Acts 20:13-24 God's Grace Is Good News!

Acts 20:13-24  We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard.  He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.  When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.  The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios.  The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.  Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.  From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.  When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.  I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.  You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.  I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.“  And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.  I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

In the above account we see Paul always on the move, ministering the good news.  Paul had ministered in Troas for seven days.  Troas is where the young man, Eutychus, fell from his high perch on a windowsill while listening to Paul and lay below dead.  Since this was the final day in Troas, Paul left for Assos the next day, a two day walk.  The rest of his companions went to Assos by boat.  Paul joined up with them at Assos.  For some reason, Paul went to Assos by foot; he could have sailed to Troas with the others, but Paul was always on the move to satisfy Jesus’ desire to harvest people.  Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’?  I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.  (John 4:35)   Paul must have thought that his journey to Assos by foot was an opportunity to reap a harvest in this area of Asia.  As in the last part of Mark, Jesus is attributed as saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  (Mark 16:15-16)  Paul’s life goal was to free people from Satan’s hold, making them children of God.  Nothing would stop the ministry that Jesus placed upon him on the road to Damascus.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  (Acts 9:3-6)  Every day from that time on Paul rose up every morning to serve the Lord.  The message Jesus planted on him was GET UP AND GO.  In Troas, the others tarried a bit and then sailed to Assos, but Paul got up and went to Assos on foot, expending a great deal of effort to do so.  However,  Paul considered his life as meaningless unless he was under the yoke of Jesus’ will: go into the Gentile world and preach the Good News.  We do not know what Paul was doing in those two days between Troas and Assos, but we suspect that he was ministering THE WAY to people he met on the journey.  At Assos he joined the retinue, probably relating to them what he experienced the last two days.  The passion of the Holy Spirit was embedded in Paul’s life.  Jesus had commanded the apostles to wait for the infilling of the Spirit before they went out and related to people the Good News.  The Holy Spirit within them compelled them to preach the Good News in Jesus’ name.  The name of Jesus was despised by the leaders of the Jews, for them any other name was okay, but not the name of Jesus, the Lord, the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God.  This name of Jesus Paul carried in his breast, exposing him to great persecution and a constant threat of death.  He said, I served God in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.  However, when Jesus stopped Saul on the way to Damascus, the Lord said, Get up and go, even when Saul was still blind.  Jesus sent this once blind man to the Gentiles under the Gentile name of Paul.  Because of Paul’s obedience to Jesus’ words, many Gentiles in the whole world will enter the household of God forever.

Paul’s life could never had been anticipated by him when he was a respected, young rabbi in Jerusalem.  He was an up-and-coming rabbi who had a future of someday becoming a leader in the Jewish community.   Every day as a young man he was dedicated to the law and to his leaders.  His leaders were zealous in stomping out the name of Jesus in the Jewish community.  HIs purpose on the road to Damascus was to arrest the apostates in that city and to bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.  For Saul that day started with him fulfilling the commands of the Jewish priests, but would end with him being under the command and will of Jesus.  He would end that day with the word of “Go”  and do my will.  Such a command was heard by Noah, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, the judges, the prophets and many others.  So many of these men did not anticipate this command, but one day God interrupted their lives with dreams, trances, visitations, and wonders.  Moses’ life was interrupted by God when he saw a burning bush that was not consumed.  When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses!  Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”  “Do not come any closer,” God said.  “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”  At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.  (Exodus 3:4-6)   God called Moses for an unanticipated event in the children of Israel’s life.  The Jews were locked up in slavery in the land of Egypt with no hope of freedom.  But God had a new dawn for them, a day of freedom, and Moses would be the vehicle that would lead them to another existence.  God told Moses, GO to Egypt and free my people.  The rest of the story is told in the Scriptures.  Whenever God shows up, things happen that are not anticipated; the terrain of life is altered permanently for those who are involved.  In the New Testament, Peter was arrested to please wicked Herod.  James had already been beheaded by Herod.  Now for his own pleasure, Herod was going to kill Peter too.  Peter before his execution the next day is sleeping between two soldiers, chained to them, unable to escape from this imprisonment.  However, the unanticipated happens.  The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.  He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.  “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.  Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.”  And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.  (Acts 12:6-8)  As with Moses, the angel of the Lord shows up, and tells Peter in essence, GO, Quick, get up!  This unreal happening, not anticipated by Peter or his unbelieving prayer warriors, who failed to open the door to Peter when he came to their gathering, for they did not believe it was possible for Peter to be standing at their door knocking.   The faith of men did not release Peter from prison; the sovereignty of God released Peter.  Paul journeyed from city to city in Macedonia, Greece and Asia under the sovereignty of God.  He answered the call of God, but those who were added to the household of God were part and parcel of God’s plan to redeem the world from the hold of slavery.  Paul carried that light of God everywhere he went, even as he journeyed on foot to Assos.

Paul on his way to Jerusalem meets with the elders of the Ephesian church.  He declares to them what he has been preaching in every community that he has visited in his life.  I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.  First, they must turn to God in repentance and secondly, put their faith in Jesus, who has brought resurrection life to all who believe in him.  Paul’s message was direct, straightforward, with no compromise.  He paid a heavy price for delivering that message to a dark world.  All the apostles paid a heavy price in giving the Good News to the world.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.  (1 Corinthians 4:10-13)   Paul is addressing the Corinthian church who feel they are so spiritual that they can quarrel about what they believe and whose words they should believe.  Thinking of themselves as being wise in their immaturity; they are really fooling themselves because Paul and Apollo and others have paid the supreme price of deprivation to bring the whole counsel of God to the Corinthians.  In presenting the Good News to people, Paul often met opposition in and out of the churches.  Nevertheless, he was faithful to his calling of, Go into the world and preach the name of Jesus Christ, both to the Gentile and the Jew.  As with Moses in the wilderness, he often met with God through the words of the Holy Spirit, to be refreshed by the will of God in his life.  As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.  The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.  (Exodus 33:9-11)  Even under great duress and persecution, Paul knew he was a friend of God.  He knew God would always be beside him and that he would always have access to the voice of God.  God had called Paul explicitly to spread the Good News to the Gentile world, so Paul knew God was always present with him.  As the Psalmist said, Paul understood in his life.  O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.  You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do.  You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.  You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!  I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  (Psalm 139:1-7)  Blessed people around this breakfast table, God knows your sitting down and your rising up.  He knows your words even before you say them; that is how intimate God is with you.  He knows this day the intentions of your heart.  Paul understood that in his life.  He walked two days to get to a city whereas he could have sailed there.  His days were days of earnestly serving the Lord.  We too should approach our days in the same way.  The people in your household, the people next to you, are fields ripe for harvest.  Are you willing to harvest for the Lord?  Are you willing to GO, GET UP.  Peter followed the angel out of captivity.  Are you willing to follow Jesus every hour of your life?  The rewards are so great for those who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  YES, YOU ARE WILLING!  So GO!  Amen.     

        

      

   

   

     

Acts 20:1-12 Be Comforted

Acts 20:1-12  When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.  He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months.  Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.  He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.  These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.  But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.  On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.  Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.  There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.  Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.  When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.  Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him.  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”  Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.  The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

As we continue to walk with Paul in the book of Acts, we note that he was always on the move through Asia and Greece.  He was a man designated by God to reach the Gentile world with the Good News.  Paul, being a man of the Spirit, always had the Holy Spirit directing his walk.  As with the Israelites in the wilderness, the Holy Spirit led him and them through a bleak, desolate land to the Promised Land.  The Israelites were led by a cloud of God’s Spirit day and night.  This cloud of God covered the Tabernacle built for his presence.  Paul, after his conversion was a powerful tabernacle of God, fulfilling God’s purposes in the Gentile world.  He was driven by the voice of God to different lands.  As with Jesus, the Tabernacle of God, who traveled throughout Israel ministering, Paul likewise ministered THE WAY of redemption in every city he visited.  He ministered the Good News in lands of darkness, sold out to idol worshipping and witchcraft.  We see in the Israelites wilderness journey that every oasis visited, every stop on the way to the Promised Land was directed by the Holy Cloud.  In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.  So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.  (Exodus 40:36-38)  Moses was dependent on the voice of the Lord that dwelled in the house of the Lord between the two cherubim.  When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law.  In this way the Lord spoke to him.  (Numbers 7:89)  Moses alone because of God’s voice in the Tabernacle knew what God was doing in the Israelites’ journey from Egypt.  Paul alone through God’s revelation to him fully understood the mystery of man's redemption that was hidden in God’s heart from the beginning of time: God, through Christ, would redeem all mankind to him through the work of the cross.  All people could be right with God through faith in his Son’s work.  This message of knowing God through the work of Jesus on the cross and his subsequent resurrection was opposed mightly by the principalities of the air.  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:10-12)

In every place Paul went, the  principalities of the air were at work; the devil did not want the Good News to penetrate his strongholds.  The people of Asia and Greece were deep into idol worship and witchcraft.  Their minds were full of the deception of the Evil One and his cohorts: the demons, programmed for generations and millenniums to worship anything but God, the Creator of all things.  The Holy Spirit opened these strongholds of the devil through miracles and wonders and through Paul’s boldness to preach the Good News regardless of the cost to him.  When Paul was prevented from ministering in certain areas in Asia, the Holy Spirit opened the lands of Macedonia and Greece to the Good News.  In these areas his ministry flourished; God allowed Paul to perform many miraculous deeds to verify what he was preaching.  God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.  (Acts 19:11-12)  In the above focus, we see Paul attempting to go back to Asia through Syria, but he was discouraged to do so because of opposition.  Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.  Therefore, Paul backtracks to Macedonia and Greece, preaching the Good News everywhere and encouraging the new believers in these lands.  Opposition is always a part of exposing THE WAY to any area, even from the family.  Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn“‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’  “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."  (Matthew 10:34-39)  Paul’s ministry disturbed the lifestyles, customs, traditions, the mores of the people in these Gentile countries.  The defiance he faced from the people was extremely strong and harsh.  They beat him with rods, stoned him, put him in chains and jailed him.  But his ministries still flourished.  Now delayed in going back to Asia, Paul went back to the nascent churches in Macedonia and Greece, encouraging them to stay strong in the face of severe opposition to the message of Christ Jesus, not only in the community, but also in their families and friends.  The defiance to Paul’s ministry was especially strong in the Jewish communities in those areas.  They despised this message that biological Jews were not honored by God above all other people in the world.  A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.  No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.  (Romans 2:28-29)  They thought he was demeaning the law, but Paul was not, for the law brought light to a godless world.  The law revealed the true nature of God, his perfection, righteousness and holiness.  The Good News was that IN CHRIST, the law would be fully implemented before God’s eyes by faith in the righteous works of His Son.  Nevertheless, the Jews' harassment of Paul was severe and potentially deadly.  Paul would not backdown in believing God loves all humanity passionately and desires for all men and women to be right with him.  He would not preach that circumcision of the flesh was a valid symbol of being right with God.  Instead Paul preached the cross made people right with God and that all men and women have equal access to being right with the Creator of all things.

We see in the above account that a young man became drowsy and fell asleep, falling from a windowsill to his death.  This death revealed once again how powerful God is: He can even overcome death.  He is the God of the resurrection.  When John the Baptist was questioning whether Jesus was the Messiah promised by God, he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus that question.  When John’s disciples addressed that question to Jesus, Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  (Matthew 11:4-6)  The salient part to Jesus’ response to John’s disciples is, go back and tell him what you have seen, not only heard but seen.  So we assume that John’s disciples, in that short time they were with Jesus, saw many phenomenal things happen: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.  And the dead are raised from death.  This reveals quite clearly the truth of what John says at the end of his gospel:  Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.  (John 21:25)  In this short visit by John’s disciples, they saw many miracles that could not be accounted as acts of an ordinary man.  They were seeing God in action through the hands of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah.  In the above focus, we see Paul performing an act of resurrection,  Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him.  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!  Was Eutychus dead, probably so for the scriptures tell us of his name, claiming the reality of this account.  This act was in God’s will not in man’s will.  God wanted him alive for his purposes, not for Eutychus or the people attending that event.  As with Jesus’ healing, the purpose was to reveal the God of power, functioning through men and women because of the Holy Spirit within them.  After Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit, his ministry of miracles became a reality.  Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, functions with miracles in his life.  God was opening the land of the spiritually dead through marvelous miracles and wonders.  Those who hear the voice of God will do the wonders of God.  The people in the wilderness did not want to hear the voice of God, for they feared for their lives because they were idol worshippers, recalcitrant to God’s demands on their lives.  But now, why should we risk death again?  If the Lord our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire.  Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive?  Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says.  Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’  (Deuteronomy 5:25-27)  They wanted an intermediator between them and God.  In our present world, a minister, a pastor, to hear from God.  He is to know God’s will through this journey through the wilderness of life, but that is not where the church of the living God is in this world.  We are all priests, capable to minister to people around us; we all have spiritual eyes and ears to use for God’s purposes.  But to fulfill our purpose in the kingdom of God, we cannot have one foot in the kingdom of the world and one foot in the kingdom of God: that is an adulterous lifestyle.  As James warns Christians, You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?  Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  (James 4:4-5)   Even though the natural tendency of men and women of being too close to the world in our likes and desires, the scriptures say he gives us more grace.  (James 4:6)  We know dear friends around this breakfast table that we glory in the fact that God’s love for us is so great that He gives us more grace when we fly too close to worldly desires.  But we ought not live as adulterers, faithless in serving God.  We should live with a strong desire in our hearts and minds to serve God in everything we say or do.  Let that be the passion in our lives.  May we go where the Holy Spirit sends us.  

 

Acts 19:32-41 The New Is Here!

Acts 19:32-41  The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another.  Most of the people did not even know why they were there.  The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him.  He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.  But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?  Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash.  You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.  If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls.  They can press charges.   If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.  As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today.  In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.”  After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

       As Paul was winding down his ministry in Ephesus, a riot broke out in the city caused by the silversmith Demetrius.  Paul had spent three years in in Ephesus talking about the existence of only one God who should be worshipped.  During this time, many turned towards the Lord Jesus and away from the mythological god, Artemis.  Worshipping the goddess Artemis whose image supposedly fell from heaven in this great Greek city of the ancient world brought notoriety to Ephesus.  They had constructed a magnificent temple to Artemis to honor her and worship her.  Today that temple is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Because of the temple and because of the mythology revolving around Artemis, the goddess of nature, environment, chastity and child rearing, many people made pilgrimages to Ephesus.  Demetrius and other silversmiths capitalized on this popularity of Artemis by making and selling idols of the image of Artemis.  As more and more people gathered because of the Christians in Ephesus and the surrounding area of Asia, the lucrative business of selling images of Artemis became impacted dramatically by this new religion out of Judea.  These Christians worshipped an amorphous God of the Spirit who demanded of them not to carve any image of him.  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.“  You shall have no other gods before me.  “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.  (Exodus 20:2-6)  This cardinal commandment runs dramatically counter to worshipping Artemis.  Artemis supposedly helped in conception of children and in child rearing, protecting them from harm, for she was a warrior God who constantly had her bow drawn to hunt and also to watch over children.  But these Christians rejected that notion of her protecting their children for they served only the Creator God through the name of Jesus Christ.  The Jehovah God’s promise to those who serve him through the Redeemer Jesus Christ is that He would show his love to a thousand generations of their descendants.  Paul rejects the idea of even knowing Jesus Christ in the flesh.  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)  Jesus’ ministry on earth was marvelous, stupendous.  But now He is present with the Father as King of Kings.  Jesus’ ministry was a servant’s ministry, revealing the love of God to the world.  He was THE SHEPHERD of the human race, but NOW HE IS LORD OF LORDS who will judge the world.  Paul loved the servant Jesus, the lover of his soul, but who can picture the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s?  Who can carve the Creator of all things?  No one, not even close, for we know our future home cannot be imagined, neither can we imagine the unseen creation or the God who sits on the throne of all things made and not made.  Our minds do not have the capacity, the words or concepts to picture the unimaginable.  We are not to worship any distorted view of God, attempts to put him in a pictorial form.  Paul tells us quite directly; Christians are not to consider people as they are presently in the flesh.  Instead consider them as new creatures, designed for the glory of God for eternity.  Demetrius and all craftsmen of idols, work on static images of their gods, created out of their own imaginations.  But the Christians worship a God far beyond lifeless images; a God who is constantly creating, making new out of the old. 

       In the above focus we see Ephesus in turmoil.  The population of Ephesus had been riled up by the silversmiths.  They were rioting, a mob of angry people had formed to protest the religion of the believers in Jesus as Lord of all.  Christianity was altering the customs and traditions of the people that had existed in the Greek communities for generations, even centuries.  Worshipping Artemis was a way of life.  No other reality was understandable to them.  However, Christianity rocked their view of life.  For those who were making money off worshipping Artemis, Christianity was lethal, a threat to their livelihood, for them the status quo was good enough. The Christians were preaching an new view of life.  For the silversmiths, such a view deserves death.  The evangelists for Christ were destroying their way of living.  As with most mobs, many did not even know why the people gathered there were so upset, but they joined the commotion.   Most of the people did not even know why they were there.  Mobs are always dangerous; a few words here or there can explode into violence.   A mob was formed by the Jewish priests, having the people yell to crucify Jesus, giving Pilate little choice but to order Jesus’ execution.  A mob caused Paul to be arrested by the Romans, putting him in jail, living out his life from that time on in chains.  While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.   He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd.  When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.  (Acts 21:30-32)  Stephen’s death came about in the midst of a mob, taking his life by stoning.  Paul and Silas were thrown in jail in Philippi because of the actions of a mob.  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  (Acts 16:22-24)  In Ephesus, this mob was so irrational that they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  Paul, even after all his experiences with mobs, was willing to go into that theater to reason with these people who were out of control.  But he was persuaded by others to not go into that arena to reason with the irrational, out-of-control Ephesians, for a mob sparked by angry words is very dangerous.  So Paul left Ephesus and went to Macedonia and Achaia to encourage the new-founded churches in those areas on his way to Jerusalem.  We see in these communities the sword against Christians was always used to destroy Christianity.  Many martyrs were part of the nascent church.  People had to love Christ more than their family, friends, culture or tradition.  Violence is a trademark of the unredeemed.  In Noah’s time it was said that the people were violent, unruly, all going their own way.  Now we see in these Greek communities, the majority of the people did not want anything to do with God’s plan of redemption through the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Yet, from city to city in Macedonia, Achaia and Asia, the Good News was preached, always with a threat to those who ministered the THE WAY to God. 

       

       When violence reigns against the message of Christ, what should believers do?   Are we to marshal our strength together and take the world by storm as some religions do today?  Do we force people to believe in God in the way we do?  Is this the word of God for us?  Are we to take Canaan or the Kingdom of God by aggression?  As Jesus explains very clearly, “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  (John 10:1)  There is no other way to enter the Kingdom of God than faith in the gate: Jesus Christ.  All other attempts to bring people into the sheepfold are criminal: thieves and robbers.  The Kingdom of God does not come through violence and aggression in words or deeds.  We do not pay back evil against us with evil.  Instead we live at peace with those who are living in darkness.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  (Romans 12:17-19)  The God of justice will pay back all evil that comes against you.  No one will get by with perpetrating evil against another of God’s creation.  This is true even in the family, no member of the family will get away with abusing another in the family.  The scale of justice is an integral part of God’s righteousness.  He will even the scale someday.  What does Jesus say about our enemies; those who aggressively come against us, willing to even kill us for their own reasons as we see in the above focus.  The silversmiths wished to do away with those who were not worshippers of Artemis; they wished to stop the ministry of Christ Jesus as Lord of all.  But what does Jesus say, other than escape to another city or area.  He says, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.  If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.  (Luke 6:27-31)   How many of us want to hear those words?  How many of us want to hear and obey the words Jesus said on the Mount?  Do we want to hear him say,  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.   (Luke 6:37-38)   Jesus ends his sermon with two warnings:  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  (Matthew 7:21)  And secondly, Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  (Matthew 7:24-26)  My friends we are the good trees who produce good fruit, so the world can taste what God is like, so that they might understand that God is full of mercy and grace.  This is the message Paul preached to the Ephesians for three years.  They heard of God’s kindness towards them and fell in love with God.  Now as the Ephesians were rioting against the believers, some of them were in midst of these rioters, but God’s message of love is stronger than hate.  Because of that these believers were willing to risk everything for God.  Fellow breakfast companions, let us listen to God’s words so beautifully said in the Sermon of the Mount.  Let us not just hear, but follow.  Let us not walk around blindly in darkness; instead, let us bring the light of God to everyone we meet today and every day.  Praise God!     

  

  

Acts 19:23-31 Speak of Grace!

Acts 19:23-31  About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.  A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.  He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.  And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia.  He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.  There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.  ”When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  Soon the whole city was in an uproar.  The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together.  Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.  Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.   

Before this disruption by the silversmiths about Paul ministry, he had already decided to go back to Jerusalem by the way of Macedonia and Achaia.  His intentions were to encourage the nascent churches he had established in Greece.  However, preceding his departure there arose a great disturbance about the Way.  As happens sometimes when religion is turned into a commercial activity, merchants were making money from the religious fervor of people.  Jesus found this kind of activity in the temple in Jerusalem very upsetting to him, where the courtyard of the temple was turned into a place of making money.  Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there.  He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.  “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”  (Matthew 21:12)  Even today we find people using Christianity as a way to make money.  Commercialism has always been a part of religion.  In Ephesus we see the silversmiths tremendously upset that they were losing money because of the spread of Christianity in Asia.  The followers of Christ were no longer buying the silver shrines that the silversmiths were making.  Paul had exposed the Asians to a God who could not be visualized by an image of any kind.  He preached of one God, not many.  This ministry of one God, the Creator of all mankind, was hurting the businesses that revolved around serving the goddess Artemis.  Ephesus was an important community in that time because the temple of Artemis was there, a beautiful, large worship facility that is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Now Paul’s monotheist teaching was destroying the commercial activity functioning around that great temple to honor Artemis.  He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.  There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.  Of course, these silversmiths were probably not more religious than other worshippers of Artemis, but their livelihood revolved around the people buying shrines and articles that pertained to the worshipping of Artemis.  The silversmiths were making a good living because Artemis was very popular in the Greek communities, especially in the rural areas, for she was the goddess of nature, of hunting wild animals, and of protecting chastity.  It is easily understandable why Demetrius was upset with Paul and Christianity.  Paul and The Way were infringing on the livelihood of these craftsmen.  Therefore, Demetrius gathered the craftsmen together and riled them up to oppose this strange religion of The Way.  They began to chant,  “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”   With such commotion and shouts, Soon the whole city was in an uproar.  Of course angry people are dangerous in a mob.  The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.   Mob actions are always uncertain, maybe even death might be the result of their anger, so Paul was warned not to go into the theater to reason with these angry people.  He was persuaded by some of the prominent officials in the province not to try to reason with this mob at this time.  Eventually the mob calms down because the officials in the city did not want to get the Roman legions involved, for they might punish the Ephesians for being so disruptive to the stability of their rule in Asia.

Paul’s wanting to go into the theater to explain the Good News to the Ephesians reveals why Jesus called him.  He was willing to go into the fire of commotion, a place where his life might be lost for the Good News.  Later we see on his journey back to Jerusalem Paul talking to a few of the leaders of the Ephesians.  He reveals his determination to follow Christ regardless of the cost.  And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.  I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.  (Acts 20:22-24)  He will meet a mob in Jerusalem that will cause him to be in chains the rest of his life.  He will end his life in imprisonment in Rome.  But Paul was commissioned by Jesus, and Jesus did not hide anything in his calling of Paul.  Jesus told Paul he would face much adversity in serving him.  Paul not only faced deprivation and the hardships of nature in fulfilling his commission, he also faced severe physical abuse by the people: flogging, whipping and stoning.  As with the disciples, he counted these hardships and persecution as nothing in comparison to knowing Jesus as his Savior.  When the Sanhedrin flogged the disciples they left that scene rejoicing.  They called the apostles in and had them flogged.  Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.  (Acts 5:40-42)  The disciples and Paul went from house to house propagating the Good News in every community, willing to face opposition and even violence for the cause of Christ.  They never delivered their message of the Good News with threats or violence: they delivered this message with love and concern for those they were ministering to.  In fact, Jesus tells them that when they face hatred and violence from even their own families they are to flee to another area.  Even though they are put upon by others, they are to forego violence and revenge.  Why?  Because revenge and judgment belong in the hands of the Lord, not in the purview of people.  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.  Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.  (Matthew 10:21-23)  Paul was not going to flee from Ephesus, but others convinced him to move onto other areas.  If called, you might confront your enemies with words of persuasion, but if not called to do so at that time, you should move onto other areas, spreading the Good News to others.  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.  Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.  (Acts 11:19-20)  All through the millenniums the Good News has been spread like seeds from a tree blown by the wind.  Every nation, every tongue, every race and every ethnic group will eventually hear the redemption message: eternal life through the  death and resurrection of Christ the Lord.  Some who carry this message to others will die.  Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.  (Psalm 116:15) The martyrs will be honored greatly in heaven.  Most Christians will live normal lives, but always fixated on doing the will of God in their daily routines, knowing that every action they do and every word they say is watched by a dark and weary world.  Every Christian is a planter, sowing seeds in the soil around them, expecting good results from their efforts in exposing Jesus to others.  

Christians should be gracious and loving to others.  Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good to those who abuse us.  This is the nature of God, who tolerated the Jews’ misbehavior through the ages even though they were his treasured ones.  From the very beginning we see as Ezekiel 20:8 says, They rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.  Before and in Egypt, they attached themselves to other gods, but God was patient with them.  His grace and mercy was his promise to them through his covenant with Abraham, but Abraham’s descendants were obstinate, self-willed and rebellious to God their Creator in their daily lives.  In the wilderness, they carried their personal idols in their satchels, revealing their desire not to serve God who delivered them out of captivity.  But God was merciful and gracious to them.  He gave them Canaan, a place of milk and honey to abide in.  But in Canaan, they still lusted after other gods, even though they understood through the law God’s demands on their lives.  Instead of serving him, they sought the gods of their ancestors.  But God was gracious and loving to them, but finally He expelled them from Canaan, sending them to foreign lands.  He always preserved a remnant of the Jewish people because of his covenant with Abraham that he would some day be the father of many nations.  This remnant came back to Israel from these many nations with the intention not to serve idols or other gods, but they still needed to know that the law would not redeem their souls to God, for the law was breaking their backs, too hard to obey all the time, and any violation of the law at any time would condemn them to everlasting punishment.  Paul is now ministering the Good News and not the law that the chosen could never satisfy.  The Good News is that Jesus paid the complete price for the disobedience of mankind.  This sacrifice for the sins of people made those who trust in Jesus’ work on the cross right with God.  This  mystery in the heart of God was so important to Paul that he was willing to give his life for this redemption message.  Surely, it took many words to convince Paul not to go into that theater to reason with that mob, to tell another group of angry protestors about his ministry of the Good News that God has planned for their redemption to him the Creator through Jesus Christ the Lord.  Paul was filled wth the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had told the disciples that He must go away so that He can send the Holy Spirit to them.  “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going.  Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.  But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come.  If I do go away, then I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.  (John 16:5-9)  Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us as an advocate of his work, to convince the world of Jesus Christ's complete work for the salvation of men and women.  The human race has always been God’s great love.  His plan of redemption for his chosen loved ones has eternally been in his heart.  But the darkness of rebellion has ingrained men and women from the very beginning.   Jesus tells us explicitly what sin does, how it alienates people from the plan of God which is Jesus:  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.  (John 16:9 NLT)  Jesus goes back to his Father God, showing the Father that He has completed the Father’s will: that He alone has paid the price for all the sins of the people.  Paul preached that victory; he was willing to go anyplace to tell of the work of the cross.  Jesus Christ said the kingdom is near.  Dear friends, accept the kingdom of God in your life by fully embracing that efficacious work of Jesus on the cross.  IT IS DONE!  IT IS FINISHED!  AMEN, AMEN!  

    

 

 

Acts 19:13-22 Be Full of Light!

Acts 19:13-22  Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.  They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”  Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”  Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.  He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.  When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.  Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.  A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.  When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.  In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.  After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”  He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

We see in the above focus that sometimes God moves in mysterious ways to bring people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as redeemer of all mankind from their sin.  After the seven sons of Sceva were overcome by the demon they tried to exorcise, a revival broke out in Ephesus.  The demon within the man acknowledged the names of Jesus and Paul and their power to cast him out, but he would not relent to these sons of the high priest.  He knew they had no power to exorcise him from this man’s body.  “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”  Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.  He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.  We can assume that this demoniac was well known in Ephesus because the Sceva sons failure to cast out the demon in him caused men and women to reevaluate the Good News that Paul taught.  They now understood that Paul and Jesus contained power over the ether world, the unseen principalities and spirits that harassed men and women by possessing their souls.  They were aware that Paul’s ministry was accompanied by great power over demons and sicknesses.  God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.  (Acts 19:11-12)  We do not know the reasons why the sons of Sceva were in this spiritual endeavor, or if they were attached to some cultish behavior, but we do know that Ephesus was a place of worshipping other gods, participating in cultish beliefs.  These beliefs tend to suggest that the people who practice them have power over the spiritual entities. The high priest's sons were using the names of Paul and Jesus as a power source to defeat demonic activity.  However, when the people of Ephesus saw that these men were not only defeated by the demon but brutalized too, they realized their belief in cultish power was not enough to defeat some demons.  As with many in the occult world, charms, amulets and talismans are worn for protection.  These items are not only worn for protection, but also to have influence over the spirits of the unseen world.  Whether the Sceva sons wore these items or not, they had no power over the demoniac.  Their attempt of exorcising the demon from this man went horribly wrong, exposing the feebleness of their power over evil.  We do not know the extent of the Sceva sons' belief in the cultish world, but we do know that their failure to drive out this demon caused the community in Ephesus great fear.  The Ephesians began to reconsider their dark practices and the power of their spiritual belief over evil.  When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.   In comparison to their cultish ideas and idol worshipping, the name of Jesus and his power became well known and honored.  Many became followers of Jesus and renounced their former devilish activities.  As a result of their repentance, they destroyed any vestige of their former cultish lifestyle.  The sorcerers brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.  We also can assume that all charms, amulets and talismans in their possession were destroyed too, cleansing them completely of their former lifestyle of spiritual darkness.  The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are healthy, our whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters.  (Matthew 6:22-24)  Christians are to be a lamp placed on a stand so all can see its brightness, exposing the darkness in any community, city are neighborhood to the cleansing light of God.  

The sons of Sceva’s activity of exorcising demons maybe spawned from their desire to be remunerated with money.  As sons of the high priest, they had been immersed in the idea that there is only one God, so they were doing good by driving out demons who possessed the souls of people.  But if they were exorcising demons for any kind of remuneration, they were wrong in this activity.  “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.  (Matthew 6:24)  Today, anyone who is exercising the power of God before people with the intent to earn something from people, even prestige, is doing it for the wrong reasons.  Jesus says that you cannot serve your selfish desires and God too.  John puts this dichotomy in succinct words.  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:15-17)  Jesus describes people who are using the power of God for their own personal reasons.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matthew 7:21-23)  Why such a strong description of such people who serve God for their own gratification: evildoers?  The world is lost in a hopeless condition of darkness, under the bondage of sin.  The light of the world: Jesus Christ, is a man of power.  His light penetrates the darkness because He comes with power, not just words. His power is like lightning flashing through the darkest clouds of a storm.  He allows people to see supernatural miracles, see visions or dreams that change their attitude about God.  Through these marvelous activities, He penetrates the darkness that surrounds humans in their daily lives.  People are awakened from their lifeless stupor when God touches them with his light through supernatural activity.  However, when people engage in a counterfeit activity that opposes God, it sows confusion and wrong desires, deserving the strong title of evildoers.  This kind of discordant activity sows weeds in a community that God desires to reach.  A self-oriented and self-willed life that wishes to win this world for himself or herself, will give the new believer the wrong idea of life.  Although good words might be said by ministers, their lifestyles will reveal the truth of their salvation.  Are they sold out to the world, desiring to win a materialistic life, gathering the goodies the world produces.  Jesus describes this kind of ministering as evil, not focused on heavens but on the earth.  The sons of Sceva were using the names of Paul and Jesus for themselves, to achieve their own ends in life.  They might have coveted, as the Pharisees did in Jesus’ time, the large crowds that followed Jesus.  Maybe now these sons of the high priest, coveted  the large crowds that gathered around Paul.  However, the demon had another idea about their pursuits.  He stripped them naked and bloodied their bodies.  Demons are not powerless but are strong and vicious; they do not bow down to frail men.  As we see with Legion, Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.  (Luke 8:30)

This failure of the sons of Sceva brought fear on the Ephesians, but also the reality of the message Paul was preaching.  The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.  But as with Jesus, he was to move on ministering to other communities.  He would not stay in Ephesus and minister there the rest of his life; he would keep moving from one city to the next.  Jesus told his disciples that He would not stay in Capernaum where a revival was taking place, but move on to other cities.  We must go to other Jewish communities for this is my assignment that my Father has given me; his will is to be done.  Now we see Paul fulfilling God’s calling on his life,  Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”  He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.  As Jesus went from community to community spreading the Good News that He is the Redeemer sent from God to deliver the Israelites from their sins, so now we see Paul doing the same thing but in the communities of the Gentiles.  He could not tarry very long in these communities, for he had an assignment to reach as many Gentiles as he could in his short life.  He came to these communities with not just words but with the power of God.  Jesus talked about Paul and many others who would carry out his commission.  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  (John 14:12-14)  What is meant by greater, maybe that Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons carry the power of God in them, maybe the healing power of Peter’s shadow as he walked through the streets, maybe the speaking of tongues of those who were baptized with power.  Who knows?  But God’s power has been evident in communities down through the ages; the message of Jesus has hit every dark corner in the world.  The name of Jesus has been honored in all the continents on earth.  However, because of the miraculous spread of the gospel throughout the world, we also see many deceivers amongst the believers too.  Wolves have come to devour the believers.  People like the Sceva brothers contaminate the Good News for their own benefit. As with the Old Testament, false prophets enter the sheepfold, leading many astray.  Jesus told his followers, Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them.  (Matthew 7:15-16)  They always come identifying themselves as sheep, but their purposes are devious, and you see their fruit of their lives by the acquisition of the world’s goods.  Their intentions are aways the same: to win the world.  But praise God, we are not of the world.  At Lazarus death scene, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  (John 11:25-26)  Martha responds just as Peter under the power of God responded to Jesus when he asked Peter, who do you think I am?  “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”  (John 11:27)  Martha believed who Jesus really was, the Messiah.  Jesus is telling Martha, you will live for eternity with my Father God.  Dear friend do you really believe the truth as Martha and Peter proclaimed.  If you do believe from the bottom of your heart, you presently have eternal life--you shall not die.  As Jesus said about Lazarus, he is merely asleep.  At the tomb, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!  (John 11:43)  Breakfast companions, put your name in place of Lazarus’ name, for surely you will hear the voice of our Lord and the grave clothes will be unwrapped as you enter into eternity.  Hallelujah!