Encouragement Strengthens Resolve-Part II

We got together with the Harris’ earlier this week and Brad was telling all about his first month here on furlough. It actually stated as a story about how he was asked to preach at his sending church. So as he began to tell me this he kept having to back it up all the way to his flight and this trip was nothing but one difficulty after another. From their luggage being lost to having to retake his drivers licence exam and driving test, needing to make it to Washington DC to get pick up the vehicle they are using his mother being sick and having to be hospitalized. When he was finished I just looked at him and said it makes you want to be back in Africa doing ministry. He laughed and agreed.

Life is hard, there are circumstances that come up in our lives that are very discouraging and make us want to throw our hands up in the air and say I give up. These are circumstances out of our control but when these events happen what we need to do is not give up but look at the situation and look at the one who has everything under control and remember and I think we need to even say it, Jesus has got this. Repeat that after me, “Jesus has got this.” We need to be reminded of this on a constant bases, because we are always facing the awful oppression of sin. Even knowing Christ as Lord and Savior even though we are cleansed from sin we still have the effects of sin lingering in our bodies. If that wasn’t hard enough we have a sinful world that is always working against us. The more we seek after righteousness and walking in the Lord the harder the world tries to take us down.

So instead of giving up and saying forget it this isn’t worth it keep going, because Jesus has got it. That alone should be enough encouragement to strengthen your resolve, it should strengthen you determination to fight the good fight and stay the course run the race as Paul would say. And if anyone knew what it meant to go through tough circumstances and continue to fight the good fight and to stay the course and run the race it’s Paul. He has had some very difficult encounters in his missionary journeys from being stoned, beaten, chased out of cities, thrown in prison, even having a strong disagreement with one of his closest companions and co-laborer in the ministry over the qualification of another companion. Through all this Paul persisted, he kept the course. And as we saw last week Paul enters a very depraved city, a city as I like to say, much like Antioch, is like going to Las Vegas.

Paul understood very well what it means to persist, but there are times even in the life of some of the most courageous and spiritually strong servants of the Lord that they need some reminding and some encouragement. Paul recieved some encouragement when he entered the city of Corinth. We saw last week how Paul was encouraged by God through support, he had the support of some believers in the city, Aquila and Priscilla, he had support financially through first an trade and then from other churches who backed him in sharing the gospel message. Along with he co-laborers in the ministry of the gospel. Paul now able to devote himself to sharing the gospel is continually going to the synagogue until the Jews began to resist the message and blaspheme, so Paul symbolically shock out his garments as a means of telling them he is freed from the judgement that will come on them for their rejection of the message and he moves on to the gentiles. This is were we pick up on God encouraging Paul, and we see that even though a majority of the Jewish community rejected the message, there were still converts in this city.

So as we continue to look at “Being Encouraged through God’s support, Word and Protection” I want us to see there is also Encouragement in God’s Conversions.

Being Encouraged through God’s support, Word and Protection

Encouragement in God’s Conversions

Let’s go ahead and pick up in chapter 18:7-11

Acts 18:7–11 NASB95

7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

I love what happens in verse 7, Paul leaves the synagogue and goes, catch this, next door to the synagogue, to the house of a gentile who was a worshiper of God. Notice the irony. Paul didn’t go clear across town to give the gospel, he didn’t start a house church two blocks away but instead went right next door. Here is the impact of this house becoming a place for the Christians to meet and worship. Verse 8, “Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.” The proximity of this house church to the synagogue was not accidental and had a major impact on both the Jews and the Gentiles. It is believed the synagogues had more then one leader and Crispus was one of these leaders. Possibly on the top. Never the less the gospel message was not completely rejected by the Jews and having a house church right next door to the synagogue would have instigated the Jewish community to continually debate with Paul and they would also see the impact the true gospel message would have on the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

It is a message of hope and faith that is open to the gentiles as well as the Jews. It is a message of inclusion in its exclusivity. Meaning trust in Jesus as the chosen One of God who takes away man’s sins and have eternal life. This is a message for all mankind but it is exclusive only to those who believe it. For those who struggle with where they will be when they die, this was an inviting message. For those who understood their depravity this was a liberating message. Jew and Gentile alike were having their hearts renewed and fully transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. These conversion were God’s doing not Paul’s. All Paul would do is be the conduit for the message, the mouth piece of the Lord, it is the Holy Spirit who does the true work in the people God converts.

Here we see God converting not only Gentiles, Titius Justus, but also Jews. Crispus’ conversion must have infuriated the rest of the devote Jews, and his conversion along with his families conversion was a primer for the Corinthian to look at this message and say there must be something to it if Crispus has walked away from the synagogue. Don’t forget Paul had shaken out his garments against the Jews for their rejection of the gospel yet one kept coming and Paul didn’t just leave him to destruction but if the heart of someone is moved to know the truth, Paul would proclaim the truth. It is not our job to decide who is converted, this is a wonderful truth, could you imagine how stressful it would be if your job was to determine someone eternal destiny. We don’t have that power, only God does. He brings about conversions and only He brings about conversions. It is God who does it and when people are converted it is not us who do the work so we can’t take credit for it. This should even encourage you. This also means how often are you praying for your own usefulness? Asking for the boldness to speak the truth.

You know Luke writes here “many Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptised.” Paul however writes this in his letter to the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 1:14–31 NASB95

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. 18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

It is interesting how Luke writes the Corinthians were believing and being baptized, yet Paul writes he only baptised Crispus, Gaius and the household of Stephanas. Who is right, is this a contradiction? They are both right and no it is not a contradiction. The Corinthians were baptized but it doesn’t mean Paul had to be the one to baptize them, it could’ve been Aquila, or Titius Justus who is also believed to be Gaius. The fact is they were baptized and Paul is actually making an important point here baptism as important as it is to the believer is not what saves and Paul’s deeper point here, it is not a basis to follow the one who performed the sacrament of baptism. The Corinthians were all about rights and privilege and exalting self. They would bicker over which person was better, pretty much, I go to this church, well I am in this church. You get the idea. Well Paul is, as he usually does, exalting the gospel over the ministries that are being preformed.

The reason why is because it is the gospel that saves, it is the gospel God uses to bring people to Himself, not the baptism. Paul continues by telling them Jesus didn’t send him to baptize but to preach the gospel, Paul didn’t come to Corinth with a clever message ready to sway them, he didn’t come trying to bring them a prosperity message or life is with Jesus. He brought them the truth and didn’t fill it with fluff because he didn’t want the cross of Christ to be made void. Paul goes on to compare what the world calls foolishness is truly the wisdom of God and I love how verse 25 tells us “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” God’s foolishness surpasses man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is the cross, which would think that to be weakness but the Romans or the Greeks would because of what the cross symbolized for the people of the time. It was for criminals and the dregs of society not for the God of the universe to die on and take away the sins of the world. This weakness of Jesus was demonstrated in the fact that God had to take on flesh and die. This weakness is stronger than men because men can’t save themselves, but God can and God does.

Paul continues in verse 26 to the end, Paul says consider your calling, God has called them God has brought them into His family through adoption through the power in Jesus’ death burial and resurrection and ascension. The God used the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has done this and God is the One who brings about the conversion of mankind to Himself, why? So that their will be no boasting in self. The boasting is to be in God and God alone. Paul only presented the true gospel message, but God is the One who brought the people to Paul and God is the One is the One who did the calling and the converting.

This happened even after Paul dusted off his garments in essence to say your judgment is on you not me. Still after that God brings the Synagogue ruler to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As long as there is breath in the lunges of people there is hope for their repentance and salvation.

So now things look like there going well for Paul don’t they. He has support, physically with his team back and even some new members to his team. He is supported financially, he has planted a house church and is seeing some incredible conversion by God. Things are great.

Well if thinks are great then we would need verses 9-10, Paul needs yet more encouragement and this time He receives the encouragement he needs directly from the lips of the Lord.

Encouragement though God’s Word

Let’s look at verses 9-10

Acts 18:9–10 NASB95

9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

After these events we find Paul has a vision and the Lord speaks to him and look at what the Lord says, “Do not be afraid.” So why would the Lord tells Paul to not be afraid, maybe because seeing Jesus in his vision scared him. I don’t think so, the first time he saw Jesus scared him but this time I don’t think it was saying the risen Lord that scared him. Especially if you read the rest of what the Lord tells Paul, “but go on speaking and do not be silent.” The fear is not of the appearance of the Lord but the animosity of His opponents. We see Paul as a very courageous man, he endures a lot for the sake of the gospel but even someone with the strong courage like Paul needs to be encouraged to press on, he needs a reminder Jesus has got it.

Paul tells the Corinthians this in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NASB95

1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Paul didn’t just try to use some weird methods or try to charm people but tried to point them to God through demonstrations of the Spirit and of power. If you want to know how to do this in your own life well here it is, let people see you be transformed by the Word of God. That is the greatest demonstration of the Spirit and of power in you. When people see or hear about the transformation that is happening in you, and you can attribute that to God it is the most powerful demonstration of the Spirits work in you. This transformation can only happen through the Holy Spirit’s work in us as we dig in the Word of God through Prayer. It is the Word of God that brings about peace in our hearts when it comes to issues of going out and speaking truth. No matter how hard it can be. It is the word of God that brings peace to our lives by showing us God is faithful even to a faithless generation. We can be encouraged through God’s word by having our eyes opened to our sin and knowing God is a forgiving God when we confess our sin before him. The gospel ministry is hard but so is the Christian life and the best way for the power of God to work in our lives to transform our lives and help us through life is by seeing His mercy and grace in a faithless generation of people and knowing He can do that for us.

Paul heard from the Lord audibly in a dream, and we can hear from Him audibly this way any more but this doesn’t mean He doesn’t speak, He speaks to us through His Word. He is telling Paul here “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent;” As he says this to Paul He is also saying this to us. Verse 10 amplifies this, “for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

The Lord’s words here are encouraging, He has got this. Jesus has got this. Don’t run away take courage for I am with you. When you have Jesus with you, you have all you need. It doesn’t matter how many obstacles you have encountered in life, how many troubles you have endured, you still need Jesus you still need His Word to encourage you.

Look at this in Joshua 1, Joshua was Moses’ right hand man and a man who saw God do incredible, incredible things. In Joshua chapter 1 Joshua is assuming command and leadership of the nation of Israel and he is the first person to lead the nation of Israel with the written word of God. No one has had the written Word of God until Moses wrote it down. So this is where we find Joshua at this very moment.

Joshua 1:5–9 NASB95

5 “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God is reassuring Joshua that to focus on His Word and be strong and courageous for it is through the focus on God and His Word that Joshua will take possession of the Land and lead these people. God will give Him success and be with Him, as long as he strives to walk in righteousness and sanctification. God is not expecting us to live perfected lives in this life but He does expect us to strive for it, and when we take our hearts and eyes of the Word of God, we take our hearts and eyes off of God. So be encouraged God’s Word is a powerful agent in our lives, and I know it can be hard to carve out the time to spend in the Word of God, but here is the thing, it makes it harder to get through life without God’s word being made paramount. I can guarantee there are things in you life you can replace with time in the Word. If you are finding life to be hard, it could be because you are not finding the time for God. Here is the thing, make that time for God before things get hard.

For Joshua and for Paul, they were both reminded Jesus has got it, if these two powerhouses of the Scriptures need to be encouraged by God’s own words that He’s got it, why do you think you can get through life without being in His Word. Don’t look at it as being hard look at the encouragement and benefit you can receive from God’s Word.

Jesus also reassured Paul that not only does He have it, but also that He can be encouraged because He will protect Him.

Encouraged through God’s Protection