We Need The Word of The Lord On The Lord's Day. We Need The Word Of The Lord Every Day.

Acts 17:1-34

Notice the importance of the Scriptures for both public ministry - ‘reasoning with them from the Scriptures’ and private devotion - ‘examining the Scriptures every day’(2,11). We need the Word of the Lord on the Lord’s Day. We need the Word of the Lord every day. God is not the ‘unknown God’. He has made himself known to us. For many, He seems to be the ‘unknown God’. We must seek to lead them beyond a vague awareness of ‘the God who made the world’ to a real knowledge of Jesus Christ who died and rose again for our salvation (24,3). When our faith is grounded in the Scriptures, we will not think of God as the ‘unknown God’ about whom we can know very little. We will make it our ambition ‘to know Christ and the power of His resurrection’(Philippians 3:10). ‘Let us press on to know the Lord’(Hosea 6:3).

Acts 18:1-21

It was not an easy situation at Corinth. There were some who ‘opposed Paul and became abusive’(6). There was great pressure on Paul. He could have given up very easily. It was God’s Word which kept Paul going (10). Paul did not collapse under thee pressure - ‘he stayed a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them’(11). At Ephesus, there were people who asked Paul ‘to stay for a longer period’. He ‘declined’. Paul was moving on. He refused to be shackled by the expectations of other people. The important thing was ‘God’s will’. For us, there can be no standing still. We must move on with God. We must not get ‘stuck in a rut’. Some say, ‘Everything must remain the same. Nothing must change’. Paul had to ‘set sail from Ephesus’. We must ‘launch out into the deep’- at Jesus’ Word (20-21; Luke 5:4-5).