ENCOURAGEMENT TO A TROUBLED SOUL

Acts 18:9-10 ... "And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.'"

      Having established congregations of the Lord's church in Philippi, Berea, and Thessalonica in Macedonia, Paul proceeded on south into Greece as far as the great commercial city of Corinth. He made this trip alone, for Timothy and Silas stayed in Thessalonica to help the church there become stronger. A strange mood seems to have seized Paul's mind as he reached Corinth, for later, when he wrote an epistle to them and reflected on the beginning of his ministry there, he said, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." That mood of apprehension and fear became an impediment to his work for the Lord, so much so that it appears he was reluctant to preach in his usual manner of courageous boldness. The Paul who was fearless to face down an angry mob in Ephesus, (Acts 19:28-31), was afraid to speak out for Christ in Corinth where it seems there had been no resistance or threat against him at all. The text above is the inspired record that the Lord saw the need to speak to Paul in a night vision to boost him out of this trench of fear and encourage him to resume his ordinary style of aggressive evangelism.

      We do not know what came over Paul to induce this fearful paralysis. Like Peter walking on the water to Jesus, did he suddenly become self-conscious and begin to think about the waves of potential trouble sweeping all about him? Having disregarded awful dangers in Thessalonica, Philippi, Lystra, Jerusalem and Damascus, did he fail to remember that the Lord was always his companion in spirit? at least until the Lord reminded him in the vision at night? Sometimes God's servants are suddenly gripped by fear for reasons which they themselves do not understand. After a long time of working boldly for the Lord, even against hostile forces, they one day lose courage to do even easy tasks when no opposition faces them. Perhaps it is just a manifestation of our human weakness, facilitated by deepening humility, as we grow in the Christian graces.

      The Lord, however, does not want His servants to be hindered by fear for long. A brief bout with this paralyzing emotion is beneficial in teaching the Christian that he ought not "to think more highly of himself than he ought to think," (Rom. 12:3), but when that lesson is learned the mood should be overcome. Something of this sort happened to the prophet Elijah. After a most courageous public ministry in opposition to the king and queen and the prophets of Baal in their promotion of idolatry, Elijah was suddenly terrified when Queen Jezebel threatened his life. In fear he fled Israel and did not stop until he had crossed a barren desert and taken refuge in a cave at Sinai. Then the Lord took measures to snap Elijah out of his mental oppression. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" the Lord twice asked him, (I Kgs. 19:9,13), as though to say, "Elijah, I did not commission you as My prophet to hide in a cave four hundred miles from home!" Then He commanded, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Syria," (I Kgs. 19:15). Although this was a commission to strike fear into the prophet's heart, since Syria was Israel's mortal enemy, Hazael was her military commander, and Elijah was, in effect, inducing a man to overthrow the reigning king and seize his throne, the prophet proceeded to do it fearlessly. The Lord's encouragement indeed "put his heart back into him." The same was the case with Paul in Corinth. And the same will be the case with the timid Christian today who takes his fear to Jesus in prayer.

THE TERMINAL POINT OF TIME

Acts 17:31 ... "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed."

      It is said the ancient Greeks believed in what is called a "circular view" of time.  After the passage of a vast number of years, an "aeon," history begins to repeat itself. The events of an aeon duplicate those of the preceding one. When Paul came to Athens and spoke on Mars Hill before the assembly of Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, he introduced them to a new concept of time, which is called the "linear view." According to it, time moves in one direction along a line from a definite incipient point to a definite terminal point. The initial point is the creation of the universe by God, (Gen. 1:1); the terminal point is that referred to by Paul in the above quotation. Its occurrence will be marked by the appearance of "a Man," Jesus Christ, in the zenith of the sky with a host of accompanying angels, (I Ths. 4:14-17). Cataclysmic events immediately follow, including the resurrection of the dead, (Jno. 5:28-29), the dissolution of the universe in "intense heat," (II Pet. 3:7-12), and God's judgment of both men and angels, (Rev. 20:12; Jude 6). From the beginning of time backward was eternity past, and from the end of time onward is eternity future. Eternity signifies infinite duration. What we call "time" is therefore only a finite segment of the infinite line of unmeasured eternity.

      Paul's revelation to the Greek assembly did not explore the details of this novel truth in opposition to their former understanding, for he made only this single statement regarding it. Rather, he called attention to the need of everyone to make preparation for this climactic "day," which God has already "fixed," when He will judge each and every human life. We are now somewhere moving along the timeline toward that special day, and are much closer than 2000 years ago when Luke wrote these words of Acts 17:31. Our forward course is inexorable; nothing can alter the progression thereof but God, who will terminate it. Human infidelity, doubt, and denial cannot stop it. Neither our ignorance of it nor indifference toward it can change it. In Acts 17:30 Paul said that "having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." The End is coming whether we know it or not, whether we admit it or deny it, whether we ignore it or seriously contemplate it.

      The present age is one of lack of faith and denial of Biblical revelation, but even universal accord in such denial in no way changes the substance of reality. There is this admonition given in II Pet. 3:3-4, "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'" Scoffing at Biblical revelation and public questioning of divine announcements does not make them null and void. It is easy and simple to deny any proposition, especially if spoken by one who is noted for great mental ability. A denial of truth, however, does not make it false. The future in becoming the present will prove which is real, the proposition or the acclaimed denial. Many people resolutely deny there will be a Final Judgment, because there is great relief in the conclusion that they will never be held accountable for how they behaved in this life.

      The choice of whether to believe anything is an ability God has granted us the liberty to exercise. But God has also endowed us with a mental capacity called WISDOM; and when allowed, wisdom will counsel you to believe that this earth will not always be here and that its dissolution will come with God's judgment of man. Wisdom urges you to live each day with a view toward the time when "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," (II Cor. 5:10). This spiritual sensitivity will guide you in thought, in speech, and in conduct. It will motivate you to interpret life within the context of God's grace and then reverence God whose Presence is all pervasive. It will also regulate your interaction with people about you, (Mat. 25:31-40). It is the ultimate tragedy of human life to wait until the Final Judgment to concede that it is, after all, a reality, (Rom. 14:10b-12), for then it will be too late to prepare for it. In lovingkindness and great mercy God has revealed to us the approach of this Terminal Point of Time.