The Madedonian Vision

August 14, 2017

Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     How many churches are there in your area?  That question plagued me one day while living in a town in Southern Virginia.  I found that in our county, there were over 40 different churches and that perhaps 20 of them would be groups that would be preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They were what we might call, fundamental in that they believed in the Bible.  They were churches that believed the Word of God.  Now, that meant that there were at least 20 churches in one county for less than 20,000 people at that time.  We had just been challenged by a young Spanish man about working in Spain in a city of 200,000 people that had only one church of about 150 members.  I was reminded about the following passage.   Acts 16:9-10 says, "And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.  And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them." 

      The Apostle Paul was pioneering the gospel  in Asia Minor and then decided to go back and check up on how they were doing.  In Acts 16, we find that the Holy Spirit forbid him from doing it.  It all ended up in Paul and Silas waiting in Troas for God's direction.  It came from the vision of the man of Macedonia.  In other words, he was to leave the comforts of the people he had helped to begin a new work and go on to where he was needed.  Sometimes I wonder about how effective a ministry we have and if it is time to take another direction in our life.  I can't say that I have had a vision of anyone saying, "Come over and help us."  Yet, at the same time, there is always a need to share the Gospel in different areas even here in what is called the "Bible Belt."  I once did a study of local churches in our area and found that there were a total of 249 churches within a five mile radius of downtown Roanoke.  When we moved here, a phone book gave us the information that there were 144 Baptist churches in our area.  That's quite a lot to pick from.  I still think of those towns in Europe that have no Gospel witness.  There are, however, still needs that are right here in our own local area.  There are those needs that exist right outside your door on your street, in your hometown and in your state.  May we all be willing to go where He wants us to go to share the gospel message with those that still need it.  Praise God that He is still directing people.