Let's read from verse one through to verse 11.
After these things, that's the things that have happened in
chapter 17. Paul's been in Athens speaking
to the Greeks. After these things, Paul
departed from Athens and went to Corinth.
Corinth is on an isthmus location between the Aegean Sea
and he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had
recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, Elvis's
former wife. Because Claudius had commanded
all the Jews to depart from Rome.
So even back then, the Jews were expelled out of Rome and he came
to them. So because he was of the same
trade. So here's a good thing, all of
you tradies here. Paul was a tradie, by the way,
Jesus Christ was a tradie. He was a Carpenter in
construction. Paul was a tradie.
He was a tent maker, a leather worker.
And so the rest of the disciples, many of them were
tradies. They were fishermen just for our
interest, and he came to them. So because he was of the same
trade, he stayed with them, That's with a quill and
Priscilla, and worked for by occupation.
They were tent makers. Some Bibles have leather
workers. And he reasoned in the synagogue
every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks when Silas and
Timothy had come from Macedonia, because that's where they were.
Paul enters Corinth by himself. Paul was compelled by the Spirit
that is led by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that and
here's the message that you should hear every Sunday.
Jesus is the Christ. If you don't hear Jesus
mentioned in the sermon, you got a problem.
Jesus is the Christ, but they that is the synagogue opposed
him blaspheme. They would have blasphemed the
Lord. Paul shook his garments, said to
them, Your blood be upon your heads.
I'm clean. From now on I will go to the
Gentiles, to the Greeks in Corinth.
And he departed from there and entered the House of a certain
man named Justice, one who worshipped God.
He's a believer whose house was next door to the synagogue.
And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, he believed, and the
Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians hearing,
believed and noticed that those are being baptised, were
baptised. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in
the night by a vision. Do not be afraid, but speak.
Do not keep silent from with you.
No one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in
the city and Paul continued there a year and six months,
teaching the word of God. Among them.
Corinth, a city some 500 metres above sea level, divides the
Ionian Sea via the Gulf of Corinth to the West from the
Aegean Sea. It's an isthmus in 1893 or the
the Roman Caesars tried to build a canal was too hard, too much
rock. But the Corinthian or Corinth
Cal Canal was completed in 1893 by those who built the Panama
Canal and it cuts through this land bridge connecting the two
seas and allowing ships to avoid the dangerous 700 kilometre
journey otherwise around the peninsula.
Now in Paul's time Corinth had a population of over 500,000
people. Corinth had been a very proud
and immoral Roman colony and their culture was very Roman and
in Corinth they had the main temple they worship was of the
God goddess Aphrodite, otherwise called Venus, the goddess of
love and was located some 2000 feet above sea level behind the
city. And at every evening, 1000
female prostitutes would come down from the temple, swarm into
the city and have their way and have worship as they would call
it, with the men of Corinth. Corinth was such a a wicked city
that to be called a Corinthian people would say he's acting
like Corinthian was to mean you were a drunkard who practised
and lived a completely debauched lifestyle.
Corinth and Paul's day was the Las Vegas of Rome.
The Greeks love the live theatre and any time an actor was
playing the part of a drunk in a play in a role, it was said he
would be playing a Corinthian. So it has this, this, this
absolute wickedness about it. As I said, Helen and I travelled
to Ephesus and then to Athens in the area, and we went through
the museum there and I actually stopped part way.
I said I can't do this anymore because everything that they
have in the museum is of the age of how they used to live, the
statues and everything's just revolting.
It was just wicked, unbelievable.
And this is the very proud culture that they had behind
them. So Timothy had been sent to
Thessalonica. Silas had stayed in Athens to
wait for Timothy to come back, and then Paul in the meantime
headed off the Corinth on his own.
I don't know about you, but when I was a new believer, when I was
reading the Bible, I would often view, and it was probably be
based on as a kid, I watched all the great Bible movies, you
know, King of Kings and the Bible, the 10 Commandments and
so on. And I used to think, and you
know, every time there was a Peter or someone in the movies
or something happened, then you'd hear the, the music and
the person would walk into the room and this is Peter's here.
And we had this glow about him. And I used to think that's when
I was first saved. That was kind of like I still
had that that culture background and in my imagination as I would
read the Bible. But then as I actually began to
read the Bible properly, I began to say they're not like what I
thought they were. But we have this view often of
men and women of the Bible characters we love.
We sometimes can think of them with a touch of celebrity or
even a a Hollywood superhero outlook.
We picture Paul then arriving in Corinth.
Everyone thinks Paul's about 6 foot four in a broad shoulders.
And actually he was probably around.
Most history tells us he's probably around about 5/9.
He had a very large nose. He was balding and his voice
wasn't how are you going? And he wasn't over him.
He was kind of like pretty high pitched, but that's only
hearsay. But we have this other otherwise
image, don't we? We think Paul, we need to strut
in and do this chest out, ready to do business.
Current here. I am celebrity pastor.
He's got the right shoes, He's got the right tattoos.
He's wearing the leather and the white shirt and a few chains and
things. That's a celebrity pastor.
We need to buy one of those for here, but this is not the
picture that Paul paints for us in our text today.
Paul tells us in his own words, the mindset, the trepidation
that he entered this proud, immoral, wicked city.
How he how he actually went in he he writes it out clearly in
one Corinthians and I'll read it to you.
One Corinthians chapter 2, verse 1.
He says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with
excellence of speech. He wasn't a profound orator or
of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God, Paul said, For
I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified the gospel.
I was with you in weakness, Paul says, actually in fear, in much
trembling. So this is not the image we have
of Paul the apostle, you know, coming into the synagogue
saying, you know, where do I sit?
Where am I speaking? Where's the crowd?
Give me the microphone in much trembling and my speech and my
preaching. We're not with persuasive words
of human wisdom. Paul spoke the gospel Jesus
Christ as the Messiah. He was beaten, He was crucified.
He rose from the dead on the third day.
He was seen for 40 days by 500 witnesses.
He's the Son of God. He died.
He's the Lamb of God. You need to receive him as the
Messiah. Pretty much it.
But Paul said, But I came in demonstration of the Spirit.
That's the Holy Spirit and of power that your faith should not
be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
I want you to note that because there's something really
catching on at the moment as the world is in this fuel this, this
the crisis in the Middle East. And you can go on YouTube and
there are podcasts from every Tom, Dick and Harry telling us
the prophecy of this and the prophecy of that.
And this is what's happening. Be careful of this.
This is the new thing. We go this that way and that way
and what's happening and I'm seeing it.
It's affecting the local church because people are becoming
podcast followers and worshippers.
Nothing wrong with the podcast. I watch them, but I don't watch
them as my church or watch them as this is where I get my source
because this has to be the source of where you get your
information. Because what's happening is
people are saying this is the new thing.
Have you heard? Let me this is going to blow you
out of the water. I'm this is something new you
haven't heard of ever before. We haven't heard it ever before
because it's a lot of rubbish. And I tell you, people are
coming up to me and saying stuff and I'm seeing people talk about
things all over the place with the events of the war.
And if you just read this, you would never come up with that.
Here's the thing, if you come across something that you think,
wow, that's, oh, that and that tickles your fancy, be careful
because if you couldn't come up with it by reading this, someone
else has given you something. I'm telling you that today
because as we go through the book of Acts, all we see, all we
hear is what for the early church, Christ crucified, the
cross, the death, the resurrection.
And today Jesus says in Matthew 24 and I can't wait till Pastor
Israel gets there in five years time, probably going through the
book of Matthew, Beware in the last days there'll be Christ
here. Christ people say he's here,
he's there. Deception to be deceived, even
the very elect. If you can't come up with what
someone is telling you about, you can't find it in here just
by reading this. You know what I as we say in
cricket, let it go to the keeper, let it go, just let it
go. This is what you need.
This alone is what you need. Jesus Christ alone is what you
need. And so Paul, notice he says I
come determined not to know anything among you except what
Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul did not come with
excellence of speech. It wasn't the gifted speaker or
great wisdom or I've come up with a few things.
Listen to this. Get your pens out, Paul, just
one of these hearers to know about Jesus Christ.
You know when you're about to die, you don't want to hear the
latest new thing. You want to hear about Jesus
Christ that I'm going to see him, that I know him, and that
I've had my sins washed away by him.
Paul tells us he was pretty fearful, intimidated at this
time, trembling in fact. That was his own words, but
God's message, God's power was with him and came through.
When Paul arrived in Corinth, he knew no one behind him in Athens
was only a handful of believers. Remember in Acts chapter 17 came
to Christ to show for his preaching and his teaching
efforts as he spoke about the the statue that they had the
altar to the unknown God in Acts 1732.
Let me recap. And when they heard of the
resurrection of the dead, Paul preached, some mocked, while
others said we'll hear again. They procrastinated.
We'll hear you again on this matter.
So Paul departed from among them.
However, some men join them, not a lot and believed among them
Dionyses, the Arapa guide, a woman named Damaris and others
with them. You kind of look and and I and I
think I shared with people on Wednesday night.
People say well see and what Paul did wrong on Wednesday on
the Mars hill to preaching his he he didn't expound he, you
know, he just you know, but you know if you read what he did, he
did exactly what God told me to do.
He spoke about the creator. He spoke about Jesus Christ who
made heaven on earth. He told them that they needed to
repent of their sin. Pretty good by me.
But here's the deal. Preachers aren't responsible for
the response. Preachers preach.
The message goes out. Then as you sit, and we'll get
to it a bit more detail shortly, how you respond, that's your
business. And he's arriving in the city.
Paul was stunned. I can imagine overwhelmed, you
could say, by the massive culture shock that struck him of
the the debauchery of the city called Corinth.
Paul now understood what was probably awaiting him again as
he ministered into this city. Would it be the same patent
again that Paul has had since he's begun his ministry?
He would preach in the synagogue.
Some would hear, some would believe, but he knew that the
Jews, either in the synagogue or that he preached in or in the
city or those from other places where he'd been tracking him,
would arrive in Corinth. They would stir up a mob and
he'd be belt belted. Once again, Paul sensed his own
helplessness, the frailty of his humanity as he viewed the tasks
that layer before him in Corinth.
I mean, one gets sick and tired of actually being stoned, spat
on, abused. And Paul was overwhelmed.
It just hit him. He needed help.
But God is always ahead of us. He's ready to assist.
And God had a couple, a married couple, husband and wife, Aquila
and Priscilla, believers who had coincidentally been chased out
of Rome because they were Jews. But better still, their vocation
just happened to be they were tent makers, leather workers,
just like Paul, waiting in the city of Corinth.
Now all rabbis is a good thing for the young men, especially
here to know all rabbis and all Jewish young men, Yes, we're
required to study to their best. You go to university, get what
you could, get your degree, get your qualification.
But in addition, you couldn't just be a university graduate.
You also had to have a trade. Every rabbi had their degrees
and every rabbi had a trade. They are a Baker or a tent maker
or a leather worker or a cobbler or something like that, because
when things get tough, people don't need a professor telling
them about the economics of the world.
They need someone who can make bread or lay bricks.
And so that was a very, very interesting, interesting thing
that the Jews still have much today.
And Paul had this graduate of the University of Tasa,
something of the great Gamma Leal, but he's a tent maker.
Paul needed money to live. He arrived and he needed money
to be able to minister the gospel.
So he, Aquila and Priscilla shared their business together
as tent makers. Paul also now had a place to
stay. He stayed with them.
Verse 4 and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and
persuaded both Jews and Greeks. Paul, it's the synagogue.
This is the plan gives him the gospel tells him that Jesus is
the Messiah. Verse 5 Saul and Timothy arrive.
Paul has been preaching and the synagogue opposed that word
opposed means they resist violently.
Paul what he's preached. It's actually means in the Greek
they arranged in battle format that was so against Paul what he
was preaching and they blasphemed.
So Paul shook his garments, said to them.
Your blood be upon your heads. I'm clean.
From now on, I'll go to the Gentiles.
Here's the deal. You can come to church, hear the
gospel, and refuse it. But here's something God's
viewpoint on that. It's a serious matter when you
refuse His gospel. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should
not perish but have overlasting life.
Oh well, I don't care for him. I don't care for God.
OK, you're allowed to do that. But for God it's a serious
matter because it means you will go to an eternity without God,
without Christ, without love on your own, and you'll be there
forever and ever and ever. No light, just darkness, wailing
and gnashing of your teeth. It's a serious matter.
So Silas, Timothy arrive. They bring with them the blessed
offering that came from the church at Philippi.
Now Paul, he's free. He's got some finances.
He's now able to minister full time in the city of Corinth,
which he did for 18 months. What happened?
The Jews opposed Paul rejected his preaching.
They blasphemy the Lord, and Paul gives it to them.
And you go, oh, OK, fair enough. OK, no worry.
It's all right. Believe how you want to believe.
You know, each man to his own. No, he says this, and this is
pretty brutal. Your blood, your future, your
judgement. In other words, be upon your own
heads. I'm clean.
I've given you the gospel. I've given you the way to get
out of the fire. I've given you the way to escape
the power of sin, this power of judgement.
From now on, I'll go to the Gentiles.
In Ezekiel chapter 3, the prophet Ezekiel is given a
mission by God, and Ezekiel is called to be a watchman.
A watchman is the guy that went on the tower of the walled
cities, and when the enemy came, called out, Hey everybody, the
enemy's coming, be alert, we're ready, get ready.
Warning, warning. And it says in Ezekiel 318,
listen to what the Lord says when I say this is God speaking
to the wicked, you shall surely die.
And you, the watchman, Ezekiel, give him no warning nor speak to
warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life.
That same wicked man shall die in his iniquity.
Yes, but God says his blood I will require of you, Ezekiel.
Wow, you're responsible as God's watchman, Ezekiel the prophet
was responsible for sounding the warning of impending judgement
to Israel. He was to warn both the wicked
and the righteous. A wicked person was to be
warned. Why?
To turn away from their evil ways in order to save their life
physically and spiritually, or die in their sin.
The righteous man was also to be warned.
Verse 19 of Ezekiel 3. If you warn them and they refuse
to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins, but
you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
In other words, I won't require their blood on your hands
because you've actually told them how to get saved, what to
do. They've ignored it.
Verse 20 If righteous people turn away from their righteous
behaviour and ignore the obstacles I put in their way,
they will die. And if you do not warn them,
they will die in their sins. Now this is speaking
specifically in this case of physical danger, because when
you and I come to Christ we are saved and saved forevermore.
But there was a warning. None of their righteous acts
will be remembered and I will hold you responsible for their
deaths. But if you warn righteous people
not to sin, and they listen to you and do not sin, they will
live and you will have saved yourself too.
So the big kicker here is if Ezekiel filed to warn of
approaching danger, God would hold him accountable for the
blood of the people. And so, you know, people that
get up behind a pulpit every Sunday and teach the word of
God, the Bible tells us that God holds them to a double standard.
A double standard, you got to live for God.
But also I'm holding you responsible for every word that
you speak to the people that come into this church.
The task of every Bible teaching pastor is to proclaim the truth
of the gospel. What the hearer does with that
truth rests upon their own head. Ours is not to argue people into
the Kingdom. Paul didn't.
He said I didn't come with persuasive words tricking them
in. You know, I ate free beer every
Sunday if you come to church. But to proclaim the message of
that, that Jesus is the Christ, that he died for their sins,
that he rose from the dead the third day, that he's coming back
to judge the world with righteousness.
With the gospel that Paul preached being rejected, Paul
let the Jews know that their rejection and eternal
destruction is on their heads. So you can see here, you can
come to church and come and go, come and go.
And if God is speaking to you over and over and over and you
do nothing about that, then the preacher, your blood is not on
the preacher's hands. But if the preacher doesn't warn
you, then God holds the preacher.
But the decision making occurs, and the chairs and where you sit
each and every Sunday, every time you sit under the word of
God, I hear the word of God. How am I going to react to it?
What am I going to do? And God says, yeah, I want to
know what you're going to do because it's serious with me.
Paul shook his garments because Jesus had taught the disciples
to shake his garments. It wasn't like, oh sorry guys,
sorry offender dude, let's let's compromise.
Let's kind of work something out.
No, you refuse. Jesus told the disciples before
he sent them out on 2 occasions in Luke 9 verse 5.
And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake it's dust from your
feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people
to their fate. They would actually kick the the
dirt off the sandals if they had left the the town perimeter.
Jesus said that if they don't hear you, judgement will be upon
them. He said again in Luke chapter 10
verse 11, we wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to
show that we have abandoned you to your fate.
And know this, the Kingdom of God is near.
Paul now focuses his attention, his preaching on the Gentile
population of Corinth, the Greeks.
Now God surely has a sense of humour, you say, Well, he must
have because it's got you as a preacher.
You've got to be kidding me. I remember pulling into the
driveway, I saw two mates that I'd played football with many
years and I was driving and away and I saw them to had seen them
for years pulled in talk to them how they what have they been
doing and everything like this. And I said, I'm now in the
ministry and I went you could you man, if you're going to be
in it, God, God can have anybody in it.
Man, that's a joke. I both laugh.
I thought it was pretty funny. So Paul leaves the synagogue.
He enters the House of certain men, verse 7 named Justice who
worship God and notice where the house was, whose house was next
door to the synagogue. It had a connecting wall.
It's like rejected, accepted right next to one another.
This was an adjoining wall connecting justice house and the
synagogue that had rejected the message of the gospel from Paul.
So between a a wall, a set of bricks was a group of people
said you don't want this. Paul blasphemed.
And on the other side, Paul come, oh, this is awesome.
Great. And Paul set up his base.
So Paul sets up friendship with justice.
A brother in Christ uses his house as his home and the ruler
next door, the rule of the synagogue gets saved and all his
family. That's pretty funny.
But now we find the great, courageous, fearless Paul and
he's depressed. It's interesting when you read
of great old preachers, Charles hadn't Spurgeon, who you should
just read anything that he's ever written, suffered massive
depression. You wonder how can a guy who can
speak so eloquently and so well versed on the things of God have
depression fallen? John Wesley, There's many you
can go just rattle him off. Went through periods of Great
Depression. Here we find Paul depressed.
Not only depressed, he's fearful.
There's no wind in these sails. He's down, He's really
struggling. And the great apostle of Christ
is worried. Was Paul's mind regurgitating
what had previously happened to him back in Philippi?
He's beaten, left for dead, stoned, thrown in gaol, the Jews
who just haunted and shadowed his every step in Thessalonica.
Then they came to Berea when all this break out yet again in
Corinth. Here's the deal, you and I read
the Bible properly. The scriptures are not filled
with superheroes. Abraham lied twice about his
wife to save himself, yet in Romans chapter 4 he's the father
of our faith. Jacob man, shifty.
But they were men and women just like you and I, whom God
empowered to do the extraordinary, the impossible.
In James chapter 5, it says the effect of fervent prayer of a
righteous man avails much. Elijah, the great prophet
Elijah, James says, was a man with a nature like he's just
like you and I. We can't fathom that, can we?
We kind of think Elijah, woo Hoo, Elijah, say something, make
it rain, hold the rain, stop the rain, make it rain.
Because he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and he did
not rain on the land for three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth
produced its fruit. The same Elijah.
And it's usually part of their journey.
We go to Caesarea, and then from Caesarea we head on our Israel
tour, and then we go to Mount Carmel.
And that's where Elijah took on 450 screaming bar false
prophets. Mount Carmel defeated them but
at one time this mighty Elijah, he too revealed his humanity
because after he does this Queen Jezebel here's what's happened.
I had tells her the king Jezebel says I'm going to get this guy,
I'm going to hunt him down, I'm going to kill him and Elijah
takes off. So it says when Kings 19/4, but
he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness.
He ran for a full day, came and sat down under a broom tree.
Broom trees where you grow brooms, obviously.
And he prayed that he might die. He's running away because they
were killing him. Got to kill him.
He says you kill me. Pretty funny.
I find that funny and said it's enough, Lord, take my life, for
I'm no better than my father's. Now.
Paul was human, just like you and I as we read.
Yes, Paul had acted extraordinary at many times, but
he had been hurt. He carried scars no less.
He's affected, impacted by the beatings and the lies and the
words, the harassing, constant outrage against him, false
accusations, the physical beatings, the emotional roller
coaster of being in prison and out of prison.
Oh hey, am I going to get arrested?
Am I going to get beaten? This mob?
Which way? Who's going to do what to me?
Any other person would begin to shout at the prospect of facing
more suffering. But also, this city was the most
wicked city Paul had ever stepped foot in.
Now Paul was a seasoned traveller and he was shocked at
what he found in Corinth in its immorality.
So what happens with Paul when he he's done?
He's a bit cooked, scared this night.
Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision.
We're going to see four things. One, Paul, don't be afraid.
How often does God have to tell me that?
I tell you how often every day, do not be afraid.
Secondly, speak and do not keep silent.
Secondly, I am with you. You're not alone, I'm with you.
Thirdly, no one will attack you. I control Paul all that's going
on, for I have many people in the city.
Fourthly, and he continued there a year, six months, teaching the
word among them. So let's look at these four as
we come come to to to the conclusions.
One, do not be afraid. How many times does Jesus out of
these words to his disciples in the Gospels, do a quick run
through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
I did. It's 10 times that Jesus comes
to his disciples and he says, don't be afraid.
I'm with you. Don't be afraid.
Oh, you have little faith. He says it 10 times because 10
times they were scared. Paul had given way to fear, just
as Elijah and many other Bible heroes have done so as well.
In our own lives, we are sometimes trouble borrowers.
What's that? We live our lives waiting for
something disastrous and unpleasant to happen to us.
Oh, flat tyre. Well, I knew that was coming.
Oh, boss wants to see me? Oh well, he's probably going to
sack me. Oh, great.
Oh, what's? Oh, yeah.
That.
Well, that broke down. Yeah, that would break down.
Oh, the fridge is gone. Oh, the roller doors not
working. You know, I knew that was
coming. We live as travel, travel
borrowers. We're worried about a river
being flooded. And we haven't even got to the
river to know if it is flooded yet.
God knew he needed to encourage Paul.
God knows he needs to encourage you.
Paul needed to know just like you and I do, God loved him and
God does. The apostle John boiled in oil
couldn't couldn't kill him. They as he got older and older,
he's the only apostle that died of old age.
They would bring him out, they would plunk him down and he
would say these words, God loves you.
Then they'll pick him up and take him back because the people
needed to reminded that God loves them. 1 John 418 says
there is No Fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear
because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made perfect in love. You see, being reassured and
knowing that God loves us, what it does, it puts our fears to
flight. Well, God will sort it out.
All of a sudden it's the on the fire of the fear.
God saw that time and time again, over and over.
The scriptures remind us, do not fear, do not be afraid, he said,
but speak and do not keep silent, Paul.
Secondly, keep speaking. Don't be silent or clam up.
Fear makes us afraid to speak. You know who you the most afraid
you are to speak of the gospel about your family, your family,
sons, daughters, mums, dads, brothers, sisters, cousins.
You know why? You don't want them to reject
you. You don't want them to say
you're just a religious idiot. We and what we do.
And here's the danger. We put our own feelings before
the salvation of a lost soul. Well, I'd rather have them be
kind to me than go to hell. That's the reality of when we
are fearful and sharing now we don't share stupidly.
We share in love and kindness. And there are windows and doors
and opportunities. When you can say, now you know
I'm a praying person or a person of faith.
So you you wait for the door to open and you come in wise as a
serpent, gentle as a dove, and you share the truth.
Because usually is the ones who are the most vocal against you
are the ones who are the closest because they know you're right.
And you know what? You and I hate being told we're
wrong when we know it's true. We don't like the thought of
being rejected, but place rejection with salvation.
Really, you're worried about your own feelings more than
sharing the love of Christ. So we keep silent.
We imprison our fears within us. Well, I won't mention it to Dad
because you know what he'll say. It is only boldness that
overcomes it and releases our fear.
What did Paul do? What should we do?
All continued there a year and six months.
He went ahead and did it, even though he was what we read.
Scared, trembling. Isn't that how you are when you
approach a family? You want to share the gospel of
someone who's well, what's going on here?
It's just normal. It's because we, we, we're so
worried about offending someone. God had spoken to fearfully,
Elijah, just as we've seen speaking to Paul, God told
Elijah going to stand up and go up to that cave.
And you know what happened? There were three events, the
wind, the fire and all this. And then there was a still small
voice. And you know what God said to
Elijah, Elijah, what are you doing here?
He literally says, what are you doing here?
Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here.
So he said to Elijah, go return on your way. 1 Kings 1915 What
did the prophet Elijah do? 1 Kings 19901919 So he left, he
departed, he went back. Let us remember that in our
weakness, when you're struggling with family, when you got this
moment, you want to share the gospel.
You think this is a window? Open the door, open you.
You can't. Well, how do I do this?
That's when you're at your weakest, correct?
It's in that weakness, when we obey God, that Christ's presence
is greater. Don't forget, you're not on your
own. God's going, whoa, see how this
goes. Remember, he wants that person
saved. He's opened the door, He's
prepared. You don't know what's been going
on in the other person's life or mine, what they've been going
through as you're about to share, and you hid it at the
right time because you're obedient, Paul said, 2
Corinthians 12/9. God said this to Paul, My grace
is sufficient for you. You don't need anything else.
I'm all you need for my strength is made perfect in weakness, in
your weakest moment, when you're trying to share, when you oh,
that's when God is the strongest in your life, when you're
arrogant, when you think I'm going to tell them what's going
on. That's when you're a fool and
your words fall flat and they go, who's this?
People care when they know that you care.
Paul then said, therefore most gladly, I will rather boast in
my infirmities, and the power of Christ may wrestle.
So Paul entered Corinth after the Lord had visited with him
that night. And it says in one Corinthians
chapter 2 verse three, I was with you in weakness, in fear,
and in much trembling, but he was obedient.
That's why God moved. That's why that's why it
happened. You see, faith and courage are
twins When you obey and it's a well, what are we going to do?
When you obey and you step out and fight and courage comes with
it, God gives you the courage. Phillip Brooks said do not pray
for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.
You and I, we pray. Oh, make it easy.
Oh hell no, no, no, no, no. Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger men. Lastly, Oh no Third Point, the
Lord said verse 10, I am with you and no man shall sit on you
to hurt you, for I have much people in this city.
This is the most wonderful verse.
I read this verse often. No one is going to attack you
Paul or harm you. Thus we see God reveals what was
troubling Paul. Paul was scared.
Why? Because God knew he was scared.
So he says fear not. Then he says why you're scared.
That one's going to belt you up. Paul.
Because Paul was just. He was done with getting belted.
He's not a big man and they would just pulverise him.
Paul had suffered terribly. God's protection does not mean
we'll be free from difficulties, but God will never allow us to
face more than we can bear. But there's something more.
The last point that the Lord spoke to Paul that drove him
from fear to boldness. He says, I have much people in
this city. There are people, yes, family
members included, and I'm saying this to you, that God has and
God knows, will eventually bow their knee to the Lord in our
family. How long am I?
We've been going through some difficult times with death.
We're still facing them, but in two occasions through this, two
members of their family have come to Christ.
Amazing. And they've come to Christ at
the time that they need it, just like the thief on the cross.
Isn't that wonderful? You see, God takes the mess, the
hurt, the pain of death. He says, devil, you're doing
your best. But here's what I'm going to do
out of this. I'm bringing salvation life,
eternal life to two people who had lived without Christ.
There are people, God says to Paul, it's you today that are
waiting to be saved. Did you know that?
Waiting to hear the gospel waiting to be told about Jesus
that he died for them and he loved them because in Ephesians
chapter one verse 4 the same thing happened to you and me.
Paul wrote according as he has chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love before God did verse one God knew you.
He says I'm saving you before and we came, I received Christ.
My mum got saved at a Billy Graham crusade and I'll never
forget her desire as a young girl, her parents, my
grandparents weren't very church orientated at all, a matter of
fact that they were against it. So my mum in her young years as
a little girl, would stand out the front of their house on a
Sunday morning and dress in her Sunday best and stand out the
front because all the people would walk to church, go to
church and she would wait. She said I would dress every
Sunday and stand out there because I saw people going to
church. I waited for someone to invite
me to go to church. No one ever did.
Thankfully, Billy Graham came, invited those who want to know
Christ, and she came forward. You see, the devil paints this
black picture on our minds and our thoughts.
No one wants to know Christ. No one wants to come to the
Lord. That's garbage.
You did. You're desperate.
You don't tell me there's not desperate people living today.
There's not young kids have never heard of Christ or didn't
know. I don't know anything about him.
Would love to to have security. Love to know not fear death.
Oh friends, time is short, the door is open and God has many
people that need to be saved. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we ask for your strength and grace to guide us,
to encourage us, to enable us not to be fearful but in our
fear, Lord to even be faithful. Use us Lord, use this church to
share the love of God to those that you have chosen this week.
Ask and pray now in Jesus name. If you're here today and you've
never received Christ, I'm telling you because I don't want
your blood upon my hands. Today you can receive Christ.
Jesus died on the cross for you. He rose on the dead from the
dead the third day. He's coming back for his church
today. Don't reject the gospel.
Come to Christ today.