Well, it's been a good service tonight and it's been a distressing service tonight. After I got onto the platform and was seated about ten minutes into the service, I got a note from my daughter. It says, Dad, Mom can't come to church because you have the keys. You can go get her or call her if you want. Oh, Emily. Emily, I'm glad somebody loves me. So it's been a distressing service in some respects, but I'll get the details later.
If there's anything my wife hates, it's to miss a church service. Bless her heart and well, anyway. Tonight in our closing minutes of the service, we want to talk about what makes a missionary successful. I'd like to open your Bible to Acts, chapters 16 and 17, as we just pick out a few things here that I think answer that question. Someone might answer the question, what makes a missionary successful by saying education?
I certainly wouldn't deny that education can play an important role in preparing a person to serve the Lord overseas or here in the States for that matter. Education's greatest benefit perhaps is the fact that it opens doors of ministry for a person. Someone else might answer the question by saying, well, I think it's methods. And indeed, methodology is very, very important.
Today there are many missionaries and mission organizations on the cutting line of new methodologies that are really exciting. But I don't think that's the best answer. Someone else might say, well, it's fame. It's being well known. People can go in and just immediately have a claim and have a position to speak from. That can be helpful. But the fact is there are very many successful missionaries and other servants of Christ in the world who have no fame whatsoever.
Someone else says, well, it's money. If they have enough money to get the job done, and indeed money is part of it. It costs money to send missionaries overseas and for them to live there and to minister there effectively where God's called them. That's an important part of the whole picture. But there are missionaries who have excess money who aren't successful.
I believe that the thing that really makes a missionary successful is the same thing that makes a servant of God here successful or wherever he or she may be, its character. And I want you to notice with me three or four characteristics of the Apostle Paul, certainly one of the greatest missionaries of the whole church age. Acts chapter 16, verses 6 through 10 describe for us the first part of the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul.
And they pass through the Phrygian and Galatian regions, the Phrygian regions, that's Minnesota, Phrygian and Galatian region. And they've been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Messia, they were trying to go into Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. And passing by Messia, they came down to Troas. Here they had a plan all laid out. They knew where they wanted to go and how they were going to get there.
And one time, and then again, the Lord said no. And just how God did that, we don't know. Was it health? Was it other circumstances? Was it a vision from God? Was it a prophet who came and spoke to them? We don't know. But in some way, God said no, no. They were uncertain. And so, it says they went down to Troas, which was the direction God was moving them. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.
A certain man of Macedonia was standing, appealing to him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. When he had seen the vision, immediately we, Luke now being on board with them, sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. I think the first characteristic that I see of the apostle Paul is that he was obedient in uncertainty. God said no to him. And I think that Paul must have been wondering, Lord, what are you doing?
Have you ever felt that way? When you thought you had your plans laid out, you thought you had the green lights from God and then all of a sudden, things just seemed to turn around and you were uncertain as to what God wanted. Sort of a fog set in on you. A number of years ago now, we were in California in the San Francisco area and we were staying in a home.
And as we looked back toward the hills, I don't know what they're officially called, but there's some hills there that separate some of the city from the ocean. As we look back there at those hills, an amazing thing happened, there was this stuff that started coming through the low spots in the hills and began to come quickly down the sides of the hills. The wind was blowing ferociously. I thought maybe the end of the world had come.
Something was attacking the city of San Francisco and this eerie stuff was coming down across the city. And as I inquired of the hosts as to what it was, they said it was fog and it built up on the other side of the hills over the ocean. And it had gotten up high enough and now the wind was carrying it down the valleys and the crevices of the hills over the rest of the city. And it wasn't too long before the sun was obliterated and it was foggy. And it had been a sunny, beautiful day.
You know, there are times when our Christian life is that way. Everything is just wonderful. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, it's warm, we're happy, and all of a sudden the fog sets in. What do you do when that happens, when you're uncertain? Well the answer is be obedient to what you know God wants you to do. You may not have all the answers and all the pieces to the puzzle, but as much as you know, just be obedient to God even if that means to wait.
The Apostle Paul was obedient in uncertainty and I believe that any of us who desire to really be used of God and be successful and fruitful in ministry have to begin here with obedience, obedience even when we're uncertain of the whole picture of what God wants. There are times when all of us face uncertainty, it's important to handle uncertainty properly. And the best way I know to do it is just do one step at a time. If I see one step that God wants me to take, take that one step.
I may not see where the next one is going to be or what the ultimate end of it all is, but if I see one step, take it. Be obedient in uncertainty. As you work your way down the chapter, you come to verse 22, they get into trouble in Philippi where they preach and it says that the crowd rose up together against them and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, this is now Paul and Silas, inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely and he having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God and the prisoners were listening to them.
I see a second wonderful characteristic here and that is that they rejoiced in suffering. Now that's not the normal natural thing to do. The first thing is to say ouch and then the second thing is to say why me? But the apostle Paul along with Silas, his partner here rejoiced in the midst of their suffering. That is the paradox of God's people. The apostle Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 6, sorrowful yet always rejoicing. To the Philippians he said, rejoice in the Lord always.
And remember he himself was imprisoned in Rome at that time. But he says to them, rejoice in the Lord always and he repeats it. Again I say, rejoice. How is it that one can rejoice in the midst of suffering, especially suffering that one doesn't deserve? I mean if you get yourself into a mess, into a logjam, then somehow you can rationalize and understand why you're going through what you're going through.
But when you've just been serving God and when you've been obedient to God and just doing what you think God wants you to do and you suffer for it, how do you rejoice? I believe that the real heart of the answer there is to realize at that moment of suffering that you are in union with Jesus Christ who suffered for righteousness sake. Isn't that what Peter says especially in his first epistle? He says that you and I can rejoice when we suffer for righteousness sake, for Christ's sake.
We're just following his example. There is a special bond I think between the one who suffers for Jesus Christ and the Savior. And at that moment of suffering or that time of suffering, the Lord Himself is able to put a special joy in the heart of His Son, His daughter who is suffering for His sake. It is the union, the oneness of life that creates that joy. We have Jesus' joy fulfilled in us at no greater time than when we're suffering for His sake. We don't know a great deal about that.
But there are times when you and I do experience certain types of suffering for Jesus' sake. Rejoice in suffering. If you want to have victory in it, rejoice. If you want to be successful in the ministry God's called you to, keep at it even if you suffer and rejoice. Sing praises to God in the midst of the suffering. And I think it's instructive. What Luke includes here, this note that the prisoners were listening.
What a testimony it was to the prisoners who heard them rejoicing and singing praises to God after they knew what had happened to Paul and to Silas. Then I notice something else in chapter 16. They were released by God's work from the prison, but they didn't run. They were taken care of by the jailer. And then in verse 35 it says, Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen saying, Release those men.
And the jailer reported these words to Paul saying, The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Now therefore come out and go in peace. But Paul said to them, They have beaten us in public without trial. Men who are Romans. Now that was a no-no. You did not beat a Roman without a trial. The magistrates had seriously broken the law. And Paul knew it. And he says, They have beaten us being Romans and have thrown us into prison. Now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed.
But let them come themselves and bring us out. So Paul wants those magistrates to come down and to face the situation that they had created. Well it goes on to say that the policeman reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and appealed to them. And when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia.
And when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. And so they did leave. But I see here another characteristic of one who is successful in serving Jesus Christ. He is determined in opposition. The apostle Paul was opposed by these magistrates. He had been beaten unjustly. And now he has the opportunity to get out of the city and escape the whole situation without creating any more tension. But he refuses to do that even though he is opposed.
He is determined that he is going to honor God in it. So he insists that those magistrates who have broken the law come down themselves to the prison, get them out, and ask them to leave. And they did that and appealed. And I think we can include there the concept of apology. These magistrates were afraid because they had broken the law. They themselves could now be punished because of that. Had Paul insisted on it. And they just begged them over and over again to leave the city.
Just go, they said to Paul and to his party. But notice that Paul is in no rush. He goes off to the house of Lydia, the first convert in Europe. And there he sees those who have been won to the Savior. And when he was ready, his party departed from that city and went to the next place. I see here a man who is determined in the midst of opposition. You know, opposition can break us or can strengthen us. Opposition can cause us to be discouraged or opposition can build character in us.
You and I can face a number of kinds of opposition. We can face opposition from Satan. And Paul had right here in this very city, earlier in the chapter, you'll notice there was a slave girl who was demon possessed. Verse 16. And in verse 17 it says that she followed Paul and his party around the city. And she kept crying out and this is what she said, these men are bond servants of the most high God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. Is that the truth? Yeah, it was the truth.
Then why was Paul upset? For several days she did this and finally Paul greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out at that very moment. Paul was annoyed because he did not want the message of the gospel associated with this spirit and the girl and those who employed her in her divination. He wanted clear separation of the message of the most high God from that satanic mess.
There are times when Satan can oppose us and put pressure on us as he did with Paul. And then we can face pressure from the world. We see that here as the city is in an uproar and they're thrown into prison. And we can also face opposition from ourselves, internal. It's not the world out there, it's not the devil, it's problems we face inside. It doesn't happen here, but if you look over in chapter 18, you see it with Paul.
It says here in this chapter talking about his ministry in Corinth, verse 9, and the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer. In other words, something had come over Paul in Corinth. Something caused him to be afraid. And so the Lord Himself appeared to Paul and said, don't be afraid any longer. Go on speaking. Do not be silent for I am with you and no man will attack you in order to harm you for I have many people in this city.
What Jesus says to Paul suggests that he, the missionary, may have become afraid of the threats of people. And so he had that internal opposition, battling with himself and his own fears. You ever face that? Well, I suppose all of us do from time to time. Whatever kind of opposition we face, by the grace of God, let us be determined. Let's respond to that opposition in a way that will accomplish the will of God.
Now finally, I'd like us to turn over to chapter 17 to look at one more characteristic and we'll be on our way home. But first I want you to notice that there was something else about Paul that made him especially fruitful in his missionary work. And it'll make any of us in our service for Christ fruitful too. Look in chapter 17 and verse 16, now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was beholding the city full of idols.
Here I see the characteristic in Paul that he was stirred by circumstances. What does it take to stir you up? What does it take to get you agitated, to get you excited about something? Someone has said, I can tell you a lot about a person by what makes him cry, what makes him laugh, and what makes him angry. That's the truth. What is it that stirs you? What was it that stirred Paul here in Athens? Well, it was the idols. But what about the idols?
Well, I believe that there were several ingredients involved in Paul's stirring. It's sort of like a cake mix being stirred together. I think in the first place there was the ingredient of compassion for the people of Athens who were lost and on their way to hell. The false religion of the Romans and the Greeks, the mythology and all of their idols, that was nothing but the creation of Satan. It was a false religion that was leading them into eternal lostness.
And Paul had compassion for the people of Athens. I think that there was also the ingredient of hatred for the idols, hatred for the whole religious system, not the people now, but that whole system, the satanic system that had deceived these people and plunged them and their whole culture, their whole empire into darkness and damnation. And Paul hated that. There's a time for you and me to hate religious systems too that are deceiving people and leading them astray from the truth.
And I think there was a third ingredient. I believe that Paul was jealous for God. He was jealous for the one true God who was not being worshiped by the citizens of Athens. And so as you know in the story here, he sees this one particular idol that's an altar that is addressed to the unknown God. And Paul latches onto that idea and uses that as a base for preaching to the city and presenting the truth of God.
If you and I are going to be used of God and be made fruitful in our service for Him, we must be stirrable by the circumstances of people we minister to. Whether it be compassion for their condition or hatred of the deceit that holds them in bondage or if it be jealousy for the living God and a desire that people might trust Him and glorify Him, our hearts need to be stirrable. But alas, our hearts are too often like concrete that's set too long in one place.
Oh, that our hearts might be malleable, that they might be moldable and stirrable, that there might be something that provokes us enough to take action in our service for God. What is it that causes a servant of the Lord, a missionary or a witness here in the United States to be used of God and to be fruitful? Well, I believe it's obedience.
Obedience to that next step that God calls us to take, whatever it may be, even if there's uncertainty regarding additional steps, take the next step that God tells you to take. What is it that makes us fruitful in our service for God? I believe it's the joy of the Lord, especially in the midst of suffering. Furthermore, I believe it's determination. It's the ability to stick to it even when we are opposed, even when it's rough. The ability to stick with it.
Perseverance, that's the greatest kind of character quality a servant of God might have. And then compassion, the ability to be stirred, to care, to be concerned. And I pray that that would be characteristic of our church. And that as Jim and Carmen head off to South Africa, that the qualities that we see in them might not only be there as they minister, but be here too. That they might truly be an extension of what we are like as a church.
Not just some of us transplanted, but an extension of the very quality of our life and our service for Jesus Christ. So whether it's in South Africa, or it's in England, or it's in Taliabu, or somewhere in South America, that wherever the extension of this body is, is really a true representation of what we are. What we are. And that we might be fruitful here for the glory of God. God's called us to be channels. Channels for Him. I'd like to sing about that as we close. I think it's number 92.
So my memory is changing with my hair color. Yes, it is number 92. Let's sing about being channels only. And the first and the last verses are the ones I'd like for us to sing tonight. Would you stand with me please as we sing about our being channels of God. Verse one. How I praise thee, precious Savior, that thy love laid hold of me. Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me, that I might thy channel be. Channels only, blessed Master, but with all thy wondrous power.
Flowing through us, thou canst use us every day and every hour. Just before we sing the last verse, would the Tomaszewski slip out and that way you'll be in the lobby area when folks come out. You feel free to go ahead and slip out right now. Be sure to greet them, won't you, after the service. Now let's sing together the fourth verse. Jesus, fill now with thy Spirit hearts that full surrender know that the streams of living water from our inner man may flow.
Channels only, blessed Master, but with all thy wondrous power. Flowing through us, thou canst use us every day and every hour. Did you know that half of the people who've ever lived in recorded history and who've lived until the age of five are alive today in the world? What a tremendous opportunity we have to serve Jesus Christ in this generation. Let's be determined to go out and be his channels.
And now, Lord, I pray that you will fill us with those character qualities that will make us successful servants. We know that all of these qualities come by the work of your Spirit in our lives, and so we pray that you will fill us and dominate and control our lives, that we might be obedient and filled with joy and determination, that we might be stirrable in our hearts by the circumstances of those who live around us.
Oh God, we pray, make us fruitful channels in this generation and to this place. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.