Living in the Will of the Lord

The Book of Acts - Part 60

Acts 18:1-8

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - September 28, 2014

INTRODUCTION:

*About 15 years ago, Katie and I were pulling into Wal-Mart, when we saw the Jews for Jesus bus. They are a great group of Christian Jews who witness to other Jews all over the world. That day they had sung and presented the Gospel at the Senior Citizens Center in West Monroe, and afterward, they stopped at Wal-Mart on their way to Shreveport.

*I used to get their newsletter, so I pulled over to try to meet them. Katie was mortified when we went over to the bus, and I knocked on the door. But we had a tremendous visit with a beautiful young lady named Rivka. I asked her how she got saved, and she told me it was through the prayers and witness of other Jewish Christians. Rivka said she finally realized that Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews, and she trusted in the Lord. Then she told me, "If you are praying for someone, don't give up! That man prayed for me for two years before I got saved."

*Rivka then told us about her plan to go back to Israel and start a Christian ministry with her fiancé. That was back during one of the times when there were bombs going off in Israel almost every week. So, I asked Rivka if she was nervous about going back and she said, "The safest place that we can ever be is right smack in the center of God's will."

*That's the kind of faith God wants us to have, and this Scripture shows us some of the things that will happen when we are living in the will of the Lord.

1. First: Living in God's will takes us to new destinations.

[1] Sometimes we are free to move, as Paul was in vs. 1: "After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth."

*In this chapter, Paul was on his second missionary journey, and had been in Athens alone. He was sent there mainly to keep him safe from a Christ-rejecting mob at Berea. And while Paul was at Athens, he did everything he possibly could do to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ. But then the Holy Spirit led Paul to move on to the city of Corinth.

*John Phillips tells us that in Paul’s day Corinth was the political capital of Greece and the seat of a Roman proconsul. It occupied a strategic location on an isthmus, or natural land-bridge connecting northern and southern Greece. (1)

*William Barclay pointed out that this neck of land is less than five miles across, and on that isthmus stood Corinth. All north and south traffic in Greece had to pass through Corinth because there was no other practical way. Men called her "The Bridge of Greece." Corinth also had harbors facing east and west, so it was the chief market city between Asia and Italy.

*Corinth was also a very wicked city. The Greeks had a verb, "to play the Corinthian," which meant to live a life of lustful debauchery. In Greece, if a Corinthian was ever shown on the stage he was shown drunk. On the chief hill or Acropolis stood a temple of Aphrodite, also called Venus, the god of love. In its great days the temple had one thousand priestesses of Aphrodite who served their religion by being prostitutes in the city of Corinth. (2)

*If there was ever a place that needed Jesus Christ, it was the city of Corinth! And surely Paul was in God's will when he went there to preach the Gospel.

[2] Sometimes we are free to move, but sometimes we are forced to move.

*That's what happened to Aquila and Pricilla in vs. 1-2:

1. After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

2. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.

*A.T. Robertson tells us that this deportation happened about 49 A.D. And it happened because the Jews were in a constant state of tumult about Christ. Some of the Jews were rioting in opposition to Christianity, and the Jews were already unpopular in Rome, so the Roman Emperor simply had them all expelled. (3)

*That was a terrible thing for those families who were uprooted, especially because most of them were totally innocent of any wrong-doing. But God used that decree to bring Aquila and Priscilla together with Paul.

*God did a very similar thing in Luke 2 to make sure that Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem at just the right time to fulfill a prophesy in Micah 5:2 about the birth of our Savior. In the KJV, this part of the Christmas story says:

1. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

*The trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a 90-mile journey. Of course, Mary either had to walk, or ride on a donkey, if they had one. Making that journey was probably the last thing Joseph wanted to do with his very pregnant wife. And it was probably the last thing Mary wanted to do.

*But God worked through a corrupt and godless Roman government to bring His promised plan to pass, and He can do the same thing today.

*Here in the United States, we still have the blessing of living in a free country, the freest country in the world. Most of the people in the world today do not have this blessing. The people of Hong Kong are demonstrating right now for a piece of the freedom we enjoy. Most of the people throughout most of history have not had the blessings of freedom, but God was still at work!

*Terrible things are going on in the world. How would you like to be a Christian living in Syria, Iraq or Iran tonight? Bad things are going on today, but God is still at work!

*In July and August of this year, 3,824 rockets were fired into Israel from the Palestinians in Gaza, but God was surely at work. Please listen to part of an August 5th article posted online by World Net Daily:

*"More claims of divine intervention are being reported in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. An operator of Israel's Iron Dome missile-defense system said he personally witnessed 'the hand of God' diverting an incoming rocket out of harm's way. "Israel Today" translated a report from a Hebrew-language news site, which noted the Iron Dome battery failed 3 times to intercept an incoming rocket headed toward Tel Aviv last week.

*The commander recalled: 'A missile was fired from Gaza. Iron Dome precisely calculated its trajectory. We know where these missiles are going to land down to a radius of 200 meters. This particular missile was going to hit either the Azrieli Towers, the Kirya (which is Israel's equivalent of the Pentagon), or a central Tel Aviv railway station. Hundreds could have died.

*We fired the first interceptor: It missed. Second interceptor: It missed. This is very rare. I was in shock. At this point we had just 4 seconds until the missile lands. We had already notified emergency services to converge on the target location and had warned of a mass-casualty incident.

*Suddenly, Iron Dome showed a major wind coming from the east. A strong wind that sent the missile into the sea. We were all stunned. I stood up and shouted, "There is a God!" I witnessed this miracle with my own eyes. I saw the hand of God send that missile into the sea.'

*The commander's account backed up another report from one of the terrorists in Gaza. He was asked why they couldn't aim their rockets more effectively. And he answered: "We do aim them, but their God changes their path in mid-air." (4)

*Bad things do happen, but God is in control. He will have the final word. He does all things well. And Romans 8:28 is still true, so "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." God will make everything come out fine for those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior. And nothing can stop our God! So, we can trust God even when we are forced to new destinations.

2. Living in the will of the Lord takes us to new destinations. -- It also touches our occupations.

*Verse 3 tells us that Paul stayed with Aquila and Priscilla, because they were in the same trade. They were all tentmakers. God used their jobs to bring these Christian friends together. And He wants to work through our jobs too.

*The Lord was on the job with them, and He wants to be on the job with us. God wants to use us where we work, so we need to let Him do it. Christianity is never just a Sunday thing. It should affect every area of our lives, including how we work. We can help the cause of Christ or harm the cause of Christ by the way we work. That's why John Shearhart said: "Some Christians need to put a bumper sticker on their car that says: 'I'm not like this on Sundays'" (5)

*We don't want to be one of those people! Amen? If you are working where the Lord wants you to be, God has put you in your job for a purpose. We spend a lot of time at work, and God can use that time to make a difference for Christ. And He will if we are living in His will.

3. Living in the will of the Lord touches our occupations. -- It also leads us to new proclamations.

*We need to speak up about our Savior the way Paul spoke in vs. 4-5:

4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

5. When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

*Paul was taking a very public stand for Jesus, and that's what the Lord wants us to do. Let people know where you stand. We need to be like Paul in vs. 4, and "reason" with people. That word "reason" comes from the Greek word that gives us "dialogue," so talk to people about Jesus.

*Do your best to persuade people with your words and with your life. God wants us to live so that we can give a testimony like Paul gave in 1 Thessalonians 2:6-12. There Paul explained that he and his mission team did not:

6. . . seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.

7. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.

8. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

9. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

10. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;

11. as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,

12. that you would have a walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

*That's how Paul talked and how he walked. Now God will help us do the same! Stuart Briscoe gives us 4 keys to help have a worthy walk: Care, dare, share and prayer.

1) First care: Show concern for the person, and concern for your life before him.

2) Dare: It takes courage to witness -- courage if the person is a stranger to you, and even more if the person is a close friend or relative.

3) Share: If you want to make a lasting impression, share yourself with the person. Get involved in his interests. Get your shoulder under his burden. Be genuinely glad when he has a success.

4) Care, dare, share, and prayer. Stuart Briscoe said, "Don't discount the effectiveness of prayer in the preparation of people's hearts for the Good News." (6)

*That's how to have a worthy walk. But what about the talk? It's as simple as John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

*Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man, lived a perfect life, loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins, and rose again from the dead. Now He offers eternal life to all who will turn to Him and trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

*What God wants us to tell people is so simple that a child can understand it. Larry Jacobs highlighted this truth with a story he heard from a pastor friend in California.

*The other Pastor's name was Patterson. One Sunday he gave an invitation, and a 5-year-old boy came down. The preacher wasn't sure that the little boy really understood, so he talked to the boy after church that morning.

*That was a good thing to do, but Bro. Patterson began to ask the boy some theological questions. The more the pastor questioned the boy, the more confused the little boy got. Finally, the boy said, "Bro. Patterson, in your message this morning you said that if I would come and trust Jesus to save me, he would. Did you really mean that?" Bro. Patterson later said: "I did not ask him any more questions after that." (7)

*That little boy knew that he needed to trust Jesus for salvation. Thank the Lord that God made it simple enough for children to understand! In Matthew 18:3 Jesus even said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

*Everybody needs to trust in Jesus, so Christians, we need to tell other people about Jesus Christ.

4. And living in the will of the Lord leads us to new proclamations. -- It also gives us new inspirations.

*In vs. 5-7, the Holy Spirit of God was surely guiding Paul. Verse 5 reports that "when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ."

*Paul was "constrained by the spirit." The KJV says he was "pressed in the spirit." The Holy Spirit was strongly moving Paul to testify to those Jews that Jesus is the Christ. And the Holy Spirit will guide us too. He will help us know when to speak. He will help us say the right thing to the right people at the right time.

*The Holy Spirit will help us know when to speak, and sometimes He will help us know when to stop. That is what happened in vs. 6-7:

6. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.''

7. And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

*Paul didn't sugarcoat it. He passionately told them that he was through trying to persuade them to turn to Jesus. That was such a serious step there is no way Paul would have taken it on his own.

*I am sure that Paul was led by the Spirit, because this was the same Paul who loved the Jews so much, he later wrote these words in Romans 9:1-3:

1. I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

2. that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

*We dare not give up on people too soon, so we must ask God to give us the wisdom we need, and trust in the Lord to give us new inspiration.

5. Living in the will of the Lord gives us new inspirations. -- It also brings new celebrations.

*God's Word gives us some great reasons to rejoice in vs. 7-8. There Paul:

7. . . departed from (the synagogue) and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

8. Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

*When Paul later wrote his letters to the Corinthians, that church was having some terrible problems, (and there has never been a church without problems). But until the final harvest, more and more people will get saved.

*There will be great reasons to celebrate! And these celebrations will reach all the way to Heaven! The Lord stressed this great truth twice in Luke 15!

*In vs. 4-10, Jesus said:

4. "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

5. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

7. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

8. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it?

9. And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'

10. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.''

CONCLUSION:

*Every salvation brings great celebrations, so we have every reason to keep living in God's will. Keep living in the will of the Lord.

(1) Adapted from "Exploring Acts" by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - Paul’s new friends - Acts 18:1-3

(2) Adapted from: Barclay's Daily Bible Study Series (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 William Barclay. First published by the Saint Andrew - Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA - PREACHING IN CORINTH Acts 18:1-11)

https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/acts-18.html

(3) WORD PICTURES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Archibald Thomas Robertson - Acts 18:2

(4) "Hand of God sent missile into sea" - Posted by Joe Kovacs On 08052014 - In Faith, Front Page, Politics, World

http://www.wnd.com/2014/08/hand-of-god-sent-missile-into-sea/

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(5) SermonCentral sermon "The Fruit of the Spirit: Love Pt. 1" by John Shearhart - Galatians 5:22-23 - 03262006

(6) Adapted from Stuart Briscoe, Getting into God, p. 92 - Source: Sermonillustrations.com

(7) SermonCentral illustration submitted by Larry Jacobs