After a time of reporting and ministry in Antioch, Paul tells Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing”  (Acts 15:26 NKJV).  After disagreeing about whether to bring John Mark with them again, Paul takes Silas instead and begins to retrace the route of the first missionary journey, while Barnabas and Mark sail for Cyprus.  After strengthening the churches in Syria, Cilicia, Derbe, and Lystra, God in a vision calls Paul and Silas, now joined by Luke and Timothy, to preach the gospel in Macedonia.  “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” (Acts 15:10 NKJV).

Sailing for Macedonia, Paul enters Philippi and points Lydia, a seeking Gentile and a seller of purple, to faith in Jesus.  Paul then delivers a fortune-telling slave girl from demonic possession, enraging her masters who lost their income stream.   As a result, Paul and Silas are severely beaten, imprisoned, and placed with their feet in stocks.

In this passage, we see how God uses all circumstances in the life of the obedient Christian – even disagreements with other believers – to further His purposes and the spread of the gospel; how He ensures that those who seek Him with humble hearts find Him; that demonic powers are real; and that obedience to the Holy Spirit does not mean freedom from tribulation and persecution.  Pastor Kevin exhorts us to resist all the distractions in our lives and relentlessly pursue God’s call to share the gospel as He provides opportunity.  As we obey, persevering despite rejection, ridicule, and persecution, God will use our witness in ways we cannot foresee. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8 NKJV).

Maranatha!