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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
O u tlin e: (1 ) The Command of the Holy Spir- • it, vs. 6-8. (2) The Call to Macedonia, vs. 9-11. (3 ) The Conversion of Lydia, vs. 12-15. (4) The Curing of th e Slave Girl, vs. 16-18. (1 ) The Command of th e Holy Spirit. “Were forbidden of th e Holy Ghost.” . The souls of th e preachers longed for th e privilege of preaching in new fields, and they tu rned th eir LESSON steps toward Asia Min- EXPOSITION or. • But th e Spirit T.,C. H orton called a halt. Turn ing in ano th er direc tion, they would have gone into Bithyn- ia where th e re were many Jews, bu t th e Spirit ordered them westward to the coast of Troas. We have had many lessons concern ing th e Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. We have seen Him descending upon th e believers, form ing them into a yisible temple— the Church of God— setting ap a rt Peter, and through him, deliver ing a m ighty message of faith. (Acts 2). We have seen the power of the Spirit manifested in im parting boldness to th e apostles (Acts 4 :3 1 ). We have seen Him exercising au tho rity in the Church in rebuking sin (Acts 5:1-4) and deciding questions of great moment, (Acts 15 :28 ). Now we see Him man ifesting au tho rity in controlling the lives of His servants and directing th eir steps so th a t they do not go where they want to go, bu t where H e w ants them to go. The Holy Spirit leads the sons of God (Rom. 8 :1 4 ). He leads them into lives of activity, bu t to fields of His own choosing. P aul and Silas were o- bedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26• 19):
of the Holy Spirit and find to our sor row th a t our w ilfulness has brought us to wretchedness. Livingstone proposed to go to China, bu t God sent him to Africa. Carey had his h ea rt set on Polynesia of the South Seas, b u t the Spirit guided him to India. Judson landed in India, bu t God drove him to Burmah. Whenever the will is yielded, God can have His way and directs the lives of men into th e channels pleasing to H im self. Many lives are m iserable, barren and unhappy'because they are not spent cn the field and in th e work which is according to H is choosing. (2) Call to Macedonia, “ Come over * * * and help us.” A t Troas, while they waited upon the Lord in prayer for guidance, th e Spirit gives them a message. P erhaps P aul is standing .in the n igh t by the shore of the sea. Across th e w ater is famous Troy where Europe and Asia m et in fiercest battle. Near by Xerxes had gathered his g reat army of th ree m ill ion w ith which he proposed to subject Europe. There was Greece, renowned for its culture, and beyond was Rome, th e seat of power, m istress of th e world. W hat fields of service! W hat work to be wrought! W hat deeds to be done in the name of th e Risen Christ and by the power of God! Suddenly the figure of a man is pro jected before him. It slowly rises from . the opposite shore, and from its lips issues th e cry: “ Come over into Mace donia and help us:” There could be no m isunderstanding the call or its mean ing. The man represented human need, and his cry, th e depth of th a t need. The vision is supernatural. It is not a dream . P aul is to understand th a t th ere is a cry in the souls of th e lost Which God had heard, th a t in articu late cry which comes from souls burdened w ith sin, and which finds expression in sighs and groans and broken h earts.
J , “ ^ h? .r e u J > on ’ ° k ,n S A g rl p p a , I w as not d i s o b e d i e n t unto the he av en ly v i s i o n . ”
We are prone to w ant our own way. We w ant to choose our own fields; we push into fields of service unm indful
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