 I'm going to look at the first 15 verses of Acts 16 today. And so let's begin reading at verse 1, Acts 16, verse 1. And I'll read to verse 5. Then he came to Derby in Lystra. Behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman, who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. So at this point, we're introduced to a young man, a young man that we become very familiar with later on. His name is Timothy. And so as we look at Timothy, let me give you a little information concerning him because it speaks concerning that in verse 1, where it says, behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman, who believed, but his father was Greek. Let me give you a little background on Timothy. We know that Paul had preached in Lystra and he had done so around eight years earlier. Due to persecution, he had fled to Lystra from Iconium. In Acts 14 verses five and six, it said, when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyco and Nia, and the surrounding region. So while he was there, Timothy, his grandmother, as well as his mother had been converted under the ministry of the apostle Paul. Now, the Bible makes it very clear to us that his grandmother and mother were both Jews and they had received the gospel. Paul, when he writes to Timothy in second Timothy, in chapter one, verse five, said it like this. He says, I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Loas and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also. So his grandmother and his mother were both Jews and they had received the gospel when the apostle Paul had preached. It would seem that Timothy had been open to the gospel also. Paul makes mention of this in the fact that as a child, Timothy had received training from his grandmother and mother in the Jewish faith. As a matter of fact, in the laying down of the principles of scripture and the stories of the salvation of God and all that you find in the Old Testament, the foundation had been laid in Timothy from his youth all the way up, which made him capable of receiving the word of God and actually being converted. You see that in second Timothy three, verses 14 and 15, where Paul said to him that you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And he said, and that from childhood, you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. You have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation. That's a very important thing for us as parents or grandparents. The scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation. That's why you pour scripture into your children. That's why you read the Bible to them. That's why you pray with them because you are cultivating a faith in them. And when you deposit the word of God in them, it is a word of God that God uses to draw them to a knowledge of him, draws them to a knowledge of salvation. So that alone would be incentive for parents to deposit the word in the hearts of their children because he says, the sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation. They originate the destination of salvation and they work to arrive at that destination. He says they are able. When he says the scriptures are able, this speaks of the present power of the word of God. Somebody said this speaks of the ever present power of the scriptures on the human heart. Now remember the scriptures had not completed their work on Timothy. They were at continuation of work in him because salvation is the destination that God's word was taking him to ultimate salvation and being with him. So through Paul's ministry, Timothy had come to faith in Messiah and it was Paul who had the blessing of bringing him to Jesus and later he wrote of it. In 1 Corinthians 4.17 he said for this cause have I sent unto you Timothy who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord. There's something about having somebody that you refer to as a son in the faith that really matters. It is something very special about that. There are some who are in pastoral ministry today that I refer to as sons in the faith. One coming to mind right now is David Trujillo in Calvary Chapel, South L.A. He's a son in the faith and I actually call him my son. You know there are guys that come to faith through your ministry and that's what Paul was saying here concerning Timothy. In 1 Timothy 1 verse two he wrote his letter and he said here, he said to him to Timothy my own son in the faith. And so Paul was speaking concerning this young man who had received training from a grandmother and a mother who had been converted but as Jews had been placing within him the word of God. Paul had arrived given the message the grandmother, the mother had come to faith as well as young Timothy. The word of God was working in the life of Timothy and Timothy was moving on the road of salvation as a saved person was moving to the destination of heaven and this all came because he had opened his heart to Christ and the word of God had been working within him. And so what had made it possible for Timothy to be open to the gospel? Well the question is it's interesting because he had a Greek father. When it says that his father was a Greek there in verse one his father was Greek. He was the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed but his father was Greek. That's another way of saying his father was not a believer. When it says his father was a Greek that's a way of saying his father was an unbeliever. He was not a saved man. Let me give you something real brief here but it is important. His father was very unusual because it seems that as a Greek he was very benevolent. When you look a little bit in the history of Greece especially during the time of the writing of the New Testament, Greek husbands had what has been called a stranglehold. Greek husbands had a stranglehold on the life of their wives. The respectable Greek woman led a totally secluded life. She never appeared in public alone. She never appeared at meals or social occasions. She had her own apartment and none but her husband was ever allowed to enter in. There was a writer named Xenophon who said the purpose of this isolation was in order that she might see as little as possible hear as little as possible and ask as little as possible. Those are the good old days. So his father was benevolent. He allowed his wife under those conditions to continue in her Jewish faith. That wasn't always the case but it was great for them that they had this relationship because in the laying down of scriptural foundations it made it possible for Timothy to be saved. And so as it speaks here it says there was a certain disciple named Timothy the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed his father was Greek. Verse two, he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Now when it says he was well spoken of by the brethren the fact is ministers of the gospel need to have an impeccable reputation because their lifestyle actually adorns the message of the gospel. They are to be Christians who live out the message. The Bible in Proverbs 22 verse one says it like this a good name is more desirable than great riches to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. And so he was well spoken of. One of the things that my father tried to teach me he wouldn't have known he was succeeding when I was a teenager but after I got saved at the age of 20 I would say that his training that went into me actually had an impact it had an effect because my father had told me and I've said this out loud more than once here in this church. My father told me that I needed to guard my reputation. He said you know David ultimately a man has very few things that matter and one of those things that matter is a good name. And so that's what Timothy had and that's what ministers ought to have a good name. In first Timothy 3 7 Paul said an elder must also have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. So he must have a good reputation and that's what he was he was well spoken of by the believers who were at Lystra and Iconium. And so this is a man who's being pointed out as being somebody that is very respectable. So in verse three Paul wanted to have him go on with him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region for they all knew that his father was Greek. And so obviously Timothy was trustworthy and Paul felt that he'd be a great assistant. Who can you trust more than a son in the faith? Later on Paul was writing to the Philippians and he said this in chapter two verses 19 through 23. And again, it's a testimony of Timothy. He said, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare for everyone looks out for his own interests not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. As a son with a father he served with me in the gospel. I had a spiritual father by the name of Chuck Smith. And I remember speaking to him on one occasion I said to my pastor, I said, you know, Chuck I see my ministry responsibility as it pertained to him is to take pressure off of you and not to put it on you. I wanna be the kind of man that you can trust. That is what Timothy was to Paul, a son, a son in the faith. And he loved him. And he said, I have no one else like him. He honestly concerns, he has an honest, sincere concern for you. And there are very few people like that but Timothy was one of those guys. And so in order to take him he needed to make him acceptable to those that he was going to minister to. And because he's going to minister to Jews that required circumcision. You see, if he was uncircumcised, which he was because he had a Greek father and thus never received circumcision. If he's uncircumcised, the Jews would not listen to him. It says here, Luke says it, he says they all knew that his father was Greek. So when you look at it, you need to see this as an exception because Paul strongly taught that circumcision was not physical alone but true circumcision was of the heart. It isn't simply a physical thing. It is a spiritual thing. Remember in Romans in chapter two verses 28 and 29 how Paul said a man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men but from God. So genuine circumcision was never simply the cutting away of skin. It was the work of the spirit in a human heart. And so when Paul performed the act of circumcision, Paul being a rabbi and he performed that act himself, he didn't circumcise Timothy in order to make Timothy someone who was what would be called a debtor to the law. That would have contradicted the teaching of grace. Remember in Galatians 5-3 how Paul says, I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he's a debtor, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. He didn't bring Timothy under the law. What he was doing, it was making Timothy acceptable to speak to people concerning the grace of God. Circumcision was not necessary for a person to receive salvation, but what he was doing is he was giving to him opportunity to have greater usefulness in ministry. And Timothy was willing to undergo great pain to reach people for Jesus Christ. This was a voluntary humiliation if you will. And he did it in order that he might be able to continue ministering. It says in verse four, as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem and verse five. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. They delivered the decrees that were established in chapter 15, the decrees that James and the council had established. And the result of this is that notice the churches were strengthened in the faith and they were growing, strengthened in the faith. Now, when you see the term the faith, strengthened in the faith, remember with me that the faith is speaking of the entire doctrine of Christ. He's basically saying they're well taught and they're abiding in the word of God. When you see the term the faith, very often in scripture, it isn't speaking of the saving faith or living faith. It's not speaking of variations of faith. What it's speaking of when it says the faith is that speaking of the apostolic doctrine is speaking of the Bible. An example would be in Jude, verse three, where it says, dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints, the faith once for all time entrusted. And so the faith that he's speaking about here is strengthening them in the doctrines of Christ. So they're delivering to them teaching that they might be able to grow in grace and knowledge. Like it says in second Peter 318, growing the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so as they're giving to them the word of God, the churches are being strengthened in the faith and they're increasing in number daily. I don't know if you care about this, but I'll share it anyway. I was having a conversation recently and let's see if I can make this acceptable so that it doesn't come off wrong. It's almost impossible. I'm not very good at that, so I'll try. I mentor a group of young men every two weeks. I meet after second service and I spend an hour, hour and a half with them. Go through books and I share with them principles of ministry. And part of our conversation just recently, one of the young men said something pertaining to Calvary Chapel Ministries and there's a book that was published and put out called Distinctives of Calvary Chapel, the Calvary Chapel Distinctives. We were speaking a little bit about that and this young man said that those are things that are simply stories of the past. And in our conversation, I wanted to clarify something so I'll say it here too. Sometimes people think that because Calvary Chapel Ministry is old, I mean Pastor Chuck picked up Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 1965 and so the movement, the Calvary Chapel movement has been going over 50 years. God did a wonderful thing as you know history in the Calvary Ministries and all. Pastor Chuck had this heart to reach the hippies. I was one of those hippies that he reached and quite a number of others like us. Eventually I was ceded into the Calvary Chapel family and became pastor in the ministry and the rest is our history. And so there are other movements that some of the younger pastors are now looking to saying Calvary Chapel has passed by, our time in the sun is over, we need to look to others and not that my young friend was saying that but that is being said today. Just had a conversation with someone today who was bringing that up that that's what people are saying. Well in the meeting I was saying, well there are different churches that get a lot of limelight now, Hillsong. All of you probably have heard of Hillsong Ministries in Australia, New York, Los Angeles. I said there's a group that's well known now, Hillsong, that many people are beginning to use as their model. How many of you have heard of Hillsong? I want to know who I'm speaking to, okay, so. You know, and I said, you know, the funny thing about that, I said, how many are there? How many Hillsong churches are there? A handful. I said, do you realize that there are 1,800 Calvary Chapel Ministries? 1,800. Just this week I fellowshiped. I have a responsibility to bring people into fellowship and recognize them as Calvary Chapel. That's one of the ministries I have. And I just recognized the church as a Calvary Chapel ministry this week. We are seeing Calvary Ministries continuing to grow. We continue to move. Some of the largest churches in the United States are Calvary Chapel. And we are not, you know, past our prime. I think we're just starting to shift gears into moving into the future. You know, because the Lord wants to continue working and he wants to continue doing what he's done in the past. And I really believe that God wants to continue working now. I believe that God wants to work in you. There are young people in this room right now that God has called. I have no doubt in my mind that there are people here that the Lord is equipping for works of service into the future. Eventually, people like myself, I'm gonna step away. I'm gonna mentor. I'm gonna be a pastor in this church until Jesus takes me home. But I may not be the one who stands up on a Sunday and a Wednesday anymore. And I'm okay with that. I will put somebody here who can lead this church into the future. But the bottom line is we have a future in Jesus Christ. The bottom line is that we are going forward into the future because the Lord will have us to do that. And there are young men in this ministry that I know that God's gonna raise up. I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt. We'll see more and more of that taking place in the future and all of that. And so, you know, as you, you're in the word of God, your faith is strengthened. And the result is an increase. And that's what happens. And so we're not caught up with trying to entertain goats. We wanna feed the sheep. And that comes through the word of God. And that's how it is in the New Testament. So going on in verse six. 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. After they had come to Chino, they tried to go to Ontario. But the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Missia, they came down to Trois 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 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 wanna show you something here. They're traveling along the southern area of what today is modern Turkey, just to give you a geographic, modern Turkey would be northwest of the nation of Israel, so it's to the northwest. And so they're traveling along the southern area of Turkey and they're moving to the west. But I want you to see this. The Holy Spirit forbids them from traveling to the northwest. Now, we have seen, as we've gone through the book of Acts, how the Holy Spirit is the center of the life of the early church. As we've been going through Acts, we've seen the Holy Spirit baptize people, gift people. We've seen him fill people, direct people. We've seen him expose sin in people. We've seen how he has spoken through people, spoken to people, and he has been leading the people. So this is an important point. It is the Holy Spirit who directs the work of the church. Remember that always. It is the Holy Spirit who directs the work of the church. In Acts 13, verse two, it says, they ministered to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit, said, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And in verse four of chapter 13, so being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. In ministry, it is obvious that the Holy Spirit must be in charge. The Holy Spirit must be in charge. A.W. Tozer said it like this. If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference. That's true. It may be a little hyperbolic. It may be a little exaggerated. Maybe the statistic is at 95%, but it's true. Much of what goes on in church services and church circles is pretty much just human effort. Pretty much is. But in the early church, the Holy Spirit was in complete control. He directed, he gifted, he led, he spoke. He had them move out to do the works. He was the one who was responsible for it. And notice it says in verses six and seven that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. Now when you think Asia, you might be thinking, they couldn't go to China or Japan, but that's not the Asia that's been referred to here. It's not the Far East. This is an area that is ancient Turkey and certain places there. Asia is an area that contains Ephesus and Smyrna and Sardis and it would seem that the ministry team had decided they wanted to go to those areas. And why? Well, because there were a number of Jews there. They had large cities. Idolatry was rampant. These would be attractive cities to these evangelists. They want to go to these major places in order to preach the gospel there. And so naturally for them, it simply made sense, let's go here, let's go into Ephesus, let's go into Smyrna, let's go into Sardis. That's where the word needs to go. And that makes sense when you're strategizing, but here's the thing. If the Holy Spirit isn't leading you, you don't go. You don't go. Even if you see that there is possibilities that you do not go. Listen, there's something I've said in the past. I haven't said it for a while. It is something that others have said. The burden is not the call. The burden is not the call. Just because I may see something in a need there doesn't mean God is calling me to that. We have to be aware of that. Paul had this heart. He wanted to go out and preach the gospel. Like he said in Romans 15, 20, he said, I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation. I don't want to go and plan a church next door to another church. That happens a lot. I'll just plant my church next door to another church. The disgruntled ones will leave that and come here and start meeting with me. That happens all the time. It's true. It doesn't take any faith to plant a church next to somebody else's church. It just doesn't. Paul didn't want to do that. Paul wanted to go out and preach the name of Christ where people hadn't heard of him. That was his heart. And so as he's thinking about this and all, and it makes sense to me, let's just go to these places and notice what it says. Again in verse six, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come Missia, they tried to go into Bethany, but the Spirit did not permit them. God was not allowing him to do that. You may feel a desire to see people in a certain area or a city saved, but God may not be calling you at that time or ever to that place. When our church was first beginning, we were meeting in Ontario and we had been meeting in a particular location, a small church in the city of Ontario, and they had kicked us out. They said, we don't want you here. They thought we were a cult. They thought we were a cult because we had a Halloween alternative. So on October 31st, we had all 15 of our kids come to a little party we gave them. We called it a hallelujah party. We didn't celebrate Satan. We weren't out there putting little devils costumes on them in pitchforks. You know, that was my staff, not my kids. But these people got very upset. They thought we were Satan worshipers. And then we did it even worse. We celebrated Christmas. And when we had a Christmas service, that was it for them. They said, this is a cult. You've got to get out of here because you celebrate Christmas and you celebrate the devil. And so they kicked us out. And so we spoke to them and they gave us until the end of January. And so I sent my assistant and he went all through certain portions east in Ontario. I looked through the West area. We covered all of Ontario and could not find any place that was open to renting to us. And it's time for us to leave. We only have a couple of weeks and I'm thinking we don't have any place to go. So we went to upland. I thought, well, perhaps the Lord would have us in upland. And we actually put $1,000 deposit down on a 3,200 square foot building, which to us was enormous. That was a huge building for 60 people. We could have seating for up to 100 people and offices and everything we needed. So we put a deposit. And I thought, well, perhaps the Lord is leading us to upland and that fell through. And so it was the middle of January. And I fell on my face in the carpet in my bedroom, speaking of the Holy Spirit and how he works. And I cried physically. I know that you can't believe that I actually cried, but I did. On my face, on the carpet. And I prayed and said, God, there are only 60 people. We only had 60 people, but they're the most important people in my life. And we don't have any place to go. Father, please provide a place for us. The Holy Spirit works. The next day, I was preparing a Bible study, John 12, 24, unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. And I remember closing the Bible and I said to the Lord, I am dead. I am dead. That Wednesday night, I forgot to mention this, I had placed my head on the pillow as I was about to go to sleep that Wednesday night. And a voice spoke to my heart in a very audible way and said, you will need a place that seats 200 on Easter Sunday. And I remember thinking, that's right. I went to sleep the next day. As I was praying, I said, Lord, I am dead. A mailman walked up and the Spirit of the Lord spoke again and said, your letter is here. I had written a letter to Chuck Smith and I had said to Pastor, I'd like to be associated as a Calvary Chapel ministry and I was waiting for his response. And I went and I took that. There was a pile of letters and I put one down and it said Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. I opened it up and it said, we'd love to welcome you to Calvary Chapel as an associate. We have that letter in the hall. Some of you perhaps don't have never even noticed it but if you go into the main sanctuary and you walk on down from the foyer, you take a left and go north, we have that letter. It's there and a portion of it where he welcomed us in. We used to have breakfasts with the whole church. And so that Saturday the whole church showed up for the breakfast. We only had 60 people. And I said, we're changing our name to Calvary Chapel, Ontario. We were Ontario Christian Chapel at that time. And we became Calvary Chapel on Ontario. Within a week, we got an extension and we were able to remain at this small church for another two months. And then the church doubled in size because we didn't have the funds to be able to pay for the cost of renting a school. We were only spending $150 a month and now it was going to be like $1,500 a month. We didn't have that kind of money. But the church doubled and the offerings increased. And we moved in the first weeks of March. It was pouring rain on Easter Sunday. In Ontario, some of you lived there. Some of you are familiar with it. Off of Sultana and G Street. There's a school called Central School. And the curbing there is like 12 inches or higher. I forget it's high because of the floodwaters that come down from the north. It was pouring water, pouring over the curbs. That's how much rain on Easter Sunday. When I walked out there and saw 200 people sitting in that hall and I said, you don't know this, but God said you would be here today. You are the word of God alive right now. He has promised that you would be here. And that's part of how the Holy Spirit works. I can tell you lots of stories. I had to learn, I had to remember some of these stories just to remind you or to tell you what God has done in this church through the spirit of God. He still moves. He still directs. He still blesses. He's still on the throne. And it just, and that's what he does. He moves in that way. The Holy Spirit leads you to the place that he would have you to be. Isaiah 48, 17 says it like this. This is what the Lord says. You're redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. In Romans 8, 14, as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, how is it that the Holy Spirit was forbidding him? How is it that the Spirit did not permit them, more than likely the way that he had done it before? We saw in Acts 13 that the last time his leading came through the mouths of the prophets. It's possible that he gave an internal witness. There may have been an audible word to them because we did see how the Spirit led Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, 29. But in one way or another, he led them and that's what was going on. So what happens? Verse 8, passing by Messiah, they came down to Troas 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 had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. And so God gives a vision Paul in the night. In the New Testament, visions are fairly common. A vision can also be described as a waking dream. We saw in Acts 9, 10 that this happened with Ananias. It says there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, behold, I am here, Lord. We saw this with Saul in Acts 9, 12. He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in. It happened with Cornelius in chapter 10, verse 3, where it says he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming to him. And in chapter 10, verse 17, we saw this with the apostle Peter and it spoke concerning a vision. So visions are very commonplace up to this point here in the book of Acts. So Paul and his companions take this as God's leading. They immediately leave. Paul had a vision. The group decided to go and they together went out to do the work of ministry. In verse 11, therefore sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace and the next day came to Neapolis from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony and we were staying in the city for some days. And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the city to the riverside where Greg Laurie was. Oh, no, excuse me. Where prayer was customarily made and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now, a certain woman named Lydia Hirtus, she was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. 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 us. So we'll just wrap up and we'll pick up next time at verse 16, but let's wrap up now as we look at these last few verses. Paul, Silas and Timothy as well as Luke are now a ministry team and they embark on a two day journey. They're traveling Northwest from the Mediterranean. It speaks of various places. Troas was a port city in Northwest Asia Minor. Samothrace is an island. Neapolis is off the Macedonian coast and Philippi was a Roman coastal city 10 miles away. And so just speaking of the geographic location in their ministry, in verse 13, it speaks of the Sabbath day how they went to the city, went out of the city to the riverside. So normally as we've been going through acts you've seen this, Paul would first go to a synagogue and he would share with fellow Jews. The absence of a synagogue gives us the knowledge that there were apparently very few Jews because it took 10 Jewish men to form a synagogue. But these people were gathering for prayer. This would be what would be called an unofficial meeting place. It was a prayer meeting. More than likely made up of Gentile converts. It says in verse 13 that we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. So this reminds us that the gospel is to go to all, to Jew, Gentile, to male as well as female. And this, by the way, is the first time the gospel is preached in Europe because that's where they're at in Philippi. This meeting that's taken place here with a few women could appear extremely insignificant. And I wanna point this out to you. Think of it, we have a small Jewish man. When you see historical references to descriptions of Paul, history though, you can't really rely on it frankly, but the historic accounts of Paul is that he was a very small man. And not only that, but the descriptions are not very attractive. That he had bulging eyes, that he was bent over, that he was very unattractive and all of that. So you have this Jewish man, more than likely a small Jewish man, and you know he's tired because he's been traveling, and there's a woman's prayer group. You think of this man, and when you read 2 Corinthians especially, he's called fleshly, he's called a madman. They say he's untrained in speech, he's unattractive in looks, and yet what seems to be, and this is so important, I hope I can make it clear, what seems to be so insignificant is actually an amazing thing. The gospel is being preached for the first time in Europe. A small Jewish man, small prayer meeting, and yet God does an incredible work. It was from this simple prayer meeting that a church was born. And by the way, Philippi is remembered because of the book of Philippians. Small insignificant thing at that time, that turns out to be a historic thing in proportion. Somebody said that little Jew and the letter that he will write to that handful of believers that are to be gathered by his preaching will last forever. When we speak of Philippi, we don't think of the city of Philippi, really. We think of the letter to the Philippians. We think of the church that was in Philippi. Do not despise the day of small beginnings. Small things sometimes erupt into amazing things. Never think that what you're doing doesn't matter. Please don't fall into that trap. I'm just a woman raising kids, you may say. Are you kidding me? What is greater than raising children for the Lord? What is greater than that? Oh, I don't have a job. Oh, you do too. And it's a difficult one. And you're not thanked enough for it. But it's not insignificant. Oh, I just spoke, I work. I don't even have a ministry. Yeah, yeah, I drive a truck, really. But I've led people to Christ. And those people I've led to Christ have gone out to do works for Jesus Christ later on. The things that you're doing, you know what, I'll say it this way. When the Lord is handing out rewards, you may be surprised at what He rewards you for. Your faithfulness and how that God used an insignificant conversation that you had with somebody one day to bring them to faith in Christ. And you didn't even know it. And they went off and they did works for Jesus Christ. Like when D. L. Moody was inside of his sore that he used to sell shoes. And his Sunday school teacher came walking in and D. L. was in the back room. And the Sunday school teacher just wanted to make sure that every student he was ministering to came to faith in Christ. And that's how D. L. Moody got saved with a concerned Sunday school teacher. I don't remember the Sunday school teacher's name, but nobody forgets D. L. Moody. It just happens that way. Mordecai Ham, very few people have ever heard of him. Mordecai Ham is a guy who goes from city to city. He does crusades. 17 year old kid in North Carolina comes forward. We don't remember Mordecai Ham, but everybody will remember Billy Graham. That's how that works. It's a stormy day and the pastor can't make it to church. So a farmer takes the pulpit and he preaches a gospel message. And as he's preaching, he points his bony finger at this kid who's sitting in the front row. And he says, son, you are miserable and you will be the most miserable boy in hell if you don't give your heart to God. And that boy is Charles Spurgeon. And so don't think that the work you do is insignificant. It never is. It never is. In the kingdom of God, he multiplies your efforts and he produces fruit. And don't forget that ever because this is an insignificant prayer meeting in Europe and the gospel is preached and a woman is saved and that church is famous to this day. Her name was Lydia. She was a business woman selling purple dye and she became Paul's first European convert. It says in verse 14, she worshiped God as one whose heart had been opened. She was a convert. The Lord had opened her heart. She was a sincere worshiper of God. She was prepared to receive the things spoken by Paul and his companions. And as she was faithful to the grace she received, God gave her more grace and gave her now a divine conviction that what was spoken by Paul was true. The Lord opened her heart as she listened. As the gospel was presented, Lydia believed and she was saved and God graciously granted her salvation. What happens verse 15, she and her household were baptized. Her faith moves her to be baptized. She identified with Jesus Christ completely and begged them to remain. These men were not looking for financial reward. They needed to be begged. She wanted them to stay with her partly because she wanted to learn more. And by the way, a hunger to know the Lord's word is a great evidence that you've been saved. Jeremiah 15, 16, your words were found and I ate them. Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. And so she had her heart open to the Lord and she said, please, if you've judged me worthy, would you please stay? And it says she persuaded us and they remained that she might continue to grow. Wouldn't that be a blessing to have the apostle Paul hanging around with you for a while? Wouldn't that be cool? Oh yeah.