 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Tune
in to Grace Radio 24 hours a day!
Acts 20 "The Body of Christ"
At the end of Paulﾕs third missionary journey he found himself led by
the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem, and he knew from his previous visits
there, and from the words of people in each city that he visited that
he would not be well received.
Sometimes following God can be so hard. Paul was not having difficulty
knowing what God wanted, he knew Godﾕs will very well. But he also knew
that it would be the most difficult thing of his life. Listen to Paulﾕs
words in Acts 20:22-23, ﾒAnd see, now I go bound in the spirit to
Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except
that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and
tribulations await me.ﾓ
God wasnﾕt saying to Paul, ﾒDonﾕt Worry, Be Happy.ﾓ He wasnﾕt saying
that there wouldnﾕt be trouble. Some people teach that if you really
have faith you wonﾕt ever have any trouble. If this teaching is true
then Paul didnﾕt have very much faith! Paul had more trouble than must
of us ever dream of. And that is exactly why his faith grew so much.
As he faced this new trouble in his life, knowing that his decision
to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit would cost him dearly, Paul
decided to give the elders some final words of encouragement before
he left. You can be sure that no one fell asleep during this speech
by Paul. At the end of it there was not a dry eye among them. ﾒthey
all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most
of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no
more.ﾓ (Acts 20:37-38) What did Paul say to these leaders of the Ephesian
church? What was so important that he stopped hurrying to Jerusalem
long enough to meet these men?
ﾒFrom Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the
church. And when they had come to him, he said to them; "You know
from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived
among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials
which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing
that was helpful, but taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying
to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ.ﾓ
First Paul reminds them of how he lived with them. He is saying to them
ﾒuse me as your model.ﾓ Paul wrote, ﾒImitate me, just as I also imitate
Christ.ﾓ (I Corinth. 11:1) Our actions always speak much louder than
our words. Our lives have much more impact than what we say. Paul had
spent three years with the church in Ephesus and they knew his ministry.
What was so important to Paul was that they would not forget to continue
that ministry. For he was certain that after he left, ﾒsavage wolvesﾓ
would come and try to destroy the ministry that he had founded there.
What kind of ministry did Paul want them to continue? Did he tell them,
ﾒContinue the miracles! I am starting my own ﾒPaulﾕs Miracle Handkerchief
Ministryﾓ I will ship you 200 blessed handkerchiefs a month and you
can carry on while I am in prisonﾓ Did he tell them to continue the
spiritual warfare ministry? Did he tell them to continue the school
of Tyrannus? No! That is not what he meant by continuing ﾒhisﾓ ministry.
Paul is not concerned with what ministry they do. He knows that God
might call them to do something totally different tomorrow. Instead
Paul is concerned with how the serve the Lord. Paul is concerned with
the attitudes of the heart.
Let me share with you three attitudes that characterized Paulﾕs ministry
and are crucial to ours. Humility, Openness, and Boldness.
Paul ﾒserved the Lord with all humility,ﾓ (Acts 20:19) Humility is the
ability to see yourself correctly. Many people think that humility means
that you are always thinking that you are worthless, or the worst, or
inferior to everyone else. But this is not what the Bible teaches. True
humility is when you realize who you are in the sight of God. Usually
this involves a process of being broken. For Paul this happened on the
road to Damascus. When the light of God shone down on him and took away
from him his natural sight, it also let him see how wrong and sinful
he really was. Paul realized how much he needed God, and how far away
from God he was. There is no better picture of brokenness in the Bible
than that of proud Paul, who had come to Damascus for the purpose of
leading away Christians captive, instead being lead by the hand into
the city, a captive of Jesus Christ.
But humility does not end in brokenness. Like Paul we are broken in
order that God can reshape us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ.
I find that many people in Japan have been taught so much about brokenness
that they cannot be humble. They are too afraid to be humble. They are
so far down in their own self-esteem already that any more would lead
to depression. What we have to do is not only be broken but reshaped
by God. Because we are broken, we can accept Godﾕs shaping in our lives.
And as God shapes us we begin to see how precious we are in His sight.
We start to see how His plan has been working in us from the very beginning.
We realize His forgiveness, mercy and love that is unfailing even when
we make mistakes. Paul could count himself as a slave for God, doing
anything no matter how lowly, not because he felt inferior to others,
but because he was confident in the love of God for him. Our human reaction,
when we feel inferior to others is to try to make ourselves look good
and others look bad. This is the exact opposite of humility. Paul, knowing
his own sin, but resting on the unfailing grace of God, could forget
about himself and concentrate on building others up.
ﾒwith many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of
the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful. Openness was the
second main attitude that Paul had in ministry. He kept back nothing
that was helpful. Even the tears and trials! He showed it all to these
men. They had gone through it with him and saw each thing that he was
going through.
This is so important as we try to build each other up in Christ. You
see most people assume that everybody else is doing allright and they
are the only ones who donﾕt know what is going on. We all tend to think
that we are the only ones with problems. But in reality the same kinds
of things happen to all of us. God is knitting us together, and openness
is one of the best ways that He does this. You see, when you shares
a struggle that you are going through, three things happen. One, it
is no longer an individual problem but a community problem. Suddenly,
there are people who will pray with you, encourage you, and listen to
you. Two, as God answers prayer and you grow in faith, all the other
people you shared with also can grow in faith. Three, the people you
share with will be encouraged that other people have the same kind of
problems they they have, that they are not alone, or strange, or sinful,
or inferior.
Of course pastors often have a hard time showing their own struggles
and tears. I often think if people really knew what I struggle with
they wouldnﾕt respect me anymore. Or that they would realize how much
of a sinner I am, how weak my faith is, how little I really know about
God. And then God reminds me that they need to see all of these things
and His grace, so that they can also depend on Godﾕs grace and not me.
ﾒbut taught you publicly and from house to houseﾓ. The last attitude
that Paul had was Boldness. Even though there was opposition, Paul was
bold to preach the gospel. He taught publicly and from house to house.
He did not care what his enemies would do. He only cared that the gospel
would be preached. The key to boldness can be seen in Paulﾕs words ﾒBut
none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself,
so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received
from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.ﾓ
(Acts 20:24)
God has blessed the Wednesday night Bible study recently with a young
lady from Australia who is working with a group of young Australians
at an amusement park. She lives in a dormitory, and has been the only
Christian there. Two weeks ago we prayed that she might be able to find
a Christian friend, perhaps in the next group of Australians. But God
had someone else in mind. Danielle, excited about fellowshiping with
us on Wednesday, had her Bible out and was reading it when another girl
walked by and said, ﾒOh, I have one of those.ﾓ They got to talking and
now they are both coming to the Wednesday night meeting.
Paul was willing to risk his life and his freedom to do to the will
of God. But this young Australian girl is also learning about boldness.
Reading the Bible could have left her open to ridicule. Perhaps some
people will exclude her because she is not ﾒcoolﾓ, or she is a ﾒgoody-goodyﾓ.
But she does not care, because she has found joy that far outshines
anything that she might lose. She is bold to show that she is a Christian.
Humility; brokenness before God, but also resting in His grace. Openness
to share both trials and tears. And Boldness, counting the joy of our
relationship with Christ so precious that it more than compensates us
for anything else we might lose. Whatever ministry you have, whether
it involves preaching salvation to the lost, or sharing your faith with
a friend, this is the kind of ministry we want.
---
Last week we studied Paulﾕs parting words to the elders of the church at Ephesus. We learned that he did not want them to copy the form of his ministry, but to imitate his heart. Especially we saw that Paulﾕs ministry was based on three heart attitudes, Humility, Openness, and Boldness. I would like to spend two more weeks on these last words of Paul to the Ephesians, concentrating this week on two values that shaped Paulﾕs ministry.
ﾒAnd indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20:25-28)
Just as for a person it is important to know the answer
to the question, "Who am I?", it is also important for the
church. Many churches and pastors are confused about this simple question.
"Who are we?" Back in the United States there is now a whole
profession of ministry called, "Church Consultants" who are
hired by large churches to help them figure out their identity. The
question they are asking is "Who are we?"
There are quite a few answers that one might get from this question.
"We are Pastor so and so's church", "We are the downtown
Presbyterian church", "We are a Spirit-filled church for young
people", "We are a traditional bible teaching church."
The list goes on and on. But do be careful! Because this is not who
the church is but what it does. I could describe our church to you in
a number of different ways. I could say that we are a Calvary Chapel
affiliate in Tokyo, that we love as Jesus loves and teach the Word of
God, that we are a multi-pastor, multi-congregation church, that we
are an international, bilingual church. But none of this is who we are,
it is what we are, what we do.
You see no matter what we do, what kinds of ministry we are involved
in, what denomination we are affiliated with, who preaches on Sunday
morning, there is only one answer to the question, "Who are we?"
WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST. For as Paul told the Ephesians, God has purchased
us with His blood. We are not our own, we are His.
Everything Paul did flowed out of this understanding of the church.
Paul could leave the church in Ephesus, because he knew that it was
not his ministry, it was not his church. It was God's church, purchased
by His blood.
In our passage today, Paul compares the church with a
flock of sheep, which God has purchased. And he calls the elders, leaders
of the church, overseers. They are caretakers of the sheep. Another
word he uses here is "shepherd" Of course this is what the
pastor of a church does, and why in Japanese the very word for Pastor,
(bokushi) means a "shepherd". Now folks, shepherding is not
a very glamorous job. It doesn't pay well, the hours are not very good,
and there is not much room for advancement. And besides, most shepherds,
are not even tending their own sheep, but somebody elses.
Paul was not saying to these men, work hard and build a big beautiful
church. He told them to shepherd the flock. Look with me for a little
bit at the character of Moses in the Old Testament. You remember Moses,
brought up in the house of Pharaoh, raised to be a prince, mighty in
word and deed. And yet he remembered that he was a Hebrew, and when
the time came he tried to protect his people from the Egyptians. But
Moses who up until this time had always gotten everything he wanted,
who had been obeyed by everyone, found himself running away into the
desert. Hiding from the Egyptians in the household of Jethro the Midianite.
And for forty years Moses took care of sheep in the wilderness. Proud
Moses, full of ability, mighty of word and deed, taking care of another
man's sheep. And Moses was so changed by the experience that he was
considered the most humble man on the face of the earth. You see God
was preparing Moses for a much bigger shepherding job. That of leading
a rebellious and stubborn flock of Israelites to the promised land.
Many of God's greatest leaders seem to have spent time with other people's
sheep. Of course you remember David. Watching his fathers flocks, defending
them from lions with his sling. There is something about being a shepherd
that is exactly like leading God's people, and so God used it often
as a training school for ministry. Let me share with you a couple of
thoughts on how pastoring and shepherding are similar.
Imagine with me that you are Moses or David, watching over the flock
and sure enough one or two of the sheep go astray. Every day the same
thing, 99 doing just fine, and 1 who just has to get lost or in trouble.
Now you might think to yourself, "I have got 99 good sheep here,
why put up with all the trouble that this one is giving me?" It
is starting to rain, its already dark, I'm tired, so what if I lose
this one sheep? In fact if this one doesn't come back, tomorrow will
be much easier, because this one is the troublemaker! But no, you put
your coat back on and go back out in the rain to search for that lousy
sheep. Why? Because, if you don't the sheep's owner will come tomorrow,
saying, "Hey, didn't we have 100 sheep?"
I really love this church because most of the time everything runs so
smoothly. But I have to admit, that even though the 99 are doing fine,
there is always someone who is getting into trouble. (Now everyone is
looking around to see who the troublemaker is, and some are thinking
that I am talking about them!) Actually, it is always somebody different,
but always somebody. And I must say that sometimes I am tempted to think,
"Gee, wouldn't this be a much nicer church if that person wasn't
here." But just like the shepherd, I don't get to choose my sheep.
They are placed under my care, by the owner. And if I do not shepherd
them, God will someday say to me, "Didn't I send you 100 sheep
who I purchased with my blood?"
Jesus said to Peter, a fisherman by trade, "Do you
love me?" "Yes Lord, I love You". "Feed my sheep".
Jesus didn't say to Peter, "Catch my fish." He said "Feed
my sheep." Jesus meant this, "Peter I am going to place precious
people into your care, tend them, feed them. They are not your sheep,
they are mine. I have purchased them with my blood on the cross. They
are not yours, but if you love me, take care of them for me."
My desire is for this church to grow, both in numbers and in relationship
with Christ. I hope that God will continue to expand our territory,
and that we can shine the light of the gospel into all of Japan. But
I am not called to catch fish, rather I am a shepherd, called to feed
sheep. When I returned from America, the International service was only
about 6 or 7 people on Sunday morning. Michael and Dore, Bob and Sachiko,
and Prince remember those times. And I was quite depressed about it
for a while, as I would write a great sermon and nobody would show up
to hear it. I would write evangelistic messages to preach to 6 committed
Christians. But then I received a word from the Lord that encouraged
me greatly. You see I thought that I must be doing something wrong.
I thought that the reason why we were so small was because I was not
a good preacher. But God told me, "No, the reason why you have
6 sheep, is because I love you!" Any more than 6 would of been
too much for me to handle. It suddenly dawned on me that it was God's
decision how many people he placed under my care, and that He would
always bring exactly the right number of people that was perfect for
me. God will build His church, God will bring revival in His time. My
job is to feed the sheep that He has placed under my care.
So how do I feed sheep? What is the food that Christians
grow on best? Our food is the Word of God, the Bible. Jesus said, "Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God." I feed sheep by teaching you the Word.
Paul said to the Ephesians, "I have not shunned to declare to you
the whole counsel of God." I have shared with you many times that
our philosophy as a church is to Love and Jesus Loves and Teach the
Word of God. The second half, teaching the word of God comes straight
from these words of Paul. The very best way for you to grow in Christ,
to grow together in love, to be healthy well fed Christians is for me
to teach you the "whole counsel of God."
What do we mean by the whole counsel of God? The Whole Bible. Many pastors
teach from the Bible, picking a passage here and there to support their
point. But what we try to do is teach the Bible, chapter by chapter,
line upon line. So you get the whole story. And if you spend time with
this kind of teaching, you start to understand the heart of God. You
see a preacher can pick a passage out of Ezekiel and give you the impression
that God is angry with you. Or a preacher can pick from the letters
of John and make it sound like God loves the world so much that there
could never be judgement or punishment for sin. But when you look at
the "whole counsel of God", you start to see that God loves
sinners but hates the sin. That He loves us so much that He cannot bear
to see the terrible effects that sin will have on us.
Really, teaching the whole counsel of God, also springs out of the truth
that God has purchased us. Because I am tending God's sheep, not my
own, I do not have the right to teach you my ideas, and my opinions.
I don't have the right to counsel you with what I think is the right
way. I must teach you God's way, God's word, the whole counsel of God.
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner |