When Paul had finished his ministry in Galatia, he decided to go west to Asia. This was not the continent of Asia, but a small province called Asia or Asia Minor, where Ephesus was located. The Holy Spirit stopped him and he could not go. Then he tried to go north to preach in the prosperous cities around the Black Sea, but again he could not go. The Holy Spirit restrained him. Just how the Holy Spirit restrained him we are not sure. Maybe he just had a feeling that that is not where God was calling him. Maybe it was illness, because Dr. Luke who was a physician joined them about this time, as we see in verse 10. So they kept on sailing. Paul had a simple faith that God was in control of his life. He could say with Joseph Gilmore: He leadeth me …

                 Whatever I do, wherever I be, still tis God’s hand

                  That leadeth me

                   His faithful follower I would be, for by

                   His hand he leadeth me.

Finally they arrived at Troas.  Troas was near the ruins of ancient Troy. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing by and begging him:

“Come over to Macedonia and help us”. 

This is the first mention of Macedonia in the Bible. Macedonia was on the other side; Macedonia was in Europe. The word, the Gospel had never been preached in Europe. The meaning of the vision was clear: Europe was calling for help. They knew that God had called them to preach the Gospel in Europe. 

This was one of the great turning points of history. Nothing makes a person strong like hearing someone cry for help.

You can be walking down the street at the end of your day, completely exhausted; you feel like you lie down on the curb and go to sleep, but then you hear a cry. Someone is in trouble, someone needs help, and you forget that you are tired.

The gospel had never been preached before in Europe, but we cannot predict what God will do based on what God has done in the past. We don’t know why God directs us west when we want to go South or North.

Why did he not give Paul the vision at the beginning of his life?

We don’t know; we do know that as Paul writes in Romans 8:

“All things work together for good to those who love God, to those        who are called according to God’s purpose”.

God was leading them to Europe.

The Scripture say they ran a straight course to Samothrace; that means the wind was perfect, in their favor; the wind was at their back. So that the next day they arrived in Neapolis, one of the districts in Macedonia. The “next day”; that means it took them two days. It would have taken them five days if conditions were not in their favor. Once in Neapolis, they rode for about a half hour to the city of Philippi, the main city in this district. 

Philippi was not very well known at this time, except that it was the city where the second Roman Civil War was decided. If you remember reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, this was the city where the armies of Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar defeated Brutus and Cassius. 

They were in the city for a few days, and they looked for a synagogue, but there was no synagogue. According to Jewish tradition, when there were ten men in the city they could form a synagogue. If they did not have ten men , they were to worship near the sea or near the river. 

That is why on the Sabbath Day, this Missionary Quartet (Paul and Silas, Timothy and Luke) went down by the riverside. They found a small group - all women- who met to pray and to recite the Shema . This was a divine appointment.

The leader of the group was a woman named Lydia; she was the Head of Household. The others were probably her family and friends. The Lord had prepared her to receive the Gospel. She was a businesswoman, selling purple. She was from Thyatira; the other name for this city is Lydia. The Lord opened her heart to receive the Gospel. They must have been meeting here for some time and praying for God to send them some help, someone who could teach them about salvation. Paul and his evangelists came to this city looking for the man they had seen in the vision. So the man in the Macedonian vision turns out to be a woman Lydia.

That is why when Paul looked back, he could write

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

That is why the song by John Oxenham says

In Christ there is no east or west, neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but all Christly souls are one in him throughout the whole wide earth. 

That is why for the last ten years I have made at least one mission trip overseas. I remember 2003 I was asked to go to Zimbabwe; My team and I drove all around the country, looking at various mission projects that have been started with our support.

And then we drove from Harare the capital to Old Mutare where the university is located, and with the students gathered on the campus hall. About ten miles away the United Methodist Women were holding their annual convention an old-fashioned tent revival.

As we drove the program was all in Shona and so I was not paying attention. Then I thought I heard my name, and I said no it could not be. Then I heard it again and again. So I said to the Pastor that was driving why is my name on the radio. He said they are promoting the convention, and they are saying that an evangelist from the United States will be preaching at the convention, and his name is Rev. Victor Sawyer. I said to him I am not an Evangelist;

He said now you are.  We got to the camp site. The crowd was estimated at more than 2500.  About 500 were commuting from the nearby villages, and 2000 of them were staying in tents sleeping in blankets on the floor. It was the largest crowd I had ever preached to.  I felt like they were saying Come over to Macedonia and help us. I left there and went to South Africa, first to Johannesburg, then to Soweto. For one week I taught at the Wesley Seminary  in Soweto.  The Bishop asked me do you want to stay with the students on campus or do you want to stay in a hotel. I said I will stay with the students on campus. So here I was with three students in the room, and 200 students in the building.  I was sleeping on bunk bed; the mattress was thin, uncomfortable, the students were noisy. That is when I realized that being in mission is a sacrifice. 

In Feb. 2005 I was on a Volunteer in Mission in Ghana.  We left Accra with a full tank of gas. We were going to the northern region to deliver some medical supplies to the War Memorial hospital in Bolgatanga. It was a two-day journey. On the second day we were deep in the predominantly Muslim part of the country. We were running out of gasoline and all of the gas stations had closed; they said there was a shortage. We were halfway between two large cities. We came to a hospital. It was a large hospital; we knew they might have some gasoline. We went to talk to the director of the hospital. His Secretary said to us All of our gasoline is in the vehicle.  She told us that she was a new Christian. She and her mother and her sister join the Methodist Church in town, they have been baptized, and they are studying. So we gave her Bibles and some of the materials that we had with us. Then she said to us:

I live over there.  My father and my mother live there; Can you go over to the house and talk to my father. Why should we go and talk to your father. She said my father does not want my mother and I to go to church. Every time we go to church it is a problem for my father.  I think if you talk to him he will understand. I looked at my watch; the hour was getting late; our first priority was now to get some gasoline for our journey. But because she needed some help we said we would go speak with him for a few minutes. 

She ran home and prepared her father for our visit.

We walked into his house knowing that this was his house and we need to be very careful about what we say.

Before we said anything he started talking. He said I am a Muslim. I was born a Muslim; that is all I have ever known. I believe in Allah, and I don’t know anything about this Jesus my wife is talking about. And he said don’t try to tell me about this Jesus because I believe in Allah. 

Lydia became the first convert to Christianity in Macedonia, and in fact in all of Europe.

In Revelation Jesus sends a message to seven churches:

Ephesus -loveless

Smyrna – Persecuted

Pergamos – Compromising

Thyatira – corrupt

Sardis – dead

Philadelphia – faithful

Laodicea  - lukewarm

There was a church in Thyatira, Lydia’s hometown. The Bible does not say so but I like to believe that Lydia was one of the leaders who kept that church from total corruption. I like to believe that she took what she had learnt and taught the people the truth.

When Jesus examines this church in Revelation he says:

I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience. He says to them you who know the true doctrine, you who follow the true doctrine, hold fast what you have till I come.

If Paul had not been obedient to the vision the Gospel may not have reached Europe; Lydia may not have received salvation. The church in Thyatira may have been condemned. The Philippian jailer and his household may not have received salvation. From Philippi, Paul went on to Thessalonica, and to Berea, and to Athens, and to Corinth. Paul saved Aquila and his wife Priscilla.  They in turn taught Apollos. All of those cities heard the Gospel because Paul was obedient and to the vision to

“Come over to Macedonia and help us”. 

Mississippi is our Macedonia. Pray that our mission there is a blessing to the people we meet.  I would not go there if it were not the Lord’s will.  Senegal is our Macedonia; I would not go there if the Holy Spirit does not allow it. Ghana is our Macedonia. You never know how God might use the mission to reach others. We plant the seed, we water the seed, and it is the Lord that gives the increase.