August 16 And a Vision appeared to Paul in the night; there - TopicsExpress

August 16 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 (Acts 16:9). Paul now begins his second missionary journey. He will take Silas with him; Timothy will join him at a place called Lystra. It seems that Paul thought he had the mind of the Lord regarding the destination of this journey, but after starting out, he found that he did not. The Scripture says, “They were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). Then they tried another direction, “But the Spirit suffered them not” (Acts 16:7). Even though every missionary journey undertaken by Paul was of the utmost significance, still, this one was more important than ever, because here the Holy Spirit will direct the Gospel westward; the first preaching in this direction took place in Greece. Satan would do everything he could to greatly hinder this effort, as would be obvious, due to the tremendous significance of this development; however, as the Spirit kept leading, Paul and Silas kept following, until ultimately they received the “Macedonian Call,” which was one of the most important Calls in history. Even though the first missionary journey undertaken by Paul was the beginning of this great episode, still, the Holy Spirit now gives special guidance regarding the Gospel and its geographical direction. To be sure, the Lord did not love those in the west more than those in the east; however, by foreknowledge, He knew that those in the west would be more receptive to the Gospel, hence leading in this direction. When Paul received this Macedonian Call, even as it regards the man in the Vision, we are here seeing the blueprint for that which we refer to as “Western Civilization.” In that Macedonian Call is every freedom we now enjoy, all the prosperity which we now have, actually that which has made the United States the envy of the world. To the degree that the Western nations have accepted the Gospel, to that degree have they been blessed. When our leaders speak of extending democracy to other nations of the world, what most do not seem to realize is that there can be no true democracy without acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel that He affords. So our efforts at trying to democratize Muslim nations, no matter the good intentions, will little work. For it to truthfully work, they would have to forsake the religion of Islam and accept the Lord Jesus Christ, which the far greater majority of them will not do. If any type of democracy is established in Iraq, or any other Muslim country, it will mostly be democracy in name only, without many of the benefits. Unfortunately, in the United States of America, we are losing sight of that which has made us great; we are gradually becoming “heathenized” ourselves. There is, in fact, no longer a separation of Church and State, which is proper, but rather a separation of God and State, which is catastrophic! The problem? The problem is the Church! The Church has strayed so far from the True Gospel of Jesus Christ that it any more little persuades and sways Governmental leaders, which it is meant to do. Peter said, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them who obey not the Gospel of God?” (I Pet. 4:17).