XIV

THE CALL FROM MACEDONIA FOR HELP

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.—ACTS 16: 6-10.

R

AMSAY thinks this is in many respects the most remarkable paragraph in The Acts. In these four verses the Divine action is introduced three times, marking and justifying the new and great step which is made at this point. On three distinct occasions the guidance of God is manifested in three different ways. While on the second missionary tour Paul and Silas went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. They had gone as far as Paul and Barnabas had gone on the first tour. At this point they proposed to turn to the west and preach the gospel in the Roman province of Asia. Ephesus was their destination. The Holy Spirit forbade them to go in that direction. When they were come over against Mysia they assayed to go into Bithynia. That would have taken them in a northeasterly direction. But the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. Impelled forward as they were there was only one course open to them. Taking

that course they found themselves at Troas. It is clear that the going of these men to Troas was unforeseen and unforeseeable. "The whole point of the paragraph is that Paul and Silas were driven on to the city against their own judgment and intention." They were disposed to continue their labours within narrower limits. It is evident that neither Troas nor Europe was in their plans or in their thoughts. To them Europe was an unknown region. While they were thinking of keeping within easy reach of Antioch and Jerusalem they were caught in the sweep of God's eternal purpose and carried on to Troas, where as they waited further orders they could hear the music made by the waves of the Ægean Sea and could almost see Europe in the distance.

It was not because the people of Europe were ready for the gospel, while the people of Asia and Bithynia were not, that Paul was not allowed to carry out his original purpose. The prohibitions were for other reasons. The records show that the restraint was only temporary. Three years later we find Paul in Ephesus, the capital of Asia. He remained there for two years. So it came to pass that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. Peter wrote his first Epistle to the elect who were sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. The Spirit wrote through John to the seven churches in Asia. Doubtless many other churches were founded in those parts before the end of the apostolic age. It appears that Paul and Silas were kept out of Asia and Bithynia and driven on towards Europe because God in His providence was planning for them to preach on a much wider theatre than they had in contemplation. The introduction of the gospel into Europe could be delayed no longer.

Troas was the scene of the war that Homer immortalized. Troas had been visited on memorable occasions by some of the great men of the world. Xerxes visited it when he undertook to conquer Greece. Alexander the Great visited it, and, at the

tomb of Achilles, girded on his armour and from that goal started to overthrow the ancient and august dynasties of the East. Julius Cæsar visited Troas after the battle of Pharsalia. He proposed to build there the capital of the empire. And now the greatest man that ever walked the earth rested in his triumphal progress on these same poetic shores. He is armed with weapons that are not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. He was sent forth to subdue all the powers of the West and to bring the civilization of a new continent into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The most momentous event in the history of Europe is about to happen. But Europe felt no interest in it; in fact, was unaware of it. The people of Europe bought and sold; they married and gave in marriage; they ate and drank; they slumbered and slept and awaked to work and play, and did not think that the day of their redemption was at hand. And Paul and Silas did not know. They did not suspect that they were to be the chief actors in one of the greatest episodes in the history of mankind.

While they were sleeping at Troas a vision appeared to Paul in the night; there was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, "Come over into Macedonia, and help us." And when he had seen the vision, straightway Paul and his associates sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called them to preach the gospel there. Now all is clear and plain. Paul understands why he was forbidden to speak the word in Asia, and why the Spirit of Jesus did not suffer Him so much as to enter Bithynia, and why he was impelled on to Troas. He saw that God's plan for him was that he should not confine the gospel to the continent of Asia, but should cross the Egean Sea and preach in Europe. Ramsay thinks that Luke was the man that Paul saw in his vision. Phillips Brooks thinks that this man represented and expressed the real needs of the people of Macedonia. I prefer to think that our Lord appeared to the great apostle as a man of

Macedonia and invited him to cross over and help. However that may be, it is well for us to note that Paul and his companions sought to go over at once. They were satisfied that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia. So setting sail from Troas they made a straight course for Samothrace. The next day they were in Neapolis, and from thence in a little while they were in Philippi, a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony. These men might have urged excuses as others have done since and with less reason. They might have pleaded their inablity to enter this new field, as the church was yet young and small and poor. They might have said that there are many people nearer home who have not heard the joyful message. No excuse was offered or invented. God had called and there was nothing for them to do but to obey. So they started at once and took a straight course.

The sailing of Paul and his company in response to the call of the man of Macedonia marked an epoch in human history. That event led to greater and more far-reaching results than the fall of the Roman empire or the fall of Constantinople or the French Revolution or the battle of Waterloo. W. H. Summers says, "Their voyage was a still more decisive event in the world's history than that of the Mayflower to New England. It determined that the great early triumphs of Christianity should not be on the continent where it had its birth, and among the races which seemed most akin to the Jew in their habits of thought, not in Arabia and Persia, in India and China, so much as in that western continent which had given letters to that part of Asia, and now was to receive from Asia in return a new religion."

With such a call Paul and his friends might be pardoned for expecting a very cordial welcome from the people of Macedonia. They may have looked for a delegation of influential citizens to meet them on landing and to provide for their entertainment. Perhaps they looked about and waited for the man that Paul saw in his vision. But there was no one on the shore to wel

come them and to attend to their needs. The men that God had called to preach to these people were left to shift for themselves. The men of Macedonia did not notice their arrival. If they did they were wholly indifferent to it and to the message they brought. They were not conscious of any need. They had their own temples and gods, and had no thought of looking to the east and to the Jews for any help in religious matters.

It was help they needed, nevertheless. The Divine Spirit selected the precise word to describe their condition. They had art and learning and philosophy and religious faiths of several kinds; but they needed help. What they had could not satisfy the intellect nor give peace to the troubled conscience. Their priests could teach them some things; but their priests had no gospel. They could not tell them how to find salvation. They were blind leaders of the blind. There is salvation in Christ, and there is salvation in none other; for there is none other name given under heaven and among men wherein we must be saved. Nothing can be clearer than this, that humanity without the gospel is helpless. Being without God it is without hope. Greece had great schools and great teachers; she had poets and orators and dramatists and philosophers; but in Greece there were contradictory systems of thought; the poor were neglected; the bulk of the people were slaves. In Rome there was social failure. The people were corrupt. They lost their ancient liberties. Their strength was sapped by their vices. One has only to read the first chapter of Romans to learn the condition of society when God is not known and honoured and obeyed. It has ever and always been so. Where the gospel has not gone the people are degraded and spiritually destitute. They need help. This is as true of the Brahmin and Mandarin and Daimyo as it is of the coolie and pariah. The people of Macedonia did not want help, but they needed help. They needed the very message the apostle brought.