Encouragement in Adversity, Part 4
Notes
Transcript
Handout
One of the glorious realities about our God is that he cares for his people by comforting and strengthening them in their distress!
the bible tells us God’s thoughts toward us are multiplied
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
Ps 139 highlights God’s absolute and complete knowledge of us and our circumstances
he knows us completely (1-6)
there is nowhere we can go to escape his presence (7-12)
he formed us from the moment of conception and every one of our days were written when there weren’t any! (13-16)
the right conclusion of the Psalmist: search, know, try, see, lead
the writer of Hebrews encourages us with the precious truth that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25)
this requires a constant knowledge of us and our ways
he is aware of all our thoughts, feelings, desires and plans and as such he is able to intercede for us before the Father
when dealing with our fear of man Jesus said,
7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
One of the most comforting realities about God is his concern for us when we are in trouble.
an argument from the lesser to the greater: if the lesser is true how much more the greater
the lesser argument: he is compassionate on those who don’t know him and even those who are in rebellion against him
the love of the Father toward those who are evil and unjust:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
the heart of Jesus toward those who for the most part rejected his teaching:
2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.
3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.”
the greater:
Since God has such compassion on those who are evil and those who have no saving interest in him, how much greater is his compassion on those for whom his precious Son gave his life!
he lavishes his loving kindness on those he has adopted as his own dear children
listen to the kind of Father Jesus instructs us to pray to in the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:8-13)
give us this day our daily bread - provides our daily needs
forgive us our debts - cleanses us from the sin which separates us from him and from others
lead us not into temptation - protects us from situations which might lead us to sin
deliver us from evil - helps us out of harm or evil circumstances
many other passages remind us that our Father God has a special care and concern for those who belong to him through saving faith in his one and only Son, Jesus Christ
When God’s dearly loved servant, the Apostle Paul, came to Corinth he was very discouraged. (1 Cor 2:3; 1 Thess 3:7)
writing to the Corinthians Paul confessed his discouragement when he was with them,
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
writing to the Thessalonians while he was in Corinth he said,
7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
so for a time when Paul was in Corinth he was weak, fearful, trembling, in distress and afflicted
I think we could conclude that he was in desperate need of God’s help, comfort and strength!
God encouraged Paul with friends. (Acts 18:2-5)
new friends: Aquila and Priscilla
same race, same trade, same faith
provided him with a place to live
old friends: Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia (Acts 18:5)
Timothy returned from his assignment to strengthen the church in Thessalonica with amazing news of their growth, witness and spiritual maturity (1 Thess 1:2-10) and Paul was comforted (1 Thess 3:6)
Silas returned from serving the church in Philippi with a financial gift which enabled him to preach and teach full-time (Php 4:15; 2 Cor 11:9
God encouraged Paul with converts. (Acts 18:8)
one of the ways that God helps us when the pressure of ministry is weighing us down is by giving us fruit for our labours
8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
no less than the leader of those who rejected him and his message were brought to a saving knowledge of Christ!
as such Paul experienced the fulfillment of Proverbs 16:7,
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
many other Corinthians also believed
God encouraged Paul with His Word. (Acts 18:9-10)
God personally spoke words of comfort to His servant, Paul
9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
God said to Paul, “don’t be afraid, but go on preaching”
the challenges Paul faced in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Athen plus the daunting task of preaching in wicked Corinth, where the Jews were actively opposing him and his ministry, was tempting Paul to stop preaching, to be silent!
God gave Paul 3 assurances to encourage him to keep on preaching:
Don’t stop preaching for I am with you
Don’t stop preaching because no one will attack you to harm you
Don’t stop preaching because I have many in this city who are my people
in these 3 assurances God encouraged Paul with power, preservation and promise
today were going to see how God encouraged Paul through opposition
Encouragement Through Opposition (vv.12-17)
Encouragement Through Opposition (vv.12-17)
although God told Paul that no one would “attack him to harm him” (v.10) he still faced opposition as we see from these verses
[Read vv. 12-17]
“when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia”
Paul’s enemies failed in their efforts to stop Paul and the spread of the Gospel
Crispus, their leader, was converted along with his household
if the Sosthenes of Acts 18:17 is the same as in 1 Cor 1:1, another of their synagogue rulers was converted
many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8)
having been thwarted by the power of the HS working through Paul and unable to resist the promise of Jesus that not even the gates of hell would prevail against his church building work, Paul’s enemies turned to the Romans for help
they decided to take their case to the highest court, to the proconsul, the governor of the province
Paul’s enemies were hoping that a favourable judgment from such a high ranking Roman official would serve as precedent.
their charge: “this man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law”
Judaism was given special rights and protections by the Romans and Christianity was viewed by them as a sect of Judaism
the Jewish charge, “Christianity is contrary to Judaism and as such should not enjoy the favour of the Roman government”
If Gallio ruled in favour of the Jews the Gospel could have been banned throughout the Roman Empire.
his response:
14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.
15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”
16 And he drove them from the tribunal.
in other words, he threw the case out
Paul did not even have to defend himself or his ministry!
God brought to nothing the efforts of Paul’s enemies to stop him from preaching his Gospel
Learning Opportunity:
Learning Opportunity:
my premise: one of the ways God encourages those who serve him is by bringing to nothing the attacks of their enemies
the question: how does God encourage through opposition?
God encourages through opposition in 3 ways:
1. When we are opposed because of our Christian witness it is encouraging because it confirms that we are doing something right!
you will be hated
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
“if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own”
this is why the Prosperity Gospel preachers thrive
they are preaching a worldly message to a worldly people
they are feeding their egos and feeding their fleshly desires
they are giving them what they want
their message, “God wants you to be wealthy, healthy and happy”, and they love to hear this!
If we tell unbelievers what they want to hear they will love us.
Conversely, we will be hated to the extent that we openly present the full gospel message.
tell them they are sinners and can’t do anything to make God happy with them
tell them they must give up all their efforts to save themselves and trust in what Jesus has done instead
tell them they must die to themselves and this world and be born again
tell them that if they would follow Christ they must renounce everything
tell them they must serve Christ as their Master and Lord
you will be excluded
1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
the synagogue was the centre of Jewish life
to be put out was to be excluded from business dealings, from social events, from family gatherings, you were excommunicated, you were ostracized
in some cases killed
you will be spoken evil of
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
Steve Lawson in his sermon “What is Gospel Ministry” says the following:
“If you have no enemies you have never stood for anything in your life. A man is known not only by who his friends are but who his enemies are. What opposition do you experience for your faith? what resistance? even a mild form of being ostracized from friends because people know what you stand for and people know what you believe?”
the present and future blessings of opposition and persecution:
present blessing:
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
theirs is the kingdom, not might be or shall be
they possess it now
being persecuted is part of being in the kingdom as opposed to the kingdom of the world!
your reward is great
reviling, persecution, false evil utterances show that you are blessed!
this is exactly how the prophets were treated whom we honour
future blessing:
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
first: there is a connection between suffering now and rejoicing and gladness when Christ returns (v.13)
when Christ returns he will judge the wicked and reward the righteous
you will be reward for suffering for Jesus!
second: being insulted is connected to the Spirit resting on you (v.14)
Spirit of truth bears witness to the truth
by his indwelling us we become truth tellers and that will bring us insults
2. When we are opposed by those who reject us and the Gospel we discover how ineffective they are!
though they oppose you and the Gospel they cannot resist its power
this is what we find in vv.12-17
Paul’s enemies brought him before the highest Roman court in the hope that the Proconsul would rule against Christianity and stop the forward movement of the church
their efforts came to nothing, they were ineffective, they could not stop the growth of the church
Jesus fulfilled his promise that not even the gates of hell would be able to prevail against his church (Mt 16:18)
this is really the theme of Acts!
the forward spread of the Gospel in spite of the opposition of the Jews, the attacks of the Gentiles and the efforts of the Roman empire to stamp out Christianity
the ineffectiveness of persecution in Acts 4; 5:17-42; 6:8-8:8
the Jewish leaders first threatened Peter and John and let them go
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
the Jewish leaders re-arrested Peter and John and beat them and let them go
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
the Jewish leaders arrested Stephen and murdered him
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
even the murder of Stephen could not stop the growth and spread of the church!
the ineffectiveness of powerful opponents
the conversion of Saul - Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-31
Paul’s confession before King Agrippa of his opposition to Christianity before his conversion
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
King Herod’s attempt to kill the leaders of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:1-25) ended in his being eaten by worms and dying!
3. When we are opposed by wicked people God encourages us by what He does to them. He saves them!
two rulers of the Jewish synagogue, the seat of Jewish opposition, were saved!
example of Crispus (Acts 18:8)
possible example of Sosthenes (Acts 18:17; 1 Cor 1:1)
The simple order of salvation in 18:8,
8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
they heard, they believed and they were baptized
preaching, faith, obedience
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Personal Application
We are not to be afraid of people who oppose our efforts to serve Jesus Christ.
passages which tell us not to fear those who oppose us:
Heb 13:6: Ps 118:5-9; Ps 56:4, 10-11
Isa 51:7; 1 Pet 3:14
4 consequences of fearing man:
Denying Christ: John 18:15-17; John 12:41-43
Disobedience: 1 Sam 15:24
People pleasing: Gal 1:10; 1 Thess 2:4
Favouritism: Dt 1:17; Ex 23:2
When we are discouraged and downhearted we are often impatient and do not want to wait for the Lord to get us out of whatever it which is giving us trouble. All we want is out!
may cause us to run ahead or lag behind the will of God
Abraham and Hagar
Jonah and his call to preach to the people of Nineveh
must remember that the troubles we face are often more important to our growth and maturity than immediate deliverance
many of us have learned that going through the discouragements of trouble and trial over and over again have taught us to have confidence when such times return
we have learned by experience that God is in control, that he is working everything out for our good and those around us and that at the right time he will bring us out of it
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
need to learn to wait for the Lord
remember that waiting is a euphemism for prayer
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.