Missions Paul

Even if it doesn’t look like it, the Lord is in control.

Acts 18:10 “For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

Paul is in the worst place on earth, Corinth. There was no city like it for its wickedness. ‘To live like a Corinthian’ had become a Greek saying meaning to live a life of debauchery and drunkenness. On the hill of the Acropolis overlooking the city was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Every night the 1,000 temple prostitutes would descend on the city. It is difficult to understand how horrible this city was and Paul was there.

Paul presumably had been thinking of leaving and who can blame him?

The Lord speaks to him and tells him to stay and informs him of something he didn’t know because he was yet to see it, “I have many people in this city.” The Lord was saying not that there were already Christ followers but that there were many people who would become so. This was the right place to be and that Paul was safe in His presence for He was in control even in the darkest time.

How I wish my old friend, Burnett, knew this.

In the city of Ndola, Zambia there is today a large warehouse full of scrap car parts. Outside in the courtyard lies piled up cars with parts taken from them rusting away in places. It is quite a successful business. But it used to be a church building. I visited the building in 2015 with my friend David Tinnion hoping to meet our mutual friend, Pastor Burnett. We had opened this church in the year 2001. Today it is a junkyard. The story is that the Church dwindled to nothing, Burnett became a ‘Corinthian’, his wife contracted HIV by him and died. He continued his wild living and was known as the drunk Pastor walking the streets of Ndola menacingly. He was found in a ditch in the city in 2007 and no one went to his funeral.

I cannot express the sadness we felt as we stood in that scrapyard in March 2015. Why do I tell you all this?

Behind what had been the stage and the pulpit hung a bible verse. Burnett had hung this up on the open day in 2001 as a prophetic message. It was on the exact same sheet of card. It says this:

‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ Acts 18:9-10.

How I wish Pastor Burnett had taken these verses to his heart. How I wish when the difficulties of ministry were before him that he focused on the presence of the Lord in his life. If only when he had wanted to give up he didn’t and he continued to speak. When people walked away from him and his heart was breaking he could have believed that others in the city would come to him and that he would make new friends, but he didn’t. In the darkest of times for his life when perhaps he wasn’t being the best Pastor, husband and father, he could have known the Lord was still in control. But he died in a ditch on the side of a road. That is how he ended his life.

Today we wake up to the results of the general election. As I type this it looks like we have what we call a hung parliament. Deals will be done today. I don’t think I will go on facebook, I am not sure I can be bothered to read anymore opinions. I think I will just be thankful that whatever happens now I know the Lord is in control of the villages, the towns, cities and the nations, including mine.

Whatever you are facing today and wherever you may be and for some you may think you are living in a Corinth. You don’t have to become a Corinthian and you don’t have to leave the city and abandon your purpose. The God you worship is in control and He is with you.

 

Who are you listening to?

Acts 18:9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.

The Lord spoke to Paul.

You have an enemy of the soul that will fill your mind with as many voices as possible. Your mind filled with the noise of repetition. The same sounds have been there for many years: condescending, derogatory, vision killing, faith destroying voices as loud as the loudest thunder, battering your mind continually. You long for a still small voice. You long for peace and order. Thank God you have God!

Away with such intimidation!

Do not be afraid!

Keep on speaking!

Do not be silent!

 

You have an enemy of the soul that is trying to shut you up. He doesn’t like your voice. He doesn’t like your encouragement, your inspiration, your words of kindness, your love. He hates it when people are better for having been with you. So he will target you with such circumstance and threat that you will be tempted to abandon your voice in order to tremble with fear. Thank God you have God!

Away with such intimidation!

Do not be afraid!

Keep on speaking!

Do not be silent!

 

Paul had a vision in the night. Dreams happen when you are asleep, visions when you are fully awake.

You have an enemy of the soul that will keep you awake at night. When everyone else is sound asleep you are pacing the floor not knowing what to do and where to go. You call out to God for help, you pray, you weep, you plan, you write, you read, you search for guidance, but it can be dark and it can be lonely. Thank God you have God!

Away with such intimidation!

Do not be afraid!

Keep on speaking!

Do not be silent!

Thank God you have God and He has you!

Listen to Him!

Look what can happen when you move on!

Acts 18:8 “Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptised.”

Paul had announced, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles!” and no sooner had he changed his focus that the Jewish synagogue leader and his household received Christ! Paul would later baptise him (1 Corinthians 1:14).

Was Paul demonstrating reverse psychology? If only that was true it would be fun! In order to try to see conversions to Christ we do the opposite and try to not convert them. Actually we have probably been trying to do this for too long!

It does seem strange though that after Paul walked away from the synagogue that its leader then believed and became a follower of Christ. What could this mean?

1. The Spirit may lead you away but remain to continue the work that you have done.
2. You are often just a part of someone’s journey and you may have left before they convert.
3. Deciding to move forward may result in forcing the issue of decision. Crispus had no one to debate with now Paul had left. He just had to make a decision one way or the other.
4. Live your life in such a way that when you go next door that you leave something of you behind. After shave and perfume remain in a room even when the person wearing it has left.
5. If you change your focus and you move forward into a new chapter then it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to forget those behind you, they are still important and may even play a part in your new day. Your focus changes but maybe your connections remain.

Next door

Acts 18:7 “Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshipper of God.”

Paul had decided he wasn’t going to waste any more time on people who refused to journey with him.

Since his conversion and the start of his ministry (Acts 9:20) on entering a city or town he would first head towards the synagogue.

It was his way of doing things.

But even the best made plans can be changed. We should operate far more with the understanding of the seasons of life. We should understand the times we live in so that we can know what to do (1 Chronicles 12:32). Some of the best plans are outdated plans. They were for then not for now.

So what does Paul do and more importantly where does he go?

Next door!

That is how far away you can be for the next chapter of your life.

The familiar could be your next move, your next appointment, your next job and your next best friend.

Ttitus Justus, a Roman Christian and possibly the same man as Gaius mentioned in Romans 16:23 opened his home for Paul to preach the gospel. Going to worship in this Gentile house would mean that Paul and the Christians would pass the synagogue crowd in the street. Sometimes you have to learn to have your past in your present. There is nothing you can do about that and the secret is to know it isn’t your problem. Your past didn’t want you, it refused to come with you, it wanted other things but you are moving forward and every day your past will be reminded by your present that you have found a way to live, you have adapted, changed, you have not become a monument to the past.

Maybe today you need to look next door?!

Enough is enough

Acts 18:6  But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’

 

Enough is enough.

We have heard those words recently with the rise of terrorist attacks in the UK.

I hope those words lead to some decisive and maybe shocking actions that would never have been taken had we not experienced such evil attacks.

Enough is enough.

It was for Paul.

“From now on…”

Maybe today the situation you are in has become so difficult that you are going to have to declare, ‘From now on.’

Paul demonstrated this by following the actions of Old Testament characters such as Nehemiah in shaking the dust off his garments. This was known in Judaism and Jesus used this when he suggested to his disciples they shake the dust off their feet. Here is what it means.

Maybe today the situation you are in has become so difficult that you are simply going to have put some distance between you and that person or circumstance. Remove the situation from your life. Carry the heaviness no more.

Finally Paul decided that he was going to move on to a new life, a new ministry. This was a new moment for him. This was the day for leaving his old focus and head to something new, to the Gentiles.

From now on …

I remove myself …

And.

I now go …

Maybe today the situation you are in has become so difficult that you will announce a new moment, a new direction, a new job perhaps, you will hang around with a new friend, but this is the turning point.

And looking back in the years to come you will agree that the day of difficulty had to be, in fact you are grateful for it was then that you said enough is enough.

Encouraging others to continue

 

Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

 

Silas and Timothy had been left in Macedonia they have much to tell Paul about the churches there.

They would speak of the work in Thessalonica and how the church was remaining strong. This would be the catalyst for Paul to write his letter of 1 Thessalonians to them.

Importantly for Paul they were also able to bring with them a substantial ministry gift from the church in Philippi (2 Corinthians 11:9; Phil 4:16). It was important for Paul because he could now leave his tent making business and give his whole attention to his preaching.

When visiting do you bring encouraging news? Do you bring a financial gift?

Thanks God for those that do. They may not be able to go or preach the gospel. But they can cause others to be compelled to do just that.

Maybe today you can be challenged to be such a friend. Perhaps you can make that visit real soon?!

Get to work!

Acts 18:4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

 

I do like the Message which uses the words ‘doing his best’ in this verse. The Apostle Paul was doing his best. He was trying his hardest in his work.

Here is the New Testament leader who moved in the power of the Spirit and we are told he was working hard, doing his best, trying.

Here is a key to life: work hard!

Some people are part time with things that need full time attention.

If you only work half-heartedly then your results will show it.

Some travel the world to find the strategies for success or to receive some special anointing to bring about remarkable results which only come through sheer hard work.

Some people are praying for a move of God when actually a move of God’s people is needed. Why should God work when His people are lazy?

If a worker deserves his wages (1 Tim 5:18) then sadly perhaps we should be saving more money in Christian ministries?

Why should we be talking about rest and taking a Sabbath when work is in decline?

Those who don’t see what they long to see have most probably stopped working for what they saw a long time ago.

Some retire though they were never tired because they never put a shift in.

Maybe today some people are just one day of work away from their breakthrough but they have decided not to show up.

Let’s work.

 

Get a job.

Acts 18:3 “Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.”

Let us not forget that this great man of God, who knew the Spirit, possessed many gifts, who was a powerful preacher and teacher, a master of the Old Testament and Judaism had a job.

Let us remember that the Apostle Paul spent his days not on prayer-mountain or in an office of books or behind a pulpit or under a mountain of important paper work but sat working the leather making tents.

He had a manual job that paid him money. Even an Apostle needs money. No one is above needing to earn money.

• He didn’t want people to accuse him of leading people to Christ in order to finance himself (1 Corinthians 9:15-18).
• The Jewish Rabbis believed that accompanying the study of the Torah with some secular occupation helped to put sin out of their mind.

This week I told the new batch of missionaries soon to be commissioned that if they can work at something to help support themselves then to go and do it.

One of our missionaries in Africa who leads a great church planting movement helps to provide a new church planter with a small grant to set up a business. The church planter goes out equipped in God’s word, church planting strategies and the means to support themselves.

A couple of years ago a UK church sent a missionary couple with one year’s wages. I told the couple to find a part-time job, half the church’s money so that it would stretch to 2 years support. That’s what they did and it meant that the couple were able to reach more people and it gave them 2 years to plant a new church that would support them.

It is okay to get a job.

It is not surprising the loneliness of some in ministry today whether in the UK or overseas. Loneliness is dangerous because it can lead to destructive paths of thought and behaviour. There may be a place for the counselling of those who are lonely but it may be just a case of encouraging them to get a job.

How often do we hear it being said that a church can only just afford to pay its Pastor. It suggests there is nothing left at all for investing in evangelism and missions. Perhaps the church needs to rethink its expectations on the Pastor and for him/her to get a job.

The Apostle Paul had a job to support himself though he recognised his right to be supported by those he ministered to (1 Corinthians 9:7-14).

Maybe the great breakthrough that is wanted will come when the Pastor, Church planter, missionary gets a job.

I realise that this devotional thought may not be popular with those who don’t want a job. But it just may release those who have been trapped by the false notion that being a ‘full-time paid’ worker is the sign that you have made it, you have reached the top and that amongst every great thing that the person is doing it is totally fine to get a job.

God is in control

Acts 18:2 “There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.”

Aquila and Priscilla are known for being the close friends of Paul. They formed such a close bond that Paul would call them his “fellow workers who risked their lives for me.” (Romans 16:3-4)

This couple became church leaders and were influential with Paul in the planting of churches in Corinth and Ephesus. They had their own church that met in their house in Corinth.

They were such a help to Paul and the Lord used them.

How did this happen for them?

They were expelled from their Italian home by the Roman emperor, Claudius. This was not the first time. The emperors were often involved in such ethnic cleansing. Claudius was no exception, he was a racist and he increasingly became intolerant of the Jews.

Aquila and Priscilla had suffered, they went through this evil purging feeling like dirt in such wicked circumstances. No doubt they experienced every fear and doubt. But through it all unbeknown to them God was working it all out.

Your greatest catastrophe can be your greatest opportunity.

This couple may never have left voluntarily.

Sometimes we have to be violently thrown out of our nest. So much so that the only presence we feel is that of the evil one. It is much later that we realise the overriding presence is that of God.

 

 

It is not about what you do.

 

Acts 18: 1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

 

A new chapter, a new day, a new journey, a new city and a new story!

Luke writes this sentence quite matter of fact. It is simple. Paul left Athens and he went to Corinth. The story moves forward and we are opened to a new city and we are ready for more activity and new adventures.

But it is never as simple as that is it?

As with this verse we never know the full story, do we?

When people ask you, “How are you doing?” is your reply about your activity? Is that what they want to hear?

“So how’s things going Paul?” “Well, this is what happened in Athens and now I am moving into Corinth and I am hoping to get great results in this city.”

Some people spend their whole life talking about what they have done or what they are about to do and not about who they are and how they feel.

Was Paul discouraged leaving Athens? Was he angry over the responses he received from those apparent learned people? Was his enthusiasm curbed? Was he sad? Was he tired? He is alone travelling but is he lonely? What is missing from his life? What needs does he have? What would make it easier for him? Is he afraid of what lies ahead?

Luke doesn’t say and we don’t know and maybe we never thought about it and maybe no one cares.

But Paul is human and he is so much more than activity. So are you and so am I.

How can this change?

Maybe today we can begin to change it for someone. Maybe instead of asking them about their activity, we find a question that unlocks who they are.

Maybe today you pray less about what you are going to do and more about the person you have become and are becoming.

What no one sees does matter.