2-22-2025          Confirming souls

 

Acts 14:1-40, Acts 15:36-41

Acts 14

Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium and preached there. Unbelieving Jews stirred up the Greeks there and they would have stoned Paul, but he and Barnabas fled to Lystra and Derbe which were in the province of Lycaonia. Here, through Paul’s ministry a lame man in Lystra was healed and the people called Paul and Barnabas gods but Paul used this situation to preach Jesus.  Certain Jews came up from Antioch who caused an uproar over Paul’s teaching which resulted in the stoning of Paul.  They presumed he was dead and threw his body outside the city.  The next day, Paul stood up in the midst of the disciples and then he and Barnabas went and preached in Derbe.

There in Derbe), Paul preached the gospel and taught many and then returned to Lystra and Antioch.  There, he confirmed the souls of the disciples and exhorted them to continue in the faith with the understanding that they would experience difficulties.  Then he ordained elders in every church, prayed and fasted and commended them to the lord, on those who believed (v 22–23).

Then they went to Pamphylia via Pisidia and preached the word from Perga to Atalia.  They returned to Antioch where they shared the work which God had done and opened the door to the Gentiles.         

Acts 15:36-41

After many days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Lets go back to the cities we have been to and see how they are doing”.  There was contention about taking John Mark with them so Paul took Silas and Barnabas took Mark and they parted company. The brothers commended Paul Silas to God’s grace and they went to Syria and Cilicia confirming souls (also Acts 18:22-23).

Take note that Paul was in Corinth about a year and a half (Acts 18:11) and was in Ephesus for about two years (Acts 19:10).  In other words, he didn’t just preach and go but he spent some time in the areas he visited teaching the people and building a foundation for life.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Paul took time to assure tht people understood as he preached and revisited those who had been converted through his ministry and assuring they had leaders to carry on the work.  Paul was concerned about their welfare so he returned to verify their love for Jesus.  Some of the churches did stray after Paul had left, even of those he revisited.  Even when he was unable to return personally, he found himself writing letters to get souls back on track.  

Ministry is not ‘just’ getting souls ‘saved’, but getting them grounded in the faith as well. 

Paul has given an example for us non-Jewish believers (Gentiles).  Paul left the people with a foundation for their belief and a structure to encourage continuing growth in faith.  Yes, structure is important, but structure without true faith is incomplete.  And that structure should assure continuing growth in the love of God.  Working with new Christians helps them develop a reasonable level of Spiritual maturity and that they are in a place where they can receive mature, Spiritual guidance for Spiritual growth from other brothers as well as the Lord. 

We are a people of faith.  We believe that our Lord Jesus has provided us the way to eternal fellowship with the Father (Rom. 10:9).  We believe that the Holy Ghost is in us (1 Corinth. 3:16).  We believe that we should abide in God’s love (1 John 4:16).  So to please God, we know that we need to learn how to abide in His love.  If we don’t believe God is, how can we abide in His love (Heb. 11:6)?  Jesus defines God’s love as “Hear (listen up!), the Lord our God is one Lord and you should love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is like it “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31).  The Law, the prophets and everything since then hangs on these two commandments (Matt. 22:40), from Genesis to Revelation.  These 66 books (73 if you’re Catholic) describe how God loves us and how we should love Him in return.  Many examples of good and bad are given throughout the scriptures for our benefit.  Yes, we see examples of what not to do as well as what we should be doing.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26) and yet works without faith is just an empty shell (Matt. 6:1-8).  We show our faith in the Lord by doing His good works in what we say and do.  We know the cliché “actions speak louder than words”?  So, our actions and our words should always be in agreement.  There are many organizations and groups that advocate mentorship, discipleship and Spiritual growth and these are good.  They advocate learning how to walk closer with our Lord, but are these concepts working as they should in today’s churches? 

Read the scriptures and we see the terms “shall be saved” (Acts, 2:38, Rom. 10:13).  Jesus clarifies this by saying “Not everyone that says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father (Matt. 7:21).  As we grow in God’s love, our Spiritual growth is assured which reassures (in our heart) entrance into heaven (eternal life).

Confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior is just the first step but as we abide in God’s love, the Holy Ghost confirms that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16).  Are we listening to the Holy Ghost?  As examples for us, Paul encountered twelve men in Ephesus.  As he talked with them, he realized that they had never been baptized in the Holy Ghost and Paul laid hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:1-7).  Cornelius and his household received he baptism of the Holy Ghost as Peter preached to them (Acts 10:44-48).  The Holy Ghost gives us the power to live and do what we need to do (Acts 1:8, Acts 3:12-16, Phil. 4:13). As He abides in us (John 14:16), He leads us into all truth and understanding (John 16:13).  As we continue to grow, this helps us to help others grow in the Spirit so we all can receive greater doses of God’s love and mature therein.

We help others to grow in the Lord and as we are confirmed, we grow in love and in the Spirit.  As we grow, we learn to recognize Father’s love for ourselves and move into a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior.  Reassurance of our relationship with Father comes from the Holy Ghost and others.

Paul made effort to reconfirm souls to assure that they were on the right track and be part of God’s heavenly kingdom.  How is this being done in today’s church? 

As Paul followed Jesus, are we following his example?

Amen

 

 2-8-2025    Follow ME

 

John 21:20-22

Jesus had just challenge Peter on his love.  He also described to Peter what type of death he should suffer (John 21:15-18).  Then this happened:

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who laid his head upon Jesus’ chest and asked who would betray Him.  Then Peter said to Jesus “”Lord, what shall this man do?”   Jesus answered “If I desire him to still be here when I return, what concern is that of yours?” 

What concern is that of ‘ours’?  Man has pride and at times, it’s is difficult to understand that someone might get something better than us.  Living our lives for Jesus is hard enough rather than to be worried about benefits another might receive.

When I was working FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the Generic Drug’s document room OGD), as a file clerk, I became disgruntled at the different complexity of the documents I daily processed.  So I complained to the Lord.  I was also comparing myself with my three other coworkers in the document room   After all my griping, Father spoke to my heart and said “Give Me the job!”  I thought for a few seconds and then said “OK, it’s yours”.  Nothing happened, that l could tell, immediately.  But after a while I found myself ‘getting ‘into’ and truly enjoying my work.  It was no longer my problem how others were performing their duties, but I started doing my job the way intended and looking forward to the next challenge.  I was no longer considering the difficulty of a document but rather ID’d, coded and forwarded the document to the appropriate reviewers.  Then to process and file outgoing FDA letters, with the appropriate application.  I no longer was concerned about how difficult my job may be nor comparing myself with my fellow employees.  I just did my job, to the best of my ability.  It paid off!  After a few years, the position was upgraded two government grade levels.  A few years after that, we were bumped another two GS grade levels.  I moved from OGD to CDER (Center for Drug Evaluation) doc rooms which had responsibility over sixteen different drug review divisions plus OGD.  Now, my job became a liaison, training contractors to do what I had been doing in OGD. A total of 17 doc rooms and this produced another two level grade hike.  Without college education, I had received four pay hikes, which include a total of seven grade levels.  And my last two years I was promoted to a position over all the CDER doc rooms, my final pay hike.  I had moved up eight grade levels by retirement.  And I remind you, this started first by giving my job to the Lord, then not being concerned about others and how they were performing, but doing my job, always to the best of my ability.  Though I was doing tasks for the federal government, I worked for Jesus!  I was following my Savior’s example (John 13:15).  Though I had been saved for many years already, this was all a part of my beginning to truly follow Jesus.

Now let’s take a quick look at a few people whom other people have followed.

Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC)  Was a great Roman general and became dictator of Rome in 49 BC, a decorated soldier and influential politician.  He was murdered, while still in office, a man took his life with a knife in 44 BC.  Yes, he had many opponents, but he also ruled the Roman Empire for five years (Wikki)! Do we think he had any followers?

Adolph Hitler (1889 - 1945)  Was the leader of the Nazi Party (1920-1921) and becoming chancellor (Kanzler) and Fuhrer of Germany from (1933-1945).  His worldview revolved around two concepts: territorial expansion and racial supremacy (Britannica).  Hitler committed suicide as Russian troops were chasing him down after the war.  Yet, do we think Hitler had a following?

Jim Jones (1931-1978)   In 1954 formed an independent Pentecostal church in Indianapolis. His format was a blend of Christianity and socialism (a blend of Marxism and Communism) referred to as apostolic socialism.  He eventually moved operations to Jonestown, Guyana (1977) where he, along with 900 people committed mass suicide via poison.  Over 900 people followed Jones into the grave.  Do you think that they followed him.

When we accept Jesus into our heart, how do we view Pastors or other preachers.  Are we able to separate the message from the messenger?  I’ve personally encountered too many people who have admired a pastor so much, they practically moved that pastor to the place of or above God.  That is to say  that if there was a discrepancy between what the pastor said and what the bible actually said – the bible was considered wrong.  Not citing specific examples, but this is something to think about.  Do we actually know who we are following?  Who actually has the final say in God’s truth?  God or man?  When a pastor becomes the ultimate of a person’s Christianity, who are people worshipping, Jesus Christ or the pastor?  It has happened.  Do we think that pastor had a following?

What about entertainers?  Actors, actresses, singers, etc., etc. Like Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Beyonce, Taylor Swift or how many other music and cinema icons are there over whom  people have gone “totally gaga”?  Have these entertainers become their idol, the one they want to be like or follow, or to even be desired by them – at all cost?  We follow them because we respect, admire or even ‘love’ them.  So do we think that people have followed them?

There are more examples, but these are not whom we are talking about.

As Christians, our desire should be to be like, or follow Jesus.

Jesus says “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  So what are Jesus’ commandments?  One Word, two parts ‘, LOVE.  We should love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and then love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).  One might ask “What about the Ten Commandments?”  just what are the 10 Commandments (Exod. 20:3-17?  Read them.  They are a very basic description of how we can show how much we do love God.  We should never forget who He is.  Mean what we say and say what we mean when we back it up with His name.  Set time aside for Him.  Our parents have been given authority over us so we should listen to (honor) them.  We trust they are giving us the right direction.  They also tell us not to take the Lord’s name in vain, not to kill, steal, cheat on our spouse, lie or desire the things that our neighbor has in his possession.  Understand, the 10 Commandments not only have a physical understanding, they tell us ‘what to do’.  But there is also a spiritual aspect in our relationship with our heavenly Father.  How do we treat Him?  When we are tempted and make the decision to do so, we have sinned (James 1:14-15).  Even though we may not have physically done it, because we have decided to it, we have sinned in our heart and stand guilty.  For Christians, not only are our deeds counted but also are our intentions.   Our thoughts as well as our actions have to be lined up together as we follow Jesus! 

A few more quick things to consider:

Matthew chapter seven cautions us not to be too quick to judge the actions of others (Matt. 7:1-5).  Matthew goes on, but get started with these verses.  We should have compassion and be willing to give direction to those whom we encounter.  consider Jesus and the woman who was about to be stoned for adultery (John 8:4-11).  Jesus’ final words to her were “Where are your accusers?  Has no man condemned you?  Neither do I, go and sin no more.”  Jesus did not condemn the woman to death but gave her an opportunity for life.

Jesus gives us an example of how to treat people and why. Jesus said to give others food, drink, clothing, visit him when he us sick or in prison.  As we do anything for the least in the kingdom of God, we are doing it to Jesus (Matt. 25:33-40).  In the example of my job, I ended up working for Jesus, not the federal government -  even though I was still working under supervisors and in a federal building and was paid by FDA.   Need I say that Father rewarded me through that which was around me.  I could go on with even more examples but let’s finish with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.  As these qualities are evident in us, they are evidence that we have crucified our own desires and follow the Holy Spirit (GaL. 5:22-26).  That is, we are not concerned about just pleasing ourselves but are genuinely concerned about those around us and how we can help build them up (1 Corinth. 14:1-19).   Even so, we don’t neglect ourselves.  Jude tells us to build our faith by praying in the Holy Ghost, abide in God’s love, looking forward to eternal life (v 20-21). 

Are we are reflecting the love Father has for us, to the world around us.

So, whose image do we reflect?  The world’s?  Or Jesus’?  Who do we follow? 

 

Amen