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“Don’t Quit Now!”
A Lesson in Facing Discouragement
Acts 18: 1-11
!
Introduction
* *
*Illustration: *
I wanted to begin tonight by reading a section from a classic book on taking on new challenges in life.
The book is entitled “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” by T. S. Geisel, who most now better as Dr. Seuss.
You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights.
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to such heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because sometimes you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true
That the Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickly perch.
And your gang will fly on; you’ll be left in a lurch.
You’ll come down from the lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a slump.
And when you are in a slump, you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
*We all have “slumps” at times.
*There’s probably not one of us here tonight that hasn’t, at some time or the other, wanted just to throw up our hands and quit.
For whatever reason … pressures, difficulties, burdens … you’ve just felt like quitting.
The challenge is that “Un-slumping yourself” is not easy to do.
Would it surprise you to know that some of the greatest people in the Bible experienced discouragement and wanted to quit?
In fact, perhaps the most influential person in Christianity aside from our Savior was a man who got discouraged at times.
His name was Paul.
Let’s look at one of those episodes in *Acts 18:1-11.*
Have you ever felt like quitting?
Giving up?
If so, you’re not alone.
Sooner or later we all will hit the wall of discouragement.
When we do, we may be tempted to quit doing what we know is the right thing to do.
*I.
Some Common causes of discouragement:*
* *
*1.
Exhaustion*
* *
The condition of the physical body can effect your emotions and your spirit.
Somebody said that the spirit, soul and body live so closely together that what effects one effect the others.
When the body is tired it is very difficult for the emotions to feel up and strong.
It’s hard to feel spiritually the way you would desire to feel.
Paul was probably tired.
It may be that he had not had sufficient time to recover from the beating he took in Philippi.
And now in Corinth he’s working as hard as ever.
(*vv.
4-5) “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to*
* persuade** Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came from*
*Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching,*
*testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”*
* *
!! Reasoned
!! Trying to Persuade
!! Devoted himself exclusively
* *
!! All those verbs are imperfect in the original language, indicating
*Paul’s unceasing, persistent, tireless efforts.*
* *
On top of that we learn from the first few verses that Paul was working at two jobs.
He was not only preaching, he was supporting himself by working with Aquila and Priscilla as a tentmaker.
Some of you know about that … you’re stretched thin because of the heavy obligations and the hard work.
Maybe you’re looking after a parent, or handling the parenting job all by yourself.
You may be a prime candidate for the slumps.
*2.
Failure*
* *
* *Remember Paul has just arrived in town after the 50-mile trip from Athens.
Things didn’t go all that well for him there.
*He preached* his heart out, *did *his best to communicate the gospel clearly, and while he was met with some success, he left the city virtually untouched.
He left Athens without a church.
And while we might applaud the noble efforts of Paul, you have to believe that he was discouraged at the results.
It may surprise you to know that some of the people who have made a great mark in history at times experienced great failure.
*Illustration:* He had every reason to quit.
When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to support them.
At the age of 9 his mother died.
At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk; wanted to go to law school, but lacked the education.
At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.
At 26 his partner died, leaving him with a failed business and debt that took him years to repay.
At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him and she said no.
At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be reelected.
At 41 his four-year-old son died.
At 45, he ran for the US Senate and lost.
At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.
At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost again.
At 51, he was elected President of the United States.
Anyone guess who it was?
Abraham Lincoln.
*3.
Opposition*
When you hit the wall of opposition and obstacles, and you don’t see them budge, it’s easy to get discouraged.
There was opposition from the Jewish leaders in the city that didn’t want anything to change.
Their traditions were being threatened.
On top of that, the city of Corinth was exceedingly wicked.
He was confronted with sin so open and so hideous that morally degenerate lifestyles were the norm.
It’s discouraging when you see the unrelenting presence of evil, when you sense that the forces of darkness are sending troops to defeat you.
I’m convinced that the fiercest opposition we encounter in life is spiritual.
v Job was attacked by Satan to try to get him to quit serving God.
v Satan assaulted Jesus in the wilderness.
What was the purpose?
To keep Jesus from trying to do the Father’s will.
To get Jesus to quit early in the game.
v Paul’s thorn in the flesh, described in 2 Cor. 12 is said by Paul to be a “messenger of Satan” designed to torment him.
One of Satan’s most devious tools is to discourage the people of God.
He fights, he opposes, he twists, he confuses, and he lies … all because he wants you to quit.
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