We began actually this message last Wednesday evening. We are studying life on Wednesday nights and we are looking at his third missionary journey at the end of that journey. Paul spent most of his third missionary journey in Ephesus. He spent three years there. And as he departed from there, he went over into Europe, into Macedonia, down into Greece. He intended, as we'll see, to just leave from Greece and head to Jerusalem, but God changed his plans. He went back up into Macedonia and then on eventually to Jerusalem. And Luke summarizes that tour through Europe in six verses, but it is believed that his stay there lasted a year or even a little more than a year. So I've entitled this A Year in Europe. Having left Ephesus, he spends that time there. And as we look at this year in Paul's life and in this journey, We not only look in the book of Acts, but we also get more information about Paul's ministry in Europe that year. by looking at what he wrote to the Corinthian church in both his first and second letter. He mentions his activity during that year. And so we can look at that and we can glean some truth. And so as we're looking at what the Holy Spirit has revealed about that year, we're seeking to glean truth that will help us in our Christian life. And so let me just briefly summarize what we talked about last Wednesday night. We noted, first of all, that we learn about encouragement because as Paul entered Europe, and even before that, he was, first of all, concerned about the state of the church at Corinth. There was problems there. There was division there. There were some other issues. There was a church discipline issue that they weren't dealing with. And so Paul is concerned about the church at Corinth even while he's in Ephesus. It's believed that he may have even made a quick trip to Corinth during that three-year period that he was in Ephesus because he talks in his second letter about a third visit to Corinth, but we don't have record of that in the scriptures other than that statement. He also He wrote the first letter to the Corinthian church from Ephesus. He sent Timothy to Corinth and then he sent Titus to Corinth. And so he was burdened over the situation with the Corinthian church. And then he also mentions in 2 Corinthians 1 verses 8 through 11 that he was troubled over the opposition that he had faced at Ephesus. He ends up leaving Ephesus at the conclusion of an uproar that occurred there. And he said in 2 Corinthians 2, 12, and 13 that he was so troubled about all this that as he's making his way from Ephesus over into Macedonia, and he stops at Troas. You know, the Lord opened a great door for me there, but I couldn't preach the gospel there because I was so troubled in spirit over the situation. I just left in Ephesus, and the concern about the church at Corinth, and I was hoping Titus would be there at Troas, and he would bring me good news from the church at Corinth, but he wasn't there, and so Paul left that open door and went on into Macedonia. He was so burdened over the Corinthian church, and so But God encouraged him as he did that. That's why we're entitled to this point, encouragement, because God encouraged him even in the face of all those burdens that he had. One, he encouraged him by his presence. The Lord came along. The Lord comforted him. He tells us in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 and 4, the word comfort literally means to come alongside. The Lord manifested his presence to Paul and the Lord gave him encouragement through his word. And then Titus came and met him at Philippi and gave him good news about the Corinthian church, that things were getting better. So in these ways, God encouraged Paul in his time of trouble and discouragement over the things that were going on. And so if the apostle Paul needed encouragement, how much more do we? But we also have to learn to find our comfort, our encouragement in trouble from the Lord, and as it tells us in 2 Corinthians 1, that we must learn to comfort others when they are in trouble by giving them God's word, encouraging them in the Lord as the Lord encourages us. comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves have been comforted of God. We strengthen others by sharing with them the things that God has given to us that were an encouragement to us. And so there was encouragement for the Apostle Paul. We learned from that about God encouraging our lives through his word and through other believers. But there was also instruction because Paul went, it tells us in Acts 20, In verse 2, when he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, he went into Macedonia. When he had gone over those parts, he gave those churches much exhortation and then came into Greece. Of course, Macedonia, the churches of Macedonia were Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea. Paul started those churches on his second missionary journey. He wrote letters to the Thessalonian church prior to this visit, so he was instructing them through letters. He had sent Timothy and Titus, and was instructing through those men that helped him, as well as his own personal ministry there. There's a reminder there that there is a need, a constant need in the church for instruction, not only for encouragement, but also for instruction. In verse two, when it says, he gave them much exhortation, and we noted last Wednesday night, the word exhortation is the word for words, or word in the Greek. Paul gave them much exhortation, lots of words. He was teaching them constantly. more and more and it reminds us again of our need for constant teaching to remind us and reinforce what we already know and to teach us new truth. And those two thoughts just remind us that we need to maintain our fellowship with the church so that we can be encouraged and encourage others and so that we can receive the instruction that God has for us. And we miss out on much of the blessing that God has for us and the blessing that God wants us to be if we're not faithful to the church that God has given us, the fellowship of the believers that God has given to us. And so we learned that. Now, as we move on then tonight, we want to think about three other truths that we can see through this year that Paul spent in Europe that God also directed him. We sang tonight, God leads us along. God directed the Apostle Paul in his movements. He directed him through Paul's determinations. Paul was a planner and he planned back in chapter 19. and verse 21 that tells us that after these things were ended as Paul's in Ephesus and God was blessing and church was growing and the word of God grew and prevailed and Paul purposed then in his spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying after I've been there I must also see Rome. So Paul Paul had a plan. As he's planning to leave Ephesus, he says, I'm going to go to Macedonia, I'm going to go to Achaia, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, I'm going to go to Rome. As he's writing to the church at Rome, he tells them, you know, I'm going to come to you and on my way to Spain. So Paul was making his plans, planning his actions, planning his movements, and yet God was working through even those plans of the Apostle Paul. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 and verse 9, a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. Even though, you know, we plan and we make our plans and we ought to seek God's will in our plans, but we don't always know God's will, but we still, we have to plan and then we have to trust that as we want to do the will of God and we're seeking to do the will of God, that God will actually be directing even in our planning. We noted when we looked at that verse 21 of chapter 19 that Paul purposed in the spirit, and we asked the question, was that his spirit or the Holy Spirit? And just made the comment that the observation that if a believer is guided by the spirit, if he's filled by the spirit, then his spirit and the Holy Spirit are working together. So it could be both. As Paul was making his plans, but as those plans were being led, directed by the spirit of God and the influence of God's spirit in his spirit, whether he realized it or not. And so God was directing him and through his determinations he wrote to the Corinthian church, I will come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia for I do pass through Macedonia. And then again he wrote to the Roman church, I will come by you when I go into Spain. And so God was using Paul's plans to direct him. But God also used the circumstances around Paul to direct him as well. The Lord used the uproar at Ephesus to settle the time of Paul's departure. Paul had planned to go to Macedonia and Achaia, and so he sent Timothy and Erastus, it tells us in verse 22 of chapter 19, into Macedonia, but he stayed in Asia for a season. How long is Paul gonna remain at Ephesus? Well, You know, he's planning to leave, but at this point he doesn't seem to have a definite departure date or point in mind, but immediately after that we read about the uproar that the gospel had prevailed so mightily that the main idol that was being worshipped in Ephesus, Diana, was losing adherents, losing worshippers, and the men who made the little idols that the people would take home with them, they were losing business and so they stirred up opposition to Paul and to the church. We talked about that, but the result of that was that when that was all over, Paul said, it's time to go. The Lord used that to settle in Paul's mind, now is the time for me to leave. And so he did, he leaves. He goes and he embraced them, the disciples, he embraced them, chapter 20, verse one, and then departed for to go into Macedonia. God used that uproar, that disturbance in Ephesus to settle the time of Paul's departure. But then we read in verse 3 of chapter 20 that he abode three months, he went into Macedonia, He went over those parts, gave them much exhortation, then he came into Greece, that's the southern portion, Achaia, where the Corinthian church was, and he stayed there about three months, and then the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail into Syria, and so he purposed to return through Macedonia. Paul was planning, again, to go to Philippi and Thessalonica Berea, down into Corinth, spend some time there, and then he was gonna board ship there and make his way to Jerusalem. But the Jews, who were unbelievers, were opposed to Paul, hated Paul, wanted to destroy Paul, wanted to take his life. And evidently, because of those three feasts that the Jewish males were to attend in Jerusalem, there's a group of Jews that are going to make their way to Jerusalem from Corinth. And they're realizing Paul's here, and Paul's going to be on this ship, and we're going to Jerusalem and you know a lot of things can happen a lot of bad things can happen on board ship and Paul could just kind of be lost at sea and nobody be the wiser for it so they're plotting Paul's death but God allows Paul to find out about it And so he then changes his plan. Instead of boarding that ship where they intended to kill him, Paul says, you know, the better part of discretion would be, let's go back inland. And so the Lord used that. The Lord's turning Paul to send him back into Macedonia, and then we're gonna come to... probably next Wednesday night, at least to begin looking at Paul's ministry in Troas. He goes back to Troas where he had an open door but didn't have any rest and his spirit wouldn't stay there. But he goes back there and has a brief ministry in Troas. God wanted him there. God had a work for him to do there and to be an encouragement to the church at Troas. And so the Lord used this plot of the Jews to turn him back to Macedonia and eventually to get to Troas and to minister there. where he had left before. And it reminds us that no matter what the circumstances of our life, we need to believe that God is directing us. And understand that God is always at work in directing our life. 37 to verse 23, we're going to sing the hymn that comes from this verse as we close tonight. But it says the steps of a good man and the good man is the Christian, the believer in Jesus Christ. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way. God is ordering our steps. God is ordering our life. God is directing our movements into his will and to accomplish his purpose. I mean, isn't that what Joseph said when, um, down in Egypt and his father had died, Jacob had died and his brothers come, they figured Joseph's going to take revenge on them because they had sold them into slavery into Egypt. And so they come to him and daddy said before he died that you're supposed to be good to us. And, and Joseph said, you know, you intended evil against me, but God meant it unto good. to bring it to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. Joseph acknowledged that his steps had been ordered by the Lord even though his steps had been ordered by his brothers. They had sold him into slavery. But even the fact that he ends up as Potiphar's It ends up in the prison where the butler and the baker were, who were Pharaoh's servants, and then comes to Pharaoh's attention, and then God reveals the dream, and he interprets the dream, and he becomes second in charge in Egypt. God was doing all of that through the circumstances that were going on in Joseph's life. if Joseph had been of a different mindset, if he hadn't had the heart of faith in God, he could have looked at all of that and just had a pity party and just sat down. You know, everywhere that Joseph went, he did his best and he kept rising to the top and God was blessing him, but Joseph was doing his best. He wasn't just, you know, having a pity party and then just, I'm not, I'm not going to do anything. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna put forth any effort. I shouldn't be here. I'm unjustly here." He didn't do all that. He took advantage of those opportunities. He did the best. He served the Lord in those places, in Potiphar's household, even in the prison. He did his best as unto the Lord, and then God raised him up. God was working through all of that. And it just, again, reminds us of Romans 8.28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. Because God is ordering our steps as believers and all of that ultimately is to glorify God by making us like Jesus Christ. Hudson Taylor put it this way, he said, there are no second causes. It is with God and God alone that I have to do. He looked at everything that happened in his life and he said, there's no secondary cause. It's God, and everything that's happened in my life is God. Even though God may use men and use circumstances, it is God that is working, God that is directing, God that is accomplishing His will and purpose in and through my life. It's wonderful when you really lay hold of that, that gives you rest and peace. and confidence as a believer, you know, God's in control. And no matter what happens, it's all going according to God's plan. It may not be going according to my plan, but it's going according to God's plan. And there's a good purpose in it all, even when I don't see it. Because God is directing my life. There's a fourth truth that we can learn from Paul's year in Europe, and that is about compassion. Because one of the things that Paul's doing, we talked about this earlier when we were looking at the beginning of this ministry or this journey, Paul was collecting an offering to help relieve the poverty of the Jerusalem church. If you'll remember, in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. He's writing this letter, probably from Philippi, from Macedonia. And he says, I'm coming. He said, but when I was there before, I told you about this offering, and you said you were going to help, you were going to give to this offering, and so I'm coming to receive your offering. I want to make sure you actually are doing what you promised to do a year ago. I want to make sure you actually are going to follow through on that. I'm bringing some people with me, and I don't want to be embarrassed, and I don't want you to be embarrassed if I come and there's no offering. You said you would do it, and I want to encourage you to do that." And in doing that, he says, and think about the Macedonian churches. I mean, they're poor, and they're persecuted, and yet they have given generously, even beyond their ability. But all this is to, that Paul's going to take this offering to Jerusalem with him, to help relieve the poverty of the Jerusalem church. He wrote to the Roman church in Romans 15, He said, whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you, for I trust to see you in my journey and be brought on my way thitherward by you. At first I'll be somewhat filled with your company. So I'm gonna come stay with you a little bit, and then I'm gonna go to Spain, and I hope you'll help me do that. But he says, but now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. So this is what Paul's doing, along with much words, much exhortation, and answering the questions and dealing with the problems in the Corinthian church, Paul is also taking up this offering. By the way, he asks the Roman church, he says, pray for me. He says, I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and the love of the Spirit, strive together me with your prayers to God for me that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. He said one of the things he asked them to pray for was that the Jerusalem church would accept this offering from the Gentile churches. Because unfortunately, in the early days of the church, you know, there was still some animosity between Gentile and Jewish believers. And Paul was concerned that, you know, I'm bringing an offering from the Gentile churches, and he told the Gentile churches that this was really their obligation because the gospel had come to them from Jerusalem. That's where it had begun. He said, they've ministered to you spiritual things, and now you need to repay them by helping them materially. But Paul was concerned that how would that offering be received? But again, in thinking about our ministries today and learning from this for ourselves, it just reminds us Paul wasn't just concerned about the church at Antioch, or the church at Ephesus, or the church at Philippi, or the church at Corinth, or any of those churches. Paul was concerned about all the churches. Paul had a broad view. of the church of God. Though he believed in the local church, Paul started local churches. And we don't want to diminish that in thinking about the church, worldwide church. God is working through local churches. And as believers, we ought to be part of a local church. And you're here at Faith Baptist Church because you believe this is where God, this is the church where God wants you to minister and to worship and to learn. And God has led you here. And we ought to be, as believers, every believer ought to be part of a local New Testament church. That's God's plan for this age. But it doesn't mean that we should only focus on our church, that the church is worldwide, that there's a church in South America, and there's a church in Africa, and there's a church in Asia, there's a church in India, there's a church in China, the church is all over the world. And we're all connected through our common bond in Jesus Christ. We are all part of one body, the body of Jesus Christ. We're all going to be in heaven together. We're all going to worship God together. All who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ are going to be together eternally with God. And we are one today with those who are truly born again. Now, we're not one with those who outwardly identify with the church but have never been born again. They're not part of the true church. They may be part of a local church, but they're not part of the true church. But we are connected to every other genuine believer all over the world. And so we ought to care what's going on in the church worldwide. And as God gives us opportunity to do what we can to help others, other churches and other believers in other parts of the world, even other parts of America. as well as taking care of our ministry here. Certainly, this is a priority in one sense. We have to take care of this church and this ministry. This is our first concern, but it's not our only concern. Paul had a compassion for all the saints and wanted to help and in his case had the opportunity of teaching them and ministering to their spiritual needs, but he also didn't fail to neglect or did not neglect the material needs of the churches as well. as he had an opportunity. As a matter of fact, when he had gone to Jerusalem to talk about the ministry that God had given him, how God had opened the door to the Gentiles and God was using Paul to reach the Gentile churches, Peter and the church there in Jerusalem, James and And the elders there said, yes, indeed, we hear what God is doing through you in the Gentile world, and we believe God has called you, and God bless you as you continue that ministry. But one of the things they told Paul is, as you go out there, don't forget the poor. And Paul said, I was always careful to remember the poor, and that's what he's doing here. He's fulfilling that obligation. But along those same lines, as we're thinking about the offering that he's taking, there's also something about a caution here. In verse 4 of Acts chapter 20, it tells us that there accompanied him into Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe. Now let's just stop a minute and place these people. Sopater of Berea. Berea is one of the churches of what province? Berea is a church in Macedonia. Somebody said it. Okay, so you got a Macedonia, you got a Berea, Macedonia. And of the Thessalonians, and the church at Thessalonica was in where? What province? Macedonia. Good. All right. So you got, you got Sopater, who's from Berea, from Macedonia. You got Aristarchus and Secundus, who are also from Macedonia. So he's got three men from Macedonia with him. Gaius is from Derbe, and that is what region? Do you remember that? Paul's first missionary journey, he was primarily in Asia, well, yes and no, but particularly, Galatia. So he's got three men from Macedonia. He's got Gaius from Galatia. Timothy was from Galatia. and then of Asia, Ephesus, Tychicus, and Trophimus. So he's got men going with him to Jerusalem from Macedonia and from Galatia and from Ephesus. Why has he got all these people going with him? Why are all these men traveling with him? And no doubt that You know, we do read about Timothy as a minister. Paul sent Timothy to churches to help. Tychicus was a messenger that Paul would often send out. Aristarchus. We read about these men in other places. They were fellow laborers with the Apostle Paul in the ministry of the gospel. But again, what is Paul doing? He is carrying an offering from the Macedonian an Achaean church and probably from the Asian church as well, and based on what we read here, even from maybe the Galatian churches. If all those different churches are giving an offering, how big do you reckon that offering is? We don't know. We never read exactly what that offering was. It's probably pretty significant. And there's no bank in in Corinth, where Paul's going to deposit that money, and then he's going to go to Jerusalem and write a check, and they're going to go to the bank and cash it. Paul's got to carry all that money with him from Macedonia all the way to Jerusalem. And in those days, traveling was not, it was dangerous. I mean, Jesus told a story about a man who was going from Jerusalem, from Jericho to Jerusalem, or Jerusalem to Jericho, but he fell among thieves. That was common. in that day. They robbed him, took everything he had. When Paul is recounting the things he suffered for the sake of the gospel, as he wrote to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, in verse 26 he mentioned, among other things, perils of robbers. He said, I was constantly had to think about, as I'm traveling these roads in the Roman Empire, there are robbers out there who would, I was always, there was always the possibility I would be robbed And now Paul's carrying this tremendous offering. He's going back to Jerusalem, and so there's safety in numbers. So that's part of it. So, to provide safety and travel with all that money. But the second reason that Paul is doing is that is to provide accountability. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Again, chapters 8 and 9 in 2 Corinthians, Paul is encouraging the Corinthian church to follow through on their commitment to give to this offering. And in beginning of verse 16 of 2 Corinthians chapter 8, he said, thanks be to God which puts the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. For he, indeed, he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward of his own accord, he went unto you. And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, and not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, to travel with us as we take this offering, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord in the declaration of your ready mind, avoiding this, and here's the key, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us. I'm taking this abundant money to the Jerusalem church." And he said, I don't want people questioning what I'm doing with this money. He said, we're providing, verse 21, for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord. Paul said, you know, I know that I'm not going to confiscate any of this money. And the Lord knows that. But it's not enough that I know and the Lord knows. He said, we want men to know. We want men not to question what we're doing with the money. This is God's money. It was given for the church at Jerusalem. And it's all going to get there. And I'm not taking it by myself. These other guys are going with me. So there's no question about this offering, that it's all getting there, that it's all used. It's all given there. It's all used for the purpose for which it was intended There's no question about it because there's men from all these different churches and they're all there with Paul. They know exactly what's happening. They were providing accountability. I was reminded as I was thinking about that back in the 1800s, a man by the name of Joseph Parker pastored the city temple in London. His church was second only to Spurgeon's in size and ministry. But it was said that when the offering was given every Sunday, as a pastor, he took possession of that offering and he was accountable to nobody for how it got used. And it worked there, okay? He pastored there for years, and evidently nobody ever questioned what was done with that money, but that's not a wise way to go. It worked there, but that's not wise. The wise church puts checks and balances in place to ensure the proper use of the offerings. Again, I was thinking about in my early ministry, my first church that I pastored. When you're a pastor and you go into an established church, you inherit things sometimes that are not always as they should be and not easily changed. And we had a treasurer in that church. It was a country church. And one of the ladies in the church was a treasurer. She was an elderly lady, grandmother. She was the vice president of one of the local banks. And she had been the treasurer for years by the time I got there. She actually had become the treasurer because the previous treasurer took the offering home and threw it in the corner of his bedroom and the pastor's paycheck bounced one week. And that's where they found out this treasurer wasn't being faithful. And so they got rid of him and they brought this lady on. So for years, she had been the treasurer. But when the offering was taken, The plates were passed, and when it was over with, they put them here on the front on the communion table, and after the service, at the end of the service, she went up there, took all that money, put it in her purse, and took it home. Nobody counted it. Nobody ever counted it but her. Sometimes on Sunday night, if she's elderly, if she didn't make it to church on Sunday night, but one of her children or grandchildren was there, they took the Sunday night offering and took it to her. Now, that's not a good way to go. But you know what? We had to live with it because, you know, if we had made us, if we had tried to deal with it, it would have caused some hurt feelings. Nobody ever questioned. As far as I know, there was never an issue. There were never any financial problems in that church. We never had any checks bounced. All the bills were paid. And there was a financial report that was presented regularly, but it's just, it wasn't a good way to go. And I hope they've changed it since then, but that's the way it was at that time. So be thankful that here there are several people who count the offering. You record it. It's sealed up. It's taken to the bank. There's a lot of people who know what's going on as well as the financial reports that we get. And all that we do in order to provide integrity and accountability, we're cautious when we handle Lord's money. We would want not only to have a clear conscience before God and know that we're not abusing or pilfering any of that money, but to know that nobody else is. And for you to know that that money is being taken care of and being used as it was intended to be used. And we do that partly because that's the example that we see in the Word of God with the Apostle Paul. So, as we close out our thoughts about this year of Paul in Europe, be thankful to the church for instruction and encouragement, and be concerned about the needs of the church, not only at home, but abroad as well. Recognize God's hand directing your life, and be committed to integrity when it comes to handling the Lord's money. Those are things that we can learn as we think about Paul's ministry there that year in Jerusalem. Well, let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Apostle Paul and thank you for giving us information about his life and ministry and truths that we can glean as we study and get to know the work that Paul did. Lord, help us to take to heart things that we have learned or been reminded of, even as we've looked at this year that Paul spent in Europe. And Lord, help us to be an encouragement one to another. Help us to be a blessing one to another. Lord, help us to learn to find our encouragement when we are struggling, to find it in you, to run to your word, to search the scriptures, and to allow you through your word and by your Holy Spirit to strengthen our lives, to strengthen our hearts, and then, Lord, that we in turn can be a blessing and a strengthening to others as well. Thank you for directing our lives and that we can know as we make decisions, as we are seeking to do your will, that you're directing our steps, that even when things don't seem to be good, that you are working good in those circumstances. We thank you for these truths, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.