Monthly Archives: June 2019

THE BOOK OF ACTS – ALL OUT WAR

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ALL OUT WAR

“But it wasn’t long before reports got back to the Thessalonian hard-line Jews that Paul was at it again, preaching the word of God, this time in Berea. They lost no time responding, creating a mob scene there too. With the help of his friends, Paul gave them the slip — caught a boat and put out to sea. Silas and Timothy stayed behind. The men who helped Paul escape got him as far as Athens and left him there. Paul sent word back with them to Silas and Timothy, ‘Come as quickly as you can!'” Acts 17:13-15 (The Message).

What was it with these Jews? Why were they not content to stir up trouble only in their own city? Why did they pursue Paul to other cities as well?

The battle lines were drawn between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light, and each person had to choose on which side he would stand. The unbelieving Jews represented avowed and all-out opposition to the truth for which Paul and his companions were contending. The difference between the two sides was that the Jews were opposing Paul, while Paul was at war with the spiritual forces of darkness which were holding these Jews and all those who refused to believe, in darkness.

What tactic did the devil employ in his attempt to overcome the representatives of the kingdom of God? Kill them! Stir such murderous hatred in those who represented him that they would stop as nothing to get rid of them! It was not enough to confine the battle to their city. Follow them and stir up so much opposition that they would not be welcome anywhere!

What was Paul’s response? Fight back, using their tactics? He knew that the battle was not with the Jews but within himself. How would he react to people who hated him? Would he hate back? Would he become like them, under the influence of the dominion of darkness, bringing dishonour to his Master by behaving like an unbeliever?

Paul was learning to function as a citizen of heaven. Like his Master, Jesus, he did not retaliate. He had a message to deliver and a commission to fulfil. If his message was rejected in one city, he moved on to the next, leaving behind a small but Spirit-energised group of people who would stand as witnesses to the power of Jesus to transform lives.

The vicious persecution of his countrymen got to him. He pleaded with the Lord to intervene (2 Corinthians 12:8-10), but He refused because He had another agenda for His servant. To become like his Master, Paul had to learn to draw strength from Him, not to get out of but to go through the suffering. That was the way of God’s kingdom: to display the nature of Jesus by standing firm in the ways of the Master, no matter what people did to him.

Paul was learning that he did not only have a message to share with the world; he also had to live it out in a hostile and anti-God environment without absorbing or displaying the attitudes of those who were antagonistic towards him.

What about us? How unfortunate that many of us have not grasped this truth. The gospel is much more than a free pass to heaven. It brings with it a mandate to display Jesus in the same way as He put his Father on display by His life and death. This is the real proof that we have embraced and been changed by believing who He is and what he did.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV).

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God so that, when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and, after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 8:12-13 (NIV).

THE BOOK OF ACTS – GOOD FOR YOU BEREANS

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GOOD FOR YOU BEREANS

“The city fathers and the crowd of people were totally alarmed by what they what they heard. They made Jason and his friends post heavy bail and let them go while they investigated the charges.

“That night, under cover of darkness, their friends got Paul and Silas out of town as fast as they could. They sent them to Berea, where they again met with the Jewish community. They were treated a lot better there than in Thessalonica. The Jews received Paul’s message with enthusiasm, and met with him daily, examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said. A lot of them became believers, including many Greeks who were prominent in the community, men and women of influence.” Acts 17:8-12 (The Message).

Now that’s what they were supposed to do, check the evidence!

What a contrast between the people of Thessalonica and Berea! For the most part, the citizens of Thessalonica were an unruly mob, egged on by ruthless Jews who stopped at nothing to hinder Paul from doing his work. Refusing to believe his message was no excuse for creating havoc in the city.

Two issues emerge from this passage. Firstly, no one has the right to intrude on another’s God-given gift of choice. God gave man dominion over the earth, including all the creatures but excluding each other. To use any form of force — intimidation, manipulation or domination — to impose one’s will on someone else is a violation of that basic right. It is the exercise of illegitimate authority and is called, in Scripture, witchcraft. Any form of witchcraft is an abomination to God and He will hold the one accountable who practises it.

Why do so many people insist on controlling others? A control freak is an insecure person who covers up his insecurity by forcing others to conform to his whims. The bully and the abuser expose their inner pain by using their superior strength to dominate others. Others manipulate or threaten to get their own way.

A truly secure person, one who knows who he is and has no need to force others to respect him, honours them by accepting their decisions and choices without begging or cajoling. This kind of interaction can only take place between people who have an inner freedom that demands nothing from other people.

The second issue is one that is, sadly, very common in the church. In the main, people are gullible. They tend to believe what they are told without checking the facts. An honourable preacher or teacher will encourage their hearers to go back to the sources. That’s what the Bereans did. There would be far fewer cults and heresies if believers were more like them.

People trust the “authorities” instead of doing their homework. If we are believers, we have the Bible and we have the Holy Spirit, the author of God’s Word. We have no excuse for not checking the facts. The Bible interprets itself. If we want to know the truth and take the trouble to study the Bible, the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to us through the Word.

Let’s allow the lesson of the Bereans to encourage us to be honest and diligent to understand and walk in the truth. David’s prayer can be our prayer, one that God will faithfully answer:

“Teach me your way, O Lord.

And I will walk in your truth.

Give me an undivided heart

That I may fear your name.”

Psalm 86:11

 

 

THE BOOK OF ACTS – SAYING IS BELIEVING

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SAYING IS BELIEVING

“Some of them were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorising the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.

“They broke into Jason’s house, thinking that Paul and Silas were there. When they couldn’t find them, they collared Jason and his friends instead and dragged them before the city fathers, yelling hysterically, ‘These people are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear! And Jason is hiding them, these traitors and turncoats who say Jesus is king and Caesar is nothing!” Acts 17:4-7 (The Message).

They’re at it again! The unbelieving Jews seem to have been tarred with the same brush the world over. Were the Thessalonian Jews infected by those coming from other centres that had already heard and reacted against Paul and Silas, or was this a fresh wave of persecution? These European Jews appear to be just as hard-hearted as the ones in Israel and Asia Minor.

They didn’t want to get their hands dirty, so they hid behind the street hooligans and relied on them to cook up lies and get the city fathers’ backs up against Paul and Silas while they stood watching in the background. There was no truth and no conscience in the accusations and behaviour of the mob. Since Paul and Silas were not available to face the music, they grabbed the first people they could find to victimise with their lying hysteria.

This is the typical modus operandi of the devil — turn up as much heat as possible so that people are not interested in the light. It was through experiences like these that Paul was able to understand and write about Satan’s tactics, and teach his beloved converts how to deal with him. He recognised that, behind the trouble he experienced from unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, was an unseen, sinister enemy who was out to destroy both him and his work because he was allied to the God whom the devil hates.

The devil’s language is lies and his method is deception. Jesus called him ‘a liar and the father of lies,’ and that was no libelous indictment. Those who are under his influence because they refuse to believe and receive the truth are themselves subject to the lies with which he infiltrates their minds.

The big problem is that those who speak out lies actually believe what they are saying is true because they are saying it. This happens in politics. Representatives of government make grandiose statements and then believe them simply because they have said it. This happens in my country. Anyone with half a brain laughs at some of the claims made, knowing very well that there is no substance to them but, at the same time knowing that the speaker thinks that, because he or she has made the statement, that makes it true.

How are we to counter these attacks? Paul had learned that it was not his role to fight. The war has already been won. Jesus exposed and defeated the devil on the cross. Our weapon and defense is the truth. Lies have no substance and cannot endure. It is the truth that prevails over lies. As soldiers in the army of God, we have only one instruction, “Stand!” We are to hold our position, standing on and protected by the truth.

By submitting ourselves to God’s word and His authority, we put the devil to flight since he cannot take God on and win. If we stand on and believe the truth we are indestructible because “the word of the Lord endures forever.”

THE BOOK OF ACTS – A COSTLY COMMISSION

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CHAPTER 17

A COSTLY COMMISSION

“They took the road south through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, where there was a community of Jews. Paul went to their meeting place, as he usually did when he came to a town and for three Sabbaths running he preached to them from the Scriptures. He opened up the texts so they understood what they’d been reading all their lives: that the Messiah absolutely had to be put to death and raised from the dead — there were no other options — and that ‘this Jesus I’m introducing you to is the Messiah.'” Acts 17:1-3 (The Message).

Day two after their release from jail! How could these men, who had just been severely beaten and were covered in welts and raw wounds, travel such long distances on foot without painkillers, antibiotics or anti-inflammatories? What was it that produced such determination in them to proclaim this message all over the empire regardless of the hostility they encountered from their fellow Jews and from the Roman government?

God had called them to press into Europe and to Europe they would go, regardless of the cost, because they knew that He had commissioned them and He would accompany and support them no matter how people responded. He had never promised them immunity from trouble and suffering. He promised them His own presence, with all His resources, so that they would fulfil their mission, no matter what.

Why could they be so sure of what they were doing? They had at least three reasons for sticking to their ministry, no matter how high the price:

  1. They had the Scriptures. Centuries before, Hebrew prophets had recorded, in detail, prophecies about the Messiah. Every one of those prophecies had been fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ. As Paul preached, he matched prophecies with Jesus and the people recognised the truth that Jesus was their Messiah, just as the Scriptures had predicted.
  1. They had personal contact with those who had lived with Jesus for three years, those who had watched and listened to Him; who had been present at His crucifixion and talked with Him after His resurrection over a period of forty days. Paul had had an encounter with Him on his way to Damascus that changed the course of his life.
  1. Through the miracle of faith, their own lives had been changed, giving them an inner peace and joy that not even the experience of the past days could erase. How could they pray and sing instead of cursing and complaining when they were treated so cruelly and unfairly by civil authorities? They had a Master who had suffered for them. His grace was enough to see them through adversity until they had completed their assignment.

All these experiences added to Paul’s CV, giving him all the testimony he needed to pen the letters that became part of the Scriptures of the New Testament. Paul could never have written words of encouragement and hope to the believers in so many churches had he not had personal experience to which he could testify. Every word he wrote about living the life was first hammered out on the anvil of his own experience. It had to be so otherwise his words would have been nothing but untested theory and useless for his readers.

This life Jesus came to give us is free but costly. Paul found it so, and so shall we if it is our purpose to follow the Master closely and faithfully. It will cost our plans and desires. The Master’s way may take us along rough and even dangerous paths but the rewards will far outweigh any price we are called to pay.

Paul could say, at the end of his journey, that there was a crown of righteousness awaiting him and all those who are looking forward to the Master’s return.

Are you?

THE BOOK OF ACTS – NO PUSHOVERS

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NO PUSHOVERS

“At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, ‘Release these men.’ The jailer gave Paul the message, ‘The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!’

“But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, ‘They beat us up in public, and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want us to get out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.'” Acts 16:35-37 (The Message).

Hey, Paul! I thought you were supposed to be meek and humble, and take abuse without complaining, like Jesus did.

Why did Paul pull rank on these judges? Should they not have simply left quietly as though nothing had happened; turned the other cheek as Jesus taught His disciples?

Is that really what He taught? Does Jesus want His disciples to be jellyfish, pushovers?

What exactly did Jesus mean when He said, ‘Turn the other cheek’? If someone slapped another person on the right cheek, it was meant as an insult. To slap him on the right cheek, he had to use his left hand which was considered unclean because the left hand was used for toilet purposes. To turn the other cheek meant that he had to slap the other person with his right hand, forcing him to acknowledge that they were equals.

When Israel was rescued from slavery in Egypt, they had to unlearn centuries of abuse from their Egyptian masters in a new society where they were free. God built into their constitution and culture a new way of life where He taught them to treat one another with human dignity, recognising that every person was created in the image of God.

God hates oppression of any kind and, in the case of Paul and Silas, the Roman judges differentiated between Romans and Jews. They got the Jewish end of the stick because their oppressors hadn’t taken the trouble to carry out their job properly. Paul wanted the Roman judges to acknowledge their unjust treatment by publicly escorting them from the prison where they had been publicly humiliated by the treatment they had received.

Good for you, Paul! It was a lesson these arrogant Romans would not easily forget. Perhaps they were saving someone else from being treated as they had been treated.

“When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologised, personally escorting them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.” Acts 16:38-40 (The message).

Apparently, although this kind of behaviour was common practice, it was not Roman policy. The judges were using their position of power to abuse Jews whom they despised. If the authorities got to hear about it, they were in big trouble. Mistreating non-Romans was bad enough but mistreating Roman citizens, Jews or no Jews, was serious.

They not only personally escorted Paul and Silas out of jail, they also wanted them out of the city because they were a source of embarrassment to them. Having got the justice they deserved and taught these men a lesson, Paul and Silas reported back to Lydia who was their hostess and must have wondered what had happened to them, encouraged the fledgling believers and then went on their way as requested.

But it was not the last that Philippi had seen of them. There was a baby church to nurture and Paul had no intention of abandoning them, judges or no judges.