To Raoul Hall.
It has been a blessing for me to be here and fellowship with different brothers and sisters during my short stay. I have also been blessed by the other brothers who have been sharing during these times, with words that instruct me as a servant in the way.
If we are servants of the Lord, then like Apollos, we have been instructed in the way of the Lord. But we have a great treasure within, and this indwelling life continues to teach us the way of the Lord more perfectly.
As we think of our Lord speaking in John Chapter 14, it is hard for us to hear His words, which were spoken with such love and care for His disciples. He was sharing with His disciples just before He would go away. These men were to be left upon the earth to carry forward the gospel and the testimony of God, and to bring to completion that which was started at Calvary.
There was so much the Lord wanted to tell His servants, but Jesus said, “You cannot bear them now.” Yet the Lord Jesus had complete trust in the Holy Spirit and His ministry of bringing these disciples into all truth.
When we look at the disciples on the eve of His departure, they do not seem spiritually ready for such a task. And in these last days, as we look at the servants gathered together today, we look poorly qualified to bear the testimony of Jesus and fulfil the purpose of God.
But thank God, we have His Spirit within—just as gentle, patient, and loving as the Lord Jesus Himself. The Holy Spirit is responsible for keeping us in that living way. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we listen to that Spirit voice within.
This afternoon, we want to read some Scriptures again, beginning in John Chapter 14.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”
John 16:7
But I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Helper will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you.
We also want to look at three Scriptures in the book of Acts where the early church is called the Way.
Acts 9:1–2
But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
and asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 22:4
And I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
Acts 19:23
And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
Father, we do thank You for the faithful work of the Holy Spirit among us as servants. We pray that the living way would be recovered among us as Your people, that the presence of the Way may stir the towns and cities in which we gather.
Recover for us as Your people the Way. Now we come and depend upon the Holy Spirit. We ask You to quicken our tired bodies. We ask You to breathe upon our spirit. We ask You to give us light, that we might walk in the more perfect way. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
As Jesus was leaving His disciples, He said, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.” But the disciples could not understand this advantage. They had come to love their Master, and they had found a way of service that involved depending completely upon Jesus to lead the way.
When Jesus said, “I am going away,” the disciples no longer knew what to do. They did not have much spiritual discernment. If you remember, after most of the parables Jesus spoke, the disciples said, “What does that mean?” When the Lord asked them about the significance of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they had no idea. Neither did they know how to minister in situations that were deeper and more complex.
What advantage could there be in their Lord going away? But on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they discovered this indwelling Spirit within. They heard Jesus speaking to them within, even as He had spoken to them without.
Even though there was no blueprint for them to build the church, they discovered that they had a spiritual GPS inside that would lead them in the way. Suddenly, they understood where to go next.
Even more wonderfully, with every step they took, they began to understand within who the Lord Jesus really was. He was a Saviour—and more. He was a Master—and more. He was a Lord—and more. He was the Bridegroom—and more. He was King of kings—and more. He was the coming King—and more. He was Creator and Sustainer of all things—and more.
Even like Abraham in the days of old: as he went on his sojourn from place to place, he discovered a new name of God. Abraham stepped out by faith on the way, and along the way he discovered that God was El Shaddai. He discovered that God was El Elyon, God Most High. He discovered that his God was Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, and many other revelations of who his God was.
If you are a servant of God, you should walk in the way, if for no other reason than that you discover more of your Lord with every step you take. They also discovered that they had a Spirit of wisdom and revelation within, and they began to gain spiritual perception and discernment.
Isn’t it wonderful? We walk in this way, and the Lord has given all of these things to us in His indwelling presence.
The disciples also discovered that on the way there were these twofold characteristics of becoming narrow and expanding. As they walked along the way, all of their external strengths were broken away from them until they were reduced to Jesus only.
Now let me ask you a question: if you and I are reduced to Jesus only, is that really a reduction? Of course not. It is a gain to be reduced to Jesus only. As we decrease, He increases, and we begin to see a spiritual expansion in the way.
In that expansion, Christ becomes all and in all. Where in the Bible does it say that—Christ all and in all? We will have to turn there: Colossians Chapter 3.
In Colossians Chapter 3, Paul is talking about the new man. In fact, he is talking about the corporate new man, the church.
Colossians 3:11
Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
In one sense, we can define the church as this: Christ is all and in all. This is one of the things we discover in spiritual expansion. When we talk about spiritual expansion, we are talking about something corporate—that is, the church in the way.
We are not just individual servants in the way, the truth, and the life. We are gathered together as the church in the way, because the church is the corporate reality of Jesus Christ lived out on earth today.
The church is more than just Christians gathered together. The church is an organism. Jesus is the Head; we are the body. There is only one body. I may live in New York, and you may live in mainland China, but we are still one body.
Sometimes Christians make the mistake of saying, “The body in Singapore and the body in New York City,” as if there were different bodies lying around. But the whole church is one body of Christ.
If we are to live in the way—Christ as the Way—we must live in this corporate reality of the church. As Jesus said, “I am the way to the Father’s house.”
Today we want to observe the church as it is described in the book of Acts. There we see that they are defined as the Way—the people of the Way.
Why were they called that? They did not call themselves that. When others looked at them, they said, “Those are people of the Way.” They knew the road they were on. They had a purpose in their life. They had direction, and they were looking forward to the end.
The world just drifts around and around in circles. But suddenly they saw the church and said, “They have purpose. They have a goal. They have motives. Those are the people of the Way.”
That is what the church is supposed to be. When the church is the Way, it causes disturbance in the town where they gather.
The world is always saying, “Go down Broadway.” In Manhattan, where I live in New York City, I live two blocks away from Broadway. People are always walking up and down Broadway, going to Times Square and all these places in Manhattan.
But when they go up Broadway, they meet some Christians in the park, and the Christians hand them a tract. The Christians say, “Don’t go down Broadway. There is only one way through Jesus to be saved.”
The world does not like to hear that there is an alternative to Broadway. But those who are hungry to know God are looking for a place that will show them the way. The church is the Way.
In the book of Acts, we see the history of the church’s spiritual expansion. When we turn to Acts Chapter 1, at the very beginning, we see Luke introducing this history, and we discover what the book of Acts is really about.
Acts 1:1–2
The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day when He was received up, after that He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom He had chosen.
Originally, in the Greek language, the name of this book is simply Acts. But in many English Bibles, they add Acts of the Apostles, because you see the apostles going from place to place and churches being started.
But this book is not the acts of the apostles. One famous Bible scholar says it should be called the acts of the Holy Spirit. Of course, you can see the Holy Spirit everywhere as you go through the book of Acts.
But this is not merely the acts of the Holy Spirit. This is the acts of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what Luke says in verse 1: “I have already written the Gospel about the Lord Jesus Christ.” That is the Gospel of Luke.
Luke is saying, “I showed you Jesus as He walked upon the earth for three and a half years. Now, in my second book, I want to continue on and talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is still walking upon the earth—but now through His body, the church.”
When you read the book of Acts, there is one message that comes through: Jesus is alive and still living upon the earth. Jesus has been resurrected, and He is living among His people. It is the same love, the same power, and the same oneness with the Father.
This is the testimony of the Way. When we gather as the church, people should touch this reality: Jesus is alive. They should be able to touch the testimony of the Lord Jesus in our midst.
In the book of Acts, the emphasis was not upon the church, and the emphasis was not upon the apostles. The emphasis was upon Jesus Christ. He is alive, and it changed people’s lives.
Today, unfortunately, we have to make a distinction. There are churches that are in the way. Jesus is the Head of that church. Jesus is leading His people, and they are like a lampstand. On that lampstand is the light of the testimony of Jesus Christ.
But there are other churches that are not in the way. They may be doing Christian things, and the people may be Christian, but the Lord is not the Lord and the Head.
When you go to such a church, you do not sense the transcendent presence of Jesus in the midst. What do you sense? Men and women—perhaps good men and women. You may hear a preacher who is very intelligent. You may hear a choir and say, “Oh, they sing like angels.” Or perhaps they do all kinds of works: they help these people, they help those people, they plant trees, and do all kinds of things.
But when you go in, you do not touch Jesus.
You remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14. If somebody comes into your meeting and someone is prophesying, the person who hears the prophecy says, “God is here,” because the prophecy exposes their heart. They fall down and repent.
This is the Way. When you gather with the people of the Way, you touch Jesus. He is alive. That is what we have in the book of Acts: the wonderful story of this church alive.
The church is not perfect. The church is very young. At the time we read of the church in the book of Acts, they did not know much church terminology. If you asked somebody in Jerusalem, “Are you the body of Christ?” they would say, “What?” Paul revealed this later on.
If you asked somebody there, “Tell me, brother, what is the ground of the church?” they would say, “What?” Today there are many people with church terminology, but they are not living in the Way.
These early Christians were living in the Way. The terminology is secondary. Are we living with the living Head, the Lord Jesus, reigning over us? This is the experience they found in the book of Acts.
In the book of Acts, we see the church growing with a spiritual growth. Again, we want to look in Colossians Chapter 2, because as Paul defines the growth of the church, we see that it is dependent upon something very important.
Colossians 2:19
And not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
The church is to grow with a growth that is from God. There is a young church; then it becomes an adolescent church; then it becomes mature. Christian ministries are developed, and Christ manifests Himself more and more. There is a growth that is from God.
When the church is young, it is young. You cannot make it hurry up and grow up. But the church will not grow unless it is holding fast to the Head, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many times a church is born and begins to grow, but then it holds on to a preacher or a leader instead of holding on to the Head, Jesus Christ. It is through the nourishment of the Head that the body grows.
The Lord leads His church through circumstances that help them to grow up. We see that the church goes through the same experience of being narrowed and narrowed, and then expanded and expanded.
From the book of Acts, we discover a very real principle: it is especially when the church goes through crisis that it expands spiritually the most.
Do any of you belong to an assembly or church where there is no crisis? If you do, it is a sleepy church. They are not growing very much. They do not have to depend upon the Lord. Like Laodicea, they can become lukewarm.
But when the church goes through crisis, then it spiritually expands. We will just touch on some crises this afternoon.
Let us look at one example in Acts Chapter 4, verses 27 through 30. The church in Jerusalem is praying.
Acts 4:27–30
For of a truth in this city against Thy holy Servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together,
to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel foreordained to come to pass.
And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants to speak Thy word with all boldness,
while Thou stretchest forth Thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Thy holy Servant Jesus.
Here you see the church in crisis. They had been threatened by the government. Peter and John were told, “Do not preach the gospel anymore.” They were threatened, beaten, and released. They went back and told the church, “The government is threatening us. Do not preach the gospel.”
What should we do? This young church gathered together in one accord to pray: “Lord, what is the way through this crisis? Should we obey the Lord, go the way of the cross, and continue to preach the gospel? Or should we yield to man’s power and do what man is telling us to do?”
They said, “Lord, You heard the threats from the government. As for us, give us the power to preach the gospel.” When they did that, we see the spiritual expansion in verse 31.
Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Most crises for the church are a matter of compromise. Should we compromise, or should we go the way of the cross?
You know there is a saying: you should never make a compromise with a bear. The story goes like this. There was a hunter in the woods, and he was very cold. He was hunting for a bear so that he could have a bearskin coat and be warm.
Suddenly a bear came out of the woods. This bear was very hungry. The bear said, “I am hungry.” The hunter said, “And I am cold.” So they compromised. The bear ate the hunter. The bear was happy, and the hunter had his bearskin coat.
Never compromise with a bear.
But we are always, by our human wisdom, trying to compromise. Why does Jesus say, “You cannot serve God and mammon”? Because many people are like those who surf with one foot in mammon and one foot serving the Lord, trying to surf on the ocean of compromise. Of course, you will drown, because mammon’s foot is too heavy.
I remember, as a pastor in a denomination, somebody gave me a little book by a man named Watchman Nee. It was called Concerning Our Missions. It was all about the way the church is set up with apostles, prophets, elders, and so on.
I had never read such an excellent book. So I took it to my professor at school. I said, “Now I am a pastor in a church, but according to this word, this is not right.”
He said, “This man’s teaching is from the old days, back in the Bible. But now the church has evolved into the twentieth century, and the way of our denomination is the best way.”
So I compromised. Every time I compromise, I get into trouble. If the Word of God is true, do not compromise.
This is always our crisis. Perhaps especially the Chinese love to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because you are so smart. If anybody can find a way around the truth, you can. Maybe you are not as smart as the Jews, because every law the Jews have, they have found a way to get around it.
Instead of doing the truth according to the Word, we spend a lot of energy getting around the truth with our human wisdom. When we compromise with the Word of God, that is spiritual death for those who would walk in the Way.
Now we want to look very briefly at seven crises of the early church as they were walking in the narrow way.
The first crisis was the crisis at Pentecost. They were praying in one accord, waiting for the promise of the Father. When the Holy Spirit came, Peter stood up to speak.
He said, “In the last days, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh,” as the Word of God says. This spiritual outpouring was because it was the last days. The Spirit was poured out because Jesus rose from the dead, sat down at the right hand of God, is Lord and Christ, and has sent forth the Spirit.
As Peter preached these things, the heavens opened up. The people said, “Jesus is alive. This is the last day. We remember these Old Testament promises.” They were pricked in their hearts, and three thousand were saved that day. Praise God.
But this was a crisis. What are we going to do with three thousand people? Where are they going to live? We do not have a church building. We do not have a programme. Who is going to feed them? How can we have leaders for three thousand? There are only twelve. Who is going to lead if they meet in the houses? How are we going to do this? We do not know the way. Lord, what should we do?
Then something inside spoke. There was a law of life inside. What was that law? Since we have been saved, the Holy Spirit has made us one, and we are a family. More than anything, we just want to be together.
Acts 2:42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
They all said, “We just need to come together.” The apostles said, “We can meet at Solomon’s porch at the temple.” So the day after Pentecost, at two o’clock, five thousand people came. What are we going to do? Who is going to speak? Who is the leader?
But the Spirit began to lead them, and they spoke about Jesus. Some miracles were performed, and some people were saved. Then they had to go home, but now they had over three thousand people. Some brother said, “You can come to my house. My house can hold twenty people.” Somebody else said, “You can come to my house.”
Can you believe it? They began to meet in homes. They began to live in homes. Everybody gave up their home. Everybody fed one another. They only ate McDonald’s, but they were happy. No Chinese food? It was okay—they had fellowship every day.
Many people had to lay down their lives. If you are a mother and have a home, you like to keep your home nice and clean. But now you have twenty-five people staying in your home. They are sleeping in the bathroom, the kitchen, and every room. It is impossible. You have no family time together—but you have a bigger family.
The Lord comes into the room every time we get together and begin to sing. Who is going to lead the house meetings? Do we need special leaders? No. The Holy Spirit’s life led them. They shared together and testified together. We do not know all the details of how they sorted it out.
But we see in Acts Chapter 2, verse 46, the spiritual expansion, because these people were willing to lay down their lives to fellowship with one another.
Acts 2:46–47
And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they did take their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.
Now we come to crisis number two, about six months after Pentecost. Providing food and shelter for people was becoming more and more of a problem, because now more than five thousand people had come into Christ.
How were they going to provide for all of this? Probably the disciples remembered how Jesus fed the multitude with just a few fish and a few loaves. But the grace and love of God filled their lives.
Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Acts 4:34–35
For neither was there among them any that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
and laid them at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.
Then we see Barnabas in verse 36. Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was called Barnabas by the apostles, owned a tract of land. He sold it, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
They had a tremendous need for provisions, but the Lord placed it on the hearts of the saints to give over to the Lord that which they had. Barnabas gave this gift for the saints, and everybody said, “Praise God,” because they could see the big heart and love of God through their dear brother Barnabas.
But there was a couple in the fellowship named Ananias and Sapphira. They said, “We want to be recognised also.” So they took some property and sold it, but they kept back forty percent and gave the rest, putting it at the apostles’ feet.
They wanted the apostles to say, “Oh, aren’t you wonderful people?” But the Holy Spirit was inside Peter. They rejoiced with Barnabas’s gift, but they felt something was wrong with this other gift.
Peter said, “Ananias, why are you lying to the Holy Spirit? You are using money for gain. You are using your gifts to deceive. Why did you lie to the Holy Spirit?” And of course, Ananias died. We remember that Sapphira did too.
We learn a lesson here: God always provides for His children, but we must walk the narrow way even regarding money. When people want to offer money for wrong reasons, we should refuse.
Some people feel they have done something righteous by giving money. When your spirit feels that, you should say, “No, no, we do not take that.” Thank God they listened to the Holy Spirit, so that the gifts, fellowship, and love among one another could remain pure.
As a result of this disaster, people became afraid of the people of the Way, because they saw that God is holy in the church.
Now we come to a third crisis. The church is always going through a crisis. If they compromise, they get into trouble. If they follow the way of the cross, they expand spiritually.
We human beings like to set up barriers because we prefer people like ourselves. A crisis arose because of the Greek-speaking Jewish widows. At the root of the problem was language.
The Jewish brothers and sisters spoke Chinese, and the Greek-speaking widows spoke English. It is easy to put up a barrier there. Some people would say, “The church is better if it is all Chinese,” or, “The church is better if it is all English.” That is much easier, huh? No need for an interpreter—just straight talking.
But the Lord has made the church in such a way that Chinese and English are together. That is essential. If we are not careful, we begin to prefer one over the other. The Greek-speaking widows began to feel as though they were left out.
Acts 6:1
Now in these days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
We have a problem. What are we going to do? Should the apostles take care of the problem? In many churches today, the so-called full-time workers have to do everything. They have compromised their calling.
But the apostles said, “No, no. We have to pray and preach the gospel.” What should we do? The apostles were not trying to be the boss of the church. What did they say? “Brothers and sisters, choose for yourselves seven men with wisdom and a heart for God, and let them take care of these sisters.”
All the Jewish Christians and all the Greek Christians got together, and they found seven men—all Greek-speaking—to take care of the problem. Two of those people were Philip and Stephen.
These men were somewhat in the background, but as soon as they were given this responsibility, something happened. Look what it says in verse 7.
Acts 6:7
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
They came together and sought the Head, the Lord Jesus, concerning what to do. The Lord answered by raising up some brothers. As a result, there was spiritual increase, the Word grew in Jerusalem, and more people were saved.
Very soon they came to another crisis: the fourth crisis. A season of persecution fell upon the church.
Acts 8:1
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women, and putting them in prison. Saul hated the people of the Way. He was the instigator of a great persecution in Jerusalem.
The church in the narrow way will go through persecution. The brothers and sisters scattered out—but what happened? Everywhere they went, they preached the gospel.
When they went to Samaria and Judea, they preached the gospel. Many people were saved. Philip went to the city of Samaria, and a great revival broke out in that city. Then Philip went out into the desert and opened the door for the gospel to the Ethiopians through the eunuch.
Finally, because of the persecution, and because the saints followed the way of the cross, Saul himself was saved on the road to Damascus. The greatest persecutor of the Way became the greatest preacher of the Way.
When a crisis comes upon a church that is in the Way, God uses it to bring spiritual increase.
The fifth crisis was the racial barrier. Peter went to Cornelius’s house, even though Peter did not want to go to a Gentile’s house. But the Lord told him to go, so Peter did not compromise. He went.
Peter was just speaking about Jesus and the great things Jesus had done. He was not planning to give an invitation for people to be saved. He was just testifying about what Jesus did. But in the middle of his testimony, the Holy Spirit came down on the Gentiles, and he saw them saved right in front of his face.
Peter had to go back to Jerusalem and gather the brothers together. “Something terrible has happened: some Gentiles got saved.” All the Jewish brothers heard it and said, “Well, the Holy Spirit did that. Gentiles must be Christians.”
But then some Gentiles got saved in Antioch—so many Gentiles got saved. They said, “We had better send somebody up to Antioch to see what is going on.” So they sent Barnabas up. Barnabas had a big heart, and he saw that God was working among the Gentiles.
Barnabas brought Paul to come with him, and eventually they went out from Antioch on their first missionary journey. Many Gentiles were saved, and churches were started in many places.
When Paul and Barnabas came back, they told the saints that many Gentiles had been saved. The people in Jerusalem said, “Uh-oh, we have to talk about this.”
They said, “We believe that Gentiles can be saved, but are you saying that they are also of the same inheritance as we Jews? Are you saying that they do not have to keep the Law? They do not need to be circumcised, and yet they can enjoy all the privileges that we enjoy by grace?”
They got together and began to talk. What are we going to do? Paul got up and gave his testimony: “God did this.” Then the zealous Jews got up and said, “No, this cannot be. They must be circumcised.” Peter got up and spoke about what happened at Cornelius’s house.
There were so many crises there. Was the Jerusalem church going to become the mother church? No, that is not God’s way. Were the apostles going to be the pope and say yes or no? No. Peter was no pope.
Then a man stood up—Jesus’ brother, James. He was a zealous Jew, but he said, “You know what? The Lord has spoken to me through a Scripture.” He read an Old Testament Scripture saying that God would one day save the Gentiles.
James said, “That is what the Word says. I think this must be from God. Therefore we embrace our Gentile brothers. We ask that you please do not eat blood or things sacrificed to idols.”
The Gentiles said, “No problem. Gentiles like their food well done. They do not like sushi.”
When James stood up, it was not because James was the Lord’s brother. When James stood up, the Lord spoke to everybody’s heart. Sometimes we have an argument and go back and forth, and then somebody speaks and everybody says, “That’s it.”
James was not an apostle and not a pope. The Lord gave him the spiritual wisdom concerning what to do. They wrote the letter: “It seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit to do this.”
Maybe this letter seems like a small thing to you. But when Paul and Barnabas brought it back to the Gentile churches and read it, the Gentiles rejoiced, and there was spiritual increase immediately in the church.
Up to that time, the Gentiles felt as though they were in the family, but they were stepchildren, not real children like the Jews. But now they were children of the same family, and how they rejoiced.
The sixth crisis can be mentioned briefly. In Acts Chapter 19, Paul came to Ephesus and faced spiritual conflict and warfare.
In verse 9, the Jews opposed his preaching. In verse 12, he cast out evil spirits. In verse 19, the gospel preaching was so strong that people burned their witchcraft books. Then we come to verse 23, and the whole city was shaken because of the Way.
So many people were being saved that the business at the temple of Artemis was being hurt. But through the spiritual warfare, the saints remained faithful to the gospel.
Acts 19:20
So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.
There was spiritual warfare against evil spirits, but the saints remained faithful to the gospel. The Word was mighty and prevailed over the spiritual attack upon the church.
The last Scripture I want to mention is at the very end of the book, Acts Chapter 28. There we find the apostle Paul in prison in Rome. Again, we see the narrow way and the way of spiritual expansion.
Acts 28:30–31
And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him,
preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.
Here we learn the seventh lesson: when the church walks the narrow way, sometimes there is even imprisonment. But imprisonment in the name of the Lord always brings spiritual expansion.
Even though Paul was found in prison, the Word of God was not bound. The Word of God spread into Caesar’s household. When we go the way of the cross, there is great spiritual expansion.
Sometimes we suffer in the way of the cross, and we do not immediately see the result. But when the seed has fallen into the ground, there will always be a fruitful harvest.
I have been privileged to travel to Russia several times. I went to Siberia and spoke in one church there. The Lord is saving many, many people in this church.
I asked the brother there for his story. He had gone to a Bible school and graduated just when the Iron Curtain fell in Russia. He was living in Ukraine. There were only fifteen students, and they were very young Christians.
They put a big map of Russia behind them, and the teacher said, “Choose the city where you want to preach the gospel.” The brother immediately saw a city in Ukraine and thought he would choose that city. But somebody else chose it first. Other people chose Moscow and St. Petersburg.
He said, “What should I choose?” The Lord spoke to him and said, “Do not choose any. Take the last one—the one nobody else wants.” The only one left was in Siberia.
He said, “Okay, I will take that city in Siberia.” He went there and began to preach the gospel. Strange to say, out of all the fifteen students, he had the greatest response.
Within one month, two hundred people were baptised in the river. The church grew to three thousand people. But he said, “Let me tell you why so many people got saved. It was not my gospel.”
This was a place where the Russians had imprisoned Christians. Even on the prison in Siberia, you could see writing on the wall from Christians praying for that city.
Those Christians who died in that prison, praying for that city, were the seed in the ground that caused such a harvest today.
When we walk the narrow way without compromise, it costs. We are reduced down to Jesus only. But the Lord will always cause there to be a harvest.
This is the way of the church. May the Lord help all of us as servants of God to be faithful to Him. Compromise ruins a living church.
Seek the higher way. Listen to the voice of the Spirit within. Even in the narrow way that we tread, we will see spiritual expansion to the glory of God.
For this we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.