PAUL PREVENTED FROM PREACHING IN ASIA

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Colby on July 17, 2012 at 2:16pm

Rita,

 

Fascinating!  I could not help but note that the title of this discussion post, "PAUL PREVENTED FROM TEACHING IN ASIA," reads like a newspaper headline today or an enticing teaser that sparks our interest in a news story to follow on Fox News or CNN.  "HOLY SPIRIT BLOCKS PAUL AND MISSIONARY TEAM FROM ENTERING BYTHIA!"  "GOD DECLARES ASIA OFF-LIMITS TO PAUL.  More to follow tonight at 6."  Okay, enough, back to your question.

 

The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the origin and rapid spread of the Christian Church.  It opens with the apostles receiving the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit, which the resurrected Jesus had promised, at Pentecost.  Then, it moves on to describe how the Apostle Paul and his companions, at the instigation and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, travelled far and wide to preach the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ.

• "The key to understanding Acts seems to be in Luke’s interest in this movement of the
  gospel, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, from its Jerusalem-based, Judaism-oriented
  beginnings to its becoming a worldwide, Gentile-predominant phenomenon"
  (Gordon Fee, The Book of Acts, 1994).

 

The reason why God prevented Paul and his companions from preaching the Gospel in Asia is not given in the text as far as I can ascertain.  If it were important or necessary for us to know the reason(s), I trust that God's written Word would have included  it, but it is still a terrific question for you to ask and for us to ponder.  It stimulates our curiosity about God's Word, prompting us to delve into the Book of Acts. 

 

Reasonable conjecture would be that it was a matter of timing, not a divine decree against evangelizing in Asia, given that Jesus said "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15).  God apparently had other plans for Paul.  Perhaps the people in Asia were not ready at that time to receive and profit from hearing the Word of God.  This inference is consistent with and supported by several Bible commentaries that I consulted, which you can find here: [ Commentaries on Acts 16:6 ].

 

So, what did the Holy Spirit have in store for Paul and his companions, if not preaching in Asia?  Interestingly, in Acts 16:9, which immediately follows the verses you quoted in your discussion post, we read:

• "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.'"

 

• "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" (Acts 16:10).

 

Clearly, the Holy Spirit was directing Paul and his companions as to when and where to preach the Word of God. Their missionary efforts were divinely orchestrated, ostensibly to make the most efficient and effective use of their time.  Consequently, Christianity rapidly gained many adherents and extended its reach well beyond Judea.

 

In First Peter, we read that the Apostle Peter had a role in bringing the Gospel to Asia. 

• "This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God's chosen
  people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
  Asia, and Bithynia " (1 Peter 1:1).

 

God had his reasons for not wanting Paul to evangelize in Asia just as Jesus had his reasons for initially limiting the outreach of his earthly ministry to the Jews in Judea, but this goes beyond your original question.  Instructing his 12 apostles, Jesus said:

• "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather
  to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5-6).

 

In closing, for those who might be interested, this Website display maps highlighting the many places that the Apostle Paul visited during his missionary journeys and where they are in relation to each other.  He covered much ground, taking his ministry to the present-day countries of Syria, Turkey (Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae), Cyprus, Greece (Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi) and Italy (Rome).  [ http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN092MAPS1.htm ]

 

Oh, and thanks Rita, for spurring me (and others) on to dig deeper into the Book of Acts.

 

Be bold and loving with God's gifts,

 

Colby

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Colby on July 18, 2012 at 1:23pm

Char,

Yes.  

 

Acts 16, the subject of Rita's post, opens with an account of Paul's second missionary journey (Circa 51-52 AD). 

• He leaves Antioch, Syria, and heading west, arrives in Derbe and then Lystra (where he meets up with his disciple Timothy) in what is now Southeastern Turkey.  (v1)
• They then head west through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, which are part of central Turkey today. (v6)  
• Coming to the border of Mysia, they try to enter the region of Bithynia.  They are prevented by the Holy Spirit from doing so. (v7)
• Bypassing Mysia, they proceed instead to the port city of Troas (now Istanbul, Turkey). (v8)
• Paul, in vision, receives an urgent call to travel to Macedonia (Greece).  God has called him to evangelize the Macedonians (Greeks).  Suddenly, he changes course.  Any attempts at missionary work in Asia (Western Turkey - then a Roman province) are scuttled.  (v9)
• Instead, Paul, Timothy and his entourage proceed with haste in a northwesterly direction to Troas, which is now Istanbul, Turkey, and from there they sail to Macedonia (Greece).  (v10) When Paul set sail from Troas (Istanbul) westward for Macedonia (Greece), he carried the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the continent of Europe.

 

Later, after doing missionary work in Macedonia (Greece), Paul proceeds to evangelize in the Roman province of Asia.  For about 3 years (circa 54AD-57AD), Paul was based in the city of Ephesus on the west coast of Turkey.  Also, Paul's Letter to the Colossians is directed to the Church at Colossae or Colosse, an Asian city (near Laodicea), east of Ephesus in central Turkey, and home to Philemon.

 

This Website provides a clear chronology of the Apostle Paul's several missionary expeditions, including maps:  http://www.matthewmcgee.org/paultime.html

 

Grace and peace,

 

Colby

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on July 18, 2012 at 8:29am

Colby,

Thank for your response. It never occurred to me that God would have a progression for teaching in various areas. It leads me to ask if perhaps God, in His infinite Wisdom, knowing that Asia would never follow Him completely, and that He would be rejected greatly, wanted the rest of the middle east and Greece preached to first? This sounds like conjecture but it is my thought. Throughout the Bible, God has done all things in a particular manner. He puts the most important first. Could this manner of orderly progression be included here as well?

Blessings....

Rita

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Colby on July 18, 2012 at 5:07pm

Rita,

 

Speaking in broad brush terms, after the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, who could have known what was about to happen?  (We can know because we have the benefit of hindsight, of knowing events that have already happened and have taken their place in history).  With Jesus having ascended to Heaven, would his disciples scatter and would the movement die out as quickly as it came on the scene?  During its earliest days, Christianity, a fledgling and localized movement, was essentially a sect or movement within Judaism, and largely confined to Judea or Palestine. 

 

But Pentecost was a monumental game-changer.  As we read in Acts, following Pentecost (when the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit), Christianity becomes a movement with its own identity apart from Judaism, centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

Filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit, Paul and the apostles embarked on several ambitious and expansive missionary journeys in the first generation.  Paul, "the bond-slave of Jesus Christ" and "Apostle to the Gentiles," takes Christianity on the road big-time.  From Judea and Syria, Christianity rapidly gains converts in the great cities of the Roman Empire, including those in Turkey (Ephesus), Greece (Corinth) and Italy (Rome). 

 

What accounted for the successful spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire?  I think we can rightly conclude from the Holy Scripture that the Holy Spirit paved the way for the success of the missionary efforts of Paul and others.  The Holy Spirit worked through these men to establish and spread Christianity, as a movmeent of its own and distinct from Judaism, which otherwise would have probably disappeared from the scene.  The Holy Spirit, in his wisdom and to further his divine purposes and plan, determined the timing and the places that the Paul and his disciples would visit. 

 

That is why, in the opening verses of Acts 16, we read of Paul and his entourage having a sudden and dramatic change of plan.  Their plans to evangelize in Asia (Turkey) are cancelled when Paul has a vision that there's an urgent need instead to bring the Gospel to the Macedonians in the European of Greece.  He did return to Asia later, spending three years in the city of Ephesus on the west coast of Turkey.

 

Acts is a fascinating read of the chronology of the distant places that Paul and his disciples visited throughout the Roman Empire, preaching the Gospelin fulfillment of the Great Commission, after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

 

Let Christ's grace, mercy and peace be with us in truth and love,

 

Colby

===================================

Acts 16:6-7

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia,
they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 
After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia,
but the Spirit did not permit them.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on July 19, 2012 at 4:15am

Thanks, Colby.

You have reminded me, through your informative posts, that I need to do an in-depth study of the Book of Acts. So much information...so little time!!!

Blessings...

Rita

• ▶ Reply