Acts 16:6-15: The Ongoing Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Acts 16:6-15: The Ongoing Ministry of the Holy Spirit

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage we come to is Acts 16:6-15. It 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. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

If you’re anything like many Christians in our society, you may feel unsatisfied at times with the state of your relationship with God. Perhaps you’ve studied the Bible enough to know a lot of truths about God and yet are experiencing relatively little in terms of an actual relationship with God. Perhaps God seems distant to you, and, as a result, you regularly feel spiritually drained and depleted—even as you try to be faithful in doing what God’s called you to do. Your life is busy and yet strangely barren. And even though you may not be ready to throw in the towel just yet, you feel so weary that you find yourself wondering at times whether you’re missing something as a Christian and whether this really is the fullness of the life God has for you. So what’s the issue? Well, there are several possibilities, but just to focus on one of them: could it be that you’re trying to walk in the ways of God and do the work of God without the power of God given to us in the Holy Spirit? 

You know, I think a lot of us as Christians correctly understand that Jesus has given us specific instructions for how to live as well as a clear mission that should guide our lives—the mission of reaching this world with the gospel. Yet, even though we probably wouldn’t say this out loud, we often have the mentality that we’re pretty much on our own now to complete that mission and “make it happen.” It’s as if Jesus was a busy teacher who gave the class an assignment and then stepped out of the room, leaving us as his students to complete the assignment on our own. 

Yet, in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In John 16:7, Jesus told his disciples, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” That “Helper,” of course, is the Holy Spirit. So make sure you understand what Jesus is saying—because it’s pretty radical. He’s saying that us having the Holy Spirit is actually better than us having Jesus himself by our side. Think about that. How amazing would it have been to be alive during Jesus’s earthly ministry and even to be one of his disciples and have the opportunity to interact with him face-to-face on a regular basis? Yet Jesus is saying here that having the Holy Spirit is even better than that. “It is to your advantage that I go away,” he says.

Also, listen to what Jesus tells his disciples in Acts 1 after his resurrection and right before he ascends into heaven.  Acts 1:4-5: 4 And while staying with them he [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So notice here what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t tell them they have a mission and that he’s going to send the Holy Spirit to help them with that mission but that they should just do the best they can in the meantime before the Spirit comes. No, he tells them, don’t even try this without the Holy Spirit. The text even says that he “ordered” them not to depart from Jerusalem. Many other translations say he “commanded” them. That’s pretty strong. Yet that’s how essential the Spirit is for the mission Jesus has given us. It’s not even worth trying to accomplish the mission without the Holy Spirit.

And then, throughout the book of Acts, we see over and over again that the Holy Spirit is the one moving things forward. We might say that the Holy Spirit’s very clearly in the driver’s seat and that the early church is just along for the ride. In Acts 2, it’s the Spirit who enables the apostles to speak in other languages and who empowers Peter to preach his famous sermon at Pentecost. In Acts 4, it’s explicitly said to be the Spirit who empowers Peter to boldly testify to the Jewish religious leaders about Jesus and his mission. Later in Acts 4, it’s again the Spirit who enables the early Christian community to continue sharing the gospel even in the face of persecution. In Acts 6, it’s being full of the Spirit that’s considered to be a key qualification for serving as a deacon. In Acts 7, it’s the Spirit to enables Stephen to testify about Jesus to a hostile crowd and literally preach the gospel to his dying breath. In Acts 8, it’s the Spirit who guides Philip to initiate a conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch, which ultimately results in the eunuch’s conversion. In Acts 9, it’s the Spirit who enables Saul to regain his sight and gives him a totally different outlook on life. In Acts 10, it’s the Spirit who falls upon the first Gentile converts, making it clear to the Jewish Christians that the Gentiles are indeed legitimate followers of Jesus and should therefore be welcomed into the Christian community. In Acts 13, it’s the Spirit who prompts the leaders of the church in Antioch to set apart Barnabas and Paul to become missionaries throughout the Roman Empire. And then throughout Paul’s missionary journeys throughout the rest of the book of Acts, it’s the Spirit who continually shows him where he’s supposed to go and what he’s supposed to say and who gives him the boldness to say those things. So you literally can’t go two steps in the book of Acts without bumping into the Holy Spirit. He’s everywhere. He’s the one moving things forward every step of the way. And, as for the early Christians, they’re just trying to keep up with what the Spirit’s doing. 

And I believe that theme is especially prominent in the main passage of Scripture we’ll be looking at today—Acts 16:6-15. In this passage, we see that the work of God can’t be done apart from the Spirit of God. The work of God can’t be done apart from the Spirit of God. Notice that I’m not saying the work simply shouldn’t be done apart from the Spirit or that it would be difficult to do. No, it can’t be done apart from the Holy Spirit. Indeed, how foolish it is to try to do the work to which God’s called us apart from the Spirit whom he’s given us. And hopefully that’ll become clearer and clearer as we walk through this passage. 

Look with me at verses 6-10: 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.  So, obviously, there are quite a few places named in these verses. You can see them represented on the map here. Many of these verses record Paul and his team traveling through the region of Galatia and the larger region of Asia Minor, both of which you can see labeled on the map. And when they’re in the city of Troas, toward the top center of the map, they cross over the Aegean Sea into the region of Macedonia. 

But the thing I’d like to focus on in these verses isn’t the geography but rather the repeated references to the Holy Spirit. Notice how verse 6 states that they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” Hmm…interesting. Then, as if that weren’t enough, verse 7 says that “when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Then in verse 9, Paul receives a vision that we can safely assume is from the Holy Spirit of a man in Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” So, in four verses, the Holy Spirit shows up in a significant way three times. That’s not the kind of thing we can just read over and ignore—if we want to be responsible Bible interpreters. 

Yet that’s not all. As we continue reading in this passage, we see the Holy Spirit not only as the one setting the agenda for Paul’s missionary efforts but also as the one working in the people Paul’s seeking to reach. Look at verses 11-15: 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. 

Now, here again, there are plenty of things we could say about this passage—from Philippi being a Roman colony to the Jews of Philippi not having enough people to form a synagogue and so simply forming a “place of prayer” to Lydia and her occupation as “a seller of purple goods,” which was a very profitable occupation. However, the most important thing by far for us to note from this passage is the description in verse 14 of how Lydia came to embrace the gospel. It says, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” Now, of course, when it says that it was “the Lord” who opened Lydia’s heart, that doesn’t mean Jesus himself physically came back down from heaven in order to do this. Rather, it was Jesus through the Holy Spirit. He’s the one who sent the Spirit. Also, if you remember back in verse 7, the Holy Spirit is even called “the Spirit of Jesus.” So Lydia was saved because the Holy Spirit opened her heart. 

And that was the only way she could be saved. You see, the Bible teaches that we, left to ourselves, don’t have the ability to repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus on our own. Ephesians 2:1 describes us all as “dead in trespasses and sins.” Also, Jesus himself says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Later in that same chapter, Jesus also says, “no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” So that’s why the Holy Spirit had to open Lydia’s heart to respond to the message she heard from Paul. She didn’t have the spiritual ability to do that on her own. None of us do. We’re not only condemned in our sin but also in bondage to our sin. 

Yet, when the Spirit opens our hearts, he enables us to see that Jesus is infinitely more satisfying than sin could ever be. And he also reveals to us the truth of the gospel message—that Jesus’ death on the cross really did pay for our sins and that his resurrection really did pave the way for us to share in his victory over sin and death as well. The Spirit then directs us to place our confidence in Christ and Christ alone for our rescue and not in any way in our own efforts. All of that is a work of the Holy Spirit. It’s only through him that anyone is ever brought to saving faith in Jesus. As J. I. Packer has observed, “Were it not for the Holy Spirit, there would be…no faith, no church, no Christianity in the world at all.”

So as you can see throughout every section of this passage here in Acts 16, the work of God can’t be done apart from the Spirit of God. And, brothers and sisters, I’d like to be as emphatic as I can possibly be here and remind you that the Holy Spirit is just as critical for Christian life and ministry today as he was in Acts 16. We dare not make peripheral what God has revealed as so central. 

Now, I understand the temptation many of us experience. And that is to allow the excesses of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements to essentially scare us away from the Holy Spirit. There may be some who are tempted to fear that if we start talking about the Holy Spirit today, we may very well be doing laps around this room and being “slain in the Spirit” tomorrow. And, of course, it’s not that hard to find churches that do indeed practice those kinds of things. There are many aspects of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements that I believe are extremely unhealthy and blatantly unbiblical. It seems as though many professing Christians in these movements have relatively little interest in what God’s revealed in the Bible and are instead fascinated with the new and novel. They want to get the latest revelation from God rather than “yesterday’s news” that we find in the Bible. In addition, going along with that, they’re often so focused on phenomena that they believe to be from the Holy Spirit that their interest in such things at times seems to eclipse their interest in the gospel itself. Instead of marveling at the glories of Jesus and the wonders what he’s done for us, they seem utterly preoccupied with showy spiritual phenomena that usually have very little discernable value in terms of healthy spiritual growth or impact. So I get all of that.

However, it would be tragic error to let all of those troublesome tendencies scare us away from biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit and from recognizing our need for the Spirit’s power in our midst. We need to let the Bible guide our behavior rather than allowing ourselves to be driven by our own reactionary tendencies. 

Take a moment and just think about how amazing it is that the Spirit of the living God actually dwells within us, as Christians. In the Old Testament, God simply dwelled in the midst of his people. We see this during Israel’s desert wanderings, for example. Exodus 13:22 tells us that, during these desert wanderings, God’s presence was with them in the form of a “pillar of cloud by day” and a “pillar of fire by night.” So God’s presence was manifested at night in the form of a pillar of fire above the Israelite camp. However, what happens at Pentecost? Acts 2:3 states that “divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” The fire of God’s presence isn’t just resting over the Christian community as a whole but rather over each one of the Christians individually. That’s huge. God no longer dwells merely in the midst of his people—he now dwells within each one of them. Each one has direct access to God—in the Person of the Holy Spirit—and is able to enjoy his presence up close and personal. It’s incredible!

Yet, keep in mind that, even though every believer has the Holy Spirit, we don’t automatically experience the fullness of the Spirit’s work and influence in our lives. That’s why Paul instructs Christians in Ephesians 5:18 to “be filled with the Spirit.” That’s a command—and I’ve come to believe it’s one of the most important commands in the entire New Testament. Now, what exactly does that mean? Well, look at the context of the rest of the verse. Paul says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” So being filled with the Spirit is contrasted to being drunk with wine. When someone’s drunk with wine, the wine is controlling them. If they say something foolish while they’re drunk, we might say, “That’s the alcohol talking.” And in a similar way, though with obvious differences, that’s the what it’s like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It simply means that the Holy Spirit is the controlling influence in our lives. And we’re called to pursue that kind of relationship with the Spirit and that experience of the Spirit’s power all the time. 

That means looking to the Holy Spirit for several things. I don’t have time to give much explanation for each of these things, but if you’re taking notes, feel free to write them down. There are six main ways in which the Holy Spirit ministers to us. Number one, he regenerates our hearts (Titus 3:5). Just like he opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the gospel in our main passage, he opens our hearts to do the same and replaces our stone-cold sinful heart with a heart that’s spiritually alive and that loves Jesus. Second, the Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). He helps us understand the truths taught in the Bible and helps us see how those truths connect to our lives. We can’t see what we need to see in the Bible apart from the Holy Spirit. Third, the Spirit shapes us to be more like Jesus (Galatians 5:22-23). He gives us victory over sin in our lives and produces within us what Paul very appropriately calls “the fruit of the Spirit.” 

Fourth, the Spirit stirs our hearts with godly affections, leading us to love God, desire God, and treasure God above all else (Romans 5:5). Fifth, he empowers us for ministry, equipping us with spiritual gifts to serve other Christians (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) and also empowering us for our witness to those who aren’t Christians yet, giving us the words to say (Luke 12:12) and the boldness to say them when the time is right (Acts 4:31). And, finally, the Spirit guides us into God’s will (Acts 16:6-9 in our main passage). He does this in a variety of different ways, though always in accordance with biblical principles. Maybe he puts it on our heart to talk to this person or that person about Jesus, or maybe he gives us a clear sense that a particular Christian we know needs to hear a particular truth from the Bible or be ministered to in a particular way. That’s the Spirit’s guidance. So those are six major aspects of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives. 

And, to be candid with you, I believe there’s a significant need for more of the Holy Spirit’s ministry and power and influence in our church. In fact, I’ve had to repent recently—because I don’t think I’ve led our church very well in this area. After numerous hours of prayerful reflection on the subject, I think we’re missing it—not missing it completely, but missing it in a big way. Just think about the prominence of the Holy Spirit that we’ve seen not only in our main passage but constantly in our journey so far through the book of Acts—how the early Christians were simply trying to keep up with what the Spirit was doing. I’m not saying every single detail of the Spirit’s work in Acts is normative—or intended for Christians today—but, generally speaking, surely the Holy Spirit should be just as much at the center of our lives and of our church today as he was among the early Christians in the book of Acts. And here’s what I believe that would look like, practically speaking. I’ve boiled it down to two primary needs that I believe are especially relevant for our church. 

First, greater awareness and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit—and I’d even say to the voice of the Spirit and he guides us and teaches us and gives us greater spiritual insight and a deeper understanding of the things of God. I think of the way in which someone who’s had extensive military training, perhaps in the Special Forces, and been in a lot of dangerous situations undoubtedly sees the world differently. That kind of person is more aware of their surroundings and sensitive to certain vulnerabilities or even signs of danger that most other people wouldn’t think twice about. That’s sort of what I mean when I talk about our need for greater awareness and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Christians should see the world differently than non-Christians and be dialed in to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and promptings and general ministry in our lives—as well as our need for these things. 

Now, a word of pastoral guidance here. I believe it’s very unhelpful and perhaps even presumptuous to say things like “God told me this or that” or “God said this or that to me.” I think I get what a lot of Christians are trying to say when they say things like that, but that kind of language can be taken in a way that significantly undermines the authority and sufficiency of the Bible. So my advice is to avoid saying things like that. Instead, you might consider saying, “The Holy Spirit seems to be giving me a distinct impression of this or that” or “The Holy Spirit seems to be prompting or leading me in this or that direction” or “The Holy Spirit laid a burden on my heart for this or that” or “The Holy Spirit helped me see this or that.” All of these phrases and ways of speaking are much more helpful than saying “God told me something.” 

Also, notice how I’ve been deliberately referring the Holy Spirit specifically in all of this suggested terminology rather that a more general reference to “God.” Of course, there’s nothing wrong with talking about “God” doing something in our lives or ministering to us in various ways. That’s not theologically inaccurate. However, even though this might seem like a small thing, one thing I’ve noticed is that adjusting our language to speak not just of God in general but of Holy Spirit specifically communicates more of an idea of God’s nearness. Maybe it’s just me, but talking about the Holy Spirit being at work in my life in a certain way gives the impression that it’s not just some distant deity doing these things from afar but rather a God who’s come to dwell within us and is intimately involved in our lives. Just that simple change in terminology—from “God” in general to the “Holy Spirit” specifically—has had a surprisingly significant impact on my mentality—as perhaps it may have on yours as well.

Then, second, in addition to greater awareness and sensitivity, I believe there’s a significant need in our church for greater dependence and power when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Again, as we’ve said, we never want to try to do the work of God apart from the power of the Spirit of God. I think of Samson in the book of Judges when the Philistines had finally figured out the secret to his incredible strength and cut his hair. Judges 16:20 says that when he woke up, “he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Of course, I’m not suggesting that the Holy Spirit would leave us in the sense of not indwelling us anymore, but I can’t help but wonder whether we can become so unaware and unappreciative of him that we effectively lose his power and, like Samson, don’t even know it. How many churches do you think have effectively lost the Spirit’s power and yet are so busy with all of their programs and activities that they don’t even know it? What a tragedy!

The power of the Holy Spirit, dear friends, is everything for a church. Listen: every church is going to have its fair share of issues, problems, shortcomings, and challenges. Yet the solution to all of these issues, problems, shortcomings, and challenges is actually quite simple: the Holy Spirit. He’s the solution for every one of them. Just take evangelism, for example. If the problem is us being too afraid of what people might think of us when we share the gospel with them, the solution is the Holy Spirit giving us supernatural boldness just as he did for the early Christians. If the problem is that we’re not sure what to say in evangelism, the solution is the Holy Spirit giving us the words to say just as Jesus promises will happen. If the problem is that the people we’re seeking to reach just don’t seem to be interested, the solution is the Holy Spirit opening their hearts just as he did with Lydia. The Holy Spirit is the solution to every issue, problem, shortcoming, and challenge our church will ever face. 

So hear me when I say that there should be a holy desperation in our hearts for the Spirit to come upon our church in unprecedented power. Do we have that holy desperation? Is it seen in our prayers—and especially in our Wednesday prayer meetings? You know, our church is in a position now where we’re acquiring more resources—this building, all the fancy new tech equipment we’ve invested in, and other things that are undoubtedly tremendous blessings from God. But if we don’t have the Holy Spirit, we don’t have anything. 

Think about the story in 1 Kings 18 of Elijah having a showdown with the prophets of Baal. Those prophets did everything imaginable to get their false god to consume their sacrifice. They called out to him from morning till noon, they danced around, they cut themselves—yet nothing happened. Likewise, we could work ourselves to the point of exhaustion in this church focusing on all of these human methods and devices and resources, letting them consume our attention, and essentially trying to do the work of God apart from the power of God. But guess what? It won’t have much, if any, genuine and lasting spiritual impact on people. If we want genuine and lasting fruit, we need to turn our eyes to the God of Elijah and start looking to him and pleading with him to send down fire from heaven—in a good way, of course—in the Person of the Holy Spirit. 

Do we have that kind of holy desperation for the Spirit’s work in our midst? Are we consciously dependent on him in that way? Maybe if we did and may be if we were, we’d see more people coming to faith in our church. And I have no doubt that we’d be less weary and more energized and joyful in our work of the Lord. In fact, ministry would become less about us working for God and more about letting God work through us.