Author: missionspaul

The next morning

Acts 23:12 “The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.”

A lot can happen in 24 hours. In that time everything can change. We will forever remember 11^th September 2001 and the destruction of New York’s Twin Towers. We remember where we were on that day. We know it changed everything.

For Paul, the night before was a time of the visitation of Jesus. He was near Paul. He was comforting, encouraging and showing him the way and what to do. We long for the visitations of God. When they come we want them to remain. But the next morning comes and for Paul he saw the enemy flex their muscles even further, determined more than ever that Paul would not make it to Rome but that he would die as soon as possible.

On one certain day the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and then this happened …”So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.” (24:18)

Today may be very important for your tomorrow. Today maybe a day when you get encouraged, when you do your best work, a day perhaps to plan, to see something fresh in the Bible, to commit to God and resolve to do His will. Tomorrow you will be tested.

Today maybe the day of testing. You will need to remind yourself of yesterday. Perhaps you cannot see tomorrow and today is too dark to make any sense at all and all you have left is the yesterday of promise and commitment. It is important sometimes to not let go of the yesterday revelation and command.

Paul would need to rely on the Lord’s promise for his future that came yesterday because the next morning it all became worse.

 

 

The LORD is near

Acts 23:11 “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

 

A small plane was flying near Cleveland, Ohio.

“Cleveland Centre, this is 346 Alpha Charley. I’m at 10,500. I’m in the clouds … not instrument rated. Would like radar vectors. Out.”

“Six Alpha Charley, Cleveland. Roger. Understand you are not instrument rated. Set transponder code 4582 for radar identification. What is your heading now, sir?”

“Six Alpha Charley is heading 250 degrees. Say again code. It’s rough. I’m getting disorientated … I can’t see the ground!”

“Six Alpha Charley, Cleveland. Set code 4582. Concentrate on your altitude indicator, sir. Keep wings level and reduce power to start slow descent. Will have you on radar contact.”

“I’m losing control … losing it … turning … I’m going to spin! … I’m spinning! … which way!! Help! Help!”

“Six Alpha Charley, release your controls, sir! Look at your altitude indicator. Opposite rudder, opposite rudder …”

“Help! Help! I can’t stop …”

“Six Alpha Charley, Six Alpha Charley, do you read?” (Silence)

“Radar contact is lost.”

The above was based on a recorded conversation between a control tower and a small plane which crashed killing the pilot. The investigation of this crash revealed that nothing was wrong with the flight instruments on N346 Alpha Charley.

 

Many will wake today feeling they have been ripped apart. They will feel like this pilot must have felt, spinning to the ground, out of control, not able to ‘pull himself together’.

They will not realise that it actually is not as bad as they feel. To suggest anything else is an offence. But that is the truth, why? The Lord is near!

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the broken-hearted AND saves those who are crushed in spirit.

That night Paul locked in his prison cell not knowing what will happen next is visited by the Lord. Was this another vision or a dream? What is most important is Paul received words of encouragement.  He is still within the purposes of His God. He was not out of control. God was in charge. He was on track.

It really doesn’t matter what has happened to those who love the Lord, knowing they are still in His purpose, that He is still in control encourages like nothing else.

It may be night-time. You are waiting whilst everyone is sleeping. You are reflecting whilst everyone is dreaming. You are looking back on yesterday and not focusing on your tomorrow. He is the Lord of the night-time. Psalm 139:11-12 “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Be encouraged. Be strengthened. Not on your own strength. But in the knowledge that He has not left you. But He is right here. Now. In your NOW moment. What you need to hear is this? “I am near you. You will go forward, you will accomplish MY purposes for your life. This is not the end for you. There is more.”

Get in there!

Acts 23: 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

We cannot make light of this verse and nor would we want to.

It became so violent that it looked like Paul could be torn to pieces, meaning they were trying to grab a part of him.

This life can become very brutal for some.

The abused and rejected, the hurting and the bleeding bodies and hearts are all around us today. Beaten by this life, torn by many enemies, this life dishes out dirt at times and even the threats are real.

A friend told me yesterday of how one of their friends suddenly woke up to an attack of their mind recently and they have subsequently entered a very dark season of their life.

You may be with people today and actually not know that inside their lives are being torn apart. I pray that these people will find a Church today that loves them through the hurt.

For Paul, he didn’t have the Church though no doubt they were praying for him. But he did have the commander who did what at times still needs to be done today. The commander had Paul taken away from the situation. The force was not because of Pauls reluctance but because the people had hold of him intending to pull him apart. Maybe today we need to forcefully remove people from the claws of their enemy to a peaceful place. Maybe some need a holiday, a rest, help, counsel, prayer, healing. Nothing in their world will allow them to do this voluntarily. But you care enough for them to do this. So go in, send the troops in and bring them out whilst you still can.

What if …?

Acts 23:9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. ‘We find nothing wrong with this man,’ they said. ‘What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’

When those who oppose you divide then some of them can begin to defend you. This is what happened with Paul that day. The Pharisees believed in the supernatural, they believed it possible that the Spirit and angels communicate with us. They were not defending Paul’s stance that it was Jesus who appeared to him on the Damascus Road, but they were interpreting this vision as coming from an angel or the Spirit, something that the Sadducees would not accept.

What if …?

It is a shame that when they asked that question they shaped it to fit their theology. If they had asked, “What if Paul is right and he did see Jesus on the Damascus Road?” Can you imagine what possibly could have happened?

What if …?

The problem with this is that we can never think of the things that are impossible to ask.

We can think of miracles because they fit into our theology.

But we cannot think of the ‘what if’ questions outside of that.

Questions related to other religions, sexuality and human rights, what if …?

What we can do is when presented with something or someone, no matter how weird and wonderful the story or they may be, we can ask ourselves, what if they are right?

What if I am wrong?

This question at least keeps us humble or has the potential to do so.

 

 

 

Does Resurrection matter?

Acts 23:8  “(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)”

For so many, resurrection has become something that only happens when we die. When we die we go to heaven. However, the belief at the time of Christ was far more:

• If you believed in resurrection you were seen as a radical and someone seeking a revolution. It is based on Daniel 12 and the first few verses reveal there will be a rising of those who have died and who will stand with angel Michael in a war.
• The implications for this in how you lived your life were that you believed that God will come to turn the tables on the enemy. There was no greater enemy than the Romans.
• So Resurrection held a war-type value.

The Sadducees with their aristocratic desires perhaps were certainly the more conservative of the two. They did not want disturbance. They saw the Pharisees as dangerous to them and to their world. More importantly they could not find evidence for resurrection in the Torah (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) which was their only recognised Scripture.

Do we live our lives more like Sadducees than the Pharisees?

Should we be a little more radical perhaps being inspired by the fact that there is coming a resurrection day?

Maybe we have become too comfortable in this world rather than creating a disturbance based on the fact that a new world is coming.

Could we be a little more edgy, take some more risks, do some things we have never done for the gospel, simply because this life is not all that there is?

Can we speak up for injustice, stand against the bully, root out the manipulators, go forward with the message of love and give the good news to those who are marginalised, forgotten and in need?

Is it possible to live our life like today is our last? The revolution is coming. Jesus is on the way and the dead in Christ will rise with Him.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 1 Thessalonians 4:14

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Beliefs matter

Acts 23:7 “When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.”

They were united in their hatred and pursuit of the followers of Jesus.

This unity papered over the cracks of their deep division over their beliefs.

Paul says that he is on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead and then chaos erupts. The Sadducees say ‘No you are not as there is no resurrection’ and then the Pharisees start shouting down the Sadducees being resurrection believers.

On the 3rd June 2015, Jo Cox, MP to an area I know really well, Batley and Spen, gave her maiden speech in Parliament. One of the things she said was, “What surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us” Two years later, on the 16^th of that same month of her maiden speech, she was killed by someone shouting ‘Britain First’, the far-right political party.

Yesterday Trump and May, leaders of the US and UK known for our close ties and unity, fell out with each other over Trump retweeting tweets that originated from ‘Britain First’.

We can have a show of unity over many things. These can be good and wholesome projects and pursuits. They can also be powerful displays of force against many evils in this world.

And yet …

In all of these united fronts and claims and statements, beliefs do matter. Jo Cox died because of beliefs. The Isis publication, Rumiyah announced that they were waging war against Sufis. To the rest of the world Sufis are Muslims, but not to Isis. “They will be exterminated in Egypt …” because of their “…sorcery, soothsaying and grave-worship.” So this week they targeted a mosque of a north Egyptian town where the population was only 800 people and killed 305 of them and left 128 seriously injured.

It has always been so, throughout history, united in many ways, but in the end what you believe does matter and it can lead you to take a life or lose your own.

What do you believe today?

Yesterday Peter was telling me how there is a new wave of persecution happening to our churches in northern India. Church planters are automatically imprisoned for 4 years without trial if someone reports them for witnessing Christ to them. Many have been imprisoned as their enemies pretend to convert only to get them imprisoned.

What do you believe about Jesus today?

Whilst the Church has nothing to be proud about in our history of the crusades and heretic witch hunts, today thankfully this is not the case.

Yet what we believe divides us.

If Jesus is the only way, that belief divides it doesn’t unite. We pursue unity but not at the cost of our beliefs.

Beliefs are precious. Our friends will walk from us because of them. We will lose many things in this life, even our lives. Beliefs will take us to eternity and beliefs will shape our eternity.

 

Know your audience

Acts 23: 6 “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”

I have lost count of the times when people have come to see me but have not done any homework beforehand. From organisations who want to partner with us but who have not researched to see what exactly we already do to people who want to go overseas but haven’t been on the website to see where we are working, there seems to be a lack of desire to know their audience, namely me!

Paul knew his audience.

He knew within the Sanhedrin were Sadducees. They only held to the written Law and not any Oral tradition and so they did not believe in the Resurrection as it is not mentioned in the Torah. The Pharisees on the other hand held to a belief in the after-life and to judgment. They also believed in a Messiah to come.

The Sanhedrin accused Paul of violating the Temple by bringing in to the holy place Gentile men (He hadn’t) and also of believing in the resurrection of Jesus. He stands before the Sanhedrin and in one sentence begins to create an even bigger divide. Perhaps the High Priest was a Sadducee? In any case Paul aligns himself with those who believe in the resurrection, he was a Pharisee.

It is not what we believe that is of the greatest concern. You can attend all the courses in the world to become proficient at what you believe but if you cannot use the Koran to reach a Muslim or if you do not know that the Buddhist holds to values such as purity of heart, compassion, charity and humility very similar to Christianity then we are going to struggle to reach them. It is not what you know that is everything it is also what they know. You need to build a bridge for them to walk towards you.

Today when you are with people who do not know Christ, try and find out what they do believe. What values do they hold dear? What inspires them? What is the foundation of their life?

Know your audience.

Not everyone lies all the time.

Acts 23:5 “Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: “Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.”

Paul is now accused of insulting the High Priest, Ananias, who had previously ordered for Paul to be struck.

How did Paul not know it was the High Priest who ordered him to be struck? I do not know.

Was Paul simply lying? I don’t believe so.

Was Paul actually being sarcastic by faking his shock and then quoting the Scripture showing everyone that he was different to the High Priest? (Because the High Priest flouted the Scriptural law that says no one should be struck before a trial). I don’t believe so.

Luke writes it how we read it.

Paul didn’t know it was the High Priest.

There are times when we ask these questions of others.

Are they lying?

Are they being deceptive?

Are they trying to trip me up?

Are they being sarcastic? Is there a hidden agenda here?

It is not a good place to be in. We all want to trust everyone around us. Trust is everything, the basis of any relationship.

But sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, “Only God knows” but I will accept things at face-value. I choose to believe that what people tell me is the truth. I may be naïve, but there is no evidence to suggest anything other.

It is okay to believe the best in people.

Line-up with the offended and you could be standing with the hypocrite.

Acts 23:4 “Those who were standing near Paul said, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”

Those standing near had heard the High priest order the unscriptural launch of hitting Paul before a trial.
They had seen the striking of Paul.
They had heard Paul accuse Ananias of hypocrisy.
Now they had to make a decision of who to support. They chose Ananias.

Position often trumps behaviour.
We regularly see the powerful leaders of commerce, media, film and the church behave and speak wrongly. Yet for some, nothing is said, nothing is done, they are important, powerful, gifted leaders and that seems to be more important!
Those standing near lost sight of what was most important. The hypocrisy versus the offence and offence always wins.

Offence blinds hypocrisy.

Those who are least offended are so because they know they also have sins in their life, they have said things they shouldn’t have said. Those who are offended easily are blinded to their own hypocrisies. Recently on facebook I read a trail of statuses from people who were offended by a certain Church leader who had said something he probably shouldn’t have said. The statuses were led by a person I knew quite well and who had on numerous occasions said many a thing he shouldn’t have said!

The rebound of punishment

Acts 23:3 “Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’”

The Law of Moses in Deuteronomy 25 said that in order to be beaten the person had to be first proven guilty. This is what Paul meant when he called him a whitewashed wall, meaning he was acting as a hypocrite.

Paul may not realise he is prophesying when he says that Ananias would also be struck by God. Historians say actually happened as he spent the final years of his life running away from people who wanted to kill him and who finally got their wishes.

Did Paul speak harshly and angrily as a result of the painful strike on his mouth? Or was he calm? Some would want a peaceful Paul because raising your voice and angrily sentencing a punishment seems sinful.

We don’t know.

What I do know is that all my life I have tried to live by a childhood truth: to treat people the way I would want to be treated. Ananias ignored the Law and treated Paul the way he felt he should be treated.

You may feel all kinds of angry feelings. You may have desires of revenge. However, stay true to the Word of God and pause long enough to realise that one day it is possible that you would want someone to show you grace rather than judgment. Be careful with an offended heart, that it doesn’t punish for what goes out does come back to you.