The life of chosen (Acts 21:27-22)

The life of chosen (Acts 21:27-22)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon November 30, 2008

My older two girls are in Girl Scouts.  And, they were invited to attend the lighting of the trees for Prospect Heights yesterday evening at 5 pm.  While Lyn was making dinner for us, I took all the girls to the event.  There was a fire pit on the pavement with sticks ready to grill some marshmallows for the girls, there were cookies of all shapes and tastes and there was hot chocolate ready to warm us up.

After the count of ten, the trees were lit and the Girl Scouts began their part, singing Christmas Carols.  I was too busy taking pictures and trying to hold on to Katherine in my arms, I could hardly pay attention to what they were singing, but I knew one thing.  They didn’t sing any Christmas carols about Jesus.  It was a super fun evening.  It marked the beginning of a new season.  But, really what were we celebrating there?  We were there to celebrate the lighting of the trees, singing Rudolph’s the Reindeers, and Santa Claus is coming to town.  But, no mention of Jesus who came and who will come again!  Well, I was disappointed.

Then, there was as story of Wal-Mart temp worker getting killed by the mad dashed of shoppers on Black Friday morning that swelled to thousands.  If we don’t watch out, we too are going to be swept away by the current of commercialism, secularism, and forget that Christmas is all about Jesus who came and who is to come.

So, this morning, I will like to take you back to the book of Acts and consider a story of Paul and see what coming of Jesus Christ meant for him.

1.      Overview of Acts

This past year, we’ve been exploring the life of the early Christians through study of the book of Acts.  Life of the early church began with just a handful of disciples who feared for their lives after the death of Jesus.  But, Jesus rose from the dead defying the logic of men.  And, before he was taken up to heaven, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit to come upon them and to baptize them and to equip them with power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

We saw how the Holy Spirit indeed came upon those who obediently waited as Jesus instructed them.  The Spirit’s coming upon them was evidenced by the a sound like the blowing of a violent wind and a sight of what appeared to be tongues of fire separating and coming to rest on each of those who waited and by their speaking in tongues of unlearned languages.  Followed by Peter’s preaching to repent and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins… to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And, thousands accepted Peter’s message, thus the Jerusalem church began.  As number of people accepting Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah rapidly increased, the Jewish religious establishment, the leaders of the Judaism became increasingly alarmed and they stepped up their earnest effort to curtail the growth of the church.  So, the persecution increased as the church grew.

And, as you know it was Paul, also known as Saul, who was at the forefront of the persecution against the followers of the Way, Christians.  It was under his careful watch, Stephen was stoned to death.  Paul wasn’t satisfied with the progress against Christians in Jerusalem and in Judea.  When Christians scattered due to increasing persecutions, Paul chased after them, down to Damascus with one goal in his mind, to round up as many Christians as possible whether men and women and to bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem in order to prosecute them.  It was there on the road to Damascus, his life changed forever.

And for the last couple months, our focus has been on the life of this man, Paul, once a zealous persecutor of Christians now a bonafide Christian who considered his life worth nothing to him if only he might finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus gave him- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24).

2.      Paul arrested

He already made three missionary journeys over thousands of miles across the lands and over the seas.  He came back to Jerusalem even though he knew through the revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would be imprisoned.  In the spirit of becoming like a Jew to win the Jews (1 Corinthians 9:20), he went to the temple to fulfill his vow by undergoing purification ritual and offering.  But, this didn’t help him to win any favor from the Jews.  When the Jews spotted Paul in the temple, they accused him of brining Greeks into the temple area and defiling the holy place.  Because they saw Paul with a gentile Trophimus the Ephesian in the city earlier, they assumed falsely that Paul brought the gentiles into the temple.

Here is a layout of the Herod’s temple.  Around the outer walls of the temple was what was called the Court of Gentiles, which is leveled as #12 in this picture.  And, in this model of the temple, the wide open area surrounding the temple is the Court of Gentiles.  This is where the Gentiles were allowed.

But beyond this court, the Gentiles were not allowed into the temple.  So, on the walls of the outer walls of the temple had this sign posted warning, “No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and embankment around the sanctuary.  Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death which follows.”  If Paul indeed brought gentiles into the temple as they accused, he would have broken a law punishable by death.  The Jews long ago convinced themselves that this Paul who preached Jesus as the long waited Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise from God for the Savior, the Christ, for the nation of Israel and for the whole world this Paul had to be rid of, to be killed.  They had no proof that Paul violated the temple order against the Gentiles from entering the temple, only that they saw Paul earlier with a gentile in the city.  But, they didn’t need any kind of solid proof to charge him.  All they needed was an assumption.

Imagine the scene.  Acts 21:30 says the whole city was aroused and the people came running from all directions. There was this mad dash to seize Paul and he was dragged from the temple.  They had one thing in mind, to kill him.  Their prefer method to end Paul’s life was beating him up.

Just north of the temple, beyond the Court of the Gentiles was the Fortress of Antonia.  This was where the Romans soldiers were stationed.  The commander over a regiment of 1000 solders, Claudius Lysias was notified the situation involving Paul; he took some of his men and ran down to the crowd who was beating the daylights out of Paul.  Their presence halted the beating and allows the commander and the soldiers to take Paul into their custody.

3.      Paul’s apologia… my story (Acts 21:37-22:21)

Now, I know that none of us have any idea what it is to have mad dashed crowd bent on one thing in their minds, to land their fists and their kicks on you to end your life; if this happened, I could assure you that that last thing on my mind would be to talk to them about the very thing that got me into trouble with them in the first place.  I mean who cares if the people who saved your life didn’t do it for you, but only to maintain the order.  These Romans weren’t looking out for Paul.  Not at all, all they cared about was maintaining order at the temple and in Jerusalem.  But, who cares, right?  They came and they took Paul out of the mad crowd whose fists and shoes were stained with Paul’s blood.  I will be like, “Get me out of this place.  I want nothing to do with these illogical fanatics.”   Come on, won’t you feel this way too?

But, look what Paul did.  He probably sustained bloody nose, swollen eyes, and bruises all over his body, perhaps some broken ribs too.   Verse 37, Paul badly injured from beatings was being escorted into the barracks where he would be safe from the mad crowd thirst for his blood.  But, he stopped to talk to the commander in Greek.

The same way the crowds assumed wrongly about Paul, the commander too assumed falsely that Paul was a terrorist, the Egyptian Jew who unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Jerusalem just few years ago.  Paul replied, “I am not the guy from Egypt.  I am a Jew all right, but I am from Tarsus in Cilicia and a citizen of no ordinary city.  Please let me speak to the people.”

The commander probably thought that by allowing Paul to speak to the crowd, he could figure what caused this ruckus.  Well, his plan to listen in on Paul foiled when Paul started speaking in Aramaic, which was everyday language of the Jews.  But, the commander liked what he saw when people became very quite once Paul started talking to them in Aramaic.

And, from 22:3 to 22:21 Paul gave his apologetic appeal to the Jews.  Paul asked them in 22:1, “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”  Here the word, “defense” is apologia in Greek.  Paul’s apologia is nothing more than an account of his own life.  Paul’s apologia is built on what his life was like before meeting Jesus Christ, how Jesus Christ changed his life, and what he now lives for.

I want you to pause and grasp the scope of Paul’s response to the crowd who tried to kill him; they still had Paul’s fresh blood stains on their fists and their feet.  Why did Paul even bother trying to reason with them when they remained insolent, unreasonable, violent, full of hatred, and antagonistic to him and his message about Jesus Christ?  How do you explain his tenacious care for the people who didn’t care except trying to kill him?

Paul’s apologia of personal spiritual journey explains why he didn’t give up speaking to the Jews who just tried to kill him merciless and without proper cause.  Formerly when life was about Saul, he was no different than the Jews who tried to kill him.  Being thoroughly trained in the law and zealous for God as they were, he persecuted the followers of this Way to the death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison.”  In his zeal steep in religious pharisaic tradition, he followed the Christians all the way to Damascus for one goal, to take them back as prisoners to Jerusalem to punish them.  This was Paul before he met Jesus when life was just about him, what he wanted, what he went after, what he was passionate about.

He summed up his previous way of life in Galatians 1:13- 14, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.  I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”  So much passion, so much religious conviction, so much energy expended on advancing Judaism and opposing Jesus and his people.  This was Paul’s way of life in Judaism.  He said in Philippians 3:4, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”  How do you argue with a man who is so sure of himself, so much pride in who he is, what he stands for, how he lives his life?   You can’t.  No human reasoning could have changed Paul.

Only God could change Paul.  When Jesus got hold of Paul’s heart, that’s when he changed.  He described what happened to him in Galatians 1:15-16, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the gentiles.”

Notice how it was no longer about what Paul did, how he well he did, how passionately he followed his religious convictions; it was no longer about Paul.

Now that he got to know Jesus, his life was no longer about Paul, but it was all about what God was doing in Paul’s life.   Can you say the same thing about yourself?  No, it isn’t about me any more.  It is about what God is doing in my life.  Do you have the sense that God is working in you and that God has been working in you in the past and will work in you continually in the future?   Paul’s apologia, his defense was really about the story of a life of chosen by God, how God ordained, set him apart from birth and how God called him to testify about his Son Jesus Christ.

Do you have the sense as Paul did that God has set you apart from birth for his purpose?  To speak of being set apart from birth is to speak of life of a chosen one.  Life of chosen, set apart from birth, is life of noble birth.  And, the life of noble birth points to the One who gives you identity.  Do you know who gives you identity?  Paul knew it was God who gave him the identity of chosen, set apart from birth.

Paul didn’t know that God set him apart from birth.  This knowledge came when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.  That’s when God called Paul by his grace.  Paul didn’t know that he lived in darkness that made it impossible for him to see spiritually.  Paul was spiritually blind because he couldn’t grasp the life of chosen by God, set apart from birth.  He was spiritually blind because he was too busy living his life the way he wanted to live.  It only came to Paul when Jesus entered into Paul’s darkness with his light.   His light blinded him, rendering his eyes useless, rendering his self-sufficiency useless.  When God sealed tight the eyes of self-sufficiency, self-dependence, self-deception, self-promotion, only then Paul was able to know God’s will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.

Isaiah 49:1, “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.”  Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  And, Paul says this about himself, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” in Romans 1:1.

God has chosen Paul to know his will, to see Jesus Christ, and to hear Jesus so that he will be Jesus’ witness to all men of what he had  seen and heard  (Acts 22:15).

Today marks the beginning of Advent four weeks before we celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ and anticipate his second coming.  Lest, we forget and be swept away by the current of false spirit of Christmas, let’s revisit this week what it means to have the life of chosen, set apart from birth and called by God’s grace to be Jesus’ witness.

Christmas stands for new status of being chosen, set apart, called for God’s purpose.  Christmas stands for asking Jesus, “Who are you?” and hearing Jesus, “I am Jesus of Nazareth…” and asking him, “What, shall I do, Lord?”  Christmas is a season to reaffirm our identity, our calling in Jesus Christ.

When God’s people give advice… (Acts 21-22:29)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon November 23, 2008

Do you often find yourself in a position of giving advice to people or seeking people’s advices?  There are people who are so full and sure of themselves, they find no reason to seek advises from others.  And, for these people who are so full and sure of themselves and no need for anyone to speak to their lives, I won’t be surprised if no one seeks after them for good advices.   Pity the soul who seeks advice from a person who cannot think beyond himself or herself.  And, pity the souls who are too proud to ask for advice.  Then, there are people who have such shallow friendships or no significant friendship at all that they simply don’t have anyone to turn to for good advice.  Or, they may have been burned by someone giving them stupid advices that got them into trouble.  Perhaps, there are people who have hard time trusting others, not alone to ask for their advices for anything because of some kind of trust breaking events that took place in their lives.  Then, there are people who don’t like being responsible by giving advices to others.  So, they shrug their shoulders and refuse to give any advice besides the typical, “I don’t know.”  Then, there are people who make the whole world know about their problems without any discretion because they feel they are incapable of solving any of their own problems.

Well, more realistic picture is that we all fall some where between these extremes.  We all need some good advices time to time.  And, we also find ourselves in positions to give good advices to others as well.  We all need time to time experts to help us with our problems.  And, some of you are that expert so people seek you out for advice.  And, most often we don’t even need someone with PhD degree.  We just need to talk to our good old buddies, who have proven to be trustworthy and easy to talk to.  We don’t expect that they will give us the perfect and the right solutions to our problems; we simply expect them to tell us honestly what they think, their advice.

Today, we are going to consider how Paul dealt with the advices given to him by God’s people who loved and cared for him.

1.      When people who love you give you advice

In his journey, he had people telling him what he should do and what he should not do.  This makes when you consider how Paul was in the business of networking people spiritually.  He was in the business of helping others be connected to Jesus.  When they got connected to Jesus then they were in the network of the Way, the Christians, the followers, the disciples of Jesus Christ.  He gave tons of godly advices to them; and he was also very much open minded person who welcomed advices from them as well.

His journey took him from Cos, Rhodes, to Patara.  On board a ship, passing Cyprus and sailing to Syria, he and others landed at Tyre.  Verse 4 says, “Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days.”  And, here is that advice we were talking about, verse 4, Luke records, “Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.”  If you remember from last week, it was Paul who said in Acts 20:22, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.”  Who was right here?  Is this a contradiction?  How could Paul be compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem while the disciples at Tyre urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem, through the Spirit?  Well, what did Paul do?  Verse 5-6 tell us when it was time for them to leave perhaps because the ship was ready to leave, Paul and those who were traveling with him, Luke the author of Acts including, left and continued on their way.  From this we can see that Paul didn’t follow their earnest advice for him not to go on to Jerusalem.

When it says, “Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem,” it didn’t mean that the Spirit directly told them to tell Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.  The Spirit would have contradicted himself if this was what it meant since he already compelled Paul to go to Jerusalem.  It will become clearer to us as we move forward, but it is suffice to say that they probably heard the Spirit telling them how Paul would face hardships and dangers at Jerusalem.  And, from this they felt surely it wouldn’t be God’s will for Paul to suffer in Jerusalem.  Their emotional response to the revelation of the Spirit was, ‘God doesn’t want you to suffer.’  Now, remember this was well meaning, caring people who were looking out for Paul.  Well, as already mentioned, he didn’t take their advice.

2.      When people who love you give you advice

After leaving Tyre against the advice from the believers in Tyre, Paul and his accompany continued their voyage to Ptolemais.  There again, Paul met a network of brothers in Christ and stayed with them for a day.  Then left next day and got to Caesarea.  There, he stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist.  This was the same Philip back in Acts 6.  He was one of the seven men appointed for daily distribution of food.  He was also the same man in Acts 8 who left Jerusalem to Samaria because of the persecution in Jerusalem and proclaimed Christ in Samaria.  Now, there was also different Philip in the gospel accounts who was an apostle Jesus appointed among the twelve.  Philip the evangelist was a different person.

Whenever I meet someone with four daughters, I find myself connecting with them.  Maybe I should start a Facebook group called, “Father with four daughters.”  Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.  We are not sure what they actually prophesied, but it is just enough for me to know that God used this four unmarried daughters of Philip for his kingdom business.  I like that!  As of now, I just cannot get myself emotionally invested in the thought of marrying my daughters.  I like to think of them as unmarried as long as I can that is until the Lord moves otherwise.  Then, sure pray that my girls would take mommy and daddy’s advices seriously about their future husbands.  Sorry about that I am getting distracted here.

Back to the story, while Paul remained at Philip’s house, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  Although Caesarea was located up further north in relation to Judea, because Jerusalem, Judea was on the higher ground, you often read in the Bible people talking this way, going down from Judea or Jerusalem or going up to Jerusalem.

Anyway, Agabus was the same guy back in Acts 11:27-28 who prophesized about the severe famine that was to strike the entire Roman world.  This time Agabus used the prophetic tradition of using hands on object to demonstrate what the Lord was going to do in the near future.  The prophet Ezekiel was famous for doing this.  Agabus took Paul’s belt and bound his hands and feet and told, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”  Basically, the prophecy pointed Paul to journey down through the narrow gate, narrow road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

And, it says in verse 12, “When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.”   There it is again, “go up to Jerusalem.”  Earlier when the believers in Tyre urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem through the Spirit, Luke and others who accompanied Paul didn’t quite get where they were coming from.  Now they got it with Agabus visual demonstration of what was to happen to Paul.

Now, even Luke joined the believers at Caesarea started to urge them not to go up to Jerusalem.

And, here is Paul’s answer to them in verse 13.  “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?  I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”  He spoke in the same determination earlier in Acts 20:24, “I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the task the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”  Well, they must have tried really hard to dissuade him from going up to Jerusalem for Acts 21:14 says, “When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

In both cases in Caesarea and in Tyre, the believers were reacting emotionally to Paul.  They really cared for their beloved leader, their mentor.  Their attempt to dissuade Paul from going up to Jerusalem was sincere expression of their love for him, genuine care.  And, there is nothing wrong with being emotionally caring.

But, they were forgetting one thing about the gospel.  The mandate of the gospel was heavy on him.  The gospel gives us life of Jesus Christ, but in return it demands our lives.  We cannot have both.  We either live the abundant life of Jesus Christ while putting our flesh, our egos, our agendas, our desire to death or we choose our lives and forfeit the life of Jesus Christ.  Paul was more than willing to choose the life of Jesus Christ over his own life even it meant being imprisoned or worse facing death.  Choosing the life of Jesus Christ meant continuing his journey to Jerusalem to testify about Jesus.  The Holy Spirit revealed to them all how Paul would suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.  But, well meaning believers who really cared for him thought that what the Holy Spirit said would happen unless Paul changed the course and not go up to Jerusalem.  They thought reason for the Holy Spirit to reveal what would happen to Paul was to help Paul avoid being persecuted.  But, Paul knew better.  Jesus who gave it all to save Paul from sins and gave his life to Paul demanded Paul to carry the cross, to deny his life, in order to gain the life of Jesus.  He knew he had to go up to Jerusalem to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ even it meant being bound in chains or worse to be killed.

3.      When people speak to you from what’s in God’s heart (James and all the elders of Jerusalem church)…

Now, let’s look at another case of God’s people speaking into Paul’s life and unlike the way he responded to the believers at Tyre and Caesarea, we see Paul fully talking on the advice by James and the elders of Jerusalem church.

Here is what James and the elders were advising Paul to do in verse 20-25.  There was misunderstanding about what Paul stood for.  The rumor was that he taught the Jews to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.  When you read Galatians, Acts 15, and 1 Corinthians 7:18-19, you understand that Paul was against circumcision as means to earn a good standing before God.  He said in 1 Corinthians 7:18-19, “Was a man already circumcised when he was called?  He should not become uncircumcised.  Was a man uncircumcised when he was called?  He should not be circumcised.”  He gave this direction because Jews thought that circumcision contributed to their standing before God; they believed circumcision as a merit to earn a good standing before God.  But, the gospel Paul preached was the good news accepted by faith alone.  

But, Paul also understood that the Jewish Christians were zealous for the law meaning that their conscience was wired in such way that it was very important for them to follow the law instead of breaking the law.  Until the temple in Jerusalem crumbled later time in 70 A.D., Paul knew that the Jewish Christians’ conscience would be still bound by the cultural practice of circumcision.  According to David Gooding, God’s program until the fall of temple in Jerusalem was progressively moving the Jewish Christians away from the cultural practice of circumcision.  There was going to be a sort of weaning off process to help the Jewish Christians that circumcision practice was really not necessary any more for those who are in Christ.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:20, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.”  James and the elders were concerned for the conscience of the Jewish Christians who still felt strong pull from the way of life as Jews with all the facet of cultural practices.  So, in order to show that Paul was sensitive to this weaning process from the way of life as Jews to way of life in Christ, James and the elders asked Paul to undergo Jewish purification rites including shaving head along with four other Jews in order to fulfill their vows.  Now, from previous sermons, you may remember that one of the reasons Paul wanted to get to Jerusalem during the time of Pentecost was to fulfill his own vow to the Lord as well.

I know that this is little bit confusing, but here is the point I want you to get about giving advice.  The difference between James and the elders from the believers of Tyre and Caesarea who tried to dissuade Paul from going up to Jerusalem is that James and the elders were appealing to Paul from what God was already doing; they were speaking out of truth.  To practice circumcision, to fulfill vows through purification rites and shaving heads, if done because of conscience reason as it was for the Jewish Christians, and not for the purpose of earning a standing before God, it was okay for the time being until things would become very clear to all the Jewish Christians such ritual practices were unnecessary.  Again, the difference was that James and the elders spoke from the truth while the believers of Tyre and Caesarea spoke from their emotion without being grounded in the truth of God’s purpose.

4.      Implications for giving advice and receiving advice

From these two case studies, here is what we can learn about giving advice and receiving advice.

• Even though you mean well and speak out of deep emotional care for the one you are giving advice to, if you are speaking not in line with the biblical truth, your advise is wrong.
• To be able to discern if your advice for someone is biblical based, you need to know your scripture.
• Don’t give advice based on your feelings but based on what is sensible from the truth of God’s word.
• Discern if an action you advice would promote the gospel or discourage it.

Discern if an action will requires faith in God to do what is hard or it simply gives an easy way out to the comfortable journey.

• If you are a recipient of someone’s advice, ultimately you are responsible for taking the right course of action.
• You need to discern if the advice given is biblical or contradicts what God says.  This means you need to know your scripture.
• You need to discern if the course of your action will promote the gospel even though it means taking harder course.
• You need to discern if the course of your action will compromise the gospel because you are taking an easy way out
• Be weary of advices that point you to easy road instead of narrow path that only few travels.

To see Jesus become greater in your life (Acts 20)

Cornerstone Mission Church, November 16, 2008

The account of John the Baptist, who saw Jesus Christ, realized for who Jesus Christ really was, and was determined to see Jesus become great. He said it like this, “The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and if full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:29-30. And, he further said in verse 31-36, “The one who come from above is above all… The one who comes from heaven is above all... For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John’s theology of believing in the Son from above whom God has placed everything in his hands wasn’t a theoretical religious concept only on paper. Believing in Jesus had massive impact on his self understanding. In the paraphrase by Eugene Peterson in Message, John was most happy to see Jesus moving into the center moment while he slipped off to the sidelines.

“Jesus must become greater, I must become less.” Jesus must take the place of honor in my life, must become prominent, while I take the backseat and remain in his shadow. He must be the voice my reason, passion, purpose. His life must be infused in me and take over every fiber of my being so that I cannot make sense of who I am, what I envision, hope, dream, and what I do everyday apart from Jesus Christ. I can only make sense of my life only in Jesus’ life. I am glad Jesus takes the center stage of my life. This is what John meant by believing in Jesus. Believing that leads you to eternal life is the sheer conviction that Jesus must become greater, while you and I must become less.

Now, this isn’t exactly the way the people of today like to talk about themselves, is it? We live in times when self discovery, self expression, self promotion, self indulgence is everything. It is the age of Narcissism. You will readily hear, “Discover yourself. Discover your inner strength. Be yourself. Be all that you can be. Be uniquely you. Love yourself.” But, you don’t often hear people talking like John the Baptist did, in sheer determination that someone else must become greater while they themselves become less. To feel passionate about some else taking prominence in your life, literally taking over your life, while you feel indifferent about your self importance doesn’t quite fit the mantra of “Love yourself.”

Can it be ‘loving yourself’ if you can only see your own true worth through the worth of someone else, your success only through success of some else, your happiness only in someone else’s happiness? Or does this sound like crazy irrational and dangerous obsession by someone who suffers low self esteem?

Jesus must become greater; I must become less. Is this the way you and I talk? Certainly, this was the way Paul talked about his life in Acts 20 in different words. He said in Acts 20:24, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Again just like it was for John, when Paul talked considering his life worth nothing to him, he wasn’t being philosophical, theoretical, hypothetical, or poetical. This is the man who kept on doing the things that got him into trouble and got him beat up and imprisoned. Yes, there were times when God protected him like when he was in Ephesus. For God said to him in Acts 18:9-10 to keep on speaking and not be silent for he was going to be with him and no one was going to attack and harm him. But this was not the norm. Acts 20:23 reflects more of the norm for Paul, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”

To speak of his life as worth nothing to him, he meant he would gladly lay down his life because there was the cause that was greater than him, the cause that defined him, the cause that motivated and moved him, the cause that was so great in worth and value that he would willingly risk his life. And, that cause was the person of Jesus Christ and his message of God’s grace. Paul couldn’t envision building his life apart from building on the Cornerstone. Paul was all wrapped up in the life of Jesus. This is what we want to see happening in us.

Context

In chapter 19, Jesus Christ Paul proclaimed in Ephesus caused uproar that could have ended in mob-violence, but by God’s provision it didn’t which allowed him to stay for couple years. Acts 20:1-6 describes Paul’s itinerary for the part of his third missionary journey. By piecing together from Paul’s letters to Corinthians, after leaving Ephesus, he went to Troas and then to Macedonia (2 Cor. 2:12-13). And, here in Macedonia, possibly at Philippi, he wrote his 2 Corinthians. His stayed in Macedonia area scholars say that may have lasted couple years. It was about this time that he began taking collection of money to give as a gift for the poor in the church in Jerusalem.

From Macedonia, he went to Greece probably Corinth spending the winter three months. He was ready to sail to Syria and eventually get to Jerusalem and bring the collection of money to the Jerusalem church. But, it came to his attention that Jews made a plot against him. So, instead of sailing which would have been an easy trap for the Jews who wanted to harm him, he went back to Macedonia, to Philippi and from there sailed to Troas.

And, if you ever wonder why Christians meet on Sunday for worship, you see one of the clues to this in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” Since he was leaving next day, he wanted to talk to them as much he could. So, he kept on talking until midnight. Well, probably the upstairs room was crowded and with the lamps burning, air was stuffy and stifling, and the flickering flames created a hypnotic effect. Not surprised to see Eutychus sinking into a deeper sleep as Paul talked on and on. The poor fellow fell down three stories to his death. Paul miraculously revived this young man to life just as Peter raised dead Tabitha to life in Acts 9. Verse 11, Paul went back upstairs and ate midnight snake with others and went to talking until daylight.

After this short stay in Troas, Paul traveled to Assos Mitylene, Kios, Samos and finally Miletus. He skipped visiting Ephesus, a place where he stayed several years before. Verse 16 explains why. He was basically in hurry to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost.

But, he couldn’t simply bypass by the church of Ephesus and not encouraged them as he did with others in areas he had already visited. So, we see Paul sending for the elders of the church. For Paul encouraging others was huge part of who he was; one of the motivations behind Paul visiting the Christians in these areas was to encourage them, encouraging in a sense of exhorting them, urging them to let Jesus take the center stage of prominence, that they must see Jesus increase while they become less.

The strategy to see Jesus become greater in your life.

As I pointed out Luke records how Paul was all about encouraging others. We see him encouraging others in v. 1 and v. 2 and now from v. 18 to 38, we see him encouraging the elders, the leaders of the church of Ephesus.  Here are the ways Paul himself experienced Jesus becoming greater in his life, encouraged others to follow, and we can imitate for ourselves. 

• Experience the gospel of God’s grace

Paul says in verse 32, “Now I commit you to “God and to the word of his grace.” Paul said he didn’t think he could come back and visit them again since he was not sure if he would live or die in Jerusalem. So, in the prospect of him not being able to come back to encourage them, what would sustain them? Simply, it is God who would sustain them. And, commitment to God cannot be understood apart from commitment to the gospel, the word of his grace. Paul says that this commitment to God, to the goodness of his word of grace is what will enable you to be built up. One of the two prongs of our church mission is to build our lives on Jesus Christ. Building up only happens when you and I take the commitment to the word of God seriously.

Paul also says that only by committing to God and to his word, you will be able to embrace your true identity. It gives you and inheritance among all those who are sanctified” in verse 32. It is the inheritance of being children of the living God, the ruler of the universe, the King. Seeing Jesus becoming greater in your life while you become less is about your true identity only in Christ. Who you are doesn’t make sense to you unless God explains to you who you are in Christ. Your purpose in life doesn’t make sense unless it the purpose God gives you in Christ. And, this knowing your true identity happens when you commit to God’s word, through which God can get it through you who you really are in Christ and shape you to live for his will.

• Be bound by the Spirit

v. 22, “Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.” This is how Paul described the force of the Holy Spirit working in him. It is the force of binding that he couldn’t ignore although he knew by the Spirit that only imprisonment and hardships awaited him if he were to go to Jerusalem. To see Jesus become greater in our lives means we experience the binding of the Holy Spirit. And, to be bound by the Spirit, it requires spiritual reorientation each day. Each day, you must remind yourself through the word of God, who you are, and what you are destined to become, a person who makes much of God and makes little of yourself. When you orient yourself to the word of God, the Holy Spirit convicts your heart, compels you to God’s will.

• “Be on your guard” (v. 31)

... said Paul to the elders of the church of Ephesus. There are two aspects of being on your guard. Watching over yourself and watching over others. Both require understanding that the road to the promised land is not easy. Itt requires determination to finish the race, complete the task with vigilance. How do you let down your guard? When do you stop watching over yourself and over others? Isn’t that when you stop counting on God to come through for you and for others? Isn’t that when you stop relying on God for his help, his protection, his guide? Isn’t that when you stop praying? There is no such thing as being on guard for yourself and for others without coming to God, the only one who can guard you.

• Pray intimately (v. 36)

We see Paul and the elders on their knees embracing each other with affection. If you want to see Jesus become greater in your life. You need to experience this kind of intimate prayer with other brothers and sisters. So, if you have not come to pray on Wednesday when we pray corporately. Come and experience praying intensely.

• Live transparently

We see this in Paul’s life. He said in v. 18, “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you.” For few years, Paul rubbed shoulders with the people he ministered to. He let his life speak for itself. When you don’t aim for transparency, you cannot see Jesus becoming greater in your life. This is because Jesus is the Light. The Light shines and darkness must be dispelled. When you embrace secrecy, hiding, darkness, you reject the Light, you reject Jesus. So, it is important to foster transparent, authentic, what you see is who you really are kind of life.

• Serve the Lord (v. 19)

With humility, with tears (“never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” V. 31), and with faithfulness Paul served the Lord.  To see Jesus becoming greater in your life, you must choose who you are going to serve.  To serve yourself is to see yourself become greater.  To serve Jesus and his cause is to see Jesus become greater in your life.  You cannot serve both yourself and Jesus. 

• Proclaim the gospel of God’s grace

Paul was a man who was completely gripped by the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ and only thing that made sense to him was to see more people become gripped by God's grace in Jesus as he was.  He wanted to see Jesus become greater in other's lives as it was for him.  For Paul, this was the worthy cause to devote his whole life to it even it meant risking his own life in doing so.  To see Jesus become greater in his life meant ensuring Jesus' message gets out.  We see his commitment to the gospel of God's grace that transformed his entire life. 

Verse 20, “not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you"; verse 21, “turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus"; verse 24, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace"; verse 27, “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God." 

• Give generously (v. 35)

For Paul, the goal of his hard work was not to increase wealth, but to help others.  Jesus didn't withhold, but gave himself completely, generously, and sacrificially.  To see Jesus become greater in your life, as Paul did, requires you to give generously of yourselves as Jesus did. 

Changed by the word of God (Acts 19)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon November 9, 2008

There was a very famous lighthouse once stood in on the island of Pharos in Alexandria of Egypt built around 3rd century BC. It was called the lighthouse of Alexandria or the Pharos of Alexandria. It is estimated to be between 380 to 490 feet tall, among the tallest man-made structures on earth for long time and described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon, a Greek poet in the 1st century BC.

Sostratus was the chief architect who poured twenty years of his life to complete the lighthouse. Would it be too much to ask his name be inscribed to this lighthouse? Well, the ruler, Ptolemy Philadelphos thought so for he wanted no one but his own name to be marked on the lighthouse. The generations after him must remember not the architect, the builder, but the ruler of the land. Sostratus followed the order and marked an inscription honoring Ptolemy the king as builder of the Pharos lighthouse. But, over the centuries the real builder, and the architect of this marvelous ingenuity was revealed. What Sostratus did was to leave the inscription honoring Ptolemy on the top layer of plaster. Underneath the plaster, he left the following inscription on the base’s walls of the lighthouse, “Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes, the Cnidian, dedicated this to the Saviour gods, on behalf of those who sail the seas.” What endured through the centuries was what was inscribed on the base’s walls.

  Along with the Sostratus Pharos lighthouse, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus too was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is this city of Ephesus, where we see apostle Paul in Acts 19 carrying out his single-hearted passion to proclaim the word of the Lord, to preach Jesus Christ to all people over two years. The Sostratus’ lighthouse still remained submerged as ruins in the ocean. And, the Temple of Artemis remained only as rubble.

But, what we see through the study of the book of Acts is the indelible mark of the word of God; You cannot escape the reality of ever expanding power of the word of God in the history. So, we read in Acts 19:20, “In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” It was said back in Acts 6:7, “So, the word of God spread,” upon choosing of the seven who were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to carry out mercy ministry. And, Acts 12:24 reads, “But the word of God continued to increase and spread,” when God miraculously freed Peter from the prison and when God struck down Herod who was full of himself. No doubt there were tremendous oppositions, persecutions, cold responses, or non-responses to the word of God, yet what you see is the message of Jesus Christ being carried out by his faithful servants, followers, ambassadors and being embraced by the people of all nations, ethnicities and cultures. So, reads Acts 19:10, “… all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” And, till this day, the power of the word of God has never lost its momentum and continues to reverberate in the hearts of men and women, leaving indelible marks of transformation into the image of Christ.

• Changed by the Holy Spirit of truth (19:1-7)
  

In Ephesus, apostle Paul found twelve men described as disciples in verse 1. For whatever reasons, Paul sensed that something was missing in these men’s lives and he suspected that they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. What he sensed proved to be right for they answered him, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit?”

These twelve men held on to the teachings of John the Baptist. And, they received in the tradition of John the Baptist, the baptism of repentance. John the Baptist described himself in the book of John as “voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord,’” as one who “baptize with water…” but unworthy of even untying “the thongs of [Jesus’] sandals.” And, that his call to repent and be baptized was call to prepare the way for the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33). John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance that prepared people to believe… in Jesus (Acts 19:4). And, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, whom Jesus promised as Counselor, is to live with and be in us Christians (John 14:16-17). The Holy Spirit is to teach all things of Jesus Christ and remind everything he said to us (John 14:26), to be Jesus’ peace (John 14:27), to testify to us that we are God’s children… heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16).

These twelve men of Ephesus didn’t yet have relationship with the Holy Spirit. When they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus… the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:5-6), so, was the baptism with the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Do you cherish relationship with the Holy Spirit? He is your Counselor who leads you to the truth of Jesus Christ. He teaches all things of Jesus and reminds you of everything he said. He fills you with peace in Jesus. He testifies to your soul you are God’s child. He reveals to you how your heavenly Father sees you through his Son Jesus Christ.

If you are missing the witness of the Holy Spirit to your soul as God’s child, if you are missing the peace of Christ, if you are missing the preoccupation with all things of Jesus and everything he said, you either don’t have relationship with the Holy Spirit as it was the case with the twelve men of Ephesus, or you neglect fellowship with the Holy Spirit who lives in you.

Former requires believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior and your Lord, latter requires on-going investing in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

1. Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:8, “The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” The Spirit stands for truth. He stands for the way of life in Jesus. He stands for the rock solid identity of childhood of God. To please the Spirit is to cherish for which the Spirit stands. And, this you and I can do when we fill our minds with the word of God. The word of God is the doorway to pleasing the Spirit for it reveals the heart, the mind and the will of God.
   
2. Paul says in Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We grieve him by sins of unwholesome talk, critical judgment, bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slandering, malice thoughts. Instead, Paul calls us to, “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiven each other.”
   
3. The Holy Spirit delights in when you and I expect him to do miracles in our lives. God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, even just touching his handkerchiefs and aprons brought healing to the sickness and evil spirit left. We need to up our expectation of what the Holy Spirit can do to carry out God’s will in our lives.
   

• Changed by the persuasion of the word of the Lord (19:8-10)
  

Acts 19:8-10 describes Paul’s work in the religious setting of synagogues and the secular setting of the lecture hall of Tyrannus. There the key words I would like to highlight for us pertain to the manner of delivery. Verse 8 says Paul argued persuasively about the kingdom of God and in verse 9, he had discussions daily. And that he did this not just for a short period of time, but for two years.

We must ask, “Am I persuaded about the kingdom of God?” To be persuaded by something, it has to make sense to us. Persuasion speaks to one that stands out from all options as that makes most logical sense. The kingdom of God is basically where our kingship is displaced by God’s kingship over us. Instead of self ruling, what makes sense is to be ruled by God. Unless you and I are persuaded about the kingdom of God, unless you and I nod our heads in wholehearted agreement that it makes total sense to be ruled by God, it will do no good to persuade others.

• Changed by going for the kill with the wielding of the sword (19:11-20)
  

When God was doing some extraordinary things in Jesus’ name through Paul, these seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest thought they could invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over the demons and cast them as Paul did. Well, they were seriously mistaken. Jesus isn’t the Lord for no reason. They thought they could lord Jesus over, toy him around, boss him around as their personal Genie to grand their wishes.

But, what they didn’t realize was that evil spirits only submit to the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is those who take on the same mindset of Jesus who said in John 4:34, “My food… is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” who can summon the evil spirit to bow down to the King of the universe.

And, what characterizes the servants of Jesus Christ is the way they wield the sword of the word of God to go for the kill all the monsters of sins. When people understand the superiority of Jesus Christ, the Lordship of Jesus, they honor the name of the Lord Jesus in high regard. When people take Jesus seriously, they take the word of the double edged sword tightly in their hands and go for the kill. That is what you see in Acts 19:17-20. They didn’t just mass around with the sins. They went for the kill. The sorcery scrolls they burned when they took the word of God seriously and wielded the sword with tight grip to go for the kill mounted to 50,000 days worth of wages. That is the value of working non stop for 137 years, guys.

Do you treat the double edged sword like a flimsy no-good plastic disposable knife? It is just awfully, pathetically inadequate to deal with the sinful and unbelieving heart of flesh when you think you got a disposable plastic knife. If your Bible sits around like it has no inherent value, but only useful for dealing with cutting soft bread, only to be quickly discarded, disposed away from the sight, well you won’t be able to deal with sins.

But, you take seriously what Hebrew 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Shaper than any double-edged sword, it penetrated even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Then, you realize that you are not dealing with soft white bread, but the beasts, the monsters of sins that must be killed. You realize that you are a man, a woman on mission to slay the dragons. Without the double edged sword, you realize you have no chance of slaying those sins of yours. So, you keep the double-edged sword on you, ready at any moment to draw it quickly. So, it never leaves your sight, it always with you. You hold it with all your might to make sure when you wield it, you go for the kill!