Despite things going well in Corinth, Paul begins to see a familiar pattern emerging that usually ends with him being beaten within an inch of his life or thrown in prison, and having to flee persecution before he is murdered. But the Lord comes to Paul as he sleeps, speaks encouragement, and intervenes to change the course of events.
Transcription (automatically-generated):
You. We are going to be picking things up right where we left off last week with Paul in the present day Greek city of Corinth. In Acts 18, verse nine, it says the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, don't be afraid, but keep on speaking and don't be silent fillin, for I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city. The Lord's words to Paul tell us that we need to adjust our perspective on where Paul was at emotionally, mentally and spiritually in this moment. Let me explain.
It would be reasonable to think that Paul would be doing great. I mean, after all, he's had that wonderful season of rest we learned about last time working with Priscilla and Aquila, who have become some of his dearest friends in the world. He's been strengthened by the arrival of his assistants, Silas and Timothy. Funds have arrived to allow Paul to devote all his time to ministry. Even the leader of the synagogue in Corinth, Crispus, has become a believer along with his entire household.
And now Paul is ministering our of the larger house of Titus Eustace, where the church in Corinth is meeting. And it's right next door to the synagogue that rejected Paul's gospel preaching. Not only that, but many are turning to the Lord. So it would be reasonable to assume that Paul must be flying high. But the text tells us something different.
For the Lord would not come to Paul as he is sleeping and tell him don't be afraid, but keep on speaking and don't be silent. Unless Paul was battling fear and discouragement. So what are we missing? What necessitated this visit from the Lord in this moment in Corinth? I suspect that Paul was doing well.
I suspect he was excited. I expect he was energized. But then he started thinking, people are turning to the Lord. I've ticked off the Jews in the city with my preaching, as usual. And I've seen this movie before.
I know what comes next. The other shoe is about to drop. I'm about to be beaten within an inch of my life or have to flee for my life. And then this young church, full of believers that I love, is going to be left alone to face brutal persecution. Anytime there's fruit, Paul must flee.
Such thoughts would have been understandable on Paul's part, given his history of ministering around the region. And such thoughts would make anyone afraid, filled with dread, bummed out, the Lord tells Paul I'm with you and no one will lay a hand on you. Which raises the logical question well, why wasn't the Lord with Paul in Lustra, where he was stoned and left for dead? Or why wasn't the Lord with Paul in Philippi, where he was beaten and thrown in prison? But what happened to Paul as he lay on the ground, appearing to be dead after being stoned in Lystra.
Do you remember? He went to heaven. He saw glorious things that he says. The Lord forbid him to tell anyone else about what happened to Paul in prison in Philippi. The Lord sent an earthquake and freed him, miraculously leading to the conversion of the jailer and his whole household.
What's the lesson? Whether the Lord delivers us from the trial or leads us through the trial, the Lord is with us. And either way, he will be working good in us and for us, for his glory. Whether the Lord delivers you from your trial or whether he meets you in your trial, as he did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fires of Babylon, know this the Lord is with you either way, so do not be afraid. Would you write this down?
And we'll keep talking about it. Whether the Lord delivers us from the trial or leads us through the trial, the Lord is with us. He's with us. The great commission ends with these words from Jesus remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. So if Paul saw heaven when he was stoned in lustra, and if Paul saw God work a miracle when he was thrown in jail in Philippi, why is Paul stressing in Corinth now?
Because Paul is human. He's human. Yeah, Jeff, I know. God meets us in the fire, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, Jeff, I know.
It's when we're in prison that God sets us free.
You don't know my situation.
I know God is faithful, but this time is different. Has God ever come through amazingly in your life? Has God been faithful to you in your life? Does that mean that you no longer battle thoughts of fear or anxiety or depression? Does knowing the truth up here, knowing it with certainty, make you completely immune to experiencing negative emotions or being tempted to think negative doubt fillin thoughts?
No. We know what is true. But have you noticed that our emotions and thoughts can be very uncooperative at times? And we find ourselves instead praying things like, lord, I know I'm blessed when I'm in the fire, but maybe you could bless somebody else for a while. And it's why Paul counseled us to take every thought captive, to obey Christ, to not simply let every thought that comes into our head have free rein and have total control over us, but to say, no, I'm not following that train of thought.
I refuse to believe that. I refuse to meditate on that, taking the thought and making it bow down to Christ and what His Word says. And Paul would do that. But he was battling fear. He was battling discouragement because he's human.
But the Lord loved him, and so he came to Paul with a timely word of encouragement, and the Lord loves you too. And so he's given you His Word, and in it you will find an inexhaustible supply of timely encouragement from the Lord. You need only pick it up, open it, and receive it. And Paul also gets this wonderful promise from the Lord that we read I have many people in this city, the Lord Jesus himself tells Paul, there are many people in this city who are going to be saved. And what an encouragement that must have been.
Paul was far from the only Christian who has ever felt this way. If you genuinely love the Lord and are serious about obeying and serving Him, then you've likely felt a measure of the type of discouragement Paul was experiencing Pergamos at your place of work, perhaps in your extended family, you felt like you're the only one there who really loves Jesus, who is serious about obeying his commands. And in some of those contexts you might be. But we have millions of brothers and sisters. Would he world who love and lay down their lives for Jesus every day in their homes, in their place of work, in their extended family, in their school, you name it, millions.
And if you get connected to this church family in a deep and meaningful way, you'll discover brothers and sisters right here who love Jesus and are laying down their lives for him every day. And just knowing that that you're not alone in following Jesus makes all the difference in the world. Praise God for brothers and sisters who love Jesus. The Lord's encouragement of Paul brings to mind one of the great Old Testament accounts of the prophet Elijah, and I'd like us to read through it together. So stick our bulletin in Acts chapter 18 and see how fast you can find first Kings, chapter 18.
1st Kings, chapter 18. Ahab was the wicked king of the northern kingdom of Israel at this time in her history, and his somehow even more wicked wife Jezebel had led the northern kingdom to worship Baal, a pagan demon god. And not only that, but Jezebel had made it her mission to destroy the worship of the living god Yahweh any way she could, including killing every one of his prophets she could get her hands on. So let's pick it up in One Kings chapter 18, verses 17. When Ahab, the wicked king, saw Elijah, the prophet of God, ahab said to him, is that you the one ruining Israel?
He replied, I've not ruined Israel, but you and your father's family have, because you've abandoned the Lord's commands and followed the balls. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people. There's a huge, huge crowd there.
And he said, how loving will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Bal, follow him. And the people didn't answer him a word. It's like when your mom would catch you when you were a kid and ask you a question and you just knew I should not answer this question because no answer is going to be right.
So I'm just going to stay quiet. Then Elijah said to the people underline this I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord. I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are 450 men, and so the text will later clarify that Elijah believes he's the only one left serving God in Israel. I'm the only one.
Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces and place it on the wood, but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood, but not light the fire. Then you call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord, the God who answers with fire. He is God.
And all the people answered that's fine. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your God, but don't light the fire. So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying Baal, answer us. But there was no sound, no one answered.
Then they danced around the altar they had made. They're basically in a pagan ritualistic frenzy. Someone's like beating a drum and their eyes are rolling back in their head and they're probably on substances of some kind. At noon Elijah mocked them. He said shout loudly, for he's a god.
Maybe he's thinking it over. Maybe he's wandered away, or maybe he's on the road. Perhaps he's sleeping and will wake up. And in the original language it makes it clear that one of the things Elijah is saying is maybe he's relieving himself. Maybe he's in the bathroom, he can't hear you.
They shouted loudly and cut themselves with knives and spears according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. So they're like, Maybe this will get his attention. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no sound. No one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, come near me. So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord's altar that had been torn down on Mount Carmel. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying Israel will be your name. And he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord.
Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold about four gallons. Next he arranged the wood, cut up the bowl and placed it on the wood. He said Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood. Then he said, a second time and they did it a second time. Then he said A third time and they did it a third time.
So the water ran all around the altar. He even filled the trench with water at the time for offering the evening sacrifice. The prophet Elijah approached the altar and said lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant and that at your word I have done all these things. Answer me Lord, answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back. Then the Lord's fire fell and consumed the offering, those wood, the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
When all the people saw it, they fell face down and said the Lord, he is God. The Lord. He is God. Then Elijah ordered them, seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let even one of them escape.
So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishan and slaughtered them there. Now let's jump to verse one of the next chapter. It says ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying may the gods punish me and do so severely if I don't make your life like the life of one of them. By this time tomorrow, Elijah's just come off the highest of highs.
God performed a mighty miracle glorified his name before the people of Israel humiliated Baal and his prophets. And in the end it wasn't the prophets of Yahweh being killed but the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. But then Elijah gets this message from Jezebel and he thinks oh no, here we go again. After all that I'm still running for my life while Jezebel hunts me down and she's going to catch me eventually. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
What's the point? It says then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there. But he went on a day's journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die.
He said I've had enough, lord take my life for I'm no better than my ancestors. And he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Suddenly an angel touched him. The angel told him Get up and eat. Then he looked and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones and a jug of water.
So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord returned for a second time and touched him. He said, Get up and eat our the journey will be too much for you. So he got up, ate and drank. Then, on the strength from that food, he walked 40 days and 40 nights to horeb the mountain of God.
He entered a cave there and spent the night. And I love that the Lord ministers to Elijah through this angel by first having him eat some food and sleep for a while. That's the first thing he does. He's like, you need some warm bread and have a nap before they talk about any details. God knows you just need to rest a little bit, take a nap, eat some food.
You're hangry. You're not in your right mind. Why? Because Elijah was a human being in a frail, fallen human body. Then it says suddenly the word of the Lord came to him.
And he said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? And he replied, Hebrew is heart here. I've been very zealous for the Lord of Armies but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life. Lord, lord, I'm done.
I'm just so tired. I'm serving you as faithfully as I know how. Nothing's getting better, nothing's changing. And they're about to kill me too. Then he, the voice of the Lord, said go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord's presence.
At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And suddenly a voice came to him and said what are you doing here, Elijah? I've been very zealous for the Lord of Armies. He replied, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword.
I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, Go and return. By the way, you came to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. You are to Anoint Jehu, son of Nimshe, as king over Israel and Elisha, son of Shephat from Abel Mahola as prophet in your place.
Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael. And Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jesus. But I will leave 7000 in Israel every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed Him. So the Lord says, I'm ending you to appoint a new king over Israel. I'm about to deal severely with all the wickedness in the land, and I'm about to appoint your successor.
Elijah, you're almost at the end of your journey, but know this you've never been alone. You've never been the only one still serving me faithfully. Even now, there's 7000 people in the Northern Kingdom who have refused to worship Ball and risked their lives to stay faithful to me. And when we are facing discouragement or depression brought about by real circumstances, there's a few observations that I just want to make here. They're quick and this is not a conclusive list, but they're just a few observations from the story.
What we need to do when we're facing discouragement and depression brought about by very real circumstances. The first thing write this down is we need to hear from the Lord. We need to hear from the Lord. We need to open his word. We need to pray, we need to seek Him.
We need Him to speak to us when we're just in that place of Lord, what is going on? His doesn't look good. What is loving on? Go to the One who has answers or who can give you the peace to make it through without getting the answers yet. Secondly, really, practically, you need to eat healthy and get enough rest.
You're a human being in a fillin and frail human body. It's not going to help anything. When you're like, maybe I'll just stay up late watching Netflix and eating ice cream. This should help. No, it won't.
Now, you'll be depressed for two reasons. You'll be depressed because of the circumstances and depressed because you start gaining weight really fast and feel horrible about yourself. So eat healthy, get enough rest, even God ordains this, okay? And he did this for Elijah. He's like, before we even talk, Elijah, eat some bread, get some sleep.
Thirdly, remember that we're not alone. We're not alone. The Lord is with you. But you're also part of a global church. Hopefully, you're part of a local church that loves Jesus as well.
You're never the only one going through something difficult. You're never the only one who has been through something difficult. Now, the enemy wants to make you believe you are. And the enemy wants to tell you you're the only one. So much so that if you told anyone about it, if you invited anyone into this, they'd just be appalled.
They'd be disgusted, they'd be shocked because they're never going through the kind of stuff you're going through. And that's never true. That's never true. The most common reaction when you share with a brother or sister going through something difficult is that they immediately relate because they've been through something difficult as well. And then fourthly recognize his.
The loved encourages and refreshes us because he has work for us to do. Would you write that down? He has work for us to do. I got news for you. God is not coming to refresh and encourage you so that you can get back to living a self centered life.
He's not coming to refresh and encourage you so that you can get back to all your favorite recreational activities. He's coming to bring rest and refreshment because he has work for you to do. What did the angel say to Elijah after providing the food? After having him rest? He says, Eat, or the journey will be too much for you.
In other words, Elijah, you got to rest up. You got to calm down, you got to take in some good food, get your strength up because God's got work for you to do. And so I share that because it is a mindset difference. Because when we're going through times of discouragement or depression that are brought about by circumstances, I know it seems counterintuitive but it's very, very easy to become self centered. It's very easy because you begin to believe that the only thing that matters is this pain and this difficulty being alleviated in my life.
And the whole goal becomes getting this to stop that's. All that matters is that my life is relieved of this pain, this discomfort, this anxiety, this depression, whatever it is. But that's an incomplete perspective. The full perspective is I want to be healed of this. I want to have God speak into my life or if it's his will to teach me and sustain me in this so that I can have daily victory over this.
So that my energy and focus can be on serving Jesus and bringing glory to his name. That's the whole perspective. We're saved to bring glory to Jesus. We're delivered from trials to bring glory to Jesus. We're carried through trials to bring glory to Jesus.
This is hard for many Christians to wrap their head around that God's foremost concern is not our comfort, it's just not. Now let's head back to Acts chapter 18, verse eleven. Let's head back to Acts chapter 18, verse eleven. So after being visited and encouraged by the Lord also in his sleep, we read this about Paul. He stayed there in Corinth underlying a year and a half teaching the word of God among them.
I love this because the Lord promised Paul no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you. And so Paul's like, well then I'm going to stay here for a while. I'm going to get comfortable. And he stayed another year and a half far longer than he had stayed anywhere else on any of his missionary travels that far. Now note that it says paul devoted himself to teaching the word of God among them.
Paul did what he felt was the most pressing work fillin the Great Commission, the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. That was the most pressing work. It wasn't social justice, it wasn't ending slavery, which was rampant at the time. It wasn't feeding the hungry or housing the homes. It wasn't penetrating the halls of political power.
It wasn't starting a church building project. None of those things are wrong. Many of them are good, but none were the most posting work, making disciples who honor Christ and obey Him was. And Jesus has given us the same message, the same mission. That's why we teach the word here at Gospel City.
That's why we love the Word. That's why we have a culture of studying the Word. Those who love Christ desire to obey Christ and His Word tells us how we can obey Him, walk with Him, and experience fellowship with Him. So write this down. Teaching the Word of God was Paul's most pressing work in Corinth.
His most pressing work. Then we read in verses twelve. While Galio was pro consul of ACA, so Galio was the governor of the region of ACA. He was the brother of the philosopher and author Seleucia, who tutored Nero in Rome, and described his brother Galio as an intelligent person who hated flattery and was blessed with an unaffectedly, pleasant personality. I feel like that last part is how I would describe BJ.
He's blessed with an unaffectedly, pleasant personality all the time. All the time. Such a wonderful contrast to myself.
Galio had just taken over leadership of Achaia, and so the Jews wanted to see if he could be persuaded to side with them against Christianity. So we read the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal. This man, they said, is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law. They mean the law of Moses, the Hebrew law. Now, Paul, of course, was not speaking against the law, but was preaching Christ as the fulfillment of the law.
But this was a common tactic of Jews who rejected Christ, trying to get Christians in trouble with the Romans. Remember what they said when they dragged Jason and the brothers in front of the city's leaders in Philippi? They said they are all acting contrary to Caesar's decrees, saying there's another king, Jesus. Remember how they accused Jesus before Pilate, claiming he was opposing payment of taxes to Caesar and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king? And when Pilate tried to release Jesus, they shouted, if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.
Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. And here they are again, using the same tactic to try and get Paul in trouble with Galio, the pro consul of Achaia. And it seems they were hoping to have Paul banned from Proselytizing. In other words, they were hoping to have Paul be forbidden from trying to convert any Jews to Christianity in the city. Verse 14.
Underline as Paul was about to open his mouth, as Paul was about to open his mouth. And I had you underline that, because you might want to write a little note next to it that says verse ten, because as Paul is about to defend himself, Galio will start speaking, and we will see the Lord working to keep the promise he made to Paul back in verse ten. And so before Paul can say a word, Galio said to the Jews, if it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. But if these are questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.
In other words, if a serious crime had been committed, it would be right for me to get involved. But that's not the case here. You're wasting my time with a Jews religious argument that has nothing to do with me. Go settle it yourselves. The ruling was a bigger deal than we realize, and it was a ruling.
It established the precedent that Paul was free to preach the Gospel anywhere in the Roman Empire, because Galio had ruled that the Gospel message was not a matter that concerned him, meaning it did not concern the Empire, meaning it did not concern Caesar. Galio's ruling clarified that at this time, rome viewed Christianity as a sect of Judaism, not a separate religion. The Jews had been trying to manipulate Galio into rendering a verdict that would distinguish between Christianity and Judaism, so that Christianity would be viewed as a new and illegal cult and therefore would not enjoy the tolerance experienced by Judaism across the Empire. If Galileo had ruled in favor of the Jews, christianity would have been rendered instantly illegal across the Empire. Verse 16.
So he, Galio, drove them, the Jews and Paul, from the tribunal, and they all seized Sosthenes the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But none of these things mattered to Galio. The other Greeks present at the tribunal grabbed Sosthenes, the man who replaced Crispus as leader of the synagogue of Corinth, and beat him to send the message, never waste our time again. While some of your Bibles might say it was the Jews who beat Sasthenes for various and very boring academic reasons, I'm not going to get into the right translation is that it was the Greek Gentiles present who beat him, and it's translated that way in some newer translations. When Paul writes his first letter to the church at Corinth, one Christian in the very first verse where he identifies himself saying, this letter is coming from me, he includes another name saying, this letter is also coming from somebody else.
Check it out. It's on your outlines. One corinthians one one. Paul called. As an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will.
And Sosthenes our brother, you see, like Crispus, Sosthenes would later become a Christian too. Can you imagine how that must have infuriated the Jews in Corinth who had rejected the Gospel when their last two synagogue leaders both turned to Christ and followed him as the Messiah? It must have taken profound restraint from Paul when he passed any of them in the street, not to say something like, who's the new synagogue leader? I just want to know who's getting saved next. That would be good to know.
Well, we're going to end there for today, and I'm going to invite the worship team to come up. And I'm just going to close with one more reminder to anyone among us who might be battling fear or discouragement or depression brought about by difficult circumstances. I want to remind you again that the Lord is with you. He's with you, and He Romans you to not be afraid. He doesn't recommend it.
He Romans you to not be afraid. And he's justified in doing so because he has made the remedy for fear available to us. And it is Christ himself. It is his presence. It is his spirit in us.
It is His Word given to us, and it is his church to whom we are called to belong. If you have need of encouragement or comfort, ask the Lord. Ask Him. You have a good and loving heavenly Father who hears you and who cares about you about the smallest details of your life. And then ask a brother or sister to pray with you before you leave today.
BJ and I will be up here available to pray after the service, if you'd like that. And then seek the Lord in his word. Choose to believe what he says in his word. Do not buy the ridiculous idea that you are the one exception to the promises of God. You're not.
He's only ever faithful stand on His Word and then get up and serve Jesus and bring Him glory with your life. Let's pray. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Jesus. Thank you for your word.
And thank you that all the way back in the Old Testament with Elijah, all the way to the New Testament. And our brother Paul, we see that you care about your people experiencing discouragement, fear, anxiety, depression, and you desire to meet with us and remind us who you are, and more than anything, that you are with us. And so, Lord, we know and we recognize, and we thank you that whether you deliver us from the trial or carry us through the trial, you're with us and you're enough. And we love you for that. Jesus, thank you for never leaving us, for never forsaking us, for being with us to the end of the age.
And thank you that your faithfulness to us does not depend on our faithfulness to you. You're just faithful. Because that's who you are. You're just that good. And so we love you for that, Jesus.
We thank you for that. And our prayer is that our lives would bring you glory. And that if any of our brothers and sisters are weighed down by any burden today, that they would find relief and comfort in you and in Your presence. That their energies and their thoughts and their whole lives might be directed to pointing you glory, Jesus, that your name would be exalted and lifted up. We love you, Jesus.
And we pray that you'd be glorified in our pray, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.