Roman 14:23
The writer of Hebrew reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb.11:6). Whatever God reveals something, He expects to believe Him and adjust our lives accordingly. What does this mean? It means we trust Him implicitly for all of our needs because He say He will provide. (Phil.4:19).
Faithfulness is a rare commodity. All of us have had the experience of trusting in someone who has let us down, and we got hurt. Because of that, one of the most encouraging promises in the Bible is, "God is faithful" (1Cor.10:13). People may let you down, but God is always faithful. Once you f course, there are times when it seems as if even God has let us down. We all need to learn to deal with those times of disappointment with God. The problem is always on our end, never on His end! Today I want to focus on our Lord's faithfulness to us, especially in times of difficulty. God's faithfulness does not mean that He exempts us from trials, but rather that He sustains us through them.
1. God's servants all go through difficult times.
Sometimes we put some of the heroes in the Bibles on too high a pedestal. We wrongly imagined that they must not have to struggled with the things we struggled with. If I had to pick words to describe the apostle Paul, I would say, "bold," "fearless," "courageous," and "determined," "distressed," or "weak," And yet when Paul describes how he felt during his early days in corinth, he uses "distress" (1Thess.3:7), "weakness," "fear," and "much trembling" (1Cor.2:3). Even though he was a giant in faith, Paul struggled with the same emotions that we all struggle with. Why was Paul feeling weak and fearful when he was in Corinth? Let's trace some of the events leading up to his visit there.You will recall that when he was in Asia Minor, he wanted to go into the province of Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbid him. Then he sought to go into Bithynia, but again, "the spirit of Jesus did not permit him" (16:6,7). Then, in the midst of these puzzling hindrances, he got the vision of the Macedonian man, and so they concluded that the Lord was calling them to go there. But things had not gone smoothly. In Philippi Paul and Silas were falsely accused, unjustly beaten, and thrown into the stocks in jail. From there they went to Thessalonica, but after a short time there, the Jews raised an uproar and they had to flee to Berea. The same thing happened there and Paul had to flee to Athens. In Athens, Paul met with ridicule and scant response, which may have been more difficult than open opposition. And so he left there and traveled alone the fifty miles Corinth. Corinth was situated on an isthmus in southern Greece that made it a prosperous commercial crossroads. In Paul's day, there were about 200,000 residents from all over the Roman Empire. It housed the Temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love, which had 1,000 prostitutes that plied their trade under the banner of "religion." There were also Male prostitutes and other pagan shrines. The city was so notorious for its immortality, that in the fifth century B.C, the Greeks coined a verb, "to Corinthianize," that mean to commit sexual immortality. Meanwhile, Paul had run out of money and so he had to find work. Being trained as a tent maker, he found a Jewish tentmaker named Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, and stayed with them and began to work. This was the first time in his missionary journeys that he had to work at his trade to support himself. We don't know whether Aquila and Priscilla had become Christians during their stay in Rome or whether Paul led them to Christ.
Every Sabbath Paul went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks, trying persuade them that Jesus is the Christ, but it was clear that opposition was building (18:4). Meanwhile, he was anxious about the well-being of the new believers in Thessalonica (1Thess.3:1-8).
Physically, Paul may not have fully recovered from the beating that he had received in Philippi. So the spiritual concerns and discouragement about his ministry, the constant opposition, loneliness, physical pain and weariness, and the lack of funds, were weighting on Paul.
A ray of light broke in Silas and Timothy arrived. They brought good news about the strengths of the churches in Macedonian. They also brought a generous gift from the church in Philippi (Phil.4:10-14; 2 Cor.11:9). That enabled Paul once again to devote himself completely to the ministry of the Word (Acts18:5). But, no sooner had he begun to do so than the Jews fiercely opposed him. Paul took the dramatic action of shaking out his coat against them and pronouncing, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles" (18:6).
The Lord opened an opportunity for Paul to continue ministering next door to the synagogue in the home of Titus Justus, a new Gentiles believer, Paul was no doubt encouraged by the conversion of Crispus, the leader of the synagogue. And, many of the Corinthians also were believing and being baptized (18:7-8). But there was also nagging fear that made Paul's insides churn. He could clearly see the pattern: He preached to the Jews and saw some initial response. The Jews who didn't response grew jealous and stirred up opposition. The Paul had to flee for his life. So now, he saw some initial response from the synagogue leader and from others in town, Paul may have been on the verge of leaving Corinth before he got forced out. He was afraid and discouraged. And if none other can be assured that all of God's servants go through similar times of difficulty!
2. God is faithful toward His servants.
There are at least five ways that God showed His faithfulness to Paul at this time, and that He unfaithful towards us:
A. GOD IS FAITHFUL TO RAISE UP GODLY CO-WORKERS (18:1-4).
We don't know how Paul met Aquila and Priscilla. Maybe he was answering a help wanted ad! But God used the anti-Semitic edict of the Roman emperor to force this couple to move to Corinth. Paul's lack of funds put him in the job market. And so Godprovidentially brought these three together. They later went with Paul to Ephesus, where they hosted a church in their home (1Cor.16:19). Eventually they returned to Rome, where they hosted a church. Paul says that they risked their lives for his sake, and that they were appreciated by all of the Gentile churches (Rom.16:3'5). In one of the last verses that Paul wrote before he was executed, he sent greetings to this couple, who had his lifelong friends (2Tim.4:19).
Paul also was encouraged when Silas and Timothy rejoined him in Corinth (Acts 18:5). They brought an encouraging word about Paul's new Christian friends in Thessalonica and Philippi. All of these dear saints were co-workers with Paul in the cause of Christ. (Phi.1:5,7,27; 4:3;1Thess.1:8).
When we are saved, the Holy Spirit baptized us into the body of Christ. We become members of one another, under Jesus Christ our living Head. God did not design us to go it alone. We desperately need each other, even though sometimes we needle each others! All ministry should be team ministry, where we complement one another, pray for one another, and bear one another's burdens. It is a great encouragement to the pastoral staff here when we see the Lord's people labouring together with us for His cause!
B. GOD IS FAITHFUL TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE WORK (18:5).
Paul did not advertise his needs for personal support. He would make known others' needs (2Cor.8:9). But when he ran out of personal funds, he would just start making tents until the Lord provided support.
While I do not think that it is wrong for Christian workers to make their needs known, all of us must live by faith in the area of finances. I do not just mean "all of us who are in full time ministry," but, "all of us"! I believe that every Christian should be giving enough to the Lord's work that you are forced to trust God to provide some things that otherwise you could probably just go out and buy. It is a great joy when you live that way and when God provides what you've been praying for!
By faith that the church will have piece of land to worship the Lord this is all our prayer. As i said whether to share these needs, but then I realized that if I'm the only one praying, I will be the only one blessed when God provides. Since I want you to get blessed, I want you all to bring these needs to the Lord in prayer. He doesn't always answer in the way that we conceive. He may provide in some others ways. But I don't want to get to heaven and hear the Lord say, "Why didn't you ask Me? I would have provided if you had only asked! Let's all ask!
C. GOD IS FAUTHFUL TO BRING CONVERTS, EVEN IN THE FACE OF OPPOSITION(18:6-8).
Even though Paul faced strong opposition, Bod graciously brought several to salvation, including the man living next door to the synagogue and the synagogue leader and his family. Many Gentiles from corrupt backgrounds also hid saved (18:7-8). Paul list former fornicator, isolates, adulterers, effeminates, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindler as making up the church in Corinth (1Cor.6:9-11). Where sin abounded, God's grace super-abounded (Rom.5:20). I hope that you pray often for God to use this church and to use you to lead people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If we are not reaching out to the lost, we have forgotten our mission. If, like Paul at this time in his life, you're struggling with discouragement, nothing will encouraged you more than to see someone you witness to get saved. If God was mighty to save the corrupt Corinthians, He can save anyone.
D. GOD IS FAITHFUL TO CONFIRM HIS PRESENCE, HIS PROTECTION, AND HIS PURPOSE (18:9-11).
Just when Paul needed it, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and encouraged him: "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city" (18:9-10). This is one of six visions that Paul received in Acts (9:12;16:9-10;22:17-21; 23:11; 27:23-24).
All at critical moments in his ministry. This was not just a strong impression, but rather, Paulactually saw Jesus Christ and heard Him speak audibly. Does God still do that today? I won't say that He never does, but I would say that it is probably much more infrequent than some of our church brethren think. God more usually means is to use His Word and His Spirit to give us the confirmation that we need. He confirmed three things for Paul.
1. THE LORD CONFIRMED HIS PRESENCE
* "I AM WITH YOU. When He gave the great commission, Jesus promised, "I will be with you.
2. THE LORD CONFIRMED HIS PROTECTION
* NO MAN WILL ATTACK YOU IN ORDER TO HARM YOU.
3. THE LORD CONFIRMED HIS PURPOSE
* FOR I HAVE MANY PEOPLE IN THIS CITY." God is referring to His elect, Chosen before the foundation of the world in Jesus Chtist.
I know God can provide for my needs but I think I should do everything I can, just in case." God calls this faithlessness. Faithlessness is sin. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him"
No comments:
Post a Comment