Fight for boldness (Acts 28)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 25, 2009

Lately, one of the things that I see God doing in my heart is to awaken inside of me the heart of warrior who will fight for what matter. Give me the cause to live and to die for, give me the courage, the boldness to live out the right cause, and that is what I am made for, for the greater cause beyond me that can explain my purpose in life. The natural out flow has been framing everything in terms of fighting, contending for things that really matter. So, I ask these days these questions; how can I fight for my marriage, how can I fight for my girls, how can I fight for the God given purpose, how can I fight for purity and integrity, how can I fight to become the kind of shepherd God has called me to be, how can I fight for you? These are the questions that I’ve been asking a lot these days. And, I can honestly tell you that as I frame my life in terms of fighting for the greater cause that is worth giving my life for, I feel alive. And, that greater cause to live and to die for is none other than the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

So, when I prepared for a message from Acts 28, it only makes sense that God highlighted word “boldly” from Acts 28:31; “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Boldly” parrhsia means to possess freedom to say all in the face of oppositions at times requiring fearlessness and frankness… It also speaks to confidence and joyfulness.[1]

Am I going to be led by this boldness to stand for the greater cause even though it may mean risking greatly? Or, am I going to hide behind my fears in a safe buffer zone with no risk cowardly? I choose to fight for boldness. How about you? I pray that you too will want fight with me for boldness to live out all encompassing cause of Jesus Christ, to live out his good news, his gospel and to declare it boldly.

1. Fight for boldness for you are born into a world at war.

I always knew that Paul was about preaching the kingdom of God and teaching others about Jesus Christ. That is the one cause that Paul was willing to gladly lay down his life. It is this passion, zeal that consumed him to travel all across Asia, and all the way to Rome to battle against the hostile crowds who wanted nothing but to put him to death, to endure shipwrecks, prisons, hunger… to endure them all because he viewed his life in the context of war, as a man with the mission, to rescue people from ferocious and even silent fire that unless he acted would kill them. Paul understood that unless the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ reigns, the devil would remain as the slave-master of the world. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Paul knew that unless he acted boldly to advance God’s kingdom through sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the devil would devour people. So, what you see in Paul is the sense of urgency to share the gospel because he knew he was born into a world at war.

John Eldredge says in his book, Wild At Heart, this about man. “Man is not born into a sitcom or a soap opera; he is born into a world at war. This is not Home Improvement; it’s Saving Private Ryan.”[2] The difference between them is that only one lives and dies for the cause that is greater than him in the context of war. It is in times of war that you find out who is bold or coward, who is wired to choose life of sacrifice for the greater cause or wired to live for himself and herself in self-engrossment.

To frame it with words from Jude 23, to “snatch others from the fire and save them,” to understand the context of life as fire that rages to destroy everything in its path, but to understand my calling as the one who is equipped to go into the raging fire to rescue those who would otherwise perish.

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms: it means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die"[3] said G. K. Chesterton. The only time such courage, boldness that can propel you to readiness to die is when you are fighting for the cause that is greater than yourself. It is when you come to understand that you are made to engage in war, in fire that seeks to destroy people that you realize your need for boldness.

It is when I understood that my marriage was under fire, at a war that I began to understand that my calling was to fight for marriage with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, I’ve been fighting for my marriage; Lyn’s been fighting for our marriage; we’ve been fighting for our marriage with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ve been fighting for our marriage with some of your help in babysitting so that we can go out for weekly dates to fuel our love. The good news that saves me and saves Lyn can save our marriage as well. When I came to the realization that my marriage was under attack from within and from outside, God gave me this heart not to give up, but to fight for marriage as he intends. So, Lyn and I have been seeking godly counsel to fight for our marriage. We’ve been fortified by some of your prayers and practical helps.

When I heard my Mikayla telling me, “I don’t like you. You scare me,” because I yelled at her demanding obedience, I knew that I was engaged in a war. Am I going to discipline with anger that would crush the spirit of my girl and harden her heart or am I going to discipline with firm love that would touch her heart for change? It is much harder to cultivate joyful obedience in tender hearts than to demand obedience from my girls. That’s what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ does for me and for you; it cultivates joyful obedience to God our Father out of love for him for we know we are loved by God; God sent his One and only Son to die for us, to forgive us, to give us new life, to live no longer in disconnection from our Creator, but to live as his sons and daughters in Jesus Christ. So, the line of engagement is clear now. I know that I am at war to cultivate tender hearts that would yield to joyful obedience in my girls. My fight is not only to be a good father to my girls, but to reflect the Fatherhood of our God, it is to reflect the love of God so they would yield their lives to God and live in joyful obedience to him.

The world wants us to shut us up, keep it quite, to keep it to ourselves, the gospel of Jesus Christ that has changed us so radically. We are at war with ourselves for wanting to keep it quite in fears of being known, being identified with Jesus Christ in the public, wanting not to offend the political correctness that is intolerant to the message of the absolute, Jesus Christ who is the way, the life and the truth.

Do you know you are born into a world at war? Do you know that you are called to go into fire to deliver the gospel so to rescue your friends, your classmates, your co-workers, your neighbors? And, if you are married, do you know that you are called to fight for your marriage, for your children with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? And, if you are dating, do you know that you are called to fight for purity?

It is when you and I understand that we are born into a world at war we realize that we need the heart of the Lion of Judah, our Lord Jesus Christ, the heart of boldness that will enable you and me to live and to die for his good news.

2. Fight for boldness born out of prayer.

Through the scripture, one thing that comes very clear to me is that boldness is something that I need to ask God to supply me constantly.

As I learn to recognize that I live in a world at war and that unless I fight to bring the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to all aspects of my life that I am going to loose the war, I realize I need boldness that will trump fears within me, fears of men and fears of unknown inherent in taking risks. And, I realize that boldness isn’t something I acquire it for good, but I require constant supply of fresh boldness from the Lord.

In Acts 4, you read a story about Peter and John how they were harassed by the Jews for preaching that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under have given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). When Peter and John were released from these Jews who opposed them, the believers got together with them and prayed. Acts 4:31 says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Here is that same word used in Acts 28, “boldly.”

When Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, he asked for their prayer. Ephesians 6:19-20 reads, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make know the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

For two years, Paul was chained up on his wrist to Romans guards, who rotated every four hours go guard him. Being chained to Roman guards for the unsubstantiated and false charges against him by the zealous Jews of Jerusalem, he could’ve gone down the road of self-pity, “woe-me” type of resentment.

Instead of giving into this destructive mindset about his circumstance, he identified himself as a privileged and important ambassador working to represent Jesus Christ. His chain, his Roman guards didn’t define him as a criminal. His identity was defined as an ambassador of Jesus Christ. And, being secured in this identity in Jesus Christ, he could speak boldly, or translated here as fearlessly.

And, where did he get his boldness from? Paul didn’t think boldness, fearlessness as something he acquired for good, instead of in need of fresh supply of boldness. So, was his prayer request to the Ephesians to be able to open his mouth and to fearlessly make known the gospel with words given to him by God.

Acts 9:7, you read about Barnabas vouching for Paul for having preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. Acts 13:46, you see Paul and Barnabas answering the Jews of Pisidian Antioch boldly. Acts 14:3, you read Paul and Barnabas speaking boldly for the Lord in Iconium. Acts 18:26, you see Paul’s speaking boldly in the synagogue where Priscilla and Aquila heard him and also speaking boldly in the synagogue in Ephesus (Acts 19:8). Acts 26:26, you see Paul speaking to Agrippa freely.

Fearlessly, boldly, freely they are all the same word that speaks to “strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die” because they were backed by prayers of saints.

3. Fight for boldness begins with boldness to come to God

Ephesians 3:12 says, “In him and through faint in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Here freedom translates the same Greek word translated as boldly in other passage. Paul is saying this to us today. To be bold to fight for the cause that is greater than you, the gospel of cause of Jesus Christ, you must possess the boldness to come to God and talk to him freely. When you are able to talk to God boldly, freely about your heart, then you gain confidence and this confidence then gives birth to the boldness to speak about what God has done for you, what God is doing for you now and what God will do for you in the future. If you don’t have the freedom to speak to God, to tell him all that’s in your heart, you can forget about being bold for Jesus’ cause.[4]

And, the way you are going to experience the freedom, boldness to talk to God about everything is when you find yourself in Jesus Christ, through faith in him. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your King, your Savior, your Lord, the one died for you and raised from the dead to save you from the power of sin, from the power of death, from the power of the devil, you will not be able to have the boldness to talk to God.

As believers, we have boldness and freedom to talk to God because Jesus covers us with his blood over our sins, our guilty conscious. In Christ, we are God’s children. And, as children, we are given the privilege to approach God.

A same thought is expressed in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Here boldness is translated as confidence. This is echoed again in Hebrews 10:19, “brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body…”

The same thought runs through in 1 John 3:21, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” Here, confidence, boldness is directly linked to having clear conscience, without being guilt-ridden or conscience-stricken. Without clear conscience, we will flee from the presence of the Lord. So, again if you don’t know Jesus as your King who died for you and raised from the dead, you will not be able to come to have freedom to talk to God. Through Jesus Christ, you can have relationship with God. And, when you have relationship with God, you can talk freely. And, with this freedom to talk to God, you are also given the freedom to ask anything of him. Of course, you cannot miss the qualification that you are to ask anything of your Father in Jesus Christ, meaning you ask in one accord with what Jesus wants to accomplish in your life.

4. Conclusion.

Hebrews 10:35, “So do not throw away your confidence (that is boldness); it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrew 10:32-34 says in the past, Christians stood their ground in a great contest in the face of suffering, publicly being exposed to insult and persecution, standing by those who were being persecuted and in prison, even thought it meant accepting confiscation of their property because they had better and lasting possessions.

Yet, in spite of the public oppositions, they continued to gather publicly not giving up meeting together to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). This sums up the attitude of confidence, boldness God desires to give us, to publicly identify ourselves to the body of Christ, to the truth of the gospel, to bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ in our lives even though it might mean facing oppositions, persecutions and even death.

But, if you know that you live in a world at war, and acquire boldness through prayer because you know you can boldly and freely talk to God in Jesus, it only makes sense not to throw away your confidence.

Let’s fight for boldness!

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[1] The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology: Volume 2. 735. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1967, 1969, 1971.

[2] John Eldredge, Wild at Heart, Nelson, 2001, p. 51.

[3] Gilbert K. Chesterton, Gilbert K. Chesterton. Qtd. in Instant Quotation Dictionary, p. 73.

[4] Wood, Skevington A. “E. Grace and Apostleship (3:1-13)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 11. 48. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1978.

Fight for the good conscience (Acts 23-26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 11, 2009

Throughout last year, we’ve journeyed through the book of Acts and have spent a lot of time learning about the life of apostle Paul. I am going to spend few more weeks and learn from his life about fighting for the faith.

Today, we are going to cover the period of time when Paul was first accused in Jerusalem by the Jews, and when he was on the trials before Sanhedrin in chapter 23, before Felix the governor of Caesarea in chapter 24, before Festus the successor to Felix and later before Agrippa in chapter 26. What I am most interested in exploring this morning with you is what Paul said before Sanhedrin and before Felix the governor of Caesarea. Acts 23:1, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” And, Acts 24:16, “So, I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.”

When I think about how I am going to live out the year 2009, I am moved by Paul’s unyielding commitment to live with good conscience. I am titling today’s sermon as “Fight for the good conscience” after meditating and studying Paul’s life. Because Paul fought for the good conscience, when he was arrested, accused falsely and put on trials before the Sanhedrin, the governors and the king and later before Caesar, he was able to stand straight without any regret or guilt; no conscience stricken heart for Paul.

Standing at the end of the year 2009 and looking back, it would be awesome if I can feel great about the way I have lived, living without any regret, guilt, or shame. Paul as a spiritual father to Timothy, he charged him to fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18). And, Paul reminded Timothy how some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. I know that none of us want our faith journey to sink with utter and complete failure. I don’t want to look back and have all these regrets, unresolved guilt and shames, and deep sense of failure. I want to be able to stand straight with a good conscience like Paul did. If I were to defend myself about my life like Paul had to defend his life against those who wanted to tear his life apart, I want to be able to speak out of good conscience with no regret, nothing to hide, no shame, no guilt, but only clarity in my devotion to my King. And, this requires me to fight for the good conscience.

1. Fighting for the good conscience is not…

To talk about what fighting for the good conscience is as Paul fought, we need to begin it by defining what fighting for the good conscience is and what is not. We will first spend talking about what is not.

When you carefully study Paul’s life what you realize is that Paul was someone who lived passionately out of his conscience. Considering conscience is at its basic meaning a sense of knowing right from wrong, it is fitting to describe Paul as thoroughly a man of conscience, meaning he carried out diligently what he thought in his heart to be right. And, this was true of him both before and after he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. So, in this sense, it is not enough to be a person of conscience if your sense of right and wrong is off.

Think about Paul’s life before meeting Jesus Christ. His conscience informed him that the teaching of Christianity was a complete deviation from the rightful Judaism and therefore Christianity deserved nothing but total obliteration. As a man of conscience, he saw himself as contending for God’s honor when he opposed Jesus Christ because he saw him not as the promised Messiah, but as an imposter. And, acting on his rock solid conscience he earned the fearsome reputation as someone who relentlessly persecuted Christians.

Paul reminds me of Richard Dawkins a evolutionary biologist and Christopher Hitchens a journalist and a literary critic. Unlike Paul, these are modern day atheist who based on their rational and scientific reasoning have developed utter detest and disbelief in the existence of God. I watched them debate last night making their rational reasoning for disbelieving existence of God. They are intelligent, articulate but also downright hostile and intolerant of people like you and me who esteems Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord. In this regard, Dawkins and Hitchens are men of deep conscience as Paul was before he met Jesus Christ.

What this tells us is that you can be a person of deep and sincere conscience, but it doesn't mean you are right about your conscience.  A question must be asked about where you base your conscience. For Paul prior to submitting his life to Jesus as his Messiah, his King, his conscience was built on the misguided zeal for Judaism. Whole teachings of Judaism from the Old Testament bear witness to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, yet unable to see Jesus as the promised Messiah, Paul’s sincerely deep conscience was horribly misguided, resulting in his vicious attacks on Christians. Of course, this horribly misguided conscience was not what Paul strived always to keep clear before God and man as he stated in Acts 24:16.

2. Paul’s fight for the good conscience…

The good conscience Paul fought to keep clear before God and man was solidly based on his relationship with Jesus Christ. It always looked back to the forever life changing moment when Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus and the life after with Jesus Christ. The sense of doing what was right for Paul came no longer from his misguided trust in Judaism, but in his trust in Jesus Christ. So, it was Jesus Christ who formed Paul’s conscience and all his actions out of it. Before the mistreatments, the life threatening attacks, the arrest and the false accusations before the Sanhedrin, before two governors of Caesarea, and Agrippa, all his actions were informed by his conscience in Jesus Christ. Let’s consider them.

Paul came to Jerusalem mostly to bridge the gap between the Gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians. According to Romans 15:25-26, he was on his way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints to bring with him a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem given by the Gentile believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia. In sharing the material blessings with the Jewish Christians, the Gentile Christians were expressing their deepest gratitude for the Jerusalem church for sharing their spiritual blessings received through Jesus Christ. For Paul, who was gripped by the heart of Jesus Christ who said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35), the right thing to do was to seek unity of believers in Jesus Christ.

Paul also had a personal reason to visit Jerusalem; it was to complete a Nazirite vow he took during his stay at Corinth. He took a Nazirite vow to ask God to intervene when things were depressingly difficult for him. When he saw God in answer to his prayer working in his life and in the lives of the Corinthian Christians, Paul made his way to Jerusalem to fulfill his vow by offering his hair as a burnt offering and offering sacrifices in the temple (Acts 21:26).[1] What we see here is Paul being motivated by his good conscience to express his heartfelt gratitude to Jesus Christ.

He also knew that there were false rumors against him that he taught the Jews to turn away from Moses… and not to circumcise their children (Acts 21:21); and, how this troubled Jewish Christians who still felt compelled to uphold their cultural tradition of Judaism without undermining the gospel message of grace.

To fight for the good conscience meant to help the Jews find out what he really stood for. By fulfilling his Nazirite vow, Paul sought to put to rest these false rumors about him. Paul didn’t teach against Moses, the Laws and the Old Testament scripture; he only pointed to Jesus Christ as the One who fulfilled them all.

So, Paul had no other alternative motives in coming to Jerusalem beyond wanting to encourage the Jerusalem church with the contribution from the Gentile Christians, to promote unity among Christians, to fulfill his own personal Nazirite vow to God, to put the false rumors against him to rest. Of course, Paul’s zeal to complete the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24) was the huge motivating factor that influenced Paul’s decision at every level. To sum up Paul’s motives, they all came from fighting for the good conscience, doing what was right in Jesus Christ. I think Peter explains what Paul was doing really well in 1 Peter 3:15-16 who said:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as the Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

3. A testimony of a teenager

How are you and I are going to fight for the good conscience this year as Paul did with his life? I want to share a testimony to answer this question for us. It comes from the podcast by Francis Chen, a pastor from Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, I listened this past week. In it, I heard a testimony from an 18 years old teenager who was told by his oncologist that he only had most three months to live; he has leukemia. Two months passed, he was standing in front of a crowd of junior and high schoolers to give his testimony. Here is the part of what he said that was so powerful to me when I thought about living my life in a good conscience before God and before man. He said:

I am dying of blessings given to me by God… I am scared for everyone else. I am scared for everyone who don’t know where they are going when they die. I am scared for those who think they know where they are going when they die, but they don’t. I am scared for all the people distracted by this world controlled by Satan. Especially you guys who are in America. I am scared for everyone who is distracted by friends, iPods, video games, movies, by having roof over your heads, by feeling secured, by feeling comfort...

I am dying so it’s not hard for me to live everyday like it is going to be my last day. Because tonight, I easily can go into coma and never wake up from it. It is not hard for me to thankful for life when I know tomorrow I might not have it. And it is not hard for me to be thankful for my friends because I know I might not be able to see them again very soon. Yes, I am dying but here is the kicker, so are you guys. We all have clock, timeline when we are going to kick the bucket. And, for me I have the luxury of knowing when I might go. I feel sorry for you guys because you don’t know when you are going to die. I do. So, everyone who is blinded by this world and is not living everyday as it could be their last which is very well could be, I feel sorry for you guys. So, these are people that I am afraid of.[2]

I see Paul who was not afraid of dying in this young teenager’s testimony. Paul 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.” To a person who is not afraid to die, there is this clarity about the way they see life. They are able to see what really matters in life. And, with this clarity about what’s really important in their lives comes this ability to think clearly about what’s right and wrong and act on what’s right. And, when a person sees with clarity about priority in life and fight for the good conscience, he or she can live life without regret, shame or guilt.

So, I ask myself these questions.

• Do I know what’s really important in life?
• Can I fight for what really matters?
• Can I live before God with this clarity about what my life is all about, what’s really important to God?
• Can I live with deep sense of “liberty and boldness”[3] to act on God-enriched conscience in most difficult circumstances like Paul faced?
• Will I look back at the end 2009 and have no regret, no shame, and no guilt over how I lived my life with good conscience?

How about you? Will you "fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience”? Or will you shipwreck your faith by rejecting these? (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

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[1] Longenecker, Richard N. “1. Paul's return to Palestine-Syria (18:18-23)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 9. 488. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1981.

[2] Francis Chen, Living a life that matters: Stop Talking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EGWOh7-aHQ)

[3] Blum, Edwin A. “A. The Blessing of Suffering for Righteousness (3:13-17)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 12. 240. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1981.

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!