Sunday Message – New Year Message 03

27/01/08
<Acts19:1-20>
IN THIS WAY, THE WORD OF THE LORD SPREAD WIDELY AND GREW IN
POWER
• When we read the book of <Acts>, the most important thing to note is the truth in <Acts 1:1-11>. A
lot of people like to focus on the great wind, fire, speaking in tongues etc in <Acts 2>. People
always like to see signs
• We, too, are always looking for signs. E.g. will my family or career advance?
• What is most important is still the truth spoken by the Lord in <Acts 1:1-11>. There won’t be great
wind or fire without the truth
• The truth is Jesus Christ came to earth, to be with people, in accordance to God’s plan. And
through Him, we can know that God is with us in our current conditions. As such, all the
deceptions and plots of Satan were broken
• The truth is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can know that God is love. He
loves us unconditionally and because of His death, all our sins are forgiven
• The truth is that Jesus Christ has all the authority to mobilize the heavenly hosts to protect us and
our family
• The truth is that God is with us now, in our respective companies and He has prepared our
colleagues and bosses for us
• The important thing is the truth and not whether we are promoted or whether we can see any sign
• The truth will never change. The angels had asked us not to stare into the heaven. It means, do
not keep looking at our problems. There is an answer for all the things that happened on us
• Jesus Christ will definitely come again to judge the living and the dead. We are the living and we
will receive our crowns
• When we calm down to ponder about God’s truth, His spirit’s fire will inflame us once more
• The most important work of the Holy Spirit is to make us deny ourselves and submit to God’s
word
• If a person has not know about the truth, he won’t be able to get inflamed or become fervent
• It is all because of the truth that we are able to prophesize, dream dreams and see vision
• From there on, we will be freed from poverty. Those with physical illness will get healed. All these
are signs that will happen subsequently
• Paul tells us that signs, which do not correspond to the truth, can be very dangerous. Thus, our
spiritual foundation must come from the truth
• Do we wish to get freed from our poverty? We shouldn’t be afraid. Fear is judgment. The things
we fear will happen
• However, regardless of the problems we are facing, God’s great love for us will never change
• We must restore this truth every time we come to church and worship God
• The angels will work when we hold on to this truth. Only then, we can be triumphant in all situation
• What Jesus Christ left behind for His disciples after He had ascended to heaven was the truth, the
dream (will not change)
• Although a lot of people had heard the word from Jesus Christ in person, those who really held on
to His word were only 120 people. When they gathered, pondered the word of God together, then
the spirit of the Lord came upon them. We must really understand this sequence
• A belief that doesn’t have any sequence is religious
• God heals a family, a marriage etc in accordance to sequence. We must understand the
sequence in which God heals them
• The mystery of Pentecost talks about the principle, the truth. The Antioch church was built when
the disciples gathered
• Today, we will see a turning point. All the disciples whom Paul had met during his first two mission
trips had gathered in Ephesus to learn
• Miraculous signs really took place after they’d learnt together over a period of 2yrs and 3mths.
The gates of darkness were broken as amazing things took place
• There is nothing great about men. However, when people hold on to God’s truth, they will see how
God will work and open doors for them

Read <Acts 19:1-22>

• Paul gathered all the disciples and gave them Discipleship Training. After teaching them for some
time, he knew that the disciples had risen. Thus, he was ready to start another phase of this
ministry, which was to go to Rome. This was a turning point
• v2 These people love God but they weren’t clear about the teaching concerning God
• v4 When a person comes before Jesus Christ, he must first have a repentance heart. What
should we repent? God had created us but we didn’t know Him. This is the greatest sin
• v6 This was the first time in history that the Jews received the Holy Spirit. The first time when
the Holy Spirit came was upon the 120 disciples. The second time was upon the gentiles
• v8 The disciples of an era could only be found in the church. We must evangelize in
churches because non-believers would be attracted to the church only when the believers in
churches had risen
• v11 What happened after 2 years of training? Evil spirits were driven out. Have we seen it
before? When the evil spirit leaves a person, that person’s facial expression will be changed to an
angelic face from a sad one. We can tell when a person is filled with the evil spirit
• v13 They didn’t command in their Lord Jesus Christ’s name. They did so by the Lord of others
• v15 Our spiritual life must grow to such an extent that all the evil spirits in this world will know
us, just like how they had knew Paul. We must be strong, courageous and perceive everything
with God’s truth
• v16 Such things really happened in Malaysia before. Jesus Christ is all almighty. If a person
truly understands that Jesus Christ is with him, even if he has only known the Lord for a day, he is
still able to cast out evil spirit in the name of his Lord, Jesus Christ
• v18 If there are still secrets in us that we cannot reveal; such fears and hints are the work of
the forces of darkness. The secrets that we bury in us will make us feel very miserable. We can
really open ourselves up when the evil spirit departs from us
• v21 Paul made the decision as he had seen the truth. A person will not be greatly affected by
other things when he had witnessed how a person can become alive after knowing the truth

• What caused Paul to be fervent? Many believers are not like him. In fact, the problems faced by
Saints can be gone rather quickly. However, people will always be troubled because of problems
• There is a difference between the church goers and the Apostles. Paul was so fervent because he
saw the “disciples”
• Paul was willing to get go of everything after he had seen the treasures (i.e. disciples)

1. “Took the disciples with him” <v9> = the focus of Paul’s missionary work is to find disciples
1) If a person is not a “disciple”, not only is he unable to do missionary work, he can’t even have
victory in his belief and living
* All sorts of spiritual battles would be met in missionary works
• We must become disciples and to find disciples. If a person cannot become a disciple, not
only is he unable to serve God, he can’t even hold on to his basic belief. He won’t be able
to tolerate a lot of things
 • Satan will bind them, making them unable to do anything
• Our Christian belief is actually a warfare with the forces of darkness
• When Paul and Barnabas went for their first mission trip, they went to the Paphos Island
and met a Jewish sorcerer named Bar-Jesus <Acts 13:4-12>. Paul would have to bind
the evil spirit inside that person, opened up his eyes before he could know God
• Other examples: “stoned to death” in Lycaonian cities <Acts 14:19-23>; drove out the
“spirit in the slave girl” in Philippi; Paul was beaten and thrown in the prison and suffered
in Thessalonica <Acts 17:1-9>; suffered in Corinth <Acts 18:1-11> and what happened
in Ephesus <Acts 19:1-41>
• If we really want to find “disciples” (the most desirable task of the Lord), the forces of
darkness will surely oppose us
• When the gospel reaches a region for the first time, Satan will summon all his resources
to oppose the work
• Satan will make use of the family members to go against the first believer in that family.
Satan will also greatly oppose the work of establishing a church or finding disciples
• Family evangelism will not be fulfilled if a person refuses to become a disciple because
we are fighting a battle with the forces of darkness

* We must understand what it mean by “believe and obey Jesus Christ”: “Do not suppose I
have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” <Mt
10:34>; “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me.” <Mt 16:24>; “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I
drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” <Mk 10:38>; “to build a tower
or to go to war, first sit down and consider… who does not up everything he has cannot
be my disciple.” <Lk 14:25-35>
• How are we going to evangelize if we are often troubled by losing small monies like tens
of dollars?
• We must carry our cross before we can follow the Lord
• We will live in misery if we put one foot in church and the other in the world. Do not be
lukewarm. We must sit and consider
• If the parents among our midst hope that their children will one day become Pastors or
Preachers, then your children will surely have to experience problems. Evangelism isn’t
about telling theories or reasoning with others
• If we do not have an absolute answer towards illness, financial, spousal, relationships
problems, etc, how are we able to give solutions to others?
• Therefore, we are bound to face problems as we grow up. More importantly, we must
know God’s absolute covenant and answers for the problems we face.
• The absolute answer is <Gal 2:20>. If God wants us to glorify Him with our sickness, then
our illness will become a joyful thing

2) Because the power a true disciple (one how know Christ and lives out Christ) possesses is
really unlimited
• Disciples who had received absolute answers will definitely be used by God
• Whenever we read the Bible, do not think that Moses, Paul or David were great because
of the things they did. They were great because they had the truth in their lives. The truth
is greater than all the things they do
• After they’d understood the truth, all their answers, explanation, anticipation and judgment
were different
 • If we are able to have the absolute answers that come from the truth, a lot of Pastors and
Preachers will be astonished by the messages we shared. A lot of people do not have the
standard for serving. Thus, they have no answers
• We face a lot of tests because God values us and want to make us into disciples!

3) Paul discovered “everywhere are filled with disciples whom God has prepared (precious
stones in every region) → the secret of Paul’s “inflammation by the spirit’s fire”
• Paul had experienced problems and received answers that came from God’s truth. No
matter what, he will not be separated from God’s love. He had experienced illness, being
beaten by people, thrown into prison etc. As such, Paul knew how to differentiate
disciples
• Paul knew what answer to give to a person who was mourning. When Paul looked at a
person, he will know the timetable of that person
• Paul knew in his heart that whoever could understand, be willing to believe and follow the
messages that he had shared, the destiny of that person and that person’s family will be
changed completely. Thus, a disciple will triumph over a thousand church-goers
• Paul knew that after disciples’ lives had grown to a certain extent, and they really saw
how God was with them, Paul could leave them as they were able to receive God’s
answers in all things
• Many preachers will first look at the numbers when they reach a place. However, those
who can really change an era or a country are just a few good men
• If a church has a thousand people but no disciple, that place has become a community
centre

4) Paul was willing to even die in order to have “those disciples”

• Paul only wanted to have a few true disciples like Timothy <Acts 14:22-23>, Lydia <Acts
16:11-15>, Priscilla and Aquila <Acts 18:1-4> etc
• Therefore, Paul was willing to even die for the disciples
• When we evangelize to others, our concern should be placed on “Who are the disciples?”
• Are we willing to “take the bullets” and shield our disciples and pastor?
• “To take the bullets” means we are willing to help take on Satan’s attack and the
accusation from others. Are we willing to sacrifice our time for our disciples?
• Disciples are touched and sought by God personally
• Are our ministries being driven by our ferventness? No, we are being motivated by
disciples
• We will enjoy it more when we evangelize to just one of the Lord’s disciples than when we
evangelize to a hundred “cows” (i.e. people who do not understand)
• The Lord’s ministries are done this way. We should not look at signs. If disciples are not
raised up, how can there be signs that take place?
• If a person is not able to let go of himself or know that he is just an instrument of God
after he has heard the Gospel, he will never be willing to sacrifice himself or to put down
his pride, etc for the disciples
• The Lord’s disciples are obvious and can easily be detected. It is through their love for the
Lord that they love fellow brothers and sisters

5) The discipleship training now in Tryannus, Ephesus is a “check point” in Paul’s “14years of
missionary work”
 • After Paul has been in the missionary fields for 14 years, the forces of darkness then left
the place he was in. As such, miracles and amazing things happened. He began giving
discipleship training in the hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus
• In his 14years of ministerial serving, Paul acquired the “know how” (skill). He knew how to
discover and train disciple. Disciples are not to be attracted by theories. Disciples will see
how God is with them personally
• All of us must also acquire this “know how”. We will be different after having this skill
• We cannot acquire skill overnight. We need a period of time before we can have skill
• Paul had to stay and learn in Ephesus for 2years before evil spirits started to depart from
people’s live and God’s revival came upon them
• Why are there quarrels in families so often? It is due to the different in perspective among
the family members
• The correct perspective is that God love and will protect this family. Therefore, I also need
to protect my wife and children
• We will have conflicts and arguments with others if our perspective is not healed

2. “This went on for two yrs” <v10> = Paul understood “how disciples are raised”
1) The ultimate goal of discipleship training is “establish the ideology of life and systematic
functionality of living”
• The content of Paul’s teaching is the same as what Jesus Christ had taught for 3years.
• <Mat 28:18-20> Jesus Christ’s teaching: let all nations meet God and see how God is
with them through the Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit
• The discipleship training of Christianity has only three elements: meet God, converse with
Him (to discover His perfect will), and follow (walk with God). This is a system
• <Mk 3:13-15> Jesus Christ sought disciples to be with Him (to meet God), and gave them
authority to drive out demons (to drive out our sadness, change our perspective etc). This
is the result and purpose of prayers. Pray to discover God’s perfect will. Thereafter, go
and preach the gospel (walk with God)
• The discipleship training of Jesus Christ is the establishment of system
• We can only see God when we have a system. God reveals Himself to us. We can only
meet Him by relying on His word and system. This differs from other religions
• Paul’s discipleship training was carried out in accordance to a system also. He taught in
Antioch for a year, 1year 6months in Corinth, 2years 3months in Ephesus and 2years in
Rome
• <Ephesians> and <Romans> emphasize in system
• <Rom 1-11> God is with people but nobody sees Him because all have sinned. However,
God looks for us out of grace, and allows us to know Him (we are saved by grace. This is
God’s work)
• <Rom 12:1-2> Therefore, we must become living sacrifice, which means able to test and
approve God’s will in all things (converse with God)
• <Rom 12:3-16> How can we walk with God and how to be with our family. We should not
judge when we are with others. In other words, it tells us how to interact with our fields
• <Eph 1, 2> We are originally dead in our sins and transgressions. Jesus Christ makes us
alive
• <Eph 3> We have received the great love that is wide and long and high and deep.
Therefore, we must meet the God who loves us forever
 • <Eph 5> How noble are we? We need to be filled by the Holy Spirit in order to understand
God’s will. We must converse with Him in order to know how God is leading us in our
spousal living, in our roles as children, in submissive to our bosses, etc
• The saints of this era seek God in the same way as other religious people seek their
gods. A lot of people do it out of responsibility and not because they’d met their God
• A lot of believers are doing this. They thought that they will be condemned if they do not
always go to God
• The believers in church are all crippled. Therefore, as soon as we find a disciple, we must
make him alive. Let him know the correct God (the God who loves him, who died and
resurrected for him, who makes him triumph over all things)

2) “Be together for 3years” = the most important principle of discipleship training
• It is not easy to establish this system. Therefore, we must be together for 3 years
• Jesus Christ also taught His disciples for 3 years. This is because people have spiritual
problems. Although they have heard the truth, they will immediately forget about it the
moment they encounter problems
• The Bible does not just talk about logical facts. The bible talks about life and living.
Therefore, we need to be together for 3 years
• There are some things that we are not able to experience directly. We can however see
God’s work through the experience of our fellow brothers and sisters. Therefore, we must
use the 3 years to put together all these evidences and make them our messages to
glorify the Lord
• God gives us many “3 years”. Each of these “3 years” is very important
• In the first 3 years, some people may open their eyes. After that, they will serve the Lord
in the next 3 years
• During these 3 years, we will see several evidences and God’s guidance
• We need a period of time to change the wrong perspective and teaching that we have
acquired since young
• Very often, we are able to praise the Lord during worship. However, once we leave the
church, we will immediately get into a quarrel with others

3) Becoming disciples according to the conditions, talents and careers that God has prepared
• Those of us who have grown together for 3 years already have one direction and one
method. In between or after 3 years, there are others who join us later. They may not
have fully understood and therefore may have quite a negative perspective. We do not
need to be anxious over this
• We just wait upon them, intercede for them and give them space. We do not force people.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit
• We often coax others to restore meetings 3-4 times a week. We will not scold them even
if they have not restored. We will still bless them
• People who come before God are being attracted by God personally. They are not forced
by us to come before God

3. “In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” <v20> = as long as the start
and progress are correct, the result will surely come
• After we have taught for a period of time, the Lord’s word will be greatly revived. At that time,
mysterious and amazing things will happen to individual’s lives. Those who often grumble will
be set free. People will be more joyful when the evil spirit has been chased out from them
 1) As the disciples gathered to “learn, enjoy and preach about Christ” together, the very
important timetable will come one day
• We will increase in blessedness if we continue to sustain a heart that hopes in God
• We will also receive the healings we need
• God will heal us progressively. This is because God wants to heal us holistically. He
wants to heal our body, heart and spirit
• Before we are able to revive, our family members and the people around us will not first
be revived
• It is only when we go through this process that our healing will be holistic

2) The arrival of the important moment in individual’s life  the word of the Lord spread widely
and grew in power
• We often go to the pastor and tell him that we are still very weak. The pastor is not afraid
that we are weak but he is only afraid that we will leave
• It is alright to be weak and fall when we are in a blessed place. God will still use us if we
do not leave
• Once we leave the church, we will not hear the truth again. Therefore, as days pass, we
will have a very stubborn nature (forming a stronghold in us)
• Even though Peter was weak, he still followed Jesus Christ. One day, he would become a
great disciple
• How many of those who have left church have better lives and living? We are the Lord’s
sheep. Can the Lord’s sheep battle with the lions of this world? After a sheep leaves the
church, he will have to face the world on his own

3) The arrival of the important moment as disciples gathered in fellowship  the word of the
Lord spread widely and grew in power

4) The “calling of Macedonia” come from many places; “short and long term missionaries” were
sent out; news of how disciples are eager to learn and beautiful testimonies were heard from
all places; interactions between various regions, they were joined and held together; the
Christ’s gospel work of an era was revived… <Romans 16:1-27>
• As Paul continued to receive blessings, God slowly gave him the vision to go to Rome
• The Rome of this era is not America. Neither is it China. The whole world is a global
village. God’s message must be spread around the world via the Internet
• The strength of the brothers and sisters from Singapore is that they are effectively
bilingual. We must expand God’s ministries by using our strength in two languages
Sharing and Prayer Topics
1. ‘If a person is not a “disciple”, not only is he unable to do missionary work, he can’t even
have victory in his belief and living’: Do I truly understand the meaning of this statement?
Even though I’m not perfect, am I able to receive the complete answer from the Lord by
relying on Him whenever I receive temptations and attacks from the evil spirit? Am I able to
distinguish the difference between “Christ’s disciples and Christians”?
2. “Share about Christ daily for two years”: Do I understand the reason why “disciples must
be together for 3years”? What blessings must be acquired within the 3years? What is the
standard of “living out Christ” in my life till now? Is it advancing or retreating?
3. “In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power”: What is my current
standard in relying on the Lord’s word to judge, speak and act? How is “the word of the
Lord” in my life able to affect others? How am I praying for the church so that “the word of
the Lord spread widely and grew in power in our church”? Is the Lord using our church?
How can I increase my strength in those special topics our church has this year?