Savage Wolves

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30).

The apostle Paul had invested himself deeply in the church in Ephesus.  His heart for missions usually didn’t allow him to stay too long in one place, but the Ephesian church was blessed to have Paul work among them for three years.  So now, when it was time to move on, he couldn’t do so without admonishing the Ephesian elders to carefully protect the people he loved so much.

Paul knew that, in his absence, the congregation would be more vulnerable to the attacks of those seeking to destroy their faith.  He describes these attackers as “savage wolves.”  What a vivid and apt description!  Like a pack of ravenous wolves circling a herd of sheep, these predators would attempt to isolate and devour the weak and unguarded members.  Paul himself had experienced the savagery of the Ephesian wolves, so he knows well the danger involved.  The “wild beasts at Ephesus” he mentions fighting in 1 Corinthians 15:32 likely refers to this same human threat.

The Scriptures pull no punches in describing those who seek to destroy our faith.  “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed…” (2 Peter 2:12).  “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed” (Jude 10).

Never doubt the resolve of those who seek to devour you spiritually.  Beware of the wolves who want to entice you away from the flock and then have you for lunch.

God loves you!

Mike

The Eye-Heart Connection

“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened after deceit,let Him weigh me with accurate scales, and let God know my integrity. If my step has turned from the way, or my heart followed my eyes, or if any spot has stuck to my hands, let me sow and another eat, and let my crops be uprooted” (Job 31:5-8).

Job’s “friends” had done their best to convict him of some hidden sin in his life.  In their minds, there could be no other reason why he was experiencing so much suffering.  But throughout the book, Job has maintained his integrity.  As he reflects on his life, he can find nothing that would merit the pain and loss he has endured.  He is willing to face judgment if necessary but this seems out of proportion.

One phrase in the text above stands out to me: “If…my heart followed my eyes…  Our eyes are often gateways to sins of the heart.  I’m reminded of the story of Achan in the book of Joshua.  God had forbidden the Israelites from taking any of the spoil following the destruction of Jericho.  But Achan disobeyed God’s command.  Eventually his sin was revealed and he was confronted about it.  Notice how Achan responds: “So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it” (Joshua 7:20-21).

Sins of the heart often begin with the eyes.  Jesus Himself taught this: “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthey 5:27-28).  Guarding the heart begins with guarding the eyes.

God loves you!

Mike 

A Clean Break

Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.  And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing” (Acts 19:18-20).

Some of those who turned to Christ in Ephesus were involved in the occult.  To their credit, these new believers wanted to make a clean break with their sinful past, even at a great personal cost.  The risk was too great to keep their magical textbooks around because the temptation would be to return to that profession, especially when things got tough as a follower of Christ.  And you wouldn’t want them to fall into the hands of others who might be tempted.  It would be better to burn them all and be done with it.

Perhaps this is why God was so insistent that the Israelites utterly destroy any remnants of the pagan idolatry that surrounded them.  “The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned” (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).

Could it be that we need to make a clean break with our own sinful past?  Are we hoarding remnants from a previous sinful lifestyle that could tempt us to return to it?  Is it worth the chance?  Perhaps it’s time for a good old-fashioned “book burning” in our own lives -- a sacrifice, if you will, of any ties that could cause us to stumble.  If only Jesus would have said something about this.  Oh wait!  He did (cf. Matthew 5:29-30).

God loves you!

Mike 

Friends

“Friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with them. They ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. They do not want you to be better or worse. When you are with them, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, as long as it is genuinely you. Friends understand those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With them you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities, and in opening them up to friends, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of their loyalty. They understand. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse them, neglect them, tolerate them. Best of all, you can keep still with them. It makes no matter. They like you. They are like fire that purges to the bone. They understand. You can weep with them, sing with them, laugh with them, pray with them. Through it all and underneath, they see, know, and love you. A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself.”*

True friendship is a beautiful thing!  The book of Proverbs highlights several key traits of a good friend.  Here are some of them: 1) “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17).  2) “A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). 3) “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6).

I hope you have a friend like the one described in the Bible.  That type of friend is a gift that is priceless.  But even better, how about being that kind of friend to someone else?

God loves you!

Mike

*C. Raymond Beran, Bits and Pieces, September 19, 1991, pp. 3-4

Reverse Exorcism

God was doing some amazing miracles in Ephesus through the hands (as well as the handkerchiefs and aprons) of the apostle Paul.  The work of God was so exceptional that some local Jewish exorcists tried to “catch the wave,” as we say.  As part of their efforts, they began to add the name of Jesus to their demon-casting repertoire.  If it worked for others, it ought to work for them, right?  What could go wrong?  They were all about to find out.

“But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”  And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16).

Apparently, merely invoking the name of Jesus doesn’t automatically guarantee that you have access to the power of God.  The problem is that these men didn’t know the One Whose name they were attempting to use.  This stands in stark contrast in the text to someone who definitely knew Jesus and Paul -- the evil spirit!  The demonic realm had certainly suffered loss due to the work of Jesus and Paul, no doubt about that.  The evil spirit knew it was no match for these servants of God.  But who were these lightweight pretenders?  By the time the dust settled in this encounter, the seven sons of Sceva knew they were in way over their heads!

What we have here is a reverse exorcism!  Rather than being cast out, the evil spirit casts the exorcists out.  Lesson?  Don’t try to use the power of God at least until you know the God Who has the power.

God loves you!

Mike