 Jewish men in this city. We'll understand that in a moment because there wasn't a synagogue there. There were 10 Jewish men called a Minion in order to establish a synagogue and there was no synagogue there. In fact, it's kind of interesting you can read the book of Philippians later. Did you know there are no Old Testament quotations in the book of Philippians? All right, because the Gentiles were not familiar with the Old Testament. So into this thoroughly Roman, into this thoroughly pagan, into this thoroughly Gentile city, four men, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, the right people in the right place at just the right time. And they have three divine appointments with a woman who had a soft heart, with a girl who had a bound heart, and with a man who had a hard heart. Their first divine appointment was with a wealthy fashion designer. Her name was Lydia, and she had a soft heart. Notice in verse 13. And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. So very important are those words. Why? It was the Sabbath, and Jewish people would worship on the Sabbath, but there was no synagogue, so they went out to the riverside. Why did they do that? Because Jews all throughout the world when they were scattered at the end of the Old Testament, if there wasn't a synagogue, they would try to find a riverside to meet and pray. Because in Psalm 137, verse 1, by the rivers of Babylon we went, and they would find a riverside. And Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, they knew if you're going to find any people that are inclined toward the things of God on a Sabbath, they're going to be by the riverside. So they'd go out by that gangedish river, and the women are there. Why? Not pen Jewish men. There's not even a Jewish synagogue there. And as they go out there, it's a Holy Spirit setup. The Holy Spirit's got it all arranged. Verse 14, now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God, and the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira. Every one of those phrases are important. Purple in ancient times was the color of royalty. Only very wealthy people wore purple. I mean, it could say something like, she lived on Rodeo Drive and sold Gucci. Then you would understand who she was. In the Word of Life Study Bible, they describe Thyatira. It says, Thyatira was a thriving manufacturer in a commercial center. Its trade in purple was renowned in the Roman world. Purple was the most expensive of dyes and was a mark of wealth and royalty. This purple dye came from a shellfish found only in the northeastern section of the Mediterranean coast. It took, listen, it took 8,000 shellfish to produce just one gram of purple dye. Yeah, I have a word for that. You just heard it. Wow, that's amazing. They say purple cloth was ranked in value with gold and was important not only for adorning emperors and temples, but for tribute and international trade. We don't know when or why Lydia relocated to Philippi, but it was a smart business move as the Philippians were known for trying to outdo Rome in their dress. Might have been a smart business move in her mind, but it was a God thing. Because God got her in that place for that time. So she can meet those four people. Look again, verse 14, a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshipped God. There was, she was a Gentile who knew about the God of the Hebrews, who knew about the God of the Bible. She didn't know about Jesus, she didn't know about salvation, but she had a soft heart toward the things of God. And as they began to preach about Jesus Christ, and Him being the only way of salvation. Verse 14 ends, the Lord opened her heart to heed 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. So she persuaded. So listen, if you've got four guys coming over to your house, it's got to be a pretty big house. She was wealthy. She had a huge house. What a perfect place for a church to meet. What a perfect place. The church in Philippi was going to meet in her house. God got her in Philippi just for the right time. And Paul puts, God puts Paul, Nicholas, Timothy and Luke there to share the gospel. She comes to faith. I tell you, the steps of the righteous are order of the Lord. And He delights in their path. But Paul and his companions are going to have another divine appointment. With another lady, she's totally different than Lydia. Instead of being a wealthy fashion designer, she's a demon-possessed fortune teller. Lydia was wealthy. This girl was poor. Lydia was free. This girl was a slave. Lydia was inclined toward the things of God. This girl was so bound in darkness, it's indescribable how bound she was in darkness. Notice in verse 16, now it happened, as we went to prayer that a certain slave girl possessed with the spirit of divination met us and she brought her masters much fortune, much money by fortune telling. Now, it's interesting, it says, we went to prayer. The Jews would pray three times a day because in Psalm 55 in verse 17, it says, morning, noon, and night. They would pray at nine. They would pray at 12. They would pray at three. And Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke they kept going back and forth to the river to pray all throughout the day. And as they were making their way down those streets of Philippi to go and pray, there's this demon-possessed slave girl who's bringing much profit from her masters and she followed them and cried out saying, God. Now, interesting, it says here she, in verse 16, she was possessed with a spirit. The Greek literally reads she was possessed by the python. She was possessed by the python. Pastor Chuck in his commentary in the book of Acts describes it, he says, in the Greek world the word for divination is from the root python. In the center of Greece, there was a prophetic center called the Oracle of Delphi. According to Greek mythology, Apollo had killed a great snake called Python at that site. The snake spirit was said to have remained in that spot and would inhabit prophets or prophetesses there. People would come to the oracle to get guidance. Python threw these channelers who would speak to them in a strange voice. These channelers were demon-possessed which is how they were able to speak for things they couldn't otherwise have known. Such was the case with this girl at Philippi whose masters charged people money to come and get guidance from her. Evidently, some wealthy men going through the oracle of Delphi, they found this poor girl and she was giving out these channeling words. And they bought her and they brought her back to Philippi so they could make money on her. I can think of nothing more horrible than being bound by men and being bound by Satan. And as pollensilists are going back and forth to pray, to pray, to pray all throughout the day, here she is in this hideous voice saying, verse 17, men are servants of the most high God who proclaim to us the way of salvation and she did this for many days but Paul being greatly annoyed turned and said to the spirit, I commend you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her and he came out of her at that very hour. Now this is interesting the girl is saying these men are servants of the most high God. True? Yes. And they're proclaiming to you true? Yes. But Paul is greatly annoyed he's greatly disturbed. Why? Because Satan is the most deceptive when he tells the truth when he puts forth all kinds of error but then he includes truth that's what happens with the cults. There are many things they say that are true but it's not all true James Montgomery Boyce, the great pastor in Philadelphia once wrote the greatest danger to the church is when satanic agents false teachers tell the truth for that is when they are the most deceptive Irenaeus in his ancient book called against heresy said error is indeed never set forth in its naked deformity lest being thus exposed it should at once be detected but it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress so is it to appear to the outward in its outward form to make it appear to the inexperience more than the truth itself and she did this for many days these are servants of the most high God they're telling you the way of salvation these are servants of the most high God and they're telling you the way of salvation and verse 18 says she did this for many days but Paul being greatly annoyed that's a good translation but not the best translation it means troubled it means grieved but Paul was experience inner pain over this why? not only because satan is using this girl to deceive people but i believe he cared about her he cared about this bound demon demon possessed girl who was being used by men who was being used by satan and pain in his heart grieved in his heart he said that's enough in the name of Jesus Christ come out of her and immediately she was delivered immediately the power of God is much greater than the power of satan Paul didn't say give me your name let's pray for 2 or 3 or 5 hours no he said in the name of Jesus come out of her and she was instantly totally sat free why? because whom the sun sits free is free indeed doesn't make any difference how bound the person is doesn't make any difference how possessed the person is doesn't make any difference how much darkness they're in when God says a person free they're free indeed listen i'm so glad Paul listened to the Holy Spirit i'm so glad he was obedient to the Lord because now this demon possessed slave girl is set free and you don't think that brought attention in Philippi well there's a divine appointment with a wealthy fashion designer she had a soft heart there's a divine appointment with a demon possessed fortune teller she had a bound heart but this would lead to a third divine appointment a divine appointment with an unbelieving hardened prison keeper he had a hard heart notice what happened verse 19 but when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them out into the mark a place to the authorities and they brought them to the magistrates and said to them these men notice being Jews trouble our city we're Romans we're Gentiles these guys the problem is that they're Jews and they're troubling our great city verse 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans they were in Greece but here they call themselves Romans to receive or observe then the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods and when they had laid many strights on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely and having received such a charge he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks wow wow we need to think about this for a moment it says here in verse 22 that they were beaten with rods you all know about the scourging of Jesus using a cat of nine tails another form of corporal punishment in ancient times especially used by the Romans who was beating with rods they would take a bundle of birch branches sometimes they would put a sharp object in the middle of them they would rip the clothes off of people they would tie their arms to a post of some kind and then they would take that bundle of rods of sticks and quack quack quack they would just beat the living daylights out of a person and this frenzied mob they take Paul and Silas to the magistrates they rip off their clothes they start beating them with rods and they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into the prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely many stripes by the way this happened to Paul five times in the course of his life and the jailer puts them into the inner prison and fastens their feet in stocks now you read that word in English stocks you know where a person would stick their head in there and their hands in there or something like that not like the stocks of the Romans the stocks of the Romans were not to keep a person they were to torture a person they were in the shape of an X in what they would do they were graduated markers and they would just start stretching out the person their arms and legs as far as they possibly could get until their backs are bleeding their muscles are cramping whatever that was you oh lord I was obedient he said you said not to go down into Asia man I didn't do it you said not to go up into Bethany I didn't do it I just went over to Troas I saw this vision this man in Macedonia come and help us and I did lord the Lydia got saved and her old family got saved and this demon possessed slave girl now she's set free and what do I get for it I've never been there but God had a purpose he was allowing this to happen because of an amazing divine appointment an absolutely amazing divine appointment and Paul and Silas they had the right perspective they were fully surrendered to God and they had joy in their heart and were willing to suffer the most amazing verse but at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them at midnight at the darkest part of the night what are Paul and Silas doing they're not saying oh god oh god they're doing this to me they're saying oh lord oh god why are you doing this to me oh they understood oh dear ones they understood the steps of the righteous are ordered to the lord every step is ordered to the lord sometimes we find ourselves in hospitals sometimes we find ourselves in courtrooms sometimes we find ourselves in difficult places in life but God is allowing it sometimes when you're in the courtroom there's a divine appointment sometimes when you're in the hospital there's a divine appointment sometimes when you're in a car accident there's a divine appointment and God may allow difficulty to come into your life in my life because he needs you to be at a certain place at a certain time and Paul and Silas they knew that they knew that they would suffer that someone would be in heaven an illness an accident a bankruptcy a legal case would you be willing to suffer that would you be willing to go through something so that God could use you that somebody else might be in eternity forever that somebody in their whole family could be saved that a church could be started that the gospel could go into a new region that you would never imagine Paul and Silas understood and at midnight the darkest part of the night they're praying and the tense in the original is continuously they're praying over and over and over again and they were singing over and over and over again and here's the amazing thing it says here verse 25 and the prisoners were listening to them do you know people are watching you do you know they're listening to you all the time your life is a testimony your life is a witness Paul and Silas were praying and singing and something happened verse 26 suddenly there was a great earthquake in Greek a mega seismos so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's chains were loosed listen they weren't they weren't singing and praying to get set free they were singing and praying because they were free no captivity could take their freedom they were free and they were worshiping the Lord and all of a sudden there's this great earthquake verse 27 and the keeper of the prison awakening from sleep and seeing the prison doors open supposing the prisoners had fled drew his sword and was about to kill himself just like Brutus and Cassius when the Romans came to get him they committed suicide he is about ready to commit suicide why because what they would do to a keeper of the prison in this case is they would torture them and then they would kill them and they knew that was going to be his end so he takes out his sword and kills himself but Paul called out with a loud voice the Greek reads a megaphone don't stop he calls out with a loud voice saying do yourself no harm for we are all here then he called for a light and he ran in and he fell in town trembling before Paul and Silas so amazing backs laid open and bloody from those being beaten with ross stretch out in those stocks in the innermost prison singing and praying and all of a sudden the keeper of the prison of the biggest city in that part of Macedonia a very very important official comes running in falling down on his hands and knees trembling and he called for a light verse 28 says Paul called to the loud voice saying do yourselves no harm for we are all here and he called for a light he ran in and he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and he brought them out and he said what must I do to be saved they were singing about Jesus they were singing about salvation they were singing about the Lord he had been watching them now he says what do I need to do and Paul says give a lot of money to the church now 36 apostles creeds no what must I do to be saved and they said just believe on Jesus believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved you and your household in other words everyone in the household that would believe would be saved they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house and he took them that same hour of the night and washed their stripes and immediately he and all his family were baptized there was no baptism of infants they all believed if you believe and everybody in your house believes then you're going to be saved and they were saved and gave the outward sign evidencing that by water baptism what an amazing divine appointment you see the ones the steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord and he delights in their path and it's amazing what God can do if you just listen do this little small voice and you be obedient because God wants to use you as I was praying about what to share with you tonight the Lord just so put it on my heart go over to Chino Valley and give them the divine appointments are waiting for them all over the place if they'll just pray for them and just ask for them and I felt so much in my heart were three weeks away from Easter what a great time to invite someone to Good Friday what a great time to invite them on Easter Sunday and who are they they live next door to you they live across the street from you tomorrow morning at Starbucks they're waiting for you at the gas station they're waiting for you in the supermarket they're waiting for you in the mall they're waiting for you in the beach they're even waiting for you in the traffic there's people all around us and here's the wonderful thing the church in the book of Acts didn't grow like it did because all the superstars were doing the work we live in a day of celebrity Christianity that's now Bible here's Bible all of you do the work of the ministry if it's up to David Rosales to go invite everybody he possibly can to be here on Easter there's not going to be very many people but if every single person at Chino Valley would just be looking for those divine appointments would wake up in the morning and say I just want to be used by you please Lord bring people in my path that I can talk to that I can pray with that I can invite St. Peter, are you telling me I've forgiven the four spiritual laws and jammed the gospel down their throat no, and I'm saying that I'm just saying be who God has called you to be and look for those places because you never know what will happen in August 2005 a category 5 hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and did so much damage in the city of New Orleans and as God's people always do in responding to tragedy and need they run so many Christians went down to the Gulf so many were there in New Orleans and I remember a friend of mine telling me about something that happened to their group when they went down there it was so amazing when they finally got down there they divided up into teams and they were going to go from house to house just trying to help people in whatever way they possibly could and so his particular group was given a slip of paper or go to the house at this particular address so they looked on a map and tried to figure out where they were going they started making their way to the house well because of the floods and the damage and everything the signs were knocked down and crazy and so they went down the wrong street and they went to the wrong house they knocked on the door and said we're Christians and we've come here to help you in whatever way we can we were sent over here the group sent us over here and they said we didn't ask for any help I said well can we help you is there anything that we can do so they opened the door and they began to just share God's love with them and they found out this older couple that was there because they had lost everything they were in such discouragement and despair the husband was about ready to take his gun, shoot his wife and then take his own life and because they went down the wrong street to the wrong house those people came to Jesus and are alive today I tell you the steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord and He delights in their path pray for and look for divine appointments