Join us as Charles Stanley delves into the teachings of Apostle Paul on how to navigate the tumultuous seasons of life. Through scriptural reflections, we uncover lessons on loyalty, bravery, and unwavering faith that empower believers to stand firm amidst life’s greatest challenges while feeling assured by the omnipresent support of God.
Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, August 14th. Are you facing a difficult season? If you are a follower of Christ, take heart. God is with you, and He will give you the strength not just to endure, but to thrive in the midst of adversity.
SPEAKER 01 :
When you face some difficulty, hardship, or trial, or maybe some crisis in your life, what is the first emotion that you feel? Is it fear or is it courage? And if you find yourself in that same circumstance for a period of time, which one of those attitudes or those emotions prevail? One of them is going to dominate your thinking and therefore is going to affect how you act, what your behavior is. And all of us are going through difficulties and trials and hardships and crises in our life. And so we have to decide how we’re going to respond. And the Apostle Paul gives us the key to that when he writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy, if you’ll turn there. In this fourth chapter, there is a passage here that’s just full of wonderful, wonderful assurance and confidence for us in this fourth chapter and beginning in the ninth verse. Let me give you a little idea of what’s happening. Paul has just given a testimony to Timothy when he said in verse 6, I’m already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I’ve fought the good fight. I’ve finished the course. I’ve kept the faith. And then he talks about the fact that in the future, he says, there’s laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not to me only, he says, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Then he says, recalls something of his past. And in recalling something that happened in him in his past, he gives us the key to being able to face our difficulty, our hardship, our crises, our suffering, our pain in a way that is courageous. And if you’ll notice what he says beginning in verse 9. He says, make every effort to come to me soon. But Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Croesus has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me as a servant. But Tychicus I’ve sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak, which I left at Troas with Carpus and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the carpessmith did me much harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed their teaching. And then listen. At my first defense… no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles may hear. And I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Now, all of us are going to face difficulty, hardship, and trial. All of us are going to face those crises in our life. For example, it may be as a result of your ministry as a pastor. It may be as a result of somebody in your family or something that happens in your family. It could be your finances. It could be your vocation, whatever your vocation may be. It may be in regard to some relationship that you have or some goal that you set, some dream, whatever it might be. We’re all going to face those things. But the issue is, God, how am I going to respond to them? Listen to what he said, beginning, if you will, in verse 16. At my first defense, that about happened about three years before, no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them. Can you imagine that? Here he was, the man who had led so many of them to Christ, who’d established the church. who had had an awesome influence upon their life, no doubt transforming their lives. He taught them the truth. He preached the truth. He explained the truth. No one ever had such insights in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul. And now, at the most crucial, critical moments of his life, when his life hangs in the balance, he stands before this Roman tribunal to give an account and to be able to bear witness and to be able to defend himself. And at the key moment in his life, The one very important moment that he so desperately needed his friends, desperately needed those who had heard him, who knew what he believed, who knew the truthfulness of his witness, who knew what kind of man he was. He needed their support and he needed their testimony. And what does the Bible say? Paul said to Timothy, he says, at my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me. Now, what was his response? You say, well, he wasn’t even disappointed. Yes, he was. How do I know that? Because, listen, this man was human. He was very human. You think he wasn’t disappointed? Yes, he was disappointed. And yet he says, you know what? After he got over his disappointment, he said, may it not be held against them. That is, he forgave them. and probably thought, well, you know, I can understand maybe they were afraid of what may happen to them if they supported me. Maybe they were afraid of what might happen to them if they said, yes, we believe what this man believes. And so I believe Paul tried to understand the circumstance, but certainly had to be disappointed, certainly had to be a little hurt that those whom he thought he could count on were no longer there in the most crucial critical moments. Listen, there are circumstances and situations in the life of our friends. that may be extremely difficult and extremely testing and trying. That’s when your friend needs you, not when things are going well. That’s when they need you. That’s when, listen, it is not just a reflection upon our friends when they go through difficulty. It is a greater reflection upon us when we don’t stand loyally, faithfully beside them, undergirding them, praying for them. And listen, not at some distance saying, I’m going to pray for you. but rather putting your arm around them a warm handshake a big hug, but a one, listen, a very unmistakable, assuring statement. I want you to know I’m going to stand with you. I want you to know that I’m going to be there. I want you to know that I’m praying for you. And I want you to know you can depend upon me. All of us have been in circumstances where we needed that. Now, when a person doesn’t get that, what do they feel? How do they respond? Well, we don’t know exactly all that the apostle Paul must have felt. But sometimes the person, when they feel like they’ve been deserted or people have been disloyal, they feel a sense of worthlessness. That is, you know what? I don’t guess I’m worth anything. I guess my life just doesn’t count. My friends aren’t here when I need them. My friends aren’t here when I need loyal support. They’re not here. And so they feel a sense of worthlessness. They don’t feel like something happens to their personhood. It damages their personhood. Or it may be that their response is blame and condemning someone else because maybe they weren’t there. Or it could be, and I think this is what happens to many people, they just suffer in silence. They just pull it in, suck it up, press it down, and hold it to themselves, which is very damaging to them. Or it may be that they can say, you know what? I understand. They just don’t seem to have the courage to take a very firm stand. And so there are all kinds of ways for us to respond. But God wants us to respond no matter what others may do. He wants us to respond courageously. boldly, unfaltering, unwavering, no matter what that circumstance may be. Does that mean that we’d reach some spiritual stage in life where we’ll never have any fear? No. That we’ll never have any anxiety? No. We’re all going to be hit sometimes from the blind side, unprepared, and not expecting something to happen in our life. And all of a sudden, we may get knocked off our step, knocked off the path. But how long do we stay down? It’s a matter of getting up, recognizing what is going on in our life, and watching God do an awesome work. So with all that in mind, what I’d like to do is to give you, out of this passage of Scripture, four simple points. And I want to encourage you to write them down because I can assure you that there’ll be enough trials, difficulty, hardship, pain, suffering, crises in your life that you’ll wish you remembered this very, very simple point. but profound truth in this particular passage listen to what Paul says beginning now in verse 16 he said it my first defense no one supported me but all deserted me may it not be counted against them but he says the Lord stood with me and strengthen me in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear And I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. When he says delivered out of the lion’s mouth, that was his way of saying that he was freed from any accusation and was not condemned and did not have to go through probably what would have ultimately cost him his life. That’s what happened the first time. He says, they all deserted me, but listen to this. He says, the Lord stood with me. Now, if you took that word stood and examined it, here’s what you’d find. It will mean oftentimes that something was placed at his disposal. God made himself, listen, available to Paul at that moment. He was there to help him. He was there to serve him. He was there to undergird him. He was there to overshadow him. He was there, listen, to support him. He says, but the Lord stood with me. I believe, probably, if there’s only one, it could only be one, the most important thing I need to know, the most important thing I need to feel, the most important thing I need to sense in any difficulty, hardship, trial, suffering, or temptation, is that my God is with me. He is with me. I need to know that more than I need to know anything else in life. Others may desert you. Others may fall over the wayside. Others may leave you in a very difficult, trying, painful time in your life. But one thing for certain, we have a God who is with us no matter what. and as he stood there feeling emotionally naked probably no one that he gave him support encourage him listen just seeing their faces sitting out there if they had never said a thing and oftentimes when you’re going through some difficult situation somebody doesn’t know what to say they don’t know how to respond just being there maybe a smile whatever it might be just their presence no one was there all deserted him all of a sudden he recognized that though he stood bare before that tribunal, he was standing in the presence of the Son of God, whom he had met on the Damascus Road, who blinded him, who gave him his sight, who called him into the ministry, who had enabled him throughout these years, and now he stands in the presence of the tribunal, and all of a sudden his fear of them dissipated. Why should he be afraid of men when he stood, listen, when God Almighty stood beside him? This was the sovereign God of the universe. This is the Christ, the Messiah, sitting at the right hand of the Father and recalling more than likely many things that he told other people. Now he was bringing them back to his own thinking. Who is this tribunal that will judge him when the ultimate righteous judge will be his final judge? stood in his presence, no doubt remembering what our Lord said when he said, as you go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I’ve taught you. And he says, and I’m going to be with you even to the end of this age. How could he ever have forgotten that? Could never forget it. There he stood. In the presence of Almighty God. Listen, it doesn’t make any difference if no one stands beside you. One thing for certain, God always will be there. Now, how do I know that? Somebody says, well, because God is omnipresent. He’s over here and He’s over yonder and He’s back there. No, He’s not. He’s omnipresent, all right, but He’s not over yonder, over here, and over there. Over yonder, over here, and back yonder are all in the presence of God. Because He’s omnipresent, every single thing that exists is always in existence in the very presence of Almighty God. Listen, you can’t escape His presence even if you want to. And as the psalmist says, where would you go? There’s no place to escape His presence. There’s not a question of whether I’m in the presence of God or not. The question is this, am I able to sense Am I able to feel? Am I able to perceive? Am I able to believe that in the presence of the enemy, in the presence of difficulty, hardship, and pain, though I can maybe sometimes see objectively and maybe I can see physically what’s going on, what I need to know above what I can see is who I can’t see that really matters. And that is the capacity to do it. Now, In those moments when you and I feel the trials and the difficulty and the pain and the pressure and the stress and the strain of it all, we have someone who stands by our side Remember what Jesus said to the disciples in the upper room? He said, I’m going to give you the Holy Spirit. He’ll be in you, with you, and upon you. In you, with you, and upon you. He’s going to be there. He says, I’ll always be there for you, in your behalf, no matter what. And the truth is, this is the witness of God all down through the years. For example, as I think about other servants of God in the Scripture, and what went on in their life, I think about certainly Paul remembered them, but I think he also was in the process of recalling what had God done in his past. Look, if you will, in the 18th chapter of Acts. 18th chapter of Acts, and Paul is giving us an example here of something going on in his life in Corinth. And He had been preaching the gospel there, and things got a little heated up, as they normally did, wherever Paul was. He was like a firebrand. Wherever he showed up, something was about to happen. One thing about the apostle Paul, you couldn’t ignore him. You either hate him or you love him, but you couldn’t ignore him. I wonder how many people can ignore us. We need to be the kind of believer that you can’t be ignored. I know some folks in our fellowship here who love the Lord, and their testimony and their witness is so strong, you can’t ignore them. You start ignoring them, they’re going to tell you how to get saved, just like that. And so, believers should be strong enough, we can’t be ignored. Paul couldn’t be ignored. So listen to what happens. He is in Corinth, things get a little tough there, so verse 9 of Acts 18. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, Do not be afraid… any longer.” You know what that said? God knew that he was afraid. You say, the apostle Paul was afraid? Yes. Why was he afraid? Because he was human. Is it a sin for us to be afraid? No, unless we just keep on and on and on living in fear. He said, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking. Do not be silent, for I am with you. That was good enough. All right? Not only does he say that in that 18th chapter, but if you’ll remember also that he was arrested in Jerusalem. And as a result, look if you will in the 23rd chapter of Acts. The Pharisees and the Sadducees got in a big argument with each other because Paul knew exactly how to turn his enemies against each other, and that’s what he did. He says, well, I’m a Pharisee, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees didn’t get along with each other. They were always arguing, so they got in this heated debate. Well, it got so bad that verse 10 of chapter 23 says, and a great dissension was developing. The commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. So now he’s in the barracks. Listen. But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “‘Take courage, for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.'” So what happens? He could recall how often, that’s just a couple examples, when God always was there to help him. Let’s go back in the scripture because the apostle Paul is certainly not an exception. You remember we said in the very beginning that sometimes we make the mistake of saying, well, you know, the apostle Paul was one of God’s chosen servants. Absolutely he was. Let me ask you a question. You think God loved the apostle Paul no more than he loves you? No. He doesn’t always use us all the same. He loves us the same. When you look at the cross, whose sins were nailed to the cross? Every single one of our sins nailed to the cross. Does that mean we’re all saved? No, it does not. But it means those who are wise enough to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, recognizing that God paid their sin debt in full in the death of His Son, and are willing to receive Christ, saved, sealed forever, the sons and daughters of the living God. So, now here’s Paul, recognizing what’s going on. And as you look down through the Old Testament, here’s what you find. The Bible says of Joseph in a time of great trial, the scripture says in that 39th chapter of Genesis, and the Lord was with Joseph. Twice he says in that chapter, the Lord was with Joseph. When God called Moses to go to Pharaoh and give him the ultimatum about the nation of Israel, all the Hebrew children at that time, he said, and certainly I will be with you. When he said, for example, to Joshua, Moses is dead. You have the responsibility now. I’m giving you command of this whole outfit. And I want you to take them across the Jordan. And knowing that Joshua would be fearful, even though he was Moses’ general, he said to him three times in this passage, but he said in that ninth verse, he said, “…be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go.” It doesn’t make any difference who we are. When you and I are serving the living God, we are walking in the way of our Lord. But listen, the capacity to claim that, feel that, sense that, enjoy that, live in that, draw from that, work out of that, that is the issue. Are you able to sense that presence? Or do you find yourself so overwhelmed by the difficulty, by the mountain that you’re facing, by the hardship, by the pain? And there are times when you and I can sense pain so deeply, so intently, so cutting. It’s like it sort of thrashes us on the inside, shatters us on the inside. Sometimes that pain is such that I understand that it’s difficult to get our eyes and our mind off the pain and off the hurt onto the living God who is the healer and who is the one who’s gonna protect us in that pain, but we can. It is a matter of claiming what is ours. And you and I, listen, we have the privilege, we have the awesome privilege and responsibility and power to claim for ourselves everything we need in those moments of difficulty and hardship and pain.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Courage to Face Life’s Trials. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
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