Wednesday Night Bible Study (December 17, 2025)

Scripture

Acts 16:6-10

⁶ And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ 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. ^[1]

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ac 16:6–10.

Topic

Seeing The Opportunity In God Saying “No.”

Definitions

Forbidden– to cause something not to happen—‘to prevent, to hinder.’

Holy– pertaining to being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essentially divine qualities in contrast with what is human—‘pure, divine.’

Spirit– (a title for the third person of the Trinity, literally ‘spirit’)—‘Spirit, Spirit of God, Holy Spirit.

The Word- the content of what is preached about Christ or about the good news—‘what is preached, gospel.

Attempted– to attempt to do something, with the implication of not succeeding—‘to try, to attempt.’

Vision– an event in which something appears vividly and credibly to the mind, although not actually present, but implying the influence of some divine or supernatural power or agency—‘vision.’

Help- to assist in supplying what may be needed—‘to help.

Called– to urgently invite someone to accept responsibilities for a particular task, implying a new relationship to the one who does the calling—‘to call, to call to a task.

Questions

1. How do you recognize when God is guiding you to take action? Think of a real-life example. What was your final decision?
2. How do you recognize or know when God isn’t leading or calling you to do something? Think of a real-life example. How did you determine it was God who was not guiding or calling you, as opposed to yourself or someone else? How did it make you feel?
3. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in your life?
4. What is “the word”?
5. What does it mean for the Holy Spirit to prevent a messenger of God from speaking “the word” as described in the text?
6. When has the Holy Spirit stopped you from speaking “the word”?
7. What is the significance of the Spirit of Jesus not allowing Paul, Silas, & Timothy to enter Mysia?
8. What is the difference between the Holy Spirit vs. the Spirit of Jesus?
9. What is the difference between feeling a need to go somewhere for Jesus and being called somewhere for Jesus?