We need the vision that Acts 19:20 provides us. Why? Because if we can conceive this vision, then we can achieve it. If we can conceive it, we can believe it. And if we can believe it, then we can achieve it.
Habakkuk 2:2
And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Vision inspires us and gives us the direction we need to grow in God’s Word, and then hold it forth. Let’s examine why God gave the book of Acts by revelation to Luke, the beloved physician and faithful travel companion of the apostle Paul. We are going to read in Acts 1 in order to study why God had Luke record this great book of transition.
Acts 1:1
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
Theophilus is not the name of one person, but means all the beloved of God. That includes you and me. We are born-again sons of God. We are the beloved of God, the theophilus, for whom this first treatise and this second treatise, the Book of Acts, were written down by Luke.
ALL BELOVED OF GOD, or only those TWI says are the beloved of God?
What was Luke’s first treatise? The gospel of Luke. We are going to look at Luke’s first treatise. The only other place in the Bible where the word “theophilus” is used is here in Luke 1. We are examining why God had Luke write his vision of rise and expansion for us in the book of Acts.
Luke 1:3:
It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus.
Here we have it again, Theophilus, beloved of God. As the gospel of Luke is exact and precise, so also is Luke’s second treatise. Both were written with perfect understanding of the subject.
Now God does not repeat all this in Acts 1 but refers to the former treatise, meaning the gospel of Luke and its wonderful standards. Verse 4 shows us God’s purpose in revealing Luke in Acts by the word that.
Is this a great leap in logic? And what does this have to do with what he said he was going to be covering? Why spend so much time validating one verse?
Luke 1:4
That thou mightest know (experientially) the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.
God had Luke write his vision for rise and expansion in Acts so that we, today, might have certainty in our growth and outreach efforts. We need this vision of Acts 19:20 because it encourages us to know that it is certain that it does work and that it will work. It shows us the direction to take; it gives us the certainty that we will obtain accurate results as we carry out God’s instructions for moving his prevailing word.
Now let’s look at a record from the seventh section of the book of Acts ….that shows the pinnacle of building Biblical understanding as the household worked the word together.
Still hung up on “the household”, I see…
Acts 18:4 and 5:
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
“Pressed in the spirit” would be more accurately translated was engrossed in the word. While in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, Paul was engrossed in God’s Word, working its beauty and precision in depth.
BUT it doesn’t say that he was studying the word. They didn’t have anything but the OT then. Could it be he was, as Groucho has so eloquently explained on Oakspear’s thread, that he was LIVING and EXPERIENCING LIFE according to his knowledge of God?
As they endured and stood on God’s prevailing word they continued to mightily grow to the end they turned the world right side up.
The unbelieving Judeans grabbed Jason and the other new Thessalonian believers in a vicious attack but these disciples stood their ground and finally ended up being released.
Acts 17:10-11
…These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
Look how the Thessalonian believers protected Paul and Silas in verse 10. The believers in Berea received this word and worked it daily on a freewill basis and thus it mightily grew within their hearts. The Bereans continued daily to mightily grow and the end result is found in verse 12.
Acts 17:12:
Therefore many of them believed - also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
We can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily in God’s prevailing Word. The believers in the seventh section grew mightily. They made better use of their time and manifested greater endurance despite challenging circumstances.
How many friggin’ times can you say the same friggin’ thing?? Jeez, the poor kool-aid drinkers are probably beggin’ for them to pass out the kool-aid and put an end to their suffering!
Acts 19:20 is the apex of rise, the peak of increase in the quality of the word in believers lives. If disciples of the first century could do all of this then we, the disciples of the twenty first century, can too.
Now, we will see how to reach the peak in expansion:
In Acts 19:20, the seventh concluding summary, God uses a new and different verb to describe the impact in expansion at its maximum level….prevail. What does it mean to prevail? It means to be or prove superior in power and influence or to dominate in prevailing power or simply proving superior or dominant.
Craig’s exact words for the definition of prevail
Every true conflict in life between good and evil breaks down to a conflict between the true God…and the false one, the god of this world, the adversary. Acts 19:20 tells us that the word grew with such an impact in the hearts of the believers that with his prevailing word they dominated and proved superior over or stronger than the god of this world.
Philippians which uses the same Greek word for prevailed:
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things though Christ which strengtheneth me.
Do is from the same Greek word as prevailed in Acts 19:20. In the prevailing word, we are strong enough to overcome every circumstance.
That reminds me of a wonderful incident, one of many that have recently occurred in our worldwide ministry. It takes place in a Central American country where there is a dynamic work of TWI. Here lives a married couple who coordinate the only home fellowship in their city. This past year, they introduced six people to God’s word and organized a foundational class for them. This was our ministry’s very first class ever run in their city.
The day of the opening session, a thunderstorm drenched their town. For the first time in 42 years hail fell, clogging the city’s storm drains and causing the streets to flood. Two hours before class the electricity went out. The couple, who by then had everything set up for class, began to pray that all six new students would make it on time. By 5pm, all six had arrived and were seated. The husband walked to the front of the darkened room, turned, and at that instant, the lights came on. The class burst into cheers.
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s God’s prevailing word. This couple was strong enough to overcome the challenges of freak weather and a blackout. God’s prevailing word proved superior as they provided the quality service of our ministry’s foundational class to people who greatly desire to build their Biblical understanding.
Still teaching that head knowledge about the Bible is all anyone needs and all TWIts are required to do. Pitiful!
How can we reach the peak in expansion of the seventh section of Acts? Expansion at every section in Acts is measured in four distinct phases:
Sources or centers of outreach
Numbers of people
Geographic area
Sphere of influence
How can we reach the peak of expansion as shown in the seventh section of the Book of Acts? By advancing God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world. In Acts 19 there is a powerful record of Paul faithfully teaching with quality service to the disciples in the school of Tyrannus of Ephesus. In only two years and three months, he and his students reached every person who wanted to believe in what today we know as Asia Minor.
And here you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, God doesn’t care about your good works, your taking care of your brethren and your enemies and their physical needs, mental needs or in any other way…..all they need is to hear you tell them how much head knowledge you have about the Bible and how they, too, can be an elitist TWIt.
Acts 19:8-12
And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus….And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them.
The power of the prevailing Word proved superior and dominated the power of the god of this world. Great deliverance followed the quality service of daily, faithfully teaching God’s word.
Quality of service being teaching the Bible? Did he skip over the healings and hands on service that Paul did?? He did just read that verse…
Acts 19:18 and 19
And many that believed came….. which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before…
…. By cleaning house they were able to grow mightily to the end that the word prevailed and proved superior in their daily lives.
We can reach the ultimate level of expansion that the first century believers achieved by advancing God’s prevailing Word with quality service to the world.
We have built our Biblical understanding of where we are heading as disciples and how we joyfully get there. …By studying the principles recorded in the seventh section of the book of Acts we have seen that we can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily. We can reach the peak in expansion by moving God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world.
What can we joyfully do? Advance God’s prevailing word to the world.
God has written his vision in his matchless word. He made it very plain to us. Let us who have read it run with it.
Thank you, Father, for your wonderful, prevailing word that you have given us with which we can grow mightily and reach out to a world that longs to know you and longs to love you.
Thank you, Lord, for how we have built Biblical understanding about where we are heading as disciples as your sons and daughters.
Thank you for our ministry of The Way and every believer who fellowships in our ministry worldwide.
We thank you in the powerful name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
"In Acts 19:20, the seventh concluding summary, God uses a new and different verb to describe the impact in expansion at its maximum level….prevail. What does it mean to prevail? It means to be or prove superior in power and influence or to dominate in prevailing power or simply proving superior or dominant."
Craig’s exact words for the definition of prevail
[Well, otherwise, it would require ORIGINAL THOUGHT to come up with a BETTER description.
They CAN'T encourage original thought-else they let the genie out of the bottle.
If their drones start thinking for themselves..... ]
"Every true conflict in life between good and evil breaks down to a conflict between the true God…and the false one, the god of this world, the adversary. Acts 19:20 tells us that the word grew with such an impact in the hearts of the believers that with his prevailing word they dominated and proved superior over or stronger than the god of this world.
Philippians which uses the same Greek word for prevailed:
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things though Christ which strengtheneth me.
Do is from the same Greek word as prevailed in Acts 19:20. In the prevailing word, we are strong enough to overcome every circumstance."
[ It's about OUR strength, now? ]
"That reminds me of a wonderful incident, one of many that have recently occurred in our worldwide ministry. It takes place in a Central American country where there is a dynamic work of TWI."
[ Pumping air into the story before telling it-a sign it won't float without help. ]
"Here lives a married couple who coordinate the only home fellowship in their city."
[ I'd bet money they're almost the only innies IN that country... ]
"This past year, they introduced six people to God’s word"
[ For a group that brags whenever it has numbers, 6 for a year, from an entire city, is NOT an
impressive number. ]
"and organized a foundational class for them."
[God forbid they should actually provide some ASSISTANCE for families in South America... ]
"This was our ministry’s very first class ever run in their city."
[Don't expect to hear many more following, either... ]
"The day of the opening session, a thunderstorm drenched their town. For the first time in 42 years hail fell, clogging the city’s storm drains and causing the streets to flood."
[ Damaging the homes of the students and their places of business. Did we concern ourselves
for the well-being of the students and their families? Were we concerned they suffered crippling
financial losses? ]
"Two hours before class the electricity went out."
[We will therefore imply the hailstorm hit the city, causing lots of property damage and cutting power in entire neighborhoods, just to interfere with our class, which could just have been extended a session.
That's because we have no sense of perspective. ]
"The couple, who by then had everything set up for class, began to pray that all six new students would"
[ "would be free from injury? Have safe families? Survive loss to their few possessions?" ]
"make it on time."
[ Yeah-we only care you're ON TIME. Your life can be a disaster so long as our event goes off. ]
"By 5pm, all six had arrived and were seated."
[ Praise God, our class was unimpeded! ]
"The husband walked to the front of the darkened room, turned, and at that instant, the lights came on. The class burst into cheers."
[ Forgive me for being a skeptic. That just seems TOO neat a story. We didn't have timing like that
in the big blackout the other year. I think someone along the line "took creative liberties" with this
story. Perhaps the power came on before their arrivals, perhaps the group was stalling...
We also know nothing about the power return in the rest of the city.
If we actually HEARD SOME DETAILS, we could look into this.
However, the teller of this story
LEFT OUT THE COUNTRY AND CITY of this story, along with the MONTH.
That's peculiar-and suspicious-if the story is TRUE.
Perhaps he heard this fourth-or-fifth-hand.
Which, again, argues against accuracy... ]
"Ladies and gentlemen, that’s God’s prevailing word. This couple was strong enough to overcome the challenges of freak weather and a blackout."
[ This COUPLE overcame the blackout?
Still leaving GOD out of the equation again, I see.
The "Law of Believing", the nonsense that "works for sinner and saint alike",
is being taught.
I see these L337 people were unable to deflect hailstones from their building,
and unable to prevent the initial blackout to their area.
And unable to protect their NEIGHBORS, but let's just leave them twisting in the wind... ]
"God’s prevailing word proved superior as they provided the quality service of our ministry’s foundational class to people who greatly desire to build their Biblical understanding.
Still teaching that head knowledge about the Bible is all anyone needs and all TWIts are required to do. Pitiful!
How can we reach the peak in expansion of the seventh section of Acts? Expansion at every section in Acts is measured in four distinct phases:
Sources or centers of outreach
Numbers of people
Geographic area
Sphere of influence"
[ They MEASURED EXPANSION in the Book of Acts?
The words "expand", "expansion" and "measure" do not appear in Acts,
neither do "outreach", "sphere" and "influence".
Might he be confusing the contents of Acts with the teachings of twi, again?
Maybe...]
"How can we reach the peak of expansion as shown in the seventh section of the Book of Acts? By advancing God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world. In Acts 19 there is a powerful record of Paul faithfully teaching with quality service to the disciples in the school of Tyrannus of Ephesus. In only two years and three months, he and his students reached every person who wanted to believe in what today we know as Asia Minor.
And here you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, God doesn’t care about your good works, your taking care of your brethren and your enemies and their physical needs, mental needs or in any other way…..all they need is to hear you tell them how much head knowledge you have about the Bible and how they, too, can be an elitist TWIt.
Acts 19:8-12
And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus….And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them.
The power of the prevailing Word proved superior and dominated the power of the god of this world. Great deliverance followed the quality service of daily, faithfully teaching God’s word.
Quality of service being teaching the Bible? Did he skip over the healings and hands on service that Paul did?? He did just read that verse…
Acts 19:18 and 19
And many that believed came….. which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before…
…. By cleaning house they were able to grow mightily to the end that the word prevailed and proved superior in their daily lives.
We can reach the ultimate level of expansion that the first century believers achieved by advancing God’s prevailing Word with quality service to the world.
We have built our Biblical understanding of where we are heading as disciples and how we joyfully get there. …By studying the principles recorded in the seventh section of the book of Acts we have seen that we can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily. We can reach the peak in expansion by moving God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world.
What can we joyfully do? Advance God’s prevailing word to the world.
God has written his vision in his matchless word. He made it very plain to us. Let us who have read it run with it.
Thank you, Father, for your wonderful, prevailing word that you have given us with which we can grow mightily and reach out to a world that longs to know you and longs to love you.
Thank you, Lord, for how we have built Biblical understanding about where we are heading as disciples as your sons and daughters.
Thank you for our ministry of The Way and every believer who fellowships in our ministry worldwide.
We thank you in the powerful name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Next Sunday - Rev. and Mrs. Jonathan Smith
[ Yes, skipping over the "special miracles" is possibly an intellectual blindspot.
Since he's not even used to the ordinary, everyday, average miracles,
he glosses over them. He may not even be aware they're mentioned. ]
I suppose it shouldn't be, but it is amazing to me how they skip over those parts and how absolutely oblivious the other TWIts are to it, especially those who were around during the times when there actually were lots of signs, miracles and wonders going on in TWI. (Not related to any top leadership, per se, but on an individual level where people were just glad to see the power of God at work in them and not looking for something to brag about to the entire ministry)
Consider the significance of the number 7 in the Bible. The number 7 in the word of God signifies spiritual perfection.
Gag me.. how many times have I heard this.. how many MORE times have the innies heard this, word for word..
Good grief. Same "stuff", week after week, year after year, decade after decade..
This verse is a figure of speech called a concluding summary.
Same tired, worn out stuff.. I assume the guy even NAMED the figure.. heck, why waste such a valuable little piece of knowledge.. it is in the "bible" (rise and expansion book) after all..
Seems to me the choir ought to be getting pretty sick from all of this dull, repetitive "preaching"..
I think the choir and the singing ladies are tired from having to sing the same damn songs over and over again. Having to listen to the teachings too? That would push me over the edge! Maybe they find some excuse to hang out backstage so they can read contraband material or at least plug their ears.
Same tired, worn out stuff.. I assume the guy even NAMED the figure.. heck, why waste such a valuable little piece of knowledge.. it is in the "bible" (rise and expansion book) after all..
Seems to me the choir ought to be getting pretty sick from all of this dull, repetitive "preaching"..
That reminds me of the story of a twi minster's wife who had a baby in her arms during his teaching. The baby was sleeping soundly on momma's shoulder when all of the sudden the baby would start crying loudly and momma and baby would have to go elsewhere. This "cry and leave" happened quite frequently when the baby was days old till the baby was talking. I wonder if the twi minster ever figured out that momma was pinching baby's bottom to make baby cry so that momma wouldn't have to stay.
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insurgent
It's just you. ;)
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Belle
:P
We need the vision that Acts 19:20 provides us. Why? Because if we can conceive this vision, then we can achieve it. If we can conceive it, we can believe it. And if we can believe it, then we can achieve it.
Habakkuk 2:2
And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Vision inspires us and gives us the direction we need to grow in God’s Word, and then hold it forth. Let’s examine why God gave the book of Acts by revelation to Luke, the beloved physician and faithful travel companion of the apostle Paul. We are going to read in Acts 1 in order to study why God had Luke record this great book of transition.
Acts 1:1
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
Theophilus is not the name of one person, but means all the beloved of God. That includes you and me. We are born-again sons of God. We are the beloved of God, the theophilus, for whom this first treatise and this second treatise, the Book of Acts, were written down by Luke.
ALL BELOVED OF GOD, or only those TWI says are the beloved of God?
What was Luke’s first treatise? The gospel of Luke. We are going to look at Luke’s first treatise. The only other place in the Bible where the word “theophilus” is used is here in Luke 1. We are examining why God had Luke write his vision of rise and expansion for us in the book of Acts.
Luke 1:3:
It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus.
Here we have it again, Theophilus, beloved of God. As the gospel of Luke is exact and precise, so also is Luke’s second treatise. Both were written with perfect understanding of the subject.
Now God does not repeat all this in Acts 1 but refers to the former treatise, meaning the gospel of Luke and its wonderful standards. Verse 4 shows us God’s purpose in revealing Luke in Acts by the word that.
Is this a great leap in logic? And what does this have to do with what he said he was going to be covering? Why spend so much time validating one verse?
Luke 1:4
That thou mightest know (experientially) the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.
God had Luke write his vision for rise and expansion in Acts so that we, today, might have certainty in our growth and outreach efforts. We need this vision of Acts 19:20 because it encourages us to know that it is certain that it does work and that it will work. It shows us the direction to take; it gives us the certainty that we will obtain accurate results as we carry out God’s instructions for moving his prevailing word.
Now let’s look at a record from the seventh section of the book of Acts ….that shows the pinnacle of building Biblical understanding as the household worked the word together.
Still hung up on “the household”, I see…
Acts 18:4 and 5:
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
“Pressed in the spirit” would be more accurately translated was engrossed in the word. While in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, Paul was engrossed in God’s Word, working its beauty and precision in depth.
BUT it doesn’t say that he was studying the word. They didn’t have anything but the OT then. Could it be he was, as Groucho has so eloquently explained on Oakspear’s thread, that he was LIVING and EXPERIENCING LIFE according to his knowledge of God?
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insurgent
Maybe you just have to read it in the original.
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Belle
As they endured and stood on God’s prevailing word they continued to mightily grow to the end they turned the world right side up.
The unbelieving Judeans grabbed Jason and the other new Thessalonian believers in a vicious attack but these disciples stood their ground and finally ended up being released.
Acts 17:10-11
…These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
Look how the Thessalonian believers protected Paul and Silas in verse 10. The believers in Berea received this word and worked it daily on a freewill basis and thus it mightily grew within their hearts. The Bereans continued daily to mightily grow and the end result is found in verse 12.
Acts 17:12:
Therefore many of them believed - also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
We can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily in God’s prevailing Word. The believers in the seventh section grew mightily. They made better use of their time and manifested greater endurance despite challenging circumstances.
How many friggin’ times can you say the same friggin’ thing?? Jeez, the poor kool-aid drinkers are probably beggin’ for them to pass out the kool-aid and put an end to their suffering!
Acts 19:20 is the apex of rise, the peak of increase in the quality of the word in believers lives. If disciples of the first century could do all of this then we, the disciples of the twenty first century, can too.
Now, we will see how to reach the peak in expansion:
In Acts 19:20, the seventh concluding summary, God uses a new and different verb to describe the impact in expansion at its maximum level….prevail. What does it mean to prevail? It means to be or prove superior in power and influence or to dominate in prevailing power or simply proving superior or dominant.
Craig’s exact words for the definition of prevail
Every true conflict in life between good and evil breaks down to a conflict between the true God…and the false one, the god of this world, the adversary. Acts 19:20 tells us that the word grew with such an impact in the hearts of the believers that with his prevailing word they dominated and proved superior over or stronger than the god of this world.
Philippians which uses the same Greek word for prevailed:
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things though Christ which strengtheneth me.
Do is from the same Greek word as prevailed in Acts 19:20. In the prevailing word, we are strong enough to overcome every circumstance.
That reminds me of a wonderful incident, one of many that have recently occurred in our worldwide ministry. It takes place in a Central American country where there is a dynamic work of TWI. Here lives a married couple who coordinate the only home fellowship in their city. This past year, they introduced six people to God’s word and organized a foundational class for them. This was our ministry’s very first class ever run in their city.
The day of the opening session, a thunderstorm drenched their town. For the first time in 42 years hail fell, clogging the city’s storm drains and causing the streets to flood. Two hours before class the electricity went out. The couple, who by then had everything set up for class, began to pray that all six new students would make it on time. By 5pm, all six had arrived and were seated. The husband walked to the front of the darkened room, turned, and at that instant, the lights came on. The class burst into cheers.
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s God’s prevailing word. This couple was strong enough to overcome the challenges of freak weather and a blackout. God’s prevailing word proved superior as they provided the quality service of our ministry’s foundational class to people who greatly desire to build their Biblical understanding.
Still teaching that head knowledge about the Bible is all anyone needs and all TWIts are required to do. Pitiful!
How can we reach the peak in expansion of the seventh section of Acts? Expansion at every section in Acts is measured in four distinct phases:
Sources or centers of outreach
Numbers of people
Geographic area
Sphere of influence
How can we reach the peak of expansion as shown in the seventh section of the Book of Acts? By advancing God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world. In Acts 19 there is a powerful record of Paul faithfully teaching with quality service to the disciples in the school of Tyrannus of Ephesus. In only two years and three months, he and his students reached every person who wanted to believe in what today we know as Asia Minor.
And here you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, God doesn’t care about your good works, your taking care of your brethren and your enemies and their physical needs, mental needs or in any other way…..all they need is to hear you tell them how much head knowledge you have about the Bible and how they, too, can be an elitist TWIt.
Acts 19:8-12
And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus….And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them.
The power of the prevailing Word proved superior and dominated the power of the god of this world. Great deliverance followed the quality service of daily, faithfully teaching God’s word.
Quality of service being teaching the Bible? Did he skip over the healings and hands on service that Paul did?? He did just read that verse…
Acts 19:18 and 19
And many that believed came….. which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before…
…. By cleaning house they were able to grow mightily to the end that the word prevailed and proved superior in their daily lives.
We can reach the ultimate level of expansion that the first century believers achieved by advancing God’s prevailing Word with quality service to the world.
We have built our Biblical understanding of where we are heading as disciples and how we joyfully get there. …By studying the principles recorded in the seventh section of the book of Acts we have seen that we can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily. We can reach the peak in expansion by moving God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world.
What can we joyfully do? Advance God’s prevailing word to the world.
God has written his vision in his matchless word. He made it very plain to us. Let us who have read it run with it.
Thank you, Father, for your wonderful, prevailing word that you have given us with which we can grow mightily and reach out to a world that longs to know you and longs to love you.
Thank you, Lord, for how we have built Biblical understanding about where we are heading as disciples as your sons and daughters.
Thank you for our ministry of The Way and every believer who fellowships in our ministry worldwide.
We thank you in the powerful name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Next Sunday - Rev. and Mrs. Jonathan Smith
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Wonton Soup
Next Sunday - Rev. and Mrs. Jonathan Smith
I can hardly wait
;)
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WordWolf
[ Yes, skipping over the "special miracles" is possibly an intellectual blindspot.
Since he's not even used to the ordinary, everyday, average miracles,
he glosses over them. He may not even be aware they're mentioned. ]
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Belle
I suppose it shouldn't be, but it is amazing to me how they skip over those parts and how absolutely oblivious the other TWIts are to it, especially those who were around during the times when there actually were lots of signs, miracles and wonders going on in TWI. (Not related to any top leadership, per se, but on an individual level where people were just glad to see the power of God at work in them and not looking for something to brag about to the entire ministry)
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Ham
Good grief. Same "stuff", week after week, year after year, decade after decade..
Same tired, worn out stuff.. I assume the guy even NAMED the figure.. heck, why waste such a valuable little piece of knowledge.. it is in the "bible" (rise and expansion book) after all..
Seems to me the choir ought to be getting pretty sick from all of this dull, repetitive "preaching"..
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Belle
I think the choir and the singing ladies are tired from having to sing the same damn songs over and over again. Having to listen to the teachings too? That would push me over the edge! Maybe they find some excuse to hang out backstage so they can read contraband material or at least plug their ears.
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Ham
Good grief..
What if the power just a likely just happened NOT to come back on?
They would have been castigated before the "household" as being less than a flea on the back of a possessed camel..
Holy smokes..
Innies, you all better be able to control the weather now..
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Brother Speed
That reminds me of the story of a twi minster's wife who had a baby in her arms during his teaching. The baby was sleeping soundly on momma's shoulder when all of the sudden the baby would start crying loudly and momma and baby would have to go elsewhere. This "cry and leave" happened quite frequently when the baby was days old till the baby was talking. I wonder if the twi minster ever figured out that momma was pinching baby's bottom to make baby cry so that momma wouldn't have to stay.
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