Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

Acts 21:1-6: On the beach.

“After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. ² We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. ⁶ After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.” NIV UK

Hard on the heels of one gut-wrenching farewell (‘’After we had torn ourselves away from them…’’ verse 1) we now witness another. Paul’s Christian family didn’t want him to go.

‘’Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem’’ (4b). Aha! Have those people who say that the Bible is full of contradictions got us here? For didn’t Paul say in the previous chapter that he was going to Jerusalem ‘’compelled by the Spirit’’ (22)? So which was it to be? Did the Holy Spirit want him there or didn’t he?

I think we are to understand (5) in the same context as (11). ‘’Through the Spirit’’ they sensed the danger lying ahead of Paul, and because they loved him they tried to stop him going. However Paul had already stated that he knew that great difficulties were ahead (20:23,24), but that wasn’t going to prevent him doing what he believed to be the will of God. For Paul, the sight of danger ahead was not enough to stop him in his tracks; but those who loved him deeply, saw the same reality and wanted to erect a roadblock. At the end of the day, Paul could not be stopped and his friends had to pray that God’s will be done. However, their will was to keep him safe. It’s an understandable reaction, but Paul was not into self-preservation for the sake of it. There was something more dear to him than staying alive, and that was to finish the work entrusted to him by the Lord.

PRAYER: Lord God, I have to say I marvel at Paul’s reckless abandon to your will. I pray that you will give me a spirit totally committed to seeking first.

 Acts 20:36-38: Paul, the praying leader.

^“36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”NIV UK

This is a touching scene, I’m sure you will agree (see also 21:5). Parting is ‘such sweet sorrow.’ Everyone who has had to say a major ‘good-bye’ will feel both the love and pain radiating from the page. They won’t just read it. However, I do believe that when a ‘good-bye’ is in the will of God, it is a good bye and not a bad one. It may not feel it at the time, but one day you will probably see it. At least, you may well live to see something of the good God brings out of it.

We’ve spent considerable time listening to Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesians elders. Before moving on, here are three challenges for local church leaders:

1. Leader, do your people know that you ‘kneel’? I don’t mean, ‘Are you a spiritual show off?’ ‘Are you ostentatious about your spirituality?’ My simple question is, ‘Do you walk with God?’ If you do, it will seep out in various ways. You won’t be able to hide it. It is vital that local church leaders should set a prayerful example;
2. Leader, do you kneel ‘with’ your people? When they gather to pray, are you there with them as often as you can be? Speaking at the ‘Elim Leaders’ Summit’ in Harrogate, James Aladrian, who leads ‘Prayer Storm’ – a Manchester-based prayer ministry – said to the men and women gathered there, ‘You can’t out-source prayer; you can’t appoint someone to your team and pay them to do your praying for you.’ Indeed you can’t. Don’t even think about it pastor;
3. Leader, do you love your people? And do they know that you love them?

PRAYER: Lord please will you pour out the Spirit of prayer upon your church, including the leaders! May they learn to love the secret place more than they do the spotlight. May they understand just how much can be achieved when hidden away from men, and down on their knees. Oh Lord, may they really get this – for the glory of your Name, and for the good of the church.

 Acts 20:33-35: Paul, a giving leader.

³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’

As a leader, your focus must continually be on giving. No-one said this would be easy, but it is necessary, and in truth it is a blessing.

Giving takes many forms. It is not just about money. It also entails the giving of time, the giving of help and support, the giving of yourself. There are so many ways to do it.

Now here’s a harsh reality of life: although we should treat others as we would desire to be treated ourselves, others do not always respond in kind. I think one of the toughest decisions for a leader (indeed for anyone) is to say, ‘Whatever you do; regardless of your response, I will try to do the right thing.’ You can’t control anyone else’s behaviour – only your own.

Jesus exemplified a lifestyle of giving. He also taught that ‘’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’’ This is a fact and experience shows it to be true.

Paul followed Jesus and was one of life’s givers.

My friend, Evelyn Hutchinson, who died recently, was also like this. She was not well known. She was a quiet, unassuming Christian woman. Through all the years I knew her she was deeply immersed in the needs and concerns of others. She quietly gave her heart away all the time. When, in the weeks before she died, she received lots of notes and cards containing lovely words, she was genuinely surprised. I wasn’t! That kind of humble, self-forgetful kindness is all too rare; but such people leave their mark. I doubt Evelyn ever thought about what was coming back. Her instinct was just to give, and many rose up and called her ‘Blessed.’

PRAYER: Help me Lord to take your words at face value, and live my life by them.

 Acts 20:28: Paul, the leader’s charge.

^“28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,which he bought with his own blood.NIV

What did Paul have to say to fellow-leaders in a local church? Verse 28, in a few words, gives a timeless statement for local church ‘’shepherds’’ in every generation. Essentially, Paul says this:

Watch over yourselves: The idea of ‘watching over’ pertains to shepherding. In order to be a good leader in the church the first person you have to be able to shepherd is you! The person you see looking back at you from the mirror may be the most difficult individual you will ever have to lead; but self-leadership is so important. In local church leadership you may not necessarily have someone looking over your shoulder all the time. So, do you get yourself out of bed in a timely fashion? Do you put in the hours when no-one (but God) is looking? Can you discipline yourself to do what you don’t temperamentally want to do? Will you keep going through hardship, discouragement, lack of obvious success? Do you have good habits of prayer and Bible Study etc? ‘’Watch your life and doctrine closely’’ (1 Timothy 4:16a).

Watch over the church: Sometimes, when Jilly and I are visiting our cottage in Coverdale, we find there are sheep in the field behind the garden. Each morning, the shepherd comes about the same time to feed them. You can almost sense the anticipation (and even restlessness) in the animals as it comes close to feeding time. When they hear the sound of his quad bike they move towards the opening where he will appear. He then spreads around copious amounts of food, and their heads are down, chewing, for a long time afterwards. Feeding the flock lies at the heart of pastoral work. There may well be other aspects to shepherding, but this is one I feel I must emphasise. It lies at the heart of what we’re called to do. If the sheep become thin and weak through our neglect of their ‘feeding time’ we have failed ‘’the flock’’ and ‘the Chief Shepherd’ (1 Peter 5:4). I will never forget Geoff Bennet, Bible teacher and one time deputy chairman of ‘Good News Broadcasting’, saying to me, ‘I believe many Christians go home from church hungry on a Sunday. I regularly still hear him saying these words, and they continue to prod me. I want to be like that shepherd up in Carlton – faithfully turning up, in all ‘weathers’, with a great big bag of food!

Watch over the church, says Paul,

• Remembering who called you: ‘’the Holy Spirit has made you overseers’’ (28). Paul himself knew his accountability to the same Spirit who called him (22a). He was not his own. No church leader is;
• Remembering whose church it is. It belongs to God – not you, or I. This thought should challenge us, but also encourage. We can feel overly burdened by the responsibility. Ultimately, it’s His church. Remember that. You don’t have to carry it as a weight, as if it were yours;
• Remembering the price paid for your congregation. God Himself – in Jesus – shed ‘’his own blood’’ to purchase the church. (By the way, what a staggering statement about the divinity of Jesus this is);
• Remembering that the church is always in danger (29-31). There are false shepherds carrying big bags of what may seem like even more tasty food, but it is laced with poison. How we need good shepherds.

PRAYER: Lord, bless our church leaders. Thank you for them and their willingness to serve. Help them to grow more and more like Jesus, the Good Shepherd

Acts 20: 22-24: Paul, a Spirit-led leader.

^“22 ‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” NIV

Dr. Karl Bates made the observation that if the Holy Spirit had been removed from the first Christian church, ninety-five per cent of what they were doing would have ceased; but if they Holy Spirit were to be removed from today’s church, ninety-five per cent of what we are doing would continue.

I don’t know what you think about the above. I sadly believe there is probably much truth in it. However, what is clear is that:

1. Paul knew the compulsion of the Spirit (22a). That compulsion gave him propulsion. It brought an urgency to his daily life;
2. The Spirit-led life does not equate to what we might call ‘triumphalism’. It is not a guarantee of an easy life. The Spirit-filled people we meet in ‘Acts’ were regularly in trouble (yet so full of joy!);
3. The apostle did not allow the prospect of storms at sea to prevent him from embarking on this voyage. He’d heard the weather forecast, but the Spirit impelled him to go. (See also 21:10-15). The prospect of heavy rain and stormy winds did not stop him.

Commit to following that ‘still small voice’ of God wherever He may lead, but don’t expect a pot-hole free road. The leading of the Spirit does not equate to a lack of suffering.

PRAYER: Lord, so fill the leaders in your church with your Spirit that we may walk in your paths. Please fill us all. May we settle for nothing less than the fullness of Spirit-filled living.

 Acts 20:22: Paul – the leader’s confidence.

²² ‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” NIV

The great Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon reputedly said, ‘You no more need defend the Bible than you do a lion; just let it out of its cage.’

These words of Paul show his confidence in God and God’s Word. He was leaving the Ephesians, but God wasn’t and His Word wasn’t. He was sure that God’s Word would go on working on them and in them.

As a human leader in the church you can only be in a place for a time. In certain cases it may be for a long time, but it’s still going to be a limited time. At some point you will have to move on. So long as you know that you’re in the will of God, you can go happily, knowing that God will never leave or forsake His own. The good seed you have sown is what matters, and because it is alive, it is likely to continue to sprout and grow after you have left. No good work done for the Kingdom is ever lost.

In 1980, at the age of 23, I moved to Lancaster to be involved in starting up a new church in Lancaster, my home city. There followed close to three wonderful years of ministry. They were glorious but difficult years. There were quite a few ‘growing pains’ but the infant church showed some healthy signs of development. Unexpectedly, to me, in 1983, I heard the call of God to move to Leeds. I felt the church I was leaving behind was poised to grow. However, approximately six months after I left, I received a call to tell me that this young church was folding. It was heart-breaking. I felt like my baby had died. However, I received a letter from a young girl who had been a loyal member of the church while she studied at Lancaster University. She said that as she was reading the story of the feeding of the 5,000, she felt God spoke to her. She saw that we came together in one place for a time and Jesus blessed us (like the loaves and fishes) and then he ‘broke’ us and scattered us into other local churches where we could carry the blessing we’d received.

That insight helped me make sense of a puzzling situation, and made me realise that no genuine work for God is ever lost.

Incidentally, in recent years the ‘Elim’church in Lancaster has re-opened and is thriving! God’s ways are wonderfully unfathomable, and His Word is unstoppable.

Acts 20: 20-21: Paul the teaching leader

“20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”NIV

We have already seen that Paul ‘walked the walk’; but he also ‘talked the talk.’ That’s a powerful combination. Someone said about Ronald Dunn, a great Bible teacher, that the tongue in his mouth and the tongue in his show were always going in the same direction. The same was true of Paul. Note a number of things:
➢ He was not governed by what was popular, but what was ‘’helpful’’ (20a);
➢ He was flexible in his approach (20b). He could readily adjust to the setting he found himself in. He was able to teach in public, like in the ‘’lecture hall of Tyrannus’’ (19:9) but also comfortable with discipling people in a home;
➢ He had no favourites – he preached the same gospel to all (21). He didn’t make the terms easier for fellow-Jews;
➢ Preaching Jesus was a greater priority to Paul than staying alive (24). Life was about Christ and death would be ‘’gain’’ (Philippians 1: 21);
➢ He held nothing back (26, 27). He had a clear conscience. He knew he had not omitted the more unpalatable truths – unpalatable to the natural mind that is (although even believers can be resistant to some Biblical teachings);
➢ He warned with clarity (29-31);
➢ He preached with passion (31b) – and he gave himself wholeheartedly to the task
➢ He believed in the power of the Word to do its own work (32). Even after Paul left them (25), and although they would never see him again, that Word would stay with them; it would be in them, doing its own mighty work: ‘’Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvellous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.’’ The Message.

Acts 20:19-31: Paul, the passionate leader.

^“19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. ²² ‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. ²⁵ ‘Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.  ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” NIV UK

A story is told about a visitor to Robert Murray McCheyne’s church. He wanted to know the secret of McCheyne’s power. The person showing him round invited him to step into the pulpit. He said something like this: ‘Open the Bible; then look around at the congregation; now weep!’ There has been much talk in recent years about ‘emotional intelligence.’ The idea is that emotions communicate. They are catching; they are infectious. If someone is deeply committed to something, others will quite quickly see and feel it. Someone observed that you can smell commitment a mile off. Paul took his ministry seriously. He cared deeply for the churches. He exhibited a ‘blood earnestness.’ His tears were a mark of his intensity. Are not our all too dry eyes a rebuke to us?

Many years ago I was involved with a youth work, serving with others on a team. The young people turned up week after week in significant numbers. We loved them, although you will probably not be surprised to hear that they were regularly disruptive and unruly. One week, I was at a meeting in the home of one of the other leaders. He had tried to lead the study that night, and, on the face of it, it had not gone well. It wasn’t that my friend was ill-prepared. The youngsters were just intent on causing a bit of chaos that night. When they had gone home, he and I prayed together, and I still remember today his tears for them; they revealed the heart of this godly man, and the memory of it affects me still.

PRAYER: ‘Break my heart with what breaks yours.’

Acts 20:17-19, 28, 33-35: Paul – a leader who walked the walk.

¹⁷ From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: ‘You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. ²² ‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. ²⁵ ‘Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,^[a] which he bought with his own blood.^{[b] 29} I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.³² ‘Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’

‘’You know how I lived…’’ (18a) – this is the first thing Paul said to the Ephesians elders. He could appeal to his own life as an example. Here are a number of insights into Paul’s life:

• He was consistent: ‘’You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia’’ (18). One of the ways this consistency showed itself was in his response to trials. Paul did not have an easy life. He was ‘’severely tested’’ (19), but in everything he was a good example;
• He was a servant: ‘’I served the Lord…’’ (19a). One of Paul’s favourite descriptions of himself is that of a ‘’slave’’ (Greek: ‘doulos’). First and foremost he regarded himself as Christ’s slave, but he was also a lowly servant of the church;
• He was humble: ‘’I served the Lord with great humility…’’ He did not stand on his rights as an apostle but worked for a living;
• He was passionate: ‘’I served the Lord…with tears…’’ I will return to this thought tomorrow;
• He was hard working: (35a). It is a terrible thing for a servant of Christ to be lazy, or to have the reputation of being lazy;
• He was generous: (35b). He worked hard to help others and not just to supply his own needs. Paul quotes some words of Jesus we don’t recognise from the gospels, but they fit well with the Jesus of the gospels we have come to know: ‘’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’’ Paul did not fleece the sheep; he shepherded the flock

It’s interesting that the first thing Paul says about himself is: ‘’You know how I lived…’’ Then later, he says to the Ephesians elders: ‘’Keep watch over yourselves…’’ Yes, ‘’Keep watch over…the flock…’’ but first and foremost ‘’Keep watch over yourselves…’’ Self-leadership is important. Paul was also to say to Timothy: ‘’Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers’’ (1 Timothy 4:16). There’s a lot at stake in Christian ministry, and what does he mention first?

If there is a ‘credibility gap’ between our talk and our walk, our talk won’t count for very much.

PRAYER: I pray that the life I lead will commend the beauty of the gospel to others.