Monthly Archives: July 2013

Who Is Lying?

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WHO IS LYING?

“After all this had come to a head, Paul decided it was time to move on to Macedonia and Achaia provinces, and from there to Jerusalem. Then he said, ‘I’m off to Rome. I’ve got to see Rome!’ He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on to Macedonia while he stayed a while and wrapped things up in Asia.” Acts 19:21-22 (The Message).

Paul had a dream and a plan! Rome was his ultimate destination, but his first mission was to go back to Jerusalem. He had been bundled out of Jerusalem many years before by his new-found brothers in Christ because his fiery debate with the Jews had made him a hot potato (Acts 9:28-30). He had a longing to go back to the mother city in Israel and visit his church family there.

When one considers that all his travels around Europe and Asia were long, tedious journeys on foot overland and by sailing ship across the Mediterranean, he was looking at many months of travel before he reached his destination. After all his years of travelling from and back to Antioch around many of the provinces of Asia Minor and Greece, it is amazing that he still had the dream to go to Rome via Jerusalem! He was not daunted by the distance or the cost.

Before he left, Paul was to discover just how much damage he had done to the worship of Diana in Ephesus. His ministry there had made a huge hole in the pockets of the silversmiths who were cashing in on the opportunity to make money out of her worshippers.

“But before he got away, a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way”. A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, ‘Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here — and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’ve been doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here is Ephesus but all through Asia province.” Acts 19:23-26 (The Message).

Someone was lying. Paul had both taught and demonstrated, through the power of God, that gods do not exist. Those who were practising witchcraft in the name of Artemis (Diana) were demon-possessed, but subject to God’s power. They were no match for Paul because he evicted them in the name of Jesus. When others tried to do that, they were overpowered by the demons.

Demetrius was not really as concerned about Diana as he was about his pocket. He had his own private god to protect — money — and money talks. It was easy to get his colleagues all stirred up because the revival in Ephesus was costing them as well.

“Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess, Artemis, will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter — the whole world worships our Artemis.” Acts 19:27 (The Message).

What a magnificent argument! Demetrius had to prop up his greed with an assumed concern for this goddess he was “protecting.” How much power did she really have if she needed a mere mortal to bolster her up against another mere mortal — Paul? Demetrius’ lies were flimsy but his co-workers easily believed him because they were also looking for an excuse to stir up trouble against Paul to protect their own interests.

Money is more powerful than any idol because money represents the spirit of Mammon. There is nothing a person will not do to protect that god if it rules his life. He will sacrifice everything to ensure that his god remains in charge. This powerful demonic stronghold is held in place by a superstructure of lies and lies have no substance. Like everything false, money also fails in the end.

There is only one Master who will never fail, Jesus. He is the truth. Every lie will be exposed and every fool who has believed them will join the liars in their destiny.

Out Of The Woodwork

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OUT OF THE WOODWORK

“It was soon news all over Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. The realisation spread that God was in and behind this. Curiosity about Paul developed into reverence for the Master Jesus. Many of those who thus believed came out of the closet and made a clean break with their secret sorceries. All kinds of witches and warlocks came out of the woodwork with their books of spells and incantations and made a huge bonfire of them. Some estimated their worth at fifty thousand silver coins. In such ways it became evident that the Word of the Master was now sovereign and prevailed in Ephesus.” Acts 19:17-20 (The Message).

What was that all about?

Two extraordinarily unusual things happened in Ephesus. Through Paul, God was showing the pagan Greeks and hyper-religious Jews of Ephesus who this Jesus was and what His power could do. He was a healer and restorer of broken bodies and ruined lives. He was the true and only Lord and worthy of their undivided allegiance.

He was also showing them the true nature of the gods they were worshipping — demonic powers that enslaved and tormented people and brought them nothing but misery and destruction. The demon-possessed man beat up those who tried to evict them to within an inch of their lives. That’s the best Satan can produce by his unauthorised occupation of those who believe his lies.

These electrifying events were enough to shake the citizens of Ephesus out of their demo-induced stupor. The reality of who they were involved with woke them up and initiated a wholesale turning to the Lord. The real but unseen Jesus overshadowed Paul. Those who were secretly involved in occultic practices came clean, not only repenting of what they were doing but also burning all their books and paraphernalia so that they would never go back to it again.

Now that was a marvellous work of grace, the kingdom of God completely swamping and eclipsing the devil’s domain of darkness, destruction and death. Jesus had decisively demonstrated who is Lord. The devil and his hoards were forced to retreat with egg on their faces because the people of Ephesus were identifying with the legitimate ruler of their lives, whose image had been imprinted in them by their Creator.

God created us in His image. He breathed His own breath into us. That first breath a new-born baby takes into his lungs — what is that? Since God fills heaven and earth, He is everywhere and as close to us as the air we breathe. Every baby emerges from his mother’s womb with the image of God in him and the breath of God that sustains his life in his lungs. Not even the taint of Adam’s rebellious nature can obliterate God’s image in us.

No matter how far a person strays from God into self-destructive ways, deep inside of him is the knowledge that he was created for better things. His heart responds to the call he hears and he says either yes or no. Many of the people of Ephesus recognised the truth of what Paul was teaching them and renounced the pseudo-lord they had been following for the true Lord they had seen in action through Paul.

Their repentance was radical and genuine. All the lies they had been believing and practising went up in smoke with the paraphernalia they burnt, setting them free to worship Jesus and become who they were meant to be, reflections of a loving and merciful God. They were not concerned about the value of the things they were destroying. Their freedom was of greater worth than their books.

That’s the kind of repentance that liberates a person from slavery to the devil. A clean break and a new beginning is the only way to break his hold and send him packing. When we stop believing his lies and giving in to his urging, we will recognise him for who he is, the destroyer and the accuser. Only Jesus can restore what we have messed up because we heeded the wrong voice, and give us the opportunity to start all over again!

Messing With Demons

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MESSING WITH DEMONS

“Some itinerant Jewish exorcists who happened to be in town at the time tried their hand at what they assumed to be Paul’s “game”. They pronounced the name of the Master Jesus over victims of evil spirits, saying, ‘I command you by the name of the Jesus preached by Paul,’ The seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the evil spirit talked back: ‘I know Jesus and I’ve heard of Paul, but who are you?’ Then the possessed man went berserk — jumped the exorcists, beat them up and tore off their clothes. Naked and bloody, they got away as best they could.” Acts 19:13-16 (The Message).

Such was the city of Ephesus, a city of idol-worship and a city of witch-craft and demon-possession! Like god, like people! Messing around with demons was okay until they got inside and then it was another story. Idols, demons and exorcists went together. Some let them in and others tried to get them out!

During this time of heightened supernatural activity, demons were making their unwanted presence felt. Paul was God’s instrument for dealing with them, both in the bodies of the sick and in the spirits of the tormented. But there were others who tried to do what Paul was doing without realising that they were on the wrong side!

How do demons get in in the first place? Choices! It’s all about choices. The first choice is to ignore or reject God as the rightful owner of your life. This happens every time you choose to follow the desires and appetites of your sinful nature instead of heeding the warnings of His Word. Until you acknowledge that Jesus is the rightful authority in your life and give over the reins to Him, you will have to go it alone under the influence of the unseen usurper, the devil.

Follow the patterns of sin long enough and the devil begins to make his presence felt. He offers all sorts of perks for following him without revealing the handcuffs that tie you to him. Eventually he sends in his “squatters” to occupy the territory he has illegally claimed and then it’s too late. He has you hooked and you are his slave; and remember, he is a destroyer. Only then will you begin to taste the fruits of his occupation.

Why were the sons of Sceva not only impotent to cast the demons out but also victims of their abuse? They were on the devil’s side. Only a radical relocation from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus will break the chains of the devil’s dominion over you. Only Jesus can set prisoners free.

He did it by dying, an innocent man as a criminal, condemned by those who were the devil’s emissaries and who thought they were right. He came back from the dead, not only to prove His innocence, but also to take His rightful place as Lord of the universe He had created and of all those who recognise who He is and bow to Him.

Jesus warned that a house divided against itself will not stand. People on the devil’s side cannot cast out demons. They only set themselves up for a beating. And likewise, believers who make it their business to oppose other believers also set themselves up, and the fellowship to which they belong, for serious damage.

We have to know to whom we belong and to whom we owe our allegiance. If we are God’s children, we belong to Jesus, and we are members of His body. We cannot take up arms against fellow believers and hope to emerge unscathed.

We can be the answer to Jesus’ prayer, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe on me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” John 17:20 (NIV).

Take That, Diana!

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TAKE THAT, DIANA!

“Paul then went straight to the meeting place. He had the run of the place for three months, doing his best to make the things of the kingdom of God real and convincing to them. But then resistance began to form as some of them began spreading evil rumours through the congregation about the Christian way of life. So Paul left, taking the disciples with him, and set up shop in the school of Tyrannus, holding class there daily. He did this for two years, giving everyone in the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, ample opportunity to hear the Message of the Master,” Acts 19:8-10 (The Message).

Like Athens, Ephesus was a hotbed of idolatry, especially the worship of Diana (Roman) or Artemis (Greek), a powerful goddess whose image supposedly fell from the sky. It was in the atmosphere of her power and influence that Paul carried on his ministry there for at least two years.

He ministered in the Jewish synagogue for at least three months before the poisonous rumours spread by his opponents began to undermine his ministry. Rather than remain and face increasing opposition, he moved his venue to a nearby “school”, probably a meeting place where men gathered during their “leisure” time, between 11am and 4pm, to discuss the philosophies of the day. This would have given him time to carry out his tent-making during “working hours” as well as preach and teach in the middle of the day,

Paul took advantage of this practice to share the message of Jesus with the people who gathered there every day with such power that the whole of the province of Asia came under his influence. As we will see later, this had dire consequences for him and his associates as the life-transforming power of Jesus began to take effect, undermining the worship of Diana.

“God did powerful things through Paul, things quite out of the ordinary. The word got around and people started taking pieces of clothing — handkerchiefs, scarves and the like — that had touched Paul’s skin, and then touching the sick with them. The touch did it — they were healed and whole.” Acts 19:11-12 (The Message).

This is a phenomenon that appears more than once in Scripture. God did many miracles when He rescued His people from Egypt. He supernaturally destroyed the whole of Egypt, including their military might, to show Pharaoh and the Egyptian people that their gods were powerless against the God of Israel. Likewise God did miracles through the prophets Elijah and Elisha during the time of the reign of Ahab and Jezebel in Israel when Baal-worship predominated.

Paul’s ministry in Ephesus coincided with the powerful influence of Diana and it would seem that God was confirming the truth of His Word by the signs and miracles that He did through Paul. He was as much revealing His power over Diana as He was healing the afflicted in Ephesus.

The effect on the Ephesian people was electrifying, (as we shall read in the next section of Acts), and produced a counter-attack from the enemy conducted by those who were more concerned about losing business than they were about Diana’s “divine majesty” being threatened!

What does this tell us about God and His ministry through Paul? God is always about revealing His glory. Where Satan’s intention was to oppose and rival God through the zeal and energy of misguided people, He exposed his deception through acts of power that proved without doubt the He alone is God.

God does heal out of compassion for His people but He also intervenes miraculously in times of idolatry and unbelief to put Himself on display so that there can never be any doubt about who is Lord.

Dunked Into Jesus

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DUNKED INTO JESUS

“‘We’ve never even heard of that — a Holy Spirit? God within us?’
“‘How were you baptised then?’ asked Paul.
“‘In John’s baptism.’
“‘That explains it,’ said Paul.’ John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus. If you’ve been baptised into John’s baptism, you’re ready now for the real thing, for Jesus.’

“And they were. As soon as they heard of it, they were baptised in the name of the Master Jesus. Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them. From that minute on, they were praising God in tongues and talking about God’s actions. Altogether there were about twelve people there that day.” Acts 19:2-7 (The Message).

Why did Luke include this incident in his story of the church? Was it because the Holy Spirit knew that in days to come the church’s understanding and practice of baptism would become another issue so contentious that it would split the church and even be the reason for bloodshed? Misunderstanding about baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit have done major damage to the unity of Christ’s body.

It is impossible, in a short article like this, to deal with the subject thoroughly. However, these few verses indicate that there is a close link between truth, belief and experience. Unless the practice of baptism is linked to the truth of its meaning, it becomes just another useless religious ritual.

In the light of Paul’s action when he found believers who had only been baptised into John, we have to question the practice of infant baptism. How is it possible for a baby or young child to understand and believe the significance of baptism into either John or Jesus? It’s not the act of sprinkling or immersing in water that is important. It is the meaning of the action that gives it its power

Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. It signified a washing away of the old life and initiation into and identity with a new movement. Priests were baptised into the hereditary office of the priesthood when they reached the age of thirty, as were rabbis when they had completed their training in the Beth Talmud.

There seems to be a close link between baptism into the name of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

To be baptised into the name of Jesus indicated that the initiate had been washed clean of the old life with its sinful practices and embraced Him and His teaching as a new Master and a new way of life. The Holy Spirit sealed this transaction by taking up residence in the new believer and empowering him to become what he had confessed to be.

“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4 9(NIV).

There is much more to baptism than being dunked under water. A spiritual transaction takes place in that act of obedience; the old life for a new life, an outward sign of identification with Jesus in His death and resurrection, initiation into a life of discipleship and a sealing of that action by the Holy Spirit’s permanent indwelling. The believer is immersed both into Jesus and into His body, which is the church, by the Holy Spirit.

“For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV).