Derbe is the end of the road for Paul and Barnabas in Galatia, but not the end of their work. As they arrive in Derbe, they begin approximately four months of intense spiritual labor*. It began with preaching the gospel as they did in every city they visited. But we are given a clue in Acts 14:21 of how intense the work was that went along with preaching the gospel; “and had made many disciples”. Though neither Paul nor Barnabas were present when Jesus gave the instructions, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (ethnos – people groups)” (Matthew 28:19), they had been taught by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) that this was part of the principle of planting strong, self-sustaining and self-propagating churches.
Notice the words “made many disciples” in verse 21. They put as much energy into discipling as they did into preaching the gospel. I am convinced we would have a totally different outcome in existing churches and in those that we plant if we took the same approach. Not only that, the time spent in planting would be much shorter (four to five months) versus the years that traditionally have been spent today in getting one church to a point where it can stand on its own. Making disciples should begin at the point of conversion. So often new converts are told to join a “new member’s class” or some other “small group” or expected to grow spiritually mature on their own. This is not biblical discipling. As I understand discipling from the Scriptures, it is one-on-one as Paul did with Timothy (Acts 16:1-3) or as Priscilla and Aquila did with Apollos (18:26). It is intense examination of the Scriptures and learning to depend on on the Spirit as the Teacher. New believers will become ready to stand on their own very quickly, and released to disciple others. The movement of God goes forward without us and we leave in total confidence in the Spirit’s work. *Edwards, Gene, Revolutionary Bible Study, SeedSowers Publishing, 2009. Page 107.
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*It seems from research of historical data that Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch of Pisidia for only about five months (July 47 to November 47). In that short time, persons responded to the preaching of Paul and they were gathered to form the church in this Galatian city. Severe opposition did not stop Paul and Barnabas from continuing to preach the Word. “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” Some Jews rejected “the word of the Lord” which prompted Paul and Barnabas to speak boldly; “Since you thrust it aside (the word of God) and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we are turning to the Gentiles” (13:44, 46). As Paul pointed to this sad situation in Roman 11:15, 36, “Their rejection means the reconciliation of the world…to Him be glory forever.” In this twist of events, a Gentile church is established by these itinerate preachers and left to stand on their own just after five months of discipling. We will see in chapter 14 that Paul and Barnabas returned about a year later and the church was still walking in the gospel they received. Make sure that we understand what these two men understood; God the Holy Spirit is the Helper, and Christ the Head are the Keepers of the church, not us. The proof of this is in the last verse of chapter 13; “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (13:52). Let’s make sure we do not limit what God will do by our limited expectations. *Edwards, Gene, Revolutionary Bible Study, SeedSowers Publishing, 2009. Page 105. A closer study of events in Acts 13 reveals some stunning details that need our attention. As you remember, the Antioch church grew out of a movement of God; preaching the gospel to Gentiles by the apostles He sent out from this church. As Barnabas and Saul travel, they come to another Antioch which is in the region of Pisidia (there are about seventeen cities named “Antioch”). Saul (now called Paul) is allowed to speak in the local synagogue and he gives a marvelous summary of Israel’s history from Egypt to the crucifixion in 27 verses. From this single short sermon, “many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God” (13:43). You can be certain that when God is at work, Satan will stir up trouble. The door was opened for Paul and Barnabas to speak the next Sabbath. In the days between these two Sabbaths, There are Jews who “were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken” (13:45). The Jews did not realize that jealousy leads to disaster. Paul is swift to condemn their attitude; “the Word of God is…thrust aside and you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life” (13:46). The element of jealousy is found in almost every corner of Christendom as well. We must be very careful that this evil is not allowed to grow in our heart and then fester among God’s people. It blinds spiritual eyes and diverts attention away from what God is doing to a self-centered focus and divisive actions. This causes the church to miss what God is doing. Buildings do not matter. Numbers are not God’s concern. Money is not necessary. What is necessary though is open hearts to receive the powerful work of the Spirit through His leading. Change from a Jewish church in Jerusalem to include Gentiles at Antioch brings added blessings. Agabus, a prophet from Jerusalem, comes to Antioch and “foretold by the Holy Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world…So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.” (Acts 11:28–30). How would the believers in Jerusalem receive this gift? Perhaps they were a little shocked to receive this from persons they doubted were the genuine work of God. This blessing was more than provision of funds to see the Jerusalem and Judea churches through a difficult time. It was an act of oneness and unity of the Spirit in forming in the body of Christ two nationalities and cultures that were very much opposed to each other. Now it did not matter that some were Jews and some were Gentiles. It was God who had worked through persecution to cause scattering and the same Spirit who worked through the gospel of grace in both and was now allowing a practical gift to be sent back to Jerusalem as a message of unity they had in the Spirit. What blessings are we missing by not submitting ourselves completely to the movement of God in the power of the Holy Spirit? In the blog yesterday I gave you a current example of dramatic change that is taking place in Zambian churches because the Holy Spirit is moving hearts to return to the authority of Scripture and its sufficiency. This is not a new event. The Early Church went through a very traumatic change within the first ten to eleven years. From its inception the church was composed of Jews that repented and believed in the Lord Jesus, were baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Through the divine plan, persecution pushed the apostles and others of the church in the Jerusalem church out into new territory. Peter in particular was one of the first to be confronted with God’s expansion plans to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Though this met with initial resistance, it was evident that God was working, and Peter said to the questioning church in Jerusalem, “If then God gave the same gift (the Holy Spirit) to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17). So radical was this movement of God, that the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to make sure this change was authentic. In some sense, we have the same struggle today. The traditional church makes several mistakes when changes like this take place:
There are few thing in life and ministry that excite me more than seeing the active work of the Spirit causing persons to follow Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. As you read the report below, you will notice that our “Timothy” uses the term “Boom”. He is referring to what happens when persons RETURN TO THE SCRIPTURES and seek understanding from the HOLY SPIRIT. This was the point of yesterday’s blog. From Zambia: “I feel so honored and humbled to travel with you wherever the Lord wants us to go and serve Him (see Acts 16:3). I am so glad to let you know that fire is still burning and those who are uncomfortable with the teaching (God’s Plan for His Church) are leaving the churches. But those who see the truth are on fire in these old churches. We have newly planted churches which are swimming in this manual; enjoying the grace and the working of "Boom" in them and in their churches. Keep praying for us! Soon we are going to baptize new believers in new churches. One important thing; we rejoice because our names are written in the book of life. Know that this ministry is taking root in Africa and it is growing here in Zambia. I am receiving invitations to go and teach this manual, but my time is limited because of farming during this season. I received an invitation from a pastor in Lusaka to go and teach pastors in his churches. I am praying about it. Congo pastors want me to go back this year and teach with demonstration of "Boom".” As this work of God spreads, we will keep you posted. In the Book of Acts, these movements of God do not happen without diligent prayer. Please stand with us in prayer as this expansion takes place. A. W. Tozer speaks directly to a very important issue in our personal life: “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). I remember James M. Gray, the noted Bible teacher, telling of a Christian brother, a Michigan farmer, whose spiritual life had suddenly blossomed until there was an overflowing of God's presence. Many in the man's community recognized the change in his life and personality and sought spiritual counsel from him. Dr. Gray had opportunity to ask the man about the transformation of his spiritual life and witness. "Dr. Gray, I began to devote myself to the Scriptures for my own need," the man humbly explained. "Something happened when God opened my spiritual understanding as I studied the book of Ephesians. I cannot really explain what the Lord is doing for me and through me, but it has come through prayerful meditation in the Word of God." None of us can expect to get the rich, transforming blessings from God apart from the Scriptures. Too many of us ministers and Sunday school teachers are content to reach for a commentary on the Scriptures. What we need most is to search the Scriptures for ourselves. (Men Who Met God, 47.) "The commentaries are so convenient, Lord, and the time pressures so acute. Deliver me today from the short-cuts, and help me to discipline myself to long, concentrated study of the Scriptures themselves. Amen." As the Apostles faced opposition just after the Spirit came and the church was formed, they showed a very different reaction than wanting to “tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them” (Luke 9:54). By contrast, the church gathered for prayer and “lifted their voices together to God” and only asked the Lord to “look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:24, 29). It is critical that we change our operating manual from the old way of “self-protection” to the new way of operating under the power of God as we do His will and deliver His message. God intends that His light shine the brightest in the darkest circumstances. In a world controlled by its ruler, we should not expect anything different than opposition and persecution. When our mission is accomplished, Jesus will return and take us out of this world to another He has prepared for us. That is why it is so important that we maintain our focus on what we are called to do, not on how it is or is not received. Sadly, this same scenario happens in the church. John, Jude and Peter all point to the same problem in the church; those who have agendas to oppose the message of Scripture. We must take Paul’s stance regarding such persons; “the Lord will repay him according to his deeds” (2 Timothy 4:14). John says, “Do not imitate evil but imitate good” (3 John 11). Jude says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 20). This advice is very appropriate for our day. Throughout human history there has always been a tendency to strike back at those who oppose us. It has been the ‘standard operating manual’ when we feel our convictions and actions are not being accepted by others. This stems from a misconception that security is in the absence of criticism. From the moment Jesus entered the world, He was opposed and hunted by those wanting to kill Him. These issues came too close to home for the disciples. They had just seen Jesus’ glory revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. But Jesus then tells them that “the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men” (Luke 9:28-36, 44). As “He set His face to go to Jerusalem…He sent messengers ahead of Him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans…but the people did not receive Him, because His face was set toward Jerusalem” (9:51-53). This open opposition did not sit well with the disciples. “James and John…said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” That evoked a stern rebuke from the Lord. We fall into a trap of the enemy when our thinking convinces us that we must respond to opposition. We may forget, as the disciples did, that resurrection power is in the person of Christ and that means He will deal finally and forever with those who reject Him. In the meantime, stay with the message we have been given and God will lead us to those who will receive it. Even in this ministry, we find there are very few, even in the church, whose hearts are open to returning to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. In fact, some we never hear from again after they know the message God has given us. As we will see later, Paul went where God was already opening hearts. There is a dangerous disease among some Christians that detracts from the work of God and actually diminishes fruitfulness. Before I get into the meat of my point, I will quote two Scriptures and then make a few comments. “John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you”” (Luke 9:49–50). “For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:4–7). It happened among the disciples and was repeated at the church in Corinth. Both were taking sides and developing an ‘us/them’ attitude. So many believers have their favorite preachers or teachers and figure that everyone else in every church should be listening to and following them. As Jesus and Paul both point out, that thinking is placing our focus in the wrong place. Paul makes it very plain that “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything”! The proper question we should be asking is, “what is God doing and what is His truth? Is He giving growth and is the Word increasing so HIS work advances and HE is glorified?” Whenever we exalt people, however good they may be in the Lord’s work, we are detracting from the glory that belongs to God alone. Jesus warned that “when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44), it becomes a hindrance to faith and obedience. Pause and consider! |
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