God's Divine Work | Acts 18

Ron continues our study in Acts with chapter 18 and a teaching on how God works in, through, and around us for His purposes.

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The divine work of God, how God works in, through, and around us for His purposes, the divine work of God. And we're going to see that in Acts chapter 18. We're going to see the divine orchestration, the divine encouragement, divine intervention, and the divine impact. Many of you maybe, if you're like me, watched an old movie. And that's just always-- every time I ever share a movie and I kind of give the plot away, people get on to me. But I would say this movie is 75 years old. So if you haven't watched it yet, I don't know what to say about that, OK? But when I was a child, when I watched it, it was even old then. I was at my grandmother's house. It was probably seven or eight years old. And there was this movie that came on TV called The African Queen, OK? Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are playing the part of these two people. One is a guy named Charlie. And he's kind of a rough and tough boatsman. And he's living out in East Africa. And basically, he's kind of a mercenary. And he's running supplies, dynamite, alcohol, even the mail. And people pay him to deliver this stuff, right? And so he's making money as he takes his African queen, his steamboat, up and down the Nile River. And then there is a lady who's there. And her name is Rosie. And she's a missionary there in East Africa. And she's with her brother. And they have a school and a church. But one day, when World War I breaks out, the Germans come in. And they began to burn the village and round everyone up. Rosie's brother gets into a confrontation. He ends up dying. And then Rosie jumps in the steamboat with Charlie and narrowly escapes. Now, they're two polar opposite people. She's a missionary. And he's a mercenary, OK? So they're exactly opposite. And so they take off. And they're headed to this lake where they think they'll be safe. And maybe they can even contribute and help with the war efforts. And so the stories about how that steamboat, small steam of the African queen, as it goes down this river, and they encounter these rough tides and rapids. And they narrowly make it through. And then I'll never forget this scene. Then all the mosquitoes and bugs come out. And they're just everywhere. And they make it through that. And then they pass a fortress where the Germans are. They begin to shoot at them. And they hit the boat. And there's some damage to the boat. But Charlie's able to ultimately fix it. And then they think they're getting close. But then they hit this marsh swamp area. And they realize, man, this is going to be really tough. And so the boat keeps going for a while. And then it kind of gives out. And then they're trying to push it with poles. And then eventually, Charlie has to get out. And he's in that swamp. And that thickens in that mud. And he's pulling that boat. And finally, they hit a spot where it just bottoms out. And this levels up. They can't go any further. They're out of water. They're out of supplies. And Rosie kind of prays a prayer, recognizing that this is it. They're not going to make it, right? They're going to die. What they did know was just another 100 yards, because of all the reeds, they couldn't see it, was the lake that they were trying to get to, with the fresh water. And kind of their objectives would have been met, right? But they don't know that. And so they pass out thinking they're going to die. But little did they know, about 100 miles up the river, there's a torrential storm brewing. And the rain begins to pour. And as it pours, it begins to enter into that river. And the streams run in. And it eventually comes to where they are. And while they're still passed out, the water rushes in and it lifts up the boat, and pushes the boat out into the lake. And later on, they awaken, and they see where they are. And that happened, you know, it's kind of that old Oswald Chambers, do everything you honestly and ethically can, and entrust the rest of God. That's what Oswald Chambers defines faith. There's a great picture of the orchestration of how God works, and how He orchestrates behind the scenes, when we don't necessarily see, understand, or even believe. So as we look at Acts chapter 18 today, we will see how God is divinely at work. We see how He's working in and through and around Paul. We see the divine orchestration, the divine encouragement, the divine intervention, and the divine impact. If you have your Bibles, let's begin in Acts chapter 18, beginning with the first verse. And after this, Paul left Athens, and he goes to Corinth. Now Corinth is regarded as probably the most wicked, the most depraved city in all of the known world. Matter of fact, the Greeks and the pagans even used the word Corinth as a pejorative. They would use the word Corinthian in association with just moral depravity and wickedness. If you were called a Corinthian, that was saying something. It was saying you are so wicked. And so this town, this city, that is under primarily Roman occupation, is a place where anything goes. There are thousands of temple prostitutes, and there are multiple ways where you can just kind of do whatever it is that you want. And this is the city that Paul is walking into. This is this place where God is leading him. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and recently from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. So what's happening here? Paul's left Athens, God has led him to Corinth, and it's probably almost overwhelming. Matter of fact, when he gets there, he begins to walk up and down the streets, and that's probably where he meets and encounters at the marketplace this couple named Aquila and Priscilla. Now Aquila and Priscilla are not in Corinth because they wanted to be. They're in Corinth because the Bible tells us that the Emperor Claudius had expelled all of the Jews, and the Christians came under that title as far as the Roman Empire was concerned. So Claudius, sometime between 49 and 51 AD, has sent out the Edict, if you're a Jew and Christians, well, then you must leave. You have to leave. So he's expelled all of them, and they are here because they've been kicked out of Rome. And so God has orchestrated that they be here, not because it was their desire, their plan, but for God's ultimate purposes. And here we see that Paul meets them, and they have the same trade. The Bible says that they had the same trade and he stayed with them and worked with them, for they were tent makers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade the Jews and the Greek. So Paul has come in Corinth, and he needs money, right? And so he's a tent maker. We use that term sometimes for pastors. Like when I started in the ministry, like I had the job that I fed myself with, then I was a minister on the side, right? And so that's not uncommon today. And this is exactly where Paul is. So Paul has this trade. He has this skill of making tents. And that was a very popular trade at that time. And so Aquila and Priscilla have that same trade. So he probably meets them in the market center. They began to talk and they realized that they share faith in Christ. Paul finds them and he realizes he's not alone. And the Bible tells us that every Sabbath, Paul is going to the synagogue and he's trying to persuade the Greeks and the Jews. So we see how God has divinely orchestrated this process so far for the apostle Paul. And then in verse five, the Bible says, when Silas and Timothy arrived in Macedonia, Paul was occupied with a word testifying to the Jews that Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them,"Your blood be on your head. I'm innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles." So Paul has gone to the local synagogue where the Jews would have been. And he's trying to persuade, he's talking to them, he's meeting people and he's telling them about Christ and that Christ is the Messiah, but they are rejecting him. They're not just rejecting. Matter of fact, the word used in the Greek here means blasphemous. So they are either blaspheming Christ or Paul, probably Christ. And Paul is so frustrated that he says,"Okay, the blood be upon your head." And now we know that Paul later ministers to Jews, we'll see it here in this text, but he becomes so upset and so frustrated with the negativity and with the attacks that he kind of lashes out. But what's interesting when he does this, the Bible says, "And he left and went next door to the house of a man named Titus Justice, a worshipper of God. And his house was next door to the synagogue." So here's the picture. Paul's at church. Nobody's listening. Everybody's mad. Everybody's blaspheming. Everybody's discrediting. They're talking about how Christ is not true. Christ is not real. He's not the Messiah. And he becomes so frustrated that he probably ends up where God wanted him to begin with. The Bible says he went next door. He goes next door, and then here's a guy named Titus Justice Titus, and he is a God fear. Remember, God fear is not someone who's been raised in the faith, not someone who's been raised in Judaism, but it's someone who has come to the place where they believe there is one true God that Yahweh is God, even though they've not been through all the traditions and the ceremonies. So this is justice. This is where he goes to. And when he gets there, he begins to share with him. And then we even see, and just later on, probably a few weeks from then, one of the rulers, matter of fact, the ruler of that synagogue comes to faith in Christ. And guess where the Corinthian church will meet? Titus Justice's house. Again, you see the divine orchestration of God. And the Bible tells us in verse eight that Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, he believes in the Lord in his entire household. In many of the Corinthians, hearing Paul believed and were baptized. You see, these Corinthians, who would not have come into the synagogue, are now coming into one of their neighbor's homes. And God orchestrates and uses what Paul would think would have been so negative, God uses for his good. That happens today still in our lives. And the Bible says that in verse nine, after this has happened, and this probably could have been weeks or even months after this happened, after many Christians hearing Paul, excuse me, many Corinthians hearing Paul believe and were baptized, the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent for I am with you. So we're reading this text and we see all these wonderful things that have happened. But then all of a sudden we see this, that Paul has this vision where God comes and speaks to him and tells him not to be afraid. You know why he told him that? Because he was afraid. That's why he's telling them that. Paul is struggling. Matter of fact, if we go to first Corinthians, Paul writing a letter to the Corinthians church. In chapter two, verse three, you know what Paul tells us right there? He says, "When I was with you in weakness and fear"and much trembling, I was struggling."I was scared."I had heard the threats."I had seen what these people could do"and I was scared."I didn't think I could go on." And God gives him divine encouragement. He gives him a divine word. He gives him this vision and he says,"Do not be afraid, but go on speaking"and do not be silent for I am with you"and no one will attack you or harm you."For I have many people in this city who are my people." Now Paul, I mean, think about it. We go back to chapter 16. He's been beaten before. He's been in prison before. Come on, Paul. You've bucked it up before. But can I tell you this? That's all well and good for us to say. But I'll tell you this, one beating is about all I could ever take in my life anyway. You know what I mean? And Paul probably still has a limp. He's probably still hurting and he's thinking,"Oh Lord, please, I do not want to go through this again."God, I'm scared."Can I just stop?"I just want to quit." And God, because he's orchestrated, because he's led, because he's put Paul here for such a time as this, he gives him a promise. He gives him a word. He tells him, "Hey, Paul, don't be afraid."Keep on speaking because I am with you." Can I tell you this? As we follow Christ, when God puts us somewhere, when he purposely creates a place for us to be and he moves and leads us, here's what we can know. He will be with us. We don't have to be afraid. The problem is when we get outside of his will, does that mean that I will never suffer? No. Does that mean I will never struggle? That I will never be hurt? Not what it means at all. It means that the designed sovereign grace of God is upon you and nothing can go through his hand. Nothing can happen to you that doesn't go through his hand. And so that's exactly what is happening here. And as we move on, we'll see how that plays out. The Bible says in verse 11 that he stayed a year and a half teaching the word of God among them. So he stays another 18 months with this divine encouragement. Now you might be saying to yourself today, so what does that look like for me today? What does divine encouragement look like? What does that mean? Well, certainly God encourages through prayer and scripture, but let's talk about a few ways that we can more in depth understand the divine encouragement of God. Number one is recognizing that God forgives. He encourages us by forgiveness. It doesn't matter what our past has been. We've all made mistakes, but we don't have to be trapped because the God of the universe loved us so much that he sent his son that lived the life that you and I should have lived and died the death that we should have died. And his blood covers us and we are right before God because of Christ Jesus, not because of our efforts. And he forgives us. The Bible tells us in 1 John 1.9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. He makes us right in spirit and in heart as he forgives. He sustains us. Paul writing to the Philippians in chapter four, verse 9, 19 says this,"For my God shall supply all of your needs"according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus."Jesus will sustain us." Again, does that mean hard times will not come? Not what it means at all. It means he will give you the strength and the power. He will meet your needs according to his riches and glory. The purpose for which you were created. And the Bible also says that he shields us. In Psalms chapter five, verse 12,"For you bless the righteous, O Lord,"you cover him with a favor as with a shield." We have the favor of the Lord. It is as a shield. Now, when I have favor with someone, whether it be my spouse, my children, a friend, a family member, when I know they believe in me, when I know that they have my back, when I know that they will stand with me, it doesn't mean, again, I won't have difficulties. It doesn't mean that I won't have hard times or struggles, but I know there's someone who stands with me. I know in whom I can depend. It is a confidence. It is an encouragement. And that's exactly what it means to be within the favor in the shield of God. And God directs us, right? As we trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding and all our ways acknowledge him, he will make the straight your paths. He directs us, he gives us guidance and leadership. His spirit moves as we listen, as we obey, as we respond. And last but not least, he redeems. Psalms 130 verse seven said,"Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord,"there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption." I love that word, plentiful redemption. What does it mean? Your translation might say, "an abundance of redemption." It means that God can take anything from our lives, any struggle, any difficulty, any tears, any heartaches, and he will ultimately redeem it. He will ultimately use it for his good. Now, does that always happen right here on earth? Maybe not. But for his glory, for eternity, he will redeem all pain, all suffering, all heartache, all tragedies of the believer in Christ Jesus, either here or there or both, in abundance, completely in totality. I love that because sometimes when we ask that question, why, Lord, we don't always get an answer, but here's what we've been promised, that there will be an abundance of redemption, plenty's redemption. As we move on, we see here some divine intervention after this promise. Matter of fact, we see divine intervention from someone who doesn't even recognize God. But when Galio was pro-counsel of Achea, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law. Now let's stop there. So Galio, Galio is a Roman official. Matter of fact, history, we have four different historical resources outside of the Bible that tells us that Galio did serve in this capacity and he served in this capacity in Corinth between 49 and 52 AD, which is exactly, Paul's probably here around 51, 52 AD. So Galio has been commissioned, he's been placed here for such a time as this. Does he know it? Does he understand it? Nope, but look what God does. Remember that promise that I'm not going to allow them to hurt you? The Bible tells us right here in this passage that he's being accused. The Jews, maybe even some of the Greeks have grabbed him, they're taking him before the council and they want him punished. They want him expelled. And the Bible says that when Galio hears this, Paul starts to open his mouth and he's gonna try to defend himself. But Galio said to the Jews,"If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vision crimes,"O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint."But since it's a matter of questions about words"and names and your law, see to it yourselves."I refuse to judge on these things." And he drove them from the tribunal. So what's happened here? So you've got a group of people who are really mad, who really want to see Paul punished. They want to see him in prison. They want to see him beaten. They want to see him probably dead. Paul knows this and they grab him as a mob and they take him to the city court, so to speak. It's an outside area and you can still see it today in Corinth. And the council, the man in charge there from the Roman empires and named Galio. And Galio hears this and he goes, "I don't think so."Matter of fact, I don't even want you here."And here's the deal."This guy's a Roman citizen."This sounds like you've got Jewish problems."Sounds like you've got tradition problems."That's up to you." But in doing so, Galio makes a ruling. And from this point on, they in Corinth, they cannot hurt Paul. Now they can lodge complaints. They can say things to him. They can talk about him. But they're not going to be able to put him in prison. They're not going to be able to physically touch him. And so what happens? And by the way, you see the divine intervention by someone who didn't even know Christ or didn't even care. God's using, God's given him that vision. So what happens then? And they, the mob, they see Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and they beat him in front of the tribunal and Galio doesn't even pay attention to this. So what happens? So the guy who's in charge, Sosthenes, who's the ruler of the synagogue, he would have been the lead guy. He's told him, "Hey, let's take him before Galio."Let's do that."Let's get him and maybe we can get him in prison."Maybe we can get him excommunicated,"get him out of here."Maybe we can even beat him." And again, I'm conjecturing a little bit here. And so he tells them that. This crowd goes. They said, "All right, loud."Yeah, let's do that."Let's don't take action yourself."Let's take him before Galio." So they do that. And he gets to Galio and Galio says, "I don't think so."I think you just deal with whatever you want to,"but no, he's a Roman citizen."He hasn't done anything worthy of being punished."So you work out whatever it is that you do"when you disagree with others"and your faith and your Judaism." And so what happens then is that mob that's so angry, they get so mad that they beat their leader. They beat Sosthenes. Isn't that amazing? God's already said, "Hey, look, I'm gonna go with you."I'm gonna be with you."You're not gonna get hurt." Matter of fact, the guy who's gonna lead all this, he's gonna get hurt. He's the one that's gonna take the beating. Don't you love the orchestration, the divine orchestration, the divine encouragement, and the divine intervention of God? And then we're going to skip this next section in the interest of time, and we're going to go to verse 24, where we continue to see the divine intervention and divine impact. There's a guy named Apollos, the Bible tells us. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus, and he was an eloquent man, competent in the scripture, and he had been instructed in the way of the Lord. Apollos, now we read about Apollos a couple of times in the New Testament. Remember how Paul will say in Corinthians? He said, "Look, I planted Apollos watered,"and God gave the increase." So this guy, Apollos, I mean, he's a sharp dude. He's from Alexandria, and Alexandria, Egypt, was regarded probably as the pinnacle of academic knowledge and understanding. It hosted the world's largest library by far, and it was full of books in a time where books themselves were ridiculously expensive. Matter of fact, for a book the size of the Old Testament, it would have taken over 300 sheep. It would have cost 300 sheep to do that, so it's very expensive, and yet this, depending on which scholars, anywhere from a half of a million to a million books are there. People would go there to learn. They would go there to glean. There were great philosophers like Philo there, and Alexander has come up next to this library, being able to study and being able to read even the Old Testament that's translated into Greek, and so he's from a distinguished area, and not only that, he's eloquent. He's a great communicator. He's a great orator, and he's competent. He knows the Scriptures, and he's been instructed. He's had formal training, so get the picture. This guy is a great speaker. He's probably good-looking. He's eloquent. He's a great communicator. He's got charisma. He's Destin Garner, all right? Like he's, you know, like this guy has it all going on, right, and he comes, and God is using him. He's having an impact on people. As he teaches, the Bible says he spoke and taught accurately things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John, and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Now, here's the picture. God has led this man, Apollos, who is a sharp, academic, excellent communicator, full of charisma and stature, to Ephesus, to teach and to preach the word of God, and people hear it, and they're impressed, and he puts himself in a position amongst the believers as he's teaching, and remember Aquila and Priscilla, remember the people that God orchestrated that they be here at such time as this? Now, Aquila and Priscilla are in Ephesus. They were in Corinth, where God used them to encourage Paul. Now Paul has told him to go to Ephesus. They're in Ephesus. Now they're encouraging, in the background, Apollos. And matter of fact, they're from Pontus. That's not a city that had any kind of academic esteem. It's kind of a backwater city, right? But that's where they're from, and they've been with Paul, and they've listened to the Scriptures, and the Bible tells us this, that Aquila and Priscilla are listening to him, and they recognize there's something deficient. There's something not accurate about what he's teaching about Christ. He's been through the John, so to speak, the John the Baptist training. It tells us that. He had the baptism of John. He had heard John who had a tremendous impact on the world at that time before he passed away and continues. And so now he's here, but there's something deficient. He's not been with Paul. He's not been with Jesus. He believed Jesus is Christ. He knows about the death, burial, and resurrection. But whether it's something to do, probably, with the Holy Spirit not understanding how the Spirit works, because he wasn't there when Acts chapter two occurred. He was in Egypt. Or whether it has something to do with not understanding the grace we're saved through faith. We don't know exactly, but we know there's something deficient. So what happens? Aquila and Priscilla, these simple people, they go to him and go, "Look, hey, let me help you here. You have a couple of things that aren't exactly accurate. And here's the miracle. Here's the amazing thing. You know what happens? He listens. He listens. He's got it all going. He's got everything in a bag of tricks, right? I mean, people like that often don't listen to anybody, right? Like everybody, "Ooh, Apollos, man, he's sharp. Man, he's got charisma. Man, he knows his scripture. Man, he knows his stuff." A lot of times, you know, people like that don't get confronted. But Aquila and Priscilla are moved to go and confront him. And then amazingly, he listens. Can I tell you, to experience divine impact in our life, for God to use us outside of prayer and scripture, I believe this to be the most essential trait that we can possess. I think it's the most important thing about us that we can be if we really wanna grow in the knowledge of Christ. If we really wanna see God work in and through and around us. And you know what that is? It's a spirit of teachability. It's humility, certainly, but it's a spirit of being teachable. Are you teachable? Are you willing to listen when someone who cares or someone who knows points out something? And do you invite people like that into your life to speak into your life? You know, I am so blessed because God has given me the opportunity to have people speak into my life and correct me pretty much every week. Thank you, church, for all the ways that you helped me. But can I tell you this? A lot of times, a lot of the things that I've learned have been 'cause people have questioned, because people have asked, because people have lovingly even confronted. And the tragedy is not what happens. It's what we fail to learn from what happens, right? So here's the deal about being teachable. Teachable can be defined into these three words. Are you willing to learn? Are you open? Or do you already think that you know everything? I love that Apollos, he's listening to someone who's less educated than him, who has less stature than him. He's willing to learn. And can I tell you this? I believe that God often speaks not through the great scholars and philosophers of life, but through everyday people living out the gospel. Number two, unlearn. Being teachable means we're willing to unlearn some things that we've learned growing up. And you might ask, well, give me an example of that. What are some things I need to maybe unlearn? Well, all of us have heard things growing up, right? Maybe it was from our parents, maybe it was from the church we grew up in. And if we study enough, at some point, we might encounter that something we heard was not exactly right. And then we have the choice to do this. We can go, well, that's what I was taught growing up. That automatically makes it right. So I'm not gonna listen, not gonna hear that. I'm just gonna move on. I'm not gonna study, I'm not gonna search the scripture, I'm not gonna pray. I'll give you one in my life. My sweet mother, who's a part of our church, she's 90 years old, just probably the biggest influence I ever had in my life. But when I was growing up, my mom would quote a verse to me all the time. I would say it was her favorite verse. She probably wouldn't say that, but I would say, mom, you quote that the most often. And it was this, she would say,"Cleanliness is next to godliness."(congregation laughing) Get in there and clean up your room, young man. Clean up this kitchen, clean up this mess. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Well, when I was in college, I said this to somebody and they go,"You know that's not in the Bible." I'll go, "Oh, yes, it is." My momma quoted it all the time.(congregation laughing) Yeah, I could not find it and went and talked to a professor. And he said, "Yeah, that's not there." And I go, "Good night."My momma been telling me this all my life."It gotta be right if it comes from your mama, right?" But it wasn't. I remember going back and saying, mom, you said that this verse, where is that in the Bible? And she goes, "I don't know." I said, but mom, actually it's not in the Bible. She goes, "Are you sure?" I said, "Yes, ma'am." She goes, "Well, it should be." So that's the way we're gonna live. That's right. (congregation laughing) Okay? Some of us just need to unlearn things that we've heard. We need to be open that God can work and adjust and reframe and help us to re-understand some things that we have lodged in our mind that it's just easier to just roll on with. Now, I'm never gonna talk, I'm not talking about tenets. I'm not talking about the non-negotiables of the gospel. I'm not talking about that there is a God that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And we are not at peace with Him until we come to the place where we recognize Christ, who is God in the flesh, and live the life that we should have lived, and died the death that we should have died. And through the death, burial, and resurrection, He covers our sin. And the righteous of Christ Jesus is applied to our lives. Those are tenets, non-negotiable. You don't have to think about it. You just affirm them, you believe them, you pray them, you live them. But there are teachings that are important, and it's important that we read Scripture. It's important that we have interpretations. But we also recognize sometimes there are some things that we may misunderstand or that we may be wrong on. I've shared with you before, there's a pastor that used to be down the street, he was a great guy, very well-educated, but we had a difference of interpretation on several issues. Not on the tenets, not on the big ones, but on baptism, on church leadership, and even about communion and what it meant. Does that remain he's not a Christian? Nope. That means that one of us is not right, okay? Now I think I'm right, and that's what we think, and I think Scripture shows that, but that's not what he thinks. But you know what I have to do? I have to have an open hand, right? Recognizing, hey, we're going to teach, preach, and live out the tenets of the faith, and then we're gonna study to show ourselves approved that we need not be ashamed. Rightly divide the word of truth, the teachings of Christ, and how we apply that, and we are open when necessary to being corrected. Can I tell you this? You know where we really learn, at least I do. Where I really learn the most is from my failures, when I just completely drop the ball, when I'm just completely wrong. That God gives us this gift of failure to make us look up, and to make us trust Him. So being teachable is learning, unlearning, and relearning truth. That's what teachable means, and to have divine impact, that's what's necessary. And the Bible says in verse 27, and when Apollos wished across to Achea, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed. For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that Christ was Jesus. I love how Apollos is used to impact the lives of so many, as he listens to God, and as he listens to godly counsel. And that's what you and I must do today. For God to impact, for God to work, and to use us. We need to put ourselves in a position where God can do that. We need to put ourselves in position to receive godly input. That's why it's so important that we come to church together, that we do groups together, that we serve together. God often speaks through the body of Christ. We often learn and grow, not just through individual, but through talking it out, and having questions, and listening with other believers, and particularly with godly counsel. Number two, for God to work in our lives, and to impact our lives and others, to be teachable, we must accept correction and learn from failure. Now, boys and girls, I'm going to read a verse of scripture to you, and I don't want you to use this word inappropriately, and listen to your parents, whatever they tell you about using this word, okay? So I'm just gonna give a little disclaimer right now, and it's Proverbs chapter 12, verse one. And this word is not used very often in scripture, so when it is, you need to really pay attention, but here's what it says. Whoever loves discipline, loves correction, loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Here's that word right there. Do you think the proverb, the writer of Proverbs, do you think he was trying to communicate something here? I think so. I think this is meant to sting a little bit for you to grasp it. He's saying, look, if you're not open to feedback, if you're not letting people in your life correct you, if you're not putting yourself around people who can speak into your life, and you don't, or when they do, you don't listen, then you're being stupid. Okay, I won't say that word again, parents. But you see the strength and the power and the magnitude of how important it is that we allow people to speak in their eye, and number three, act on what is given after Apollos heard this, after he corrected, he goes and he teaches it, and he shares it, and God uses him mightily. We see from this passage that God's work has been happening as he divinely orchestrates, as he divinely encourages, as he divinely intervenes, and we see the divine impact. You know, in our world today, it's easy for us to find ourselves just falling for whatever the world or whatever the narrative that we read and hear the most, we can find ourselves falling into that trap. And the enemy who's always pushing, the darkness that's always pushing in, we just have to recognize and be careful that that's not possible, that's always occurring. So what do we do about that? Well, here's what he often does for believers, he tries to get us to do something called projecting. Some of you sociology, psychology, people know exactly what that is. We want to get focused on something else we don't like, and not listen to what we do need to listen to, and not do what we need to do. So we get sidetracked, right? The enemy gets us to project upon something else. He gets to, you've heard this before. Well, yeah, I believe God, I believe the gospel, but what about all the evil in the world? What do you do about all that? What do you do with evil? Or somebody says, well, it's just hard for me to really believe and believe this is really relevant today,'cause look at all the suffering that's going on in the world today. And people will project, or someone will say something like this, they'll say something like, well, you know, I mean, what about people who haven't heard the gospel, and what about people with special needs that don't understand, what does God do then? I mean, you know, if we're all sinners, and we all are responsible, how does God handle all that? Well, you know, it was amazing this week, literally this week, just a few days ago, one of our special needs ministers, Amy, sent me this email. And I just found it incredibly fascinating and convicting. She said, she's telling the story here, did I ever tell you about my cousin's daughter, Lucy? Her parents, her family are all unbelievers, and they're actually hostile toward Christianity, hostile about anything that has to do with Jesus. They have an older daughter, Lucy, whose special needs, she's nonverbal, she's never been able to talk or communicate in any manner. But they came across this special program, this spelling program, where she can use her large motor skills, she can use her hands to move things, and is able to communicate by moving these things. That's more complicated than what I'm telling you, but it's a special technology. And now she's able to communicate on some level. And come to find out, Lucy said she knew who Jesus was, and that she had a relationship with him. And they began to, again, talk through this technology as she uses her hands, her large motor skills to move. And she tells them, yes, I believe in Jesus, just I know Jesus, and some of my friends who are nonverbal, they do as well. And remember that her family not only doesn't go to church, not only Christian, they don't even believe it and they're hostile toward it. And so they begin to talk, like, where did you hear this? Like, how did you come to this? And you know what she says? She said, "Jesus came to me in my spirit"and revealed himself." And she believed and accepted. She's never spoken, she's never written, and God has come to us. Can I tell you this? We get so worried about what if, what this, what that, when the truth is, God is on the move. He's working in and around us. The question is, will we join him as believers in Christ Jesus, as he orchestrates, as he encourages, as he intervenes, as he impacts? Will you pray with me? Dear Jesus, thank you for your great grace that's been afforded to us. Lord, thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit that is not confined to our boundaries of words, our boundaries of understanding, but Lord, it's not by our might or our strength, but it's by your spirit that you are working, that you are revealing yourself, that you are orchestrating, that you are intervening, that you are encouraging, and that you are impacting the world that we live in. Lord, if there's one today that has not put their faith in you, I pray this would be the day that they transfer their trust to what you've done through the death barrel and resurrection. Lord, for believers who are struggling or wondering, God, are you really there? Are you really working? Lord, I pray that you would encourage them through your word. You would encourage them through the power of the Spirit that they might understand, even in my weakness, you are strong. That your Spirit prevails, and it's not by my works, but it's by your Spirit. Let that become, Lord, the slogan of our life is we trust and believe in you. In the name of Christ, we pray, amen. If you're here today and you are ready to trust Christ, if you're ready to begin that relationship with him, I would encourage you to do that. We still have leaders down front. Also, we have cards in the back of each seat. If you're visiting with us, would you take one of those cards out and fill that out with as much information as you're comfortable? And if you have a prayer request or a question, member or visitor, if you wanna know about faith, baptism, anything, we can assist you with, write that on there, and you can give it to one of us at the front, or you can put it in the offering basket on the way out. Also, if you're online, you can click on that link right there, and there's a minister who would love to pray with you or connect with you in any way that you would wish. And then we encourage you to give as an act of worship as well. And you can do that online, or you can do that in offering boxes as you leave. But as God speaks to you, you respond.