The Gospel Goes to Philippi!

THE GOSPEL GOES TO PHILIPPI!

An Exposition on Acts 16:6-40

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   January 28, 2018

Series: Philippians: Gospel-Generated Community on Mission in the World

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

The apostle Paul began one of his many letters this way:

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:1-3)

Here was a dearly loved congregation, held tenderly in the apostle’s heart. More importantly, God’s heart went out to them and supplied them with an abundance of grace and peace.

The fact that the Philippian congregational already had overseers and deacons suggests that they enjoyed a measure of maturity and stability in their life together as a local church. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could turn back a few pages and see how the Philippian church got started in the first place? Paul says that the Philippians gave him joy “because of [their] partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” From the first day! Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to the first few days of gospel ministry in the city of Philippi? Well, we can! So before we walk through Philippians in the weeks and months ahead, let’s first turn back to the early days of gospel mission in Philippi.

The fifth book of the New Testament is called Acts and it tells us about the acts – the actions, the deeds – of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, who did great and mighty things through the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ apostles and other disciples to proclaim the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome.

In Acts 13 the church in Antioch sent off Paul and Barnabas on what is called Paul’s First Missionary Journey. On this first mission, they preached the gospel in several cities and planted churches in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Afterward they returned to Antioch and ministered there for a while. At the end of Acts 15, the church in Antioch sent off Paul and Silas on what is called Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. On this second mission, they visited the churches that had been planted on the first mission in order to strengthen them in the faith. Along the way Paul recruited a faithful young man named Timothy to join them, and another faithful disciple named Luke (the guy who wrote Luke and Acts) was also part of their team. Once they were done visiting the previously planted churches, they were seeking another place to go and preach the gospel. Where would they go next?

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

That brings us to Acts 16:6-40, which tells us about the next phase of their mission and how the Gospel came to Phillipi. Holy Scripture says:

⁶ And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become 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 that very hour.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.²³ And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴ Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵ But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.³⁹ So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.” (Acts 16:6-40)

FIVE FEATURES OF GOSPEL MISSION

As we walk through this passage, I want us to see five normal features of gospel mission. When I say ‘gospel mission’ I am referring to the Spirit-empowered activity of taking the gospel to people who don’t know the gospel. While the lessons in Acts 16:6-40 are obviously relevant to full-time missionaries, keep in mind that every disciple lives under the Lord’s appointment “that [we] should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16) – the fruit of new disciples brought into fellowship with God.

If you would like to become more effective in sharing the Gospel with others or if you have a general openness to the Lord leading you to more active participation in His missional work, then this sermon is for you. Which means that this sermon is intended for all of us, because the Lord’s will is that all of us be involved in His mission.

The Sovereign Director of Gospel Mission

The first feature of gospel mission is that this mission has a sovereign Director: the Holy Spirit! Follow His direction!

As I already mentioned, Paul and his team were seeking to proclaim the Gospel in a new place. Of course, the Great Commission mandate tells us to “Go… and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), so in one sense they could go anywhere. If all we have is the general direction to “Go,” that is enough for us to be pushed out the door and go somewhere, anywhere, everywhere in order to make disciples. However, within that general instruction to “Go” the Holy Spirit sometimes leads us in a particular direction, to a specific place or group of people.

Paul and his teammates were ready to preach the Word wherever there was an open door, but the Holy Spirit said a clear ‘No’ to two possibilities. The Holy Spirit prevented them from “[speaking] the word in Asia,” referring to Asia Minor which is the western half of modern day Turkey. Then the Holy Spirit did not allow them “to go into Bithynia,” which lay to the north. Of course, the people in Asia and Bithynia needed the Gospel as much as people anywhere else, but right here and right now, the Holy Spirit wanted this missionary team to go elsewhere. The Holy Spirit said ‘No’ twice because He was about to say ‘Yes’ to somewhere else.

Now Luke doesn’t tell us the Spirit’s method of communication. Whether it is a deep conviction in the heart, a circumstantial hindrance, consensus through discussion and prayer, guidance in a dream, vision, or prophetic utterance, or something else, the Holy Spirit may employ any number of methods in order to prevent us from moving in one direction and prompt us to move in another. Our responsibility is to trust and follow His direction.

As we consider our own outreach ministries – it could be Garments of Praise or the Outreach Team or Sunday School or Youth Group, or it could be something that we’re not currently doing that the Lord would like us to do, or it could be your personal outreach to your neighbors – as we consider these things, we need to be open to the Spirit’s direction and re-direction. Don’t be surprised when the Holy Spirit says ‘No’ to a good idea that you have because He is about to say ‘Yes’ to a better idea that He has!

For Paul, the divine ‘Yes’ came in the coastal city of Troas, in a vision in which “a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”” (v. 9) Macedonia lay across the Aegean Sea in modern day Greece.

It is not a little assistance that the Macedonians needed, for the help required was not help for a struggling economy, poor education system, or humanitarian crisis; and the help needed was not the help of four men. They needed God’s almighty help and saving power to break in upon their lives! Remarkably, God puts the rich treasure of Gospel truth in weak human vessels like Paul and Silas and us, and sends us to desolate places in order to announce the Good News about the Savior who stands ready to help! Could there a group of people in our region who would say to us, as it were, “Come over… and help us”?

Once they had received their marching orders, they “immediately” submitted themselves to God’s plan, “setting sail” (v. 11) to cross the sea and then making their way to Philippi, a prominent city in Macedonia. They followed the Spirit’s direction, and so should we. 

The Central Task of Gospel Mission

The second feature of gospel mission is that this mission has a central task: the proclamation of the Gospel! Whether standing behind a pulpit, or leading a Bible study, or teaching a class, or sharing with a friend, or giving counsel to someone in need, we must be diligent to proclaim the Gospel! For God delivers the true help that people need through the Gospel message.

Though Paul’s had to wait on the ‘where’ of mission, there was no doubt whatsoever about the ‘what’ of mission. Their main missional task was to “speak the word” (v. 6). After the vision in verse 10, they “[concluded] that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (v. 10) The risen and ascended Lord Jesus poured out His Spirit upon His people for the express purpose that His people would be empowered to verbally declare the Gospel message:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8; see also Acts 2:11, 4:31)

We cannot claim to be directed by the Spirit if we are failing to carry out the central missional task for which the Spirit is given, namely, to proclaim the Gospel. We must call upon people to turn away from their sins and entrust their hearts to Jesus and His all-sufficient sacrifice upon the cross.

Notice that gospel proclamation is, in fact, what Paul and his colleagues did in Philippi. They obviously wanted to find people to whom they could minister, so they went to a riverside women’s prayer meeting on a Sabbath day and spoke to women gathered there. These praying women were women who had a reverential attitude toward the God of Israel, but they didn’t know the things that God had recently accomplished in Jerusalem through His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore Paul and his colleagues told these women the Good News that the Old Testament prophecies had been fulfilled in Jesus! While they were speaking to these ladies, a remarkable thing happened: “The Lord opened [the heart of a woman named Lydia] to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (v. 14)

The preaching was not in vain, because the Lord was at work!

A few days later Paul and Silas were conducting jail ministry, and the jailer asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30)

“And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” (v. 31-32)

Friends, there are many ‘helps’ that we might share with people in an expression of love: we might share a meal or open a Soup Kitchen, we might offer practical assistance to orphans or widows or single parents or even launch a full-orbed Family Center that addresses the needs of at-risk families and youth, we might stand in the gap by tutoring the under-educated or providing free health clinics for the under-insured. I have no doubt that the Lord leads His people to do such works of love as a way of displaying His compassion and bringing the beauty of God’s kingdom into the world. Even so, we need to be absolutely clear and level-headed about the centrality of the Gospel message: those whom we propose to help will face everlasting ruin unless they hear, understand, and receive the Good News about Jesus. As John Piper says, “Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.”[1] And the only remedy for eternal suffering is the Gospel! Therefore let us be faithful to declare this message of eternal life.

The Clear Goal of Gospel Mission

The third feature of gospel mission is that this mission has a clear goal: new believers who become involved in the mission. We perform the central task of gospel proclamation for the sake of the clear goal of new converts and new churches. Evangelism is the task, but the goal is that the Lydias and jailers of the world would believe the message and become part of our missional fellowship. Converted, maturing, and going disciples is always the goal!

We see this unfold beautifully in Acts 16. Lydia and her household received the Gospel message and were subsequently baptized into water. Water baptism symbolizes the fact that a new believer is now immersed into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that the old life of sin has been buried and that a new life has arisen in its place, and that this person will now live as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. As for Lydia, after her baptism she immediately became an energetic participant in Paul’s mission. She urged Paul and his team to stay at her house, thus turning her house into a base of mission. Oh that every Christian family here at South Paris Baptist Church would see their home as a base for Christian hospitality, mission, and service! As we look ahead to the end of the chapter, we see that “the brothers” – that is, the new converts in Philippi – were gathered in Lydia’s house. No wonder Paul says in Philippians 1 that the Philippian believers were his partners in the gospel “from the first day,” for Lydia’s house became a home base for missional fellowship right on the heels of her conversion and baptism. 

Like Lydia, the jailer’s reception of the gospel was immediately accompanied by participation in gospel mission. He received the Word, believed the gospel, and was baptized to symbolize his newfound relationship with the Lord. But even before he was baptized he started participating in gospel mission by caring for the missionaries. Paul and Silas had been beaten and had untreated wounds, so the jailer “took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.” (v. 33)

Isn’t this a beautiful picture? How beautiful are the feet – and the backs – of those who bring good news! (see Isaiah 52:7) These beautiful missionaries were wounded, but the jailer became a medic who “washed their wounds.” Then there is the other half of the picture: the jailer had wounds of his own – the guilty stains of sin – but the missionaries’ word of grace brought healing to those wounds, and the baptism into water pictured the washing away of all those sins! He washed them, and they washed Him!

“Then, he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (v. 34)

If Lydia’s house had become a base for mission, then the jailer’s house had become a base for missionary recovery!

Always remember that the goal is not warm bodies to fill the sanctuary, still less names to put on a list, but true disciples whose lives have turned upside down by the Gospel and who have become active participants in gospel mission. Let us work together in gospel ministry so that others become a vital part of our missional fellowship with the Lord.

The Conflicting Context of Gospel Mission

The fourth feature of gospel mission is that this mission has a conflicting context: opposition from the ungodly. Do not be surprised when persecution comes to you or your fellow disciples, but rather expect it.

As Paul continued his mission in Philippi, we learn that there was “a slave girl” who was possessed by an evil spirit and worked as a fortune-teller, thereby bringing her masters a fortune of cash. This girl followed Paul and his team around and would cry out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” (v. 17) What the girl said was true, but the manner and timing of her speaking was obnoxious, disruptive, and unhelpful. Paul was highly annoyed at this demonic disturbance, and by the Lord’s power he cast the unclean spirit out of the girl. This was pleasing to Paul’s team, but not at all pleasing to the girl’s owners, because now “their hope of gain” through the girl’s fortune-telling “was gone.”

Therefore the initial wave of disturbance through the girl became a tidal wave of opposition from the girl’s owners. The owners got the city magistrates and the crowd all stirred up against Paul and Silas, the main leaders of the team. They were beaten with rods, inflicted with many blows, thrown into prison, and their feet fastened in the stocks.

There is nothing surprising about what happened to Paul and Silas here, for Jesus said that if the world hated and persecuted Him, then it would also hate and persecute us. It might be a demoniac speaking obnoxiously about us, or it might be beatings and imprisonment, or it might be bad press, or it might be rejection by friends and family members, or it might be dull-hearted churchgoers who attempt to throw cold water on your evangelistic zeal, or it might be so-called friends who pressure you to stay cool (and they will unfriend you if you don’t). But that’s okay, because Jesus promised:

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

When you walk with Jesus in mission, don’t expect the world to roll out the red carpet for you. You should rather expect to be treated like one of the Lord’s faithful prophets: slandered, persecuted, and possibly martyred. But then, after these momentary afflictions, great reward in the Father’s kingdom!

Gospel Mission Has Abundant Provision

Even so, persecution is not the only thing you should expect. For gospel mission has not only a conflicting context, but also a fifth feature, namely, abundant provision to meet the conflict. This abundant provision is the Lord’s ‘power’ and ‘grace’.

There are at least three instances in our passage of the Lord’s powerful grace enabling Paul and Silas to meet the conflict. The first instance we have already seen: the Lord empowered Paul to successfully command the demon to come out of the slave girl. The third instance comes toward the end of the passage: the Lord gave Paul and Silas courage to confront the misconduct of the city magistrates. This sort of confrontation takes Spirit-wrought courage, especially when you are confronting the magistrates who threw you in jail the day before! But who knows, maybe Paul’s courageous confrontation of the magistrates set the stage for the Philippian believers to share the gospel with these guys at a later time.

In the middle of our passage we find a second instance of the Lord’s powerful grace at work in Paul and Silas amid persecution, and we do well to reflect upon it. Paul and Silas were in jail, their bodies wounded from many blows, but their hearts were free!

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” (v. 25)

Physically, they were suffering; but spiritually, they were rejoicing. Physically, they were in “the inner prison” (v. 24); but spiritually, they were in the Father’s house, speaking to the Father and setting themselves before Him. Their feet were bound, but their voices were heard throughout the prison as they prayed and sang to the Lord with grace in their hearts. When the Lord promised that He would always be with His disciples as they carried out His mission, and there are no exceptions. The Lord was with Paul and Silas in that prison cell. One of the ways that the Lord’s powerful grace enables us to endure the hardships of mission is to give us joy and peace in the midst of suffering.

Then after the praying and singing came “a great earthquake” from the hand of God.

“And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” (v. 26)

We might think at this very moment that the point of the earthquake was to free Paul and Silas from prison so that they could get back into the city to continue their preaching. But do you know that there were people in that prison who weren’t free, who were fastened in the bonds of sin, and who needed the help of a mighty Savior? Verse 27 continues:

“When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.” (v. 27)

The man’s reaction is totally understandable. He was charged with oversight of the city’s prisoners, and now he supposed they had all escaped. He would be held responsible! Better to die by his own hand then to face the angry magistrates! As he pulled out his sword, he was just a few minutes from the flames of hell! Do you realize that? The Lord sets before us life or death, grace or guilt, salvation or damnation, heaven or hell. If the jailer thrusted his sword and died in unbelief, then he would have come to everlasting ruin. There is an urgency here!

“But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”” (v. 28)

At this point the jailer becomes totally unglued. In his own soul he had just had a brush with death. Perhaps he was dumbfounded that Paul and Silas and the other prisoners were still there, even as he felt a pendulum swing of unexpected relief. But there was something else going on: Paul and Silas had undoubtedly made a profound impression on the jailer. They were the happiest prisoners he had ever met! They had prayer and song, hope and joy, freedom and love in prison! They were preachers, and they had a message of salvation, and they sang about their gracious God, and they prayed to Him as to a Father, and they had joy. And he knew that he didn’t have what they had. He didn’t have this grace, this joy, this salvation. He was a lost man, and he knew it! The same Lord who opened Lydia’s heart to Paul’s message now compelled the jailer to inquire about that very same message:

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30)

Perhaps you are asking – or should be asking – this very same question. You’ve been around the block long enough to rub shoulders with real Christians who have this heartfelt trust in the Lord, this joy in the midst of suffering, this peace that surpasses understanding, and you know that you don’t have what they have. You might be an unchurched person who has joined us today, and you are wondering how someone like you can find eternal life. Or you might be a youth growing up in the church, or you might be a man or woman who has attended church your whole life – everyone else thinks you are a Christian, but in your more honest moments you suspect that you probably aren’t. And in your heart you are asking – or should be asking – “what must I do to be saved?” You’re thinking: ‘I’ve jumped through all the hoops and done all the right things, but I’m still missing something. What am I missing?’

THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL THAT SAVES SINNERS

The basic answer, of course, is given in verse 31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” This short statement is a concise summary of the Gospel message.

First, we need to be clear about what it is that the Lord Jesus saves us from. We are not being saved from our physical maladies, social frustrations, or economic hardships. Instead, the heart of salvation is salvation from our sin, from the objective guilt and just condemnation that we have before a Holy God, from the alienation that we have from God because our sins have separated us from Him, and from the final consequence of sin which is the wrath of God poured out upon the ungodly, forever and ever, in the lake of fire. By the same token, the heart of salvation is salvation into forgiveness and righteousness, into reconciliation with God and adoption into His forever family, into life-giving fellowship with the Lord now and everlasting joy with Him and His people in the new heaven and the new earth. When it comes to salvation, the stakes could not be any higher.

Second, we need to clear about who this Lord Jesus is and what He has done. He is the eternal Son of God who became a Man and lived among ordinary human beings like us. He fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament that looked forward to a divinely anointed King who would bring forth justice and peace to our sin-infested world. He lived a perfect life. He laid down His life as a totally unique sacrifice for sin: the judgment that should have fallen on us for our sin, fell on Him instead because He carried our sins to the cross and died in our place. The death that should have swept us away swept Him away instead, so that we could pass from death to life and be forgiven for all of our misdeeds. He loved us far beyond what any human being could possibly measure: He is the Good Shepherd who sacrificed Himself for the sake of His wayward sheep. His sacrifice, because it was offered in complete innocence, righteousness, and love, was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father, and on the third day the Father vindicated the worth and work of His Son by raising Him from the dead, and forty days later Jesus ascended into heaven. Now the Lord Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, He has sovereign authority over heaven and earth, and He saves anyone who calls upon His name in true faith.

Which of course takes us to the phrase believe in. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” The word believe, taken by itself, has been subjected to great distortion over the last few decades, and so it needs to be emphasized that believe cannot be equated with merely to mentally acknowledge. If a person agrees that Jesus is Lord and agrees that it would be preferable to cover all of his bases and sign on the dotted line as an insurance policy against the final judgment, and after that mental exercise calls himself a Christian, that person is tragically deceived. To believe in the Lord Jesus is to lean into him with your whole heart, to entrust your weak and sinful soul into His strong and yet gentle hands, to turn away from the sin that is ruining you and instead to take hold of Him as the most precious treasure in all the universe. There are no hoops to jump through, no religious bureaucracy to please, no prerequisites to complete, no cleaning yourself up before you come, no attempt to make yourself presentable. You must come to Him just as you are, and bring all of your sinfulness to His all-sufficient grace.

The old hymn says it well:

“Just as I am, without one plea,

But that [Your] blood was shed for me,

And that [You] bid’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

“Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind;

Yes, all I need in [You] to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

“Just as I am, [You will] receive,

[Will] welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because [Your] promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!”[2]

Is the Lord tugging at your heart today? Will you come to Him?

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Let us pray.

ENDNOTES

[1] John Piper, January 23, 2011. Tweet on his Twitter account @JohnPiper. John Piper served as the preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, MN) for over three decades and is the author of many books.

[2] A few stanzas from the well-known hymn “Just As I Am” by Charlotte Elliott. In most instances I have changed the archaic thy/thee/wilt to your/you/will because I want to be clear in my communication to a 21^st century audience. I retained one “Thee” for the sake of rhyme.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

NOTE: My inclusion of a bibliography reflects my interaction with other teachers in the preparation of my sermon. While the main part of my preparation involves my direct interaction with the biblical text, I find it helpful to invite other “discussion partners” into my preparation process. My mention of these teachers (writers, speakers, etc.) does not imply any particular level of agreement with them, nor does it constitute an endorsement of their work. That said, I am appreciative of those – past and present – who are seeking to faithfully teach God’s Word, and I am happy to benefit from their labor.

Brisco, Thomas V. Holman Bible Atlas. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Currid, John D. and David P. Barrett. ESV Bible Atlas. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.

Hawthorne, G. F. “Philippians, letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Editors Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press: 1993.

Peterson, David G. The Acts of the Apostles (Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.