Author: missionspaul

The Cull.

Acts 7:19
“He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.”

The enemy of your life will always try and cut off your future.
The new Pharaoh wanted to stop a rising generation. He wanted to end the people of God by decreasing its population. So a cull was put in place.
A cull in animal terms is to remove in order to control the population.
Your Pharaoh wants to control your output. He doesn’t mind you focusing on maintaining what you have. He doesn’t mind the Church having and building their shiny Jerusalems and spending all their time within it. What Pharaoh doesn’t want is for you to leave your Jerusalem. He wants you focused on faithfulness as being the most important thing over that of output, of results. A faithful farmer will be a hungry faithful farmer if he has no harvest. No more souls saved, that is the aim of the Pharaoh and he will do whatever is needed to make sure that happens.
Where are the young people? Are you mentoring them? Do you have hope for tomorrow? Will your work carry on when you are not here anymore? Have you passed anything to the next generation? Hard questions maybe. Here is the toughest: has Pharaoh started a cull on your life?

What do you do when no one wants to know you?
Acts 7: 18

“Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.”

Joseph was about to move from being well-known to unknown.

For any missionary one of the difficult times can be when their sending Pastor moves on and a new Pastor who does not know them arrives at the Church.
I remember a short while back a new Pastor of a church called me to say how they had to stop the funding of a missionary previously sent out by the outgoing Pastor because finances were tight and because the new Pastor didn’t share the vision for that country or project.
That was a tough time for that missionary.

I was only telling someone yesterday how one of our missionaries was taking off the membership list by a new Pastor because they hadn’t been in attendance at the church for 6 months which broke the church policy for membership. Quite hard to do when you are a missionary thousands of miles away!

Thankfully the majority of new Pastors are not like the two above!

But how do you handle things when change happens.
When all that you had, enjoyed and benefited from is no longer a guarantee and more than that is definitely going to be taken away.
How do you cope when you move from being known to not known?
Some people who retire in leadership roles struggle the most.
Some leaders who have to let go of their positions because of sickness fear not being known.
No one talks about it, but it is true, for some.

When man no longer knows you, or wants to know you, what do you do?

How you handle this depends on whether your identity is wrapped in the opinion and observation of man towards you.
If all that matters to you is that you are known in heaven by a God who loves you as a son and daughter, then when man no longer knows you, it is not a problem for you. You are still known. By One who is far more significant!

The next move of God
Acts 7:17
“As the time drew near for God to fulfil his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.”

When the time draws near to the move of God two things can appear:
The situation can become even more difficult.
The situation can become more obvious for what He will do.
Both situations can be wrong in their predictions.

God’s people had been increasing in number dramatically. If God was going to get them out then this was looking more and more unlikely. Evacuating twelve families perhaps but to lead millions is another things altogether.

However if the thought was that God was going to powerfully work through His people and they were going to overcome the Egyptian army and defeat them then increasing in size was not only good and necessary but it was also a sign that He was going to do this amazing thing anytime soon.

Of course, we know the story. We know that the answer was and is never found in the size of a population or the skill and expertise of man.
The answer is in the timing of God. Often the story is only truly known as we look back. Much of the story is walked by faith and you have no clue of when God will move or how He will do it.

So take your eyes off what appears too difficult but also “it’s obvious” should not be given too much attention either. Get your eyes back on God and wait. He is a God of surprises.

The past will cost
Acts 7:16
“Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.”

Shechem was a very important Biblical site. It was the place where Abraham received the promise of blessing.

Whatever you bury will cost you.
If you carry the body to the grave it will cost you the pain of deaths final realisation that life will never be the same again.
If you have a place where you honour your past and those who have gone before you it will cost you the pride of the present achievement.
If you come back to the beginning it will cost you the advancing into new future experiences.

I’m speaking of spiritual funerals. I’m thinking of lessons from the past. I’m thinking of the very real need to let go but not forget. Honour the living learn from the dead. I’m thinking about going back to the promises of old. To revisit isn’t wrong.
But all of this will cost you.
It is worth the cost.

Remembering the yesterday people.
Acts 7:15
“Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.”

Jacob and his sons including Joseph all died in Egypt. The Israelites went into Canaan after they had died. The generation didn’t see Canaan but they were part of the Canaan story. In fact, Canaan would never have happened if they hadn’t lived and died in Egypt.

Alan, Doris, Tony, Elizabeth, Steve, Terry, Zena, Margaret, Ken, Roy, Betty, Gladys, Fred, Vera, Mary, Mrs Lawes (I only referred to her by her surname!). I buried all these people and more in the past. The Church where I Pastored saw more moves of God after they died than before and they still do.
However, they were all part of the story. If they had not lived, if they had not served in the Church, then the story would have been much different.

Think today of those who have died. But how they influenced you and the story of your life, of your Church.
Make an effort to keep their story alive. For it is not only about now that counts. Sometimes I listen to people or read things on Facebook about some latest development as if it was the creation of the world that had taken place in that evening service. Though I am the first to rejoice in such moves of God and we certainly need them, perspective is needed. Honour the past. Now could never exist without yesterday.
Who do you remember?

Get to the main point
Acts 7:14
“After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy- five in all.”

Now I wouldn’t normally use this verse to write a devotion on Easter Sunday but as you know we are going through Acts so we are sticking with it!

This verse doesn’t look contentious, but it really is. Muslims and atheists use this as evidence that the Bible is in error.

Genesis 46:26-27 There was seventy.
Exodus 1: 5 There was seventy.
Deuteronomy 10:22 There was seventy.
Acts 7:14 Stephen says there was seventy-five.

So which is it, 70 or 75?

There are many suggestions of how Stephens numbering could get to 75 with the inclusion of 5 others.
Luke who is recording this certainly doesn’t adjust Stephens speech in order to make it in line with the Old Testament. He leaves the anomaly there.
Whatever the reason it is showing that God was going to build a big nation from a small number and that’s the point.

Back to Easter Sunday. As the above is useful.
Each gospel writer tells a different story but the point remains the same: Jesus was resurrected.
Yes atheists and Muslims dispute it.
But the stories are consistent.
Even under persecution the apostles never changed the story.
People cannot make up such an event and get away with it.
The gap between the resurrection and the story being written is very short in comparison to other undisputed historical events that have 10 times the gap.
There may have different parts of the story bring focused upon and that gives us a more fuller picture. However what is the point?
Jesus was raised from the grave. That’s the point.
The next question is the most important:
What does that mean for me?

Revelation
Easter Saturday
Acts 7:13
“On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.”

The story of Joseph and his brothers is a fascinating story of forgiveness and grace.
Today on our Easter Saturday we wait. Jesus in the grave. If He is who He says He is tomorrow He will rise.
The emotional part of Joseph’s story is the revealing of who he was to his brothers.
The crux of our faith is that Jesus is made known to us. He has revealed He is the Son of God.
I recall the story of one of our missionaries who was preaching on Easter Sunday morning 3 years ago, when an Imam walked into the church and sat down at the back of the service. At the end the man talked with our missionary and told him his story. On Good Friday he began to fast and pray in order to seek Muhammed. He wanted Muhammed to reveal himself. But there was no visit. All through the next day the Koranic teacher prayed and fasted but there was no revelation. Then in the early hours of Easter Sunday morning Jesus same to him and revealed who He was. He told him He was the Son of God and explained the way of salvation. The Imam gave his life to Jesus.
On that Easter Sunday our missionary prayed with him. Today 3 years on our missionary still disciples the Koranic teacher who now visits the mosques telling people Jesus is so much more than a prophet.
May this Easter see Jesus telling more people who he is. May the Church preach powerful messages of revelation!

Sent
Acts 7:12
“When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.”

Joseph in Egypt had been stockpiling food so that when the famine hit, the nation would be okay. God had promoted Joseph through the ranks of Egypt’s government even though he had begun in a well his brothers had thrown him down.
Not Jacob was sending Joseph’s brothers to Egypt in search of food.

May this Easter weekend see our churches full of hungry people who are searching for God. Jesus satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. May they hear that the Church has something that they need. May they hear and come.

As Jacob sent his sons so God the Father sent His Son into the world. He is the sent One. All that He is consumed with is being sent. As He lives in us we connect with this sent experience. We hold to a belief that we have a purpose. There is a reason for our existence. It is to go. Even into places of a wilderness, like Egypt.
And as we go we find He is already there. He is waiting for us on mission.

Famine
Thursday
Acts 7: 11

“Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food.”

1845-1853 Great Famine in Ireland, 1.5 million dead.
1907 Chinese famine, 25 million dead.
1921 Famine in Russia, 5 million dead.
1932-1933 Great famine in China, 43 million dead.
1943 Famine in Bengal, 7 million dead.
1945 Famine in Vietnam, 2 million dead.
1994-1998 Famine in North Korea, 3 million dead.

In all of these famines and there are so many more to speak of there are clear similarities:

1. Adverse conditions and circumstances fuelled the famine.
eg war, poor communication, corruption.
2. Ideology: beliefs and opinions that have slowed down aid, the liaises-faire approach preventing intervention from governments.
3. Apathy: political and social.
4. Religious belief that it was God’s punishment.

There is another famine going on today. There is a famine for food, spiritual food. We see it all around us. Empty lives devoid of the truth of God’s Word. Churches that are empty of people and empty of life. You may not belong to one of these but you know they exist.
We have become experts at pointing fingers at the myriad of sins that are related to immoral behaviour and not at the areas that actually are equally as important to God?
We scorn the fornicator and the drunkard but not the person whose heart is full of greed and scorn.
Why is there famine?
Read the 4 reasons again, they apply to the spiritual famine.
Let me put them in another way:
1. The divisions of man
2. The opinions of man
3. The apathy of man
4. The judgment of man

The invitation this Easter is to become a living sacrifice. There is room on the cross for you. Nailed, stripped of all dignity, at the end of it all, where we hand over our lives to Him, into your hands I commit my spirit. We need to be crucified with Christ. We need the famine to kill our flesh so that our spirit can live on. May there be such sacrifice this Easter.

Wisdom
Acts 7:10
“and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.”

The Old Testament word for wisdom means sound judgement, discernment and the ability to see things in a right perspective.
The New Testament word for wisdom means the insight into deep things, an understanding, a spiritual intelligence and a full understanding.

God rescued Joseph from all his troubles by giving him wisdom to know what to do in his situation.

“Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” Prov 8:11

We often think it is God’s job to rescue us by simply lifting us out of the situation. That’s how we first came to know Him. He as redeemer rescued us.

This Good Friday we will worship the One who went to the cross and sacrificed his life and in doing so, saved us. But we also know the Apostle Paul tells us to work out our salvation. Salvation is a gift which needs working through into our lives. What I’m trying to say is that without wisdom there is no working through, there is no development of character, there is no maturity. All we are left with is an immature cry calling for our rescue.

You may be in difficult situations. You may be in a prison of some sort today. The temptation is to focus solely on the prison doors opening. Instead ask for wisdom to know what to do, how to live in such a situation. He will give you the ideas, the keys, the ability to make decisions to even gain the goodwill of the Pharaohs of your life. Ask Him today do such wisdom.