Acts 16:16 KJV
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
It is remarkable that this would happen in a place like Philippi.
This was a place Paul was assured the Lord had called him to preach the gospel in.
This was a place where the Lord had opened the heart of Lydia
This was a place where we now know a great church was planted
And yet there were distractions and oppositions.
Rather than being pleased with the publicity, Paul was grieved by the attention this damsel drew toward his ministry. Paul was not looking to the most well know guy in town. He wanted the ministry of the Lord to speak for itself - didn't need or want the help of the devil's crowd. When he rebuked her, her masters grew upset and turned the officials against Paul.
He and Silas suffered a terrible beating and spent a night in jail.
And while the Lord did do miraculous things in that jail cell, still they were compelled to leave the city and stop their ministry there.
All of this to say that we might be mistaken about what is an effective ministry in the eyes of the Lord. The work of the Lord appears to be always at odds with the people of the world. And while lots of souls were saved in the ministry of Paul, none of those souls saved appear to be the result of the sorts of things our ministries often rely upon today.
His was the result of consistent preaching and teaching despite suffering; not attracting people to his ministry because of the apparent material successes he had.
His was the result of churches meeting in borrowed buildings and homes
His was the result of leading people to the Lord whom he had met while in jails and prison cells
His was the result of prayer and songs offered to the Lord despite the outward trials
Someone said that early revival were the result of God doing what He usually does in an unusual number of people. We try to make revival being God doing things that are marvelous, outrageous, big and news worthy.
I am looking for God to do His usual, in an unusual number of people.
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
It is remarkable that this would happen in a place like Philippi.
This was a place Paul was assured the Lord had called him to preach the gospel in.
This was a place where the Lord had opened the heart of Lydia
This was a place where we now know a great church was planted
And yet there were distractions and oppositions.
Rather than being pleased with the publicity, Paul was grieved by the attention this damsel drew toward his ministry. Paul was not looking to the most well know guy in town. He wanted the ministry of the Lord to speak for itself - didn't need or want the help of the devil's crowd. When he rebuked her, her masters grew upset and turned the officials against Paul.
He and Silas suffered a terrible beating and spent a night in jail.
And while the Lord did do miraculous things in that jail cell, still they were compelled to leave the city and stop their ministry there.
All of this to say that we might be mistaken about what is an effective ministry in the eyes of the Lord. The work of the Lord appears to be always at odds with the people of the world. And while lots of souls were saved in the ministry of Paul, none of those souls saved appear to be the result of the sorts of things our ministries often rely upon today.
His was the result of consistent preaching and teaching despite suffering; not attracting people to his ministry because of the apparent material successes he had.
His was the result of churches meeting in borrowed buildings and homes
His was the result of leading people to the Lord whom he had met while in jails and prison cells
His was the result of prayer and songs offered to the Lord despite the outward trials
Someone said that early revival were the result of God doing what He usually does in an unusual number of people. We try to make revival being God doing things that are marvelous, outrageous, big and news worthy.
I am looking for God to do His usual, in an unusual number of people.
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