David Jeremiah - Count It All Joy: Discover a Happiness That Circumstances Cannot Change

In 1620 a ship left Plymouth, England, carrying the seeds of life as we know it in the United States today. But that voyage, as important as it was, cannot rival the one in AD 52 that embarked from Troas and sailed toward Neapolis.

The apostle Paul, his fellow preacher Silas, Luke the physician and writer, and Pauls disciple Timothy were aboard the vessel that brought the seeds of spiritual life to all of Europe and eventually the United States. Biblical scholars have called this the greatest event in history! For four thousand years, Asia had been the cradle of the human race; now that center was moving to Europe.

As Paul embarked on his second missionary journey, it was his hope to return to all the churches he had visited on his previous excursion. But according to Acts 16:67, he was forbidden to go north to Asia or northeast to Bithynia. While in Troas, the Lord spoke to Paul through a vision, in which he saw a man from Macedonia pleading with him to come over and help the people there. Pauls response is recorded by Luke: Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them (16:10).

Paul and his company left Troas via the most direct route to the seaport of Neapolis and from there to the most important city in Macedonia, Philippi. Located about nine miles from the coast of the Aegean Sea, Philippi was a Roman colony and a flourishing, wealthy city. When Paul and his associates arrived there, they found no synagogue; on the Sabbath they assembled at the riverside where worshippers had been gathering regularly for prayer. As a result of that first meeting, Lydia, a merchant woman, was converted and baptized. In gratitude for what the Lord had done in her life, she offered her home as a place of lodging for the missionary team.

As soon as it became evident that the Lord was going to bless His Word, opposition developed. A demon-possessed slave girl began to follow the preachers and associate herself with them by loudly announcing their mission. Within a short time Paul cast the demon out of her, and she too was converted and made whole. The men who owned this girl had been using her for their own gain and were furious. They seized Paul and Silas and had them beaten and thrown in jail. Locked in the inner prison, the two men were placed in stocks, under secure guard. At midnight, as they were singing praises to God, an earthquake broke open the prison and freed all the prisoners from their bonds. The jailer, asleep in the adjoining house, heard the commotion and ran to the prison. Although the night was dark, he could see that the doors were open, and he concluded that the prisoners must have escaped. Rather than suffer shameful death, he decided to take his own life. He had drawn his sword to kill himself when Paul saw what was about to happen. He told the jailer not to harm himself, because they had not escaped! As a result of this encounter, the jailer and all his family were saved and baptized.

Ten years after the founding of the church in Philippi, while Paul was a prisoner, he wrote to his Macedonian friends. Three times in his letter he expressed his gratitude for the gift they had sent to him by way of Epaphroditus. He had heard they were concerned about him, and he wished to encourage them. But he also had some corrective concerns. He knew that a spirit of division had developed among them, and several times he admonished them to be unified. On six different occasions he referred to the coming day of Christ, reminding them finally that the Lord is at hand (Phil. 4:5). He concluded his letter with encouraging words for their anxious hearts.