When the Church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), it was composed of Jews converted by the gospel. As time passed, the gospel was heard by Gentiles and the Spirit granted them to receive salvation by grace alone as the Jews did! (The Ethiopian Eunuch - Acts 8, Cornelius - Acts 10, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Cyrene, and Antioch in Pisidia - Acts 11 - 13).
The Holy Spirit and the Antioch church sent out Barnabas and Saul (Paul) in Acts 13:1-3 to proclaim the gospel where it had not been heard. The Spirit led them to places like Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. It was during this mission trip that Paul was led to develop a discipling method that established new converts so they would become strong in the faith, able to stand firm on their own, and then disciple others. Read a few verses from Acts 14 that prove this point. “When they had preached the gospel to that city (Antioch) and had made many disciples, they returnedto Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed themto the Lord in whom they had believed” (14:21–23). I want to dig deeper into these critical steps of discipling tomorrow. Please come back.
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Many years are spent in formal education. It begins with our infant stage, sitting in our mother’s arms and being under her teaching influence for years (NOTE: I have great compassion on any who did not have a good experience with their mother!). Most of us then spend six or seven years in elementary school, three in middle school, and four in high school (these may vary according to the individual). Many will choose further education in some specific field of endeavor.
There is another type of education that is not limited by age or circumstances. The only cost is being willing to submit to the Teacher in a unique way. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). The uniqueness of this learning process is that it occurs through an intimate relationship with Jesus. We cannot learn what He wants to teach us unless we are this close to Him. Our pace is His pace. Our direction is His direction. The load is easy only by working alongside Jesus. We only find rest as this intimacy with Jesus is our daily practice. We must take HIS yoke on ourselves. Learning from Jesus should be a life-time pursuit and our desire for it should increase with each step we take with Him. "It is one thing for a minister to be an advocate and supporter of missions: it is another and very different thing for him to understand that missions are the chief end of the Church, and therefore the chief end for which his congregation exists...He must learn how to lead the congregation on to make the extension of Christ's kingdom the highest object of its corporate existence."
Andrew Murray, The Key to the Missionary Problem: A Passionate Call to Obedience in Action “You might think I am crazy in all this, but I think it is worth it to declare Jesus to these people. I believe the measure of success in the kingdom of God is obedience. I want my life to reflect obedience to Christ and to live in obedience to Him. I think that Jesus is worth it. He is worth everything. (John Chau, November 16, 2018).
“Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”” (Matthew 20:28). “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18). Paul said, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Did John Chau follow Jesus’ and Paul’s model? Will you and I? After writing yesterday’s blog, I began thinking about how the Early Church prayed intently in certain situations and how God answered with unmistakeable clarity. That is what we need today!
The boldness of Peter and John in Acts 3 with the lame man and his healing raised some questions from the temple “priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees” (4:1). “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (4:7). As should be expected, Peter gives credit for this miracle to “the name of Jesus Christ”(10) and then places blame for His death on these leaders. This is followed by warning Peter and John “to speak no more to anyone in this name” (17). Peter, John, the Early Church, and we answer to a much higher authority! But in responding as they did to the temple rulers, that was not the end of the matter or their resources. The church gathered and “lifted their voices together to God and said…grant to your servants to continue to speak your word in all boldness. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (24, 29, 31). WHAT A WONDERFUL ANSWER! There is no question that God answered their prayers directly and with unmistakeable clarity. This answer strengthened the church and it powerfully advanced God’s work, as we see in the verses that follow. Do we want the Spirit to give us this boldness? He will if we really desire it. Was there a deeper meaning to the Lord’s instructions to the disciples in Acts 1:4? “And while staying with them he (Jesus) ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.” We know from the context of Acts 1 and 2 that the “promise” Jesus referred to was the Holy Spirit.
We also know that this “waiting” period was ten days and during that time the disciples did two things; 1) they selected Matthias to fill the position that Judas had, and 2) spend those days in prayer. Looking at Luke’s record in Acts, there was more in His mind than just waiting for Pentecost. In verse 8, Jesus tells them that they “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon” those waiting disciples. They would be specifically equipped for the role of being His “witnesses.” My question is, are we spending time waiting in prayer, as they did, so we might have the Spirit’s power for more effective witness? As believers in Jesus and His disciples, we have the Spirit. But do we have an attitude of dependent “waiting” to make sure our “witness” is done with the Spirit’s power? For some months we have been working on the Khmer translation of God’s Plan for His Disciples for Cambodia. We are so thankful to report that it was printed and introduced last week in two different locations in Cambodia. Though I do not have a detailed report yet, these pictures tell a story through the faces of those who received these books and training. Will you join us in praying for these churches, that God the Spirit will establish these believers in the Scriptures so they can disciple others. One of the most rewarding moments for me at the end of many hours of formatting our books in other languages, is seeing the end product. Translators are carefully selected who have a heart for the Lord and for helping their own people become established in their faith in Jesus Christ through a study of Scripture. Once the translation is sent to me as a Word.doc, it is then my responsibility to format the translation into a book that is ready to print. One of our translators in Laos has completed translating God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) into Lao. As is often the case, we send email messages back and forth making sure every page follows the English meaning. Margins, spacing, lines, and diagrams are reviewed so they follow guidelines and the printer will produce a quality book. As you can see from the picture, these books are printed and ready for introduction and training. The same is true for God’s Plan for Young Disciples (GPYD) which has just been translated into Vietnamese. This dear brother has been the key leader who has led over 100 groups through GPHD and God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC). Now he will launch GPYD so that churches, teachers, and parents can use the Bible to establish children and young people in a strong faith. This is so exciting! Every book that is finished, printed, and placed into the hands of another disciple is worth all the time and effort put into it. If you have any interest in being involved in this process, please let is know by email: nfi@newfoundationsinternational.org In the absence of Joshua and no other clear leadership, Israel floundered to take full possession of the Promised Land that God gave them (Judges 1:8-36). This meant that enemies of God and Israel were right there in the place that did not belong to them. These enemies hindered Israel from enjoying total freedom of God’s gift. God also warned that these enemies that were not removed from the land “they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you”” (Judges 2:3).
How much more of a hindrance is it when we allow habits of sin (things that are opposed to His gift in us - Christ) to remain in God’s treasured property! When we lack the leadership of the Spirit to be in control, we miss the joy of possessing everything that rightly belongs to us in Christ. Paul points to this divine ownership; “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). Yielding to His leadership results in fruitful character produced by the Spirit; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:22–24). Are there enemies in you, God’s property, that do not belong there? There is only one solution. CRUCIFIXION! Yesterday I dealt with the problem of Christians being deceived about the Lord’s return and becoming “distracted” by rumors or by not being faithful in the responsibilities Jesus has given us to do while we wait for Him.
There is another problem we face. It is the other extreme from following every prophecy of the Lord’s coming to not expecting His return at all. Consequently, our habits fall into thinking more about ourselves, our wants, our pleasures, and becoming lazy about the Lord’s work. “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful” (Luke 12:45–46). The lesson in this parable should be very humbling and cause all of us to examine our perspective on both the Lord’s return and what we are doing while we wait for Him to come. Jesus adds; “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48). What has God given you? Are you faithful with it? |
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