Equipped for Every Good Work

2 Timothy 3:10-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Our natural inclination is to think of a good work in a self-oriented way.  It is good if it helps me.  Yet, in this case, we are talking about good works that are defined by God.  They are works that He has for us to do.  Essentially, this is being an ambassador of His loving purpose for those who do not know Him.

In this passage, we have an older apostle, Paul, who is encouraging a younger Christian, Timothy.

Timothy had first learned to work alongside of Paul in ministry.  Later, he had learned to minister on his own without Paul present.  Yet, Paul could still connect with him later and write letters such as this one.  Paul has come to the realization that the end of his life is near.  Read 2 Timothy 4:6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Thus, Paul’s work will come to an end while Timothy’s continues.  Knowing this, Paul takes time in this letter to encourage Timothy for what lies ahead.

Let’s look at our passage.

Timothy carefully followed Paul (v. 10-12)

Earlier in this chapter, Paul pointed out that there would be perilous times in the last days.  He then describers the sinful things that will be happening.  So, when he gets to verse 10, there is a contrast between such people and Timothy.  Timothy was following Paul.

Just a side note, though it will be bad in the last days, not all people will be like that.  There will be a remnant of believers like Timothy who are following the example that has been set before them.

Some might think that this is a contradiction within Paul’s teaching.  He had warned many times against simply following men, yet here he commends Timothy for following him.

This is not a contradiction.  In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul clarifies what he is actually saying here.  “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”  Timothy had not been taught by Jesus.  However, Paul had been.  He received the Gospel and the Way of the Lord from Jesus and had trained Timothy in it.

Paul commends Timothy for doing well by following closely, or carefully.  Many Christians are not being careful about how they live their lives.  We are to follow the Lord, but God has put people in our lives who are spiritually mature in order to help us grow.  People are not saved in a vacuum.  There are those who have been on this path of becoming like Jesus for a while and can help them to learn the ropes of following Jesus.

Taking care and following closely involves paying attention and seeking understanding from God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and older saints.

Paul then lists various aspects of his life that Timothy was following closely: his teaching, manner of living, and his purpose.

Paul’s teaching, or doctrine, was received directly from Jesus.  He emphasizes this several times in his letters.  The Apostles were not teaching their own ideas.  Jesus had revealed the truth to them about what God was doing, and now they were teaching it to others.

Paul’s conduct or manner of living is next.  It is the idea of the course you are on and the way you live.  It is not detailed, but his letters speak for themselves.  How do you live your life?  We need to be a people of the Word of God, a people of prayer, a people who are seeking and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Timothy had also followed Paul’s purpose closely.  Paul lived to do the will of Jesus, not his own.  In fact, Jesus showed us this by only doing the will of the Father.  This is what the Lord’s prayer is all about.  “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is not just praying that other people do it.  It is asking God to start in you.  It is God’s will that we be conformed into the image of Jesus, who is the perfect imager of the Father.  Romans 8:29 tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.  How can we do this?  We do this by faith and the help of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s list continues, but becomes more about virtues that Paul exampled, and Christ commands.  Faith in Christ and the message of the Gospel is ultimately faith in God.  The next word is translated variously as patience.  It is a term that pictures patience as a long fuse with people and God.  A follower of Jesus should learn to control their temper.  Love is next.  Christians are to even love their enemies.  Of course, that does not mean that we condone everything they do.  Rather, we speak the truth in love and pray for their repentance.  Lastly, the word perseverance speaks of remaining under a heavy load in the midst of a tough calling.  When you serve Jesus, you will face some difficult things, things that test whether you are going to keep serving the purpose of Christ.

It is important to understand that the Gospel is not just about having a get out of jail free card.  It involves becoming like Jesus in our morals and life choices.  We can only do this by the help and power of the Holy spirit.  None of us do it perfectly, but as we keep our trust in Jesus, he perfects us.

Paul’s list then goes into the area of persecutions and afflictions (verse 11).  He mentions Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.  In Acts chapters 13 and 14, we read about Paul’s time in these towns on his first missionary journey.  It was in Lystra that Paul had been stoned to death, and yet God spared his life.  On his second missionary journey, he meets Timothy in the area of Lystra and Derbe.  Timothy’s mom and grandmother had most likely become Christians.  However, they were Jewish.  They had taught Timothy the Scriptures from childhood (2 Timothy 1:5).  Before Paul’s arrival, they would have emphasized to Timothy the need to obey the Word of God while waiting for the Messiah to come.  Yet, Paul’s mission was to declare that Messiah had come.  It was in great affliction that the Gospel came to the area where Timothy lived.  Paul commends him for following his example in facing these.

They were not seeking out affliction and trying to instigate persecution from others.  Yet, they did not let the threat of persecution intimidate them in general, or in specific situations.

Verse 12 drives this point home.  “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  It will be different from one place to another and from one time to another.  Yet, it will happen.  If you follow Jesus, those who refuse to follow him will not like it.

Thus, believers must be careful of trying to protect their lives (their goods or their body) at the expense of the work of God, which is to reach lost people.  They can’t believe and follow Jesus if they never hear about who he is, what he has done, and what he will do for those who trust him.

Of course, we are where God has put us.  We may not face physical persecution, but it is here nonetheless.  Timothy didn’t shrink back and quit when he ran into it.  When we suffer for the sake of Christ, we are stepping into an elite group of righteous people down through the ages.

His course was not with evil men (13-15)

It is easy to go with the flow of society.  Paul does not envision the world becoming more and more like Jesus.  Though Christians are victorious in reaching the lost, the sin of this world will grow worse and worse.  Technology can enhance the evil that can be done, but there is another way that things become worse.  The Gospel is good, but to reject such a clear light is to damage yourself morally.  You become worse because you have rejected something that is even better than what had been revealed before it.

Paul speaks of two categories of those who will grow worse and worse.  The first is simply evil men.  It is clear that he is speaking of those who are outside of the Church.  The word translated as evil is broader in its range of meaning than our English word.  It’s root points to the pain that sin causes in the life of the sinner and those who they affect.

The second category is imposters.  These are those who are in the Church, but they are only pretending faith.  In the end, they are living for their flesh, but work to cover it up.  Paul had warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29-30.  “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves [from outside] will come in among you, not sparing the flock.  Also from among yourselves [inside] men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

We must not be shocked by these things, but instead, learn to face them in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Church hasn’t been perfect through the years.  Much of it is because of imposters.  Yet, you have a personal responsibility for yourself and the Christians around you.  We must learn the Word of God for ourselves.  We need to pray and seek God so that we will know Him for ourselves, so that we can do the acts of faith that God has desired for us to do.

In verse 14, Timothy is told that he must remain in what he has learned.  The word for remain is the same word used in John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you…”  This is the picture of dwelling in a place.  We are to stay living in Christ.  It is a living connection that Jesus pictures with a branch connected to the vine, a life-giving connection.

This is not just about content of information.  Timothy has learned Jesus Christ from Paul, but he has also learned Christ from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.  These all work together for our good.

Paul then reminds Timothy of the godly people who were used by God to teach him.  First, there was his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, which are mentioned in the first chapter of this book.  They had taught Timothy the Old Testament (the New Testament didn’t exist yet).  However, Paul then came along and taught them all the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah.  He became a spiritual father to Timothy.

You may hear this and think to yourself that it isn’t fair that you didn’t have such things.  Maybe your parents and grandparents were avowed atheists.  This reminds me of the argument often made by atheists to Christians.  They will charge people with only being a Christian because they grew up in a Christian home.  Of course, this is not a logical argument.  Many people raised in Christian homes are no longer Christian, and many people raised in atheist homes are Christians now.  Your hope is not based upon a perfect scenario, and you are not thwarted in faith by having a bad situation.  It comes down to this.  What will you do with Jesus?  Yes, your parents may have taught you wrong or abused  you.  But still, what will you do with Jesus?

We can hold on to imperfections in others and in our life as an excuse, but the truth is this.  You can believe in Jesus no matter how bad your life has been.  People are saved from all kinds of mindsets and situations.  The good news is that you don’t have to have anything to have Jesus.  You only need to trust him over everything else.  In fact, the Scriptures warn us that we will have to be prepared to let go of everything in order to have Jesus.

He must be a man of the Word of God (v. 16-17)

Moving forward, Timothy would need to be anchored in the Word of God.  Paul reminds Timothy that Scripture is inspired, literally “God breathed.”  The content came from God.  Yes, men wrote it, but they wrote what God inspired them to write.  The purpose of the Scriptures is to point us to Jesus so that we can believe.  In fact, Jesus is the ultimate Word of God.  It is he who goes forth from the Father in order to do what the Father wills.  May the Word form this same attitude and purpose in us.

Part of why Timothy should be in the Word has to do with its profitability.  It will bring good into our lives.  It brings good teaching.  It also brings reproof.  This word has the idea of convincing, or proving, what the Spirit is saying.  It is also good for correction.  Who doesn’t need correction?  The Word is our rule and guide for this.

Lastly, the Word trains us in righteousness.  Of course, when it comes to salvation, only Jesus has acceptable righteousness.  But, through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will use God’s Word to teach us the right things to do.

The goal of this is to be fully equipped for every good work.  The goal is not to get a degree with many letters after our name.  It is to equip us for whatever we may need to do.  It is not so that people can remark how perfect we are.  It is so that we can reach the lost and lead them to Christ.

You may feel like you are not equipped enough to do this.  You may feel like the pastor should do that.  However, God made you to be an ambassador of His good love for them.  Like the woman at the well, we can have only minutes of faith in Jesus, and yet, tell everybody we know about Jesus.  We can be used by God to reach others.

God has things for you to do.  Will you do them?  Will you seek Him for understanding what they are?  This is what is needed in these last days.  Let us throw off sin, and put on the righteousness of Jesus!

Equipped audio

The Kingdom of God- 6

Subtitle:  Serving a Crucified King

1 Corinthians 1:18-31.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Resurrection Sunday, April 20, 2025.

We have been talking about the Kingdom of God.  It is important to see the events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as foundational to all that we believe as Christians, but particularly about the Kingdom of God.

There would be no Kingdom without the appearance of King Messiah.  Yet, when he comes, his foundational act to set up his kingdom is dying and rising again.  This would have been very perplexing to a Jew of the first century.  This strange kingdom that is now, but not yet fully, was always God’s plan A.  It is not a plan B.  God is trying to teach us something through the way that Messiah Jesus fulfills the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, we are citizens of a kingdom created by a crucified Lord.  It is not easy serving a crucified king because you are misjudged, maligned, and rejected by a world that is not looking for a crucified savior.

If you are going to serve Jesus, then you will have to swallow your pride, let go of the accolades of this world, and pick up your cross and follow him.

Let’s look at our passage.

The message of the cross (v. 18-24)

We need to keep in mind as we go through this that Paul is writing to Christians in Corinth about their penchant to operate with the wisdom and power of this world.  They had grown up in a world of Greek wisdom and Greek power.  Of course, it doesn’t matter what nation or part of the earth people are from.  All of these things are worldly wisdom and worldly power.  Essentially he is trying to convince them to embrace the wisdom and power of God.  Jesus is the very Wisdom and Power of God.

Of course, the believers of Corinth had believed in Jesus.  They were Christians.  However, their choices and actions were contradicting their professed faith in Jesus.  They were mixing God’s word with their own culture, and not in a good way.  Paul goes back to the fundamental issue of how God had provided salvation through Jesus, and why He did it that way.  He is also making it clear that you cannot follow a crucified Lord with the thinking of this world.  They are antithetical to one another.

Verse 18 talks about the “word of the cross.”  This is similar to the way we might say that we want to “have a word with someone.”  It is more than one word.  It refers to a main message that the cross is intended to represent to us.  It speaks volumes about the purpose and intent of God’s plan of salvation.

The cross was necessary to remove sins and provide a covering for them.  We should pay attention to this.  Why did it have to be this way?  Essentially, the cross shows us just how bad sin is.  It is so bad that it requires God to become a man and die on our behalf.  It also shows us what it takes to please God.  A person who believes God will not retreat in the face of laying down their mortal life.  A person who retreats from faith under threat to their life cannot please God.  Jesus was pleasing to God.  Not because of his horrible suffering, but because of his unflinching faith in the face of the horrible persecution of the wicked.  Like Noah (much greater than Noah), Jesus found grace in the eyes of God the Father.  He offers up his sinless life as an offering for humanity, and God the Father puts him in authority over the universe, heaven and earth.

The devil counts on you balking on following Jesus because you are so afraid of losing something, even your life.  Yet, if the Christian dies, God has not failed us because the resurrection of the righteous was always His plan.  He is fulfilling His promises, not just to you, but to all humanity.

When we look at the message of the cross, Paul says that it is foolishness to those who are perishing, but the power of God to those who are being saved.  Of course, those who are being saved used to be those who were perishing.  The message of Jesus and the cross is part of God’s way to break through to a person’s heart and mind.

We can understand why the cross would be a shock to people who were from other nations and followed other religions.  Yet, the cross was a shock even to Israel.  Yet, in that shock, they would have to embrace the message of a crucified lord (savior) over the top of their impression that it was weak and foolish.  Of course, we could not do this without the help of the Holy Spirit.  Yet, a person must make a real choice.  This was hard for religious Jews, just as it was for Gentiles (religious or otherwise).  No one has it easy.

To believe in Jesus and to live as he commanded us is simultaneously to become a fool to the world around you.  No one likes being labeled a fool by others.  However, God didn’t desire only to save us.  He has a purpose in this.

Verse 19 goes to the heart of why God requires us to embrace a crucified savior.  God doesn’t only want to save us, but He also wants to destroy the wisdom of the wise in the way that He saves us.  Paul quotes from Isaiah 29.  This passage is not written about Gentiles.  Rather, God is chastising Israel for her unbelief.  They had given lip-service to God, but had developed a system by their own wisdom that was contrary to God.  What God intended for good, they had turned into a system of harm.  Doing God’s things with our wisdom is a common tendency for humanity.

Their wisdom had so perverted the things of God that He was intent on destroying their wisdom and cleverness.  He would save humanity in such a way that it would make a spectacle of their wisdom.

The same mechanism works in the political realm.  No matter how good t he principles of a society are, if we only give lip-service to God (as we use our own wisdom), then we will pervert that system and use it for our own gain, for our own ends.  This is the basis of all human wisdom and power.  It takes the things of God (He created all things), and it twists those things to the “satisfaction” of ourselves, regardless of God’s purpose in it.

In verse 20, Paul tells them that this is what they were seeing in their day.  The great wise men of Israel and the great wise men of the Gentile world, the scribes and debaters of the world, were not used by God to save humanity.  They were woefully ignorant of what was happening.  And, they were even used by God in their ignorance to bring about salvation by crucifying Jesus.  They don’t get credit for it because Christ’s death saves in spite of what they were trying to accomplish.  I mean, they weren’t trying to cooperate with God.  They were trying to do the opposite.

Is that any different than our day?  Can we not see that the wisdom of this world, whether religious or not, is still dismissive of what God is doing?  The cross begs the question, “Whose side are you on?”  Even some within the Church today have continued down the same path that these Corinthians were following in the first century, and the same path that the Sanhedrin was following back then.

We can say that we believe in Jesus as the Christ, but are we following him with the wisdom of our modern age?  Are we “following him” by employing his things with the power of man?

In verses 22-23, Paul recognizes that the false wisdom of Jewish people was for different reasons than the false wisdom of the Gentiles.  Jews want a powerful sign from God.  Whereas, the Gentiles want something that sounds wise to them.  Yet, God gave them both a crucified Messiah, which was a stumbling block to those who want powerful signs and foolishness to those who want something that sounds wise to them.

In order to embrace the cross, a person has to die to their own wisdom and power, and the wisdom and power of this world.  This is the only way to salvation.  You can ignore it and walk on by Jesus because it looks foolish and weak.  However, he is the wisdom and power of God displayed for all to see.

The wisdom of God versus the “wisdom” of men (v. 25-31)

Paul then takes some time to explain the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of man.  Another way to look at this is the wisdom that comes from God (from above) versus the wisdom that is not from God (within us, down here, even from hell).

James 3:14-15 says it this way.  “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.”  Notice those last descriptions of the false wisdom.  It is of this world, of our own flesh, even of the devil.  This is the same enemies that I pointed out several sermons ago.  It is a wisdom that comes from our enemies to separate us from God.

We must always ask ourselves, “What is the source of my wisdom?”  If it is not sourced in God, then know this.  God is determined to destroy any wisdom that is not rooted in Jesus, and him crucified.  However, the good news is that you don’t have to be destroyed with your bad “wisdom.”  You can let go of it.  You can let go of the world’s wisdom, the devil’s wisdom, and even your own self-made wisdom, in order to receive Jesus, the wisdom of God that comes from above..

In verse 25, Paul is not saying that God sometimes actually does foolish things and other times actually does wise things.  The same is true of the “weakness of God.”  Everything that God does is absolutely wise and powerful.  However, Paul is talking about our impression of what God does.  Our judgment of what God is doing is sometimes impressed with what God does, and other times it is not impressed.  We declare it to be foolish and weak. 

Yet, the way that Paul states this slams the point home powerfully.  The things that God does that seem foolish to us are actually greater than our greatest “wisdom”- remember it is we who call our thoughts wise.  Also, the things that God does that seem weak to us are actually stronger than our greatest “strength.”  If we reject His wisdom and power for something else that we think is wiser and stronger, then we will be just like the Corinthians: worthy of rebuke from our Lord!

In verse 26, Paul reminds them of how they believed in Jesus and the kinds of people who were being saved in Corinth.  What kind of person let’s go of the wisdom and power of this world in order to embrace God’s “foolish and weak” salvation?  In general, it wasn’t the wise, powerful, and nobles who were believing.  It is easier for me to let go of the wisdom of Plato than it is for Plato to let go of the wisdom of Plato.  It is easier for me to let go of the power of the United States of America than it is for the powerful people in our Republic.  In truth, it is hard for us all, but not impossible.

If God asks you to give something up, it is so that He can give you something better.  However, sometimes, He asks us to give something so that He can teach us how to receive it back in the right way.  God is concerned with dethroning the idols of our heart that are revealed in this way of salvation.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with being educated and having power in this life.  But, we can let those things divert us from the wisdom and power of God.  We must submit all things that we have to God and let them take their proper place in our life submitted to the wisdom and power of God.

In verse 27, Paul talks about God choosing the “foolish” to shame the “wise”, choosing the “weak” to shame the “strong.”  Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus steps out of the “wise and powerful” class and steps into the “foolish and weak” class (that is, according to the world). 

God knew that this would be the case.  In eternity past, He saw this and chose to help those who would become foolish and weak in order to shame the wise and powerful.  Of course, shame is not the end of the world.  In our shame, we can see our need of Christ and His wisdom.  The grace of God is present when sinful things are brought to the surface.  In our shame, we can finally die to the things that are pulling us down into destruction.   It is in truly seeing our shame that we are enabled to embrace the message of the cross.  God does not call us to stay in our shame, but following Him will cause you to carry the stigma of shame because of the world’s judgment of you.

Paul then ends this section with an anthem to Jesus.  Jesus is the wisdom of God, the righteousness of God, the Holiness of God, and the Redemption of God (v. 30).  There is no hope for these things outside of Jesus and his “foolish and weak” way.

We should boast in no man, but the LORD Jesus!  This is not to put anyone down, but rather, to put Jesus up above in the place that he deserves.  Yet, today, the Church has become full of men and women that we boast in.  We are like the foolish Corinthians and in need of deep repentance.

The message is the same to us as it is to the world.  Humble yourself.  Divest yourself of the wisdom of the world and worldly Christians.  Refuse to follow the path of power developed by the strong.  Pick up your cross and follow Jesus, regardless of what others say.  And, may the Holy Spirit show us all the ways we must die to ourselves, die to the world, and die to the devil, in order to bring forth the power and salvation of God!  This is what it means to serve a crucified Lord.  It means being a crucified servant.

Serving a Crucified King audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 92

Subtitle:  Shipwrecked

Acts 27:21-44.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 16, 2025.

We are going to continue with Paul on his storm-tossed journey to Rome.  But before we do that, I want to share some similarities and contrasts between the Apostle Paul and the prophet Jonah.

Both of these men were tasked by God with taking a message from Him to Gentiles and their king or kings.  Paul of course has a scope that is much larger than Jonah who was only sent to the capital city of Ninevah.  They both end up in a storm that threatens their lives, but are spared by God in order to deliver their messages.  Finally, they both end up in water that could kill them, but are helped by God.

Yet, there are some big contrasts between Paul and Jonah.  Paul goes toward his task as a willing voice to the Gentiles.  Whereas, Jonah is running away from his meeting as an unwilling voice to the Gentiles.  We could add to this that Paul has a heart of love for the Gentiles (not wanting them to perish), and Jonah wants the Gentiles to be destroyed.  Paul is taken in chains by others to his task, even though he would freely go.  However, Jonah uses his freedom to flee from the task.  Of course, there is great irony in this.  We can see that spiritually Paul is the man who is free and that Jonah is the man who has a spiritual bondage to vindication.  We also see that the storm is sent to chastise Jonah for disobedience.  Whereas, this is not the case for Paul.  The storm only helps people to see God’s mark of approval upon him.  Finally, Paul is happy to see Gentiles saved, but Jonah is sad that they are spared.

Of course, a person could come up with more.  All of this gives us insight into the thorny ground of wanting justice from God while keeping true to His heart towards all people.

Now, let’s get back to our passage at hand.  We left them on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, caught up in a storm so powerful that they are throwing stuff overboard to save their lives.

Hope is given (v. 21-26)

Verse 20 ended with the statement that all hope was gradually being lost.  However, God had different plans.  When we are in hard and difficult times, we can be tempted to complain about them.  Yet, their situation when from hard and difficult to an existential crisis.  They had come to believe that they were going to perish in this storm.

It is at this time that God speaks to the men through the Apostle Paul.  Paul encourages them and gives them hope in this time.  However, this would not be a hope of circumstances, what their eyes could see. 

Our hopes are generally pinned on what we can see, what seems most probable.  However, Christians are told to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Now, that passage is not telling us to ignore the things we can see and to suspend our thinking.  Rather, it is calling us to remember that God is greater than all of the things we can see.  Such a hope is something that is deeper than what we can see.  In a situation absent anything that gives visible hope, a man stands up and says he has been given hope by God, a word from God.  Of course, this begs the question who is this guy.  Men like Luke, Aristarchus would draw great hope from Paul’s words.  He has proven trustworthy to them.  Perhaps a man like Julius the centurion would also draw some hope.  Perhaps everyone else would simply draw hope from the courage it took for him to stand up and say that there is still hope.  Regardless, Paul stands up and speaks hope to them, “after many days” of fighting the storm and going without food.  All told, they would spend 14 days fighting this storm.  We don’t know how close to the end that Paul received his message.  I would think that God did it at just the right timing. 

As Christians, all of us would like to receive a concrete word from the Lord.  However, when God uses someone else to speak into our lives, we are generally not as thrilled to rely upon it.  We balk with the thoughts of how trustworthy they are.  We even balk at whether we think it is possible or not.  This is not a game of “hearing things from the Lord,” as if we are trying to see who can get the best record.   God speaks into every situation generally through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.  However, from time to time, He will speak specifically.  If God has given a word, then it will bear out to be true every time.  If you have been in a situation where you think that God spoke something to you, or someone else told gave you a word from the Lord, and it failed to happen as was said, then the failure wasn’t with God.  You have to go back to God in prayer and humble yourself.  Perhaps you jumped to conclusions about what the word meant.  Look closer.   Perhaps you wanted something so badly that you let your imagination get away from you. 

What we have here is a man who has faith in what God has said, and it will bear out exactly as God told him.

Paul gives the classic I-told-you-so, but it is not given in a vindictive spirit.  Rather, he is really trying to help them.  “You didn’t listen to me before, but listen to me now.”  He is coming alongside of them to encourage them.

We have to be careful not to let our spirit become bitter when people don’t listen to us.  People are free to choose and learn their own lessons.  Yes, your ego may have been hurt, but God is not working in order to spare your fragile ego.  Perhaps we fear that our experience is overly tied to how they respond.  Listen, God is quite capable of helping you regardless of who listens to your godly counsel.  Yet, the foundation question is this.  Am I truly giving godly counsel?

Essentially, Paul tells them that no one will die, but the ship is going to be lost and destroyed.

It is then that he describes how the word of God came to him.  A heavenly messenger spoke to him that very night.  The message is this: don’t be afraid, you must speak before Caesar, and God has granted you all those who sail with you.

There are two things here.  First, the message is really to Paul and about what he will experience.  He doesn’t need to fear because God wants him to appear before Caesar.  Yet, it is also clear that Paul has been praying for the lives of these sailors, soldiers and passengers.  God has heard his prayer and is granting him this request.  I don’t believe the angel is sent to convince Paul that he will survive.  Rather, he is sent to assure Paul that all the others will live.

This is important because Paul shouldn’t even be there in one sense.  He was unjustly arrested without due process, and he is protesting trumped up charges about Jewish religion.  Their salvation physically is going to be due to the intercession of this man.  This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about them.  God cared enough to put His special man on their boat.  As God spoke to Jonah, we can see here.  Jonah didn’t care about Ninevah, but God saw 120,000 people who couldn’t even distinguish their right hand from their left hand spiritually.  They were lost and in the dark, but God cared about them and sent Jonah, sent Paul, sends you and me!

Paul understands this.  He was a man who was supposed to have the light of God, but was absolutely clueless to the truth, until God had mercy and showed him the light.  How much more are these Gentiles worthy of a hearing who have only known darkness and lies?

Paul gives them his conclusion.  They should keep their courage (take heart) regardless of how tough it is going to become.  We don’t always receive such information from God.  When we are in difficult situations, part of us may want to use that to accuse God.  However, faith is not found in knowing the future.  Faith is found in knowing the One who not only knows what will happen, but can work it to our good in impossible ways.

The real question is this.  Do I really know God?  If I do, then that knowledge will help to strengthen my faith, as well as the Spirit’s help.  Yet, this kind of knowing is a knowing of experience.  I can know what God’s word says, but I need to experience times of trusting God (or failing to do so) and finding out that He is trustworthy for myself.

The sailors attempt to save the ship (v. 27-38)

As we said, these men have been caught in this storm for nearly two weeks.  Regardless of when Paul told them this message, the sailors try everything they can (probably with the help of all able-bodied passengers) to save the ship.

We are told that around midnight the sailors sense that they are approaching land.  Even though it is pitch dark with howling wind and rain, they probably hear the sound of the waves dashing against something other than the ship and other water.  Years of sailing had attuned their senses to recognizing that distinct sound.  Was it wishful thinking, their mind playing tricks on them?  Regardless, they were convinced enough to take some sounding with a plummet line.  They soon discovered that the depth went from 20 fathoms to 15 fathoms.  They were sailing towards shallower and shallower waters, which is a hallmark of land.  All ships have a certain depth of water that they can sail in without the bottom of the boat bottoming out.  To keep this from happening, the command is given to throw out anchors.  This is dangerous because of the wind and the waves.  Yet, they had to try something to buy them time for a chance to make it to land.

Some of the sailors used this command as a pretense to try and escape on a small skiff, a lifeboat.  However, Paul recognizes what they are doing and warns the centurion and the soldiers that none of them will live if those men do not stay with the ship.  This may seem strange, but in 2 Corinthians 11, we are told that Paul had been shipwrecked three times and had spent a day and a night in the water.  He had spent a lot of time traveling on ships, so he knew that they were not throwing out an anchor.

Why would Paul say that the soldiers would not survive if those men didn’t stay with the ship?  This does not seem to have been a part of the earlier angelic message, but it may have been something that Paul did not mention.  It is also possible that the Holy Spirit prompted Paul’s mind in the moment that this was not part of God’s plan.  Think about it.  They are buying time for a shot at navigating any rocks and making it to land.  For these sailors to abandon ship in this moment, is to leave the rest of the people to sure death.  It would take everyone of them just to have a hope of getting to the shore.

This is where we should recognize an important fact.  These men’s skills would not be used to save the ship, but they would be used to help get the ship to a place where the people could make it to land.  God wanted to save the men of the ship, but He also wanted to use these sailors, at least partially.

This brings up the mystery of how God uses our actions at times versus sending a miracle.  We could call it the miracle of God including our efforts, even those of unsaved people. 

He wants us to do what we can even when it will never be enough.  Imagine a disheartened dad facing his inability to do a good job with his kids.  He may recognize that he is not up to the task and is failing these kids in many ways.  So, what then?  Do we just quit?  Don’t give up in such situations.  There is a sense in which none of us are enough for every relationship and purpose that God gives us to do.  However, God is not only able to use our weak and feeble attempts, but He intends to use them.  He intends to use your weak efforts, not just to help your kids, but to help you.  In the midst of your weakness, you will find God’s assistance as you give yourself to the task.  You will find yourself growing in ability, but even more, in faith that God can and does work through you and in you.

As it gets close to daylight, Paul encourages the men to eat food for their strength.  “Not a hair from the head of any of you will be lost!”  Yet, pay closer attention to how Paul presents the bread to them.

Luke’s phrasing about Paul giving thanks and breaking the bread suggests that this was also treated as communion for the Christians on board (Luke and Aristarchus).  There is something spiritual happening here as they prepare for the final push to survive.  God is using Paul to implant in the minds of all of these men this crazy man giving God thanks for bread when their lives were in danger.  They don’t know God, but they now have experienced life with a man who does know God.  These 273 (276 minus Paul, Luke and Aristarchus) souls are being touched by the God of heaven who cares for their souls.

At this point, sensing that this is their last chance at land, they send the last of the cargo (the grain) over into the sea.  This would lighten the boat and give them the best ability to steer the ship and maneuver to land.

They fail to save the ship, but God delivers them (v. 39-44)

These men will fail to save the ship, but God does not fail to save their lives, at least physically.

Once there is enough light to see, they make a run for the beach.  This involves putting up the mainsail and cutting away the anchors at the same time.  They don’t recognize the land, but they do see a place on land that is their best chance.  As they put up the sail and cut the anchors, the ship lurches forward.  At some point, they become stuck on a sandbar (often these also have clay under the sand).  The wind and the surf begins tearing up the back of the ship.  It is time to abandon ship and pray to make it to the shore without drowning or being dashed against the rocks.

Things are happening fast at this point.  They will need to swim for their lives.  We are told that the soldiers were preparing to kill the prisoners.  This was common policy for Romans and many cultures of the ancient world.  Those charged with the custody of a prisoner pledged their own life for the life of the prisoner.  If they lost a charge, then they would be put to death.  In situations where there was no way to guarantee their custody, prisoners would be put to death.  Yet, God has been working on Julius the centurion.  He normally would be okay with killing the prisoners, but he favors Paul.  Thus, he tells his men not to kill the prisoners.  Of course, then it comes down to how much they trust him.  They had to respect him enough to follow such an order.

The instructions are quickly given.  Those who can swim are to jump in first and make for land.  Others are to grab a board or something from the ship so that they can hopefully float to shore.  I love the phrase, “so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.”  This was a miracle; but even more, it was a miracle that Paul had proclaimed well in advance.  Paul had testified and witnessed to the fact of his God’s grace for them all.

In the end, the greatest shipwrecks are those that metaphorically happen in the lives of people, individuals, groups and even Republics.  Paul uses this metaphor in 1 Timothy 1:19 for a shipwrecked faith.

Sometimes there are things in our lives that God does not intend to save, even though He intends to save us.  This can bother us.  We are so used to serving Him with those things that it can be unclear just exactly what we are trusting.  Satan tested Job in this way.  God wouldn’t let him kill Job, but he could take away many of the good things in Job’s life.  Would Job curse God and die?  Did the things mean more to him than God?  These are the questions we face as we do life with God.

God always intends to save the souls of people.  The loss of ships and things in our life are not proof that He doesn’t care.  Rather, He cares about much bigger things (like eternal salvation) than we often do.  No matter what we face, God wants to save us, to save our family, to save our church, to save our State, to save our Republic, to save our world.  He is not willing that anyone perish.  So, He is working every day to the ends of saving everyone’s soul.  The real question is do you have enough faith to stand in there with Him like Paul did?

When you face a time of losing things, don’t ask God why He is doing it to you.  Rather, put it on the altar and let Him know that He means more to you than those things.  Then, ask Him what it is that He has for you to do in this situation so that other might know who He is.  Yes, sometimes our trials are just as much about the people watching us go through them than they are about us.

Shipwrecked audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 90

Subtitle:  Almost Persuaded

Acts 26:19:32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on February 2, 2025.

It is not common for a person to put their trust in Jesus the first time they hear the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  We can be stubborn in our ways, and thus resistant to it.  However, we can also be resistant to change even when we know that it is the right thing to do.  We may say to ourselves:  “Not now,” “I’m not ready,” “I have too many fun things to do” and “I’ll get around to doing it later.”

When people come to that place of making a decision it is much like coming to an intersection.  You need to make a choice, and there are many reasons why you won’t come to a stop and deeply ponder the choice.  At the moment, you sense that there is something real to this message.  You believe that it really is God touching your heart and mind, drawing you to Himself.  However, regardless of our choice, that moment passes us by.  It becomes easier to keep doing what you were doing before.  

The flesh does not like being in this awkward pinch of admitting our life has been lived unrighteously and that we are in need of God’s saving grace.  It will do anything to resolve the tension of the moment and get back to normal, whatever that is.  The danger here is that God’s conviction comes and goes.  We can let it pass and miss the opportunity for the time being.

Yet, God in His grace gives us an undetermined amount of time in this life to come to our senses and put our trust in His Messiah, the Lord Jesus.

Today, we will look at a man who was almost persuaded, but almost is not enough.  Let’s look at our passage.

Paul addresses King Herod Agrippa II (19-23)

We are picking up at the point of which Paul has told the account of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Verse 19 is where he turns from the story the encounter to speak about his response to that event.

It would be easy for us to read that account and think to ourselves, “If Jesus did to me what he did to Paul, then I would believe.”  Of course, this is easier to say than to do.  Many people have experienced powerful moments where they saw miraculous things and believed God was speaking to them.  Yet, later, after the moment had passed, they began to doubt it.  They think that it was just a subjective, psychological event instead of a real encounter with God. 

Our response to the overtures of God is critical.  He puts intersections in our path, whether we know it or not.  As we cruise through these intersections, our decisions determine whether we embrace Jesus and step onto the path of blessing, or whether we remain upon a path of destruction for ourselves and for others around us.

Paul let’s Agrippa know that he believed and obeyed the heavenly vision he received that day.  He went into Damascus, where his plan was to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial.  Yet, his purpose was changed.  He waited for the Christian Ananias to pray for him, and then he began preaching to the people in Damascus to become Christians.  He preached to Jews, but he also preached to Gentiles.  Jesus was God’s Anointed man not just to save Jews, but Gentiles too.  This is a different Paul with a different purpose.  He was now about the purpose of Jesus.  When you live for your own purposes, you stay the same person in general.  There may be some hiccups and drastic moving around of the props on the stage of our life, but in the end, we keep going in a direction of wasting our lives on the lesser things of pleasing our flesh, satisfying our momentary desires.  However, to live for the purposes of Jesus is to become a very different person who is on a very different trajectory.

Paul preached a message (verse 20) of repentance, turning to God, and doing works that are appropriate to one who is repenting.

Repentance is essentially having a change of mind.  In this context, you are having a change of mind about how you have been living your life, i.e., for pleasing yourself.  However, it is not enough to just change what pleases you.  This is not a repentance that saves.  It only puts you on another dead end path.  Repentance must move to the second part of the message, turning to God.

All of our self-choices lead us away from the path of God, but they also lead us away from relationship with God.  We are not just talking about things that God wants you to do, and things he wants you to refrain from doing.  We really need to stop ignoring God, or even being hostile to Him.  We need to learn the wisdom of yielding to His great wisdom like a child recognizing that their father knows best.

It is from this relationship that we can express the third component of Paul’s preaching.  We do works that are appropriate to repentance, or fitting for it.  It is not enough to change how you talk about God.  Those who repent want their lives to become like Him and their lives to accomplish His purpose.

This last point is not to imply that we cannot make mistakes, or have weak moments of doubt or temptation.  It really is a calling of a person’s bluff.  You can say that you believe in Jesus, but if you continually refuse to listen to all of his words, then you are kidding yourself and trying to deceive others.  You do not believe in Jesus, but rather, you believe in the Jesus of your own making.  Let’s be clear.  No one makes it into heaven by perfect performance.  But on the other hand, you are not going to fake your way in.  You either live for the purposes of Jesus out of a relationship with him, or you don’t.  It is as simple as that.

Think about it.  The love of God sends Christians across the path of individuals in order to wake them up to this need to repent.  He continues to do this over the top of the many times that we stiff-arm the moment and continue on in stubbornness.  He continues this to our last mortal breath.

Paul then says that he was seized in the temple and nearly killed because of this obedience to Jesus.  Yet, God helped him so that he could keep testifying to the life changing truth about Jesus. 

The help of God doesn’t always look like an angel appearing and slaying all of our enemies.  Sometimes it comes in the form of a pagan, Roman commander who is only concerned about keeping his own job.  Could God use a bureaucrat when you are sucked into their little fiefdom of power?  You bet He can.

We have seen this help throughout the book of Acts.  It was not about removing all difficulty and bad things from Paul’s path (the path of Christians).  It was a powerful help, but not one that insulated us from all that feels like it is harming us.  Paul would eventually be helped into the presence of God through martyrdom in Rome, but his time was not yet.  In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul takes the time to enumerate some of the difficult things that happened along his way.  We already talked about how he was beaten in the temple in Jerusalem.  However, what about the time in Lystra where he was stoned by the crowd and left for dead?  God helped him that day.  He didn’t’ die.  Yet, he still felt the pain.  He was still rejected and moved on to another city.  Paul suffered many things for the cause of Jesus Christ.  Yet, he learned to trust the path that Jesus was leading him on.  In the 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul then moves to speak about a physical malady that he suffered.  He prayed for the Lord to heal it, but the Lord told him “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Think about that.  If we never had any difficulties, then God’s power would not be what He wants it to be.  It would be lacking somehow.  It is not lacking power because God is omnipotent.  But the power is enhanced in our lives when we have weakness.  The weakness here is not talking about moral weakness, but even that is a testimony to the power and greatness of God.  Paul then states a lesson he had learned, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.  “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  He is strong because the power of God uses it in ways that we don’t see, and in ways that we would rather not see.

If you think that God is not being fair and that it is cruel to not remove our sufferings, then just remember that he too walked this life and suffered.  The power of God was displayed in what looked like a weak man named Jesus.

Many today disregard Jesus as a weak message that must be rejected.  They think of the effect of his message on society as a weakening of that society.  But, they are wrong.  In truth, they are seeing the power of God and rejecting it, at least for now.  Still God’s grace works to convict their hearts of their error.

So Paul testified to Jews and to Gentiles that the prophets of the Old Testament had said these things would happen to the Messiah.  First, Messiah would suffer, and second, the prophets said that the Messiah would raise from the dead.

The Anointed Savior would suffer on behalf of our sins.  This is all through the prophets when you have eyes to see.  Even the promise in Genesis 3:15 of the Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head has a promise of suffering for him.  The serpent would do the same to his heel.  This may sound like a lesser blow, but a bite from a poisonous viper can be a mortal blow, even in the heel.  What about Psalm 16?  David prophesies that the Messiah would not be left to the grave and see decay.  Hmmm, sounds like some suffering would occur.  What about Psalm 22?  In the midst of existential suffering, something happens that is so great that the whole world will be amazed.  It even speaks of all those who died worshiping him.  Of course, the powerful passage of Isaiah 53 is shocking in its description of Messiah’s suffering.

The third things is that Messiah would proclaim light to the Jews and to the Gentiles.  He would be a healer of the breach and lost inheritance. 

Even though this is highlighted throughout the Bible, some people had too much to lose to believe in Jesus.  “The Romans will come and take our power away!”  Yet, in refusing to embrace Messiah by letting go of their power, they missed Messiah and still lost their power.  In the end, they lost everything, and many even lost eternal life.  “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”  (Mark 8:36).

Paul is interrupted (v. 24-32)

Festus cuts Paul off and declares that he is mad.  He has apparently had enough of this babbling about Jewish prophecies and Messiahs.  It is also possible that he is quite uncomfortable with this powerful moment.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is touching his heart, and his flesh is kicking against the goads.

The devil is always looking for useful tools to break up God’s convicting work in others.  The interruption of Festus breaks up the flow of Paul’s defense for following Messiah Jesus.  Yet, Paul brushes this aside deftly.  He tells Festus that he is not mad, but speaking sober truth.  We know what truth is.  Paul is not lying.  However, the word translated sober has the concept of a sound mind that is self-controlled and not under undue influence.  Paul is in his right mind and dealing with reality, not some hypothetical, prophetic fantasy.  He is in full command of his faculties as he speaks the truth.

Paul then quickly turns the discussion back to Agrippa.  Agrippa is his true target because he is well versed in these issues and knows that Paul is not talking gibberish and out of his mind.  Paul then puts a rhetorical question to Agrippa.  “Do you believe the prophets?  I know that you do.”  He doesn’t get into all the different rabbinic schemes for how Messiah would come and what all he would do.  But, Paul knows that Agrippa has at least a rudimentary acceptance that there is something to these prophecies.  There is truth in them.

Paul has given Agrippa evidence that demands a verdict, and so, Paul is not just asking Agrippa if he has a general belief in the prophets, but whether he believes Jesus is what those prophets was talking about.  This is the question that Paul is putting before Agrippa.  Are you ready to join us Christians in believing Jesus is Messiah?

The response of Agrippa can be summed up by saying that he is not ready to join the Christians in this believing Jesus stuff.  He literally says, “In a little, you persuade me to become a Christian.”  It is traditionally taken to mean that he is almost persuaded, but not quite.  Others see here an ironical statement or even a question.  Do you persuade me to be a Christian in such a little time?  Whether Agrippa is close to believing, or actually stiff-arming Paul, the net effect is still the same.  He is not persuaded.

The truth is this.  You cannot almost believe in Jesus.  You either do or you don’t.  The term Christian here needs to be understood in its context.  It was a term of derision about a heretical group that was being quashed by the religious leaders.  Agrippa may even be shocked that Paul could consider that he would join this outcast group.

There is an old hymn called Almost Persuaded.  Here are a few of the verses:

 V. 1: Almost persuaded now to believe; Almost persuaded Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, Go, Spirit, go Thy way; Some more convenient day On Thee I’ll call.  Comment: notice that the decision is put off to a more convenient time.

V. 3: Almost persuaded, harvest is past!  Almost persuaded doom comes at last!  Almost” cannot avail; Almost is but to fail! Sad, sad, that bitter wail, Almost, but lost!

What a powerful statement.  Almost is but to fail.  When the question is put to people, it goes through their mind what it would mean for them to become a Christian.  To follow Jesus and live for his purposes would upend the life of everyone who does it.  What would it mean if you became a follower of Jesus?  In how many ways would your life be “ruined?”  Paul lost a career among the most prestigious Pharisees.  He lost a life of wealth, comfort and the accolades of the powerful men of society.  Yet, he gained Jesus!  He gained the favor of God the Father.

None of us can save people.  Paul couldn’t save Agrippa, but the Spirit of God was there to help Agrippa if he wanted it.  The rest of the story for Agrippa is not important to us today.  Did he ever come to faith in Jesus?  There is no record of that.  However, the key for you or for people to whom you witness is this.  You can’t always know how much the Holy Spirit has prepared a person to hear.  We must be faithful to plant the seeds of truth, water those seeds with more truth, and yet, only God can bring in the harvest.

People need to face the question.  What will you do with Jesus?  Will you now believe and follow him?   Yet, we must also know that this is a work of the Holy Spirit.   Through prayer, we can learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes we may be silent so that the Spirit can incubate the message.  However, other times, we need to put the question before people, nudge them to make a decision, rather than letting the flesh just fall back into its routine once the moment has passed.

May God help us to be fully persuaded and be used of God to persuade others.

Almost Persuaded audio