Reasonable Service

Acts 26:9-11 – “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. 11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”

Paul standing before King Agrippa, tells the king his personal testimony of where he began and the change that took place in his life.

Something that amazes me about Paul is the extraordinary way in which he was able to overcome his past and be victorious in the present.

Today, Paul would have had to see counselor after counselor and probably would be on some sort of prescription drug to help him with the depression.

Read what he did to Christians in the verse above. He had them put into prison and helped in ensuring they were put to death.

What would you and I be doing if we had the past that Paul had? Would we be in a some state of constant depression? Would we live in the past and continue in defeat? The fact is none of us have a past like Paul yet we are constantly defeated by our past. How can we overcome and serve God in victory everyday?

Here are a couple of Bible principles?

1. Forget – This means to neglect. This is a conscious decision not to dwell on the past. If you neglect something for longing enough what happens? It dies. Example – A plant. If you neglect a plant by not watering it, it will eventually die. If you neglect your past by not watering/dwelling on it in your mind eventually you will kill the habit of dwelling on those bad memories.

Notice what Paul said “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13) Paul had a lot of baggage to forget.

2. Cast down – This means to demolish.

II Cor 10:5 - “Casting downimaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

Paul was not just giving some advice on something he knew nothing of and had never had to exercise himself. No, Paul had a past that would have destroyed any future life he had in Christ if he had not cast down the thoughts that were against what God said.

What does this mean? It means you and I need to know what God says about us and live in that knowledge not in what our past or what people may say about us. This is the only way to live in victory.

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
— Earl Nightingale, Motivational Speaker and Author

Here are a few principles Dale Carnegie gives on being a leader:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation
2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders
5. Let the other person save face
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every moment. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Acts 24:5 – “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:”

As I read through this chapter this morning three words jumped off the page at met:

Tertullus, a spokesman for the Jews, came a down to Cæsarea to bring accusations against Paul and used three powerful words to describe Paul:

First He called Paul a pestilent. Paul was like a disease or infection in every city he entered. One thing was for sure when Paul went into a town the people were going to be exposed to a “disease” that would give them new life. Paul was highly infected and highly contagious and he did his best to spread the disease!!!

Secondly we see that Tertullus called Paul a mover. Things were not going to sit stagnant, dormant and unshaken when Paul was around. He was like an earthquake that shook entire cities through the power of God that worked through him.

Thirdly Paul was accused of sedition. Paul didn’t mix or waterdown the message he brought to the table. He preached the untainted Gospel of Jesus Christ and it caused division. It caused uprisings. People were either furious (and many were) or people repented and a change took place in their lives.

How do people describe you and I? Did we receive the same grace Paul received? May God help us to be bold for His Kingdom Sake. We are the salt and light of the world!

Phil 1:29 - “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”

What a privilege!!! We not only have the privilege of believing on Christ but God has also given us the awesome privilege of suffering for Him. Think on that a little while.

Read back through the book of Acts and see how the Apostles reacted to suffering for Christ sake. THEY REJOICED!!! Have you ever suffered, even in a small way, because of your faith? If so how did you react? Did you rejoice?

I would like to ask everyone that reads this blog to pray for an unspoken prayer request concerning a good missionary friend of mine, Ross Pyle.

We are here in Pensacola, FL. We are going to be talking to students about the possibility of coming to South Africa on a missions trip. This is the second time we have been here since being home and we made some pretty good contacts.

Otherwise we were at Welcome Hill Baptist Church, Dalton, GA on Sunday morning and in a different Welcome Hill in the Ringgold/Graysville area.

We will be here in Pensacola until Tuesday and then back to Dalton before I head out on Thursday.

Here Paul has stopped in at Philip the evangelist’s house in the middle of his missionary journey. A certain prophet named Agabus comes from Judea to prophecy to Paul that if he goes to Jerusalem he will be imprisoned. On hearing this prophecy, the friends of Paul implore him through tears not to go to Jerusalem. Paul’s answer “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13)

How could Paul continue on his missionary journey knowing the next destination would be treacherous? I cannot answer every aspect to this question but I believe we see a couple of points to consider in the surrounding verses.

Yes, these people loved God and loved Paul. But they didn’t realize what kind of perspective Paul had on life. For him to live was Christ and to die was gain! Paul was on a mission until he died. Paul had a pretty good idea that dying was going to be an eventual part of his mission. It is unbelievable to look at this man’s faith.

There were good men and women around Paul that were trying to get him to change his mind, but Paul was a fanatic or maybe he was just what a normal Christian should be, and so he wouldn’t listen. He stuck out on that day in the midst of other great Christians. I wonder what he would look like today in our “safe” Christian society. He lived what today would be labeled a risky life following after Christ.

Someone has said “It’s not a tragedy to die for what you believe in, but it is a tragedy to die for something only to realize that what you believed in betrayed you.”

Another man said “every man should fear to die until he has found something worth living for.”

I believe Paul was 100% confident that he found something worthy of his life and death – The Kingdom of God!!!

He lived his only life preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. His life was not his own and he knew there was one greater than this world watching over him. He also realized that the worst this world could do was kill his body but His loving Lord had control over his eternal soul. Are you ready to die? Have you found something worth living for?

Acts 14:26 - And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.

I have been recommended to different jobs, and opportunities in my life but the recommending we read about here in the verse above is far more radical than anything any of those experiences ever called for. Let’s look at this verse for a moment.

Paul and Barnabas just finished a missionary journey and here they are heading back to the church that sent them out in chapter 13.

I thought it was interesting to see that word “recommended” in verse 26.

If you look the word up you will find it means - to surrender, to yield, to intrust, commit, deliver, give up, hazard, or put in prison.

This calling/recommending was a call to surrender their lives. It was a call to yield their will to God’s will. It was a call that was entrusted/assigned to them. This call was committed to them. They were delivered by the church through the Holy Spirit for this specific journey. They were called upon to hazard their lives. Lastly, and I do think it is very interesting that the word would include the phrase “put in prison,” seeing that this is exactly what would happen to Paul.

It was all just part of the job description. Paul’s call was a call of “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Have we surrendered to God in this manner? It is a TOTAL surrender. Paul’s life was not his own anymore and it is evident by the surrender he made to God. I ask you to do inventory today and see if this is the kind of surrender you made of your life to God.

Have you yielded your will to His? Have you committed your life to Him? Have you given up your will for what God created you to do? Are you willing to hazard your life for the cause of Christ? If not do so today - His will is better than yours. His promises joy and fulfillment yours is a delusional life.

It has been noted that the mental and emotional needs of Americans have seemingly skyrocketed over the past 40 years. Who are Americans turning to for answers? Where are Christians getting their answers? Where do even Bible-believing pastors refer people to get help? Most of the time they are sent to an unregenerate psychologist/counselor. Why, well because Christians have bitten into the lie that the Bible is inadequate to handle these areas.

But just for the moment think of your own life and ask yourself, who is my counselor? Who do you look to for answers, wisdom and guidance? Is it a man, a group of people or a book? Where is your counselor? If you read the Bible you will come to understand at the least, that you do need a counselor, but what or who is this counselor?

Let’s look at a few verses that might give us insight.

The first is found in Proverbs 11:14. It says, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” In other words, where there is no good advice the people will fail, divide, and die. That makes me think that having good advice and counsel is pretty important. As a parent, pastor, missionary or whatever leadership position you may be in having access to good counsel is vital. Even being a Christian puts you in a leadership position which means all of us are in need of a good source of counsel.

The second verse is Proverbs 24:6. It says, “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
Here we find that a good war strategy requires good counsel. You would be an absolute fool to go into war haphazardly. People will die and you will be to blame. You must get counsel.

Then the next part of this verse says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. In other words when you get a lot of the right kind of counsel there is deliverance or victory. That is what we are after. We want to live in victory. How do we do that? Answer: Through the right counsel. So now what is the right counsel? Where is it? Who is it?

Let me preface my answer by saying, yes, people can be good counselors. You and I both need spiritual men and women in our lives to help us. God has placed people around our lives that have walked longer and hopefully closer to the Lord than we have. These people can be great sources of counsel. But I want to note, highlight, and emphasize the greatest counselor.

It is found in Psalms 119:24. This verse says, “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.”

Inside the pages of the Bible is found a multitude(an abundance, excellent, great amount) of counselors. Many of us look everywhere else and talk to everyone else before we turn to God to hear what He has already said. The greatest counsel, and the safest counsel is going to always be the counsel that comes straight from the Great Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). We must be diligent to search the scriptures to find the answers to life’s questions and the problems that come into our lives.