True to the Faith

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

TRUE TO THE FAITH

Acts 14:20-25

The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. 21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

NIV

More travel log, giving us all the places Paul and Barnabas went to, but we have some life lessons we can glean from within this section. They strengthened and encouraged the people to remain true to the faith. There is a great truth here in that we should all strengthen and encourage others in their faith. Of course that requires having concern for the faith of others. It might seem at times, we leave that kind of behavior to the pastor, seeing us all as needing to be encouraged and strengthened. But the fact is some of us who have been in the faith for a long time should be strengthening and encouraging those who have not been in the faith a long time, yet it also just might be that those who are new in the faith have an enthusiasm for Jesus that those of us who have been in believer for many years have become complacent in our faith, seemingly placing our trust in good works and thus somewhat weaker in our faith and are in need of strengthening and encouraging. But the puzzling part of this section is the statement about we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. It may not be that our entrance into the kingdom requires hardship, that is God ordains that as a requirement for entrance, but the fact is when we become believers in Jesus Christ we will have the world oppose us. That is, of course, if we are proclaiming the truth about Jesus, which will condemn the values of this world as sin, while giving the plan of escape from the consequences of that sin. If we are merely being believers, but living much in the same manner as the rest of the world, and not ever proclaiming the gospel, on a personal level, that is, then perhaps no hardship will befall us, but then have we truly gained entrance into the kingdom. It would appear Paul is stating the fact that as we strive to live in accordance with the truth, the faith, then we will stand opposed to the ways of the world, we will take our stand, speak up, and thus we will see hardship as a result of our taking a stand against sin. This would seem a little different then preaching God is love, he loves you and so do we. What hardship would we experience through that kind of message? Maybe we just do not want to experience any hardships and we will leave that to those people Paul was speaking to back then, and not to us today. Maybe we will just take all the blessings without the hardships. But the fact is if we are being the believers we should be we will have some hardships put upon us by the world. And for that reason we need strengthening and encouragement to remain true to the faith. 

Restored

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

RESTORED

Acts 14:19-20

19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

NIV

How fickle the crowd is, first wanting to sacrifice to their gods who had come down to them, Zeus and Hermes who were actually just Barnabas and Paul, then they are won over by others wanting to stone them. So are they gods or criminals that should be stoned? How easy it is to be won over by the ways of the world rather than by the truth of God. But before we spend too much time on the fickleness of man or rather the foolishness of man, we should note that when a stoning occurs it continues until the stoned person is dead. It is also true that a person stoned to death would most likely have a great deal of broken bones, at least a very beaten and battered body, with bruises, cuts, and broken bones. The stones were not little pebbles, but large heavy stones meant throw in such a way as to kill a person. So it is most likely Paul was in fact dead, but with his friends, the disciples who gathered around him and prayed, although we are not told they prayed, it is assumed, he rose, God restored him, and he was restored to his former condition before he was stoned, walking back into the city so as to show them the power of the living God. This is a lesson we can take hold of. It does not matter want men to do us, what the world offers us, or takes from us, if we are walking with God, he will restore us. There are times in our life when the world may think we are very special and offer us sacrifices of sorts. But then that very same world can take all we have, even as in the case of Paul, our very life. But God is able to so abundantly more. This should tell us that we would be wise not to put too much, if any faith in mankind, in the world, in the ways, of the world. We should not allow the customs of our culture or norms of our society to influence the way we live. These customs and norms are forever changing. As those people went from sacrificing to Paul to stoning him, the norms have gone from being a nation under God, with some sense of moral fiber, to one of evil and human degradation. Why would we adapt any of its ways? The scripture, God’s word, is opposed to man’s ways, as are man’s ways opposed to God’s word and his ways. We would be wise to be more like Paul and Barnabas then like those who flow with the trends of society. Yes, it might cost us at times, but we can be assured that God will always sustain us, always restore us, as long as we are walking with him. Walking with God, is walking restored. 

Focused

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

FOCUSED

Acts 14:15-18

We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

NIV

Paul and Barnabas were telling these people that all things are worthless compared to the living God. That is all gods, all things man creates have absolutely no value in life whatsoever because none of them can save a soul. Without the living God all men will perish. But we also see here that even though men do not turn to the living God and live their own way, God still gives them a testimony of himself. Creation itself is his testimony, yet here we see man still is determined to worship man, rather than God. This is a lesson we can learn. A lesson not to get entrapped by the things of the world. We cannot make this life more important than God. Even life itself can become a god to us. If it isn’t bad enough to become so attached to things, almost to a point of worshipping to them, sacrificing all our time and energy to either get more things, or to keep all the things we already have, and thus have no time and energy for God, we spent all we have, time, energy and our resources to cling to our life, itself. God has shown us through his creation that he is the one and only source of all we have and he is the only one worthy of all our praise. He is the one who fills our hearts with joy, not all the stuff of this world. He has shown all mankind kindness by providing what we need to sustain life, yet we tend to worship our life more than we worship him. It might even be possible that we get caught up in the trap of worshipping good deeds, thinking of ourselves as being such “Good Christian” because of how we behave, and thus we are actually giving praise to ourselves even if it only in our own minds. The fact is, the truth is that God is the only important, truly important truth in our life and he and he alone should be the only reason we live. We should not sacrifice to anything or anyone except God. This does bring us to the point that if we worship him and him alone and we are living for him, and not ourselves, then our behaviors toward others should reflect his love for them. But all we do in our relationships with others should reflect God, and not us. To say or even think that we are smarter, more intelligent, more talented, or skilled, more spiritual, more anything than any other, would indicate we believe ourselves to be more then we should and in some sense worship ourselves more than we do God. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes in protest of being considered more important than the living God. Even if we do not tear our clothes physically, we need to tear the material life spiritually, giving all praise and worship to God. Without God all else is meaningless, even life itself. Let us turn from all worthless things and keep our eyes and heart focused on Jesus. 

About Him

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

ABOUT HIM

Acts 14:11-13

11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

NIV

 How easy it is for some people to become so enthralled with a speaker of the truth, especially when he does miraculous signs and wonders. It is no wonder why some men today try to created signs and wonders in order to gather large crowds so they can fleece them of their hard earned money for personal gain. False prophets will always be among us, but here we see Paul and Barnabas, not as false prophets but as true men of God, yet these people were so enchanted they actually though Paul and Barnabas were gods who had come down to earth. We will see the response to this kind of thinking from Paul and Barnabas, in fact we should simply include it here, because there is the two truths we should take away from this scripture.

Acts 14:14-15

14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

NIV

First we should not be fooled by men who are not true men of God, even if they appear to be who they are not, even signs and wonders do not make them gods. No man should be put on a pedestal. But it is the second truth we must ensure we do not fall victim to. We should never think more highly of ourselves then we should. We all, that means us, are but sinners saved by the grace of God. There is no man greater then another, which includes ourselves. Although is it true some people appear to be more intelligent or able to retain more knowledge then others and some people have skills of talents that others may not be able to master, we are all created by God. Some people might have a greater drive for whatever it is they are attempting to achieve then others, but the fact remains we are all equal in the sight of God. There is not a single one of us who should ever accept praise in any many from any other man.  But the point here is that we should not endeavor to make ourselves appear to be worthy of praise. Paul and Barnabas were only doing what they were called to do, bring the good news, telling them to turn from worthless things to the living God. It was God who empowered them with signs and wonders in order to draw men to their message about him. All that we do, all that we say should not be about us, but about him. It is always about him. 

Faith

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

FAITH

Acts 14:8-10

8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

NIV

Here is an instance when it may not have been the faith of the healer, but the faith of the healed. That is not to say Paul and Barnabas did not have faith, for we are absolutely certain their faith was as strong as any man’s faith could be. But we have seen people healed before because of the faith of the healer, but here we are told that this lame man had faith to be healed. Here in lies the problem, why are so many people sick or live with infirmities? Is it because we do not have enough faith to be healed? It does not say this man had enough faith, but that he simple had faith.  Is it because we do not have anyone like Paul to recognize we have faith and to tell us to stand up on our feet? Do we need anyone like Paul? Why can’t we just look to Jesus and be healed? We head off to the doctor fast enough, but in many cases we are not healed, but just treated for our illness at a cost. This man’s healing was free, as was his salvation. If we truly believe we should be able to be healed, at least that is the theory. We say we believe, so why do we still have those infirmities? Do we just have enough faith for salvation, but not enough for a healing? Physical healings certainly are the most dramatic, drawing the attention of those around, but we also suffer from emotional and mental infirmities that we need to be healed from and in those cases others may not even know we are in need of a healing to tell us to stand up on our feet. In either case, many of us need healing, and healing is still possible in the name of Jesus. Although we are not told that Paul invoked the name of Jesus, we are certain that he was already speaking about Jesus when he looked at this man because he noticed this man was listening and had faith to be healed. Certainly we must assume this man was not without any sin, that he was not perfect, and we are not told that he confessed his sin, repented, asked for forgiveness, asked Jesus to come into his heart, acknowledging Jesus as his Lord and Savior. All we are told is that Paul noticed he had faith to be healed. Perhaps we have put to many prerequisites or conditions in place in order to be healed, when it appears all we need is faith. Who is there to notice our faith? Who is there to tell us to stand to our feet? If we do not have anyone to tell us, we must simply tell ourselves, notice we have faith, and tell ourselves in the name of Jesus stand up on our feet and be healed. But then that would require faith. So where is our faith? 

Poison

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

POISON

Acts 14:1-7

14:1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news.

NIV

There is always going to be people divided about the message of Jesus Christ. There is always going to be those who believe it, and those who refuse to believe it. Here we see those who chose or refuse to believe the message poisoning the minds of those who chose to believe it. Even as God enabled Paul and Barnabas to do miraculous signs and wonders, there were still those who continued to refuse to believe and they even plotted to do harm to Paul and Barnabas in order to rid themselves of having to hear that message any more. Why do people have to lash out at those they disagree with? What is wrong with honest debate without anger and becoming or plotting violence against the other person? Paul and Barnabas were only telling the truth about Jesus Christ, explaining who he was and what he came for. It was alright if some people refused to believe, Paul and Barnabas were not demanding that all within the sound of their voice must accept Jesus Christ or they would be punished or killed. They merely told the people and each one had the right to choose to believe or not believe. That is all we can do as well. We can share the message of Jesus Christ and allow people to make their choice to believe or not. At least today if they choose to disbelieve they do not attempt to run us out of town. But they may attempt to poison the minds of people who do believe, which would include us. This is a forever problem. The world will always try to poison our minds against the truth. The thinking of the world will always try to infiltrate our thinking. The world and its philosophies represent the plot of Lucifer to rebel against God, to think they are as good as God, with all their humanitarian works. They attempt to convince us they are better than we are. They try to convince us the word of God is not all true, that it was just written by men, and that we should not believe everything in it. But they are wrong, and we are right and the argument cannot be broken, God is and will forever be. Every word is God breathed and remains forever true. Do we allow the thinking of the world’s view on life to influence us or do we remain true to our faith, our trust in Jesus? If we ingest enough poison it will kill us. If we ingest enough of the ways of the world what will the result be? Death by poison. 

Shaking Dust

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

SHAKING DUST

Acts 13:49-52

49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

NIV

Why do we need to know about the God-fearing women of high standing being incited by the Jews against Paul and Barnabas along with the leading men of the city? First from the implication of God-fearing, these women of high standing must have been proselytes, pagan women, matrons who had accepted the Jewish religion. Now Paul and Barnabas were having influence in the region, and the word of the Lord spread. The Jews, which would again imply the Rabbi’s or the Pharisees or other Jews who had some degree of power over these women and leading men of the city as far as religion is concerned were filled with jealousy against Paul and Barnabas so they had to incite, stir up persecution against them. It is a sad commentary on mankind, to see how people will attempt to destroy others, for their own personal gain. Perhaps not actually destroy them physically, but destroy their credibility, their honor, their character in order to discredit anything they have to say, especially about the truth of God. It is one thing to have honest debate over the truth of scripture, but it is entirely a different thing, to diminish the other persons view, or opinion about the truth. We need to be careful not to get caught in that trap, to incite God-fearing people against those who would be spreading the word of the Lord, at least as long as they are actually spreading the word of the Lord. Now if anyone is a false teacher that is again a completely different scenario, those we are to flee from as fast as we can. Those we need to shake the dust off our feet in protest of their false teaching and leave as fast as we can. This kind of truth also applies to people who we share the message of Jesus Christ with. If they will listen, and at least digest the truth, contemplating over it, and are willing to have an honest conversation, we should continue to share, but if they are argumentative, expressing rage and anger about the truth, totally refusing any portion of it, perhaps that is the time to shake the dust off our feet as well in protest of them. That seems hard hearted, cold, leaving them in their own path to destruction, but it seems that is what Paul and Barnabas did to those people. Yet the truth is that for us who know the Lord, who are on the path of righteousness, we can and should be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. We cannot get weighed down by those who reject the word of the Lord. We must share it, we must speak up, but each person must make their own choice in life, and if there are those who reject what we have to say, rejecting and actually inciting others against us, we cannot allow them to drag us down into having any despair, any negative feelings, or any doubt. We should remain filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, going on to share with others. Shaking the dust. 

Picked

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

PICKED

Acts 13:44-48

44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

NIV

Nearly the whole town showed up the next week to hear the word of the Lord and this meant more gentiles then Jews at least that is what it appears. Why would the Jews who rejected Jesus be jealous about the gentiles accepting Jesus? Did they think they had a monopoly on God? Or rather they had a monopoly on religion. They must have thought themselves so much better than those gentiles who served other “Little g” gods, while they worshipped the God above all names, yet they rejected his word when it comes to Jesus being the one and only Son of God, the Messiah. Sometimes it is easier for a person that knows nothing or maybe a little about God to accept God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all as one, part and parcel, together all at once, then it is for a religious person who thinks they believe in and worshipped God, to add to their belief or change the way they think about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Now of course the Gentiles were glad when then heard Paul tell the Jews the Jesus came for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. It is a good thing to be picked. When we stand in line waiting to be picked to be on the team, it is a good thing to hear our name called, it makes us feel wanted. The Gentiles felt wanted, that God wanted them on his team, that he sent Paul and Barnabas to call their names, to pick them. And all of them that honored the word of the Lord, all of them that accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, all of them that became born again, were appointed or assigned eternal life. They received eternal life because they honored the word of the Lord. This appointment, or assigning if eternal life was the result of their honoring the word of the Lord. The Gentiles as Gentiles were picked to be on the team, which is us.  We were chosen by God to be a part of the team as Gentiles. Paul told those Jews who were upset about Gentiles getting on the team, that because they rejected Jesus, and did not consider themselves worthy of eternal life the Gentiles were getting picked to be on the team and they would be getting the eternal life as they honored the word of the Lord. What a get feeling to know we are on the team. That because we honor, we believe the word of the Lord we have eternal life. Jesus brings us that eternal life. What more can we ask for in this world that would compare to eternal life? What more is there to life, then being on God’s team? We are on the winning team. Although it is true that God had chosen Israel to be his people, we Gentiles have now been picked. We are on the team

Continue

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

CONTINUE

Acts 13:42-43

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

NIV

It appears these people wanted to hear about God, and about Jesus and about how God actually cares and interacts with people. They certainly must had the knowledge of the history Israel and knew how all that had happened, yet they also were living in a time when it seemed God was not with them. It had been four hundred years since God had spoken to the people and now they are hearing he not only spoke but he sent his Son to redeem, to rescue them once more, a rescue from death itself. It would seem that people really need to know the truth. Even people who are religious but do not know the truth about Jesus, need to be rescued from death. The Jews that were attending the synagogue certainly were religious but they did not understand eternal life. Some of these people urged Paul and Barnabas to continue being influenced by God and speaking about these spiritual matters. What can we learn from this? How can this apply to our lives? Certainly we need to hear words from individuals who are influenced by the God. When we find such a person we need to urge them to continue in the grace of God, to continue being influenced by God and speaking those words of wisdom. But we also can learn that we need to continue in the grace of God. We need to continue to be living under the influence of the divine creator of everything. If we are to be an effective witness for Jesus, people need to see us as being influenced by God. The reason Paul and Barnabas were invited to speak further about what they talked about is because the people saw the evidence of the grace of God in them. People hunger for the truth, if they can see the truth in action, not the good deeds kind of action, but the influence of God in our lives, kind of action. We really need to live like that, under his influence, not our own. When we live under our own influence we have all those feelings of jealousy, envy, pride, anger, revenge, bitterness, rage, hurt feelings, unforgiveness, alone with a host of emotional or mental wrong thinking. When we are under our own influence we withdraw into our self even more, traveling down the proverbial rat hole. We need to see the truth and allow God to influence us. We need to continue to live in the grace of God each and every day.    

Justified

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

JUSTIFIED

Acts 13:38-41

38 "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: 41 "'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'"

NIV

Well there is it, through Jesus we have the forgiveness of sins. This has been proclaimed to us over and over again. Why is that? Do we forget that God has justified us through Christ? Perhaps we have to be reminded because we get bogged down in trying to abide by the law. Well not actually the Law of Moses, but the laws, rules and regulations we think make us a “Good Christian”. It is impossible to be a “Good Christian” in the first place. There is nothing we can do that would justify us one tiny bit. Sure we should live in a manner that pleases God, but that is out of our desire to please, not in order to gain justification. Those lines could get fuzzy if we are not careful. Fear of losing our salvation if we do not act or behave as a “Good Christian” should might come from fuzzy thinking about justification, or just forgetting that is God who justified us, not because of anything we did or do, but because he loves us, period. This can be difficult to understand because even though we say we love one another, we still get angry and perhaps even in some sense hate one another momentarily in the heat of an argument. We mistreat each other, punish each other, and seek revenge, retribution or whatever in order to get even. So how can we think God loves us when we behave like that? How can we believe we are justified? It simply does not count on us for our justification. If we believe in Jesus Christ as our savior we are justified, plain and simple. Again, it is true we should live according to the law of love, but certainly not according to laws of conduct, of do’s and don’ts. But still when we fail, when we fall short of that law of love, we do not lose our justification for it does not depend of us, but only on God. That is not an excuse to fall, especially premeditated falling, but it is a certainty that we will fall. The point is we can get back up, and keep going, because we have been justified, our sins have been forgiven, and we need to keep on keeping on, no matter what. Because we believe we are justified. 

Purpose

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

PURPOSE

Acts 13:32-37

32 "We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'   34 The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.'   35 So it is stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'   36 "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

NIV

For the rest of the story we need to know the rest of the story. David was buried and his body did decay, but then what are we to know about what happens after that? Was David left to decay, to perish or did God save the man who he testified was a man after his own heart? Paul was certainly setting the stage for two results of life. One to be buried and our body to decay, and two to be raised from the dead, not to see decay because we are in Jesus. As we will see Paul warns them to make sure they are not among the first type, thus by implication be of the second type, being in Jesus. If they, and we desire to escape decay, we must accept Jesus as the Holy One of God. Certainly we have done that and we are assured eternal life, but is that guaranteed no matter what, as long as we accept Jesus as our Savior? Can we continue to live in a manner that suits our own fancy? Certainly we cannot resist every temptation for if we did we would be perfect and that is just not possible. But the desire of our heart is to resist. The other truth which is here for us is the fact that it was when David had served God’s purpose in his generation he fell asleep, he died. This would imply the reason David lived in the first place, was to serve the purpose of God in his generation. It would seem right to make the leap that the reason we live is to serve the purpose of God in our generation, and when we have accomplished that we will fall asleep. So then we must make that next leap and state that as long as we are not asleep, or dead, we are or should be serving the purpose of God in our generation.  What does that look like in our flawed condition? How can we, who still fall to temptation serve the purpose of God? If we continue with the analogy of David, surely he was flawed, imperfect in many ways, yet it is testified that he served the purpose of God in his generation, so then we too, who are flawed, human, and imperfect in that condition can still serve the purpose of God in our generation. Now should we continue to live in sin, God forbid? But with a heart desiring to serve our Lord, failing at times to various temptations, making mistakes, we can serve our Lord, do his will, and accomplish his purpose for our life. We each have a purpose, each may be different, yet all are the same, to serve the purpose of God and when we have done so we get to fall asleep and be with our Lord. So we need to live with purpose. 

Recognizing Jesus

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

RECOGNIZING JESUS

Acts 13:26-31

26 "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

NIV

Paul has finally reach his point that it is Jesus and that God raised him from the dead, which was all written about by the prophets. Paul has laid out a very compelling case, but he is not finished which we will see later. So for now we need to see the truth, the life lesson in this portion of his dissertation of the gospel message. Although the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus for who he is, because of the love of God for all people throughout all of the history of mankind, he has made it possible for us to recognize Jesus. He gave them the words of the prophets, and he has given us all their words, plus those of all the men who lived during the time Jesus was among them in the flesh. We have those men who are witnesses to the truth of the gospel. How can we not believe? How can we ignore the witnesses who wrote their testimony of what he said and did? Just as the prophets were inspired by God so were all the witnesses to the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus inspired by God to pen their testimonies for generations that would follow. How some people can trust the words of human history written by men, not inspired by God, but merely inspired by man, and not trust the words inspired by God is beyond comprehension. Even if they were just words written by men, they still record the history of God and his relationship with man. The lives of those men who recorded the life of Jesus, and the truth of the message only gained a horrible death because of their testimony. They did not gain fame and fortune as so many men endeavor to do today with their words of history or other topics for people to believe in. Our faith is firmly placed in the words which were inspired by God. The testimony of those men is true because God inspired them to record it. Yet the truth of the matter is that it was not only those people of Jerusalem and their rulers who condemned Jesus to death, it is also our sin. We are the true reason Jesus had to die on that cross. He is our righteousness, as we have none, our righteousness is as a filthy rag. Without Jesus we are the ones condemned to death, but praise God, we recognized Jesus and accepted him as our Savior. Now, because he took our sin and the punishment, death for it, we are free of that condemnation. Because God raised him from the dead, we too will be raised from the grave. Because he ascended into heaven, he is coming back for us and we too shall raise up into the heavens to be with our Lord for all eternity. This eternal life is available to all who hear this message and recognize Jesus. Paul is telling them, and his words are available for all mankind for all generations to read and believe. What a blessing to recognize Jesus. 

Not Worthy

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NOT WORTHY

Acts 13:23-25

23 "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'

NIV

Paul is continuing the history lesson, after discussion of David he moves to the descendant of David, Jesus. But he first has to set the stage with John the Baptist and his words about Jesus. Paul is careful to make sure everything leads to Jesus. He could have just told them about his experience meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, but he gave them the whole truth of why Jesus is the one and only Savior of the world. What lesson can we learn from this part of this history lesson? If John, who was in and of himself a man called by God, filled with the Spirit and did mighty things for God, preaching repentance and make way for the Lord, knew he was not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus, who do we think we are? Certainly if anyone had any cause to be a little puffed up about who he was, and how God was using him to further his kingdom, it would have been John, or Paul as well for that matter. We should learn not to think more of ourselves then we should. We are but sinners saved by God no matter what kind of service to the Lord we are involved in. First, however, we should consider that John was set apart from his conception for that purpose which God called him to. John did not decide it would be a good idea to be who he was, for it was God who knit him together in his mother’s womb to be who he was, and do what he did. Are we any different than John? God has knit us together in our mother’s womb designing us to be the people we are, for the purpose he has called us to do for the furtherance of his kingdom. We each have a purpose, but that purpose is for God and not for ourselves. John knew he was being used of God, but at the same time he knew he was nothing compared to Jesus, the Son of God. God desires to use us as well, in some way, perhaps not like he used John the Baptist, but he desires to use us, yet we should never assume because he uses us for his purpose that we are any more special than any other. We all are the same, sinners saved by grace. We should not be puffed up, or for that matter envious or jealous of someone who God uses in what appears to be a mightier way than he uses us. None of us, not a single one of us is worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus, no matter how God is using us for his purpose. Who can claim to be worthy? No one! Therefor we should live in humility before our Lord for only he is worthy. The one thing we can certainly be absolutely sure of is that we are not worthy. 

Everything

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

EVERYTHING

Acts 13:20-22

"After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

NIV

Here again we see the people wanting what the world around them has, a king. God had determined he wanted to have men, who were called judges to rule over the people after the death of Joshua, mainly because they were forgetting him and turning to the gods of the culture around them. But after a while these people wanted kings instead, so they could be more like the culture around them. This in itself could be our life lesson. Do we really want to live as God desires us, or do we want to live like the culture around us? Yet there is another truth in the section of history that Paul is telling his audience. When he says that God testified that David was a man after his own heart, he included that he will do everything I want him to do. Now we certainly know David was no angel, in fact, he did one really sinful act with Bathsheba and the events that followed. But it is not the perfection of humanity which God the reason God testified concerning David. It is the fact David will do everything God wants him to do. It is not the lists of don’t that God is so concerned with here, but the list of do’s. God knows we cannot be perfect in our conduct, which is why he sent Jesus to be our Savior. Only God can be perfect in conduct, we cannot and will not ever be perfect in our conduct, as we are but sinners saved by grace. Yet it is that which God wants us to do is what makes us people after his own heart. David was passionate about God, when we see the faith of David we see a man who believed the Lord, who trusted in him, who had a reputation of believing God. From the time he defeated Goliath, in the name of the Lord, to when he danced naked before the returning Ark of the Covenant, David showed people he loved God. Yes, he was a flawed man, who sinned against God as well. This is our story, we have sinned against God, more often than we should, yet we still should have a heart for God. When David was confronted about his sin, he cried out in anguish, I have sinned against the Lord. Yes, he had to live with the consequences of his sin, but still God did not take back his testimony of David. We can learn from this also. We might have to live with the consequences of our sin, but that does not negate his testimony about us. Are we a person after his own heart? Will we do everything he wants us to do? Will we fight the battles against the goliaths in our life in the name of the Lord? Will we worship him, truly dance before him naked, if not in the physical, at least in our hearts, no matter what people think of us? This could also apply to how we live. Do we live like the culture around us, or do we live as God desires us to live, no matter what people think. Living the way God wants us to live would apply to doing everything he wants us to do. Adopting the philosophies of the world around us would constitute an act of rebellion, an act of adultery. Could the product of that adultery be taken away, as God took the son from David? It is something to think about, but the truth of the matter is that we should be the people God desires us to be, doing everything he wants us to do, everything.

Journey Led by God

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

JOURNEY LED BY GOD

Acts 13:16-20

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, 18 he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, 19 he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance.   20 All this took about 450 years.

NIV

In response to those men asking if they had any words of encouragement, Paul stands up and motions with this hand and begins. What the hand motion was all about we will never know but we do know what Paul said which is packed with history, but truth as well even for us today. Paul was speaking to both the men of Israel and the gentiles who had become Jews. We are going to see that Paul proves Jesus is the Messiah sent by God not only for the Jews but for the whole human race. Paul starts off this history with the time Israel was in Egypt and their journey to Canaan. What is the purpose of this? What can we learn from this? If nothing else we do see that God leads his people to the place he desires them to be. If there is the need to overthrow anything in the way of getting them to that place, God does the overthrowing. Although we may not be on an actually physical journey at the time, we are always, or should be, on a spiritual journey. Yet there can be times when we are on a physical journey as well. In both cases it would do us well to remember it is God who first makes us to prosper where we are, and it is his mighty hand who will lead from wherever we are to where he wants us to be. We should also note that he endured their conduct in the desert. They were not the greatest followers God has ever had, complaining and even rebelling many times. They were discontent with their situation and moaned and groaned to Moses a great deal about it. They even felt at times it would be better to go back and serve the Pharaoh as slaves then be where God was leading them. We should be aware of our lives so that we are not thinking like those Israelites did. We cannot afford to be discontent where God is leading us. We should not complain about our situation in life, as God is leading us on a journey, both physical and spiritual. We are headed to a place of our inheritance. Certainly in the spiritual realm, that is heaven, but in the physical realm we still do not know where we are headed, as those Israelites did not know. But what we do know is that God will lead us to where we should be. It could be that we are where he has led us to and we are in the place we should be. We need to remember the purpose of where he led them, to be in the center of the trade world, with many people from different lands passing through their place. We are certain God wanted them to be an influence in the land, infiltrating the cultures that passed through. But those people allowed the cultures to infiltrate their thinking, their culture. We should be aware that God leads us to a place not just because it is our inheritance, but so that we can be an influence on the culture around us. So we can take a stand for God. In our neighborhood as well as in the local church we attend. Standing for God, being an influence on others, infiltrating their thinking, not being infiltrated. God will lead us to where we should be, we need to follow that spiritual path and also that physical path, remember we are on a journey led by God. 

Encouragement

DEVOTION

 THE BOOK OF ACTS

ENCOURAGEMENT

Acts 13:13-15

13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak."

NIV

More travels, more travel log but we are about the see something wonderful. Paul and Barnabas arrive at a place where they visit the synagogue on the Sabbath. We are not sure if the local members knew who they were, or where they had come from, or anything about either of them, but for whatever reason, which we are not told, they ask if they had any message of encouragement for the people and if so, please speak. It is interesting they were willing to hear a message of encouragement. This could lead us to believe it is far better to encourage then it is to be judgmental in our conversations or messages to others. Who wants to hear condemnation? Who wants to hear correction or judgment? Who wants to hear what they have been doing wrong, or that they should be doing more, or they should not be doing this or that? But people do want to hear words of encouragement as these people were open by inviting Paul and Barnabas to speak. We are going to hear the full message as we proceed with Paul’s response, his message of encouragement to them, and it is long, a history lesson of sorts, that brings them to the present and to Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. What greater encouragement can there be then Jesus? It seems we spend a great deal of time concentrating on how we should live as Christians. It seems we always hear messages about what we should be doing, as individuals or as a church in order to show the unchurched the love of God. It seems we hear messages about what the next right thing or step is for us, but seldom do we hear words of encouragement. Do we share words of encouragement with people we know? Do we encourage them with the fact they can escape death, real death, buy accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Those are true words of encouragement. Sure we who attend church know all that and should not need to hear that kind of message, but the fact remains, those people who invited Paul and Barnabas to speak any words of encouragement were attending what they considered church. They were they to worship God in the manner they were accustomed to. But it seems they were looking for words of encouragement. It would be good for us to remember when we share any message to share one of encouragement. 

No Turning

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NO TURNING

Acts 13:6-12

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

NIV

So here we are in Paphos and we get to meet a Jewish sorcerer. That seems like an oxymoron. How can a Jew be a sorcerer? We would think a Jew is a Jew and a sorcerer would be a sorcerer.  How does someone with all the history of his ancestors, the knowledge of God and all he did throughout history in the lives of all of Israel turn to sorcery as a lifestyle. There are two supernatural powers in this world, which are not equal, but are in fact diametrically opposed to each other. The divine power of God and then there is the dark power of Satan, which in this case is defined as sorcery. He was also defined as a false prophet, someone pretending to be a foreteller of the future. All his actions pointed Paul to call him a child of the devil, and thus an enemy of everything that is right, which would be God. We could focus on the result of his encounter with Paul and Barnabas, good men, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, but a nagging question still remains about this oxymoron, a Jewish sorcerer. What lesson can we learn from him? Is it possible that we who have all the history of our experience with Jesus ever turn to the dark arts? Although we may never actually become involved in sorcerer per say, is it possible we could adapt the ways of the devil without being aware of it? Could he infiltrate our way of thinking, influence how we approach life, trusting in our own abilities to achieve our ambitions, goals, or plans? This sorcerer appeared to be able to do forms of magic, promoting himself as a fortune teller of sorts, all under the name of being A Jew, one of the chosen people, the chosen nation of God. Of course we saw that Paul, under the power of the Holy Spirit caused this man to go blind, having a darkness come over him. He was already spiritually blind so why not be physically blind as well, showing the power of God is far mightier than the magic of the devil. Would we not be better off to reject all the ways of this world, the magic of the devil, and put our whole trust, our complete trust for every aspect of our lives in the almighty power of God? Who of us can foretell our future? Who of us can plan out every aspect of our lives so detailed that we know what and where we will be in fifteen, ten, five or even one year from now? How can we plan out our lives so completely based on our efforts, our saving or investing for material gains for the future if we trust completely in God, rather than the schemes of the devil? Is not trusting in the flesh, adapting the schemes of the devil? If a Jew can turn to sorcery then it is possible a Christian can turn to some form of the devils ways. We need to be so careful not to allow the devil to infiltrate our thinking, to keep our eyes totally focused on Jesus, not to be distracted by the temptations posed before us, especially the temptation to trust in our own efforts to sustain us, achieve our desires or gain fame or fortune. All that we are, and all that we have is only from the hand of God. He orders our footsteps. The path of righteousness is straight and narrow, we cannot allow ourselves, like that sorcerer, to turn. No turning. 

Sent

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

SENT

Acts 13:4-5

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

NIV

So here we are with a travel log of Paul, Barnabas and John as their helper. Now of course this is no ordinary travel log as it is one in which the Holy Spirit was the travel agent planning and sending them on their way, being of course the best travel agent ever, going along with them as a tour guide. It is interesting that we should be told that John went with them as their helper. What is that all about? But before we get to John let us first examine this being sent by the Holy Spirit. They were sent, by his influence, under his authority and under his continual direction. This is the way all our lives should be lived. Without his influence they were not qualified to go in the first place, without his authority they had to authority to go anywhere, and without his continual direction they would not know where to go. If we want to be believers who declare we are followers of Jesus, then we need to be followers. This means we do not go until we are sent, because we have no authority to go unless he gives it to us and we have no idea where we should be going unless he is directing our footsteps. It does seem sometimes we tend to forget about all that and simply try to make our own plans, doing our own thing, so to speak. But as we will see Paul and Barnabas had the power of God in their lives, speaking as from the mouth of God to the ears of men, as well as being so filled with the Spirit they were vessels of miracles, or miraculous signs and wonders. If we want to live according to our own thoughts based on our desires, ambitions or plans, then perhaps we should be used to living solely in our humanity just going through the motions of Christianity. But if we really want to live as believers such as Paul and Barnabas, as well as so many others we read about, then we need to make sure we are sent by the Holy Spirit as they were. Of course we are not traveling missionaries, but then maybe we really are. The place we live, the careers or jobs we have, the churches we attend, are all part of being sent by the Holy Spirit. We should be living under his influence, his authority and his continual direction. It might have been a whole lot easier of a life for Paul and Barnabas if they had settled down somewhere outside of Jerusalem relaxing in the joy of the Lord, enjoying a thriving tent making business and simply heading out each Sabbath to join the others in worship. The Holy Spirit had other plans for them, and as believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit and faith they lived by the Spirit, under his influence, under his authority and under his continual direction. Should we do any less? Now as far as John was concerned, he too must have been sent by the Spirit, but as a helper, a deacon of sorts, a servant to them, assisting in any way needed. Is not helps one of the gifts of the Spirit? This is evidence that John was also sent by the Spirit, perhaps not to be the lead person of the group, but nevertheless none less important, as we are all members of the body of Christ each with our own calling, with Jesus as the head. We all should be living according to the influence, authority and direction of the Spirit. We all should be living as one sent.

Fast and Pray

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

FAST AND PRAY

Acts 13:1-3

13:1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

NIV

Remembering that Barnabas and Saul were in Antioch and had been sent to Jerusalem with the gifts collected for those who were suffering because of the Famine, and at the conclusion about the narrative regarding Herod arresting Peter and his miraculous rescue by the angel sent by God, we saw Barnabas and Saul finishing their mission and returning to Antioch. So now we are back in Antioch and see both of them are listed among the prophets and teachers. We see this group was worshiping and fasting. Before we deal with the working of the Holy Spirit and the setting apart of Saul and Barnabas, we should visit awhile with this worshiping and fasting. Does worshiping and fasting have anything in common? Why are they connected in this narrative? An examination of the Greek indicates that this worship was more likely a time set aside for prayer and fasting. This would make more sense that they had determined to fast for the purpose of a specific time of prayer, seeking God. This could be a life lesson here for us. When seeking the Lord and perhaps for specific direction, it might well be fitting to fast before our time of prayer. Now what exactly did their fasting consist of? Were they fasting for weeks, or days, or for a day, or did they forgo one meal before gathering for prayer? Or was their fasting simply not eating a certain food group? All we actually know is they abstained from food for religious reasons, which would have been to pray. So are prayers without fasting worth anything at all? We know from past experiences with the disciples they had prayed many times and no mention of fasting was recorded, so why this time was it mentioned? We simply do not know, but what we do know is that they had determined to fast this time in order to pray. We also do not know exactly what the purpose or subject of their prayer was. Were they specifically praying for direction from God? Were they just generally praying about their life as believers? Did they have any special needs, healings, emotional, physical or spiritual or perhaps financial needs they were seeking help from God for?  Or were they just concerned as to what God wanted them to do next for his kingdom? Perhaps their only concern was about serving him, and what should they do in order to increase and spread his word. From the answer the Holy Spirit gave, it would appear this is, in fact, the focus of their prayer. Set apart Barnabas and Saul for God, for the work I have called them to. There is no doubt God calls some specific people to be set apart from the rest for work he has called them specifically to do. So we could conclude this time of fasting for prayer was focused on asking God how they could further his kingdom. It was this group of prophets and teachers who were fasting and praying, leaders in the church at Antioch. It would make sense that was their focus in prayer as well as with the answer. Yet we still could learn that when we pray as to how we might further his kingdom it would be good for us to fast also. All prayer does not include fasting, although there is times throughout the whole bible that it is recorded certain people fasted and prayed. There are times to pray, and then there are times to fast and pray. Certainly the concluding prayer of a pastor was not with fasting. A moment of prayer with the pastor over a situation in life is not one preceded by fasting.  Nor is the prayer over our meals one which includes fasting. The prayer time for special needs in a service also has no fasting beforehand or afterwards for that matter. Clearly there are time when prayer is simply prayer, then there are times when fasting is a part of prayer. If we were fasting every time we prayed we might starve to death, maybe, but we certainly would never eat, as we should be praying at all times, being in communication with God, not just speaking our prayer requests but listening for his voice. Prayer is listening, as we see here, the Spirit spoke, as they were in prayer. This means they were silent, listening for an answer to their request. So again, there are times to pray and then there are times to fast and pray.

Increase and Spread

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

INCREASE AND SPREAD

Acts 12:24-25

24 But the word of God continued to increase and spread. 25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

NIV

We just saw a king who was praised as a god, be struck down, and apparently it was the worms that were eating at his body which caused him to die. That seems to be a very horrible death, just because he accepted being called a god and did not refute it or pass the praise on to God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. We might also imagine what all those people who called his words as words of a god thought when after they said it, and he accepted their praise, he fell down and worms ate him to death. Well, we really do not have to guess much as we see the word of God continued to increase and spread. What can we learn from this? As much as man might try to replace God with other gods, his word will always increase and spread. Man is but man, but God is the creator of man, and thus man is never equal to God and no matter what man endeavors to do, he can never extinguish the word of God. As great as this king Herod might have thought he was, he was no match for God. No matter how powerful anyone thinks they are, or how much influence they might be able to have on others, they are no match for God. In our society today there are those who would try their best to remove any reference to God from the public square, they will never stop his word from increasing and spreading because there are but men, and he is God. Who is equal to God?  Who can compare to God? None, no one, and so we can be assured his word will increase and spread. Does that require us to be the ones to do it? Are we part of his plan to increase his word and cause it to spread? It would appear that Paul and Barnabas as well as John Mark were certainly part of God’s plan to increase and spread his word. It also seems that many other of the Apostles and Disciples were a part of that plan, so it would make sense that we too as believers in the divine, in God almighty, the maker of heaven and earth would be a part of his plan for continuing to increase and spread his word throughout the world. We read those words of Jesus when he said, “Go” and we do make them personal, but are we going? Sure we do not travel abroad, as Paul did, but we are still going into parts of the world. We are going into all kinds of parts of our society, educationally, economically and socially. We come in contact with people from many different walks of life and each of us have the opportunity to increase and spread the word of God as we are empowered by the divine creator of heaven and earth. If we try on our own we might fall flat, but as we have the power of the Spirit, and if we avail ourselves to that power then we will not fail, we will indeed be a apart of the divine plan in causing his word to increase and be spread.  But if we just live our lives, being content to be saved, engrossed in our own situations we will not be a part of that plan. We may have allowed men to silence us, to snuff out our voice, keeping us from being a part of his plan. We cannot allow this to be the case, we must stand up and be heard, finishing our mission, then we can return to Jerusalem, the true Jerusalem, the new city coming down out of heaven. God will see to it that his word increases and is spread.