The Lies We Come To Believe II

Exodus 2:11-15; 3:10-12; 4:1,10,13-14; Judges 6:11-13; 1 Kings 19:1-4, 11-14.

This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Father’s Day, June 16, 2024.

I preached a sermon on Mother’s Day with this same title.  There we looked at Eve, Sarah, and Naomi.  Each of them had spiritual hurts and emotional wounds that made it difficult to believe God.  When a person is wounded in life, it always has a lie or half-truth that surfaces in our heart, perhaps more than one.  We can be tempted then to live our life believing those lies to be true.

Today we are going to do the same thing, but with three men: Moses, Gideon, and Elijah.  I want to make it clear that the lies we believe are not generally specific to whether we are female or male.

In fact, there are many different hurts that can lead us to believe the same lie, similar to how a geographical destination can have many different roads that lead to it.  Women can learn from the stories of men and men can learn from the stories of women because the specific details of our experiences are not the most important thing to them.  Rather, what is most important is to see the mistakes that we make and how the Lord gives grace for us to overcome them.

The flip-side of this title, “The Lies We Come To Believe,” is this: “And The God Who Saves Us From Them!”  Amen?

May we see a little bit of ourselves in these three men, and may we be encouraged to have faith in God for the week ahead of us.

Let’s look at our first passage.

Moses (Exodus 2, 3, 4)

We have skipped the story about the birth of Moses.  Pharaoh was afraid that his Israelite slaves were growing too numerous.  He decreed that all infant males born to the Hebrews would be put to death.  Thus, Moses is born under the threat of death.  I wonder if his mother had been reading or thinking about the account of Noah when she had the idea of making a little “ark” out of bullrushes and casting her little boy upon the waters of the Nile, hoping for God to protect him from the dangers of the world.  The Egyptian princess “just happens” to find the boy in the make-shift ark and raises him as her own.  The event of chapter 2 doesn’t happen until Moses is 40 years old, according to Stephen in Acts 7:23.  It “just happens to come to him” to check on the condition of his fellow Hebrews, and he finds that it isn’t good.  Moses kills an Egyptian task-master, has an exchange with a bitter Hebrew slave, and has to run for his life because Pharaoh found out what he had done.

Moses then goes into the land of Midian, which interestingly enough means “strife.”  He will spend the next 40 years living in this rustic place raising a family and being a shepherd.  When we come to Exodus 3 and the story of the burning bush, Moses is now 80 years old.  The Angel of the Lord appears to him within a bush that is on fire but not being consumed.  The exchange continues into chapter 4.  If you pay attention to this exchange, you will see that God is calling Moses to go to Egypt and help deliver his people out of slavery.  Yet, Moses is not interested.  He offers up several protests, or excuses, as to why it shouldn’t be him.  We will look at those in a second, but first notice Exodus 4:14.

The continual protests of Moses stirs up the anger of the Lord against him.  This is called trying the patience of God.  It is one thing to try the patience of people, but quite another to test God’s patience.  Yet, we see here that God’s mercy is still extended to Moses. 

Let’s talk first about the wounds that Moses received.  His life is divided into three very distinct periods of 40 years each.  He is a prince in Egypt, lacking nothing, from birth to 40.  He is a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian from 40 to 80.  Lastly, he is a leader of Israel in the deserts south and south east of Canaan from 80 to 120.  It is the event at 40 years of age in Exodus 2 that helps us to see his wound, which begins with the killing of the Egyptian.  Clearly Moses feels like he needs to do something, but in a moment of passion, he kills an Egyptian.  He believes that no one has seen him do this.  However, the next day he finds two Hebrews fighting.  He challenges the one who had struck his brother, but receives a bitter reply.  “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?  Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”  Are  you a murderer going to lecture me about striking my brother?  Are you who have lived a princely life wanting to play the prince of slaves?

We need to understand that bitter people who have endured bitter lives have a knack for wounding others.  They have so many emotional wounds that they cease to care about how they impact others.  The devil wants us acting out of the pain of our wounds because we will then hurt others instead of finding the healing of God, even being a channel of the healing of God.  Please read this paragraph over again because many Christians still live their lives rooted in legitimate wounds they received in the past.

The wound that Moses receives is one of rejection.  Pharaoh wants to kill him for daring to kill an Egyptian.  His own people aren’t interested in what little help he wants to offer.  The fact that Moses had never made a single brick in his life probably added to their distaste for him. 

You might object that this was only one man.  That is precisely the point.  Our emotional wounds are not always rational.  Moses had to run because Pharaoh had the power to find him and kill him in Egypt.  Yet, that bitter reply of another Hebrew went deep into the heart of Moses.  You have nothing to offer these people.  They don’t want you.  Rejection is a bitter pill and it really messes people up..

Here is the thing to ponder.  All wounds tempt us to believe things that are either blatant lies or are half-truths.  The wounds and the feelings about them are real.  We shouldn’t discount them.  However, our wounded feelings are extremely bad at discovering truth.  The gravity of our injured self is always towards a self-deception.  It takes a miracle of God to pull a person out of that trap.

Think about anger.  We are told in the Bible that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).  However, it does not say along with that, “Don’t be angry.”  Rather, we are told “’Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath…” (Ephesians 4:26; Psalm 4:4).  Anger is a powerful emotion that can result from unjust situations as well as out of our own sin.  When we allow anger to drive the responses we make (even when that anger is justified), we will find ourselves falling into sin.

Anger is not the only emotion that can take control of us because of wounds in our past.  No feeling should be used to justify sinful actions.  Rather, we must submit ourselves to the commands of Christ and his Apostles.

I do want to be careful pretending to be in the head of Moses.  This is not an attempt to psychoanalyze Moses.  Instead, this is about how we all respond to hurt and seeing the similar dynamic in him.  I want us to see ourselves in what he is going through.  We need to recognize how we have been wounded, and then, how God wants to heal that wound.

So let’s get into the five protests that Moses gives to God.  We will see that there is a lie or half-truth that is beneath these protests.

1.  Exodus 3:11.  Moses questions who he is to do what God is saying.  The lie beneath this is:  I am nobody.  Rejection always affects self-worth.  A person can’t help the emotional response that says, “What is wrong with me that you would reject me?”  Kids do this when their parents fight and divorce.  Generally, this has nothing to do with the kids, but they feel that way anyway.  In fact, it is quite common that people who hurt you aren’t even thinking about you.  They are thinking about themselves and not caring about what you think or feel.

The world’s answer to all of this is to boost up your self-esteem and kick the negative people out of your life.  If Jesus had done that, then none of us could be saved.  Jesus didn’t kick the negative people out of his life.  He loved them to the bitter end, entrusting His life to God.

For the believer, our self worth needs to be anchored in Jesus and his love for us (as well as for the people who hurt us).  You may be nobody in the eyes of the world, but this doesn’t make you a nobody.  You are somebody that is loved by God.  He  has a purpose for you, and no matter what it is, He will help you to do it!

2.  Exodus 4:1.  The next lie is this.  They will not listen, believe, or follow me.  Out of that injured self-image flows the doubting of what God can do through us when He calls us to something.  In fact, parents can do this with their kids.  You can be offended that your kids are responding to your wisdom, instruction, and correction.  This doesn’t give you the right to write your kids off.  God’s calling remains on you regardless of how your kids respond. 

In this case, Moses is somewhat right.  The story of Israel coming out of Egypt is full of the murmuring and protests of the Israelites against God and Moses.  They may have physically followed Moses into the wilderness, but most of them perished there because they didn’t trust God.  Their lack of faith often caused them to take out their frustrations on Moses.  However, this isn’t the problem of Moses.  It is God’s problem, and He is quite capable of taking care of His problems (and ours).

3.  Exodus 4:10.  Here is another lie.  I am not eloquent (skilled) enough to do it.  This is the same argument as before.  Doing something for God is never dependent upon your level of talent.  It is dependent upon the blessing of God.

The Bible tells us to ask for wisdom if we lack it.  I suppose we could also ask for talent if we lack it.  However, let me talk about wisdom for a moment.  When God does supply wisdom, what does that look like?  Do you instantly sound amazingly like Solomon?  Does everyone around start remarking about how wise you are?  Of course not.  Yet, God gives you wisdom, here a little and there a little.  It builds up.  You don’t have to “sound wise” to the world in order to be wise.  Perhaps, it is best if you don’t.

4.  Exodus 4:13.  The lie here is this.  Someone else would be better than me.  This is a cop-out.  Why would God be asking you?  Why would the Holy Spirit be stirring it up in you, if this was true?  Maybe it is better for you that you do it?  God doesn’t just “use” people to help others.  He is simultaneously helping the person who chooses to obey him and help others.  It is good for us to be both receivers and givers.  Receiving teaches us humility, and giving teaches us compassion and mercy.

Of course, the attitude that says for God to find somebody else can also be sheer laziness, but I don’t get that vibe in this passage.  Moses has tried that and has the proverbial T-shirt to prove it.

5.  Underlying this whole account is a final lie.  I can’t go back there.  This was Egypt for Moses, but what is it for you?  We can go anywhere if God is with us.  Whether out of fear or out of pragmatism, Moses is not interested in going back to Egypt.  Going back will only make things worse: a Pharaoh who wants him dead, and a people who despise this non-slave Hebrew.

Moses would have stayed in Midian another 40 years, if God had let him.  However, God had different plans.

In moments where God is calling us to go back and face painful situations, it can feel like it is impossible.  However, this is precisely why we need Jesus.  He will go with us and lead us forth in victory, not against people, but against the lies, half-truths, and spiritual enemies that you have.  You may feel like you can’t face it, but you can with Jesus.  God has a good thing in the task that He is asking of you, and you can trust Him.

Gideon (Judges 6:11-15)

We won’t spend as much time on these last two.  Gideon lives about 200 years following Joshua.  There has been at least three periods of subjugation over Israel with several stories of judges or people who accomplished vindication for Israel.

Gideon’s wound is found in that he is a no-status person within a subjugated people.  As Americans, we do not know what that feels like.  We have no clue.  So, when the Angel of the LORD shows up to explain to Gideon that God plans to deliver Israel through him, Gideon responds out of this mentality.

Gideon’s first response bristles at the idea that God is with them and for them.  If God was really with us, then things would be better than this.  This is a very common lie that we tell ourselves.  We will even see every bad thing in our life as proof that God is against us (or worse, we think of it in terms of karma).  “God, what am I doing wrong?  If I was doing it right, surely it would be better than this!”

We need to be very careful with such ideas and questions.  God’s calling on Israel had not changed.  He had not rescinded it.  When we are in times of discipline because of sin, or even when we are in a time of discipline to make us stronger (i.e., not because of sin), God  is still with us and being faithful to us.  It is foolish to interpret the Fatherly discipline of God as a rejection from Him.  This is a lie.  The reason we entertain it is because of our past hurts, wounds, and even our sin, which always harms us and others.

We see a better response in Ezekiel and Daniel.  They were prophets during the period when God’s discipline cause Israel to be taken captive to Babylon.   Yes, Israel was in trouble with God.  However, after 70 years, they knew that God would bring Israel back.  Daniel knew that God would bring them back, and he put his faith in God’s ability to accomplish this.

It is very common for Christians to misinterpret the discipline of God.  We think of it as bad, and pray for God to return His goodness to us.  We tell ourselves that we have to trudge through the “badness of God” in order to get the “goodness of God” some day.

This is a lie.  The time in the wilderness was a special time of intimacy with God for Israel.  Many other generations looked back to the miracles that happened in those days asking where God was in there day.  We even see Gideon making this point in verse 13.  He is wishing that God would do for him in his day what God did for Israel back when they came out of Egypt (yes, during the times of discipline).

There were no gardens, no grain fields, and no fruit trees in the wilderness, but God supernaturally fed them day after day and provided water in a place where there was none.  Later, when they made it into the promised land (where they had all those “good things”), they tended to walk away from intimacy with God.  A man like David stuck out like an odd duck because he came to intimately know God and acted out of that relationship.  We spend entirely too much time accusing God of cursing us (letting bad things happen) when He is actually trying to bless us.

Gideon expresses the idea that he and Israel are forsaken by God.  However, this is a lie.  Jesus says this on the cross.  I believe he says this (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) for two reasons.  First, he is letting us know that he feels exactly what we feel when we have such a moment in our life.  You know, the kind of experience where you are asking God to deliver you and not let the bad thing happen, but then you are crucified anyway.  Jesus gets it.  God understands how we feel.  He has felt it Himself! 

However, there is a second reason Jesus says this.  This was a Hebrew way of telling people to pay attention to a particular passage in the Bible.  In English, we would say, “Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 22 and pay attention to what it says.”  The Hebrews generally used the opening word or line of a passage to refer to it.  “Turn in your Bibles to My God, My God why have You Forsaken Me, and pay attention to what it says.  That Psalm has a clear turning point: “He has heard me.”  The lament of a man dying on a cross suddenly turns into a rejoicing in the God who has heard him.  Try reading Psalm 22 as if it is Jesus speaking about his time on the cross.

When these kind of lies surface in your mind, you need to ask yourself these questions.  Who told me that?  How did I come to believe this?  Is this what God’s Word says?  The tough things you experience in life are not proof that God has or hasn’t forsaken you.  The Word of God tells you that He will never leave you nor forsake you, not even to the end of this Age!  See Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5.

I don’t have time to point out more, but we can look to Gideon’s response about his status in verse 15.  I can’t do it because I am a low-status person in a subjugated people!  This doesn’t matter when God is calling you to do something.

Elijah (vs. 1-4; 11-14)

On the heels of a great victory, in which fire comes down from heaven and burns up the sacrifice to Yahweh, Jezebel sends word to Elijah that she is going to have him hunted down and killed.  This causes Elijah to go on the run to the southern part of the Judean Kingdom.  From there, an angel tells him to go further south to Mt. Sinai.

Elijah’s wound has parts of it that are from rejection.  His life is being hunted by a king and queen who cannot restrain themselves from evil.  He was simply being a faithful prophet to Yahweh, and yet they hunt him down as if he were the one worshiping false gods.

There is one scene where Elijah shows up to confront King Ahab of his wickedness.  Ahab calls Elijah, the troubler of Israel.  Of course, it was Ahab and Jezebel that were bringing trouble upon Israel.  Of course, governments that reject God love to point to those who do love God as the problem

Elijah simply feels defeated.  He even begs God to kill him.  Life isn’t worth it.

I will point out three lies that have taken root in Elijah’s heart.  The first is this.  Nothing I do makes a difference.  There are a lot of young people today who are looking at the Church saying that it is not working or making a difference.  However, this assumes that we know what making a difference looks like.  It assumes we know what should be happening.  Of course, everyone should be repenting and believing in God.  This Republic shouldn’t be plundered by our spiritual enemy and fighting against one another, but we are.  What is the difference that God has us here to affect?  Be very careful in pretending that you know exactly what God is trying to accomplish through you, much more His Church.  Yes, He wants to save people, but sometimes we have to go through some tough things in order to get back to a place of true repentance.

In some ways, Jesus did not send the Church to make the world into a governmental paradise.  It could if we would all follow Christ and turn from sin.  In fact, there have been times throughout history in which particular families and particular nations saw some powerful things happen to turn the whole towards the things of God.  However, these often pass until we find a family full of people who don’t serve Jesus like their grandparents did, or a nation that no longer believes what their founding generation believed about God.

We are told that this varied experience will continue until the end of this Age of Grace.  There will be a wholesale apostasy against the truth of Jesus in these last days.  I am not saying that no one will be saved.  We are in a time similar to the days of Elijah.  Was he making a difference?  It didn’t look like it, but God was using him to encourage the remnant of 7,000 people who hadn’t bowed the knee to Ahab and Jezebel’s false god, Baal.  Yes, it is a discouraging time to work for the LORD, and our flesh doesn’t like laboring in that place, but it is where we are.  God sometimes needs us to be in that place.

On one hand, He is ensuring that the baton of faith makes it to the next generation.  But another reason can be this.  Elijah was one of the “power prophets.”  God did powerful miracles through Elijah. This is in contrast to a prophet like Jeremiah.  We have no miracles of Jeremiah, except for his ability to tell people what was going to happen in the future, and be 100% correct.  However, the power that was expressed in Elijah’s life was not about him.  It was always about what God was doing in that period of Israel.  Jeremiah’s generation were only given a sign of truth being spoken to them.  They received no fire from heaven and no Red Sea’s being parted.

So, if you find yourself in a wilderness eating bread delivered by a raven, and you feel that normal feeling, “This isn’t getting me anywhere…This isn’t working,” then stop looking at your situation with the world’s eye, the eye of your flesh.  Look with the eyes of faith in God.  He has a purpose in it, especially when we don’t understand what it is.

Elijah could be killed at any time, but his life is in God’s hand.  We should never presume God’s protection, but neither do we fear when we end up in the hand of the powers of the land.  When Pilate challenged Jesus to speak to him, he emphasized that he had power to put Jesus to death.  Do you know what Jesus said?  Turn to John 19:11 and find out.  Jesus knew that God had a purpose for His life and if Pilate was part of that purpose, then who was Jesus to fight against it?  This is not an argument against his place in the Godhead.  It is an argument for the function and role he performs within the Trinity.

We should also notice the words of Elijah, “I am no better than my fathers.”  He had started out with so much hope, but now sees that he has failed just like those before him.  In some ways, this is the same message that Isaiah presents in his book.  He is faced with the absolute failure of Israel to bring forth any salvation in the earth, and yet he is also faced with the power of God to produce salvation by His own Right Hand, Jesus!

May God help us to surrender in those times that are hard on our flesh.  May we recognize that He is making our inner man stronger, and He is giving us a spiritual gift that we can share with others so that they may be free.

The righteous will walk by faith.  They will breathe, get up in the morning, and go to work by faith too.

Elijah was ready to quit.  There is not a one of us who can’t relate to him in that moment.  However, you need to trust that God knows how you feel.  Jesus knows the feeling better than even you or I do.

Many a parent has given up on their marriage and their kids.  Sometimes they are even still in the home, present, but really absent.  When we operate out of the woundedness of our past, we simply continue the pain, continue wounding others and ourselves.  Jesus wants to heal our wounds and neutralize the lies that we have come to believe so that we can be the devil’s worst nightmare when we run into others who are like we used to be.

I pray that God will help fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, to turn away from the lies of this world and turn to the truth of God in Jesus!

Lies II

The Acts of the Apostles 66

Subtitle: Those Who Turn The World Upside Down

Acts 17:1-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 26, 2024.

We have made it back to the book of Acts.  We are in the middle of Paul’s 2^nd Missionary Journey.  It began at the end of chapter 15 following the Jerusalem Council.  This was a gathering of the apostles and elders of the early Church to make sure they were all on the same page regarding what Gentiles needed to do in order to be saved.  Thus, Paul’s 2^nd missionary trip serves to visit churches that he had started on the first missionary trip and share the findings of the Jerusalem Council.

This would be important because, up to that point, there were individuals that were telling the Gentiles that they needed to follow the Old Testament, i.e., become Jews through circumcision, and obedience to the stipulations of the Law of Moses.  Essentially, they were teaching Gentiles to first become Jews, and then, they could become a follower of Jesus.

After Paul had worked through these towns in central Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey, or Türkiye), the Holy Spirit leads him and his company to travel westward until they ended up in Greece.  In Chapter 16, Paul and company minister in Philippi where they are whipped and put in the jail.  However, an earthquake leads to them being freed and the Philippian jailor and household becoming Christians.  Paul then reveals that they have beaten him against the law of Rome because he has Roman citizenship.  This causes the magistrates to apologize and beg Paul to leave the city.  They then met with the believers, encouraged them and then, headed westward towards Thessalonica, which is where we join them in Acts 17:1.

The Gospel comes to Thessalonica (v. 1-9)

They travel west through two cities, Amphipolis and Apollonia, which roughly divide the 100 miles to Thessalonica into thirds (around 33 miles between).  Paul may or may not have preached in these cities.  It is not mentioned.  However, Luke focuses on what happened at Thessalonica next.

We have two letters (epistles) written by Paul to the Thessalonians in the New Testament.  Here is something that Paul later said of the church that would be started there.  1 Thessalonians 1:8, “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out.”

From this, we can see that Paul doesn’t have to preach in every city (whether he did or didn’t).  The churches that he started would become hubs of shining the Gospel into the region.  May our church be a church with such a strong faith that the area knows it, and they will have hear the “Word of the Lord.”

Now, Thessalonica was the main city of that region.  It had a synagogue and that is where Paul began.  We are told that he preached for three Sabbaths (weeks), reasoning with them from the Scriptures.

There are two verbs that are used to describe this.  In the NKJV, they are interpreted as “explaining” and “demonstrating.”  The first one has the sense of opening the Scriptures up for them, but also opening their understanding of the Scriptures that they no doubt knew.  The second word has the sense of setting something before the people.  In food contexts, it is used of a hostess placing food before guests.  In this setting, we are talking about teachings regarding Christ that are set before them, i.e., demonstrated to them from Scripture.

The two main teaching mentioned here are that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise again from the dead.  We are not told the Scriptures that Paul used, but Isaiah 53 could easily have been one, also Psalm 16:10-11.  The second teaching is that Jesus of Nazareth is that Messiah and fulfilled these things.  Notice the logic of this.  If you don’t recognize or accept the first teaching, then you will not be able to see Jesus as the Messiah because he did suffer, die, and yet, rose again from the dead.

The response is good, but it is split up into three parts:  “some of them were persuaded,” “a great multitude of devout Greeks,” and “not a few of the leading women.”  In light of the mention of Gentiles in the second part, we can safely assume that the first part is speaking about the Jews who attended the synagogue.  So, it appears that there was a better reception among the Gentiles than among the Jews.  We are told that those who believed “joined” Paul and Silas.  It is most likely that they were connecting with them throughout the week in order to learn more, and unknowingly laying the foundation for the first church of Thessalonica.

We are told in verse 5 that those who were not persuaded by the Gospel preaching became “envious.”  This envy leads to them stirring up a crowd, a mob, from the marketplace in order to apprehend Paul, Silas, and Timothy. 

The source of the trouble is envy, and would, no doubt, be led by the religious leaders of the synagogue.  The problem was not Jews.  Paul is a Jew as well as Silas.  Some Jews were persuaded by Paul.  The problem is envy, and envy plagues every ethnic group under the sun.

You can imagine that they had worked hard to share the Law of Moses in Thessalonica and had even drawn many devout Greeks to attach themselves to the teaching of the synagogue as God-fearers.  When someone else comes into town and begins to persuade people in a new teaching, it would be natural to be defensive.  This is the same dynamic that led to Jesus being rejected by the leaders of Jerusalem.  Yet, the problem is not that their lack of being persuaded.  It could have stayed at the level of arguing your case from Scripture and rejecting Paul’s teaching.  They might even stipulate continued synagogue attendance on the rejection of this new teaching.  However, something darker comes forth because envy is a dark vice.  You may not even know you are being envious as it happens.  Envy is never good, and only leads to overt sin and pain.

A mob is stirred up, and we should take a moment to remind ourselves about the spirit that affects a crowd.  A crowd takes on a nature that is larger than any one person within the group, even those who started it.  For example, when you push against a large rock that is on a hillside, you will notice that there is much resistance at first.  You are choosing to keep pushing, or get help from more people, etc.  In a way, you are still in control.  However, there is that moment in time in which gravity takes over, and you are no one is in control.  Dangerous things can happen, especially if there are unwitting people down the hill.  The same is true spiritually, for good or for bad.  People within crowds will often do things that they would never do on their own.  In fact, contrary to the analogy, there are often spiritual dynamics at work even in “pushing the rock” in the first place. 

There is a theme in Scripture: don’t focus only on what you can see because you will miss the spiritual things that are happening.  This can be the good work of God, the evil work of the devil and his angels, or the spiritual condition of a person we are dealing with.

We do not want to be a people who are easily motivated to riot and attack others (even metaphorically).  We must understand what spirit is motivating us in our decisions and actions.  Is it the Holy Spirit, or the spirit of this world?  Believers in God, in Jesus, are those who are led by the Holy Spirit, rather than the ill-winds of this world.

We cannot fault the Jews of Thessalonica for not having a relationship with Jesus, but we can see that they had not been tuned to the Spirit of God.  Otherwise, they would have responded with joy.  Yet, they respond with envy and seeking to banish or jail Paul and company.

This is the battle between a desire for truth and the envy of our ego.  We all have ego that gets hurt from time to time, but believers are called to purify their hearts through repentance and works that are worthy of such.

The group ends up at the house of a man named Jason.  He most likely had been persuaded and was housing them.  However, when they arrive, Paul is not there.  Then, they drag Jason and the “brothers” (i.e., believers in Jesus) before the city rulers to make accusation against them.

The accusation is that they are breaking the decrees of Caesar by saying Jesus is “another king.”  In some ways, Jesus is not a threat to Caesar.  He did not instruct his followers to defeat the Roman empire.  Instead, he told them to love their enemies and preach the Gospel to them.  Yet, Jesus is a threat to Caesars in general.  The kingdoms of this world are destined to belong to him.  The kings of the earth are warned to “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.  Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” Psalm 2:12.  Still, Jesus is not a threat in the way that they are presenting. 

They stir the pot through this aspersion, “these who have turned the world upside down have come here too!”  This is intended to be a negative, but it shows the powerful effectiveness of the early Church.  Actually, they were not turning the world upside down.  The world was already upside down from the way that God had created it due to human sin and spiritual interference.  Jesus Messiah was sent to begin righting the ship.  That righting of things begins in the heart of the individual.  He has come to set our hearts right side up before God. 

Yet, this creates a polarization in families, towns, nations, even the world.  Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’” He is quoting Micah 7:6.  This is the polarization that we see happening in this synagogue and the city as a whole.  Some are embracing Christ, but others who were their friends were not.  This situation has continued throughout the earth to this day.

The rulers of the city take security (money) from Jason and send them away.  This security is probably not a bond for showing up to court.  Rather, it is most likely so that they won’t cause another riot.

The Gospel comes to Berea (v. 10-15)

“The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.”  The label of “brethren” means that these are people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  A good group of believers has been started, and the hot tempers among the town calls for Paul to move on.  However, the Gospel has not left the town.  It has been sown and taken root in many hearts.  Berea is a town that is about 45 miles west of Thessalonica.

Luke notes that there was a very different mind-set, or attitude, within the Berean synagogue.  Different versions describe them as “more noble,” “more fair-minded,” and “of more noble character.” The word literally means “well born.”  It pictures a person who has been born into a good family, has been taught good morals, and lives these out in society (aka Not the kind of people who riot).

What won them this descriptor? First, they were ready to hear what Paul had to say.  Yet second, they searched the Scriptures to check the veracity of his claims.  They were not ego-driven, but instead, desired to know the truth.  We can be a slave to passions that drive us.  In such cases, we can be blind to the truth.  However, what makes a person reject the Gospel one day, but accept it later?  There is a mystery to the way that the Gospel impacts people. 

We are told that many of them believed.  There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile this time.  Of course, Jesus and his apostles were not creating another religion by twisting Judaism.  The teaching and the work of Jesus flowed directly from the Law and the Prophets.  He is the fulfillment of all it points toward, which was there for anyone who would honestly seek out the truth.

Without any meddlers, there would not have been any problems in Berea.  However, the Jewish leaders from Thessalonica showed up and caused trouble for Paul and Silas in Berea.  No doubt, word had traveled back to them that Paul was in Berea and that many people were listening to him.  Again, the men from Thessalonica stirred up a crowd from the marketplace.

Note to self: don’t be the kind of person who is sitting around looking for a cause and a crowd to join.  Fleshly people, who are only focused on the lusts of their flesh, are easily stirred up.  If you are busy doing the work of the God, the Lord Jesus, then you will not be easily stirred up by others.

Again, the “brethren” send Paul away.  However, this time Paul goes by himself and leaves Silas and Timothy behind.  The heat seems to focus on Paul.  Silas and Timothy could stay under the radar and help the believing community of Berea grow in their understanding of the Scriptures and the work of Jesus.

Thus, Paul ends up on a ship to Athens, which is 300 miles away.  Most likely, they believe this will settle down the crowds rioting against Paul.

In some ways, we should recognize that, in order to turn your life right-side up before the LORD, it is going to feel like you are turning it upside down.  At salvation, a person senses the Holy Spirit calling them to put their faith in Jesus, but the flesh is generally scared at the thought of this.  Yet, for those who follow the Spirit, they enter into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus, the Spirit, and the Word.

When you feel that emotion of fear, or apprehension, towards something that the Holy Spirit is leading you to do or stop doing, take time to pray for clarity about the direction and courage to obey.

Paul could have focused on the negative.  Everywhere he went, people were causing trouble and mistreating him.  In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul lists all of the things he has endured in taking the Gospel to the nations.  Yet, these things were not enough to persuade him to quit.  He saw himself as a slave of Christ, even wishing that he could be cursed so that his countrymen could be saved.  The Holy Spirit had led Paul to these places to preach the Gospel.  Many wonderful people were saved through his ministry.

May God help us to see the need of a lost world and God’s love for them.  Yes, we will run into resistance and difficult things, but we will also see wonderful things.  Some will believe, and we will have fellowship with them.

How does a person turn the world upside down?  They do it by not focusing on trying to turn the world upside down.  Instead, they listen to the Holy Spirit and give themselves to the work that He gives them, no matter what the scope.  The Apostle Paul started by turning his own little world upside down on the road to Damascus when he believed in Jesus.  That became the foundation for what came later.  You can trust the Holy Spirit in you.  Just remain faithful to Jesus in your work.

Upside Down audio

The Acts of the Apostles 65

Subtitle: A Quick Release

Acts 16:35-40.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 26, 2023.

Paul and Silas were in prison when an earthquake (God) opened their doors and loosed their chains.  We then saw how they led the Philippian Jailer to believe on Jesus.  A lot of things happened that morning from midnight to daybreak: they preached to the household, they baptized the jailer and his household, and their wounds were treated.

We don’t know the exact content of their prayers earlier that evening.  However, it seems likely that they asked God for favor to be released and things on that level.

We often pray for God’s help in different matters.  Sometimes, we have our heart and sights set on a particular answer, or a particular way for it to be done.  However, God in His power has a multitude of ways by which He can help us.  We, however, are not unlimited in power.  It is hard for us to trust, to believe, that God can answer the same prayer in a 1,000 different ways.  We tend to pray specifically for one way.  If we don’t see anything in the natural realm heading in that direction, we feel like God is not answering, or saying, “No.”  It is possible that God has already done everything, and things are simply falling into place.  We can fret needlessly when we neglect to trust God and wait upon Him in peace.

Think about the cross of Jesus.  It was not what any of the righteous in society were praying for.  When it happened, they all felt that it meant he had failed.  That was all they could see.  Yet, God’s power would bring Jesus even through death into victory.  In fact, his death itself was a victory over sin itself.

This is only in regard to God’s power.  Now, think about God’s wisdom.  In His wisdom, He may choose a way that we don’t understand, or take us in a different direction than we hoped for.  When God led Israel out of Egypt, He took them through the wilderness.  Part of it was to cut down on the number of enemies that they would have to fight.  Yet, part of it was to show Israel how He could powerfully care for them and loved them.  It was to be a time of intimacy.

The test for all of us is to know that, between God’s power and wisdom, our puny minds are  not going to figure out exactly what God is going to do beforehand.  We should pray, ask for help, and then trust Him to respond in His timing and in His way.

In our story today, God had Paul and Silas released from prison in less than 24 hours.  That is a quick release, a miraculous release, and it is all because of the help of God.  However, they didn’t know that when they were praying and singing hymns to God.  May God help us to grow in our patience and learn to trust our heavenly Father.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul and Silas are released from prison (35-40)

Though Paul and Silas are taken to the warden’s house in the middle of the night, they are technically under his charge as prisoners.  He simply is responsible for producing them whenever the magistrates summon the prisoners.

Whether they go back to the jail or not is not clear from the passage and is really irrelevant for our purposes.  In the end, word will come to let them go.

Before we get into that, I want to deal with this aspect of singing and praising God in the midst of persecution.   I imagine that several hymns, psalms, came to mind as they prayed to God.  It is clear that even David’s psalms began as prayers to God.  At some point, he crafted them into a poetic prayerful song to God.  Songs are a powerful way of ensuring that we remember milestones of spiritual wrestling with God.  Some things are worth remembering, are worth building an altar over and giving thanks to God.

Paul and Silas prayed in physical agony before God, and by the night’s end, God had answered their prayer powerfully, even having the jailer wash and tend their wounds.

At dawn, the magistrates send word to the warden that Paul and Silas are to be released and told to leave town.  We do not know exactly why they made this decision.  It is possible that they believe that Paul and Silas will leave town quickly and everything will be over.  There had been such a raging mob the previous day, that they didn’t want to have such a volatile situation.  They had already beaten the men, and so perhaps they feel this will get rid of the opportunity for more mayhem, and for their ability to control the city to be questioned by Caesar.

It is also possible that the earthquake in the middle of the night after such a strange day was interpreted by them as a bad omen.  “The gods must be angry.”  Either way, they want them to leave and never come back.

You might be wondering why God would send an earthquake when He would know that they would be released the next day.  Of course, why would he let them be beaten when He knows they are innocent?  These kind of question can never truly be answered because we are asking about what exactly God was thinking.  Good luck with solving that.  Yet, we now know that the freedom of Paul and Silas is not due to the good graces of the magistrates.  It is at the good graces of God.  The earthquake and consequent freeing of the prisoners would stand as a witness to believers that God was powerfully working in Philippi.  They could know that God was with them, no matter what happened ahead.

When Paul and Silas are told that they can leave, Paul refuses to go quietly.  We should note that he is not above sneaking out of town, which we saw in Acts 9.  There, he was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall of Damascus.

Paul doesn’t have a principle of never sneaking out of town.  There is something else going on here.  We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and seek His wisdom in moments like this.  Instead of a principle of always doing such and such, there is a real flexibility, a liberty, of the Spirit of God for what needs to happen.

Paul tells the warden that they are Roman citizens.  Why did he wait until now to bring it up?  It is possible that he was unable to do so in the pandemonium and anger of the city.  They simply wouldn’t let them speak.  There was no reason to assume that these Jews had Roman citizenship, but it would have been a wise thing to determine before beating them without trial.

Roman citizens had certain rights.  In this case, they should have been tried in a court with the ability to speak in their defense.  To punish them without trial was a grievous offense.

Paul doesn’t usually make an issue of his Roman citizenship.  Yet, he does here.  I do not believe this is an ego-driven decision.  Paul couldn’t care less about Roman citizenship.  He was more concerned about his citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  Yet, the reputation of the Gospel of Jesus was at stake here.  And, it was clear that God was working in this situation.  God would use this abuse of rights to turn the tables on the magistrates.

It is important to understand that, though we have natural rights as humans and as citizens of the United States of America, as a citizen of heaven, we can waive them for Christ if need be.  The decision is not about my rights, but about what is helpful to the Gospel.  Paul’s Roman citizenship is subservient to his heavenly citizenship.

Men had put Paul in prison unjustly.  Of course, Paul did not want to be stuck there.  Yet, it is not up to the men who put him there, or my own rights.  It really is about God’s will.  They knew that God had more things for them to do.  And, they knew that God was making a point here in Philippi with the exorcism followed by an earthquake, and the salvation of two households in Philippi.

When word is sent back to the magistrates that they were Romans, we are told in verse 38 that “they were afraid.”  Paul could sue them, and they knew that he had them over a barrel.  They went from having their way with Paul and Silas to being afraid of what they will do.

Paul wants the magistrates to come down and release them.  This is the difference between, we magnanimously let you go and admitting fault publicly.   A quiet release and departure would allow them to play up that they had taught Paul and Silas a lesson.  An official setting of them free as Roman citizens would demonstrate the gross negligence that they had exercised the day before.

It is interesting that part of their fear has to do with what Paul and Silas will do.  Wicked people are always afraid that others will be just like them.  These guys don’t know Paul, but they are sure that they are about to be called on the carpet by the power of Caesar, if they don’t appease these guys.

Yet, notice that their fear is about the power Paul and Silas have as Roman citizens.  They are afraid of the Roman system and their own breach of its rules.  They are not, however, afraid of the God of Israel and His Messiah, Jesus.  They are not afraid of mistreating the ambassadors of Jesus, but of citizens of Rome. 

We could give them some slack since the Gospel is relatively new.  How are we doing today, twenty centuries later?  If we are to fear any power structure, it should be that of Jesus, and the God of heaven.  What is our excuse today?  I know of no country that is making its decisions based upon a fear of God and His Anointed King, Jesus.

A confrontation is always going on between the power of Jesus and the power of the world.  It is not just at the natural level with governments and human authorities, but against wickedness in the spiritual realm.  Do you know that you are a part of that confrontation, just as much as Paul and Silas were?  When you come into the life of an unbeliever, there are spirits who have invested a lot of time in trapping that person in sin.  When you speak into that, you are stirring up a spiritual hornets’ nest, poking the nest.

Though this calls for sobriety, we should not forget that the retaliation of those spirits is a poking of the Lion of Judah, who is on our side.  We are the apple of God’s eye.  And though that does not call for arrogance, it doesn’t call for fear and weakness either.  God has a plan for you to assist in plundering these spiritual powers.  It starts with your own life and then moves out from there.  He is committed to you entering into glory with Him.  May we go forth boldly with His help!

We also see here that God sometimes uses the world’s systems against the devil.  I am sure that the devil does not want Paul and Silas released.  Yet, even when he has control of the whole Roman system, we see God using it against him.  You can see why there is a push in our world to coalesce the powers and systems of this world into one system controlled by one man, or very few men.  Such a global system will be achieve if only for a few years (see Revelation 13). 

This can give us some understanding to the judgment following the Tower of Babel.  Nimrod had led the world into a rebellion against the plan and purpose of God.  The judgment came in the form of confusing their languages.  They then separated because they couldn’t understand each other.  This barrier would take time to be overcome.  By then, different cultures and different ways of thinking would be entrenched.  Though this sounds bad from a sense of powerfully “fixing” problems in this world, it really is also a grace.  Often, God’s judgments have an element of grace within them.  These barriers to “global unity” would slow down and confound the devil’s ability to do anything that he wants, even when he has all of them under his influence.

The magistrates show up and “pleaded with them,” “brought them out,” and “asked them to depart from the city.”  God doesn’t determine what men will do, but every power and authority on earth is at the mercy of God’s decision, Roman empire or not.”  If we truly believed this, we would be far more careful in our lives, and we would be far more concerned for America.  Religion without relationship is not enough.  We are either serving God and His purposes, or we are resisting and rebelling against the Spirit of God.

Paul refuses to leave without saying goodbye to the new believers.  Thus he goes to Lydia’s house and encourages the brethren (believers) there.  Added to them now is the Philippian jailer and his house hold.  On top of this, we can hold out hope that the fortune-telling slave who was freed from the pythonic spirit would join the church as well.  Perhaps, she was on the auction block that next day, and either Lydia or the jailer, could purchase her freedom and attach her to their households.  Who knows?

These three people represent very different flavors of God’s grace.  Lydia was technically a believer.  However, once Messiah Jesus had come forth, she would need to put her faith in Messiah to demonstrate her faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel.  The Philippian jailer was no doubt an idol-worshipper.   The demon possessed girl who was now free had quite a different story.  Ultimately, it is not about how amazing your testimony is.  It may be wiser for us to think of it as God’s testimony in our life.  All three of these people needed Jesus just as much.  No matter how different the story, they were all in the same boat without Jesus.

Paul and Silas would leave, but not as whipped felons with their tail between their legs.  They would walk out of that city with their heads high, and rejoicing in what God was only beginning to do in this city.  May we too march forth into our cities and into our families so that God can use us to accomplish great spiritual work for His kingdom.

A Quick Release audio

The Acts of the Apostles 62

Subtitle: Faith Working through Love

Acts 16:1-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 5, 2023.

Paul and Silas have started on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, due to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark.

Today, we are going to look at this question.  What is the motivation behind what you do?  Two people (or more) can do the same action, but for very different reasons.  We could boil them all down to good motivations versus bad ones.  Of course, when we come to faith in Christ, we find out that Jesus isn’t content with only changing our outward actions.

Yes, he wants us to stop sinning (“Go and sin no more.”) because our sin causes pain and suffering to us and to the people in our lives.  God loves us and them too much to be content with us continuing to sin with impunity. 

Yet, if you only change the activity without changing the heart behind it, it will not be good enough.  It won’t work for very long.  Eventually, such people grow weary of “doing” good, and fall away from actions of righteousness.  So, Christ is not content to affect our activity.  He wants to change us from the inside out.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul’s second missionary journey reaches Asia Minor again (v. 1-10)

Luke’s narrative jumps to the area of Derbe and Lystra in the middle of Asia Minor (Turkey today).  In short, they are going to travel between 750 to 800 miles in these 10 verses.

It is at Lystra that Paul recognizes a young man named Timothy, and he desires Timothy to join them.  Of course, Timothy is not just “joining” a missionary group.  He  really is entering into a lifetime of ministering for Jesus.  He becomes a son in the faith to Paul a father figure.  The dynamics here are significant.  Silas is a peer of Paul’s.  He is like a brother in the Lord, similar to Barnabas.  However, young Timothy is more like a son.  He will be mentored by Paul and Silas (really by the Holy Spirit through them).  In fact, there are two books of the New Testament written by Paul as a fatherly figure to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy).  In fact, 2 Timothy has the feel of a father telling his son to stay strong as he is about to exit this life.

From these two letters (1 and 2 Timothy), we know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother have been strong believers (2 Timothy 1:5).    His mother, Eunice, had married a Greek man who clearly was not a convert to Judaism as we will soon see.  His grandmother Lois and her daughter Eunice most likely believed in Jesus during Paul’s first missionary journey through Lystra.

By the way, we should guard against the idea that Judaism and Christianity were two separate religions.  Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  He was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all that the Law of Moses was pointing to.  The people of Israel had waited for Messiah to come for centuries.  Thus, we would not say that Lois and Eunice were saved, but that their saving faith in Yahweh to send Messiah, had now made the proper transition to faith in Yeshua, whom the Father had sent.  The early Jewish believers were simply obeying the Holy Spirit by getting up and following Jesus.

This brings up an issue.  We can be guilty of giving lip service to God’s promise of sending Jesus back again.  This was on display in Israel in the first century.  Many of them would give lip service to the idea that Messiah would come and set all things right some day.  However, most had given up faith that he would actually show up.  They had the correct doctrine, but their faith was gone in their hearts.

Yet, one day Jesus did come.  He caught most of them by surprise, or better, he caught them spiritually sleeping, spiritually intoxicated, and spiritually dead. 

They were so used to being the ones who  had the truth, that they had lost their ability to repent and follow God.  How do you exercise your ability to repent and follow the Holy Spirit, rather than resisting and rebelling against Him?

In short, you spend time seeking God in the word and in prayer.  You give him your whole heart in truth.  You seek what He is saying to you through the Holy Spirit and what He saying to you, where He is leading you.  Such a relationship will teach you to exercise faith as the Holy Spirit puts His finger on areas of your life that need to change.  If you will give yourself to this, you will find all sorts of ways that you need to repent, and every day.  You will find just how much we need His help, and, praise God, that He is giving it to us all the time, if we will receive it.

It is probably at this time that the elders of the church and Paul gather around Timothy and pray for him as is mentioned twice in Paul’s letters.  We are told that gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to him on that day, and that at least one prophecy was given regarding him.

Now, this is an important point.  They do not take for granted that they are doing God’s work and that He will just show up.  They take this moment seriously and pray over Timothy.  We should never take God’s promised help for granted.  We need to seek it, and pray for it.  What a powerful moment as they pray over this young man.  “Lord, fill him with your Spirit, and enable him to minister with Paul and Silas.  Give him courage and faith.  Give him perseverance, Lord!”  Whether Timothy was already filled with the Spirit at that time, or the Spirit came upon him for the first time, Timothy was readied to go with Paul and Silas.

On the flip side, just because God has enabled you, placed gifts within your life, and filled you with His presence, doesn’t mean that we should take His continued empowerment for granted.  In 1 Tim. 4:14, Paul tells Timothy not to “neglect” the gift that was within him, and in 2 Tim. 1:6 , he tells him to “stir up” the gift that was within him.  The gifts of God are not automatic.  I am not saying that God will withhold from us, but that we can grow stagnant in our spiritual walk.  If we are negligent and lose our passion, then stagnation creeps into our hearts and quenches the gifts of God in our life.  In fact, the greatest gift within any of us, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can grieve the Holy Spirit and squelch His work in our life if we are not purposeful and intentional in prayer. 

How do we stir them up?  We do so through prayer, and prayerful study of the Word.  Also, we do so by seeking the Holy Spirit, and as He leads, exercising our faith through obedience.

We may be taken by surprise that Paul would have Timothy circumcised at this point.  He is carrying a letter from the Apostles in Jerusalem laying out the fact that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  This may come across to some as a contradiction, but it really is not, if you look closely.

Notice that the issue in Acts 15 was about what was necessary for Gentile salvation.  The council made a clear pronouncement on this issue, but there was still some lack of specificity regarding Jews themselves. Of course, Peter made it clear that none of the Jews were saved by their law keeping, only by faith in Jesus.  Jews and Gentiles were being saved in the same way.

There is some dispute about whether Timothy is considered a Jew or not.  When a person’s parents were both Jewish, there was no question.  They were a Jews.  But, when one of the parents were not Jewish, a question could arise.  Today, Jews teach that Jewishness, or obligation to the Law, follows the mother.  If your mother is Jewish, then so are you.  However, if only your father is Jewish, you are not considered Jewish.  It is not clear evidence that the first century followed a “matrilineal” descent as opposed to a patrilineal descent (from the father).  I don’t think that it makes a difference either way.

I only bring up this issue because it begs the question.  Did the early Church expect, or teach that Jews should circumcise their children and follow the law of Moses?  Did they teach Jewish believers in Yeshua to continue to circumcise new babies?  There would most likely be some ethnic momentum in how Jewish Christians lived.  I doubt that they all started eating pork after Peter’s vision in Joppa.  It just wasn’t part of their culture.  Therefore, we are unable to determine exactly how Timothy was viewed by early Jewish Christians, but we would know how he was viewed by non-Christian Jews.

So we come back to the issue of whether or not Paul is contradicting himself.    Why would he say one thing about Gentiles and another about Timothy?  What is going on here?  As I said at the beginning, motivation is the key.  What is Paul’s motivation?  What is his concern?

Verse three tells us why Paul does this, “because of the Jews who were in that region, for they knew that his father was a Greek.”  Paul clearly wanted to minister to Jews in the region, but also knew that they would know that Timothy was not circumcised.  Most likely, Paul believes that Timothy’s status would become a distraction and get in the way of preaching the Gospel.  The Jews would be so upset by Paul having an uncircumcised Jewish person with him, that they would never get to sharing the Gospel.  Timothy would be a distraction.

I think that Galatians 5 is the best passage for settling this.  There, Paul makes clear the principle that he was following in telling some people not to be circumcised, and yet in this case, circumcising Timothy.

Galatians 5:1-6 has Paul speaking to Gentiles in Galatia (basically the area they are in here in Acts 16).  They were being persuaded by some to circumcise themselves.  In verse 2, Paul tells them that “Christ will profit you nothing [if you circumcise yourself].”  In verse 3, he tells them that if they obey this one point of the Law of Moses then they are “a debtor to keep the whole law.”  In verse 4, Paul says that they are severing themselves from Christ and falling from grace, if they do this.  These are strong words that imply that they could not be saved, if they were circumcising themselves as a necessary act.  Your faith is either in Jesus or in the works of your flesh.  You cannot have both.

You might think of Jesus as Noah’s ark.  You are either in the boat (in Jesus) trusting him for your salvation, or you are outside the boat trusting in your own ability.  However, you can’t be in the boat and not in the boat at the same time.  Faith in Jesus is the ark of the New Testament.

Yet, in verse 6, Paul gives his underlying principle, which allows him to say to one group that they cannot be saved if they circumcise themselves, and yet have Timothy be circumcised.  His principle is not, if you are Jewish, you should be circumcised.  Rather, circumcision or the lack thereof has no power to accomplish anything.  It is quite clear that he is speaking about spiritual matters here.  If you want salvation and spiritual power with God, then your circumcised status is powerless to help you.  Don’t look to that to help you.  Now, you can see why he speaks so strongly to the Galatians.  They were circumcising themselves out of the belief that it would help them with God, but it can’t.

What does have power with God?  Faith [in Jesus] expressing itself through actions of love.  This is exactly what Paul is asking Timothy to do.  Paul is not telling Timothy that he is almost saved, but only lacks being circumcised (an argument that was being made to the Gentiles by the Judaizers).  Rather, he is asking him to be circumcised out of love for the Jews that they will preach to.  It will remove an obstacle that would be hard for them to overlook.  Now, it will not be an issue, and they can focus on the Gospel.  Timothy’s motivation would be love for the Jews that they will preach to.  The Galatians improper motivation was to fulfill an act that they thought was necessary for salvation.

I should say that this is quite a big “ask” of Paul to Timothy.  Yet, love will make great sacrifices for those it loves.  May God help us to remove obstacles in our lives without sinning in order to help others hear the Gospel.  May God help us to make sacrifices of things that are not necessary for salvation, but might be necessary in order for others to be saved.

We are then told that they go through the cities delivering the decrees of the Jerusalem Council, strengthening the churches, and sharing the Gospel.  Note that it says they “increased in number daily.”

They are called to Macedonia (v. 6-10)

As they move from Lystra eastward, they pass through the provinces of Galatia and Phrygia.  At this point (unless they go south), they are at the end of the churches that Paul and Barnabas had started earlier, and towns that they had preached in.  As they reach these borders, it appears that they intend to go southwest into the province of Asia.  This is the area of Ephesus and the 7 churches of Revelation. 

We are simply told that the Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the Gospel in Asia.  The Holy Spirit can lead us by forbidding or blocking things.  We are not told exactly how they knew the Holy Spirit was forbidding them.  Such a strong term would indicate that there was some kind of prophecy, word of wisdom, or dream, etc.  Some powerful way that the Holy Spirit made His direction clear to them.

This may cause us to wonder at the idea that the Holy Spirit would forbid any one to preach the Gospel to another.  Yet, we can know by what the Bible says that it has nothing to do with God not wanting them to hear it.  We are not told the reasons, so I want to be careful here.  It is possible that God knows this area will be reached by churches later, or that Paul and company can only do so much.  Limited resources require strategy and timing.  It will be come clear that Paul and Silas were intent on traveling throughout all of Asia Minor, but God wanted them to jump the Gospel over to Greece.  Others would “backfill” ministry into the areas that Paul skipped over.

In such a case, we should recognize that it is not our place to question God.  He has His reasons and they are always righteous and for the good.  In fact, if we refuse to go where God is calling us to go, and persist in going where He has not told us to go, we will be much like Jonah.  Things will go better for you and the people you speak to when you are obeying the Spirit of God.

Paul is obedient and turns to go north into Bithynia and Pontus, but again, the Holy Spirit forbids them to go north.  Thus, they end up on the coast of Asia Minor in the city of Troas.  No doubt, they minister there, but also the question is pondered.  Where do we go now?

Let me insert at this point, that God is not stuck on any one way of leading and directing us.  He spoke to Moses like one speaks face to face with another man.  That is extremely rare.  Sometimes, He speaks to people through angels.  He can speak to us through visions and dreams, through a word of knowledge, or simply by a quiet voice in our heart.  It doesn’t matter how God leads us.  What matters is that He is the One leading.  Don’t  be fixated on needing to have God use any of these.  Simply respond to how He leads in your life.  In fact, notice that Timothy is being led by the Holy Spirit through the man Paul.

It is at this point that Paul has a vision.  In the vision, he sees a Macedonian man pleading, “Come over here and help us!”  Of course, there probably was not an actual man in Macedonia who was doing this.  But, God hears the hearts of a people.  The Holy Spirit was giving Paul a sense of what God saw in this region, a people crying out for help.

Of course, our hearts can cry out for help, but often we don’t even know what that help should look like, especially in spiritual matters.  Macedonia is northern Greece, where Alexander the Great came from.  Just as God used a vision to instruct Peter to share the Gospel with Cornelius in Caesarea, so God uses a vision to stir Paul’s heart for Greece.  This is not because God loves them more.  No, He wants all people to hear the Gospel and come to faith in Jesus.  However, Paul is mortal and cannot evangelize everyone.  The Holy Spirit is strategically leading him to spread the Gospel in a way that is more effective.

I wonder how many people and places are pleading for someone to come and help them, but no one share the Gospel with them.  You will never see it because it is a spiritual things.  And, they won’t even know that you are the answer of the cry of their heart when you first start speaking to them.  However, God sees them, and hears them.  We really need to learn to listen to God and be led by him as we share the Gospel with people.

Notice that Paul didn’t need a vision for everyone he ever shared the Gospel with.  In general, he knew that the Gospel needed to go everywhere.  He was doing God’s will in general until God needed him to do something specific.  This is where we need to trust the Lord.  If He needs to direct us, He knows how to do it.  I should not be paralyzed while waiting for a vision, when I could be doing what I know the Lord wants me to do in general.

I do think that we should develop the practice of talking with God in prayer about our evangelism plans, who we want to talk to, and when.  We should pray for the Spirit to go before us and prepare their hearts, and we should fast and pray for their response to the Gospel.  In short, it should be our faith in Jesus (and his purpose for us) working itself out through actions of love for the lost (sharing the Gospel).

Perhaps, this week, we can spend some time asking God what we can sacrifice, so that others may hear the Gospel.  May the Lord enable us by His Holy Spirit!

Faith through Love audio