Author: missionspaul

RIP

Acts 14: 14

“But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting”

Not Rest in Peace but Rip in Pieces.

When the crowd saw the miracle but didn’t hear the message they responded with trying to worship man as gods.

When the team heard the attempt of worship they ran out so that they could be seen by everyone.

They did what their culture expected anyone to do who was stirred by deep passion, grief and trouble.

When Joseph was sold as a slave, his brother Reuben tore his own clothes.

When Job and Eli had heard their children had been killed they tore their clothes.

Caiaphas accusing Jesus of blasphemy tore his clothes.

I think the seamstresses were always in employment in those days.

Today we see Barnabas and Paul doing the exact same thing.

What passionately moves you today? Injustice? Grief of a loved one? Evil acts?

I am sure all of those things still move us.

The missionary team ripped their clothes because the worship due to God was being directed to them. Their ministry was being seen more than God. They were becoming more important. They were becoming greater He was becoming less. The message had not been heard only what they had done. Their evangelistic efforts had failed on the crowd even though their popularity had soared. Perhaps it is like a church growing numerically because of the amazing programme within it. The church gathers large followers but no one wants to be a disciple of Christ.

God tells us in Joel 2:13 not to rip our clothes but our hearts. Maybe we need to be more heartbroken over our successes that appear so but are actually temporary and worth nothing in the sight of God.

Maybe we need to RIP.

Acts 14:13

“The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.”

How can the man and the crowds respond so differently?

They all heard the message from Paul. Paul saw one man had faith and he could see that this man could be healed. The large crowd however were focusing on the miracle and not what they had heard.

The sight of miracles are often more important than the hearing of the message. Preaching is okay but let us get on with the power show. But it is the message that will keep us near the Lord. Faith comes by hearing not seeing.

 

gods from men

Acts 14:12

“Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.”

The result above all results! An ecstatic crowd respond really well to this miracle of the lame man.

Granted their theology was wrong, but what a response! Theology can always be ironed out later. This is a wonderful moment to embrace their joy. After having such rejection in Iconium here the team were in Lystra being likened to the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes.

Zeus was living in Barnabas because he is the older man and not as vocal as Paul, he is carrying a superior dignity. Zeus (the Romans used the name Jupiter) is the most powerful of all the gods and seen as the father of them and men. Hermes (the Romans used the name Mercury) was living in Paul. Hermes is the messenger of Zeus, he is the god of eloquence and presided over orators.

It is wrong but it would be easy for Barnabas and Paul to explain that it is not the Greek gods that are inside them but the God of all gods. Surely this is the great opportunity now?!

The favour of man is wonderful and a great opportunity for God to be glorified also. So we embrace it. We don’t let people see our pursuit but it is there in the deepest recesses of our heart. We long to please, to make people smile, to impact for the good. Well, that is one way of saying it. The other is that we long for the drug of praise. Some preachers have taken this drug all their life and they retire as addicts searching for one more hit.

Being likened to someone greater than us is a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to give glory to God. So we embrace it. We secretly want to be the best, better than we are now and better than anyone else. No one must know this. We don’t show ambition, not in Christian circles, we show servanthood. But in the hidden place we want to be better, greater, bigger, we want to be noticed, appreciated, likened to someone before us who had achieved what we are trying to achieve.

Our anointing attracts worshippers and this is a great opportunity for us to divert the worshippers towards God. So we embrace it. We long to see change in people, for people to be transformed and come to God, for the power. The anointing does this. The anointing in us does this. We battle with the truth that we like people looking at us, following us, revering us, in wonder of what we are carrying something. We do like this.

We still make gods of men today.

 

 

Power

Acts 14: 11

“When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

It does not read “When the crowd heard the message of Paul …” Why?

Man has always wanted a god in human form. Hinduism and Buddhism have a word for this, ‘Avatar’. It means ‘descent of God’. It believes that every Avatar has a specific message for mankind.

However, in Greek mythology their gods most important quality was power. The god Zeus was the power of the thunderbolt and kingship and Hermes was the god of commerce who was the protector of thieves and travellers who could trick the other gods. Many more gods were worshipped because of their power.

Repeatedly throughout the year the newspapers will report of some star whether that in sport or leadership being a god. They will either praise them for being one or complain that they are acting like one. But it will be to do with their power and ability.

Man craves power. “When they had seen what Paul had done”.

We must be careful what we long to see.

Years ago I was fond of singing a worship song, ‘More love, more power, more of you in my life.’ I wasn’t too sure if I really needed more of His love but I was wanting some action for sure.

“You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god which you made for yourselves.” Amos 5:26

What gods are we in danger of making today? It is the still the same as all those years ago in the mythology. We want power. We will forget whatever the preacher has said, we will forget Truth for Power. We are more inclined to make a god of Power and not a god of Truth. We want to see not hear. We pray to our God for things to see, to move, for Him to descend and do and act and change. We are not as concerned about what we hear.

Was it a powerful church service yesterday? What does that mean? “Nothing much happened today” What does that mean?

We know what it means. We seek power.

What would you like to have: Hear an exhortation of God or see a miracle from God?

Let us be seekers of the God of Truth and not crave the power of an avatar.

 

Who is responsible for the healing?

Acts 14:10

“and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.”

 

Paul could see that faith was being born in this man. We read in verse 9 it was a faith to be healed and we automatically take that as meaning physical healing because he is lame. However the Greek word that the English translators have translated into healing is sozo, it means to save as well as healed. This is important if we want to see something that I think we may have often overlooked.

Jesus often in his healings would heal to demonstrate he had the authority to forgive sins. In Luke 5 we see these words of Jesus, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” He said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

“I am going to forgive you, to bring salvation to you, but to prove that I have the authority to do this to you and to others, here is your healing.”

In his gospel, chapter 18 Luke records Jesus saying to the blind beggar on the road to Jericho “receive your sight your faith has healed you.” In the Greek it is ‘your faith has saved you.’ The blind beggar’s faith in who Jesus was has saved him and the proof to him and to others is that he has received his sight.

We have the same thing happening here according to Luke.

Paul could see the lame man responding with faith to his preaching, it was a faith to be saved. He believes in the preacher that Jesus was the Messiah. Then Paul knowing that everyone was watching, this was very public, knew that here was an opportunity to prove what Paul had been preaching was true. Luke wants us to see that Paul was doing what Jesus did. Paul called out “Stand up …..”

To the paralysed man in his gospel Luke writes “Get up”

In Chapter 7 of his gospel Jesus says to the dead son of a widow in Nain as he touched his coffin “Get up.” He calls to the lame man that he sees has faith, “Stand up

In the story of the beggar, Luke says that Jesus announces “Receive your sight.”

Again Luke seems to be showing us that Paul is doing what Jesus did. He calls to the lame man who is showing signs he has faith in Jesus, “Stand to your feet!” with no hesitation the man did what he had never done.

What would have happened if the man tried but failed to stand? Those who had listened to Paul’s message that Jesus was the Messiah would have said ‘No he isn’t, that proves it!’

My point is that the responsibility for healing does not rest with the sufferer. It rests with the suffering Servant who carries our infirmities.

Therefore why say to those who suffer just have faith, well how much faith do I need? I have faith, but do I have enough? If I focus, believe harder, don’t sin, do all that I can, if I have to pay some money to the preachers ministry I will do it, I will do whatever it takes to demonstrate I have enough faith to be healed. Is that enough? Friends, it is rubbish, it really is. Luxurious careers are being built on such nonsense.

All the sufferer needs to be concerned about is this: do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? If He calls you to do something will you be obedient? However the success of this obedience is not on you, the result of any healing is not because of anything to do with you, it is because of Jesus. If you get healed He will be glorified but if the preacher says do something and you are not healed then the damage to the glory is the responsibility of the preacher not the sufferer. For Paul, it is the truth of who Jesus is and the credibility of who Paul is as a preacher that is at stake not whether or not the lame man has enough faith that he can be healed.

Faith in the identity of Jesus is the most important thing and the only thing a sufferer needs. The rest is left to God and the messenger as to whether or not healing is going to happen today.

I much prefer the responsibility being with the preacher than with the sufferer don’t you? We may end up having less preachers but we would also have less suffering sufferers. More importantly we would have more credibility in the Church and more glory given to God. That has got to be the preferred path.

FAITH TO GET HEALED …um

Acts 14:9

“He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed”

The lame man couldn’t walk, he had to be carried, but he could listen. What was Paul preaching? Was it healing? Luke does say Paul saw the man had faith to be healed and that is why many preachers say that we need to have faith that God will heal in order for us to be healed. Yet there is no evidence in the New Testament that Paul ever preached on the subject of healing (though I am sure he would have done so), he certainly is not known as a specialist on healing. Rather, Paul on his missionary journeys is preaching that Jesus is the Messiah who has come to fulfil the law, the cross and the resurrection and the plan of salvation and grace.

My point is that there are many who are suffering today particularly in the Western churches. This is not because of sickness but because a preacher has told them all they need to do is have faith for healing and they will be healed. So they muster all the faith they can muster, far more than a mustard seed, but many do not get healed. So they suffer twice. I do not think Paul was ever asking the man to believe he could be healed.

So perhaps I can offer this suggestion. Luke is showing us that what was happening as Paul was preaching Christ crucified, risen and ascended Lord was that this man who was listening attentively, caught the eye of Paul. Paul looked directly at him and God gave him the ability to see that this man was actually turning towards Jesus. He had a developing faith growing inside. The man was beginning to believe, like scales falling from a spiritual blind man. It was not so much the man who believed he could be healed but that Paul saw he was accepting of Paul’s message of Jesus and Paul could see faith in the man. This faith in Jesus the Messiah Paul knew was transformational. This faith in Jesus, who can do anything and even if the man hadn’t realised it, Paul knew that this faith when pointed in the right direction could change the man’s life. That is why it is Paul who then gave the command to stand up. It was not the man’s idea, it was Paul’s. This man may never have seen one healing in his life. This is certainly the first time and the only time a miracle is seen in Lystra. The man was not saying ‘do to me as you have done to the others’. But this man was beginning to say ‘I believe in You Jesus’.

The church today needs to go looking for faith not for miracles, signs and wonders. Share the faith, preach the faith, belief in Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done. When we find faith in those who listen then maybe we might get those moments when something inside of us comes out, we cannot hold it in, but we just believe there and then that this faith in Jesus we have seen is going to be demonstrated here and now in many ways. But that’s for tomorrows devotion…

 

Lame

Acts 14:8

“In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked.”

Some people have never moved. Everyone around them are going places, advancing into new destinies, meeting new people and having fresh experiences, some just sit by the wayside.

They are trapped, locked-in, unable to move or maybe they don’t even know how to move even if they were able. The years pass by more slowly than the crowds of people who have gone on their way to brighter futures. The child has grown. He is a man now. But some things never change.

Some people have what they need but they cannot use what they have. It is not that they have used it and it has become broken but that it has never been used. Is it worse that everything appears to be there but it really isn’t than if the nothing had no appearance of existence at all?

The name of the city is mentioned but not the name of the man. Lystra was at that time of Paul a Roman colony. It was a place of enlightenment and education. This man had a name but most knew him as lame. Some people are characterised by their condition. For them there is no great enlightenment, no revelation, no inspiration, no new learning and no development of the mind. Their condition wins every time.

Lame.

Some days it is more valuable to not try and have all the answers and not try to fix people’s problems. It is better to not walk by. It is better to pay attention to their story. True value may lay with the pain of a question mark because you have bothered enough to notice.

 

Acts 14:7 “… where they continued to preach the gospel.”

Go on, continue!

You may have received a refusal and not just one, but you can continue.

People may have stirred malicious lies against you, whisperings of your name may have spread, but you can continue.

In 1995 I made a phone-call to an acquaintance who has become a very close friend. He was on the scrap-heap of life, dumped there by people he trusted, there was no hope. I said to him, ‘Go on, continue’ and I helped him do just that. 22 years later that man is continuing today.

You may be battle-weary, tired from doing so much good yet receiving so much bad, but you can continue.

In 2001 I received a phone-call from someone who had been on my staff but I had removed him. His voice echoed in the recesses of my mind for a long time afterwards as he said “I will bring you down” and he had a very good go at it! But I found I could continue!

Your circumstances may threaten you, vivid pictures of your demise may be ever before you, but you can continue.

You may have had to flee, to take a step back, to come out of the line of fire for a while, but you can continue.

In 2012, I walked out of a hospice having journeyed through the valley of the shadow of death with a loved member of my church who died far too young. Standing in the hospice car park with tears in my eyes I announced to God I was finished, it was over. He graciously told me to shut up and I found I could continue.

Every year of my life not just the 3 years I mention I have learnt one over-riding important lessons, I can continue.

You see when one door comes crashing in on you another door beautifully opens up and you realise that no matter what comes against us, we can continue! Amen!

 

Taking a step back

ACTS 14:6

“But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country”

Paul and his team became aware of the threat to kill from the Jewish and Gentile leaders. If that action had been carried out then their mission journey would have ended. They needed to do something quick and they gathered together and decided to get out of the situation.

Sometimes we need to take a step back:

1. When we are made aware that circumstances are going to change. Getting a break from the line of fire is needed.
2. When the step back is actually a side step. To do a side step in order to keep going is not a bad thing.
3. When to flee is to escape being stopped. To flee is to say to the enemy you will not put a full stop after me.
4. When we need to see other places that are in need of God. The step back creates a new vista we were unable to have previously.
5. When it opens up more opportunities. Fleeing from the one city of Iconium opened at least 2 cities and the surrounding towns and villages.

Do you need to take a step back today?

Be careful who you dismiss

Acts 14:5

“There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.”

Message: One day, learning that both the Jews and non-Jews had been organized by their leaders to beat them up

Amplified: When there was an attempt by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their rulers, to shamefully mistreat and to stone them

There is no limit to what man can want to do to man. The Jewish and Gentile leaders were plotting on stoning the apostles to death. They hadn’t carried it out yet, they had just got together a plan of attack, they had organised themselves to kill.

Recently I was told of how an executive board had decided not to go ahead with a previously organised plan of attack. They had organised themselves to set a trap to bring down a fellow executive member who they believed had been disloyal. They didn’t carry out that trap but it shows the level we are prepared to go to eradicate what we perceive as threats.

When there is an opposing view or when faced with the challenge of jealousy creeping into our lives sometimes we too can be dismissive completely. We want to eradicate that person out of our circles of comfort for they do not belong to our elite group of like-minded believers. We can perhaps form allies with people we would never have done so with previously because we have found a common greater foe. This verse shows an incredible force of unity amongst the Gentile and Jewish leaders but it is a shallow unity.

Of course we would never plan to execute someone. But we can be in danger of dismissing a servant of God completely because we are not happy with something we have heard or found out about them. We need to be careful what we dismiss for we may do away with God, if that were possible.