Hi all,
Last week I shared transparently about the toughest time in our married lives, a 9 month period where everything precious to us was taken away.
In English we quote Paul this way: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." But I wrote the Greek literal: "I prevail with (dynamite) power in the one strengthening me." He wrote that after saying he had 'entered a new dimension, having been initiated into a mystery'. (v11-12)
Paul's letter to Lydia and the Philippians
It was his warmest and most transparent of all his letters, giving us a glimpse into his emotions and personal growth in the Lord.
Philippi had no synagogue but Jewish women met to pray by the river. There Paul and his fellow travelers met a business woman named Lydia. Acts 16:14 tells us she was a 'seller of purple', originally from Thyatira, which was a city near Ephesus near the coast in south west (modern) Turkey. More than that it says this: "...who worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened so that she listened to the things Paul was talking about."
Note - she was a worshipper of God, but she was not yet born again.
We can speculate that it was because she worshipped God that Paul was led to talk to her. I think about people I know who are worshippers of God, but not yet born again as far as I know. Those are the ones I ask the Father to draw to Himself as per John 6:45, for they are not far from the kingdom of God.
In Acts 16: 16-18 Luke records 'as we went to prayer' (at the river) a girl with a spirit of divination followed them, crying out "These men are the servants of the most high god, showing us the way of salvation." That grieved Paul for in that city at that time, the spirit in the girl was talking about Apollo, not the God of Israel. It may be that the spirit, not wanting to be cast out of the girl, caused her to proclaim this hoping Paul would ignore her so he could stay in the girl.
Paul was well aware of the Greek culture and gods, and he was grieved with the spirit of divination in the girl following them 'many days' proclaiming Apollo as the most high god. The only question is, 'Why did he wait so long to cast it out?'. The Greek of 16:18 says Paul was deeply grieved, in emotional pain due to the unrelenting nature of this spirit in the girl. Perhaps he waited because he knew it he cast it out it would cause greater trouble for them - indeed, they were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail.
Perhaps he was concerned that with so few Jewish people in the city.
It would cause great difficulty for Lydia and the other believers. We don't know, but at some point his distress was great enough, he turned and cast the thing out of her, with the resultant arrest and beating.
You know the story: Paul and Silas were beaten and chained to the wall in the local jail. In 16: 23-31 the officials charge the jailer with keeping them secure under penalty of death, chaining them in the innermost part of the prison. But at midnight, with the other prisoners hearing them worship, there was a great earthquake and Paul and Silas' chains fell off. The jailer, seeing the doors and gates open, prepared to kill himself knowing it would mean death for him and his family for letting prisoners escape. Paul assured him all the prisoners were there still, and the jailer asked what he could do to be saved.
In context
The subject was how could the jailer's life and that of his family be saved from execution due to the chains falling away and all the doors and gates opened. Out of context Christians take this as a promise their whole family will be saved if they alone believe. This is not consistent with what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 7: 16: "For who knows wife, if you will save your husband? Who knows husband if you will save your wife?" Yet many believe it is scriptural that if one spouse is saved the other and their children will all be saved at some point. There is no such promise in the NT.
That said, perhaps awed by the divine intervention, the jailer and his whole family believed on Jesus and were baptized. With Lydia and her household, this was the start of the body of Christ in Philippi.
In the 10 years after leaving Philippi in Acts 16...
...he experienced a riot in Thessalonica and having to be quickly taken out of town, then very limited success in Athens in Acts 17. In Acts 18 he had good success with the start of the body of Christ in Corinth, followed by a federal court victory there. Then success for 2 years in Ephesus followed by a riot. Before turning to Jerusalem he traveled constantly, was arrested in Jerusalem, suffered a ship wreck, and was awaiting trial in Rome. In those 10 years he wrote in our terms:
I have been initiated into a secret on how to be self-sufficient no matter my surroundings. I have strength in the one who strengthens me.
Today, the phrase; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...
...means hang in there, grit your teeth and try your hardest, you can do it with all your strength - but that is NOT what Paul was talking about. He was talking about a mystery he had been initiated into, that came through very difficult and life-threatening circumstances.
He had learned to be at peace in any situation. That made him independent of whatever circumstances were swirling around him: He found by focusing on his spirit and the Lord's presence there, he could remain in that peace and look for His provision in any situation.
THAT is what we all should aspire to. That no matter what is happening around us, we learn to shift our attention to our spirit where the Spirit of God lives, and find His peace. The thing about an initiation is that a person has to go through something to enter into that mystery.
It means any difficulty or stress you are in right now, is the perfect opportunity to be initiated into the mystery of how to be independent of circumstances. Next week, details how to control our thoughts and emotions to stay focused on the one giving you dynamite power in your spirit.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
Last week I shared transparently about the toughest time in our married lives, a 9 month period where everything precious to us was taken away.
In English we quote Paul this way: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." But I wrote the Greek literal: "I prevail with (dynamite) power in the one strengthening me." He wrote that after saying he had 'entered a new dimension, having been initiated into a mystery'. (v11-12)
Paul's letter to Lydia and the Philippians
It was his warmest and most transparent of all his letters, giving us a glimpse into his emotions and personal growth in the Lord.
Philippi had no synagogue but Jewish women met to pray by the river. There Paul and his fellow travelers met a business woman named Lydia. Acts 16:14 tells us she was a 'seller of purple', originally from Thyatira, which was a city near Ephesus near the coast in south west (modern) Turkey. More than that it says this: "...who worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened so that she listened to the things Paul was talking about."
Note - she was a worshipper of God, but she was not yet born again.
We can speculate that it was because she worshipped God that Paul was led to talk to her. I think about people I know who are worshippers of God, but not yet born again as far as I know. Those are the ones I ask the Father to draw to Himself as per John 6:45, for they are not far from the kingdom of God.
In Acts 16: 16-18 Luke records 'as we went to prayer' (at the river) a girl with a spirit of divination followed them, crying out "These men are the servants of the most high god, showing us the way of salvation." That grieved Paul for in that city at that time, the spirit in the girl was talking about Apollo, not the God of Israel. It may be that the spirit, not wanting to be cast out of the girl, caused her to proclaim this hoping Paul would ignore her so he could stay in the girl.
Paul was well aware of the Greek culture and gods, and he was grieved with the spirit of divination in the girl following them 'many days' proclaiming Apollo as the most high god. The only question is, 'Why did he wait so long to cast it out?'. The Greek of 16:18 says Paul was deeply grieved, in emotional pain due to the unrelenting nature of this spirit in the girl. Perhaps he waited because he knew it he cast it out it would cause greater trouble for them - indeed, they were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail.
Perhaps he was concerned that with so few Jewish people in the city.
It would cause great difficulty for Lydia and the other believers. We don't know, but at some point his distress was great enough, he turned and cast the thing out of her, with the resultant arrest and beating.
You know the story: Paul and Silas were beaten and chained to the wall in the local jail. In 16: 23-31 the officials charge the jailer with keeping them secure under penalty of death, chaining them in the innermost part of the prison. But at midnight, with the other prisoners hearing them worship, there was a great earthquake and Paul and Silas' chains fell off. The jailer, seeing the doors and gates open, prepared to kill himself knowing it would mean death for him and his family for letting prisoners escape. Paul assured him all the prisoners were there still, and the jailer asked what he could do to be saved.
In context
The subject was how could the jailer's life and that of his family be saved from execution due to the chains falling away and all the doors and gates opened. Out of context Christians take this as a promise their whole family will be saved if they alone believe. This is not consistent with what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 7: 16: "For who knows wife, if you will save your husband? Who knows husband if you will save your wife?" Yet many believe it is scriptural that if one spouse is saved the other and their children will all be saved at some point. There is no such promise in the NT.
That said, perhaps awed by the divine intervention, the jailer and his whole family believed on Jesus and were baptized. With Lydia and her household, this was the start of the body of Christ in Philippi.
In the 10 years after leaving Philippi in Acts 16...
...he experienced a riot in Thessalonica and having to be quickly taken out of town, then very limited success in Athens in Acts 17. In Acts 18 he had good success with the start of the body of Christ in Corinth, followed by a federal court victory there. Then success for 2 years in Ephesus followed by a riot. Before turning to Jerusalem he traveled constantly, was arrested in Jerusalem, suffered a ship wreck, and was awaiting trial in Rome. In those 10 years he wrote in our terms:
I have been initiated into a secret on how to be self-sufficient no matter my surroundings. I have strength in the one who strengthens me.
Today, the phrase; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...
...means hang in there, grit your teeth and try your hardest, you can do it with all your strength - but that is NOT what Paul was talking about. He was talking about a mystery he had been initiated into, that came through very difficult and life-threatening circumstances.
He had learned to be at peace in any situation. That made him independent of whatever circumstances were swirling around him: He found by focusing on his spirit and the Lord's presence there, he could remain in that peace and look for His provision in any situation.
THAT is what we all should aspire to. That no matter what is happening around us, we learn to shift our attention to our spirit where the Spirit of God lives, and find His peace. The thing about an initiation is that a person has to go through something to enter into that mystery.
It means any difficulty or stress you are in right now, is the perfect opportunity to be initiated into the mystery of how to be independent of circumstances. Next week, details how to control our thoughts and emotions to stay focused on the one giving you dynamite power in your spirit.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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