Divine Vision and Obedience - The Call to Macedonia (Acts 16:1-10)

[Stephan Choe]

September 14, 2023

Key Verses 9+10:       "And Paul saw an apparition by night: and a man of Macedonia stood and besought him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And when he had seen the vision, we sought immediately to go into Macedonia, knowing that God had called us thither to preach the gospel unto them."

One might think that Paul and his co-workers would have worked for the world mission because of their creative idea. However, the book of Acts tells us that Paul's worldwide missionary success was not due to his cleverness, but to God for His divine providence. Paul and his co-workers were humble, so they attentively followed God's providence. Therefore, a wonderful work of God happened.

Today, we want to know the example of God's providence and Paul's obedience.

When we see a divine vision and obey it, a wonderful work of God happens. We want to know this mystery through Paul's example.

1. Paul won Timothy as a co-worker (1-4).

Luke recorded Paul's attitude regarding circumcision in the 15th chapter. Paul had the conviction that the Gentiles did not need circumcision. This chapter shows us his flexible attitude about the circumcision of missionary workers.

Paul found a disciple named Timothy in Lystra. His mother was a Jewish Christian. His father, however, was a Greek. Was Timothy a Jew or a Greek? The Greek law was probably similar to the Korean law. If someone had a Korean mother and a German father, he would be a German according to Korean tradition.

Timothy was a son between a Greek father and a Jewish wife. Therefore, the Greeks would consider him a Greek. Also, Timothy was not circumcised until then.

But according to Jewish law, he was a Jew because he had a believing Jewish mother. “A believing Jewish mother” means she is a Christian. Timothy was raised by his mother to be a believer as a Christian. Jewish women were known for their zeal for the faithful education of their own children. In this respect, they are similar to Korean mothers.

I was asked during my mission trip in Korea by a woman named M. Lee to help her first son to attend High School (upper class of gymnasium) in Munich. She wanted to send her son to Munich so that he could first attend gymnasium and then university in the United States. Although her husband did not believe in Jesus, she raised her children well in the faith so that her two sons have become good Christians. Her first son goes to church early in the morning every day for prayer meeting.

Verse 2 reports that Timothy had a good reputation among the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. This means that Timothy had a good faith. That is why Paul wanted him to accompany him as a missionary worker. That is why he took Timothy and circumcised him.

We also know from the 15th chapter that Paul had been active in making sure that the Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised. But why did he circumcise Timothy, whom he wanted to take with him as a missionary worker? Because he did not want to create an obstacle to the missionary work. Because the Jews who lived all over the world were zealous for their tradition. In their understanding, Timothy was considered a Jew because Timothy's mother was a Jewess. To the Jews, circumcision was a vital thing. Because of these Jews, Paul circumcised Timothy so that Timothy would not be hindered in his activity for the mission.

This shows Paul's broad-minded attitude for the mission. He personally did not believe that circumcision played any role in the salvation of believers. However, he circumcised Timothy because his nicht-circumcision might unnecessarily become an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel if he took the uncircumcised Timothy as a missionary worker. Paul wanted to be as Jews with the Jews and as Greeks with the Greeks in order to win both the Jews and the Greeks to faith in the gospel. We are to be broad-minded like Paul.

2. Paul fortified the churches (4-5)

Paul saw the need to strengthen the churches that he and his co-workers had planted on their first missionary journey. Therefore, they went through the cities where they had preached the gospel earlier and delivered to them the decision of the apostles' meeting. The decision of the apostles' assembly means that a person is not saved by keeping the Jewish laws, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, it is unnecessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised.

Two steps are therefore necessary to be saved from eternal damnation: One is first to recognize and confess to having transgressed some divine law. After that, one should believe and confess that Jesus Christ died for this transgression and rose from the dead. Then all one's sins are forgiven and one has become a child of God.

Those who want to be saved by their own works are like those who want to go up to heaven in a spaceship and bring Christ down to earth. Or they are like those who go down to the realm of the dead to bring Christ up from the dead. No human being is able to do this. But God accomplished everything Himself to redeem us from sin and hell; God offered Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement for us by sending Jesus into the world, letting Him die bleeding on the cross in our place, and raising Him from the dead.

Because God accepted the death of Jesus Christ as an atoning sacrifice for our sin and raised him from the dead, he forgives us who confess our guilt and believe in Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. God warmly accepts us as his children and gives us eternal life and his Kingdom of Heaven. We are to embrace the Good News again and again and thank God for it.

Verse 5 tells us about the consequence of the Apostolic Decree: "Then the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily."

This verse tells us the secret of church growth. Because Christians remembered their faith in the gospel, their faith in the grace of forgiveness of sins and the hope of the resurrection was strengthened. Because of this grace and hope, they had great joy and thanked God for it. They proclaimed this Good News with joy, and people believed in their message. This is how the church grew.

Believing in the grace of the Lord is the key to strengthening the church. If we want to spread the gospel, we should renew our faith in the grace of the Lord so that we can be full of joy over our salvation. May God make our joy great over our salvation. Let our joy burn like strong bonfires, so that many sparks from our fire will leap and set many people on fire.

3. Paul sees the world mission vision through Europe (6-10).

Paul and his co-workers had ministered exclusively in Asia Minor (that is, Antioch/Syria - Cyprus - Pamphylia - Pisidia - Galatia) during the first missionary journey (13:1 to 15:35). Paul and his co-workers revisited and strengthened the churches they had opened up on the first missionary journey.

After that, they wanted to missionize new countries. Therefore, they went through Phyrigia and Galatia. This was their second missionary journey.

Here interesting things are reported. The Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching the gospel in this province (that is, in Asia Minor). Therefore, they came through Mysia to Troas (until here Asia Minor).

Probably, Paul first wanted to lead all the people in Asia Minor to believe in the gospel. But God prevented him from doing so. Paul could hardly lead people to faith. This seems to us to be an unsuccessful time of Paul. But in reality, the Holy Spirit continued to work mightily to guide Paul and his missionary team according to His will. Paul sought divine direction in the face of the seeming fruitlessness of his missionary work. And the Holy Spirit, through an apparition, guided him and his mission team to Europe. For he saw in the apparition by night a man from Macedonia who asked him to come to Macedonia and help them. The apparition did not seem to be special. But Paul and his co-workers were humble and obedient servants of the Lord, seeking the will of God. They thought that God might lead them to Europe through the apparition.

Why did God want to guide Paul and his co-workers to Europe? We can say that out of love for all people, God wanted to send His messengers to all nations. That is why God sent Paul first to Greece and then, a little later, to Rome. From Rome, the gospel was to be spread to all the world, so that all nations would be saved from the darkness of sin. For God loves all people.

Language is one of the decisive factors for understanding between people or between nations. At that time, the Greek language was a world language. The Roman road was like a highway of today. God wanted to use this world language and traffic for the salvation of all people throughout the world. The Roman Empire was well-prepared to spread the gospel to the world because of the Greek world language and the Roman highways.

And God intended to use Europe as a world evangelization center for world evangelization in the following 2000 years. He wanted to spread the Gospel to the world from Europe. Therefore, God prevented Paul from continuing to work in Asia Minor, but led him to Europe. So Paul saw a vision of God in Troas. Because of this vision, he and his co-workers traveled from Troas to Europe. And in a European city called Philippi, Lydia was converted as the first European woman.

After Paul had ministered in Greece for a while, God sent Paul to Rome, sending him as a prisoner to the imperial court. Thus, God had Paul proselytize in Rome, the capital of the world. God then wanted to missionize the whole world from Rome and Europe.

God wants to save all people with the gospel. Our God is great. His idea is great. His will is perfect. He always works great for the salvation of all people.

We are to consider God's providence carefully in order to serve God. God's will is great. For example, with the world mission vision, we can help some students like Ann-Kritin and Darya. Maybe God can use them as missionaries. Or God can do some other wonderful work.

We should not forget that our God is the Creator and Director of all things. His will is great and wonderful. We are to be humble and follow His plan. God then uses us precious.