Let’s look at Joseph’s dilemma (he was between the ages of 18-20), how God ruins his plan and what his response was to what He intended to do in his life. This will help us respond to God’s leading our lives even when we don’t think it is the path we want to go.
Paul had just travelled four days as he arrives in Miletus. Here the boat will probably unload and pick more passengers. Due to time constrains, Paul decides to call the Ephesian elders to Miletus (a 30 mile journey). He will give them his “farewell” address and encourage them to lead the church well as he has done.
From the apostle Paul, the pastor and church planter we learn the value of encouraging one another to keep growing in the faith as we live in the world sharing the Good News of Jesus. We use the Word of God along with our times of gathering where we also share the Lord’s Supper and eat together as we are doing both today. The focus is on the purpose of the gathering not on the particulars of the event itself. Those are ancillary to help us encourage one another.
As we saw in our last section, people who were in bondage to the occult are freed and made whole. They leave these practices and idolatry to follow the living God. The Gospel transforms the way we live and those things that we thought were worthwhile become meaningless in light of the cross. When this transformation happens, it changes our culture and challenges the culture around us. It often goes head-to-head with the world’s culture. This is exactly what happens here. The Gospel has brought change to many people in Ephesus. But this is creating social change that is met with opposition. This passage helps us understand how God’s mission goes on regardless of opposition. We can learn from Paul’s resolution to carry it on but also in how he encourages believers to do the same. God’s mission of sharing the Good News is not just for Paul and the believers then, it is for us here now.
Here we see Paul used by the Lord in various ways. These serve as an example for us today. How can we who are also called servants of God serve Him? We may not do exactly like Paul did but we all can learn from him to do in our own context. These relate more with spiritual tasks than tangible ones.
Affirming (strengthening, supporting) others in faith is just as important as making sure our faith is steadfast. We have been called to encourage and build one another up in the Lord.
Why is it important? Because our faith is lived in the community of believers, that is, the church. We were not called to be God’s lone rangers, but God’s community, his church.
To affirm ourselves is to encourage us, to help us strengthen ourselves to remain faithful to the Lord. It’s like when a crutch helps by supporting an injured foot or leg. It helps you gain strength. This is how we affirm to others. This requires compassion and mercy. This is a way of showing love to one another.
Is there such a thing as silent believers? It is easy for us believers to be silent about our faith. We don’t want to offend people. We want to live quiet lives. But our calling is to proclaim the gospel in good times and bad. God is with us. It always will. We must not be silent; we must continue to speak. This was the case with Paul in Corinth.
In this passage we look at how Paul continues to speak, continues to share the gospel in different ways and forms. The Lord uses him to plant a new church which in a short period of time. This church would be the one to which Paul wrote two letters (i.e. 1, 2 Corinthians).
In the passage we will study today, Paul shares the gospel with a totally different group than those he has shared at this time. Unlike those in Thessalonica, Berea, where he shared Scripture with them, these men are polytheists, religious philosophers who have no background to religious Jewry. Similar to Joseph in the story where they followed a religion. A religion that leaves them empty. Paul speaks to them of a God who exists, is, and expects something from them.
The world is upside down. Our world in which we live is spiritually (as well as morally and in many other respects) upside down. What does this mean? Since the fall into sin by our ancestor Adam and Eve, the result of mankind’s actions is the opposite of what God desires. The world does the opposite of what God commands us in His Word. Since then, things have been “turned upside down”. There is disorder, a spiritual, moral, and social chaos. It seems that we are going further and further than God commands us. Isaiah 5:20 says: ” Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! How to solve this problem? God’s answer is the gospel.
We are not saved just to live our lives before the world by showing Christ. We must also preach, teach, share, talk about Christ in multiple ways and forms. That is the topic of this morning. We want to see Paul’s example as an example, a model of what it is to live, to embody the gospel and in the same way to share it with others. We will see that his life, like Silas, lived the truth of the gospel, but at the same time preached the gospel. Both elements go together. Both are necessary. Today we hear many who preach and do not live the truth of the gospel. We also know that Satan has false ministers, false brethren, and they preach a false gospel and don’t live the truth. On the other hand, there are timid Christians who hide and feel sorry for them, afraid to share the gospel. This is not of God. And then there are people who are example for us. This week we experienced a horrific assassination of a Christian who embodied the Gospel and was actively sharing it without fear. It cost Charlie Kirk his life. This young man has shared the Gospel with so many other young people and we are just beginning to see his impact. I had no idea how wide and far was his impact. But it is no surprise because God will use any of us when we are committed to living and sharing the Gospel even in difficult times.
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