God’s Word for You
Acts 16:9-10 A man from Macedonia
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, September 23, 2020
9 Paul saw a vision during the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Right after Paul had seen the vision we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
The most famous man from Macedonia was Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). He conquered Asia Minor, Persia and a number of other kingdoms, and was undefeated in war at the time of his death. It’s sometimes suggested that just as Alexander conquered the world outside of Macedonia, so Paul may have understood this vision to be a request from a lost soul in Macedonia to have the gospel come and conquer them. How Paul knew that the man was a Macedonian is clear from the words he heard, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (verse 9).
Perhaps if this vision had not come, Paul might have tried to head down the coast to Pergamum or Ephesus. These places would be visited eventually (indeed, Ephesus would be visited later in this same journey). But at just this moment the time was right to leave this country and to sail across the Aegean.
The conclusion that the four travelers made (Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke now begins to say “we,” so he had joined Paul, too) was that the help that they must give the Macedonians was the gospel.
Just what is the gospel? Broadly speaking, the gospel is everything in the word of God, in the sacraments, and in our preaching that shows Jesus to be our Savior. But in particular it is the salvation that Jesus alone brings that is the gospel. There are many who are terrified by sins that they have committed. They have slipped and fallen into sins that bother their consciences, and God has sent the gospel, the message of salvation, to heal them and restore them.
Imagine a man bothered by sins that go so far back in his life that he has trouble even remembering when they happened. He has forgotten that he was forgiven long ago, a lifetime ago. But his loving God sends the gospel again and again, so that the burden is lifted again and again, each time these things bother him. “Your sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).
That isn’t to say that we need to be forgiven many times by God. We were truly forgiven once, on the cross of Christ, and that one sacrifice paid for all. “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
Moses and David were murderers. Rachel was a thief and an idolater. Sarah and Zechariah were doubters. God’s people fall into coveting, gossiping, stealing, hurting, abusing. We take these sins to the cross and admit to God: “I have sinned. Have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). And God “is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you” (Deuteronomy 4:31).
What about the Macedonians? There were a few Jews there, people who knew the law of Moses but who had never heard of Christ. We will meet some when the travelers arrive at Philippi. But there were other people there, Gentiles, who knew nothing of God, nothing of the promise of salvation, and who had no hope of forgiveness. “They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness” (Psalm 82:5). We will meet some of them in Philippi, as well.
The gospel in the word of God shows us a God who is loving and forgiving. He sees me, a sinner, in the pit of my sin and despair. He sees my guilt: “My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame” (Psalm 44:15). He blots all of that out, like a teacher wiping a chalkboard clean, not just with an eraser, but with a wet cloth, so that nothing at all is left behind. The gospel in the word of God completely eliminates all of our sins. “The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who has faith” (Romans 1:16).
The gospel in the sacrament of baptism washes away sins (we’re about to see a lot of this in Philippi). The gospel in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper brings the forgiveness of our sins right into our mouths, as Jesus said, “This is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19), and his blood we drink “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
The gospel in the preaching of the word of God explains all of this forgiveness in ways that help us to better understand Jesus passage by passage, week by week, year after year. The men who preach are sinners who need the gospel. The Christians who listen are sinners who need the gospel, too. The people who aren’t there but whose lives are touched by the rest of us need that same forgiving gospel. This is the help God offers to mankind: men, women and children. This is the promise of peace and everlasting life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.