WHEN GOD CLOSES ONE DOOR

Sermon Notes, May 26, 2019

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon was titled “When God Closes One Door.”  The scripture reference is Acts 16:6-15, the story of Paul and Silas’ second missionary journey.  We know one thing about Paul, even before his conversion; he was loyal to God’s mission.  Before he was converted on that road to Damascus, he was committed to God’s mission, but it was in the wrong light.  He was doing things he thought were the way to go, but he found out, “Oops” he was going the wrong way. 

He knows that he must take the Good News to places unknown, so he’s on his way to Asia. Quite literally, the two cities he wants to get to, one is on the left, the other on the right.  So the doors on both sides of him are SHUT.  The Holy Spirit shut them.  We don’t know what was going on, but for some reason, God said, “Not today, Paul.”  We know that later on in the scripture, the Good News does get to all the places He was attempting to go, but not this day.

Sometimes we go on a road trip, and on our way something happens that blocks our way, and we have to take a detour.  Paul is not the type of person who gives up, or just goes back.  He’s going to continue moving forward.  That’s one of the key things that we need to keep grabbing onto.   When we are following the Holy Spirit, He doesn’t need us to stand still.  There are moments when we need to have some patience.  The Holy Spirit says, “Hold on!”  And He lets us know when it’s time to move on.  There are very few times when He says, “Why don’t you just set up camp here for awhile.”  Usually He’s moving forward.  “Follow” is an action word.

They keep moving forward, and while they were resting, Paul has a vision: a Macedonian man asks them to come help them.  He tells his road trip buddies, “Remember the Asia plan?  Well, we’re not doing that.  We’re going to the region of Macedonia.”  So they board a ship, and head for Macedonia.

There are times in our lives when it seems like every door is shut.  And there are times in our lives when it seems like every door is open.  Here’s where we need to pause for a moment and really pray earnestly, for the doors that are too open to shut, and for the right doors that are shut to open.  And sometimes there are several choices that would be all right.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit doesn’t make sense to us.  Paul had a vision of a man calling them.  But the next part of Luke’s story talks about a successful businesswoman named Lydia.

When they get to Macedonia, they meet a woman named Lydia.  At this time, there weren’t a lot of Jews in the Macedonia region. Paul and Silas were looking for a place to worship.  The Roman government didn’t allow the practice of foreign religions to meet inside the walls of the city of Philippi.  And there weren’t enough Jewish men in the city to necessitate a synagogue.  So if you were a Jew at that time you had to go outside the city walls to worship.

 Paul finds Lydia and her household down by the river worshiping God.  The same kind of thing happens as happened with Peter at the house of Cornelius.  The Holy Spirit began to speak to them through Paul, and they responded to the message.  Lydia and her household believed, were saved, and they were baptized right there. 

What a great image we have that the Holy Spirit may shut doors on either side, but He has something else in store.  Often in our society today we feel like we’re being closed in.  It feels like everywhere we look, nobody really wants to hear what we have to say.  But the Holy Spirit does His job well.  He goes before us and prepares.  The Holy Spirit shut the door to Asia, but He was at work in Philippi in the Macedonia region.  He guided Paul right to where he was needed, right when he was needed. 

Because of Paul’s obedience, adherence to Following the Holy Spirit, and his loyalty to God’s mission, he was at the right place at the right time.  Lydia was so overwhelmed with the Good News, that she opened her home with hospitality to Paul and Silas