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Pain has always been a part of life. A mother carries a baby in her womb
and with difficulty a child is born … but that knowledge of pain has not
slowed the number of people born on earth. The first experiences of life
consist of pain … the first slap on the behind, growing your first teeth,
learning how to walk, and all of these are a part of life’s experience. As
we grow up we discover emotional pain as our tender emotions of childhood
are turned upside down as we grow through puberty and our teen years. Job
said, “Man’s days are few and full of trouble …” Job 14:1 But God’s
design
is for us to find what He is doing while life goes on!
In
Acts
chapters 6, 7 & 8 we have seen Satan do all he can to hinder the Church of
Jesus Christ: Annanias and Sapphira lie about their donations to the church,
the Hellenistic Jews complain about how the food is being distributed, one
the newly chosen deacons by the name of Stephen is stoned to death, and a
grand scale persecution of church erupts with Saul of Tarsus dragging
Christians off to jail! Where is God when things like this happen!
Have
you ever had a series of events like this?
Has your faith ever been shaken?
Do you ever wonder if God went on a journey somewhere? I want you to
know
that God never loses control and He is always working to bring forth
righteousness.
Acts 8
4 Therefore those who were scattered went
everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of
Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord
heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he
did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who
were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And
there was great joy in that city.
First
we need to know that God often uses
adversity to fulfill His plan. The disciples had been given
the
plan of God, Matt 28:19A
Go ye therefore into all the world@
and again in Acts 1:8AYou
shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the
uttermost parts of the earth.@ But
the Gospel had stayed in Jerusalem up to this point! The Lord used
the adversity to move the disciples from Jerusalem on to Samaria!
None
of
us enjoy adversity, but we need to recognize that some of the greatest
decisions in life have come as a result of adversity. It was because of
persecution of the church in England that settlers left there and
established colonies in America! It was because of excess taxation that the
colonist declared their independence from England and we became a new
nation. History is full of good decisions which were produced by
adversity! Emmanuel Church was born because of some adversity in our
mother
church over the gift of tongues!
The
early church responded to adversity by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ
further than it had gone before! I believe it was Bill Bright who first
said, AI wonder how
God is going to get us out of this one,@ when
difficult times came. It is often in adversity that we pray more,
believe God for greater miracles, and yes, we often submit ourselves to Him
in repentance and a greater commitment to obedience when we face those
difficult times. God does use the adverse circumstances of our life to
bring about His perfect plan! Look for God in times of difficulty!
God uses times of adversity to make peace
between those who have been enemies.
From
the time of Pentecost until Acts chapter 8, the Christian church was
primarily Jewish. They continued to meet at synagogues and at the Temple,
they kept the Law of Moses, and they considered themselves a part of the
Jewish religion. However, the Samaritans were part Jewish ... and part
Assyrian ... and there was a long standing enmity between the two
nations.
It
was
the Samaritans who had offered to help Zerubbabel rebuild the Temple after
it was destroyed by the Babylonians. Zerubbabel declined the offer and from
that time on they opposed his work. When Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of
Jerusalem, the Samaritans again offered to help and were refused. Again
they opposed his work. When Ezra came to Jerusalem after this, he found
many of the men of Israel had married the Samaritan women and had families
with them. He demanded they divorce their wives, disown their children, and
send them all back to their families! There wasn't a lot of Agood will between
the two nations!
It was
one thing for a newly selected deacon to wander off to Samaria and preach,
but after the revival they had with Stephen ... the Apostles in Jerusalem
wanted to be involved!
Acts 8
14 Now when the apostles who were
at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter
and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they
might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of
them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then
they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
The
Samaritans had accepted Jesus as the Lord of their lives, they had been
baptized in water, but they had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Perhaps
Stephen thought the work of the Holy Spirit was a Jewish experience
... I don=t know ...
but when the apostles arrived the laying on of hands for the infilling of
the Holy Spirit was their first priority.
There
are a number of Christians who have received Christ and have been baptized
in water, and have never had hands laid on them that they might receive the
Holy Spirit. If you are one of them, may I encourage you to find someone to
pray with you to receive the Holy Spirit? It was important to Jesus! He
told the disciples to not leave Jerusalem until they received the gift of
the Holy Spirit, and now the apostles act quickly to bring the Samaritans
into an experience of the Holy Spirit. If this was important to Jesus
and
to the apostles, shouldn't it be important to us, too?
The
Scripture does not say what the manifestation of the Holy Spirit was when
the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit, but Simon the Sorcerer saw or heard
something which amazed him! He offered money in order to obtain such
a
powerful gift!
Acts 8
20 But Peter said to him, "Your money
perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased
with money!@
Money
can=t purchase the
gift of they Holy Spirit, nor can it bring peace between bitter enemies. Money
can=t buy
love! Only God can bring love and peace in the presence of Jesus, by
the
power of the Holy Spirit!
God often used adversity in order to
fulfill His plan, to bring enemies together to make peace, and He often uses
adversity to touch the deep places of our hearts.
We
noticed the man named Saul who heartily agreed with Stephen=s
stoning. He took it upon himself to make havoc of the church in Jerusalem
and was the one creating most of the adversity for the church. But
I want
you to know ... God has His eye on him!
Let
me
ask you ... what would you want God to do to the person who created havoc
in
your life? If someone burst into your home uninvited and dragged your
loved
one off to prison ... and they never returned ... what would you pray would
happen to that person?
Obviously,
most of us know the story of Saul ... he became the Apostle
Paul! That is what God did to him! This was not a nice guy! Yet
God had a
special plan for his life, too!
Acts 9
1 Then Saul, still breathing threats
and
murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and
asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found
any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound
to
Jerusalem.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus,
and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the
ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?"
Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord,
what do You want me to do?"
Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go
into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
The
most amazing stories ever told are not about physical healings ... but about
the miracle of God=s
forgiveness. Corrie Ten Boom told of one of the horrible prison guards who
mistreated them in the Nazi prison camps, who met her after the war and
explained that God had forgiven Him ... and he wanted to ask her forgiveness
as well. It was difficult ... but not too difficult for God.
I don=t
know what was in the deep parts of the man named Saul of Tarsus. The
manifestation of what was there was displayed with anger, bitterness,
hatred, and murder. Most of us do not have that kind of response to life! But
the list of those who have include people like Hitler ... and the latest
serial murderer called the BTK killer.
Can
God
forgive such atrocities? With God all things are possible. But
the
question is not about Hitler nor the BTK killer ... it=s
about you and its about me. What is in
your heart? Often we hide deep sins, long lost hurts,
mistrust
of others, unforgiveness, and we refuse to deal with it until we find
ourselves in the midst of adversity.
Take
a
look at Saul of Tarsus. He is in the center of the storm of adversity ...
he is the major cause of it! Yet he is also being torn by the emotional
upheaval he is creating! He is like someone who is kicking his legs
against
sharp wooden sticks ... and he keeps on doing it! Then
Jesus steps into the picture. It is only then that Saul
realizes that his anger and torment isn't directed toward people ... its
directed toward Jesus Christ! His struggle was against God.
Times
of adversity are often used by God to help us see the deep places in our
hearts ... the places where we are tormented and driven. It is out of this
poisoned well that we frequently hurt others, say things which damage
relationships, and we wish we could change. We are caught in the habit
of
kicking against the sharp sticks of life ... we damage ourselves and others
... and Jesus is waiting to get our attention to change us!
Jesus
used this time of adversity to call Saul into a place of discipleship ...
and then a place of leadership as the Apostle Paul. There is no end to the
possibilities of what God can do in your life and mine! If we let Him.
Have
you faced some adversity? Perhaps its there as a reminder to help you find
the plan God has for your life? Or perhaps there are some old scores that
aren't settled between you and the Samaritans of your life! Are you
ready
to go pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you up to overflowing?
Let God
make your hard times into harvest times!
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