4 Ways God Will Encourage You

4 Ways God Can Encourage You!
Calvary Church Midweek Bible Study
Acts 18:1-17

Ever find yourself feeling stuck or disheartened? In our latest Bible study on Acts 18, I dive deep into Paul’s journey, revealing four powerful ways God can encourage us during tough times. From Paul’s transformation from a persecutor to a preacher to the significance of faithfulness over visible success, there’s so much to learn. Especially moving is how God placed Priscilla and Aquila in Paul’s path, illustrating the value of companionship in both work and ministry. Remember, You and I are not responsible for the outcome; we’re only responsible for our obedience.

Let’s look at a few reasons why Paul might be discouraged.

In Acts 18, Paul arrives in Corinth, a city known for its intellectualism and sexual immorality.  To Paul,  there was a lack of visible success to his recent efforts. But no matter the results, what you and I see, or what we feel, as believers, we are to share the message of love and hope in Jesus with those around us.

The opposition never ends. In fact, the devil will pull out all the stops to destroy you. Period!

It’s his pattern. It’s what he does with his time. 2 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV) says, “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Yet, in Corinth, in the midst of all this discouragement, Paul finds a ministry couple, Priscilla and Aquila, who were also tentmakers. I tell you, there is value in having fellow believers as companions in both work and ministry, and I encourage you to surround yourself with believers who can help and move you forward in your calling.

Even though Paul faced immense challenges, God was still present and faithful to provide encouragement. Here are four ways God can encourage us in our discouragement.

1. God has a purpose for you!

Acts 18:9 says, Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent.” The fact that we are alive on the earth today is no accident. It’s like God, says Paul. This is why you’re on the planet Earth. So go do it. Do what I made you to do.

2. God is with you!

It is important to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and remain expectant of God’s guidance, even in the face of closed doors or challenges. Paul’s example encourages us to persist in faith, trust in God’s promises, and find strength in companionship. But it is also an example to remember that God is with you in the midst of whatever you are facing. And He is more than enough, more than all your friends, more than the work you are doing. He is the creator of the universe, and He promises not to leave you! Trust Him.

3. You have God’s protection.

Now, I know you Bible students might be saying, what? Protection? Where were you, God, when Paul was stoned in Lystra or beaten and thrown into jail in Philippi? I know some of you have been praying for protection, but hard things are still happening. This is where we must be reminded that we often interpret protection as having something prevented from coming from us or being pulled out of it right away. And sometimes God indeed does that work. But most of the time, you and I experienced the protection of God by his abiding presence. Remember Daniel in the fiery furnace? What did we see? A fourth one in the fire, Jesus!

4. You are not alone, there are others who love God around you!

God has surrounded you with His people. Some you know are there, and some you don’t even know about yet. There are people like Priscilla and Aquilla who encouraged Paul to stay in this city for another 18 months. Friends, let’s be that source of encouragement to others. Sometimes I get encouragement, which helps me go another 18 minutes or helps me go another 18 hours. But Paul, he gave 18 months, a year and a half. He stayed in Corinth with this little word of encouragement, which reminds me to remind you to please encourage somebody today because it helps them.

Remember, God’s ways often surpass our understanding but trust that His guidance is ever-present, even in our struggles. Let’s continue to encourage one another and rely on God’s faithfulness.

FULL TRANSCRIPT UNEDITED

HOST (00:00:04) – Welcome to the Study of God’s Word with pastor and author Ed Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado. To learn more about the many resources available through abounding Grace media or to tune in to our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Coat Church or download our free Calvary Church app. Now here’s Pastor Ed to take us into our study.

Pastor Ed (00:00:30) – Amen. Take your Bibles. Open them to acts chapter 18. We’re going to pick up where we left off last time. Brand new chapter acts. Chapter 18. And I’ve entitled our Bible study four Ways God Can Encourage You. Four ways God can and you could even say will encourage you as you look to him. It’s really the summary of the psalm that we read today in Psalm four, where he starts out very discouraged but ends up very encouraged. That’s God’s will for your life. We’re following along the life of Paul here in acts 18. It is a season of his life that goes back to really acts chapter 13. In acts chapter 13, you’ll remember they had a prayer meeting in afterglow, a gathering.

Pastor Ed (00:01:19) – And in that gathering God spoke and said, separate to me, Paul and Barnabas, for the work for which I’ve sent them. And since acts 13, we’ve been following Paul in what’s known as his missionary journeys. He’s been on the move, sharing the gospel. We didn’t meet him as Paul. We actually met him as Saul. Saul of Tarsus, the man that hated Christianity. We met him as saw the man that stood there while Stephen was being stoned to death. We met him as Saul, who on in acts chapter nine was headed to Damascus. In his mind, he was going to singlehandedly destroy Christianity, and he was going to do that in his mind, for God’s sake. But God intervened because God had a purpose for him. And I want to remind you, I’ve done Bible studies in this in depth. So but I want to remind you about the person in your life that you might be thinking of right now that’s completely unreachable. The person in your life that you’re thinking about like, never, never for him, never for her.

Pastor Ed (00:02:26) – I know the real person, and it’s not the person you know. It’s not the person that comes to church I know so unreachable. I want to remind you about Saul. God can reach anybody. There isn’t anybody outside of his reach. And so we have to stop being so negative about it, so upset about it. So we have to be praying. We need to be asking God to reach them. We need to be asking God to break through. We need to be asking, interceding on their behalf. Because, I mean, if you think about Saul, if you were in Damascus and you heard Saul was coming, you’d be concerned. Like you, I don’t know that you’d call a prayer meeting as much as you would. Hey, hide the kids and let’s get away. Because we heard about this guy. I’m sure some were like, I know we heard about it, but we need to be praying that God could get him before he even gets here. And and, I mean, maybe we’ll meet somebody in heaven that prayed that very prayer and they experienced the answer to it, because that’s exactly what happened.

Pastor Ed (00:03:21) – God got Saul before Saul could ever get them. And that’s the work of the Lord on the earth today. Don’t give up on people. Don’t give up on them. On their in your hearts, in your minds, with your voice. You keep interceding for them. Because Paul here is still traveling. He’s still the man, he’s still traveling, and he’s still a man that’s consumed. He’s still a man that’s passionate. And what I found when a man or a woman is born again, God retains a lot of your personality. He just changes you a little bit. He gives you a little more self control, gives you a different purpose in life. But I mean, if you were an extrovert before you got saved, you’re probably going to be one afterwards. If you’re more a little bit to yourself, you’ll probably still be a little bit to yourself. But God will use that now for his kingdom. And Saul went from persecutor to preacher. And only Jesus can do that, and he’s still doing it.

Pastor Ed (00:04:19) – Today. We’re on this missionary journey. Pick up with me in chapter 18 and verse one it says, after these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth, 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 that all the Jews depart from Rome, and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for by occupation. They were tent makers. And verse four he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. So God’s using him again. But he comes to Corinth. Paul does, I believe, a little discouraged. I believe a lot discouraged. And when you’re reading the Bible, it’s easy to pass over little phrases and words. I want to teach you not to pass over them so quickly. The phrase that would be easy to miss today is right there in verse one after these things. That’s a very important phrase that gives us the time and framework and the state of mind that Paul might be in.

Pastor Ed (00:05:31) – So we need to ask the question what things and the immediate context will take us back to the 17th chapter. And you’ll remember he came, he rolled into Thessalonica, and God used him greatly. Then there was opposition. He rolls into Berea. God uses him greatly. He’s up in opposition. He ends up being sent by himself to Athens, where he’s provoked in his spirit by all the idolatry. They find him. They take him to the side to the Areopagus on the hillside of the Acropolis, where all the philosophers would talk about things, and they gave him an audience there on Mars Hill. He shared the gospel with them, but there wasn’t much of a response. It would be easy for him to conclude that he wasn’t successful. He didn’t see the kind of response that he got in Thessalonica. He didn’t see the kind of response that he saw in Berea. It says in verse 34 of chapter 17. It says. However, some men joined him and believed among them diocesan Dionysius, the Areopagus and a woman named Damaris, and a few others.

Pastor Ed (00:06:48) – So a few people responded, but not many. And he leaves this difficult season and heads in to Corinth. A little discouragement, a little discouraged, you know, because his powerful Bible study didn’t yield a lot of fruit, or at least to the eye, at least to the eye. But God always sees more than we see. Remember in Isaiah 55, his ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He can always see more than we see. Because the measurement for success is not always outward. Most of the time it’s not outward at all. The measurement of success is singular and it’s always the same. And God measures our success through faithfulness. Did you do what he called you to do? Let’s just say in that scenario that we spoke of earlier, where you’re there ready to pay for your goods at Safeway or Walmart, and you respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to ask this person if you can pray for them, you can help them. How can you help them? And they say, no, leave me alone.

Pastor Ed (00:08:02) – Don’t ever come in. My don’t ever come in my line anymore. I don’t like you. I don’t like Christians. I don’t even like the way you ask that question. And it would be easy for you to leave going. What a failure I am. I mean, here I am, I was trying and I just want. I’ll never do that again. No no no no no. No, you weren’t a failure at all. You were completely obedient and faithful. You and I, we are not responsible for the outcome. We’re responsible for our obedience. Paul would say as much to the Corinthians later on when he writes them a letter, when he tells them, hey, I planted, Apollos watered, or Apollos watered, I planted, but God gives the increase. And Paul is learning that himself, perhaps even writing that letter to the Corinthians as they were looking to Apollos or looking to him. He goes, no, it’s not even about us at all. Only God gives the increase.

Pastor Ed (00:08:58) – He comes, verse one to Corinth, which was almost the exact opposite of Athens. Athens, remember, was a highly intellectual city, a philosophical city. All they did was talk about new ideas and such, and secondarily very sexually immoral, perverse and twisted. First intellect, second sexual perversion. When you come to Corinth, Philip, that Corinth was extremely sexually perverse and occasionally dealing with philosophy. They were a very corrupt city, given over to sin, much larger than Athens. 700,000 people called Corinth their home and their just living out idolatry, immorality, the filthiness of lust and sin. And and Corinth was one of the bigger cities of the day. It was a province, which means there were a lot of Romans there, but it was also a city that was given over to wickedness, drunkenness. I mean, if you haven’t learned by now how much trouble drunkenness brings you, you need to learn it today. You need to learn that drunkenness always makes sense worse. And that’s what the problem was with Corinth, when they had the Greek plays, when they wanted to portray someone as a drunk or a vile person, they would always refer to that person as a Corinthian, because that was the reputation of the city.

Pastor Ed (00:10:25) – That’s the city that Paul’s comes to. He’s a little discouraged. And then notice what happens in verse two. He found a ministry couple, which is a great blessing. The first way that God encourages Paul is by giving him other people to encourage him. That’s actually the bookends of our study today, Priscilla and Aquila. This Bible teaching team, husband and wife, which, by the way, husbands and wives, you should serve together. This is the model. Priscilla and Aquila was a team. They were a team serving the Lord. They taught together, they served together. And now they’re going to be used by God to encourage Paul together. This is the call of God upon their lives. And God gives Paul this gift of people, which is ironic, is it not? It’s ironic to me. That one of the ways God will encourage you is by giving you people, because most of the time, the way that we’re discouraged is by people. And yet God knows what he’s doing. Because in discouragement there is this temptation to isolate yourself.

Pastor Ed (00:11:32) – And it’s like, I just need to get away from people. And that might be the truth for a season. But people will also be a tool that God uses to encourage you. You want to be around people. And here he gave this special couple was like picked for him personally because not only did they love the Bible and not only were they believers, but it says in verse three they were tent makers. That was their job. And you Bible students, you know that Paul’s profession was a tent maker. Literally, they made tents with their hands. Today, we might call them a home builder. That’s what they were doing. They were making tents and they worked together. They got to spend a lot of time together and speak to each other about the things of God while they’re physically doing something with their hands. And you guys know, you know, it’s always good to have a believer at work. Amen. Just to have somebody with you, you can share together in the tough times and the difficult times.

Pastor Ed (00:12:27) – Maybe have a little prayer session when you need it. It’s always good to work with other believers. It helps to get you through the day and get you the strength. Well, that’s what God gave Paul right away. He gave them. He gave him a couple that he could work with while he was doing the work of the ministry. They made tents by day, and they serve the Lord at night, which, before we go into the next section, you may hear this phrase used especially in this church about tent making. You might hear that it is a it is a phrase that’s used to describe something. It’s we don’t use the phrase like, you know, if you come and say, hey, I want to get into the ministry. And we might say, well, you know, you need to do it as a tent maker. We’re not telling you to go physically make a tent. We’re using a metaphor here that we get from this scripture. And that’s this we were taught and this is the methodology I used when I moved here.

Pastor Ed (00:13:18) – This is what we were taught. We were taught that if you’re going to be used of God, you’re going to serve in the church, you’re going to plant a church that you have to have a job to do that so that you could provide for the needs of your family while you’re doing the work of the ministry. If you step back for a moment, you might even see it. Anybody serving in the church, here you are tent making. You are working so that you can provide the extra time that God would give to you, that you can serve the Lord in that way. You know, when I moved here, I worked in the corporate world. I was doing very, very well. I was going to stay there. As a matter of fact, in my mind, I made a commitment that I was going to work for at least seven years. I thought after seven years, the number of completion, I put enough money away and save and get prepared that maybe the church will be large enough.

Pastor Ed (00:14:07) – Maybe we’ll have a few people that I could take a small salary, my family could live on it and that would be fine. But the Lord had other plans. He had other plans. You come with the right heart. And then in this church, it took off pretty quickly. And I ended up quitting that job in nine months because the Lord wanted something else to be done in my life. But it’s the heart of the matter, the heart of the matter. When it comes to work church, you need to understand that you need to work. It is from the Lord. God will use Paul later to write his letter to the Thessalonians, and he’ll put it even this way. He’ll say this if you don’t work, you don’t eat. That’s how important it is. But then you know, you’re here. You go. You don’t understand how hard it is, how hard it is to work, how hard it’s so hard. And it’s part of the curse. How much you read the Bible at in Genesis.

Pastor Ed (00:14:53) – It says work is a part of the curse. Actually, that’s not what Genesis says at all. Work is not the curse. Adam and Eve, they were working before the curse. Adam was tending the garden, naming the animals, enjoying the place. The part of the curse as it relates to work is now. It’s going to be hard and we can get an amen to that. Now it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a sweat of your brow. That’s the fall. That’s what sin has done to work. But work is something that. Gives you an outlet. Listen, it gives you an outlet to be in the highways and the byways of life, to bring to gospel to other people. Not just in a church setting, but God takes the church and he spreads us throughout our community so that we could use our education, our gifts, and our talents to impact people’s lives with the gospel. And that’s what he says here. He worked. Paul the Apostle worked. We know Jesus was a carpenter.

Pastor Ed (00:16:01) – He worked. And so too that’s the word of the Lord to many. Today Paul arrives in Corinth very discouraged, and God gives him a couple of things that are going to encourage him right away friends and work. You can sweat it out and be faithful and see something tangible while he’s ministering the gospel in Corinth, because we’re going to find out in a moment that it’s going to get worse. And here’s one of the questions that comes up in a Bible study like this. You say, well, wait a minute, Ed, how do you know he’s discouraged? It doesn’t say this. It doesn’t say he’s discouraged at all. It doesn’t so far what you’ve read, pastor, it doesn’t say anything about it. I’ve read the chapter. I don’t see this discouragement anywhere. And if you’re, you know, when you’re teaching the Bible, you just know if those are listening or engaging with the text. You ask questions like that and you should. You can ask them now. You can ask them later.

Pastor Ed (00:16:54) – You can email later. It’s a good question to ask because the answer is you come up with a question like that, the answer is right there in the text. You’ll see in a moment in verses nine and ten that God comes to Paul directly and encourages him. And so you can infer from that that you encourage people that are discouraged. And so we know Paul is dealing with something we sometimes, and we must learn to stop doing this. Reread the Bible without the emotion that’s there. Paul is just a guy. He’s not any different than you and me. Yeah, maybe personality wise or there are some differences, but he’s a regular guy, as are the men and women of the Bible. They’re regular people, like you and me. And I think the discouragement actually started much earlier than this text, or even from what happened in Athens. I think he started to get hit pretty hard. Well, first of all, when he was saved, because there’s a great indication that his family turned on him.

Pastor Ed (00:18:00) – He also lost his status as a Pharisee, like his whole identity was being dealt with by being a born again believer. And then as he’s serving what happens in acts 13, they’re having that prayer meeting. God says, I’m going to partner this guy up with Barnabas. The son of encouragement sent him out. And then you remember what happened. They had a little disagreement. Should we take John, Mark or not take John Mark? Barnabas said. We are. Paul said, we won’t. And they had that disagreement that was so bad that now Paul lost his best friend in the ministry. That had to hurt in some way. They were doing such great work. I bet you they had conversations planning the future. What it could be. They battled together. They were victorious together. That had to hurt. And then there’s opposition. Now he’s got people dogging him, dogging him, dogging him, wanting to kill him once. Then he was beat up and thrown in jail. I mean, literally beat up and thrown in jail and on and on the list goes, by the time he comes to court, he’s a little weak.

Pastor Ed (00:19:08) – Wrestling with the emotions that I think any of us would wrestle with. So much so that he’s ready to throw in the towel. To some degree. As we’ll see in the moment. And what does God do? He gives them friends and he gives them work. Something to do. God does the same thing in the body of Christ today. Gives us friends and gives us something to do that would honor him. Notice now verse five. When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the Holy Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him, mark that when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, your blood be upon your own heads. I’m clean. From now on, I’m going to go to the Gentiles. We’ve learned about Paul. He’s not the kind of man that’s going to sit around and wait around and do nothing. He’s not the kind of person who’s going to be sitting on his hands. So even before the team arrives, he starts preaching, goes to the synagogue.

Pastor Ed (00:20:12) – He sees some, you know, he feels like the Holy Spirit wants him there. But now he’s met with opposition and more frustration on top of more, on top of more. And I love this. Paul, it says, was constrained by the spirit. This is something God was doing in his heart. He, Paul, was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We learn not before and unfortunately, the Holy Spirit when we refer to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the closed doors get more attention than the open doors. Sometimes the closed doors get way more attention than the than the open doors. And remember this if God is closing a door today, that means he’s opening something up for you. It’s the same. It’s two sides of the same coin. So if God’s closing a door today, that means there’s going to be something coming up for you. He’s going to open a way for you. I think of maybe someone listening to me right now that just lost their job. It’s very devastating, very hard, closed door, very difficult.

Pastor Ed (00:21:09) – And if you’re not careful, you will camp on how hard it is, how difficult it is. I can’t believe God did this. I can’t believe he allowed this. What was he thinking? Instead of understanding that when God is closing a door, he’s going to open, you’re going to get another job. God is going to provide, you’re going to be in another place. And one of the ways to look at a closed door is to be expectant of what he wants to do. What does he want to do in your life? I mean, let’s just think, you know, if you get all into the place where you’re all upset, you’re mad at your boss, you’re mad at the company, you’re mad at the world, then you may also miss what God’s trying to do in your life. I mean, maybe, just maybe, it’s a possibility that you don’t have your job today because of something you did. Or you said. Maybe it’s something you can improve on. Maybe you have a personality problem and you were harsh with people.

Pastor Ed (00:22:03) – Maybe. Maybe it’s that maybe you weren’t on time. Maybe you weren’t faithful. There’s a lot of other maybes where you just present yourself. You say, okay, God, what are you trying to do in my life? You can fight it as long as you want. You’re going to have a miserable life. It will be miserable. You keep fighting the will of God for your life. Paul here he was moved by the spirit. This is. Remember he had a closed door before. God forbid him to go to Asia. Forbid him to go twice. But here God says, go ahead. You can go. You don’t need to wait for him. Just go ahead. And he felt like the Lord was leading him and he obeyed it. But then he faced notice in verse six. Opposition. Which can make a person doubt that they made the right decision anyway. And ultimately we got to come to the place with open doors and closed doors, just to embrace the moment and stop trying to figure out whether it was right or wrong and just embrace where you are today.

Pastor Ed (00:23:02) – Just embrace it for where you are. We made some mistakes, so to show us if God’s leading us, Lord will show us. But here it is. I’m here now, so God use me. I want to be used and teach me the lessons I want to learn. And here it would be easy because I get there and there’s so much opposition. Okay, but the Holy Spirit had him do this listen so that he could experience the opposition. God’s constrained him, knowing full well what was going to happen there. God knows full well what’s happening with you too. He knows exactly what you need. He understands you better than you understand yourself. And here this opposition. It’s important that we’re reminded. That you never forget this. If you’re being used by God in any way, you will experience opposition. It is normal. It is a regular part of any true Christians life. Any true born again Christian today will experience external opposition. From people situations. Oftentimes we’ll refer to that as spiritual warfare.

Pastor Ed (00:24:21) – Spiritual warfare. If you’re making a lot of progress, then you’re going to be facing a lot of opposition. And of course, there’s always folks that go, but pastor, I’ve been born again believer for years and I’ve never experienced any opposition. Then what you need to do is go home and look in the mirror and ask yourself, have you ever done anything for the Lord? Because if you’ve ever done anything for the Lord, you’re going to experience opposition and spiritual warfare. There will be challenges. There will be difficulties. In Second Corinthians chapter two and verse 11, it talks about the devil wanting to take advantage of us. He wants to take advantage of weaknesses we have. He wants to use our past against us. He wants us to live in regret. He wants us to be discouraged, whatever it may be. He’s always working to take advantage of us. In Ephesians chapter six and verse ten, Paul would tell the church in Ephesus, he would teach us about spiritual warfare. He would teach us how to stand strong in the Lord, and the power of his might, to put on the whole armor of God.

Pastor Ed (00:25:29) – And no matter the cost, you and I are constrained as believers by the Holy Spirit to share the message of love and hope in other people’s lives. You don’t need to wait for that. You don’t walk away here and go, well, you know, I don’t feel that same constraint. Well, then you’re not in tune with the Holy Spirit, because this is the same thing that he gives to every believer. A burden for the lost, a burden for the lost. Will it mean opposition? Sure. But God has given us this city, and he’s given us this state, and he’s given us this country, and he’s given us the world to go into it and reach it with the gospel and to be open to be used. It’s ours for the taking. Remember in Jesus, John. Jot it down. John. Chapter four Jesus is looking out on the crowds and he tells them, lift up your eyes. Like, open up your eyes and look. They’re already white for harvest. The darker things get, the less even the less light that’s needed.

Pastor Ed (00:26:29) – But think about the faithfulness of your life and my life together. It’s amazing how God would want to use us. So notice now in verse seven, it says he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named justice. Some people believe this justice is actually mentioned in Romans chapter 16 and verse 23. Gaius justice, that’s a possibility. He’s somebody that worship God whose house was next door to the synagogue. And so he’s watching this whole thing go down. He’s watching Paul getting up, oppressed. There’s always people watching us. We’re an example, one way or another, good or bad. Then Christmas, verse eight, the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. That’s super encouraging. Then notice verse nine, now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you.

Pastor Ed (00:27:32) – For I have many people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. This is a powerful moment now. God gives him an immediate boost of energy, seeing so much response among the Corinthians. And then in verse nine comes to him with personal encouragement. This is why some commentators believe that there’s a gap of time of some sort between verse eight and nine. It’s a possibility. It doesn’t say. Or it could just be an attack of the enemy when things are going good. We don’t know. But we can infer from this that Paul’s discouragement was deeper, so deep that it was bigger than friends could help and it was bigger than working could help. And it was even bigger than seeing God work in his life again among the Corinthians that. Paul needed personal encouragement from God himself. Which we certainly can be in that place from time to time. He needed a personal word from the Lord. It was more than what anybody could provide. And I want you to notice that what Paul needed.

Pastor Ed (00:28:52) – God provided. And what’s true for him is true for you. What you need. God will provide. As you’re thinking about quitting, throwing in the towel, you’re just in a deep down discouragement. This is the thing. You know, we’re talking about opposition. Let me put some words to it. The devil loves to wear Christians out. That’s really one of the work that he has to wear you down and to wear you out. I mean, going back to that work analogy, you know, it’s just so hard at work. It’s so difficult to work. I got no believers there. It’s just such a hard time. I mean, even if you step back for a second and you can answer this yes or amen if you agree. But hasn’t it been a few long, hard years since Covid? Yes or no? Okay, this side is really hard, you guys. Congratulations. It’s been really good. Like it’s been hard. And you add to that the economy and you add to that your family and you add to that your own personal struggles.

Pastor Ed (00:29:52) – And you add to that like life and difficulties and neighbors, and where am I going to live? And all just life it’s been hard. You add to that the the way that the world is getting darker and we’re seeing things we’ve never seen before. You add to that the fact that we’re learning this, we’re learning this on Wednesdays, that the entire nation of Egypt is paying the price for bad leadership. Well, folks, I want to let you in on something. The United States of America is also paying for bad leadership. It has been that way for a long time. But it’s going to get worse. It’s going to get worse. You think it’s bad now? It’s going to get worse. That’s the will of the Lord. That’s his desire. And we want it to be better. I know, and that’s why it’s wearing you out. That’s why you’re getting worn down. You know, when you think of being worn out, you think of being tired. You think of being weary? You think of.

Pastor Ed (00:30:49) – And there’s even that in Galatians chapter six. Remember, let me add another one to you. You and I. We’ve also respond, man, I just want to be the best believer. I want to serve the Lord. I want to step into people’s lives. And then what does Galatians six say? Let us not grow weary in Well-doing. So it seems like no matter which way we turn, this world is going to wear us down. And you’re right. But when you’re serving the Lord, you’re just like, okay, God, I’m. This is for you. I don’t control a lot of things, but the things I do control, I want to follow you. This is the work of the devil. And you think back to work, you know, you think back to your job. You think back to what you’re going to go back to in the morning. And if you’re not careful, you’re just going to walk into work with a bad attitude. You’re just going to walk into work just like so upset about it that you’re going to make things worse for yourself.

Pastor Ed (00:31:37) – It’s not just the job, and it’s not just the boss, and it’s not just all these things. There is a spiritual war happening around your life, and you and I are unable. We are not allowed. Listen, you are not allowed to fight this war with human effort and human tools, you know, or weapons. The Bible says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. So what does that mean? Well, you know what? If somebody yells at you, you can’t yell at them back. It will not work. It will only make things worse. How don’t you learn that by now? I mean, think back to the Old Testament. There was this sense of equity and justice. And so what God would say, he would say, it’s an eye for an eye. Do you know today you cannot have eye for an eye? You can’t have it. It’s not possible because Jesus Christ took the pain and the penalty for what has happened to you, the injustice upon himself.

Pastor Ed (00:32:37) – You can’t have it back. You can’t get justice. You can’t get revenge. It’s not yours anymore. And that wears you down. This is the familiar tactic of the enemy. We get deceived. We start believing the lie because. The devil can’t defeat you. He can’t wear you down to the end. Because you have Jesus Christ in you. He’s your victor. You’re more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens you. No temptation has overtaken you except such as common man. But with every temptation, there’s always a way of escape. The devil can’t wear you down like that. He can’t take you to the end. Because right there, God knows. And it could be that you’re at a place where only God can encourage you. And let me give you now the four ways that he will. There are at least four ways God will encourage you, just like with Paul, because it seems like with Paul, he is ready and done. I don’t know if he’s going to take a break or he’s just going to leave completely.

Pastor Ed (00:33:43) – But from the answer and the encouragement that God gives to him, it sounds like he’s ready to be done. And it reminded me of a season of my life where I was done. It was very close to after my son passed away. We’re already grieving. It’s already difficult. I have a son in California. I got a daughter here. I got all kinds of drama that’s outside of my family coming against us. And just doing the worst of the worst against. It was just unbelievable. And so I finally got to the place, like, you know what? I’m done with ministry. I’m not going back. And I started looking at, you know, college education because I don’t have a degree. So I’m like, I’m going back to the corporate world. I mean, it was bad then, but it’s not this bad. And I’ll just go and be a good Christian in the corporate world, make a lot of money and give to the church. And I’m done with this pastoring thing because it’s too much.

Pastor Ed (00:34:30) – I can’t take it. I can’t handle it. I don’t want to do it anymore. All of that and more. It was a very dark season. And, you know, doing all those knocking on doors and stuff, it’s obvious that that’s not the the route that I took. But God sent encouragement into my life this very same way. And I wonder. I wonder if Paul’s in a similar place, and I’ll explain why in a minute. Notice number one, the encouragement Paul gets is the encouragement we get. Number one, he’s encouraged by God’s purpose for his life. God reminds him. Notice what it says in verse nine, don’t be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. It’s like God, says Paul. This is why you’re on the planet Earth. So go do it. Do what I made you to do. Like I wonder sometimes. You know, you’re right. Now. Maybe. Maybe you’re an engineer and you’re just tired of engineering, so I quit. I’m going to do something else.

Pastor Ed (00:35:26) – But you know what? God made you that engineer. So do it as unto the Lord he made you. Do you know how few people think like you do? You’re so smart and God made you that way. What are you ever saying? I can’t have a career change. I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is, don’t let discouragement move you like that. Let the Lord encourage you that he’s made you an engineer. He’s made you a police officer. He’s made you a stay at home mom. He’s made you so do it, because that’s God’s purpose for your life. Do it. Do it as unto the Lord. Number two. Notice it says God reminds him of his presence. So I used keywords here so you can remember them. God’s purpose, God’s presence. Notice in verse ten this had to bless him. I am with you. And is it not enough? Should not be enough. I mean, God, I’m not. I’m with you. I’m. Hebrews chapter 13.

Pastor Ed (00:36:20) – I’ll never leave you or forsake you. I’m with you, Paul. We’re in this together. We are in this together. You are not alone. I’m with you. I’m more than Priscilla, more than Aquila, more than these salvations. I, the creator of the universe. And with you. It’s like, yes, Lord. He’s promised to not leave us. Turn over to Exodus chapter ten with me, would you? We are studying Exodus in our midweek Bible study. I wish you’d be here, man. There’s so much that God is doing and teaching us in this different book of the Bible. And we were in chapter ten not too long ago, and this is what I shared with those that were there that evening. It’s so powerful. It’s just one of those little nuggets that you got to dig a little deeper for. But when you get it, it’s like a gold nugget. You’re going to hold on to it the rest of your life. Notice here we’ve got Moses, the reluctant servant of God.

Pastor Ed (00:37:13) – He really doesn’t want to do what God called him to do. He comes with all these excuses to the point where he finally tells God, just send somebody else. And God said, I’m not sending anyone else. Now I’m going to send you. I’m going to send your brother with you, and you’re going to do this. And he obeyed. By the time we come to chapter ten, now, seven times, he has gone to the leader of the known world, Pharaoh, and told him the message of God, let my people go. If you don’t let my people go, judgment will come seven times. And how hard it must have been, because now it’s not just you would think somebody would do it after 1 or 2 times, but now seven times. He’s had to see resistance. Seven times he’s had to watch plagues come throughout Egypt, people suffering because of Pharaoh seven times. And I would think by the time he gets to chapter ten, there’s a good possibility. He’s like, I’m done.

Pastor Ed (00:38:09) – Like, I don’t want to do this anymore. And notice this in verse one, now the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I might show these signs of mine before him, which when you’re reading it at face value, you got what kind of encouragement is that? You’re going to go to Pharaoh again. He’s not going to listen to you. And another plague is coming. But there’s an interesting word that I happen to click on my Bible program, just kind of looking at it to see what it means. And you might want to mark it. It’s the Hebrew word translated in verse one. Go. It’s actually the Hebrew word bo bo. And here it’s translated go. However, that word is also translated in different places as come, like, come with me. So if the translators chose to use that translation in this season of Moses life, I want you to consider it. It reads really differently. Doesn’t.

Pastor Ed (00:39:06) – Now the Lord said to Moses, come with me, let’s go to Pharaoh. Because in reality, God was with Moses every single time he went to Pharaoh. In reality, he was with him every step of the way. In reality, while it was Moses mouth, it was God’s presence. Every single time you’ve gone, Moses, you have not been alone. Every single time you stood there. I’ve strengthened you. I’ve been with you. Now you come to the book of acts and Paul’s getting almost the exact same encouragement. I’m with you. You are not alone. Not only am I with you, but I will be with you. And this assurance is ours by faith. God never sends us alone into this world. Ever. He is always with us. Number three. Number three back in acts, not only does God remind him of his purpose and his presence, but thirdly, he reminds him of his protection. God’s protection, he says, and no one will attack you to hurt you.

Pastor Ed (00:40:08) – To which you Bible students go. What? Protection. Well, where were you? God, when I was stoned in Lystra. And where were you? God, when they beat me and threw me into jail in Philippi. And wherewith where were you when you. And when I experienced this? Paul could have easily said all those things. Protection, protection? Some of you, you’ve been praying for protection, but the hard things are still happening, and this is where you need to be reminded. Church. This is where we must be reminded. We often interpret protection as having something prevented from coming from us, or like in the middle of a trial, being pulled out of it right away. And sometimes God indeed does that work. But most of the time you and I experienced the protection of God not out of something, but listen through something. His protection by his abiding presence. You know, you turn to Daniel and you talked to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were thrown into a fiery furnace to be left for dead when Nebuchadnezzar came to check on them.

Pastor Ed (00:41:11) – What did he see? Oh, there was a fourth one in the fire. You want to know why there’s always a fourth one in the fire. Jesus is always with us. And through. You know, even before we were saved, most of us were familiar with Psalm 23. Maybe even memorized it like before. Before I even read the Bible, the only Bible in the house I grew up in was the big Bible that was under the TV. It’s where my mom pressed flowers and our birth certificates were. That was the Bible. So before I even knew the Bible, my mom had a little plaque on the wall of the 23rd Psalm. And I remember seeing the plaque and now, many years later, I know of which it speaks. Where the Bible speaks of the shepherd being with me. Even if and even when I’m going through the valley of the shadow of death. The psalmist doesn’t promise a deliverance out of the valley, just that you’ll get through it. And that’s the truth for you.

Pastor Ed (00:42:12) – You know what you’re going through right now? As hard as it is, and this dark it is, it is. Maybe you’re not even in church today because you can’t handle it. It’s too much. You’re in a dark room. Like I was trying to figure out what my future might be because anything’s better than this. Listen, one day you’re going to look back on it and you’re going to see the testing. That turned into a testimony of God’s faithfulness. Because even God’s faithful right now, right in the middle of it, Paul needed to know that. And he also needed to know the fourth thing, and that is God’s people. He’s going to remind them. He says, nobody’s going to attack to hurt you. For I have many people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them. So God’s promises, people, you’re not alone. I’ve got a lot more people here. This is not the first time God said this.

Pastor Ed (00:43:03) – I got a lot more people here you don’t even know yet. They’re not even saying, like, there’s so much going on, Paul, that you don’t see right now. Get your eyes back on me because I’m with you and I’m your power. I’m your protection. I have people here and whatever the whatever Paul was going through, it encouraged him because he stayed there 18 months. To me, that would be a great encouragement. Sometimes I get encouragement, helps me go another 18 minutes helps me go another 18 hours. But Paul, he gave 18 months, a year and a half. He stayed in Corinth with this little word of encouragement, which reminds me to remind you, would you please encourage somebody because it helps them. It might give them the next 18 minutes the night it may be, but a lot of times the encouragement from God comes through the mouth of his people. So notice now, as we close in verse 12, let’s see this lived out in his life so quickly now.

Pastor Ed (00:43:57) – When Gallio was proconsul of a key, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. Pause there for a second. Didn’t God just tell Paul that nobody’s going to hurt him? Yes or no? And now what’s happening? Wouldn’t this make you second guess? You heard from God? Okay, maybe I didn’t hear right. I’m a little man. I’m a little messed up, like, okay, God. Are you. I give your presence, and I know you’re like, the enemy. Would love to make you doubt the promises of God. Because you have your own expectation with God and you need to let go. You need to just let go, or you’re going to keep fighting and be miserable your whole life, and your life will pass you by quickly. What’s happening here is actually a fulfillment of what God promised. It’s not the opposite. So they bring him, they by force, they bring him here.

Pastor Ed (00:44:58) – And then notice, when Paul was about to open his mouth, he didn’t need to. You know why? Because God had other people. Isn’t that what he said? Didn’t he say there’s other people in this city? Did he say that? He said it. He didn’t even have to say anything to defend himself. Galileo interrupts. And he says, hey, if it was a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, there’d be a reason why I should bear with you. But it’s a question of words and names and your own law. Look to it yourselves. I want to be a judge of such matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took society’s. The ruler of the synagogue. They beat him. Before the judgment seat, but Galileo took no notice of these things. For sustenance. He took one for the team here. There are times when we do that. There are times where something’s going on in your life. You don’t know what it is, but God is using it even to help someone else to.

Pastor Ed (00:45:56) – There’s so much to unpack in this. I mean, there’s so many little Bible studies we could do here, but sometimes you’re taking the hit for the team sourcing. This was just minding his own business till Paul came to town. I could even see an opportunity for South Sudanese to be very mad at Paul. You know, before you came, everything was fine. And sometimes you have these separations with people are all upset but upset with you for all the wrong reasons. You just got to keep your eyes on the Lord. That’s the key. Here’s the bottom line of our time today. Do not look at your circumstances through natural eyes. Because there’s a very good chance you’re going to come to the wrong conclusion. You’re not going to be able to figure out the ways of God. You’re not going to be able to figure out what’s happening. It’s your natural eyes that are actually getting you in trouble. It’s your natural eyes that are making things harder for yourself. The warfare, the spiritual warfare you’re in.

Pastor Ed (00:46:55) – Don’t look at it in natural eyes. The circumstance, even the opposition, is a thing that people are resisting you and and you know, you’re only you’re up in your own head and you’re you’re just all, you know. It’s the natural that gets you in trouble. Listen, we need to take a step back and start to look things from a spiritual point of view. You need to get back into the Bible. Separating and doubting the Bible is not helping you. Just bring your doubts with you. Just bring them with you. Your worries just bring them with you, your concerns. Take them with you and let the Lord sort it out in your life where you like. You’re just open up today. Here you are today in this church, listening to me on the radio, and you’re like, oh my goodness, that’s my life. You want to know why? Because God loves you enough to show you your life in the Bible. And to show you his presence. To give you as assurance.

Pastor Ed (00:47:53) – To reveal to you his faithfulness. You’re not going to see it with your natural eyes. You’re not going to see it trying to figure things out. I’m going to let you know you can’t figure it out. That’s a place of weakness. A place of weakness is where you can move forward. When I figure this out. No. You move forward by faith. Trusting God at His word. Even like what God said, God said right here, nobody’s going to hurt me. And here I am being hurt. Well, you don’t understand. Jesus taught us. What can man do to you?

Pastor Ed (00:48:28) – Nothing.

Pastor Ed (00:48:29) – They could kill the body and they can’t do anything with the spirit. Know your life is secure with me. God says your eternity is set. Just be faithful, Paul. The faithful Calvary. Be faithful. Sister. Brother.

Pastor Ed (00:48:44) – Young, old.

Pastor Ed (00:48:47) – Let the Lord use you, because God will reveal to you things as you look to him that you can’t see with your natural eyes. They’re only spiritually discerned.

Pastor Ed (00:48:56) – And when they are spiritually discerned, it’s just so encouraging because then God gives us direction for our lives. And for that we’re grateful. Amen. Lord, thank you for your word. It’s encouraging to us and it’s one of those things, God, we just need to dig a little deeper. Come a little sooner. Walk a little lighter. That you might lead us and guide us, that we might be a once again constrained by your spirit and not by our emotions, constrained by your spirit. Not because we figured it out or we got it all known, constrained by your spirit, even in the opposition, even in the pain, even in the loneliness, even in the hurt. All of it. Lord, we we yield it to you today, asking you to do the work in our lives that only you can do. In Jesus name, Amen.

HOST (00:49:47) – We pray that you’ve been encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the Sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer. Call us at 87730. Grace.

HOST (00:49:57) – That’s (877) 304-7223 to listen to this message in its entirety, or to join us for our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Coat Church or download our free Calvary Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.

 

Key Words: God’s word, Pastor Ed Taylor, Calvary Church, Aurora, Colorado, Bible study, Acts chapter 18, Paul, believers, encouragement, faithfulness, obedience, Holy Spirit, ministry, work, provision, spiritual warfare, challenges, trust, guidance, faithfulness