In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being wise and sober-minded, as fools are prone to error and downfall. The preacher also highlights the significance of having a wife or a close family member for support and guidance. The sermon references the story of Lydia, who had her heart opened by the Lord upon hearing the Gospel message. The preacher contrasts the value of the Gospel with the worthlessness of worldly fashions, comparing them to pig's food. The sermon also mentions the encounters with a girl possessed by a spirit of divination and a jailer, both of whom were impacted by the power of God. The preacher emphasizes the faith and resilience of Paul and Silas, who prayed and sang hymns even while imprisoned, leading to a miraculous release. The sermon concludes by cautioning against being legalistic and drawing parallels to the opposition faced by Christians in South Africa.

Lord, we draw near to you. You've promised us that if we draw near to you, you will draw near to us. We pray that you will be with us. Work in a wonderful way in our hearts. That we won't go out here like we came in. But that each one will leave this place with something having happened inside. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And they passed through the Nigerian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Messiah, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. And passing by Messiah, they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis. And from there to Philippi, which is a leading city in the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony, and we were staying in this city for some days. And on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the woman who had assembled. And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics a worshipper of God, was listening. And the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. And she prevailed upon us. Now the crux of this message we find in verse 8. And passing by Messiah, they came down to Troas, and in verse 9. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. We'll stop reading there. Paul was on a journey from Antioch, which lies to the north of Jerusalem, and on the west is the Mediterranean. And while there, he was planning to go to the countries north and northwest of there. He was actually planning to go to Asia to preach there. All these cities and towns you've heard about lay in Asia. And while in Asia, he was planning then from there to go in a northeasterly direction. But the Spirit of the Lord prohibited him from doing that. So they continued. And then they said, Well, let us go on then and preach the gospel to the people in Asia. But again, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, stopped them and said, No, don't preach to these people. So again, Paul set out to go into these countries, into this area, visiting these churches. And one can ask and say, Why did the Holy Spirit stop him and prohibit him from going to these people to preach to them? We don't know. Maybe the Holy Spirit stopped him because the Holy Spirit saw that it was a waste of time to preach to them. Because shortly before his death, Paul said that all the churches in Asia have forsaken me. God knows the end from the beginning. And maybe he said, Paul, you don't go there. You're wasting your time. In the end, these people will turn their back on you. And the Spirit of God said, No, you don't go there. Paul wanted to go there, but the Holy Spirit stopped him. And then Paul and Silas and the team made a second attempt, but the Holy Spirit stopped him again. And so they passed and were going down towards Troyes. Troyes, where there was a harbor, and it was there where Asia and Macedonia, or Europe, was split. So Paul was on a journey similar to Abraham's journey, where he was going to a place that was unknown to him. He had his goal, but then God would forbid him and say, No, not there. And he'd send him in another direction, but he didn't really know where it was taking him. And I take my hat off to Paul. And I can honor him. Many people are busy with many things, but Paul was busy with one thing, and that was that he was led and guided by the Holy Spirit. People have their goals. People have their goals in life. For some people, their goal is just to get married, or whatever else it is. But with Paul, he had one goal, and that was to serve God, to live for Him with a perfect heart. After Paul had worked out his plan perfectly, and when he was about to implement it, God's Spirit came across it and said, No, not this way. And he left the plan there. He continued. And he drew up another plan. And when he had drawn it up all complete and perfect, God again cut across his plans. And immediately he dropped his plans there and then, without an argument. Perhaps he wondered what was going to happen next. When he had a certain direction that he was going in, God put a stop to it. Immediately he left that. And we see a man here who knew what it was like to be led by God and His Spirit. There are many people, many Christians, who don't know what that means. They just go their own way. They follow their own direction, and maybe Gauteng's direction. Led by the world. The world and its fashions is what drives them, not God's Spirit. That's all that gives direction to their lives, and not what God says. In fact, it intoxicates them. But that's not Paul's gospel, where you are led by God's Spirit in all things. Where I say, not my plan, not my will, not what I want, but God's will. Old and young here in our midst, is that the life that you know, or are you chaffed that's just going to be thrown out and be burnt in the fire? Or are you perhaps like reject grain? The maize, the cobs that aren't healthy but have been rejected, and that cannot be used in God's kingdom. Then you get the seed that is rotten. It got wet. Something got in that shouldn't have got in. Then it rots. So we've got many rotten Christians in this world. Look at them. They're not edible. Throw it away. Maybe the pigs won't even eat it. But Paul was one with the Lord. He was united in the Holy Spirit, and so the Lord could lead and guide him. Not like some Christians today. They do their thing, they fall into sin, and one wonders whether they don't hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to them and warning them about what they're doing. You can't just fall into sin. You can't make the wrong decision. If you listen to the Holy Spirit, He must have warned you, but you're out of contact with Him. That's why you can do wrong things. And afterwards, when you've done it, and your eyes open, then you say, what a fool I've been. This is extremely important. Ask yourself, what is it that guides your life? Is it your own wishes, or the opinions of people, or is it God's Holy Spirit? I read in Revelation this morning where the Lord spoke to the different churches, and at the end of His letter to the church, He'd say, He has an ear to hear. Let Him hear what the Spirit is saying. I took the second letter, read through that, and at the end again, let Him, who has an ear to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. And then the third letter, and read it, and at the end again it says, He has an ear to hear. Let Him hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. The fourth letter, and the fifth, and the sixth, and the seventh. Every letter to the church, all seven churches, it says, He that has an ear to hear, let Him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. Not one church is excluded. And now I ask you, why is it a strange thing to you? Maybe you say, I'm led, but every fool can see that you're led by the wrong spirit, and not the right spirit. Some by their own desires, some by their own lusts, some by their own past, their own experiences. When will you get to the place where you kill and break down all idols in your life, and let God rule supreme? When will you get to the place where you kill and break down all idols in your life, and let God rule supreme? And there are idols which need to have their necks broken in our lives. We've become a wicked and crooked generation. And that's why the world looks like it does. But Paul had an ear to hear. When he was in Troas, at night, here this man stood before him, pleading with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Come over here. Come across here to us. Macedonia was part of Greece, and in the north there was Philippi. So it was in the land of the Greeks, but there were many Romans living there. And when they heard what Paul said, immediately they sought to go to Macedonia. They said, Let us go immediately and go to these people. And that's how the gospel came to Europe. So immediately they got a ship and they sailed across to Macedonia. Because of this man who had appealed to Paul, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. And then they realized why God had forbidden them to go to the other places in Asia, why he had stopped that journey. They realized now that God wanted the gospel to get to Europe. And so from there, when they got there, they immediately aimed for Philippi, which was the leading city in that province. The capital city. When they got to the gates of Philippi, they read there on the walls, The Bible doesn't say that. I say this, but I'm sure that Paul and them didn't go there with their eyes closed. And I'm sure when Paul and them got there, on the gates they could read in bold letters that this city allows no other religion except for the religion which is practiced here. And they probably wondered how they were going to preach the gospel of Christ in this city where no other religion was allowed. They entered the city, stayed a few days. I don't know what they did. And then the Sabbath arrived. And a lady is mentioned here, a woman who feared God and she was also a business woman. She was a seller of purple fabrics, very expensive fabrics that she traded with. So she must have been a well-to-do woman. So every Sabbath day, she would go outside the city down to the riverside. And then Lydia and a group of other women would gather outside the gates, for inside they weren't allowed to. And they would gather outside there near the river to pray there. You can never stop a true worshipper of the Lord serving Him and worshipping Him. Can you stop someone? Can you stop someone who is a true worshipper of the Lord? Even if you had to stop him in the city, he'll go outside the city and worship Him there. Some men say, how can we worship the Lord when I have a wife like I have? Or the wife says, how can I if my husband is the way he is? Those people are crooked. Nothing in this world, my wife or my enemy, no one can stand in your way and stop you from living for the Lord. And Paul said, well, if we're not allowed to do it here in the city, let's go outside the city and go and look for a place of prayer there. And that's where they met these women. Paul was not concerned whether it was old or young or male or female. They went and they sat down there together with these women. Not to woo them and flirt with them. Not to speak of worldly things with them. He was following the appeal of this man who had said, come across here to help us. And he was looking for that person who was seeking help. These days we were in Durban. We had to go and meet with some people there. And Shell was outside in the car looking after the car because many cars get stolen there. And as Shell was waiting in the car, a prostitute was walking up and down in her mini showing off her body. Shell obviously showed no interest. I just later thought, well I wish I could have got hold of her. I would have made it red hot for her and preached at her. Without shame or anything. She even did this, opened her dairy product. Afterwards I wished I could have been there. Just to give her a few slaps in her face with this. Maybe even they are like that man who says, come over, help us. These people need to be helped. Don't go alone if you want to help those people. You men, you wouldn't sin if you wouldn't go alone. But your stupidity says that you go alone. And then that prostitute is too strong for you. You men, you wouldn't sin if you wouldn't go alone. But your stupidity says that you go alone. And then that prostitute is too strong for you. But it's too strong for you. So we are thankful that Wishell was alone. But he could speak to her until she left him. Many men they fail. They even fall into sin, adultery and prostitution and not just worldly men even some Christians. If you've got a wife go with your wife if you haven't got a wife go with your brother. It's fools that err, it's fools that fall, not men. With the brain in the head, those that are sober-minded, they can't be trusted. So while they were there, Paul and the others talking to them, the Lord opened Lydia's heart and when Lydia heard the message she said, this is what I've been looking for, this is the gospel I need, there's nothing as wonderful and as uplifted as the gospel. The fashions of this world are cheap and worthless, they can be likened to the food of the pigs. The Christian life is the highest life that you can attain to and that sets the standard for the rest of the world in every way where you can be an example in the way you live, in the way you are, in every aspect and you people who live in the world, follow the fashions of the world, you're not setting the trend, you're not an example to us, no never, you're not showing us the way, not at all. The problem is you don't see behind you, maybe if you go to a pigsty, look at the pigs and then you'll get an idea of what you look like. The Christian life, the life the Lord teaches us to live is the highest and that is what brings life to the world, it's like salt in the world but your life maybe makes the world rotten. The Christian life is the highest and that is what brings life to the world, it's like salt in the world but your life maybe makes the world rotten. Quite some years ago I was with my mother and we were in a tent and outside a lady walked past and one couldn't see her, one just saw her from here down, just the dress and when my mother saw that she said my boy that is a virgin, that girl and that's all she could see but she could recognize it. At first she said who is that girl that walks on the other side of the tent? I couldn't see her face because the tent is only so high and was still higher on that side, the ground, so she just saw her from here down and she says my boy I want to tell you that's a virgin, a person who walks like that is pure, is clean, is a virgin, she's not a cheap woman. I was taught by my mother some things about you girls, she says when a girl walks like that then you know it's a virgin. Why she taught me that I don't know. I was 37 before I married, maybe she thought well if I should get married she wouldn't like me to get married to a cheap girl and to a prostitute. It's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them to sin before your noses, it's to your disgrace. I was taught by my mother some things about you girls, she said when a girl walks like that then you know it's a virgin. Why she taught me that I don't know. I was taught by my mother some things about you girls, she says when a girl walks like that then you know it's a virgin. It's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them to sin before your noses, it's to your disgrace. It's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them to sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them to sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughter and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for you mothers to teach your boys and your daughters and don't allow them sin before your noses, it's good for Now, let me just tell you what happened after that, perhaps just mentioning three people being the result of the gospel coming to this place that had been hardened and close to the gospel. Lydia was the first person. Shortly after that, there was this slave girl who had a spirit of divination who came up to them and started calling out, saying, these men are bondservants of the Most High God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. And Paul didn't like it. Paul didn't want to be introduced to the others by a demon. He didn't want to share his gospel with a demon. And he turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Christ to come out of her. Now this girl had been a servant of some people in the city who made a business by her divination. And so that's how they made money. And so when the spirit left her, this evil spirit, she could no longer divine for them. Her boss was terribly angry. They started, and he started a riot in the city, saying these people have come in here with a gospel that is foreign and we don't know anything about this and don't want to know anything about it, and went about like that. Even the leaders of the city, the magistrates, they were totally foolish, and so a person is who doesn't have the spirit of God in him. So they had them arrested and thrown into prison and put into stocks where the worst criminals were normally put. Now, what did Paul do? Did he become totally despondent and depressed and said, now look at where all this is ending? And about midnight, Paul and Silas started praying and singing, and singing more than you were singing this morning. They sang better than what you, on the whole, as an average, sang. In the stocks, they sang and they praised God in prison. And then there was that great earthquake, and the chains broke. The prison doors flew open. When the jailer noticed that the prison was open, he drew a sword to commit suicide. He knew that if those prisoners escaped, he would be executed anyway, so he thought he'd rather commit suicide. That's how strict it was in those days, not nowadays where people just break out of prison and the jailer gets away scot-free. So you Christians who don't want to be legalistic, you are like South Africa today. Look at South Africa. That's what you like in your spiritual life. When Paul saw that the jailer wanted to kill himself, he called out in a loud voice and stopped him and said, don't do it. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. Never be a fool like those and judge a thing when you've heard only one side. You Christian, you understand? If you've been a fool in the past, don't be a fool again. And Paul said, but now you want to let us go secretly, but we've been beaten publicly. You can't just let us go secretly when all this has happened. They've put us in public without trial, we who are Romans, and thrown us into prison, and now they want to send us away secretly. And he said to the jailer, no, indeed, go and tell them. If they want us to go, they must come themselves and bring us out, that everybody in the city can see that they are releasing us. They judged us with having heard only one side of this coin, the story, not the other. Anyway, they've got to lead us out in honor before the whole city. So Paul was acting in this way to make it easier for Lydia and the others that had got converted later when they had left. And by the way he was going about things, he was also showing them how to go about it. And one historian writes that at the end of the century, this was in the year about 50-51, after Christ, after 100 years, the whole places were full of Christians. That's how Christianity multiplied. That's how people were constantly added on. And the whole place was known as a Christian place, Christian city. And day after day, people were added to their number. People got converted. Tell me, do you bring people to the Lord? Not just that you preach to people, but that people actually find the Lord through your life. Because of one man who had a living relationship, who knew the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, of the Holy Spirit, the whole history of mankind was changed. And Europe became a so-called Christian nation because of one man who had a living relationship with Jesus Christ. And to him that was worth more than anything else. Asia went down, eventually turned into Muslims. Well, I'm not surprised because during Paul's life, they had turned his back already on him. People that turn their back on men and women, that follow God wholeheartedly, have got a dark future, a curse rests upon them. But those that accept them are blessed. And Europe, that it is Europe today, is because of one man who listened to the Holy Spirit, who had a relationship with the Holy Spirit, who saw one man, not an angel, one man, and he said, Come, help us. And they crossed the seas. They went there and set Europe aflame. La Sebenza. La Sebenza. Where is one man amongst us who can listen to the Holy Spirit? To what are you listening? Whom are you following? And what are you following? I hope that these words will make sense to you. If they don't, you're a senseless man in this world and the world to come. Let us pray. Lord, wake up the sleeper. Wake up the Christians that are dead. Raise those up who claim to be Christians, but wears just the name. Raise up Pauls in our midst. Those who can see the man who is in need, who is saying, please come over and help us. Amen.