Trust In The Lord! (Part 1)

Trust in the Lord! (Part 1)

Acts 18:1-8

Sermon by Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - Sept. 5, 2007

*Do you trust God? Do you really trust God? Bob Marcaurelle made this great point about trust:

If I yell up to you in the middle of the night, that your house is on fire; I do not want you to sing praises to me, tell me how much you love and trust me, and go back to sleep. I know you trust me when I see you run out the front door with a kid under each arm. I know you trust me when you obey me. (1)

*That’s the kind of trust God is looking for in our lives. And we can trust Him!

-The Apostle Paul proves that to us tonight as he moves into Corinth.

1. So first, trust God to work through political troubles.

*God is able to work through political turmoil and troubles. And that is exactly what He did in vs. 1-2, where we read that, “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 all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.”

*A.T. Robertson tells us that this happened about 49 A.D., because “the Jews were in a state of constant tumult” about Chrestus.” (2)

*Some of the Jews were rioting in opposition to Christianity, and the Jews were already unpopular in Rome. So the Roman Emperor simply had them all expelled. That was a terrible thing for those families who were uprooted, and mostly innocent of any wrong-doing, but God used it to bring Aquila and Priscilla together with Paul.

*God did a very similar thing in Luke 2:1-6 to make sure that Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem for the birth of the Savior, as prophesied. “It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.”

*Riding on a donkey, if they even had a donkey, from Nazareth to Bethlehem was probably the last thing that Joseph wanted to do with a very pregnant wife. It was probably the last thing that Mary wanted to do. But God worked through a corrupt and godless government to bring His promised plan to pass. And He can do the same thing today.

*We have the wonderful blessing of living in a free country. Most of the people in most of the world throughout most of history have not had that blessing. But God was and is still at work. Terrible things are going on all over the world. How would you like to be a Christian living in Saudi Arabia or Iran tonight?

*Jim Sandell recently gave this report to worldnetdaily:

Christians in neighborhoods in northern Pakistan are alarmed over letters they received “inviting” them to abandon their Christian faith or be killed. The unsigned threats began arriving several weeks ago according to sources in the area. They threatened bombings if the believers did not convert to Islam. Each of the areas where the letters were received has a population of around 2,000 Christians. (Most of those are labeled Christian, because of their family background, not because of their faith.)

*Though the original deadline in the letters passed without incident, a government official says Christians are still wary of the threat. Kamran George, a Peshawar government member told a news service, “These letters sent a wave of fear and uncertainty among the Christian residents of these areas.” (3)

*I hope you have begun praying every day for the Hindko people in South Asia. They are close neighbors with the frightened Christians in this story. We have some more of the Prayer Guides right here. Wednesday’s prayer request is: “Pray that a movement would rise up among the Hindko women, that they would reach their children and husbands for Christ by sharing within their homes.”

*Political repression is going on all over the world today. Early this year Bob and Myrna forwarded an email from the Russian Pastor who spoke at our church.

*Dear brothers and sisters!

-Yesterday night one member of our Russian team (Sergey) was stopped by the police in airport in Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan). He got an official paper that he can’t come to Uzbekistan anymore. They didn’t give any explanations and sent him back to Russia.