I Am With You
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Introduction
Introduction
We ended last week with Paul in Athens
Talked about idolatry, and the need to confront it
This morning, we’re picking up the story with Paul travelling from Athens to Corinth
Turn with me to
How many of you would say that you know somebody who you would consider to be courageous?
Okay, (pick someone), who do you consider to be courageous?
Hands up, everywhere!
Why do you think that? (not afraid? brave? they don’t let fear stop them)
Sometimes we think of people who are courageous as people who don’t have any fear....but that’s not exactly true:
You know the truth though? Courage can not be present without FEAR
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared - Eddie Rickenbacker
This morning....I want us to look at this passage, and think about that truth…that courage is a response to fear....and that it is okay to be fearful.....and that if we are going to be courageous Christians.....our response to fear needs to be rooted in more than ourselves
Read
Read
Recap the text:
Paul has travelled from Athens, the former most important city, to the current most important city in the Roman Empire....Corinth
As he arrives, there are already a few Christians there, namely, Aquila & Priscilla, whom Paul mentions various times in other books throughout the NT....dear friends of Paul
And they’re close because they are also all tent makers....Paul had another job
And as Paul has done everywhere else, he heads straight for the synagogue.....
And as expected…Paul faced opposition and abuse
And so Paul shakes off his robes, tells them their blood is on their own heads, and leaves and heads to the Gentiles
So picture this with me…he leaves the synagogue in a huff, in righteous anger, and walks a whole 50 yards and goes to the house of Titius Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue!
Which is hilarious to me...... “That’s it, I’m outta here!”
And we could spend a good bit of time talking here about how we should act when people deny us....but I want to focus on something different
God’s Promise
God’s Promise
Look at verse 9 with me: “9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
There is something amazing here I want you to see, and it ties back to what we talked about at the beginning.....and to see it, you have to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2
God appears to Paul in a vision one night telling him to not be afraid, but to go on and continue speaking, to not be silent. Why? Because God was with him, and He would protect him
, “3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,....”
Later on in the life of Paul, he pens three letters to the Corinthians, one of them we do not have, we have two of them, and they are known as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.
Pastor Dave is preaching through 1 Corinthians on Sunday mornings, and that was a letter by Paul to the Corinthian church, which we are reading about this morning. This was the start of the Corinthian church here in Acts chapter 18
But notice what Paul says to them: “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling”
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of Paul, and when I think about all the stories we have looked at from his life here in Acts…I think of a guy who wasn’t afraid of anything, don’t you?
I mean, he’s gone through it all, and yet he keeps on going…so I often equate Paul with fearlessness
But apparently, when he arrived in Corinth as we are reading about in ....he was filled with weakness, fear, and much trembling
I don’t know about you…but it provides me with so much confidence knowing that Paul felt like I often feel......
Here we have the greatest missionary the world has ever seen, admitting to the fact that he was extremely afraid of the Corinthians…what a profession!
Conor McGregor had a fight last night against Khabib
Now, I’m no Conor fan....but can you ever imagine Conor McGregor admitting fear?
Absolutely not, right?
See, we have this mindset that if we are going to be the best, we can’t be afraid of anything
So, why does Paul admit his fear? And why should we be okay with fear?
The answer is in God’s promise in verse 9 back over in Acts chapter 18:
“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
Do you see it? Fear takes the dependence off of ourselves, and puts it on who? It puts total dependence on God
Paul was scared…Paul knew all too well that the message he was about to proclaim to the Corinthians was a message that could very well cause him to lose his life
And he had fear
And so imagine with me, Paul, daily, hourly, praying to God, and asking Him to protect him, to save him, to help him
And God responds with “don’t be afraid, I am with you”
And the text goes on to tell us that because of God’s promise, Paul, despite his fear, stayed with the Corinthians for a year and a half........!!!!!!!
When we understand and place our trust in God, and not in ourselves, that is when we show true courage
This is the same exact thing, by the way, that God said to Joshua, and to Jeremiah
: “5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
: “8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”
See it? I am with you, I am with you
True courage, in response to fear, is leaning on God, who promises to be with us
And can any of you tell me one other place where God says this?
- The Great Commission, the command to you and to me:
“18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
There it was, right there at the end.... “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Isn’t that amazing? The same promise God made to Joshua, to Jeremiah, to Paul as he feared sharing the Gospel among the Corinthians, is the same promise He made to us, as well!!!!!
Guys, this is so awesome!
Closing
Closing
So maybe you’re sitting here and you are fearful
You’re fearful of sharing the Gospel, you’re fearful of the response of others, you’re fearful of public speaking, and on and on and on
1. You’re in good company
Joshua, the leader of Israel as they defeated Jericho, countless other nations, and took hold of the Promised Land
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, who never saw a conversion.....
Paul....the greatest missionary ever, the one we hold up on a pedestal, rightly or wrongly, the one who led so many people to Christ and is responsible for us having the Gospel today
They all were fearful
So it’s okay to be fearful....it’s not sinful to be fearful....
2. God has promised to be with you
God has promised to be with you until the end of the age.....
So when you do fear, you’ve got bank on His promise…you’ve got to come back to this and remember that He is faithful, that He was faithful to Joshua, to Jeremiah, to Paul.....that He promised to be with them and He was with them
That same God has made the same promise to you
Paul in another passage tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling
Lean on God through it, trust on Him....He’s with you
3. Press on with boldness
Now, just knowing that He is with you does nothing…that’s not courage
Courage is acting in the face of fear
So what we do is we take that fear, we take God’s promise, and we cling to the promise
We let go of the fear and trust God and cling to Him, and we press on as amabassadors for Christ and we share the Gospel.....in spite of our fear!
You can do it…because He is with you
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, through Christ who is with me, through Christ who upholds me, through Christ who protects me
Go out this week, embrace your fear, cling to the promise, and boldly proclaim your love for Him