You Are Special

Read the Scripture: Jeremiah 1:1-5

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "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." Jeremiah 1:4-5"

Is it not remarkable that when God began to talk to this young man and send him to his ministry, the first thing he did was to sit down and share with him that, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Is not that what he is saying? This is the preparation of God. The remarkable thing is that this preparation began long before Jeremiah was even conceived. In other words, God said, "I started getting you ready, and the world ready for you, long before you were born. I worked through your father and your mother, your grandfathers and grandmothers, your great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers. For generations back I have been preparing you." What a remarkable revelation to this young man — that through the generations of the past God had begun to work!

When people face a crisis, they always start looking for a program, some method with which to attack the crisis. When God sets out to solve a crisis, he almost always starts with a baby. All the babies God sends into the world, who look so innocent and so helpless — and so useless — at their birth, have enormous potential. There is nothing very impressive in appearance about a baby, but that is God's way of changing the world. That is what God said to Jeremiah: "I've been working before you were born to prepare you to be a prophet, working through your father and your mother, and those who were before them."

Paul's Mistake

Text: Acts 21:1-16

“As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: "In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentile’(Acts 21:9-11)”

This is a rather painful scene. At Caesarea they came into the home of Philip the evangelist. There Agabus, a prophet of the Lord, in a dramatic, visual way, took Paul's sash from around his waist and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, Paul. If you go on to Jerusalem, this is what will happen to you. You'll be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. They will bind you, and you'll be a prisoner."

This was the last effort made by the Holy Spirit to awaken the apostle to what he was doing. Agabus was joined in this by the whole body of believers. The whole family present urged him not to go, Luke included. We read in verse 12, "When we had heard this, we and the local residents begged him not to go up to Jerusalem." So even his close associates recognized the voice of the Spirit, to which the apostle seemed strangely deaf. He refused to listen.

And in Paul's reply to them we can detect that, without quite realizing what has happened, he has succumbed to what today we call a "martyr complex." Paul said in verse 13, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." These words are brave and sincere and earnest. He meant every word of them. We can find no fault with the bravery and courage expressed in those words. But it was not necessary for him to go, and the Spirit had told him not to go.

Here we see what can happen to a man of God when he is misled by an urgent hunger to accomplish a goal which God has not given him to do. The flesh had deceived Paul and evidently he saw himself as doing what the Lord did in his final journey up to Jerusalem. The Gospel accounts say that Jesus steadfastly set his face to go there, determined to go against all the pleading and the warnings of his own disciples. Paul must have seen himself in that role. But Jesus had the Spirit's witness within that this was the will of the Father for him, while Paul had exactly the opposite. The Spirit had made crystal clear that he was not to go to Jerusalem.

When Paul refused to be persuaded his friends said, "Well, may the will of the Lord be done." That is what you say when you do not know what else to say. That is what you pray when you do not know how else to act. They are simply saying, "Lord, it is up to you. We can't stop this man. He has a strong will and a mighty determination, and he's deluded into thinking that this is what you want. Therefore, you will have to handle it. May the will of the Lord be done."

“Father, thank you for recording so faithfully even this failure by the apostle. It is so helpful in letting me see how I must rely not upon the arm of the flesh but upon the arm of the Spirit. Teach me to walk in obedience, Lord, and not to venture out upon that which would be merely the fulfillment of a great desire on my part.”

Copyright | Ray Stedman Ministries| www.raystedman.org

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Christianity Is Dangerous

Read the Scripture: Acts 19:21-20:1

"After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. Acts 20:1"

The martyrdom of Stephen

Paul is eager to explain to the Christians this whole uproarious riot that had just taken place in Ephesus. There is something about it he does not want them to miss, so he calls them together and exhorts them before he leaves. Luke does not tell us what that exhortation consisted of, but I believe that Paul does. There is a passage in his second letter to the Corinthians which refers to this very occasion. In 2 Corinthians 1:8 Paul says, For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself (2 Cor. 1:8 RSV).

Put yourself back with the apostle into the midst of this tremendous uproar. It had appeared for a while that the gospel had so triumphed in Ephesus that Paul could think of leaving and going on to other places. Then this riot suddenly occurred, seeming to threaten the entire cause of Christ, and putting the Christians in great danger. Paul is crushed and distressed. His life is in danger. This crowd is so wild, so uncontrollable that for a few hours it looks as though they might just sweep through the city and wipe out every Christian in Ephesus. Paul says, ...we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death... (2 Cor. 1:8b-9a RSV) He could not see any way out. It looked as if he had reached the end of the road. But God had a purpose: ...but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Cor. 1:9b RSV)

That is the very heart of the Christian message, as Paul will go on to explain in this letter.Our sufficiency is not of ourselves, he says (2 Cor. 3:5). His explanation to these young converts in Ephesus was unquestionably along this line. He was saying to them, God has sent this event, has allowed it to happen to teach us that he is able to handle things when they get far beyond any human control. When our circumstances get way out of order, far beyond our own resources, God is able. He has taught us this so that we will not rely on ourselves but upon him who raises the dead, who works in us to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

What an awareness this apostle had of the fantastic strength of the body of Christ working together, praying together, supporting one another, upholding each other in prayer and thus calling into action the mighty power of the God of resurrection, who can work through the most unexpected instruments to quiet a situation, to hold a crowd in restraint, to stop the surging emotionalism of people whose reasoning has been short-circuited, to hold them within limits and bounds, and to bring the whole affair to nothing! This is the might of our God.

This is what we can learn from this situation, as we too come into times of danger and pressure and trouble. The difficulties which strike suddenly in our lives, the pressures through which we must go, the sudden catastrophes that come roaring in out of the blue — these are sent so that we might rely not on ourselves but on God.

"Thank you, Father, for those trials and difficulties you bring into my life which teach me to depend not on myself but on you."

Copyright | by Ray Stedman Ministries | www.RayStedman.org

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The Radical Word Of Justification

Read the Scripture: Acts 13:32-39

"Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39"

Paul makes a shattering statement in this message in Pisidian Antioch. Here were people who thought the Ten Commandments were the greatest word that God had ever given to men. They were trying their best to live up to them. They thought that the way to God was to obey the Ten Commandments — to do good. But now Paul comes to declare to them that they will never find acceptance by God in that way.

Rather, Paul tells them, God has found a way to accept us even though we cannot be good enough in ourselves, and that way is through Jesus Christ. This shook these people. They had never heard anything like this before! This is the first occasion where we have record of Paul's using that great word which is so frequent in the book of Romans, justification by faith.

What does it mean to be justified? Most people think it means to have your sins forgiven. It does mean that, but it means more than that. Justification means to have your sins forgiven in such a way that God's honor and integrity are preserved by it. I served in the Navy for two years and then was honorably discharged. When I was discharged it meant that I was separated from the Navy. They were through with me, and I was through with them. But what I liked about it was the word honorable. It was an honorable discharge. I could freely show my discharge papers to anyone. There was no blot on my discharge. But I knew certain men in the Navy who were dishonorably discharged. They were just as separate from the Navy as was I. The Navy was just as through with them as it was with me. But, there was a blot on their discharge, a stain on it. They did not like to show their discharge papers to anyone.

So what Paul is really saying here is that — if you merely had your sins forgiven, if God forgave in the way that most people think he does: i.e., you just come to him, and he is such a loving God that he says, Oh, forget about it, that's all right, don't worry about it; you're such a great fellow and I love you so much that I'm just going to ignore it — if that were the case, then God's honor would be impugned. His character would be defiled by that kind of forgiveness. He could no longer be regarded as the God of justice and truth; he would be a partaker in my sins and yours. But God has found a way, through Jesus, to lay the guilt of our life and heart upon his own Son. Thus he can preserve his honor and character and integrity while at the same time he is rendered free to show his whole love to us. That is justification. Because of the cross, nobody will ever be able to point to God and say, Oh, you let people off who are guilty! In the cross of Jesus, God poured out all his justice upon him. And in that cross, in the agony and the anguish of it, the world can see a picture of how faithfully God does obey his own laws. And yet, the wonder of it is that, because of it, God's love is freed to be poured out to us.

"Father, my heart is stirred as I think of the mercy that you show to me, this marvelous justification by which all that has lain heavily upon my conscience has been washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. How wonderful this is, Lord; teach me never to forget that I have been justified."

Copyright | by Ray Stedman Ministries | www.RayStedman.org

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The Power Of Obedience

Read the Scripture: Acts 14:1-10

"In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, Stand up on your feet!At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. Acts 14:8-10"

Notice the amazing way God began to open up this city. Paul and Barnabas had no idea what they were going to do. They did not form a committee and say, Well, let's see if we can get the Chamber of Commerce report on the city's population distribution. Then we could divide it into squares and evangelize in a systematic way. They had no plans other than to be there and to do what God sent them to do — to preach. So they walked right into the market place and began, trusting the Lord to have prepared certain people, to have people of his choosing ready to open the door to the city.

As they proclaimed the gospel that is what happened. As Paul was preaching — probably for several days in a row — sitting in the marketplace was a man who had been lame from his birth, who had never walked. He was evidently well-known throughout the city, having been there all his life. He heard what Paul said, and believed what Paul declared about the power of Jesus, the mighty Son of God. Paul looked at him and saw in that man's eyes the faith to believe. Suddenly, unquestionably led of the Spirit, he said to him, Stand up on your feet. And the lame man, though he had never walked in his life, made the effort to obey. He had faith enough to try, and the moment he began to obey, the power to obey was given.

That is exactly the way the Christian life works. It does not make any difference whether the problem is physical, emotional, or spiritual; you are going to be held in its bondage until you begin to obey the Word of God about it. When you make the effort to obey, God will set you free. But he will never move until you obey. That is the way faith works.

Most people are kept from seeing God at work in their lives because they keep waiting for God to do something, in order for them to believe. No, he has already done all that he is going to do in advance. When you believe what he says, then he will give you the power to be free. This miracle is a mighty parable of the many who have been spiritually lame, unable to take a step toward God, but who have been set free to do so by the gospel. It cracked the city wide open. The whole populace immediately took note of Paul and Barnabas in their midst.

"Father, like the apostles, help me to trust in a living God who is changing people's hearts and delivering their minds from the grip and power of the evil one. Help me to rejoice as I, too, see the power of obedience to the Word of God in my own life."

Copyright | by Ray Stedman Ministries. | www.RayStedman.org

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