Has anyone ever handed you a jar or a bottle and they expect you to open it? Have you ever had that experience before? And you get that thing and you're just like talking to them or whatever, and you start turning, and then it does not open? Am I speaking to anybody right now? And there's that moment when you realize it's not opening, and you make that face. Right? And you're just like hmmm, you're like, frustration starts rising up. You start saying things like, who made a bottle that doesn't open, right? You start getting angry, and then you start really, like now, it's a test of your strength. Now it's like, alright, we're going to open this thing, and then it still doesn't open. Well, what do you do? Last time that happened to me, I handed it to my wife Christa, like here, you do something with it, you know? What are we got to find a bottle opener, a can opener. Where are these things? Right? See, here's what we're going to learn today. And this is really important for us. God is the one who opens our hearts. That's what we're here to learn from Acts chapter 16, verses 6 to 15. So, if you could open your Bible with me, and turn to Acts 16, we're going to see God open this lady named Lydia's heart. And it's going to inspire us here this morning. And so, please turn in your Bible to act 16 verse 6. And I want to welcome everybody who's watching online, everybody who's here on the on the front lawn. Can we welcome them to our teaching time here? We want you to open your Bible. And we're going to ask everybody, no matter where you are, if you would stand up for the reading of Scripture, and follow along with Paul and the rest of the guys that make up his team, as they go on a trip, and they end up speaking to Lydia, and watch what God does. This is Acts 16:6-15.
“And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.”
That's the reading of God's Word, please go ahead and have your seat. And our passage begins here in verse 6, with a bunch of names of places that you may not be familiar with. And I know when we read names of places that we don't know, it's easy to just gloss right over them. And so, I want to encourage you, if you've got your bulletin, pull out that handout, and we've got a map there so you can really see where we're going along with Paul on what is known as his second missionary journey. And God's going to be really directing Paul and the others who are traveling with him where he wants them to go. And so, you can see it there on the map on the handout, if you want to take some notes on the handout. But you can see we started in Antioch. Remember, Paul and Barnabas were doing ministry together, but they went two separate ways. Barnabas took John Mark over to the island of Cyprus. And so, Paul, he went up on the land with Silas and then he came back to Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, places they had already gone and preached the gospel, seen people get saved, seen churches get started. Well, they came through to encourage them. And they met a disciple named Timothy there in Lystra who's now traveling with them.
And now they're wondering where do we go next? And so, you can see first idea is, let's go to Phrygia and Galatia. And next idea is, let's go to Mysia and Bithynia. But the Holy Spirit forbids them the first time, that's kind of like strike one. And then it says the Spirit of Jesus doesn't allow them. So, their idea clearly is to stay on this land area and go to the north. But then Paul has a vision, saying, come on over to Macedonia and help us. And you can see, to get to Macedonia they go across the sea. It's like a two-day trip going over to Samothrace and then going over to Neapolis. And then they get to this city Philippi. And so, what is really fascinating here is they want to go one way, and somehow the Holy Spirit forbids them from going over the way that they want to go towards Asia. And then they have another way they want to go, and the Spirit of Jesus does not allow them, and then, through the vision, and that's like, third time's the charm here, they get the clear idea to go to Macedonia, which is not what they were originally thinking. So, if you look back at verses 6 and 7 here, it's really interesting to see how God leads his people. And you've probably experienced this when you were maybe looking for a relationship in your life, or where should you live, or what career or job should you have. Maybe you feel like, hey, you have this idea to do this, and then the Lord kind of led you out of that. And then you are going to go over here and do this, and the Lord kind of led you out of that. Well, notice it says very clearly in verse 6, it's the Holy Spirit who forbids them to speak the Word in Asia. And then in verse 7, look how interesting it is. It says the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. And then when they have the vision, look down at their conclusion in verse 10. After Paul sees this vision, the conclusion is that God called us to preach the gospel to them. So, we see right here in verses 6 to 10, an example of the Trinity. We have the Holy Spirit showing them where not to go, we have the Spirit of Jesus not allowing them to go somewhere, and then we have God, the Father here, calling them to Macedonia. And so, we're here today to affirm that there is one God but three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Well, here's a great example of that right here. And they're all involved in directing them right where they want them to go.
And the means that we've been seeing throughout the book of Acts, if you see it there in verse 9, is a vision appeared to Paul in the night. So, people have been having visions regularly in the book of Acts with clear instructions, this is where you should go. And we saw this back in Acts chapter 9 when Saul met Jesus, and he was blinded by the glory of Jesus, there was a vision given to a man named Ananias that he should go to Saul. And it said that Saul had a vision that a man named Ananias would come to him. So, God used visions to bring Saul and Ananias together so that Ananias could restore Saul’s sight. In chapter 10 of the book of Acts, we had this man Cornelius, who had a vision as a Gentile man that he should ask for Peter to come. And he sent his men, and then Peter had a vision of a bunch of animals that he thought would be unclean, but they were declared clean. And then the Spirit told Peter to go with the men and preach the gospel to Cornelius and the Gentiles. So, this is a way that God has been using to direct his people right where he wants them to go, who he wants them to talk to. And here we see, after they're trying to go a couple of places, but that's not what God wants. There's a vision that shows them exactly the way to go.
And I'm sure many of us are thinking, man, wouldn't that be nice to have a little vision if you're wondering what God's will is, what your next career path or decision should be? Anybody here? Yeah, I'd like to have a vision, please. Just tell me exactly where you want me to go. Hey, that sounds great. Well, hold that thought. We'll get to that more in the future. But another thing we want to point out is look what happens in verse 10. Notice the “we” creeps into our text here in Acts 16:10. When Paul had seen the vision, immediately you'll start to see the first-person plural used regularly throughout the rest of the book of Acts. That shows us that Luke, who wrote the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke, Luke, we refer to as Dr. Luke because he was a medical doctor. He is now on this trip. So, we know that Paul has Silas with him, Timothy with him. Luke is now using “we”; he's going along on this. And so, you're going to start seeing a “we” tone throughout the rest of it. Seems like Luke is with Paul from the second journey on through the rest of our adventure in the book of Acts. But this is a real big point here. Look back at verse 9. Notice what the man from Macedonia says in this vision. He says come over to Macedonia, and… what has he asked for there? He says, help us. Okay. So, it says he's the Macedonian man. I don't know how they knew he was the man of Macedonia. I don't know what that looked like, but probably when he said, come to Macedonia, then we knew he was from there. And he said, help us. And notice their conclusion. When Paul saw the vision, immediately, we're going to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to help them. Is that what it says there? Oh, it says, help in verse nine, but in verse 10, it says, to preach the… interesting. When somebody needs help, in our mind the conclusion that we come to is that well, what they really need is they need the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is that the first thing that we're thinking because that's how these guys thought. Macedonia is asking for help. They need the gospel.
And the word here for preach the gospel is a Greek word euangelizo. So, we'll throw it up here on the screen. Hopefully, we've got it up here. Yeah. And it means to bring good news. You can see here it's translated, to preach the gospel, that's often a way that it's translated. But sometimes it's also translated, to bring the good news. I mean, that's what the word means. Eu is a prefix, that means good. And then the rest of the word is angelos, which is message. So, it's a good message. They need help? Well, we've got good news, we've got a good message. So, it's not so much preaching like I'm doing right now, although you could preach the Good News of Jesus in this context. But it's this idea, like, hey, we have something that they need, let's go share it with them. Let's go bring it to them. Let's be the messengers of the good news to give them the help they need in Macedonia.
So, let's get this down for point number one: Help others by sharing the gospel. Help others by sharing the gospel. When you see someone who needs help, let's associate in our mind, wow, how could I tell them the good news of Jesus? How could we bring to them who Jesus is? Does this person really know that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus put on flesh and became one of us and humbled himself as a man, that Jesus lived a perfect life and then died in their place, and then on the third day, he rose from the dead? And if they were to believe in Jesus, they would get his righteousness, all of their sin would be forgiven, they would be changed from the inside out and start living a new life, and they would have a relationship with God that lasts forever. Does this person know that? Because that's the best help you're ever going to give somebody. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? All right.
Now, there are other ways to help people don't get me wrong. There are a lot of kinds of good works that we can do. And we're trying to do good works here at the church, we're trying to help brothers and sisters help people outside the church. But let's make it very clear that our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. And the main way we're going to do that is by sharing the gospel of Jesus with other people. That's what we're here to do. That's what the church is here to do. And that's what you are here to do as a disciple of Jesus, someone who is learning to walk in his commandments and live for him. Well, you want to pass on what you're learning to other people. And if you pass on Jesus to somebody, that's the best help they're ever going to get in their entire life. Okay? So, when we hear how can I help somebody. We should be thinking like, these guys are thinking, well, you go and bring them the gospel. That's how you help. That's what the church is here to do.
And we're living in a very divided time. We're living in a time where people they're arguing about politics all day, all night, 24/7 arguments going down. And I'm going to talk about it here for a second. I know this is this is getting edgy now just saying the word politics. You feel that in the room, right? I mean, are you seeing a lot of political converts? Are you seeing through the dialog where people are arguing at each other and using all capital letters and exclamation points? I mean, are you seeing a lot of posts out there on Facebook? Why the person above me just made such a great point, and I've completely rethought my life, and based on their Facebook post, I'm now thinking totally different about this issue. Is anybody seeing that kind of stuff? I'm just seeing people who hate one another, who want to argue with each other, and are more convinced that they're right, and everybody else is wrong than they have ever been. And so, if you want to really help people, and really change people's minds, the best thing… here is what I do see, I see converts to Jesus Christ. And when people get saved, guess what? They think differently about everything. And all of a sudden, they're realizing that issue, this thing I was thinking wrong about all of it, I’ve got to learn a whole new way to follow Jesus Christ. And that bad attitude that I was having, that destructive behavior that I made a habit in my life, all the angst that I was dishing out to my loved ones in my family, I’ve got to rethink all of that. And I’ve got to learn a new way of love, joy, and peace in Jesus Christ. When people get saved by Jesus, they don't just change on one thing or the other thing, he changes everything in their heart. That's what happens. You want to help somebody get right politically, help somebody you can tell they're not doing well, you want to lift them up, encourage them? Introduce him to Jesus Christ. Best thing you could ever do for somebody. Strongest help you're ever going to give anybody in this life is the good news of Jesus Christ. And this is not just for some of us. I'm not just speaking to a few people here who are going to go share Jesus. If you are a disciple of Jesus, he has sent you on a mission to tell other people about him. Okay? So, I'm not saying if you meet somebody who needs help, and then they don't know Jesus, bring them to me, and I'll tell them about Jesus. That's not what I'm saying here. I'm saying you should tell them about Jesus Christ.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 10, everybody. Let's see what Jesus says here in Matthew chapter 10. And this is when he's sending out his twelve disciples that he has just called, he's just given the names of the twelve disciples in this chapter. And then immediately he gives them instructions to be sent out, two by two, into the towns of Judea to go and preach the gospel. So, he's like, hey, you twelve, you are my guys, and I want to tell you right now, I'm sending you out. So as soon as they are called disciples, they are sent on the mission by Jesus. And he gives them many instructions here in Matthew 10. But look at Matthew 10:32-33, because this applies to everybody here that's here in this today. It says, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men,” and this is Jesus speaking, “I also will acknowledge before my Father who was in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” This is Jesus’ expectation for his people that he is going to claim in heaven before the Father, this is one that I died for, this is one that I bought with my blood, I sacrificed myself for this person’s sin. If Jesus is claiming you in heaven, he expects you to be claiming him here on earth. He expects you to be acknowledging him before men. And notice the intense way that he says it here in verse 33, if you deny me before men, I'm denying you before my Father. He says, this is just how it goes to be one of his disciples, this is how it goes to be one of his saved people. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will tell other people about Jesus Christ. That's how it works. And he’s saying, it works that way to such a point that if people don't acknowledge me, and instead they deny me by their silence, by their hypocrisy by seeing that opportunity to talk to somebody go right by and doing nothing about it. He’s saying, hey, those aren't really even my people, I'm not going to be claiming them. I mean, this is a bold statement that Jesus is making to show how much he expects his disciples not to be ashamed of him, but to acknowledge him.
Are you one of the people acknowledging Jesus before men? That's what he expects of everybody he's going to acknowledge before his Father in heaven is he expects all of us to be laborers out there in the harvest field. All of us ready to do this, euangelizo, which we make into English evangelism, which is just sharing the good news of Jesus that has meant so much to me and passing it on to other people. Notice the words here in verse 32, and verse 33, everyone who acknowledges me before men, or whoever denies me before men. This is not just for some special group of elders or deacons or leaders in the church. This is for everyone who is the church that you would be a part of the team out there spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. I mean, you know people who need help, am I right about that? I mean, you may be driving around the streets of Huntington Beach, Long Beach, all the cities we've got around here in North Orange County, South LA County, you can just drive around, and you can see people who need help. Are you thinking, wow, they need the gospel. Now, hey, there's a lot of other good things we can do. And, and we're trying to do it. I mean, I've seen more people at this church bringing food and bringing meals to one another than ever before. I mean, that's a great thing to do, giving people food, that's a real need. That's something that we can do to help people.
We had some men yesterday who were at this Nesting Place in Long Beach, and they were doing some real physical service there. And we've been trying to improve that facility every month. These men are working there, we've been investing into their facility to make those rooms nicer for the moms there who are deciding they don't want to have an abortion, but they want to have their babies. We've been trying to improve that facility. That's a good thing those men are doing to do that physical work. I mean, sometimes people have financial needs, sometimes brothers or sisters come upon hard times, where they're in need. And because people in the church are generous to give, we can meet those needs financially, as we see people go through them. So, there's a lot of good things that you can do. But the best way you're ever going to help somebody is by telling them about Jesus Christ. And I would be happy to tell anybody about Jesus. You bring somebody to me, I'll tell them about Jesus, but I would much rather equip you to tell them about Jesus. I'd much rather see you out there bringing people. That's our goal here at the church. How many people do we have at Compass HB who are ready right now to lead somebody to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the response of repentance and faith? Are you one of those people? And if you are one of those people, and you're like, I feel like I'm ready to go, put me in the game, but I'm just not having opportunities. I just don't know how to do it. Well, then you come talk to me because we want you sharing the gospel with people. We’ll put you into a spot where you'll be able to do that. But maybe you're feeling like I don't know if I'm equipped. I don't know if I'm ready. Well, then the question would be, what are you doing to get equipped? We can't just perpetually live in a way where it feels like, we're on a mission to tell people about Jesus, but I don't know how to tell people about Jesus. Okay? If that's where you're at, well, how can we learn to tell people about Jesus? Well, one way, if you look at the back of your handout there is I'm going to be teaching a personal evangelism class at Compass Bible Institute, that's a school that has been started by the church in Aliso Viejo, that planted us, that set us up here in 2014. I'm going to be teaching a class starting this Saturday morning, it's from 8:30 to 10:30. And you don't have to go to the class, you can watch it online. It's a real class that you could take for credit that could transfer to colleges and seminaries. Or you could just audit the class and you don't have to do that homework. You don't have to take it for credit. But that's an intense class. It's 16 weeks, but it's something you could do. If you took that class, wow, you would know how to tell people the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, if you're like, I'm not sure I'm ready. If the main help that people need is Jesus, and you're not ready to give people the main help that they need, well, then the question comes to you today, how are you going to get equipped to be able to tell people about Jesus Christ, because that's the best help you're ever going to get them? And, and even parents, if you want to help your kids be prepared for life? Well, there are so many practical things you can teach them about how to behave, and even just things to know about as they grow up and mature. But if you really want to help your child, you’ve got to teach them the way of Jesus Christ by how you live, and by what you say to them. Are you ready to do that? So, help equaling preaching the gospel.
Go back to Acts 16 with me, that's what they think. And the Lord, he says, don't go here, don't go there. Yeah, Macedonia. And they and they're on the mission. Now they know where to go. They know what to do. They're very confident that it's about sharing the good news of Jesus. And so, it seems like it takes a two-day trip to sail there. And the place they get to is Philippi. And if you look at verse 12, it appears that Philippi is an important place. And it says that this is a leading city in the district of Macedonia. So, they're going right into the heart of Macedonia. Macedonia says come and help, well, what's a big city we can go to right in the middle of Macedonia? Let's go to Philippi. And its strategic because it is uniquely a Roman colony. Okay? This city has a unique status in the Roman Empire. We're going to see how that plays out as we continue to go through Acts 16 next week. And then it says that… you can see there in verse 12, that they remained in this city some days. So, we're going right into Macedonia, there's a city there, Philippi. It's a Roman colony. So, it's very strategic. It's on the main road. It's a part of the key city in the Roman Empire. And we're going to spend some time there and see what happens. So, they're going all into Philippi. And we know how important a city Philippi is, because many of us have read the book of Philippians. In fact, we even got to study it together as a church in the summer of 2019, we had the summer of joy. Does anybody remember that? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. See, we got fired up by the book of Philippians. And Paul was in prison, but the Philippian church, they sent him some money to support him, to fellowship with him while he was in prison. And he was so overjoyed with their support that he writes them this letter about the gospel progressing, and how he's encouraging them to strive side by side for the faith of the gospel. And so in Philippi, there becomes a church that Paul ends up writing a book of the Bible to. So, we know, when we hear Philippi, you might have read a lot of different places, and you're like, I don't know what's going on here. But when you hear Philippi, you can tell, okay, something's going to happen here. Let's pay attention.
And then it says, Acts 16:13, on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we suppose there was a place of prayer. And we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. Now, that's not what we've seen is typical procedure from the apostle Paul. Usually, when Paul comes to a new city, from what we've studied so far, he goes on the Sabbath to the synagogue. And we even got to study Paul, the guest preacher. We got to go through like a message he would give in the synagogue where he starts with what they're reading from the Law and the Prophets. And he brings it straight to the Messiah, the Christ. And he shows them that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of the prophecies, and he preaches the gospel to them, and he tells them to respond in faith. So, it appears that it's possible here in Philippi, and remember, when we now went across that sea we went from the kind of the mainland, where we were into Europe, into what we would think of as modern day Greece. So, we're definitely getting further away from Jerusalem now. So, it's possible they don't even have a synagogue in Philippi. You need ten Jewish men to establish a synagogue. Even to this day, when synagogues are having times of prayer, they need a certain number of men to be there to really have an official meeting of a synagogue. So, it's possible that in Philippi, there is no synagogue because there's not enough Jewish men. And so it appears that there are some women who are meeting outside the city down by the river. And they don't mention men. It says there are some women gathered there. And so, think about how awesome this is that there's a small group, it seems like, of women down by a river outside a city, and God cares about these ladies so much that he says to Paul in the crew, you're not going here, you're not going there, you're going over here. And he gets him to this city. He gets him outside the city, he gets him down by the river. I mean, this is God getting his men exactly where he wants them to go, because our God seeks and saves souls. And he's coming after these ladies.
And there's a lady we're going to meet here in Acts 16:14, named Lydia and she's actually from where they came from back in what we would think of as kind of like Turkey, Thyatira, that's one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation is in the city of Thyatira. So, she's from where they came from. And she's a seller of purple goods, purple being the color of nobility. So, she could be working with some wealthy benefactors to make things for them. And so, this lady is a worshipper of God. She already knows something about God. That's why her and these other ladies have gathered together by this river to pray and to worship God. So, she knows something from the Law from the Prophets, about Yahweh about who God is. But here comes now Paul, and he's going to speak to them the good news. He's going to tell them about Jesus and how Jesus is the holy and Anointed One that all of the Law the Prophets, the Psalms has been leading up to. And here's the key to our whole text, Acts 16:14, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. So, Paul, we know he's ready to speak. He's ready to go. I mean, he's a man on a mission. And Lydia, who's already a worshipper of God, she seems like a lady who would want to listen. But see, it's not just the person speaking, and it's not just somebody physically hearing, no, there's something that happens here where the Lord opens her heart, and she really pays attention. She really responds. And it says, look at what happens after the Lord opens her heart to really hear what Paul is saying about Jesus Christ. Look at this response, “she gets baptized.” She's immediately ready to go public with her faith. Maybe she gets baptized there in the river. It's not clear if it's immediate or later on, but she gets baptized. And look at this? Her household as well. So, then whoever Lydia is living with, it's not just that when her heart gets opened, it doesn't just impact Lydia. It impacts everybody she's living with, her whole household, they're all getting baptized, and then she's urging them, Paul and the other men traveling with him, hey, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, or if you have judged me maybe to have faith in the Lord, come to my house and stay. So immediately, she's practicing hospitality. And she's so persistent or she's so persuasive that she prevailed upon them. There was no way that they were saying no to coming over to Lydia's house and staying there. And so immediately, you see, God opens this lady's heart, and she's ready to get baptized. She's impacting her household, she's ready to bring Paul and the crew into the household. They could set up a base of operations in Philippi right there where she's living. I mean, there's a lot that God does after he opens her heart, a lot of fruit in Lydia's life. And Lydia, it's really interesting how there's not a man mentioned here where it says her household. Okay? And this is a house where Luke and Paul and Silas and Timothy, they're going to clearly stay with her for a while.
And remember, at this time, a household wasn't just your family, there could have been other people involved, servants involved. I mean, there could I mean, her whole business of selling purple goods could have been involved in this household. So, this could be a whole group of different kinds of people, and they're brought into it, but there's no man mentioned in Lydia's life. And if you go back to Acts 16:1, at the beginning of the chapter, when they came to Lystra, a disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. So, with Timothy, it's really significant that his mom's a believer, passing on faith to her son, that she's a Jew. That's why Timothy ended up getting circumcised. But even though his father doesn't seem to have faith, and doesn't seem to be a Jew, but his father is mentioned there.
So, with Lydia, you don't get a mention of any man, which leads people to wonder, was Lydia a single woman? Was Lydia perhaps a widow? Did Lydia have children or not? We don't really know. It doesn't say. But it is interesting that it doesn't mention when they would go and stay at her house, it doesn't mention a man who's head of the house, it gives the impression that Lydia is the leader of this household. And that should be a great encouragement to any lady here that if you're a single woman if you're a widowed woman. And if God opens your heart, look at the kind of impact you could have. I mean, if God gets a hold of somebody's heart, it doesn't really matter who you are, it doesn't really matter what kind of family you come from, it may not be the purpose of the status or influence that you think you may have with others. Let me tell you right now, if God opens your heart, it's going to impact everybody around you. And that's what we see with Lydia. We see that it wasn't just Paul speaking, or Lydia listening, and we're experiencing this right now. Because I'm up here speaking to you. And you're listening to whatever degree you're interested in listening. Well, the power is not in me speaking. Are you listening? No, God is the heart opener. I mean, this is how it works. Okay?
Let's get that down for Acts 16:11-15. Ask God. If you want to see somebody get saved. You've got to ask God to be their heart opener. Ask God to be their heart opener. Okay. And this is what I'm so concerned about. This is what I think a lot of people think evangelism is. And I think they think, well, I want this person to really be saved and that's a good desire to want somebody to be saved. There are people that we all know that we love, we do not want to see them perish apart from God. We genuinely care about them, and so, we want to see them get saved. And so, I think what we do is we grab that jar, and we start trying to turn it open, and we start making that face. And when you make that face, it doesn't come across like Jesus loves you, you know what I'm saying. And some of us are doing this. We're so frustrated with that family member, whether it's an extended family member who we can tell is living in rebellion to God, or maybe it's a family member or somebody who lives right there in our house, and they got a bad attitude every day, and we are just like, God, open a jar. But we're not going to open the jar. We're like, hey, you come here, let me tell you right now a few things, and our frustration, our anger is represented to that person. And so, with people in your life that you have a great desire to see saved, are you going and like squeezing those people and forcing those people and thinking it's about you just trying harder and getting them to listen? Or are you over here, saying God, it's nothing that I'm going to say, and it's not about them hearing. God, you are the heart opener. I'm handing the jar to you. Is that what we're saying? Because what we don't want to do here at this church is some of us go get frustrated with people out there and force the gospel onto them without having faith that God is the one who opens hearts.
So, before you talk to somebody else about Jesus, you need to spend some time asking the Savior himself to work in their heart, because just you speaking and them hearing is not going to be enough, the Lord has to open their heart. And when you start looking for the idea of God being the opener, you're going to find a lot about that in the Scripture. In fact, go back to Luke 24. Because Luke uses this same idea when Jesus is giving his last words to the disciples in Luke 24. The Greek word is dianoigo, and anoigo is to open, to through opening. So, it was through the opening of Lydia's heart that all these other things happened that she was really able to hear the word and respond in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. And so, Luke 24, we see Jesus opening the disciples to really get it. Just like Lydia had some kind of understanding of God, but didn't know the gospel of Jesus, well, look what happens here with the disciples. These are the last words of Jesus to the disciples in the Gospel of Luke 24:44-46. “Then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me,” here's Jesus claiming that “the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” are about him. And all of those prophecies are fulfilled in me. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” And what does he say to them right after he opens their minds, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead.” Right away, he gives them the gospel. This is the summary of the whole message, Jesus is the Christ, the holy and Anointed One, he suffered by dying on the cross for your sin, on the third day, God raised Him from the dead, and now he offers you new and eternal life. That's what he goes to. And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in Jesus name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. So, the disciples, who got to see all the miracles, you've got to hear all the teachings, they still had to have this opening of their minds to really get it. And when Jesus does that here, it's like, whoa, all of these Scriptures that I've known, they're not just about what I thought they were about, they're about Jesus. And they're seeing the big picture.
I mean, even in some of the Gospels, they write how when Jesus did it, the disciples didn't know what to think about it. But after he rose from the dead, they remembered that he said that, and then they realized when he said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He was talking about himself, he was talking about when they killed him, on the third day he would rise. Did they get it before their minds were opened? No. But after Jesus opened their mind, wow, they're really able to see who Jesus is as revealed in the Scripture. And it's not just you trying to tell somebody or them trying to figure it out. No, it's like, once God opens their heart, they see the glory of Jesus Christ. And I don't know if you've ever had the privilege of sharing the gospel with somebody, somebody who has no clue like they haven't even heard it before. And you're like, well, let's read the Gospel of John. And they're reading John, and they're asking questions like, where is the Sea of Galilee? Or, like what time is this, like what year did this happen? Like they know nothing. They're just trying to figure out information. And you're like answering their questions. Well, there were rabbis and there were disciples and people decided to follow the teaching of the rabbi, and you're trying to explain to them the context. And it's hard for them to really understand anything. And then they keep reading. And it's like their mind is opened. And now they're not asking you questions to understand basic things. Now, they're saying, can you believe Jesus said this? Can you believe Jesus did that? I mean, Jesus is awesome. And you're realizing, wow, we're not just reading for comprehension. We're reading and experiencing salvation, praise the Lord. When God opened somebody's heart to see Jesus, and he did it with the disciples, he did it with Lydia, he's been doing it with people for two thousand years.
Go over to Acts 26, something we're not to yet, but I want you to see how Jesus himself talks about it here in Acts 26:18. This is a very important verse for us to look at with this idea that God needs to open people's hearts. And we should be praying for God to do this mighty work. We should be expecting that that's how it's going to work. We want to help people, we want to share with them the gospel, but God is the one, he's the only one who can really open their heart. And Jesus says this to Saul on the road to Damascus. So, Acts 26 is Paul giving his testimony. And he gives kind of an extended edition of what Jesus said to him when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. And look at how it ends. And when Jesus says, he's going to send Paul to the Gentiles, just like that he is now in Philippi. Look at Acts 26:18, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Do you have somebody that you know, and you love, that is in the darkness, and you want to see them come to the light? Is there anybody out there that you can tell is under the power of Satan, and you would like them to see under the power of God? Do you want people's sins to be forgiven here today? Would you like to see some people come to faith in Jesus Christ? Well, are we praying? God, you’ve got to open their eyes?
See, I think what a lot of us are doing is we're living in a dark world, and we're living in the land of the blind. And we're getting frustrated, why aren't these blind people seeing? Can you imagine that going up to a blind person? Why can't you see? What's your problem? Can you imagine doing that? You wouldn't do that, but that's what you're doing with all the blind around us. You're getting frustrated, you're like making that face, you're like trying to open the jar, and you're frustrated? Why won't this thing open? Well, there's only one who can open it. Don't get frustrated with the people who are stuck in their sin, beg God to open their eyes. That's the only way they're going from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. It's not going to be by their power, or them just getting it, it's going to be God revealing it to them by the power of his Holy Spirit. He has to illuminate. People don't understand spiritual things unless the Spirit reveals it to them. You can't explain it to them so they'll get it, they can't just be smart enough to get it. We're talking about spiritual things of God that come from the Word, and God is the one who has to open them up to see it or hear it. He has to give them eyes to see and ears to hear. And if he doesn't give it to them, they're not going to get it no matter how good of a job you do explain it to him. God has got to do the work. And so, we should be praying for this every day. If we want to be people on mission, if we want to see more disciples get made and the name of Jesus really lifted high through his mighty work of salvation, step one is admitting, God, we can't do anything. If our mission is to make disciples. We can't do it, you're the one who asked to make the disciples. Can I get an Amen from anybody on this?
So, you're like, hey, I don't know if I can talk to people. I don't know. That seems intimidating. That seems like a lot. Well, can you talk to God and ask him to open people's eyes to see Jesus Christ? Can you talk to God and ask him to open people's hearts so they can really hear the Scripture and believe and repent? I mean, the first step that everybody should be doing, no matter where you are as a disciple, how mature you are, how equipped you feel to do the work of the ministry and help people by sharing the gospel, every single one of us should be praying and probably every day, God we need you to save more souls. And you have to open their eyes to see it. They’re so blind God. Instead of getting frustrated with the people who can't see let's go to the heart opener and ask him to do it.
Go over to 2 Corinthians 4:4, and let's just remind ourselves, or if you don't know this scripture, you need to really look at if there is an enemy actively opposing the work of God. We know that when people hear the word of God, Satan, like a bird, when the seed of the Word of God, when the seed of the gospel is sown, and it goes out and somebody hears the gospel, Satan, like a bird swooping in, snatching that seed up before it can really get in and start growing and just carrying that seed away. I mean, Satan is out there actively working against people hearing the gospel. It says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “even if our gospel is veiled,” even if you share with somebody good news of Jesus, and it seems like they can't see it right in front of their face, “it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world,” Satan himself “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Why can't they see Jesus? Because Satan is out there blinding them. You're going to get mad at somebody because people can't see Jesus. How about getting mad at Satan? That would be appropriate. And how about having pity for the blind who can't see, having real compassion for them? I mean, do you realize how terrifying that is? I mean, so many people today, they're like, oh, the wool is being pulled over people's eyes. And when there's conspiracy theories, look what's happening. I'll tell you what's happening. Satan's out there blinding everybody from seeing the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. That's real. That's happening. That should bother all of us. Oh, man, I don't like that. I can see that he's doing it, I can see that people can't see. Oh, God, you’ve got to do something about that.
See, when you start studying God, opening people's hearts, opening people's eyes so that people can see Jesus, you'll notice that, along with the opening, is this idea that when it's opened up, a light shines in and people see the light. That's what happens. Look at 2 Corinthians 4:6, how it says here, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give” us the reason that we can see is because God “has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” So why are you seeing Jesus? Why do you know that he died for your sin and rose again? Do you think you figured that out for yourself? Or do you think that God shone a light into your heart? See, we're all like Lydia. We're all there maybe listening, responding to what we know about God. But if God doesn't illuminate our heart and mind to really understand the gospel, we would still be blind ourselves. It's by his grace, by him shining his light into our hearts that we can even see. And we’ve got to remember how we got saved. And we’ve got to pray for God to do that same work in those around us.
Let's get this down. You’ve got three dashes there under the second section: Let's pray for the blind to see Jesus. Let's pray for the blind to see Jesus. Let's not get frustrated at them. Let's not try to keep turning that jar, opening it, making an angry face at the people around us. Let's have compassion for them and go to God and beseech the Lord, beg the Lord, earnestly pray to the Lord God, I can tell that this person I care about can't see Jesus. And the only way that they will is if you open their heart. If you open their eyes, God, I know Satan's out there trying to blind them, will you please show us your power and your Glory and your love and let them see Jesus? Everybody here, that's something we could all do is pray that prayer and ask God to do what we know he is able and willing to do. But it's not just the blind that need to have their hearts opened.
Go to Ephesians chapter 1 and let's look at this together because you need to have your heart opened even in an ongoing way as a believer. It is possible that God has opened your heart and he has opened your eyes, and you can see Jesus in all of his glory and splendor at the right hand of God, the name above all names, but your vision of Jesus could be very near-sighted. You may not really be seeing him in his full glory. And we learned about the near-sighted Christian when we studied Ephesians chapter 1. And we saw what Paul was praying for these people, and they were clearly Christians because he said that they have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And he praised the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for saving them. But then he says this in verse 16. This is Ephesians 1:16-19 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” so he's clearly referring to these people as people who are in Christ, they are saved, but they still need that spirit of wisdom. They still need God to show them who he is. And so, he's praying, hey, I want your eyes of your heart, I want your spiritual understanding, to be enlightened, to be opened, I want you to really see, not just that you have been saved by Jesus, but you have the hope of Jesus Christ inside of you? Do you understand the inheritance that you have waiting for you in eternity? Do you know that the same power that rose Jesus from the dead, the same power over Satan and all the demons, the same power that makes Jesus at the right hand of God exalted, the name above all names, do you know that power is in you right now?
See, there are a lot of people sitting right here that are brothers and sisters in the Lord. I don't know when the last time your eyes got opened. But you're walking around right now, you're walking around, not like Grace is amazing, you're walking around, like we've got some average grace. This is how a lot of Christians live these days. Maybe we should bring the Thompson family singers back out here. Average grace, average grace, how sweet the sound that saved the kind of okay person like me, you know. That's how a lot of people are acting. They're not acting like, this is amazing what has happened. The Father has sent his Son, and the son came from eternity, and he went and found this little wooden cross outside the city, and he died there. And you know why he did it? He did it for me. So, you're not hearing a lot of people talk like that these days. People bursting forth. Yeah, hey, bad times around here. But you know what, I've got the hope of heaven. You know what? My finances are hurting down here, but you know what? I'm rich in glory. And you know what I've got through all of these tribulations? I can be of good cheer, because my Lord Jesus has overcome the world and I have his power working in me and everybody else in my church. You're not hearing a lot of that. A lot of near-sighted Christians walking around, like, I just hope Jesus can help me get through the day. Jesus can help you do a lot more than get through the day, brother and sister. And your eyes are acting like yeah, Jesus is okay. That doesn't say to the world, wake up and see that. Doesn't say to the world, come here and listen, when you're handing out average grace in your life. And that's how a lot of Christians live here in Southern California. Grace is okay. It saved me in the past. Hopefully, someday in the future, it'll be awesome. But right now, it's kind of rough. That's how a lot of Christians are. And it's like, yeah, but where is in your weakness, his grace being sufficient? Where is in your weakness his power bursting forth? It's right there. Can you see it? See, we need our hearts to be open to how awesome it actually is that we have the grace of Jesus Christ in our lives. Maybe we can kind of see Jesus but look at all that we have. Look at the hope. Look at the riches of the inheritance. Look at the power.
Let's get this down for the second dash: Pray for believers to see all we have in Jesus. We want other people just to see who Jesus is and what he did for them. But once you have believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you should have love, you should have joy, you should have peace. You have eternal security, assurance of salvation. You have a hope, a living hope of Jesus Christ, both now and forever. Yeah, let's bring him back out. It's a grace that we have in Jesus is amazing. It is awesome. And I want to tell everybody about it. That's what we should be seeing. And we're going to the Bible, and people are reading the Bible like oh, yeah, I already know this. Oh, yeah, I already heard this. Oh, this is hard to understand. I'm not sure if there's really anything in here for me, rather than going and saying, God, open my heart, God shine your light. God, I need you to stir me up once again. I need you to speak to me in my soul. I remember when I was fired up and you were so awesome. Open my heart, Lord. That's what we need. Every time we're going to come into a church service like this where we're going to hear the word we should be praying, even maybe days before we get here. God, I need you to speak to me. When we do you believe in the power of hearing the Word of God. Do you believe are you walking away saying Well, what did you think about him, his message? This isn’t my message that we're talking about here today. I had nothing to do with Lydia's heart being opened. This is the Lord speaking his Word; you're hearing from God. Is that how you're taking it? When you go to read the Bible, are you saying, God, I'm ready, I'm ready for a vision, I'm ready for a miracle? Show me something here from your Word. Give me the light. God, open my eyes, open my heart to understand, fire me up. Is that what you're praying?
I think a lot of people when they read the Bible, when they come to church, their expectations are already down at average, and they're not even asking God for amazing. Is that you? Are you just expecting to roll in here, roll out of here, and nothing's even going to change between you and God? Or are you saying God, I want to see your glory, I want to know you more, I need you to open my heart up so I can really worship you and know about you? We need this on a regular basis for God to do this work. So, pray for those who can't see, pray for the church that God would open our hearts as we gather together around his Word, and then pray for yourself.
Go to 2 Peter chapter 1. Look at how Peter says this. Okay? 2 Peter chapter 1, this is a really interesting statement by Peter that I want you to consider. I want to go back to where we raised our hands like yes, I wish I would have a personal vision telling me exactly where God wants me to go, and exactly what he wants me to do. Well, Peter had that vision. In fact, Peter had more than visions, Peter saw the miracles of Jesus Christ firsthand. I mean, all the miracles of Jesus Christ, he saw the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Peter saw even more than just the miracles of the God-man Jesus resurrected, Peter saw glorified Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John went with Jesus up on the mountain and Jesus in front of those three men was transfigured, unveiled in all of his glory. So, he saw it literally with his eyes there the glorified, unveiled full God, Jesus Christ. And he heard with his ears, he heard the Father say, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Wow, that's beyond just some kind of vision, or God-man doing a miracle. This is seeing the very glory of God and hearing the very voice of God speak, he experienced that on a mountain, and he's not telling you to go to that mountain. Look what he says here, after he tells that story in 2 Peter 1:16-18, he says this in verse 19, “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed.” He directs your attention not to the miracles, the visions, going up on a mountain and seeing it and hearing the glory right there with your own eyes and ears. He says, the Word that we have the prophecies that we have, are even more fully confirmed. To “which you do well” two key words, “pay attention.” That's what Lydia did after her heart was opened, she was really hearing what Paul was saying about Jesus Christ. And he's saying you want to know God, you want to see his glory? Well, you would do very well to pay attention to the Word. That's how God is going to open up your heart. That's how he's going to shine his light. And look what he says, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” So, here's me paying attention to the prophetic word, and I'm ready for the light to shine. I'm ready to see what God is going to do. And I'm giving it my full and undivided attention. 2 Peter 1:20, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture,” none of these books that make up the Scripture came “from someone's own interpretation.” These aren't just things that men came up with. No, verse 21, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit that was directing Paul and his companions don't go here, don't go here, go there, he had Paul write down thirteen books in here. He had Peter write down things. He wrote down the full account of Jesus Christ and the Spirit. He carried men to write this, and he will use this Word if you really give it your full and undivided attention. If you pay attention to the Scripture, the Spirit will illuminate your understanding. I mean, the Scripture is a light to our soul. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? I mean, it's spiritual. It's beyond fully my ability to grasp it, but there are times in my life where chapters and verses in this book became like, go to Huntington Beach, plant a church. I don't know how exactly that happened. But that's the work of God by the power of his Spirit through his Word.
Let's get this down for that third dash: Pray for yourself to pay attention till the light comes. Pray for yourself to pay attention till the light comes. Pray. Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, I need to know where to go. Show me from the light of your Word. The entrance of your Word gives life and even the simple are given understanding through the Word of God. You want to know where God wants you to go, and what he wants you to do? Pay attention to the holy Scripture, the prophetic word and ask God, God, you’ve got to show me, you’ve got to shine the light. I'm waiting for that morning star to rise, please open my heart. And so, we’ve got to be praying for people who've never had their heart opened ,for our brothers and sisters who need to have their heart opened again to see how amazing the grace really is. And every time we go to the Word, we should be praying, God, I need you to show me. I can't just read the words and expect to get it. God will you do that work in my heart? And when God opens somebody's heart, wow. I mean, look what he did with Lydia. She's getting baptized, her whole household is getting baptized. It's not just like, Lydia, God saved everybody she lives with. Was that children? What that the people she was working with? Servants? We don't know. But clearly, when God opened Lydia up, wow, look what happened to other people. And I don't know who you're living with. If you're living with roommates, maybe you're living by yourself. And you feel like well, how could God use me? Well, maybe your focus shouldn't be on what could I do with other people, maybe your focus should be on God open me up. That's the real thing that we need.
And I just want to speak to the parents because this series here is Go Home and Make Disciples. And I want to speak to the parents from Deuteronomy 6, if everybody will turn there with me Deuteronomy 6, because parents, and we've got these great parenting classes going on right now on Wednesday nights for young kids. Thursday nights for teenagers. Pastor Bruce is teaching, lots of people are learning about what the Bible says about parenting. But when parents, it's like, what should I do with my kids? What should I say to my kids? And so many parents have implied to me, like, hey, is there a tip that you can give me with my kids? Is there a trick? Like, what's the trick of getting our kids to obey us? What's the trick of getting our kids to learn about Jesus and get saved? Is there just something I can do? Between me and my kids. It's kind of like, hey, I'm having a hard time getting my kid to open up in their heart. What's the trick to getting this jar to open with my kid? Well, look how it says it in Deuteronomy 6:4. This is the Shema, this is a famous passage in the in the Law, and it says, “Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” And here's the great commandment, “you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.” I mean, that's for all of us. We got to respond to God with all that we are. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk, by the way, that sounds like hey, if we're hanging out at home, we're talking about the Law, the words of God, if we're going somewhere else, we're walking around the neighborhood, we're driving in the car, we're talking about it. It says when you lie down, and when you rise, that sounds like when you go to bed at night, when you wake up in the morning, and your kid doesn't want to wake up when you go put them to bed at night and the kid doesn't want to go to bed. It seems like all of that time; we're supposed to be teaching them diligently. And so, the parents they come, and they say okay, so what do I teach him? Okay, what are the tips? What are the tricks? What do you say that works? And they completely skip over verse 6, here's what you teach him. These words that I command you today shall be on your work. See, if your heart hasn't been opened as a parent, if your heart is not regularly being opened, and God is shining his light through his Word, then you're not going to have anything to say to your kids. And there's no tip that I can give you to teach something that's not in your own heart. See, if parents stopped getting frustrated with their kids, and they said, God, I really need you to open my heart and they paid attention to the word bursting. I mean, if the Word of Christ is dwelling in you richly, if you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you're going to have something to say to those kids. I mean, if you're thinking about the Word and God's doing his work in you, and you're getting things oh, you're going to have something to pass on. I think we get so focused on those kids, and we’ve just got to, why won't they get it? Why won't you listen to me? Hey, question, are you listening to him? If every parent here stopped getting frustrated with their kids and went to God and say, God, put your commands on my heart, so I have something we're saying to my kids, you’ve got to teach me so I can teach them. If we all went and did that, if God really opened your heart through the power of his Word, it could affect your entire household, no matter who you are. Don't underestimate the power of God working through his Word. Let me pray for us right now.
Father, we, we come to you, inspired by what you did with Lydia. We don't know who was in this household. But when you opened her heart, wow, the impact that she had that they would all get baptized. Now, we don't know if she was a single lady or a widow. We don't know if there was a husband and kids. But here's what we do know, Father is that you did a work in her that impacted the people around her. And God, we would love to see you do that work here among us. Now we ask that you will open people's hearts to see Jesus Christ. God, we pray even in this service, if there's somebody here, they kind of know about Jesus, but they aren't. They aren't really putting their faith in Him. They aren't repenting of their sin and turning to him God, we ask that today, you would open their heart that you would take the blinders of Satan off, and you would give them eyes to see that they would experience your amazing grace that once they were blind, but now they can see Jesus Christ. And so, God our prayer to you is that you would open the eyes of our hearts. And we're asking you to do it God. We're saying that some of us have been trying to open that jar way too long. And today's the day that we're going to hand the jar to you, and we're going to say God, you're the heart opener and let it start right here in my heart, so please, Father, here, this prayer as we sing to you right now.