The Coolidge examiner., 1939-04-27


seen the vision. Immediately we endeav-
ored to 60 into Macedonia Acts 1910.
Guidance is the moment by mo-
ment need of every man and wom-
an, boy and girl. The whole OF
| life calls for decisions, many OF
which look quite innocent and un-
| important, but upon which the des-
tiny of an entire life may turn. Who
does not recall the poets lament
over the want of an ordinary horse
shoe nail which resulted in the loss
of the shoe, which disabled the
horse, whose rider was lost, with
the result that the battle went
against his people.
Since the great issues of life may
turn on the simplest Of choices, we
need guidance at every point in life.
This need has been recognized by
those who would make merchandise
of their neighbors. Quacks and
charlatans offer guidance by every
method, from reading the palm.
,ooking at the stars, or consulting
Jhe spirits, to those SNUG enter
prises which pose as spiritual and
ak much Of prayer, but which do
| lot honor the name Of Christ nor
.ecognize Him as Redeemer and
! .Ord
One of the giories of the Christian
-aith is that the believer is indwelt
oy the third person of the Trinity,
he Holy Spirit Himself, who is
eady and willing to give divine
guidance in every detail of life from
he smallest to the greatest.
We study today the coming of the
gospel into Europe. and that means
through our forefathers to America.
We consider what from our view
point was crucial point in the his
.ory of the Church. Thanks be to
God that His servant Paul was in
hat hour obedient to the guidance
# the Holy Spirit Observe that
the gospel came to Europe
1. BY Providential Hindrance (l5:
IS; l6:4-8.
Not only the steps, but also the
stops of a good man are ordered Of
the Lord That is not an easy les
son to learn. We may be as much
in the will of the Lord when all of
our efforts seem to be thwarted as
when they prosper. Let us not for
get it,
Paul had set out on a second jour
ney to carry out q follow-up cam
paign in the cities where he had al
ready preached This was a good
plan and had Gods blessing (see
v. 50. But soon we find that word
forbidden" ". g. and then ''suf-
fered not" ". y. The Holy Spirit
began to close doors to the gospel
preacher. Now what? Shall he go
on in determined self-will? Or shall
he become discouraged and embit-
tered in his soul? No, let him wait,
for God is guiding him by provi-
Dental hindrance, which is soon to
be followed
ii. BY Divine Guidance Q6:9, 1O .
The Spirit spoke to Paul in a
vision revealing the divine purpose
that the gospel should go over into
Macedonia The Spirit leads in our
day, possibly not by visions, but by
impelling inward prompting COM
plemented and checked by the
teaching of Scripture and by provi-
dental circumstances, and a man
may know what is the will of God.
A word of caution is needed at
this point. Some earnest Christian
people go astray by projecting their
own desires and purposes into the
place where they come to regard
them as the will of God, and thus
do themselves and others, and
Christianity itself much harm. The
three things already mentioned
should agree-O the inner prompt
ing of the Spirit, % the teaching of
Gods Word, and t3) Gods hand in
our outward circumstances.
Ill. Through a Faithful Witness
(vv. ll-l4).
The gospel came to Europe be-
cause Paul and his fellow workers
were faithful to their calling. When
God led, they went to Macedonia
(vv. IL, l2), where they sought out
/ those who were in the place of
prayer tv. l3. Paul spoke to them
about Christ ". IA. 1t is one thing
to have vision, it is another thing
to be obedient to that vision (Acts
26:1O, There are some who talk
much of their conservation, to God,
but who give little evidence of it.
The little girl was right Though her
grammar was wrong) when she
said, Its better to walk your talk
than to talk your walk"
! ~. Through a Receptive Heart
wv. IA. l5).
God sent an obedient messenger
to the place where He had a pre-
pared heart ". 14. Space forbids
much reference to this godly, sue
cessful business woman and house