Exalting the Lord — His Way . . .

 

After reading that survey yesterday about what people say makes them happy, I’ve had several thoughts. One item on the list was ‘being in control of my own life’ and while the attitude of going our own way rather than toward God is the root of sin, there are people in the world in slavery. The NT has much to say about the godly response of Christians who are slaves, however enslaving people is also sin. What then is an acceptable form of slavery? In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he said that he and Timothy were servants or bond-slaves of Jesus Christ.

It is interesting that evil spirits knew this. As Paul and his companions were going to a place of prayer . . .

We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16–18)

Her words were correct, but their source was not the Holy Spirit. Why would a demon do this?

On the other hand, Paul’s goal was to exalt Christ and tell others the gospel. When he was in jail, he said:

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15–18)

The slave girl’s words annoyed him in contrast to those who preached to hurt him? Her words came from an evil spirit. This makes me wonder about cults and false teachers, even Christian preachers who use the right words with the wrong motives. Also, were these evil spirits trying to create the impression that they had the same interest in exalting Christ as did Paul? This is a lie!

There are many enemies of the gospel including those who twist it, those who preach it with false motives for personal gain, and those who are demonically influenced to make their evil motives seem good. I will not name names, yet some of these enemies are prominent, and draw large crowds in which some may actually be saved, but they are also making money and enjoying their power.

In contrast to the lifestyle and motivation of these enemies, the Lord said of Paul, “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15–16) Paul was a slave of a different kind, not to money, power, or personal gain. In fact, he gave up much:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain . . . . But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death . . . Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 1:21; 3:7–12)

This is profound. Paul exemplifies true slavery as well as true joy. He wrote from jail. His life was filled with struggles and yet his desire to exalt Christ gave him endurance in trials. His goal remained, even when facing Satan’s tactics to appear as ‘an angel of light’ or when others tried to out-preach him while he was in prison. His focus was to glorify Jesus and share the Gospel, not a false Jesus, not a false gospel, and not with self-centered motives. I need to be discerning of teachers and speakers on radio and television, and who write books. I also need to watch that my motives and actions line up with truth and never find their source in the world’s notions, the flesh’s selfishness, or the devil’s lies.

Lord Jesus, I am blessed to understand that You want my attitude and actions to line up with Your will. ‘God-talk’ is not always about God. False teaching is subtle and everywhere. The enemy and his cohorts disguise themselves and try to look ‘Christian’ to deceive people. May You keep me from all that, that I might glorify You.

MORE: Read Exodus 15:1–21 and Psalm 99 looking for ways I can exalt the Lord.

 

When a reporter asks, “How did that make you feel . . . ?”

I am beginning to understand why reporters ask people this question, “How did you feel?” It has always annoyed me because the answer usually is obvious. However I’m thinking about when we say, “You had to be there” as we try to describe something we experienced. In our mind, words are insufficient if the incident deeply affected our emotions. That is, when involved in a newsworthy event, the full story is not just the cold, hard facts of ‘what, when, who, why, and where.’ Most news items have an emotional impact on those who were there and reporters want more. Besides, emotions generate human interest.

Beyond that, most of us would rather get a story from an eye witness than getting it second or third-hand. Like that old telephone game, the more something is passed along, the more we suspect its credibility.

The Bible book of Acts has an intriguing feature. A careful reading shows that Luke, the author, was a companion of Paul and an eyewitness to many of the events about which he writes. This evidence appears in the ‘we’ sections of the text where Luke includes himself by the use of the first-person plural pronoun.

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:10)

Immediately I sense credibility in the story. Luke was there. This was not a second or third-hand account. He was also there when Paul and his friends went to Philippi:

So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:11–15)

Luke also saw first-hand the demon-controlled slave girl who practiced fortune-telling:

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16–18)

Luke stayed with Paul and sailed with him to Troas (Acts 20:5-7) and then to Assos and Mitylene (Acts 20:13-21:18) hearing Paul preach in those places. Perhaps the most exciting trip for Luke was their trip to Rome. They were ship-wrecked and nearly perished, but finally made it (Acts 27:1 to 28:16) where Paul was put in a Roman prison.

Over the years, every Christian has experiences that show the grace and power of God in their lives. These are the stories that can capture the ears of those who are seeking spiritual truth. When those “only God” events occur, they need to be told. I can tell the stories I’ve heard from others, perhaps stories with more drama, yet those told first-hand are the most convincing, the most credible.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, in our Bible study groups, prayer groups, and even during our meals together, You encourage all of Your people to tell one another about what You are doing in our lives. Luke’s stories are faith-builders. He was there! May I be alert and willing to share all the wonderful times You are at work in my life, and not just the data but the emotional impact of sorrows and joys, and the deep peace from knowing that You love and take care of us.