(click for audio)
When a person receives the gift of eternal life
through faith in Jesus they go from being an idolater to a worshiper.
Instead of living for the stuff of this world - whatever that may be -
they now live for God. They go from being citizens of this world to
being citizens of Heaven. Instead of satisfying 'the flesh' they begin
to keep in step with the Spirit. The Bible uses lots of different
language to describe that one basic idea.
In Acts 19 we read about what that looked like for new believers in
Ephesus, which sets a fantastic example for us to follow. Is the gospel
radiating widely from us as it did in Acts 19? The message Paul
brought was taken from Ephesus and spread through the whole region as
people took it with them. Does the gospel leave our church buildings
and spread to our workplaces, homes, sports clubs, cafe's etc as we take
it with us? Secondly, do we purify our lives from the contamination of
evil as the Ephesian Christians did? Do we take inventory of the
things we have taken into our homes and into our minds that may be
giving the devil a foothold of influence? Like the Ephesians, we may
need to be prepared to pay the price of getting rid of that stuff, no
matter how much it appeals to our 'flesh' or helps us to fit with 'the
world'. Finally, we see Paul making strategic plans for how he can
advance the spread of the gospel. We briefly share some of the ways
that our church is being called by God to spread the gospel by equipping
the saints to do the work of ministry.
