public demonstration of the victory

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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public demonstration of the victory

Acts 19:8-22 (JDV)

Acts 19:8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke openly over a period of three months, making speeches and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
Acts 19:9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and making speeches every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Acts 19:10 This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
Acts 19:11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,
Acts 19:12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil breaths came out of them.
Acts 19:13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil breaths, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”
Acts 19:14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
Acts 19:15 The evil breath reacted to them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul – but who are you?”
Acts 19:16 Then the man who had the evil breath jumped on them, overpowered them all, and outstrengthened them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:17 When this became known to everyone who resided in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
Acts 19:18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,
Acts 19:19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver coins.
Acts 19:20 In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.
Acts 19:21 After these events, Paul resolved by the Breath to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”
Acts 19:22 After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

public demonstration of the victory

Another long term ministry is described here. Its results were that the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed. It flourished in that it both took root in people’s hearts, and produced fruit in the form of healthy disciples. It prevailed in the sense that its opponents (for example, the seven sons of Sceva) were shone to be impostors, without the power to heal or deliver from demons. The bonfire of the vanities that took place at Ephesus was a public demonstration of the victory of the gospel over the superstition that had prevailed before the gospel came.

When we are about the task of winning people to Christ, we cannot neglect those who are deeply committed to another belief system. God’s design is for his word to prevail, which means that we can expect conflict with those who are committed to another word. God wants his word to have the victory.

Lord, we welcome the conflict that will come when we dare proclaim your truth, because it must prevail.

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graduation in Ephesus

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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graduation in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-7 (JDV)

Acts 19:1 It so happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples
Acts 19:2 and asked them, “Did you take the Sacred Breath when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Sacred Breath.”
Acts 19:3 “Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them. “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.
Acts 19:4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism signifying repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
Acts 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Sacred Breath came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy.
Acts 19:7 Now there were about twelve men in all.

graduation in Ephesus

Were these twelve men missing out because they didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit? I don’t think so. They had simply failed to appropriate a gift they had already been given. They had not yet taken (λαμβάνω) the power behind their belief, just as the disciples of Christ had at one point not yet taken up (λαμβάνω) their cross and followed him (Matthew 10:38). There was a graduation that happened on the day these twelve believers in Ephesus were re-baptized into the name of Christ, and began their missionary work for him. They began to speak in other languages — not the languages of angels, but the languages of the people of Ephesus who God was calling them to reach with the gospel. Like Apollos in yesterday’s text, these men were almost ready for a fantastic ministry. They just needed one gentle nudge from another believer — a challenge to graduate to ministry in Christ’s name.

Lord, make us aware of those around us who are ready to serve you.

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adjustable Apollos

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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adjustable Apollos

Acts 18:24-28 (JDV)

Acts 18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, a rhetorically skilled man who was competent in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.
Acts 18:25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in breath, he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism.
Acts 18:26 He began to speak openly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.
Acts 18:27 When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote to the disciples to welcome him. After he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.
Acts 18:28 You see, he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

adjustable Apollos

How I wish I had been there for that conversation, in which Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. He didn’t need more skill, and he knew the scriptures, and he was empowered and enthusiastic. But his explanation of the way of God just needed a touch more accuracy. Lots of us who preach long for that kind of something extra. Many are convinced they know what it is. I do not know what these two shared that day.

What I do know is this: if Apollos had not been willing to change, he would not have made the difference in Achaia that he did. If you want to be a competent discipler, you have to be willing to be discipled further, no matter what you already know. For every step in your journey, there will be appropriate training available.

Lord, give us a willingness to adjust so that we can be suited for our next mission.

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following God into the darkness

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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following God into the darkness

Acts 18:18-23 (JDV)

Acts 18:18 After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.
Acts 18:19 When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and made speeches for the Jews.
Acts 18:20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined,
Acts 18:21 but he said farewell and added, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wants me to.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Acts 18:22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the congregation, then went down to Antioch.
Acts 18:23 After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

following God into the darkness

Paul’s ministry at Corinth was a wonderful experience, but after his few years there, he found himself following God into the darkness again. He made brief visits to a number of places, but couldn’t commit to a long term ministry in any of them, even when invited. Why? He had to be certain that another long-term ministry was what God wanted. He had always relied on visions from God to plan his ministry. So, this phase of his life was going to be spent “traveling through one place after another.”

I have to admit, this word on this day is a very hard one for me. I find myself looking back on years in search of a new ministry, and longing for an invitation “to stay for a longer time.” God has been very good to me during this phase of my life. But I cannot really relate to Paul’s attitude here. It takes a certain strength to say no to such an invitation. I’m sure in Paul’s case that strength came from assurance that when the time is right, God would open the next door, and he would be sure.

Lord, build in us a confidence in you that supersedes our need for others.

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change from the norm

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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change from the norm

Acts 18:1-17 (JDV)

Acts 18:1 After these things happened, he left Athens and went to Corinth,
Acts 18:2 and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,
Acts 18:3 and since they were of the same occupation, tent-makers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.
Acts 18:4 He made speeches in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 18:6 When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 18:7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.
Acts 18:8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
Acts 18:9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.
Acts 18:10 In view of the fact that I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to abuse you, in view of the fact that I have many people in this city.”
Acts 18:11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.
Acts 18:12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made an attack with the same passion against Paul and brought him to the platform.
Acts 18:13 “This man,” they said, ” is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
Acts 18:14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of an evil crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.
Acts 18:15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”
Acts 18:16 So he drove them from the platform.
Acts 18:17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the platform, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.

change from the norm

For Paul and his missionary team, Corinth represented a change from the norm. The norm was rapidly forming a church, and then equally as rapid fleeing the persecution backlash by going on to another field. But here in Corinth, the Lord opened the door for Paul to settle into a new Job, which allowed him to stay put for a while. Previous visions from the Lord had prepared Paul for the next place he was to go. But the vision in Corinth encouraged him to keep spreading the word there.

Paul and his team were learning some things about God. They learned that God was not afraid of the persecution they were facing — that God knew how to make that persecution backfire, so that it resulted in more believers.

They also learned that the same God who gave them power to do mighty things short-term is also able to empower them for a successful long-term ministry. If God has many people in the city, he will open the door for those people to be converted and discipled.

Lord, you are the God of the long-term. Empower us for ministry where you want us. Enable us to trust you for that.

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judge and rewarder

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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judge and rewarder

Acts 17:16-34 (JDV)

Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his breath was disturbed when he observed that the city was full of idols.
Acts 17:17 So he made speeches in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
Acts 17:18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What does this seed picker want to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”– because he was telling the good news about Jesus and Resurrection.
Acts 17:19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?
Acts 17:20 Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”
Acts 17:21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
Acts 17:22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I observe that you are extremely religious in every respect.
Acts 17:23 You see, as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it – he is Lord of the sky and land – does not reside in handmade shrines.
Acts 17:25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.
Acts 17:26 From one man he has made every nationality to reside over the whole land and has determined their appointed periods and the boundaries of where they live.
Acts 17:27 He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Acts 17:28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
Acts 17:29 Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t figure that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
Acts 17:30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to seriously change their minds,
Acts 17:31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by getting him up from the dead.”
Acts 17:32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.”
Acts 17:33 So Paul left their presence.
Acts 17:34 However, some people stuck with him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

judge and rewarder

Some have suggested that this passage in Acts 17 is the first major text of the Bible establishing human immortality. A closer look at the text shows that Paul was conceding human mortality, not rejecting it. If all humans are already immortal, then how can Jesus’ resurrection prove anything? If we have immortality by nature, why insist that life and breath are gifts from God?

No, this passage does not prove we have immortal souls. But it does explain how we can gain immortality. By trusting our destinies to the man who is appointed as our judge, we can see life again, even after we die. Our judge is coming, and he has our reward with him (Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 22:12). That reward is immortality: the gift of permanent life.

Lord Jesus, we will wait for you. You are our appointed judge and rewarder.

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For the full article, see:

The seed picker speaks | Acts 17

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missions requires flexibility

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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missions requires flexibility

Acts 17:10-15 (JDV)

Acts 17:10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Acts 17:11 The people here were more upper-class than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the respectable Greek women as well as men.
Acts 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds.
Acts 17:14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.
Acts 17:15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

missions requires flexibility

Penny and I were on the mission field from 1996 to 2017, and we never got bored. We were constantly going new places and doing new things, because the mission’s requirements were always changing. When we read about the constant change that took place as the first Christian missionaries did their work, we can understand that.

In today’s text, the missionaries were first proclaiming the gospel through formal teaching at the synagogue. Then, they had to deal with the opponents from Thessalonica who came to cause trouble. Then, they split up, Paul going on to Athens, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Berea to strengthen the new converts.

Lord, give our missionaries the flexibility they need to stay committed to you, and stay focused on sharing the gospel, no matter how much their daily work changes.

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not always welcomed

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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not always welcomed

Acts 17:1-9 (JDV)

Acts 17:1 After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
Acts 17:2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days made speeches for them from the Scriptures,
Acts 17:3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to endure these things and to get up from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
Acts 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
Acts 17:5 But the Jews became envious, and they brought together some evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.
Acts 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,
Acts 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king– Jesus.”
Acts 17:8 The crowd and city officials who heard these things were agitated.
Acts 17:9 After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they let them go.

not always welcomed

A few years ago, our Bible College in the Philippines had gone into a distant village to share the gospel. We were invited to play a basketball game with the local village team, and the village graciously allowed one of our students to preach a message during half-time. We even had a few from the village who wanted to hear more after the game, and some who wanted to start a church. But there already was a Catholic church in the village, and the local priest was concerned about what we were doing. He asked to speak with the professors after the game.

This was a rather mild incident compared to what was experienced in Thessalonica. But it was a reminder for us of the cost of sharing the gospel — that it would not always be welcomed, no matter what our intentions.

Lord, give us the courage to share, regardless of the welcome we receive.

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aggravations

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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aggravations

Acts 16:16-40 (JDV)

Acts 16:16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a breath by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.
Acts 16:17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of rescue, are the slaves of the Most High God.”
Acts 16:18 She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the breath, he said, “I direct you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
Acts 16:19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
Acts 16:20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews
Acts 16:21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
Acts 16:22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
Acts 16:23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, directing the jailer to guard them carefully.
Acts 16:24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying praise songs to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Acts 16:26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 16:27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to take himself out, since he figured the prisoners had escaped.
Acts 16:28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”
Acts 16:29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be rescued?”
Acts 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be rescued – you and your household.”
Acts 16:32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house.
Acts 16:33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.
Acts 16:34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and was glad because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.
Acts 16:35 When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Let those men go.”
Acts 16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be let go. So come out now and go in peace.”
Acts 16:37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”
Acts 16:38 The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
Acts 16:39 So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town.
Acts 16:40 After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

aggravations

Luke’s account here reveals a very important emotion that Paul expresses. Paul is annoyed. You don’t hear a lot about this feeling on the mission field, but it is most certainly there.

  • Paul is annoyed by the constant distraction from this possessed slave girl.
  • Paul is annoyed by the injustice of being stripped and beaten and falsely imprisoned.
  • Paul is annoyed that the magistrates want the missionaries to leave quietly.

When we try to share the gospel in a new context, the devil will throw everything he has at us. This includes threats to our life, but it also includes thousands of mere annoyances than distract us from our mission.

Lord, give us the strength to endure all of the enemy’s attacks, from the full-on assaults to the petty aggravations.

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small beginnings

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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small beginnings

Acts 16:11-15 (JDV)

Acts 16:11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,
Acts 16:12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days.
Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we figured he would find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.
Acts 16:14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a purple goods merchant from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.
Acts 16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

small beginnings

If you are familiar with New Testament, you are already thinking that this city is going to be the one where Paul and Silas have their breakthrough. This is Philippi, where they are jailed and miraculously released, winning the jailer to Christ. But don’t go there so quickly. According today’s text, it was several days of nothing before they even got an audience. Then, it wasn’t a formal debate in a synagogue, but an informal gathering of women. Paul had to be wondering by this time if Philippi was going to be another miss.

There was no large group of influences outside the city gate by the river. Only one convert, a merchant woman. But the missionaries were right where God wanted them.

Lord, we are reminded today to never despise small beginnings.

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