GYC West 2015: Saved to Serve

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GYC West

Jean Ross

Plenary

A True Knowledge of God

Fred Hardinge

Health Ministry Around the World

Neeta Hillman

The Co-Working of the Divine and the Human

Skip Dodson

New Testament Vignettes

Days of Ministry

Father in heaven, we're thankful for the opportunity again, to come together. In the morning time, we ask that you would bless this si this se season where we consider, again, medical evangelism this time in the New Testament. And Father, as we look in on this one story, there are multitudeness stories we could examine in the New Testament. But Father, bring out from this one the lessons that we most need today. Thank you for hearing our prayer in Christ Jesus name. Now, when we consider the New Testament as it relates to medical evangelism, some would say, oh, you're aiming at too big a target. Because the New Testament is full of stories of medical evangelism. It's all over the place from the gospels right on through to the Book of Acts. And then even into the epistles, there are references to it. One of the in most interesting references with regards to that, and some people say, well, you know, how involved was Paul in medical evangelism? But in the book of Galatians, when he gets his charge from the apostles of Jerusalem, they tell him, don't forget to remember the poor. And that's medical evangelism, isn't it? You know that when, when you go through and you're meeting needs in communities, that's comprehensive health evangelism. When you, when you read that quote in Ministry of Healing 1 43, and it's very clear there that you know the Christ method alone, there's a lot involved with that. And it's, it includes healing the sick and suffering, but it also includes instructing the ignorant and sympathizing with those that are in trouble in need. So this whole big large picture, the apostles practiced regularly. Have you ever thought about what it would've been like to be an apostle? You ever thought about that? Would it have been an exciting life, do you think? I think so. I mean, these guys, they moved around a lot. For one thing, you know, they were here and they were there and they were everywhere it seemed, and wherever they went, well, not wherever, but oftentimes they caused riots. I mean, how would you like to be someone like that where every, every town you went to Mike, there was a riot. I mean, come on. That would, that would get a little predictable. After a while, I would think you would say, okay, I wonder when, wonder when the riot's gonna happen? You know? And then of course they spend time in jail. I haven't ever had that, I won't say privilege, but opportunity or whatever. Yeah. Never, never spent a night in jail. I've been in jail. So many of you have been in jails. You ever been in a jail doing prison ministry? Yeah, it's, it's a great opportunity, but I've never gone there of my own doing. And then of course, there were miracles that happened in the, in among the apostles, all kinds of things. Things that they, you know, just miraculous situations. So I'm sure that it was quite the life as we look in on this, on this day in the Apostle Paul's life, though it appears to be rather mundane from an apostolic perspective, that is. But Acts 28, verses seven and eight, I'll just give you the, the, the, the place where we're headed. Acts 28, verse seven says, now, in that region, there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius. Acts 28, verse seven. If you're just getting there, sorry, I didn't clue you in ahead of time. Acts 28 verse seven, beginning again to read. Now, in that region, there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened that the father of Publi, Islay, sick of a fever and dysentery, Luke, the physician, is always typically careful to record symptoms and disease processes. Very helpful, actually sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul went into to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. Now, if we just read that, we say, oh, okay, another miracle, you know, mark that one down. But this one is an interesting one, and I want to just stop to consider a few things about it as we consider our own role in medical evangelism of the 21st century. First of all, the circumstances, if you go back to Acts 27, verse 39, you note that it had not been just an average day for Paul, at least the days, couple days previously. Acts 27, 39 through 44, describe the shipwreck that took place near the island of Malta. And they, there was a very real possibility that Paul's life could have been taken, not necessarily by the pounding of the waves, but there was a soldier on that ship that when they realized that the ship was going to be destroyed, he wanted to kill all the prisoners. Why can't let any of 'em escape? Can't have that on my record. So let's kill all the prisoners this guy said. But the centurion on the ship, verse 43, says, wanting to save who? Paul. Paul. I mean, imagine the providential working here. This man wants to save not everyone else, but he wants to save Paul. Do you think Paul had been talking to that guy? Oh yeah. I'm sure they had, had many conversations. And this man recognizing that this, this, there was something special about these apostles, he said, I want to save these people. He felt like, as it probably felt as though if he did order their des destruction, that God would deal with him. He wouldn't, he didn't want to have to face God on the judgment day with that on his record. So he says, wanting them, wanting to save, Paul kept them from their purpose. These soldiers that were anxious to destroy the prisoners. He said no. He says he commanded those that could swim to jump overboard first and get to land and the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. So circumstances, Paul is a prisoner. First of all, he's a prisoner. He's being taken to Rome for trial. Number two, he's endured a shipwreck. I'm sure that was a traumatic experience. We had some friends that were out on one of the Great Lakes. I forget whether it was Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, I think it might have been superior. And they had some trouble. There was a storm that came in and it was all they could do to keep that boat from going to the bottom. And I, I was told they were singing hymns, they were praying, they were, they were sure that they might drown in that lake. But then when Paul gets to shore, as if the shipwreck and the being a prisoner wasn't enough here, here's what happens next. Verse one of chapter 28. Now, when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and lay them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. Wow. And it says, when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer whom though he has escaped to sea, yet justice does not allow him to live. But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God. Now, if you've been, if you're a prisoner, prisoners weren't always the best treated very well. So you, you know, you're suffering from a little mistreatment. You've been through a shipwreck. Now you've been through a snake bite. And I'm sure that this was a deadly snake. I mean, vipers just are not like garter snakes. Right? And then not only that, but you're completely misunderstood. First they say you're a murderer of a vicious criminal and that, you know, justice is not allowing you to survive. And then when nothing happens, they say, oh, he's a God. So they completely flip flop. How many of you would suggest that these are optimal conditions for medical evangelism? You thought you've had bad days, right? You know, a lot of times we look at adverse conditions in our lives and we say, oh Lord, if you could just turn this thing around, then I could really be of service to you. Have you ever prayed that prayer? You know, or you ever, have you ever had that thought in your mind where you just said, you know, I can't, I just feel like I can't do anything here because you know, I got all these things stacked up against me. People are misunderstanding me. How many, how many of you have ever been misunderstood? You know your intentions or you know who you were? Hey, aren't you a Jehovah's Witness or something like that? You know, I think a lot of times we ask God for the wrong things. We ask him to take away the circumstances. We ask him to help people to understand us better. When, if we were to really look at the situation, the situation is optimal for what we really want to do. And Paul was in that situation, you know, medical evangelism is not just dependent on ideal circumstances. It can happen on your best days or it can happen on your worst days. So the real, the real bottom line is this, you have to be ready at any time because God may be working situations and circumstances out for you to witness for him in this way to help someone, even though you're having the worst day of your life. I'm sure some of you have had that experience, haven't you? When you're really having a really bad day and God puts somebody right in your path that needs your help, what do you think that means? What? What should we get from that? I think we should take away that one of the ways that God designs to heal us is through being a participant in the healing of someone else. Now, that's often what will make us feel the best is to be used of God on our worst day. Now, I think it's also relevant for us to consider how this healing happened. And we're down at verse seven now, which we read earlier. So let's read it again with all this background in mind. Verse seven says, now in that region, there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened. Don't you love those words? It happened. Do you think this was providential? You know, did God allow this Paul and and his company to come at just this time where they were going to be needed? It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with a of a fever and dysentery. Paul went into him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. Now, I think there's an importance of inquiry that's brought to view here. Paul and Luke and the others that were there. They did not just lounge on a deck chair and Ccal drink and say, isn't it great that we finally have some reprieve from these Roman people who want to, you know, take us? And Paul was facing trial and all of those things. He, he said, he wasn't just thinking, oh, it's so great to get away from all those thoughts. Instead, he must have been asking, is there anyone here that we can help while we're here? You know, that attitude of service, very important and, and who knows whether they would've even been confronted with this need had they not been awake and looking around and asking questions. Who is this? You know, how is your family publius? Can you imagine Paul asking that question? You know, tell me about your family. Do you have relatives here? Oh, my father is not feeling very good right now. Oh really? Could we see him? I would like to pray for him. You know, just something as simple as that. You know, do we do, are we awake to those needs when we talk to other people? Do we ask other people about how their family is doing, how their friends are doing? If they have anybody that we could pray for? Very important. But it's so simple. It's also interesting to me how the actual healing took place. Verse eight says that this man was sick of a fever and dysentery. He had some of gastrointestinal infection. We know that because who's writing here? Dr. Luke is writing. Luke was there. He was there to see the man. He was, I'm sure he evaluated what was going on. But what I find fascinating is who actually did the healing? Paul did. Now, I don't know, I don't know how you feel about this. And Dr. Hess, you know, here you are. Just imagine you are there with a minister. You know, let's say it's you and I and, and there's a patient who's got a a sickness. Would you feel uncomfortable if I was the one that God called on to do the healing? I know you wouldn't because you're also a minister yourself, right? See, here's what I see in this story. What I see here is a complete lack of a silo approach. Luke never said in this situation to Paul. Now Paul, I would appreciate it if you would stick to preaching and writing just like you were educated to do, and you let me handle seeing the patients and treating the disease. How about we do that? Do you see any of that here in the story? No, there's none of that stuff. In fact, I want to share with you this, that just ask you a question. See how up you are on your New Testament? Who wrote the most words in the New Testament? Okay. If you said, Paul, you are incorrect. It was Luke who wrote more words. Now we're not talking about letters. Paul wrote a lot of letters and more books. Bear his name than of course Luke. But if you total up the words Luke, the physician wrote more words than Paul the preacher did. We never see Paul anywhere in the New Testament saying to Luke, now Luke, let's get, let's get our roll straight here. You need to go see patients, make money and support the work, and I will preach and write. There's nothing like that in the New Testament at all. Is there, in fact, you can find in the spirit of prophecy where Paul threw his tent making actually supported Luke and the rest of the workers. Isn't that an interesting model? We have it, I think a little backwards today. We look to the physicians and we say, you need to support us. You know? Whereas in the New Testament, we had ministers who healed pr, physicians who wrote and preached, and ministers who worked with their hands and helped to support the doctors. I don't know. I are, are we ready to embrace that model today? I don't, I, I don't know whether that is that too radical? I think we have some things to think about. What about you? I don't know what this work is gonna look like when it closes, but I have a feeling some things are going to change. Do you have that same feeling? I just wanna say this. I don't believe that the Lord is going to pour out the latter rain to water our turf wars. What do you think? Pun intended? I believe we're going to have to come to the place just as the apostles did that. It doesn't matter what our degrees are, what our education is, that we allow the Lord to use us in however he desires to use us. You know, Luke never said to Paul, Paul, would you stop with this healing stuff? You're gonna get us sued. I understand the context today is a little bit different. So don't anybody walk out of here saying that we can go out and practice medicine without a license. I'm not saying that of course, but what I am saying is this, we will, as we think about finishing the work through medical evangelism, we are going to have to adjust our thinking in some areas, I believe. Alright, so how did this work out? What was the result? Verse nine tells us, so when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were what everyone healed. Now it doesn't say who did those healings. It doesn't say Paul did all of those healings. In fact, Luke could have been instrumental in treating some of those patients with natural remedies or however they did it in those times. But it just says that when that one healing of this influential person was done, many others also came and were healed. And verse 10 is also interesting. It says, they also honored us in many ways, and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary. So let's understand how this worked out. One door, one healing opened the doors of that island. This media was brought to you by audio verse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon, audio, and much more. If you would like to know more about Audio verse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audio verse.org.

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A True Knowledge of God

Health Ministry Around the World

The Co-Working of the Divine and the Human

New Testament Vignettes

Days of Ministry

Sound Doctrine