Reality & Paul 3 — George Verwer

You speak through your word Lord and help us to see how the practical things and world vision and learning together and living together is linked with spiritual growth and The message of apostolic Christianity and Christian faith speak to us from your word.

We pray in Jesus name Amen now I'm just so full I have things to share from the life of Paul and I was just doing my quiet time this morning with viewing especially in the book of Acts. And I'm going to hold off some of the thoughts I had for today.

Paul in Acts and the Call to Spiritual Reality

Concerning the balance we have in the life of Paul and instead I want us to study together Paul in the book of Acts and So if you'll turn right now to the book of Acts and we'll start in chapter I think we'll start in chapter 8 First verse Paul of course his name is Saul we're not giving these very high standards of Christian conduct and spiritual reality as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul.

To put everybody under bondage people have a great fear of Bible teaching that involves teaching spiritual principles and clearly. Speaking of how things should be I personally very very much appreciate the ministry of Martin Lloyd-Jones.

I'd hardly be considered perhaps as Calvinistic as he is but His books especially spiritual depression. I see his commentaries up there on Romans. They are Very very filled with spiritual meat and he has a very balanced message.

I Think maybe some of his disciples Who get the letter without the reality don't have what he has. That's always true. And he has great spiritual balance and the emphasis he puts on Discipline on spiritual growth in some of his writings are is really great.

Praise God for You see unless we see where we're going it's hard to get there. I Know the only way you can get these spiritual principles is through the in working of Jesus Christ in your life through the reality of the cross and All of us here.

Most of us here have heard many messages along that line. If you live in the British Isles. And if you're in contact all with some of the great Bible teachers and deeper life speakers others that minister.

But I feel that much of the ministry in that area does not get people anywhere because they don't have any high goals. They don't really see What God can do and wants to do and what will happen when we do know the crucified life?

When we are filled with the spirit. And so we get all kinds of people who claim to be filled with spirit who claim to have some experience and yet when you live With them the life isn't any different Than someone who has never claimed to have that experience and it's because so oftentimes we have low aim.

We have low aim. We haven't seen apostolic Christianity. We haven't understood the biblical Christianity as found in the Word of God. We haven't been willing for the whole Council of God, especially the radical ethical and moral teachings of Jesus as Demonstrated by Paul and so we end up short of what God would have us be in the practical realm especially.

And I believe that we have all this teaching in the Word of God this sermon on the Mount the book of Acts. So that we can know where we're going. We cannot expect this conference to through some Great special happening all end up here spiritually, but we should be able at this conference to at least get our aim, right?

So that we go out from here knowing where we're going. You may feel after these days together. I'm not a disciple. I don't want to suffer. I don't know how to pray. I'm so far far short fine, but do you know where you're going?

I Am sure in many of these areas I Have inconsistencies in my life. Have spots of laziness. I have areas of pride. Sticking their ugly head up. I have lust that keeps popping its ugly nose in but I know where I'm going.

And I'm having hard enough trouble partners. It is if I didn't even know where I was going. I Am out to see every inch of lust destroyed in my mind. I am out to live on this level that we're talking about and because I've set my sights I know where I'm going, even though I'm not there yet I'm moving in that direction so many Christians on the way they're going and They've set such a low end.

They said well, I'm not a disciple. I don't really know how to pray like this person. I don't really have the faith of this person. So So they just go on and on and on and on. Or they escape into some false message of grace.

You know, I can't really do anything, you know, it's only Lord does it through me and well here I sit the next 20 years waiting for the Holy Spirit to do something. What a subtle ugly lie the devil. You're making God into some kind of a schizophrenic one minute He's telling me to do all these things the next minute you're sitting down and saying I'm not doing anything unless he Sort of forces me to do it.

We're not robots. If you have the most earth-shaking experience with God and there are such experiences. You know what happened some men of God have had really earth-shaking experience today. They totally lightning bolts coming down on but even if you have that kind of experience the next day God will not force you.

Because then you'd be a robot. Then the Christian life would just be a matter of getting to a point where you've got the final spiritual pet pill. And after that you would move from being a free will creature to a spiritual robot control because you swallow this pet pill.

No, you always have free will and so you always every day. Yes, we consecrate your heart or life use whatever terminology you want. Take up the cross and follow him if God Hammers us with the word hard.

It is because he wants to pick us up as long as you're running in your own energy. It's the greatest hindrance There can ever be to God's work and So God uses the word to humble us. He uses circumstances to humble us.

So you ever had a really catastrophic failure in your life something that really. You know. You never forget. You never forget it. But wasn't that at least in some of your lives one of the biggest steps towards spiritual reality.

In so many lives I had known it's true. God uses circumstances. I've sat under the ministry of Alan Redpath Moody Church in Chicago when I was a student. I tell you let me finish preaching. I Figured man, I'm dead.

Then I will ask praise God. I Am dead and Christ liveth within me. And so if any of the word is hard. If you're feeling that do you you know? You're coming down good. Except the corner we fall into the ground and die.

It's about it. No, but if it died it bring it forth much fruit. And I don't believe this is a once-and-for-all thing in the Christian life. I find that in my life. Constantly I have to go through this this process of death and life.

I know it only happened once on Calvary. And as we try to learn after the Lord Jesus many times the experience of death and life has to work again through us through many experiences and Today's victory is no guarantee that one month from now.

You will not have to go through God's process again, and I wanted to read a quotation just to set off this Lesson or this lecture or whatever you want to call it this morning Bible reading that will help us keep the balance.

It's from mr. Tozer and his book reader the righteous Listen to this this this is me. He says God is easy to live with. It's interesting for him to say that because his writings are the most powerful pulverizing Books that I've ever read.

Grace, Imperfection, and Pleasing God

God is easy to live with you see has the balance. The fellowship of God is delightful beyond all time. He communes with his redeemed ones in an easy way on a negative fellowship. What is less than healing to the soul?

He is not sensitive nor selfish nor temperamental. You know we often are What he is today we shall find him tomorrow and the next day and the next year. He is not hard to please. He's not hard to please though he may be hard to Satisfy.

He is quick to mark every simple effort to please him. Why can't ministers to me? He is quick to mark every simple effort to please him and Just as quick to overlook imperfections when he knows we meant to do this will.

Of course they already are completely covered by the blood. So it's no great problem for God to overlook them. Let me read that again and just as quick to overlook imperfections. When he knows we meant to do as well.

He loves us for ourselves and values our love. More than the galaxies of new created worlds. Some of us in this business this we have these type on our lamp. We're loaded with it. We're loaded with it.

Let's say the people in the first year some of us are religiously jumping. Self-conscious because we know that God sees our every thought and is acquainted with all our ways. Religiously jumping we need not be.

God is the sum of all patience and The essence of kindly goodwill we please and most not by frantically trying to make ourselves good. But by throwing ourselves into his arms with all our imperfections and Believing that he understands everything and loves us.

You know, it's it's truths like this from the Word of God. Express through a human instrument of God that minister to such a wretched heart as mine. And I thank God for his grace. Now keeping that as our foundation.

We're going to look at a product of grace. The Apostle Paul we're going to trace him through the book of Acts we're going to go a little quicker. On other mornings some of this is in the way of background.

Stephen’s Witness and the Ministry of Ordinary Believers

Let's move. We have Stephen being stoned. And we know the Apostle Paul was there at the time. Because that's what it says in chapter 8 verse 1 and Saul was consenting unto his death. What a beautiful picture of Stephen, by the way, he was a deacon, you know, that's quite interesting because you get some people in church.

They say well, I'm a deacon. I just do the practical things. I don't pray. And I don't preach. I'm a deacon. Well, Stephen was a deacon. And you know the qualifications for being a deacon you get them there in the book of Acts being filled with spirit and the other things and The first thing he did as a deacon was to go into open-air meeting.

And that's the last thing you ever do as well because he was martyred in the open-air meeting. So those of you who think well, you know, I'm gonna take the less spiritual task in the church. I'm gonna be a practical man.

I'm gonna be a behind-the-scenes man. You need to restudy Stephen. Because you see in the Word of God It's not just a group of specially trained theological Men trained in homiletics and hermeneutics and spiritual politics and gymnastics.

That are going to guide the church. But it's ordinary people. Ordinary people whose hearts are thrown they just step out in the street and hey Jesus is alive! What? You what? Take this stone. And he's in heaven.

God wants to use ordinary people, right Stephen? You get this idea. Well, he's gonna be a preacher. He's gonna be a missionary. Boy, he needs to be filled with the spirit. But boy, you know, hey, I'm nothing.

I'm just a housewife. You don't need to be filled with the spirit, do you, to make your fish and chips? You don't need to be filled with the spirit to clean the dirty ring around the bathtub my husband leaves every time he takes a bath.

We all need to be filled with the spirit. We need to be filled with the spirit for the practical jobs as much as for the ministry of the Word. We're all together. Each member needs the other member. We have all chapters in the Word of God trying to get that teaching into our heads.

How important it is. So Paul, named Saul at that time, consented unto his death. And at that time there was a great, we're in verse 1 of chapter 8, a great persecution against the church. God really used that, didn't he?

Which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the region of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And we know what happened as a result of that. Look at verse 4. Therefore They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.

And I feel in my heart that if more people don't start moving from this country that has such a great church. You may think the church in Britain is so weak and so small, but how many of you really know much about the church overseas?

I've been to 50 countries. I've spent time ministering in churches all over the world and I can tell you the British Church Is probably as good and as spiritual as most churches in the world today. And we have had the advantage in this country of a spiritual heritage and a spiritual literature that almost no people have had in the world today.

And that is a very important thing. And we have and should be making as a nation. Little hard to say as an immigrant, but as a nation we should be making a far greater contribution to worldwide spiritual revolution.

Praise God for what has happened in the past you think of the men that have gone out from this country like Hudson Taylor like CT stud and and many many others unnamed less famous people and We must cry out to God.

Oh Lord do it again. And I believe if we don't start sending more forth. We're gonna see that in acts in the life of Paul the church sending people forth. You may find that God allows Major persecution that we may be scattered abroad.

We may be scattered abroad many many years ago, I was ministering in Northern Ireland low years before all the trouble. There's no place that made me quite as it was Northern Ireland. Because of so many Christians and many dear Christians, but the vast majority of them just content just content and I Spoke I believe under the authority of the Spirit.

Several years before the trouble and I said I believe Something catastrophic is going to happen here that more people one way or the other will get out of this. This is probably more evangelicals per person in Northern Ireland any place in the country and you know We've seen what's happened over the past years and we've seen it drive people out and become witnesses in many different parts of the world.

God's Spirit is a way of overruling man's Hideous and terrible acts as we've seen in Northern Ireland, and let's not point any fingers up there because So often we're not any different. Let us move on.

We don't see anything at all now. They're in the book of Acts For a while, but rather we get involved with Peter. No, we have post conversion. Sorry post conversion in chapter 9 and then we have a little lapse period in which we get involved with Peter.

I don't want to go into the details of this conversion. I just wish that more people when they were in the process of being converted would pray and cry out verse 6. What will I have me to do you see?

Not because salvation is of works, but because salvation is a revolutionary experience. When we are converted almost in the same breath, we should be crying out Lord. What would you have me to do? The night that I was converted to Jesus Christ In Madison Square Garden 20 years and a few months ago.

I knew that I was to be his witness. I was pretty sure it was going to be out of my own country. And I was from a non-christian home, and I I just feel that even as we're converted. We should try it.

I don't know. What would you have me to do even in the middle of it? This is sort of in the middle of Paul's conversion. Of course, he didn't know what he was even asking for and God in Paul's case led him to a rather strange situation.

He lost his sight and he had to go find this man down this road. And then no one knows pinpoint when exactly did saving grace flood the heart of the Apostle Paul. I guess we have a great argument about that.

You know the story of Paul's conversion, and I don't want to dwell on that. Because I want us to go on. And get into the heart of his ministry. We do find Paul getting baptized in verse 18 and 19. We do find him being filled with the Spirit in verse 17.

I think there's a danger in the book of Acts of trying to get some little orthodox formula of how God works. One group has one formula another group has another formula. There are about 25 new books on the Holy Spirit that have come out in the last two years.

We got all kinds of formulas. The Holy Spirit will not be put into a formula. It says that in John chapter 3 the wind bloweth where it will and you hear not the sound thereof very few people in history.

Have had the formula that the Apostle Paul had in his conversion. What if we thought well the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest conversions in history. All of us should have a similar experience. Should all go blind?

But we know that he was filled with the Spirit. Seemingly almost at the same time of his conversion. There are some hours here. We know that he was baptized. That's pretty basic and the amazing thing is.

Immediately he preached Christ in the city docks. Wow, we're autistic born again. To go to seminary. Just some ignorant. And he was a murderer. Can we trust this murderer? He helped murder Stephen. Now we're letting him preach.

Now I know some people say well Paul discovered later on that was an error. He was all in the flesh. And then he went into wilderness. You know when he got really got his theological education in the wilderness.

But I've heard more guys trying to sell theological school use that wilderness thing. Guys that have never been in the wilderness once in their lives. Spent their whole life living in some crazy city.

And I don't really think we can equate Paul going into the wilderness with me. Going to the University of London theological school. Not that I don't believe God can use theological schools. God is so great.

He uses all kinds of things. But I think there's an over emphasis in the church of professionalism. We grind out professional ministries. Ministers and if you and I have studied anything about history.

We know the first places to go into unbelief and liberalism with a theological cemeteries the seminaries and I believe that there needs to be a greater emphasis on the layman the ordinary man being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord Paul is converted to the Holy Spirit baptized and he was out preaching Verse 22. What saw increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dealt with Damascus proving that this was the very Christ?

Do you know when I read that this morning? I almost came an inch off the bench. I was sitting on. So exciting. He was this Christ hating Jew. Suddenly saved and within days. He's out proving. You see there is intellectual content in our gospel.

This is not just emotionalism. This is not just a matter of getting yourself some kind of religious package. This is determining to follow truth wherever it will lead you. Paul confounded the Jews. I think one of the great proofs of the Christian faith goes first is the resurrection.

But another great proof is how so many enemies of the cross became followers of Jesus Christ. I can't believe that was some great hallucination or some religious trip or some bandwagon experience. Especially when they were being killed off like flies.

These men had an intellectual experience. They knew that Jesus Christ the full prophecy and you know. If it wasn't for the fact that there's intellectual meat in the Christian faith and something that my mind can accept as a person Who's basically skeptical and basically inquisitive?

I wouldn't be able to as we say hack it. I wouldn't be able to have a go and our minds can be satisfied. There are honest answers to honest questions. I have money. I still have some. But when I see things like this, I praise his name proving that this is the very Christ and after many days We're fulfilled the Jews take counsel to kill it.

All this has happened in such a short period one minute. He's killing Christians. The next minute his best friends are out to kill him and you say Christianity is dull. Say Christianity is dull, you know, you find a lot of Christian young people.

Do all kinds of crazy things to entertain themselves and stand on their head. Run around in circles. Not that we can't have a little exercise, but I want to tell you when you get caught up in red-hot Christianity.

You need much more. You need much more. You can't call this a boring way of life. You're gonna short time. He was going over a wall in a basket. Talk about a rock climbing experience. I'm interested in rock climbing myself, especially Now that my children were growing up.

I began to do a few things again that haven't been doing for 18 years. But there is in verse 25 when the disciples took him by night. And this is a great repel in the Bible and let him down by the wall in a basket.

Spiritual Warfare, Persecution, and World Evangelism

What a life. What a life. And I want to tell you a young person and anyone else when you get involved in the spiritual warfare. You're gonna you're gonna find some over-the-wall and basket experiences.

You're gonna find yourself in prison you're gonna find yourself being stoned. This is quite ordinary for many of our young people. We have many many in prison. What's a great prison ministry. Turkey Libya?

Soviet Union. And Stolen wallets, so every week we have a stoning in India, you know few stones. I've got a few stones. Only one hit me in the head saying the doxology after that and I kept preaching.

Come upon a few spiritual freaks who are tripping up. But as we get involved in spiritual warfare as we begin moving for God across the whole world these these are experiences. As they happen in the book of Acts what happened was I?

Was only in my early twenties when I was arrested in the Soviet Union. I was engaged in a little innocent activity of distributing the Word of God got picked up by the secret police and accused of being a spy and spent three four days in interrogation and then escorted out of the country with machine gun.

These things are nothing special you don't write a book about that. I've been led to write two pages about that. Probably was in there by my own even stupidity. But as we begin to move the world evangelism we discover this thing is not dull and I believe with all my heart God wants to take some of the young people here and all of us in one sense and thrust us into a new spiritual adventure.

I Believe it wants to take us out of this conference in the coming days and just to throw us into new things. And for some it may mean overseas well. Have this experience. And then we don't find it very much for a while.

We found Peter coming into the picture, and I wish I had time to speak to you on the life of Peter especially. How he got in prison you know over there in chapter 12? Most I Peter therefore was kept in prison, but it's the greatest part in the Bible, but Prayer was made without ceasing.

By The church and to God for him. Now we can't get sidetracked on Peter. You find Paul again there in verse 25. But the Word of God grew and multiplied and Barnabas and Saul Praise God for Barnabas, it's not seen as much in Scripture as Paul, but he's one of the he's the picture of the faithful man.

No leader would amount to anything if you didn't have a Barnabas. If I didn't have a number of Barnabas's in this work. I probably been knocked out of the battle so long ago. Only God knows faithful men.

Son of consolation Barnabas another another man in Scripture that you will want to study. Barnabas and Saul Returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark.

We didn't miss a little incident there in Jerusalem. With Paul and Barnabas you remember that it was Barnabas who was able to persuade the rest of the fellows that Paul was. You know could be trusted after all most of these you know earlier apostles of that.

How can we trust this fellow? It's just been murdering Christians. And Barnabas had the discernment and he saw that Paul was real. And was able to say a word and bring Saul into the church into the fellowship.

And then they went to Antioch chapter 13. Now they were in the church. That was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon. Who was called Niger and Lysias of Cyrene and the name Had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul.

Interesting group and Ministered to the Lord. So stop right there for a moment and minister to the Lord. One of the greatest mistakes we make in the ministry in the present-day church is that we minister to the Saints.

Wait a minute. How can that be a mistake I? Believe because When we do that our ministry becomes man-centered. Like you who hasn't quite entered into the fullness as you have is all kinds of Terminology that people get caught up in you know he hasn't quite entered in and she hasn't quite overflowed and people Way up here in the heavenlies, and of course you can barely communicate with and that they talk about the Lord leading them and guiding them into the morning cup of tea.

The Lord is leading and guiding and everything is brought into spiritual terminology and When you know when you talk to something and if you haven't learned the terminology you've had it. You must speak Greek.

Because you don't understand this fellow's Special brand of deeper life terminology. I keep changing my terminology over the years. Trying to because I believe God has such ways to communicate. And I like biblical terminology, but you know the English language changes.

The English language changes, and this is where we need balance and we need flexibility, but I very much Feel that what Devoe Frumpkin this book Emphasizes very very good that our ministry our whole life is firstly the Lord.

Unto the Lord and we see that here, and it's many many other places in scripture as they ministered to the Lord. If we're ministering to the Lord when we finish ministering immediately Lord. Have I been faithful to your word if we're ministering to man, and there's a subtle way that when we minister to man.

We're ministering to ourselves. Preachers all know how to do that when at the end of the ministry. We're waiting to see what does man think? Somebody comes up said brother that really spoke to my heart.

I got ministered to because if I minister and and and and God uses me and Someone tells me that not that we should never say anything like that. I think we should be honest in expressing ourselves. But that should be water above the glass my joyous God himself.

Anything about that that the Saints may get praise the Lord water above the glass. He is my sufficiency and as I minister I must minister unto the Lord very hard for my type of person. I'm very much man oriented very pragmatic.

In business when I was 11 years of age three businesses by 16. I know precisely at times in the business world what to say to get the client to do what you want to do. Now God has shown me in your ministry where oftentimes.

I'm saying things very much upset people they never want to hear from me again and Certain places where I've been invited to speak and then someone heard about it who's upset with my ministry. Backlisted me he must not speak here.

What's that everyone especially holiday camps. How you ever invited me to anything that even borders on a holiday? I am known to be anti-holiday. You know, I love tennis swimming rock climbing. Let me climb some of these trees actually and I'm quite Open to relaxation.

I've known as being anti-holiday. I've known as being bolting. I preach discipleship and I make Christians nervous. They get nervous about the possessions they get nervous about their laziness they get nervous about lots of things.

So don't invite him to the holiday camp. He'll ruin the whole holiday. They'll all be weeping and some will be repenting and who knows what may happen. What kind of a holiday is that? Well, maybe a holiday from hell eventually for somebody.

And really every Christian is on a holiday from the day. He's born again. I Wasn't shackled by Satan. I was a son of the devil. I was an enemy of God. I've been released. I'm a 20 years holiday. And every year it gets more exciting.

Makes buttons look like a prison cell. We are free in Jesus Christ. We are saved. From sin from death and from chains. Certainly. Paul Needless in his life. Ministry under the Lord. Not easy not easy for me.

Fasting, Prayer, and the Lordship of Christ

This next part especially isn't unpleasant and fasted. Kind of a subject is out to bring up Alan Redpath speaking at Moody Church some years ago. Really? He really upset those people and we're used to a very very much.

The kind of message there before he came in which you know grace and Lovely Bible teachings fill up a notebook with Bible lessons and you know, everything everything in the Old Testament has meaning and types and study Leviticus until you can.

You can expand what every bush and tree and twig means and I'm not saying this there's no significance in all that kind of study. But if Christianity is a matter of intellectual knowledge. Just filling our heads with Bible trees.

Then it certainly is a very very insipid religion. God puts these things in his word for a purpose that our lives may become more like Jesus Christ. And he came in there and Moody Church in that picture started to preach the lordship of Christ.

And I tell you Some of the old deacons and elders from who knows what generation began to get itchy and then he's preaching the law. And they gave up their better such a rough time there in Chicago. He wouldn't stop stop preaching he he said once we don't fast anymore because we're in hunger for God.

What the congregation. I thought stones are gonna come hailing off the balcony and he organized nights of prayer imagine nights of prayer. It's alright for Jesus Christ to pray all night. He did it Luke.

Yeah that recorded. And these disciples when Peter was in prison, that was no little 20 minute prayer meeting. But if you preach fasting or you preach having a night of prayer, oh, that's not that's not grace.

It's law. Anything we don't want to do or we have to do is say that's not grace. It's law. I Seen people even do that in driving. I actually told me I want to put the speed limit here. It's just 70 miles an hour.

I said brother. I'm not under the law. And I'll tell you there's a law he's gonna discover is a law of gravity and we have been set free. We have been set free. That we may be obedient. Sons and daughters of the Living God.

Well, Paul ministered to the Lord fasted the Holy Spirit said. The Holy Spirit speaking and I believe the Holy Spirit wants to speak here in these days we have the word as our God the Holy Spirit spoke.

Said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. I don't believe this is necessarily a calling in the way. Some people describe a missionary calling today, but I believe it was guidance.

I believe more than some special calling. We just need basic guidance. We know we need to know where God wants us to go and what God wants us to do. All Christians need that. Don't expect people to go to in operation mobilization without guidance.

And yet many people are confused about guidance and I think one of the reasons and again I must avoid getting a sidetrack. But one of the reasons is we get too much of a stereotyped way or view of how God works.

And we read somebody else's book. That's how he was guided and we wait weeks months and years to get that particular kind of guidance. God doesn't give it. God works in different ways. And different people and you know, even when we go forth to be able to go forth in humility and to me.

You know what that means means as I go forth. I want to admit that I may be wrong. This is the earth. And I may sense I have guidance, but as I go down the road, I say well actually I was wrong. Why is it so hard for Christians to admit they're wrong?

Especially if they put something spiritual into it. You know the man in the world he makes a mistake one times. Well, there's another one. But the Christian somehow he feels well, am I saying that the guidance I said I had in fact, I didn't have it and So he gets he gets much more involved emotional.

And I've had people come to me sharing in guidance about a particular girl. She's the one. Boy, I tell you this is an area where people really become irrational. This is a revelation. He was a fellow in London not too long ago had a revelation and the prophecy.

That he had the wrong life. So we got rid of him. He then came. In those courts make it easy. You get off on some kind of religious quirk and Get away from the Word of God, man. You can really move. But I recently another church in Thailand and the pastor Jewish Church I don't know how many people he got get a revelation.