This unity is seen during the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. But unity is not the same thing as conformity, as I shared in this message.
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As Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, he makes time to meet with the leaders of the Church in Ephesus. An important reminder Paul gives them comes from the example he lived out while he was in Ephesus: “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27).
Some translations say “the whole counsel of God,” but I like the simple, straightforward wording in the KJV: “all the counsel of God.” In other words, Paul’s textbook was everything in the Scriptures.
One of Paul’s traveling companions was Luke, who made frequent use of the Greek word boulē, which is translated “counsel.” He is the only Gospel writer to use this word, and then he uses it seven more times in the Book of Acts. Putting together Luke’s usage of boulē with the three other appearances in the New Testament, we can come up with a good overview of what Paul meant by “the whole will of God.”
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!… (Acts 20:28-31, emphasis added)
In my book When Sheep Bite I have a chapter called’ Driving Away the Wolves.’ In that chapter I point out—
There is a phrase that is often associated with the behavior of wolves: a lone wolf. Normally, wolves travel and live in packs. The phrase “lone wolf” is associated with those who leave in order to find a mate, carve out their own territory, and then form their own pack.
Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Lone wolves hear the shepherd’s voice but ignore it to follow their own pursuit of forming their own pack. Remember that these lone wolves don’t want to stay alone: they want to build their own following.
Jesus said we could spot imposters—wolves in sheep’s clothing—by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20). Two evident fruits are:
Mutating the immutable counsel of God’s Word to suit their own needs
Ignoring or criticizing the whole counsel of God’s Word that godly shepherd leaders faithfully teach and preach
For shepherd leaders and their flocks, the whole counsel of God’s Word is the best wolf deterrent you can find! Another passage from my book says—
David’s beautiful description of the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23 has a phrase that sounds unusual to my ears. He writes, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” How can such wooden instruments bring comfort to sheep? When the sheep know their shepherd has the rod of God’s Word in his hand and is skilled at using it, the sheep are far more relaxed around the shepherd. This is because a shepherd’s rod is not used against the sheep, but only against the enemies of the sheep.
Throughout the Old Testament, the rods in the hands of leaders were the symbol of their God-appointed authority (think of the staffs of Moses and Aaron). Those rods were symbolic of the words God had spoken to these shepherds to empower them to lead His sheep. In the New Testament setting, the Bible is described in similar terms. Shepherds are directed to correctly handle the rod of God’s Word, knowing that His Word is the only thing that can reliably care for the sheep by teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training (2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16). The sheep will welcome this; the wolves will fight against this.
Pastors, immerse yourself in the whole counsel of God’s Word. Not just the parts that are comfortable for you or pleasant to preach about, but all of God’s Word! This will strengthen the rod of leadership God has given you, it will bring health and comfort to the sheep in your flock, and it will be a strong deterrent against the wolves that would seek to infiltrate your pasture.
I would also humbly recommend that you pick up a copy of my book When Sheep Bite to help resource you to heal from old or ongoing injuries, and to fortify you to remain faithful to the call God has on your ministry.
This is the audio of an exclusive video that I shared with my Patreon supporters. We are currently in a series of lessons learned from Paul’s second missionary journey. This is the third lesson in this series.
Paul was very consistent and systematic in each city he visited. One of the consistent words Luke records about Paul is “reasoned.”
What does that word mean? Are there lessons from Paul’s example we can apply to our lives today? I think there is something very important and easily accessible for all Christians who want to be able to share their faith with unbelievers.
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Have you ever walked through a door that God so obviously opened just to get smacked by the people on the other side? Let’s talk about the lessons we can learn from that.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.I am sometimes amazed at how much Jesus accomplished in just a little over three years of public ministry. What I would have expected to see is a Man burning the candle at both ends—up early, working hard without any breaks each day, very little (if any) leisure time, and then burning the midnight oil.
But instead we see Jesus never seeming to be rushed or exhausted. He takes time for meals with friends, time away from the crowds, and still in just a short period of time He fulfilled hundreds of ancient prophecies and trained His followers to take the Gospel around the globe!
One of the keys is His priority. Notice that I said priority and not prioritieS. Jesus was singularly focused on His Father’s glory and He showed total dependence on Him. I think one of the most telling verses is Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”
If Jesus needed prayer to start His day, how much more do we need this!
Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in his journal, “Rose early to seek God, and found Him whom my soul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company?”
So why don’t we treat prayer like this? I think there are three main hindrances to keep us from making prayer a priority.(1) Self-reliance. A common phrase we use is, “I need to get to work.” But this puts the emphasis on me—my plans, my abilities, my work ethic. I believe I can do more than pray, but I also believe that I shouldn’t do anything until I have prayed.
Prayer, therefore, is a reminder of my utter God-reliance.
God has a better plan than we do. God has more wisdom than we do. God has more strength than we do. So wouldn’t it be better to ask Him what we should be doing, how we should be doing it, and then ask Him for the strength to do it?
When we have this focus, our prayer time will keep us aligned with His plans and empowered with His wisdom and strength. Look at a couple of examples.
Sarah knew how to believe God because He showed how He kept His promise in His perfect timing (Genesis 21:1-2).
Mary knew how to pray and behave in alignment with God’s word (Luke 1:31-38). Her prayer shortly after this is sautéed in Scripture, showing how she relied on God to keep His Word (vv. 46-55).
Saul of Tarsus (who became Paul the apostle) had assurances of God’s direction for his life at almost every turn (Acts 9:15-16, 20:22-24, 21:10-14, 23:11, 27:21-25). Then he writes to his friends at Philippi how God received the glory throughout this whole process (Philippians 1:12-14, 25-26).
We can live and pray with the same assurance that God is completely in control (Isaiah 55:8-11; Romans 8:26-28). (2) Distractions. When Martin Luther was asked about his plans for the next day he said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” That sounds unrealistic to most of us, but that is because we call too many things “priorities.” We need a singular priority: The knowledge of God’s will and the help that only God can give.
Stephen Covey has a very helpful tool that I use regularly: the urgent/important grid. Bible reading and prayer time is most decidedly a Quadrant II activity. We make time for these important activities by removing unimportant activities from Quadrant IV. The Bible frequently couples a “take off” with a “put on” (see 1 Corinthians 13:11; 2 Timothy 2:4; Ephesians 6:11-18), which should prompt us to ask, “What’s one thing I can take off of my Quadrant IV and put on that time for prayer in Quadrant II?”(3) Uncertainty. Sometimes we may wonder if our prayers are doing anything. Maybe we think we are not praying the “right way” or perhaps we wonder if we are praying for something in alignment with God’s will or only our own selfishness.
The only two things Jesus said were the “wrong ways” to pray were praying to show off, and babbling like pagans (Matthew 6:5-8). As we read in Romans 8, the Holy Spirit will help us pray, if we will let Him.One way we pray in alignment with God’s will is to pray using the Scripture. The Bible is our Prayer Book. Pastor Timothy Keller wrote, “Your prayer must be firmly connected to and grounded in your reading of the Word. This wedding of Bible and prayer anchors your life down in the real God. … Without immersion in God’s words, our prayers may not be merely limited and shallow but also untethered from reality.”
So here are three steps we need to implement to counteract those three hindrances to a consistent, meaningful prayer life:
Listen to yourself pray—replace the “I have to” with “God, I trust You to direct me and help me.”
Track your time in each quadrant and identify just one Quadrant IV activity you can replace with prayer.
When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. (Acts 28:4-5)
The residents of Malta thought the apostle Paul was experiencing karma.
The idea of “karma”—blessings or penalties for our good or bad deeds—has been a human mindset since the beginning of time.
This is really the mindset among Job’s three friends: Good things always happen to good people and bad things always happen to bad people. Except Job’s friends were wrong. We know this because we see behind the scenes in Heaven at the beginning of the story, and we hear God reprimand these men at the end of the story.
“Karma” isn’t how God operates. God fulfills His plan, regardless of what people do or don’t do.
In this story in Acts 28, God had promised Paul, “You must testify about Me in Rome,” so Paul was invincible until that promise from God was fulfilled.
To chalk things up to “karma” is to deny God’s sovereign plan. We have to guard our minds against this kind of thinking because it slips in so naturally. A part of renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2) is not jumping to our conclusion, but trusting that God is sovereignly at work.
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And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. (Acts 28:15)
We have to be careful of thinking of Paul as some sort of super-evangelist. Yes, he was sustained by his faith in God, but look what happens to him when he is in the assembly of fellow saints—it prompted him to thank God and brought courage to his heart.
Do you have to go to church to be a Christian? Of course not. But you will be encouraged and you will be the source of encouragement to others when you gather together regularly.
As the writer of Hebrews tells us—
Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
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Paul’s first visit to Philippi didn’t go so well!
It started off with some success—Lydia and her household accepted Jesus as their Messiah, and a demon-possessed girl was set free—but then things turned sour very quickly! Paul and Silas were falsely accused of subverting Roman law, and without any sort of trial they were beaten and thrown into prison.
Even after the local magistrates realized their mistake in mistreating Roman citizens in this way, they simply asked Paul and Silas to leave town. You can read this story in Acts 16:11-40.
But there were seeds planted in this city. Not just Lydia’s family, but the jailer’s family as well, became followers of Jesus. And what about the girl set free from demonic oppression? I have a hunch she joined with the Christians in praising God too! This group of believers then became the first financial supporters of Paul’s missionary work.
Paul knew that his brief imprisonment in Philippi had resulted in a thriving group of believers. And now as he writes a letter to these saints from a Roman jail, he is once again starting to see what God is going to do through this hardship—
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brothers and sisters, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14)
Paul was not embittered by his imprisonment, but he was rejoicing in all of the good things God was accomplishing because of his imprisonment.
✅ An attitude of thankfulness allows our eyes to stay open to God’s blessings even in hardships.
❌ A grumbling attitude prevents us from acknowledging what God is doing.
Paul’s trust in God’s provision gave him an attitude of gratitude in a difficult place, and he now encourages his friends to adopt this same mindset. In the next chapter, he writes—
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you. (Philippians 3:1)
Paul knew that in a heart full of gratitude there is no room for grumbling. That’s why always rejoicing in the Lord is “a safeguard” for Christians. Rejoicing in God’s character and God’s blessings keeps our mind on Him, making it very difficult for any temptation to ambush us.
Let’s proactively keep a heart full of gratitude so that no grumbling can seep in. But if we do find ourselves in a dark place that may prompt us to grumble, let’s react quickly to turn any complaints into praying and singing hymns to God, just as Paul and Silas had done in the Philippian jail, and undoubtedly as they were also doing now in their Roman jail.
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It is nearly impossible to overstate how fearful Christians in the first century were of the Jewish zealot named Saul of Tarsus. Saul called himself “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14) as he sought to seek out and destroy all who were followers of The Way.
Not only was he personally bent on his ruthless mission, but he had the full sanctioning of the Sanhedrin (Acts 8:3, 9:1-2). This was the religious body that had successfully goaded Pontius Pilate into crucifying Jesus.
So you can imagine the apprehension in Ananias’ heart when Jesus calls him to visit with Saul after he had encountered Jesus for himself. Ananias said, “I’ve heard all about this man and the harm he has done. And I also know he has come to my city with the authority to drag Christians off to prison” (Acts 9:13-14).
Ananias’ interaction with Jesus seems to me to echo the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is as if Ananias is praying, “Is there another way? But not my will but Yours be done, Lord” (see Luke 22:42).
Ananias is called a disciple of Jesus (Acts 9:10), and Paul even refers to him later as “a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews” (22:12). In other words, Ananias is an early church leader. What he does or doesn’t do here will set the pace for other Christians.
So I love the fact that Ananias didn’t just begrudgingly do only what Jesus instructed him, but he said and did only what Christ’s love could empower him to say and do.
Jesus told Ananias to lay his hands on Saul and pray for the restoration of his sight (9:12). Ananias did more. He laid his hands on him in such a loving way (9:17), that Luke uses the same word as when Jesus laid His hands on people for their healing (c.f. Luke 13:13). Ananias even called him “brother Saul” (9:17).
Jesus told Ananias to simply pray for Saul’s physical healing, but Ananias did more: he prayed for Saul to be baptized in the Holy Spirit as well (9:17, 22:13).
Jesus told Ananias what His plan was for Saul’s ministry, but He didn’t tell Ananias that he had to repeat that to Saul. Ananias did more: He reaffirmed to Saul what Jesus had already said to him and encouraged him to get up, be baptized, and began to do what Jesus had told him to do (9:15-16, 22:14-16).
When Ananias called Saul “brother,” he used the term that fellow Christians used for each other (Philippians 4:1; Hebrews 2:11; 1 John 3:14). That means that Ananias is the first one to recognize the genuine conversion of Saul the persecutor to Paul the Christian.
When the love of Jesus is in us, we will not be looking for ways to begrudgingly obey what Jesus tells us, but we cannot wait to lavishly do more loving things out of the overflow of Christ’s love in us. What a fantastic example Ananias has give all of us who call ourselves Christians!
Craig T. Owens 