Title: Evil Wolf
“After my departure, I know that evil things will come upon you, who will not spare the flock, and will arise among you who speak perverse words to draw disciples after them. Therefore, be awake and I will not rest for three years, day or night. Remember the admonition of each one with tears, now I entrust you to the Lord and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." Acts 20:29- 32
In the text, Paul, who is expected to return to Jerusalem and be arrested, first believes in the churches he has been caring for and starting for several years, and in addition to making a request to those in charge of the faith and those in charge, we meet the passage that he asks the Word. . Here, the Church of God is a church bought with blood, but a ferocious wolf is expected to come in. Moreover, it is expected that it is a natural thing that can always exist in a church where the God who created heaven and earth is happy to protect and bless it. We must not lose sight of what we anticipate as a natural thing that can always happen in a church that the God who created it loves to protect and bless us. In front of that vicious wolf, without giving any other weapon, he gave only one word as a weapon and left Paul, and the true image of the church that the Bible wants us to know, the core of the Christian life, and weapons. I hope that it will be a time to get to know you clearly.
When you first believe in Jesus and live your life of faith, everyone expects relief from the first difficulties and failures. I think it is common sense for everyone to expect that difficult problems will be resolved, that they will gain new strength from their setbacks and be guided to a prosperous path as a natural result of their faith. But the Bible makes no such promise. The promises of the Bible tell us that living a life of faith is a battle, a battle, and the beginning of tribulation. Of course, there are victories and joys and blessings, but we must quickly learn that it is not what we expect.
As you can see in verse 29, there will be people in the church who will come in with ferocious wolves and will not spare the flock, but will also draw the disciples after them and speak perverse things. Verse 32, “Now I entrust you to the Lord and to the word of his grace, who is able to establish you and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). We first need to ascertain why there is only a word to us in front of the vicious wolf, and why it is sufficient.
The Word is in the form of a kind of exhortation, as we commonly think of it. It's not a spell or amulet, so it doesn't have the slightest bit of character to weaponize. However, when we talk about the word in the Bible, a different meaning takes precedence beyond what we now expect.
1 Kings 8 is the scene where Solomon builds the temple, gathers all the people, and prays before God. Please take a look at how the Word is described there.
“Solomon stood facing all the congregation of Israel before the altar of the LORD, and stretched out his hands toward heaven, and said, O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You keep your covenant and show kindness to your servants who walk before you with all your heart. I am, because you have kept your word to your servant David my father, and the word of your mouth is as it is today” (1 Kings 8:22-24).
‘This is what God promised today,’ is Solomon’s prayer. Even though he had built the temple, he understood that it was not his own work but God's work. Even if we go to Isaiah chapter 1. “Come, let us reason together, saith the LORD, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, and you shall eat of the good produce; and if you refuse and betray me, I will make you a sword, says the mouth of the LORD” (Isaiah 1). : 18-20)
If you listen to me, you will be blessed. You will be cursed if you do not listen to me. Why? ‘Because I do it.’ ‘The word of the LORD’ is the absolute promise, standard, and authority.
If we go to Isaiah 55, we see a much expanded explanation. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, says the LORD, and my ways are higher than the heavens because of your crossroads, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. Like moth, the word that goes out of my mouth will not return to me in vain; it will accomplish my will, and it will prosper in the work I commanded you to do. ” (Isaiah 55:8-11). “The words that go out of my mouth, the words I say cannot be undone or vain. This is God's will.
All of us believers, purchased with the blood of the Lord, are loved by God and, as promised in Romans 8, that in this world no creature can be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus, so that our eternal destiny cannot be canceled. beings. But, going one step further, if it is so absolute, authoritative, immutable, and cannot be failed, then why is it not a ‘Word’?
When we meet a person who opposes us by sending an angel, or by giving them some special gift from the Holy Spirit, if we all look together, that person will melt, or if we pray together, that person's hair suddenly falls out.