Shabbat Shalom. Let's turn in our Bibles, please, today to the book of Acts, chapter 16 today. In Hebrew, we call it Maasei Shlichim, the Acts of the Apostles, or the Acts of the Holy Spirit of God through the Apostles. We are going to read the 16th chapter, and please follow me. This is a long chapter. We will see how much the Lord will help us to cover today by the grace of God. I begin to read from verse 1. Then came he to Derby and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported off by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

Him would Paul have to go forth with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep that were ordained of the apostles and the elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, an increase in numbers daily. Now when they had gone throughout Pyrgia and the regions of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they are said to go into Bithynia.

But the Spirit suffered them not. And they, passing by Mysia, came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." And after he had seen the vision immediately, we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothelkia, and the next day to Napolis. And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. And we were in that city abiding certain days.

And on the Shabbat, we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. And we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Tyre, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us, saying, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there." And she constrained us. And it came to pass. As we went to prayer, a certain damsel, possessed with spirit of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.

The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation." And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, "I commend thee in the name of Yeshua the Messiah to come out of her." And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans." And a multitude rose up against them, and a magistrates rent off their clothes, and commended to beat them.

And when they had laid many strifes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God. "And the prisoners heard them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundation of the prison was shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's band was loosed. And a keeper of the prison, awakening out of the sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled." But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and thou shalt be saved in thine house." And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized he and all his straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the surgeons, saying, "Let those men go." And the keeper of the prison told this, saying to Paul, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore depart and go in peace." But Paul said unto them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privately?" "Nay, verily, but let them come themselves, and fetch us out." And the surgeons told these words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were Romans.

And they came, and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed." This is verse 40 of our chapter. It was rather a long chapter to read at one session, but I'd like to see how much I'm going to be able to cover by the grace of God in the 16th chapter of the Book of Acts. Actually, brothers and sisters, the 16th chapter is the beginning of the second missionary journey that Paul and Silas began as they were journeying now to seek to establish the assemblies, the churches that they have already had formed on the first missionary journey.

You see, this is something extremely important. It is not enough to lead a soul to Yeshua, the Messiah. Oh yes, it is enough to lead a person unto salvation. But how many people, how many believers, have accepted Yeshua, the Messiah, and are not at all established in the things of the Lord? They are wandering from place to place. They are not sure about what's going on in their spiritual growth. They are not satisfied in a spiritual life. And they are wandering around, never find themselves growing and established in the things of the Lord. Oh, we see it today in our very own time in which we live here and now.

Believers are moving left to right. They are like the apostle wrote in Ephesians chapter 4, with every wind of doctrine. They are swaying one way or another, not growing and establishing themselves in faith in our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. And so Paul had this desire, when earlier in the 15th chapter, he said to Barnabas, "Let us go again and visit the brethren in every city that we have preached the word of the Lord, and let's see how they are doing." Why, Paul? Because I want to see if the people that the Lord Yeshua led me, minister the word to them, to bring them to the knowledge of salvation.

I want to see them growing, developing their lives, that they will not stay babies in the Messiah. And so he began his second missionary journey. There is a third one coming a little later on. So chapter 16, verse 1, all the way to chapter 18 and verse 22 is the second missionary journey, because by the time we get to chapter 18 and verse 22, the apostle Paul is returning now back to Antioch, from which he began his first missionary journey, his second missionary journey, and later on his third missionary journey. So he began, brothers and sisters, and you remember what we had last week, that there was a disagreement about John Mark between him and Barnabas.

Barnabas took John Mark and he went to another location, another place, and Paul took Silas and he began the second missionary journey. So if you look at chapter 15 and verse 41, the last verse of chapter 15, it said, And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, the assembly. That's why I want to put a little pause here for a moment. When we gather ourselves together, on a regular basis, we teach the Bible. We read the scripture. We talk about the ABC of the word of God, to be established, to understand the word of God, and to be able to answer someone who tells us why do we believe what we believe.

We say, because the Bible tells me so, because the word of God teaches me his word. Now, when we begin here in this 16th chapter, in the first five verses of this chapter, you notice that now Paul takes along with him, in addition to Silas, a man by the name of Timothy. Look at this in the first five verses. First of all, Paul sees Timothy, as we find here in verse one. Then came he, this is Paul, to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, by the name of Timothy, the son of a certain woman, which was Jewish. And she believed, but his father was Greek.

Now, you remember, if you will look earlier in the previous chapter 14, verse 20 to 23 and on, you will notice that he already had been in Derbe and Lystra. He already had preached a message there. There was an establishment of a local assembly in Derbe and Lystra. But now he's getting to visit the same area again. And he met this Jewish young man, Timothy. His mother is Jewish and his father is a Greek man. Interesting. Notice that there was, even at that time already, some married Jewish women, married a non-Jewish man, for one reason or another. But apparently, we don't read much about his father, who was Greek.

But we do read about the fact that his mother was a believer in our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. I want you to turn with me to 2 Timothy, chapter one. Let's see what we read about this young man by the name of Timothy. Paul tells us about Timothy actually calling him. He's reminding Timothy of his family, of his mother and of his grandmother. Look at this. 2 Timothy, chapter one and verse five. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, Timothy, which dwelt, first of all, in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And I am persuaded that it is also in thee.

Apparently, Timothy's grandmother and mother have been those that had faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They had left this impact upon this young man by the name of Timothy. This is 2 Timothy, chapter one and verse five. Turn the page to chapter three for a moment. And again, Paul is speaking to Timothy. And he's saying to him in verse 15, Timothy. From a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. So when Timothy grew up as a Jewish boy, he was influenced by his mother and grandmother to believe in the God of Israel.

And in time, beloved brothers and sisters, he came to faith in our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. The Messiah. This is really tell us much about the ladies, the mothers, the grandmothers, the responsibility that they have as believers in the Lord, believers in the Bible to leave an impact. Now, you never know what's going to happen in the life of the children. But apparently his mother and his grandmother taught him the Hebrew scripture. And he came in time to faith in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So Paul sees him when he arrived to Derbe and Lystra. He knows him because apparently he knows about his mother.

His mother was Jewish. He knows that his father was a Greek man. So Timothy became a believer. So now Paul wanted to take Timothy with him to the ministry. So in verse 2 and 3 says, Timothy had a well report of the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium. Timothy had a good report. When somebody talk about Timothy, they say, Oh, yes, we know him. We know his life. We know his devotedness. We know his testimony. He lived for the Lord. He lived for Yeshua, the Messiah. He had a good testimony. So when Paul come to this area, he found out that the people tell him, there's a good report about this young man by the name of Timothy.

So when Paul heard about his testimony, when he heard that he was a believer, it caused him a desire to take him along for the ministry. After all, John Mark earlier have left the ministry. Barnabas took John Mark with him. So now Paul say, here in addition to Silas, I'm going to take this young man by the name of Timothy with me to the ministry. And it's very nice to see older and younger going together, walking together in the ministry of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So he does something that is very, you might say, the contradiction of what he stood for in chapter 15. You remember there were Jewish people who came down from Judea and said to the Gentiles, believers in Antioch, you cannot be saved unless you are going to be circumcised.

And Paul stood for that. And he says, no, salvation is not on a basis of circumcision. Circumcision was given by the Abrahamic covenant to our own nation, the Jewish people, the Hebrews. Circumcision were established under the law in Leviticus chapter 12, under the law that God had given through Moses to the people of Israel. But circumcision was not given to the Gentiles. And therefore, Paul stood very strong. No, you cannot claim that salvation is on a basis of the circumcision. And he went to Jerusalem. And you remember, we talked about where the council determined that no, salvation is not on a basis of circumcision, but simply on the basis of faith in Yeshua, the Messiah.

But here, Paul does something that people accused Paul. They don't understand what Paul have done. Because notice what it says in verse 3 now. Him, this is Timothy, would Paul have to go forth with him, and he took him, and he circumcised him. Because of the Jews which were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was a Greek. Many people make the mistake by accusing Paul in circumcising Timothy, saying, wait a minute, Paul. On the one hand, you stood of the fact that you don't need to be circumcised in order to be saved. On the other hand, you are now taking this young man by the name of Timothy, and you're circumcising him.

Many accused Paul, but didn't understand that when Timothy was circumcised, he was already saved. He had already believed in Yeshua, the Messiah. But Paul is taking him to minister with him the message of the gospel, both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles in these regions. And many Jewish people will be offended when a Jewish man is not circumcised. So Paul, in his wisdom, took this young man and circumcised him. You notice that he never circumcised Titus, because Titus was a Gentile. When he took Titus with him to the city of Jerusalem, he never circumcised Titus. Because he was not Jewish. He was not Israeli.

He was not Hebrew. Circumcision did not apply to Titus. But circumcision under the Abrahamic covenant and under the law, when it's come to Leviticus chapter 12, God demanded from the Hebrews to be circumcised as the sign of the covenant with the nation of Israel. So he took Timothy and he circumcised him. Very interesting how he have done this. And this teaches us the principle that we learn if we are going to be effective in ministry of the gospel, whether it is to the Jewish people or to the Gentiles or to the pagan, to any group of people. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 19, Paul says, "For though I be free from all men, yet I have made myself a servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

Unto the Jews, I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law of the Messiah, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel sake, that I might be partakers thereof with you." People blamed Shaul, Paul, in circumcising Timothy, not understanding the importance of this in relationship to our people Israel, the Jewish people.

And that's why Paul said unto the Jews, my own people, I became as a Jew in order that I will gain the Jewish people. And then he teaches us this principle. If we are going to get involved with the group of people, whether it is Muslims or Hindus, whether it is people in India, whether in Taiwan, or any other group of people, if we are going to reach them with the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua, we must identify with those people. So we will be able to reach them with the very same message of the gospel. Now, Paul did not need to become a Jew because he was a Jew.

Timothy was a Jew. But the issue of circumcision was very important to the Jewish people. And therefore the Apostle Paul took him and he circumcised him in order to give a testimony to the Jewish community that is found there in these areas. And that does not change for a moment what he have already said in chapter 15, that salvation is not on the basis of circumcision. Salvation is only on the basis of faith in the finished work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So this is important to grasp what we see here in verse 3. As we move along in verse 4 and 5, Paul and his companies established the assemblies.

Now we have Paul, you have Silas, you have Timothy with him, and maybe others were with him. They are moving about and in verses 4 and 5, as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep that were ordained of the apostles and the elders that were in Jerusalem. Again, what the apostles and the elders in the city of Jerusalem said in verse 29 of chapter 15, that they should abstain from meat offered to idols. They should abstain from blood. They should abstain from things that are strangled. They should abstain from fornication. That's all what they are to abstain from in order to live for the Messiah Yeshua.

And so they established the believers, as it says in verse 5, and so would the churches establish in the faith or in our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And when they were established in the faith, it says that they increased in number daily. Can you imagine when the believers are gathered together on Sabbath or on Sunday, the first day of the week, people come to the meeting. And the next time they have a Bible study or whatever and other people coming to the meeting. People hear the message of the Gospel. Day after day, there was growth, not only spiritual maturity of the believers, but they were increased in number.

We look today in the churches today, we find that there is a decrease in numbers. Less and less people seem to come to meetings and to gather around the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. But it was the reverse at that time, where there was the Romans' influence upon the world, paganism upon the world. And yet the Spirit of God was working and people were getting saved and the assemblies were established and new believers came and there was more in numbers. What a precious thing it is to see that the fruit of the labor of the apostles, there was a fruit that came into the front. And so what a joy it must have given the apostle Paul at that time.

So the first five verses, Paul takes Timothy with him as a new help in the ministry. In verses 6 to 12, we can see that Paul was led by the Holy Spirit of God. This is important, brothers and sisters. Sometimes we do ministry without the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. If it's not the ministry that is guided by the Holy Spirit of God, it's not ministry. It's the ministry of the flesh. It's a human energy and not divine work. And here we see that there is a time that the Spirit guides you one way. There is a time that the Spirit of God guides you in another direction.

And it is the Holy Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh, that guided those men of old as they were preaching the message of the Gospel. It says in verse 6 and 7 how the Spirit at time did not allow Paul and his company to go in one direction or another. It says, Now when they had gone through Pergia and in the region of Galatia and they were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. Well the Spirit of God have told Paul, Timothy, Silas, don't go now anymore to this area. How did they know that? It was not an ocus pocus. It was a discernment that these men of God had.

They had discernment and the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit of God. Look at the next verse. After they will come to Mysia, they are said to go to Bithynia. In other words, they were going towards Bithynia, but the Spirit of Yeshua suffered them not. The Holy Spirit of God says, No, you don't go there. Now, you and I don't understand why the Spirit of God says, Go this way. Why we stop to go in one direction and move in another direction. But God knows. It is His business. His ministry. And you notice that the Spirit of God is a person.

It's not merely a wind. He is a divine person. Notice it says, The Holy Spirit of God. It is one of the persons of the Godhead. The Father. The Son. The Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit of God that the Lord Yeshua said that He will guide you into all truth. In the Gospel of John, He is now guiding the brethren as they were going to minister the Word of God. He is saying to them, Don't go into Asia, into Bithynia. He suffered them not to go there. He has a reason. That's why sometimes we are amazed. In certain areas, the door had been opened.

Do you remember the time, just recently, about maybe 20 years ago, when the door to the former Soviet Union was opened? I remember that when I went to Russia, I'll never forget when I landed in Leningrad. And I was scared. And I said, what in the world are a Jew doing here in Leningrad? I was scared. And we were going to preach the Word of God. And I'll never forget when I was on the streets of Leningrad, handing out tracts. I didn't know a word in Russia. Maybe Slava Bogo. That's the only thing I knew. Praise God. And I had a guard beside me. I had a translator beside me.

And we were handing out tracts on the streets of Leningrad. Thousands of people were passing by. And I'm thinking to myself, Lord, I remember the day when I was a young boy sitting in Jerusalem, scared from the Russians. We watched years ago the movie, The Russians Are Coming. And I remember that there was so much fear to go to Russia, to hand out tracts, to talk about Jesus, the Messiah. And yet the door was open. And brothers and sisters, I remember standing in the corner street in Leningrad, preaching the message, holding a Bible in my hand, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you about the book that I have in my hand." And my Russian translator was telling them the same thing.

And people were gathering, and there was a lot of people listening to the preaching of the message. I gave the word in English, my translator in Russian, and people came. And then later on, so many Bibles had been given to the people, and people heard the message of the Gospel. It is amazing! And yet, the door was shut for years to enter into Russia, and to speak the preaching of the word of God. Well here, brothers and sisters, it's the same thing. The Spirit of God forbid them from going into Asia, and then also to go to Bithynia. The Spirit of God did not allow them, because the Spirit of God has a purpose for the Apostle Paul, that now there will be the entrance of the Gospel to Europe.

And so you notice that, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 8 and 9, Paul had seen a vision of the men from Macedonia. It says, "And they passed by Mysia, they came to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia, and help us." Now Paul has seen a vision of a man that is calling him to come over, and to help them in Macedonia. Notice, even though it was a man, singular, and yet at the end of verse 9, it says, "Come and help us." So while there was that vision of one man appealing to Paul to come, yet he sought that help to be presented to many.

Help us, these men, have spoken to Paul in that vision. This is what we read in verses 8 and 9, "And the brethren understood that that was the mind of the Lord." In verse 10, they made a decision. It says, "After he had seen the vision," this is Paul, "Immediately we endeavored to go to Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them." What a discerning this man must have had. He discerned what was the mind of the Lord. What was it from the Lord? And what was it not from the Lord? Where the door was shut and where the door had been open to him.

Yeshua said, "I am the one that have the key. I openeth and no man shut. I shut and no man open." That is the ways of the Lord. He shut doors and he opened doors. And so we find out that Paul had this discernment to recognize that it is indeed the mind of the Lord to go to Macedonia. Now you notice, by the way, in verse 10, that it is the first time that we find the word "we." Notice that? After he had seen a vision, immediately "we" and the "we" here is including the writer of the book of Acts, namely, Lucas. Look. Up to this point, you don't find the word "we" at all.

Let's go back to verse 4. "And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decree." Verse 6, "Now when they have gone throughout Pergia." Verse 7, "After they were come to Mysia." Up to this point, apparently Luke did not go along with Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It seemed to be that now Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, joined Apostle Paul along with Silas and Timothy. And apparently Luke was a doctor. Some believed that he was not Jewish. Others believed that he was Jewish. But apparently, now Lucas joined this company in the going ahead into the ministry. And that's why it's used in verse 10, "We endeavored to go to Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord have called us." Paul, Silas, Timothy, Lucas to preach the Gospel unto them.

He went a while with the Apostle Paul. If you turn to chapter 17 in verse 1, apparently when the missionaries continue, it says, "Now when they had passed through," and so on. Apparently, Luke remained in Philippi while the rest have continued. So he was with them in that city of Philippi. And they continued on, and he remained back for a while. Later on, he joined the ministry of the Apostle Paul again. But here we can see how Luke became part of the mission that the Lord have called the Apostles to do. And so, in Acts 16, verse 11 and 12, they arrived to the city of Philippi. It says, "Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samoth-Rakia, and the next day to Napolis, and from thence to Philippi, which is a chief city of part of Macedonia, and a colony, and we were in the city abiding for certain days." Philippi was the first city in Europe that the Apostle Paul, specifically with his company, had entered in for the preaching of the Gospel.

Some may have arrived earlier and have been there, but when it's come to the Apostle Paul missionary journey, Europe had been exposed to the Gospel through the Apostle Paul when he heeded the Macedonian call by that man, and he entered into Europe. He arrived to the city of Philippi, which was a Roman colony, and there they began their preaching of the Gospel. And you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, you find in the next verses that Apostle Paul acts upon the principle of the Jew first. not the Jew first because the Jew is more important, but in the order of the divine design in this earth, the Jewish people were first in the order of the way of God dealing with men.

And so the first thing he does, verse 13, 14, and 15, he began with seeking the Jewish community in the city of Philippi. Well, apparently, even though it was a large city, there were not too many Jewish people in that city. And as you know, that in order to have a synagogue, you must have a minyan, to have 10 men, minimum, above the age of 13, the age of Bar Mitzvah, in order to form a synagogue. And if you don't have 10 men to form a synagogue, there is a way in which the Jewish people have been taught over the generation, is that the meeting place of the minority of the small group of Jewish people will be by the waterfront.

So the apostle and the others noticed, waiting for the Shabbat day, there was a prayer meeting by the riverside. And on the Shabbat, we went out of the city by the riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. And we sat down and we spake unto the women which were resorted thither. We don't read of men here. We read of women. And these women that gathered together for prayer time, and it was a Shabbat day. Now, I don't know when he arrived to Philippi with the group. Maybe he arrived on Friday, and the next morning he would have gone the Shabbat. He may have arrived in another time of the week.

But what was a principle that Paul had practiced throughout his ministry, is always going to the Jew first. And so on Shabbat, there was no synagogue. He found himself by the riverside. And there there was a prayer. You know, every Shabbat, a custom among our people, the Jewish people, is to have a prayer time. It's a time where they would thank God for the coming of the Shabbat, for being elected by him as a nation, the nation of Israel. In many Jewish homes, even in non-religious homes, in many a Jewish home, there will be this custom of spending time and just reading something from the text of the Bible and acknowledging God's provision for the nation.

Well, apparently, there was women, no men. At least it doesn't show here. They find themselves by the river, by waterfront. And prayer was wont to be made. And so Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke now with them, sat down and began to speak unto the women that stayed there. And here you can see interaction between all those four men. We read the word "we" because apparently all four of them were talking to the women there. They were sharing with them about the Messiah. Shabbat day? Prayer time? The God of Israel? The promised Messiah? He came? His name is Yeshua? They preached to them the message of the Gospel as they were conversing with them.

Personal conversation. This is so important for us when we have an opportunity to sit with people, wherever they are, just to talk with them. We don't need to preach at them. We don't need to make them feel guilty, but just to discuss with them. You are spending time in prayer. You turn to a text in the Tanakh and begin to share with them the person of the Messiah, even as we read the Old Testament text. And so we shared with them the message. We speak with the women that were there. Apparently, in verse 14, one of these women have accepted the message that she heard. We read here in a certain woman by the name of Lydia.

She was a seller of purple. She must have been in business. Of the city of Thyatira. She worshipped God. She heard the message. Her heart was opened by the Lord. And she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Three things we find out about this woman by the name of Lydia. And that is also important for us to get a hold of. Number one, she heard. You remember Romans chapter 10, verse 17. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. That is essential. Give the word. Let people hear the word of God. Whosoever heareth the Lord. Hearing is very important. Because the word of God is divinely inspired.

And the spirit of God can convict people. People need to hear the word of God. This is very precious. So she heard the word of God. It was Jesus, the Messiah, Yeshua, who said in John chapter 5 and verse 24. He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word. And believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. And shall not come into condemnation. But is passed from death unto life. He that heareth my word. People need to hear the message of the gospel. To hear the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. That is the first thing we find out about Lydia.

Secondly, we find out the divine work in her heart. Brothers and sisters, you and I can pound and pound until we turn blue. No one will come to accept the Messiah unless the Lord opened the heart. And you notice that it says whose heart the Lord opened. This is the divine work from within which we do not see. We don't understand. But it is the Spirit of God that opened the heart of each and every one. He opened our own heart. The Bible teaches us in Yeshua said in John 6. No one can come to the Father unless the Father draws him unto himself. We can speak and speak.

But ultimately it is the Spirit of God that have to open the heart. Don't you find sometimes when we speak to our own family and we wonder why is it, Lord, that they don't accept it? What is it that we do wrong? I have done everything that I could in order to share the message. But Lord, what is it that happened to my family, to my friends, to my neighbors, to the people that I preach to? Why is it that they don't accept the Lord? Well, I tell you why, beloved brothers and sisters. It is unless the Lord opened the heart. The heart is hard like a rock.

The heart of man is desperately wicked. That's what Jeremiah, the Hebrew prophet says. Who can know it? God says. The heart of man is hardened towards God. That's where we learn the truth that we are sinners by nature and by practice. And unless God do divine work, we would never come to the Lord. And that's why, brothers and sisters, here we can see how the Lord opened the heart of this woman by the name of Lydia. It was the apostle Paul who said in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, in verse 4, he's speaking about Satan. The God of this world have blinded the mind of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

He said in verse 6, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the faith of Yeshua the Messiah. That's why man by nature is blind, but also Satan has blinded the mind of man. And there is a need of divine work. I don't believe in a moment that any one of us here that hear my voice today would have come to God unless the Spirit of God had worked in your soul and my soul. We would have never come to the Lord. The natural men receive not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto him.

Think about it, brothers and sisters. Had the Lord never touched our heart, we would have never come to Yeshua. But he opened our eyes and he opened our hearts and we have accepted him and we fell on our feet. We said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And here the Lord opening Lydia's, a Jewish woman by the waterfront, coming to prayer to believe in the God of Israel and had been exposed to the message of the gospel by other four believers. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Four of them who preached to her. And finally she listened and she had accepted the Lord. And notice that is the third part of this message here.

Luke, it says in verse 14 at the end. She attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. This simply means that she believed what he said about Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. She simply believed. She heard and she believed and in between it was a divine work in her soul. That's what we see here in this verse 14. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. No different in every situation. It is hearing the word and accepting the message and becoming children of God.

So, in verse 15, she wants to identify with Yeshua, the Messiah, in death, burial, and resurrection. We read in Acts 16:15. And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us and she said, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there." And she constrained us. You know, it's not like today. A person believed. Wait six months, six years before he or she getting baptized and identifying with the Lord. Now, in these days, when a person became a believer, you don't have to wait six months until you identify with the Messiah immediately. She have accepted the Messiah, verse 14.

And when she was baptized, immediately baptism. And again, I would like to emphasize here, all the time when you read about baptism in the Bible is after a person become a believer, not before. Those who got baptized before they've accepted the Messiah, their baptism will not take them one inch towards salvation. Because baptism doesn't save. Baptism only takes a place in identification in the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. So, here we find that she was baptized, but also her household. Now, let's not get the doctrine out of it. A household was not saved because she got baptized or she got saved. A household had to accept the Messiah themselves.

We're going to see that later on. And then to get baptized, to identify with the Messiah themselves. Your salvation does not mean that our children and our parents and our brothers and sisters are going to get saved because you got saved. They need to believe and accept the Messiah themselves. You remember John 1, as many as receive him, to them he gave right to be called the children of God. Even to them that believe on his name. So, in verses 13 to 15, we see the salvation of Lydia. Now, notice this, beloved brothers and sisters. Verses 16 to 24, we find that there was a woman, a young lady, that was possessed with demon, out of whose body Paul had removed that demon.

And look what we read about her, here in verse 16, 17 and 18, we find the possessed woman and her doing. And it came to pass as we went to prayer. This is the first prayer meeting of the believers in the house of Lydia. And a certain damsel, possessed with the spirit of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. Apparently, this young woman, she was like a witch. And she was giving a lot of gain to her masters. She was making big money for them. She was bewitching the people, telling them various stories. People were believing, they were paying money for that. She was making good gain to her masters.

Like today, you can go to certain places, you can give them your hand. She's going to tell you your future. She's going to tell you what's the pathway, your future and so on. People are going there, they're paying money to find out their future. Well, if you go to the Bible, you will find out your past, your present and your future. And if you're a believer in Yeshua, the glorious future of the believer. But people pay money for those things. So here is this woman, had a spirit of divination, and she brought a lot of gain to her masters. And then it said that she followed Paul and us, this is Timothy, Silas, and Luke.

And look what she said about them. These men are servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. You might say, what a great testimony. This woman, this woman testifying of the way of salvation, this woman that had, as it says here, spirit of divination, she gave a testimony to Paul, Timothy, Silas. These men can show us the way of salvation. Now you might think, Paul might say, wow, praise the Lord. Look, I got somebody to give a testimony for the truth of the gospel through this woman. What a great thing. But Paul didn't think so. But Paul didn't think so.

He didn't want the testimony of a person that is occupied by a demon, giving a testimony to the presentation of the gospel that they preached. Paul did not want it. In fact, look what it says. This she did many days. Again, these men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. Every day. But Paul being grieved. Because you see, on a one time she's saying, these men are going to show us the way of salvation. Then she was going somewhere else and saying, and making, bewitching the people with all kind of tricks and all kind of witchcraft.

So she was mixing that which was of God with that which was of Satan. And Paul did not want it. So in the next verse, it says here in verse 18. He turned and he said unto the spirit. Notice he doesn't talk to her. Because Paul discerned the fact that this woman was possessed with a demon, with a spirit. And he said unto him, to the spirit. I commend thee in the name of Yeshua the Messiah to come out of her. And he, this is the demon, came out of her the same hour. You know, Paul did not want at all to affiliate with the demonic things, to mix them with the things of the Lord.

Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, how many times we see how Satan is mixing up and intervening with the things of the Lord. To give us the assumption that those things are actually from God. Do you remember what Yeshua said in the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 7, at the end of the Sermon of the Mount. He says, many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name we have cast out demons. And in your name we have done many wonderful works. Then he said, I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

That is exactly what Satan is doing. He is the one who is sending false ministry, false prophets. He is the God of this world who oblined the mind of men. He is appearing as the prophet of God. We read of it, he is coming as an angel of light, giving an appearance that this is from God. And if the people of God are not careful, they are getting sucked into it, getting drawn into it. And Paul had the discernment, said, wait a minute, that is not from the Lord, from God. He doesn't even talk to the woman. He talked directly to the demon and said, get out of here.

And you can see the reality because immediately after he said this, he said, I commend thee. And you notice he doesn't do it in his own name, but he does it in the name of Yeshua, the Messiah. Come out of here. He came out of here the same hour. And look, you would think it will settle. But you can see that it was demonic and satanic because in verse 19, 20 and 21, look what the action of her masters because of what happened to this woman when the demon came out of her. Because she stopped giving them gain. And so in verse 19, when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they caught Paul and Silas.

They drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers and they brought them to the magistrates saying, these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city. And they teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive neither to observe being Romans. Now, you notice that up to the time that the demon got out of her, they didn't say anything to her because she was speaking. They got gain from that and there was no problem for that. But the moment their business got shut and they did not succeed anymore to get gain from her. So then they take Paul and Silas. For some reason, they didn't take Timothy and Luke.

We do not read why, but they took both of them. They drew them into the marketplace, into the rulers. They brought them before the magistrate and they said, these men being Jews. Now, wait a minute. Even though they were preaching that Yeshua was the Messiah, they identified them as Jewish. They knew very well that they were Jewish. And they said they troubled the city. They teach things that we are not to observe because we are Romans. It reminds me of the fact that every time the Jewish people are being blamed. They are scapegoated in every situation. It's the Jews, the Jews. Well, in the next verses, brothers and sisters, verse 22 to 24, we find out the fact that they beat them and they imprisoned them.

Why? Because they didn't have any more gain from their sorcery, from this woman who bewitched people. Verse 22, the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrate rent off their clothes. Can you imagine? They stripped Paul and Silas. They took away from them all their clothes. And then it says that they commended them to beat them. They beat them. And you know, Paul, can you imagine what a shame it must have been for Paul and Silas to experience this? You know, Paul mentioned it in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. He says, after that we had suffered before. This is 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 2. And we were shamefully entreated, as you know it, at Philippi.

We were bold in our law to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. In other words, they were put to shame. They took their clothes away. They beat them there. And Paul is reminiscing over that when he was speaking to the believers that he was preaching to them and he was sharing with them. You know, he said in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 3, 4, and 5. And listen to this, verse 5. We have things approved ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distress. And listen to this, verse 5. In stripes, in imprisonment, in tumult, in labors, in watching, in fasting, and so on.

Paul was repeating what he had experienced. We have been beaten. We have experienced shame for the gospel's sake, he is saying. And it all happened here at Philippi. Because Paul removed the fallen spirit, took away the spirit out of this woman. And therefore, those people who had gained from that woman caused them to be beaten and imprisoned here in Philippi. After they beat them, then we find out in verse 23 and 24. They said when they had laid many stripes on them, they cast them into prison. They're charging the jailer to keep them safely. And then it says, who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in their stocks.

So, they stripped them, they beat them, and they brought them to jail. And they charged the jailer to keep them there in stocks. Can you imagine? In stocks, held their hands, their feet. They are really sitting there in jail. And I wonder, brothers and sisters, how would you and I feel if you and I would be in such a condition that you've been in a jail in Rome. It was not a picnic. It's not like here in North America, there is television and internet, and you can read books, and you can have all kind of nice things, even though you are locked in. But they were in the dungeon.

No light. No television. No internet. No privileges that they would have liked to have. And because of the fact that they share the message of the Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah. They have done nothing wrong finding themselves in prison. Now, look at the next verses. And that is precious here, how the Lord is working. Verse 25 to verse 34, we find out that even through the experience of being in prison, the Lord uses these men to lead others to find salvation through Yeshua the Messiah. Verse 25 to 34, we find the Philippian jailer getting gloriously saved. Verse 25. It says, "At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God." You and I might look at Paul and say, "What's wrong with you?

What are you doing? Why aren't you moping and crying and sorrowing and lick your wounds, as it were? What are you doing?" But when they had nothing left at midnight, you know, it's easy to sing in the daytime. But to sing at midnight, when it's dark, and you are in the worst state, if you will, to sing. Notice it says they prayed, first of all, and they sang praises unto God. There are many verses in the Bible that teaches us about the singing at nighttime that only the Lord can give us. Please, one verse. Job 35 in verse 10. We find out in verse 10. None saith, "Where is God, my maker, who gives songs in the night?" Only God can give us to sing in the night, when things are dark, when there are issues and problems, and some of us have many problems in our life, and when things seem to be so dark.

The best thing to do is to turn to the Lord and to sing to Him. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord," we read in the Psalms and elsewhere. They sang, you know, we read in Psalm 149 and Psalm 150, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, sing and praises unto the Lord." That's the heart of the child of God, even in a time of darkness at midnight. They were singing. They were praising God. And the prisoners heard them. The next door prisoner said, "What's going on with this guy? Why are they singing? Look at us. We are all in jail. Everything is locked, and we are in, as it says, in stocks.

What are they singing? What are they doing?" They were praising God, and everybody heard them. In verse 26, the supernatural earthquake had happened straight from the hand of the Lord, and suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the foundation of the prison was shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loose. God, in response to the praises of His servants, produced a supernatural earthquake that brought about an open doors and an open bands. The bands were loose, and everything was open, and they could run away and flee from prison. And the keeper of the prison, verse 27, he awakened from his sleep, and he saw the prison doors open.

He drew up his sword, and he would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners have all fled. This was an important thing. Why did he want to kill himself? Because if he lose one prisoner, he will lose his life. So he would say, "I might as well kill myself, and I don't need nobody else to do this for me. I do it because I lost the prisoners." That's what he assumed. But Paul cried out, verse 28, and he said to him with a loud voice, "Do yourself no harm. We are all here. Nobody left. Everybody remained in the prison, in the cells. They remained there." And this jailer, he called light, and he sprang in, and he came trembling.

And he fell down before Paul and Silas. Look at the reverse what happened. A few minutes ago, he was in charge. Everybody was locked. Now the reverse has happened. He is the one that is in need, and they are lost and free, which they could just go and get out of prison. But he came and he fell down before Paul and Silas, and he asked this famous verse in the Bible that we often hear. He saw them and he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" We have it three times found in the Bible. In Acts chapter 2, when Peter preached, his old brethren said, "What shall we do?" Acts chapter 2.

In Luke chapter 10, when someone came to Yeshua, he said, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" People still think today that they can do something to earn their salvation. You can give money. You can earn. You can try to be good in order to get your salvation. You help the elderly. You do whatever you want. You keep certain holidays. Keep certain feasts. Do this. I will do something that I will be saved. It doesn't work. Because whatever we do comes from a sin nature. And all our righteousnesses become as filthy rags. Isaiah said this to our own nation, Israel, in his own prophecy.

All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before the Lord. There's nothing we can do. It is what he had done for us. It's what God have done for us. Not what we can do in order to gain salvation. The answer, of course, and that's very precious. Verse 31. We find out the answer that the Apostle Paul and Silas said. Simply these brothers and sisters. Believe on the Lord Jesus the Messiah and you shall be saved. Just believe on the person of the Lord. Accept what he has done for you. Believe on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. And that he is rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Many verses. John 3:16. John 5:24. Roman 1:16. And so on. There's so many verses to read in scripture. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. And that he is rewarder of them that diligently seek him. For this he adds these words at the end of verse 31. Believe on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and you shall be saved. And he adds. End thy house. Now because he had these words.

End thy house. Over the years people say okay I will believe. All my house is going to be saved. They can carry on to do what they want you see. But because I believe all my house is going to be saved. Now let us be careful here brothers and sisters. I wish it was so. I wish every one of us who believe today. That all our families are going to be saved just because you and I believe. But the point is this. That they themselves need to come to believe as well. They cannot say God I don't care for you. I don't want you in my life.

I don't believe in Jesus the Messiah. But I want to go to heaven because my mother believed you see. It's kind of nice isn't it. Everybody going to say well I don't care. My great great great uncle once believed. And I go to heaven. Never mind I don't care for Yeshua. Live for him. I don't want to hear the Bible. I don't want to hear the message. But I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. Because he somewhere. Years ago. Had believed in Yeshua the Messiah. That is not true. If you only read the continual verses. You'll see the truth. In the next verses. It says. And they.

This is Paul. Silas. They speak unto him. The word of the Lord. And look at continue. And to all that were in his house. You see. They were preaching. And teaching the word of the Lord. Not only to him. So they will be saved. They preached the message to him. But they also preached to his house. Look at verse 33. Verse 34. He took them the same hour of the night. He washed their stripes. And he was baptized. He and all his straightway. And when he had brought them into his house. He set before them meat of wood. And rejoiced. And look. Believing in God with all his house.

Not only he believed. And all his house went to heaven. He believed. And all lived like the world. And didn't care for the Lord. But they're going to go to heaven. No. Everyone has to make it his own. He believed. They believed. He was baptized. They were baptized. After they have believed. And they have received forgiveness of sin. And the answer is. You believe. And you're going to get saved. Your house will believe. And they're going to get saved. But they're not saved simply because you are saved. They are saved on the basis of the faith in the Messiah. And let me just conclude here.

In verse 35 to 40. It says here. When the magistrate sent the surgeon saying. Let them now go. So the keeper of the prison told this to Paul. That the magistrate said. Sent you. You know. Go. Depart in peace. So Paul says. No. They have beaten us openly. Uncondemned. Being Romans. And have cast us into prison. And now. Do they thrust us privately. He says. No. But let them come themselves. And fetch us out. In other words. Paul said. I am a Roman. And the way they have treated me. And they've beaten us. It was not lawful. They should have not have done that. And therefore. He says.

Let them come. And take us out. Not to send us privately out. And so. The surgeons told these words unto the magistrate. In verse 38. And they feared. When they heard. That they were Romans. And they came. And they besought them. And brought them out. And desired them. To depart out of the city. So they came in person. They took Paul. And his company out. And they told them. Now you can go. And so. In other words. They have done it openly. And they went out of the prison. They enter into the house of Lydia. Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren. They comforted them.

And then. They departed. They went back to the house of Lydia. Lydia was the first believer. In Europe. And they went back to her house. Apparently. In her house. It became an assembly. A meeting. A church assembly meeting. Where they were gathered together. The believers there. And after they went. To visit the believers. They have sent her out. And from here on. They were going now. To Thessalonica. Well brothers and sisters. The Lord help us. To learn from the apostle Paul. And those that went with him. Faith. Is essential. Upon hearing. The word of God. And one. Then. Can be saved. And be part. Of the family of God.