Missions Paul

Zoom out!

Acts 21: 28 “They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”

The Jews in Jerusalem had previously been fed a lie that Paul was denouncing the law of Moses. In order to appease the situation the Apostle James tells Paul to go into the temple and enter into the purification rites with 4 Jewish leaders and pay for their Nazirite vow. Paul does this. But then Jews from Asia hell-bent on destroying Paul enter into the scene and convince the Jews of Jerusalem to rise up against Paul. It is a scene that is played out even 2,000 years later in many circumstances of life.

Appearing to be true doesn’t mean it is true.

Having the majority all agree doesn’t mean they are right.

Seeing a man captured and held against his will doesn’t mean he has committed a crime.

Having a rumour confirmed by others outside of the situation doesn’t make it true.

And the reverse is true.

Assuming people are who you think they are is no proof they are.

In the opening scene of the Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon a Professor in symbology shows pictures that are zoomed in so that the audience think they know what it is, but when the picture is zoomed out it reveals how wrong they were. So:

A white hooded robe was not from the Klu Klux Klan but robes worn by Spanish priests.

What appeared to be Michaelangelos’s Madonna and Child is actually the sculpture of the pagan god Oris and his mother Isis.

I like that scene because it reminds me that sometimes zooming out is as important as zooming in. We all know the importance of examining the fine details of things. But sometimes we are too close to the situation to see anything. We value the eyes of those outside of it to give us some new revelation. I have found wisdom is found as we step back and maybe a few steps back. We have to learn to zoom out more. And if we cannot then we need to find trusted people outside of the situation to comment on what we cannot see.

 

Trouble and comfort

Acts 21:27 “When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him”

This is just typical isn’t it? So here is Paul who has followed orders from James and the elders who on being worried that the Jews in Jerusalem would rise up against Paul because they had been told he was pulling the Gentiles away from the law of Moses, asked Paul to support a purification rites ceremony and to pay for the Nazirite vows of 4 men. This was going to show the Jews of Jerusalem that Paul was not who they had been told he was. So then who was it who created the trouble? Who was it who stirred up the crowd? Was it the Jews of Jerusalem?!

Watch out for those on the outside of the situation.

Watch out for those on the banks of the river.

The critics are not often found on the field but from those who don’t go but watch.

Trouble comes from places you least expect.

Paul was seen and we don’t need a script to know the kind of thing that was said, “How dare he come into this temple that he defiles?!” The plan had been that Paul would be seen and the Jews of Jerusalem would say, “the rumours are wrong, Paul does not speak against the temple, here he is worshipping in it.”

The best laid plans can go adrift because of people who seem to be on a mission to judge everyone but themselves.

And yet this verse ends with a comforting thought. Check it again. We might think the word seized is negative. Well it is. Until we remember that this is the commencement of the prophecy of Agabus about to come true. He prophesied that Paul would be seized. Therefore, may the enemy of our lives do their best but they are just a pawn in God’s fore-sight and sovereignty! It is okay, nothing surprises our God!

 

Called to compromise.

Acts 21:26  “The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.”

The Son of God became a baby though he is a king.

The Son of God took an ordinary name though he has the name above all names.

The Son of God wrapped a towel around his waist and became a servant though one day every knee will bow.

The Son of God became obedient to death on a criminals low-life cross even though he sits on an eternal throne.

Jesus compromised his position for God so loved the world …

The Apostle Paul went through a purification ceremony and he sponsored 4 men to enter a Nazirite vow. The men would fast from wine and grapes, they would not cut their hair and they would not go near anything dead. The vow could last a lifetime for some. Paul went to the temple and announced how long the vow would last and then a sacrificial animal offering was made to God as an act of thanksgiving, worship and cleansing.

Some are shocked, the Apostle Paul?! After all he has said about there being no need for such activity now that Jesus has come and here he is acting as a hypocrite!

Paul compromised his position to save a situation because of his love for the Jews.

Paul would say “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.” (! Corinthians 9:20)

We live in a world of hierarchy, of positions of importance and I speak of within the Church.

Those with the biggest titles have the hardest task to compromise their position in order to save and demonstrate their love.

‘Come down’ is the call of the Spirit. It is down where Jesus is and where Paul learnt to live.

There is no adulation in this place. This place is painful, it is sacrificial, it is very risky and you know people will talk about you. But they do not know your motives, they never know why, only a few know this, that you have come down because you love.

A call for abstinence

Act 21:25 “As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

James and the elders do not want to put burdens on the new Gentile believers.  They had written to the churches saying what they should abstain from 4 things and why. (See my blog on entitled sex, meat and black pudding from Acts 15:20). Now James reiterates this position.

Not all the teaching in the past was wrong. That’s the important point. Judaism had lots to offer the new believer especially in the way of discipleship and breaking with the idolatry found in many Gentiles lives.

Even in these early days of the early church advancement there was a need to embrace the old teachings.

How much further we have advanced in today’s modern Christendom?

But the things that our forefathers held to we no longer give a second thought to.

We have become all-embracing and in the promotion of grace we have ripped up any laws that have been passed down. In the main we are better for it.

However, we have forgotten the importance and the necessity for having the law in the first place. Without the law there is no sin. If there is no sin there is no need of grace. So what we think is grace may not be grace after all. It may be a grace-fake. I wonder if we need to be reintroduced to the laws of abstinence again?

I grew up in a Christianity where abstinence was not primarily for my sake i.e. I did not smoke because of health reasons, but for the sake of my walk with God, my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit etc. Abstinence revealed my love and devotion to God. But there isn’t a lot of abstinence in my life now and if there is, then not much of it is because I think God is pleased with me not doing or having something. Incidentally I still don’t smoke!

The Church has in many areas lost its abstinence because it is not pc in our society to be so ‘fundamental’. Other world religions sometimes have more abstinence than Christianity. But for us we are so afraid to reveal a God of rules, that there is now no danger of any do’s and do nots. The message is come as you are and stay as you are.

Maybe abstinence doesn’t prove anything of your discipleship and love for God. Maybe. But maybe it should.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a short but wonderful time with some missionaries who have returned home from the field for what will be at least a few years before they go again. In our conversation they talked about their desire not to get caught up with the agenda of desires that other Christians seem to have. They want to remain minimalistic and sacrificial. The irony is that in their church friendship circle they have believers thanking God that He has given them everything they could possible wish for and at the same time these missionaries are thanking God that their abstinence from these things has brought them closer to Him.

I do think James was right and that some abstinence is helpful for our walk with God. I think I need to have more things in my life that I don’t do because of my respect and fear for God. What about you?

 

For demonstration purposes only.
Acts 21: 24 “Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.”

The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem had been told that Paul was telling the Gentile converts to abandon Moses and the law. That was not true. Here he is now in Jerusalem with James and the elders and they have a plan to try and bring order out of what could turn into mayhem. Paul should demonstrate his desire to support the Jewish practices. He should join in some ceremonial washing and pay the expenses of 4 of the leaders who were going through the rites and shaving their heads. That is the plan.
Paul was to enter into certain rites for demonstration purposes only in order to diffuse a situation.
Paul wasn’t going to think these rites would make him clean before God or nearer to Him. He was doing these things not for God but for man.
How much do you desire unity?
What could you do that you wouldn’t normally do simply to show your love for people?
What could you stop doing to show people you were for them not against them?
Sometimes words are just not needed. Actions sometimes do speak louder.
Demonstrate today. Do something uncomfortable for you but as an act of love for others. Demonstrate your love.

Do what you are told
Acts 21:23 “do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.”
James and the elders had made a decision and now they needed Paul to do what they told him.
There are days to invite people to do something.
There are days to ask people but then there are days to just tell them to do it.
I am sure our prayers each day have been along the lines of “I will do what you tell me.”
In our desire to be like Christ we know he was sent by the Father.
He was an obedient Son.
In the wilderness he had to choose obedience and again in the garden of Gethsemane. The writer of Hebrews says he offered up prayers and that he learned obedience.
For us to be in the image of Christ, we need to know we are not first but second. We are not leading everything but following. We are not in charge but conforming ourselves to Him and not to our rights. We live in a society which looks so nice in that everyone is free to be whoever they want to be. But this is not true as a Christian. We have to be told. We have to do what we are told. There are times when to obey Christ is that we obey our leaders, we do what we are told because we know they have wisdom in a situation that we do not have.
Paul, the great apostle is being asked to obey. It takes a great man to do so.

Make a decision.
Acts 21:22 “What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come”

James and the elders do not want to bring any disruption to the success of the gospel in Jerusalem due to Paul being dragged into a dispute over what he is being wrongfully charged with. At the same time they are in support of what Paul has achieved with the gospel to the Gentiles.
What shall we do?

Maybe that is the question you are speaking today. 

Perhaps there is uncertainty over many things leading you to wonder what you are going to do. However, James and the elders were certain about something and that would be where they get their course of action from. They did not rest on their uncertainty but on what was ‘certain’.

The Jews will hear Paul is here, they will come as a multitude to confront and cause division, it will escalate out of all proportion, that is what is going to happen. 

What are you certain of today? It may be leading you to say, “I do not know what to do” however, the answer is found within the certainty. Don’t ignore it, don’t bury your head. You can make a decision to try and avert that what is certain. There are choices that you can make and they are found in what is certain no matter how difficult and uncomfortable it is. This is what James and the elders would discover. They would find a plan in the place of what they believed to be certain.

That what is certain will try to cause you to freeze and be unable to act or think what to do. Many are trapped in debt, brokenness, illness and failure today because they did not know what to do with what was certain. They had hoped that what was certain would go away. It never does. Their failure was in not making a decision to do anything to stop the certainty from happening.

Bible Wikileaks
Acts 21:21 “They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.”

So who informed them?
Whoever it was they had twisted the truth.

Paul was not teaching the Gentiles to turn away from Moses. However, he wasn’t telling the Gentiles who got saved that they should then follow the Jewish customs and laws. So the informant had taken what was actually true and made it into something quite different.
So who informed them?

Whoever it was could have been confronted by James and the elders of the Church, but were not. Were they themselves fooled by the informant? Or were they intimidated? Informants need to be disciplined if they have spoken falsely. 
So who informed them?

Whoever it was doesn’t seem to have a name because the information was more important than where it came from.

Sometimes the information can be so sensational that accuracy is not that important either, just ask those who read the many tabloids!
So who informed them?

I don’t know but informants can often be informed on! Gossipers can be gossiped about! Siggi Thorsdarson worshipped the ground Julian Assange walked on and was fast tracked through the Wikileaks organisation. He decided to hack into the Icelandic government and in order to authenticate his position with the hackers there he sent a secret film of him and Assange. But actually the leader of that hacking group had become informants for the FBI themselves. Siggi was sacked from Wikileaks on another matter and for revenge he entered into some sort of deal with the FBI and gave crucial information to them but for a very small $5000.

Informants don’t make great confidantes or friends. It is so today and it was then in the early Church.

Others are right also, aren’t they?

Acts 21:20 “When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”
Paul gave a report and then James and the elders gave theirs. Both reports were about salvations. Both were very different. Gentiles being saved and relying totally on the grace of God. Jews being saved and holding passionately to the Jewish laws and customs that kept them close to God.
James and the elders rejoiced. Paul and his team rejoiced. Surely there was no problem was there?

Experiences of the salvation of God may be different but they don’t cause problems between one another, do they?

I mean a person’s experience of God may be beautifully personal and powerfully impacting but that person knows they don’t have a monopoly on all the possible experiences of God, don’t they?

Jewish salvation, Gentile salvation, Evangelicals to Orthodox to Pentecostals and everyone in between, no one holds the definitive truthful experience, do they? 

No one will turn their head away at the other with a roll of their eyes to say that the others experience is a lesser one to their perfect one, will they?

Surely not …

Look what God has done!
Acts 21:19 “Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.”

If we are always moving forward then we are never able to look back. If we never look back we are never able to give thanks for what God has done. A vision of the past is so important, for if we don’t have one, then we can be as guilty as the other 9 lepers in Jesus’ parable.
Paul had much to look back on how God had brought salvation to Gentiles and how the Spirit had fallen on them just as at Pentecost.
What can you give thanks for?

I give God thanks for:

the conception of a church in Boston USA;

the leadership growth in Honduras;

successful team visits in Guyana;

great conferences held in Brazil;

the ideas regarding missions coming from Chile;

the 2 churches in Argentina planted by Chile.

John and Rachel taking the gospel in the forests of Paraguay;

Oscar and Rachel commencing a church with children and young people in Guatemala;

the only Pentecostal denomination in Estonia coming into Elim;

the new church plants in the south of France;

the amazing fast-growing church in Cologne, Germany;

the development of youth leadership in Romania;

the new churches in Spain;

the 10,400 members of the expanding Elim Italy;

the new churches in Macedonia;

the 93 churches in Burkina Faso and the many visions of Christ that Muslims have been having before converting;

the new Fulani church plants in northern Ghana, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal and Togo, all in Islamic strongholds.

the uniting of the 2 denominations that had split in Kenya and also in Zambia.

Janine and her team in Kenya who in a single week had 91, 921 children in their Sunday school;

the new vision and strategy developing in Malawi;

the conversions of Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria;

James and Joanna leading young people to Christ in Rwanda;

the church in Kenya sending missionaries to plant churches in Somalia and Sudan;

Daniel and Hani taking the gospel in order to plant churches in northern Ethiopia amongst the Eritrean refugees;

the love of the Tanzanians and that John and Debbie are piloting a new concept of church planting;

all 5 Ugandan denominations but especially Moses who I ministered with and how we saw the supernatural move of God changing the weather before our eyes and those of the witchdoctors;

the courage of the rape survivors and ex-child soldiers of the DRC;

Pastor Cafuliza of Mozambique who singlehandedly went and planted a new church in a new area even though he overseas 4,500 people;

for the conversions amongst the poorest people and the new churches planted in Swaziland, South Africa and Cote D’Ivoire;

for £5,000 that a small church in the UK gave for a new church land in Burundi;

for the fresh honour and memory of missionaries massacred in Zimbabwe;

for the courageous passion in the Christians in Myanmar;

for the rehabilitation of the trafficked woman of Cambodia and further church plants;

for the faithfulness of the church in Hong Kong and the fearlessness of the church in Lebanon;

for Chris and Carmelitta who did what others just talk about and went to China;

the amazing passion, courage, signs and wonders, healings, miracles and resurrections found in the churches of all the 12 denominations of India;

James and Andrea deciding to move to Sri Lanka to work with the 2 denominations in taking the gospel to those who have never heard;

the desire of Sheryl and Novi to travel each month in Indonesia to a smaller island to oversea 2 new churches;

the 200 new church plants in Nepal;

the suffering church of Pakistan who know what it is to be brave;

the work amongst the poorest of the poor in the Philippines from the 2 denominations we have with a renewed desire to go on mission to the hundreds of inhabited islands in their nation;

the Church in Japan which has less than 1% Christian in the nation;

the friendship and missionary zeal of New Zealand who have planted 4 churches in Samoa and keep reaching other nations too.

the 15 new UK missionaries who joined the existing 69 all around the world; 

the 1,000 people engaged in prayer and giving at least £1 per week who receive these and many more stories every 2 months of what God is doing; 

That’s my world at the moment and that’s what I report on and what I thank God for.

All over the world the Spirit is moving.

There is more coming too!

Paul would say the same. This is what God has done but He is going to do so much more!

What about you? Just look back and thank God for what He has done. Don’t just focus on the future. Pause and thank Him.