Beloved, the most important part of a person’s life is not what they did but who they were, their character! Today we continue our study looking at the Godly characteristics of the Apostle Paul. Last week we looked at the manner of his life, the measure of his life and the message of his life. Today we will conclude this chapter looking at the ministry of his life, the motto of his life and the mission of his life. 
Beloved, how do you measure a man? What really counts? What really matters? Is it BRAINS, BRAWN and BUCKS or is it character? Beloved, Paul was a man of character. Remember this, when you die you will not be remembered for what you did but for who you were.
As for me, I only echo what Robert Murray McCheyne said, "What my people need most from me is my personal holiness."
Beloved, your family needs you to be a person of character. Your church needs you to be a person of character. The Lord desires that you be a person of character

​Beloved, there's a reason why the Spirit of God gives us these simple narrative passages.  And one of the primary reasons is to illustrate the great doctrinal concepts.  We need the epistles, because we need to understand the flow of logic.  We need to understand the clear articulation of great theological truth.  But we need the book of Acts, because we need to see it fleshed out.  We need to see it lived.  It isn't enough for us to have information.  We need models, don't we?  It's isn't enough for us to know something.  We have to see it in action.  And so in the book of Acts, we see a man by the name of the Apostle Paul, who's in the process of writing his epistles.  And while he's writing them, he's living them.
What he taught, he lived. What he called for, he demonstrated. And in this chapter, I see Paul's great love for the church and that's really what's on my heart to speak to you today. To remind myself of my own commitment to demonstrate love to the saints, to remind you, since you have newly affirmed your commitment to this church, to remind you of what it means to love the church.
Jesus loved the church enough to offer redemptive sacrifice for the church.  Paul loves the church enough to offer sacrificial service to the church. 

Beloved, God has placed each of us in our own sphere of darkness in order to bring the light of the gospel to those around us. For the Apostle Paul, that sphere of darkness we will study today is the city of Ephesus – a city dominated by satanic and demonic activity; a city known for the temple of Artemis (Diana) and for all of its magical and occult practices. Ephesus was a city where God was going to demonstrate that the power of His Word and of His Works could be victorious in radically changing lives and rescuing people from the bondage of their life of futility. 
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Thus, today’s message begins and ends with power, God’s power. We begin with the power behind the proclamation of God’s Word, then we proceed to cover the power of God’s kingdom over demonic forces and finally end with the producing of powerful results. All of this brings us to the point of God being glorified.
Beloved, the Holy Spirit is power. Ephesians 3:20-21 reads, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (KJV) Beloved, may we rest in God’s power working in our lives today!

​  Beloved, as we close our study on Habakkuk, He moves from burden to blessing, from wonder/worry to worship, from restlessness to rest, from a problem to God’s Person, and from a complaint to consolation, from confusion to confidence!
 
  Beloved, only our great God and Savior can supernaturally turn sighing into singing so we must like Habakkuk take time to wait before Him in prayer and listen to His Word. It is always "worth the wait!"
 
  In 1851 an English Missionary, Alan Gardner, was shipwrecked on the bottom tip of South America with many others. They would eventually die of hunger. Alan was the last one to die. The very last thing Alan wrote in his journal was Psalm 34:10, “Young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Alan also wrote, “I am overwhelmed with the sense of the goodness of God!”
 
  When do you say, “God is good?” When the fig trees are blossoming, when there’s money, etc. You and I infer the goodness of God from stuff. Alan Gardner and Habakkuk, for that matter, learned that you can know the goodness of God in the midst of starvation and lack.