Today we have a message from Uncle Malcolm on the missionary calling of Paul and joy in persecution.
J.M Rowland
5, Tichborne Street,
Leicester
To Leicester Central Juniors & Inters
20/4/41
When we talk about missionaries we usually forget that the earliest Christian missionaries travelled, not from Europe to Asia or some other continent, but from Asia to Europe.
We are going to hear an adventure today of the greatest of those early missionaries, St Paul.
St Paul was on his 2nd missionary journey (or Tour, as Dr Weymouth has it.)
He and Silas had been travelling through the province of Phrygia and Galatia, preaching to the Christian churches and after much wandering they arrived at Troas or Troy.
Acts 16
Here they were probably joined by the writer of Acts, Dr Luke.
At Troas the Missionaries (Timothy also had joined the party at Lystra) received the call to come to Europe.
Paul had a dream in which he saw a Macedonian who was saying ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’
And immediately they obeyed.
I wonder do we, who are God’s missionaries in Leicester always obey his commands immediately?
Well, having arrived in Greece, they proceeded to a large city called Philippi and had the joy of leading Lydia to Christ.
But it was not long before the devil took a hand in St Paul’s affairs, and it’s always a sure sign that God’s work is being done if we find that the devil is trying to interfere.
A certain slave girl fortune teller kept following them and crying out after them.
At length Paul commanded the evil spirit in Christ’s name, to come out of her.
This it did to the great annoyance of her masters who previously had obtained much money by her fortune telling powers.
That reminds me of how annoyed the Devil gets when any of his slaves are freed.
He does all sorts of things to prevent the good work – at Boston he put the lights out to hinder God’s work!
And so, in this case, the masters of the slave girl arrested Paul and Silas, took them to the market place and without any trial just tried to cast them into prison.
Here we have our two missionaries unjustly beaten, cast into the darkest and dirtiest dungeon of a foreign prison.
“Well,” you say, “how downhearted they must have been.”
But were they?
Look at verse 25, in what, judging by the world’s standards, was a most unenviable position, these servants of God could sing praises unto God.
Why do you think they were so happy and confident?
Perhaps they remembered the words of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they were faced with the burning fiery furnace ‘……
“Our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king.” Daniel 3 verse 17
Perhaps they remembered the words of the Psalms: Psalm 50 verse 14-15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.”
Whether they remembered them or not, they acted upon them and the promised deliverance resulted.
They were rescued and then they had the opportunity of glorifying God by leading their uncouth jailor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is the lesson for us in this story of the ‘cheerful convicts’?
Well, there are many lessons we can learn.
But the one I want to emphasise is that, no matter how black the outlook in our lives, or in the history of our country, we can TRUST our God to save us.
We can leave it all to Him for he is able to deliver us.
We can afford to sing his praises even in the darkest hour because he promises to save us.
God says: “Offer thanksgiving; …. And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
Psalm 50 verse 14 – 15.
And Today?
How many of us have found ourselves in trouble and called on the name of the Lord?
How many have been delivered from all kinds of situations?
Have you been shouted at or persecuted for sharing your faith?
I know I have several times in my life, once when we were about to go and do evangelism in Leicester, we parked the minibus in Highfields, to go to the double-decker which was parked on London Road.
I was not driving the minibus, but as we started walking away, a man came out and started shouting at me, he wore a Buddhist symbol, but seemed full of demons and I was pretty shaken up.
Another time in London, evangelising with a double-decker, in the evening to share the gospel and feed the homeless, a Christian man turned up and started shouting at me.
What were we doing here? He demanded to know.
Well, I thought we were just there to share the gospel and God’s love, but on the street, we found ourselves being opposed by someone I thought should be on our side, not against us.
Unfortunately, sometimes we can still find that now, even in our own churches.
But, let us remain obedient to God’s call.
How many of our brethren find themselves being persecuted today?
Thrown into prison, killed, or freedom of speech curtailed for believing in Jesus?
Today let us lift up our brothers and sisters in nations across the world, where people continue to spread Your gospel, even under persecution;
In India where being a Christian is seen as a betrayal of your culture.
In North Korea where you can be publicly executed if you are found to be a Christian.
In China where you are constantly watched and hounded by the police, imprisoned and sent to re-education centres.
In Nigeria, where you can be killed at any moment by extremists.
In Cuba where you are monitored and imprisoned by the police.
In Afghanistan where Christians are hunted down and killed.
In Eritrea, where Christians languish in metal shipping containers in the scorching heat.
In Iran, where the young church is rising under persecution.
Lord, we pray that these and many other countries will rise up to become powerhouses for your glory!
We pray that you would fill your people with boldness and love, so that we would reach out to our neighbours and change the hearts of those who are against You!
We thank God that in countries where the Western world once spread the gospel, they are returning us now to reinvigorate the Western church, Africa & Korea are now missionaries to us, as reinforcements in sharing the gospel.
We pray that the joy of the Lord would be our strength and that we would be people of unity and not harbour a religious spirit, but a spirit of love, peace and a sound mind in working together for Your Kingdom in humility.