To the ends of the earth…

12/22/2005

I’m floating this morning on a spiritual pink cloud. I’ve just come home from the most awesome time of listening to the Word of God being shared with 8,000 women. I could not help but think about the book of Acts and how Paul and Peter traveled from place to place, spending time there, encouraging the believers in those areas before moving onto the next place. It was what they did--and how very powerful it must have been.

As I wake this morning after two days of such teaching, my spirit is full of the awesomeness of our God. How much He loves us, how much He wants the very best for us, and how far He will go to bring us to that place in our lives, no matter what it might take for us to know Him as He longs for us to.

Some women found their Lord this weekend, most women knew Him coming into this conference, but no one left there the same! When the Holy Spirit is allowed to do His thing, hearts are changed and souls come alive! Through the vessel of a very petite woman, God poured His power and His love into the hearts of women who needed to know the freedom of being a true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We left there with the words, “I’m Yours” ringing in our ears. Even this morning I’m longing more than ever to “enter into the mystery” of God. A mystery so full of light, as our speaker explained, that there is no fear there. In abandoning ourselves to the mystery of God, we will find true happiness. “Esher” as she explained to us, is the word used in the original text of Scripture to describe that happiness. I don’t know much about the original language used, but it’s always enjoyable for me to listen to someone who has taken the time to go back to it and then explain its true meaning.

In the book of Acts, there is story after story of the adventures of Paul and Barnabas and Peter, and many others, as they travel from place to place sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. In Chapter one it says, “…when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

“To the ends of the earth…” How could these first disciples imagine then the world we live in now? That there would be people traveling the world by plane, reaching every part of the earth? It must have seemed an impossibility to them then, but now it’s commonplace. What may not be so commonplace today is the power of the Holy Spirit that they knew so well then. They were actually in that upper room on the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, and they suddenly heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and then they saw what looked like flames or tongues of fire appear and settle on each of them as they were filled with the Holy Spirit…that’s just not an everyday occurrence! (Acts 2:1-4) Most times, unless I am mistaken, the filling of the Holy Spirit is not so visual as it is internal.

As Oswald Chambers writes, “When I commit myself to the revelation made in the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit who begins to interpret to me what Jesus did…”

Receiving the Holy Spirit’s power comes with a choice we make when we commit ourselves fully to the truth of God’s Word. When we give in, when we call “Uncle,” when we say, “I can’t, but You can Lord.” Then and only then are we ready to begin the most exciting time in our walk with the Lord. And for some, like for the Christian speaker we just heard, that means traveling like Paul and Barnabas and John and Peter did, from place to place, encouraging believers everywhere they went.

As I listened to the words being spoken at this gathering, I also looked at the crowd of 8,000 women and thought of how Jesus preached to the multitudes. I thought of how the apostles would speak to the crowds who were willing to listen, and they would share the truth of how Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Some preaching ended tragically, like in the case of Stephen. He was stoned for his beliefs, but I also noticed what happened after his stoning… (Acts 8:1 NLT) “A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles fled into Judea and Samaria”…(v.4) “But the believers who had fled Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus. Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.”

God could not be silenced. When the power of the Holy Spirit fills a believer, there is no limit to what God will do through that person! Even though it seems tragic that Stephen was stoned for his beliefs, God used even that to spread the word that much farther, to the ends of the earth today!

As I watched and listened to this Holy Spirit-filled speaker at this gathering of mostly believers, I wondered why there are so few today with such passion, with such drive and abandonment to our Lord? What is going on in our churches, in our personal relationship with our Father, that leaves us missing out on so much? Why are we more apt to go through each day burdened with all the things we must get accomplished than we are to go through each day filled with amazement at all that God is doing in our lives? Is God in heaven just saying, “People, people, people, will you never learn? Will you never understand Who I Am, what I can do for you?” Is God saying, “I don’t want you to miss all the promises that are waiting for you just on the other side of fully committing yourself to Me?”

Saul was missing out on all the good things the Lord had in store for him. He was stuck in all the old ways, being a Jew, born and educated in Jerusalem, learning to follow Jewish laws and customs very carefully. He was zealous to honor God in everything he did but he was missing the very best God had for him. He was missing out on Who Jesus Christ is and what He could do in His life, and later in death.

Saul, now known as Paul, saw the Light, literally, on the road to Damascus one day. A very bright light from heaven suddenly shown around him, and he fell to the ground. A voice said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, sir?” And the voice replied, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.” (Acts 22) The light blinded Saul for a few days until God sent a man by the name of Ananias to him. He stood beside Saul and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight,” And that very hour Saul could see! (Acts 22:13) Then he told Saul, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. You are to take his message everywhere, telling the whole world what you have seen and heard.” (Acts 22:14-15 NLT)

How could Saul/Paul, do any less? How could anyone ignore such a call on his or her life? And yet, we do it, and we all have that same call on our lives each day. Maybe not to stand in front of 8,000 people and preach the Good News, but maybe to stand beside one person we meet in our day and be excited about what Jesus Christ of Nazareth has done for us! If we are not excited, I think we might be missing the boat. We may have jumped into the water, given our lives to Jesus one day, made a choice to follow Him, but there might be something missing. God didn’t want us to jump in and sink, His desire for each of our lives is to have us jump onboard with Him and let Him direct the ship.

After Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus, He was never the same again. He went from eagerly trying to destroy the Lord’s followers, to preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is indeed the Son of God!” (Acts 9:20 NLT) His life was threatened, he was imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, lied about…you name it, but he never gave up.

What had changed him so dramatically?
What would drive a man so?
What would make him so bold?

At first those who knew him as Saul feared him, they could not believe he could be so radically changed! Even the man called by the Lord to go lay hands on him and heal his blindness questioned the directions the Lord gave him. “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And we hear that he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest every believer in Damascus.” But the Lord said, “Go and do what I say. For Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.” (Acts 9:13-15 NLT)

Can God change hearts, or what? Saul went from the greatest threat to those who followed Jesus Christ, to one of the greatest leaders and encouragers to believers everywhere! It wasn’t easy. “When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They thought he was only pretending to be a believer!” (Acts 9:26 NLT) Barnabas explained to them what had happened and then the apostles accepted Paul.

Paul’s new life had begun, and what a life it was! He was sent out by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13) and preached from town to town. He knew what he had left behind, he knew all the Jewish laws and traditions, but he was on a new road now, the one that led to Heaven. He shared with his people about all the prophecies being fulfilled concerning the death of Jesus, and how God had raised Jesus from the dead and how Jesus had appeared over a period of many days to those who had gone with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem…” (Acts 13) He was bringing the Good News to everyone, but he warned his people, the Jews, to be careful! “Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said, ‘Look you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’” (Acts. 41 NLT)

Paul was committed, and wanted his people to get it, but many refused. He told them, “It was necessary that this Good News from God be given first to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life—well, we will offer it to Gentiles. For this is as the Lord commanded us when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47 NLT)

He was not making many friends among the Jewish community by saying this, but all this was predicted long ago in the Scriptures. It is written that Paul and Barnabas then “shook off the dust of their feet” and went on…

If God’s Good News is being rejected by those who hear it, is it because some feel unworthy of eternal life? Of accepting such a wonderful gift, free of charge with no lengthy, hard, virtually impossible tasks to be completed? Is it so hard to fathom that a loving God could be that generous? That His only Son would pay the price, and we could then enter into all that God has waiting for us by simply saying, “Yes”? It seems a bit too simple, doesn’t it? But Paul was the worst of the worst, and he was changed in a moment when he saw the Light…why would it have to be more difficult for anyone of us? God loves us all the same!

Paul even said in Acts 14, to those that wanted to treat them as gods, “We are merely human beings like yourselves! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.” Paul knew who he was, but he also knew Who God was and the transformation that had taken place in his own heart about the way he viewed the world and all that was in it. His life was not an easy road when God sent him out to preach the Good News. He even told believers along the way that “they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.” (Acts 14:22) Paul had experienced what he was talking about!

Speaking out about the good things of God is not an easy calling. It seems glamorous, standing up there on Sunday morning at church, or traveling from place to place as large crowds gather to hear words of encouragement, and also sometimes words of admonishment if called for by the Holy Spirit. But as I’ve heard some say, that moment up front, under the lights, is a very miniscule part of the entire ministry they have been called to. There is so much more that most of us never know about that they go through day to day. Many of us would not choose it, and perhaps that is why many of us are not called to it like Paul was or like Billy Graham was. When called, we cannot go just half way…if we do, we will have jumped into the water but missed the boat. We will be swimming as hard as our little arms will carry us, but without getting into the boat and letting God lead and direct every single part of the journey, it will be more than any of us can bear.

Paul met up with opposition everywhere he went, and especially from his own people the Jews. But he never quit because it was not about how well he was received, how much he was liked or even respected by those he talked to along the way, it was about what he knew in his heart beyond a shadow of a doubt. He knew Jesus Christ as Lord, and he would preach about His Good News until his dying day to anyone who would listen!

“He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, ‘this babbler has picked up some strange ideas.’ Others said, ‘He’s pushing some foreign religion.’ Then they took him to the Council of Philosophers. Come and tell us more about this new religion…” (Acts 17)

Paul went anywhere and everywhere, not intimated by anyone because God was in Him. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. “When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, ‘We want to hear more about this later.’” (Acts 17:32 NLT) Nothing could stop him, because he was not working on human power but by the power of the Holy Spirit who lived in him.

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him,
‘Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent!’” (Acts 18:9 NLT)

What does one do when the Lord leads and guides and directs in that way?
Ignore it?
Go back to who they were before they saw the Light?
Choose an easier path?
Bend to the whims and wishes of society because it’s making some uncomfortable?

I should hope and pray not!! We cannot live inside the box the world would like to keep us in when the Holy Spirit has filled us to the bursting point and the Good News must be shared with anyone who will listen! Some will reject what we have to say. If they rejected Paul, as it talks about in Acts 19, “…some rejected his message and publicly spoke against the Way…” then and only then can we move on as Paul did…”Along the way, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through.” (Acts 20:2)

Paul kept moving, kept preaching, kept sharing and healing and building a foundation of believers that have continued to share of the Good News to this day, and will until Jesus comes back! Hopefully, we are part of that group of believers willing to share!

He said, “…I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Gentiles alike—the necessity of turning from sin and turning to God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:20 NLT)

It’s very simple to understand and to share if we will stick to the basic truth…repent and receive! Paul wanted us to know about a “message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance.” (Acts 20:32)

There are so many wonderful things waiting for those that will give their lives to Jesus Christ. Paul experienced that…not a life of ease and comfort, but a life filled with excitement and adventure and miracles and blessings. A challenging life, but one well worth every challenge.

Paul was called insane, they accused him of being crazy, but Paul just told them that he was speaking the sober truth. (Acts 26:25) Why is it that when we get down to the basics in life, to the reality of God and how very powerful He is, we are thought to be a bit off? Why is it that when the desire of our heart is to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, when we believe that God can actually resurrect someone who has died, we have lost our senses? Paul was filled with passion for our Lord because he could be no other way. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and controlled by the power that lived within him. Even when put on trial, when called crazy and insane by kings, he could not quit. He simply said, “…I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.” (Acts 26:29 NLT)

That’s bold! Why would he say that? Because he didn’t want them to miss what he had found! The amazing, miraculous life to be lived in Jesus Christ, and the hope that comes with that even in death! That passion filled him from head to toe! It flowed out of him in every direction. He could not be stopped!

In Acts 28:24-27 it says,

Some believed and some didn’t. But after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul:
The Holy Spirit was right when he said to our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, go and say to my people, you will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.

Paul, filled with a passion to get the Good News out to everyone, still ran up against great opposition. But, it did not deter him, ever! He kept on because he could do no less. He could not leave this earth without sharing with as many people who would listen and he prayed they would be willing to embrace their eternal life through Jesus Christ.

After Saul became the transformed man of Paul, he went on to write the majority of the New Testament. This one-time Jewish leader, persecutor of those who were part of The Way, spent the rest of his life preaching the truth of his Risen Lord. Having once seen the light, there was no stopping him!

Towards the end of his life, Paul wrote:

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NLT)

What an example to follow! If we can even become one-tenth the bearer of the Good News that Paul was, this world would be turned around! If we did not shrink back when persecuted, did not hide away when hurting, did not run when scared…there would be no question of whether or not to have a Nativity Scene as the focus of our Christmas decorations. We would not only wish someone a Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, we might go so far as to wish others a Blessed Christmas in our Lord. The Ten Commandments would not only be on display in our courthouses, but they would be honored as God’s best plan for our lives.

If we, who say we believe, really believe and would allow the Holy Spirit to control every aspect of our every day, what a difference it would make to the ends of the earth! There wouldn’t just be a small minority of those who are willing to preach the Good News with such passion, there would be people everywhere saying “I’m Yours Lord! Do with me what You will!”

When the joy of our Lord is seen in the lives of believers, then and only then will we be able to say we have shared the Good News with those around us!

Anything less than pure passion for our Lord will leave the world wondering if it’s really such Good News after all.

Have a Blessed Christmas in our Lord!
Diane